he asked, having moved along the beach a little to get a better view of what the

man was making.

i m going to try and find out if there is any life in these waters. i ve attached a

fine strand of creeper to this stick, and if i can find something alive to put on
the end, i
U dangle it out over the river. if there s anything hungry out there, it might be
tempted to take
a bite. where did you get that idea from? asked arki, surprised by the man s
ingenuity. i worked it
out for myself, it seems quite reasonable to me. arki was impressed at the man s
reasoning ability, and resolved
to include him in solving any future problems they might have as they made their
way south. and
just what do you propose to attach to your line greg? a wriggling grub like
creature. i found one in
a rotten log i trod on in the forest, so there should be more. greg replied. greg
left his stick
and the attached creeper line at the water s edge, and without saying a word to
anyone, went up the
sand bank towards the glow of the camp fire, and disappeared from view. you know,
arki said quietly to glyn,
that s one bright fellow. i wouldn t have thought of making a trapping line like
that, perhaps we should
include him in any future decision making. seems a good idea, lets see if he
catches anything first. they both
lay back on the soft sand, looking up at the first of the evening stars which had
begun to dust
the velvet deep blue of the sky. a rustle of hurried footsteps awoke them from
their reverie. did you manage
to find anything suitable? asked arki, interested in the outcome of the fishing
experiment. yes, i found this. greg held
out a white wriggling maggot, which by its gyrations had somehow sensed its
forthcoming fate. he wound several turns of
the fine creeper strand around the middle of the unfortunate creature, picked up
the stick and walked over to a
large rock which jutted out into the river. glyn and arki followed, climbing up
after the fisherman and positioning themselves
either side of him as he sat down to dangle his line in the now black waters of the
river.
all three sat there for about half an hour, enjoying the serenity of the scene and
the cool breeze which
swept in from the river, when greg s home-made line gave a twitch. something s
interested in the bait. he
said, and gently pulled the line in towards the rock they were sitting on. the line
suddenly went taut, and
then twanged as something on the other end sensed it had been trapped. greg nearly
fell into the water as
he was about to lean over to get a better view of what he had caught. arki grabbed
his jacket
and held him steady as he reached down to get hold of the creeper, and giving it a
wrench, swung
his catch over his shoulder and onto the back end of the rock. all three scrambled
to their feet and
hurried over to where the creature had landed, slowing down as they approached it.
a soggy thumping sound came from
a long dark body, almost a metre and a half long and as thick as a mans arm, it lay
thrashing about in fury on the dark rock, so they were unable to see the finer
details of what they
had caught. let s get it into the light, said arki, it may be equipped with teeth.
the creature seemed
to be firmly attached to the line, so they dragged it up the sand bank and into the
light of
the camp fire, which was now burning brightly. when the others around the fire saw
what the hunters had brought
in they all backed away in a hurry, but curiosity got the better of them, and
slowly they drew a
little closer as the creature, unused to so much heat and light, lay still. the
creeper line had got tangled
around several of the vicious ten centimetre long curved teeth which protruded from
both jaws, and a slow trickle of
water dribbled out between them to stain the sand with a dark patch around its now
still head. glyn edged
a little closer, and gave it a poke. i think it s dead, at least i hope it is. he
said, giving it another push with his foot. the creature didn t move, but glyn wasn
t taking any chances.
picking up a piece of wood from the edge of the fire, he gave it a smart blow just
behind
the shiny grey green head, but the only movement they could discern was from the
blow. the eyes, as black
and evil as they looked, were as dead as the rest of the creature. do you think we
could eat
it? someone from the back of the crowd asked, if we make it hot first, i don t
fancy it
raw. we can but try, glyn replied, we ll cook it over the fire to make sure it is
sterilized,
and if the food test is passed, you can be the first to try some. there was no
reply from
the back of the crowd. arki removed the head, as this was the most off putting part
of the creature,
and then split it from end to end, emptying out the internal organs. winding it
around a thick stick proved
a little more difficult than they had imagined, but it was achieved in the end, and
then it was mounted
just above the flames to cook. glyn suddenly remembered mia, and enquired as to her
whereabouts, to be informed that
she was with several of the other women and had given birth to a boy. he felt
ashamed not to
have paid her more attention considering what was about to happen, and now it had
happened, and he hadn