On The Beach

She laughed. "I'm not going to be hurt, Dwight. I know you're a married man. Go to bed. I'll have this for you in the morning."

"Okay." He turned and listened to the noise and snatches of songs still coming from the bar. "They're having themselves a real good time," he said. "I still can't realize it's never going to happen again, not after this week-end."

"It may do, somehow," she said. "On another plane, or something. Anyway, let's have fun and catch fish tomorrow. They say it's going to be a fine day."

He grinned. "Think it ever rains, on that other plane?"

"I don't know," she said. "We'll find out soon enough."

"Got to get some water in the rivers, somehow," he said thoughtfully. "Otherwise there wouldn't be much fishing…" He turned away. "Good night, Moira. Let's have a swell time tomorrow, anyway."

She closed her door, and stood for a few moments holding the pull-over to her. Dwight was as he was, a married man whose heart was in Connecticut with his wife and children; it would never be with her. If she had had more time things might have been different, but it would have taken many years. Five years, at least, she thought, until the memories of Sharon and of Junior and of Helen had begun to fade; then he would have turned to her, and she could have given him another family, and made him happy again. Five years were not granted to her; it would be five days, more likely. A tear trickled down beside her nose and she wiped it away irritably; self-pity was a stupid thing, or was it the brandy? The light from the one fifteen-watt bulb high in the ceiling of her dark little bedroom was too dim for sewing buttons on. She threw off her clothes, put on her pyjamas, and went to bed, the pull-over on the pillow by her head. In the end she slept.

They went out next day after breakfast to fish the Jamieson not far from the hotel. The river was high and the water clouded; she dabbled her flies amateurishly in the quick water and did no good, but Dwight caught a two-pounder with the spinning tackle in the middle of the morning and she helped him to land it with the net. She wanted him to go on and catch another, but having proved the rod and tackle he was now more interested in helping her to catch something. About noon one of the fishermen that they had sat with at the bar came walking down the bank, studying the water and not fishing. He stopped to speak to them.

"Nice fish," he said, looking at Dwight's catch. "Get him on the fly?"

The American shook his head. "On the spinner. We're trying with the fly now. Did you do any good last night?"

"I got five," the man said. "Biggest about six pounds. I got sleepy about three in the morning and turned it in. Only just got out of bed. You won't do much good with fly, not in this water." He produced a plastic box and poked about in it with his forefinger. "Look, try this."

He gave them a tiny fly spoon, a little bit of plated metal about the size of a sixpence ornamented with one hook. "Try that in the pool where the quick water runs out. They should come for that, on a day like this."

They thanked him, and Dwight tied it on the cast for her. At first she could not get it out; it felt like a ton of lead on the end of her rod and fell in the water at her feet. Presently she got the knack of it, and managed to put it into the fast water at the head of the pool. On the fifth or sixth successful cast there was a sudden pluck at the line, the rod bent, and the reel sang as the line ran out. She gasped. "I believe I've got one, Dwight."

"Sure, you've got one," he said. "Keep the rod upright, honey. Move down a bit this way." The fish broke surface in a leap. "Nice fish," he said. "Keep a tight line, but let him run if he really wants to go. Take it easy, and he's all yours."

Five minutes later she got the exhausted fish in to the bank at her feet, and he netted it for her. He killed it with a quick blow on a stone, and they admired her catch. "Pound and a half," he said. "Maybe a little bigger." He extracted the little spoon carefully from its mouth. "Now catch another one."

"It's not so big as yours," she said, but she was bursting with pride.

"The next one will be. Have another go at it." But it was close to lunchtime, and she decided to wait till the afternoon. They walked back to the hotel proudly carrying their spoils and had a glass of beer before lunch, talking over their catch with the other anglers.

They went out again in the middle of the afternoon to the same stretch of river and again she caught a fish, a two-pounder this time, while Dwight caught two smaller fish, one of which he put back. Towards evening they rested before going back to the hotel, pleasantly tired and content with the day's work, the fish laid out beside them. They sat against a boulder by the river, enjoying the last of the sunlight before it sank behind the hill, smoking cigarettes. It was growing chilly, but they were reluctant to leave the murmur of the river.