Chapter 28

“Stick the knife in here, at the base of the tail and cut right down to just below the head. Like this.”

“I’ll just let you do it,” said Benjamin, trying to keep his lunch down. “You’re the expert.” He gave a weak smile.

“Ya catch it, ya clean it,” said Mick. “Don’t be such a poof.”

Benjamin bristled at the term, even though he knew Mick didn’t mean anything by it – a throwback to his school days.

Determined not to be ‘such a poof’, Benjamin pushed the knife into the clammy underbelly of the fish and, as Mick had done, slid the blade down the centre of the fish’s belly. Without being asked, he reached over and got the first fish he’d caught and did the same thing while Mick scooted down the rocks to the water to wash the innards out of his catch.

When he returned, Benjamin took the same route down.

“Be careful,” said Mick. “Those rocks are dangerous.”

Benjamin, inwardly miffed at the insinuation that poofs couldn’t do such a manly thing as clean a fish, pushed by Mick.