The Peter Charles - 27. Chapter 27

Adam got down and whispered something to Peter. They went below, I sort of knew what that was all about. Someone had to hit the head.

I watched them as they pulled the starboard net in. “Stop, drop the net back, quickly.” I rushed to help. “There’s a dolphin caught in the net, look there it goes.” It did a tail walk and then it was gone. “I didn’t mean to yell but if it got into the hold, it would have died. You know mermaids ride them like horses.”

The boys laugh. “Now pull the net, you won’t have many fish but we have lots of time.” They did pull the net, there were some fish. I went and got the knives and started to clean fish. I showed Steve and Robby how to do it. Steve was a whiz once he got the knack down. He said it was his kitchen training. Could have been, he did a great job. I picked up the bucket and went to see Charles. He had four boys helping him. The shrimp hold was one-third full and he had a few lobsters. “Looks good for a late haul. Here’s more bait.”

“Dad, did you see that dolphin dance for us?”

“Yes, he got caught in our net and we let him go, he was saying thanks to the fishermen of The Peter Charles.” I smiled and gave them all a hug.

All the boys are now cleaning fish while the men watched. It didn’t take much to fill the chests with cleaned fish. A few of the boys were shown how to filet the fish, so they did that and filled the small chests.

I met with my cooks to determine what we’d have for dinner, one of the cooks suggested we have left overs another one suggested since the fish have been filleted, we have grilled fish. Left overs won, Scott suggested we have some grilled shrimp as an appetizer. That was the menu for tonight. Charles took a crab bucket and went to get the shrimp. Tommy went with him.

It was five-thirty, “Guys, do you want to eat before pulling the nets or eat after pulling the nets. Surprising they elected to eat after the nets were pulled. “Dads, do you want to learn how to pull the nets?”

Andy and Johnny’s dad decided they would pull the nets. “Okay, father-son team, the judges will be Barney and Dad. The best team that wins doesn’t have to get up at four tomorrow morning and maybe they will get a beer tonight with dinner.” The boys laughed. They knew we pull one net at a time so there was no race.

We gathered on the bow to watch, team one with Andy leading his dad, the net was almost full. They did very well, the boys stood around the hold making sure no fish jumped from the net. I pretend to time them. Andy laughed, he knew timing wasn’t an issue, the emptying of a net was a constant. With the Andy’s net in it was Johnny’s turn. We all watched as his net was quite full, I was proud of him handling the net, I knew it was hard to move with all that fish.You could tell the dad’s were proud. “How many times do you do that when you are seriously fishing.”

“About five to six times. We cheated today, we didn’t have a four am pull.”

Scott wasn’t going to have just reheated chicken. No, not aboard The Peter Charles, he deboned the chicken. Made a chicken stew which he served over biscuits. The boys loved it and so did I, “Scott, I thought we were having leftovers, this isn’t left overs.” He knew I was joking, it was a compliment and that was the way he took it.

“Dad, I forgot the shrimp, they are in the crab container.”

“After dinner, have one of the cooks boil them and we’ll have shrimp for a snack tonight. How’s that and I’ll bet the cooks will have a good sauce to go with them.” I wonder to whom he would go, it was Scott and Travis.

After dinner dishes, etc were clean, table wiped, we sat around with our beer, playing cards. Some of the boys were reading, some were playing other games, I thought I saw a Monopoly set up in one corner. The dads were kibitzing. Peter, Tommy, Adam and I were playing war. Every time Adam won at war, he would jump around on my lap. I think Peter made sure Adam won some games, there’s an element of luck in war. I could soon tell that the boys were getting tired.

“You ready for bed?” A silent nod. I took them to the head and then tucked them in. Glen was on the bridge with Nicky and Jamie, so he didn’t have the chance to tuck them in. I was tempted to go to bed, and then decide why not, I went to bed as well.

I’m not sure when Glen came to bed, in one of my turns, my head landed on his chest. I faintly remember a kiss to my head. I woke up suddenly, something was wrong. I went to Frankie’s cabin, he was sleeping soundly, I checked the other boys, they were all okay. I could hear what sounded like a phone. Then my name was being called. I went to the galley, “Kevin, its Grace. She said it was an emergency.”

“Hello Grace……yes, tell Don to get one right away…..No, I’m at sea and there is no way for me to get back in time….I’l meet you at the hospital as soon as I can….yes, tell Don I’ll cover everything…. Call me back when he’s at the hospital. Okay bye.”

I went back to bed. “What happened?”

“There’s a young man in Clay County that was badly beaten. They needed to get him to our hospital Don is handling it, I authorized the use of the Medevac unit.” I snuggled into Glen and went back to sleep, a restless sleep. After breakfast I called Grace. “How did it go….good so Don is taking care of him”

“Kevin, this boy is from Scotland, parents dead, has a ninety-two old uncle in Clay County. The boy isn’t conscious so we don’t know what caused this. But who ever did this, did a job on this kid. He has a broken leg, broken arm, several broken ribs and a concussion. Don thinks there may be internal bruising as well.”

“Who found him?”

“A school teacher, when she saw a bunch of kids running away. She went to look why they were running and she saw the boy.”

“I’ll check in with you tonight to see if anything has changed. As soon as we get back, I’ll let you know.”

“How bad is it?” I jumped, Glen was behind me and he scared me, my mind was on that kid.

“Pretty bad from what Grace told me.” I proceeded to tell Glen everything I knew about the boy. I went and got a cup of coffee, I watched the boys drop the nets. We needed to get serious about fishing, in two days we’d be heading home and I’d like to be full.

I checked my watch, dropped at ten, we’ll pull at two, and pull at ten tonight.

Tomorrow will pull at four am and try to get a full day in. Sunday if all goes well, we could be on our way home after the four am pull but no later than two pm.

At breakfast I told them what the plan was for the rest of the week-end. I explained about the four am horn and not to be frightened. “I want to go back full, so I think from what I have seen so far we can keep the early morning departure on Sunday. If the four am alarm is too early, you can go back to bed after that morning pull.”

The boys who have worked the week-ends, knew what to expect. “Dad, we need to buy more chests, the shrimp hold has been getting full on the last several trips, and now that you are filleting the fish, those chests I used are full of fish.”

“Monday when we go to deliver the fish, you can come with us and see what Jim has that will hold your shrimp and lobster. I also need to check our freezer to be sure we have enough for ourselves.”

“When do you think we will put her in dry dock?”

“It will depend on the weather but definitely the beginning of November. I made a list of work I want to have done while she is in dry dock. When you get a chance check the list and add what you think I missed.”

“Dad, see if we can get a bigger refrigerator.”

“I was thinking of putting a refrigerator in the Captain’s cabin as a back up to this unit. Think that will do it, Scott?”

“Yes, but it should be as least as big as this one.”

“I think I have one on my list, if it isn’t you can add it.”

“Let’s pull the nets and then have lunch.”

“It’s two already, where did the morning go. It seems we just finished breakfast.”

“That’s because you guys were busy talking and didn’t realize the time.”

Glen and I went and watched the boys pull the nets. I assigned an experience boy with an inexperience boy, it was working out just fine. I smiled as the boys looked and I gave them thumbs up. They were doing a good job and I was proud of them all. “Full pay this week?”

“Looks that way”

The bow nets were back in the water. I checked the holds, the bow was still empty, which I expected but the main hold was a little over half. We definitely need the full day tomorrow. “Let’s go and see the wizard of crustaceans.”

Charles was putting shrimp in the lobster hold. “Charles where are the lobsters?”

“Scott took them, he said they were for dinner tonight.”

“Did he have enough?”

Charles laughed, “He had enough for two dinners. I tried to get him to take the shrimp, but he said we had shrimp last night. Dad, I really need those containers.”

I watched as they dropped the nets back in. These nets were a little more sensitive to the terrain under us as they rested on the ocean bottom. If the boat moved any distance, they could snag the nets and tear. Charles could tell when he was just close enough so that a drag wouldn’t affect the nets and still be on the bottom. A major drag would affect the nets. “Let’s see how many filets the boys have. Maybe we can freeze some in the freezer and give him a chest.”

“Scott how much room do we have in the freezer?”

“When I take out the things I need for dinner, I’ll have some room why?”

“I was thinking of putting the fish filets in the freezer and giving the chest to Charles for his shrimp. I think we’ll have to buy more chests.”