Karen's Fishing Trip

  This time Daddy talked about different people who claimed they had seen it. I had not seen it myself when I was here. But now I was getting an idea.

  * * *

  I waited until the Three Musketeers were back in our own room. We climbed into bed. Elizabeth came in to make sure we were tucked in, and she kissed me good night and turned off the light. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, I rolled over in bed.

  “Hey!” I whispered. “Are you guys awake?”

  “Of course we are,” whispered Hannie. “Elizabeth just turned off the light a second ago.”

  “I had an idea,” I said softly.

  “Uh-oh.” Nancy groaned. “Sometimes your ideas mean trouble.”

  Hannie giggled. I knew Nancy was just teasing me.

  “Listen,” I said. “Every morning we will be out on the dock to practice fishing, right? So from now on, I will take a camera with me. If there is a Lake Monster, sooner or later it will have to come up for air. I will be right there with my camera. And I can be the first person to get a picture of the monster! We can all be famous!”

  “That is a pretty good plan,” said Nancy reluctantly.

  “I think we should do it,” said Hannie.

  “Okay,” I said. “Tomorrow I will bring my camera.”

  Poor Fishing

  Guess what. I brought my camera with us on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I did not once see the Lake Monster. Not only that, but I did not catch any fish. And neither did Hannie or Nancy. We were getting discouraged.

  “Maybe we are using the wrong kind of bait,” Hannie said on Tuesday morning.

  “Let’s try something else,” I said.

  We tried little pieces of bologna. The fish loved them. I felt my line jerk, and my bobber went under the water. But when I pulled up my pole, the fish was gone — and so was the bologna.

  Then we started trying everything we could think of: acorns, cheese, little pieces of apple, stale popcorn. The fish loved it all. They just did not wait around to see who was feeding them the delicious meal.

  “We are definitely going to lose the fishing contest,” I said. I did not really mind. We were only entering the contest for fun. But it would be really neat to be able to catch some fish.

  “Maybe you should try live worms, or night crawlers,” said Daddy.

  Hannie and Nancy and I wrinkled our noses.

  “I do not think so,” I said politely. “Maybe we will try bread with peanut butter on it.”

  “Okay,” said Daddy.

  Besides the bait problem, we were also having trouble keeping our lines untangled. Each day we started off far apart, so we would not get in one another’s way. But that made it hard to talk. Slowly, we edged closer and closer to one another. Then all of a sudden, our lines were tangled up. Or we would hit one another with our poles. Once Nancy even got her hook caught on the back of my shirt!

  “Do not move!” she cried to me. I froze like a statue. “Mr. Brewer!” called Nancy. “Mr. Brewer, help!”

  Daddy carefully unhooked me. I did not even have a scratch. “Well, Nancy, this is the biggest fish anyone has caught yet,” said Daddy.

  Nancy giggled.

  At least we were not the only ones not catching fish. Daddy and Mary Anne and Kristy could not catch anything either. In fact, the only person who did catch anything was … Emily Michelle!

  Elizabeth had bought Emily a small toy fishing pole with a safe plastic hook. Emily loved dangling it in the water.

  “I fishin’!” she said happily. “I fishin’ too!”

  At first we just smiled at her. Then her eyes grew round, and her pole jerked a little bit.

  “Mommy! Mommy!” she said. “Fish!”

  We all turned to look at her. I thought she had gotten her hook caught on a weed or something. But Elizabeth pulled up Emily Michelle’s line to untangle it. On the hook was a small sunfish!

  It was too small to eat. After we had admired it and praised Emily, Elizabeth slipped the fish back into the water and let it swim away.

  “No!” yelled Emily. “My fishie! My fishie!”

  Hannie and Nancy and I helped Elizabeth explain that the fish had to go home to its mommy so it could grow bigger.

  “You will catch another one,” I promised.

  Emily Michelle frowned and looked very determined. She dropped her line back in the water. Hannie and Nancy and I decided to go to the lodge for awhile.

  * * *

  “Hey, look at this,” said Kristy at dinnertime. She held up a fishing lure against her ear. “It is an earring!”

  We all laughed. A fishing lure is something you can attach to your hook to get a fish’s attention. Sometimes you use it with no bait. Sometimes you put bait on it. Lures can look like plastic worms or bugs, or they can be shiny metal, or little corks with feathers on them. Real feathers.

  The one Kristy held up was pretty. It was red and black and white, with a small red-and-white feather.

  “You know what?” said Mary Anne. “That is not a bad earring. Really. Hold up another one.”

  Kristy held up one lure against each ear and smiled.

  Mary Anne looked thoughtful. “Hmm,” she said.

  Lures

  “We have to get serious about the Lake Monster, guys,” I said on Wednesday afternoon. After not catching anything that morning, we had walked to the lodge. We bought a package of M&M’s and shared them. Then we headed home.

  On our way we passed Kristy and Mary Anne and their new business. Yup. You guessed it. They had started to make earrings out of lures. Mary Anne was wearing a pair, as an advertisement. She and Kristy had set up a small card table outside the lodge entrance. A poster said A-LURE-ING EARRINGS BY MAK. MAK meant Mary Anne and Kristy.

  “How is business?” I asked.

  “It is great!” Kristy said. “Mary Anne is making the earrings. I am handling the advertising and the supplies. Everyone wants a pair of A-lure-ing Earrings. We have sold four pairs so far.”

  Mary Anne grinned at us. She had borrowed wire cutters and a pair of pliers from Daddy. First she snipped off the pointy hook from a lure. Then she slipped another wire through the loop and bent it. Then she had an earring.

  “I just hope our supplies hold out,” said Kristy. “We might have to go into the next town and buy all their fishing lures.”

  We looked at their sample earrings. They were very pretty and definitely unusual. We wished Mary Anne and Kristy good luck, and went home.

  * * *

  “I mean it. We have to get serious about the Lake Monster,” I said again.

  “How?” asked Nancy.

  “Maybe one hour of watching for it is not enough,” said Hannie.

  “Do you want to spend all day looking for it?” asked Nancy.

  “Yes!” I said. “If we cannot catch any fish, at least we can catch a terrific photo of the Lake Monster.”

  With Daddy’s help, we made a shelter for ourselves by the side of the lake. We piled big leafy branches against a tree. It made a small cave just big enough for the three of us to sit inside.

  The next day, we skipped fishing practice. (To tell you the truth, I was glad to miss a day.) Hannie and Nancy and I crawled into our little shelter. We were each wearing green or brown clothes, so the Lake Monster could not see us if he glanced our way.

  “Okay,” I whispered. “Operation Lake Monster is officially underway.” I checked my clipboard. “Hannie, do you have your sketchpad?”

  “Check,” Hannie whispered.

  “Nancy, do you have our lunches?” I asked.

  “Check,” said Nancy.

  “And I have our camera. So we are all set,” I said.

  If you have never been on a stakeout before, you might not know that it is fun for the first twenty minutes, and then very, very boring.

  By ten o’clock in the morning our legs were stiff. Hannie was yawning. Nancy was drawing pictures of all of us with different hairstyles.

  “Maybe some food would help m
e wake up,” said Hannie. “Is it lunchtime yet?”

  I checked my watch. “It is five minutes after ten.”

  We ate our lunches anyway.

  I tried to keep my eyes on the water at all times. It was a cloudy day, but I could see every ripple. Several times I saw a small splash, but twice it was fish, and once it was a duck. I was afraid if I looked away for a second, that would be when the Lake Monster would poke its head out of the water.

  “Maybe we should make sure our camera is working,” I said. We took a couple of goofy pictures of one another. After another half hour, I decided anything as big as the Lake Monster would definitely get my attention even if I looked away for a second. So we played hangman for awhile on our sketchpad.

  Hannie won, with the word holiday.

  We all jumped when we heard a big crack of thunder overhead.

  I looked at Hannie. Hannie looked at Nancy. Nancy looked at me.

  “Great, just great,” I said.

  Then it began to pour.

  Footsteps in the Rain

  I had started to think that a stakeout for the Lake Monster was not such a good idea. After all, we were on vacation. It is not much fun just to sit all day, watching, when we could be playing.

  The stakeout was especially not fun once it started to rain.

  Our shelter was not rainproof. Water dripped through the leaves and branches and landed on our heads. But I did not want to quit yet. I am not a quitter. Hannie and Nancy are not quitters either. So we sat there and got wet. I kept my eyes on the lake.

  “Sometimes rain makes me feel sad,” said Hannie.

  “Me too,” I said. “When it rains, I like being all cozy at home.”

  “With hot chocolate and maybe popcorn,” said Nancy.

  “And my daddy,” said Hannie.

  “I am just so sad that I will not be with my daddy on Father’s Day,” said Nancy.

  “Me too,” said Hannie.

  I did not say anything, because I would be with my daddy on Father’s Day. I felt bad that my friends would not. But it was because of the big fishing contest on Sunday, which we absolutely could not miss. Otherwise we could just go home early. That fishing contest was ruining everything. But I could not ask Daddy to leave before Sunday. He was looking forward to the contest. It is the kind of thing that daddies like. Too bad Mr. Papadakis and Mr. Dawes could not be in the fishing contest, I thought. They would probably like it.

  Then I sat up straight. My eyes grew big. I was hatching one of my gigundoly brilliant ideas.

  “What?” asked Hannie. “What is it? Do you see something?” She peered out through the rain at the lake.

  “Um, no, I do not see anything,” I said quickly. “I thought I did, but I was wrong.”

  Nancy looked at me suspiciously. I tried to act casual.

  The rain dripped steadily down. I was very excited about my idea, and wanted to run back to the house to talk to Daddy about it. Also, I was fed up with the Lake Monster. If the monster was not even going to peek its head out on a gloomy, rainy day, then I was going to give up.

  Just then Nancy grabbed my arm. “Shhh!” she whispered, although I had not said anything.

  “What —” I started to say, then clamped my hand over my mouth. I heard it! I heard footsteps! Footsteps were crunching closer and closer to us!

  “Could the Lake Monster be out of the lake?” whispered Hannie, her eyes round.

  I had not thought of that. I felt my heart start to beat faster, as if I had been running. I pictured the huge, slimy Lake Monster, dripping with water, plodding through the woods. He would smell us! He would think, Gee, three nice little girls. What a good lunch they would be.

  Daddy would not see us being eaten. Our little shelter would hide us from his view.

  Hannie and Nancy and I held hands.

  Suddenly a blond head poked around the edge of our shelter. I almost screamed.

  “What are you guys doing?” asked Keegan.

  Well. Talk about relief.

  Keegan was completely soaked, like we were. He held a tin bucket in one hand and a small trowel in the other. His hands were muddy.

  “Um, we are just playing,” I said. “What are you doing?”

  “I am digging up worms and night crawlers,” said Keegan. “They make the best bait for fishing. And in the rain is the best time to find them.” He looked at us huddled in our shelter, sopping wet. “Do you all want to help me?”

  It did not take us long to say yes.

  Worms, Worms, Everywhere

  Here are some things worms are:

  Wiggly

  Orangey-pink

  Really slimy

  Mild-mannered

  Stretchy

  Keegan had some spare coffee cans for us to put our captured worms in. He was right: In the rain is the best time to find worms. I guess they get thirsty, just like everything else. We did not have to look very hard to find about a million plump pink worms poking their heads out of the dirt.

  “I found one, I found one!” cried Hannie. Her long brown pigtails were streaming wetly down her back.

  “Okay,” said Keegan.

  We gathered around Hannie’s worm.

  “First, clear away the leaves and stuff, so you can see it,” instructed Keegan.

  Hannie did.

  “Now, try to scrape away the dirt around it with your hands,” he said.

  “Why can’t she use the trowel?” I asked.

  “Worms are delicate,” explained Keegan. “The trowel might hurt them.”

  Oh.

  Hannie scraped away the dirt around the worm. Now we could see almost all of it. I have to tell you, it was pretty yucky. Worms are nice creatures, and they are good for plants because they stir up the soil. But they are pretty yucky, all the same.

  “Now, put a handful of dirt in your coffee can,” said Keegan. “And find a short stick. Scoop the worm up over the stick, very carefully. And put it in your can.”

  The worm was so wiggly that it took Hannie about five tries to get it into her can. Finally she did, and we all cheered.

  After that Nancy and I knew how to hunt for worms. So we wandered in circles around our house, turning over leaves and scooping up worms. It was not long before I had practically a whole coffee can full of dirt and worms.

  “What are we going to do with these?” asked Hannie.

  “I am going to sell them to the grocery store,” said Keegan. “Then the woman at the store will sell them to people who want to use them as bait.”

  “I think I will keep mine,” I said. “I will hide them. Then I will give Daddy the whole can on Father’s Day. It will be his gift, and he can use them for fishing.”

  Hannie and Nancy gave theirs to Keegan.

  “I do not really need all these worms,” said Nancy. “I am still using bologna as fish bait.”

  “Oh, fish love bologna,” said Keegan.

  “Are you going to sign up for the fishing contest?” I asked Keegan. “We are. We will go out with my daddy on his boat.”

  Keegan looked uncomfortable. “Well, it is like this,” he said. He shuffled his feet in the wet leaves. “My mom and dad are separated right now. They might get a divorce. So I am here with just my mom. I do not even know if I will talk to my dad on Father’s Day.”

  Keegan looked very sad. I felt sorry for him.

  “I know what it is like when your parents get divorced,” I said. “It is awful. I am sorry you feel so bad right now. Hey! I know. You can come with us on our boat on Father’s Day. Then you can fish with us and be in the contest.”

  Keegan’s face brightened. “Really? Would it be all right?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Meet us at our dock on Sunday morning.”

  “Great! Thanks!” Keegan gathered up all his worms and ran off.

  I felt happy that I had cheered him up. Then I had two thoughts: I had not asked Daddy for permission to ask Keegan. Oops. And I did not know how Keegan would fit in with my secret plan. r />
  Making Cards

  After breakfast on Friday, Nancy and Hannie and I sat down to make Father’s Day cards. I would hand Daddy his, and I would mail one to Seth in Chicago.

  We had construction paper, markers, scissors, glitter, and glue. I can make just about anything with those things.

  “May we join you?” asked Kristy. “I would like to make Watson a card.” (She does not ever hear from her own father.)

  “Sure,” I said, waving my hand. “There is plenty for everyone.”

  Mary Anne sat down too. She used a sheet of yellow paper. This was so nice, all of us girls together, making cards. No boys were running around, making noise. No boys were burping or singing icky songs. It was great.

  Soon Emily Michelle and Elizabeth sat down too. I was glad we had brought lots of art supplies. Elizabeth helped Emily Michelle cut out things. She wrote down what Emily Michelle wanted to say on her card for Daddy.

  “Do you think my card will get to my daddy tomorrow?” asked Hannie as she cut out some blue hearts. “Today is Friday. It might not get there till Monday. But I will be home on Monday afternoon. Maybe I should wait and give it to him then.”

  “I think you should give it to my daddy to mail today,” I said firmly. “That would be the best thing.”

  I knew something that Hannie and Nancy did not. It was about Father’s Day. The night before, while Hannie and Nancy were getting ready for bed, I had talked to Daddy and Elizabeth about my secret plan. They had thought it was a great idea. And they promised to help me.

  This morning at breakfast, Elizabeth had winked at me. My plan was in motion! I was very excited about it. It was going to be sooo hard to keep it secret until tomorrow.

  * * *

  After our cards were made, I fed my worms breakfast. First I gathered some leaves outside. Then I put the leaves in the worms’ coffee can. I had hidden the can underneath the sink in our bathroom. It was safe and dark, the way worms like things. I knew Daddy would be happy and surprised when I gave him his present.

  “Karen, come on!” called Nancy. “It is time to practice fishing!”