‘I agree. I was looking at all the food we got before I went to bed last night and thinking similar things. I mean, it’s great that we’ve got it, and there’s still a lot more in the warehouse, but it’s no substitute for fresh stuff and we can’t rely on it. Also, there is still the possibility that more survivors will show up and find the warehouse, and we can’t exactly claim it as ours!’
He nodded, agreeing with her. ‘I’m conscious, though, that we’ve still got a lot to do in the gardens, and I don’t want to spend loads of time out on the sea, maybe catching nothing, while you’re working hard here on your own.’
‘No, but you’ve got to try it sometime soon, anyway. I think it’s a good idea and you should do it. It’s nice outside today and calm, which will make it easier with the boat. Why don’t you give it an hour or two while I carry on in the garden, and see how it goes?’ to which he agreed.
‘Also,’ she added, holding up the survival book she was reading, ‘I think we should start laying snares for rabbits in various places. We don’t want to rely on using the shotguns because our ammo is limited. I know we’ve got a good supply from what you found with the guns, but we don’t know if we’ll be able to replace it with more in the future.’
Jamie smiled. ‘Good thinking… You’re not just a pretty face!’ He ducked as her hand came up to clout him and they grinned at each other.
‘There’s a roll of thin garden wire on the wall in the garage that should do the job,’ he said.
‘Okay. Where d’you think would be good places to find them? The railway line might be good.’
‘Yes, it probably would. We could get to it easily from the bridge over Westcourt Drive, which is only a five-minute walk. There must be lots of burrows there.’
‘… And the green space either side of Down Road, too.’
‘Definitely; I’ve seen rabbit droppings there when I’ve been out walking. The hardest part will probably be finding the entrances to the burrows.’
‘Okay, so why don’t we each spend a few hours this morning doing that? You go out fishing and I’ll go out and see if I can lay some snares, then afterwards we can spend the rest of the day together in the gardens.’
‘Okay, that sounds good.’
‘I’ll take Max with me; he’ll be great at sniffing out the burrows, I’m sure.’
‘Do you think he’s up to it yet?’
‘Well… I know it’s only a short walk to the railway, but if I take your car it will save Max’s legs until we’re there, and he won’t have to do much apart from sniffing-out the burrows. I bet he’ll love it.’
‘Okay, go for it. Tell you what, though; take the RS2000 instead of my car. It’s got a quarter of a tank of petrol and we may as well use it,’ which Jane thought was a good idea.
They ate breakfast and washed up then Jane went into the garage to make some snares while he got the fishing tackle out. There were four rods with reels that he’d got from the angling club and each was set up with a different fishing rig. He chose one of the lighter rods with a fixed-spool reel that was set up for light lure fishing. He’d never used the multiplier reels on two of the rods before, but was familiar with fixed-spool reels from his coarse fishing days as a teenager. The tackle box contained many different lures and he had a landing net with a 4ft handle to bring fish into the boat… if he caught anything!
He got changed into some warm clothes and a lightweight jacket and got ready to leave. Max looked at him expectantly, wagging his tail. He reached down and stroked him. ‘No, Max, you’re going out with Jane today, to find some rabbits.’
Jane came out of the garage with a rucksack containing a dozen snares she’d made, with some sharpened pieces of doweling for stakes to tie the snares to.
‘Right; I’m all set,’ she said, putting the sawn-off into her pack along with a bottle of water and some treats for Max. ‘Have fun on the sea, be careful… and catch us some fish! I’ll see you later. Come on Max, let’s find the rabbits!’ Max barked and wagged his tail even more.
‘Bye;’ Jamie replied, ‘you be careful, too.’ She smiled at him and nodded.
He heard the Escort start up and pull away, then picked up the fishing tackle and his pack and walked out the back door. Once down on the beach he removed the tarp from the boat and tied it to the railing so it wouldn’t blow away. He put everything in the boat then pulled the trailer down to the water’s edge, where he unhitched the boat and slid it off the trailer into the water.
He waded in, pushing the boat out until it had enough depth to float, then jumped in and fitted the oars into the rowlocks. He felt a bit nervous as he had limited experience with boats of any kind. He grabbed the oars, bent forward and started rowing. Despite the sea being fairly calm, it was still hard work pulling against the surf and he made slow progress until he was a little way out and over the breaking waves. He could see the blue tarp tied to the railing easily, and he kept that in view as a point of reference in case he drifted too far.
He rowed until he was about fifty yards out, although from his perspective it seemed further than it actually was. He was nervous of going out too far and wondered if he should have an anchor of some sort to tether the boat in one spot. He thought he’d use a small lure first as he’d rather catch several small fish than use something that was too big and not get anything. He picked up the rod, fitted a lure and started casting out then reeling in, jigging it up and down. After five minutes he had forgotten his nervousness and was lost in the fishing. He used to do a lot of lure fishing for pike and perch as a teenager in lakes and rivers, and this was the same principle.
Every few minutes he would look up and note his position in relation to the blue tarp on the railings. After a while he could see that he was drifting slowly eastwards, although it wasn’t a problem. After about half an hour he’d drifted a fair way so he rowed back to roughly where he’d started. He was getting no takes so he changed lures several times over the next half-hour, but still had no luck. He decided to row out further and try again; it was difficult to judge the distance, but he guessed he was about a hundred yards out now.
He’d been out for nearly ninety minutes and was getting a bit despondent. He’d imagined hauling in lots of fish within half an hour! He was starting to ache as well as feeling chilly, despite the sun. He drank a mouthful of whisky from his hip flask, picked up the rod and carried on casting. Suddenly he felt a tug on the rod and struck to set the hooks. He could feel a fish fighting on the end of the line and he played it carefully, not wanting to lose it. It didn’t feel too heavy, so he wasn’t worried about the line snapping; it was probably 15lb line on the reel, or similar. He reeled it in and then netted it with a big grin on his face.
He wasn’t too well up on sea fish but thought it was a bass and it weighed probably two pounds at least: he bashed it on the gunwale and put it in a canvas bag. Within the next thirty minutes he caught another smaller one and also two good-sized mackerel that were both about half a pound. That was good enough for him for two hours so he decided to head home. He’d drifted eastwards again, so had to row back further. He made it back to the beach with aching arms and shoulders, jumped out and got the boat onto its trailer. He pulled it up the beach and tied it to the railing, removed the tackle, his pack and the fish bag, then secured the tarp over the top and went back to the house. On the way he picked some sea beet leaves and put them in his pack.
After Jane left, she drove along Westcourt Drive and under the railway bridge, turned around and parked underneath it. She got out and opened the rear door for Max, who climbed out carefully, still favouring his back legs slightly but full of beans. His tail was wagging furiously, as if he knew what they were there for. She climbed up the embankment through the bushes, looking back to check that Max was okay; he was following at his own pace and doing fine. She took some wire cutters from her pack and cut a section of fencing then peeled it back. She walked onto the railway track and a few seconds later Max joined her, panting a little.