freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 208
PETER LUCK
h i s face. “Sorry, Bill. D id I st a r t le yo u ? ” gr i n n e d Pe te . “ How
d i d you get down? I didn’t s e e a l ad d e r ro u n d t h e b a c k ,” as ke d
B i ll. “l’ve hidden it in the b us h e s away f ro m t h e ho u s e . Yo u
k n ow how it is in thi s day an d a g e, a l a dd e r u p agai n s t t h e
s i de of a house is an o pen i nv i ta t i o n to eve ry, c roo k aro u n d ,”
re plied Pete. “Yeah, bette r s afe t ha n s o rr y, I s u p p o s e ,” s a i d
B i ll, still shaking from the j um p Pe te h a d g ive n h im m i n u te s
e a rlier. “Shall we go then? I ’ve o n ly a n h o u r b re a k a n d I ’ m d u e
to finish the work by this eve n i n g,” s a i d Pe te . “ D oe s t h a t m ea n
we won’t be meeting again af te r to d ay ? ” B i l l as ke d . “ ’ Fra i d s o .
I ’ m off on another job afte r to d ay, s o i t’ l l b e g o o d bye a f te r yo u
h ave seen the lake,” Pete s ai d a s th ey wa lke d d ow n a s h a dy
p a th.
As they went along i n si le n c e, B i ll ’ s mi n d we n t b a ck to t h e
u n canny speed that Pete wa s a b le to g e t d ow n f ro m th e ro o f ,
p u t the ladder away and g e t ro u n d to t h e f ro n t o f th e h o u s e .
A f ter all, wasn’t the house fo u r s to reys hi gh so th e l a d d e r wo u l d
h ave to be quite large and cl u msy to re ac h to t h a t h e i gh t ? I n
fa ct even if it was one of th o s e al loy o n e s , i t wo ul d s t i l l b e
u nwieldy for one man to ma n ag e a l l o n h i s ow n ! “ T h ere ’s t h e
l a ke!” exclaimed Pete. Bill’ s m i n d le f t t h o s e t ro u b l e d t h o u gh t s
b e hind as he set eyes upo n th e mo st b e au t i f u l l a ke h e h a d s e e n
fo r many a year, nestling i n a mo n g s t th e t re e s l i ke a j e we l .
As he just stood there fo r a fe w m o me n t s t a k i n g i t a l l i n , a
g reat fish leapt out no t ten ya rd s i n f ro n t o f t h e m a n d s e e m ed
to hover, totally out of th e wa te r fo r ag e s b e fo re s h a tte ri n g
t h e tranquility of the po o l w i t h an al mi gh t y s p l a s h a s t h e
m i ghty fish re-entered its wa te r y d o m a i n . “Ch r i s t ! T h a t f i s h
m ust’ve been over thi rty-f ive at l ea s t !” Bi ll s h o u te d exc i te d ly.
“ l s that good then?” Pete a ske d n aive ly. “ l s t h a t g o o d ? I S T HAT
FREELINE 78
