Part Two: Gone Fishing

The next afternoon at exactly 4:13 Fin sat down on the bank of the Harpeth with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was one of those cheery days when the sun is out and the sounds of crickets and birds and wind in the trees make it feel like summer instead of February. Fin wasn't sure but she felt there might be magic in the air.

It wasn't until Fin sat chewing her last bite of sandwich that she began to worry that Thomas would not come. She had never made plans with a friend before and did not know that her promptness was unusual. However, her worries soon ended when she heard a whistling tune and turned to see Thomas' shock of blond curly hair covered in a straw hat. He was carrying an armful of wire hangers and a brown paper grocery bag. Fin ran to help him.

"What's all this?" Fin asked.

"If we're going to catch a fish, we have to have poles. That's what the hangers are for. And if we're going to use fishing poles, we have to have bait and that's what's in the bag." Thomas said. Fin watched as he unpacked items one by one.

- a ball of string
- worms in a jar
- a handful of jelly beans
- a bag of Cheetos


"Why're you wearing that silly looking hat?" Fin asked rather grumpily. All this time she had been looking for a sign of her watch and began to wonder if he had lost it. If a friend was someone who was going to be late and lose your stuff, Fin wasn't sure she wanted one.

Thomas was now busy straitening the wire hangers and didn't notice that Fin was angry. "Hasn't your mom ever read the Tom Sawyer book to you? He always wore a straw hat when he fished."

Fin's mother always made up her own stories at bedtime and until this moment, Fin had not found it strange. She sat down with her back to him and felt like crying.

"Here, I brought one for you too," he said, tossing both a hat and her watch into her lap. This was the first present Fin had ever received and so she put it on solemnly and forgot every bad thing she had just thought about Thomas Chickering.

They tied one end of the string to the unbent hangers and then tied worms to the other end. Once they had plopped them into the river, they sat on the bank with their arms on their knees.

After a good long while of watching the worms bob along in the current, Thomas turned to Fin and said, "Maybe we should try the jelly beans. A talking fish might want something sweeter."

Fin who had been listening to the birds and the crickets and the wind again, had actually forgotten about the fish altogether. But she quickly pulled in her string and helped him tie the slippery beans to the end.

They settled down once more with the bag of Cheetos between them and waited and waited and waited...

As the setting sun began to turn the sky the same orange-y color as their fingertips, Fin said, "Maybe he was just passing through?" She felt bad for Thomas who looked very sad that he hadn't caught his fish and was bending his hanger into a mean-looking knot.

"Maybe we could try again tomorrow?" She said, hopefully. But Thomas did not answer. He was jamming everything back in the bag, even his straw hat.

"I can't tomorrow." And without another word, Thomas marched into the fading sun, leaving Fin alone with her new hat and wet hanger.

It was the second time today that she felt like crying. Now that it was getting darker, the noises of the crickets and the birds and the breeze was starting to sound scary. As Fin slowly got to her feet, she heard a splash....then another like a hand slapping water.

Ker-splash, ker-splash, ker-splash.

Fin tip-toed to the edge of the bank and peered into the darkening river.

At first the water was as flat and still as a lake, and then...ker-splash! A shimmering silver fish jumped out of the water in a beautiful arch before diving beneath the smooth surface.

"Wait!" Fin shouted, afraid that the magical fish would leave again. A silver head appeared down stream.

"Ellar the fish, at your service, madam."

"Y...you do talk." Fin stuttered and then fell into silence.

"The polite response would be to introduce yourself, young lady." Ellar replied.

"Oh, sorry. My name's Findley Swain. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She couldn't be sure but she thought she saw a tiny fin wave in her direction. "Unfortunately, darkness has caught us and I must go. Shall we say tomorrow, 4:13?"

"Wait! But why didn't you come earlier? We've been waiting all afternoon." Fin said, wishing Thomas could see this.

"Young lady, when you want to catch a fish for dinner, use a pole. When you want to catch a fish for conversation, use your manners. We like an invitation, you know." And with that he turned tail and swam off, mumbling something that sounded like, "No manners...no manners at all."

And so as Fin walked home that night at 5:47, she thought about her first lesson in dealing with talking animals: treat them like your friends, not your food.