Chapter 12

“What’s this stinky stuff?” J.T. mumbled, poking at the slice of Stilton with the plastic knife. There followed an impromptu lesson on cheese, during the course of which we put away nearly all of the food we’d packed in. The kid was game, I’ll give him that, trying a bit of everything. He made not a few grimaces and washed down a mouthful with a big swallow of the lemonade I’d brought. I had an extra gallon of that—I planned on wringing the boy dry after the beach cleared out a bit.

With that end in mind, I set about untying three sides of the tent, until we sat in a darkened cave facing the ocean. A sliver of moon rode high in the sky, and a couple of bright stars winked nearby. Far on the horizon, tiny lights marked what J.T. had assured me was a fleet of shrimp boats. They’d stay out all night and return to port at the break of day, hopefully with their holds brimming.