Simon shakes in his coat, the river chill settling into his bones. Boo and Jumbo are gone into the dark and the net continues to slip slowly from the tin tub. Ned casually straightens and untangles it as it flows under the skin of the river. Simon hears the river bending around the rocks and then catches the wisp of Boo’s chuckle and the fuzzy trajectory of their flashlights on the water. Simon jerks upright as a blue heron barks out at some other night creature or at its own feathered dream as it stands sleeping in the shallows upriver.

Simon relaxes and Ned laughs and shakes his head, though he comes alert at the sound, which breaks open the night like a shell.

They relax as the sounds seek each other out and climb back into place, climbing the darkness until the night takes on its shape again. Simon looks across the river as the net stops its travel from the tub and pulls tight against the lines around the tree. The flashlights lift up from the surface of the river and rip back and forth on the far bank. Simon hears Boo and Jumbo murmuring above the slip of the river. The line pulls tighter.

Suddenly Simon and Ned hear Boo yell.

“Shit!”

They crane their necks but can’t see anything.

They hear them talking again and the lights splay out on the bank. A branch snaps and Boo swears again, then laughs, so Ned and Simon ease down off their toes. Soon Simon can see Boo and Jumbo weaving out of the mist, feeling the strung net. Their breath comes out in wet puffs and they run their hands along the top line. They walk to the tree. Ned and Simon walk over as Boo slips the knots loose.

Ned and Simon hold onto the rope, leaning back over the river, the rope wrapped in their hands. The weight is incredible. The nylon rope slips on the tree bark and Ned and Simon pull back. Boo and Jumbo step into the water and grab the rope and pull it toward shore, slackening the line for Simon and Ned. Their arms are pulled straight and Simon feels the muscles between his shoulder blades stretching. He flexes his hands inside the coiled rope and grits his teeth. Jumbo does the same and smiles over at Simon.

“Heavy fuckin net, huh?”

Simon nods and pulls again, taking in another foot.

“That’s all we’re gonna get,” says Boo and he hurries to the tree and holds the rope next to the trunk so Simon and Jumbo can walk the end up and wrap it around and tie it off.