ANOTHER BIG FISH TALE FROM FINN
By mid morning it was clear that it was too rough for The Silver Herring to tour round The Snag. Edwin made sure the lines were secure and gave Bran a list of cleaning duties to keep him busy. He posted a sign out front saying that due to bad weather there would be no sailings today.
‘Was just such a day as this when Finn was out in a boat very like The Silver Herring. No, it was a darker day than this. The sky seemed to sit on the surface of the sea, pressing down on it. And the sea frothed and surged, creating troughs and rises. They would have sailed for the nearest harbour except that the nets were out and they needed bringing in first.’
Mad Martin was barefoot and sitting on the harbour wall. The wind was blowing his hair into his eyes and he was leaning forward to hear what Edwin was saying.
‘There were six men on board and a girl called Jess. The boat was one moment high as though it was flying and the next moment plunging downwards as though it might be aimed at the bottom of the sea. There was a long drawn out silence at the top of the rise, a held breath before the boat fell and the sea smacked against the hull like the single heavy beat of a drum. You could feel that drumbeat through the souls of your feet. Finn said it was the only way of telling which way was up and which way down, that drum under his boots.’
‘Say about the water, Finn. Say about how it was like they were under the sea sometimes.’
Mad Martin had heard the story before. Edwin nodded to him. Several others had gathered to listen in on the story. The woman Rose was there. She smiled at Mad Martin’s contribution to the tale. Kelso was there, too. He had some leaflets in one hand but he wasn’t about the business of handing them out today. At the end of the story he might put a few into the shops.
‘Water was everywhere,’ said Edwin. ‘Over their heads sometimes. Falling heavy on their backs, so that it was like they were under the sea not sailing on its surface.’
‘Under the sea, not sailing on its surface,’ repeated Mad Martin.
‘The crew was as sick as dogs. Sicker. All except Finn and the girl, Jess. They were struggling to draw in the nets. The winch was playing up so a lot of the work was being done by hand. Just the two of them. It was the only time Finn wished for their nets to be empty and not dragging them deeper in the water.’
‘Only they weren’t empty,’ said Mad Martin.
‘Only they weren’t empty. No. Finn said it would have been the best catch they’d ever landed, if they’d landed it. Which was saying something for Finn. Said that if they’d brought it in there’d have been free drinks for a week afterwards and he’d have married someone. Course, he was prone to exaggeration. Best story-teller I ever knew.’
‘You are the best story-teller, Finn. Sure you are.’
‘Broke his heart to cut that catch free and to let all that silver slip away from him. Got bigger and bigger with each telling. And Jess got more and more like a teenager, though she could arm-wrestle any man in The Ship on a Saturday night. Took Finn a while to see that he had more than silver in Jess, real gold he had in her, and then when he does see Finn set his nets to catch her. ‘Course she told the story differently. But they both agreed on one point. In the torn nets that they rescued that day, they found a chain caught, with a silver ring hanging on it. And with that ring they were eventually wed. She was a story-teller too was Jess.’
Edwin pulled a chain from out of his shirt and on it hung a silver ring. You were supposed to believe it was the one and the same chain and ring.
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