by Bill Crider
Maybe not, but I was just glad that even if I hadn't found Harry until his friends decided it was safe for him to come out, I'd at least gotten in the way of everyone else who was after him, and in doing so maybe I'd kept him alive. It didn't make up for not finding Jan until it was too late, but it helped.
"Thanks," I told Sally. "I'm glad you think I did something right."
"I'm the one who should thank you," she said. "You make me feel almost young."
Hearing that cheered me up almost as much as finding Harry had.
Dino was next.
"How much to I owe you?" he asked, taking the sack of Big Red that I handed him.
"Whatever you gave me to begin with was enough," I said. "You want to go see Johnny Bates this afternoon?"
"Johnny Bates? I haven't thought of him in a long time. What's he got to do with this?"
"He helped me out on a few things. Put some of that Big Red on ice and I'll tell you all about it."
"Yeah. I'll do that. And maybe I'll even go see Johnny with you."
He turned to go to the kitchen, but I stopped him. "Do you have a fishing rod?" I asked.
"Never owned one in my life," he said.
"That's all right. I have three or four. You can borrow one."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because after we go by Johnny's place, we're going fishing."
Dino looked hesitant. "I don't know about that."
"You'll love it," I assured him. "We'll stop by Jody's and buy some shrimp. We can get some salt pork, too."
"Salt pork?"
"If the fish aren't biting, we'll tie some bacon on a string and go crabbing."
Dino smiled. "I haven't been crabbing since I was a kid."
"It's about time, then," I said.
"Yeah," Dino said. "I guess it is."
