Fisherman's Luck

A Fisherman's Most Important Possession (II)

"Yo yo yo!' said Oren Tao, floating by on what looked like a broken door.

"Hello!" River said eagerly, bouncing back and forth on her feet. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Luc wrinkled his nose. He could already smell the scent of Yao Grass on Oren. He had to try to preserve River's innocence as long as possible. And that meant getting rid of Oren Tao as quickly as possible.

"Oren!" Luc said, faking a laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"Just lookin' for some grub," said Oren, chuckling. "Dunno how long I've been here, but I reckon it's been quite a while! Ha!"

Just talking to this guy brought a foul taste to Luc's mouth. "Well we have to take off," said Luc. "Looking for something important down here."

"Oh really?" Oren asked, pulling out a pipe from his pocket. "What are y'all lookin' for?"

"A kid," said River before Luc could stop her. "An old man's grandson!"

"Frick," Luc muttered under his breath.

"Oh really!" said Oren. "Well I think I've seen the kid you're looking for. You're in luck, Luckless. Heh. Y'know, because you normally don't have luck...and now you do..."

Luc noticed that there were rocky spikes in the cove sharp enough to impale himself on. Unfortunately, they were all hanging from the ceiling.

"Well come on aboard," said Oren. "It's been a while since I've had company! Heh."

"Onto that thing?" Luc asked, eyes bulging incredulously. "That's a door!"

"It's a boat," said Oren. He pulled off his spectacles and wiped them with his dirt stained shirt. Then he put them on and gave a start, nearly tipping the door frame over. "Oh boy! I messed up! I'll be back in a shimmy."

"What an interesting gentleman," said River to Luc.

"He's not a gentleman," said Luc. "He's a bum."

"What does that mean?" River asked.

"Just remember: don't do drugs," said Luc. "You'll see. He'll come back sitting on that exact same door, believing that it's a boat."

"Hallelujah!" Oren announced, drifting back around a mound of trash seated in a small wooden boat.

"Holy frick!" Luc shouted. "Get me in this!"

River gave Luc a sideways glance.

Luc's mouth split open in a sinister smile. This was great. He didn't even have to go look for that good for nothing little kid. All he had to do was take out Oren Tao and the boat was his. Easy peasy.

"Come on in!" said Oren, taking a puff from his pipe.

Luc bent over, muscles primed to leap forward. He just had to angle himself correctly. There was one target in the boat, which should be easy enough to take out.

"Yay!" River said, skipping from the stony ledge Luc was standing on and into the boat.

Luc resisted the urge to curse explosively. He should've known. With his luck, there was no way this situation was going to be easy. But if he remained patient, he believed that he still had to ability to carry out the plan.