Unshaken

Crawfishing

That next day he prepared to go to attack Bronte's Manor for that night. He was throwing his knives at a tree for practice when he saw Pearson sitting at that dock on the water by the run-down shack. Knowing the swamps were getting to Pearson's head, he went up to check on him. "Liam, you free?" Pearson asked to Liam's surprise. "Sure, old man." Liam joked. "Ahh, enough of that old man nonsense. I'm in the prime of my life." Pearson corrected him. "Oh, I'm sorry. How you getting on?" Liam asked. "Bored. You see that swamp, Liam? That is God's own pantry, and what are we eating? Venison? Come on, let's go gather some crawfish, see what else we can get." Pearson said. "And you're up to it?" Liam asked. "Yeah, finest eating there is." Pearson said. "I know. It's great." Liam said. "Not just crawfish..." Pearson went on. "No, there's monsters out there that'll eat a feller for fun." Liam said as Pearson climbed into the boat. "Oh, I thought you were from around here, Mr. Parker. Didn't think some reptiles would scare you." Pearson said.

"Even the locals around here know to watch out, Mr. Pearson." Liam said climbing into the boat. He grabbed the paddles and started rowing. "Head for those trees across from us and we'll take a look. On the starboard side." Pearson said. "The what?" Liam asked as he rowed into the swamps. "My right, your left. This is a boat, Liam." Pearson said. "Okay, whatever you say." Liam agreed. "Okay, go slow so I can see. My eyes aren't what they used to be. No, no, no. The ground's too shallow, keep following the shoreline." Pearson instructed. "What exactly are we looking for?" Liam asked. "We're looking for low ground and a lot of muck." Pearson said as Liam pulled into where they planned to hunt.

"There's more than crawfish in these waters." Liam warned as they climbed out into the swamp. "This is the place. Now tell me Liam, have you ever birthed a cow?" Pearson asked. "Yes." Liam replied, remembering back when he'd helped a neighbor in their stables years before, as he followed Pearson across the muddy terrain. "Well, it's nothing like that but it's equally as gruesome if you're squeamish." Pearson said. "I ain't no stranger to catching crawfish, Mr. Pearson." Liam reminded him. They walked up to a crawfish hole. Pearson got on his knees and stuck his arm in. "There!" Pearson yelled with excitement as he pulled the crawfish out of the hole. "Okay, let's go find another hole." Pearson said, searching for another one.

"So, how long were you in the navy?" Liam asked. "Oh, years. Well, it must've been a year, at least, or close to that." Pearson explained. "That's quite a range." Liam said. "All water under the bridge now... no pun intended." Pearson said as they approached the next hole. "Lemme try." Liam said as he stuck his hand in. He felt around for a moment until he felt one and pulled it out. "Crayfish are fun, aren't they?" Pearson asked. "Crawfish." Liam corrected. He grabbed another one out of the hole and Pearson grabbed others out of another hole.

"Won't be much of a gumbo if we don't find some more." Pearson said. "When you make it you let me know, I'll show you the tricks, old man." Liam said. "Very funny." Pearson said. He stopped suddenly in his tracks. "Get down, get down." He whispered and motioned. "Talking of other creatures, there." Pearson pointed to a group of alligators. "They're female. They must be guarding nests." Pearson said. "That means they got eggs. Good eating." Liam said. "You read my mind. I love cooking with 'em. Tell you what, I'm gonna sneak over to the other side of them, draw their attention and run like hell. Now assuming I don't get eaten, you go plunder the nests." Pearson proposed. "That's your plan? You're madder than I thought. Those things move fast." Liam warned. "I've done this before, in Sumatra. It's easy. Wait here." Pearson instructed as he quietly crept through the water. Liam crouched by a tree and held his breath as Pearson staked his position.

"Yeah, yeah! Come on! Yeah, yeehaw... come on!" Pearson yelled. Liam watched as the gators stood up and started to chase him. "Follow me you big dumb monsters!" Pearson yelled, scared as he ran towards the boat. Liam had forgotten how fast gators moved. He took off quietly through the swamp in search of their nests. He quickly found the first one finding three eggs. He placed them in his satchel as he found the other nest. He hurriedly gathered the eggs and crept around the trees avoiding the gators. He ran as fast as he could back to the boat.

"Come on, jump in." Pearson said as Liam jumped into the boat. Liam was out of breath, especially when he looked back to see an angry gator chasing him. He rowed the boat towards the dock. "Excellent, excellent! That's what I call teamwork." Pearson said. "I don't think I ever saw you move that fast." Liam said with a laugh. "People pay a lot of money for those eggs. I'm told there's a collector in Saint Denis who gives top dollar for them. For millinery, of all things." Pearson said. "Because who doesn't want a hat with an egg on it?" Liam asked. "Well, this has been very pleasant. Very pleasant indeed." Pearson said, Liam gave him a weird look. The boat rode up to the dock. "That was fun, I must get out more." Pearson said as Liam grabbed the dock, pulling himself out of the boat. "That's your idea of fun, is it?" Liam asked as he pulled Pearson out of the boat. Pearson thanked him. "Here, have some crawfish, and give me some of those eggs." Pearson told him, exchanging the two things. Liam grabbed some of the eggs out of his satchel. The slime that covered them made them slippery. Liam almost dropped them, barely catching them. He and Pearson let out a nervous laugh.

"Hey, maybe you could hatch that, get yourself a new friend." Liam told him. "There's a thought, a new reptilian best buddy, to replace Micah, I suppose." Pearson said causing Liam to bust out laughing.

He then saw Dutch calling for Bill, Lenny, John and him to get their guns ready to leave. He ran up to the house and slid his fringed shotgun chaps on for extra protection. He grabbed his repeater and climbed on his horse following Dutch and the rest of them.