Chapter Twenty-Four

Day Nine, Afternoon

The rank meat should catch the shark's attention. Once it came close and began eating, Kate would shoot multiple spears into its body. Her goal was to land at least one through the dorsal fin. There was a clip toward the end of the spear shaft that resembled a toggle bolt for a hollow wall. It worked the same way. If Kate could get the spear point through the meaty part of the dorsal fin, it would lock itself in place.

She'd never used a speargun before in her life. It had taken her longer than expected to figure out how the thing worked. Reloading would take time because, again, she wasn't familiar with spearguns. She also knew the cable wouldn't hold unless she hit the shark multiple times. An eye would be nice. And to top off all of this, Kate was firing a speargun out of the water. She had no idea what the ramifications would be. The trajectory could be off or it could be very dangerous for the person shooting it.

So many ifs.

"We'll do this from the starboard side," she told Ryan. "I won't be able to turn around, and I'll need your help. You will always stay in front of me. If we need to back up, you'll follow. If I move forward, you'll move first, understood?"

"Understood." Ryan's voice was firmer, and so was her head nod.

Kate thought of a way to secure what she needed so it was close at hand. The net would fit in her red backpack. She had Ryan empty the backpack's contents and add two bottles of water. Kate placed the pack in her lap and put the smelly bucket on top of it.

She was ready.

They moved to the deck, where the heat of the day was in full swing. Kate began setting up. She tied the spears to the 150-pound cable using wire she also found in the fishing container. She attached the end of the lines to the bottom T-brace that secured the guard rail to the starboard side of the boat leaving plenty of slack so the spear didn't pop back toward her if it missed. She rolled back, and Ryan handed her another spear. She attached the next line to a cleat, clipped the cable, and moved to the next T-brace. She was unsure what would hold the shark, so decided on a cleat and T-brace combination.

"Be sure to step over the wires so you don't get caught up in them," she told Ryan.

Kate attached five spears. Next, she took out the net and examined it. She may not have known much about spearguns or nets, but she knew this one was to catch bait fish. She needed the shark caught up in cable, rope, and netting for this to work.

Kate went through the mechanics of the speargun again to be sure she had it put together properly. Once she was satisfied, she moved to the hooks. She attached the wire cord to three of the four and dug her hand into the bucket and slid the rancid meat onto the hook.

"Uck," Ryan said.

Kate lifted her left hand, forming her fingers into bloody claws, and said, "Arrr."

"That's gross, Mom."

We were back to ‘Mom', and Kate's feeling that Ryan's mind needed to be occupied right now was correct. Her daughter wasn't thinking about her father; she was thinking about killing the shark. Kate finished the other two hooks. She still had the roast and a few pounds of meat.

"There's enough left to chum the waters. I need to tie the hooks off first."

"What about the big fishing poles under my bed?"

So, that's what Sam did with the poles. Kate didn't really want them on board because they opposed fishing, but the previous owners didn't have their understanding of what overfishing was doing to the oceans. She and Sam hadn't removed the rod holders, and now Kate could use them.

They went back into the cabin, and this time Ryan didn't complain about going to the lower deck with her. She excitedly pulled the two poles out from under her bed.

"We need the biggest one," Kate said.

Ryan slipped the smaller of the two back into place and carried the larger one up the stairs while Kate used the rope again to gain the upper level.

Once the pole was secured in the rod holder, Kate attached the hook.

She mentally reviewed her plan. She feared it wasn't enough. Without the anchor in place, the yacht was drifting. She had no idea how far they would be from the coordinates the cruise ship would have on them.

Her thoughts went to the anchor and chain, which made her heartbeat ramp up. It might be the only solution, and it terrified her. "It"s a last resort," she reminded herself.

The shark rhythmically hit the underside of the yacht, and the list was growing worse by the hour. The shark had a plan and it was systematically putting it into motion.

That was okay because Kate had a plan too.