潘清

Dad handed me the bucket and the net with a long， wooden handle. He gave Paulie two dead fish wrapped in newspaper. They were tied up with string like a present. I held my nose， but Paulie held those fish like they were his best baseball cards.

"Since we all want crabs for supper， catch a whole bunch1）. But just in case you don't， we have leftover broccoli2） casserole3），" Dad said with a wink.

The salty air from Chesapeake Bay filled our noses. This was the best place in the world to catch blue crabs4）. They like grassy， shadowy water， so Paulie and I headed for our old wooden dock. It was hot， and I sat down and swung5） my legs over the edge， into the cool water. Paulie struggled to tie the string to one of the slippery fish. Then he slid the extra fish into the bucket and set it in the dark water under the dock for later.

"Here." Paulie handed me the baited string. "Dangle6） this down in the water to call the crabs."

Crabs love smelly， old fish， so our first crab didn't take long to come. Its big claw clamped7） the bait， and I raised the string real slow so Paulie could net it. But my legs swishing8） in the water startled that crab， and it let go and floated back to the bottom like a leaf off a tree. Paulie brought up the net and stood there with the handle on the dock.

"Kathy， I can't believe you're going to be in third grade and can't sit still for one minute，" he said.

"And I can't believe you're going to be in sixth grade and haven't caught any crabs yet."

I went back to dangling the fish.

"Well， get ready，" he urged. "Here comes another one."

The sun was hot on our backs. My clothes were already sticking to me， and sweat dripped down our faces. A fly buzzed around my head. I remembered what Paulie had said and sat perfectly still as the new crab clamped onto the fish. But as Paulie scooted9） forward on his belly to lower the net， he knocked a pebble off the dock and scared that crab away， too.

"Damn！ I lost him."

"Crabs are scaredy-cats10），" I said， pulling up the line to check the bait. "This smells disgusting. How can they eat this？"

"I don't know. How can Mom and Dad eat broccoli casserole？ I really hate that stuff，" Paulie moaned.

"Me， too，" I said.

We thought about the big pot waiting and Dad dropping the crabs into the spicy11）， boiling water. They would turn a beautiful bright red after a few moments， and we'd have a crab feast， cracking the shells and pulling out the sweet， white meat. We had to keep trying. I smacked12） a mosquito off Paulie's arm and dangled the bait some more. We squinted13） past the sun's reflection on the water.

"Sit still now. Here comes another one，" said Paulie.

He inched14） the net into the water.

"Got him！" Paulie hauled15） up the net with the crab inside， but that crab was all claws and those mad pincers16） were waving all over the place！

"Look out！" I screamed， but the crab's big claw already had hold of Paulie's finger.

"Ow！ Ow！ Get him off！ Get him off！"

Paulie hopped around， shaking his hand up and down， swinging that crab all over the place.

I yelled， "Let go！" but the crab didn't seem to understand English. Finally， Paulie swung his arm in a giant arc， and the crab landed back in the water. Paulie's finger was all red and puffy17）. I could tell he was trying not to cry.

"What should we do now？" I asked.

We both thought about broccoli casserole.

"Keep trying，" said Paulie， putting his sore finger into the cold water.

But the harder we tried， the darker it got. When the sun began to set， we couldn't see into the water anymore. We heard Mom yell from the house， "Bring all you've got and come on in now."

Paulie let go of the string and wiped his hands clean on his shorts as the smelly bait sank to the bottom.

"Guess what's for supper，" I sighed.

"Broccoli， here we come，" Paulie groaned.

"Remember to get the bucket with the spare18） bait，" I reminded him， slumping19） along with the net dragging behind me.

Suddenly， Paulie grabbed my arm. "Listen，" he whispered.

Noises came from the bucket Paulie was carrying. We leaned in close， but it was too dark to see.

"What's all that scratching？" I asked. We ran through the sand to the light of the porch.

"Well， would you look at that？" exclaimed Paulie with a high-five20）. There， in the bucket， was a mountain of beautiful blue crabs fighting over our extra fish.

"Let's go！" I yelled.

We raced to give Dad the crabs.

"Whoa！" he said. "You caught a lot！"

"Great！" Mom said. "Well， I don't think that the leftover casserole will keep for another day ..." She started scraping21） the broccoli into the garbage disposal22）.

I looked at Paulie. "Yes！" we mouthed23） silently to each other with huge grins.

爸爸把水桶和一個长木柄渔网递给我。他给了保利两条用报纸包着的死鱼，像礼物一样拿带子绑在外面。我捂住鼻子，保利却捧着那两条鱼，仿佛它们是他最喜欢的棒球卡片一样。

“既然我们大家晚餐都想吃螃蟹，你们就去抓一大堆来吧。不过以防万一你们没抓着，咱们还可以吃剩下的西蓝花砂锅。”爸爸眨了眨眼说。

切萨皮克湾咸咸的海风灌满了我们的鼻子，这里是世界上最适宜抓蓝蟹的地方。蓝蟹喜欢长满水草的阴暗水域，所以保利和我朝我们家那个老旧的木码头走了过去。那天很热，我在码头边上坐了下来，两条腿伸进凉爽的水里晃来晃去。保利努力把其中一条滑溜溜的鱼拴在渔线上，然后把另外一条放进水桶里，把桶放在了码头下阴暗处的水中准备过会儿再用。

“喏。”保利把系好诱饵的渔线递给我，“把这个垂到水中，好吸引螃蟹。”

螃蟹喜欢臭烘烘的死鱼，所以我们的第一只螃蟹没过一会儿就来了。它的大钳子紧紧地夹着诱饵，我特别慢地提起渔线，好让保利能把它网住。可我的双腿在水里哗啦晃动让螃蟹受了惊，于是它松开诱饵，像一片树叶从树上飘落一般地漂回了水底。保利提起了渔网，握着网柄站在码头上。

“凯茜，我不敢相信你马上就要上三年级了还不能老老实实地坐上一分钟。”他说。

“我也不敢相信你就要上六年级了，到现在还没抓到过一只螃蟹。”

我回去继续把鱼垂在水中。

“好吧，准备好，”他催促道，“又来了一只。……