A week later Clyde Hudson, the mine superintendent, called Frank into his office that overlooked a small corner of the lake.

"I hear your boys have been catching fish," he said.

Frank shrugged. "I hadn't noticed, but somebody must be catching them. We've had fish to eat the last few days."

"I've got a problem. A big problem." He lowered his voice, although there was no one in the next office. "You remember I told you about Angus McDonald and that airhead wife of his?"

"The biggest stockholder in the mine?"

"Right. They're out here for a holiday. He wants to have some good fishing."

"He's come to the right place."

"But that's only part of it. He doesn't know a thing about fishing."

Frank Yazzie frowned. "That could cause a problem."

"Plenty of problems. He's got the idea that he's the most important person around.  When he's happy, everybody's happy. When he isn't, heads begin to roll."

"What does that have to do with me, Mr. Hudson?"

Hudson tugged uneasily at his graying goatee. "He's here! He came the way I thought he would - bustling in as though he just bought the place just like I was afraid he would. He's got everybody trying to jump fifteen ways at the same time."

"Where are they staying? With you?"

"Oh, no. Our place isn't fancy enough for them. They're at the lodge just below our property line. He's only been there a short time and he's got everyone in an uproar. He didn't make reservations the way most people do. He phoned me from Saskatoon and told me to get a suite for him at the lodge. He came tooling into the place and started throwing his weight around."

Frank nodded. He had seen guys like that before. Most of the time he had been able to spot them soon enough to have as little to do with them as possible. But there were times when a guy was stuck, the way Hudson appeared to be.

..Thompson got in bad with him from the start. He had all of his guides assigned before McDonald showed up and he didn't have anyone to take him out on the lake, or guide for him, so Angus had to go out alone the last three days and didn't even get a strike."

"That's hard to believe. Fishing's been great."He pulled in a deep breath. "Most guys would have accidentally caught a few. What's his problem?"

"He's convinced himself that one of two things have happened. First, he is certain that either there aren't any fish in the lake, or someone who has something against him, has deliberately set out to keep him from catching anything."

"He sounds like a real nice guy. It makes me glad I'm not a guide."

Hudson chewed his lip, thoughtfully. "I was thinking about asking you to do me a big favor."

Frank winced. "You're not thinking what I'm afraid you're thinking, are you?"

"It would be a big help to me, Frank - and a big help to the mine. McDonald's a publisher back in Toronto - a real wheel, but everything he knows about the North, and especially the area around here, comes from the mine's reports and the lodge's brochure. He expected to have most of the fish in the lake lined up just off the dock at the lodge, fighting for a chance to get on his line. It hasn't been that way and he's not been a happy camper."

"How do you satisfy a dude like that?"

"Take him out on the lake, listen to him blow about how much money he's made, and help him catch lots of fish. Do those things and he'll think you're the smartest guy in Saskatchewan."

"I think I can get along without that. Besides, I've got to finish those reports you're going to need for the annual meeting. It's going to take me a few days to get them completed."

"Do you know of anyone I can get to guide for McDonald until you're free?"

Frank thought momentarily and shook his head. "No one that I think would do a good job."

The mine superintendent frowned. "You've got a couple of boys who do a lot of fishing, don't you?"

"As far as I know they catch fish every time they go out."

Hudson went to the coffee maker on the counter near the window and poured coffee for himself and Frank. "McDonald might be easier for the boys to please than someone who might lose his temper if Angus McDonald gives him a bad time."

"How do we know a guy like him would let a kid guide him?"

"I could tell him that you're an expert fisherman. You've taught the boys, and as soon as you are free, he can have the old master, himself"

"And if the boys and I don't catch enough fish for him, he's apt to blow his stack."

"I've thought about this all day," the mine superintendent said. "And this is the only thing I can come up with."

"We might be letting the boys in for some real trouble."

"If he gives Robert trouble, Robert is old enough to take it, isn't he?"

Yazzie nodded.

"We'll have Robert take him out. If he gives the boy a bad time, he'll just have to wait until you're free." "I'm sure there have been unhappy fishermen up here before."

"I'm not running a fishing lodge," Hudson said. "I'm running a mine. But, to be blunt with you, it's very important that we keep him happy."

"I'll talk to Robert. He loves to fish and knows a lot about it - probably as much as the average guide at Thompson's." Frank went back to his office thoughtfully. He was still staring into space when Robert and Louis phoned to see if they could take the boat and go fishing.

"I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say and do everything just the way I tell you. Go out and hit the best fishing spots you know, and be sure and take your camera."

"What are we supposed to take pictures of?"

"The fish you're going to catch. When you get a nice string, dock over at the resort and look for a tall skinny guy with gray hair and a funny mustache."

"What do we do after we find him?"

"Ask him to take a picture of you and Louis holding your fish."

"I thought you made fun of guys who took pictures of jacks."

"Listen to me, Robert. Whatever you do, when you talk to this character, don't call them jacks. They're northern pike. GREAT northern pike."

There was a short silence. "Dad, are you sure you feel all right?"

"Just do as I tell you."

"What then?"

"When Mr. McDonald sees your fish, I think he'll ask one of you to guide for him tomorrow. If he doesn't, call and tell me. I'll have to think of something else." When Robert hung up Louis turned to him.

"What was that all about?"

"There's something wrong with Dad."

"He quit drinking quite a while ago."

"It isn't that. He just acts funny." He told him what their dad had said. "I can't figure it out, but if that's what he wants, I guess we ought to try to do it."

They went out on the lake that morning and found the spot where they had fished a number of times before. In two or three hours they each had limit catches, including a couple that Robert guessed would weigh ten or twelve pounds.

"Now for the fun part," he said, starting the motor and heading for the resort.

"Do you think we'll have any trouble finding this guy?"

"I hope not. Dad seems to think it's awfully important for us to get him to ask us to take him fishing tomorrow."

As they nosed to the dock and Louis threw a double half hitch around one of the posts, Robert spotted Angus McDonald strolling toward them.

"Here comes our guy," he whispered. "Let me do most of the talking, but when I ask you a question, answer it. OK?"

By this time Angus McDonald had come up to where they docked.

"How's fishing?" he asked.

Robert shrugged. "OK, I guess."

"Is it all right if I look in your tub?"

"Sure. We've been wondering who we could get to take pictures of us and our fish.  Maybe you could do that, Mister."

"It's a deal. You tell me where you caught your fish and I'll take the pictures." He stared in amazement as they hung their fish on the rack Mr. Thompson had someone build for that purpose. "I've been fishing on this blasted lake for four days and all I've got to show for it is a sore arm and a short temper."

Robert pulled their biggest out of the barrel and held it up for Angus McDonald to see.  "You must've caught that baby in a net."

"No way. I got him on a Mepps spinner."

By this time several others were on the dock looking at the fish Robert and Louis brought in.

"How about guiding for me tomorrow?" someone behind Angus McDonald asked Robert. McDonald straightened quickly. "Sorry, Mister,' he blurted. "The boy is already hired.  When we finish these pictures, Robert, you and your brother and I will go in and have a can of pop. I want to talk to you."

Before they left the resort Robert had made arrangements to take Angus McDonald out fishing the following morning.

"You come along," he told Louis. "I'll find something for you to do, too."

McDonald was waiting on the dock at seven o'clock when Robert and Louis showed up. "I've had the cook fix us lunch," he said. "The gas tank's full and we're ready to go." He turned to Louis. "Do you mind if you don't go with us?"

"It's no big deal. I get plenty of chances to go fishing," Louis told him.

"My wife's a nut for taking pictures of flowers. Can you imagine that? I told her she could go fishing with us. but she doesn't want to. Imagine, a lake with such wonderful fishing and what does she want to do? Take some flower pictures. I can hardly believe it." "Where will I find her?" Louis asked.

"My wife? She isn't out of bed yet. Go in the store and get what you want and charge it to me. She'll be around after a while." With that he got into the boat. "What are we waiting for, Robert? Let's go!" He waved to Louis as Robert started the motor and they moved toward open water.

Verda McDonald came in from their room shortly after nine o'clock and had Louis sit with her while she had breakfast.

..I'm glad Angus hired your brother to guide for him. He was getting so grumpy he was hard to live with." She paused. "Some men are funny that way. If they don't get to do what they want to, when they want to, you'd think the world is coming to an end."

She ate for some time without saying anything. Then she looked up at Louis. "I always wanted a boy of my own," she said. "But Angus and I didn't have any children. That didn't bother him, but it did me." She pulled off one of her rings and toyed with it nervously. "I've always tried to imagine what it would be like to have a boy your age. You don't mind if I pretend you're my boy while you're guiding me? I'd be crushed if you did."

Louis said nothing, but he remembered something the mine superintendent had told his dad. He had called her an air-head. Louis wasn't just sure what he meant by that, but there was one thing sure. Verda McDonald was different than anyone he had ever met before.