Caustic Cousins 2: The Cleaning Caper Part 3
As the wagon rattled out of sight of the Craiger's farmhouse, Crystal suddenly realized the enormity of the task she was given. It wasn't that she minded doing her parents' chores; that wasn't too terribly difficult. What mattered was that she was expected to teach Danielle how to clean the fish. How on Earth was she supposed to do this if her cousin was afraid to do so much as take a fish off the hook? Suddenly she got an idea, and turned to her cousin.
"Danielle, I'm going to let you do the dishes and floors while I do up these fish. All you have to do there is soap them up and rinse them. It's a lot easier and that way you won't have to touch them," she said with just a touch of a sneer.
"Oh no, Crystal!" Danielle said in the same sweet tone she used around her aunt and uncle. "I wouldn't DREAM of doing that. Just show me what to do and I'll do it with these.. fish."
Crystal looked at her cousin warily, but sighed, not really up for a fight, and definitely not have the time for one. "Fine," she relented grudgingly. If you'll go in the house and get a pan with some water in it and the long thin knife in the drawer by the stove, I'll meet you outside the barn." Without waiting for an answer Crystal grabbed the heavy stringer of fish and strode off.
Danielle rolled her eyes but followed the instructions. Crystal knew something was wrong but she didn't have the time nor wherewithal to address. Instead, she continued to make the preparations. She brushed off the make-shift table that they'd set up out there, which was really just a series of solid wooden blocks that reached just above Crystal's waist line. It was on the side of the barn opposite the window, unfortunately, and too heavy for the frail girl to lift to move it so she could keep a watchful eye on her cousin.
Shrugging it off, Crystal went to the well and drew up a bucket of water. She took it back and used it to rinse off the slightly dusty surface of the wood, then refilled it. By this time Danielle was coming back. She had a look of sheer determination on her face, which greatly surprise.. and worried.. Crystal.
"Ok, Danielle. Stand over on my right side so you can see this properly," Crystal instructed. With a sigh Danielle moved over to her cousin's right side.
"Now, would you please take that first fish off the stringer and hand it to me?" Crystal asked, wanting to see her cousin's reaction. It took all of Danielle's grit and determination, but she put her hand around the slimy creature and pulled the string through its gills. As quickly as she could she dropped it in front of Crystal, and quickly wiped her hand free of the slime. Her cousin rolled her eyes and took a firm grip on the crappie with her right hand.
With her left she picked up the filet knife, with the blunt side facing down. She struck the fish sharply across the head three times which made it shake violently at first, flicking a bit of its natural ooze on both girls. Crystal remained stoic while Danielle cringed, wiping a bit of the cool stuff off her cheek with the back of her hand.
A second later the fish had stilled considerably. "You do that to make them brain-dead," Crystal explained. "That way they aren't quite as jumpy when you are actually cutting into them."
With that she laid the fish on its right side. "The first thing you do is go down the fish's spine with the knife tip," she instructed as she performed the said act. As the first tiny bit of blood welled up Danielle began to blanche but she quickly kept it in check.
"Then you slide the blade in at the end of that cut, with the sharpened end point toward you and tilted downward a little, and you keep poking it until the knife point is all the way through. Then, with a gentle pulling motion you bring the knife toward you, getting the meat off the tail." Danielle was sure she was going to be sick with each 'squish' and sound that fish and knife made, but miraculously she was able to refrain from showing any signs of her current distress.
"The you make a diagonal cut from the gill up to the point of that first cut you made.. Then carefully scrape your way down along the spine and ribcage until you can tear through the skin." This done, the fish was left looking like a gory, bloody skeleton, and it took Danielle every bit of her resolve not to lose it right there and then. But keeping her eyes on the prize, she forced herself to keep watching.
"Finally you just peel the skin off with the knife like this," Crystal said as she demonstrated, "and finally put the piece of meat in the pan." Like she was passing off a prized sword she handed the knife to Danielle. "I believe it is your turn. Do the other side of the fish."
Swallowing the vomit that was rising in her throat, Danielle shakily made her way to the blocks. Following Crystal's instructions she hesitantly put the tip of her knife in the fish.
"No, you have to be a LITTLE firmer than that," said Crystal in an impatient tone. Now, more determined than ever to get the girl that was her "cousin," Danielle went at the fish with vigor. Working through the tears in her eyes and her churning insides she successfully managed to filet the other side of the fish.
Actually, Crystal was rather impressed, and now not so certain that her cousin was up to no good. "Good job, Danielle," she said finally. "Look, there's over fifty fish there because we're planning on having a get-together with the Martins this weekend. It's going to take a long time to get all of those fish cleaned. If the boxes get too bloody and stuff just rinse them off with the bucket of water.. You can always get more at the well. I'll be inside the barn cleaning out all the stalls and all that stuff first. I'll be there a good three hours, so you'll know where to find me if you need help."
Danielle smiled angelically. "I will if necessary, but I really don't anticipate a problem." Crystal smiled and headed for the barn entrance, never turning back. Oh, how she wished she had!
Outside, Danielle was picking up the bloody carcass of the fish and the two slices of meat from the pan. Holding them gingerly she ran to the edge of the hill the Craiger's on which the Craiger's farm was situated. With a broad grin she tossed them down the incline, knowing that before too long the wildlife would have them consumed.
She then ran back to the boxes and pulled out the strong-smelling bar of lye soap she grabbed from her aunt's large stash in the cupboard. Hardly able to contain herself she washed the filet knife and raced back to the house. She found a towel which she used to dry the dripping instrument, which she promptly put back exactly how she had found it.
Danielle quickly returned to the blocks, off of which she immediately rinsed the blood and scales with the water from the pan and Crystal's bucket. It suddenly dawned on her that she was out of water, and that she was going to need quite a lot before she was through. She ran the few feet over to the well with the bucket, filled it, and returned. This done, she gave an evil grin. NOW she could start to have fun. It would mean touching those slimy, filthy, horrendous creatures, but it was totally worth it.
She grabbed hold of the first fish and pulled it off the stringer. With a big, dopey grin she poured some water on the soap, lathered it up until her hands were full of suds and briskly went at the fish until it was just covered in bubbles. She rinsed it off carefully, making sure to leave just one or two bubbles on the gleaming scales. She tossed it into the large pan, reached for the next fish, and proceeded to do the same to it.
She had gotten through a good three-quarters of the fish when the wagon finally was rumbling into the clearing. The heavy smoke in the distance was now just but wisps, so Danielle presumed that the town had gotten the fire under control. But she knew that that fire was not to be the only fire of the day.
Julia was the first off the wagon, and she smiled and waved at her niece who was still hard at work cleaning the fish. She ran in her direction, to see how she was doing with the labor. Meanwhile, James made his way to the barn to check on Crystal.
He went in, covered in soot, but overall glad that with the town's help no one had been injured and the fire had done considerably little damage. When he spotted his daughter in the far stall, he strode purposefully to her.
"Hey, baby! How's it goin'?" he asked kindly.
"Oh, hi Pa! Just fine.. Almost done with the barn chores."
James beamed, glad to have such a understanding daughter. "How about your cousin?" he asked. "She get her job all right?"
"Surprisingly enough, yeah. I even gave her the option of doing house chores instead but she wouldn't hear of it. And she was actually a natural, Pa! She filleted the more difficult side of the fish perfectly after watching me do just one, so I left her. I told her where to find me.."
Suddenly Crystal was cut off by hysterical laughter coming from outside the barn. So hysterical, was it, that James feared something was wrong. He raced outside.
"Julia! What is it? What's.."
And then he saw it: the soaped up bass in his niece's hands, a confused look on her face, and his wife, standing there, holding onto herself and laughing as hard as she could. Anger welled up inside of him.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" He said, just barely managing to keep himself from yelling. By this time Crystal had made it too, and was just standing in horror at the mess before her.
"Uncle James? Is something wrong?" Danielle asked sweetly.
"You.. You were supposed to clean the fish, Danielle, so we could EAT them. Like Crystal showed you," James responded tensely.
Danielle screwed up her face. "Crystal didn't show me anything at all, Uncle James. She just ran off, and all I could make out were the words 'soap' and 'rinse.' So I did it. Wasn't I RIGHT Uncle James?" she asked, sounding thoroughly perplexed.
Crystal couldn't believe her ears. "You LIAR!" She screamed, wanting so badly to slap her cousin but knowing far better than that. "What happened to the fish we did together? You did it perfectly you little.."
"CRYSTAL!" Her father boomed, making her stop in her tracks. "DON'T YOU DARE PUT THIS ON YOUR COUSIN. Is this some sick idea of a joke, young lady? You knew we were going to have a fish fry. Now what are we going to feed our friends? I can tell you one thing, little lady. They can have your portion."
"But Pa.."
"Don't argue with your father, Crystal," Julia interjected, her voice dripping with venom. "I've absolutely HAD it with you shirking your duties around here, and I know he has too. What's more, I will NOT stand to have a daughter of mine out to get her own flesh and blood just so she won't get punished. I'm ashamed, Crystal. Hurt and ashamed. Go to your room. NOW. Your pa will salvage what is left of the fish."
Sobbing harder than she ever would have thought possible she ran out of the yard and up to her room. Kicking her boots off, not really caring that they left a slight scuff mark on the wallpaper, she curled up in HER bed and cried. Cried for the injustice of everything that had happened.. Cried for her parents believing her cousin over her.. And cried for the punishment she just knew would be forthcoming.
As the wagon rattled out of sight of the Craiger's farmhouse, Crystal suddenly realized the enormity of the task she was given. It wasn't that she minded doing her parents' chores; that wasn't too terribly difficult. What mattered was that she was expected to teach Danielle how to clean the fish. How on Earth was she supposed to do this if her cousin was afraid to do so much as take a fish off the hook? Suddenly she got an idea, and turned to her cousin.
"Danielle, I'm going to let you do the dishes and floors while I do up these fish. All you have to do there is soap them up and rinse them. It's a lot easier and that way you won't have to touch them," she said with just a touch of a sneer.
"Oh no, Crystal!" Danielle said in the same sweet tone she used around her aunt and uncle. "I wouldn't DREAM of doing that. Just show me what to do and I'll do it with these.. fish."
Crystal looked at her cousin warily, but sighed, not really up for a fight, and definitely not have the time for one. "Fine," she relented grudgingly. If you'll go in the house and get a pan with some water in it and the long thin knife in the drawer by the stove, I'll meet you outside the barn." Without waiting for an answer Crystal grabbed the heavy stringer of fish and strode off.
Danielle rolled her eyes but followed the instructions. Crystal knew something was wrong but she didn't have the time nor wherewithal to address. Instead, she continued to make the preparations. She brushed off the make-shift table that they'd set up out there, which was really just a series of solid wooden blocks that reached just above Crystal's waist line. It was on the side of the barn opposite the window, unfortunately, and too heavy for the frail girl to lift to move it so she could keep a watchful eye on her cousin.
Shrugging it off, Crystal went to the well and drew up a bucket of water. She took it back and used it to rinse off the slightly dusty surface of the wood, then refilled it. By this time Danielle was coming back. She had a look of sheer determination on her face, which greatly surprise.. and worried.. Crystal.
"Ok, Danielle. Stand over on my right side so you can see this properly," Crystal instructed. With a sigh Danielle moved over to her cousin's right side.
"Now, would you please take that first fish off the stringer and hand it to me?" Crystal asked, wanting to see her cousin's reaction. It took all of Danielle's grit and determination, but she put her hand around the slimy creature and pulled the string through its gills. As quickly as she could she dropped it in front of Crystal, and quickly wiped her hand free of the slime. Her cousin rolled her eyes and took a firm grip on the crappie with her right hand.
With her left she picked up the filet knife, with the blunt side facing down. She struck the fish sharply across the head three times which made it shake violently at first, flicking a bit of its natural ooze on both girls. Crystal remained stoic while Danielle cringed, wiping a bit of the cool stuff off her cheek with the back of her hand.
A second later the fish had stilled considerably. "You do that to make them brain-dead," Crystal explained. "That way they aren't quite as jumpy when you are actually cutting into them."
With that she laid the fish on its right side. "The first thing you do is go down the fish's spine with the knife tip," she instructed as she performed the said act. As the first tiny bit of blood welled up Danielle began to blanche but she quickly kept it in check.
"Then you slide the blade in at the end of that cut, with the sharpened end point toward you and tilted downward a little, and you keep poking it until the knife point is all the way through. Then, with a gentle pulling motion you bring the knife toward you, getting the meat off the tail." Danielle was sure she was going to be sick with each 'squish' and sound that fish and knife made, but miraculously she was able to refrain from showing any signs of her current distress.
"The you make a diagonal cut from the gill up to the point of that first cut you made.. Then carefully scrape your way down along the spine and ribcage until you can tear through the skin." This done, the fish was left looking like a gory, bloody skeleton, and it took Danielle every bit of her resolve not to lose it right there and then. But keeping her eyes on the prize, she forced herself to keep watching.
"Finally you just peel the skin off with the knife like this," Crystal said as she demonstrated, "and finally put the piece of meat in the pan." Like she was passing off a prized sword she handed the knife to Danielle. "I believe it is your turn. Do the other side of the fish."
Swallowing the vomit that was rising in her throat, Danielle shakily made her way to the blocks. Following Crystal's instructions she hesitantly put the tip of her knife in the fish.
"No, you have to be a LITTLE firmer than that," said Crystal in an impatient tone. Now, more determined than ever to get the girl that was her "cousin," Danielle went at the fish with vigor. Working through the tears in her eyes and her churning insides she successfully managed to filet the other side of the fish.
Actually, Crystal was rather impressed, and now not so certain that her cousin was up to no good. "Good job, Danielle," she said finally. "Look, there's over fifty fish there because we're planning on having a get-together with the Martins this weekend. It's going to take a long time to get all of those fish cleaned. If the boxes get too bloody and stuff just rinse them off with the bucket of water.. You can always get more at the well. I'll be inside the barn cleaning out all the stalls and all that stuff first. I'll be there a good three hours, so you'll know where to find me if you need help."
Danielle smiled angelically. "I will if necessary, but I really don't anticipate a problem." Crystal smiled and headed for the barn entrance, never turning back. Oh, how she wished she had!
Outside, Danielle was picking up the bloody carcass of the fish and the two slices of meat from the pan. Holding them gingerly she ran to the edge of the hill the Craiger's on which the Craiger's farm was situated. With a broad grin she tossed them down the incline, knowing that before too long the wildlife would have them consumed.
She then ran back to the boxes and pulled out the strong-smelling bar of lye soap she grabbed from her aunt's large stash in the cupboard. Hardly able to contain herself she washed the filet knife and raced back to the house. She found a towel which she used to dry the dripping instrument, which she promptly put back exactly how she had found it.
Danielle quickly returned to the blocks, off of which she immediately rinsed the blood and scales with the water from the pan and Crystal's bucket. It suddenly dawned on her that she was out of water, and that she was going to need quite a lot before she was through. She ran the few feet over to the well with the bucket, filled it, and returned. This done, she gave an evil grin. NOW she could start to have fun. It would mean touching those slimy, filthy, horrendous creatures, but it was totally worth it.
She grabbed hold of the first fish and pulled it off the stringer. With a big, dopey grin she poured some water on the soap, lathered it up until her hands were full of suds and briskly went at the fish until it was just covered in bubbles. She rinsed it off carefully, making sure to leave just one or two bubbles on the gleaming scales. She tossed it into the large pan, reached for the next fish, and proceeded to do the same to it.
She had gotten through a good three-quarters of the fish when the wagon finally was rumbling into the clearing. The heavy smoke in the distance was now just but wisps, so Danielle presumed that the town had gotten the fire under control. But she knew that that fire was not to be the only fire of the day.
Julia was the first off the wagon, and she smiled and waved at her niece who was still hard at work cleaning the fish. She ran in her direction, to see how she was doing with the labor. Meanwhile, James made his way to the barn to check on Crystal.
He went in, covered in soot, but overall glad that with the town's help no one had been injured and the fire had done considerably little damage. When he spotted his daughter in the far stall, he strode purposefully to her.
"Hey, baby! How's it goin'?" he asked kindly.
"Oh, hi Pa! Just fine.. Almost done with the barn chores."
James beamed, glad to have such a understanding daughter. "How about your cousin?" he asked. "She get her job all right?"
"Surprisingly enough, yeah. I even gave her the option of doing house chores instead but she wouldn't hear of it. And she was actually a natural, Pa! She filleted the more difficult side of the fish perfectly after watching me do just one, so I left her. I told her where to find me.."
Suddenly Crystal was cut off by hysterical laughter coming from outside the barn. So hysterical, was it, that James feared something was wrong. He raced outside.
"Julia! What is it? What's.."
And then he saw it: the soaped up bass in his niece's hands, a confused look on her face, and his wife, standing there, holding onto herself and laughing as hard as she could. Anger welled up inside of him.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" He said, just barely managing to keep himself from yelling. By this time Crystal had made it too, and was just standing in horror at the mess before her.
"Uncle James? Is something wrong?" Danielle asked sweetly.
"You.. You were supposed to clean the fish, Danielle, so we could EAT them. Like Crystal showed you," James responded tensely.
Danielle screwed up her face. "Crystal didn't show me anything at all, Uncle James. She just ran off, and all I could make out were the words 'soap' and 'rinse.' So I did it. Wasn't I RIGHT Uncle James?" she asked, sounding thoroughly perplexed.
Crystal couldn't believe her ears. "You LIAR!" She screamed, wanting so badly to slap her cousin but knowing far better than that. "What happened to the fish we did together? You did it perfectly you little.."
"CRYSTAL!" Her father boomed, making her stop in her tracks. "DON'T YOU DARE PUT THIS ON YOUR COUSIN. Is this some sick idea of a joke, young lady? You knew we were going to have a fish fry. Now what are we going to feed our friends? I can tell you one thing, little lady. They can have your portion."
"But Pa.."
"Don't argue with your father, Crystal," Julia interjected, her voice dripping with venom. "I've absolutely HAD it with you shirking your duties around here, and I know he has too. What's more, I will NOT stand to have a daughter of mine out to get her own flesh and blood just so she won't get punished. I'm ashamed, Crystal. Hurt and ashamed. Go to your room. NOW. Your pa will salvage what is left of the fish."
Sobbing harder than she ever would have thought possible she ran out of the yard and up to her room. Kicking her boots off, not really caring that they left a slight scuff mark on the wallpaper, she curled up in HER bed and cried. Cried for the injustice of everything that had happened.. Cried for her parents believing her cousin over her.. And cried for the punishment she just knew would be forthcoming.