"Hey Jack! Did you check that bait?"
Jack Hansen looked up from where she was coiling a shot of line to throw into a pot. She brushed her auburn hair out of her face, eyes flashing with annoyance.
"For the hundredth time, yes Matt I checked the stupid bait!"
Matt pretended to be scared and whimpered pitifully.
"Oh, I'm sorry…"
Jack sneered and muttered something under her breath, but the smile that played across her face dispelled any hint of real anger.
"You remember what happened that one time though, right?" he asked.
Jack dropped the line on the deck in exasperation.
"Only because you've told me a hundred times!" she said, shooting him a glare, "Yes, I remember. We got bad bait, had to take it all back out and get new bait…it took hours, I know."
"What are you doing to my poor wife?" asked Edgar as he walked over and gave her a hug.
Matt sneered as he watched them murmur to each other and kiss.
"I hate newlyweds," he said with feigned annoyance.
While the young couple flirted and kissed, Matt raised his voice so everyone could hear him.
"Are you two gonna make out the entire trip?"
Norman and Jake came out from the galley. They laughed when they heard Matt and shot Edgar and Jack amused looks.
"So I wonder who the new greenhorn's gonna be?" asked Jake as he finished coiling Jack's abandoned line.
"I don't know," replied Norman, "All I know is that Sig was supposed to be here an hour ago. I thought he said we were in a hurry?"
"Yeah he called me yesterday and said to get here right away," agreed Jake, "And I hopped on a plane and rushed over here, and now he's the one who's late! Go figure! And he said something about hiring a new cook or something."
The rest of the crew looked at Jake with startled expressions.
"What are you talking about?" asked Edgar.
"Yeah, Sig didn't say anything to me about that," agreed Norman.
Jake shrugged, "I don't know but he didn't seem too terribly happy about it. He sounded almost regretful. I guess we'll find out soon enough."
The crew continued their preparations for the king crab season. Edgar and Norman worked on coiling new line while Jake, Matt, and Jack checked all the pots for holes or bend sections of metal.
"Who's that?" asked Matt after a while.
"Who's who?" asked Norman.
"Those people with Sig," he said, pointing down the dock, "Some lady and a kid are following Sig…he's too far away, can't make out who they are."
Edgar looked up and squinted, trying to see who it was. His face fell in shock as he watched them walk down the dock.
"Oh…my…"
"What? What is it?" asked Jack, turning to look.
She glanced at Norman. He had the same stunned expression on his face too.
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, "Why on earth…?"
"Well who is it?" asked Jake impatiently.
"You guys aren't going to believe this," said Edgar quietly, "But those people…that's Sig's family."
Jake, Jack, and Matt gaped in surprise.
"What?" exclaimed Matt, "You can't be serious?"
"Dead serious I'm afraid," muttered Norman, "Yep…it's them alright."
Everyone looked utterly dumbfounded.
Matt shook his head in disbelief as he shielded his eyes from the glaring sun.
"What did we do to deserve this?"
PLEASE REVIEW!!
Haha!! I just realized that means 5 Hansen's will be on the same boat, leaving poor Matt, Jake, and Jack…this is gonna be interesting!!
