A/N: A drake is a male duck.

Chapter 2

Dave gently shut off the alarm on his cell phone and pulled the covers off him and sat on the side of the bed. He rubbed his hand over his face and moved to the bathroom, pulling the covers up first as Aaron stirred a bit and then softly snored again.

He had put his hunting clothes in the bathroom the night before so he wouldn't wake Aaron and quietly dressed. He shut the light off and silently moved to the hallway. He quietly moved into Jack's room, pulled the blanket up around his neck and woke up Mudg. He jumped off the bed and followed Dave down the steps to the kitchen. Dave let him out the door, started the coffee pot and put some food in Mudg's dish.

As the coffee brewed, Dave toasted a bagel, opening the fridge pulling out the cream cheese along with the half and half for his coffee. Mudg softly barked at the door. Dave let him back in and he made a beeline to the laundry room and ate his breakfast. Dave enjoyed his breakfast, pouring the rest of the coffee into a thermos. After adding more of the creamer to the brown elixir that would go with him, he put the container in the fridge along with the cream cheese and grabbed the brown bag holding his lunch.

Dave used the bathroom and then walked into the laundry room, pulling his hunting jacket and waterproof bib overalls out of the closet, setting the jacket on the washer. He tugged the overalls on, getting them hooked over his shoulders and pulled on his lined hunting boots. He sat down on a chair at the nook table and laced them up for the chill of the morning. Mudg was waiting for him as he pulled his coat on and then grabbed his shooting vest and put it over the top of his jacket.

He quietly walked into the den, twisted in the combination to the gun safe and pulled the door open, pulling out his shot gun in its carrying case. He leaned the gun against the side and pulled down a box of shells, loading the box in his pocket, while reaching to shut the door and he re-locked the safe.

Walking back into the kitchen with his rifle, Dave grabbed his thermos, lunch bag and the small sets of keys to get back into the home. He set the security alarm to the one minute pause, opened the door and he and Mudgie headed out. Dave stopped and re-locked the deadbolt on the kitchen door and they headed towards the lake.

After taking his "morning constitutional", Mudgie walked alongside him and they approached the dock where the duck hunting boat, completely outfitted to be a floating duck blind, was tied up, waiting for them. Mudg jumped in and Dave loaded in the rifle, thermos and lunch bag to their assigned spots. He untied the back and put the rope into the boat. He walked to the front, loosened that rope, yet hanging onto it as he walked the dock to the middle of the boat and stepped in. He pushed the boat back and away from the dock and moved to the seat with the steering wheel and small dashboard in front of it. Dave inserted the key for the motor and turned it over. The engine started and Dave slowly backed the boat away from the dock flipping the running lights on as the eastern horizon showed a sliver of sunlight.

Dave gently guided the boat to his favorite hunting spot about fifteen minutes away. He approached a small bay after going around a point of the lake shore that jaunted out into the water. He stopped the boat and let it float as he moved to the front and opened the box holding the decoys. Using the trolling motor on the front, he placed the twelve decoys along a bed of reeds rising out of the water. He moved the boat into position behind the reeds, anchoring it still, as the sun slowly started to rise.

Dave pulled Mudg's K9 life vest from the decoy locker and got it around the dog. He removed the shotgun out of its case and loaded two shells, closing the shotgun and making sure the safety was still on. He laid it next him, the stock on the floor of the boat with the barrel resting along his leg. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his duck call. Mudg wagged his tail in anxious approval. "Ready to do this boy," Dave softly asked pulling his shotgun into a relaxed ready position. Mudg answered with a small, nearly inaudible bark, wagging his tail as he moved to the spot that he would jump into the water from.

Just then, a very small flock of ducks flew by. Mudg stood up on his spot ready to jump into the water. "Easy Mudg; they're all hens," Dave whispered. He quacked a bit on the duck call. A new flock moved by with a big drake in the back. Dave slipped the safety, aimed and fired. The second shot brought the bird down. Mudg intently scanned the water watching for the bird to hit the surface of the shimmering lake. The second the drake hit the water, Mudg was off.

"Go get 'em boy," Dave said. Mudg swan through the reeds and spotted the bird. He gently took the bird in his mouth and turned to swim back to the boat. "Come Mudg," Dave softly commanded. Mudg swan towards the boat. "Atta boy," Dave encouraged.

Mudg expertly swam back, avoiding the decoys and through the stand of reeds. As he approached the boat, he went to the back side by the motor. The boat featured a foot wide drop ramp, like the amphibious ships of World War II that Mudg could walk up to get back in the boat.

"Atta boy," Dave said as he approached the ramp. "Get in here." Mudg came in and gently dropped the duck at Dave's feet shaking the water out of his fur. "Good boy," Dave smiled, giving him a good rub along the neck. Mudg moved back into position as Dave put the duck in the insulated side panel that would keep the dead bird cold, admiring the coloring and size.

He smiled at Mudg. "Let's get back at it boy." Mudg heartily wagged his tail in acceptance. The trained duck retriever knew better than to bark. He jumped back up on his "launch" position and sat down, waiting for his master to take the next shot.

An hour later, Dave had three large ducks in the storage panel. Dave poured some water for Mudg from the gallon container he had put on the boat yesterday afternoon into a bowl that he had on the deck and poured himself a cup of coffee. They both relaxed and enjoyed a break.

Twenty minutes later, Aaron rolled over on his back in the king size bed. He had heard Dave get up but fell back to sleep. As he lay there, with the sunshine coming in the windows, he heard two shotgun blasts. From the direction of the shots and the distance, he guessed that his partner and lover had bagged a duck and he smiled.

As he started to softly fall back to sleep, waiting for Jack to sleepily rumble into bed with him, his cell phone rang on his bedstand. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID. He shook his head. This isn't right.

"Dave, what's the matter," he answered.

"Aaron, I need help," Dave said breathlessly. "Meet me at the dock. Hurry Aaron," he heard Dave say, trying to take a breath. "I'm just about," Dave said, sucking in another breath, "around the point." He raggedly breathed again. "I need help."

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