‘Some of them.’

‘Good pictures in the Fortnite.’

‘Thanks.’

‘The name’s Will by the way.’

Mark and Chris nodded. ‘Hi, Will.’

The old man studied Chris silently. The tall, thin English guy with the toothbrush hair seemed good for easy money. His type always seemed to have it. His boat, Mona Lisa, was booked in to Winston Macies Marine to have her refrigeration storage units overhauled soon for the first time in nearly ten years and that would take a week or more and cost a small fortune. He could really do with some extra greenbacks to cover that.

‘So?’ said Chris.

Will donned an expression of painful reluctance. ‘Well, now. On the subject of hirin’. The Lisa here is a fishin’ vessel see… shrimps, herring, some cod when we can find it. That’s what we catch round here. We go out in the mornin’ and return late. Sometimes we’ll stay out overnight. I can’t take you out tomorrow, because I got men who work on this boat for the share they get on the sale of the catch. So they can’t afford to miss a day’s work. If you want to hire this boat… it’s gonna have to be at night.’

Chris turned to Mark and spoke quietly. ‘At night, are we okay with that?’

‘No difference really. It’s virtually night seventy-five feet down anyway. The question is, are you going to be comfortable with doing that?’

Chris took a long look up and down the wharf. There really wasn’t a great deal of choice in the matter.

‘Sure. If you’re happy it’s okay and safe, I guess I am. You’re the pro here,’ he replied.

‘You sure you don’t want to look around? Maybe go find a proper chartering agency?’ asked Mark.

‘Hmmm, that’s going to cost a shit load more dosh.’

‘Yes. Your call, Chris.’

Will watched the two men talking quietly. He decided they needed a little extra nudge.

‘You’ll find it’s the same with any of the other workin’ boats in this area… ’cept I’m ready to sail.’