"For your opinion, at least," she said, glancing at their catch. "I suspect it'll be all right once it's been boiled. It would behoove us to put some spices in the water too, at least to ensure they're not going to stink so much." And they'd be properly cleaned before they were put in any pots. If any of that bait followed them while they were cooking, no one would eat well. "They weren't sitting down there long enough to be a problem. Had we been fishing for over a day, that might have given us some complications."

She leaned back and looked up at the sky, trying once more to gauge what time it might be. In either case, he was right that they should have to go back earlier to avoid the larger boats in the dock.

"Yes, I suppose we are," she said, keeping her disappointment quiet. "Let's hope the journey back won't be so hard with how dark it is." For them to have come so far and then to be stuck in some way would just be their luck. She smiled. "And then we can boil them up and see what we can make with them."