IT WOULD BE HARD TO describe how elated I felt upon returning to our fishing spot and finding the trout gone, though in truth I couldn’t be sure if Ghost had gotten to it or some other predator—at least not until I stepped through (having had some difficulty in locating the portal, I confess) and saw the fresh prints.
And yet of Ghost himself there was no trace, even after I’d called out to him—in the hopes he might recognize my voice— and laid the new fish down (a giant halibut which had cost me my entire allowance); positioning it halfway in and out of the portal so I could monitor it even while studying on the nearby rocks.
Nor did I have to wait long, for I’d barely cracked my history book when I just happened to look up and see the halibut yanked all the way in, at which I stood abr
