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　　Tiamak hauled in the line, wrapping it gently, then steered Nike Heels the boat over closer to the bank of mangroves. He poled along slowly, waiting until the mangrove roots gave way for a while to a short stretch of soggy dirt cluttered with waving reeds. Bringing the boat as close to the edge of the watercourse as he could, he pulled his knife from his belt and dug in the wet soil, at last turning up some spitfly roe. He wrapped the shiny things in his kerchief, saving one only to bait the hook. This done, he tossed the line back into the water to trail behind the boat. As he poled out into the middle of Jordan Heels the stream once more, thunder grumbled in the distance. It seemed to be farther away than last time. He shook his head sadly. The storm was in no hurry.
　　It was late afternoon when he passed out of the overhanging thicket of mangroves and emerged into unshadowed sunlight once more. Here the waterway grew wider and deeper. A sea of reeds rolled out toward the horizon, all but motionless in the oppressive heat, crisscrossed with the shining tracks of other watercourses. The sky was gray with threatening clouds, but the sun burned brightly behind them. and Tiamak could not help but feel more lighthearted. An ibis rose, UGG boots clearance white wings flapping slowly, then settled down into the reeds a short distance away. To the south, past miles of marsh and swamp forest, he could see the dark line of the Nascadu Mountains. To the west, invisible beyond an endless prairie of cattails and mangroves, lay the sea.
　　Tiamak poled distractedly, momentarily caught up in a correction he had decided to make in his great work of scholarship, a revision of The Sovran Remedies of the Wranna Healers. He had suddenly realized that the shape of the cattail itself might have something to do with its use among the men of the Meadow Thrithings as a UGG Boots Clearance marital potion, and was planning the wording of a footnote that would delicately suggest this connection without seeming too clever, when he felt a strange vibration against his back. He turned, startled, and saw that his fishing line was pulled taut, humming like the plucked string of a lute.
　　For a moment he was sure it must be a snag-the pull was so strong that it had imparted some of its tension to the stern of the boat-but as he leaned over he saw some silver-gray thing rise briefly toward the surface, wriggling, then dive down into the blackish water again. A fish! As long as Tiamak's UGG Boots Clearance arm! He gave a small cry of delight and began to pull on the line. The silver thing seemed to leap up at him. For a split instant one pale, shiny fin appeared above the water, then it vanished beneath the boat, stretching the line tight. Tiamak heaved and it gave a little, but not much. It was a strong fish. A sudden image of the line snapping and his next two days' worth of meals swimming away filled Tiamak's heart with sick horror. He lessened the tension on the fishing line. He would let the fish tire itself, then he could reel it in at UGG boots clearance his leisure. In the meantime, he would keep an eye open for a dry patch where he could build a fire. He could wrap the fish in minog leaves, and surely there would be wild quickweed growing somewhere nearby... In his thoughts he could already taste it. The heat, the recalcitrant thunderstorm, his betrayal of Morgenes (as he still saw it) and all else receded in the warm glow of the contemplated meal. He tested the line again, rejoicing at the firm, steady pull. He had not had fresh fish in weeks!