The Last Kitchen, Part 12 of 26. Gerzsi and friends are made up; the gear is real and independently tested. This post contains affiliate links (disclosure).
Previously: A map on the back of the recipe card led to Willa’s dock. Willa taught Gerzsi to wait, and he finally pulled up a second silver box. Inside was a faded orange neckerchief tied exactly like his own. Missed it? Read Part 11 · All parts
The drones came before anyone could ask what the neckerchief meant. Six of them, shaped like spatulas, dove at the dock in a tight line.
“Cast at them!” yelled Pippa.
Gerzsi cast as hard as he could. The lure flew about four feet. The rest of the line jumped off the reel all at once and wrapped around him, the rod, the dock post and a surprised frog, in one enormous tangle. Anglers call it a bird’s nest. Gerzsi called it a disaster.
The drones circled him, confused. To them he looked like a very small, very angry spool of thread. They decided he wasn’t worth it and flew away.
“Well,” said Willa. “That’s one way to win.”
While she untangled him, slowly, one loop at a time, she explained what went wrong. The line had been wound on too loosely, so the loops slipped off together. He had also pulled back too hard and too early. “Fill the spool, but not to the very edge. Keep the line tight when you wind it. Close the bail by hand, not by turning the handle. And a smoother reel helps a beginner a lot. A cheap one with a rough drag fights you.”
Chef Tamás nodded along. “Same with a piping bag. Fill it too full, squeeze too hard, and it all comes out the wrong end at once.”
Gerzsi had just wriggled free when a shape appeared far down the river. The water there had frozen overnight, and something was skating up it, fast, pulling a sled. Something with a flat tail and a red knit hat.
“MAPLE?” shouted Gerzsi.
His cousin from Canada skidded to a stop, breathing frost. “Every kitchen on our lake went dark three days ago,” she said. “It wasn’t an attack. It was a test run.”
Next: Part 13, tomorrow. Maple holds the line.
🛒 Gear from this part
A smoother reel. Piscifun’s winter sale runs until November 14 (US). Gerzsi and Willa sorted the deals: which reel to buy first, spinning or inline, and what the testers say.
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s part?
Gerzsi can’t either. While Chef Tamás’s stock bubbles for four hours, he puts on a sci-fi audiobook and listens with both ears flat against the pot lid (he says it helps). If you’re new to Audible, the free trial is an easy way to start one for the slow-cooking hours.
Free trial for eligible new members; Amazon sets the terms on the sign-up page. Affiliate link: Gerzsi may earn a commission.
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