The fisherman is in his seventh decade of a full and productive life. His partner and lifelong friend is gone, losing his life while saving that of the remaining fisherman. His wife of many years keeps him busy, and the activities of their grandchildren do as well. Their 1960 Labor Day family outing is upon both families and his mind is on nothing else. He misses his friend and knows both families will miss his absence at the outing as well.
The one remaining scoundrel who he and his partner helped put away twenty-five years earlier is not so lucky. He has two to four weeks to live, according to the doctors at Walpole State Prison. They invited him to stay and die under their care, but he refused, having one last thing to do. He has to kill the two fishermen that put him there, and then he will be willing to die.
Twenty-five years of family history is joyfully shared as is a renewal of the traditional, canal dory-ride, abandoned since the death of the fisherman’s partner. A clue emerges relative to the possible location of the fishermen’s long-lost earnings from the days they brought rye whiskey in from rendezvousing with a rum-runner three miles out on Cape Cod Bay. The rejuvenated senior, along with his energetic wife and the widow of their friend, decide they are capable of retrieving it, almost certain it will be where suspected. The con, a guest in a bread-and-breakfast across the street, in his deteriorating condition goes about his mission unnoticed and unrecognized by the fisherman, never allowing each failure to discourage another try. He is determined to succeed, knowing he can because half the job is already done.
The interwoven quest of the three seniors with the unrelenting vendetta of the vindictive and repulsive con, followed by a multi-faceted ending makes this story one that will remain intriguing.
The one remaining scoundrel who he and his partner helped put away twenty-five years earlier is not so lucky. He has two to four weeks to live, according to the doctors at Walpole State Prison. They invited him to stay and die under their care, but he refused, having one last thing to do. He has to kill the two fishermen that put him there, and then he will be willing to die.
Twenty-five years of family history is joyfully shared as is a renewal of the traditional, canal dory-ride, abandoned since the death of the fisherman’s partner. A clue emerges relative to the possible location of the fishermen’s long-lost earnings from the days they brought rye whiskey in from rendezvousing with a rum-runner three miles out on Cape Cod Bay. The rejuvenated senior, along with his energetic wife and the widow of their friend, decide they are capable of retrieving it, almost certain it will be where suspected. The con, a guest in a bread-and-breakfast across the street, in his deteriorating condition goes about his mission unnoticed and unrecognized by the fisherman, never allowing each failure to discourage another try. He is determined to succeed, knowing he can because half the job is already done.
The interwoven quest of the three seniors with the unrelenting vendetta of the vindictive and repulsive con, followed by a multi-faceted ending makes this story one that will remain intriguing.
