Cricket2019-07-08

(Lars) #1
He squints at the orange-pink sky that
fades into a light blue. Sunglasses slide over
his eyes as the boat skips across the mirror
lake surface and the engine whines. Grass-
green patches of wild rice and cattails line the
coves and bays. Goldeneye and mallard ducks
paddle out of his way. Loons with babies on
their backs laugh at him, and bald eagles glide
overhead. If he’s lucky, he’ll spot otters and
deer, a wolf, or a bear along the shore, which
is lined with pine, birch, and tamarack trees.
A mile later, he drives down the channel
past Stop Island and crosses Jackfish Bay. Two

Fourteen-year-old Will slips
on a life jacket, shoves the boat away from
the dock, and quicksteps onto the bow. He
takes two strides to the back of his boat, tilts
the prop of the fifteen-horsepower motor into
the water, flips a switch, and with a yank of
a cord, the engine snaps to life. It’s 6:20 a.m.,
and he heads east on Rainy Lake for work.


miles in, he sees Grassy Island on his left,
just north of Tilson Bay. A mile later his boat
cuts through Grindstone Channel. He spots
Little American Island, where gold was found
in 1896 and caused a short-lived gold rush.
At mile five, his boat circles the point on the
edge of Voyageurs National Park.
Will can’t remember when he first saw
Rainy Lake. The Minnesota-Canadian bor-
der lake is seventy miles long by forty miles
wide, with over 2,000 islands. Ever since he
was a toddler, Will has escaped from the heat
of Richmond, Virginia, to enjoy the cool
summers of Minnesota. He has family here—
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
This is his dad’s homeland. Will’s aunt and
uncle have a primitive summer cabin from the
1930s on Rainy. No telephone reception, no
TV, and no internet until two years ago.
“I don’t really miss TV or the video games,”
Will claims. “I have the lake. And my boat.”

The DOCK BOY


of RAINY LAKE


by Diane Bradley


text © 2019 by Diane Bradley-Kantor

GOLDENEYEANDMALLARD
ARE KINDS OF DUCKS. DUCK? DUCK! 11
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