CHAPTER NINE
Cage
Below the surface Hooper looked for the shark. He knew that Quint was wrong. The shark was not below the boat. It did not ‘sit’ in any one place. Sharks never stopped moving.
Hooper turned slowly in the cage. He looked but saw nothing. A small fish swam towards his face. He pushed it out of the cage.
He looked down and started to look away. Then suddenly he saw something. The shark swam slowly towards him. Hooper watched it. What a beautiful fish!
It came nearer, and Hooper moved back. The shark’s head was now only about a metre from the cage. It turned and began to swim in front of Hooper’s eyes.
Hooper put his hand out and touched it. It felt cold and hard.
The shark began to move away from the cage.
‘What’s he doing down there?’ Brody asked.
Quint did not answer. He stood with his harpoon in his hand. He looked down at the water. ‘Come up, fish,’ he said. ‘Come to Quint.’
‘Do you see it?’ said Brody. ‘What’s it doing?’
‘Nothing.’
Hooper began taking photographs. He watched the shark turn towards him. It moved fast with its mouth open. He waited for the shark to turn again.
But the shark did not turn. It hit the cage and made a hole in it. Hooper fell back.
‘It’s attacking!’ cried Brody. He tried to pull the cage out of the water. ‘Throw the harpoon!’
‘I’ can’t throw it! I must get him to the surface first. Come up! Come up!’
The shark moved back out of the cage. Hooper tried to get to the surface. He saw the hole in the cage.
The shark pushed its head through the hole again. Hooper moved to the back of the cage. The shark pushed again, and Hooper saw its teeth.
The jaws of the shark closed around him. Hooper pushed his hand into the black eye and thought ‘I’m going to die…’
‘He’s got him!’ cried Brody. ‘Do something!’
‘The man is dead,’ Quint said.
‘How do you know?’
‘He’s dead.’
The shark left the cage, and dropped down a metre. Then it swam up towards the surface.
‘He’s coming up!’ said Brody.
The shark hit the surface five metres from the boat. It carried Hooper in its mouth. Quint threw the harpoon. But the shark began to swim down into the water, and the harpoon went over it. The shark dropped below the surface.
‘What do we do now?’ said Brody.
‘We’ll go back,’ said Quint. ‘For now.’
‘But why do you want to come back? That fish is too strong for us!’
‘I’m going to kill that thing,’ said Quint.
‘I’ don’t think I can get more money for you.’
‘This is not about money’.
‘What are you saying?’ Brody looked at Quint.
‘I’m going to kill that fish. Do you want to come with me?’
Brody looked into Quint’s eyes. They were as dark as the eyes of the shark. ‘I’ll come,’ said Brody.
Brody arrived home late that night. He told Ellen about Hooper. She was very sad.
‘It’s over now,’ she said.
Brody did not answer for a time. Then he said, ‘We’re going out tomorrow. At six o’clock.’
‘Why?’ cried Ellen. ‘What can you do?’
‘We’re going to catch the fish, and kill it.’
‘Do you think you can?’
‘I don’t know. But Quint thinks we can. And it’s my job to help him.’
‘But it’s not your job!’ She was very angry and very afraid. She began to cry.
Brody said nothing. Then he said, ‘No, you’re right.’
‘Then why?’
‘I don’t think I can tell you,’ said Brody. ‘I don’t think I know.’
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