He was inches away from her, separated only by the bars of the trap, and she could smell him even through the foul weather gear he wore: a smell at once dangerous and low.A tiger’s cage. A bag of snakes.Lena woke with a high-pitched cry and scrambled out of the blankets and off Kelly’s lap, moving to the corner of the trap away from the hinged door. She put her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins to become as small as she could get. Kelly was struggling to sit higher, to prepare herself for whatever was about to happen. The man took a set of keys from the pocket of his fisherman’s jacket and tried them one at a time until he found one that turned the padlock’s barrel. He unclasped the lock and hung it by its shackle atop the trap and then stepped back and lifted the door. He reached into the cage with the gaff and tapped Lena’s thigh with the flat side of the hook, then motioned her to come out.Lena looked at Kelly, her green eyes wide and full of tears that would freeze on her cheeks if she didn’t wipe them away soon.
