Grandpa had spent the whole morning showing Mattie how to bait her hook and throw her line into the water. Mark was used to having Grandpa’s full attention when they went fishing, and he didn’t like sharing Grandpa with Mattie. He wished his sister had stayed home today, and he didn’t understand why she’d come along at all. She’d never been interested in fishing before. Was Mattie trying to prove something by being here? Was it just to see if she could catch the biggest fish? Well, Mark didn’t think that was likely to happen—especially since Mattie had never fished before. “That’s the wrong kind of bait you’re usin’,” Mark said when he saw Mattie put a piece of corn on her hook. “You’ll never catch any fish with corn. You need a big, fat warem.” Mattie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like worms.” Mark wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like corn. It gets stuck in my zaeh.” “Why are you worried about it getting stuck in your teeth?” Grandpa asked, raising his bushy gray eyebrows.
