I looked at her quizzically, wondering what she had in mind.
"Were you planning on using those in case we get ambushed?
"No, I would never harm my own people. These are for another type of creature. We're going to use them to spear fish."
"Really?" I said with wide eyes. "You can do that too? You really are a woman of many talents."
"It's not so easy to spear a free-swimming fish," she said. "But it's a lot easier when there’s a bunch of them trapped in a contained area. That's where you come in. You're going to push them toward me."
"How will I do that?"
"You're going to rake them into a trapping area."
I pinched my eyebrows with a confused expression, and she smiled at me as she began chopping down a taller seedling. After she felled it, she chopped off the top to about a fifteen-foot length, then hacked off the branches on three sides so that it looked like a giant comb.
"That's a pretty big rake," I said.
"You'll find it works remarkably well at herding schools of fish into shallow water," Teuila said.
"How am I supposed to use it? It barely looks like I'll be able to lift that thing."
"I'll help you carry it to the shore. Then all you need to do is place the branch atop the water and push it up and down to scare the fish forward. I'll look after the rest. Are you ready?"
"Lead on, Pocahontas," I chuckled. "Show me your ways."
Teuila and I carried the big branch to the edge of the water, then we floated it to the far corner of the lagoon where we saw some schools of iridescent fish darting underneath the clear water.
"Those critters sure can scamper around down there," I said. "Are you sure we’ll be able to snare one of them with just a spear?"
"Watch and learn, city girl."
Te' escorted me to a spot waist deep about twenty feet from the shore.
"I'm going to wade a little closer to the shore," she said. "When I signal that I'm ready, I want you to pump the pole up and down on the surface of the water as you slowly walk toward me. The sound and motion of the spikes pointing underwater will scare the fish in my direction. As they begin accumulating in the shallow water, it will make it easier for me to catch one."
When she got into position, Te' nodded toward me and I began to churn the water as she had instructed. Sure enough, within seconds a group of fish began flapping in her direction as they twisted and turned, confused by the agitating water. Some of them slipped around the ends of the rake, but enough moved forward that they began to congregate in the shallower water. When I got to within five feet of Teuila, she pulled one of the spears high above the surface and paused for a moment, then thrust it rapidly down into the water. Seconds later, she pulled the pole out of the depths with a flapping striped fish impaled on the end of the spike.
"Holy crap!" I said, hardly believing my eyes. "Is it that easy?"
"It takes a bit of practice. But it's a whole lot easier when you've got them bunched up in a narrow space."
"Here," she said, holding out the other spear to me. "Do you want to give it a try?"
"Okay," I said, wincing momentarily at the idea of killing such a pretty fish. But I loved my seafood, and catching a fish this way looked a whole lot less messy than using a hook and bait.
"Make sure you wait until you see a bunch of fish swimming near your feet," Te' said. "You don't have to aim at a single fish necessarily. It's a bit hit and miss. It might take you a few attempts to hit one. Just be careful you don't spear your own foot."
"No," I said, peering down at my still bandaged feet. "I think I've had enough scratched up feet for a little while, thank you. Just don't laugh at me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Te' said.
As we took up our respective positions and Te' began scaring the fish toward me, I could see them darting underwater closer and closer to me. When she got close enough, she looked up and nodded.
"Now, Jade!" she yelled, as she pumped the surface of the water into a foamy brine. "Get them before they escape around the sides of the rake."
I saw three or four striped fish darting about in front of me and I lurched back, flinging the pole into the water. It knifed into the surf and struck the sandy bottom. I pulled it out shaking my head, realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as Teuila made it look.
"Try again," she said. "You'll get it. But you have to act fast, before they escape."