CHAPTER SEVEN
MEAT IN THE WATER
They leave at six in the morning. It is a very hot day and they sit out in the sun. Hooper sleeps in a chair with a hat over his face. Brody drops food for the shark into the water. Quint sits next to a fishing line and watches the sea.
Suddenly Quint says, "We've got a visitor."
The three men stand up. “Help me pull the line in," says Quint.
They pull the line out of the water. There is nothing on it. "I think that was your friend," says Quint. “He broke our line."
"What do we do now?" says Brody.
"We wait. Maybe he'll take the other line."
They wait. Nothing moves on the surface of the water. Then something pulls the second line.
The line stops moving.
“He did it again," says Quint. "We'll try a stronger line."
Quint drops a thicker line into the water. “Come on!” he cries. "I want to see you."
"Will he break this line, too?" asks Brody.
“Yes, I think so," says Quint. "We can't stop him. I’m trying to bring him to the surface."
The three men watch the line for a time. Brody moves towards the back of the boat and drops more meat into the water. Suddenly he sees something to his left.
The head of the shark is above the surface. It is three meters behind the boat and a meter out of the water. It is a massive creature.
Brody turns to Quint and says, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
Quint and Hooper look at Brody and then look in the water behind the boat. The shark is there at the surface. The three men see its two black eyes and its half-open mouth. And they see its teeth...
“Get a harpoon!” cries Quint.
Brody moves quickly to get the harpoon. At the same time the shark goes back under the water.
"What a fish!” cries Hooper. “His head was two meters across. How big was he?"
"It's hard to say," says Quint. “Maybe eight meters. Maybe more."
"I hope he comes back!” says Hooper.
“Did he smile at us?" asks Brody.
“No! His mouth was open," says Quint. “Remember, he's only a fish."
"What do we do now?" asks Brody. “Do we drop in more fish food for him?"
“No," says Quint. "We got him to the surface once. He'll be back."
Suddenly a noise in the water makes Hooper turn.
“Look," says Quint.
The shark is ten meters from the boat, coming straight towards it.
"It's attacking the boat!' cries Brody.
“Hand me the harpoon," says Quint.
The shark comes very near. It looks at Hooper with one of its black eyes. Then it swims past below the boat. Quint picks up the harpoon.
“Behind you!” cries Hooper. “He went under the boat."
Quint turns and points the harpoon. The shark moves away from the boat and begins to swim down. Quint sits down and laughs.
“That was lucky," he says. “He didn't attack the boat." He looks at Brody. "Are you OK?"
"I don't understand it," says Brody. He thought about the young woman, Chrissie, and the boy, Alex Kintner. “That thing isn't a fish."
Hooper claps his hands together. There is a smile on his face. He is very happy. "Did you see that? What a fish! It's beautiful!'
“Do you think he'll come back?" asks Brody.
"I don't know," says Quint. “You never know what a shark is going to do."
They wait for three hours, but the fish doesn't come back. At five o'clock Quint says, “Let's finish for today. I don't like to be out in this boat at night."
Brody smiles. “Yes, my wife doesn't like me to work at night!” he says.
"I don't have a wife," says Quint.
