8 Tale #8: Got You

One evening in the town of fog and restless sea, where waves hit the rocks and you can smell the ocean breeze; stood a man beside the light pole dressed in gray coat and a black fisherman cap. His hands tucked inside his pockets, he forgot his gloves in his house, and he also forgot that the weather will be colder tonight. He waited down the sidewalk, some passer by looked at him suspiciously for his attire, nonetheless he paid them no mind; his task is more important than a stranger's gaze.

The temperature dropped as the night deepens. He can already his breath turn like a mist, his body quiver to the cold but he must wait; must wait for his task to be finished. The lights flickered due to the freezing temperature, the fog thickened as the ocean calmed itself. The boats not hitting each other anymore giving the town the silence it deserved. The man still stood there— waiting.

The fog became so thick that the light from the light can never get through. The man then turned to his right and walked twelve steps and stopped, he then turned to his left— there in front of him is the old pub of the town, the only lively place in this cold– cold night. He can hear the laughs of the fishermen, the clinks of their glasses, the fizz of the beer, and the sizzle of pork being grilled. He entered the pub.

He took off his hat and gave the owner a small bow and the owner did the same while serving a glass of beer to his customers. Some turned their heads to look at him and whispered to each other though, some paid no mind of his presence. The man roamed his brown tired eyes through the crowd and found an empty table near the pub's window. He sat there and ordered himself a grilled pork and a glass of beer. While waiting, he placed his right hand to the table and tapped loud enough for someone to here.

'Tap, tap– tap' 'Tap– tap– tap' 'Tap–' 'Tap, tap, tap–'.He tapped again and again until his order came. He drunk his beer while listening to the crown, carefully listening for a sound of taps amidst the laughs and chats of the others. He closed his eyes as to enhance his hearing, thoroughly searching if there are taps behind those voices. He finished his beer, still no taps. He was about to take a bite from his grilled pork when he heard a tap, followed by another tap, and again and again, conveying a message.

'Tap–' 'Tap– tap' 'Tap– tap, tap– tap' 'Tap, tap– tap'. The tapping stopped and he continued his meal. He tasted the marinate in the pork as the smoky flavor mixed in with every bite, the juices of the meat flows out with every chew. After that, a man dressed the same as him stood from his table at the darkest corner of the pub and walked with his hat on. He sat to the table where the brown– eyed man is and looked at him intently. It seemed they are having a staring contest.

The man who still have his hat on raised his chin and made his argentine eyes glow as the pub's light shone on it. The man with brown eyes was about to open his mouth but got cut off by the other. "Stop with the formalities, just tell me how." He said with a smile to the man with argentine eyes, "It was the knot."

Turns out, the man with brown eyes is a spy catcher. His task is to know and catch a spy and make them spill everything out. He'd been eyeing the other man for a week, observing his actions while obtaining information about him. From the information he gained, the argentine eyed man is also a spy paid by a fisherman to sabotage his competitors' boats.

The argentine eyed man smiled and laughed a little. To think that he'd be found out this early and this quick– he must be turning rusty, he thought. It is indeed as the other man know. He is paid to go to his clients' competitors boats and plant some drugs and possibly some illegal dynamites, and then his client will report them; immediately putting his rivals out of the way. He was about to finish his mission this night if not caught by this man. He thought about the man said, that he caught him because of the knot. He traced his steps back from the beginning of his job all the way to the sabotaging the boat. Then, his eyes widened.

"All of the fishermen here tie their boats on the dock with a noose knot, yet you tied one of the boat in a clove hitch knot when you're done with the job. You're not turning rusty buddy, you just forgot to observe your surroundings." The brown eyed man explained and smiled warmly while putting handcuffs to the other mans' hands and covering it with a kerchief from his pocket.

During their walk to the police station, the spy asked the spy catcher, "By the way, who are you affiliated with? I've reviewed this town and I never found another spy or even a spy catcher, who are you exactly?"

"Well my friend, as you can see, I'm too old for this kind of job. You can think of me as a vigilante; I work for no one, I use what I have to maintain peace, at least in this place."

"You must've love this place so much for you to even do this. This is considered hell around the world, yet you do your best to create and keep peace in this hell hole."

"What can you say, home is where the heart is." The spy catcher said when they entered the police station as the sun rose from the horizon, waking the whole island up.