Maggie nodded and smiled. She stooped down to pick up a mollusk and she put it in John's basket. The boy, meanwhile, was looking around more enthusiastically than his mother and had already gathered several. Tonight, they would prepare the fish lines for the next day and the mollusks would serve as bait. Maggie had been doing this for as long as she could remember, and as soon as John had been able to walk, she had made him help. Every child needed to learn early to make him or herself useful. "Any interesting customers lately?" Maggie asked.