The Cay by Theodore Taylor

For each day that they have been on the cay, Timothy drops a small pebble into an old can he found. He and Phillip landed on the island on April 9, 1942, and there are now forty-eight pebbles in the can.

On this day, Timothy decides that Phillip must learn to provide fish for himself in case he, Timothy, should again be incapacitated by malaria. Timothy catches fish and langosta with a sharp stick, but Phillip’s blindness will prevent him from using this method, so he makes several fish hooks from old nails for him. Timothy has found an “outrageous good [fishing] ’ole” on the reef and has driven pieces of driftwood every two feet along the route there so Phillip will be able to feel his way along. When they reach the coral-walled pool, Timothy shows Phillip how to find mussel to use as bait. Having fished before with his father, Phillip is able to bait his hook, drop the line, secure the fish when he feels it grab the mussel, and flip it up out of the water over his shoulder. Recognizing that he is learning “to do things all over again, by touch and feel,” Phillip experiences a deep sense of satisfaction. From that day on, Phillip does all the fishing. Timothy even lets him go out on the reef alone, but while he is there, Phillip senses that his mentor is always close by, silently looking after him.

Timothy and Phillip find a lot to talk about. Although Timothy is completely at home among the Caribbean Islands, he has never thought much about their origins. Phillip, however, knows a little bit about geography and earth science, and when he explains how the islands and wildlife might have gotten there in the very beginning, Timothy listens “in fascination...speechless.”

At the end of that week, Phillip decides he is ready to climb the coconut...