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He aint here, he said.
It was dead quiet in the little mud street. Rawlins leaned and spat. Well, shit, he said.
You all sure this is the place? said Blevins.
It's the place.
The boy slid from the horse and picked his way gingerly with his bare feet across the road to the house and looked in. Then he climbed through the window.
What the hell's he doin? said Rawlins.
You got me.
They waited. He didnt come back.
Yonder comes somebody.
Some dogs started up. John Grady mounted up and turned the horse and went back up the road and sat the horse in the dark. Rawlins followed. Dogs were begi
This is by God it, aint it? said Rawlins.
John Grady looked at him. He was sitting with the carbine upright on his thigh. From beyond the buildings and the din of dogs there came a shout.
You know what these sons of bitches'll do to us? said Rawlins. You thought about that?
John Grady leaned forward and spoke to the horse and put his hand on the horse's shoulder. The horse had begun to step nervously and it was not a nervous horse. He looked toward the houses where they'd seen the light. A horse whi
That crazy son of a bitch, said Rawlins. That crazy son of a bitch.
All out bedlam had broken across the lot. Rawlins pulled his horse around and the horse stamped and trotted and he whacked it across the rump with the barrel of the gun. The horse squatted and dug in with its hind hooves and Blevins in his underwear atop the big bay horse and attended by a close retinue of howling dogs exploded into the road in a shower of debris from the rotted ocotillo fence he'd put the horse through.
The horse skittered past Rawlins sideways, Blevins clinging to the animal's mane and snatching at his hat. The dogs swarmed wildly over the road and Rawlins' horse stood and twisted and shook its head and the big bay turned a complete circle and there were three pistol shots from somewhere in the dark all evenly spaced that went pop pop pop. John Grady put the heels of his boots to his horse and leaned low in the saddle and he and Rawlins went pounding up the road. Blevins passed them both, his pale knees clutching the horse and his shirttail flying.
Before they reached the turn at the top of the hill there were three more shots from the road behind them. They turned onto the main track south and went pounding through the town. Already there were lamps lit in a few small windows. They passed through at a hard gallop and rode up into the low hills. First light was shaping out the country to the east. A mile south of the town they caught up with Blevins. He'd turned his horse in the road and he was watching them and watching the road behind them.
Hold up, he said. Let's listen.
They tried to quiet the gasping animals. You son of a bitch, said Rawlins.
Blevins didnt answer. He slid from his horse and lay in the road listening. Then he got up and pulled himself back up onto the horse.
Boys, he said, they're a comin.
Horses?
Yeah. I'll tell you right now straight out there aint no way you all can keep up with me. Let me take the road since it's me they're huntin. They'll follow the dust and you all can slip off into the country. I'll see you down the road.
Before they could agree or disagree he'd hauled the horse around by the hackamore and was pounding off up the track.
He's right, said John Grady. We better get off this damned road.
All right.
They rode out through the brush in the dark, taking the lowest country they could keep to, lying along the necks of their mounts that they not be skylighted.
We're fixin to get the horses snakebit sure as the world, said Rawlins.
It'll be daylight soon.
Then we can get shot.
In a little while they heard horses on the road. Then they heard more horses. Then all was quiet.
We better get somewheres, said Rawlins. It's fixin to get daylight sure enough.
Yeah, I know it.
You think when they come back they'll see where we quit the road?
Not if enough of em has rode over it.
What if they catch him?
John Grady didnt answer.
He wouldnt have no qualms about showin em which way we'd headed.
Probably not.
You know not. All they'd have to do would be look at him crossways.
Then we better keep ridin.
Well I dont know about you but I'm about to run out of horse.
Well tell me what you want to do.
Shit, said Rawlins. We aint got no choice. We'll see what daylight brings. Maybe one of these days we might find some grain somewheres in this country.
Maybe.
They slowed the horses and rode to the crest of the ridge. Nothing moved in all that gray landscape. They dismounted and walked out along the ridge. Small birds were begi
You know how long it's been since we eat? said Rawlins.
I aint even thought about it.
I aint either till just now. Bein shot at will sure enough cause you to lose your appetite, wont it?
Hold up a minute.
What is it?
Hold up.
They stood listening.
I dont hear nothin.
There's riders out there.
On the road?
I dont know.
Can you see anything?
No.
Let's keep movin.
John Grady spat and stood listening. Then they moved on. At daylight they left the horses standing in a gravel wash and climbed to the top of a rise and sat among the ocotillos and watched the country back to the northeast. Some deer moved out feeding along the ridge opposite. Other than that they saw nothing.
Can you see the road? said Rawlins.
No.
They sat. Rawlins stood the rifle against his knee and took his tobacco from his pocket. I believe I'll smoke, he said.
A long fan of light ran out from the east and the rising sun swelled blood red along the horizon.
Look yonder, said John Grady.
What.
Over yonder.
Two miles away riders had crested a rise. One, two. A third. Then they dropped from sight again.
Which way are they headed?
Well cousin I dont know for sure but I got a pretty good notion.
Rawlins sat holding the cigarette. We're goin to die in this goddamned country, he said.
No we aint.
You think they can track us on this ground?
I dont know. I dont know that they cant.
I'll tell you what, bud. They get us bayed up out here somewheres with the horses give out they're goin to have to come over the barrel of this rifle.
John Grady looked at him and he looked back out where the riders had been. I'd hate to have to shoot my way back to Texas, he said.
Where's your gun at?
In the saddlebag.
Rawlins lit the cigarette. I ever see that little son of a bitch again I'll kill him myself. I'm damned if I wont.
Let's go, said John Grady. They still got a lot of ground to cover. I'd rather to make a good run as a bad stand.
They rode out west with the sun at their back and their shadows horse and rider falling before them tall as trees. The country they found themselves in was old lava country and they kept to the edge of the rolling black gravel plain and kept watch behind them. They saw the riders again, south of where they would have put them. And then once more.
If them horses aint bottomed out I believe they'd be comin harder than that, said Rawlins.
I do too.
Midmorning they rode to the crest of a low volcanic ridge and turned the horses and sat watching.
What do you think? said Rawlins.
Well, they know we aint got the horse. That's for sure. They might not be as anxious to ride this ground as you and me.
You got that right.
They sat for a long time. Nothing moved.
I think they've quit us.
I do too.
Let's keep movin.
By late afternoon the horses were stumbling. They watered them out of their hats and drank the other canteen dry themselves and mounted again and rode on. They saw the riders no more. Toward evening they came upon a band of sheepherders camped on the far side of a deep arroyo that was floored with round white rocks. The sheepherders seemed to have selected the site with an eye to its defense ás did the ancients of that country and they watched with great solemnity the riders making their way along the other side.