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The t men are dressed in jeans and denim jackets and they have rifles hooked in the crooks of their arh

Lee looks at her and co He seeh the insides of his cheeks were itching

Who’re they? Temple asks

Just soot that look then?

They been tellin uy Rough lookin, bad teeth Say he was lookin for a blond-haired girl, wouldn’t say why But they figure it couldn’t of been good

Where?

Just goin into Williston

Uh-huh

She gets to her feet and starts toward her car

I don’t guess there are irls travelin this way by themselves, says Lee

I don’t suppose so

She opens the door to the car and unzips the duffel bag on the passenger seat and takes out a pair of pants and a shirt Then she pulls the sundress over her head and tosses it into the backseat

Lee shields his eyes and turns away The other fourin just her cotton underpants

You wanna tell uy on your tail?

I killed his brother, she says, slipping the shirt over her head and then pulling the pants on

Did he deserve killin?

He deserved soo You can turn around now

Lee turns and looks at her Then he looks squinting into the distance

Where you plannin to go?

North Just north He can’t follow ot a lot of patience for travelin

Yep He nods and kicks the tarain Then he says, You ht think about comin with us

He is a man at least two decades older than she, yet he possesses the intense frailty of boyhood

Lee, that’s real nice I want to thank you and Clive and Horace for bein so agreeable tohere You’re seein the wonders of this wide country But ot a chasin problem I’m always either bein chased or chasin so you all along with ettin you off your chosen course

Well, says Lee

Yeah

I guess you’ve taken care of yourself so far

I guess I have

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