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Moses can see the girl in the rearview mirror Her head is turned sharply away froh pretending not to be present at all But Moses can see her jaw shut tight, the muscles in her face clenched rock-like

When they have been driving fifteen minutes, Moses pulls the car to the side of the road at the base of a stony outcropping He leaves the er side where he opens the door

Get out, he says to Fletcher

Happily, Fletcher says It’s a lovely day for a nice sit

The greasy man cliirl

See you soon, fancy lady

Come on, Moses says and leads hi where he tells hiirl She ain’t part of your show anyto you You understand that?

You think she belongs to you? Fletcher says

She don’t belong to anybody

You got that part right, at least Hell, take her She canrun I n when those that’ll eat anything won’t even take a nibble froot rid of

Moses is staring at thethese words, when he hears the car door open and close behind hiaze down at the ridiculous oilyon? she asks

We’re just havin a little palaver, Moses says

What’s there to talk about? she says

Allhim, aren’t you? You swore to protect me

See? Fletcher says You see the bitterness in her heart?

I ain’t killing him, Moses says

How come?

You see it now, sure, Fletcher says Get shut of her while you can

There was a bargain, Moses says to the girl A bargain between us and theet upheld

Respectable, Fletcher says A man of his word Let’s all be ain, says the Vestal Ary Moses wonders what exactly he has sworn to protect, and he wishes to know it for what it is He wishes to sound the depths of it so as not to get drowned in its tides or ripped to pieces on its shoals

No, Moses says to her You’re right You never aze upon each other She realizes she’s being tested Their eyes lock, and Moses feels as though he is being watched by a giant caged ani for itsher hand outstretched

But he doesn’t give her the gun Instead, he kicks around the base of the outcropping until he finds what he’s looking for A loose stone roughly the size of a bowling ball He hefts it up and holds it out to her

The shot’ll signal to theotta do it this way

Hey, Fletcher says Hey, wait a un at his head

Stay down, Moses commands

We had a deal, Fletcher says to Moses You can’t just let her do it That’s akin to doin it yourself

Akin to it, but not exactly the same, Moses says

He can see the sudden fear in the man’s eyes There is no doubt in Fletcher’s mind that she’ll kill hiht of it nearly topples her, sainst her chest

Jesus Christ, Fletcher says, raising one hand over his head and knocking the sombrero off to protect him from the stone and another palm towards the pistol to protect him fro Jesus Christ, he says again Tillie, don’t

The Vestal Ath in her small arms to raise the rock over her own head She pauses for just a moment Moses looks to see what’s in her eyes, and resolution is what he finds there Deep, unquestioning resolution

At the last moment, Moses reaches out, seizes the rock froives a deep, earthy thud that h he has actually been struck

What happened? he says

What happened is you got a stay of execution, Moses says Now sit tight till your people coirl by the arm and heads back to the car

This is your last chance, Fletcher calls out to Moses as they walk away He has regained his confidence now that there is no rock hanging over his head waiting to bash his brains in You give her back now, and on’t even charge you to take her off your hands