The Reivers Page #4

I'll take you on

if you don't cause me too much trouble.

How'd you like that?

I guess it would be all right.

Do you miss your mama?

I started to after supper.

Does she tuck you in at night?

Yes, ma'am.

Don't be sad,

'cause I'm gonna tuck you in tonight.

Sleep tight. And don't let the bedbugs bite.

Good night.

- Hello, Mr. Heasley.

- Hello, Minnie, how are you?

You devil.

Miss Reba, Mr. Heasley.

- What are you doing?

- Listening.

What are you listening...

The money that's here.

You can just smell it.

It ain't right. It's just women

can make money pugnuckling.

What's pugnuckling?

Don't you know anything?

Even if I could get a drill

and drill a peephole...

Miss Reba wouldn't let me bring

anybody up here to make any money off of.

How are you gonna make money

by drilling a hole in the floor?

- How old are you?

- Eleven.

- Where'd you say you come from?

- Mississippi.

No wonder you don't know nothing.

Here, get this for me, will you?

You know what a whore is?

- Yes.

- What is it?

They got some in the Bible,

like the one from Babylon.

I got one from Kiblett, Arkansas.

My Aunt Corrie.

- Are you saying that she's one?

- Yes, indeed.

That's a lie!

Hell, I had a peephole drilled

in the back of the barn, with a tin...

- You're lying, aren't you?

- You're crazy.

She isn't.

She's not!

- Easy.

- His hand! He's hurt his hand.

You march out,

and stand in the hall till I come out...

- and don't you budge either!

- He cut you good.

Oh, sweetheart.

Now, sweetie, this is gonna sting.

I'll be right back.

Sit down.

- All right, what was it?

- I told him what you are.

You are, ain't you?

What were you two boys fighting about?

Nothing.

Leave me alone.

Eleven years old and already cut up

in a whorehouse brawl.

Come on, son.

Get in bed.

If you think you're gonna heave,

let me know and I'll get a towel.

I'm not gonna heave.

I'll stay with him for a while.

You don't have to do that.

I'm not a bit sleepy,

I'll just keep you company.

Why don't you go downstairs

and get him a nice glass of cold milk?

- Where's it at?

- In the ice chest.

Now...

Let me see that.

I made Otis tell me.

I've had people fighting over me before...

but you're the first one

who ever fought for me.

I don't know what I'm gonna do about that.

What am I gonna do about it, Lucius?

I don't know.

You'd make a good nurse.

All right.

You promised your mama not to drink...

and you kept it.

So, I'll promise you...

and I'll do my solemn best to keep it, too.

I promise.

Promise what?

- I'm quitting, Boon.

- You're what?

I'm quitting. Not anymore. Never.

- What are you talking about?

- I've made up my mind.

Why do you have to pick me out

to reform on?

Boon!

- I'm not.

- Sure you are!

And you can't quit for private reasons,

I love you too much.

- Boon Hogganbeck!

- Who's hollering?

Boon Hogganbeck, get on up in there,

I wanna talk to you!

Boon!

What do you want?

I want you to see this horse.

All right, I see it. What about it? I'm busy.

It's ours.

Yeah?

- Where'd you get a horse this time of night?

- I swapped for him.

What have you got to swap?

You don't own nothing...

except the suspenders

holding up your pants.

I had something that somebody wanted.

And what could that be?

- The automobile.

- Which automobile?

How many automobiles we got?

Boss' automobile.

What is it, a raid?

Gentlemen, there's nothing

to be excited about.

Just a little upset, that's all.

Good God Almighty.

Come right back in.

Minnie, take care of the gentleman.

His name's Lightning.

Ned, what the hell have you done?

Now, take it easy and listen to me.

This horse is gonna save us.

The only chance we've got with Boss

for stealing his automobile...

is to bring him back something that he likes

better than an automobile, which is a horse.

And I got you one.

Where does that man live? Because I want

to get that automobile back now!

We can't get it back, so don't go running

wild down the road looking for the man.

Let him alone. We don't want him yet.

We won't need him till after the race.

Race?

We ain't just got us a horse...

that man that I traded with

threw in a horserace, too.

Sweet Jesus!

He's got another horse waiting in Possum

right this very minute...

to run against this horse,

as soon as we get him there.

Don't you worry yourself none.

We're gonna take this horse

to my uncle's place in Possum...

and we're gonna win that automobile back.

How we gonna get it back?

- You just traded the horse for it.

- Lucius, my boy...

I got that man

to put the automobile up as a prize...

because he doesn't believe

that our horse can run.

And do you know why?

Because our horse has already been

beat twice by his Possum horse.

We're dead. Finished!

Oh, no, we ain't.

We ain't even started yet.

That man saw my toes

sticking out of my shoes...

and thought that all

I could do was shuffle dust.

He thought that because he couldn't make

this horse run, nobody could.

But, when it comes to horses...

no man alive can sting me.

I can take one whiff of a horse...

and know I got a good one.

And this is a good one.

Is that animal stolen?

No, sir, he ain't.

I wouldn't put no

stolen horseflesh in your stable.

- Who's gonna ride him?

- He is.

That boy ain't got but one hand.

He don't need but one hand.

This boy here learned holding on...

riding his daddy's colts back in Mississippi.

He can stick on anything.

Well, let's go and see.

As far as Ned was concerned,

we didn't have to see.

He was absolutely sure

that we'd go home to Boss...

with the automobile

and a good horse tied behind it...

and we'd be able

to look him in the eye again.

That track that he's gonna be running on

ain't but half-mile.

So you go around here twice...

so that when he sees that real track,

he'll know beforehand...

what to expect and to do.

Do you understand?

- Yes.

- Let's do it.

What's the matter?

Come on.

- What's the matter?

- He feels funny.

What do you mean, "funny"?

The front half of him

just doesn't want to go.

His legs feel all right...

but his head

just doesn't want to go anywhere.

All right.

You're the fool who traded

a 40-mile-an-hour automobile...

for him, now, what's the matter with him?

Maybe something distracted his mind...

maybe he ought to be run up

against another horse.

Maybe.

Come on, Lightning!

What is he? Is he blind? Is he lame?

- Is he old?

- He's slow.

Giddyup, there!

Come on, boy.

Boss gave me his blue serge suits

before they were even wore out.

He gave me his best boots.

He paid to have my appendix took out.

Boon!

Oh, my God!

I don't know what I'm trying

to kill myself for.

You're the one that got us into this mess.

Name's Lovemaiden. Butch Lovemaiden.

I'm sheriff of this here town.

Good morning to you.

Little boy, come here.

Come on.

You look like a nice little boy.

How'd you like to go over

to Uncle Possum's melon patch...

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