"Flower seeds." "Now, just imagine that, seeds for flowers." "My compliments, ma'am, just a little introductory gift." "Oh, it's been a long time" "Since we seen flowers." "Mort's gonna be purely surprised." "Your husband away, ma'am?" "Been branding' calves." "Been at the red hawk creek for three days now." "Well, you must get lonesome some o' the time?" "Oh, I guess." "About the last thing a body'd expect," "Flower seeds." "Nothin' prettier than flowers at the door, I always say." "Except perhaps the flower that blooms inside." "Now, don't!" "Now, if you're lonesome, ma'am..." "Now, you stay clear o' me!" "Now, you be honest with me," "Ma'am, do you find me entirely unattractive?" "Mo- mort!" "Now, don't scream, ma'am." "Mo" "Howdy?" "Hallo." "Well, freshly churned butter." "I haven't seen that in two maybe three years." "Well, it's close to done, you'll be welcome, mister." "I'm thankful, my boy." "Jason gowdy's my name." "I'm mark mccain." "How do you do?" "Tell me, is the, er, master of the house around?" "Well now, that, ah, all depends on which one you want." "Which one?" "Pa an me, we're kinda partners." "Oh, I see." "And your ma?" "There's just the two of us." "Somethin' I can do for you?" "No, no." "But ah..." "There's somethin' I can do for you." "I can make you rich." "Rich?" "Richer than your wildest dreams!" "Keep churning', boy." "Yes!" "Wealth..." "No one can take away from you." "Riches that you'll never lose." "Wealth of the spirit, my boy, riches of the mind." "Books." "Well now, you're just lookin' at the cover now, boy." "Well, I wasn't figurin' on buyin' any books." "Well, I wasn't figuring' to sell you any books either." "I was just offering' you a chance to share in the greatest" "Adventures since the history of time." "To stand on courage, an' walk with the beauties of the earth." "A great beauty like helen, helen of troy." "A face that launched a thousand ships." "A beauty that started a war." "War?" "Oh, yeah." "Keep churning', boy." "By the way, uh, is your pa comin' back soon?" "Oh, he- he just went over to" "Mrs. Seevers' place." "You were sayin'?" "About a war?" "Yeah." "The trojan war!" "Now..." "Well, cora, could stand some more nails." "Well..." "Oh, I'm sorry, lucas," "That's the last one." "Haven't been to town for so long." "Well, I think it'll hold." "Trick is to set these rails on" "The inside of the post." "That way she can't push 'em out." "I don' know what I would have done if you hadn't come by." "Sow's been pure mean since she had a litter." "Well, they get that way." "When's ben comin' home, cora?" "Did you get any word?" "Yesterday." "Said his ma can't last a week." "Then as soon as the" "Burial's over..." "Be good to have ben back home again." "Uh, it must get lonesome for you." "Well, it wouldn't be so bad, if I had some fresh reading'." "I've been four or five times through everything' we got." "Lucas, what this town needs is a library." "Well, I'll take it up with the marshal, cora." "Cora." "Hello, marshal." "Went by your place a while ago, lucas." "Mark said you were here." "You're a long way outta town, micah." "Somethin' wrong?" "Not here exactly, up in willoughby." "Willoughby?" "Now, I didn't come out here to upset you, cora, it's just" "That- well, an ounce o' prevention as they say." "Ben being' away an' all." "What about willoughby, micah?" "I, er, got this circular in the mail." "Seems like some woman" "Up there last week, er, chances are, it was local," "A killing like that." "Like what?" "Well, somebody must have known her husband was away." "When he come home, he found her." "Her neck was broken." "They got any notion who did it?" "All they got is a packet o' seeds." "Seeds?" "On the floor, where she dropped 'em." "Kinda late to be puttin' in vegetables." "Weren't vegetables." "These were flower seeds." "You could stay in town." "I wanna be here when ben gets back." "Well, I see no real reason to scare, just stay close to the" "House as much as you can, keep the door bolted." "I will." "She just had a litter." "Sounds just mean enough to be people." "Well, I could've used some help setting' up that fence." "Next time, get here a little sooner." "Next time bring mark." "Well, I'd have brought 'im this time, he's workin'." "Oh." "How about a cold drink?" "No, thanks." "I've gotta get back to town." "I'll have that cold drink, cora." "Here's some more bread an' butter." "Oh, thank you, mark." "You can finish the story now." "All right." "Then they made a highly strategic move." "The greeks decided to pretend that the siege was over." "They marched away," "Leaving in front of the gates a big wooden horse." "Now, the trojans up in the walls, they looked down on that" "Horse, and they was wonderin'." "Wonderin' full o' curiosity." "Then I guess you know what happened." "No, sir." "Oh, they made their move." "They opened the gates, out came the trojans, in came the horse," "Inside the walls." "An' there it stood, until dark." "Un..." "Un..." "Until dark?" "Mm-hm." "An' then very slowly, the horse's wooden belly opened up," "An' silently the greeks climbed down." "Well, that was the end of the trojans." "They hurried over" "To the gates, opened 'em up, an' there was the greek army," "Ready, an' waitin'." "They surprised the trojans" "That day, an' troy fell like an overripe plum." "An'..." "An' it's all in there?" "Oh, sure, yeah." "But just one o' these books, you see," "It's a volume of 14." "Full morocco, embossed in real gold." "I guess you'd have to ask pa." "Well now, wait a minute." "Aren't you a full partner?" "Oh, well, uh, I'm more or less the workin' partner." "Pa's the spending' partner, you might say." "Oh?" "I figured he'd be back from the seevers' place by now." "How far is it?" "Oh, just a couple o' miles" "On the way to town." "You turn south at the stand o' big oaks." "But didn't you stop by there on your way out?" "The seever ranch, let me see." "No." "No, I don't recall." "Think they'd like a set o' books?" "Well, sure." "Pa says miss cora's a real smart woman." "Says, she's got a feelin'" "For books, too." "Except her spending' partner's gone." "Her husband?" "Yeah, went up to santa fe to visit his ailing' mother," "That's why pa went over, to see if he could help." "Well, that's very nice of your pa." "Takin' care of an old woman like that." "Oh, she's not old, she's young, an' pretty too." "Everybody says she's pretty." "Well, time is a jealous mistress, my boy," "Won't even wait for your pa." "I've got to be on my way." "Oh, he should be here any second." "Say, you know I haven't thanked you- hold on this" "For your hospitality?" "Here, take a pick." "What are they?" "Seeds." "Seeds?" "Flower seeds." "Open 'em up!" "Flower seeds!" "Now you plant those, boy." "There's nothin' as pretty as flowers by the door." "Howdy, jason gowdy's my name." "I'm lucas mccain, mr." "Gowdy." "Oh, the spending' partner." "What?" "Oh, I just had a long talk" "With your boy, who refers to himself as your workin' partner." "Oh, I see." "He's a fine boy, mr." "Mccain, imaginative, highly sensitive." "As a matter of fact, he showed a profound interest in this book." "It's one of a volume of 14, embossed in gold," "Full morocco, and er, only five dollars down." "He, ah- well," "He thought you might" "He'd never read it, mr." "Gowdy." "You sure, mr." "Mccain?" "When I told him one of the stories" "From this book, he was so absorbed I couldn't believe it." "Listenin' is one thing, an' reading's another." "Now, we have" "Ten other places we could put that money now." "Maybe next year." "Maybe next year, pleasure, mr." "Mccain." "Good day, sir." "Good day." "Oh, er, mr." "Mccain?" "Um, am I heading' toward north fork?" "Be right on this road." "Thank you." "Mark!" "Mark!" "Son?" "I thought you'd be watchin', for your spending' partner." "Oh-oh, you talked to mr." "Gowdy?" "That's right, I met 'im on the road." "An' the books?" "Well, I can't, son." "Right now the spending' partner is" "Not spending." "An' it looks to me like, the, er," "Workin' partner isn't workin'." "Oh, well, I made the butter, I was just puttin' the churn away." "Oh, good." "That saddle, you fixed the cinch on it yet?" "I'm goin' to." "Yeah, you better get to it, mark," "Or someday you're gonna find yourself flying'." "I will, soon as I get these seeds put in." "See" "Did you say seeds?" "Yup, mr." "Gowdy gave 'em to me." "Said they'd look nice by the door." "Mark, you know where he's gone from here?" "No, except maybe to miss cora's." "Cora seevers' place, why?" "Well, I- to sell her some books, I guess." "You know" "How she's always talkin' about books." "'course I told 'im," "It wouldn't be much use." "I told 'im ben seevers wasn't home." "You told- mark, now you listen to me, it's important." "You ride into town, an' you give this to micah." "You tell 'im" "What you just told me an' say" "I'll meet 'im at the seevers' place, you got that?" "Sure." "All right, now hurry." "Is somethin' wrong with mr." "Gowdy?" "I'm not sure, you hurry." "You're sayin', lucas mccain sent you here?" "That's right, ma'am, an' mark too, of course." "They both have" "A great respect for your love of learning'." "Here, you can take look at it, I'll wait outside, if you wish." "Well, if lucas sent you over..." "You better put your horse out of the sun, mister." "Well, that's..." "That's mighty kind of you, ma'am." "Maybe you'd like to talk it over with your husband." "He isn't here." "Oh, that's right." "They told me he's in santa fe." "Well," "You must be rather lonesome out here all by yourself." "'course, not too lonesome." "What with a neighbor like mr." "Mccain." "Get outta here." "No offence meant, ma'am." "All I was tryin' to tell you was how beautiful I think you are." "Now, don't you think that, er, one flower deserves another?" "Cora?" "Cora, it's lucas mccain!" "You just tell 'im to come in, hmm?" "Tell 'im!" "Co..." "Come in, lucas." "An' then he just grabbed his book" "An' ran, like the devil was at his heels." "And it might be." "There's somethin' you know about this book fella, lucas?" "Just that he lies well, an' he tried to manhandle you, cora." "The swelling' gone down?" "Yeah, a little bit." "Well, I think I'll cool the water up." "Lucas?" "What made you come back here?" "I" " I got worried about the sow." "What's that?" "That fella must have dropped it." "Lucas?" "Lucas?" "Lucas?" "Why, you knew about this all the time." "I didn't see any use to scare you, cora." "But lucas, lucas, he could have killed me, I could be dead now" "He'll do no more killin'." "When micah gets here, we'll run 'im down." "Micah?" "Mark went in to get 'im." "Cora, don't worry." "Why don't we have some coffee?" "Huh?" "Coffee." "Oh, oh sure." "You take a fall, boy?" "I didn't have time to fix the cinch." "Pa said that" "Pa said what?" "What did he say, boy?" "Or is this just between partners?" "You can tell me, boy." "Where are you goin'?" "Now, mark, I asked you a question, where are you goin'?" "Into town." "What for?" "No reason, I'm just goin' into town, that's all." "Well, it's awful late, awful lot o' chores to do around on" "The farm." "You said you didn't have time to fix that saddle." "Now, mark, why don't you tell me the truth?" "Why are you goin' into town?" "Cuz your father asked you to?" "Cuz he went somewhere else?" "Mark, why'd your father ride back to the seever ranch?" "You must have some idea." "No." "I" "Well, so that's it." "Still it'll have to be your word against" "Mine." "You'd have to prove that I gave you this." "But if they" "Couldn't find it, I mean, if it was gone, the whole pouch." "The pouch?" "I left it, it's back there." "Won't do no good to hold me back." "Pa will come lookin', an'" "He'll find me!" "He can track" "An ant through a cornfield." "He'll come lookin', mr." "Gowdy." "I imagine he will." "Oh, she's hungry, that's when she's the meanest." "An' sometimes, they'll kill their whole litter." "I better feed her." "Well, I mostly hold off 'til dark," "Then she don't wake me in the night." "It will be dark soon." "A little while yet." "Micah should've been here by now, should he?" "He'll be here." "Lucas, maybe somethin's happened to the boy." "Nothin's happened to the boy." "You got my word, mark." "You won't be harmed if you just do" "As I tell you." "I know you're disappointed in me, boy," "But life's full o' disappointments." "You're sure you can manage up there, with your hands tied?" "I can manage." "Whoa!" "Don't you try that again," "You hear?" "In fact, don't you try anything." "I know this is uncomfortable, boy, but I gotta protect you," "Against yourself." "Now, I'll leave you for a while." "Lucas, you gotta go, you got no choice." "Now stop thinkin'" "About me, I'll be all right." "Now look, cora, it bothers me, wait a minute" "That fella ain't comin' back, he ain't no fool, come on." "Cora?" "Will you ride in with me?" "I'd only hold you back," "Lucas." "Well, don't you worry about me, I'll be all right." "Don't you open that door for anybody." "I won't." "You find the boy, you find 'im." "Now, I don't want anythin' from you, cora." "I just want that" "Leather pouch." "Now, is it in the house?" "Or did mccain take it with 'im?" "Just a minute, son." "He's gone to the cabin, pa." "Look, mark, get yourself loose, an' wait here for me." "You know, cora, you're a very foolish girl." "You shouldn't be" "Frightened o' me." "Why should any woman fear a man?" "It's so ridiculously easy to make him a slave." "Lovely girl like you" "What are you doin', son?" "Oh, I'm planting' these flower seeds." "Oh, are they the ones that mr." "Gowdy gave you?" "Yeah." "I won't plant them if you don't want me to." "No, mark, you go ahead an' plant 'em." "If I was to tell you no," "It would be like blaming' the flower seeds for what mr." "Gowdy" "Did." "As long as they're taken care of, they'll grow tall an'" "Beautiful, just like they were intended." "Yes, pa."