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Show - MYF'IEND MYFIEND MY FRIEND FrflEND FrflENDir ' ir - ) rblF MYF'IENDrblF tLICKN : ' 17 W . , MARY O'HARA OHARA O.HARA ' . : : ; . . " " , r I , t + " 11 , , I ms TIIB THE rronT STORY SO O FAa TAR 'A A ' ? t I Tn Tea Tsayai J'Ar-el4 J'Ar JAr el4 ysar-eld ysar eld J'Arel4KeD ysareldKen ' - - W.en Wen KeD Ken . McLaBOllK MeLaachUJJ MclaaghU , . , atn gives ( ITB * . aa aD as opport8Dlb opportunity opportunityto risadtri ' to ehoo18 choose ch s * aBjr all any ) ' yrUiic yearling ear eo colt It " 011 on Us ilia kit 'am am tam 'amUy tamuy ' laaaUy Uy s I a Wyaslac WyollalDc Wyoming : raask raacla ranoh , , , pick picks Icbs , aao the th * Blly IW7 ally of . t , a'loco a . " "Ioeo Ioeo 'loco loco " ' ( e ' * ' mare saar aamed _ aasa mecl B lcko Docket K ck & . t . . Ols WI Dls ehoteo tholes ehoteomero tholesmerely c l mero merely rly * " .44 44 adds a . s . to hi Us his . falb father's fathers ( atarr . . * ' * . a ajfr cer anger . , whleb which whlebaa whichis U aIs aa is alre.dy alredy already alra * . r aroused r 'y y by ' y tar Ibe the last 'act act fact ' that Kn Kea Knha Keahas K aIMS ha has . taUee faUed failed bI Us his . aehool school sch 1 _ wrk work ra : eDd sad . has . . BboWII shows BboWIIDO showsno s waa DO no * seas.5 seas5 UDI B BSS . o . f . resBmutfculty re.poasIbmtt repoasIbmtt responsibmty . n It wa was . KB K'D KD Een * ' s . smother sBaothT m mother tber wbo who w taaJly GDalI7 Cathy persuaded nua4ed rs Captala Captain CaptalaMeLaqlllbil CaptainMciaegbuIS CaBtalaMcLaflui MeLaqlllbil MciaegbuIS that Ibat haTtal ham having , pae the th * fit con coil altal W&1it W1it mitt W&1itIte mittbe & . _ - _ _ J .1- .1 . .1k . -k- k k1 . . _ 1 ID in _ hi bhn him bhnhas himhas Ite be > - Coo4 good - - * 'or or for ' - - KeD Ken - - , , an4 _ d tho the - chaDe change - - , has proved r T c sbo she sh * was rifkt right rlChL . Oat Dot FUek f rucka Ucka . Is II IIItaell isbadly Isa Itaell badly a ly ) ' hwrt han hurt tryu &ryt ryt & trying > . to Junp lump | u the th eorral corral eorral'eDce corralfence eerralf 'eDce eDce fence ' ac Kva BveD Even Gus ow G , . , Ur the pa . 'orem orem foreman f ' r maa _ lay says . lb abs absis . a Is . If loeo loco Uke like Ilk * hr ber her * molber mother u > * r Db Bwt Bbt ' KB KeD Ken * re- re refuses r ruses . - -uses uses - h.ol hol fuses ( . to Ito be eODvt OBTlBeeA convinced eed . . . Now N w cODtlDae continue e BUBB with the th * storyCHAPTER . story storyCHATTEIl 017 & CHATTEIl CHAPTER XINell XI Nell found her gardening glove gloves glovesand glovesand * and her trowel and shear shean shears * and went wentabout wentabout wentabout about clearing the broken Jowersand flowersand ! Bowers Jowers flowers and leaves leavea out of the boxesWhen boxesWhen boxes When .he he she . sh had done what she he could couldto couldto couldto to put the boxes boxe . and Bnd flower ower bordenIn bordersin borders borden In order the she went to the kitchen kitchenbuilt kitchenbuilt kitchenbuilt built up the flre Ore fire and began to mixthe mixth mix mixthe the * cookiesNow cookiesNow cookies cookiesNow Now the oven wafready wasready waf was ready and andwhen andwhen andwhen when she sh * had nearly finished mix mixIng mixtog mixIng Ing tog the th dough Ken came tame into the thekitchen thekitchen thekitchen kitchen He leaned against agalnat the th ta to table toble table ble his elbows propped bla his chin in inhis inhis inhis his hand A little Uttle red bandana was wastied wastied wastied tied around his neck His ills soft oft brown brownhaIr brownhair brownhair haIr was In wild disorder dJsorder disorderIf dJsorderIf If nicka Fllcka Flicks s really loco Mother- Mother MotherlIis MotherHis Mother - ' His lIis appearance shocked IIhocked NeU Nell The Thelook Thelook Thlook * look in his eyes was direct almost almoststaringnothing almoststaring taring-nothln taring nothln staring-nothing staring nothing - nothing & , llke like Uk * Ken He wu was wulooking waslooking waslooking looking at her ber now to Ira < drag , facts factsfrom factsfrom tactsfrom from herWell herWell her herWell Well Well . , . KennleT Kennle ? . ' ' . It If she s a . locoT loco ? " It s a a e bad lookout tor for her then thenIsn thenisn thenisnt Isn t IUThere it ItT IU ItTThere ? There wa was . a lon long , silence slIence He Hestruggled Hestruggled Hestruggled HestruggledNell struggled struggledNell Nell looked at him rolling the thedough thedough thedough dough thinner and Bnd thinnerIn thinnerIn thinner thinnerIn In his eyes she saw a question questionHe questionlie questionHe He lie was asking if 11 It wouldn t come cometrue cometrue cometrue true if lf H he wanted It hard enough enoughand enoughand enoughand and his hill face wa was . strained in an angulsh angulch angulsh angulshRight gulsh gulch gulshRight gulchRight Right now she thought narrowing narrowingher narrowingher narrowingher her eyes against the tears that came cameso cameso cameso so quickly stinging them right nowto nowlo now -to to -lo lo - to let him know once for ( or all that thatwanting thatwanting thatwanting wanting and wishing can t buck afact afactPerhaps a afact afact fact . . Perhaps Perhap she isn t loco dear we wedon wedon wedon don t know yet for sure sur * But 11 If she sheIs sheis sheIs Is Ken her words came slowlywanting slowlywanting slowly slowlywanting wanting won t change itShe itShe it itShe She went on rolling roUlng out the dough doughcutting doughcutting doughcutting cutting the cookies put putting tin & , them on onlln ontin ontin lln tin sheets shee15 in the hot oven But she IIhe IIhehad shehad shethe had really gone away with Ken up upthe upthe the Hill HIlJ into the woods face down downon downon do doon on the pine needles hands clawing clawingat at the ground salt tears burning burning- burningThe burningThe - - The insistent clanging of the sup sup- supper supper supper - - per bell roused him hlm and he sat up upstartled upstartled upstartled startled How Ilow could It ever be sup supper supper supper per time lime already ? He turned In the opposite directlon dlrec direc dlreclion direction lion tion and lo 10 to ked to Fllcka Flicka Flicks s a place placenear placenear placenear near the three pine trees in the theCalf theCalf theCalf Calf Pasture She was lying down downnot downnot downnot not very tar far from where he had put putthe putthe putthe the tub of water and the feed fel'd feld ' boxHe boxHe box boxHe He ran rRn down the Hill II1ll lull acn acre across ss the theereen thegreen thegreen ereen green and into the k tchen ai at a ! d dwashed dwashed dwashed washed his face and hand hands and andIIlJcked andslicked andslicked IIlJcked slicked his hairAll hairAll hair hairAll All his agony was back Fl FI cka- cka ckawhy ckawhy cka ckawhy - why she might be dead out thl're- thl're thlre there- there thl'relying therelytng there-lying there lying ' - lying lytng dead instead of just asleepAfter asleepAfter asleep asleepAfter After supper he h * hurried out to see seeher seeher seeher her She was standing atandlng up again againand againand againand and this time barely moved away at atall atall atall all a at t his approach He sa sat t down be before before before fore her on the gr grass < iss ss clisped clasped ch ped hisarms his hisarms hisarms arms around aroW1d his knees and made madehis madehis madehis his vows to her herI I didn dldn t t mean It It , , FlJcka Fhcka FlJckayou Fhckayou Fllckayou you re the one I want I won t tleave tleave tleave leave y u again never hover never Fhcka FllckaI FhckaI I don t want those oti oU oil er C cc ( Its ItsThey ItsThey ItsThey They re nothing just simply noUJlng nothing nothingat noUJlngat at alL aiL And you re my respona respons bill billty billty billty ty That s what Dad said I 1 pulled pulledou pulledyou pulledyou you ) ou in from the range where you youwere youwere youwere were free and wild and could take takecare takecare takecare care of yourself and I ve ye made you youso youso youso so you can t so you re Fe my responsl responsi responslbil1ty responsibility responsibility bil1ty bility to take care of , Fllcka Fhcka stood looking at al him Her Herlarge Herlarge Herlarge large eyes were dull and not fully fullyo fullyopened fullyopened o opened ned All her hair was very unt un unt unt t dy Her legs were not qu te to testra tostra Iettra stra ght under her b it a little littleI littlesllayed littleallayed littlesi I sllayed allayed layed out But her edn ears e rs were werefor wereforward wereforward for forward . ard the she seemed to be llstenmg listening listeningto llstenmgI llstenmgto to be pay ng attention s ai at ! d she was wasn wasn wasn I n t frightcr frlghte ! edNell ed edN.11 N.11 N11 Ndl Nell ( . with a dark bli bit blt e a ' silk * ilk kim klm r i 10belted 0 o 0be1t obelted be1t belted < , d around her sll"n slln slim lcn " ler I'r Ir ter ( ' waist was wasI wast I t ch ' .h h . h gherhaJrfr g her hair for rUenglt > U Ue e n gt e t It ItI Itl It1 I l v 1 1 I te se ui n her sl st si ul ullrs i li < ( rs in a as as as s ft rt wavy tan n a ass as s and as al she sheurusl shebrust shebrust urusl brust c ( 1 i she waIk walked < , d arou dUe dUer d U ti e er er r m rn putting clothes away in theI thecloset the I | closet Ol oI opening enlng ening the ' bed b'd bd ( ' I 1 t rm ring ng ut tit utRob titRob utRob Rob s pajamas and talked to him himabut himabout himab-aut himab aut abut about - ? Ken KenI ' I wish you d be nicer to him himH himFt himH I H Ft b bI I bWhy Why Why7 ' He lie s gone against sgalnst every everythmg everything everything thmg thing I t h < t ( Id him hlln hum to doI doI do doI I th r ! k he s suffering dE'E'ply dEEply deeplyS deeplySitTenng ' ' S < ; IfYerlngl ifiertngl ! So am I .nd nd Ind . nd what s sIt sit sIt It all f r r- r rR ' - ' R b seote'd seoted SE'Dtt-d SE'Dtt SEDtt d seated ' - ' in the low arm choirreached ehlr choir ehlrr'ached ch.irreached chirreached _ ) . r'ached rached reached ( ' out s a booted bootE'd ' footand foot .od od and anddragged . anddraeted .oddragged dragged the bootjack boot jack cl se He HeplllntE'd Heplanted Heplanted plllntE'd plllntEd planted ' one foot upon it and set setthe setthe setthe the other othE'r ' heel in the notch con continu continuing conlinuing IInu Ing If he was going gomg to have havf ' a ahorse ahorse ahorse horse to break and tra tea n us as Howard Howarddid Howarddid Howarddid did Highboy It would have ta tn to ght ghthim ghthim ghthim him something made ' a man of h m mRut mBut mBut Rut But what Vhat V\ V \ hat can he do with this poor1 poorI poor I 1 tUc tUe nlly filly ' Not a damned thing Uung He il U ilsit Usit Ufit sit in that pastur pastwe pasture * and watch herall herall her herII all II summer aummer mummer and nd neglect neeleet his work Howard Boward h has . been walking walltlna als his hi . eolta colts eoltafor coltsfor coltsor for ( him h.bn hbn . for ( or two day days . " He H * pulled pulledhard pulledhard pulledhard hard against agam.t agamt . the th * Jack , . , and drew one onefoot onefoot onfoot * foot out ut of bte the in * lon long , worn worn . , brown brownbooL brownboot brownbook brownbook"But booL boot . booL"But "But But " Rob , you don't dont ' see seel nel ! It It's Its ' . 81- 81 al- al 81ready already al already - ready done-much done much done - - much of It It . . Ken is " ischanged Ischanced chaneed changed already H's Hs He's Hes He * ' ' . learning . , even vcn th thiugb though b he h * : can t train her ' * ' "Leamlag Leamlag "Learning Learning ' " 'Leamin Leamin ' , whatT what ? Leamin Learning , ta to siton .It It sit siton . .Iton on his biI fanny under a pin pine * treT tree * ' ? " Rob leaned back In hi his . : chair ch.tr chtr . and andout andout andout out at of hl hi bit . dark face ( ace , his hbI hbIvivid vivid burn burnine burnlag burning ine lag blue eyes looked at her without withoutao1tenlng withoutsoftening withoutaoftening ao1tenlng softening "Learning Learning "Leam1n Leam1n " ' tha that t it pays paya to tobe tobe tob be * bull headed ? ' " Nol Nor Not He H * I a learning to tace face tac * facu facts factsqnd factsAnd qnd d that s . ttr the whole thing Isn't Isnt IlIn.t IlInt ' . ItT IU it ? " ' "Face Face " factsl facts ! I don't dont ' see sny any .Ign Ign sign signof . signof .Ignof of It it . . , " ' he b * said harshly And the thekid thekid thkid * kid looks lookl like heck If II this thla goes onaU onall on aU all U . summer .ummer ummer he U n be b * in fine fln * ahape shape ahapeto shapeto shapto * to go back to school in September ' Nell felt telt rebuffed and got up and andwent andwent andwent went about In silence .Uence Uence . . . . . ' Rob stood Itood up picked up hI his . boota boots bootakicked bootskicked bootskicked kicked th the * bootjack boot Jack back hack into thI the thecomer thecorner * corner comer went over to Mell Nell and withr with r . ( @J @ Do D * y you thiak think she's shes che she ' " * . - - loco ' ? " ' the boots boola hanging In one on * hand put putthe putthe putthe the other arm around her herLove herLove herLove Love me meT ? he asked askedI I knew you were going to say saythat saythat saythat that ! ) ! she exclaimed angrilyWhen angrilyWhen angrily angrilyWhen When you ve VI ye " just made me madthat mad madthai madthat thai that isn fan t uny any time to say things thingslike thingslike thingslike like tha that t . . His one arm squeezed and shook shookher shookher shookher her a little I1tUe Lov Love me ? he re repeated repeated repealed repealedI peated peatedI I don t feel the least bit loving lovingLove lovingLove lovingLove Love me ? The one deep dimple In Nells Nellright Nellright Nell s sright right check cheek appeared In spite of her herself herself herself self and she turned her face awayOh awayOh away awayOh Oh yes U ti en have it your own ownway ownway ownwayl ownwaylShe way I ! IShe She made her voice insulting but butIt butit butIt It was an Irritating Irrltattng habit of R b s sto sto sto to be satisfied satlsftE'd satlsftEd ' with outward obedl obedi obedlt"nce obedionce obedlence t"nce tnce once " as al if once that was granted grantedby grantedby grantedby by his own persistence and violencehe vIOlence he could drive people the rest of ofthe ofthe ofthe the way wayThat wayTha Tha That I s a all right then he sa said saidand saidand Id Idand and with his hard bullet head headIreseed headI I Ireseed ressed her face around until he hecould hecould hecould could kiss t I er mouth mouth-But mouth But . - . But Rob Ken- Ken KenI KenI KenDon KenDon Ken - 'Don Don ' I Don t talk about him he roared roaredI roareddropping roareddropping roareddropping I I dropping his hll arm I ve ye had all I Ican Ican , can stand of him He went out the the'room theroom theroom 'room room ' room slammed IIlammed the door and andstamped andstamped andstamped ' stamped down the hall to the bathroom bath ' room bath'I 'I I Nell climbed chmbed into bed turnedup turned up upthe upthe the kerosene kE'rosenl kErosenl ' ' lamp that stood on the thebedside thebedside thebedside bedside table ta ble U to t ( k her book frombeside from frombeside frombeside beside it and brgan b'gan bgan began ( ' to read Her Iler Ilerdimple Herdimple Herdimple dimple had ii 11 appeared and her 1 I ps pswere pswere pswcr were * very set and primNext prim primNext Next day H It b planned plannE ' < ! to drive to toSargent toSargent toSargent Sargent s ra ch to make final ar arrar artar arrai rar tar gernei gemeI gemer ts is at ab ) ut shipping the to fo lr it lrpolo itpolo irpolo polo poi per ! ics es Nell was to go with withhim withhim withhim him a id tl tI < ' ey 'y y w uld be away all allday allday allday alldayWhen day dayWhen When at t t I < ' cdkfast 'dkfast dkfast cakfast Howard Howllrd and andKen andKen andKen Ken 1card t I card eard about auout it Ken saidWould saidWould said saidWould Would y u have time Dad to cu co ne neout neout neout out be bef ! re y J 1 r go and lock |