16/02/2026 00:35

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I'll go, Lorena said. I want you to stop drinking, she said. He was better at doing without water than we were, Augustus said. The country grew more barren as they rode, and the only sign of life was an occasional buzzard and many, many rattlesnakes.

He didn't want to be the kind of man who would just let his wife blow out of his life like a weed. He wouldn't let us alone, Jake said, as if talking to himself. He knew he had to get to Mouse and then ride back to Lorena, to help her in case the cattle swerved her way. No one noticed him or spoke to him.