Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

In the evening, Ellery stood under the concrete wall that borders the stadium oval, wondering how human emotions can turn from sadness to joy so quickly.The anger subsided, the sadness faded, and only the unchanging venue silently reminded the past events, making people uncomfortable to watch.Over there, on the runway some twenty yards away, lay the battered and twisted body of a few weeks ago.And in the blink of an eye, people shuttled back and forth to put food and wine in the same place. "Forget it, this hateful world!" He sighed and walked towards the crowd. In the center of the oval, a long row of tables had been set up, covered with snow-white tablecloths.The table was covered with all kinds of shiny silver tableware and exquisite glassware; the dishes were rich, and the desserts delicious... He looked around and looked around, but he couldn't see any signs before the evening opening ceremony.The arena and ring seats of the boxing match the day before yesterday have been dismantled, and the curved roof above has also been lowered; the telecommunications equipment and corresponding personnel of the broadcasting and television company have also disappeared.

The caterer finished all the preparations and Crazy Bill Grant stepped out with an arm around his son's burly shoulders. "Is everyone there?" cried Grant gruffly. The cowboys of the riding troupe had already put on costumes and clapped their hands to add to the fun. "Then sit down!" Grant roared, "This table of food will definitely make us country bumpkins have a good time!" After finishing speaking, he took his seat at the table above, picked up a large piece of burnt ham and gnawed on it. up. Curley sat on his father's right, and Kit sat on his left.Ellery sat a few chairs away from Kit.Tony Mars sat across from Ellery.

Next to Curley sat a heavyset old gentleman who had stuffed his top hat and lawyer's briefcase under the seat. The cowboys sat down in order.Ellery, who had been well educated in the east, was puzzled by the feasting of the crowd.The food on the table disappeared at an alarming rate.Those mouths stuffed with food or chewing are also laughing loudly and inarticulately from time to time.Only the person sitting at the head of the table was silent. Gradually the crowd was full, the movement on the table became quieter, and the cowboys stopped shouting excitedly; perhaps it was due to Grant's depressed look or Kit's silent expression (despite Kit's best effort to make an easy-going gesture) Some sort of gloomy vibe, but the venue fell silent anyway when the food ran out.It might be said that it was Buck Horne's ghosts who bothered them so much that they all shut up at last.

Grant threw down his napkin and stood up, bow-legged trembling, dark-brown face stretched out. "Brothers!" he roared, trying to organize his words politely, "I'm sure you all know that I'm hosting this barbecue dinner. It's my son Curley's thirtieth birthday today."—with a little joy from the crowd—"he's a man now, (laughter) to make his own way. Damn—God bless her The soul of my son—was buried nineteen years ago. Before she died, she made a will and left an inheritance to our son. She stipulated that the 10,000 yuan should not be handed over to him until he was 30 years old. He's thirty today and can have that money. Mr. Comerford was our family lawyer back in the war years and came all the way from Cheyenne to execute the will and bring the blessing. God knows though Did he bring cash over from the west, because he was afraid of being robbed by robbers... that's all. I have one more thing to say," he paused, waiting for the conversational flattery Sexually laughed in the past.But after laughing, the court became cold and dead silent; a tense atmosphere covered the entire table, and everyone stared at Grant without blinking.

"There's only one thing I've got to say," he repeated, in a weary voice, "and I only hope in God's mercy that my old friend Buck Horn be there—to be there." He sat down , frowning and staring blankly at the tablecloth. Kit sat stiffly, staring intently at Curley across the way. The tall old man in the west stood up, put the briefcase on the table, and stood up straight again.He solemnly stroked the box and said, "I brought the money," he announced, "ten thousand dollars in cash, all in banknotes with a face value of one thousand." Yellow note tied with tendons, "Curley my boy, I have the honor of executing your mother's will and fulfilling her last wish. Use this money wisely and may you be happy."

Curley stood up and took the bills mechanically. "Thank you, Mr. Comerford. Thank you too—Father. I—Hello, I don't know what to say!" He sat down suddenly. Everyone burst into laughter, and the cold atmosphere seemed to dissolve a lot.But the joking soon stopped. Crazy Bill Grant said, "Boys and girls, you'd better go back and take a second look at your outfits and props. We can't go wrong with our show tonight." He nodded to the caterer.The waiters immediately cleaned up the guys, removed the tables and chairs, and cleaned up the place. The Cowboys quickly disappeared.

In this way, things were done simply and smoothly.But Ellery always felt that the atmosphere was weird, and the copper-colored and simple faces were almost covered with a look of confusion and anxiety; it seemed that they, like him, were aware of some kind of indescribable gloom, maybe there were ghosts descending on it, maybe It's just the general gloomy mood of everyone.Superstitious, sensitive, and unique male and female cowboys quietly and procrastinately follow the one-armed Woody back to the underground hall, and silently walk into their respective dressing rooms. There was a sense of terror in the air.Some worriedly ran to the stables to recheck the safety of the saddles and harnesses, others surreptitiously checked the amulets they wore.

Everything on the venue has been removed, and the celebration ceremony has been swept away without a trace.The employees of the stadium entered the venue through the corner gates, cleaned up, and made final preparations for the evening performance. Ellery stood silently by himself, observing everything around him coldly. Ten yards away, Grant was talking pleasantly to his son and Kit.Kit turned pale, but forced a smile.Curley was uncharacteristically taciturn.The old lawyer also came over.Grant continued to talk and laugh happily... But he stopped suddenly in the middle of his words. The famous war fighter and the famous general in the United States suddenly became terrified.Then he suddenly woke up and ran towards the passage leading to his office on the opposite side of the field.

Both Curley and Kit startled, and Comfort groped his cheek foolishly. Ellery was alert.Something must have happened.What's up?He regretted it—how he had been so absent-minded and inattentive.He tried to recall Grant's manner when he had stopped talking and joking; what impressed him most was that Grant's eyes were looking over Curley's shoulder to the side of the field, which was the direction he later ran; Exit the main passage on the east side, where the cowboys entered the basement a few minutes ago. Ellery stood alone, thinking, completely unaware that Maas's workers were busy shuttling around him.

It seemed that Grant had seen a face flashing through the mouth of the dark passage—a face that was undoubtedly shocking.