Chapter 4 Chapter Four

The five members of the Bowden family, who ate breakfast at the same time on a rare occasion, talked about how violent the storm was that night.Jamie and Butch turned a deaf ear.Nancy said that the thunderstorm woke her up, so she put on her nightgown and sat by the window to watch the wind and rain outside.Neither Sam nor Kylo mentioned that Kylo was awakened by the storm, and Kylo, ​​fearful of lightning, slipped into Sam's bed and snuggled up to him to calm her fears.No one mentioned Marilyn.But Butch had sunken dark circles under his eyes. "Announcement," Sam said, "Attention Bowdens. First Nancy helped Mom clean the kitchen and make the bed, and the two boys helped me find the boat repair tools and load them into the station wagon. Then we'll find a place to practice." Shooting. Jamie, you hang the empty cans. We'll get to refit our boat at the end."

The place where the target is practiced is on the hillside behind the house, and there is an earth embankment behind it.Jimmy found five or six empty jars that he didn't want, put them on ropes and hung them on the branches of a maple tree in front of the embankment.They knocked out two and a half cartridges in their .22 automatics.Sam and Nancy had the best shots; Jamie, as usual, was very angry that Nancy got a better grade than him.Caro is doing much better than ever, and she doesn't give up easily when it's her turn.She paid attention to the guidance Sam gave her, and she was no longer as timid and withdrawn as before.Sam stood diagonally behind her, watching her grit her teeth and frown as she concentrated.The kids are much quieter than usual.Although this is a game they often play, today it is more than just a game. There is a new meaning in it, which all of them can feel.

Three of eight bullets hit the bullet-ridden jar in Butch's final round, blushing with pride in the face of congratulations. "Shall I take the jar down?" Jamie asked. "Keep it," said Sam. "Perhaps come back to practice tomorrow afternoon, if we can get the boat right." "What about their homework?" "Do it tonight and tomorrow night," said Sam. "I'm going to the drive-in tonight," Nancy said complainingly. "Have you forgotten our new rules?" Sam asked. "No. But, my God, Pa, I've promised."

"Who's going to drive you to the drive-in?" "Well, his name is Tommy Kent, he's a senior in high school, he's turned eighteen, so he can drive at night, and it's a couple date, and Sandella will go with Bobby. " "Does Tommy run a furniture business at home?" Kai Luo asked. "Yeah, there's no problem going to the movies with them, really. They'll pick me up here and be right back after the movie. It's a John Wayne movie, and I was going to ask you guys if I could come on Friday." Look, but... because of Marilyn, I forgot to ask. Can I go? Just this one time, please?"

Sam watched Caro, saw her nod slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Okay. But just this time, not next time. And how did you do in history?" said Sam. "Pretty good, I suppose." "Children go down and get ready first, we are now going to the dock." They ran down the hill, Sam and Caro slowly following, and Sam said, "You messed up my rules." "I know. But I don't think it's a big deal. You can't imagine how much I've heard about Tommy Kent, Tommy Kent East, Tommy Kent West, and Peck Before and during Foster's relationship, I've heard her mention that he's a celebrity in school, a great athlete, and that it's a big deal for a freshman girl to date him."

"I guess so. But I hope she's tired of big-bodied, simple-minded muscular hunks." "This boy is not so dull as poor Peck. Tommy called me in his shop one Saturday, when I went to buy that lamp for the study in August. He was a fairly grown-up young man." .” "Damn, maybe he's too mature, maybe he's a bit too old for Nancy, she's only fourteen, I can't imagine her driving every night to those drive-in theaters. What do they call it The place? 'Where's a good place to talk'? And they joked that they never saw what the movie was doing."

"Honey, stop being a traditional dad. If we haven't instilled a good moral standard in Nancy, it's too late now. She's almost fifteen, and San Della will go too, two determined boys won't separate them. She'll probably just be kissed." "Just thinking about it makes me cringe." "Be brave, dear. She'll be safe, and it's better than sitting at home with a sad face. The fact that Peake dumped her did a big blow to her self-confidence. This appointment can restore her confidence." .” "That damn car probably has bad brakes, no lights, and worn tires."

"It just so happens that it's a brand new Plymouth coupe." "I forgot that there's a lot of money selling furniture. What's the matter with Jimmy?" Jimmy let the other two children go first, and stood beside Marilyn's new grave waiting for them.When they came up to him, he said harshly, "We're going to erect a big marble monument with a date and a name on it." "We're going to put up a monument or something, son," said Sam, "but a big marble tombstone is too much work, isn't it?" "What's the meaning?"

"Should keep it simple. I bet you and Mike could find a nice flat rock if you went down to the creek, I bet. Then I think we could carve its name on it." Seeing Jamie's skeptical look, Caro said, "I think that would look great, baby." Jamie sighed: "Okay, we'll look for it. Ever since I woke up, I've been feeling as if I still see it by my side, as if it's somewhere nearby. It seems that as long as I turn my head fast enough, I'll to be able to see it.” Caro hugged him tightly beside her and said softly, "I know, baby, we all feel that way."

Jamie looked at his father from his mother's arms. "We could find out where he was eating and sneak into the kitchen and put poison in what he was eating. While he was eating, we could watch him writhe around, Knock over tables and make all the guests scream until he stops and dies." "These plans are great, but they don't apply to boat repairs," Caro said.She pushed him lightly, "Go in and change into the tattered jeans in the closet." "Is it those trousers that you say are beyond mending?" "Those trousers couldn't be more fitting."

Jamie ran away.Caro said: "I don't know if it's healthy or not. He always thinks about this kind of thing, and some of the things he said are really surprising." "To an eleven-year-old child, civilization is only a thin layer of clothing, and he is still a savage at heart." "Sir, you speak of my beloved child." "They'd gang up and bully kids who were weak or not like them, and gloat over the horrible ways they tortured people. It's part of survival, my dear. In wartime, in those big cities, it's The children survive, and the ones who are a little older than them, softened a little by their moral values, are wiped out." "Sometimes you can be ridiculously objective. I'm worried about Jimmy, a lot of his ideas are violent." "Speaking of violence, can you manage to keep that automatic pistol close at hand without being too conspicuous?" "I think so. I can carry it in a big straw bag." "Doesn't that strike you as too dramatic?" "I'm not going to make you feel coy about something like that. It's a gun, a gun that shoots dead people. And I'm not so easily scared, you taught me how to put the safety on, and I'll let the A bullet is loaded. My children are threatened, Sam, and I'm going to be as primitive as Jamie, and while I was out there shooting, I was wondering if I could hold a gun on someone and pull the trigger, and Still able to aim, not blink and flinch, and then I thought of Marilyn, and I knew I could do it." "I really admire you." The New Essex Yacht Club, four miles east of town, has ample moorings and marinas, with its own breakwater, plus a long club building with balconies, bar and ballroom.Yacht owners call sailors who love to sail the "Magellans"; sailors call those yacht owners "farts."Because of the excellent facilities of the New Essex Yacht Club, large yachts dock here one after another.In the summer, there are visitors from Miami and Fort Lauderdale.In winter, many local yacht owners drive their large yachts to the south. When Sam and Caro upgraded the Sweet Sioux Two, a small yacht converted from a scrapped lake ferry lifeboat, to the Sweet Sioux Three—a ship nearly sixteen years old and twenty-six feet long old yacht - they then joined the New Essex Yacht Club.Club fees are high and social events are frequent.Despite being freshly painted, the Sweet Sioux Three always looked out of place among those beautiful teak, copper, chrome and mahogany grand yachts.She looked pretty but didn't think highly of it, like a washerwoman dressed up for the opera. The little yacht itself seemed to be actively expressing its distaste for the new surroundings.Every time she set sail, she would sway and crash into the luxury yacht moored nearby.The dinghy had a single propeller and a sixty-five-horsepower engine, and it was a make rarely heard of.The engine was solid, reliable, and impossibly quiet, allowing the Sweet Sioux to rock and roll at ten knots an hour.But while at the New Essex Yacht Club, the engine rebelled, and broke down twice while in port, and had to be towed both times.Later, Sam wrapped a five-horsepower outboard motor motor in a tarpaulin and stowed it in the bow. The club was expensive, and most of its members were stuffy and boring, and it was a long way from Harper's Village.When the annual fee for the second year was paid, Sam and Caro had a discussion, and both of them were surprised and pleased to find out that they were both very willing to quit the club. They joined the "Harper's Boat Club," ten miles from home, on the lake between New Essex and the village of Harper, at the end of a lane that turns off Route 18.The building of the club itself was really just a log cabin, the dock was small and crowded, and Jack Barney's shipyard was next door to the club, a rambling and informal business.He sold boats, gas, oil, spare parts, fishing tackle, and cold beer.Jack, a fat, sleepy-eyed man, inherited the business after his father passed away.He was skillful, but lazy, and in all sorts of strange ways he could haul any boat up from the depths of forty feet.He has a knack for repairing marine engines and motors, and he can also do major overhauls on boats if he's pushed hard enough.His shipyard was littered with lumber, rusted machinery, empty fuel tanks, hulls too rotten to repair, rotting cables, and a caved-in roof over storage areas. Most of the members of the Harper Village Boat Club were keen DIYers, which seemed to please Jack.He hauls boats ashore for a small fee, as if he's happiest in wearing a dirty T-shirt and scruffy canvas pants, drinking his beer and watching clients fix their own boats.In this very friendly club, the children of the members all admire Jack, because he can make up many frightening adventure stories for them. The Sweet Sioux is very pleased with this change.Here, she looks almost modern.After a visit to the opera, the washerwoman returned to the neighboring tavern, content.The engine is no longer failing suddenly, and Sam and Caro are having a great time at some of the club events.Members here are relatively young. Sam parked the station wagon behind Jack's shipyard and went over what they'd brought: sandpaper, caulk and glue, antifouling paint for the bottom of the boat, and paint for the deck and the outermost coat. Varnishes and more. As they came around the edge of the main house, Jack swung over to meet them, clutching a can of beer in one big dirty hand. "Hello, Sam. Hello, Mrs. Bowden. Hello, children." "Did you pull the boat up?" Nancy asked. "Certainly, right there on the last cradle, she's in need of some repairs. I just checked yesterday, and I'm going to show you something, Sam." They walked beside the Sweet Sioux.Out of the water she looked twice as big and two and a half times uglier. Jack drank the beer from the can, threw the can aside, took out a jackknife, opened the small blade, and went around the beam.As Sam watched, he inserted the knife just behind the keel and a little in front of the stanchion, and the knife went in easily, and Jack straightened up and gave Sam a meaningful look. "Rotten." "For one thing, the two or three feet at the end of the keel are rotten." "Is it dangerous?" Sam asked. "I think if you leave it alone for too long, it may cause some trouble to the owner after a while." "Should I do something right away?" "Well, I don't think I need to do it right away. I'm busy this time of year. I'm afraid it will be a while before it's my turn to renovate this ship. I'll tell you then. I'll probably cut to the back here, and cut this entire section. Then cut another piece of good wood selected above to patch it up, nail it from here, and clamp it with metal splints from both sides, and nail it all the way. I have checked the rest of the boat, and she is still in good condition OK." "When should I get it, Jack?" "I think I'll wait until I get her ashore in October. Then you'll be able to use the boat all summer. Well, come over here and I'll show you where the leak is. That's it. Here, you see, the board here is a bit bent, there is a crack here, and the water flows so fast here." "This seam is very big, so it's not easy to fill it?" Jack reached under the boat and picked up a small piece of wood that lay on the beam of the dock. "I chipped this piece of wood and it seemed to fit right in, I was going to put it all over with waterproof glue and then hammer it in, but I haven't had time to do it yet. I think you can do a good job, I'll take you later Get the glue pot, Sam. Hey, I gotta see your kids do some work today, don't run like last time. Butch, you sanded really well and got some muscle Come on. Did you bring old Marilyn to help . . . what? Did I say something wrong?" "Let's get the glue," said Sam. On the way to the house, he told Jack about the dog.Jack spat accurately into an empty oil drum. "Only a bloody bitch would poison a dog." "I know." "Before your generation, when my dad was alive, there was a guy in this place. Although everyone said that fish don't have feelings, because fish are cold-blooded. But the guy used to clean up the fish he caught here, He took the live fish off the hook and just scaled and sliced ​​it with the fish twisting on one side as if it was the way he enjoyed it. Finally we got rid of him so there was no one left to buy bait Some people are just so perverted. It's so cruel to these kids, that dog doesn't know how to fight and bite, and loves to make friends. The glue is here, and I'll get the lid off for you. Use this Rubber mallet, don't try to hammer the sticks in quickly, just little by little, evenly. Don Langley's longhaired bitch had a little trouble a few weeks ago, she The stomach is getting big again. Tang thinks that this time it was raised by the Chinese native dog, but the litter of puppies is really cute, and he wants to wait for them to be weaned before helping the puppies find an owner." "Thanks, Jack, but maybe it's better to talk about it later." "Sometimes it's good to get a new dog right away. I think you'd better use a little more glue and put on as much as you can, and the excess can be wiped off anyway." Under the watchful eyes of the whole family, he lightly hammered the pared wooden strip into position and patched it.Afterwards, Sam assigns the scope of work and everyone starts sanding the hull.The sun was hot and the work was tiring, and after half an hour Sam took off his shirt and hung it on the sawhorse, the breeze from the lake cooling his sweaty back.Butch was surprisingly silent and focused. When Jill Portman walked by and stopped, Sam took the opportunity to give everyone a break, and Jamie and Butch ran to Jack with a dollar to buy two cans of beer and three Cokes. "You guys are really organized," Jill said. Jill Portman is forty years old and vice-president of the New Essex Bank and Trust Company.Moved to Harper Village a year ago.He is a big man with premature hair on top.Mrs. Betty was a jovial, quick-witted redhead.Sam and Caro are very fond of Jill and Betty and are very happy to socialize with them. "He's a bad foreman who can swing a whip," said Caro. "Because of the regatta this afternoon, my helpers are all gone, and they're busy with that," said Jill. "Does your 'Queen of the Jungle' need refurbishment?" "Is there ever a time she doesn't need a fix? This time it's the dashboard cracked, this damn wreck, I don't know why we're keeping her. Caro, have Betty contacted you about next Friday? ?” "No, not yet." "It's a big party at our Bowmans, girl. Grilling steaks in the backyard, drinking cocktails, getting drunk, and a family war behind it. We're gonna make a mess of it, so we need some good friends to attend , so that the situation can improve.” Caro glanced at Sam, then said to Jill, "We'd love to, but there might be a problem. I might have to go out of town. Can I let Betty know later in the week?" "Until the party officially starts, it's a big party." The two boys came back with Coke and beer.Sam and Jill stepped aside to discuss business.The bank was responsible for the estate trusts of many of Borden's clients, and Sam cast a lazy glance at the family as they talked, and Caro was sending the kids back to work.Nancy wore very short, faded red shorts and a yellow linen halter top.Her legs were long and tanned, and though she was slender, her curves were beautiful.She was polishing with a scrub block in both hands, her upper body turned sideways slightly.Under the smooth skin texture of her back, the young muscles swelled and elongated with the movement. With Jill gone, Bowden continued to work steadfastly.At one o'clock in the afternoon, Caro announced that it was time to stop work for lunch, and that they would rush home to eat something before returning.That's when Nancy mumbled that she told Tommy Kent what they were doing, and Tommy said he might come to help, so if it didn't matter, she wanted to stay and work and ask them to help her Bring a sandwich. Sam drives Caro and the two boys home.Mike Turner was sitting on the front porch waiting for Jimmy.Caro made a lot of sandwiches and a big pitcher of iced tea. Caro said as she packed Nancy's sandwich, "Are you in a hurry to get back to work?" "I hope to have the hull painted before dark." "I'm going to give Butch a nap. He's so tired. He's going to yell at the idea, but he'll be asleep in ten seconds. You go ahead, an hour or so, I'll Take the two little ones with you." He drove the MG Kai Luo back to the shipyard.Turned by the cabin with sandwiches and iced tea in small thermoses.Nancy was squatting on the ground polishing the curve of the lower part of the hull, which was a tricky spot.She looked up and smiled at him. "The man in the dream hasn't come yet?" "Not yet, Dad. Nobody says that anymore." "Then what should I say?" "Uh...he resonates with me." "Oh my god!" "Just put your stuff down, Dad. I want to finish this place first." He went over and put the sandwich and thermos on the sawhorse.When he turned his back to Nancy, he unbuttoned his shirt and was about to work again, but he stopped suddenly and remained motionless, with his fingertips still pressing on the third button.Max Cady was sitting on a pile of logs twenty feet away.He had a can of beer and a cigar in his hand, and he was wearing a yellow knit slack and a pair of well-ironed trousers of an almost vulgar light blue color, and he was smiling at Sam. Sam came up to him, the twenty feet that seemed to take him a long time to walk.The smile on Cardi's face didn't change at all. "What are you doing here?" Sam's voice was low. "Well, I'm drinking beer, Lieutenant, and besides, I'm smoking this cigar." "I don't want you hanging around here." Cardi seemed amused. "The dude sold me a can of beer and I'm thinking maybe I should rent a boat. Haven't fished since I was growing up, is it fun to fish in the lake?" "What do you want?" "Hello, is that your ship?" He pointed at the cigar, blinked obscenely and obscenely, and said, "The lines are not bad, Lieutenant." Sam looked back and saw Nancy was kneeling on the ground, her ultra-short red shorts pulled tightly around her youthful buttocks. "Fuck it, Cardi, I—" "It must be nice for a man to have such a nice family, and a boat like this, and a job where he can leave work early whenever he likes, and play all over the lake. When you're When you're in jail, it's the kind of thing you think about. You know, it's like a dream." "What are you going to do? What do you want?" His small, deep-set brown eyes changed expression, but his cheap white dentures still showed. "In 1943 we were pretty much the same, Lieutenant. You had a good education and a commission and a badge of rank with a little gold thread, but we both had wives and a kid, you know something?" "I remember hearing that you were married then." "I was married when I was twenty. When you brought me to court, my son was already four years old. When I saw him before, he was only born a week or two. When I was sentenced to life imprisonment, Mary just dumped me, she never came to visit. If you got a life sentence, they have a way to make it easy. I signed those legal papers and never heard from her again But my brother wrote to tell me that she remarried to a plumber in Charleston, West Virginia, had a lot of children, and when my son died, my brother sent me Here's a newspaper clipping. It was my son, it was 1951, he was twelve years old, he fell off his electric scooter and was crushed to death by a delivery truck." "I feel sorry." "Really? Lieutenant, you must be a good man, you must be a good man. I went to find Mary when I got back to Charleston. When she recognized who I was, she nearly died of fright on the spot. The kids all Went to school, the plumber was out fixing the water and electricity. That was last September. You know, she got fat, but she was still a beautiful woman. They Pratt women are all beautiful, mountain people, from Esquette (also in WG). I had to break through the screen door to get in and talk to her. Then she ran off, grabbing the poker in the fireplace and trying to knock My head. I snatched the poker out of her hand, bent it in two, and threw it in the fireplace, and she came out quietly and got into my car. She's always had a bad temper." "Why are you telling me this?" "As I told you last week, I want you to find out what's going on. I drove her to Huntington, about fifty miles away - only about fifty miles - and I was with her that night Go into the pay phone booth and tell her to call the plumber. At that point, she does what I say, and I tell her to tell the plumber that she's been with him and the kids long enough and wants to go for an hour. Fake. I hung up the phone while he was still yelling and cursing. Then I forced her to write me a love letter, put the date in the love letter, asked me to take her away for a while, and I asked her to write a lot of dirty words Then I stayed with her in a hotel in Huntington for three days, and by then I was getting sick of her crying and talking about her children and the plumber. There was no more fighting, but the marks of the beating she got when she tried to run away on the first day are still there. Have you figured out what's going on, Lieutenant?" "I suppose so." "After I had had enough of her, I told her that as soon as she went to the police, I would send a photocopy of her love letter to the plumber. And I would go to his house and see if I could get the plumber The boys got dumped under the delivery truck. She freaked out and I drank her like a full fifth of a bottle before she got fucking drunk. Then I drove through the big sand In Kentucky, when I found a rough roadside hotel near Grayson, I carried her out of the car and put her in a battered old car that was parked there. On the way back from there About a mile away, I threw her shoes and clothes into the field. I gave her a great chance to find her way home." "Are you trying to scare me with these words?" "No, Lieutenant, it's just part of the picture. I've had a lot of time to think about things, you know. I think back to when I was first married, when I went back to Charleston on leave, in the 1990s. In 1939, I was twenty years old, and I had been in the army for two years. I had no intention of getting married, but she went into town with her family on Saturday night. I knew they were hill people. My family was originally from Bronnan's side before they moved to Charleston. I followed them around the city, keeping my eyes on Mary. After I was locked up, at night I Remembering that Saturday night, and our wedding, and the drills before I went abroad to fight and ship, and she came to Louisiana. She wanted to be with me, she was a religious person, Her family was full of bible-chanted believers, but that didn't stop her from being very interested in climbing into bed and sleeping with men." "I don't have to hear you say all this stuff." "But you'll listen, Lieutenant, you want to know what's going on. I'll tell you how, when I heard from my brother that she remarried, I planned the whole thing out, as I did afterward. Made exactly the same, with only a few tweaks—I was going to keep her for a week instead of three, but she lost her will too quickly." "So what?" "You are a shrewd barrister, Lieutenant, and I will think of her, and of course I will think of you." "And you have plans for me?" "Now you're interested. But I couldn't make any plans for you before, because I didn't know your situation, and I wasn't even sure if I could find you. I just hope you didn't get beaten to death or died of illness .” "Are you threatening me?" "I'm not threatening you, Lieutenant. As I said, we were in the same situation back then, but now you have a wife and three children more than me." "And you're going to make us even again?" "I didn't say that." They stared at each other, Cady still grinning, looking quite relaxed, but Sam Bowden couldn't control the situation. "Did you poison my dog?" he pressed, but immediately regretted asking the question. "Dog?" Caddy pretended to be surprised and opened his eyes wide. "Poisoned your dog? Why, Lieutenant, you're slandering me." "Ah, come on less!" "What's less? No, I wouldn't poison your dog any more than you'd have an undercover cop stalking me. You wouldn't do that." "You did it! You nasty bastard!" "I've got to be careful. I mustn't hit you, Lieutenant, or I'll be caught for assault. Would you like a cigar? That's a good deal." Sam turned and walked away resignedly.Nancy had stopped her work and was standing looking at them intently, her eyes squinted, biting her lower lip. "Your daughter is plump, Lieutenant, almost as sexy as your wife." Sam turned blindly to punch.Cady dropped the beer can and grabbed his fist nimbly with his right hand. "Once in a lifetime a man does something stupid, Lieutenant, and you've done it." "Go away!" Cardi had already stood up, he put the cigar in the corner of his mouth, and just bit it to talk. "No problem, maybe in a while you'll figure out what's going on, Lieutenant." He walked toward the cabin, briskly and easily, grinned back at Sam, then swished his cigar at Nansi, and said, "Good-bye, sweetie." Nancy walked over to Sam. "Is that him? Isn't it? Dad! You're shaking all over!" Sam ignored her and followed Cady around the cabin.Cuddy got into the driver's seat of an old gray Chevrolet, smiled happily at Sam and Nancy, and drove out. "He's the one, isn't he? He's horrible! The way he looks at me makes me go numb like a worm crawling." "He's Cady." He didn't expect his voice to be so hoarse. "What is he doing here?" "Come on put a little pressure on God knows how he knows we're here. I'm glad your mom and the boys aren't there." They walked back to the boat, and he looked down at her as she walked beside him.Her expression was serious and thoughtful.It wasn't a troubling issue that only affected him and Caro, the kids were involved too. Nancy looked up at him. "What are you going to do?" "I have no idea." "What is he going to do?" "I do not know either." "Dad, do you remember a long time ago, when I was very young, after we went to the circus, I kept having nightmares?" "I remember, what's the name of that orangutan? Gaganta." "Yes. They locked him up with glass walls, and you were holding my hand, and he turned around and looked right at me. He didn't look at anyone else, he just looked at me. I just Felt like something inside me curled up and died, something that savage had no right to be in the same world as me. You know what I mean?" "certainly." "This guy is kind of like that, I mean I feel a little bit of the same. Miss Poyce would say it's unrealistic." "Who is Miss Poyce? I think I've heard that name before." "Oh, she was our English teacher, and she always told us that good novels are good because there are no characters who are completely good and no one is completely bad. And bad In my novel, the hero is 100% hero, and the villain is 100% villain. However, I think that person just now is completely bad." He thought that in the past, when they talked as equals and adults, they would always be embarrassed by each other. "I think I should know him if I wanted to. His business is sordid and rough, and he's a battle-fatigued patient who's been sent straight from the field to hard labor for life. That's a Brutal circumstances, I don't think he could see jail time as a reward for his service. So he has to blame someone. And he can't blame himself, so I'm that symbol. What he sees is not Me, he didn't see Sam Bowden the lawyer, the head of the family, the house man. He saw the lieutenant, the young judge-martial with a sense of innocence and righteousness who ruined his life. I wish I was A 100% hero to deal with this for you, I hope my head is not filled with conservative thoughts and rational analysis." "In our psychology class, Mr. Proctor taught us that all mental illness is a condition in which the individual fails to reasonably reflect reality. I have to keep this in mind, so if Mr. ..." "I believe he is mentally ill." "Then shouldn't he go for treatment?" “在这个国家里，法律有保护一般人不被误判为精神失常之责。近亲可以签署文件，让一个人隔离一段时间接受观察，通常是六十天。再者，要是有人犯下暴力行为，或者在公共场所举止异常，也可以根据见证这项暴力或异常行为的警方人员的证词来加以判定。除此之外，便没有其他的办法了。” 她转过身去，用手指摸着打磨好的船壳一侧。 “所以我们也没什么办法了。” “我希望你能取消今天晚上的约会，我并不是在命令你，也许你会很安全，可是我们不知道你到底是不是真的安全。” 她考虑了一下，皱起了眉头。 “我会留在家里。” “我想我们可以把油漆倒出来了。” “好的，你会把这件事跟妈说吗？” “会，她有权知道发生的事情。” 在凯珞和两个男孩回来前几分钟，汤米·肯特出现了。他是一个修长而好看的男孩子，有礼貌、很风趣，而且很客气。大家给他一把刷子，他和南西一起漆船壳的同一块区域，彼此互相批评对方漆得不好。山姆很高兴地看到她如何对待他：没有深情的凝视，没有崇拜的气息。她对他很直率，和他对答时深具信心，由于自尊自重所以立场很稳，她很清楚自己的吸引力。山姆没想到她年轻的武器竟已经过专业的打磨，而使起来又似乎练习已久。她把他当作是有点逊的大哥哥，这当然正好是对付像汤米·肯特这样一个校园风云人物的最佳战略。从在船头附近油漆的山姆眼中看来，她那甚为自然的态度里只有一点瑕疵：她的姿势和态度没有一点笨拙或尴尬的地方，她小心得好像在跳舞一样。他听到她取消了他们的约会，她表达出相当的歉意以免过于无礼，却又含糊得足以引起怀疑和嫉妒。山姆看到南西转身离开后，汤米脸上皱着眉头的阴暗表情，他心想：年轻人，她刚下了钩，她把钓竿往上挑着，大网也撒好了。只等时机一到，她就会以行家的手法收网，而你将会在船舱里翻跳，眼珠滚着，鳃盖颤抖。培克·佛斯特根本没这个机会，现在她已经准备好要钓一条更大的鱼了。 凯珞到了，她让南西停下工作吃些三明治和茶，而四个年轻人都在忙着油漆。山姆拿了两罐啤酒，把凯珞带到杰克船坞某处有点下陷的小码头，他坐在她身边、两脚悬在水面上，并把马克思·卡迪的事说给她听。 “在这里！”她说，双眼瞪得圆圆的。“就在这里？” “就在这里，当我回来时候，他正在看着南西。而在我看到南西的时候，好像见到了他眼中的她，她看起来从未穿得那么少，甚至比你答应她在没有客人、只有家人在岛上时才穿的比基尼泳装还更惹眼。” 她的手指近乎歇斯底里地用力抓住他的手腕，然后她紧闭起两眼，说道：“这让我觉得恶心，哦，天啊！山姆！我们该怎么办呢？你有没有跟他说话？你有没有查到玛丽莲的死因？” “我跟他谈了话，最后我还发了脾气。我想要揍他，我这个人真是太冲动了，我想在他坐着的时候揍他，结果我就像是朝他扔了个网球似的。你要知道，他那该死的胳膊就有我大腿那么粗，而他的动作快得像只鼬鼠。” “玛丽莲的事呢？” “他否认是他干的，可是他否认的态度等于是在告诉我说是他干的。” “他还说了什么？他有没有威胁你？” 一时之间，山姆很想把卡迪和他老婆的事瞒住不说。可是他还是勉强自己说了，尽量不带感情地有话直说，双眼一直盯着绿色的湖水。凯珞没有插嘴。等他再望向她时，她仿若突然很可怜地变成了一个老女人。她虽然已经三十七岁了，他却对她的驻颜有术一向引以为傲，她看起来不过三十出头，有些时候甚至像个快活的二十五岁女子。而现在，她的双肩下垂，脸上瘦骨嶙峋、面容憔悴。他第一次瞧见当她垂垂老矣时会是什么模样。 “这太可怕了！”她说。 "I know." “那可怜的女人。用这种拐弯抹角的手法威胁我们，真下流。南西知道他是谁吗？” “一直到最后她才注意到他。当她看到我们说话时，她就在猜了；而等我挥出那么荒谬的一拳后，她就知道了。在他开车走了之后，我和南西谈了一阵子。她很明理，我想我十分以她为豪，她很心甘情愿地取消了今晚的约会。” “我很高兴。汤米很不错吧？” “相当好，可是别说得好像她已经满十八岁了似的。他是比培克好多了，她好像也能把他应付得很好，真不知道她是从哪里学来的。” “这些是学不来的。” “我猜她是从你那儿遗传到的，亲爱的，就像我当年，全神贯注想着自个儿的事，在那间小餐馆里四下找位子，结果……” 他想把话说得轻松一点，可是他知道毫无作用。她低着头，而他看到她黑色的睫毛上附着泪珠。他伸手扶着她的臂膀。 “不会有问题的，”他说。 她用力地摇了摇头。他继续说道：“把你的啤酒喝了吧，宝贝，你看，今天是礼拜六，阳光普照，全家人都在这里，我们一定能解决问题的，谁也不能来找包登家人的麻烦。” 她的声音很含糊。 “你回去帮忙，我要在这里多待一会。” 当他拿起油漆刷之后，他回头看了看。站在码头上的她看起来很瘦小，既瘦小，又卑微，而且还怕得要死。