The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck [59]
“He got a gun,’’ said Muley. “He’ll use it ’cause he’s a deputy. Then he either got to kill you or you got to get his gun away an’ kill him. Come on, Tommy. You can easy tell yourself you’re foolin’ them lyin’ out like that. An’ it all just amounts to what you tell yourself.’’ The strong lights angled up into the sky now, and the even drone of a motor could be heard. “Come on, Tommy. Don’t have to go far, jus’ fourteen-fifteen rows over, an’ we can watch what they do.’’
Tom got to his feet. “By God, you’re right!’’ he said. “I ain’t got a thing in the worl’ to win, no matter how it comes out.’’
“Come on, then, over this way.’’ Muley moved around the house and out into the cotton field about fifty yards. “This is good,’’ he said. “Now lay down. You on’y got to pull your head down if they start the spotlight goin’. It’s kinda fun.’’ The three men stretched out at full length and propped themselves on their elbows. Muley sprang up and ran toward the house, and in a few moments he came back and threw a bundle of coats and shoes down. “They’d of taken ’em along just to get even,’’ he said. The lights topped the rise and bore down on the house.
Joad asked, “Won’t they come out here with flashlights an’ look aroun’ for us? I wisht I had a stick.’’
Muley giggled. “No, they won’t. I tol’ you I’m mean like a weasel. Willy done that one night an’ I clipped ’im from behint with a fence stake. Knocked him colder’n a wedge. He tol’ later how five guys come at him.’’
The car drew up to the house and a spotlight snapped on. “Duck,’’ said Muley. The bar of cold white light swung over their heads and criss-crossed the field. The hiding men could not see any movement, but they heard a car door slam and they heard voices. “Scairt to get in the light,’’ Muley whispered. “Once-twice I’ve took a shot at the headlights. That keeps Willy careful. He got somebody with ’im tonight.’’ They heard footsteps on wood, and then from inside the house they saw the glow of a flashlight. “Shall I shoot through the house?’’ Muley whispered. “They couldn’t see where it come from. Give ’em somepin to think about.’’
“Sure, go ahead,’’ said Joad.
“Don’t do it,’’ Casy whispered. “It won’t do no good. Jus’ a waste. We got to get thinkin’ about doin’ stuff that means somepin.’’
A scratching sound came from near the house. “Puttin’ out the fire,’’ Muley whispered. “Kickin’ dust over it.’’ The car doors slammed, the headlights swung around and faced the road again. “Now duck!’’ said Muley. They dropped their heads and the spotlight swept over them and crossed and recrossed the cotton field, and then the car started and slipped away and topped the rise and disappeared.
Muley sat up. “Willy always tries that las’ flash. He done it so often I can time ’im. An’ he still thinks it’s cute.’’
Casy said, “Maybe they left some fellas at the house. They’d catch us when we come back.’’
“Maybe. You fellas wait here. I know this game.’’ He walked quietly away, and only a slight crunching of clods could be heard from his passage. The two waiting men tried to hear him, but he had gone. In a moment he called from the house, “They didn’t leave nobody. Come on back.’’ Casy and Joad struggled up and walked back toward the black bulk of the house. Muley met them near the smoking dust pile which had been their fire. “I didn’ think they’d leave nobody,’’ he said proudly. “Me knockin’ Willy over an’ takin’ a shot at the lights once-twice keeps ’em careful. They ain’t sure who it is, an’ I ain’t gonna let ’em catch me. I don’t sleep near no house. If you fellas wanta come along, I’ll show you where to sleep, where there ain’t nobody gonna stumble over ya.’’
“Lead off,’’ said Joad. “We’ll folla you. I never thought I’d be hidin’ out on my old man’s place.’’
Muley set off across the fields, and Joad and Casy followed him. They kicked the cotton plants as they went. “You’ll be hidin’ from lots of stuff,’’ said Muley. They marched in single file across the fields. They came to a water-cut and slid easily down to the bottom of it.