OCR Text |
Show page 142 General Burnside, said if I was aiming to t r a i n General Burnside to catch rabbits and b i r d s , then rabbits and birds was 'specially put here for me." "Preacher F a r l e y ' s been in t h i s very j a i l , boy." Lonnie shrugged. "He showed me a bear track once." Reba Bone, mistress of our county j a i l , unfastened a screen door and came out. She was a short, chunky woman, with copper-colored hair and hazel eyes. She xvas ten years younger than her husband Grady. She peered at Lonnie, her face affectionate but curious. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" "Cat's got his whole family s t i r r e d up," Posh said. Lonnie came t o l i f e explosively. "My name is Lonnie Batistel I a i n ' t eat since morning!" He f e l t strangled by his own vTords, and was quiet again, in pain and loneliness. He f e l t like attempting a break and running a l l the way back to the knoll, to the staked out bobcat. "Won't nobody never find General Burnside except me," he said. "He a i n ' t eat since yesterday." "That's his hunting bobcat," Posh explained. "Kept that bobcat around the house u n t i l i t angered his brother-in-law." "He's hungry and I'm hungry," Lonnie said. "You l e f t an animal tied up somewhere on the knoll?" Reba asked Posh. "Reba, lemme lock him up now. His brother-in-law signed the warrant." "Posh, you act like the boy's a murderer or something." " I ' l l t e l l you about that l a t e r . Come on, boy." He took Lonnie in, to a stairway, up i t , through one steel door, nndjpnfc hifi fra3T *n a second, the bullpen, which held four |