"Don't breathe, nor nothin'!"
We could hear the dry cornstalks popping like little firecrackers as Ned and Stray and Mister Ward got closer and closer. Shoogie poked her head up to look. I took a quick peep.
"He gonna shoot 'em! Mister Ward gonna shoot!" Two loud blasts! Another! Little Stray darted by. Another blast! Mister Ward kept coming! Shoogie shoved me to the ground! I couldn't see Ned any more.
"Get on your belly and crawl! We's gotta get outta here! To the woods! No, this way! Through the corn!"
The next shot whizzed right over our heads!
Mister Ward yelled, "O, God!" He was right at us!
Shoogie jumped up, jerked me up, and darted back toward the woods. Then she whirled to go the other way.
"No, Shoogie! Not this way!"
We ran smack into Mister Ward! It knocked him down! We fell too, but he didn't reach out and catch at me or Shoogie! He just grabbed at his own neck, pulled himself up against our hiding stump, and cried "O, God" again. Shoogie rolled me over so fast my mouth got full of dirt! Before I could spit it out she had us both down in a gully, up again, and headed across the field. She was dragging me every step. Cornstalks hit me in the face. They were hitting her too, but she wouldn't slow up.
"Shoogie, wait and see what they're gonna do!"