‘But I don’t think she loves him.’
‘No? Does she love you?’
‘I—I never asked her.’
‘A-a-aw, hell!’ snorted Sleepy. ‘Let’s go and help her cook supper instead of talking about her feelin’s.’
It was after supper that night when Paul Lane came home. Rex was washing the dishes and Hashknife was wiping them, much against the wishes of Nan.
‘It’s the only thing I can do well,’ declared Rex.
‘I used to wash them for my mother.’
Nan was in her room and Sleepy was perched on the woodbox, smoking a cigarette, when Paul Lane stepped into the kitchen, gun in hand. Rex was the only one of the three who had ever seen him before.
He stopped just inside the door and looked at the men.
Rex stopped washing dishes and started to introduce the old man to Hashknife, but the old man stopped him.