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Back Come Again No More Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover
  3. Title Page
  4. Contents
  5. PART I 
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. PART II 
  19. 13.
  20. 14.
  21. 15.
  22. 16.
  23. 17.
  24. 18.
  25. 19.
  26. 20.
  27. 21.
  28. 22.
  29. 23.
  30. 24.
  31. 25.
  32. 26.
  33. 27.
  34. 28.
  35. 29.
  36. 30.
  37. PART III 
  38. 31.
  39. 32.
  40. 33.
  41. 34.
  42. 35.
  43. 36.
  44. 37.
  45. 38.
  46. 39.
  47. PART IV 
  48. 40.
  49. 41.
  50. 42.
  51. 43.
  52. 44.
  53. 45.
  54. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  55. Touchstone Reading Group Guide

She wanted to say they wouldn’t be doing that because she couldn’t possibly see him again, but it seemed a rotten thing to say at such a time. They walked to the motorcycle and rode back to the little house. Emaline felt she had to invite him for supper to repay him for all he had done for her that afternoon. He scaled and gutted the fish and she fried them with some potatoes. By the time she had supper on the table, Calla was home from the diner. Jake kept them both laughing with his stories about boxing.

When the clock struck nine, he stood abruptly. “I got to get up at five o’clock for roadwork. If I aint up, that danged Bucky has been known to dump a bucket a water in my face.”

“It must be hard, training like that.”

“Aw, I been doin it so long, I don’t think about it much. Worst part is havin to see Bucky’s mug that early in the day.”

After he left, Emaline warmed a cup of milk to help her sleep, then slipped into her narrow bed. It started to blow around midnight. She lay awake much of the night, listening to the shotgun blasts of the wind blowing grit against the window. Sometimes when the dust started up like that, she thought they were living through the end of the world.

19.

EACH DAY THE FOLLOWING WEEK, JAKE PICKED her up at home and drove her to the diner before he went to do his roadwork. Sometimes Bucky was with him, sometimes he was alone because Bucky had lost a battle with a bottle of corn whiskey. Bit by bit, she learned things about him. He came from a family of eleven children, eight boys and three girls, the girls as rough as the boys. There was a good deal more to him than she had thought at first, but she hadn’t changed her mind. She would never get mixed up with a semiliterate man who made his living with his fists.

At the end of the week, Jake asked if she would like to go to the Saturday night dance at the Armory. She started to turn him down with the ritual speech she gave Vernon when he persisted, about how she was run off her feet all week and by Saturday she was too tired to go dancing. Then she remembered how much she liked to dance. She hadn’t danced in at least a year. “All right. I’ll go to the dance with you. What time are we going?”

He winked at her. “You be ready. I’ll be by.”