That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx

Author:Annie Proulx
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2002-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

On the main panel the fallen sheep man, Abel, wore jeans and a plaid shirt with pearl buttons. His dented cowboy hat lay on the stained ground near several broken teeth. Nearby a Border collie snarled at Cain.

“Abel looks something like James Dean,” said Bob.

“Didn’t you see East of Eden?” said Dawn Crouch. “I embroidered that face and I wanted it to look like James Dean. East of Eden was based on the Abel and Cain story. We studied it in English class. When I was in school.” She smiled at Bob in a way that made him uneasy, then turned back to working up a sheep, the effect of curly wool achieved through French knots.

“I didn’t see it,” said Bob, thinking suddenly of Rat Women and the films he had seen with Orlando—Mudhoney, It’s Alive!, Psych-Out, The Tingler and Sin in the Suburbs.

The women worked at separate pieces to be added to the scene.

“These mesquite leaves are the worst things to sew,” said the sallow woman. “Would have been easier to embroider them.”

“Oh Rella, remember the deer antlers when we did Noah’s Ark? Now those were terrible.” Mrs. Stinchcomb, grey and self-effacing, spoke as though pleading.

“Yes, they were. I’ll say it, they were worse than mesquite leaves. But there’s so many a these I might go blind before I get done.”

“Well, I wonder if it’s goin a storm, it’s so hot out there,” said Jane Ratt, a hefty woman with yellow hair scooped by side combs into a froth atop her head. “Rella, let me borrow your little scissors. I left mine at Hattie’s last week.” She cut a trailing thread.

“I think it might. It’s got that feeling. I can feel that old ache in my pelvis.”

“Tornado weather.”

“Knock on wood.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.