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turning to page one
turning to page one
Low hilly terrain all around. A HUNDRED CONS are at work in the fields. GUARDS patrol with carbines, keeping a sharp eye. We find Andy, Red, and the boys working with picks and shovels. They glance over to the pickup truck. Hadley's chewing the fat with Mert and Youngblood. A WHISTLE BLOWS.
GUARD
Water break! Five minutes!
The work stops. Cons head for the pickup truck, where water is dispensed with dipper and pail. Red and the boys look to Andy. Andy nods. Now's the time. The group moves off through the confusion, using it as cover. They head up the slope of a nearby hill and quickly decide on a suitable spot. The guards haven't noticed. Jigger and Floyd start swinging picks into the soft earth, quickly ripping out a hole. Red reaches into his jacket and pulls out a beautiful wooden box, carefully stained and varnished. He shows it around to nods of approval.
ANDY
That's real pretty, Red. Nice work.
HEYWOOD
Shovel man in. Watch the dirt.
Heywood jumps in and starts spading out the hole.
BY THE TRUCK 125
Youngblood glances up and sees the men on the slope.
YOUNGBLOOD
What the fuck.
HADLZY
(follows his gaze)
HEY.' YOU MEN UP THERE.' GET YOUR
ASSES OFF THAT SLOPE!
(works his rifle bolt)
YOU HAPPY ASSHOLES GONE DEAF? YOU
GOT FIVE SECONDS 'FORE I SHOOT
SOMEBODY! Suddenly, other cons start breaking away in groups, dozens of them heading toward the slope. The guards look around.
HADLEY
What am I, talkin' to myself?
ON THE SLOPE 126
Andy pulls a towel-wrapped bundle from his jacket and unfolds
Andy lays him in the box, followed by Brook's letter. Red places the casket in the hole. A moment of silence. Andy gives Red with an encouraging nod.
RED
Lord, Brooks was a sinner. Jake was
just a crow. Neither was much to
look at. Both got
institutionalized. See what you can
do for 'em. Amen.
Muttered "amens" all around. The boys shovel dirt onto the small grave and tamp it down.