Got your whole leg wet. Come on, here.” Dan howled.
The ditch came up out of the buzzing grass. The bones rounded out of the black vines. “Now.” T. P. said. “Beller your head off if you want to. You got the whole night and a twenty acre pasture to beller in.”
T. P. lay down in the ditch and I sat down, watching the bones where the buzzards ate Nancy, flapping black and slow and heavy out of the ditch.
I had it when we was down here before, Luster said. I showed it to you. Didn’t you see it. I took it out ofmy pocket right here and showed it to you.
“Do you think buzzards are going to undress Damuddy.” Caddy said. “You’re crazy.” “You’re a skizzard.” Jason said. He began to cry.
“You’re a knobnot.” Caddy said. Jason cried. His hands were in his pockets. “Jason going to be rich man.” Versh said. “He holding his money allthe time.” Jason cried.
“Now you’ve got him started.” Caddy said. “Hush up, Jason. How can buzzards get in where Damuddy is. Father wouldn’t let them. Would you let a buzzard undress you. Hush up, now.”
Jason hushed. “Frony said it was a funeral.” he said.
“Wellit’s not.” Caddy said. “It’s a party. Frony dont know anything about it. He wants your lightning bugs, T. P. Let himhold it a while.”
T. P. gave me the bottle of lightning bugs.
“I bet if we go around to the parlor window we can see something.” Caddy said. “Then you’llbelieve me.”
“I already knows.” Frony said. “I dont need to see.”
“You better hush your mouth, Frony.” Versh said. “Mammy going whip you.” “What is it.” Caddy said.
“I knows what I knows.” Frony said.
“Come on.” Caddy said, “Let’s go around to the front.” We started to go.
“T. P. wants his lightning bugs.” Frony said.
“Let himhold it a while longer, T. P.” Caddy said. “We’llbring it back.” “You allnever caught them.” Frony said.
“If I say you and T. P. can come too, willyou let himhold it.” Caddy said. “Aint nobody said me and T. P. got to mind you.” Frony said.
“If I say you dont have to, willyou let himhold it.” Caddy said.
“Allright.” Frony said. “Let himhold it, T. P. We going to watch themmoaning.” “They aint moaning.” Caddy said. “I tellyou it’s a party. Are they moaning, Versh.” “We aint going to know what they doing, standing here.” Versh said.
“Come on.” Caddy said. “Frony and T. P. dont have to mind me. But the rest of us do. You better carry him, Versh. It’s getting dark.”
Versh took me up and we went on around the kitchen.
When we looked around the corner we could see the lights coming up the drive. T. P. went back to the cellar door and opened it.
You know what’s down there, T. P. said. Soda water. I seen Mr Jason come up with both hands full ofthem. Wait here a minute.
T. P. went and looked in the kitchen door. Dilsey said, What are you peeping in here for. Where’s Benjy.
He out here, T. P. said.
Go on and watch him, Dilsey said. Keep him out the house now. Yessum, T. P. said. Is they started yet.
You go on and keep that boy out ofsight, Dilsey said. I got all I can tend to.
A snake crawled out from under the house. Jason said he wasn’t afraid of snakes and Caddy said he was but she wasn’t and Versh said they both were and Caddy said to be quiet, like father said.
You aint got to start bellering now, T. P. said. You want some this sassprilluh. It tickled my nose and eyes.
If you aint going to drink it, let me get to it, T. P. said. All right, here tis. We better get another bottle while aint nobody bothering us. You be quiet, now.
We stopped under the tree by the parlor window. Versh set me down in the wet grass. It was cold. There were lights in allthe windows.
“That’s where Damuddy is.” Caddy said. “She’s sick every day now. When she gets well we’re going to have a picnic.”
“I knows what I knows.” Frony said. The trees were buzzing, and the grass.
“The one next to it is where we have the measles.” Caddy said. “Where do you and T. P. have the measles, Frony.”
“Has themjust wherever we is, I reckon.” Frony said. “They haven’t started yet.” Caddy said.
They getting ready to start, T. P. said. You stand right here now while I get that box so we can see in the window. Here, les finish drinking this here sassprilluh. It make me feel just like a squinch owl inside.
We drank the sassprilluh and T. P. pushed the bottle through the lattice, under the house, and went away. I could hear them in the parlor and I clawed my hands against the wall. T. P. dragged the box. He fell down, and he began to laugh. He lay there, laughing into the grass. He got up and dragged the boxunder the window, trying not to laugh.
“I skeered I going to holler.” T. P. said. “Git on the boxand see is they started.” “They haven’t started because the band hasn’t come yet.” Caddy said.
“They aint going to have no band.” Frony said. “How do you know.” Caddy said.
“I knows what I knows.” Frony said.
“You dont know anything.” Caddy said. She went to the tree. “Push me up, Versh.” “Your paw told you to stay out that tree.” Versh said.
“That was a long time ago.” Caddy said. “I expect he’s forgotten about it. Besides, he said to mind me tonight. Didn’t he say to mind me tonight.”
“I’mnot going to mind you.” Jason said. “Frony and T. P. are not going to either.” “Push me up, Versh.” Caddy said.
“All right.” Versh said. “You the one going to get whipped. I aint.” He went and pushed Caddy up into the tree to the first limb. We watched the muddy bottomof her drawers. Then we couldn’t see her. We could hear the tree thrashing.
“Mr Jason said if you break that tree he whip you.” Versh said. “I’mgoing to tellon her too.” Jason said.
The tree quit thrashing. We looked up into the stillbranches. “What you seeing.” Frony whispered.
I saw them. Then I saw Caddy, with flowers in her hair, and a long veil like shining wind. Caddy Caddy
“Hush.” T. P. said, “They going to hear you. Get down quick.” He pulled me. Caddy. I clawed my hands against the wallCaddy. T. P. pulled me.
“Hush.” he said, “Hush. Come on here quick.” He pulled me on. Caddy “Hush up, Benjy. You want themto hear you. Come on, les drink some more sassprilluh, then we can come back if you hush. We better get one more bottle or we both be hollering. We can say Dan drunk it. Mr Quentin always saying he so smart, we can say he sassprilluh dog, too.”
The moonlight came down the cellar stairs. We drank some more sassprilluh.
“You know what I wish.” T. P. said. “I wish a bear would walk in that cellar door. You know what I do. I walk right up to himand spit in he eye. Gimme that bottle to stop my mouth before I holler.”
T. P. fell down. He began to laugh, and the cellar door and the moonlight jumped away and something hit me.
“Hush up.” T. P. said, trying not to laugh, “Lawd, they’ll all hear us. Get up.” T. P. said, “Get up, Benjy, quick.” He was thrashing about and laughing and I tried to get up. The cellar steps ran up the hill in the moonlight and T. P. fell up the hill, into the moonlight, and I ran against the fence and T. P. ran behind me saying “Hush up hush up” Then he fell into the flowers, laughing, and I ran into the box. But when I tried to climb onto it it jumped away and hit me on the back of the head and my throat made a sound. It made the sound again and I stopped trying to get up, and it made the sound again and I began to cry. But my throat kept on making the sound while T. P. was pulling me. It kept on making it and I couldn’t tell if I was crying or not, and T. P. fell down on top of me, laughing, and it kept on making the sound and Quentin kicked T. P. and Caddy put her arms around me, and her shining veil, and I couldn’t smell trees anymore and I began to cry.
Benjy, Caddy said, Benjy. She put her arms around me again, but I went away. “What is it, Benjy.” she said, “Is it this hat.” She took her hat off and came again, and I went away.
“Benjy.” she said, “What is it, Benjy. What has Caddy done.”
“He dont like that prissy dress.” Jason said. “You think you’re grown up, dont you. You think you’re better than anybody else, dont you. Prissy.”
“You shut your mouth.” Caddy said, “You dirty little beast. Benjy.”
“Just because you are fourteen, you think you’re grown up, dont you.” Jason said. “You think you’re something. Dont you.”
“Hush, Benjy.” Caddy said. “You’lldisturb Mother. Hush.”
But I didn’t hush, and when she went away I followed, and she stopped on the stairs and waited and I stopped too.
“What is it, Benjy.” Caddy said, “TellCaddy. She’lldo it. Try.” “Candace.” Mother said.
“Yessum.” Caddy said.
“Why are you teasing him.” Mother said. “Bring himhere.”
We went to Mother’s room, where she was lying with
