William Faulkner, SANCTUARY – WordPress.com - literature save 2

"Here," Gowan said across the table, his chair rasping back, you come around
here."
"Outside, brother," the one who had stopped her said, whom she recognised then
as the one who had laughed so often; "you're drunk. Come here, kid." His hard forearm
came across her middle. She thrust against it, grinning rigidly at Tommy. "Move down,
Tommy," the man said. "Aint you got no manners, you mat-faced bastard?" Tommy
guffawed, scraping his chair along the floor. The man drew her toward him by the wrist.
Across the table Gowan stood up, propping himself on the table. She began to resist,
grinning at Tommy, picking at the man's fingers.
"Quit that, Van," Goodwin said.
"Right on my lap here," Van said.
"Let her go," Goodwin said.
"Who'll make me?" Van said. "Who's big enough?"
"Let her go," Goodwin said. Then she was free. She began to back slowly away.
Behind her the woman, entering with a dish, stepped aside. Still smiling her aching, rigid
grimace, Temple backed from the room. In the hall she whirled and ran. She ran right off
the porch, into the weeds and sped on. She ran to the road and down it for fifty yards in
the darkness, then without a break she whirled and ran back to the house and sprang onto
the porch and crouched against the door just as someone came up the hall. It was Tommy.
"Oh, hyer you are," he said. He thrust something awkwardly at her.
"Hyer," he said.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"Little bite of victuals. I bet you aint et since mawnin'."
"No. Not then, even," she whispered.
"You eat a little mite and you'll feel better," he said, poking the plate at her. "You
set down hyer and eat a little bite wher wont nobody bother you. Durn them fellers."
Temple leaned around the door, past his dim shape, her face wan as a small ghost
in the refracted light from the dining-room. "Mrs--Mrs. . ." she whispered.
"She's in the kitchen. Want me to go back there with you?" In the dining-room a
chair scraped. Between blinks Tommy saw Temple in the path, her body slender and
motionless for a moment as though waiting for some laggard part to catch up. Then she
was gone like a shadow around the corner of the house. He stood in the door, the plate of
food in his hand. Then he turned his head and looked down the hall just in time to see her
flit across the darkness toward the kitchen. "Durn them fellers."
He was standing there when the others returned to the porch.
"He's got a plate of grub," Van said. "He's trying to get his with a plate full of
ham."
"Git my whut?" Tommy said.
"Look here," Gowan said.
Van struck the plate from Tommy's hand. He turned to Gowan. "Dont you like
it?"
"No," Gowan said, "I dont."
"What are you going to do about it?" Van said.
"Van," Goodwin said.
"Do you think you're big enough to not like it?" Van said.
"I am," Goodwin said.