News of the World

People file into the mercantile store to listen to the Captain read. A US Army sergeant guards the door and has people remove any arms they are carrying. The Captain tries not to look into their faces, but can't help noticing them from the corner of his eyes. He notices how they divide themselves into two groups. As he reads, he is interrupted from time to time with people expressing their political opinions. He is able to silence the interruptions with his stentorian voice, that is until two gentlemen, the owner of the hotel and the schoolteacher, come to blows. A brouhaha ensues. The Captain’s dime can is knocked over and merchandise is broken. People leave the store to escape the fight. The fight quickly moves outdoors with the rest of the crowd.

The Captain remains in the disheveled store. He bends down to gather his scattered dimes, which he wouldn't have done, on account of his pride, if he wasn't having to take care of Johanna. A man tells him that he shouldn't have to do that. It's the black-bearded man from earlier. He offers the Captain a chair, introduces himself as John Calley, and begins gathering the coins for him. John is ashamed and remorseful about what he and his brother and cousins had done earlier to the Captain and Johanna, and he regrets further having taken his money. The two of them have a discussion about law. John defends his actions with the fact that, in the current situation, the definition of what is lawful and what isn't is fluid. At one point, the Captain asks John if he is interested in “reading” the law, meaning becoming a lawyer. John adamantly denies that he wants to do that. He then, however, asks where one might begin learning of the law, if one were so inclined. The Captain ends their conversation by quoting a part of the Code of Hammurabi.

Just as in Dallas, the Captain realizes it’s best if he and Johanna get out of town as quickly as possible. He didn't have a chance to buy any ammunition or get the wagon's wheel fixed. He simply goes back to the mill, readies the horses and wagon, and goes to Johanna. She is delighted to see him. She shows him the nice clothes the "bad water” woman brought her. The Captain muses on the good of stricken consciences. While he is distracted with the final preparations to leave, Johanna ducks into the shed, emerges, and jumps up onto the wagon, carrying a burlap sack. He's too worried thinking about what might come at them next along their route to check what it is she has.

Later on, Johanna retrieves the sack and proudly shows him what she has brought. It happens to be the two chickens from the stave mill owner, his two pet chickens (he named them Penelope and Amelia). She's happy about what she's done and sets about preparing a roast-chicken breakfast. The Captain is beside himself with pity for her and once again thinks about how hard it will be for her to adjust to a new life with her relatives in Castroville. He sheds a few tears. Johanna notices him crying and wipes his tears with a blood-sticky hand. She tells him he's hungry and sets back to work. He tells her that old people just cry easily. She asks if everything's alright. He tells her everything is indeed alright.

They travel a good ways before coming to Cranfills Gap, where they stop for a time. They eat the chickens and rest. The Captain has an odd dream about an armed, foul-smelling man rising out of the Leon River that looks part amphibian and part human. Disturbing dreams are something that always happens to him after conflict. He remembers that his wife, Maria, used to climb out of bed while he was having a nightmare and whisper calming words to him. The Captain wonders if it’s the violence of being forcefully taken from their parents that make the returned children so odd. They remain in Cranfills Gap the entire next day, as the Captain needs rest.

The pair make it twenty miles the following day. While they travel, he continues to teach Johanna English. She continues making progress. She can now count to 100, lace her shoes (when he can get her to actually wear them), and she can sing the song, “Hard Times.” The terrain is very open and solitary. He feels how alone they are. He thinks back to when he left for North Texas, a year after Maria had died. He thinks back on the time he first met her, back when he had his own printing press, and how much he loved putting words to paper. He is angry at the fact that when people die, they never send messages back from the beyond.

They come upon an elderly woman, alone, driving a wagon. She has come from Lampasas, where he and Johanna are heading. She is on her way to Durand. The Captain asks the woman to take two 50-cent pieces to the owner of the stave mill. The man doesn’t have a good reputation with the woman, and so she wants to refuse, but the Captain convinces her to do it for him, because he doesn’t want to be known as a chicken thief. She can understand that, and thus acquiesces.

Shortly after the episode with the woman, the Captain switches to riding the other horse, Pasha, alongside the wagon, because they are in unfriendly country. He places a blanket on top of the saddle for extra cushion. He enjoys the ride and can’t help but pat the horse’s neck from time to time and play with its mane. The Captain knows that there is a lot of trouble in Lampasas. He had passed through years earlier and knows that there is an ongoing feud between two families there. He remarks on the increase in traffic as they get closer to the town, and he wonders if people from the region come into town on Saturdays to shop or spend the day, drink, and wait to go to church on Sunday. Spring is in the air.

Four men on horseback are blocking the road. Johanna retreats inside her poncho. The Captain recognizes the men as cowboys because of the equipment they carry. He dismounts and stands near Johanna to try and keep her calm. The four men have come to warn him about the Horrell brothers in Lampasas. They advise him against doing a reading there. Apparently, the Horrell brothers aren’t very intelligent; they’re wild, and they have it in their minds that the eastern papers (New York, Philadelphia, etc.) will have stories about them because they heard that the papers back east have been reporting on cowboys. The four men—who are the Merritt brothers, and have heard the Captain read before in the town of Meridian and respect him—tell him that when the Horrells discover they aren’t mentioned in any papers, they’re going to cause trouble. The Captain thanks them several times. During the conversation, the men sometimes curse and then tip their hats to Johanna, excusing themselves for using uncouth language. Johanna is unsettled by their gestures, unsure of their meaning.

The Captain climbs back atop Pasha, feeling good about his physical condition at the age of 71. He then realizes that he’s 72, that his birthday was yesterday, the 15th of March. He thinks back on his 16th birthday and remembers that at that time he couldn’t have imagined living so long, and definitely not doing what he is now, at such an old age.

The Captain decides he will just avoid the Horrells at all costs. However, the Horrell brothers track him down, and watch him and Johanna unload their wagon. They approach him and ask if he’s the man who reads the news. He confirms that he is. They want to know why they aren’t in the news. He tells them he does not know because he isn’t the one who writes the papers. There is further bantering back and forth and the Captain sizes the Horrell brothers up for exactly what the Merritt brothers told him about them. The Horrells boast about their having killed many Mexicans. The Captain asks them if no one objects to them killing Mexicans. They think maybe the soldiers might, but there aren’t any around. They don’t seem worried or care. They really want to know if they are mentioned in the news, and the Captain feeds them hope in order to keep them calm, saying that they just might be for all he knows. They invite the Captain to come and read the news at The Gem saloon that evening. The Captain thanks them and asks if it will be alright if he’s a little late. They say that’s fine and ride off.

The Captain has no intention of going and stays up late. He can hear music and shouting and figures it’s the Horrell brothers, getting drunk. He doesn’t sleep all night. He notices a glowing cigarette in the distance and knows it’s one of the Merritt brothers from earlier, keeping their word that they would keep an eye on him and Johanna, making sure nothing bad befalls them.

The Captain and Johanna are deeper in hill country now. The Captain rides with his butcher knife and revolver in his waistband. He has a plan in case raiders show up: he will cut the packhorse out of the harness, throw Johanna on the saddle, which he has already placed on the packhorse, and make a run for it, hoping the deserted wagon will be all the raiders are interested in.

Both of them are very alert and wary of their surroundings. Johanna doesn’t play anymore, sing, or make up nonsense English sentences. She helps the Captain listen for trouble. They come across abandoned farms, some having been burned down. They stop at one to take a break. They step inside the farmhouse, and the Captain removes a .50-caliber bullet from the wall. He imagines what life was like on that farm, before whatever happened to it transpired. There is a spring nearby and so they plan on staying for the night. Johanna needs a swim and a bath with soap. The Captain ties the horses in a shady place, and he and Johanna sit in the shade of the springhouse. From there, they have a good vantage point of the surrounding area.

All of a sudden, the Captain notices the branch of a large oak tree shutter. A slim, young man drops from the branches. He has long blond hair with one side cut very short, a marking of the Kiowa. More men drop behind him from the tree. He begins to wonder if Johanna will betray him and call out to the Kiowa, because that is what she has wanted since being with him, he assumes, going back to the Kiowa and the life she knew. She places her hand on his arm and neither of them say anything. The Kiowa move off into the distance.

The Captain and Johanna continue on south towards Castroville, stopping in the German town of Fredericksburg. As usual, the Captain rents two rooms at the hotel, one for him and one for Johanna. The townspeople have heard about Johanna from Bianca Babb, who had brought his own granddaughter back from Indian territory. The town people warn the Captain about how odd those who return are. He offers to do a reading in town, but he’s sure few will show up since most of the town’s population doesn’t speak English and is not interested in faraway news. He considers it a practice session to see how well Johanna can sit still and collect the dimes. He tries to finally get the wagon wheel fixed, but the local blacksmith has been killed on the road to Kerriville.

Before the reading, the Captain and Johanna eat a German meal of noodles, mutton, and a cream sauce in their hotel rooms. Her manners are much improved. She is happy to make him pleased. She slurps a noodle up quickly so that it smacks her on the nose. She laughs so hard tears form in her eyes. The Captain thinks about how nice it is to have a homecooked meal and not have to clean the dishes afterwards.

The Captain is able to secure the Vereins Kirche, or People’s Church, and he places Johanna near the entrance with the dime can. He does a practice round with her before the main event. She does very well that evening, even finding the German word Achtung to shout when a man goes past her without paying.

After the reading, he and Johanna walk back to the hotel hand in hand. He tucks her in and she quickly falls asleep. He cleans the revolver and makes a list: “feed, flour, ammunition, soup, beef, faith, hope, charity” (177).