"And May Belle would pop her buttons. Her brother was the fastest, the best," Chapter 1, p. 4.

"Jess drew the way some people drank whiskey," Chapter 2, p. 12.

"He couldn't honestly tell whether it was a girl or a boy," Chapter 2, p. 22.

"You're the only kid in the whole durnd school who is worth shooting," Chapter 3, p. 36.

"He could hardly manage English, much less the poetic language of a king," Chapter 4, p. 51.

"Sure. You probably have some big secret love down in Arlington," Chapter 5, p. 67.

"It was not that she expected anything expensive; it was that he needed to give her something as much as he needed to eat when he was hungry," Chapter 6, p. 74.

"It also helped to know some things that Bill for all his brains and books didn't know," Chapter 7, p. 87.

"You have to believe it, but you hate it. I don't have to believe it, and...