Chapters 26 and 27 Summary

Before going to dinner that night, Tod goes to the saddlery store, hoping to catch Earle and find out about Faye. He learns that Earle had been there and gone already. The men at the store tell what they know about the night before and the cause of Earle's two black eyes. It's clear that they don't know any more than Tod does, so he continues on to the restaurant, where he orders a steak and scotch.

Tod thinks about Faye. She's like a pretty little cork, he thinks, bobbing along in seas that would drown heavier creatures. She will always survive. His thoughts turn dark, when he realizes like to accost her in some vacant lot one night and rape her. He fantasizes that he would wait for her, greet her cordially and hit her over the head with a...