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Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Summary

The gathering camp. Call raids Mexico nightly for cattle and brands by day, working both shifts on the Hell Bitch; Bolivar cooks fiery beans and slips rattlesnake into the stew, to Jasper Fant's disgust. The O'Brien brothers, hopeless on horseback, turn out to be willing to work on the ground, which most cowboys consider beneath them, and so earn their place. Jake, made to brand all day for once, announces he may go to San Antonio instead of north. Call, needing him because nobody else has been past Kansas, asks plainly for his help and is refused. Augustus then plants the idea that will shape the rest of the drive: bring Lorena along, and stop off at Denver. When Call returns, Augustus tells him he has invited her. Call says flatly that he won't have it, and rides off to Mexico assuming it is one of Gus's jokes.

Analysis

The hinge of the first act. Augustus suggests bringing Lorena purely to needle Call, and that mischief produces Blue Duck, the rescue, his own death and the corpse-haul to Texas. The novel's largest consequences are set running by its most casual line.

Plates

Augustus rides back from town to the gathering camp a little after sunset, the herd held in a long valley five miles from Lonesome Dove.
00 Augustus rides back from town to the gathering camp a little after sunset, the herd held in a long valley five miles from Lonesome Dove.
Call comes back across the river at first light on the Hell Bitch with two or three hundred stolen Mexican cattle, having worked the night shift as he does every night.
01 Call comes back across the river at first light on the Hell Bitch with two or three hundred stolen Mexican cattle, having worked the night shift as he does every night.
At the branding fire the O'Brien brothers fling themselves on a roped two-year-old bull, doing the ground work that no cowboy in the outfit will stoop to.
02 At the branding fire the O'Brien brothers fling themselves on a roped two-year-old bull, doing the ground work that no cowboy in the outfit will stoop to.
Young Sean, too hungry to refuse Bolivar's chilli-laden beans and unable to eat them without weeping, sits with his plate and weeps.
03 Young Sean, too hungry to refuse Bolivar's chilli-laden beans and unable to eat them without weeping, sits with his plate and weeps.
Jasper Fant turns around and catches Bolivar slicing the skinned rattlesnake straight into the stewpot.
04 Jasper Fant turns around and catches Bolivar slicing the skinned rattlesnake straight into the stewpot.
Call and Jake ride into camp at supper after branding four hundred head, and Augustus, sitting fresh with a full plate, greets them with "Hello, girls".
05 Call and Jake ride into camp at supper after branding four hundred head, and Augustus, sitting fresh with a full plate, greets them with "Hello, girls".
Sitting at the grub with his plate, Jake announces he may spend some time in San Antonio; Call asks him plainly to come and help choose the route, and Jake says "Well, count agin."
06 Sitting at the grub with his plate, Jake announces he may spend some time in San Antonio; Call asks him plainly to come and help choose the route, and Jake says "Well, count agin."
With Call gone to get his supper, Augustus stretches out, grins, and tells Jake to bring Lorena on the drive and stop off in Denver — the idea that will shape everything after.
07 With Call gone to get his supper, Augustus stretches out, grins, and tells Jake to bring Lorena on the drive and stop off in Denver — the idea that will shape everything after.
Jake rides off to town and Augustus tells Call he has invited Lorena on the drive; Call says "I won't have it. Goddamn you."
08 Jake rides off to town and Augustus tells Call he has invited Lorena on the drive; Call says "I won't have it. Goddamn you."
Call rides off toward the river for the last drag into Mexico, taking the invitation for one of Gus's jokes, while Augustus lies back against his saddle under the first stars and Bolivar pees on the fire.
09 Call rides off toward the river for the last drag into Mexico, taking the invitation for one of Gus's jokes, while Augustus lies back against his saddle under the first stars and Bolivar pees on the fire.