Ben
asks Lods how much farther. Lodz
says that the day presents a "unique
opportunity."
BEN:
"Unique? What the hell does
that mean?"
LODZ: "By telling you everything
now, it would spoil the adventure."
Ben slams on the breaks and the
truck grinds to a halt.
BEN: "Okay, that's it. I'm
callin' you. You put up right
now or I'm turnin' back."
LODZ: "Dear me. I'm afraid
it's much too late for that."
 Ben
leans out of the truck and looks
behind them. He frantically rolls
up the window: "Aww, hell!";
Samson whistles as he dresses. Jolene
lies naked on a bed. Samson counts
bills out onto her night table.
Jolene jokes that she should be
paying him. Samson says she's probably
right. Suddenly, Osgood calls from
outside. Samson leans out a window:
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!";
Jonesy and another roustie are hammering
stakes into the ground, when Jonesy
stands up straight: "pack it
up," "batten it down."
The roustie says that they need
to get to shelter. Jonesy replies,
"Ride it out here."
A large dust
storm is rapidly approaching...
Sally's Cafe.
Sofie continues to spin her lie,
telling Harlan that she was married
to Clayton Jones, a pitcher for
the Sox--"Horsehide Houdini."
She tells Harlan that after Jones
was crippled, she came home to the
smell of gunpowder. Then, Sofie
looks out the window and sees people
running in the dust, trying to take
cover. "Mama...," she
exclaims. Sofie runs outside, but
Harlan follows and drags "Betty"
back into the cafe and out of the
storm; Ben and Lodz are trapped
in the truck and with nothing to
do but wait, Ben closes his eyes
for some "shuteye"; Dora
Mae and Felix run into Apollonia's
trailer and find the woman covered
with dust. The doors and were left
open. Dora Mae slams her fist on
Apollonia's back and great clumps
of dirt fall out of the woman's
mouth; Ben wakes and finds himself
alone in the truck. Outside in the
storm, Lodz is walking briskly into
the wind. Ben gets out of the truck,
and covering his face with a rag,
follows Lodz to a wooden cabin.
A lamb lies dead on the ground,
and all around them the storm rages.
Thunder rumbles.
Lightning flashes.
Ben enters
the cabin and finds Lodz tending
a fireplace. Lodz welcomes him;
Sofie asks Harlan if he's married.
Harlan tells her he's "never
found the right girl." Sofie
asks who the Sally in Sally's Cafe
is, and Harlan tells her he named
the place after his mother who taught
him to cook. The lights go out;
Samson, Jolene and Osgood sit in
the darkness of Jolene's livingroom,
awkward and bored. Osgood suddenly
announces he's got "two bucks."
Jolene shrugs and they go upstairs.
Samson sits in stunned disbelief.
 Ben
shouts at Lodz for nearly killing
him, but Lodz says they both know
they weren't in any danger. Lodz
asks for Ben's hand. He reads the
boy's mind and reveals that it was
the dust storm, the "black
blizzard," that killed his
mother--yet, Ben survived. Lodz
tells Ben to open the door. Ben
does. Outside, the storm has stopped
and the sky is blue. Lodz tells
Ben that he (Ben) made the storm
stop. Ben doesn't believe him. Suddenly,
the storm returns and Ben has to
brace himself against the floor
to push the door shut again. Lodz
boasts that Ben made the sky clear,
but Ben tells Lodz that "only
God can make the weather stop!"
Lodz responds by burning Ben in
the face with a red-hot poker from
the fire. Ben clasps his hand to
his cheek, but when he takes his
hand away, the burn mark is gone.
"Yet," Lodz says, "the
smell of burning flesh lingers on
in the air."
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