In the mountains of Missouri, Ree Dolly and her family live in an old house on the edge of a sprawling timberwood. Though they have fallen on hard times, Ree takes dutiful care of her two younger brothers, Harold and Sunny, and her mother, Connie, who is “medicated and lost to the present.” One morning a deputy named Baskin from the sheriff’s department arrives at Ree’s house to inform her that her father, Jessusa, is missing just a week ahead of his upcoming court date. Baskin tells Ree that her father has put the house and timber acres up for his bond, and that unless he turns up in time for his arraignment, Ree and her family will lose both their house and their property. Ree told the deputy that she will find her father. Ree decides to start her search by going to her uncle Teardrop and also a crank chef. He and his wife Victoria live just a few miles away, and Ree visits them and expresses her dire need to “run her father to ground.” Teardrop tells Ree that it’s Jessup’s choice whether or not to show up, and advises her to stop her search.
When Ree presses him further, he grabs her by the hair and shakes her, then retreats to his room. Victoria follows, and emerges with fifty dollars. She gives it to Ree, and warns her once again to stay close to home. Ree visits her best friend, Gail Lockrum, who dropped out of high school and married a local boy named Floyd; together, Gail and Floyd have an infant son named Ned. Ree asks to use Gail’s husband’s truck in order to follow up on a lead but when Gail asks her husband, Floyd, for permission, he refuses. The next day, Ree hitches her way to Hawkfall. When she arrives, a young woman, Megan, emerges from one of the homes.
Ree asks after Little Arthur, an acquaintance of her father’s. At Little Arthur’s, Ree asks after her father, and Arthur deflects, claiming that he hasn’t seen Jessup in nearly a year. Arthur flirts with Ree and offers her crank and weed. After she refuses, he tells her to leave. Megan tells Ree to go up the hill and talk to Thump Milton, who will surely know her father’s whereabouts, though Megan warns Ree that Thump Milton “scares” her, and that he may not even agree to talk. When Ree arrives at Thump Milton’s home, his wife Merab turns her away. Ree implores Merab to give her a chance, invoking their distant blood ties. Merab goes into the house, and, when she emerges again “after most of an hour,” tells Ree that Thump Milton refuses to see her. Ree, indignant, shouts loudly at Thump Milton
No comments:
Post a Comment