Red only waved for him to come out.
Slim dressed quickly, gladly confining his morning wash to the momentary
sprinkle of a little lukewarm water. He let the air dry the exposed
portions of his body as he ran out, while bare skin grew wet against the
dewy grass.
Red said, "You've got to be quiet. If Mom wakes up or Dad or your Dad or
even any of the hands then it'll be 'Come on in or you'll catch your
death of cold.'"
He mimicked voice and tone faithfully, so that Slim laughed and thought
that there had never been so funny a fellow as Red.
Slim said, eagerly, "Do you come out here every day like this, Red? Real
early? It's like the whole world is just yours, isn't it, Red? No one
else around and all like that." He felt proud at being allowed entrance
into this private world.
Red stared at him sidelong. He said carelessly, "I've been up for hours.
Didn't you hear it last night?"
"Hear what?"
"Thunder."
"Was there a thunderstorm?" Slim never slept through a thunderstorm.
"I guess not. But there was thunder. I heard it, and then I went to the
window and it wasn't raining. It was all stars and the sky was just
getting sort of almost gray. You know what I mean?"
Slim had never seen it so, but he nodded.
"So I just thought I'd go out," said Red.
They walked along the grassy side of the concrete road that split the
panorama right down the middle all the way down to where it vanished
among the hills. It was so old that Red's father couldn't tell Red when
it had been built. It didn't have a crack or a rough spot in it.