It grows inside you, poisonous and festering, and it tells you its name is Pride, but it’s a liar. Its name is Hate.

But there is something stronger than fear. It grows inside you, poisonous and festering, and it tells its name is Pride, but it's a liar. Its name is Hate.

Annie Taliaferro had that hammerhead look about her, like a breachy range cow, or a bunch-quitting steer.

She just stood there and looked at the empty highway, and you could almost tell how bored she was by the way she stood.

I knew what she was, and it made no difference at all. She was hard, as ruthless as she was beautiful, as brittle as bone china.