The Red Pony

On a Saturday, when Jody was a little boy, he watches Billy Buck working on a haystack. The haystack has been used-up, and Jody asks if he can use the dogs to hunt for mice in the remains of the stack. Billy says Jody should ask his father, but he is at another ranch. Jody attempts to throw a stone at a cat and watches the dog, Doubletree Mutt, until Carl arrives home. Carl brings in a letter from Mrs. Tiflin’s father. She reads it and learns that her father is arriving that day.

Carl complains that his father-in-law tells the same stories about fighting Indigenous people while traveling west. Jody enjoys these stories. Carl tells Jody to go outside. Mrs. Tiflin argues that her father was frustrated when he reached the ocean and couldn’t travel any further west. She asks Carl to tolerate her father’s stories, and Carl says he will go to Billy’s bunkhouse, if needed. Jody, after completing his chores, asks to meet his grandfather on the road.

Jody looks at the Salinas Valley as he walks. When he meets his grandfather, they talk about the letter arriving later than it was supposed to. Jody invites him to help hunt the mice from the haystack and talks about the pig named Riley.