This chapter-by-chapter summary contains plot spoilers!

Buy on Amazon: No Country for Old Men (Vintage International)

Navigate the Summary Parts: Part 1: Moss finds the money Part 2: Moss gets chased Part 3: Chigurh flips a coin Part 4: Bell investigates Part 5: Moss goes to Mexico Part 6: Shoot-out with Chigurh Part 7: Bell visits Carla Part 8: Wells talks to Moss Part 9: Chigurh talks to Wells Part 10: Moss returns to U.S. Part 11: Moss meets a girl Part 12: Bell catches up Part 13: Chigurh flips a coin Part 14: Bell visits his uncle Part 15: Conclusion

No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy: 
Pages 201 - 220

Go to the beginning
Go to the end

(Brought to you by jat impatientreader.com)  Carla Jean and her mother are going to the bus station to get out of Odessa. Her mother tells her that she knew that it would come to this. She asks Carla if they are running from the law. Carla says they aren't, but also says that they can't call on the law to help them. They get on the bus and go to El Paso.

Chigurh has driven up to their house in Odessa. He uses the air gun to take out the lock, and goes inside and drinks a soda from their refrigerator. He falls asleep in their house, then gets up and eats some of their food, and starts looking through their mail.

Moss sleeps in a motel and then gets up and takes a cab. He tears five hundred dollar bills in half and tells the cab driver he will give him the other halves if he'll take him to the place near the bridge where he tossed the briefcase. He tells the driver to wait for him as he goes down to retrieve the briefcase. It's where he left it, and he comes back and gives the driver one thousand dollars to take him to San Antonio.

He spends the night in a hotel on Highway 90, then goes out and buys a gun from someone advertising in the paper. He doesn't know if it will work or not. So he goes out into a field and tests it. He then goes back to the hotel room and cleans up his wounds, then calls another cab to take him to a car dealership.

He buys a Ford pickup with cash and starts driving. He picks up a young girl hitchhiking and asks her if she can drive. She says she can if it's not a stick shift, so they switch places. He tells her to not break any laws while they're driving, because being stopped could cause a lot of trouble. She asks if he's running from the law, but he doesn't give her a straight answer. He tells her to get off at the next exit.

Bell is standing in a field, letting water from a tank run over his hand. He goes home and his wife has dinner waiting. She tells him that Carla had called, and he calls her back. Carla says she's in a motel outside of El Paso, and that he has to give his word that if she tells him where Moss called from, that Bell won't hurt him. Bell gives his word, and she tells him where Moss is at.

Then, there's a scene where a man listening on a set of headphones gives something written on a pad of paper to another man. The man takes out a sub machine gun from a cabinet and takes off in a 1970s Plymouth Barracuda.
 
Bell is thinking about how the events of the past week are going to reflect on him, and how most of the time, the murderers and drug dealers have no respect for the law at all. He also thinks that the worst thing you can be is a crooked police officer, and how bad it is when you lose touch with what is going on around you in terms of the criminal adversary. He ends with the story of someone asking him if he believed in Satan. He says that he did as a boy, but during middle age he didn't think so, and now he's leaning the other way again, mostly because he can't believe some of the things that he's seen have no explanation.

Moss is sitting in a truck stop cafe having lunch with the young hitchhiker. They start talking about what he did, and he says he's not going to tell her, because he doesn't want her to be attracted to him. She continues to ask him, and he lets out little bits and pieces of the story.
Go to the next part in the summary of No Country for Old Men
Go to the beginning
Go to the end
Go to the Index of Summaries
What to Read Next!
Go to the current novel on Twenty Pages a Day

Zen, candles, herbs, bookshelves, bookcases, fine furniture, perfume, jewelry, New Age, mind body connection, cooking, Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, handmade books, cooking, blank books, art, home decorating, carpets, furnishings, pottery, wine, Zen, gourmet foods, spirituality, tabletop fountains, wind chimes, terrariums, houseplants, Tao, handcrafts, handmade furnishings, artisans, shabby chic, meditation, incense, bells, angels, spirits, tribal arts, Tibetan, Zen, Asian art, India, nature, nature crafts, cooking, aromatherapy, music, folk art, dye, weavings, tapestry, Tao, calligraphy, Tibetan Buddhism, cooking, wind chimes, earth mother, earth goddess, gemstones, garden, talisman, labyrinth, maps, treasures, art objects, fine leather, serious readers, tools for serious readers, Buddha, Krishna, weavings, tapestry, calligraphy, Tibetan Buddhism, earth mother, earth goddess, home decorating, americana, carpets, cooking, library, cooking, gourmet food, wine, kitchen supplies, pasta maker, pens, pen set, stationery, book collecting, photography, sauté pans, baking goods, garlic press, cookbooks, cooking gadgets, cooking tools, chef, gourmet chef, pastry chef, coffee, tea, coffee press, teapots, teacups, coffee mugs, pie, baking supplies, grilling, grills, reading glasses, magnifying glasses, potting shed, gardening supplies, bird watching, bird feeders, birding, bird supplies, cooking, gourmet food, wine, kitchen supplies, pasta maker, pens, pen set, stationery, book collecting, photography, sauté pans, baking goods, garlic press, cookbooks, cooking gadgets, cooking tools, chef, gourmet chef, pastry chef, coffee, tea, coffee press, teapots, teacups, coffee mugs, pie, baking supplies, grilling, grills, reading glasses, magnifying glasses, potting shed, gardening supplies, bird watching, bird feeders, birding, bird supplies, cooking, gourmet food, wine, kitchen supplies, pasta maker, pens, pen set, stationery, book collecting, photography, sauté pans, baking goods, garlic press, cookbooks, cooking gadgets, cooking tools, chef, gourmet chef, pastry chef, coffee, tea, coffee press, teapots, teacups, coffee mugs, pie, baking supplies, grilling, grills, reading glasses, magnifying glasses, potting shed, gardening supplies, bird watching, bird feeders, birding, bird supplies, Valkovalin.com