A raggedy kid on a big horse attaches himself to John Grady and Rawlins. Rawlins wants to leave him, but John Grady is kinder, even though he joins Rawlins in teasing the country kid.
After their food supply is depleted, they occasionally buy food. But they also rely on the kindness of strangers. In one scene, they are invited to dinner with a Mexican family. The two little girls in the family enjoy laughing at Blevins when he leans back and falls off the bench at the table.
The three boys get some fermented drink from some migrant traders, which makes them very drunk and sick. They leave to continue their journey.
A storm comes and Blevins is afraid of lightning and tells stories about his relatives who have been struck dead. He tries to outride the storm. John Grady and Rawlins find him the next morning, naked except for undershorts. He has removed all of his clothes so that he is wearing no metal and will not attract lightning. His horse and pistol are gone, and all his clothes, except one boot, have washed away.
In a dangerous and comic scene, the three boys recover the horse they find in a village. Water becomes even more of a problem than it has been in the past, and the horses start to suffer. John Grady and Rawlins split ways with Blevins, whose horse is stronger; Blevins tries to get the pursuers to follow him.
Finally, John Grady and Rawlins come upon grass that has been described to them as part of a beautiful hacienda. The vaqueros, or cowboys, tending the cattle let them follow along, and the foreman takes them to the manager's house. A young girl in English riding gear rides by from the marsh on a black Arabian horse. John Grady and Rawlins are hired on and sleep in the bunkhouse.
