Katherine Barlow

Katherine Barlow
Vital statistics
Title	Katherine Barlow (Kissing' Kate Barlow)
Actor	Patricia Arquette
Family	Sam - Boyfriend (Deceased)
Gender	Female
Race	Caucasian-American
Status	Deceased
Cause of Death	Bit by Yellow-Spotted-Lizzard
Location	Green Lake (When died)
Gallery	Kissin' Kate_Barlow (Katherine Barlow) Gallery
Kate being bitten by a Yellow-Spotted-Lizard and then dying.

"You.. and your children... and you children's children... can dig for the next hundred years and you will never find it....'"

―Katherine Barlow.

Katherine Barlow

Background

Katherine Barlow was Green Lake's  school teacher. She made the best spiced peaches in Texas. The children loved Miss Katherine, as did the men she taught. Barlow had a friendship with the black onion picker, Sam; they'd often exchange a jar of peaches for a bag of onions, respectively. One day, when Sam went to go deliver some onions to her, he noticed the leaking roof of the schoolhouse. He told her he'd fix it for her in exchange for three jars of peaches. Every time he fixed one thing, Miss Katherine would find another thing for him to fix because she liked his company. This made them develop a relationship together, and they discovered mutual affection. One day, she and Sam were discovered kissing each other. This was not allowed in the town at the time, due to the racism in the South. Sam was going to be hanged for this crime, so Barlow tried to reason with the drunk sheriff. He did nothing to appease the situation, and even asked her to kiss him in exchange for her boyfriend Sam's life (in the film he didn't make the exchange for Sam's life offer), which she refused. In the book Miss Katherine insisted that he go across the lake, leaving Mary Lou behind. Katherine came with him and trout shot him, Katherine was rescued unwillingly. In the movie, however, Sam was coming back from the onion field across the lake and Katherine was on the shore watching him. Katherine witnessed him being shot, and was so mournful and mad at his death, that the next day, she shot the sheriff and giving him the kiss he had asked for, leaving a red lipstick mark.

Louis Sachar stated in an interview that Kate Barlow is his favourite character from Holes.

Outlaw

Barlow became a famous outlaw, killing multiple men and leaving a kiss on their cheek. She robbed numerous banks in Texas and several individuals including Stanley's ancestor, Stanley Yelnats I. But didn't kill him; she left him in the desert to die. She became incredibly rich with the fruits of her labor, then she buried the money somewhere in the present-day Camp Green Lake.

Death

Many years later, Barlow returns to the lake and was sitting against Sam's boat, Mary Lou, when Trout and Linda Walker (Katherine's former student) came up and threatened to kill her. Kate replied, "Go ahead and kill me, Trout, but I sure hope you like to dig, 'cause you're going to be digging for a long time. It's a big, vast wasteland out there. You, your children, and their children, can dig for the next hundred years and you'll never find it." A yellow spotted lizard suddenly darts out from inside the upturned boat. Trout and Linda both try to shoot it but miss. She then grabs the yellow-spotted lizard, prompting it to bite her. Barlow dies laughing, telling them, "You'd better start diggin' Trout."

Killed By

• Yellow-Spotted-Lizard
• Herself (Caused)
• Trout Walker (Indirectly Caused)
• Linda Walker (Indirectly Caused)

​

Kate when she was a school teacher

Kate as an outlaw