"Come on, girls." "Whoa." "All right." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Whoa." " Hello, Bob." " Afternoon, Miss Cuddy." "Come on inside." "I got supper ready." "The pie is made out of peaches from a can." "Mm-hmm." "They had four of those cans." "I don't know who got the other three." "I don't know who could afford 'em." "It's good pie." "If it pleases you, we might have a post-prandial recital." "Do what?" "A bit of music." "I like music." "J3 On the distant prairie IJ" "IJ Where the heather wild IJ 1-7 In its quiet beauty lived and smiled .67" "J3 Stands a little cottage and a creeping vine IJ" "J3 Loves around its porch to twine IJ 1-7 In that peaceful dwelling was a lovely child .67" "IJ With her blue eyes beaming soft and mild IJ" "J7 And the wavy ringlets of her flaxen hair J7" "J3 Floating in the summer air IJ" "J3 Fair as a lily, joyous and free IJ" "J3 Light of that prairie home was she IJ" "J3 Everyone who knew her felt the gentle power IJ" ".67 Of Rosalie the prairie flower .67" "That sure was pretty singing, Miss Cuddy." "I got some cheese." "Cheese?" "Yes, ma'am." "You know I've got a few sheep out." "I know." "Well, I made some cheese out of their milk." "I wonder if you'd like to have some of 'em." "I got some here in my pocket." "Well, cheese would be a fine finish... to our fried chicken dinner and peach pie this evening." "Well, then... here it is." "This is fine cheese, Bob." "So why not marry?" " Do what?" " Why not throw in together?" "Land, animals, implements, lives." "The whole ball of wax." "We could use my capital and know-how... to improve your claim and mine." "And if the union produces children... so much the better." "Looked at from any angle, it works." "So why not marry?" "I reckon I'll go back East to find me a wife." "Please, Mr. Giffen." "I won't take no for an answer." "Miss Cuddy..." "I appreciate the offer and supper... and concert and all... but I cannot marry you." "Will not, won't." "I ain't perfect... but you are too bossy." "And too plumb damn plain." "Ain't no medicine for it." "This one here's still breathing a little bit, Mama." "Oh, my Jesus." "To what do I owe this pleasure, Reverend?" "Springtime, Miss Cuddy!" "Are Clydene and the kids getting along all right?" "Meaner than ever and growing by the minute." "Put your mule up and come on inside the house." "Yam" "There's been some trouble amongst the women hereabouts." "I've heard about it." "It's bad." "Guess what I'm ordering." " I couldn't." " A melodeon." " You are not!" " Yep." "I don '2' trust shipping a piano." "So soon as I get into Loup..." "I'm gonna order a Mason  Hamlin melodeon." "You'll have the only melodeon in the Territory." "Back home I used to play the piano by the hour." "I can't live without real music much longer." "I could help you with them dishes." "I don't want any help with the dishes." "So, uh... how you getting along with that Giffen boy?" "He uses my mules when I don't need them." "He helps me with my corn." "We've planted some potatoes together... and we keep the fences up." "How you getting along?" "When my bulls have finished their work here..." "I let him turn them out on his heifers." "Well... seems like you're getting along together all right." "Feed him a meal every now and then." "Like you do me." "You're a good citizen, Mary Bee." "The bed up on the loft has fresh linen on it." "Take the slop out to the hogs before you go to sleep." "Hell, no." "This here is a goddamn free country, Dowd." "Can't nobody make me do it." "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain, Vester... especially not in His own house." " I won't go." "I can't." " Why not?" "In the name of our Savior, Vester, I ask you why not?" "I can't take no time away from my crops... and I got the girls to look after... and I can't afford to pay for no wagon." "I ain't in on this deal." "Then what are we gonna do about Theoline?" "Pitch her down a hole in the outhouse." "You are a poor specimen of a man, Vester Belknap!" " I came here for the drawing." " Me, too." " Let's get it over with." " What about Vester?" "I'll draw for Vester." " What do you mean?" " I said I will draw for him." "What did she say?" "I said I will draw for Vester Belknap." "Can we proceed?" "This is a painful occasion for you and your families... and I grieve for you." "Your wives are fine and godly women." "But life gave them more than they could bear." "Now we'll draw lots." "Whoever draws the black bean will carry the women home... to from where they come from." "Shall we defer to the lady?" " I'll draw last." " I'll go first." "Keep your hands closed until everybody's drawn." "Thor." "Miss Cuddy." "Put your hands in a circle here." "On the count of three." "One..." "If that bean in my hand is black..." " I don't know if I-- - ...two..." " Hush, boy." " ...three." "Does that mean Vester has to go?" "But he said he wouldn't." "He has to." "He's one of us." "I baptized him." " I don't trust Vester." " Me neither." "It's true, Reverend." "Vester is a brute with no conscience." " I'll go." " You can't." " Yes, I will." " What, a woman?" "I can ride as well as anybody." "And handle a team and shoot." "You all know that." "And I can cook and care for those women... better than any of you can." "Hell, she's right." "She's sure as hell right." "That's mighty kind of you, Miss Cuddy." "You tell us what you need, we'll see to it." " When will you leave?" " As soon as I can." "Today's May 5th." "She could be back in time to celebrate Fourth of July with us." "Reverend Dowd, we cannot allow this." "It is not a lone woman's place... to drive a wagon across this country." "Much less when it carries three of the Lord's... least capable children." "Then why not go with me, Mrs. Linens?" "We could do it together." "You, too, Mrs. Polhemus." "Better still." "N0, you have husbands and family to care for, as you should." "But I do not, because I live uncommonly alone." "Enough." "Please, be seated." "I'm afraid y'all are right about Mr. Belknap." "He's untrustworthy with a task of this gravity... and we need a homesman." "We will do everything we can to equip... and accommodate you for this journey, Miss Cuddy." "If you gentlemen will excuse me for a minute." "Come to look after your wagon?" "Idid." "My Lord." "What is that?" "It's a train wagon." "Traded for it last year." "Since then, it's been sitting out here in the snow." "When Svendsen and Sours come around here wanting' a wagon..." "I gave 'em a hell of a deal on it." "I give it to 'em." "I cut the windows a little bigger." "Greased it real good." "Set some new spokes and felloes." "That's the just the right thing for them women." "I put a sliding bolt on that door." "What for?" "Lock them ladies in." "Why would I d0 that?" "Stop and think about it." "Oh." "What's that?" "You might wanna tie something down." "Put in ten of 'em." "Oh: my'" "I'm not sure I'm ready." "Are you scared?" "A little." "Listen here, Mary Bee." "You got a passable rig, mules... and you're as good a man as any man hereabouts." "And you're doing a hell ofa fine thing." "So go ahead on." "Get to it and do it." "Does everybody know?" "YEP" "What do they say?" "Don't say nothing." "People like to talk about death and taxes." "But when it comes to crazy... they stay hushed up." "Miss Cuddy!" "Mary Bee!" "Mary Bee!" "Ho." "I tried to catch you in town, but you was already gone." " What do you want, Reverend?" " To give you these." "They're letters to the women's closest of kin... around Hebron, Iowa, and on back East." "Your journey will be long, difficult, and dangerous." "I expect it will." "Bless you, woman." "Bless you and keep you." "You know I believe in you, don't you?" "I truly do." "I know it." "I'd go in your place, if I could." "Now let us pray." "Heavenly Father, look down upon my daughter." "Bless her in this undertaking." "Grant her thy strength and guide her with thy grace... that she may carry home these poor souls." "We beg of Thee." "In the name of Jesus Christ, thy only begotten son... who gave his life for the sins of man." "Amen." "Come on out outta there... you claim-jumping son of a bitch!" "Come on down in here... and you'll be a sad bastard as long as you live!" "And that won't be very long!" "Ana' you're a son 0f a bitch, foo, you bastard." "This here is Bob Giffen's place!" "Bob Giffen done gone and abandoned this place!" "And I have a filed a new claim with..." "lawyers!" "Get the hell off my roof, or face legal recourse!" "Goddamn it, I got lawyers!" "We need to hang that son of a bitch." "Come on." "Ho." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Whoa, whoa." "Ho." "Are you an angel?" "You're not dead." "Help me." "Would you help me?" "For God's sake?" "Suppose I do." "What will you do for me?" "Anything!" "Anything!" "As God as my witness!" "If I cut you down, will you do what I tell you to?" "Hell, yes, I will!" "Swear to God!" " Swear to it?" " I swear." "Swear to that Almighty God you've been talking about?" "L..." ""Vengeance is Mine"... sayeth the Lord." "Bringing in sheaves and... do unto others." "And if you cut me down from this goddamn tree..." "I'll do anything you tell me to." "I swear on God's holy name." "Please." "All right." "I'll save you." "I gotta a job of work for you." "But if you try and hurt me... or you try and run away..." "I'll kill you." "Take off the noose." "I need to collect my possibles." "Ho, ho." "This is Bob Giffen's place." "I never met him." "What happened to his sheep?" "I ate 'em." "Now you've been blasted out by vigilantes... and hanged for jumping Bob's claim." "Hell!" "That's abandonment." "Look at it." "He didn't abandon nothing." "He just went back East to find himself a wife." "It's abandoned." "It sure is." "This is abandonment." "Damn." "Ho." "Unhitch and stable the mules." "And tend to my mare, Dorothy." "And see to it that all the stock on the place is fed and watered." "Your horse needs feed, too." "Of it you don't care to, I will." "And then your supper will be an hour late." "Gel' up the!" "way now!" "Gel' up there now!" "Come on!" "Step up!" "Go on!" "Get on now!" "Clean up before you come in here." "What's this job of work you have in mind?" "I would be grateful if you'd not use my good chair that way." "My name is Cuddy." "Mary Bee Cuddy." "Where's Mr. Cuddy?" "I'm unmarried." "What's the job?" "Three women in this country have lost their minds." "Their husbands can't care for them properly." "You and I are gonna take them back across the river to Iowa." " The Missouri River?" " We leave tomorrow." "Hell, that's five goddamn weeks from here." "I will not sit still for profanity in my house." "I can see why you're single." "I need someone who can hunt and guide... and spell me at the reins... and help me with the animals on the trip." "That's why I set you free." "It's your job, and you're sworn to do it." "Three crazy women for five weeks... is a lot more than I bargained for." "If you lied to me... and intend on abandoning your responsibility... then you are a man of low character." "More... disgusting pig than honorable man." "Thank you for the kind words, sister." "You're no prize yourself." "You're plain as an old tin pail, and you're bossy." "But I'll sit out with you because I said I would." "And I'll help you tend your cuckoo clocks... as long as it suits me." "However, I will up and leave when, where, and if I please." "Now, if you don't mind me asking you... where the hell is my goddamn bed?" "In the stable." "Where you belong." "The winds blown all the corn over." "I know it." "All we can do is burn the cobs in the stove." "There ain't no corn for us to eat." "Just cobs." "Just bare old cobs." "I know it." "The wheat and oats are dead." "Know that." "What do you know?" "Are you crazy?" "Pull up here." "Ho." " You better lock me in the wagon." " Why?" "I done cheated one rope." "I don't wanna chance another." "Them son of bitches'll try to hang me again." "Oh." "You might be recognized." "You got any money?" "Some." "Why?" "I need three boxes of paper cartridges... for a Navy Colt .36" "and a jug of whiskey." "Bullets maybe." "But no whiskey." "Why not?" "Can't have you drunk around poor defenseless women." "No." "Well then I won't go East with you." "Goodbye, (Buddy." "What's your name?" "That's my business." "I going to the bank, and I need your name." "Oh, well, um, let's say George." "George what?" "Um..." "Briggs." "George Briggs" "That's right." "George Briggs" "George Briggs" "Read this." "Here, I'll read it for you." ""Mr. George Briggs, care of Mrs. Altha Carter..." "Ladies Aid Society, Methodist Church, Hebron, Iowa"" "So?" "I put bank notes for $300 inside this envelope." "It's for you." "Why not let me have it now?" "Right this minute, I'm going to the post office..." " to put it in the mail." " Why not carry it along with us?" "When we get to Hebron, Mrs. Carter'll have it for you." "Her boy's n02' very n02' old." "We'll have to watch him close." "I don't know what he'll do when we take Arabella away." "Ma'am." "Well, there she is." "My wife, Belle." "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Sours." "She won '1' say nothing, Miss Caddy." "She just sits and looks out the window." "It's like her body is all stoved up." "I have to carry her to the outhouse... undress her nights, dress her in the morning." "How long has she been like this?" "Ever since..." "I don't even know her no more." "How old is your wife?" "Nineteen." "And you?" "Twenty-one." "I see." "May'm, but she was beautiful, Miss Cuddy." "She may be once again." "Mr. Briggs, will you interrupt your leisure... long enough to lend a hand?" "Now." "I wish you God's comfort, Garn." "There's this, too." "Her grandma's wedding gift." "I reckon it should go with her." "I'll keep it for her and see she takes it home." "We'll be back in a few weeks." "You'll hear from me or Reverend Dowd that she's safe." "Step up there!" "Yah!" "Goodbye!" "Goodbye!" "You don't love me." "You won't even look at me!" "You don't give a tinker's damn!" "Just go on home and play with that damn doll!" "Leave me up against it!" "You don't love me!" "Goodbye!" "For all I care, you can just go to hell!" "Bye!" "You don't love me!" "Good morning, Mr. Svendsen." "Come in." "She's ready." "Why is she tied?" ""God will strike you down," she says to me." "She thinks she's God." "Her cousin will pick her up in Iowa and take her to the asylum." "How will we get her loaded?" "Unbolt the wagon door." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop." "Open the the wagon door!" "Help me." "Push her in." "There." "Do not untie her!" "She'll try to kill you." "She'll try to kill her, too." "Out, out!" "What are you doing with that son of a bitch?" "No!" "He's going with us." "He's the one who tried to take over Bob Giffen's place." "I need help." "Surely you understand!" "He was supposed to hang." "Mr. Svendsen." "Get down off that wagon." "Get down off that wagon right now... or I will shoot you where you sit!" "I can't do this alone." "I need him." "Now you leave us be!" "Get us moving." "You boys didn't have balls to hang me." "You wanted my horse to do it for you, didn't ya?" "Come on." "Let's go." "Get up there!" "Come on!" "Keep that gun on that son of a bitch." "I'll watch over your wife, Mr. Svendsen, I promise." "She'll be safe with me." "You girls go to your room while I talk to your mama." "Theoline, this is Mary Bee." " Undo." " Undo your hands?" "I am." "Undo,undo." "Undo,undo,undo,undo." "Do you know me, Theoline?" "Undo,undo,undo." "Darling." "I'm Mary Bee, your friend." "Tha." "Don't you know me?" "Tha, tha, tha." "Tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha." "Now listen, girls." "Your mother's very sick." "But she loves you just the same as she always has." "And you must love her, too, and help her as much as you can." "There are some things I want you to do for her." "I want you to undress her, heat some water... and give her a nice bath with soap." "From face to feet." "Right on the bed?" "Right on the bed." "Wash and dry her hair, too." "Then brush and comb it." "Then find some clean clothes for her and underwear... and dress her again." "And while you do all this..." "I want you to smile at her and say kind things." "Do you know a little song you can sing?" "We know "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton"" "That would be fine." "When you finished all this..." "I want you to do some chores for your father, too." "You're now the ladies of the house." "I want you to sweep it out... wash the dirty dishes, take the bedding outdoors... and air it... show him how grown up you are." "Will you do that for him, for me?" "All right." "Now start singing." "J3 Flow gently, sweet Afton IJ" " J3 Among thy green braes IJ" " And remember... love your dear mother." "Now you get busy as bees." "Give me these foreheads." "J7 Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise J7" "J7 My Mary's asleep by the murmuring stream J7" ".67 Flow gent/y, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream .67 1-7 Thou stock-dove whose echo resounds through the glen .67" "Mrs. Svendsen, is that you?" "Please, stop wailing, Mrs. Svendsen!" "Mrs. Svendsen, I asked you to stop." "Please do!" "Stop!" "This instant!" "Just stop!" "Hyah, hyah." "D0 you think these mules will make it... all the way to the Missouri river?" "I doubt it, not without a good feeding of corn." "The one twitching her ears... she knows she's the subject of our discussion." "She's the thinker." "The other one's a worker." "They should have names." "What should we name them?" "Mules don't need names." "They need feed... and corn's the best there is." "I'll name that one Grace and that one Redemption." "My mare, her name's Dorothy, after my sister." "She's married to a doctor up in New York State." "That's where we're from." "Dorothy has a little six-year-old boy... and a baby on the way." "Our mother died when we were little girls." "What's your horse's name?" "Brown." "You didn't give me but two damn skinny blankets." "It gets cold at night out here!" "You noticed." "We need to head southeast, follow the river bottoms." "No." "We'll meet more people that way in case we need help." "You're gonna meet three kinds of people out here." "You're gonna meet wagon trains that don't want to see crazy people." "You're gonna meet traders who will surely rape you." "And you're gonna meet Indians who will kill you." "And then rape you." "After they kill me." "No, we're gonna go straight east to the river." "We're hauling an odd lot of freight." "They are not freight." "They are human beings." "They're crazy." "They are precious to the Lord." "Precious to me, too." "Give me that skillet." "About $300 worth." "Wake up!" "Time to get moving!" "Get up and go pee!" "Come on here, girl." "Come on." "Watch your head on that hub, there, baby come on!" "Come on." "Pee." "God damn." "Squat down." "Squat down!" "NOW pee!" "There you go." "God... will strike you down." "God will strike you down." "I love trees." "I don't get to see very many trees." "I miss them." "God will strike" "New York... has lots of trees." "Whoa!" "Surely you wouldn't defile or desecrate..." "You are horrible!" "And morbid!" "I don't wanna be cold anymore when I'm trying to sleep." "I need this buffalo hide." "That dead Indian don't." "I was in the Dragoons." "Company C, 1st US Division." "Fort Kearney." "Had us a right smart scuffle one time... down there in Kansas with them goddamn Kiowas." "Tell me." "We was headed out to Fort Leavenworth." "Supply train of six mule wagons and a herd of 300 horses." "And we had Kiowas like fleas trailing us!" "War paint, sassy." "Big as life and twice as natural." "Wanted them horses." "I see." "Well, we camped down on the Arkansas River one night... and them teamsters picketed 36 mules... and they picketed 300 horses in the sand." "Sand!" "Hell them picket pens wouldn't hold a prairie dog in that sand." "Sure enough, that night, Kiowas come through there... and stomp-eded the whole bunch, and away they went." "Oooh-wee." "Trampled the wagons all to pieces." "Got the stock all tangled up in the ropes... and crippled up with the flying picket pens... and them Kiowas just running through there... whooping and hollering." "My, oh, my, wasn't we riled?" "We blew the bugle, "Boots and Saddles"... and away we went after them with the sun rising..." "We caught Kiowas here, and we caught Kiowas there." "And we caught them in bunches and killed every one of 'em." "Rounded up our stock and drove it... right through the middle of the goddamn Kiowa camp." "Tore it all to hell." "Pretty fair job of work." "Company C, 1st US Dragoon!" "How interesting." "Oooh-whee!" "J3 I don't want none of your weevily wheat IJ" "J3 I don't want none of your barley IJ" "D Take some ﬂour, hafi an hour D" "J3 And bake a cake for Charley IJ" "J3 The higher up the cherry tree, sweeter grows the cherry IJ" "J3 The more you hug and kiss a gal IJ" "J3 The more she'll want to marry IJ" "J3 Charley, he's a fine young boy IJ" "J3 Charley, he's a dandy IJ" "J3 Every time he goes to town IJ" "J3 He'll bring the gals some candy IJ" "What are they?" "Pawnee, probably." "What was that?" "Bugle." "Somewhere along the line... they killed themselves a US cavalry bugler." "What do they want?" "Whatever we got." "Trouble is, they don't know what that is." "They never seen a wagon like this." "Could be goods inside, soldiers." "Anything to them." "Hell, they don't know." "I count four rifles amongst 'em." "If they think if we were worth the trouble, we're dead." "I'll try to buy 'em off." "Whoa!" "If something happens to me... and they come all the way down here... don't you fool with that carbine." "You get in the wagon quick as you can... and you shoot the women in the head, then shoot yourself." "You got four good rounds." "Come on." "Come on." "Get around here." "Come on." "Get around." "Get out of here!" "What will they do with Dorothy?" "They'll probably eat her." "No!" "What the hell?" "She's gone, Mr. Briggs!" "Mr. Briggs, she's gone!" "She's gone!" "We have to get her back!" "Cuddy, it was a goddamn horse." "Get up, you lout!" "She hasn't taken a step by herself... since we put her on the wagon." "Hell's bells." "That gal done run off." " Morning!" " Morning!" "Where you from, friend?" "Freight train camped down south little ways." "Big 'un?" "Thirty wagons, six yoke." "Two weeks ago outta Fall City headed for Salt Lake." "You a driver?" "Am!" "Out hunting meat." "You seen any?" "No not today, I been out looking for this young lady here." "She's lost." "She ain't now." "Friend..." "I gotta frame wagon back there." "I am carrying three crazy women to a church in Iowa... so they can go home back East." "This young girl is one of 'em." "She's married." "Her name is Sours." "She had three little childrens... and lost 'em all to the diphtheria in short order... and she lost her mind." "She run away from us last night." "I'm her friend." "So am I." "You wouldn't want her, not the way she is." "She can spread her legs, can't she?" "All right, tell you what." "Why don't we leave it to her?" "See here, sweet thing... who'd you rather go with?" "Him or me?" "Well, there you be." "She cottons to me already." "Friend, I'm taking this girl home." "Not likely." "She's mine now." "Possession is nine points of the law... and it's all of us out here, now ain't it?" "Sorry, I'll just have to have her." "God Almighty." "Fight you for her." "Best man takes the prize." " How's that?" " I'm agreeable." "All right." "I say "pitch," we pitch these guns." " How's that?" " Anytime." "Pitch!" "God Almighty!" "Say it again and act right this time." "Pitch!" "Goodbye." "Did you have to take an eternity?" "Oh, she's nearly froze to death." "You lost one horse, Cuddy." "Here's you another one." " Where'd you get this horse?" " Man let us have him." "Why would he do that?" "Because he was dead." "Ms. Sours shot him." "Whoa." "Who would do such a thing?" "Indians." "For the clothes." "Wolves." ""Cissy Hahn..." ""11 years, two months, nine days." "God loved her and took her home unto Him."" "Let's go, (Buddy." "I intend to tidy up this grave." " Getting late." " I don't care." "Well, suit yourself, I'm going on." "Then I'll take a horse and join you later." "Not mine you won't." "You'll have to ride that freight horse." "I want a shovel, too." "Oh, sweet merciful Father..." "Prince Jesus... good shepherd... harvester of righteousnesses... take thee this token and bury them deep... carry and carry, in love let us sleep." "Send me summons to wed Thee one day." "Love us... and love me." "Oh, love me, I pray." "Amen." "Why" " Why"" "Why didn't you light a fire for me?" "What about supper?" "I did light a fire for you, Cuddy." "Where's that shovel?" "I lost the goddamn shovel!" "Who cares about a shovel?" "You... are... insane!" "The hell I am, Cuddy." "I'm trying to move a load to the river quick as I can... and draw that $300, and that's all there is." "There ain't no more." "1-7 If I should prosper .67" ".67 Hear my heart pray .67" ".67 Send me a summons f0 wed thee one day .67 1-7 Take thee this token and love me always .67" "J3 But if I should perish, thy promises keep I1" "J3 Take thee our two hearts and bury them deep IJ" "J3 Take thee our tokens and love let us sleep I1" "I couldn't sleep." "I could." "How long now till we get there?" "Oh... a week... thereabouts." "Heck, maybe a month." "heh,ldunno." "It's almost over now." "Will you stay in Iowa or come back to the territory?" "Idunno." "You are not much for making plans." "No, not much." "Mr. Briggs... you're an intelligent man... and if you think on it..." "I'm sure you will see the wisdom in it." "After we've turned them over to Mrs. Carter... why don't we marry and come back together?" "I'm 31 years old." "If I'm ever to marry, it better be soon." "And you're not getting any younger." "You've seen my house and my stock." "I've got two fine claims and money in the bank." "Iam in good health and capable of childbearing." "I plan to buy shoats next spring and fatten them on corn." "And come summer, I'll have 60 acres into wheat." "I plan to put in pumpkins, too." "We'd make a good team, you and I." "If we pull together, we are bound to prosper." "Don't you agree?" "I ain't no farmer." "Well, you could try." "You could try." "I've tried it one time with a widow woman... up north of Wamego." "Up and down them goddamn rows daylight till dark." "There's prettier things to look at than the ass end of an ox." "One morning, I just rode off." "You deserted her." "When I left, I was sorry, but I never did look back." "I see." "So you won't marry me?" "No." "I won't." "I know, I'm plain as an old tin pail." "But would you think about it from here to Hebron... and talk with me about it again?" "Talk's cheap." "Mr. Briggs... perhaps you don't realize what a grand thing you're doing... taking these poor, helpless women home." "If you don't, I assure you the good Lord does... and I do." "This might be the finest, most generous act of your life." "U might be $300." "You won't marry me?" "No." "And I am plain." "I wish you'd say one kind word to me." "Like what?" "That I'm a good woman." "That I've helped you." "Fair enough-- you're a damn good woman, Cuddy." "And you helped me." "I deserted from the Dragoons!" "That's right, Company C, 1st US." "Fort Kearney!" "Stoled a horse and away I run." "I ain't attached to nothing!" "Just me!" "No." "I want..." "to lie with you." "No." "You must." "I saved your life." "No." "Please." "Spare me my dignity, sir." "Raise your knees." "Take me in your hand." "Just you remember, Cuddy, I didn't force you." "I will." "If I hurt you, I can't help it." "I know." "You asked me." "I didn't ask you." "I know." "So put me in you." "Yes." "Cuddy?" "Cuddy!" "My God in heaven, Cuddy... we made a deal to carry these women back to Iowa." "And I kept my word, and here you done broke yours." "Oh." "See here?" "You see what you done?" "You killed her." "Look at her!" "You killed her!" "Too damn crazy to pay attention to anything." "Goddamn lunatics!" "You don't know nothing about this world." "Can't even piss straight." "Hadn't been for you, Mary Bee wouldn't be dead." "She wouldn't even be out here!" "If you hadn't gone crazy, she wouldn't have made this trip." "If you'd stayed steady and strong, she'd be alive... and at home in her own house." "And so would you, but no." "You went crazy and drove her crazy." "And it killed her." "What you got to say about that?" "Tha..." "Well..." "Well, I'll be." "I'm going on by myself." "You're on your own." "Far enough along here East where somebody... will come along and tend to you." "There ain't a damn one of you... can understand a word I'm saying." "Oh, my God." "Hello?" "Hello!" "How do?" "I'm carrying three women outside." "Hadn't had anything to eat for three days." "They need supper now, rooms for the night and hot baths." "We're full up." "With what?" "People." "Mister, I didn't come in here for trouble, but I am tired." "And when I'm tired, I'm easy to aggravate." "Now this is a hotel." "I got money." "I want supper now, then I want a room for myself." "And I want a room for three women." "And I want four hot baths or the reason why not." "Wait here a minute." "Greetings!" "How do?" "My name is Aloysius Duffy, and yours is?" " Briggs." " I understand you're in need of a meal... and accommodations, Mr. Briggs." "That's right, for myself and three passengers, women." "Oh!" "Unusual cargo, I must say." "In any case, Mr. Briggs, I regret I cannot oblige you." "Why not?" "This is a hotel, ain't it?" "Have a drink on the house." "Grand." "There she went." "Now then, Mr. Briggs... you couldn't have shown up at a more inauspicious time." "It so happens a party of 16 potential investors... is coming from St. Louis by steamboat and coach." "I trust you recognize we cannot accommodate anyone else." "These are gentlemen of means." "And the fate of our entire venture... may very well depend on" "We had a bad winter." "Traveled a long way to get here." "And they ain't had nothing to eat for three days." "I'm sorry." "The women are in bad shape." "They're... awful hungry." "Let me see them." "Good God." "You can't turn us away." "I can't." "Mr. Briggs, those women are pitiful, I concede." "But we can't have them here tonight... the milk of human kindness be damned." "Now kindly be out the door and take that wagon away from here." "And God speed to you." "Shoe's on the other foot now." "You put them guns on the floor real careful... and get us our supper on the table right goddamn now." "Shoe's back where it belongs, Mr. Briggs." "Grand." "Well done." "Be on your way, my friend... and lament you neglected my offering a whiskey." "All right, but I'll tell you what... you are the worst bunch of lying, thieving... pissant sons of bitches I'll ever run into." "You turn your back on these poor women... you'll answer for it for the rest of your lives." "You won't sleep." "You'll choke on your whiskey and on your water." "The food you eat will block up your bowels... and you'll die of your own shit." "Your mothers and your sisters, your wives and your daughters... will cuss your broke-dick souls." "Get on!" "Get on!" "Yah!" "Yah!" "Get on!" "Get up now!" "Go on!" "Get on!" "Get on!" "Get on!" "Yah!" "Get on down now!" "Oh, for God's sake." "Got on there, mule!" "Come on!" "Yah, mule!" "Get on!" "Get on!" "I'm gonna go get us something to eat." "Now y'all be good girls and go to sleep." "I'll be back directly." "You need to get on out of here." "Don't look back, darling." "Son of a bitch!" "Goddamn, that hurts!" "Ah, shite." "Come on!" "She looked ridiculous in that feed sack bonnet." "Pardon, ma'am, I'm looking for a woman named Altha Carter." "Do you know where her house is at?" "That would be the minister's wife." "Yes, ma'am, that's right, it would be." "Go on down to the Methodist church." "The house across the street, that's the parsonage." "All right, ma'am." "Thank you." "Come, Maisy." "Don't look at him." "Come on." "Whoa!" "Whoa." "Sir." "Afternoon, ma'am, are you Mrs. Altha Carter... the wife of the Methodist Minister?" "Am." "Well, ma'am, my name is Briggs." "I'm from the territories." "Loup." "And I've brought you three women." "Women?" "Oh." "Oh, for goodness sakes, yes!" "You have been a long time coming, Mr. Briggs." "I am relieved you're here." "I'm sorry Reverend Carter isn't." "He is out burying a beloved member of our congregation." "Just a minute." "I thought a woman named Cuddy was bringing them." "That's what Reverend Dowd wrote." "She was with us up to a week ago, ma'am." "I'm sorry to tell you that a fever took her." "I buried her and we moved on." "Mary Bee Cuddy... was her name." "Oh, what a... terrible loss." "She must have been a fine, brave human being." "She truly was." "They've ridden all this way in that box?" "Oh, mercy." "Well... it's time to meet them." "I'm not sure I'm ready." "Get over there." "You must have had an awful winter." "We did, ma'am." "Put them on the settee, Mr. Briggs." "Do they speak?" "No." "Do they understand anything?" "Ma'am, I don't know." "I noticed their eyes move round the room." "What does that mean?" "It's hard to tell." "Perhaps each remembers a parlor... from her own past." "Poor, poor dears." "Have you noticed any improvement in their condition?" "They don't scrap with each other or try to run off anymore." "Tell me their names." "That's Theoline Belknap." "She killed her baby." "Oh, no, no!" "Please don't tell me, Mr. Briggs." "I don't care to know." "That one there is Norsky woman by the name of Gro Svendsen." "Very well." "And that's Arabella Sours." "She's only a girl." "Why, has she even has a doll." "She had three little children, lost them all... to the diphtheria in three days." "Dear Lord!" "Please don't say anymore." "There's letters on all three of 'em in this bag here... about their kinfolks and all." "I better move on." "They just might jump up and try to follow me." "I think this room will hold them." "Oh!" "I almost forgot." "This is for you, Ms. Sours." "It's lovely." "Maybe you'll want it... one fine day." "Well, goodbye, ladies." "God bless you." "They'll be all right." "I want to say goodbye to you." "You can give this wagon and those mules... and that freight horse and everything else... to the Methodist Women." "Maybe they can sell everything and use the money... to pay for railroad fare and whatever else." "Oh!" "Mr. Briggs!" "I'm delighted." "How very generous of you." "Tell the reverend to give those mules a good feeding of corn." "Will you go back to the territory?" "I don't know." "If you do, please thank Reverend Dowd for me." "And wish him well." "Yes, ma'am." "Well, then." "This is our goodbye, Mr. Briggs." "Give me your hand." "God our Father, bless this good man... wherever he may go." "Keep watch over him." "Cause Thy face to shine upon him... and bring him home to Thee one day." "In Jesus' name I pray, amen." "I hope we meet again, Mr. Briggs." "Goodbye." "You can go on now." "Oh, yes, sir." "You look splendid, sir." "How old are you?" "Sixteen." "You ain't got no shoes on your feet." "Well, that's my business ain't it?" "I'll take them shoes right there." "Playing high stakes, sir." "Can you show $50?" "There's $300 for you." "Mind if I have a look?" "Suit yourself." "Have a look at this, Mr. Carmichael." ""Bank of Loup"?" "Up near Wamego." "How long since you been there, sir?" "Five, six weeks." "Bank of Loup went bust." "Happens all the time to South buster banks in the territory." "I've lost more than my fair share to this wildcat paper." "Do you have any greenbacks?" "No." "I spent it all." "I'm sorry, sir." "I cannot accept these banknotes." "Nobody around here will." "Sorry, but you can't sit at the table unless you're playing." "I'll have to ask you to leave." "What?" "Please leave the table, sir." "You're not socially acceptable here, see?" "You ever know a woman by the name of Mary Bee Cuddy?" "No, sir." "These are for you." "You still gotta pay your bill." "That gravy and them biscuits you made was pretty good." "Thank you." "I gotta good piece of advice for you." "When you get grown... don't marry some shitheel kid headed West... to make a claim on a farm he ain't built yet." "Don't you do that." "You stay here." "Why?" "'Cause I told you to." "Who is Mary Bee Cuddy?" "Mary Bee Cuddy... was a fine a woman as ever walked." "You'll never know her." "Well, then, so what?" "So what?" "You are the living, breathing reason... she will never be lost." "That's what, darling." "You're a strange man." "I expect I am." "Why don't we marry?" "Maybe." "All away!" "All right, you're away!" " Ready?" " Yeah." "You got it?" "Shove off!" " Hang on on the left." " Walking down." "I got it." " All right." " Take it down, boys." "Let me catch up." "Get it up." "Go." "Together now." "J3 Take her by her lily white hand IJ" "J3 And lead her like a pigeon IJ" "X1 Make her dance the weevﬂy wheat Si" "J3 Scatter her religion IJ" "You boys know "The Weevily Wheat"?" " Hell, yeah." " Get on up here." "J3 Oh, Charley, he's a fine young man IJ" "J3 Charley, he's a dandy IJ" "J3 Every time he goes to town IJ" "J3 He brings the gals some candy IJ" "Hush up that noise!" "There's people here trying to sleep!" "You sons of bitches!" "We are headed West, goddamn it!" "If it hairlips the goddamn devil." "J3 Oh, Charley, he's a fine young man IJ" "J3 Charley, he's a dandy IJ" "J3 Every time he goes to town IJ" "J3 He brings the gals some candy IJ" "Clap your hands."