"Good piece of land." "It was." "Still is." "Travis is calling you." "Do I know you?" "Well, ought to." "How did you lose that arm there, boy?" "Woke up in Chickamauga one morning without it." "Somebody deal you a losing hand there Buckaboo?" "Jack?" "Now tell me, you found yourself a one-titty woman or you just take that one hand there and whup it back and forth?" "Oh, my Lord." "Get on down here!" "The hero has returned!" "Good to see you, Jack." "Good to see you back!" "It's me, Brian Brown." "You remember Brian." "You got whiskers now, boy!" "Ever think you'd see him again?" "Whoa there, boy." "What's after you?" "Your husband." "Who?" "What did you say?" "He's coming, ma'am." "Who?" "Mr. Sommersby." "Get in the house!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Look at you!" "You old man, now look!" "By God, there's another good man the damn Yankees didn't get!" "Come on over here and say hello to Will." "Look here who I got here." "Jack Sommersby." "They sent him back to me like that from Vicksburg." "Will's a hero." "Ain't that right, son?" "Well, well, well." "Welcome home, Jack." "We thank the Lord you're back." "Thank you, sir." "Is Laurel all right?" "She's going to be surprised now, ain't she?" "Six years is a long time without any word." "Come on, where is he now?" "Look at you!" "You look like a sack of bones." "Kind of hard to get Esther dumplings where I've been." "Oh, Lord, Mr. Jack." "You're home, you're home!" "Everybody here is missing somebody." "Both Ezzel boys and their daddy got killed and everybody that ain't dead is leaving." "This town finished, Mr. Jack." "Ain't nothing left here but hard ground and nobody to work it." "Go say hello to your daddy, son." "Go on now." "Hello, Robert." "I'd forgotten how beautiful you were." "Jethro!" "Hey, boy!" "I hear in old town, Clemmons' pig will be swallowing a stick tonight!" "I was down there in the weeds, kind of waiting for the damn smoke to get blowed away." "And the next thing I know-- Thank you, darling." "Next thing I know, there's this big old rifle butt floating down out of the sky, just kind of taking its time like I had all day to get away from it." "When I come to, I was on my way to prison in Elmira." "I heard that was the worst one." "I couldn't even remember my name at that point." "What did you do to your hand there, Jack?" "A guard stomped on it." "Don't hold things too good now." "You can still hold a straight flush?" "And other things that're important." "What did you do in prison?" "Starved, froze, like everybody else." "Evening, folks." "Better take some of this while you can." "I guess you don't remember me, sir." "Joseph." "Yes, I do remember!" "My daddy paid $ 1 00 for you." "Yes, sir." "Why don't you come on in now?" "No, thank you, sir." "We just come by here to say welcome home." "Quit wasting time!" "Get yourself over here." "We got a present for you." "What do you got?" "Panther piss." "I ain't seen you pass water all night." "Can't do it." "One sip, I'm staggering like a new calf." "You're still a rebel, ain't you?" "Best not get too friendly with the niggers." "We had to chase some off." "That one has been living on your land." "Next thing you know, they'll be moving into the big house." "What's the matter with you?" "Nothing." "You ain't acting yourself, Jack." "What'd them goddamn Yankees do to you, boy?" "Hit me on my head." "I love you." "I love you too." "Sit down." "I'm going to dance with my wife." "Good to see you." "Welcome back!" "Grab a gal here and shake a leg." "I tend to hop a little bit better than I shake now." "Dick made me a good foot, though." "Got everything but toes that wiggle." "Ain't got no toes to worry about stomping them." "Well, be careful you don't catch a chill, Miss Laurel." "Y'all have a good time." "Shall we?" "Good night now, Buckaboo." "You know where that handkerchief is I brought home?" "It was filthy." "I told her to burn it." "Damn!" "Hate to lose that thing." "Carried that nearly six years." "Why?" "The last thing you gave me before I left." "What happened here?" "Yankees." "They got the silver, the carpets and mostly anything else they could carry." "I did save Granny's brooch, though by sitting on it, in a manner of speaking." "That's where you were sleeping before you left." "Good night." "Good night." "I swore, if I ever made it home I'd shave this thing off." "Would you do it for me?" "Are you sure?" "Am I home?" "All right." "That's the first thing I remember about you." "Coming back that time from wherever you'd been, looking all brown and bearded." "Looking more like some kind of a wild animal than a man." "Is that what you wanted?" "Something wild?" "Maybe." "Maybe just something a little dangerous a little different." "A little rich?" "Make $900 and lose 1 ,000, you are not rich." "It was never the money." "Couldn't have been love could it?" "It could have been." "If you'd been the least little bit kind." "What do you think?" "I'm thinking who is this man sitting in my kitchen?" "Well, good night." "Good night." "I guess we have to get used to each other again, don't we?" "I guess so." "Well...." "Good night." "Good night." "You're getting ahead of me again." "Not quite." "So where is he?" "He wanted to see the farm." "Hope he doesn't see too much." "He's liable to keep on riding." "He wouldn't do that." "But I have heard stories of men who come home, and finding their wives married again .and realizing it wasn't nobody's fault..." "...she'd fallen in love with" "Please!" "I'm sorry." "I know you're hurting, and I wish that I was not the cause of it." "But we weren't married yet." "He's my husband and he's come home now." "That's right." "But if he ever lays a hand to you again, I'll have to break it." "Orin, please." "Jethro!" "Jethro?" "Lord take him to that better place where the sun always shines, and he'll have bigger fields to run in." "What're you doing?" "Not too damn much." "What are you doing?" "Getting a little hoeing done." "Yeah, well, you can take a break." "Not going to be any cotton here." "I put a little bit of work in these fields." "You and about 40 more slaves, maybe we'll get a crop in here." "You calling me a nigger?" "Hell, Orin, I ain't" "I know what you done around here and I appreciate it." "What I've done, I haven't done for you." "She's made her choice." "She had no choice." "If it'd gone the other way, if she wanted you I don't think I would've hung around here, watched." "Not me." "But you never were one to hang around, were you?" "I told Orin I'd marry him next year if you didn't come back." "He's put a lot of hard work in here, and we owe him." "I want you to be nice to him." "You've got to try and put yourself in his shoes." "Shoe?" "Come on, now." "It's hard for him getting this close and all" "He ever get this close to you?" "I guess he did." "Did he kiss you?" "He didn't?" "Did you want him to?" "I don't know." "Don't know?" "Did he want to kiss you?" "I guess he did." "Let me get the sugar." "All right." "Why didn't he?" "Because I never said that he could." "You say he couldn't?" "Let me get this straight." "He wanted to but you didn't know, so he didn't ask and you didn't say." "So he didn't and you weren't." "But he's not here and I am, and I want to." "So I'm going to go ask." "Where're you going?" "To ask Orin if I can kiss my wife." "Stop it!" "You got a very beautiful smile there, Mrs. Sommersby." "Hope to see a whole lot more of it." "Well, you will." "Where'd you find that?" "It was in the trunk." "You remember?" "You sewed this the whole first month we were married, didn't you?" "When I tried it on, it was too small." "You threw it in there and said you'd never sew again." "I don't think you ever did." "How'd you remember that?" "Well, I forgot a whole lot of important things." "Other ones never leave my mind, never will." "What're you doing?" "Come on, arms up." "Been in a trunk for nine years." "It needs some washing." "You remember making our son?" "The night it happened?" "You were drunk." "Well, I'm sorry." "Seems like after that, you never much wanted me anymore." "Seems a whole lot different now." "You want to sleep in the other room?" "Good." "What's wrong?" "I just don't remember how I was with you." "How to be." "You don't have to remember that." "Jack...." "Say it again." "Hey, boy!" "Let's go to town, get shoes!" "Do I have to?" "No, you can stay here and help me shovel out the chicken coop." "Where in the world are we going?" "Mama don't let me drive." "I guess we got to mind Mama, don't we?" "Say, "hah."" "Say it louder." "Don't say it to me, boy." "Say it to him." "Say it again." "Morning!" "Move around there." "You're real good, boy!" "Thank you, sir." "There's a lot of dead men's footprints on this wall." "That's the one I'm looking for." "I'm truly glad you didn't follow them, Jack." "You'll look just fine once you get your lips back." "Let me have that foot." "There's something about whiskers that makes a man's lips just shrink right on up." "I'll be damned!" "Your foot shrunk!" "Foot's two sizes smaller now." "That ain't mine." "You must've been drunk." "See?" "I wrote your name right here at the bottom." "How do you suppose that could have happened?" "You know what I see?" "I see the future." "Right there." "Tobacco?" "!" "You mean smoking it, or growing it?" "You can't grow it this far north." "Too cold!" "Yes, you can." "Yes, you can." "It's called burley." "They want it and we can grow it." "You ever planted anything in the field except your foot up somebody's backside?" "I don't think I have, but I didn't shoot my first man before I had to, either." "Now, you want to hear what I have to say?" "All right." "Here's what I'm offering." "I'll give you all a piece of my land, each and every one of you." "I'll give you tools, fertilizer and you keep half of the crop when it comes in." "I'll take my share and pay off the mortgage against me." "When the title clears you can buy that land you worked, for a fair price." "Are you talking about selling your own land?" "Your daddy would've died first." "He did, didn't he?" "How long you been sharecropping?" "Ten years?" "1 5 years!" "You ever get a chance to buy that land you've been working?" "Hell, no!" "Hell, no." "This is it." "This is your chance, boy." "Take it!" "What about y'all?" "You want in?" "I'm not helping niggers." "You're saying that those who work the land" "I can't hear you!" "You're saying those who work the land get to buy it?" "Yes, sir!" "That means coloreds and all?" "Nobody squats on my land." "You want to stay, you got to pay for it just like everybody else." "I ain't living next to no nigras!" "You ain't, no?" "No, I'm not." "Where're you going to live, then?" "In the poorhouse?" "I'd just as soon!" "We take care of our own!" "You going to take care of her?" "Do that." "You go work your fields 1 2 hours and then work hers." "I got a question." "Go ahead." "Tobacco seed." "We all know it's worth about 2,000 times its weight in gold." "You got no cash." "You got no collateral." "Your house, your land, that's all mortgaged." "You don't have tools, not even a mule." "Where you going to get money for tobacco seed?" "That's God's own truth." "Thank you for bringing that up." "Appreciate your concern and confidence." "I was getting around to that." "We're waiting to hear that." "Is the seed going to fall out of the sky, Jack?" "Hell, we're all...." "We're all sitting on a little something." "There's nothing you can do with that thing." "But just maybe, we put all of those little things together we got something then." "Maybe we can get started." "All of us." "There's something we can do." "I don't know any other way to do this." "I got Confederate money in the outhouse." "You want it?" "I don't see any way out of this except what I'm saying now." "Want me to sell my other arm?" "Buck, listen to me now." "I got a ruby brooch worth $ 1,000." "It's been in my family for 100 years, but I can't eat it." "And neither can my family." "Anybody got a better idea than Jack's?" "I'd sure like to keep my brooch." "Maybe y'all think I'm doing this because he's my husband." "You're wrong." "This is not just some idea to put cash back in Jack Sommersby's pocket." "This is for all of us." "It sounds to me like this idea just might go, don't you think?" "I think so." "I think we don't have any other option." "Thank you, John." "Pretty pitiful chicken scratching." "Not bad for your left." "Well, it is me." "I hope you can get something for it." "We'll get a lot of seeds for that." "That's beautiful." "You won't regret it." "I'm regretting this already." "All right." "What we got here?" "Look at that!" "Never seen nothing like that before." "My grandmother's daddy gave it to her the day she married." "He was a toolmaker for her people." "How many acres you want to work?" "I thought about 1 0, sir." "Ten." "Ten, it is." "Say there we get to buy it?" "You will be coming back, won't you, sir?" "Godspeed, Jack." "Thank you, sir." "God love you." "Mind your mama." "This is real sharp." "Thank you, son." "I'll make a good trade for it." "Bye, sir." "Walk on, there!" "Walk on." "Home soon!" "You folks will take that side." "We'll take this side." "Let's go to work!" "We have two paces right here." "Mark your way down, John?" "Go take it over there." "eight, nine, ten!" "Try not to be hoeing the rocks." "Make my job a little bit easier." "The ground's about ready." "We have to plant soon" "He'll be here." "Yes, ma'am." "How do we know if something's true?" "My Bible says, "By their fruits ye shall know them."" "Amen." "A good tree bears good fruit." "An evil tree, rotten." "And you don't have to wonder which it is." "You just look and you shall know." "Good morning, Mrs. Bundy." "Go, John." "Ask her." "Any news, Miss Laurel?" "No, not yet." "Come on, Clarice." "Here, boy." "Where'd you come from?" "Sir." "Did you get a good price for my knife?" "Real good." "So good, I had something left over to buy him." "Mom's going to be pleased to see you." "Hello." "Where you been?" "I had to go all the way to Virginia!" "But damn it, I got it!" "Let's see it." "Look at this." "It don't look like much, does it?" "The seeds or me?" "Come on." "Look at it." "You look at it." "Be careful now." "Where have you been?" "Let's put these babies to bed now." "I'm sorry." "Did I hurt you?" "You all right?" "I'll be damned." "Look at that." """Then Hector lifted stout helmet and set it on his head." "And like a star, it shone." "And forth from its stand he drew his father's spear heavy, great and strong."" "When's he going to shoot some Greeks?" "It's all the way back here." "That'll be a good start for you." "How you doing?" "Is your back holding up?" "Should be further along by now." "The ground's all give out from cotton." "We got to fertilize them, boys." "The whole damn house is falling apart." "What?" "Us." "What about us?" "I was just thinking how we used to be, all rich and stupid." "Speak for yourself." "Now this house is falling apart we're broke and I've never been so happy." "You certainly have changed, haven't you?" "For the better?" "So much better it scares me sometimes." "You never used to read Homer." "Yeah, well, there was a...." "There was a man I was penned up with in Elmira." "He used to be a schoolteacher." "He had this old beat-up copy of Homer." "He used to read it to us." "Gave it to me." "I took up the reading when he died." "How did it happen?" "He just died, that's all." "You don't have to talk about it." "Snap it." "Come here, little Jethro." "See all these flowers here?" "Every one of them's got to go." "Every single one of them." "See these shoots?" "You got to take them off too." "I said to use the fertilizer in the field, Jack." "When is it coming?" "September, August maybe." "Don't tell me you haven't known about this for some time, missy." "Yeah, maybe I did." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Go on now." "I need to get some rest." "Come on, Mr. Jack." "Come on." "Oh, sweet Jesus!" "What the hell is it?" "I believe it's a hornworm, sir." "Hornworm?" "Look at this." "Crawling all over them." "They going to eat us up, sir." "You know what to do?" "No, sir." "Maybe Mr. Orin know." "Damned if I'll ask him." "You got to." "I said no!" "Howdy." "How are you?" "Not too damn good." "You?" "Well, I think I'd be all right if I could get some work." "We got a field full of that, don't we?" "This Jack Sommersby's place?" "Jack around?" "You want a piece of this?" "Get out!" "Who were those men?" "What men?" "The men in the field." "I don't know." "What did they want?" "Trouble." "What kind of trouble?" "God's sake!" "How many kinds are there?" "I saw you." "Forget it." "But I saw you!" "I said forget about it!" "The goddamn worms are eating us!" "You want to worry, worry about them!" "Hey, friend?" "You got some fresh water around here?" "Howdy." "Morning." "Got any water?" "You look like you run into trouble." "Heard you had a problem." "You want to keep pulling them off like you are but then just go like this." "I got a barrel at the end of the row." "Fill up from that and then when you get done with that, I can mix you up some more." "That keeps them off?" "What's in there?" "Why, it's soap, mostly." "Soap?" "Hamilton Sayer gave me the recipe." "He got that piece of land over by the church." "Yeah, I'll have to shake his hand next time I see him." "Why don't you take this and I'll take that." "Job ain't done till they're all dead and buried." "Thank you." "What's wrong?" "You tell her to get, first." "Go on now, Esther." "Six years I ' ve w orked this place for you." "Man comes here, says he' s you r husband." "You say I have to make way." "I make it." "I eat my heart li ke a piece of spoiled meat, but I make way for you." "Then I run into these drifters that just been at you r place, looking for work." "And one of them' s got his neck cut." "Said that somebody clai ming to be J ack Sommersby tried to kill hi m." "I said, " Why' d he try to kill you? " He said because he knew it wasn ' t J ack." "Said he' d been with the real J ack when he got his chest tore u p and this man didn ' t have a mark on hi m." "And just now, out in the field he didn ' t know who Ham Sayer was." "Best friend he ever had!" "Didn ' t know Ham Sayer." "But you ' ve known all along, haven ' t you?" "He might' ve fooled us, but he didn ' t fool you." "Why, Lau rel?" "Why' d you do it?" "Why' d you take hi m into you r house?" "Into you r bed?" "And why are you carrying some stranger' s child when all I ever wanted was to honor you?" "You are living in mortal sin, Lau rel Sommersby." "Do you hear me?" "You and this child are in danger of spending eternity in everlasting damnation!" "Get out!" "Come here." "Come over here." "See what these are?" "They are a sign of the rottenness that is eating at this place!" "You get out!" "T ake you r lies and damnation with you!" "Look and you will know." "So who do you thin k I am?" "I ' d li ke to know one thing." "Whoever you thin k I am do you love me?" "You ' re drun k." "I ' m drun k." "That' s not the point." "The point is that I love you." "Now, do you love me?" "If you loved me, you would stop this sinning and leave me alone!" "I will not." "J ack would." "Su re he would." "Did you know hi m?" "Is he dead?" "For all I know, you killed hi m and left hi m in a ditch." "He' s right here in front of you." "A little banged-u p maybe, but I ' m here." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "You ' ll wake the boy." "You ' re making me crazy!" "You get out of this house!" "No, I ain ' t leaving." "I ' m home now." "I ain ' t going to leave again." "You are not my husband." "May God stri ke me dead if I am not." "I ' d let it bu rn, si r!" "Who the hell are you?" "We are the lKnights of the White Camellia." "We are God' s hand and He is ou r eyes and we are His vengeance!" "J oseph!" "Can you tal k to me?" "You all right?" "Why was this man beaten?" "You have broken the law, and he has paid for it." "What law?" "A nigger can ' t own land." "By law, he can own what he pays for." "Don ' t I know you?" "You ' re on my land, aren ' t you?" "Ain ' t you that teacher from over in Clark County?" "You better cut bigger holes in that sheet, mister to see who you ' re looking at." "You r master ain ' t listening, nigger." "Should I shoot you to make hi m hear me?" "You got the gun." "You do what the hell you li ke!" "The war' s over, boys." "Don ' t do it." "Stay back!" "If he don ' t let go of it, shoot them both!" "I got hi m!" "I didn ' t come to kill no white man." "Buck?" "What are you doing here?" "Shit!" "I told you!" "Get out of here!" "Get out!" "Is it still my land?" "You own what you pay for." "Well, I ' m paying." "Go on now." "I was scared!" "I thought they were ghosts." "Were you scared too?" "Y es, I was." "I was truly scared." "But you saw them." "J ust men." "Maybe they weren ' t even that." "You mean they won ' t come back?" "Why would they come back?" "We' re not scared anymore." "No, si r, we are not!" "You want to finish this story?" "It' s the part where they going to shoot those G reeks." "I li ke this part too." "I ' ll read it to you." "" Now the T rojans" "the T rojans, li ke ravening lions, rushed u pon the G reek shi ps for the heart of Zeus was with them and thei r spi rits filled li ke sails in the morning." "And the weariness of thei r legs departed and the mighty shields grew light on thei r arms." "And they knew that victory would be thei rs. "" "You killed that dog, didn ' t you?" "Poor old J eth ro." "He knew you for a stranger." "So then you had to kill hi m." "Nice torch." "Save it from last night?" "Who are you, you son of a bitch?" "T ell me who you are or I ' ll bu rn this place down." "I ' m the man she wanted." "You ' re a liar. ...and a thief is what you are." "You are a goddamned yellow hypocrite hiding under a sheet!" "Si r?" "Mama' s having the baby." "Congratulations, M r." "J ack." "Than k you." "What happened to--?" "I fell off a ladder." "I ' m all right." "Can I hold her?" "Let' s call her Rachel, after you r mama." "So do you thin k she knows I ' m her daddy?" "I ' m su re she does." "Looks li ke we have a fine crop." "How ' s the smoke there, Reverend?" "Mighty smooth." "How much you reckon we' ll get?" "It depends." "I ' ll be happy with eight dollars on a hundred weight." "Can I get you a new spi re on the chu rch?" "Verily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child he shall not enter therein." "And He took them in His arms  put His hands u pon them and blessed them." "Name this child." "Rachel Caroline." "Rachel Caroline, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost." "Amen." "Nothing to do with me." "You must be proud." "J ohn Robert Sommersby?" "Y es, si r." "Federal marshals, M r." "Sommersby." "We have a warrant for you r arrest." "My arrest?" "For what?" "For the mu rder of M r." "Charles Con kiln of J ackson, Mississi ppi." "Five minutes, M rs." "Sommersby." "Than k you." "I want you to tell me." "I don ' t care what the answer is, I ' ll stay by you as long as it' s the truth." "Did you do this?" "No, I did not." "All right, then." "I ' ll get ou r things together." "We' re coming with you, J ack!" "Than k you, J ohn." "They' re so afraid, they got to handcuff me." "I ' ll be back." "You ' re a good man!" "We' re behind you!" "T ake care!" "I always did have a han kering to go see Nashville." "Proud to have you with me." "I wish I knew why you was arresting this man!" "Stand clear!" "Federal marshals." "God bless you, now." "You promise to come right back." "I ' ll be back." "We' ll be back!" "We' ll be with you in tw o days!" "Don ' t you w orry!" "We' ll see you in Nashville, J ack!" "Did you bring the Acts of Assembly?" "All rise, please." "Oyez, oyez." "The Honorable Barry Con rad lssacs is now sitting." "This cou rt shall come to order!" "All having suits to prosecute or pleas to enter shall come forward and they shall be heard." "Well, we were playing a game of five-card and Charlie, M r." "Con kiln saw Sommersby sli p a card off the bottom of the deck." "He ju mped u p and called hi m a damn cheat." "And what happened when you got outside?" "M r." "Con kiln hit Sommersby in the stomach." "He went down li ke a sack of potatoes." "Then Sommersby got u p with a gun in his hand." "Charlie hollered, " Don ' t shoot, Sommersby! "" "But he shot hi m li ke a dog, and he run off." "Now, is the man you refer to as Sommersby here in this cou rtroom?" "That' s hi m." "Let the record show witness identified the defendant." "I was standing on the corner across the street." "I couldn ' t see too well because it was rather dark." "And I saw a man lying on the ground." "And then he gets u p." "And I see he has a gun in his hand." "And I heard this other man say :" "" Don ' t shoot, Sommersby. "" "And he shot hi m." "And the man fell to the ground." "" Don ' t shoot, Sommersby. "" "M r." "Goldman did you see hi m sign this register?" "Y es, si r." "Is that his signatu re right there?" "Was there anything w rong with his hand?" "No, si r." "The ju ry will observe this hotel register and the signatu re of J. Sommersby, and compare it to the signatu re on a ban k mortgage signed by M r." "Sommersby seven years before." "The signatu res are identical." "This cou rt is adjou rned until 9 :00 tomorrow morning when w e' ll hear argu ments for the defense." "All rise." "How ' d we do?" "Did just fine, son." "M r." "Sommersby will you come with me?" "I know what you ' re thin king." "O rin!" "What are you doing here?" "Watching over you." "We don ' t need watching." "The way things are going, he' s going to hang." "I can make su re he don ' t." "How?" "You got to tell them who you are." "If you do, they' ll have to let you go." "I can ' t." "Y es, you can." "Who am I su pposed to say I am?" "J ust who you are." "Do you really want to know?" "Y es." "Are you su re?" "I ' m J ack Sommersby." "Pleased to meet you." "What' d I do?" "You stu bborn fool!" "I w on ' t let you do this!" "I accept you r offer." "M r." "Webb?" "ls the defense ready?" "Y es, You r Honor." "The defense calls as its fi rst witness  M rs." "J ohn Sommersby." "Webb, what the hell is this?" "Place you r left hand on the Bi ble." "Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so hel p you God?" "Y es, I do." "Please be seated." "Please tell us you r name." "M rs." "J ohn Sommersby." "M rs." "Sommersby, here are the hotel register and the mortgage paper the prosecution has su bmitted as evidence." "Do you recognize the signatu res there?" "Y es, they' re my husband' s." "Can you point you r husband out to the cou rt?" "No, I cannot." "And why is that, ma' am?" "My husband is not in this room." "O bjection!" "O bjection!" "Come here, Webb!" "You r Honor, this is absu rd!" "Silence!" "I ' m tal king to you!" "Sit down, si r!" "Don ' t do it." "You don ' t have to do it." "Sit down or I ' ll have you seated." "You r Honor, this is a pu rely theatrical device designed to th row these proceedings into confusion." "Overruled, for the moment." "M rs." "Sommersby, are you saying the defendant is not you r husband?" "As clearly as I can, You r Honor." "Are you saying the defendant is an i mpostor?" "Y es, I am." "You r Honor, this is absu rd!" "Quite possi bly, M r." "Dawson." "However we cannot continue to try a man for a capital cri me if he is not the man in question." "Proceed, M r." "Webb." "Than k you, You r Honor." "And when did you realize this man was not J ohn Sommersby?" "It was the little things." "At fi rst, he looked some different." "But so did everybody back from the war." "He couldn ' t remember a lot of things." "His own dog didn ' t know hi m." "A dog." "It' s a dog, y' all!" "Sustained." "He never tal ked about his father, and he' d been the world to J ack." "You r Honor, please!" "Let' s get ou r cows over thei r buckets." "Please, continue." "And after that, when we were together in a private way  I knew it wasn ' t J ack." "A woman would know her own husband." "I ' m su re most husbands would li ke to thin k so, M rs." "Sommersby." "But when you realized this man was not you r husband why did you allow people to believe he was?" "People believe what they want to someti mes." "Everybody wanted J ack to be alive and home and when this man showed u p, looking li ke hi m, acting li ke hi m it weren ' t hard just to let it be hi m." "But there were signs anyone could notice." "For instance, M r." "Mead fit him for boots and saw that his foot was smaller than J ack' s." "Got them templates mixed u p, that' s all." "Another thing, one day these drifters came looking for work." "They' d been in the Army with J ack when he was wounded, and they said this man wasn ' t hi m." "Why is she saying that about you?" "I don ' t know, son." "T ell her it' s you." "All right?" "All right." "You go back and sit down now." "Well, J ack, whoever he is  pulled a knife on them so they couldn ' t expose hi m." "M rs." "Sommersby, I have here a promissory note offering an option to pu rchase land, given to a M r." "J oseph signed by the defendant." "Is that you r husband' s signatu re?" "No." "He couldn ' t sign li ke J ack, so he made u p a story about a bad hand." "You r Honor, this witness will say anything to save her husband." "I move we stri ke her testi mony." "Can you offer any su pport to the clai ms of this witness?" "I can, You r Honor, and do." "The defense calls M r." "Matthew Folsom." "What is you r occu pation?" "I have a 2,000 -acre farm down in Clark County." "Do you see the defendant?" "Y es, si r." "Can you identify hi m?" "Y es." "His name' s Horace T ownsend." "Horace T ownsend." "How do you know the defendant?" "He was the schoolteacher in Redthorn for a short while." "He taught my children for a year." "Please continue." "I don ' t know where he come from, but he sweet-tal ked his way into the job." "He knew a lot of fancy stuff and G reek w riting and all." "He tal ked us into some scheme to build a new schoolhouse." "We gave hi m everything we had and then some." "More than $ 1,200." "He run off with every cent." "So, M r." "Folsom are you quite su re that this man is Horace T ownsend?" "I ' m su re." "There' s a whole bunch of fol ks in Clark County  be pleased to see " Y ellow Horace " in jail." "Than k you, M r." "Folsom." "You r Honor" "Heard he moved on south got some gi rl in the family way and ran out on her." "Ran out on the Army too." "That' s why they call hi m " Y ellow Horace. "" "When ou r boys were in a bad fix he ran out and left them to it." "The Y an kees found hi m behind the bushes." "We lost track of hi m after that." "But I knew hi m as soon as I saw hi m." "What you ' re saying is" "What I ' m saying is that man is a liar, a thief and a deserter." "And his name is Horace T ownsend." "Than k you, M r." "Folsom." "You r Honor  I believe the defense has proven beyond a dou bt that this is a case of w rongful arrest" "You r Honor, may I speak?" "You may not." "I move for a mistrial." "lf I dismiss my attorney  may I then speak?" "You have the right to." "You are dismissed." "You don ' t need to." "On the basis of that man ' s testi mony, I ' m about to rule on a mistrial." "M r." "Webb is trying to prove I ' m not who I am." "I don ' t see how I could win anything that way." "You could win you r life." "Without my name, I don ' t thin k I have a life You r Honor." "Very well." "Continue, si r." "Than k you, M r." "Webb." "I said, thank you." "Mr." "Folsom." "That' s me." "You testified that you knew me as soon as you saw me." "Did we ever meet since the ti me you said that I lived in Redthorn?" "I don ' t believe so." "I do believe so." "But the last ti me w e met, you w ere sitting on a horse dressed u p li ke a bed." "Didn ' t you and you r White lKnights bu rn a cross in front of my house?" "And beat a black man half to death because he tried to farm for hi mself?" "I did not!" "Didn ' t you r leader point a gun at me and say that you and you r lKnights are " the only true law in T ennessee "?" "You don ' t recognize the authority of this cou rt at all, do you?" "Which is why you can lie about me." "You are the liar!" "The real reason you are here is to stop me from selling land to a colored man who' d then be a landowner on a level with you rself." "You may go to hell!" "You will watch you r tongue in my cou rt." "And you will watch you r tongue in my presence!" "You sit u p there in judgment of nobody!" "In two years, when the Y an kees are gone you will be back in the field where you belong!" "Quite possi bly, M r." "Folsom." "But in the meanti me, you are in contempt of my cou rt and I sentence you to 30 days in county jail." "Sentence me?" "You nappy -headed son of a bitch!" "Sixty days!" "Show M r." "Folsom the way to ou r uncomfortable facilities." "You ' re a dead man!" "The ju ry will disregard the testi mony of that witness." "M r." "T owns" "How shall I address you?" "J ack Sommersby." "Can you offer evidence to that effect?" "How many of y' all are here from Vine Hill?" "How many willing to swear I ' m J ack Sommersby?" "I will!" "I ' ll swear!" "We could bring them all u p here one by one, You r Honor." "O r what we could do, if you want, is  bring Mrs. Sommersby back u p here, find out how this all got started." "Now, Lau rel, you really believe I ' m not you r husband?" "Y es, you are not." "But you let everybody believe that I was." "Why is that?" "Because I wanted you to be hi m as much as they did." "Why?" "I was w orn out from w ork and lonesome." "I didn ' t want my son " "You mean, ou r son?" "I didn ' t want my son growing u p without a father." "I see." "So even when I fi rst come home, from then, you had dou bts about me?" "Because I was mean to you?" "That' s where you went w rong." "J ack Sommersby never said a kind word to me in his life." "O bjection, You r Honor!" "Is this a cou rt of law?" "May I hu mbly remind you that this is a mu rder trial?" "And may I remind you this cou rt will not try a man for mu rder as long as his identity is in question." "Now please sit down." "Continue, si r." "Than k you." "But I must warn you, you proceed at you r own jeopardy." "I thin k all these people are flat stu mped now." "These people have known you since you was born." "Haven ' t you?" "They may not know everything that you ' d do  but they' d know what you w ouldn ' t." "They know you w ouldn ' t let a man sign contracts with them if he wasn ' t J ack." "It wouldn ' t be worth the paper it' s printed on." "Meaning they wouldn ' t own anything." "You thought of that?" "What about ou r children?" "What about them?" "If I wasn ' t J ack Sommersby what would that make them?" "What about ou r little Rachel?" "" Bastard " is not a very pretty word." "Is that what you want?" "And you?" "You thin k you can just go home now with you r illegiti mate child and you r thief lover?" "J ust tell all these good fol ks you ' ve been lying to them for a year?" "They know you better." "Maybe they don ' t know me that well." "Now nobody knows either one of us." "You can twist it around all you want, but we both know you ' re not J ack." "Everybody here knows who I am." "I know who I am." "The only people who don ' t are you and O rin." "You make some kind of a deal?" "With O rin?" "Don ' t be ridiculous!" "This man shows u p here with a skun k in a sheet telling everyone I ' m not who I am." "What does he expect in retu rn?" "Stop this." "No." "T ell me, what did you promise hi m?" "That everything would be the way it was before you came." "Everything would be the way it was before." "Except you ' d be promised to a man you don ' t love." "And I w ould be some piece of scu m named Horace T ownsend serving a few years for fraud." "At least you w ouldn ' t hang." "I w ouldn ' t have to." "I ' d be dead al ready." "You care for me?" "Of cou rse!" "Then why are you doing this?" "Because you are not J ack Sommersby!" "How do you know?" "A w oman knows her husband." "You ' ve got no proof." "I don ' t need any!" "Nobody believes you!" "I don ' t care." "I know how I feel." "That' s all that matters?" "You ' re a hardheaded w oman!" "You ' re a stu bborn idiot!" "You ' re not J ack, so why do you pretend you are?" "How do you know?" "I know because" "How do you know?" "I know because I never loved hi m the way that I love you." "So tell me, Lau rel, from you r heart am I you r husband?" "Y es, you are." "Than k you." "No more questions, You r Honor." "M r." "Dawson?" "You may step down, M rs." "Sommersby." "Do you have any more witnesses, M r." "Sommersby?" "No, si r." "IKindly approach the bench, si r." "You ' ve argued most effectively." "You r identity not being in question leaves little dou bt about you r guilt." "Don ' t you have anything else to say?" "What' s it say?" "How much did we get?" "I said eight, hoped for 1 0 got 1 2?" "Now, how much we get for the whole crop?" "J ust over $ 1 0,000." "God Al mighty!" "Come on, woman." "Come here." "Dance around!" "J u mp around!" "We did it!" "We did it!" "You and me." "How are the kids?" "They' re fine." "Rachel ' s all fat and sassy." "Robbie?" "He' s having a hard ti me of it." "He don ' t understand." "I don ' t understand." "What am I su pposed to tell hi m?" "You tell hi m his daddy never killed anybody." "What about Horace T ownsend?" "Horace T ownsend." "I knew Horace T ownsend." "Very well." "Everything they said about hi m in the cou rtroom there it was true." "I hated the bastard!" "The only piece of luck he ever had was  being locked u p." "Some man looked just li ke hi m." "Could have been brothers." "Probably were." "After spending fou r years in that cell together they knew all there was to know about each other." "Anyway, he' s dead now." "Who?" "Horace." "You didn ' t kill hi m?" "No, he got stabbed that night he killed Con kiln." "Bled to death." "I bu ried hi m on a hill under some rocks." "You mean you bu ried J ack, don ' t you?" "I mean I bu ried Horace." "For good, Lau rel." "You ' ve got to tell them." "You ' ve got to tell that judge." "He' ll understand." "Don ' t do this." "No." "You want to hold me, then hold me today and every day after that!" "You say that you love me, then show me!" "Be a father and grow old with me." "That' s what love is!" "You thin k I don ' t want that?" "Then come home." "You don ' t understand." "If I ' m Horace, we got no home." "I don ' t care." "I do care!" "I will not be Horace T ownsend again!" "You ' d rather die?" "I would rather be home." "If you know some way for J ack Sommersby to wal k out of here, I ' ll do it." "There' s nothing I can say, is there?" "Do you know how many nights I stayed u p in ou r bedroom just looking at you?" "Thin king what a mi racle it is to be here." "I used to wonder what I ' d ever done to deserve  being there in a room with you." "I still do." "Being you r husband has been the only thing I ' ve ever done that I ' m proud of." "We don ' t have much ti me now." "You bring it?" "Y es, it' s right here." "Oh, God!" "I i roned this thing fou r ti mes." "lt' s fine." "lt' s all w rin kled u p." "It looks terri ble." "My fingers are shaking." "Let me hel p." "You know, I feel that if I know you ' ll be there with me, I can do this thing right." "Please don ' t ask me that." "I can ' t." "I will not watch you die!" "lt' s ti me." "You wait a minute!" "I ' m sorry, si r." "You keep that for me for better or for worse." "Forgive me the worse." "It was always you!" "I knew the fi rst moment I saw you it was always you, my love." "Company!" "Attention!" "God bless you, J ack!" "" You, J ohn Robert Sommersby having been found guilty of the mu rder of Charles Con kiln are hereby sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead." "Sentence to be carried out i mmediately." "May God have mercy on you r soul. "" "" Because he hath set his love u pon Me therefore will I deliver hi m." "I will set hi m on high because he hath known My name." "He shall call u pon Me, and I will answer hi m." "I will be with hi m in trou ble." "I will deliver hi m and honor hi m and show hi m My salvation. "" "God bless you, J ack." "No, don ' t." "I ' m not ready yet." "No, don ' t, not yet!" "Please!" "Let me th rough!" "Don ' t, please!" "J ack!" "I ' m here!"