"Get back in here, now!" "Come on!" "Leave me alone, Mama!" "They told me it was in the water." "It's in the water!" "It's in the water." "Kids, it's in the water!" "No, it's in the water!" "Alice!" "AI?" "Come inside, honey!" "Did you finish your chores?" "Good." "Go wash up and tell the boys to come in for breakfast." "Okey-dokey." "You dumb son of a bitch!" "Come on, say, "Uncle." Say, "Uncle," baby." "Come on." " Say, "Uncle!" Say it!" " Cyrus!" "Zack, that's enough!" "You heard me!" "Stop it!" "Now, what happened here?" "He slipped." "That's a goddamned lie!" "Do not blaspheme the Lord." "I don't care how it started, but it's stopping now." ""Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love."" "Romans, chapter 12, verse 10." "Now, let's shake hands and be as brothers." "He's not my brother." "And you're not my father!" "Get out of those clothes and come to breakfast." "You can finish this up later." "You dumb creep." "Can't even take a joke." "O Lord, we thank thee for the food we are about to receive." "We know that we stand in the danger of damnation and hellfire, and that the Lord hates a sinner, but with your grace, we will become as pure as the driven snow." "Amen." "Where's Zachary?" "He'll be around." "He was stinking up the whole house." "How's the well coming?" "Well, I'm hoping to hook it up sometime tomorrow." "Biscuits are a little dry this morning, Frances." "You forgot to add something?" "I'll get it." "Get out of here!" "Get away!" "Shoo, shoo." "Shit." "Get out of here!" "Frances!" "Frances!" "Shoo!" "Get away!" "Get away!" "Frances!" "Dogs, Frances!" "Shoo!" "Get..." "Get..." "Shoo, shoo!" "Frances!" "Shoo!" "Shoo, shoo!" "Shoo, shoo." "Shoo." "Shoo, back here." " Morning, Frances." " Charlie." "I was on my way to the office and I got to hankering for some of Nathan's apples, so I..." "I took a detour." "Apples ain't ready yet, Charlie." "Another week maybe." "Oh, no." "Well, that squash looks nice." "Is Nathan around?" "He's having his breakfast and he doesn't want to talk to you, Charlie Davidson." "Things are bad enough right now without you on his back all the time, hounding him to sell." "Well, I ain't hounding him, Frances." "I'm trying to do the guy a favor." "Look, sweetheart, just between you and me and the lamppost," "I'm offering him a chance to get out while he's ahead." "I mean, the family farm ain't exactly coming back." "You don't want this place to end up on the auction block." "That's his business, Charlie, and if Nathan says he'll get by, he'll get by." "$5..." " How we doing?" " $25.50..." "Where's Zack?" "He upstairs?" "He okay?" "The boy will be just fine if you just stop babying him." "Button yourself up in front of the children." "$6.25." " I'll check on Alice again." " $2.37." "Go, James!" "Go, go, go!" "Yeah!" "Come on!" "That's it, James!" "Go!" "Move!" "Move!" "Do it!" "Yeah!" "Cyrus, turn that TV off." " Oh, but, Daddy, we just got ahead." " You heard me." "Come in." "Hi, what're you doing?" "Reading." "You'll ruin your eyes in this light." "Your..." "Nathan told me what happened this morning." "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he took Cyrus' side, too." "He's not taking any sides, Zack." "He just wants it to all work out together, like we all do." "Why does he have to be so strict?" "He's always running around with his Bible in his hands, screaming like some preacher." "Now, don't you go being disrespectful, young man." "Look, I know he's not like your father was, but he's a good man, Zack." "He came to us when we really, really needed him." "Put a roof over our heads and gave us a chance to be a family again." "And we all need that." "You and me and Alice, we got to really try." "Please try to work it out, Zachary." "No!" "Ain't proper." "Man should be making advances, not the woman." ""Abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul."" "You startled me!" "Let go of me." "I'll scream." "I swear, I'll scream." "Holy shit!" "Is Dr. Forbes around?" " Yes, Zack." "Honey, what was that noise?" " I heard an explosion." "Is everybody all right?" "Something came out of the sky." "A meteor or something!" "Cold." "When I was a graduate assistant at UT, they brought in this meteorite for us to take a look at." "Basically, it's just this big rock." "It's not like this thing outside." "No, thanks, I'm fine." "Nathan, I don't think there's anything to worry about health-risk-wise." "I think it'd be a good idea just to keep away from the thing until we get the experts to give the all clear, okay?" " You think it came from outer space?" " Could be." "Don't listen to him, he's a dork." "Daddy, he gave me the bird again!" "Cyrus, go to bed." " Oh, Daddy!" " Now." " Good night." " Good night, Zack." "Gosh, it's nearly 2:30." "I guess we'd better get some sleep ourselves." "Thanks for the pie, Frances." " Good night." " Good night." " Charlie, I've got a patient here." " Alan, we've got to talk." "Morning, Arthur, how are you?" "Feeling all right?" "Well, that don't sound too bad to me." "Listen, you don't mind if I borrow the doctor for a few minutes, do you?" "Good." "I had a look at that thing that landed in Nathan's backyard last night." "Nathan tells me you're planning on calling in the EPA." "Well, somebody should check it out." "I'd think they'd be interested..." "Alan, Alan, Alan, you've got to employ some common sense here." "Do you have any idea what an EPA probe would do to our partnership?" "The publicity alone could sway them toward some other location." "Now, I can't afford to lose that kind of money, can you?" "Well, what are we supposed to do?" "Just pretend it's not there?" "We don't even know what the thing's made of." "You're the scientist, you check it out." "Now, all I'm saying is, before we go calling in a bunch of these nosey eggheads, let's just make sure that we've got something to worry about." "Okay?" "Good." "Let's go." "It's not so big." "It's probably made up of mostly carbon dioxide." "That would explain the shrinkage overnight." "I saw it glowing last night from my window." "Last night it was glowing." "And the trees were moving, but there wasn't any wind." "That kid sure got some imagination, huh, Nathan?" "Yeah, he's always talking about stuff he don't know nothing about." "CHARLIE So, what's the problem?" "The problem is I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be looking for." "I ran through every simple test I could remember from college chemistry days." "It's not like anything I've ever come across." " And?" " And..." "Nothing." "I don't like it, that's all." "I don't have the right equipment here." "I don't know what I'm doing." "Thank you, sweetheart." "The thing ain't radioactive." "I mean, people's ears ain't gonna start falling off, are they?" " Not as far as I can tell..." " And, as a matter of fact, the thing ain't got an edge on it sharp enough to cut your little finger." "Can't you do something with him, Esther?" "He's a rock." "The young man is gonna have a nervous breakdown." "All right, Charlie, I get your point." "I..." "I guess I better be getting on home." "Ain't no sense in fixing things that ain't broke." "Alan." "Nathan, you in there?" "Nathan?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "I'll come back." "That's all right, Doc, come on in." " Set a place for Doc Forbes." " No, that's okay, I can only stay a second." "Looks like we've put a finger on your meteorite." "Seems it isn't a meteorite at all as it turns out." "I don't quite know how to say this delicately." "I think what we have there is some jet airliner let loose its lavatory holding tanks right overhead," "and it froze on its way down, like a big hailstone." "I just went by, and it's not there anymore." "Holding tanks?" "Airplane doo-doo?" "Well, you just tell her next time you wanna go fishing, Liam, and you just leave it at that, okay?" "Liam, I'll call you later." "Shit!" "Sophie, I'm going to lunch." "Look, I need a room." "Well..." "Give me a beer, baby." "Afternoon." "Afternoon." "You're from the water." "Excuse me?" "The water?" "The TVA?" "The big reservoir you're planning on sinking in around here?" "Charlie Davidson, Davidson Realty." "Chairman of the Tellico Plains Chamber of Commerce and President of the Town Council, three years running." "Willis, Carl Willis." "How did you hear about the reservoir?" "Well, you hear things." "Well, I don't know exactly what it is you've heard, Mr..." " Davidson." " Davidson." "My business here in Tellico Plains is strictly confidential." "And if the TVA hears of anyone profiteering with this project, they'll pull out of here quicker than you can say Jack Robinson." "Quite frankly, I'm not sure that this is where the reservoir's going." "Jeez, there's no need to get so bent out of shape." "I mean, I just stopped by to give you an official Tellico Plains welcome and tell you that if there's anything you need, that I'm here." "Listen, I'm sorry." "I'm a little new at this job, okay?" "But these things, they happen." "I understand." "My lips are sealed." " All right, I'd appreciate it." " Yeah." "Hey, listen, you know, if you don't want anybody asking you a whole bunch of questions, you shouldn't be riding around in a car with all them official decals plastered all over the doors." "Listen, I got a great idea." "Why don't you let me drive you around to wherever it is that you've gotta go, huh?" "Yeah!" "Hey, check!" "Hey, where do you want to start at, huh?" "I'd like to see lots one through twelve right here." "No, no, no, you don't want to start there." " Why?" " No, that's..." "That's the Crane place." "You gotta start at the south end of the valley." "No, the Cranes wouldn't appreciate no strangers wandering around on their property." "Hold the wheel, this is my favorite part." "Hold on!" "Hold on!" " You sing?" " You?" "Yeah!" "Hold on!" "I just don't wanna do anything reckless, that's all." "I have a responsibility to the community." "I have a responsibility to myself." "You understand that, don't you, honey?" "Course I do, sugar." "We've gotta think of ourselves, too." "All the things we planned to do with the money." "Moving back to the city, building up a nice new practice for you," "making friends who wanna talk about something other than fertilizer." "I mean, Charlie's a sleaze." "We both know that." "But he does make a point." "We don't wanna go around fixing things that ain't broke." "Now, then, baby boy, speaking of things that ain't broke..." " What's the matter?" " It tastes funny." " What tastes funny?" " The water." "It's just the minerals in it." "It's good for you." "It makes the vegetables taste weird." "There's nothing wrong with the water, honey." "It's the same water we've been drinking for days." " It's from the new well." " It's tasted weird for days." "Now, there's nothing wrong with the food and there's nothing wrong with the water." "Neither one of you are gonna leave this table until your plates are clean and your glasses are empty." "Understand?" "Understand?" " Yes, sir." " Yes, sir." "Praise the Lord." "Daddy!" "Help me!" "Dad, help!" "No!" "No!" "Somebody help me!" "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Get me out of here..." "Crawl under it." "On the ground, come on!" "You must've provoked him, Cyrus." "That's all there is to it." "I didn't do nothing!" "He just turned on me all of a sudden like he was crazy." "What are you doing back there?" "Connect the dots." "What are you, woman, crazy?" "Oh, my God!" "Pull up your pants, Cyrus." "Sophie, print me up one of my standard contracts." "Nathan Crane's place." "Morning, Nathan." "Morning, Charles." " Just in the neighborhood?" " No, it's a special trip." "Figured I'd stop by and pick up some apples for the little woman." "Bank foreclosed on Bob Dockery's place." "We are all tested, Charles." "Yeah, but I sure as hell hate to see a thing like that happen." "What are you planning, Charles?" "Condominiums, a bowling alley, or something?" "I hear rumors that that fellow from Knoxville that you've been palling around with is with the TVA." "Oh, Willis?" "No, he's just..." "Just a good old friend of mine doing some survey work for me." " Really?" " Yeah." "I hear he's looking over the valley for a dam site." "Wouldn't be why you're hounding the farmers to sell, would it, Charles?" "I'm just doing a little honest speculating." "Trying like hell to do you folks a favor!" "I appreciate that, I really do." "But I got a harvest of apples that's gonna make me flush and keep me that way for about six months." "Now, what happens after then, who knows?" "But in the meantime, the Good Lord bless Delta Air Lines." "The family farm is a dying breed, Nathan." "You're fighting big business." "They're out to wipe each and every one of you out." "I'm just offering you a chance to get out while you're ahead." "I'm not interested, Charles." "Here, have a ripe one." "First of the season." "You're making a big mistake, Nathan." "Hey!" "What the hell are you trying to do?" "Poison me?" "Alice." "Alice!" "I gave her a sedative, so she'll sleep through the night." "I think she'll feel a lot better in the morning, but I'd keep her in bed for the next three or four days." "I've got some fresh coffee on the stove." "No, thank you." "Something cold." "Some ice water maybe?" "Nathan, what is wrong with your chickens?" "Some kind of mange, I figure." "I got them on a heavy dose of antibiotics." " It's probably why they're so skittish." " I wouldn't think so." "Well, the girl probably got them riled up, I don't know." "Anyway, it's all over now." "I'd just as soon forget the whole thing happened." " And what about the horse?" " The horse?" "Yesterday out in the pasture, a horse attacked Cyrus." "It was nothing like that." "Don't be talking about things you don't know nothing about." "Horses just get spooked sometimes." "It's nothing more than that." " Frances, are you all right?" " Just fine." "Why'd you ask?" "Well, you sure seem peaked." "Why don't you..." "Why don't you stop by my office tomorrow morning?" "Well, if you folks need anything, be sure and let me know." "Right." "I'll sue 'em." "Airlines did this to me." "They killed my whole apple crop with their damn toilet water!" "Ain't nothing to worry about, Frances." "Daddy's gonna protect you." "Sure thing." "Hail Mary, full of grace, how's your garden grow?" "Now, don't be afraid, Frances." "Mama!" "Get her!" "God is punishing you, Frances." "You have sinned in the grace of the Lord!" "When ye shall sow wickedness, ye shall reap sickness." "Hurry, please!" "Evening, Doc." "Somebody sick?" "I don't know." "I heard you had a bit of excitement tonight with Frances." "Is she all right?" "Zachary just overreacted a bit." "Frances has just been feeling a little under the weather, that's all." "Well, as long as I'm here, maybe I'd better have a look." "No need!" "She's all right." "She's just been worried about the girl." "She's resting now." "I'm sorry we called you out of your house like that." "No, that's all right, no trouble at all." "Be sure and give our best to Esther." "We don't bring strangers into our private business unless I say so, understand?" "I thought she needed help." "Hold it right there." "Anyone around back?" "Hello?" "Anybody home?" "I'm..." "Water." "No!" "Frances, go upstairs." "Pray for salvation." "You always walk into people's houses uninvited?" " I just wanted some..." " Get out!" "If you could just fill one of these out and leave it with your sample." "And how long will this take?" "Better figure on 24 hours at least." "Could be two days though." "You can give us a call in the morning, or we'll call you." "No, no, no, I'll call you tomorrow." "Eat your eggs well." "We want you to grow up big and strong, don't we?" "There's a plate of food in the oven." "Take it up to your sister before you go out." "Oh, man." "Get 'em off." "Get 'em off!" ""And the third angel sounded," ""and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a torch," ""and it fell upon the third part of the rivers," ""and upon the fountains of waters, and many men died of the waters."" "Revelations of Saint John, chapter 8." "Our fruit is full of worms, all my animals are dying, devoured by this terrible curse." "You, Frances, you've turned all nasty and ugly almost overnight." "I hardly recognize you." "And you know why, Frances?" "Because God is punishing all of us." "Your sins have soiled our own and instill their wrath." ""And the third angel sounded," ""and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a torch," ""and it fell upon the third part of the rivers," ""and upon the fountains of waters, and many men died..."" "There's something out there!" "Mama!" "Get it out of me!" "My God!" "Get it out of me!" "No!" "No, Mama!" "Frances!" "Put it down, Frances." "Put it down." "No!" "No..." "Yeah!" "Kill her, Daddy-O!" "Kill her!" "Mommy!" ""There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked."" "We are the victims of your hell, sinner!" "Adulteress!" "Mama?" " Is Dr. Becker in?" "I need to see him, please." " I don't know." "Dr. Becker!" "I need to see Becker!" "Hi, I was in yesterday." "I left some water samples to be tested." " Hello, Zack." " Is Dr. Forbes around?" "No, he went into Knoxville for the day." " Is there something I can help you with?" " No, it's..." "It's all right." "Well, I expect him back this evening." "Sweetie-pie, is everything all right at home?" "If you just tell him that I was around." "Mr. Limbacher?" "Hi, I'm Dr. Becker." "Actually, we've been trying to get in touch with you several times today." "It seems your phone is out of order." "Well, is there a problem with the sample?" "And the address you gave us doesn't check out either." "The Department understands your apprehension, Mr. Limbacher." "These kind of things can be a financial burden, but if your chickens are sick, well, you're gonna have to understand that we can't let it get out of hand." "Is there a problem, Doctor?" "Well, we don't know exactly." "There was an odd reading on the spectrographic analysis like nothing I ever saw before." "We're gonna have to do some more testing before we're sure, but I think we might be talking about a previously undiscovered element that seems to be in great abundance." "Whatever it is, it's very unstable." "It's actually altering the molecular structure of the water!" "You must cooperate with us, Mr. Limbacher!" "Your life, your family's lives are in danger!" "Mr. Limbacher, you can't take that!" "Tellico Plains." "Willis?" "Nope, he's out." "Sure, Doc, go ahead, shoot." "Tell him to meet me over at Nathan Crane's place." "I should be back in town by around 9:00." "I got it." "No, Doc, don't worry about it." "It's as good as done." "Okay." "Charlie!" "Oh, thank God I saw you drive by." "Alan just called me." "First, he said he was looking for you and then he said something about some water sample." "I'm really worried about him, Charles." "He's ready to blow this whole thing wide open." "Come on, you can help me." " Help you?" " Oh, sure." "Wouldn't you like to drop this whole thing, all wrapped up nice and pretty, in Alan's lap tonight?" "Now, you work on Frances, and I'll work on the old man." "Or "vicey versey."" "Yeah." "Come on." " Davidson's Realty." " FORBES Is Charlie there?" "No, he's not." "Well, this is Dr. Forbes." "Do you know when he'll be back?" "I sure don't." "He said something about a last chance." "I think he was going out to the Crane place to close the deal." "Track him down and tell him I'm leaving now." "I'll see him there tonight." "Dr. Forbes?" "Okay, now, don't let him know you're scared." "They can sense it." "Let's just turn around real slowly and head back to my car." "All right, they ain't gonna let us go back to the car." "I'm frightened." "Don't panic." "Just take my hand." "Easy, Fido, I don't mean no harm." " I'm gonna run." " Don't be stupid, Esther." " I can make it." " No, Esther, don't..." " I'm gonna go get help." " Esther, don't be stupid!" "No!" "Help!" "Help!" " Where you been?" " Just out for a walk." " You missed supper." " Sorry." "Your ma's not feeling too well." "I made some stew." "Take that up to your sister, and you have whatever you want." " How you feeling?" " Okay, I guess." "I got you some water from Doc Forbes." "I hitched a ride into town and brought back some of this stuff." "I can go back in tomorrow and get some more." "This is store-bought." "I guess it's okay." "Is Mama gonna be all right?" "Just eat your supper, okay?" "What do you want?" "I was just looking for Mama." "She's inside." "We moved her upstairs." "Hey!" " What you got in that?" " Nothing." " Where'd you get this?" " In town." "You little bastard!" "Our food isn't good enough for you, huh?" "You don't like the taste of the water!" "You're just as bad as your mother, that whoring bitch!" "We were good enough for you when you needed us." "It's making you sick!" "Can't you see that?" "No!" "No!" "Come on, in here." "I'll be right back." "I'm gonna go get help." "I'll be back in two minutes." "No!" "Don't leave!" "Look, just stay in here." "I'll be right back." "Don't make a sound, okay?" "I'll be right back, I promise." "Hey!" "Hey, kid!" "Come on, we gotta get out of the house!" "My sister's still upstairs!" "Alice." "It's okay." "It's all right." "Hey, come on!" "God!" "Come on, hurry up out!" "No, I've gotta get my mother!" "Hey, kid, hurry up!" " We're gonna make it." " Yeah." "All right." "Are you okay?" "This is America Today for Thursday, January 29th, 1987" "The final word on the Tellico Plains Tragedy where four people died as a result of drinking water from a contaminated well last fall" "A week ago, Carl Willis, a water authority official who was present at the time, was taken to the hospital by the police while suffering a violent nervous attack" "A hospital spokesperson says that Mr Willis is responding well to treatment and is expected to return home shortly" "And here to speak to us about this curious phenomenon is Professor George Link" "I've been asked to answer two questions" "First, is there any connection between Mr Willis' illness and the Tellico Plains incident?" "And, second, is there any danger for the general public?" "To the first, I must answer yes" "He displayed symptoms similar to those of the original victims" "And, of course, he was exposed to the same risks of contamination" "But there the similarity ends" "In his case, the malady took five months to develop, and for all practical purposes, he has now been cured" "As for the general public," "I can assure you that there is absolutely no danger" "The water authority acted with extreme speed at the time, sealing off and decontaminating the Crane farm, and testing the water to ensure that there were no further traces of the contaminating element" "The situation was and remains fully under control, and I assure you that there is no danger of a further outbreak" "There, you see?" "Nothing to worry about, right, Mr. Willis?" "The flags are back at full staff today one day after the Americans observed the first anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle disaster"