"I never saw this land when it was green." "My father did." "He worked it before the drought came." "He used to talk about it all the time." "He used to talk about the wheat they grew and the pride they felt." "He always believed in the land." "Even as the fights over water first divided states, then towns, and then neighbors, most people who could, left." "But he had his reasons for staying." "He was convinced the land would come back." "It just needed water." "And he was right." "Ahh!" "Oh!" "Uhh, uhh..." "No no no no no no no no no!" "You killed him!" "Get away from him!" "You killed him!" "I gotta go to the bathroom." "You don't turn forward, I'm going to have to cut you down." "I gotta piss!" "If I don't take it out and go I'm gonna go in my pants!" "Do not move your arms!" "Now you tell me where you're from!" "They said there's water here." "Who said?" "Which direction you come from?" "At the blacktop, we went right, so two days to the left I guess." "Gray bell?" "No way!" "Caddy." "Turn around slow." "Beautiful, this way." "Hell..." "You ain't gonna shoot me in the back." "What's left in caddy?" "Oh god damn it I'm peeing myself!" "I'm just gonna have to stink now until I can..." "Kill him?" "You hit Ernest?" "Stay there!" "Shovel?" "I'll get it." "You should've let me help you Ernest." "I'm not scared." "How do you spell your name?" "What?" "Your name." "How do you spell it?" "J-e-r-o-m-e." "Jerome." "Mm." "Maybe you're more of a Jerry." "I don't like that." "No?" "Then why you call me Ernest?" "'Cause that's your name." "Well I'd prefer if you stuck with Dad." "Can't call it a well no more." "Should we go back?" "She'll make it." "First they took your water, then they took your land, and next they'll take your car, and when they do, just come on down and buy another one at" "Calvin Hoyman auto machines." "Where the vehicles vary, but the deals are all the same!" "Voice of the west shortwave, where the airwaves live free." "This week after months of stalemate, many of the state's water projects resumed operation, after agreeing to federal oversight." "Good they're drilling again, but who's going to get the water?" "From the vista, all I can see is industrial farms benefit." "I'm just a small local farmer!" "Chuck wagon coming in boys!" "Yee-hoo!" "Remember Jerome, when we get to the top, you stay close and let me do the talking." "These men are animals." "You've got no business with them." "We'll deliver the rations and booze and get the hell out of there." "Did my nicotine patches come in?" "Not yet." "Maybe next time." "Oh." "That's nice." "Yeah, alright." "Nice and crisp." "Very well made." "Thought you went straightedge." "You fall off the wagon?" "I sell it." "Ah." "You know what all these supplies'd fetch you at the border?" "Few trips of your loads and we all retire." "Then what would you eat?" "Like you said, evaluating the food or magazines, you must've done something shady to get this detail." "I got a donkey." "You think that's gonna cut it?" "Hey Caleb, I was hoping I could talk to you about this water." "If it's not heading towards us, where's it going?" "We just got to reroute it around your little subsistence farms." "Irrigate the commercial crop." "You sound like you're proud of it." "I'm proud of hard work." "A job's a job, Ernest." "And you better remember that if you want to keep yours delivering supplies to us." "My land's fertile, it's just dry." "Hoo boy!" "We know how much you hate being dry." "You just worry about getting those supplies up here." "Let us worry about where the water goes." "Ho!" "Oh, geez." "Woah, woah, woah." "Shh." "I'm sorry." "No, it's okay." "That should never be a shame to you." "I could've done it." "I know you could." "Close your eyes." "Hamburger, french fries and a coke." "These were hard to get." "Keep them closed!" "What've you got for dad?" "Jerome got the last burger and fries." "That one's lasagna and this one's..." "Yours." "There's something going now, and the crowd is loving it." "It's the bottom of the 8th inning, and so far it's been a very tight game." "Two outs with a runner on first base..." "Gonna go see momma tomorrow after the auction." "I know she'd love to see you." "You were empty handed." "Any luck with that fabric I asked you to look for?" "Been lean, honey." "Nothing to trade." "I won't even ask about the earrings." "Hey Mary." "You could listen to something else tonight." "I'm too tired, and I'm going to skip Momma tomorrow." "A skirmish between state militiamen and border settlers resulted in two settler casualties today." "A state militia spokesman reiterate the group's commitment to its water rights agreements, but condemned what they termed "terroristic oppression"" "against farmers by these growing settler groups." "Sanctions are the only pressure that will bring the state back." "Washington knows this." "If people live long enough without tv, internet..." "Fresh food, education, they'll look to their state leadership and demand change." "It's already been ten years of eating state-supplied meals." "I don't know if they'll tolerate five more." "Mary?" "Mary!" "Mary!" "Lot to do tomorrow." "Yeah." "No, leave that one open." "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Samuel Lever, and you know what that means:" "I have the finest machines from" "California to New York City!" "Refurbished, replenished, retooled, rerouted, but not retired!" "All guaranteed by me." "Don't need no warranty, take a good old look and see." "Selling starts in two minutes, not three." "Ladies and gentlemen, one day the water is going to come back." "It is the reason we have all stayed behind in this" "God-forsaken land." "It's not hope, it's certainty, and when that day comes, you are going to need this equipment." "It will never be cheaper, and when the rains come, it will make you the kings and queens you know you are." "Fortune favors the bold, ladies and gentlemen." "Fortune favors the bold." "Ladies and gentlemen, the item for sale today, this beautiful machine, it's the Simulit Shadow." "Look at that, in very good working order, ladies and gentlemen." "Beautiful suspension on this machine." "What can you give me for this beautiful machine ladies and gentlemen?" "One or two hundred?" "Start the bidding at three hard." "How about a number three?" "I got a three from 26." "Can you give me a three split, a three split, can you give me a three split I got a three split from 24." "Gimme a four, four, can you give me four?" "Are you able to... 26, 26, four from 26." "Give me four split from 24." "Five, can you give me five?" "Five, can you give me five?" "Five, can you give me five?" "I got a five from 24." "24 is gonna be a five." "Can you give me a six?" "I got a six!" "Can you give me seven, I got seven!" "Are you able to beat, able to beat, able to beat seven?" "Can you give me, seven, seven split?" "Can you give me seven split?" "I got a seven from 24, are you" "I got a 7 split from 26." "For the first time, for the second time, gone to number 26." "That's quite an upgrade from that donkey." "Guess you can keep that supply detail, Ernest." "Thank you Flemming." "...A beautiful Semia Autoseeder." "These steel giants are the last of the..." "You know what debt is?" "Yeah." "I just got more of it." "This is the last of it." "Is it worth it?" "It has to be." "Yeah." "Ready to show Momma?" "Just don't tell her what it cost." "Look at what your son brought you." "Is that Robbie?" "That's Robbie." "Using that baby to get handouts." "Vultures." "Yo!" "Ernest!" "Ernest!" "Hey it's me, it's Robbie!" "Special occasion, Ernest?" "My well finally ran dry." "Condolences." "Pray for rain." "Pray for rain." "Stop!" "Water for the baby!" "Stop!" "It's alright, baby." "Come here." "You could adopt us both, Ernest." "I'd take you if I could feed you, Sooz." "Robbie thinks we should sell the baby." "Tastes like lemons, but smells like shit." "What's that, Robbie?" "He says your sister tastes like lemons, but smells like shit." "And that's a shh..." "Who said that?" "Uh, your sister's boyfriend." "Hey, Robbie, you need to take your baby to see" "Dr. Coles, okay?" "Tell him I'll pay for it when I can." "Gotcha." "Look, I don't want you bringing Sooz and the baby out here, using them as bait." "Okay?" "And no bullshit about selling that baby." "You need water, you come see me." "Okay." "Hey Jerome boy." "You just tell your sister Mary I like lemons." "So that's where all the money goes." "I need to borrow that machine." "What for?" "You two boxed me out of that auction." "That's a cheat." "Well, you should talk to your father about that." "He sold it to me." "If you ain't borrowing it out, I need to rent it." "When about?" "Right now." "How much?" "You okay?" "What's going on with you?" "I just need the machine." "Alright." "I tell you what." "You get your father to guarantee you I'll let you use it whenever you want for free." "Except the days we're using it." "You can radio him from the ten meter right now." "What, you don't trust me?" "What if I buy you a couple of drinks?" "You always help everyone else around here." "What you got for me?" "Sympathy." "It's getting late." "I'm gonna wish you well, Flemming." "I would've been happy to help you out." "Let's see you ride away now." "Let me run your route." "I can talk to Caleb and those men." "You can apply for the job, just like anybody else." "You don't have what it takes to convince those watermen to irrigate this land." "Your kids know what you did to your wife?" "Fuckin' drunk." "The surgeon general has issued a statement about fertility rates in urban cities dropping for the seventh year in a row." "What we believed was a social correlation between urbanites is now a proven biological, though we don't yet know all of the factors." "It is not that..." "I'd like to talk to you about an offer." "See if I can get you to run that water line out my way." "Come on." "I'll miss this water well." "What'd they say?" "Uhh." "Well when it rains, they'll see what we have." "When it rains..." "Eh, it's just this dust in my throat." "Don't worry about me, Ernest." "I want you to have it." "I never worry about you." "I worry about your sister." "I worry about Mary's life, not yours." "On a prayer, if any deer or elk looking for water tonight, they'll stray through here, snip out the pump, fall through the plastic, and bam." "Catch 'em in this trap!" "Think how good that'll taste, right?" "Bring me some scraps." "Did I tell you I think I met a girl you'd like?" "Last time I crossed the border?" "Yeah?" "Yeah." "She might be a bit older than you." "That a problem?" "I told this one about you." "Her eyes went all..." "Mmm." "Yeah." "I get hunches on these things." "I don't think I have time for women." "You're too busy for women?" "You too busy for friends?" "I don't see much of them around." "There's plenty of kids out here." "What about your friends?" "I had 'em." "I had 'em." "Long as I don't get on your nerves, I prefer to hang out with you." "Shit!" "Trap works." "Little help?" "Thanks." "Woah!" "Show me!" "Keep your hands up." "Ooh!" "Good!" "Good!" "Good, that..." "Yeah, that's all I'm saying." "You don't gotta marry her." "You don't want to wait around thinking something's gonna come." "Waiting's a fucking disese." "Think something, feel something?" "You should do something!" "Alright?" "What's she like?" "Well, she's got ears that poke through her hair." "♪ If you waste your time talking to people who don't listen to ♪" "♪ The things that you are saying, who do you think's gonna hear?" "♪" "♪ And if you should die explaining how the things that they complain about ♪" "♪ Are things they could be changing, who do you think's gonna care?" "♪" "♪ There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind ♪" "♪ Who were... ♪" "I don't want you seeing that boy Flemming, and I don't want any more lies." "I could walk right out of here." "You can't keep me." "No I can't." "But I don't, 'cause you're making me a liar!" "The lying is up to you." "Maybe I want a secret." "Whatever you're angry about, you're angry at yourself." "Maybe you're right about that." "I know I'm right." "Flem says failures give the most advice." "Is that what you think?" "I don't know anymore." "Well even if that's true, it's not going to change how things are in this house." "If you're here, you gotta stay here." "Why punish me for being happy?" "It's not punishment, it's protection." "But it makes me hate you!" "Do you feel anything when I say that?" "I hate you!" "I love him!" "What's wrong?" "What happened?" "What happened?" "I need money!" "I'm leaving!" "Get away from me!" "Give it back to him." "She didn't ask for it." "Give it back to him!" "She, she didn't..." "You're not going anywhere!" "Shh." "I hate you!" "What am I supposed to do?" "I need him!" "Look at our lives!" "You failed us!" "You failed your family!" "Oh no." "The machine!" "It's gone!" "What did my boy do now?" "Nothing, Sam." "I just wanted to finish a conversation he and I had started." "You have any luck with that pipeline?" "Nah." "Don't have much to offer him." "I'm trying to keep my distance." "Well, that's fallow anyway." "Don't know what's left of it." "All's is." "I guess I mean to say it's infertile." "Even if the water comes, I'd still be stuck running these bird races and auctions and what have you." "Don't think Flemming knows it's dead." "You think he'd work it?" "Don't know." "He's obsessed with the land we've lost, not with the land we have left." "You know how Flemming spends his days?" "He's got his self work places." "He went up to the mountain this morning." "Really?" "Says he's on a supply detail for the water works." "I don't know what that pays." "He come back already?" "He took my truck." "Check over the ridge!" "I see him, he's right below you!" "Where?" "I see you you son of a bitch!" "That's that." "You find those supplies!" "Wakey wakey!" "Where's that machine of his?" "Fucking wake up!" "Get up!" "Do you think we're stupid?" "I talked to you about what those supplies are worth on the black market, and then you had that machine take everything!" "And a day's work gone." "Gone, god damn it!" "Where are those supplies?" "I didn't take anything." "You know it's a federal, a God damned federal crime!" "Fuck you!" "Caleb, I never done you wrong." "Done me wrong?" "Don't." "You're a dead man, Holm!" "You won't live out the week!" "Up, up." "What..." "What happened to your lip?" "Don't look like an accident." "You drinking too much again?" "You're gonna set this story straight." "What, with Caleb?" "No, those watermen paid me to take it." "There's insurance money in it." "I'm promising you." "Look, I..." "I know you're mad, but..." "You've got this wrong." "You don't want to get your head mixed up over our..." "You know, our other problems." "What?" "Conflicted interests, no?" "Be quiet!" "She's a flower." "Someone needs to appreciate her for more than cooking and sewing." "Y-you got any water?" "There's no water in these packs, Flemming." "That's the one thing these men don't need." "There's bottles and bottles of that spike in there." "It'll make you sick." "You, you can't drown a fish in water." "We both could use it." "Just a few drops." "Just a taste." "Anything." "I can't go another step." "Turn around." "Get it." "I know that knife." "He'd never sell it." "Came off Caleb in the scuffle." "I got my licks in." "No doubt." "I'm sorry I took your machine, Ernest." "I'm..." "I'm sorry what I said the other day." "You're going to find over time you can't fix what you got." "It's not my fault." "The state took my father's land and gave it to, uh, whatever you are." "No resources, no skills, no money." "And it died." "Why'd they do that to my father?" "'Cause he's from another state?" "'Cause he's smart?" "You blame." "You're God damned right I blame you!" "That land was all we had!" "I'm leaving." "Those watermen that paid me were my ticket." "I don't know what they'll do to you if you return what they want gone." "I, I wouldn't' go back with those supplies." "You know about Caleb." "He'll take it out of me in flesh." "I'm supposed to be halfway to the border with that gear." "Fetches triple in the mountain passes." "Anything does." "I swear." "I swear on my daddy's soul." "Those watermen are the ones to blame for all this." "No, no!" "No, look." "You can have half." "Partners." "If you were anyone else I would've buried you this morning." "If I were anyone else, you'd understand." "No." "Let's go." "Let's get you home." "Forget this mess, cut a path, right aways." "Come on." "Let's go see Caleb." "When you're done with that bottle, put it on the ground." "We're not going to make it in this condition." "Do it!" "Ernest, we're too dehydrated to make it up there." "Kneel down." "Hands..." "Hands behind your back." "♪ Hello Waltz ♪" "♪ How'd things go for you today?" "♪" "♪ Don't you miss her ♪" "♪ Since she up and walked away?" "♪" "♪ And I'll bet you dread to spend another lonely night with me ♪" "♪ But lonely walls, I'll keep your company ♪" "There we go, there we go." "No way." "We have to hurry before my dad gets home." "You say a word to Daddy, and I'll burn every last drawing of yours." "Ernest?" "The kid." "Christ on a crutch." "Jerome." "Is my father with you sirs?" "Now Jerome, now hold on there boy." "Ernest, I, I mean my dad hasn't come back, and our machine's over there." "If he's having any troubles..." "I know sometimes, it's hard for men, so if you could give this to him." "Jerome boy..." "There's been a terrible accident with that machine." "I took the liberty with the truck." "Let's get you both fed." "It's natural to grieve a loss, Stud, but you have to be careful that your grief doesn't turn into blame." "Blame is the lazy person's way of making sense of chaos." "You know, I want to talk to you about something, now you're the man." "I know how you feel about that machine, yeah?" "But..." "We can both see it's, uh..." "I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm thinking I could stick with that supply work, try and get some of that water down here." "That's not going to happen." "My father tried a hundred times." "I know, I know." "You're probably right." "I just..." "I just figured maybe it just sort of needs a, you know, a fresh face." "Maybe we can try just one more time." "I know you would never give up." "Well, I'd like to help." "Maybe it'll be a gift." "My gift to you, my gift to Mary." "My gift to your nephew." "What?" "It could be a niece." "I think it's too small yet to know." "Really?" "Yeah." "I've been called a lot of names but "Daddy" ain't one of them." "She wanted me to tell you." "I really love her, Stud." "What do you say?" "Imagine what that water could do for this land." "If you go up there, don't drink with them." "Must be trying work up here." "Easy to think the loneliness and isolation could make a man savage." "And without women to cut the grease..." "Must make you mad." "What would you know about it, home grown?" "Look what you've accomplished." "It's amazing what men can do when they put their heads together." "I can't rub out a flame with two sticks, but this..." "You've come a long way." "Not without its costs though, I guess." "Ernest Holm..." "I guess they call it a tragedy." "I don't like those kinds of machines." "Drag a man to his death." "It don't make sense." "How do you think his kids feel?" "Look, I know Ernest wronged something by you all." "You know it seems like these challenges at the times make honest people confused in their choosing." "You know, I like to see to myself sometimes." "Like we agreed, it can make you savage, put your hands on a man, just bloody someone for an idea." "Not saying it's not without cause, you know, a man steals from me, steals pure survival?" "You know, a beating seems in the lines." "Sound like rhymes." "Just saying the way I hear it." "Talk talk." "About what?" "About..." "What you did to Ernest that night before he died." "If you want, I can tell those kids exactly what happened that night." "What's that?" "Turned up in his effects." "Family's thinking "What in the hell?"" "and your boys talking up here keep lathering the tale." "You know, sounds like one hell of a fight between you two." "Who knows what to believe?" "If I'd set to do something to Ernest Holm, it wouldn't amount to concussion, and that's the god damned "talk talk" as you put it." "Now what do you want?" "Water." "And what in the hell are you going to do with that?" "The land is sick." "No it's not." "Your daddy's land is dead sick." "Killed it with pesticides." "Everybody knows that." "I'm not talking about his." "Not Ernest's?" "Come on, you do it all the time for the right price." "Now you're going to do it because it's right." "The water line to St. Walstan." "I'll see what I can do." "Pray for rain." "That shit'll put me out of business." "Blue skies, dry breeze." "Out of the dusty earth." "The things that we have complained about for their brutal consistency can now be seen as good graces and fair working conditions." "In a few moments, this tributary will distribute its life sustaining gifts on this small piece of land." "I raise these scissors in thanks to the state water works." "Who thankfully reversed their decision to run an irriduct to st." "Walstan." "It's been a long time since we've seen such an act of peace and brotherhood around here." "For this, we are sincerely grateful." "Let us say a prayer." "That this piece of land, small as it may be, can be more than a symbol." "That it can stand cultivated as it once was by our dearly departed Ernest Holm, whose perseverance held that this land, fertile, could flourish once again." "And let his children reap its reward." "Already." "Everything." "It's so beautiful." "It's almost a shame to harvest it." "What'd your father say about all this?" "Probably wouldn't say anything." "Yeah." "But he'd probably be thinking you're alright." "Really?" "Flem, you ride on back." "I'll see you when we're through." "Why are you talking about my land?" "It's not your land, boy." "My wife, my land." "Not her land neither." "It belongs to the bank." "Now you ride on back, I'll come after and we'll talk about it." "No, we'll talk now." "Boy, this is adult business now." "God damn it Flemming!" "The explanation is not important!" "What is important is that the land is held by the bank." "Ernest's farm's been in foreclosure for years." "He just never moved off and nobody wanted to buy it." "Now with the water, they might, and you should be damn pleased if they do." "How much does he owe?" "More money than you can hope to raise." "Now listen..." "What does he owe, God damn it?" "Flemming, you be a man now." "How much?" "Go talk to the bank." "Sorry about that doctor." "Just a local boy." "Very passionate about the history of these plots." "Flem?" "Hey, let me help you." "What?" "I said let me help." " Don't worry." "I got it." "Where are you taking the machine?" "I need to go to the mountains." "Come on." "I found somebody to tell us what it's worth." "Flem and Mary are going to sell their baby when it's born." "They need our help to find out what they can get for it." "Okay." "Wrap the baby in a blanket and hurry back." "He keeps changing his mind, but he said yes." "It's too late for second thoughts." "I've already got a buyer lined up." "Send him out here." "Why'd they give you that money?" "I thought we were just here to find out what it was worth." "Oh, they just..." "Just want to talk to you pal." "What's up, what's up?" "Listen here." "I don't want any kind of trouble." "I don't care if you're getting cold feet." "The deal is done and these men are taking that baby." "What are you talking about?" "No!" "Flem!" "Flem!" "Robbie, I'm sorry!" "Shoot him too!" "Flem!" "Flem!" "Bank ain't never kicking us off." "Come on, this is a hoorah, Stud." "Give me something." "I just saved the farm." "Who'd you sell the Sim to?" "Robbie, of course." "Aren't you happy?" "You hated that damn thing." "Come on down, we love cheetahs." "X marks the spot on the four, so come on down and see Coco, Lazy and me, Calvin Hoyman." "Where the vehicles vary, but the deals are all the same." "This is Calvin Hoyman, calling from Calvin Hoyman" "Auto Works." "I'm trying to reach Ernest Holm, over." "This is his son Jerome, over." "Well, I'm standing here in sunny, beautiful overbluff with your Simulit Shadow." "I don't know how you lost it, but its default settings sent it back to me, over." "We have the finest birds from California to New York City!" "Ladies and gentlemen, is your money on the table?" "The betting is now closed." "You don't play, you can't win!" "Want to live a life of ease and luxury?" "I'm your man!" "Three, two, one, let em go!" "Jesus, Sooz." "Why are you doing this?" "Robbie said to, until he got back, so nobody'd ask any questions." "Come on." "Flem?" "The fuck you doing here?" "A-a call came in on the cb." "They said that..." "Yeah, I'm gonna run Sooz home." "The baby's got a fever." "What was all that about the CB call down at the bird race today?" "Um..." "I, I was just thining about the Sim." "I don't want Robbie to hit her or break her up for spare parts or something." "What do you care?" "Robbie's long gone with that menace." "Don't you listen when we talk?" "Who cares what he does with it?" "That junker caused nothing but grief in this house." "I don't want to hear another word, too, on the subject." "Who's calling on the CB?" "At the hospital." "Mama wanted me to visit her, so I came down to see if you could give me a ride." "Well, the bus to Quincy's running again." "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing." "Sort of like what goes on in your head these days." "That's a fine idea." "Get you off your heels, you're going to report back where all that money we spend on her goes." "All unattended baggage will be removed and destroyed." "No unlicensed fruits, vegetables or livestock allowed across the border." "Get your Versapasses out!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "I can't read that when it's in your pocket!" "Get your Versapass out..." "Versapasses only!" "Keep it moving forward!" "Get your Versapasses out!" "Versapasses out!" "Are you a minor?" "What?" "How old are you?" "14 and a half, sir." "With your parents?" "Do you got a guardian?" "Better head back to whichever way you came, you got it?" "You gotta be 18 to enter the real world alone, boy." "You can't be in this line." "Now move it!" "Get your Versapasses out!" "You heard me!" "Hey." "I can get you across for a throwaway price." "You want the round trip, so it's 100 each way plus 50 for the cell phone." "Once we start moving, sit tight and be silent." "You'll know when we're across 'cause the road gets smooth." "If there's something wrong, press send on this." "And it really works?" "Picks up a signal here sometimes." "It'll definitely work once we're across." "Shh!" "Hello?" "Sorry." "I was just seeing if it worked." "Okay, well hang up." "Wait, I wanted to know something." "What?" "Just in case it's loud or we get separated or..." "What do you want to know, kid?" "Just your name." "Anna." "I'm Jerome." "Just in case we need to find each other or it's loud where we end up." "Okay, that's all." "Bye." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Are you listening to me?" "What?" "I said yes." "Yes?" "Yes." "Yes what?" "Yes, we're settlers." "Oh." "I don't have horns, but I do bite." "Come on, kid." "So you're stuck in those camps?" "Do I look stuck?" "We fight to get our land back." "There's nothing stuck about that." "I don't have my gun on me, but I've got one." "I've got a Dualie rifle." "Slam." "I have. 45." "I share it with a few people though." "Hm." "Mine's my father's." "You kill anyone?" "No." "You?" "A goat." "Sort of." "But we ate it, so..." "I've seen people killed." "Me too." "Do you dream about them?" "No." "Good." "I'm fucking haunted." ""Where the vehicles vary, but the deals are all the same!"" "Well..." "Keep that hundred." "The whole round trip thing's a scam." "What do you mean?" "To cross back over." "It's a scam." "You don't need to call us." "Just walk right through." "The border guards won't stop you." "They don't care you're going back." "Okay." "Thank you." "Okay." "Hey, real quick." "What?" "You ever meet a man named Ernest?" "Ernest?" "You know, like a guy." "Not like an old man." "Ernest..." "Ernest Holm." "Mm..." "I don't know." "I meet a lot of people." "I don't." "Ernest Holm..." "It's important." "Mm..." "I'm sorry." "Mm." "I gotta go." "Bye bye, Jerome." "Bye bye." "Sorry to wake you." "You know, I sold your machine ten years ago for a reforestation project." "Six owners since then." "I love thinking about all they've seen." "Them wheat farms of yours are never supposed to be as far west as they are." "You ever heard of manifest destiny?" "No sir." "I like history." "Everyone's so damned scared to repeat it, they never thought how bad the alternatives was." "Now look around at this world." "Seems to me, repeat business to the well of bad ideas would've put us all a lot better off than we are today." "You know what conservatism is?" "No sir." "Well, that's gone too." "Prepare yourself." "She's a sight." "Okay, beauty." "Let's see what they did to you." "Alright, let's get this going." "Calvin, pick up extension 454." "Calvin, please pick up extension 454." "What's that?" "Look familiar?" "That's me." "Uh huh." "Ever seen this?" "That's its face." "That's right." "It's its eyes." "Avoids objects and obstacles using a laser guidance system." "Lasers measure distance, terrain, grade of slopes and things." "The laser reflection information is captured, and on this monitor, we can see images of the landscape and its surroundings." "If you know what you're looking at, it comes clear." "This dial can just shuttle around, find where it gave trouble or broke down." "Maybe see why." "Calvin, please come to the showroom." "Calvin, please come to the showroom." "We're getting on the body work tout suite." "It shall be tip top." "Excuse me a moment." "This is a machine, the Simulit Shadow." "Look at that, in very good work..." "The machine hurt?" "No, I'm just thinking it knows how hard the work's gonna be around here." "Those watermen paid me to take it." "There's insurance money in it." "What's that?" "It's raining." "Jesus, Stud." "It's an act of god." "Thought that fucker had abandoned us." "Guess he left just to hitch a jackpot and drag it back." "How's your mother?" "She really appreciates everything you're doing for her with the money." "It's a pleasure." "I'm gonna go see her again this week, if that's okay." "Told her I'd spend the night again." "Ah, her sweet boy." "How'd you get the simulit back?" "What do you mean?" "You know, our machine." "The Shadow." "When you sold it to Robbie, how'd you get it back?" "I didn't." "It's out there in the barn." "Saw it as I walked in from the road." "It's all cleaned up, but it's ours alright." "Yeah, Robbie must've brought it back." "If he think he's getting a refund, if he's really as dumb as he is..." "Glad to have her back, though." "Can't blame her for everything, right?" "Yeah, sure Stud." "I'll go talk to Robbie." "Do you believe it?" "Just wish your father could see it." "Mary won't tell me if she's having a boy or a girl." "There's no way to know." "I don't want to be called "grandma."" "I'm putting you in charge of that." "Okay." "You'll have to come up with a whole new name for me." "You like the idea of that?" "Think about it." "Something's wrong." "Don't worry about me." "I'll worry about you, like Ernest." "Like Dad." "This boy, Flemming." "Does he make her happy?" "Yes." "He holds her up?" "He's a good man?" "A good boy?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." "God damn vultures heading west again." "They'll eat all our new seed." "This thing don't fire straight." "Piece of shit." "Who knew about you." "You're messing with my sights, cheater?" "Lucky shot." "It is off." "I'll take it in town to get fixed." "Okay, funnyman." "Make your jokes." "But I'm going to lay down the law right now!" "I keep the rent money in the old coffee pot and, I keep the..." "Well why'd the landlord come to me for the money?" "Oh, well that was a misunderstanding." "I was busy when he came, so I said "go to the old pot and get the money"" "I'm going down town to pay these bills." "I spoke to Robbie today." "What's that?" "On the radio." "He was looking for you, Robbie was." "What did he say?" "Just that he's looking for you." "Where is he?" "He didn't say." "Well what did he say?" "Just said he was looking for you." "That was it." "What, on the..." "On the ten meter?" "Yeah." "Did he give a channel to radio back on?" "He said he was on someone else's handle." "What, someone else's handle or someone else's radio?" "Handle, I think." "Handle." "Huh." "Yeah." "That's a lie." "I don't know, that's just what he said." "No, not him." "You." "That's a lie, that last part." "Flem..." "Robbie doesn't have a radio, so he doesn't have a handle, so he didn't call here." "Tell her." "I saw what you thought." "I saw what you just thought." "Flem, stop it." "Robbie called, looking for me." "That's what you said?" "Yes." "And you spoke to him?" "Yep." "Okay." "And the rest of this land wouldn't cost you anything up front." "What, it's all of it?" "Probably the line runs from the basalt compression to the foothills." "From the foothills, it runs almost diagonal right to where you stand." "That's all of it, Flemming." "20,000 acres." "That's all my land." "Proud of you boy." "Bringing the papers." "One for you, Flemming." "Flem, you're never there when I radio you." "We should talk about some things." "I'm okay." "Is Sooz mad?" "I don't want to come back if she is." "Can you meet me tomorrow?" "The fork at Independence Pass." "Please bring some food and spike." "I'm in trouble." "Robbie." "You said 20,000 acres." "Is that taxable or usable?" "But it's pitch black out." "There's barely a moon." "I've got to stake the new property lines and see about the second air double." "If they can't run it, the land's worthless." "Why not go in the morning?" "'Cause I want to be back before tomorrow night." "What are you really doing?" "Stop, Mary." "Can't you take the dirt bike?" "I was maddening a belt, but I can't make that." "You're not yourself." "What else is going on?" "I'm just asking." "Don't." "Where's the Dualie?" "I took it to get repaired, remember?" "No, I don't." "You said it didn't shoot straight." "Oh, that's right." "Damn." "I'm heading out for the night." "Don't want any trouble near the border." "Oh." "I can go with you." "You know the CB talk?" "Robbie?" "All of everything I'm sorry." "It's okay." "Robbie!" "Robbie!" "Robbie!" "Robbie!" "Sooz is really mad at you!" "It's serious, Robbie!" "Robbie!" "Help!" "Help me!" "Robbie!" "Help me!" "Help!" "Help me!" "Robbie, I'm sorry!" "Robbie, I'm so sorry." "Oh, Stud." "C-can you help me please?" "Please?" "Can you?" "Can you help, can you help me out?" "Is Robbie with you?" "It was a..." "It was an accident!" "Just a God damned accident!" "You don't, you don't want to do this!" "No." "I don't." "Help!" "Help!" "Help me!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "What are you going to tell your sister?" "I'm not going to tell her anything." "Not about you." "Not about before." "Not, not about..." "You'll kill her if you do this Stud." "You know what her life would be like without me." "She'll hate that baby." "She'll hate that baby if you do this." "She'll hate you and she won't even know it." "It's..." "Such a big world." "You're thinking so small!" "What happened to your father was an accident!" "And Robbie, he was just too dumb." "I feel real bad about that." "I wish I could take it all back, but it's, it's selfish to blame, Stud." "I mean, Jerome." "Good." "Jerome." "Just no more blame." "You be the first." "No more blame." "You can't, Stud." "You're good." "You're g..." "♪ The heavenly touch of your embrace tells me no one can take your place ♪" "♪ Ever in my heart ♪" "♪ Young love, first love ♪" "♪ Filled with true... ♪" "Don't ever be a man." "♪ Young love, our love... ♪" "Probably getting old enough for a real drink." "No thanks." "What should I do?" "Two days." "Where the hell is he?" "I think wait." "Just wait a while." "God damn it." "There's too much pressure on him." "Is he buying something, selling..." "Just..." "Just doesn't make sense him gone this long." "What do you think's going on?" "Just wait for now." "You should go close your eyes." "That's a long trip to the hospital?" "How is Momma?" "It's sweet of you to go visit her so much lately." "I'd like to see her too." "We could even move her back in, right?" "We'd have the money to build her brace wires here now, no?" "He wouldn't like that." "So I don't want to be held to what I just said." "Okay." "Boy or girl?" "Girl." "Funny, why?" "I know that's what you want."