" Everything, uh, all right?" " Yes and no." "Uh, there was really no business in the store but you've got a visitor asleep in your spare room." "Oh, yeah?" "I hope it's somebody I know." "It's Corabeth's sister, Orma Lee." "But Corabeth is on her way to Doe Hill." "Don't make me hit you." "I know I look real sweet, but I'm mean when I'm riled." "Nobody orders me around in my own store." "Oh, yes, I can." "I want my woman!" "This is a pleasant surprise." "I got a feeling it ain't either, pleasant or a surprise." "It's been a long time, Orma Lee." "JOHN-BOY:" "Like most adages, it is tried and true that fate makes our relatives, choice makes our friends." "And it calls to mind a time when a relative of Corabeth Godsey swept through Walton's Mountain like an autumn hurricane leaving both destruction and delight in her wake." "All of this took place during a difficult period for Elizabeth who was entering womanhood but feeling at times like a lost and lonesome child." " I'm glad you could make it." " Well, you said it was urgent." "Well, all of a sudden, Corabeth wants to go to Doe Hill and I gotta take her to catch a train." "Oh, why doesn't she take the bus from here?" "Corabeth?" "Take a bus?" "Ha-ha-ha." "Sorry, I lost my head." "We must hurry, Mr. Godsey." "I don't want to miss my train." "Are you sure you want to go?" "You know, nobody knows for sure your Aunt Cordelia is really dying again." "If Orma Lee has descended on her, Aunt Cordelia is at death's door." "That woman is a vulture." "IKE:" "That's no way to talk about your sister." "It's the kindest thing I can say at this moment." "She has always coveted Aunt Cordelia's strand of genuine matched pearls." "She has gone to Doe Hill to get them, and I intend to prevent her and keep her from harassing poor Papa's only sister." " I didn't know you had a sister, Corabeth." " Come on, you're gonna miss your train." "Oh, Elizabeth, I want you to be sure and feature the sauerkraut." "We're overstocked and I want you to move it." "All right, Corabeth." "Now, should I get any calls about my real estate business I want you to be sure and take the message." "Aunt Cordelia does not have a telephone so I will have to go into Doe Hill once a day if I feel it's safe to leave her bedside." " It's all right, Corabeth." " Jim-Bob knows we're leaving so if you get any gas customers, he'll help you out." " Be back as soon as I can." " Okay, have a good time." "CORABETH:" "Thank you." "JIM-BOB:" "Hi." " Hi." "I understand you're the store lady today." "That's me." "I don't think I'll be swamped." "I'll have time to write Mama a letter." "You just wrote her last night." " You act like you don't care she's gone." " I don't know what you're talking about." " I miss her a lot." " No one misses Mama as much as I do." "Looks like you got a customer." "[BELL CHIMING]" " Howdy, howdy." " Howdy." "Is that the Godsey department store?" "Well, it's the only store in these parts, Godsey or otherwise." " Yeah?" " Nice car you've got here." " Yeah?" "Well, just don't touch it, boy." " I was just looking." "Well, just watch how you do that too." "This Ike Godsey, where does he live?" "In the back of the store." "You mean that's it?" "That's, uh, home and business for Ike Godsey?" " Him and Corabeth." " Well, I'll be dadgum." "Much obliged, son." " You want me to work on your car?" " No." "That's for not coming close to it." "Well, there it is, your sister's plantation estate as provided by Ike Godsey, proprietor." "Get my grips, Vern Billy." "I'm staying." "Sweetheart, you sure are right." "The plantation has fallen into a terrible state of disrepair and sprouted a gas pump to boot." "Corabeth always could make a birdcage look like a two-story house." "Honey, I wish you'd give up this foolishness and come with me." "Oh." "You are just the sweetest thing." "Now, darling, you know I never been one to count the years but if I throw my mind back, I recall that I am a Walton and I never stayed any place named after my family." "Okay, you stay here, you're gonna stay alone." "Now, you hear me, Orma Lee?" "I've got me a man to meet over in Richmond who can get me six barely-used Studebakers with fire and fiddle that I can unload at twice the price over in Tulsa, so...." "Now, Vern Billy, you know as well as I do that Aunt Cordelia was the only relative that was ever good to me." "Didn't treat me like I was some kind of trash so I feel bound to honor her deathbed request." "All right, you have it your own way." "You stay here and try to make peace with your sister if you can.... ...but five will get you 10 that you end up in a hair-pulling..." " ...just like it always was." " Not this time, sweetheart." "You know as well as I do that a woman has got to do what she's got to do even if she's got a sick headache and would rather take to her bed." "There can't be more than one phone around here." "I'll call you." " Okay-doke." " Good luck." "I'll be at the Hampton Hotel in case you need me, honey." "Be sure and check them speedometers." "Well, as long as you're staring, why don't you look after them grips." "Yes, ma'am." "May I help you?" "Watch it." "Flies will get in." "I'm sorry, you just look so much like someone I know." "Oh." "I guess that's why that young fellow across the road has been ogling me so." "Well, that's my brother, Jim-Bob." "I'm Elizabeth Walton." "Oh, well, hon, shake hands with one of your long-lost cousins." "Orma Lee Walton Stalcup." "You sure are Corabeth's sister." " Oh, Lord." "Does it show that bad?" " Well, sort of." "Well, trot her out, let's have a look." "Well, she's not here right now, neither is Ike but he ought to be back in a couple hours." "Oh, hon, don't tell me that." "I'm played out." "I've been traveling all day with Vern Billy and a hangover." "I don't know which is worse." "Can I?" " Oh, sure." " Thanks." "There's a spare room in the back if you wanna lie down." "I sure would." "Honey, if I could just get my head down and my feet up I'd be able to face anything." "Even Corabeth." "Well, it's right back here." "Well, lead on, cousin Elizabeth." "Hon, don't all that red hair make you hot?" "Hi." "I'm sorry I took so long, Elizabeth, but the train was late and Corabeth didn't wanna wait alone." "That's all right." "It was interesting." " Everything, uh, all right?" " Yes and no." "Uh, there was really no business in the store but you've got a visitor asleep in your spare room." "Oh, yeah?" "I hope it's somebody I know." "It's Corabeth's sister, Orma Lee." "But Corabeth is on her way to Doe Hill." "I know, I tried to tell her, but she talks more than she listens." "Well, good luck with her." "I gotta go help with supper." "Orma Lee." "MARY ELLEN:" "I am not sure Walton's Mountain is ready for two Corabeths." "[ERIN LAUGHS]" "I saw it with my own eyes." "We got two, as soon as the old one comes back." "I don't think you should let Corabeth hear you say that." "Poor Ike." "I think we should all go over and see how he's doing." "I think we ought to stay out of it." "Family affairs should be left alone, unless they happen to be your own." "[ALL LAUGH]" "MARY ELLEN:" "Where have you been?" "You missed dessert." "I found these up in the attic." "A bunch of old snapshots." "I figure we can get the best ones and then mail them to Mama and Daddy." "That's a great idea, Elizabeth, but I'm late for the Dew Drop as it is." "ERIN:" "Can we do it on another night?" "I have a date." "I have got a ton of homework." "I have to go out to the mill and do some more paperwork." "Ben, you're working too long and too hard out there." "Well, with Cindy not around, it just gives me a chance to do some more work." " Good supper." "Good night." "ROSE:" "Good night." " Doesn't anybody wanna help?" " Well, I will, maybe tomorrow." "Right now, I got a rush job over at the garage." "Oh, I'll bet there are a lot of these I haven't seen." "They haven't seen them either." "Not for a while, anyhow." "Well, they have their own problems, Elizabeth." "I can see that." "Now, who is this little girl holding so fast to Reckless?" "That's little Elizabeth when she was about 7." "Heh, heh, heh." "What a long time ago that seems." "Yeah." "A long, long time." "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "Well, ladies, what a pleasant surprise." "Well, that's just what we hoped it would be, Ike." "We talked to Corabeth before she left on the phone, don't you know and we promised we'd look after you during her absence." "And here is some of the recipe to fill your lonely hours." "Ah, let's see. 1924." "Well, I can't think of a better way than that." "Ha-ha." "And here is a five-course supper to fill your lonely stomach." "One, two, three, four, five." "You see?" "Oh, ladies, you didn't have to do all that." "Well, we had to prepare our own supper, so we just doubled the amount for you." "And now we will watch you eat it, so you won't be so lonely." "Well, I thank you very much for keeping me company." " I'll just eat it right here." " Oh, good." "After all, that's where all this food started out." "Well, this ain't the first time I woke up in the back end of a pool hall." "Evening." " Anyone care to rack them up?" "[STAMMERING] Oh..." " We had no idea you had company." " I don't." "I haven't." "Who is she?" "I know you won't believe me but I swear I have never seen that woman before tonight." "Heh, heh, heh." "I swear, I've been ogled more since coming here than a two-headed calf at the county fair." "Oh, ladies, I would like you to meet-- This is Corabeth's sister, Orma Lee" "I'm Orma Lee Walton Stalcup, for now." "And these are the Baldwins." "Miss Emily and Miss Mamie." " How do you do?" " I'm real pleased to meet you." " We're sisters too." " Well, don't that beat all?" "And what do they call you, besides "handsome"?" "I'm Ike, Orma Lee." "Corabeth told me all about you." "I bet she did." "I guess she wasn't expecting you, huh?" "Her whole life, Corabeth never expected me." "Good, because she's over in Doe Hill." "Oh, you don't say." "Well, I just come from over there." "Oh, is this silver beautiful." "Oh, Ike, honey, is this for sale?" "Oh, no." "The Baldwin ladies were nice enough to bring me supper and...." "Well, maybe you'd like to join me." "I'm sure there's plenty." " Oh, yes." "Five courses." " Oh, well in that case, I guess I'd better change into something more uncomfortable." "It's real nice meeting you ladies." "It's our pleasure." "Any sister of Corabeth's is a sister of ours, heh." " Isn't she, sister?" " Oh, yes, indeed." "And you must come and visit us while you're here, Orma Lee." "Oh, I've never been one to turn down a party." "They'll write on my tombstone, "The Lord called and I said I could come."" "[EMILY AND MAMIE CHUCKLE]" "Oh, isn't it nice, Ike?" "You're not going to be as lonely as Corabeth thought you would be." "Corabeth will be so pleased." "Oh, yeah." "She'll be pleased." "Real pleased." "Well, I'm finished." "All we need now is a new album." "Oh, now, I want that to be my treat." "You go to Ike's and pick one out and I'll pay for it." " You don't have to do that, Rose." " Oh, I want to." "Besides, it'll give you a chance to get another look at Corabeth's sister." "You know, maybe we should invite her to dinner." "She is a relative." "Oh, let's do that." "I'm just dying to meet her." "Tomorrow night?" "Can't do it tomorrow night." "I have to babysit John Curtis for Mary Ellen." "Jason's having a bingo night over at the Dew Drop and Ben and Erin and Jim-Bob and all of them are going." " Oh, I didn't know." " They didn't ask me either." "I guess I'm just too young." "Well, I'd rather be too young to go than too old." "You know, I used to like being the youngest." "Everyone helped me with everything." "[SIGHS]" "It was special, being Mama and Daddy's little girl." "If I couldn't sleep at night, I used to crawl between them." "I could reach out and feel them on either side." "It was special." "It was like a current." "But I can't do that anymore." "Even if I was still little, they're just too far away." "ORMA LEE:" "You know, I got an 8-by-10 picture of you and Corabeth sharing boilermakers of an evening." "Ha-ha-ha." "I tell you what I'd like to know is who taught you how to play pool." "My third husband, Stanley G. Olsen, was a certified shark." "He taught me the game and then he give it up cold when I got to beating him too regular." "You're not at all like I thought you'd be." "You mean I'm not at all what Corabeth told you I'd be." "[IKE CHUCKLES]" "I guess you and Corabeth had a kind of a falling out, huh?" "Oh, can't have a falling out, brother Ike, unless you've had a falling in." "Ever since she was a child, Corabeth had that look about her like she'd sucked on a persimmon." "Ha-ha-ha." "Yeah, I think I know just the look you're talking about." "Oh, Corabeth just didn't know how to take me." "She was just too good for the likes of me." "In fact, my whole family was." "Nobody knew how to take me, except for Aunt Cordelia." "Well, Corabeth ought to be there about now, and I'm expecting a call from her." "And, uh, I'll tell her that you're here." "Oh, that'd just upset her." "Let her get her visit out." "It'll give you and me a chance to get acquainted." "Well, I think you're gonna find it's a little quiet around here." " What do y'all do for excitement?" " Well, there's the Dew Drop Inn." "Jason Walton runs that." "Hey, come to think of it, there's a bingo game there tomorrow night." "Maybe we could go." "Ain't no maybe about that, brother Ike." "Bingo, brother Ike!" "Bingo!" "[BELLS CHIME]" "Hi, Ike." " Hi, Elizabeth." " Are you all right?" "Well, I'm all right, but my head isn't." "I need a photo album." "Help yourself." "[DOOR CLOSES]" "Well, here it is, the Baldwin ladies' serving set shined up just as bright as a new silver dollar." "[CLATTERING]" " Hi, Orma Lee." " Hi, Elizabeth." "I sure am glad to see you." "I had despaired of ever having human company today Ike's tolerance for boilermakers being what it is." "I don't know how you can be so cheerful." "Well, it takes a lot of practice, Ike, and a certain amount of innate stamina which I suspect that you do not have." "Now, Vern Billy, now, there is a man with stamina." "Oh, Elizabeth, honey, will you show me where those sweet Baldwin girls live so I can return this silver mine to them and assure them that Ike is doing just fine?" "Just so long as you don't holler at him." "ELIZABETH:" "You want me to drive you over?" "ORMA LEE:" "That's real family of you." "Is that okay with you, Ike?" "Oh, I'd appreciate that, Orma Lee but when you go, please, just go quietly, if you don't mind." "Hon, I wanna hear all about that pack of relatives I've got around here." "[DOOR SLAMS]" "Ike says you come at the end of the line in your family." "Well, at least they don't call me the baby anymore." "Ain't it hell being the youngest?" "Everyone else says I got it lucky." "Ooh, don't tell me." "I had to live in Corabeth's shadow." "She clean blocked out the sun." "So, one day, I just up and fled the scene." " You ran away from home?" " Yup." "A carnival come through Doe Hill, and that's when I first clapped eyes on Jesse Roy Mackin and his Maniacal Motorcycle." "Jessie Roy was a motorcycle artist." "He rode the Wall of Death." "Which is to say, he rode a cycle around in a wooden barrel at speeds reaching up to and surpassing a mile a minute." "Ooh!" "Made me dizzy as a witch to watch him." "Come to find out later he made me dizzy in a lot of other ways, too." " You get what I mean." " I get what you mean." "Sounds like he was the real thing." "Girl, he was 6'5" tall with cornflower-blue eyes and that pink-colored hair and every inch of him is covered in freckles." "I suspect it was his cowlick that got to me." "Like Drew." "I was just a big old country girl." "What did I know?" "Never been anywhere." "Never seen anything." "So I took a notion to run off with him." "And he took favorable to the idea, so we did just that." "The wind just blew us hither and yon with me holding on to my hat all over the country." " Was he your first love?" " My first husband too." "Nothing would do that boy but we would get married on that motorcycle dead center in the middle of that arena." " What happened?" " Well, sir one night the show was tied up in Oklahoma and just as Jesse Roy was going like 60 a twister struck and it lifted him right up out of that barrel." " Where?" " I know not where." "They never found freckled hide nor one pink hair of him." "He died as he lived, whirling around in a funnel." "I took it real hard, grievous hard." "The widow Mackin, 16 years old." "I'm almost 16." "And you got a lot of living ahead of you." "Ha-ha-ha." "I can tell by that cloud of hair." "Sweetheart, tell me all about yourself." "And I wanna hear all about your brothers and sisters too." " Well, young man, you're in a hurry." " Well, it smells good, and I'm hungry." "Am I late?" "You're late for the helping, but you're just in time for the eating." "Sorry." "Where is everyone?" "Well, Jason's at the Dew Drop and Ben is helping him Erin is working overtime and Mary Ellen has a late class." "Shouldn't we all be here for supper?" "All the more for us who are." "We used to eat together when Mama and Daddy were here." "Well, that's the way families are, Elizabeth." "They grow up and they grow away." "All right." "Our Father in Heaven, bless this family today, wherever they are." "Our thoughts are with Olivia and John in Arizona." "What's the matter with Cinderella?" "That's just the trouble." "No one asks her to the ball anymore." "You like the way I look, brother Ike?" "I didn't want to overdo, so I slipped into this rig." "[WHISTES]" "You sure do look scrumptious." "Well, I didn't wanna embarrass my relations." " You like my pearls?" " Aunt Cordelia's?" "Corabeth mentioned them, I reckon." "She covets them." "Ain't it too bad she's not here to see how nice I look?" " Are you ready, brother Ike?" " I'm ready, sister Orma Lee." "[CHATTERING]" "Well, if this don't beat all." "Orma Lee Walton Stalcup sitting here with a whole bevy of kissing cousins." "JASON:" "We're glad to have you." "It's fun getting acquainted with long-lost relatives." "You know, you may look like Corabeth, but that's about it." "Well, honey, if that isn't the sweetest thing for you to say." "The minute I laid eyes on you I said you were a very perceptive young lady with a bright future." "You read fortunes, Orma Lee?" "Fortunes, minds, palms, tarot cards, tea leaves, horoscopes, crystal ball." "And I practice a little phrenology and hypnotism on the side." "How did you learn all that?" "I was apprenticed to Madame Rosetti, my second husband's first wife." "Tell my fortune, Orma Lee." "Well, sir, now, look here." "Ooh." "I see a past filled with romance and intrigue and a very bright future ahead of you." "IKE:" "Ha-ha-ha." " You sure you're talking about Jim-Bob?" "[ALL LAUGHING]" "Wait a minute." "I got to throw myself into my trance." "[LAUGHS]" "I got it." "I got it." "I see this young woman's name just as clear as day." " Kathy." " How'd you know that?" "Don't blame me." "I didn't tell her." "Heh, heh." "Yup." "I see romance ahead for all my Walton cousins." "And for Mary Ellen here, I see a young man named Smith." "That ain't it." "Jonesy." "He has gone to California and will return to pursue you in earnest." "Somebody's been talking." "And for Jason I see a dark, mysterious young woman named Toni." "How about that?" "[JASON LAUGHS]" "And for Ben, who's so lonesome for his little wife Cindy who's off visiting her newly found natural mother somewhere in our nation's capital." "And Erin...." "[SIGHS]" "Erin has still not recovered from her ill-fated romance with one Ashley Longworth, Jr." "Well, how do you know all that?" "There's one person she didn't mention." "Elizabeth." "I think our little sister has been telling all the family secrets." "And I think when I get my hands on her, I'm going to wring her neck." "Ha-ha." "Orma Lee, how'd you like to help me draw the bingo numbers?" " I bet you'd be real good at that." " Well, you better believe it." "Before I was your age, I was running the bingo game in the midway." "You just tell me who you want to win." "Ha-ha-ha." "Ain't she a kick in the pants?" "That's putting it mildly, Ike." "Ladies and gentlemen." "Welcome to bingo night at the Dew Drop Inn." "[CROWD APPLAUDING]" "[RINGING]" "Hello?" "Oh, yes." "I'll be happy to accept charges." "Mr. Godsey." "Where on earth have you been?" "I've been trying to reach you for hours." "Ha, ha." "Well, it's not all that late." "Corabeth, are you all right?" "Well, I am and I am not." "I'm keeping poor Mr. Delbert awake." "I had to use the telephone here at the Doe Hill Funeral Parlor." "What are you doing there?" "Well, I'm making some pre-arrangements for poor Aunt Cordelia." "This is the first opportunity I've had to use the telephone and I've been unable to reach you, and I'm simply sick with worry." "Well, I'm sorry." "I was over at the Dew Drop." "Jason had a family bingo night." "All the Waltons were there, and" "Bingo." "Honestly, Mr. Godsey, I should've stayed home and kept you out of trouble." "It was really quite harmless." "Truly, Corabeth." "Well, I miss you, Ike, and I wish I could come home." "I miss you too, honey." "How's Aunt Cordelia?" "Well, she's at death's door and she simply will not go through." "I've been hesitant to leave her bedside until now." "Well, you shouldn't." "You should stay there." "I mean, I can take care of myself all right here." "But look, there's one thing I wanna tell you, though." "Well, tell me later." "Mr. Delbert has got to close up." "But I'll come home to you as soon as I can." "All right." "All right, honey." "Bye, Corabeth." "Good night, Ike." " Sorry." " How's sister?" "I think she's homesick." "Well, she's got good reason to be." "She's got a lot going for her here." " You really think so?" " I sure do." ""Regular Adonis." "Tall and handsome." "Dabbles in the mercantile business." "And lives graciously in the old family home."" " Corabeth wrote you that?" " I couldn't make that up." "Ha-ha-ha." "She does have a habit of changing things around to suit her." "It's a gift." "Ever since she was a little bit of a thing she took to using big words and putting on airs." "Adonis?" " She really say that?" " She sure did." "And you know something?" "She wasn't far off from the truth either." "[LAUGHING]" "[KNOCKING ON DOOR]" "ROSE:" "How's that for service?" " Nothing's wrong, Rose?" "It's not a middle-of-the-night emergency, but it's about Elizabeth." " She's here, isn't she?" " A little too much, I'm afraid." "Oh, I know it's late and you're all tired, but this is the only chance we get to talk." "What's the matter with Elizabeth?" "Well, it's just that all your lives are going full-blast and nobody's bothering to gather her along." "Well, she's got her own friends." "Oh, it's not the same, Ben." "You're her family." "Seems like you're doing more and more things that include all of you and not her." "I can't take her to the Dew Drop, and I practically live there." "MARY ELLEN:" "You're right." "I should find time for her especially with Mama and Daddy gone." "ERIN:" "So should I. And I will, as soon as I can." "I guess I have been working a little too much at the mill lately." "ROSE:" "It doesn't seem right." "I'm all she has at home." " You see that, don't you?" "BEN:" "Sure." "JIM-BOB:" "Okay, okay, but nobody ever told me I was supposed to babysit my little sister." "Ferns, Lord almighty." "They grew along a stream outside of Doe Hill so thick you could hide in them." "Well, Mama took these from Drucilla's Pond where they grow thick and then she'd use them around the house." " You a mama's girl?" " Well, no more so than Daddy's." "I remember evenings I used to sit on his lap out here on the swing and I'd fall asleep." "He'd have to carry me up to my room." "My daddy was kindly too." "I recall that about him." "Soft-spoken and gentle." "I wasn't but 10 when he died, but I always think of him as being mine." "Yours?" "Well, Corabeth had Mama, brother Frank had his Bible and I had Papa." "I guess then you were really alone without him." "Well, except for Aunt Cordelia and Corabeth's constant shadow." "What's she like now?" "Corabeth?" "Well, she's different." "All right." "Still kind of think she's doing the world a favor by being alive?" "Maybe." "But she's nice." "She's a good friend." "Thank you, now." "Bye." "[BELLS CHIME]" "Oh, excuse me, ma'am." " Hey, cowboy." " Howdy, howdy." "What can I do for you?" " You Godsey?" " That's me." "I swear everything that's supposed to be big around here is real little." "I don't think I understand." "What do you mean by that?" "Just take it easy, little fella." "I just come for my woman." "I don't know who your woman is, but I have a hunch that if I knew I really wouldn't want her." "Why don't you go outside and then you come back in and this time with some manners, huh?" "Well, ain't you a feisty little bandy rooster, though?" "Who you calling a feisty little bandy rooster, you big slob?" "Oh, now you're beginning to nettle me, little fella." "I just might clean up on you." "Now, look, nobody walks into my store and threatens me." "Now, I want you to get out and stay out!" "I'm not one to hit an older man, but in your case I might make an exception." "Oh, yeah?" "You wanna try it?" "Don't make me hit you." "I know I look real sweet, but I'm mean when I'm riled." "Nobody orders me around in my own store." "Oh, yes, I can." "I want my woman!" "Well, take a big guess on who's here." "Sure is a beauty." "You don't think he'd mind me looking it over, would you?" "Oh, I can handle Vern Billy." "Thanks for the ride, cousin." "I just loved visiting all my kissing kin." "My pleasure, cousin Orma Lee." "[ORMA LEE SCREAMS]" "Vern Billy, speak to me!" "Is he dead?" "Lordy, I hope not." "You know him?" "He looks kind of peaceful, don't he?" "All laid out like that." "Well, he came in here looking for his woman." " I didn't know he meant you." " Oh." "Vern Billy has a hand to own things outright." "Heh." "Oh, sweetheart, darling, let me help you." "See if you can't get up on your feet." "VERN BILLY:" "What happened?" " Aw." "[BOTH GRUNTING]" "It never would've happened if you'd have been here like you were supposed to." "He gives you any trouble, I'll take care of him." " Take it easy, Ike." " I can handle him." " I had enough, little fella." " And I've had enough of that too." " Orma Lee, will you explain me to him?" " Just to save your hide." "This here is my lawful wedded husband, Vern Billy Stalcup." "Numero four, or five." "Oh, you always forget." " Jim-Bob Walton." " I've seen you before." "[WHISPERING] Well, you might have told me." "Don't tell Corabeth that you was brawling over me." "Who would've thought you two would be the first ones home?" "But here you are." "Just about broke our necks getting out of Pickett's." " Is John Curtis upstairs?" " Playing in your room." "The table looks great, Rose." "Well, it's the Sunday cloth that makes it look so special." "Fresh cranberries?" "And turkey." "Rose, you've made it a national holiday." "We'll call it E-Day for Elizabeth." "I wanted it to be all of her favorite things." "It'll mean a lot to her." "Me too." "I love having the whole family home for supper." "Well, sure wasn't hard to follow my nose this evening." "Smells great, Rose." "Maybe we should have brought gifts." "ROSE:" "Oh, just being together will be enough for Elizabeth." "Well, when you do this for me, bring gifts." "Hey, you all look vaguely familiar." " I'm saving the introductions until later." " Ha-ha." "I'm glad you could make it anyway, Jason." "Ernie's covering for me during supper." "Well, where's Elizabeth?" "She's gonna miss her own party." "Oh, she has lots of errands." "I've forgotten what they are." "I think she was going over to Ike's to mail that picture album." "I just came from Ike's, and she wasn't there." "Well, she'll be along." " Want me to taste anything for you?" "JIM-BOB:" "Take a look at this." "ERIN:" "I'm gonna taste this." "JASON:" "Me too." "ERIN:" "Give me one of those." " Oh, cranberry." "MARY ELLEN:" "Hi, John Curtis." "How are you today?" "We better get this room cleaned up." "It's suppertime." "Vern Billy, when we get back to Guymon you're gonna have to buy me a cute little store like this so we can entertain in the style that brother Ike has to offer." "Yeah, some style." "He liked to kill me earlier." "Ha-ha-ha." "I'm sorry, Vern Billy." "I guess I just lost my head." "Well, you give us a couple of jars of that recipe you got over there I won't have any hard feelings." "[BELLS CHIME]" "ORMA LEE:" "Jason." "You're just in time for the party." "Jason, this here is Vern Billy Stalcup, my husband." "Vern Billy, this here is Jason, one of our relatives." "I can't stay, Orma Lee." "I'm looking for Elizabeth." "Ike, did Elizabeth come in here to mail a package?" "No, I haven't seen her all day." "ORMA LEE:" "What do you mean you're looking for her?" "She didn't come home to supper." "The last thing she told Rose was she was coming here." " Sorry, Jason." " Dear, I'm sorry to hear that." "I'm afraid she's run off, and it's my fault." "What do you mean by that?" "Well, she was missing her mama and daddy so and I told her that when I was her age, I was off and running." "But I didn't mean for her to hear me that good." "She didn't leave from here." "Maybe Rockfish." "JASON:" "You know the schedules." " Where do the buses run from there?" " Now, let's see." "One o'clock to Roanoke and the 2:10 to Charlottesville." "And from either of those places, she could catch a bus heading for Arizona." "I'm gonna go to Roanoke." "It's more on the way west." "Okay, and I'll go to Charlottesville in case she went there." " Thanks a lot, Ike." "I really appreciate it." " Okay." "Jason, if you wanna fly low, let Vern Billy drive you." "JASON:" "Orma Lee, will you call Mary Ellen for me?" "VERN BILLY:" "Let's go, boy." "And don't worry about Elizabeth, Jason." "She's got a good head on her shoulders." "Won't keep me from putting her at the top of my prayer list." "[BEN SIGHS]" "I didn't really think you would come to get me." "What'd you think would happen?" "That you'd let me go visit Mama and Daddy like I said in the note." "Nobody found any note." "Well, I left it on Erin's bed." "It was in plain sight." "Well, that's not important now." "You don't understand." "When you were growing up, you had Mama and Daddy." "You had Grandma and Grandpa too." "But I don't." "It's different for me." "It must be hard." "But I'm only your brother." "I wouldn't know how to be anybody else." "Well, I don't want you to." "I think maybe you do." "Lately, I don't know if you realize it or not but you've been expecting Mary Ellen and Erin Ben and Jim-Bob, all of us, to fill this void in your life." "And we can't." "We all love you, but we can't do that." "Rose says that families grow up and grow away." "It's true." "You don't mean to hurt anybody." "You just get all caught up in your own life and it happens." "I guess so." "ANNOUNCER [OVER SPEAKER]:" "Bus now boarding for St. Louis at Gate 4." "I can't let you go, Elizabeth." "She's not well enough." "You'd be a worry." "I wouldn't want that." "I promise you, as soon as Daddy says she's able I'll drive you to Arizona myself." "Okay." "Now, be careful with those." "They're filled with fine china." "Yes, ma'am, your Aunt Cordelia's." "CORABETH:" "Look here." "I wonder why Mr. Godsey has all the lights on this time of the night." "DRIVER:" "I wouldn't know, ma'am." "I believe you said it was $19.50." "Keep the change." "Thank you, lady." "At least it'll be quiet driving back to Charlottesville." "Yoo-hoo, Mr. Godsey!" "Ain't nobody here but us chickens, Corabeth." "Well...." "This is a pleasant surprise." "I got a feeling it ain't either, pleasant or a surprise." "It's been a long time, Orma Lee." "I wondered which one of us would say that first." "I guess Aunt Cordelia warned you I might be here." "Well, I surmised as much when she wrote that her deathbed request was to see us reconciled while she was still alive." "I guess once you made that promise she perked right up like a sparrow in a spring thaw." "Well, she always could turn ill health to her advantage." "Well, I guess a promise extracted under false pretenses is no good as a promise at all." "I suppose." "Well, I just couldn't resist coming here." "Although it's been a revelation, as you can well imagine." "Well...." "It isn't exactly like I wrote in my letter." "Neither is that fellow you married." "I cherish him, Orma Lee." "Oh, I was hoping you'd say that, Corabeth because as the song says, and as I full well know:" " A good man's hard to find." " Oh." "Not for you." "Men have always been attracted to you." " You were Papa's favorite." " You were Mama's." "Remember that time we went on that picnic at Culpepper Creek?" "And you fell in, and Papa had to fish you out." "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I jumped in." "I so wanted him to notice me." "Corabeth Walton Godsey." "As bad as I was, I could never think up a stunt like that." "Papa's blue pants just faded right down over his white spats." "I never seen anything so comical in my life." "And Mama was furious because he wore them to the picnic." "Papa always was a dandy." "I have missed you, Orma Lee." "You're the only one that could make me laugh." "[CHUCKLES]" "Well, for all your fussing and chiding, I've missed you too." "I guess you noticed." "Aunt Cordelia told me." "She gave me her fine china." "Aunt Cordelia gave me her pearls." "But because I love you and you deserve them as much as I do, but not more here you go, sister mine." "And I want to give you half of Aunt Cordelia's fine china." "I do love you, Orma Lee." "Well, of course you do, precious." "JOHN-BOY:" "It was a time of discovery for both families that it is possible to choose relatives as friends." "Corabeth and Orma Lee, and Elizabeth and her brothers and sisters found out that the family fabric gave from time to time but the mending always made it stronger." "ELIZABETH:" "Jim-Bob?" "JIM-BOB:" "Yeah?" "ELIZABETH:" "Did you get a new picture taken for Mama's album?" "JIM-BOB:" "I keep forgetting." "I'll do it tomorrow." "ELIZABETH:" "That's okay." "I'll just send the one I found in Mama's bureau today." " She hid it there." "JIM-BOB:" "Oh, yeah?" "Which one is that?" "ELIZABETH:" "The one on the bear rug in your birthday suit." "JIM-BOB:" "I thought I tore that one up." "ELIZABETH:" "Good night, Jim-Bob." "[ENGLISH" " US" " SDH]"