"Wade?" "Yep." "M-Marcus." "Marcus McCluskey." "Marcus McCluskey?" "Yeah." "What the heck you doing out here picking flowers?" "Uh, for my ma." "Yeah?" "Eh." "You always was a mama's boy." "Heh." "How you been?" "I..." "I been good." "What are you doing here?" "Came to see my family, find some peace." "I better be..." "better be getting back." "I'll ride with you." "Come on." "All right." "Good to see you again, Wade." "How's Jasper?" "He didn't make it back." "Sorry to hear that." "He was a good man." "How are your parents doing?" "My mama heard, something went wrong in her head." "She hasn't been the same since." "And your pa?" "All right, well, I'll ride over this week, give them my condolences at..." "Marcus... where are all your cattle?" "Army took 'em all." "How you making ends meet?" "I..." "I can't be late for supper." "It's good... good to see you, Wade." "You, too." "All right." "Who goes there?" "Open up, Seamus." "State your name." "It's Wade." "Wade?" "Oh." "Howdy, Seamus." "That's how you're gonna greet your brother-in-law?" "Abby." "Uncle Wade." "Darling, let me look at you." "Look at you." "I can't believe it." "All right." "Sammy... you better get over here, hug your uncle." "Look at you." "You're strong... like your old man." "Wade." "Seamus." "Come here." "Come here, both of you." "Hungriest I've ever been, Arkansas." "God-awful place." "Don't ever go." "But they marched us for four days to the battle at Pea Ridge." "No food." "You get a little bit of water, but there's no food." "And our general, Earl Van Dorn... gives a big, passioned speech about how... how a viper has a split tongue, and we are the split tongue of the snake." "There will be a left flank, there will be a right flank, and then we will surround the blue bellies with our tongue, and we will gut them." "So we find ourselves in the woods at night, and it is dark." "I mean, I can't even see my big old nose." "It is dark outside." "And I'm standing there, and no one's speaking, and we're just waiting." "And all I can hear... is my stomach... my stomach yelling at me," ""I need corn bread..."" ""and I need beans."" "And then... and then they give the..." "the order to charge, and all I can think to myself is," ""Oh, Lord, please just let me die in Texas."" "And that was the battle of Pea Ridge." "So where's home now?" "Will you be staying with us, Uncle Wade?" "That's up to your father, Sammy." "Papa?" "Uncle Wade can stay, can't he?" "Afraid we don't have much in way of a bed." "You can stay in my room." "Abby, I don't need much." "You just dig me a hole." "It's just for a little while... till I can find someplace a little more permanent." "My roof is yours." "I appreciate that." "Don't feel right being here without her." "Her grave's in the field." "You'll find it." "Careful with that." "Oh, I'm sorry, Uncle." "I..." "I was just, uh..." "No, no, no, don't apologize." "Just don't want you hurting yourself is all." "You still have these?" "Every one you made me." "You used to say that that was what you was gonna be like out there." "Sure did." "Ah, damn it, Doris." "It's like fucking a corpse." "Ahh, no, you gotta..." " Stupid rabbit." " You gotta aim low." " I know." "I know." " Look, I'll..." "I'm gonna get it." "I ain't stupid." "Ah, come on." "No." " I can't..." " Aim low, like..." "Okay, like this, right?" "Out here wasting time and ammunition again, Marcus?" "Give me my damn riffle." "Gotta..." "We gotta eat, Pop." "What, you going hungry, son?" "Could learn to catch our own." "You mind telling me how a son of mine could end up so goddamn useless?" "You ain't half the man your brother was." "Wade's back." "Who?" "Wade, Mary's brother." "La-de-da." "You're useless." "Wait up, Pa!" "Morning." "Morning." "So how do they fit?" "Mm, fit just fine, Abby." "Whoo, look at this." "You got your garden looking real nice." "Thank you." "Got you mother's touch, sweetheart." "Come on." "Howdy." "Morning, Uncle Wade." "All right, it's been a while." "Maybe you could show me how you've been doing things around here, Sammy." "Hey, Uncle, bet you've never run traps in a while." "Ah, I seen a few during the war." " Really?" " Uh-huh." "We'd be marching through fields." "Sometimes in broad daylight, a grown man'd step into one of these things." "And you know what sound a grown man makes when he steps into a trap?" "What?" ""Ouch."" "Taking too long." "All right." ""Ouch."" "That's good." "Samuel." "Hold these here." "Hold these." "Set this one here." "What are you doing here?" "I had to see you." "You crazy?" "Someone could've seen you." "He always checks the traps this time." "I thought a girl as beautiful as you deserved better than plain old mustard seed." "Thank you." "Till tomorrow, Abigail." "Now, Sammy, a boar, they're creatures of habit, just like people." "They tend to follow the same routines." "So now if he's bedding up down there, chances are he's gonna follow this path down to the river, which means, if we get lucky, we'll run right into him." "Ah, look at you." "Oh, what you made of?" "You made of meat." "Look at you." "Oh, you..." "Oh, come on." "Daddy's gonna be happy." "Pa!" "Pa!" "That's a mighty nice piece you got there, boy." "It's a big pig." "Good eating." "Where you been?" "Out, riding." "Riding?" "Look what your brother brought home for us." "What you been doing for the family?" "You need to man up, son, and stop daydreaming." "Good job, boy." "I caught him." "You clean him." "No, come on." "You gotta help..." "I caught him." "You clean him." "Dillard, come back!" "I'm sick of eating this." "You ever had raw mule?" "No, but I had a locust once." "It just... it just popped in my mouth like a berry, and... and it just flew around, and I could feel its little wings flapping." "Oh, and then, one time, this fly went down my throat, and it was buzzing all the way down." "It..." "It tickled." "How long have the McCluskeys been stealing from you?" "How long?" "I don't know." "Since Mama died." "Your old man ain't doing nothing?" "It's not that bad." "Pop says they're just desperate, like all folk." "Well, they can catch their own goddamn food." "They don't know how to trap." "They don't know the spots, how to catch 'em." "Not like Pop does." "May this food restore our strength, giving new energy to tired limbs, new thoughts to weary minds, giving new visions of dry spirits, new warmth to cold hearts, and once refreshed, may we give new pleasure to you," "who gives us all." "Please be with Mama in Heaven." "And protect Uncle Wade." " Amen." " Amen." "Amen." "Amen." "You hear that?" "That is the type of love that kept me in one piece out there." "Did you think I could hear you, hmm?" "In my darkest moment," "I knew you two were right there with me." "Oh, we was only praying for you to come back so you could shoot us some dinner like you done." "Oh, Abby just ruined it." "I don't want to hear you joking about your prayers to the Lord." "Oh, heaven forbid you have a sense of humor, Lord." "Mm, I know." "I know it's not boar, but raccoon will have to do." "Of course, them McCluskeys got a thing or two to do about that, don't they?" "Hmm, now, if it was up to me..." "I know it's not..." "I'd go over there, and I'd wring their necks, teach them a lesson or two." "That's enough, Wade." "Mm, you have not instilled in me the sense of patience that you've instilled in my brother-in-law, my brother-in-law, who can pray for a problem to go away." "You're real good at that, ain't you, Seamus?" "I said that's enough." "You say your prayers?" "You know, when I was about your age... my pa, he... he asked me... what I would do if I came across a wolf." "Would I panic... and run off?" "Would I try to scare it off?" "Or would I... would I just leave it be and act like I never saw it to begin with?" "You'd kill it." "Even if it never did me harm?" "But it could." "Quite a spot you got you here." "I'll clean up for you little bit." "Let's see." "I got you these." "I'm just gonna set 'em right here for you." "You do with 'em what you want." "Kids are all right." "Abby's all grown up." "She's..." "She's a woman, reminds me of you." "Sammy's..." "He's good." "He's strong, and he's a sweet kid." "You done a good job." "Howdy, Mr. McCluskey." "Howdy-do, Wade." "Go on." "Make yourself at home." "I ain't seen you in a long time." "Been about five years since my last visit." "Yeah, well, you're looking good." "You come back in one piece." "I did better than most." "I wanted to come by and give my condolences for Jasper." "Yeah, well, war has to have its consequences, don't it?" "Yeah, it does." "So how long you staying around here for?" "Ah, you know me." "I like to come and go." "But I figured I'd try to stay on for a while, make sure the family's all right." "I know it's tough around here." "Noticed your cattle's gone." "Yeah, well, the Confederate boys, they come in here and commandeered everything, but we're doing fine." "Good." "Well, if you need anything from us, you don't hesitate to ask." "Well, that's mighty neighborly of you, Wade." "I appreciate you saying that." "But like I said, we're managing just fine." "Yeah, cattleman without cattle is doing just fine." "Don't go dancing around a maypole, son." "You sound like you got something to say." "Oh, I ain't dancing." "I'm just curious is all." "Curious?" "A man, he ought to be careful messing around with another man's business." "Couldn't have said that better myself." "You go mosey on now, Wade." "Get off my porch." "I was asking you nice." "You're so beautiful." "Don't." "Are you afraid of a little water?" "Oh." "That's it." "Okay, how do I do it?" "So you sort of lean... and just give it a smooth throw." "Give it a try." " Okay." " Okay." "Let's see what you got." "Ooh." "Frog." "Ooh!" "What's wrong?" "It's nothing." "Tell me." "Your uncle came to the house today, had words with Pa." "For some reason, he's got it out for us." "Some reason?" "You know the reason." "I know what Pop and Dillard are doing ain't right, but..." "I ain't just them two." "What am I supposed to do?" "They'd beat the white off of me if I didn't go along with it." "That's coward talk." "I ain't no coward." " Pa." " Thank you, Abby." "Sammy." "Best make sure that fire of yourn don't spread on over to my land." "You ride all the way out here to tell me about my fire, Randolph?" "Don't sass me, Seamus." "I rode out here to tell you to keep that wild dog of yourn off my property." "Just trying to help." "Help?" "I'm the one that helped your sister when she got sick." "You didn't tell him that, did you, Seamus?" "Our debt's been paid, Randolph." "I'm the one that decides when your debt is paid, and you're far from it, boy!" ""And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth," ""and that every imagination of the thought" ""of his heart was only evil continually." ""And the Lord said, 'I will destroy men" ""'whom I have created from the face of the earth... for it repenteth me that I have made them.'"" "Boy, they are wretched." "Why did you go there?" "Why do you let them do this to you?" "That's not your concern, Wade." "Well, like it or not, I am your family." "I have a right to know." "They don't take much." "That's not the point." "It's wrong." "And you, of all people, should know that." "Let me help you." "I don't need your help." ""The earth was filled with violence." "And God said..."" "I was in the war..." "I saw a lot of men get down on their knees and start praying." "They died all the same." "Sometimes in this life you need to do things for yourself." "Oh, look." "It's a 10." "All right, jeez, man." "Look at this here." "Nice." "We got a..." "Howdy." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." "It's all right." "It's just me, Wade." "I was just sitting there, and I saw you." "Just wanted to say hello, Dill." "It's been a while." "What you want?" "Nothing." "You wanna put the gun down?" "I ain't..." "I ain't supposed to talk to you." "Ah, well, I ain't gonna cause any trouble." "Then what you want?" "!" "Nothing, like I told you." "Just wanna come by and say howdy." "Can't a guy do that anymore?" "That's nice." "That is a real nice collection you got there." "No, no, no, I didn't mean anything by that." "Got yourself a raccoon, skunk, and a rabbit." "That's a big coon." "That is a big raccoon." "Hey, you remember that time when we were out in your father's pasture... and we spooked the cattle?" "You remember that?" "And they went running." "Yeah." "Craziest thing I ever saw." "Them big dumb animals running everywhere." "And then your... your old man comes crashing out of that front porch, and he starts yelling at us." "You remember that?" "Uh-huh." "What happened after that?" "Uh, he's chasing us." " Uh-huh." " And..." "And you says, "Run for it, and I got away from him 'fore..." "And you ain't never said a thing." "Yeah." "Please!" "Please!" "Please!" "Please!" "Mama!" "Mama!" "Come on!" "Please!" "Please!" "God!" "Please!" "Abigail." "Just gonna go pick some flowers." "Mama, you shouldn't be in Jasper's room." "Mm." "Mm." "I been..." "It's all right." "It's all right, Mama." "Dillard?" "!" "You seen your brother?" "No." "What was he doing?" "He was due back hours ago." "Dillard!" "Come here, son." "What..." "He..." "He..." "Who done this to you, boy?" "He did it." "He stole it, Pa." "Who?" "Aah!" "It was Wade." " Ohh!" " Don't move, boy." "Don't move." "You told me it would stop." "What do you want, pelts, meat?" "I'll go get it for you right now." "Abby, please, can you just tell him to lay low, will you?" "Just let this all blow over." "Come on." "What, so it can go back to how it was?" "Yeah, exactly." "Bet your father would like that." "Abby, I want the same as you do." "I just..." "I need a little more time to figure this out, okay?" "We..." "We ain't gotta be like them." "We're different." "We both..." "We're different, and..." "Why do you think I want to see you all the time?" "Hmm?" "I'm the only girl for miles." "Don't want no other girl." "I want you." "I don't know." "Hey, ain't nothing to worry about, you hear me?" "You hear me?" "Everything's gonna be just fine, okay?" "What's going on?" "Eh, nice of you to join your family for a change." "What are you doing?" "What you think we're doing?" "Think I'm gonna let that son of a bitch have his way with us?" "Dillard was stealing." "You told him to." "What do you expect Wade to do?" "Listen to me, boy." "You're gonna get back up on that horse, and you're gonna come with us, or as God is my witness, I'm gonna kill you dead." "Hold that right there, Sammy." "Down low." "Hold it low." "Both hands." "All right, go ahead." "Let go." "What you got there?" "Thought Sammy might like it." "It must've been horrible out there in that war." "Is this the peace you were looking for?" "Work keeps me busy." "Uncle..." "I know the McCluskeys have been bothering you." "Seems like I'm the only one." "That ain't true." "Okay, no one likes it, but they leave us alone." "It really ain't that bad." "You think your mother would've stood for it?" "Things will change." "The war's over now, and they'll get their business back, and they won't have no need for us anymore." "You'll see." "I caught that Dillard prowling through our traps." "He left right quick, though." "Dropped all them pelts, too." "You shouldn't have hurt him, Wade." "Can't give McCluskey no reason." "I didn't touch him." "I-I'm just afraid that you might if you were to catch him again." "All I want is for us to be safe, for Sammy to be safe." "That's all I want, too." "Children, go inside." "Come on, Sammy." "What have you done?" "I'm not gonna sit back and let them muck my family." "This is my family, Wade." "I told my sister I'd look out for those kids." "She has got nothing to do with this!" "Yes, she does." "This is your debt." "You have no idea." "I did everything, everything." "Bullshit." "You and I both know that, and she was your wife." "Don't you think I know that?" "We took a pact before God..." "Fuck God!" "She was the godliest creature I ever saw!" "He says, "Thou shalt not steal,"" "and you let these animals steal from you?" "You're a coward, Seamus." "You are a coward, and you are not righteous, and you are not holy." "She got sick, and you turned your back." ""If any of you lack wisdom," ""let him ask of God, that giveth all men liberally..." ""let him ask in faith," ""Nothing wavering:" "for he that waverth is like the wave of the sea..."" ""A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."" "Uncle Wade?" "Uncle Wade?" "Morning, Uncle Wade." "Papa went to town, said you needed to set those traps." "It's true what you said... about Mom and all." "Good man stands up for his family... for his country." "He didn't even fight in the war." "Uncle Wade... when you leave, I wanna go with you." "I wanna see what the world's like out there, see all the things you've seen... fight alongside you." "I don't want to stay here and become like my father." "Hell, I wish the war wasn't over, so that when I was old enough," "I could've fought and killed all them dirty Yankees, just like you did." "You wanna know what it was like?" "You really think you can do what I do?" "Do you?" "Hi there." "I came here to be alone." "Abigail, wait, wait, wait." "Were you a part of it?" " I tried to stop it, but my father..." " You're a coward." "None of this would've happened if it weren't for your stupid uncle.." "And your whole godless family." "I'm sorry." "Leave with me." "We can go away from all of this." "What?" "I can get a job in town." "I'd take care of us, Abby." "You know I would." "I..." "We could start a family of our own." "Don't be foolish." "I couldn't leave them." "Sure you could." "Sure you could." "They'd be all right." "What about your mother?" "Think your brother could take care of her like you do?" "Ain't nothing left for me here... nothing but you." "How were things in town today?" "Good and nice." "Ain't nothing but boring old flowers." "They got roses up past the McCluskey house." "I don't want you going near there, okay, Abigail?" "I was just riding by." "You steer clear of there." "You hear me?" "Wouldn't it be nice if we could put the past behind us?" "What is done cannot be undone." "Families have been desperate because of the war." "You haven't been here, and so you don't what it's been like." "I believe I have a fairly good idea of what the war was like, Abby." "I was there." "But not here." "We're blessed that Papa's good at what he does." "We had food when other families didn't." "Does that make it okay?" "The Lord teaches us to forgive." "Ain't that right, Papa?" "That's right, Abigail." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry for that whole wretched family." "Wheezing pig of a father, brain-dead mother, retard for a boy." "Who's the other boy?" "Marcus?" "I've known him since he was young, and he was always kind of soft." "Now he's just like the rest of 'em, a slave to his old man, a good-for-nothing coward." "He ain't like him." "Why are you defending him?" "You said it yourself." "They do what their father tells them." "Say grace, Abigail." "May this food restore our strength, giving new energy to tired limbs, new thoughts to weary minds, giving new visions to dried spirits and new warmth to cold hearts." "And once refreshed, may we give new pleasure to you, who gives us all." "Please be with Mama in Heaven." "Go back to sleep, Sammy." "That feel good, sweetheart?" "Hey, Mama." "How you doing?" "Hey." "You look tired, Pa." "I could..." "I can take over." "You hear that, Doris?" "Your boy's gonna take care of you." "Mm." "Mm." "Mm." "There's something I haven't told you, Mama." "I got a girl." "Would you mind if I had this?" "Will you please..." "Please, Mama." "Everything's..." "It's all right, Mama." "Please." "We're..." "We're gonna be happy together, Mama." "It's all right." "It's all right." "It's all right." "It's all right, please, Mama!" "We're gonna be happy..." "Mama, please, please, please!" "I need this, Mama!" "Please!" "I need..." "Oh." "Oh." "We can't keep doing this." "Doing what?" "This." "Meeting in secrecy all the time." "What if someone was to find out about us?" "Don't worry about that." "Your father's the one who doesn't..." "Don't worry about it, Abigail." "And so you're gonna turn your back on him and run?" "If it means we can be together." "It's beautiful." "This..." "This is our way out of here." "We don't even need to run away." "We can just leave together." "I love you, Abigail." "Hi there, Wade." "Can I ask you a question?" "Can I try on your hat?" "Please?" " It'd mean a lot to me." " I gotta be..." "It'd mean a lot to me." "I'm not gonna mess it up." "What do you think?" "Do I look smart?" "Yeah, you look smart." "Can I have my hat?" "That's a little bit of a woman's hat." "Hold on." "Hold that." "Let me see how you look with my hat." "That's a man's hat." "Look at that." "Look at that." "Look at you." "You look good." "That's real nice." "Do you really think..." "Look at me!" "Look at me!" "Look at me." "Stay away from that girl." "Marcus." "You turn around, and look at me, son." "Was it him that done this to you?" "Now don't you lie to me, boy." "I promise you, Pa, it was an accident." "An accident?" "Yeah." "Like what's gonna happen to that girl of yours, you don't tell me the truth." "What?" "You don't think I know where my son goes damn near every day?" "Don't you hurt her." "Was it him?" "!" "Was it him?" "!" "Get out of here." "Pull." "Howdy." "Before Earl Van Dorn became General, he was in charge of Confederate forces of Texas." "Mostly we were all on recruiting trips then." "He has a taste for finer things in life, including bird for dinner." "Well, we come across these two pups, and he asked, "Who's good with animals?"" "I said, "I am."" "Well, he says, "Train them dogs."" "And I did." "I trained them up good and proper." "I'd bag a bird." "They'd go and retrieve it before I could blow the smoke off my muzzle." "I loved them dogs." "Well, one night, old Van Dorn wants to join the hunt." "He wants to bag himself a bird, and he does." "It's big, it's beautiful, colors like a rainbow." "That bird goes down over the horizon." "Them dogs take off." "Thing is, they don't come back." "So we go charging after 'em, and we find them, and they're tearing that bird to pieces." "Limb from limb, eating pieces whole, blood on their snouts, and it's in their teeth, and Van Dorn tells me to put them dogs down." "Once they got the taste for it, they can't be trusted." "Didn't feel right... but it was an order." "He told me to do it, and so I shot them dogs in the head right then and there." "I think about them dogs a lot." "Was it their nature to kill?" "I was training them to go against it." "'Cause if you do that to God's creatures long enough... something's gotta give." "Wade!" "We got some business, son." "All right." "Both your sons scream like women, Randolph." "What you wager I slit your whole family's throats, you fat son of a bitch!" "Oh, no." "No!" "You press right there, Abigail." "Right there, push on it." "You gotta push on it." "You okay, boy?" "Okay." "You'll be okay." "You're gonna be all right." "Sammy." "Sammy?" "You're gonna be okay." "You'll be okay." "You're gonna be okay, boy." "Sammy, you are fine." "You're fine, Sammy." "Sammy, you're fine." "Look at me." "Look at me, Sammy." "Look at me." "Sammy, look at me." "I love you." "Sammy, look at me." "Sammy!" "Sammy, you're okay." " You're gonna be fine." " Go with the Lord, my son." "There's nothing wrong with you." "You be with the Lord." "Sammy." "Sammy." "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy, Pa." "Killed that boy, Pa!" "Shut it!" "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy, Pa." "You killed that boy!" "You killed that boy!" "Abigail!" "Where's Marcus?" "Abigail!" "How could you?" "!" "How could you?" "!" "How could you?" "!" "How could you?" "!" "I was hoping you'd show up, Seamus." "I was waiting for you." "I've got one bullet left... and I saved him for you." "There you go." ""As a father pities his children," ""so the Lord pities them that fear him." ""For he knoweth our frame;" "he remembereth that we are dust."" ""As for man, his days are as grass:" "as a flower of the field, so he flourished."" ""For the wind pass over it, and it is gone..."" ""and the place thereof shall know it no more."" "I'm sorry, Mary." "I'm so sorry."