"Hello, Chad." "Mr. Walton." "I got something I'd like to talk to you about, sir." "You and Mrs. Walton." "All right." "We want to get married." "Of all the people whose lives touched ours on Walton's Mountain, my sister, Erin, remembers most vividly a young forestry student who visited us briefly in the summer of 1936." "He was her first love." "In the Spring of 1937, with the blossoming of the dogwood," "Chad Marshall returned." "John Walton." "Hey, you old woodchopper!" "What're you doing around here?" "Bought a piece of land." "Going to settle on it." "You did?" "Well, that's great!" "The family will be glad to see you." "How's everybody?" "Oh, everybody's fine." "Hey, Mary Ellen got married." "No!" "No kidding." " Yes, ain't that something?" " Say, how's Erin?" "Oh, Erin, she's fine." "She's fine." "She got a job in Rockfish, working at the telephone station." "I'm on my way to pick her up there." "You mind if I went over there instead?" "Well, that'd be quite a surprise." "Is it all right?" "Oh, sure, it's all right." "I think it's a good idea." " Great." " I'll see you back at the house." " Back at the house." " Hey, wait a minute." "Go in there and I'll go back." "Ike." "Ike?" " Hey, John-Boy." " Hey, Ike." " Oh, you're looking for mail, huh?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I just checked." "There's nothing for you today." "I bet you're looking for one of them big advertising checks, huh?" "Well, to tell you the truth, it wouldn't hurt a bit." "Paper's gonna be a little bit thin this week." "You know, I'm glad you dropped by, 'cause I wanted to talk to you about something." "Corabeth and I are going to take Aimee, and we are gonna go over and introduce her to her relatives over in Doe Hill." " Oh, that's nice." " And we're gonna be gone a few days, and well, we need somebody to watch the store." "Somebody trustworthy." "And..." "Well, I'll give you $2 a day." "I mean, I figured as long as you're on school vacation, that you can put the two together and..." "Ike, I appreciate the offer, but I just can't do it." "I got the newspaper to look after, I got my book to work on." "I just wouldn't have enough time to do a proper job on it." "I'm sorry." "Well, I guess there's only so many hours in the day." "I have an idea, though." "Jason has exactly the same school break I've got, and he needs money for his tuition." " Well, you think he'd do it?" " Oh, I don't see why not." "Is there a problem?" "Well, no, there's no problem." "It's just that..." "I mean, we're very fond of Jason and he's excellent in music." "But, I just don't think he'd be very good in business." "Why not?" "He'd be no worse than I am." "I'm no genius at it." "Ike, I'll tell you what I'll do." "If it'll make you feel better, I'll come in every now and then, and see that everything's all right." "And I'll kinda take responsibility for it." "Okay?" "That'd be good." "Corabeth would like that." " So, this is your land, huh?" " The whole thing." "It's the old Fairchild place." "It's the old Chad Marshall place." "Me and the Virginia State Bank." "Well, how'd you do it?" "Well, worked nights, weekends." "Saved up $20." "Bank put up the other $20." "I pay them off $2 a month." "You're just as crazy as you were before." "What're you going to do with it?" "You're still in college." "Erin, I did a lot of thinking while I was up here, last summer." "Learned more about the land in two days, than I did in two years of college." "So, I figured I should stop wasting my time." " You quit?" " No, I started." " What?" " My life." "Well, you didn't have to give up school." "Oh, Erin, all I did that whole last year in VPI was think about this place." "This mountain and what it would be like to live and work right up here." "Now, the one thing I didn't do, Erin, and that was schoolwork." "So, I figured, if this is where I want to live and work," "I better get on up here and do it." " Well, where are you going to stay?" " In my log cabin." " What log cabin?" " Oh, the one I'm going to build." " Where are you gonna stay until then?" " My tent." " Well, you could stay with us." " Oh, Erin." "I appreciate the offer, I do." "But I want to stay right here, on my land." "Come on." "This is my land." "That's my forest." "It is my land." "Yes!" "I paid for it." "It's my land." "That's my stone." "This is my tree." "This is all mine." "Speak." "Myrtle." "Speak." "Speak." "You can't train a goat." "Well, she did it before." "Well, if she did it before, it was 'cause she wanted to, not because you told her." "I said "speak" and she went "Baa!"" "It was an accident." "She's just a dumb goat." "Myrtle is not dumb." "She's smarter than a lot of people." "Now, speak." "Come on." "Speak." "Come on, speak." "You dumb goat." "Eat." "Hey!" "Well, look who's here!" "Hey, old Chad!" "How're you doing?" " So, you couldn't stay away, huh?" " How are you?" " I knew you'd be back." " Good to see you." " Where's your old backpack?" " Oh, it's right back here." "How long are you gonna be with us, Chad?" "Oh, he's not staying with us, Mama." "He bought some land." "The old Fairchild place up the road." "It sounds like you're figuring on staying for a while." "Well..." "You're gonna need some shelter on that hillside." "Well, there's a bear cave." "It's got bats in it, remember?" "No, no." "Like Grandpa says," "I got my tent." "I got everything I need right here." "Well, come on inside." "Come on, everybody." "Come along." "Wonderful to see you again, lad." "Well, welcome back." " Hey, Jason!" " You go along." "I'll be a second." "Jason, I wanna talk to you." " What's wrong?" " Nothing's wrong." "Ike Godsey and Corabeth and Aimee are off to Doe Hill" " to visit relatives." " Yeah?" "And Ike needs someone to look after the store for a few days." "How about you?" " For money?" " Yeah. $2 a day." "Sure." "When do I start?" "I guess tomorrow." "You better talk to Ike about it." "That sounds good." "Thanks." "I was just wondering how I was gonna rake up some extra money." "Yeah, I know." "I told him I was pretty sure you'd wanna do it." "Well, great." "Well, I guess we've just about covered everything." " Yeah." " Oh, there's one more thing." "Now, at the end of each day, you take the cash and you put it in the safe." "Okay?" "Yeah, right." "Now, how do I get it out in the morning?" "Out of the safe." "What's the combination?" "Five." "Five?" "That's the combination?" "Yeah." "You just turn it to five." "And don't forget now." "Everything is cash-and-carry." "There's no credit to any strangers, and it's very important that you remember that." " Right." " I'll be right with you, honey!" "Shouldn't be any problem, Ike." "And the key to the store is under the coffee grinder back there." " Okay." " And..." "Oh, if anything goes wrong and you want to reach me, the phone number in Doe Hill is there in the cash register." " Okay." " All right?" "You're looking pretty good." " Not bad, eh?" " I like that." " Well, we'll see you now." " Have a good time, Ike." " Bye." "Hi, kids." "How are you?" "Bye." " Bye." "Can I help you?" "We always wanted to have our own store." "This is not our store." "Well, you're the manager." "Same thing." "At least we can have something free." "Nothing is free." "If you think you're gonna load up on candy and stuff, forget it." "All right, we'll pay." "There." "Cheapskate." "The cabin will be back here, so it can get some shade from these trees in the afternoon." "And the front porch will face this way." "Why?" "Because I love to come out in the morning and look at the mountain." "I mean, well, I thought you would love to come out in the morning and look at the mountain." "It seems we like all the same things, Erin." "Chad, why did you come back?" "I came back because I fell in love, last summer, and because I couldn't stay away from you any longer, Erin." " What are you and Chad gonna do today?" " Go up and work on his land." "Again?" "If I had a boyfriend," "I'd want to do something more exciting than that." " Howdy, Mr. Walton." " Chad." "Look what I found coming up the road." "I bet you were surprised to see Chad back." "I sure was." "Now, you think I wasn't surprised to find out you'd been married?" "Thanks for the ride." "Fixed up the stone boat for you." "I appreciate that, Mr. Walton." "Let me give you a hand." " You know how to run one of these things?" " Oh, sure." " Hitch up the other side, then." " Right." "Well, this is mighty fine of you, Mr. Walton." "I thought I'd need a truck or something." "The men who settled these mountains didn't have trucks." "They got along just fine with these stone boats." " Hi, Erin." " Hi, Mary Ellen." "Is it serious?" "You and Chad?" "I don't know." "Well, something tells me it is." "Our secret." "Okay?" "Okay." "Home, James." " I thought you came here to help." " Well, I am going to help." "I'm sitting in here so it doesn't fly around." "Is that so?" "Well, you can just stay there till we get the rocks in, and then you gotta get out and work, too." " Okay." "Bye, Daddy." " Get up there, Blue." "Get up there, Blue!" "Get up there." "Get up there." "Hey, Mrs. Gormley." "Mr. Bingley." "Now, no need to lift me out, Abel." "Hip bone's all healed and I'm good as new." "You forgot your shopping bag again." "Didn't forget it." "Don't need it." "Here we go." "That's it." "There you are." "There." "And don't you forget to wait for me." "I'll be watering my mules." "Okay." "So, how are you, Mrs. Gormley?" "Oh, not bad, considering everything." " Good." " Where's Ike?" "He's up at Doe Hill for a few days, so I'm holding down the store for him." "Oh." "What can I do for you, Mrs. Gormley?" "Well, first off, you can stop calling me Mrs. Gormley." " The name's Maude." " Yes, ma'am." "I'll take 10 packages of those flower seeds." "All right." "Any particular kind?" "No, one's as good as the other." "I need some paint." "What color?" "Well, I'll take one small can of red and one small can of yellow, and a can of blue and a can of orange." "Ought to brighten up your house." "Oh, I just dab around with it." "Will there be anything else today?" "I'll take five cents' worth of those nice soft gumdrops." "And make them cherry and orange and hold the licorice." "You don't like licorice?" "Make my teeth black." "No man's gonna look at a woman with black teeth." " How's the folks?" " Oh, just fine." "Thanks." "That's good." "Comes to $2.80." "Put it on my charge account." "Ike didn't say anything about any charge accounts." "Well, he..." "Ike keeps it on a little book back there someplace." "Oh, I'll have to look for that." "Maude!" "Well, there's Abel." "Can you help me out with that, please, Jason?" "Oh, sure." "Maude, come on." "I haven't got all day." "You're always in such a confounded hurry!" " Here we go." " There you go." "There we go." "Oh, me, oh, my." "Well, here you go." "Thank you, Maude." "Bye-bye, Mr. Bingley." "Bye." "Hey, brother." "Hey, storekeeper, how're you doing?" "All right." "I kinda wonder, though." "What does Ike do when people wanna charge things?" "When people wanna charge things, what does Ike do?" "Well, I imagine that depends on who the person is." "Well, like..." "Like Maude, for instance." "Now, he said everything was cash-and-carry and no credit to strangers." "But do you think that goes for Maude Gormley?" "Well, I don't think so." "He's known Maude all his life." "She's practically like his grandma." "Yeah." "She charge something already?" "Oh, just a few things." "I wouldn't worry about it." "That'll be 60 cents, cash on the barrelhead." "Hard-hearted merchant." "Thanks." "See you later." " Bye-bye." " Bye." "Get in there, Blue." "Get in there." "Now, Erin, I thought you came up here to help." "Well, I did." "I loaded half those rocks." "Well, if you can remember which ones they were, would you mind unloading them?" "Can't you buy a house ready-made out of a catalog or something?" "Sure." "Sure, we'll hire an airplane and just come right in here and drop it in." "No problem." "That's very clever." "Take care of it, will you?" "Oh, certainly, my dear." "I plan on it." "However, until that time, we must lay in a foundation or they will not deliver." "So, one for you, one for me." "Now, isn't that fun?" "One for you..." "Where's yours?" "It's back there." "I'm watching you." "Very good." " One for you." " Oh, thank you." "Why, thank you." "Could you care" "For a cunning cottage" "We could share" "I never had the least notion" "That I could fall with" "So much emotion" "That's all the time we have for tonight, folks." "This has been music for your dancing and listening pleasure, sent your way from the Starlight Room of the beautiful Shorecliff Hotel overlooking the Hudson River..." "I should go now." "I guess so." "It's getting late." " Is your tent cold?" " Freezing." " Do you need a blanket?" " No, I'll be okay." "Mr. Walton." " Hi, Grandpa." " Oh, hello, you two." "Looks like you're stocking up for the winter." "We're going on a picnic." "I haven't seen much of you two lately." "Well, we're trying to get Chad's cabin started." "I hope you get some work done." "We will." "Looks like Erin's fallen in love." "It's hard to believe she's old enough." "When I was seven I fell in love with my school teacher." "Laura Miller." "Oh, she was a magnificent woman." "Skirts right down to her ankles." "Chintz curtains." "Shutters." "Shutters are for keeping the weather out." "You need curtains inside for looks." "Look, if we've got that fantastic view out there, you don't need anything like curtains." "You need the curtains inside for something pretty." "Well, how about you?" "You're pretty." "If you don't put curtains in, you don't get any pop." "You think so?" " Oh, really?" " Blue and yellow." " How about pink and purple?" " Over my dead body." "Pink and purple with polka dots or you don't get any pop." "Look out!" "I got it." "I got it." "Okay." "Now." "Shutters." "Curtains." "Anything." "Anything you want, Erin, if you'll just share it with me." "Erin, will you marry me?" "Get your work done?" "Yes, Mama." "Did you have any lunch?" "Well, sort of." "Mrs. Walton, I wanted to ask you and Mr. Walton something." "Well, he's out delivering wood, but he shouldn't be too long now." "That'll be $1.85, all told." "Out of $2, here's your change." "Here we go." "Thank you." "Well, howdy." "Hello, Maude." "What can I do for you today?" "Well, I'll take a couple dozen more packages of these flower seeds." " All right." " And I need some more paint." "I'll take a purple and a white and one of them bright green." "When you get all this paint put up, you're gonna have some mighty colorful walls." " I like plenty of color." " Yeah." "Need anything else today?" "Yeah." "A pound of coffee and a box of oatmeal." "All right." "Right this way." "That'll be $4.70." "Well, put it on my charge account." "Oh, hi there, Maude." "Oh, it sure is a pleasure to see you up and running around again." "Takes more than a broken hip to put me out of circulation." "Yeah." "The looks of all those flower seeds you're buying, you're planning to have the prettiest flower garden on the Mountain." "Won't have a flower on the place." "Maude!" "There's my taxi." "Good old Abel." "Here you go, Maude." "Bye-bye." " So long, Maude." "Can you manage?" " Bye." "She's an old darling." "Wonder what she meant, she won't have a flower on the place?" "Well, she bought enough flower seeds to have the prettiest garden this side of Charlottesville." "I need some more 10-penny nails." "Excuse me, Grandpa." "Help yourself." "Godsey's General Store." "Jason, is that you?" "Hello, Ike." "How are you?" "Oh, I'm just fine." "How's the store going?" "Just fine." "Business good?" "It's been busy." "Well, you know, I just wondered how things are going." "It's kinda lonely here." "Just a lot of women talking." "I got a question for you, Ike." "It's about credit." "To people that you know, like Maude Gormley." "Credit to Maude?" "Not one cent of credit to her." "What?" "Look, I love Maude." "But she has no sense of money." "She gets a good check every month from her son, Leonard, and then she squanders it on flower seed and paint." "And then she runs up a bill with me." "She owes me $20." "No credit." "Not a penny." "Yeah." "Well, okay." "You know, I kinda miss the store." "I can imagine." "You sure everything's all right, now?" "Yeah, yeah, just fine." "I'll see you in a few days." "Take your time, Ike." "Okay." "Bye-bye." "Oh, boy." "Well, son, looks like you had some bad news." " I'm really in the soup, Grandpa." " Oh?" "That was Ike." "He says not for me to let anybody charge anything, but Maude's already charged over $7 worth of stuff." "I'm gonna wind up owing Ike money." "Oh, dear, dear, dear." "That's a cute one of you." " That's Ben." " Oh, dear." "That must be you." "Mama still has that hair bow up in the attic." "I would like 10 babies just like this, please." "Well, how about a dozen?" "Or maybe two dozen?" "No, no, no, 10. 10." "I'll settle for 10." "It's a nice even number." "There's Daddy." "Mama, Daddy's here." "Hello, Chad." "Mr. Walton." "I got something I'd like to talk to you about, sir." "You and Mrs. Walton." "All right." "We want to get married." "Here, sit down." "Have a seat." "Sit down." "Sit down, honey." "Let's just have a little talk about this, shall we?" "We've already talked about it, Daddy." "Not to us, you haven't talked to us about it." "Well, we came right here after we decided." "After you decided to become engaged?" "Well, no, not exactly, ma'am." "We'd like to get married right away." "Aren't you moving a little fast?" "Among other things, son, we don't know very much about you yet." "I'm from Richmond." "Daddy works for the telegram company," "Mama is a schoolteacher." "I love this mountain." "I love your daughter." "I want to marry her." "Right." "Erin, you're gonna have to finish school, you know." "Oh, I'm not going back to school." "Oh, yes, you are." "You know, your mother and me want all our children to finish their education." "I don't need any more school, Daddy." "I know all I need to know about being a wife and mother." "Honey, you don't know what you are yet." "I'm 16." "I'm the same age you were, Mama, when you married Daddy." "And I am a year older than you, sir, when you got married." "Well, we did get married young." "That's true, you know." "And we do have a good marriage." "But I'll tell you this," "I wish I had a lot more education and experience under my belt before I started my family, and I'm sure your mother feels the same way." "It's a whole lot more possible now than it was for us." "You're a fine young man, son." "I'm afraid Erin's gonna have to finish school first." "And by that time, you will know each other better, and maybe by then you'll be ready for marriage." "We'll have this conversation again." "Then." "John-Boy, I wanna talk to you." "Huh?" "What is it?" "Remember you said Ike wouldn't mind if I let Maude Gormley charge?" " Yeah." " He minds." "He called up today on the phone." "Said no credit for Maude." "Not a penny." "Well, did you tell him she already charged a bunch of stuff?" "I didn't have the nerve to." "Jason." "Well, she was in again today before Ike called." "She bought more flower seeds and more paint." "She's run up a bill over $7." "That money's gotta be in the till before Ike gets back." "Well, I told him I'd take the responsibility for what happened." "But you should have told him that she charged stuff." "It wouldn't have helped." "It was too late." "Maybe." "Somebody's gotta tell Maude." "Yeah, I know." "I'll do it." "Can you imagine having to tell a sweet little old lady like that, she's gotta cough up $7?" "And 70 cents." "Don't worry about it." "Thanks." "Erin?" "What's the matter?" "Did Chad leave?" "No." "Mama and Daddy won't let us get married." "Oh, John-Boy, I could just die." "I know how you feel." "No, you don't." "John-Boy, I love Chad and no one understands." "I do." "I felt that way." "About Jenny?" "Yeah." "John-Boy, this isn't just puppy love." "Well, neither was that, Erin." "But you lost Jenny, and, John-Boy, I don't want to lose Chad." "Erin..." "Jenny had to go away." "See, and I had to stay." "So we couldn't be with each other, and we couldn't see each other." "So the feeling just didn't stay as strong as it was at the first." "And that'll happen to us, too." "No, it doesn't have to happen to you." "Chad's gonna be right here, waiting for you." "But he's ready now, John-Boy." "He's got his land and he's building a house, and he's ready to take up his life now." "And he's gonna want a woman who's ready now, too." "Oh, John-Boy, I lost him once because I was too young, and I don't want it to happen again." "I know." "Erin, I think, pretty much, you get what you want out of life." "Pretty much." "And I think if you two want to be married, then you'll be able to make it work." "If not now, then later." "But what if something happens?" "What if he has to go away?" "Even for a little bit?" "Well, he'll forget about me." "I know he will." "Look, John-Boy, what if you had been married to Jenny?" "Well, you could have gone with her." "Or she could have stayed here with you." "And then you wouldn't have lost her." "Jenny and I didn't get married because we were too young to get married." "And I think you're too young to get married, Erin." "You see?" "You're just like everyone else." "You think it's just a childish infatuation." " Erin, I think..." " But it's not, John-Boy!" "And it's not gonna go away because Mama and Daddy say it should!" "Well, maybe, we'll just go to Reverend Fordwick and get married anyway!" "I hope, Erin, that Chad won't marry you without Mama and Daddy's permission." "You see?" "Everyone's against us!" "No one's against you, Erin." "Elizabeth, if you want to go to school, you better hurry up." "Aren't we going to wait for Erin?" "Well, I'd like to get there before recess." " Bye, Mama." " Bye, Jim-Bob." " Bye-bye." " Bye, Elizabeth." "I saved some breakfast for you." "I'm not hungry, Mama." "Aren't you going to take your lunch?" "I don't want any." "Bye, Erin." "They're never going to change their minds." "Maybe if I talk to them alone, I could do something." "I don't think it'll work." "I'll be going to school and you'll be working on your cabin." "We'll never get to see each other." "It's not fair." "Erin, if we just can't wait, then we just won't wait." "The morning light drifted down from the mountain, warming away the pockets of gray mist lying in the hollows." "The dawn of a new day did not bring a happy awakening for my sister." "The disappointment was still there, an aching heart which not even the cheerful sounds in the family kitchen could assuage." "John-Boy?" "You busy?" "Well, I was." "What do you want?" " Sorry." " It's all right." "I gotta go open the store." "Are you gonna see Maude Gormley?" "Yeah, I'm going to see her first thing." "I sure would hate for her to come in again today with a big shopping list, figuring to charge it..." "Jason, I'm gonna see her." "I told you I was gonna see her, all right?" "Well, you don't have to snap my head off." "Well, you don't have to keep bothering me about it." " I'm going to see her, Jason." " I'm sorry." "I'm gonna see her." "You sure you won't back out?" "I want to marry you." "You know that." "All right." "All right." "I'll be by tonight, about midnight." "Well, make sure the whole house is dark, because John-Boy could be up writing." "Well, you just be awake and be ready to go." "I'll be ready." "All right." "Well?" "Well..." "Maude, I'm kind of embarrassed about what I've got to say here, but..." "I come here with a purpose, so I better get right to the point." "I understand that you owe $7.70 at Ike's store." "More than that." "Well, I mean since Jason went to work there." "Anyway, Ike told Jason that you're not supposed to have any more credit." "Oh, he's always saying that." "Well, I'm afraid the way I understand it, if you can't pay the $7.70, it's going to have to come out of Jason's pocket or mine." "You boys don't have that kind of money, do you?" "No, ma'am." "We don't." "Neither do I." "And I don't get my check from my son, Leonard, for two or three weeks." "And I don't have anything that's worth anything in money." "Well, I guess I'll just have to explain it to Ike, and..." "No." "No charity." "Now, wait a minute." "Maybe I do have something that could be turned into money." " You just come with me." " All right." "Well?" "What do you think?" "Well, Maude." "I dabble in painting." "Birds, mostly." "Maude, you never told us anything about this." "Oh, they don't amount to much, but I did get $2 for one, once, from a salesman that came to the door." "He said they were primitive." "When I found out what it meant, I was kind of mad, but I kept the $2 anyway." "Well..." "So, what do you do?" "You feed the birds here, Maude?" "Oh, yes." "They just love these flower seeds." "And I scatter them all around and the wild birds come from far and wide, and they build a nest." "Isn't it wonderful?" "It sure is." "Maude, these are absolutely beautiful." "You know, I'll bet if you put these up in Ike's store, that people would buy them." "You think so?" "Well, sure they would." "I'm sure they would." "And you'd make enough money to pay off the debt." "You'd probably have some left over for yourself." "Well, they can't shoot us for trying." "No, they sure can't." "Elizabeth!" "Do you have to come plowing in here?" "It's my room, too." "What're you doing?" "Oh, I'm just sorting out some clothes." "You going someplace?" "Now, where would I be going?" "I don't know." "Don't tell anybody about this, you hear?" "I won't." "Yeah, I just got restless over there, you know?" "All the women, and they were talking and talking and talking, and so I finally just told Corabeth and Aimee..." "Wait." "Who's paying for those?" " You are." " Oh, okay." "So I just told Corabeth and Aimee to stay over there and visit a while, and I'd come back here to the store, where I belong, right?" "Well, I'm glad to have you back, Ike." "I guess you found out that running a store is not so easy, huh?" "Jason!" "What on earth are these?" "Oh, Maude Gormley brought those in." "Thought maybe we could sell them." "Who'd buy them?" "Fellow was in here just before you came." "A book salesman." "He bought two of them. $5 apiece." "$5?" "No." "Quiet." "You only needed enough for one night, Erin." "You could've come back tomorrow." "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to come back." "Oh, Erin." "Come on." "Help me push." "Erin?" "Erin Walton?" " Good evening, Reverend Caldwell." " Good evening." "May we come in?" " Yes, of course." "Come in." "Sit down." " Thank you." "This is Chad Marshall." " How do you do?" " How do you do, sir?" "The daughter of Baptists, coming to see the Methodist minister?" "Is something wrong, Erin?" "Well, we wanted you to marry us, sir." "Erin, do your parents know about this?" "This has nothing to do with them." "I'm the one who's getting married." "But they don't want you to marry, or you'd be seeing Reverend Fordwick, and it wouldn't be in the middle of the night." "Well, they just haven't gotten used to the idea yet." "Once we're married, they'll change their minds." "You're under 18." "You'll need their signatures." "But that's not fair!" "I want to help you by not allowing you to marry without your parents' knowledge." "But we're going to tell them, afterwards..." "Erin, never mind." "Never mind." "We can get somebody else to do it." "Come on." "Thank you, Reverend." "And then he said, "Erin, never mind." "Somebody else will do it."" "He might have meant the justice of the peace over in Rockfish." "That'd be Andrew Farrell." "All right, Reverend." "Thank you very much." " Call on me if I can help." " Thank you." "I thought she was sound asleep." "She was, when I looked in about 10:00." "We better get on over there." "I'll wait here and keep the family calm, in case they wake up before you get back, all right?" "All right, Son." "That's it." "Now, young lady, if you'll just sign the next line." "You'd better hurry it up or I'll be sound asleep on my feet." "It's my fault." "I just wouldn't listen to her." "We did listen to her and we gave her an answer." "Obviously, wasn't the right one." "Liv, Erin has known from the time she was in first grade, we expect her to finish high school." "We told her." "We didn't ask her, we just told her." "She is only 16 years old." "That's exactly how old I was when my parents didn't approve." "It didn't stop me." "Olivia, you are thinking like a child now." "A body'd think that I, of all people, would understand how Erin feels." "All right, well, I think you got it all." "Where do we stand for the ceremony?" "Right there'll be fine." "Don't we need any witnesses or something?" "Yeah, I'm the witness." "I'm sure you're just interested in the legal part." "Most folks usually are, when they're getting married in the middle of the night." "Here it is." ""Dearly beloved..." "Gathered here..." ""Presence of these witnesses..."" "Oh, yeah." "Here..." ""Do you..."" ""Erin Walton," ""take this man to be your lawful wedded husband" ""to love, honor and obey, till death do you part?"" "You're supposed to say "I do," here." "No!" "Oh, I can't, Chad." "Not like this!" "Oh, Erin." "Erin, it's all right." "It's all right." "It's okay." "Is there somewhere that we could talk, please?" "I'll make some coffee." "Wish they'd make their minds up before they come disturbing people in the middle of the night." "You can talk in here." "But please don't take too long." "It's late." "We'll just need a minute." "I'm very sorry about all of this." "She was wearing curlers!" "I know, Erin." "And he was mumbling and yawning." "I know." "This wasn't like I thought it would be." "It's okay." "It's all right." "Oh, I knew it wouldn't be as beautiful as Mary Ellen's wedding, and there wouldn't be any flowers or anything, but..." "Oh, it was so ugly." "It was." "Your wedding is supposed to be something you can look back on and feel good about." "Well, I'd hate it." "I understand, Erin." "It's all right." "It's Chad's car, all right." "Now who's that?" "You better ask who it is, Andrew." " Who is it?" " We're looking for our daughter." "Her name is Erin Walton." "Yes." "She's in there, with that young man, Chad Marshall." "We're not married, Daddy." " Erin." " Mama." " Come on." " Come on, son." "Erin came home and finished high school, and spent most of her free time helping Chad build his cabin." "And a fine cabin it was, built with careful, loving hands and sitting proud on the land, with a front porch facing the mountain." "Jason ran the store a whole week and he never even gave us a handout." "It was Ike's store, not mine." "He wouldn't even give us a jelly bean." "If I had a store, I'd let all my friends have everything free." "Sure, and you'd be out of business in a week." "That's why I'd do it." "I'd hate to run a store." "You're crazy, Elizabeth!" "Close up the store and go to sleep." "Good night, everyone." "English"