" Evening, Mrs. Crawford." " Evening, Miles." " Evening, Mr. Crawford." " Miles." "Mrs. Crawford, I gotta get an answer from Cissie about our being wed." "Preacher Ellis is coming tomorrow." " You hear that, Noah?" " I heard." "The preacher only comes once a year." "Up till three days ago, Cissie was raring to get married." "That was when that no-good trapper, Bushrod Gentry, showed up." "And what was I supposed to do?" "Turn back his furs?" "You're supposed to warn your daughter about timber tramps." "Them trappers is all alike traipsing around, fighting, throwing their money away." "He ain't exactly a tramp, Mother." "He sold me $400 worth of fur." "Why, he knows every trapper west of Pittsburgh." "I even offered him a partnership." "He turned me down." "Well, he sure throwed this house into a tizzy." "Ever since he got here Cissie's been acting like a calf with a bellyache." "Whereabouts is Cissie?" "She took some goose grease out to that Bushrod." "Goose grease?" "What's he want goose grease for?" "Don't ask me." "If he asked her to bring him the Ohio River in a saucepan, she'd try it." "But, why, Bushrod?" "Why do you have to go?" "I want to thank you for bringing me the goose grease, Cissie." "How can you leave me after Daddy's offered you that wonderful partnership?" "It would make me so happy." "Cissie, I'm a restless man." "City life ain't for me." "Someplace, maybe out in the Territory, there's a piece of earth for me." "You know what...?" "You know what they are?" " Yes, they're gourd seeds." " That's right." "For planting." "So that I'll have gourds for the pots and kettles." "But first I gotta find my place." "I'll wander lonely till I see it." " That's no life for a woman." " But, Bushrod, I..." "Now, I know what you're gonna say, Cissie." "You're gonna say that you could wander with me." " Well, yes, I was." " Well, that's mighty flattering to me." "But I couldn't ask a fine girl like you to do it." " Oh, I want to." " No, it would spoil everything." "Goodbye, Cissie." "I ain't gonna forget you." " Oh, Bushrod." " It's all right, he's gone." "Cissie!" " The Indian's gone." " What's happening here?" "You leave her alone." "A Shawnee tried to carry me off." "Bushrod saved my life." " A Shawnee?" " Cissie, please." " It was only one Indian, Cissie." " Bushrod." "You better take her." "She's getting hysterical." " Come, Cissie." " Oh, Bushrod..." "You're all right now." " Bushrod saved my life." "It's all right." "Mister, my girl has been paying you a lavish of attention and I don't like it." " Well, I could do without it myself." " I don't mean to argufy with you." "I think I'll just whip your hide." "Oh, now, sonny, you got no show to get riled." "I don't want your girl." " Are you gonna fight or ain't you?" " Well, I'd rather not." "Come on." "I'm gonna tramp you in the mud." "All right, all right." "Just give me a minute." "Well, they've gone and done it again." "They're making me fight." "I'm confident you'll forgive me." "Like the time I fought Charley Ransom and tore loose all the big muscles in his shoulder." "Like when I tangled with Ely Jacobson and broke his jaw in two places and they had to tie it up with wires, you understood." "And even when old Vince Wesley forced me to fight and his eyeball was hanging down on his cheek after and they didn't know whether he was gonna live or die you knew I had no way out." "So now, if I have to hurt this boy real bad I ask ahead of time for your forgiveness." "All right, sonny." "I'm ready." "Well, uh I'll let you go this time." " But you keep away from her." " Oh, I sure will." "All right, then." "I'm much obliged to you for..." "Was that your shot?" "Yeah." "Kind of hurried, though." "Wasn't too fast for me." " Looks like you arm's hurt bad." " Not too bad." "Just an awkward place." "I..." "Here." "Let me." " What's your name?" "Her name's Stepping Woman." "Move fast, track good, shoot straight." "My name's Mary Stuart Cherne." "Shawnee good with knife." "The ones I've run into have been good with anything." " What's your name?" " Bushrod Gentry." "Well, Bushrod Gentry this arm's gonna need more tending to than it's likely to get here in these woods." "Think you'd better come along home with me." "Well, that's right nice of you, Mary Stuart Cherne." " Got a rifle and pack?" " Yeah, behind that rock." "Sandak, get them." "There's the settlement." "Barren River." "There's our house." "Big place." "There's seven of us:" "Pa, Ma, my four brothers, and me." " Me too." " And Sandak." "He sleeps in the shed." " Here comes Mary now." " She got any game?" "She's toting something." "Looks like a deer." "Pa's getting blind as a bat." "We're gonna have to lead him by the hand one of these days." "She's lugging a man." "A man, you say?" "What's she doing with a man?" "She probably shot him." "I wish it was a deer." "I'm hungry." "Oh, she goes out for game for the larder and brings back another mouth to feed." "So one of them ran off, you say?" "Yeah, fast, thanks to your daughter." "Mary Stuart, you'll not be hunting in the woods for a few days." "And you lads keep your rifles about you." "I figure he went back to Shawnee country." "They never travel the woods alone." "He's right, Father." "He could return with a passel of others though." "This is mighty fine whiskey, Mr. Cherne." "Aye, such as only a good Scot can make." "And you're heading for the Northwest Territory, huh?" "Anxious to see it." "Never been that far out." " You a trapper?" " Only way to live." "I did a wee bit of it myself when I was younger." "Fremont, take your feet off the table." " But Hugh's got his feet up." " Hugh is older than you." "Do as you're bid." " Now, Mr. Bushrod, we'll just wash that." " I'll do it, Ma." "Mary Stuart, let your mother do it." "She's fixed more wounds than you've ever seen." "I don't care." "I found this one and it's mine." "Ach." "What a stubborn daughter I've got." "But he's not sound of limb to be traveling in the woods." "You'll stay here with us until you're healed." "The arm really isn't that bad." "There's no need for you to..." "Ow!" " Oh, I'm sorry." "Mary Stuart." "Just because the Indians didn't kill the man there's no reason why you should." "Mr. Bushrod, I'll hear no word of protestation from you." "You'll stay here with us." "Well, I have come a far piece." "Guess I don't mind resting a couple of weeks." "That's done it." "Fremont, bring back that jug to your old father." "Mary Stuart, you come into the kitchen with me." "Strikes me you took quite a time and made quite a fuss over that bandage for Mr. Gentry." "Oh, I like him." "So few strangers come through here that most of them look better than they probably are." "He'd look good to me even if I'd known him all my life." " I'm gonna marry him." " What?" "He might have something to say about that." "He strikes me as a right restless man." " So was Pa before he was married." " That's water under the bridge." "Besides, I thought you were sweet on Luke Radford." "That's Luke's way of thinking, not mine." "How am I gonna catch Mr. Gentry, Ma?" "You'll have to figure that out for yourself." "And from the looks of it, he'll take a lot of getting." "Well, I got a lot of get." "Yes, sir." "For six long years, I fought in the revolution." "And got naught for it, save a bellyful of satisfaction and this lobsterback coat I took from an English colonel at Cowpens." "Look at it." "It's as good as new except for that wee hole my bullet made in the left breast." "Pretty fancy coat." "Do you ever wear it?" "I'm saving it for weddings." "Weddings for my children." "Speaking of weddings, that sounds like Luke Radford." "Come in." "Cadmus, I keep on a-telling Shields here either lay off me or bring along a couple of his brothers." "Laddie, someday you'll get the sense in that heavy skull of yours to conclude that your future brother-in-law is too much man for you." " Didn't know you had company." " Shake hands with Mr. Bushrod Gentry." "He got mixed up with a few Shawnees." "He's staying here with us till his arm heals." " Glad to know you." " Howdy." "Well, you ready?" "Got the torch." " Not tonight, Luke." " Why not?" "There might still be Indians in the woods." " Well, they don't bother me none." " They bother me." "Now, you promised tonight, and I've been looking forward to it all day." "Cadmus, make her come along." "I discovered a long time ago you can't make a woman do something she doesn't wanna do." " Which is a lesson all men should learn." " Aye." " You won't come, Mary?" " Not tonight, Luke." "All right, then, but I reckon you know I'm mad." "I reckon I do." "Ah..." "Luke." "Last time you closed the door you slammed it so hard you broke it off the hinges." "Now, this time, close it quiet." " Old Luke is sure steaming." " Somebody will get walloped." " You wanna stay out of his way, Bushrod." " I intend to." " That Luke would tear his head off." " Aye." "It would be no match at all." " But, of course, if you've a mind to try..." " Ha." "No." "Bushrod." "Bushrod." "Yeah?" "What is it?" " Come on out here." " What for?" "Come on out." "Are you ready?" " Ready for what?" " What I'm gonna show you." "There ain't nothing I wanna see at this time of night." " Yes, there is." "You just don't know it." " I know you waked me up." "Well, if I didn't, you wouldn't be able to see it." "Why don't you show it to Luke Radford in the morning?" "Bushrod Gentry." "I think it would be most unkind if you should refuse a lady's invitation." "Well, it's most inhospitable waking a man out of a sound sleep." "Why, it's the most hospitable thing I could do." "Here, now." "You carry this." "Your father was right." "You sure are stubborn." "Where are we going?" "You'll see when we get there." "Come on, now." "How much farther?" " Not so far." " Well, why can't you show it to me here?" "Just because I can't, that's why." "Oh, now, don't tell me we gotta climb that hill." "No." "This is it." "Like it?" "Well, I've seen hills before, millions of them." "Not like this one." "There." "Come along." "Hey, wait." "Oh, Lord." " Pretty?" " Right beautiful." "Did you ever see anything like it?" "Never have." "Never will again, most likely." "You're the first one I ever brought here." "Well, I'm obliged to you, I really am." "You might show it." " What do you mean?" " You might kiss me." "Yeah, I reckon that's the least I could do." " It's a big, big cave." " Sure is." "Is that how folks pay their obligations down in this neck of the woods?" "Not unless they're invited to." "Luke ain't gonna like it when he finds out you brought me here." "He won't find out." "But I don't wanna talk about Luke." " I wanna talk about us." " Us?" "About our future, Bushrod." "Sit down." "Mary, I'm a restless man." " City life ain't for me." " This ain't no city." "Any place you can hear the sound of your neighbor's shotgun, that's a city." "Never heard that rule before." "Well, it's true." "You know what's in there?" " What?" " Gourd seeds." "I'll find a place to settle down someday, maybe out in the Territory." "And when I do, I'll have my gourds for the pots and kettles." "But until I can find my piece of earth, I'll wander lonely, looking for it." " That ain't no life for a woman." " I can wander pretty good." "No, Mary, I wouldn't ask you to do it." "Besides, the Indians out there get pretty mean." "A man could get killed." "You'd be a widow then, with nobody to look after you." "I couldn't stand that on my conscience." "Why, you could get kicked in the head by a horse in your own backyard." "I'd be a widow then too." " That's no reason not to get married." " No." "It wouldn't work, Mary." "No, I think you and Luke Radford should get married and live right here in this cave." "Never did see such a pretty place." "Well, you're not gonna see it anymore." "Reckon I'm not." "That one strange man, that Gentry." " I don't wanna talk about him." " All right." "No need no more." "He gone." " Gone?" "When?" " Sunup." " Where'd he go?" " He no say." " That way." " Why?" "Maybe he go someplace to get some sleep." " Do you think he'll be coming back?" " I no think so." "Sandak, you go get Luke Radford and have him here when I come back." " You plan small trouble?" " Never you mind." " You're an Indian, you wouldn't understand." " This Indian understand." " Go along, now, and hurry." " Now we see fur fly." " Tarnation." "How long you been there?" " Long enough." " What are you doing here?" " Following you." "Well, you can quit now and go on back." "As soon as you're ready, we will." "It seems like a bad dream." "Why are you so set on me?" " You kissed me, didn't you?" " Well, I was just being polite." "You oughtn't to kiss a girl like that, Bushrod." "You talk out of both sides of your mouth at once, like a..." "Like a forked-tongued serpent." "Well, I'm not going back." "Oh, yes, you are." "Get in there." "Sandak said you wanted to see me in a hurry." "I was kind of hoping that maybe you was ready to set a date for our wedding." " Preacher Ellis will be along pretty soon." " Well, I..." "I can't talk about marriage right now, Luke." "Well, what's the matter, honey?" "Come on, you can tell old Luke." "Well, it's..." "It's just that I've been insulted." "Insulted?" "Why, lead me to him." "I'll uncouple his spine." " He called me a snake." " Who did?" "I can't tell you." "I wouldn't want any man killed on my account." "You tell me." "Promise not to kill him?" "Maybe just break his leg a little?" "I promise." "Now, who is this feller?" "That Bushrod Gentry." "Why, that outland dog." "I should've knowed it." "I'll tear him in pieces." "I'll draw and quarter him." "I'm the fiercest fighter in all Kentucky." "Now, where is he, honey?" " I'll rend him into pieces." " In the shed." "Luke, you promised." "Just his leg." "Just his leg and maybe an ear or two." "Bushrod Gentry!" "Come on out of there." "What is it, Luke?" " You know good and well what it is." " Can't say as I do." "What's got into this boy?" "I don't know." "The way it looks, you better not back down." "Shucks." "I ain't backing." "I'm just curious." "You called my girl a snake, and that's certain death." "Oh, I see." "I was born of a whirlwind and came out of the north and my father was a mountain lion." "There's not a man alive who can look me in the eye without a-flinching." "I'm leviathan, the great beast of the water." "And I can hit harder and kick harder and gouge out more eyes than any bobcat this side of the Alleghenies." "You sound like you're looking for a fight." "Why, I'm gonna pull the face right off of your skull and throw it to the crows and the jaybirds." "Now come on out there so as I can break you in half and throw away the pieces." " You sure wanna go through with this?" " I'm the cock of the walk." "I'm a ring-tailed squealer." "Yaah!" "I'm half horse." "Vrr!" "And I'm half alligator." "And wherever I pass, the lions tremble and the bears drop dead." "I'm the salt of the sea and king of all the mountains." "I'm not rightly sure just what you are, Luke." "If you're looking for a fight, you sure got a reason now." "Come on." "Come on." "Kill him, Luke, kill him." "Tear him apart." "Come on, Luke." "Ugh!" "Halt the fight." "You guys are tiring." "Freshen up a bit." "Thanks." "Continue." "You're getting in the way." "Kill him, Luke." "Get him." "Get him." "Come on." "Satisfied?" "Some fight, Bushrod." "Good morning, Bushrod." "Isn't it a beautiful day?" " I've been meaning to talk to you." " I'm always ready to talk to you." "Aye, good morning, Bushrod." "And do you not find it a beautiful day?" "Why's everybody carrying on so about the weather?" " And how's your arm?" " Sore." "Laddie, oh, it was a fight for the gods to see." "It will go down in history." "What a thrashing you gave poor Luke." "Oh, you're a man after me own kidney." "And you're welcome under my roof as long as you want to stay." "And should you find a new string to your heart hereabouts so much the better." "The Territory's going to look real nice." "Now, what's that old buffalo up to now?" " Howdy." " Howdy, Lige Blake." "Meet Mr. Gentry." " How are you?" " Howdy." "Got a hankering for some squirrel stew." "The old lady builds a fine squirrel stew." "Both shot through the eyeballs." "You're a good shot." " Middling." " Ah." "There's naught so remarkable about shooting a squirrel in the eye." "Hear tell that you gut-shot a couple the other day." "It is a lie." "My shoulder rheumatism was aching." "Don't know as you heard, but the spectacle man's here down at the tavern." "Now, what's that to do with me?" "Well, I thought maybe you wanted to see him." "That's if you can see." "Ha-ha." "Oh, yes, about the shoot come Saturday." "How about it?" " Same rules as last year?" " The same rules." "Good." "I'll see you." "A most offensive man." "Ach." "Well, I think I'd better take the butter in." "Just a minute." "I ain't told you yet what I think of you." "What do you think of me, Bushrod?" "I figure you're a she-fiend, the way you set Luke on me." "You're a treacherous kind of woman." "There ain't room enough in Kentucky for the both of us." "Soon as my arm heals again, I'm leaving." ""P, S, T."" "Now the next line, madame." ""A X..."" "Or is it Z?" "Neither, madame." "It's an M." "I am afraid you have acute myopia." " Gracious." " My..." "My goodness, don't get frightened." "It only means that she is nearsighted." "Watch your talk." "Oh, but I..." "I have myopia myself." "And it's an advanced case." "I can read the chart with ease." ""E, R, P, S, T, A, M, F, V, O, G, S, C, H, O, R, M, S, T, E, I, R."" " That's easy as that." "My, but you read them fast." "Now, madame, I have just the thing for you." "You need..." "Let me see." "Yes, you need a number 11." "Here we have number 11." "Now, let's try this on." "Now try to read." ""A, M, F, V, O, G..."" "The curse has truly been removed from thine eyes." "Why I can see everything just as plain as can be." "Sir, you've made your sale." "Now I'll be paying you." "How much is it?" " Two dollars and 50 cents, please." " Two-dollars-50?" " Seems very dear." " Thank you." " I bid you good night." "It's bedtime." " Oh, Pa, won't you even try them?" " Just take a look." " Can you read the chart?" "Did you ever hear tell of an eagle wearing spectacles?" " That's true, Pa, but if you just try them..." " Now, listen, all of you." "I've got something to say." "I've decided to withdraw from the nail shoot." " No, Pa." " You can't do that." "I want no wailing or urging." "My decision is irrevocable." "And I've had enough glory to last me." "So good night." "Ah." "What was Pa talking about, "enough glory"?" "He's talking about his pride." "He knows he'd get beat, and he don't wanna be humiliated." "Poor Cadmus." "He's so stubborn." "If there was only some way we could get him to put on glasses just once." " There's not a chance." " Not unless he got tricked into it." "Well, why don't somebody think of something?" "Maybe, uh..." "Maybe we can." "I'd like to hear some more about those spectacles." "Oh, of course, with the greatest of pleasure." " You mind if I take a look?" " You go right ahead." "Well, Cadmus, it's true, then?" "You're backing out and leaving the shooting to us younger fellas?" "A man gets bored winning year after year." "Ah..." "That pretty shooting iron's as good as over my fireplace right now." "We'll see about that." "Now let's get on with the rules." "Well, we'll need another judge." "You got anybody in mind?" "Don't look like you'll have much competition, Lige." " It'll make a judge's job easy." " Well, I don't look for any trouble." "Say, how about you for a judge, Gentry?" "You can't shoot with that lame arm." "All right with you, Cadmus?" " Oh, it's no consequence to me." " Glad to help out." "All right, then, now." " Mary, what are you doing here?" " I'm shooting with the Cherne family." "It ain't legal." "A woman in the shoot." "I protest." "I say it is legal." "No reason why a female shouldn't compete." " Uh, what's your ruling, Gentry?" " She's entitled." "She's a Cherne." "Maybe making you a judge wasn't such an all-fired good idea." "Are we standing in the sun all day, or are you gonna start shooting?" "Let's go." "Now, the first shot will be offhand." "That was right on." "Right in that hole." "Very good." "Wonderful shot, that one." "Right on the head." "There you go, right on the head." "Now, the next round will be 40 paces." "Make the way there." " One, two, three, four, five, six..." "Everybody back of the firing line." " You shoot first, Lige." " Thank you, Mary." "Something's wrong with my eyes." " What's going on, Mary?" " Just wearing specs." " I rule against it." " What objection have you, Mr. Blake?" "Why, it's just like using a spyglass to help you shoot." " George Washington wears them." "I say it's illegal." "Artificial help." "And I say it's perfectly within the girl's rights." "I don't suppose I can expect you to be on the level." " What do you say?" " Let me see them specs." "Seem all right to me." "Here, Cadmus, you take a look." "I see no benefit whatsoever to the contestant." "Continue the competition." "Oh, no, Pa, I don't think I can go on." "My head hurts." "Then you forfeit." "Then the prize is mine." "It's a draw." "No contest." "Hate to rule against you, Cadmus, but unless one of your family finishes up I'd say Lige gets the prize." "Of course, you, uh..." "You could take the rest of her shots yourself if you want." "Ah, it wouldn't be fair." "Oh, that's all right with me if you take her shots." "I doubt if you can even see the post." "Ach." "Well, I don't like to waste her shots, but I'll try." "I'll do my best." "Oh, good, Pa." "You won." "Oh, but, Mother, you're beautiful." "Oh." "Your idea was just wonderful, Bushrod." "Worked out." "If I tried for a hundred years, I wouldn't be able to tell you how much this means to me." "Don't get any moony ideas in that head of yours." "I didn't do it for you." "Owed your ma and pa something for their hospitality." "Far as you and me is concerned there might as well be the Allegheny Mountains between us." "Ah." "The heavens shined on me today." "To beat a man like Lige Blake." "Ah." "My cup runneth over." "And I owe it all to you." " Mary, wait." " She said no, Luke?" " Five times." " Why?" "I don't know." "But I got an idea." "How's your arm, Gentry?" " Tolerable." " That's good." "Now, leave it to me." "I'll talk to her." " I reckon it'll take more than talk." " Now, go and run along." "I'll see to it." "Luke." "Too late." "Ach." "It isn't a cheery prospect for a man to have a walking bear for a son-in-law." "I'll be putting on new hinges all the time and that runs into money." "Ah." "I'm an unhappy man." "My lovely coat." "Preacher Ellis has arrived and the weddings are tomorrow." "And none of my family are marrying." "The Cherne name will die." " Bushrod, would you consider now, if I...?" " No, no, don't look at me." "My arm's fine." "I am ready to leave." "But you're staying for the weddings, are you not?" " Well, all right, I'll leave the next day." " Aye." "Mary Stuart, come here." "I want you to tell me why you treat Luke Radford so bad." " I treat him better than he deserves." " Ach." "Bless me." "What's come over you?" "Two weeks ago, you were as thick as flies, and now?" " A woman can change her mind." " Aye." "I've never met one that couldn't." "Have you, Bushrod?" "Bushrod doesn't know anything about women." "Hark me, Mary Stuart." "It's time you were wed and planning a family of your own." "Now, tomorrow I want you to go to Luke and make up to him so that he might ask you again." " Hear me?" " Yes, Pa." " Is that all?" " Go help your mother." "What are you doing, Mary Stuart?" " Just looking out." " At the shed?" "You're wasting your time chasing after Mr. Gentry." " Am I?" " He's not interested in you." " He isn't?" " No, he isn't." "All he wants is to get to the Northwest Territory." "Does he?" "Meanwhile, you've made Luke Radford real mad." "I wouldn't blame him if he never spoke another word to you." " Wouldn't you?" " Oh, stop parroting and get into bed." "You told me I'd have to figure out my own way of catching Mr. Gentry." "Well, there are a lot of different ways." "I haven't tried them all yet, not by a long shot." "Now, all six of you know that marrying up is a mighty serious business." "And if you don't know, I'm telling you right now." "But if you feel correct in your minds about how you're going to carry on your future lives together and nobody around here's got any objection to your marrying..." "Anybody got any objections?" "Everybody sure they haven't got any objections?" "Now put on the rings and repeat after me:" "With this ring, I thee wed." "With this ring, I thee wed." "I now pronounce you men and wives." "Now kiss the brides and start the fiddles." "Everybody wed up." "Aye, it gets better every swallow." " Save your life, Bushrod." " I've already saved it 70 times over." "Mary Stuart, why are you a long-faced woman today?" "I'm not dancing." "That music sounds mighty sweet." "Will you dance with me, Bushrod Gentry?" "Nothing would give more pleasure, Mary Stuart Cherne." " How much liquor you had?" " Just enough to make my feet itch." " True you're leaving tomorrow?" " Crack of dawn." " Wouldn't be too sure about that." " Why shouldn't I be?" "Might not let you go." "Don't know how you can stop me." "Unless this time you aim to shoot me." " I might." " Wouldn't do you no good." "If you shot me in the leg, I'd just keep on crawling." "If you gut-shot me, I wouldn't be no use to you." "If you shot me in the back, your father wouldn't like it." "There are other ways to keep a man from leaving." "I don't recollect none a lady would stoop to." "I'm not so sure I'm a lady, are you?" " You run from Stepping Woman?" " As far as I can." " She put on marrying face?" " She's bound and determined." "Not blame you for being scared." "She's the most marrying critter I've run into yet." "You'll run fast, but not very far, maybe." " I can run a far piece." " I no think so." "Well, goodbye, Sandak." "Just put your gun down, Gentry." "And set the pack down." "You ain't going nowhere." " What's the matter with you people?" " Just put your gun away and sit down." " You act crazy." " Ain't he the innocent boar hog?" "You know any man cute enough to carry a turkey gun is a little too cute." "Banks, stop trying to stir him up so you can shoot him." " Being the oldest, I got that right." " I got a right to know what this is all about." "You'll find out." "Here they come." " No." "Yeah." " Mary, what are you up to?" " Silence." "Silence, now." "There was a time when I'd hoped you'd become a limb of the Cherne family tree willingly and on your own." "I've broken bread with you." " I've sheltered you under my roof." " It was the shed..." "You repay my hospitality by betraying this young and innocent girl." "I betrayed nobody." "Bushrod Gentry, I know your kin in North Carolina." "Upright prayerful folk they be." " But the devil has laid hands on you." " Somebody listen..." "A man who will not protect his own daughter is not fit to be a father." " Preacher Ellis, are we ready?" " Yes." "I ain't." "It's a lie, a downright lie." "It ain't fitting to come to marriage bedecked in the weapons of the heathen." " Remove that knife and tomahawk from him." " Do as you're bid, lads." "What?" "No!" "No, you're not gonna take these..." "Put that knife back in my boot." "Leave that tomahawk." " He's ready." " No, I ain't." " Mary, tell them it's a lie." " I can't tell them that, Bushrod." " Did you not take her to the cave...?" " She took me to the cave." "It is immaterial." "You were fleeing from your own conscience." "That tells me all I want to know." "There's no use arguing, but I'll tell you this:" "Get rid of those guns." "I'll fight your family barehanded and beat them." " That's how innocent I am." " They'd kill you." " It's a chance I'm willing to take." " It wouldn't be fair and square." "As fair and square as anything that's happened today." "Let him try it, Father." "I'm fair spoiling to whale him." "Fremont, I raised you to be fairer than that." "Now, come to think of it you lads have not been getting all the fighting you can use lately." "We'll do it this way." "Shields, you're a little young yet." "You come over and stay by me." "Fremont, you take sides with Bushrod against Banks and Hugh." " That makes it fair and square." " Where does that leave me?" "If you're the last man standing on your feet, you'll be let to go." " Alone?" " Alone, I promise." "Now, get ready, lads." "Take your places." "And remember, I raised you to be fair and square." "And that goes for you, Fremont." "You fight just as hard on Bushrod's side as if he were human and not a polecat." "Go to it." " Oh, my belly." " He hit you in the head." "I can't..." "I can't move." " You must try to get up, Fremont." " I'm paralyzed." "Aye, then you cannot move." "Maybe I can help you up." "Hey, that's not fair and square." "You ready to fight, Fremont, fair and square?" "Fremont, stop biting your brother." "It's better than that whip." "It's just you and me, Fremont." " I'm holding you to your promise." " You won." "Bushrod, laddie, I forgive your transgression." "And I can always use another son of your caliber." "Mary Stuart Cherne, do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?" "I do." "And you, Bushrod Gentry do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?" " He does." " I don't." "I'll blow your heart out." " All right, I take her." " The ring, Brother Cherne." "The ring, the ring." "I forgot." "Oh." "Here, use this one." "A mite big, maybe, but it'll do the trick." "Put it on her finger." " Now say, "With this ring, I thee wed."" " With this ring, I thee wed." "I now pronounce you man and wife." " Now kiss the bride." " I'm dogged if I will." "Now, look, son this wedding might have been a little unexpected and all of that but you're just as married as you're ever going to be." "Don't be fritter-minded about it." "Now, this girl is your wife, and I want you to take care of her." "I do not wanna see her a widow so soon." "Now, we'll all go back and have a drink to celebrate." "Good." "Guess we'd better get those gourd seeds planted right away." "Is it that scurrilous being married to me?" "I'd as leave be tied to a cinnamon bear." " Why'd you do it?" " Because." "Because." "That's a woman's answer for you." "You know you lied." "Who was it?" "Who was it ought to be shot?" "That mule-braying Luke Radford, probably." " That's it." "It was Luke, wasn't it?" " No, Bushrod, it was you." "Me?" "But you just fessed up to lying." "I changed my mind." "It was you, Bushrod." "I'm stiff and sore and all pounded on." "Meeting up with you was like declaring war on France or some other big country." " You're really going?" " Right now, and alone." "Your pa and those coyote brothers of yours can follow if they want." "I'll guarantee you there will be a string of dead Chernes from here to the Territory." "Go on and go if that's the kind of husband you turned out to be." "I won't stop you." "Howdy." "I'd like a drink of whiskey." " This much?" " Twice as big." "You want some vittles?" "Yeah, I could eat a barn door." "What do you go...?" "That man ain't happy." "They say he and his old lady ain't spoke to each other in 10 years." "Uh..." " That ain't mutton, is it?" " Right." "Sorry, I can't eat mutton." "You see, when I was a kid, I had a pet lamb, name of McGinty." "One winter things got hard." "The old man put McGinty in the pot." "Nobody told me about it." "I'd guess I must have had a good quarter of that lamb before I found out." "I felt like a cannibal." "I was as sick as a dog." "So you can see why I don't like mutton." "I ain't interested in your life story, and mutton's all I got." "Well, I'll eat some bread." "You can eat what you want." "You're paying for the mutton." "But I ain't touched it." "You can put it back in the pot." "Ten cents now, plus the whiskey." "So I can't even get something to eat anymore without a fuss." "You're paying for this meal or I'm gonna call the constable." "I don't care who you call." " I'd pay, son, if I was you." " You ain't me." "How about another drink?" "They don't like me here as well as some places I've been." " Are you going to pay for that mutton?" " I don't like mutton." "That's defrauding an innkeeper." "I hereby place you under arrest." "Stand up." "Hold out your hands." "I'd like to say something to the innkeeper first." " What?" " I don't like you either." "I demand a trial!" "You'll get it." "Right now!" " You'll get 30 days for this." " I don't believe it." "Ain't a court in the land would find me guilty." "When the justice of the peace hears my side, he'll turn me loose." " I doubt it." " Who is the justice of the peace?" "I am." " Sheep meat?" " Mutton." "Thirty days is a long time." "Before it's over, you're gonna learn to like mutton." " I got a big pot of it too." " I doubt I'll be here 30 days." "I wish you would try to get out." " I'd add six months for attempted jailbreak." " How's your eye?" "It looks like a big old persimmon that's started to go bad." "It'll be better in 30 days." "You can come out now, Bushrod." "Oh, no." "Husband, you leave an awful easy trail to follow." "Bushrod, why are we going so fast?" "I wanna get as far from Bowling Green as I can." " I wish you'd slow down." "I'm tired." " Thought they called you Stepping Woman." "I've been stepping all day." "Bushrod." " What?" " I wanna rest." "I thought you could walk as good as a man." "I can when I'm fresh, but I'm just plain tuckered." "All right, you've rested." "Let's go." " I can't." " That's up to you." "I'm going on." "You're gonna leave me here without any defense?" "Well, you got this far without any." " I had a gun then." " Where is it?" "I lost it when we crossed that little crick." "I can't believe a gal brought up on a frontier would lose a gun." "I did." "And I can't imagine you're fool enough to throw it away either." "Throw it away?" "I wouldn't do anything like that." "Guns cost money." "You was raised in the woods." "You can take care of yourself." " Without a gun?" " You got a knife." "There are big critters in these woods." "Supposing a bobcat went after me." "There ain't no animals gonna bother you." " How about Indians?" " I don't reckon there's any around here." "There might be." "You'd feel pretty bad if you ran into an Indian someday wearing my scalp on his belt." "What do you wanna do?" " Go to bed." " That ain't decent." " Yes, it is, we're married." " No, we ain't." "Ah, that's your father's ring." "It ain't mine." "Shall we go to bed now?" "We can sleep right here." "Get out your blanket, Bushrod." "Get out your blanket, Bushrod." "You're never gonna keep warm that way, Bushrod." " I can this way." " This is our wedding night, honey." "You're supposed to just be boiling with romance." "You're gonna get dizzy spinning around like that." "I've been dizzy ever since I met you." "The sweetest part of marriage is being close to one another." "You're more precious to me than a ruby." " Why are you so shy, Bushrod?" " I ain't shy at all." "I'm sick of being chased like a runaway bull." "I don't get caught, see?" "I do the catching, because trapping is my business." "You sure trapped me, honey." "Once and for all, will you get this through your thick skull bones?" "I don't want you." "I wanna be left by my lonesome." "Right now." "Did you break anything, Bushrod?" "Ready to go to bed now?" "Stay where you are." "We're friends." "Howdy." " Howdy." "Say, he looks bad hit." "Yeah, we're gonna have to split up and send him to Bowling Green, to the doctor." " You folks seen any Shawnee sign?" " Not so far." "Well, they've been burning haystacks and stealing stock so we formed up a little punishment party." "Mister, I'd like to volunteer for your punishment party." "Know just how you feel." "Well, I take right kindly to your offer, brother." "I'll go too." " You'll what, ma'am?" " I'm volunteering." " Uh, this here's my wife." "You've got no gun, honey." "Remember?" "You lost it." "I can use his." "Well, now, I never heard of no woman on a punishment party, ma'am." "We've just been married a short time." "She don't want me out of her sight." "You'd better go back to Bowling Green and wait for me there." "I'll do no such thing." "I'm as good a shot as you." "Well, of course that's up to you, mister." "She's your wife." "Well, no, I wouldn't risk her." "She's more precious to me than a ruby." " Well, we'd best get going." " I'm coming too." " Get your hands off of me." " You understand how it is, boys." "A woman bows her neck, there's nothing you can do." " Why, you crawling hyena." " Oh, it'll only be a day or two, honey." "These gentlemen will defend you safe to Bowling Green." "Ah!" "Oh!" "Gumptious little feist." "Now, let's go." "I'm gonna catch you, Bushrod Gentry, if I have to trail you all the way to Canada." "If it wasn't for this hurt man I just might shoot the two of you right between the eyes." "And don't try to follow me, or I still might." "Come on, Sandak." "And you got me good and mad, Sandak, following me like I was a little kid." "You still little kid to me." "When I catch that Bushrod Gentry, I'm gonna kill him." "You'll kill this old Indian first." "Well, men, it's no use going any further after them critters." "They must have turned north up into the Rough River country." "Howdy." "Hi, Esau." "Hamilton." "Howdy, men." "Howdy, boys." " Howdy." " Whiskey all around." "Yes, sir." "I thought wax must have been plugging my ears when I heard your wife call you Bushrod Gentry." "I never figured I'd come across Esau Hamilton." " I've been hearing about you for 10 years." " Well, I get around some, I guess." "From all them tall tales about you, I somehow figured you to be a bigger man." "Sometimes I'm bigger than I look." "For a man that don't pack more weight than you, you've been in some wingdings." "I whipped a bird down in Duquesne once." "He said I was the only man that hurt him worse than Bushrod Gentry." "Sounds like it might have been old Vince Wesley." "That's right, it was old Vince." "He could gouge out your eye like shelling a pea." "What started your fight?" "Well, he looks up at me and he says:" ""How's the weather up there?"" " Just that?" " I've been hearing that since I was a kid." "After a while, it gets your nerves frazzled." "So when he asked me, I just cuffed him one." "Well, then some militiamen stepped in and we just tore that place apart." "Yes, sir, those were the good old days." "Now I'm just a poor old farmer, grubbing stumps and hoeing corn." " Hey, mister." " Here it comes now." " What is it, friend?" " How's the weather up there?" "Well, you're up here." "Now you know." "Tell me, where are you heading?" "You going back to your wife in Bowling Green?" " No, the opposite direction." " Another portion here." "I figure she ought to be busting loose from those men about now." " Well, what will you do?" " Trap, I reckon." "That's the life." "Wish I could go with you." " Well, why not?" " Well, I got a wife and kids." "She's a good woman and I like the kids too, but..." " Well, you know how it is." " Yeah, I feel for you, Esau." "Doggone it, I'm tired of busting sods." "I wanna breathe again before I'm too old." " I think I'll go with you." "Sounds good." "We'll do her." "Hey, can't a man get no whiskey around here?" "Bushrod, Stepping Woman outside, wanna make talk with you." " Stepping Woman?" " Bushrod's woman." " Well, I guess we don't go, then." " What do you mean, we don't go?" "No female tells Bushrod Gentry what to do." "Now, you listen to me, Mary Stuart Cherne..." "You listen to me, Bushrod Gentry." "I changed my mind." "I don't want you anymore." "I'm all through following you." "There." "You're free now." "I just unwed you, so go on and go anywhere you want to." "Live in the woods like a heathen Shawnee." "Trap your stinking beaver pelts." "Wander anywhere you hanker." "The further the better." "I'm going home, home to Luke Radford." "Luke Radford." "Maybe his ears do stick out and maybe he don't talk fancy, but at least he's got feelings manly feelings, which is more than I can say for you." "I apologize for marrying you, Bushrod." "I apologize for the inconvenience." "It's just that I loved you so all-fired much I thought you'd have to love me back." "Come on, Sandak." "Too bad." "You two make good children together." "Much spirit." "Do we go?" " It's all settled." "I sent her packing." "Good." "Tell you what:" "You bed down at my place tonight." "We'll break the news to the old lady in the morning." "I think I'll send her and the kids back to her folks in Virginia." "Keelboat men." "They're always aching for a fight." "We start the new life right now." " That brings back sweet memories." " Well, don't count on me." "This is only gonna be a spring zephyr." "Howdy." "All I said was, "How's the weather up there?"" "Well, gents, who will be next?" "Pa, Pa, come home quick." "What's the matter, boy?" "It's little Mary Jane." "She's awful sick, and Ma sent me for you." "Well, we'll come." "I'm sorry, boys." "We'll have to finish it some other time." " Come on, Bushrod." " I hope it's nothing serious." "Thanks." " What's the matter?" " She's got the croup." "And I'm just praying it don't go into lung fever." " How long has she been sick?" " Since before noon." "Oh, darling." "All that coughing." "It tears me open." "Why, she's burning up with fever." "We tried everything we know." "Now it's up to the Lord." " Is Mary Jane gonna die?" " No, no." "I remember something Ma used to do with us as kids." "We'll try anything." " She used to steam us." " Steam?" "She'd make kind of a tent over us and put a kettle of boiling water inside." " Well, let's try it." " I ain't saying it'll work." "It might even bring on the lung fever, getting her all heated up like that." " We'll have to take the chance." " Please." "All right, you get some kettles and pots." "Come on, Eddie, let's build a big fire outside." "Open the door, Eddie." "She's getting weaker." "All right, Mrs. Hamilton." "Esau, come here!" "Feel the baby." " The fever's busted." "She's stopped coughing." "I'll put her to bed now." "Bushrod..." "Well..." "About us trapping together..." "Esau, I hate to tell you this, but I'm gonna go her alone." " Well, but I..." " Running a trapline's a job for a single man." " Well, yeah, but you said yesterday..." " I don't care what I said." " Well, let me explain." " There ain't no use arguing." "I've made up my mind." "If you was to fall down and break a leg it would take me all winter to haul that big carcass in." "Time I got you taken care of, it would be time for the ice to break." "If I had any fur, it wouldn't be prime." "Probably lose half my traps." "Come the spring, I wouldn't have a cent." "I'd end up having to split rails all summer." "My hands would blister and I'd get ornery as a boar coon." "Next thing you know, I'd be fighting and brawling around and get thrown in jail." "If you think I'm gonna spend six months in jail on your account you got another thing coming." " You're right." " Yeah." "Well, say goodbye to the wife and kids for me." "I sure will." "And, Bushrod you are bigger than you look." "Hey, Bushrod." "You're heading the wrong way for the trapping country." " Did you have some trouble?" " I got an arrow through my leg." " Shawnee raiding party, killing and raiding." " Which way were they headed?" " Barren River." " Barren River?" "Bushrod." "Bushrod." "Bushrod." "Where's Mary Stuart?" " She run." " What happened?" "We come to Shawnee." "They shoot." "I make Stepping Woman run away." "I kill two before they hit me." "You go, hurry." "She need you." " You're hit bad." " Oh." "I'll be all right." "Go." "Go fast." "Go." "You sure can cause a man a lot of trouble." "What did you do to get those Indians so mad at you?" "I outran them, that's what." "Soon as I get my breath I'm gonna fan you good, causing me all this work." " You ain't gonna fan nobody." " You're my wife." "You got it coming." "You forget, I unwed you." "Ah, you've been following me around like a hound dog." "Well, I changed." "Yeah, a fine time to change, just when I saved your bacon." " Nobody asked you to follow me." " It's a good thing I did." "That Indian was about to part your hair, way down by the roots." "Oh, that." "I was in no danger." "I was just about to launch my attack when you butted in." " Well, I'll be dogged." " I'm a frontier woman, remember?" "I don't need you to protect me from Indians." "You..." "You..." "You get off of me, Bushrod Gentry." "Like I told you, I don't want you any..." "You stay here and launch your attack." "I'm running for my life." "Bushrod, wait for me." "Get in there." "Maybe there's another opening in the back of this thing." "Come on." "They've got us like flies in a bottle." "No, they ain't." "Come on." "Hurry up." "We can wait right here and get them as they come in." "Now, that's strategy." "On top of everything, you have strategy." "They ain't stupid." "Give me the bow and arrow, then." "I can thread a needle with it." "They don't scare me none." "I'll shoot their gizzards out." "Bushrod?" "Bushrod." "Where'd you go, Bushrod?" "You got any more strategy handy?" "Why, you..." "You just used me like a hunk of bait." "I got a bite, didn't I?" "Now, stay where you are." "Hey, Mary, it's me." "Will you hold your fire, you leatherhead?" "I never saw such a stupid..." "If I hadn't got that Indian, you'd be shorter by about a head." "He'd never have gotten behind me if you wasn't so jumpy with those arrows." "We're even now." "That still leaves that big Indian with the rifle." "He ain't gonna leave the mouth of the cave unless we can draw him in here somehow." "I'll tell you what:" "If he thought I was dead, he might come in here looking for you." "Probably wants you alive to take home with him." " Serve him right too." " I might not look so bad in a tepee." "Wait a minute." "Now, I'll play like I'm dead." "You start wailing and fussing." "You know, pretend like you're heartbroken over me." "Huh." "It's gonna take some real pretending." "Try to get him close enough so that I can grab him." "It's a good idea, Bushrod." "Oh, you're ready to start?" "Then I'll put this right here where you can get it." "There." "I'll make you look real dead too." "There." "You're acting real good, Bushrod." "Well, I'm gonna get started now." "No, no." "Dead." "Oh, no, no, no." "It worked." "He's coming in." "Oh, Bushrod." "Speak to me." "Speak to me, Bushrod." "You can get ready now." "He's coming closer." "My precious ruby, I just can't go on living anymore without you." "He'll be on top of me any minute." "Get ready now." "All right, you can stop acting now, Bushrod." "Now, Bushrod." "Bushrod, ain't you...?" "Now, Bushrod." "Ain't you gonna move?" "Bushrod!" "Bushrod." "You can get up now, Bushrod." "Bushrod, what are you doing?" "Bushrod." "Bushr..." "Will you get out of here?" " Mary, doggone you, that's me." " Oh, excuse me, Bushrod." "Now, Bushrod." "Go on, hit him." "What are you waiting for?" "Hit him." "I got him this time, Bushrod." "I've got him now." "Ugh!" "Oh!" "Oh, my goodness." "Well, move him around so as I can get at him." "Now." "Ugh!" "Oh!" "Oh, Bushrod." "I've had just about enough of you." "I'm gonna bash your brains out." " Do you feel all right now, Bushrod?" " That Indian's got the right idea." " What idea?" " Running away from you." "As soon as I get my legs back, I'll pass him like he's standing still." "Well, he got me mad." "You could scare the whole Shawnee nation." "Well, that's that." "I'll go trapping where it's peaceful, and you can go on back to Barren River." "Bye." "Bye." "Bushrod." "I can't fight you off any longer." "You won me." "Well, doggone." "There was times I didn't think I'd make it."