1922 Page #3

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Yep.

Lovely room.

Gets the early light, doesn't it?

Well... stays cool most afternoons,

you know...

Sun's on the other side.

Here you go.

There we go.

- [Jones] Lot of duds.

- [Wilfred] Yeah.

Arlette liked her clothes...

and her mail-order catalogs.

But, uh... since she only took

the one suitcase...

- We've got two. See the other one...

- [Jones] Right.

- ...in the back corner right there?

- [Jones] Yeah.

I'd have to say,

she only took the ones she liked the best.

See, she had two pairs of pants...

and she had... a pair of blue denims...

and those are gone.

But, uh...

she didn't much care for pants.

Well, pants are good for traveling in,

though. Aren't they?

Man or woman,

pants are good for traveling in.

A woman might choose them.

If she was in a hurry, that is.

I suppose.

Well, uh...

She did take her good jewelry and, uh...

her picture of Nana and Pop-Pop.

[Jones] Did she now?

Well, I suppose she would, wouldn't she?

Nice room.

Nice house.

Woman would have to be crazy

to leave a nice room,

a nice house like this one.

Well, uh... Mama always talked

about the city a lot.

Uh, she had this idea

to open up a dress shop.

- Did she?

- Yes, sir.

[chuckles]

But, uh... that would take some money

doing something like that, wouldn't it?

Well, she got them acres from her father.

[Jones] Seems to be a pair

of woman's shoes under there.

Broke in, too.

The kind that'd be good for traveling.

Don't suppose she, uh, ran away barefooty,

do you?

[Wilfred] Hmm.

No, I think she took her canvas shoes.

Anyway, those are the ones that are gone.

Well... [clears throat]

Well, someone must have come along...

picked her up, given her a ride...

before her head cleared.

- That'd be my guess.

- Yep, mine, too. Mine, too.

Well, sheriff...

if we're done in here now...

me and my boy better get back to work.

That useless well should have been

filled in three years ago.

Yeah, an old cow of mine

got out of the barn.

Elphis.

Her name was Elphis.

She got out of the barn

and decided to take a stroll on the cap.

Yup.

Didn't have the good grace

to die on her own either.

I had to shoot her.

Go on. Come on back, I'll show you.

Right, no, no. Another time.

Thanks for the lemonade

and for being so gracious.

Could've been a lot less so,

considering who sent me here.

Oh, no. It's all right, sheriff.

We all have got our jobs.

He didn't even wanna look.

[Wilfred] If God rewards us on earth

for good deeds...

then maybe Satan rewards us for evil ones.

I can't say for sure,

but that was a good summer.

Plenty of heat and sun for the corn

and just enough rain.

Got a ways to go.

Come to papa.

[laughing]

[Wilfred] Henry wasn't always unsmiling

that summer,

and Shannon Cotterie was the reason why.

Mr. James?

Darling.

Is...?

Is Henry sick?

Sick?

The boy's as healthy as a horse.

He kind of eats like one, too, don't he?

Yeah.

I know. It's just...

[sighs] He's different.

I... I always used to know

what he was thinking, but...

now I don't anymore.

He broods.

- Does he?

- Yeah.

You haven't seen it?

Gosh, uh...

he seems like his old self to me.

But he cares for you, Shannon.

An awful lot, darling.

So, maybe what looks like brooding to you

feels like lovesick to him. Hmm?

Yeah. I know, I've thought of that, but...

Mr. James, if...

If he was, say, sweet on someone else,

one of those girls from school...

you'd tell me, wouldn't you?

Shannon...

any summer's a hardworking time.

And with Arlette gone...

me and Hank been busier

than one-armed paper hangers.

So... he hardly has time to spark you,

let alone some other girl.

Yeah. No, I just...

He's so quiet now...

so moody.

Sometimes I have to say his name twice

or even three times

before he hears it and answers.

And I'm trying to...

The only thing you need to worry about

is putting him back in his place

should he get out of it.

Boys...

get pretty steamed up, you know.

Right?

Yeah.

Mr. James...

I'm... I'm real sorry about Mrs. James.

I know you think I'll slip to Shannon

or that sheriff, but...

you don't have to worry about me.

All right now. That's enough now, Henry.

Go to bed.

Hank.

She hated it when you'd call me that.

All right, Hank.

Go to bed.

[cow mooing]

[mooing continues]

[groans then coughs]

[Wilfred] The pipe led to one place

and one place only.

[grunting]

Pa? What happened?

I just thought I heard a fox

trying to get in the barn.

A fox?

- I haven't seen a fox for...

- Back to bed, Hank.

Down in the dark they would die.

If not of suffocation, then...

[scratching]

[scratching stops]

Henry returned from school later that day

and brought with him some news.

[breathing heavily]

She's 15 years old, boy.

Others get married that young.

Christ. I got no money

to give you a start. You understand?

Maybe by '25,

if crops and prices stay good,

- but right now, there ain't nothing...

- There would be enough!

If you hadn't been such a bugger

about that 100 acres, there'd be plenty!

She would've given me some of it.

- She wouldn't have talked to me this way.

- She would've talked to you much worse.

And laughed.

Your mother told you...

to keep your willy in your pants. Hmm?

And although it was as crude and hurtful

as most of what she had to say...

- you should have followed it.

- Mom would've helped me fix it.

Money fixes everything.

[car approaching]

[sighs]

You better make yourself scarce.

You forget how tight your mama was

with a dollar

and you forget too fast for your own good.

I'm gonna do my best for you, son.

You'd better.

[Wilfred] Harlan Cotterie prospered more

than most farmers

in the years 1916 to 1922.

- [Harlan] It's a beast.

- [Wilfred] Mm-hm.

And Harlan had always been good to me.

I'd always considered us

not just neighbors,

but good friends.

Yet in that moment I hated him.

Not because he'd come out to tax me

about my son.

No.

It was that shiny blue Cadillac he had.

It was the new barn painted bright red.

It was the indoor plumbing.

But most of all...

it was that plain-faced, biddable wife

whose sweetly given reply

to any problem would be:

Whatever you think is best, dear.

[Harlan]

First, and right away, she's gonna go

to the St. Eusebia Catholic Home for Girls

in Omaha.

She doesn't know it yet,

but it's gonna happen. It'll be good.

Sounds like some kind of orphanage.

It's not an orphanage.

It's a clean, wholesome and busy place.

So I've been told.

She'll have chores, get her schooling,

in four months she'll have her baby.

Then we'll give that kid up for adoption,

then she can come home.

What's my part in all this?

I assume I must have one.

Are you smarting on me, Wilf?

Look, I know you've had a tough year,

- but I will not bear you smarting on me.

- I'm not smarting on you,

but you need to know

you're not the only one who's mad...

and ashamed.

Just tell me what you want.

All right.

I know you're not a rich man...

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