Cold Mountain Page #7

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Sure,

Sure,

Hey, wake up,

Evenin', missis,

- where's Georgia?

- where's Georgia?

- Captain Teague wants us to play now,

- love to,

we heard there were some deserters

up in these parts hidden out in a big cave,

- Not come to my ears,

- So you don't know where this big cave is?

- No, sir,

- You do, Stobs, He means...

No, right, No, no,

There is a cave right up near Bearpen

Branch, we played some music up there,

- Never occurred to me they were outliers,

- It ain't nowhere near Bearpen Branch,

He's always gettin' lost,

That cave - we live there,

I used to freeze up in that cave

till I got gived this new coat,

Ruby made me this coat,

I like my coat,

This part belonged to a reverend

and this part belonged to a horse,

Ruby said - what is it? -

I should pray or neigh, dependin',

He don't...

he don't know what he's sayin',

He got a mind

no bigger than a pickled walnut,

- It's a good coat,

On a sour apple tree

Broke my young heart,

we gonna be here all night?

Stand over there,

Ruby, she don't know

one end of the war from the other,

You don't have to worry yourself about her,

is what I'm sayin',

Or Ada, neither,

You know what I'm sayin'?

You too,

You stand over there,

we gonna get our tintype made?

Don't smile,

- what?

- Quit smilin',

He always smiles,

He don't mean nothin' by it,

I told him, there ain't nothin' in this world

worth a smile!

Put your hat over your face,

Cover your face with your hat,

- Ruby!

- what?

- Ruby!

- what's wrong?

- Teague... The Home Guard...

- what?

They shot your daddy!

They shot your daddy, and Pangle too!

I told Georgia he can stop here,

I told him he can sleep in the barn,

He's got nothin' inside him,

He'll walk out of here and die in the snow,

He can milk the cows,

I was worried about that,

It's five hours' climb from here,

He drew a map,

I'm ready,

You know them fools

stayed the night in the mill?

That's Stobrod Thewes, Can't do

one good thing without addin' the bad,

left tracks in the snow all the way up

for the Home Guard to follow,

- Sign that says Shoot me,

- Ruby...

Ruby,

I'm sorry,

Every piece of this is man's bullshit,

They call this war a cloud over the land,

but they made the weather, and then they

stand in the rain and say Sh*t, it's rainin'!

If I cry one tear for my daddy,

I stole it off a crocodile,

All right, then,

All right, then,

Dear God,

Oh, dear God,

He ain't here,

Agh! Teague's probably took him,

They did that with the Swanger boys,

didn't they?

Strung 'em up, as a warnin',

They took his coat,

why would they take his coat?

Daddy? Daddy!

Daddy!

- Daddy?

He's still breathin'!

It's Ruby!

Don't you die on me again!

- we gotta get him home,

- He won't make it, He'll die first,

He's got hardly no blood left in him,

There it is, I feel it,

- You got it?

- Yep,

There's a place close.

Old Cherokee, it used to be.

It's got shelter, water.

I used to hide up there

when he'd get a temper goin'.

God!

- I'll go look for some food,

- Take the shotgun,

Goddamn,

Turn around!

Go back where you came from!

Go back!

Ada?

Ada Monroe?

Turn around or I'll shoot!

Inman?

Inman?

Inman,

You better come with me,

Ruby,

This is Inman,

Oh! Congratulations!

Oughta send you out with a shotgun

a lot more!

looks if he's about to topple over,

- I may need to,

- You shot or somethin'?

Not lately,

- He's asleep,

- I ain't surprised,

- Your man looked tuckered out,

- I saw him,

In Sally Swanger's well,

A man like a black smudge in the snow,

- well, there you go,

- It wasn't the same, what I saw,

In the well it was as if he were falling,

- You probably just don't remember it right,

- I remember it exactly,

There were crows - black crows,

They were flyin' towards me,

Ruby, I thought I was seein' him fall,

Instead, I was seein' him come back to me,

I got big plans for that farm,

I know,

I know you have,

I got a vision in my mind

of how Black Cove oughta be,

I don't know, Ruby,

All this while

I've been packin' ice around my heart,

How do I make it melt?

Hey!

You about done with my knife?

we got a bird to cook,

Just about,

You're makin' a pig's ear of that job,

Give it to me,

Oh, I ain't gonna cut you,

Can't see that it'd make

a bit of difference if I did,

You got the right feelings for her?

Don't turn your head! Tsk,

I do,

I'm sorry,

I was tryin' to be quiet,

Did you get my letters?

I got three letters,

I carried them,

I carried them in the book you gave me,

The Bartram,

I probably sent 103,

Did you write to me?

whenever I could,

If you never got them, I can summarize,

- No, No, no,

- I pray you are well,

I pray I am in your thoughts,

You are all that keeps me

from slidin' into some dark place,

How did I keep you?

we barely knew each other,

It was a few moments,

A thousand moments,

They're like a bag...

of tiny diamonds,

Don't matter if they're real

or things I made up,

The shape of your neck,

That's real,

The way you felt under my hands

when I pulled you to me,

You were plowing a field,

You were carrying a tray,

- You wouldn't come in,

- No, I wouldn't go in,

So that's why I had to carry a tray,

So I could come out to see you,

That kiss,

which I kissed every day of my walking,

Every day I was waiting,

longing,

longing to see your face,

If you could see my inside...

Now, whatever you wanna name it -

my spirit? That's what I fear,

I think I'm ruined,

They kept tryin' to put me in the ground,

- But I wasn't ready,

- Inman...

But if I had... if I had goodness,

I lost it,

If I had anything tender in me,

I shot it dead,

How could I write to you after what I done,

what I seen?

Number one,

shut this door,

It's freezin',

Number two, shut that door,

It's freezin',

layin' on my back,

my fingers poked in my ears,

tryin' to shut out

who's got a bag of diamonds,

who's carrying a tray...

If you wanna get three feet up a bull's ass,

just listen to what sweethearts

whisper to one another,

In fact, if y'all gonna wimble-wimble

all night, I'm gonna sleep in with him,

- I'll say good night,

- No,

Please...

don't say good night,

wars make some things pointless,

It's hard to imagine a wedding,

I think even my father

would recognize that,

Ada, I wanna marry you,

If you'll have me,

Isn't there some religion where you just

have to say I marry you three times,

and you're man and wife?

I marry you,

I marry you, I marry you,

why is that funny?

I think it's I divorce you three times

and you're not married anymore,

I can wait for you,

Oh, Inman,

I marry you, I marry you, I marry you,

I marry you, I marry you,

I have so...

I have so many buttons, Sorry,

will you turn your back?

No,

No, I will not,

I'll lead the horse

at a pace your daddy can tolerate,

- You two go ahead now,

- No, I don't wanna do that,

- No, we can all go together,

- It's safer this way,

we're deserters,

No one has a quarrel with you,

He's right,

I gather I...

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