Wish You Well Page #3

---

and you take your little brother

with you,

he'd cross through fire for ya.

I'm ashamed of you.

I'm really sorry.

If you ever pull another thing like that,

you're gonna feel my hand across your skin.

And believe me, it's something

you ain't ever gonna forget.

Hey, Billy. What's the matter, child?

Ma's baby coming.

She sent me to get you.

She don't feel right.

I'm gonna drive you.

Well, you can drive me,

but I'll walk home.

I don't want you staying

around George Davis.

I'm coming with you.

- No, this is no place for you.

- I want to help.

Billy, is your pa there?

Mare gonna drop its foal.

He's staying in the barn 'til it come.

I'll get my things.

Hi!

I brought you a present.

Here's one for you.

And one for you.

Hey.

Hey.

We still have some time here,

you can go on outside, I'll call you.

How many have you delivered?

Forty two in forty seven years.

I remember 'em all.

And they all lived?

You go on outside now.

I'll let you know when.

Breathe, Sally. Just deep breaths.

That's good. That's good.

I'm sorry about putting

that snake in your pail.

I did it to you first.

My pa kill a man that done it to him.

You're not your dad, Billy.

If I tell him I'm fetching Ms. Louisa...

he'd be mad.

We're here to help your mother.

He can't have a problem with that.

Is that right?

- How's your foal, pa?

- Dead.

What's she doing here?

I got them to help ma.

Ms. Louisa's inside right now.

That woman's inside my house?

It's time. Come on. The baby's comin'.

Listen, you got no business

being here, old woman.

Sally needs help.

Are you gonna do it? Come on.

If it's a girl,

you let her die, you hear?

Don't need me no more damn girls.

He looks like you.

What will you be naming

your new baby boy?

They call you Lou.

- That be your name, girl?

- Well, sort of.

Then it be Lou.

I have a brother, Lou.

Billy,

when the crops are in,

you come see me, all right?

Okay, Ms. Louisa.

Why did Billy's mother marry

a man like George Davis?

Well, 'cause he owned

his own land and livestock.

She could've left the mountain.

Well, this mountain

is all she's ever known.

It's hard to leave that.

Have you ever thought about leaving?

No, I never have.

Me and this land get along

right well. Like family.

I think we'd both be lost

without the other.

And when I'm gone,

it'll belong to you and Oz.

I've never owned anything.

Well, you don't exactly own land, Lou.

You and the high rock just kinda

take care of each other.

Did you have any other children

besides my grandfather?

I...

had me a little girl...

named Annie.

She was so pretty when she was born.

I knitted her a pink cap.

It fit her head real good.

What happened?

Her little chest rose and fell

and rose and fell.

Then it forgot to rise again.

Doesn't seem fair, a momma

don't get to see her baby's eyes

at least once.

My dad died in that accident,

'cause he and my mom were arguing.

Well, Lou, people pass

when it's their time.

We can't forget 'em,

but we got to go on living.

And the folks we still have with us,

they deserve all the help

we can give 'em.

I think it's time I showed you

something. Come on.

These are the letters

your mother wrote to me.

I didn't know she did that.

There might be a lot

you don't know about her.

It's time you learned.

- Cotton! Cotton! Cotton!

- Hey, Cotton!

Well, look who's in town.

What are you doing here?

My office is in the courthouse here.

What are you doing here?

- Louisa gave us the day off.

- Oh, nice.

Well, what's say you give me a couple

of hours and I'll take you all to lunch?

We don't have a watch.

Well...

my father, he gave me this

when I first moved here.

He told me I would have

a lot of time on my hands.

I guess he wanted me

to keep track of it?

How about you keep track of it.

Two hours. All right?

Have fun. And Diamond,

you keep out of trouble, you hear?

- How much for a slice of pie?

- A nickel.

Hey you, get them dirty fingers

away from my pie.

- Where you from boy? The mountain?

- No, I'm from the moon.

You just march yourself on away from here.

Get back up the mountain where you belong.

Hey, get! You little...

Atta boy, Jeb.

- Come on, Oz, let's go.

- Hey... why you leaving?

Because... we're from the mountain, too.

That's some mighty fine eatin', Cotton.

- Yeah, I agree, Diamond. It's good food.

- Thanks, Cotton.

- John!

- Hello, Mr. Cotton.

What's going on?

The coal business is gone.

I lost my job at the mine.

You didn't sell

to Southern Valley, did you?

Yes, sir, I did.

Me and most of the people

on this side of the mountain.

Well, take care.

- Good luck.

- Thank you.

Your parents were nice looking.

Yeah, they was.

Why didn't you tell me about them?

Why should I?

Because we're friends.

I never knowed my mom, but...

I try to think of what

her voice would be like.

- It's hard not having parents.

- You still got a momma.

No, I don't.

Don't you ever give up

on a breathing body, Lou.

Ever.

You're good at telling stories.

Maybe you should try writing.

Shoot. I don't know no big words

except for Hallelujah.

Thanks.

You're a good friend.

You're like family.

My daddy say that there are

two things in life you die for,

friends and family.

Sometimes they're one in the same.

Maybe they are.

What's that, Lou?

Nothing important.

"The wind ride on tree limbs,

"the underbrush was thick

with sounds of stealthy movement

"and the tall grass seemed to clutch

at the boy's pant legs.

"The little boy was certain

that regiments of hobgoblins

"were roaming nearby

in full terrifying splendor.

"Yet something inside him had clearly

risen superior to these horrors.

"For he did not once think

of turning back.

"Well,

maybe once, he admitted to himself.

"Or perhaps twice.

"He ran hard for a while,

making his way over the knolls,

"navigating crisscross gullies and stumbling

through the jungle of dense woods.

He cleared one last grove

of trees, stopped..."

There's a diamond in here.

- A diamond?

- Yep.

Chip a little piece off it every day,

and before you know it,

it'll be the purtiest diamond

anyone ever saw.

Maybe you could sell it

for a lot of money.

I ain't need no money.

Got everything I need,

right here on this mountain.

What's going on over there?

Well, coal company's got all the money,

now they want all the land.

You want to sell your property,

that's my price.

Come on down...

It seemed everywhere I looked,

there were signs going up.

Sold to Southern Valley Coal.

Diamond never forgave the coal company

for what they did to his father.

Or for what they were doing

to the mountain.

Don't you even think about it,

Diamond Skinner.

I be seeing you!

- What was that all about?

- Nothing you have to worry about.

- Who was that?

- Judd Wheeler.

He owns a coal company

that killed my dad.

Y'all know about the stars?

Yeah. That's Big Dipper and Pegasus.

Ain't heard of those, but...

there's the Bear that's missing one leg.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes