02x05 - Amnesty

[bunniefuu]

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And she's been feverish since that time.

Almost immediately.

It's not the first time I'm told.

She was stung by a bee about 10 years back

and was ill for a week.

Well, frankly, ma'am..

...I know little more than what I've read about severe cases

of bee sting.

Where's there's no improvement

some cases have led to comma.

Are you saying she might die?

Let's hope for the best, shall we?

You calling me a liar, judge?

Your relationship with Ms. Smith is open to question.

Whether or not you two were friends in the past.

Your business is to take down the facts of that k*lling

the way I give 'em to you, about them men abusing her.

'I k*lled them two weasels 'cause I'd have been planted

'in the ground up there if I hadn't.'

- You know that fella there? - No.

You had to do with that woman, didn't you?

Oh, God! Please, God! No!

I ain't God, mister. I'm closer to the devil.

Now, don't you make no mistake about that.

[breathing heavily] Oh, I didn't do it.

Didn't do it.

Didn't do what?

Didn't have her.

Didn't have a chance to.

Tell it all.

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[Elizabeth] "Zeb, there's so much I can't explain to you.

"I can only say I've always loved you and I always will

"but I can't ever see you again.

Forgive me. Elizabeth."

Yes.

Oh, I'm looking for a woman. Elizabeth Smith.

Beth's not back yet.

She's delivering some books to the Swenson Post.

I see.

- Your name? - Zeb Macahan.

I'm Beth's husband.

'I've heard a lot about Zeb Macahan.'

And as much as we have something in common..

...meaning my wife

why don't you come inside?

We'll talk about it.

It's been a while since I played the host.

I'm not sure how entertaining you'll find me.

You're name isn't Smith.

You're Captain Robert Harrison.

Yeah.

We generally have a follow-up on that name, don't we?

Glorious hero of the Fort Nile's m*ssacre.

In fact, the latest memorial write up of that m*ssacre

'Harper's Magazine suggested'

that a statue be erected of me in Washington.

So you followed her up here believing she was in trouble.

About the size..

Beth.

Zeb.

Sorry about all the lying I was forced to do.

As you can see, we both survived the Fort Nile's m*ssacre.

"Survived," that's a very accurate description

of the last 20 years.

'"Survived."'

Didn't mean to interfere in your business.

- I'll be going. - Oh, stay for supper, please.

'Indeed, stay, Macahan.'

Unless you find my presence intolerable.

Alright, I'll see to my horse.

[instrumental music]

It's a bit early for that, isn't it, Robert?

And it will continue to get a bit early as we go on.

I did assure you of that, love.

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Up until five years ago I managed the reading fairly well.

Having my sight, I was able to delude myself

into believing that Elizabeth stayed on with me

through loving devotion.

Man has a unique facility

for practicing self deception, Mr. Macahan.

Robert, I don't think Zeb finds

your self-deprecation very entertaining.

Oh, he's been warned that I'm long out of practice

as a host.

Hell, I'm not gettin' out of a good dinner, Beth.

Oh, Zeb, please. I wouldn't want you leaving

without knowing exactly what happened.

Would you imagine less in the truth.

That's right, Mr. Macahan.

You haven't said very much about finding a so called..

...dead hero..

...a half alive..

...criminally negligent deserter.

Maybe it's because I couldn't believe it'd be the truth

if Beth stayed married to you.

Oh.

That's a kindness motivated I am

to suspect more about my wife's charms

'than any respect for her husband.'

Robert, I won't hear of this.

May I offer my apologies to Mr. Macahan.

You remind me of a man trying to bear a cross

and not doing a very good job of it.

Bearing a cross?

Trying?

Battle of Fort Niles, officially named by the commission.

I've had Elizabeth read it to me..

...a hundred times over..

...hoping to discover, in fact, some justification

for feeling the offended, the betrayed.

But disobedience of order is on my part.

Stupidity on the part of my wife.

Young wife wanting to be with her husband is not stupidity.

My apologies...again.

Substitute the word "foolishness" for "stupidity."

I think I'll get some night air until that mood mellows.

Which is usually at the bottom of a bottle I believe.

That's a hell of a woman, Macahan.

Agreed.

But you'd sure never know that you thought that

by listening to you.

Before we were married, she told me about you.

We were good friends.

I'd say you were lot more than good friends.

She made that very clear.

She loved you.

She wanted that understood before she agreed to marry me.

That was a long time ago, Harrison.

Indeed it was.

But you were her first love.

She was mine.

And one never forgets the glory of that first, great passion.

Did you?

- Yes. - You're a liar.

The more I'm around you, captain, the less I like it.

[laughing]

That's better. And I, on the other hand..

...I'm gettin' to like you quite a lot.

You're a bad liar.

Which means you haven't had much practice in lying.

Harrison, she loves you.

Yes, I believe she does..

...but in a far different fashion

from the way she loves you.

Problem is...I'm destroying her.

I've kept her trapped

in this godforsaken wilderness for 20 years.

I've done my best to drive her away.

I noticed.

She won't go, Macahan.

It's guilt.

She thinks she did this to me.

'I told her not to come west..'

...until after the Indian trouble was over.

She disregarded my orders.

Some...fool drivel about..

...a wife ought to be with her husband.

The Indians captured her about a mile from the fort.

She was riding to me. She didn't know the fort was under siege.

They stripped her on a hilltop.

In plain view of the fort.

Tied her to a stake.

They told me they would peel her.

Inch by inch, unless I surrender the garrison.

I was under precise orders

not to leave the fort under any circumstances

until the relief column arrived.

I ignored the orders..

...and I lit a charge up that hillside.

[g*nshots]

[Indians clamoring]

My God, Macahan.

The glory and the courage that live in simple men.

I had a reason, see, it was my wife.

But when I asked for volunteers..

...every man stepped forward.

Most of them green recruits who had never fired a shot in anger.

And they rode to the death I offered them

shrieking their defiance.

I didn't know until later

that every man was k*lled, except myself.

And that after it was over, they cut Beth loose

and left her there amid the dead.

She searched for my body.

Found me. Still breathing.

How she kept me alive..

...and nursed me to the point where I could move about..

...is a miracle I'll never understand.

I got this during the battle.

It would..

...eventually lead to..

...tapping my way about with a cane.

The word we got was most of the bodies

in that m*ssacre were unidentified.

Yes, we heard that. It was then I saw a way out.

Rather than face a court martial..

...live up here.

Place with no law. Nobody asking questions.

Captain, I'll tell you something

you're not gonna get me to believe that you're guilty

of anything in that m*ssacre.

I'd have done the same thing in your place.

And you'd have been court martialed, Macahan.

Found guilty of disobedience of orders and desertion.

For some men such a disgrace might be bearable

but, you see, my family boasts

one of the proudest military traditions

in American history.

My great grandfather was with George Washington

at Valley Forge in 1778.

My grandfather, Vander Jackson at Horseshoe Bend in 1815.

My father was a colonel.

Decorated for heroism by General Winfield Scott

during the defeat of Santa Anna

at the Battle of Churubusco in 1848.

It was inconceivable..

...that the last of the Harrisons

should sully the memory

of the brave men that had gone before.

For their sakes..

...I prefer to let the world believe that I had died..

...doing my duty.

Yeah, Captain Harrison, I appreciate

you telling me this story.

Won't go any further than me.

I'll forget about it when I walk out this door.

Macahan..

...take her with you.

Harrison, if you think she'd leave you

you don't know what you're saying.

I won't have her staying out of a sense of loyalty.

That's what it is now.

And she loves you.

'That's never changed.'

She's made her choice. She's put everything else behind her.

Damn it! The choice was made out of gratitude!

Whatever it is, she came back here when she didn't have to.

I won't have her indebted to me any longer.

'Why don't you quit doing so much complaining'

and accept the fact, mister, that she's here with you

because she's wise enough to know where she wants to be.

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[door opening and closing]

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[g*n c*ck]

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[Elizabeth] Zeb!

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[g*nsh*t]

Darn fool.

You sure haven't learned much in 20 years, Harrison.

Next time you wanna try something like that

why don't you think on it a week or two?

'Here would be even better.'

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Maybe there's such a thing as reincarnation.

Come back to you a whole man.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation

and you succeed in k*lling yourself

I swear I'll get even with you.

I'll have an Indian medicine man bring you back

as a buffalo chip.

[laughing]

Oh, my God! That's a good one.

Macahan, did you hear what this woman said?

Yeah.

I hope you've heard it.

[laughing]

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That horse I took, Zeb, I had it returned.

Yeah, I figured that.

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Good times.

Good times.

Would have worked too.

I mean, if things had been different.

If they'd been different.

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Forgive me for not being honest with you.

There's nothing to forgive.

Damn it, woman, we were lucky.

We got a second chance..

...to relive some of yesterday's memories.

Touch some old fires.

I'm never gonna forget those days

we spent up in that mountain.

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You know, some people might feel sorry for that man

standing there at a lady he can't see.

I don't.

He's lucky.

He got you.

You're a good man, Zebulon.

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Goodbye, Elizabeth.

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[sighing]

Oh, didn't exactly expect no brass band

for your old Uncle Zeb, but, uh..

[crying]

- What's the matter, eh? - It's Jessie.

- She's not gettin' any better. - I didn't know she was sick.

[groaning]

Jessie?

Uncle Zeb.

- Uncle Zeb, I hurt. - I know, honey.

But your Aunt Molly, she..

...she says the doctor's gonna be here soon.

My legs feel funny

- Uncle Zeb. - Yeah, honey.

Are you gonna be staying here a while?

I'm gonna be staying right here. Ain't going nowhere.

'I'll stay here till you're all better.'

And when you're feelin' better, you know what we're gonna do?

You and me, we're gonna go turkey shootin'.

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Laura, I was talking to your Aunt Molly.

She's says you're blamin' yourself

for what happened to Jessie.

I don't know what got into me.

I was so awful to her.

She wasn't even feeling good that day.

Now, darlin', that day was more than a week ago.

Feelin' this way is not gonna change things.

I know I can't change anything, Uncle Zeb.

But I'm scared.

I'm scared for Jessie.

Well, then, honey, instead of goin' around being scared

why don't you take the bull by the horns?

See what you can do to help Jessie.

Go sit with her, hold her hand.

Give her one of 'em nice smiles when she wakes up.

How about dryin' those tears and giving that a try?

That's my girl.

Look. Look who's here. Uncle Zeb!

- Uncle Zeb. - You look whipped.

Well, I just spent the best part of 40 hours in the saddle.

I met Josh comin' in through town.

How's Jessie?

Not much change.

She's a sick girl, Luke.

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I want you to increase the dosage of laudanum

'to 30 drops every second hour, during the day.'

Doctor, is there nothing else we can do for her?

Yes. We'll be doing something new tomorrow.

I've telegraphed Denver City for a zinc preparation

I've read about in a medical journal.

Should be here on the morning stage.

But will it work?

I don't know, Mr. Macahan.

It's, uh, something I've had no personal experience with.

It's prepared by a Doctor Weiss

who's been doing work on insect poisons.

We can only hope.

You mean there's a good chance it won't do no good.

Yes, there's always that possibility.

The ointment's new and largely untested.

So all you can do is keep druggin' her to ease the pain.

Yes.

Her system doesn't seem to be fighting back

the way it should.

Yet I'm very thankful the laudanum I'm givin' her

is giving her a chance to get some sleep.

After all, sleep is one of our best medicines.

I'll be back tomorrow as soon as the medication arrives.

[Molly] Thank you, doctor.

I better start supper.

[Laura] 'I'll help you, Aunt Molly.'

You're scared too, aren't you, Uncle Zeb?

I don't like saying this any better

than you're gonna like hearing it.

I don't think that doctor's gonna be able to save Jessie.

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[Jessie groaning]

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No. No.

No.

Pa?

It's.. It's Luke, Jessie.

Pa?

Pa.

[Jessie] 'Pa?'

Pa, I had a terrible dream.

Someone comin' in here and tellin' us

you were k*lled in the w*r.

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It's just a dream, Jessie.

'Just a dream.'

It's a terrible dream, pa.

Terrible dream.

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She thought I was pa.

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We, uh..

We gotta do some talkin' about what we're gonna do with Jessie.

Well, I figure I could ride into town at sun up.

Put my hands on that medicine as soon as that stage gets in.

I could even ride out and meet it.

That doctor's had her a week.

He ain't done nothing worth a pig's rump.

Zeb, he's tried.

We've just gotta keep praying.

I believe in doing something

about what I'm praying for, Molly.

Jessie..

...I don't think she's gonna make it through another night.

Oh, sure she will, Uncle Zeb.

Wishin' won't make it so, boy.

And saying the other ain't gonna help either.

When the medicine gets here..

You mean, if the medicine gets here.

And if it's any good when it does get here.

That's too many ifs.

Damn it!

You can't know she's gonna die.

Luke, you've seen some death by now.

I've seen a heap of it.

She's got the mark of it on her. She's dyin'.

You got a better idea than stand there and say she's dyin'.

Yeah.

The Arapaho medicine man..

...might be able to save her.

Uncle Zeb, are you crazy?

We got modern medicine coming in here

and you're saying hand our sister over to some..

...Indian witch doctor?

That's terrible!

Bringing one of those medicine men into this house?

I don't think he'd come here, honey.

You'd have to take Jessie to the Arapaho village.

Zeb, the doctor said she shouldn't be moved.

Molly, I know that doctor thinks he knows what he's doing.

But that medicine..

...we got no guarantee it's gonna be any good.

Now the Indians, they got herbs and poultices

the white men never heard of.

They've been using them ever since they've been on this land.

It's a damn sight longer than the whites.

Uncle Zeb..

...I say if the trip into the mountains didn't k*ll Jessie

an Indian witch doctor would.

Josh, you're speaking from ignorance when you call

an Arapaho medicine man a witch doctor.

I've seen them do things that people consider miracles.

No.

You're not gonna take her out of this house.

And we got the right.

We're her brothers and sister.

And we got the right to say what happens to her.

Yeah, I reckon that's true.

[instrumental music]

[door opening and shutting]

[sighing] Well, I'll go sit with Jessie.

[music continues]

You boys might get some sleep.

We'll be taking turns throughout the night

attending to Jessie.

[music continues]

You have great faith in this medicine man you speak of.

Well, people can't live on the land for thousands of years

Molly, without learning how to cure a sickness.

All I meant was that

this doctor can't seem to do anything for Jessie.

We got nothing to lose by taking her to the Arapaho village.

You think Luke, Josh and Laura have the right to decide?

- They got more right than me. - What about Jessie?

Who has more right to decide than Jessie?

She's awake, Zeb. And rational.

[Zeb] Gotta tell you the plan of it, kitten.

I know everybody's been sayin' you're gonna be alright

but, the fact is, you're getting weaker.

Where is that new medicine?

Well, I know it's been sent for but..

...maybe it won't get here on time and..

...even if it does, it may not do no good.

Then what?

Honey, I want to take you to the Arapaho village..

...and have the medicine man look at you.

'See, the Injuns'

'they've been dealing with stings and snake bites'

and poison toadstools and such as that

for further back than anybody can remember.

Why they got remedies

that no white doctor ain't never heard of.

Indians?

Oh, it'll be alright, honey. They're friends of mine.

But there is a bad side to it too.

You're awful weak and it's a long ways.

And if we do get you there

maybe the medicine man won't be able to help.

So, it's a gamble either way.

Now, honey, there's something you gotta know

before you decide.

And that is that...Josh and Luke and Laura..

...they don't want me to take you.

They want you to stay here and wait for the medicine.

So..

...that's about it, honey.

Whether we go or not, it's...it's up to you to decide.

[instrumental music]

Take me, Uncle Zeb.

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[wood creaking]

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[crickets chirping]

[grunting]

You alright, honey?

[horses neighing]

[sighing] Uncle Zeb.

Uncle Zeb, you can't do this.

Well, I told her straight, Luke. She wants to go.

Look, she-she was out of her mind.

She probably didn't even understand what you were sayin'.

She understood real good.

I'm not gonna let you k*ll her.

Not with that medicine coming in in the mornin'.

Sorry, Luke.

[grunting]

Cut that out, boy.

I don't wanna have to hurt you.

[grunting]

Sorry, I had to do that, Luke.

[instrumental music]

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- Where did you find him? - Halfway to Turner's place.

- You alright, Luke? - Yeah.

Yeah, I'm alright. I can still ride.

- Luke, I'm goin' with you. - No, you're not.

Stay here and if the medicine comes, bring it.

'Laura knows that village.'

She and Aunt Molly can bring it when they find the horse.

I haven't got time to argue with you.

Uncle Zeb's got a three hour start on me already.

She's my sister too, Luke, and I'm goin' with you.

[sighing] Alright.

Come on.

Luke, please remember, your Uncle Zeb

is not exactly your enemy, you know.

Enemy or not, Aunt Molly

we've got the right to bring Jessie back..

...before it's too late.

Hya!

[instrumental music]

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I see you, White Eagle.

I see you, Standing Bear.

'It has been many moons.'

Many moons.

I come to touch the magic of the Arapaho.

My niece dies.

[speaking in native language]

Alright. Easy.

[horse neighing]

Luke, put the g*n away

unless you're looking for a haircut.

- They're gonna k*ll her. - We've come to get her back.

Don't be a fool! She barely made it this far.

[instrumental music]

This is the only chance we've got.

[instrumental music]

What will they do with her?

Wave rattles, chant.

A lot of good it'll do too.

Uncle Zeb, do you really believe in all of this?

I wouldn't have brought her if I hadn't.

The medicine might have arrived already.

And it just might have worked.

What if it didn't?

[chanting in native language]

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[speaking in native language]

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[speaking in native language]

[chanting]

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[chanting]

[speaking in native language]

[screaming]

This is no time to get on their bad side.

Now, go on back and sit down.

Go on.

Sit.

[speaking in native language]

[speaking in native language]

[chanting continues]

What did he say?

Said we should have brought her here long time ago.

I don't know, he's given her a strong medicine, but..

...now it's in the hands of the Gods.

Their Gods or ours?

I never figured there was a difference.

If she dies, Uncle Zeb..

...I'll k*ll you.

[dramatic music]

If she dies, Luke..

...you won't have to.

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