Here I am,

I,,, I need help but,,, I need,,,
I do need help, but I need a laborer,

There's,,, there's plowing and rough work,
I think there's been a misunderstanding,

What's that rake for?

- The rake?
- Well, it ain't for gardenin', that's for sure,

Number one, you got a horse?
I can plow all day, I'm a worker,

Number two, ain't no man better'n me,

'cause there ain't no man around
who ain't old or full of mischief,

- I know your plight,
- My plight?

Am I hard to hear?
'Cause you keep repeatin' everything,

I ain't lookin' for money, I never cared for it
and now it ain't worth nothin',

I expect to board and eat,
at the same table,

- I ain't a servant, if you get my meanin',
- You're not a servant,

People's gonna have to empty
their own night jars is my point,

And I don't expect to work
whilst you sit around and watch, neither,

Right,

Right, Is that a yes or a no?

(rooster crows)

There's a rooster,
He's the devil, I'm sure of it,

I go near him
and he is at me with his spurs,

He's Lucifer himself,

- I despise a floggin' rooster,
- (crows)

Oh, no, I wouldn't,,,

My name's Ruby Thewes,
I know your name,

- (rooster squawks)
- (neck snaps)

(gasps)

Let's put him in a pot,

(Άά "You Will Be My Ain True Love")

Άά Mm-hm-hm-hm

(grunts)

Urgh!

Άά Mm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm

Άά Mm-hm-hm-hm-hm

Άά I've gone to find my ain true love

(man) You're my angel, my butterfly,

Come fly away,

(groans)

My love,,,

God forgive me for doin' this,

I'm so sorry,

I'm sendin' you to a better place,

(groans)

You go fly away,

Hey!

- Don't do that,
- Don't pull that trigger, I'm a man of God,

- I killed several of them,
- I mean I'm God's minister,

What part of God's business
is throwin' a woman down a gorge?

A slave woman,

Can you see that in this light?
Black as a bucket of tar,

- Is she dead?
- No, I drugged her,

Iike you would a butterfly,

And I care for her,
That's the heartbreak of it,

She's got my bastard in her belly,

Come on, Back up,

(wheezes)

- I'm beggin' you,
- Git,

It's better you blow out my brains
than return me to this place,

You're gonna put her back
where she sleeps,

I do that, the members will lynch me

for sirin' a bastard while servin' as
their preacher, We're a strict congregation,

We've churched men
for pickin' up a fiddle on the Sabbath,

So you reckon to kill her?
What, because she's a slave?

(breathes heavily)

I,,, um,,,

There's a back door, Have pity,

Thank you,

I was gonna do a grievous wrong,

I think I should go back up to my wife,

She wakes at the slightest noise,

Agh! Ohh,,,

Where's some paper and a pencil?

(tries to speak)

(tries to shout)

- (knock at door)
- (Ruby) Hey, Ada! You up?

- Yes,
- (knocking)

Wha,,,? It's still dark,

Tell that to the cows, It's late,

You all set?

Oh, l-I just have to eat somethin',

Well, then, you got to get up earlier,
What's that?

A novel,

You wanna carry a book,
carry one you can write in,

We got our own story,
It's called Black Cove Farm: Catastrophe.

I can spell it, too, Learned it the same place
you did, in the schoolhouse,

One of the first words they taught me,

"Ruby Thewes,
you are a c-a-t-a-s-t-r-o-p-h-e,"

Three years I was in school,
before my daddy,,,

Sayin' God rest his soul is like
wishin' him what he had in life,

He lived to rest, He was born tired,

He decided,,, better use for me

than havin' me sat all day
in front of a chalkboard,

(grunts)

(groans)

Number one, lay out a winter garden
for cool-season crops,

Turnips right there, onions, cabbage,

Collards,

Number two,

Have we got a maul and frow?

- Maul?
- Maul, M-a-u-l,

Number three, clear and turn this field,

No harm done lettin' it go,
Now we'll do well,

Number 1 5,,,

1 6,

- Number 1 6,,,
- Number 1 6,,,

Put up some gourds for a martin colony,
Keep away these crows,

One thing in abundance on this farm,
and that's crows, Shut the gate,

(caws)

I'd pay a dollar for an egg,

I've got no quarrel with you,

Hey!

Am I near the Cape Fear River?

- (man) Home Guard! Get back there!
- (gunfire/horses neighing)

- (man #2) Runaways!
- (gunfire/shouting)

(gunfire and shouting)

(man) Come on, boys!

(man #2) Let's get 'em!

(man #3) They're spreadin' out in the field!

- (man #2) Come back here!
- (man #3) They're in the field,

(man #2) They're in the field!

(grunts)

(man) I can get you outta here,

I daresay that's Home Guard followin' you,

They're out on the road,
huntin' down deserters,

And I don't recommend that way,

You'll meet half the town comin' after me
with a noose, thanks to you,

I should have shot you
when I had the chance,

I know where there's a ferry crossin',
Or you can stubborn yourself to death,

- (Inman) If this is a trap,,,
- Please yourself, I'm just bein' a Christian,

- You got any money?
- (man) $5,

For $5 I wouldn't give a parched man
a dipper of this river water,

The sign says "Ferry $5,"

Nobody crosses these waters
unless they're runnin' from someplace,

You wanna wait for your friends?

I can give you $30 Confederate,

Well, all right, let's go,

Whatever that's worth,

They cut off my hair,

That was hard,

I was vain about my hair,

I had curls,

But I deserved it,

I'm the Reverend Veasey,
Have I seen you in church?

No, Not likely to, neither,

I'd say these days, the devil rules the roost,

30 more dollars,

and I can pull this dress over my head,

Have we got $30?

(gunshot)

- Get down!
- (soldier) I got one,

- Is there any other way to cross?
- Barge or boat, The water's full of gators,

(Ruby) What's this wood?

- I don't know,
- ln,

- I don't know,
- Pine,

- Locust?
- Pine, Where's north?

North? Uh,,,

Name me three herbs
that grow wild on this farm,

I can't, I can't, all right?

I can talk about farming in Latin,

I can,,, I can read French,

I know how to lace up a corset,
God knows,

I can name the principal rivers in Europe,

Just don't ask me
to name one stream in this county!

I can,,, I can embroider
but I can't darn!

I can arrange cut flowers
but I can't grow them!

If a thing has a function,
if I might do something with it,

then it wasn't considered suitable!

Why?

Ruby, you can ask why about
pretty much everything to do with me,

This fence is about the first thing
that I've ever done

that might produce an actual result,

(panting)

So you never wrapped your legs
around this lnman?

Oh!

Come on,

(Ada playing piano)

(pig squeals)

Fine piano,

(sighs)

(grunts)

(sighs)

If we're careful,

I got old man Roy
to give me ten of them sheep,

on account of I said they's so small,

put together they weren't no bigger
than six proper sheep,

My father
always wanted sheep on this farm,

I cut off my hair once for money,

My daddy got $2 for it,
Made a wig for some rich feller in Raleigh,

I'm just sayin'
I'm real sorry you had to lose your piano,

Ruby, it was my idea,

Stobrod liked to call himself a musician,

My daddy,
He could play six tunes on a fiddle,

Got hisself shot dead at Petersburg,

I was like his goat,

Or some critter tethered to a post,

He left me once,
Up in them mountains,

I was eight,
He was gone over two and a half weeks,

He left you?

Uh-huh, I was all right,

My daddy, he'd walk 40 miles for liquor
and not 40 inches for kindness,

(Veasey) I'm so plugged up,

Used to be as regular as morning prayers,

Matter of fact,

Open my gut now, they'd find turds
stacked up like little black twigs,

(whispers) Home Guard!

(Home Guard riders yelling)

- Hey,
- Shh,

- Look at this,
- Keep your voice down,

Look at this!

- It's a good saw!
- And it's not yours,

You're a Christian,
Don't you know your Commandments?

You'll find the good Lord
very flexible on the subject of property,

We could do a lot with this saw,

Cut down a tree,
Play music with it,

You're gonna thank me for this saw,

I'll say thank you when I've lost you
and I've found some food,

You'll see,
You'll thank me,

Shh,

Good day to you,

My old bull,,, wandered off,,,
and died in this here creek,

Poisonin' up ourwater
is how I found him,

Thank you,
You are a true Christian,

- That's a rank odor from that animal,
- Been dead a good while, I reckon,

- This is a tricky one,
- (sniffs)

You fellers help me out,
my woman'll cook you up a good dinner,

I'm gettin' an idea,

My saw's the remedy,

I believe you need two people,
one on either end,

Yeah,

Give me that saw,

Let's do this in chapters,

- That's right,
- Yeah,

Start at the neck,

Aw,,,!

(sawing)

Oh, well,,, That is unpleasant,

(farmer) There's my place,

Hope you can stomach
a yard chock full of female,

Oh, God, Oh, my God,

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah! Oh, hallelujah!
The lsraelites!

(farmer) What happened?

He's got a shit comin',
It's overdue,

The tribes of lsrael are about to flee
from the banks of Egypt!

Good God,

These boys are stoppin' for supper!

Brought my woman home,

she showed up with her three sisters,
so-called, and their brats,

That's Mae, Dolly, Shyla,

and the pretty one in blue is my wife, Lila,

Those are fine examples of the female,

(squawking)

- Oh, I'm about to pass out,
- (laughter)

(farmer) My home brew sneaks up on you,
It curdles your durdles,

Oh, Oh, look, He's gone now,

Look, He's gone now,

His eyes, they've gone,

- His eyes are gone,
- What?

- (woman) Gone, gone, gone, gone!
- (laughter)

I'm leavin' soon as I'm full,
Y'all havin' too much fun for me,

Really? Goodbye,

Well, yeah,
I got a bunch of traps need visitin',

but I'll be back before,,,
before dark tomorrow,

- Y'all still be here?
- That's my fervent prayer,

I'll say my goodbyes,
I gotta go,

I got miles and miles and miles and miles
ahead of me before I reach the Blue Ridge,

Blue Ridge? What's the hurry?

- Maybe I will just lie down a moment,
- Yeah,

- This house is on a bit of a tilt,
- Yeah, it is a bit crooked,

(giggling)

Lie down,

What about you, Reverend?

I'm headin' for that smokehouse,

And I'm ready
to be washed clean of my dirt,

- Yeah, Mae, you go tend to him,
- Mm-hm,

All right,

Y'all get to bed,

Everybody else got their job,

- Come on, get to bed,
- Now?

Everybody to bed,
Lila, you stay with them kids,

Get on up those stairs,

I'll be seein' you.

(moans) Look,,,

He's mine,
You go rub yourself off on the preacher,

I'm gonna make him hug me till I grunt,

He's purty, ain't he?

Git,

She ain't even supposed to get a man,

Hey,

(mumbles)

I know, I know,

I,,,

How about that?

- What does thatfavor?
- l,,,

-,,,gotta go,
- Get on,

And ride me all the way to China,

(moans sensually)

You shy?

- Do you need a hand?
- No, Uh,,,

Let's have a look
and see what we can muster,

Oh, no,

Slut!

Home Guard!

Cover yourself up!

I told you, you don't touch the money!

(moans of pleasure)

- I had a special prayer you'd come visit,
- (Mae giggles)

- Get up,
- (Mae) Evenin', Hank,

Evenin', Hank,

- You took your time,
- I said get up!

Get in line,
You fools fall for it every time,

(Veasey) God will judge you, you Judas,

- Thanks,
- God will judge you!

- Move out!
- Our lives are on your rotten soul,

- Mister?
- Your rotten soul!

Shut your mouth!

- Pleasure doin' business with you, boys,
- Judas!

Save your breath,

You got a long walk back to the fightin',

Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes,
look at you both,

Look at us both what?

Like a couple of scarecrows
after a thunderstorm,

We need a scarecrow,
Birds done ate up half our winter garden,

For all your kindness, coffee,,, and a pie,

Yeah, and that's real coffee, It ain't chicory
and dirt, Found a sack hid in the larder,

Mmm,

Thank you both,

Ruby, I look forward to this,
We all do,

Esco and me,

- She made it,
- I made it,

Good God in heaven,

I'm still livin',

Well, I know Esco's

Yep,

- Strike you as odd?
- What?

- Stood at her front door,
- I know,

Number one, I knowed that woman

She'd let a wolf in if it knocked at the door,

Perhaps,,,

I don't know,
Perhaps she was busy,

Number two, old man Swanger's inside
that house, I could smell his pipe burnin',

- Number three, look at them fields,

We come by here a week ago
and they was waist-high in hay,

You tellin' me
that's work for one old man and his dog?

Yankees! Yankees!

Cavalry! Federal raiders!

Just over that hill,

- Get those sacks of shit up that hill,
- Come on!

(grunting)

Get those horses under cover,
If they see us, we're dead,

Make a move, make a noise,,,

(horse whinnies)

(Inman whispers) I'm gettin' out of this,

I'm not gettin' shot again
for some cause I don't believe in,

Come on, let's go,

Come on, They can't shoot,
Come on,

Keep goin'! Come on!

Bayonets,

Come on!

(neighing)

(screams)

(Yankee captain) Grab their boots
and rifles! Let's move on!

Let's go!

That scarecrow
ain't gonna frighten off no Yankee,

Or are you tryin'
to make a man for yourself?

No,

I come by,,, a few days,

- I don't pass by,
- (sighs)

- Lookin' out for you,
- I know,

I see you,

- And I don't like it,
- Where's your little servant girl?

Ruby, She tradin' off
more of your daddy's silver?

- Stop it!
- Her nose is in the butter,

Her nose is right in your butter!

This farm's got my name on it!

You listenin', woman?

(yells)

Sal,

Afternoon,

Don't spread out,
Why are they spreadin' out?

I never seen a man work a field
with a shotgun before,

(Esco) There's a war on,

Get off my land,

- Your boys come home?
- Ain't seen my boys in four years,

They're out fightin' other boys,
not old men and women,

So you won't mind if we look around?

'Cause we think they're here,

We think you've got 'em
hid up somewhere,

What I gotta give you?
Chicken? Lamb?

Sure,

The thing is, you've only got one barrel,

And there's five of us,
That's not a fair fight,

King of kings!

Hey!

What was that?

Aargh!

You're harboring deserters, I could
confiscate this farm and everything on it,

Every plate, every sheep,
every little pellet of chickenshit,

I could confiscate your old lady's asshole,

So don't you offer me no bird,

(hums)

(whistles)

(Sally screams)

Come on, boys!

Mama's callin'!

(screams)

Mama!

No!

Mama! Mama!

No!

(Sally wails)

(groaning)

(bells tinkling)

(grunting)

Buggery and shit!

If l'da known you were this heavy,
l'da left you in those chains,

(whimpering)

(gasps)

Sally!

No!

(straining)

Oh, God, Sally?

Ada!

All right, all right!

(straining)

Darlin', what?

She's sayin' "Don't bother"! Go!

(grunting)

Get her neck!

- Sally!
- Get her neck,

This world won't stand long,

God won't let it,,,

stand this way long,

- How long have I been sleepin'?
- Two days, three days, Not long enough,

- I can't stop here,
- Sit down before you fall down,

I'm a deserter,

If they find me here,
things could be bad for you,

What are they gonna do?
Cut short my young life?

(goat bleats)

I've learned a person
can pretty much survive off of a goat,

A goat gives you company,

and milk,

and cheese,

and, when you need it,

good meat,

That's my beauty,

There's my beauty,

So you been fightin',

I could be at killin',,,

for days,

my feet against the feet of my enemy,

And I always killed him,

He never killed me,

I don't know why,

Gave it a try, to look at ya,

Yeah, I guess he did,

See, I think there's a plan,

There's a design
for each and every one of us,

You look at nature,

Bird flies somewhere, picks up a seed,
shits the seed out, plant grows,

Bird's got a job,
shit's got a job, seed's got a job,

And you've got a job,

You done good, goat,

You were a real beauty,

(goat bleating)

Sometimes I think I'm crazy
when I'm just hungry,

Now drink this,
It eases the pain, and you'll sleep,

Is she waitin' for ya,
this Ada Monroe?

She was,

I don't know,

Or even if she knows me,

Lie down,

I'm like the boy
who goes for wood in winter

and comes back in spring with a whistle,

Like every fool sent off to fight
with a flag and a lie,

That's the laudanum gettin' to ya,
That's good,

Say somethin' more,

(cries out)

She got me a book,

Ada Monroe,

A man by the name of Bartram,

He wrote about his travels,

Sometimes,,,

just readin' the name of a place,,,

near home,,,

Sorell Cove,

Bishop's Creek,

Those places
belonged to people before us,

To the Cherokee,

What did he call Cold Mountain?

How could a name,,,
not even a real name,,,

break your heart?

It's her,

She's the place I'm headin',

And I hardly know her,
I hardly know her!

And I just can't seem to get back to her,

(Ada) "To have traveled so far,
from east to west,

a thousand terrible miles. "

I have to close my eyes,

"My feet treadin' all God's surface -

"his ocean, his swamps,
his slopes and ridges -

"to find myself, at last,
a mark in the aching snow,

"from whence I beheld
through a blue haze

a world of mountains
piled upon mountains,"

(Ruby) Ada!

Ada!

- It's a man!
- What is?

Raidin' our corncrib!
Got him in the trap! That's him yelpin'!

- (man) Help!
- Here,

Help! Damn,

Listen up!

You got,,, Aim!

You got a barrel trained on your rear end!

- Get me outta this dang thing!
- You got a weapon?

No, ma'am, I'm,,,

Unbelievable,

- Stobrod Thewes!
- Ruby?

Agh! (sobs)

That's my daddy,

Just so's you know,
I can eat while she's doin' this,

(Ruby) Just so's you know,
you ain't eatin' inside,

Number one, they hang people round here
for takin' in deserters,

Number two,

you'd still eat outside,

- You're scarred,
- I'm what?

Your heart, Scarred,
I did wrong to ya,

You'd be scarred, You'd be real scarred if
I hadn't wrapped them trap teeth in sackin',

- Which was my idea,
- Which was her idea,

- I hurt you,
- Good God,

I made up 50 tunes with you in mind,

Ruby this, Ruby that,
Ruby with the eyes that sparkle,

Hey! Let's agree,

You beat me,

then you beat me some more,

And all of that is better'n
"Ruby with the eyes that sparkle,"

I'm changed, People change,

War changes people somethin' terrible,

Ruby's told you, I've no doubt,
I wasn't always the best,

You were an asshole!

I can't disagree with that,
I was,

- Would you get him outta here?
- Music's changed me,

I'm full of music, Ruby,

I wish I'd brung my fiddle,

Hey, Ruby, I got a new fiddle,

Oh, it's a beautiful fiddle, It's full of tunes,

- You're all set,
- l,,,

Bless you both,

All right, then,

Ain't you got a proper coat?

Aw, darlin', I'm fine, you know, And you just
say the word, I won't come back neither,

Don't wanna put you or your mistress here
in any bother,

I'm not Ruby's employer,

Oh, Beg pardon,

Nobody is,

Oh,

You know who really needs a coat, darlin'?
My partner, Fat boy name of Pangle,

We're hidin' up in a cave
with a singer from Georgia,

and Pangle, he feels the cold like
a thin man, but there ain't no coat'll fit him,

I love you, Ruby,

In case the sky falls on our head,

You always were a good girl,

Ooh! He's so full of manure, that man,

We could lay him in the dirt and,,,
grow another one just like him,

That's medicine, that's goat meat,

And you're sick of both,

I have a deal to thank you for,

That's just for show,

(country music on fiddle and banjo)

Άά Ruby with the eyes that sparkle

- Get on back where you came from!
- (laughing)

- Thank you for my coat!
- Thanks for the food!

- Git!
- Άά Ruby with the eyes that sparkle!

- (Pangle) I love my coat!
- (Stobrod howls)

(Ada) "My love for Linton
is like the foliage in the woods.

"Time will change it, I'm well aware,
as winter changes the trees.

"My love for Heathcliff
resembles the eternal rocks beneath.

"A source of little visible delight,

"but necessary,

"He's always,,,

always in my mind,"

She ain't gonna marry Linton, is she?

You can't say that about Heathcliff
and then marry Linton,

Hmm,

We'll find out,

Tomorrow,

I'm not waitin' till tomorrow!

Ruby,,,

"A source of,,, little visible delight,

but,,, necessary."

I like that,

(Ruby continues reading haltingly)

(rumble of thunder)

(baby crying)

(knocks)

I'm a Confederate soldier,,,
on furlough,

I need shelter,,, and food,

(woman) I've got a rifle!

Fair enough,

I have some beans and corn pone,

All I got,

- Thank you,
- I'm alone here,

as you can see, with my baby,

I need to believe you mean no harm,

No,

I don't want it,

If I had my way, they'd take metal
altogether out of this world,

Every blade, every gun,

(baby grizzling)

(closes door)

It's all right,

You're burnin' up, little man,

(baby coughs)

(baby cries)

Is your baby sick?

My man's dead, Took his wound
at Gettysburg and never saw his boy,

I'm sorry,

It's pretty much what you'll get
if you knock on any door of this war,

Man dead, woman left,

(baby cries)

It's mean food, but it's hot,

There's been no huntin' on the road,

I need to try and feed this man,

- (crying)
- Shh, You gotta eat somethin', baby,

(thunder)

He won't feed,

I'm lnman, by the way,
That's my name,

I'm Sara,

My baby's Ethan,

Glad to know you both,

(thunder)

You look about his size,

He was another man straight up and down,

Thank you,

Everything fit?

These boots are good boots,

Well, I'll say good night, then,

Good night,

(country fiddle music)

Άά Wake up, gals, let's go to the river

Άά Then we'll join the band

Άά Christmastime will soon be over,
Christmastime will soon be over

Άά Christmastime will soon be over,
then we'll join the band

- She don't speak?
- Can't speak! I told you,

Well, is she feeble, then?

(Ada and Ruby) No!

Never mind him,

Άά Get up, gals, don't be bitter

(Ada) Άά Get up, girls, don't be bitter

Άά Then we'll join the band

Will you come inside?

(door creaks open)

Would you do somethin' for me?
Do you,,, think you could,,,

Iie here next to me and not,,,
need to go further?