My people came across an ocean
to live in the mountains of this new world.
They brought with them all their hopes of a new life and a new beginning.
But we were also a people with dark secrets
we attempted to cover with an old ritual.
Yet secrets always reveal themselves in the light of truth.
In that spring of my tenth year, the whole truth was finally told.
Pa says I take after you, Granny.
That you do, Cadi.
You also have your grandpa Ewan's blue eyes
and his soul hunger.
Give your mama time, Cadi.
Granny, whas wrong?
'Tis nothing, love.
If I could wish for one thing right now, you know what it would be?
To go back in time?
Thad be nice, too, wouldn't it?
But what I'm aching for is some color and beauty.
I'll be right back.
Cadi, girl? I love you, my dear.
I love you too, Granny.
Granny, I found them! I found them.
Granny?
Oh, no, Granny. Oh, Granny.
Gorawen told me, just days ago,
she heard the mighty voice from the mountain calling.
She wanted to tarry a while for Cadi's sake.
- Go on with you, Cadi. - Yes. Yes, Mama.
Your ma send you out?
Yes, sir.
Gather up the cedar chips and take them back to the house.
Ill cut down on the stench of death.
Cadi, you must listen to me, now.
Whatever you do, never look upon the Sin Eater.
Do you understand me?
He has the cast of Hell in his eyes
and he's taken all manner of terrible things unto himself,
and if you look at him, his evil will surely spill onto you.
- Do you understand me, Cadi? - Yes, ma'am.
All right, then.
- Angor. - Brogan.
I give easement now to thee, Gorawen Forbes,
that you not wander forever over fields or mountains,
or along pathways.
And for thy earthly sins, dear woman,
I pawn my own soul.
As I listened to that sad, wretched man,
I wondered why he would take on the sins of people
who refused to look him in the eye,
and I wondered how long it would be before he came to eat my sins away.
Would I have to live to be Granny's age to be free of all the evil I had done?
By the time I turned around, he was gone,
and with him went my hope of ever being forgiven.
You forget about him, Cadi Forbes. He's done his purpose and now he's gone.
Get on home, now.
Who is the Sin Eater? Who can I tell the truth to?
Who will take my sins away?
Anything I can do for you, Mama?
Cadi, go out and get some garden sass for your mama.
Yes, Papa.
When are you gonna let this go and start being a mama again, Fia?
Please, Angor, leave me be. I can't take your questions right now.
Gorawen's passing...
This has nothing to do with my mother passing, and you know it.
That child is as heartsick as you about what happened to Elen and she...
She needs you.
It hurts too much.
How long are you gonna make us suffer?
It shouldn't have been my little Elen. It shouldn't have been my baby girl.
Are you saying you wish it was Cadi who died?
Thas it, isn't it? Thas what you're saying.
You wish it was Cadi who died.
You should not be here, Cadi.
You've been warned to keep away.
Cadi!
Hello, Katrina Anice.
There's a better place to cross the Narrows.
I know there is. Who are you?
- My name's Lilybet. - How do you know me?
Everybody where I come from has heard about what you did.
Everybody knows?
Everybody knows something, Katrina Anice.
But who knows everything?
- Follow me. I know the way. - To where?
To find the one who can take your sins away.
Sin Eater?
- Where do you live? - Is a long way from here, but not too far.
You're a very strange girl.
That spots no good, Cul. You should try that spot right there.
Would you shush up? You'll spook my fish.
You couldn't spear a cow, anyway.
Cadi Forbes, you are lucky I don't have a gun.
I might have shot you for an Indian.
Leave her be, Cul. Her granny just died.
She hollered out just when I was about to spear me a fish,
a big fish.
Didn't mean to spook you, Cul. Lilybet and me was just...
- Who's Lilybet? - That little girl over there.
Well, she was there. She must be shy.
- I heard she ain't been right in the head... - Stand fast, Cul.
What you doing on Kai land anyhow?
Wasn't paying attention to where we were going.
Just following the river down from the Narrows.
Does your mama know that you were at the Narrows?
That ain't your business, is it?
You hungry?
You must have been going somewhere.
I am, sort of.
You mean besides scaring my fish away?
I was trying to find the Sin Eater.
The Sin Eater?
He's a monster.
He's a devil with fire-red eyes and long fangs like a wolf.
He's a man who sold himself to the devil. He smells death.
He spends his whole life hoping people will die,
so he can feast on their sins.
Aye, and Ma says if he so much as looks at you with his evil eye...
- You're dead. - Thas not true.
- How would you know? - Well, I ain't dead, am I?
You looked at him, didn't you? At your granny's funeral.
I couldn't help myself. His voice sounded so sad and lonely.
Now you're in for it.
Pray hard. Pray real hard evil doesn't get a hold of you.
We best get on back home now. Come on, Glynnis.
I wonder where he does live.
Only time he comes is when somebody rings the passing bell.
Well, if anyone would know,
it would have to be somebody who's older than the trees.
- Where did you disappear to? - Here and there. Fagan is very handsome.
Mama, I want you to meet someone.
I made a new friend. Her name is Lilybet.
Not now, Cadi.
Thas all right, Katrina Anice. Maybe another time.
Aye, you're right. Mama is busy with her loom. Another time.
Coming. I'm coming.
Miz Elda, I was wondering who you'll be wanting to come to your funeral?
Land sakes, child.
What a question to ask an old lady. I ain't in the ground yet.
No, ma'am. But it will be too late to ask once you're there.
Well, thas quite a good point.
And the Sin Eater? Will you want him to come, Miz Elda?
Indeed. I'll be in sore need of him.
I have got me a basketful of sins to unload.
- And how'll we find him for you? - You won't need to find him.
The passing bell echoes right clear in these mountains.
He'd hear it.
But why all these questions about the Sin Eater?
I...
I need his help.
Turn around, Cadi.
He can't do a thing for you, child.
Whas done at that tree bridge is done,
and you have to live your life with what happened.
And try and do good from now on
and you'll only have the one black mark at the end.
Besides, he ain't coming for you till you breathed your last.
Then I wish I was dead. That way, it would be over.
Be careful what you wish for, Cadi.
God might hear you and take you at your word.
Took my husband with all his fool complaining.
Now, you better take that right back.
No, ma'am. I can't live my whole life with what I done.
I need the Sin Eater to eat my sins now.
Please, Miz Elda, can't you tell me where he lives, so I can talk to him?
- Oh, child. Hello?
Like his daddy and his granddaddy.
The Kais ain't happy unless they're killing something.
- I brought you some fresh meat, ma'am. - You been in a fight, young Kai?
No, ma'am.
Mighty thoughtful of you.
But I don't know whas gotten into the young ones in this cove,
bringing an old lady meat and flowers.
Squirrel meat?
Did you think you were going to get her to talk with squirrel meat?
Don't think I don't know why you're here, Cadi Forbes.
Maybe you do. Maybe you don't.
Do you think this is all a game, Cadi?
I asked my pa about the Sin Eater and he clean knocked me off the porch.
He said if I ever asked about him again, he'd take the skin off my back.
He said just mentioning the man brings evil into a house,
let alone look at him, like you did.
So, you looked at him, did you?
Yes, ma'am.
What were you thinking, child?
Couldn't help myself, Miz Elda. It was the way he spoke to Granny.
He was so sad. He spoke as though he loved her.
And for good reason.
After your granddaddy passed on,
your granny would take an offering to his grave whenever she could.
A bundle of carrots, half dozen ears of corn, some eggs...
And she'd leave them there on his grave, for the Sin Eater, as a gift.
No one in this cove ever treated him with such kindness.
But your granny did.
He would come down off Dead Man's Mountain...
- Dead Man's Mountain? - Dead Man's Mountain?
Thas not what I meant.
- Is time for you two to get along now. - Yes, ma'am.
Miz Elda, if I can find the Sin Eater
and he eats my sins away, will Mama forget?
No, child. She'll never forget.
But maybe she'll be able to forgive.
Was the Sin Eater the only reason you come by today, Cadi?
Yes, ma'am.
But it won't be, next time.
Who'll take away my sins, Cadi Forbes?
See what you done.
It serves you right. I hope you broke your foot.
- Would you stand fast already? - Is your fault, sneaking up on me.
I didn't mean to scare you, Cadi. I cross my heart and hope to die.
Be careful what you wish for.
Are we going to Dead Man's Mountain or not?
- I wanted to talk to you first. - What about?
Is just I ain't never seen my pa afraid of nothing. Nothing.
But he's most assuredly afraid of the Sin Eater.
Well, I'm not afraid because I know he'd never hurt me.
Well, maybe he hurt you when you looked at him.
You just didn't know it.
What you saying?
Well, for one, you can't get him out of your head.
My ma says there's powerful dark spirits all over these mountains
that need to be left alone.
What spirits?
Maybe that girl that you were talking about is not what she seems.
Lilybet ain't no spirit. She's me friend.
Look, I'm sorry your pa hit you on my account,
but I'm going to go find the Sin Eater with or without you.
Wait, I'm going with you.
- You don't have to. - Yes, I do. I need to protect you.
There's probably a thousand hiding places up here.
Maybe I could bring my old hound up here. We could flush him out.
The Sin Eater ain't a rabbit, Fagan.
- Vittles. - What?
What are you talking about?
Remember what Miz Elda said about Granny leaving gifts for the Sin Eater?
Maybe it is like snaring a rabbit, after all.
I got to go.
Is Clees signal when Pa's looking for me.
But there's still light left.
I can't, Cadi. Pa will skin me if he catches me anywhere near here.
You hurry and get home yourself, Cadi Forbes.
When you're done clearing, come outside and finish your chores.
Yes, Ma.
I have to tell Fagan.
Stranger.
Hear me when I call, O Lord.
Hear my prayer.
For it is unto thee, and thee alone, I pray.
You are a God that hath no pleasure in wickedness,
and there is wickedness in these mountains.
Where were you? Why didn't you meet me at the cemetery?
Because the Kai is getting sly of me missing all the time.
Well, he came, Fagan.
The Sin Eater came to Granny's grave and took the preserves I left him.
Did you talk to him?
Not exactly.
I sort of fell asleep.
But he took my gift. I know he did.
Sure he did.
Now hush up. I want to listen to the stranger.
Mama!
Why did you take this to Granny's graveyard?
I...
Didn't you think I would come looking for you, Cadi?
You're always going places that you oughtn't.
Now you're a thief. Besides, stealing...
From your own family!
No, Mama. I...
You never think before you do things. Why?
Fia!
What have you done?
Angor!
There's a stranger camped at the bottom of the Narrows.
The Kai says he's going to deal with him.
Whas the harm in letting him stay?
The Kai says he's crazy.
Besides, there's no more land for him. No more room.
Sounds like the Kai makes all the rules in this cove.
Do not be speaking bad about him, Fia.
Brogan and his family have always known whas right for this cove.
We're not gonna have anything to do with that stranger, right?
Cadi?
What is it, Mama?
I want you to have this.
Is okay. Take it.
What are you going to do with those preserves?
Save them for the Sin Eater.
Why not take them to that bee-lady? Maybe she knows where he lives.
Sin Eater.
Wait, Sin Eater.
No! You mustn't follow him, child.
Let go of me.
Sin Eater, please wait.
Sin Eater. Sin Eater, wait. I ain't going back until you talk to me.
Please. I need you.
You talked to that woman. Why won't you talk to me?
Why did you dare look at me at your granny's funeral, Cadi Forbes?
Because I need you to take my sins away.
Is not done that way.
Now, go home and don't come looking for me again.
If you don't take my sins away now,
then I'll make it so you can do it the proper way.
I can't go on living with this hurt inside me.
I can't live knowing all the pain I've caused everyone.
Sin Eater?
Come back tomorrow.
The woman you saw, Bletsung MacLeod, will show you the path up the mountain.
Bring me whas necessary for the ceremony,
and we'll see what God allows.
And whatever happens, you must promise me
you will never come back to this mountain.
I promise.
I'm here, child.
Climb no further.
I brought the wine and bread and the white covering.
Miz Elda was kind enough to give it to me.
Miz Elda ought to have known better.
She wanted me to tell you something else.
She wanted you to know that she hasn't forgotten your name.
Please, give her my thanks.
Yes, sir.
Now lie down on the ground and cover yourself with the shroud
and keep your eyes shut tightly.
Tell me what sin it is grieves you so.
Did my Granny tell you her sins before she passed?
No.
Then, if is all right with you, I'd rather not say my sins aloud.
I give easement now to thee, Cadi Forbes, that you might live a long and full life.
And for thy peace, I pawn my own soul.
Nothing's changed. I feel the same.
I'm sorry, dear child.
Please. You have to tell me. How do I get rid of what I done?
I wish I knew, Cadi Forbes.
I wish I knew.
You shouldn't be here, Cadi. You've been warned to keep away.
- Are you daft? - Let go.
Let go of me.
Dear child, what in heaven's name could be so terrible
as to make you want to do such a thing to yourself?
Dear Lord.
What secrets these mountains must possess!
I saw you with that stranger.
Going again' me, are you? Going again' your Pa.
- I didn't... - Liar.
Vile, deceitful child, is you who brought that outsider upon us,
you and your sin.
You go out there again, it will be the end of you.
I swear it on my own soul, and the same if you speak a word of this.
Better one should die than all suffer.
Cadi. Cadi. Is your pa. Are you okay?
Cadi.
Is your pa. Is all right. Breathe. Is okay. I'm here.
Is okay. Is all right. Is okay.
All right. Come here. Come here. All right. Come here. Is okay.
Is your papa. Is okay. Who did this to you, Cadi?
Who did this to you? It was the stranger, wasn't it?
No, Pa, it wasn't him.
Is okay. You'll be fine.
All right, I'll take you home now. I'll take you home.
I swear on my own soul, better one should die than all suffer.
CADl: Hello, sir.
Well, child.
I hope you're feeling better than you did yesterday.
I just came to warn you. There's a powerful fear of you in our cove.
I know there is, lass.
Powerful fear of the truth, wherever it travels.
Now, where is your young friend who enjoys hiding in the bushes with you?
He was here eavesdropping on me again evening last.
I don't know. His pa's the one so hard set against you.
That would be Brogan Kai, would it?
Yes sir.
He paid me a visit when I first come.
A man acquainted with anger.
Those who despise the word of the Lord will not stand in the day of judgment,
for the breath of the Lord will blow them away like chaff.
Well, anyway, I just came to warn you. I got to be getting back.
At least do me the honor of knowing your name.
Cadi. Cadi Forbes.
Well, Miss Cadi Forbes.
My earthly name is not important.
All that matters is I'm a humble servant of God,
come to redeem these wicked mountains.
Will you sit and hear the word of the Lord?
I best not. Is not safe for...
"It is the Lord who giveth wisdom.
"Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding
"and he who dwells in the shelter of the most high
"will abide in the shadow of the almighty. "
"The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servant,
"and none who trust in Him shall be desolate. "
None of this makes any sense to you, does it?
No, sir.
Why are you so heavy-burdened, child?
If you tell me what ails you, perhaps I can help.
I don't think so.
If the Sin Eater can't cure me, then no one can.
Sin Eater? And who might that be?
He's the one chosen from among us
who lives all by himself on Dead Man's Mountain.
After a person has passed, he takes our sins upon himself,
so that they can rest in peace.
And you believe this?
Doesn't everybody?
I went to him and asked to take my sins away.
But he can't help me until I pass on.
Child, what could you have done to merit such shame?
I cannot say.
Nothing you could have done can make the Lord love you any more or any less.
If I tell you, will you promise not to hate me?
As the Lord has loved me, so will I love you.
I killed my sister, Elen. My baby sister.
Now I'm doomed to live all my life
knowing that she's not here because of me.
Knowing that my ma's heart is broken and is all my fault.
Tell me how it happened, child.
It was a cursed day from the very beginning.
Granny made me a rag doll and Elen wanted it.
- CADl: Let go. Is mine. - Let go. I was playing with it first.
I said let go, you little brat. Is mine. Granny made it for me.
- Cadi, how dare you hit your little sister? - But mama...
You are being selfish and you know it. You don't deserve this doll.
You always let her have everything she wants.
I hate her and I hate you.
Cadi, wait.
You can have the doll back.
Cadi!
Elen! Elen!
I screamed but it was too late.
There was nothing I could do.
I went down below to look for her.
I kept screaming her name, hoping she'd come up.
But she never did.
Oh, Cadi.
There are some sorrows so deep, only God can touch them.
No mere man can take away your sins, child.
You see, there's already been a sin eater,
the original sin eater that the Lord God sent long, long ago
to take away all of our sins once and for all,
and this book... This book tells all about him.
Will you tell the sin eater how sorry I am? Will you ask him to forgive me?
You just did. Beautiful girl, you just did.
And now your heart is washed clean of all the black marks
this world has ever given it or you could ever give it.
Does he have a name?
Yes. His name is Jesus.
Jesus.
It doesn't hurt anymore, Lilybet! It doesn't hurt!
I know, Katrina Anice. Well done.
Cadi, where have you been? We've been fretting over you.
Is done, Miz Elda. Is done.
Whas done, child?
I'm forgiven.
If this man of God is speaking the truth, we've all been believing a lie.
Especially the Sin Eater.
- How was he chosen, Miz Elda? - That was a long time ago.
Twenty winters back,
when your granddaddy Laochailand was in his final hours.
But I can't tell it without speaking ill of the dead.
I ain't blind to the deeds of my kin, Miz Elda.
Well...
I suppose the fear of God comes upon all men, even the cruelest,
and Laochailand had more than his share of sins.
He begged your father to get him a sin eater.
So Brogan demanded that each man past 13
put his mark on a chicken bone,
and they gathered the bones together in a mazer
and, from the mazer, one bone was chosen,
and it fell to the man who now lives on Dead Man's Mountain.
I'll never forget the look on the face of the man chosen,
nor the tears of his young lady.
- Was that Bletsung MacLeod? - Aye, lass.
The new sin eater come and done his duty,
and its been that way ever since.
Child, I'm afraid these old bones will never make it.
Do you think this man of God will come to me?
I'm in desperate need of forgiveness myself.
CADl: Hello again.
Well, if it isn't my young disciple.
Pardon us, sir, but my friend Fagan here no longer wants to listen from the bushes.
Well, have you ever heard the name of Jesus Christ, son?
Only when my pa hits his thumb with a hammer.
Well.
Have a seat, because the truth will set you free,
and we are going to start from the very beginning.
Is my father.
You've got to run, sir.
- Fagan. - You've got to hide.
Fear no man, son.
No. My father rules this cove. He'll kill you.
- He cannot kill the truth, Fagan. - No, no. Please. Please, run. Hide.
I walk in this valley of death. I fear no evil.
Fagan?
The Lord is with me and I will dwell in his house forever.
Fagan, we've got to run. Please. We've got to run right now.
No, Cadi. No. I have to stand fast for this man.
Fagan!
I told you to stay away from here, didn't I, boy?
Leave him be, Pa. He's done nothing wrong.
Who are you going to believe?
Some madman from across the mountains or your own pa?
- Let the boy go. - Sniveling little rat. Betrayer.
The kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as he, Brogan Kai.
I told you to stay off my mountain or I kill you.
I should have done you in that first day. Instead I showed you kindness
and you turn my own kin against me?
God made you upright, Kai, but you have sought out many devices.
These are my people.
The ways of men are before the eyes of the Lord and he watches all his paths.
Repent and be saved.
No, please. Please don't.
Please don't, please. Please, Pa, don't. Don't, don't. Please.
No.
I warned you, didn't I?
You had it coming.
So much for the power of his god.
I hate you. I hate that I'm your son.
How dare you stand against me? Your own flesh and blood.
No.
Who's out there?
This has got nothing to do with you, you hear me?
You want me to go look, Pa?
No. Les go.
What about the outsider? He ain't dead yet.
He will be by morning.
- You want I should carry Fagan? - Leave him.
He'll come home with his tail between his legs soon enough.
- He's bad hurt, Pa. - I said leave him.
- Fagan. - Is he dead, Cadi?
I'm so sorry, sir. I'm so sorry they done this to you.
Cadi.
My pouch.
Take it.
Whas in it?
Truth.
Pass it on.
Is no use, Fagan. He's gone.
Oh, no. Please.
Katrina Anice! You've got to get Fagan help.
Where? I can't bring him home. Pa will just take him back to the Kai.
Bletsung Macleod. Bring him back to Bletsung.
I didn't know where else to take him.
Oh, my goodness.
- Is this the work of Brogan Kai? - Yes, ma'am.
Help me get him inside.
Is okay. Is okay. Is okay.
Cadi brought him here. I don't know what made her do it.
Given what most people in that cove think of me.
She's the only child who's come near this cabin.
I'm glad you'll have company.
I...
I'll do what I can for them.
The boy is a brave one, going up against his pa, trying to save that stranger.
Is he badly hurt?
If you could but see what Brogan done to his own son.
Broke the poor chilïs ribs.
You would make a good mother.
If I am not allowed to be your wife, and to bear your children,
then I will bear no other man's.
Well, I best go. That stranger will need a proper burial.
Can't you stay a while longer? You don't have to say nothing.
It just does my soul good, having you close.
I'm always close.
She loves him, Fagan. She loves the Sin Eater.
It ain't our business.
Maybe not.
But you should have heard the way he spoke to her.
So soft and sweet.
Pa used to talk to my ma that way when I was little.
My pa ain't never talked to my ma that way.
But I've seen her look at him, sometimes,
like the sun wouldn't rise without him.
I don't know how that she can feel that way.
It ain't hard.
You can love somebody without them loving you back.
Hello!
Is my mother.
Get down. Hurry! Hurry.
I'm leaving the door open or she'll think something amiss.
- Katrina Anice, do you trust me? - Yes. Now hush up. We have to be quiet.
lona Kai. You're a long way from home.
What would you be wanting in my part of the cove?
Believe me, this is the last place I'd wanna be.
But I'm looking for my boy, Fagan.
He's been talking about Dead Man's Mountain.
Have you seen him?
And if I have, why would I be telling the likes of you?
He's my son, not yours.
You'd understand if you'd ever had children of your own.
You and the rest made sure that would never happen, didn't you?
Goïs doing, not mine.
But what was your doing was turning the cove against me.
Spreading lies, calling me a spell-caster,
so your precious Brogan would stop pining for me and marry you.
Well, you got what you wanted, didn't you?
Where is my son, you witch? Where is he?
You don't deserve a boy like Fagan, lona. A mother ought to protect her own son.
I'd stand against Hell itself to protect Fagan and he ain't even mine.
So you do have him in there. Fagan? Son, come out to your mama.
Please!
You don't have to go, Fagan.
Yes, I do. Let go, Cadi.
He's mending from the beating Brogan gave him
because he stood up for the man by the river.
A man of God. Didn't you know that?
Why do you think I come here?
His pa's been looking for him since dawn, and I can't let him find him here.
Do you think I want my boy hurt again?
Hello, Ma.
Oh, Fagan. Oh, no.
Come, son, come.
How could your pa do this to you?
Is all right, Mama.
Katrina Anice, do you trust me?
Yes, I told you already.
Then you have to run, right now. You and Fagan.
- He cannot come home. - He can stay as long as he likes, lona.
Fagan, we've got to run. Please, we've got to run. Right now.
- Why? Fagan!
Run, Fagan. Go. Run.
Kai.
Kai, please let them go.
This is none of your affair, Bletsung MacLeod.
Please, Brogan. He's your son. Don't do this.
He's flesh of your flesh!
No! No!
No! Come on, Fagan. I'm not going without you.
Where are you, boy? You best show yourself. You hear me?
Fagan!
CADl: Fagan? Fagan, wake up. Wake up.
Oh, God. Oh, God, help me. Please help us.
If you don't show yourself, you are no longer my son.
I will never look upon you again.
You are dead to me. You hear me, boy?
I searched the entire cove for her.
And no one has seen hide nor hair of her.
Is been a night and a day.
God help me.
I even went to the Narrows.
Fagan?
Fagan!
Sin Eater, wait. Where are you taking Fagan?
You and the boy need to be out of the cold.
Follow me.
You two caused a lot of trouble, Cadi Forbes.
Thank you for coming for us.
You lie down, now.
Try to get some more sleep.
Where are we?
The Sin Eater's cave.
- This is where he lives? - Aye.
He grooms himself.
Where is he?
Gone before I woke up.
Bletsung's.
Is freezing.
What you doing?
- Fagan's cold, sir. - You're not to touch my things.
If anyone were to find out you touched my things, you'd be tainted like me.
No one's touched me in 20 years and thas how it has to stay.
Step aside. Let me pass.
Is blankets from Bletsung. Put one over him. I've not touched them.
Stranger's pouch is in there, as well. She thought you might want to have it.
What about my father?
He won't come looking for you here.
But when you are well enough to travel, the two of you must leave.
- Where will we go? - Anywhere but here.
This cave holds dark sins.
Why did God cause the lot to fall to you all those years ago?
It was Goïs will that it fell to me.
- Maybe it wasn't Goïs will. - What you talking about?
- Can you read? - Aye.
What is it?
Is the book the man of God gave to us before he died.
Tells the story of another sin eater that God sent long ago.
It says that only he can forgive us of our sins.
- I will never read that book. - Why not?
Because it would mean I had wasted my life in this cave.
And never saved a single soul from damnation.
Cadi! CADl: Hurry! Oh, please hurry!
Cadi, where are you?
I'm in the back of the cave. Hurry, please hurry!
- Hurry! - I'm coming.
Don't worry, I'm almost there.
What took you so long?
You ought to be thanking me instead of hitting me.
I was so scared. I ain't never been in darkness like that. Never.
Well, it ain't dark anymore.
How about letting go of my arm?
Sorry.
- Is all right. - I found something, Fagan. Over here. See.
What are they?
I wonder if the Sin Eater painted them.
What are those mounds supposed to be? Are they hills?
Indian hogans, I think.
In this one, there's a man in a hat and it looks like they're dancing.
Shaking hands with somebody. Maybe the chief.
Aye.
These are more white men and women with them.
Whas this?
- Is it fire? - Aye.
The hogans are burning.
I think I understand.
These figures on the ground are the men from the Indian village.
All killed by the men in the hats. The white men.
Look.
- This is the Narrows, ain't it? - Aye.
- Looks like they fell off the tree bridge. - Aye, it does. But...
They didn't fall. They were pushed.
The man in the hat shoots the first one. The rest tumble in after.
One of the men must have escaped the killings.
He's the one who painted these drawings.
- What do you think happened to him? - I don't know.
You just found him, Cadi.
He must have been wounded and died.
How do you know?
Because he didn't use clay or soot to paint these.
He used his own blood.
The Sin Eater was right. This cave does hold dark sins.
I have to know what these drawings mean.
I think I know someone who can tell us. Come on.
It ain't safe to leave in the daylight, Fagan.
I'm afraid of what your pa will do.
Is all right. You don't have to come with me.
I can take care of myself.
Remember the night by the river, Katrina Anice?
Yes.
Who threw the stone at Brogan Kai?
God has not given you a heart of fear.
Now, about these paintings in the Sin Eater's cave...
We want to know about the Indians who lived here before our people.
We want to know about the Indians who were murdered.
The man of God told us that if we knew the truth,
then the truth would set us free.
Well, perhaps the time has come for the whole truth to be told.
- Pa! - Cadi, girl. Dear, you're all right.
I am fine, Pa. Where is Ma?
She's at home.
When we couldn't find you, we thought...
Where were you?
I promise to explain everything to you, very soon:
But there's something we must do first.
Okay.
- I want to know who here rang the bell. - I did.
Whas the meaning of this, Miz Elda? Whose grave has been dug?
Neighbors, the time has come to put the past to rest,
to bring old secrets and lies out into the open
and then bury them once and for all, in that there grave.
I have heard enough of this.
For once in your life, Brogan Kai, pipe down.
A generation ago, when we come from Wales to this cove,
I had never seen nothing more beautiful.
It was truly the God-green of spring.
Like Heaven on Earth, it was.
With cool streams and rich, brown soil.
More wondrous than any place I had seen back home.
We come up the trail with Laochailand Kai leading the way.
A dozen families in all. And when we reached the Indian village,
the little children all come running to greet us.
With one hand, the Kai offered the chief a peace offering.
But with his other hand...
The rest was Hell on Earth.
I'm grieved to say my own Donal was among the men
who done so much evil that day.
Aye, as were many of your daddies and granddaddies.
My father had no choice. They were savages.
They would have scalped us in our sleep.
If that were true, Brogan,
why did Laochailand have such a desperate need
for a sin eater at the end of his days?
It was the way of our people. It always has been.
We had no need of a sin eater in this new country.
It was a tradition we should have left dead and buried
with our forefathers back in Wales.
But the Kai was a man with innocent blood on his hands
and the fear of Hell-fire in his heart,
and thas how this whole wretched business started.
He needed a scapegoat.
So do we all,
and that facs not going to change anything anytime soon.
No.
Brogan, is time to tell the truth.
No more lies.
There never was a proper lottery.
It was fixed from the beginning.
She's mad. She doesn't know what she's saying!
I know all about what you done when I found the lots you hid beneath the house.
When Fagan was just a wee one,
he went to hide after you give him a beating
and I found him under there fiddling with some chicken bones.
They all had markings on them, all of them the same.
Every last one of them marked with Sim Gillivry's mark.
- Lies! - I'll prove it.
Cleet, take your ma home, where she belongs.
- She's not in her right mind. - No.
Look.
See?
They're all the same. Marked for Sim.
All these years, and it wasn't Goïs will.
Falsehoods. Why would I do such a thing?
Because you loved Bletsung MacLeod, not me,
and she loved Sim,
and if you couldn't have her, you made sure no man ever would.
I've had enough of this.
This gathering is over. Everyone go home.
Not till I have had my say.
You're not wanted here, Sin Eater.
You've no business coming off the mountain unless you've been called.
There is still time for someone to die here tonight.
Someone who has ruled this cove with deceit
and an iron fist.
Someone who beat a man of God to death.
Someone who kept me from the woman I love all these years.
Turn around and look me in the eye, Brogan.
Like I said, everyone go home!
I said turn around, Kai!
No, you turn around and go back to your hole,
or we'll be choosing another sin eater by sun-up.
No more killing and no more lies.
- This has nothing to do with you. - Oh, yes it does, and you know why.
No.
Sir, the reason you could not eat my sins was because you were never meant to.
Don't come near me, child.
Is what the man of God came to tell us.
Please, child. I am not clean.
Is whas in this book.
Somebody already has eaten our sins.
No.
It can't be true.
You're not a beast, Sim Gillivry.
You are just a man whom God loves and wants to forgive.
Whom he wants to set free.
Who wants to set us all free.
Mama?
Mama, I am so sorry for what happened to Elen.
I was jealous of her.
I know.
I said terrible things to her and to you.
I remember.
And I know you have every reason to hate me,
but I didn't push her off that tree bridge. I swear on my life, I didn't push her.
Cadi.
I never thought for one minute that you pushed her into that river.
I never, ever thought that.
- You didn't? - No.
Then why have you been so angry with me?
Not with you, child.
With myself.
It should have been me.
No, Mama. Why?
I knew that I'd hurt you, favoring her like I did.
But she was so little, so sickly,
from wee-born to a pup,
and you, Cadi, you were so full of life and spunk.
But I never meant for you to blame yourself.
It was me.
I sent Elen to follow you.
You didn't know I'd gone to the Narrows, Mama.
But it should have been me, Cadi, not Elen.
It should have been me.
So that I could tell you how sorry I was.
It is my fault she fell into the Narrows and it is my fault she died, Cadi, not yours.
It was an accident, Mama.
It was an accident that never would have happened
if I'd been a proper ma.
Sometimes I...
I would see the terrible grief in your eyes
and I would see you suffering.
I'm so sorry, child.
I...
I didn't know how to ease it for you.
I...
I began to think I'd lost both my girls in the river that day.
You didn't lose me, Mama.
All I wanted was for you to open your arms
and tell me that you still wanted me to be your daughter.
I would have run into them.
You would? Truly, you would?
I love you, Cadi.
- I love you, Cadi. - Love you too, Ma.
You're still my little bit of heaven.
Little bit of Heaven. Lilybet.
They do sound sort of alike, don't they?
Don't leave me, child. Don't leave me, Cadi.
I am so sorry. I am so sorry.
And is raised questions over the years.
Whether Lilybet was an angel or not ain't for me to say.
Fact is, I don't rightly know what she was.
But I do know she was there that spring when I needed her most.
I never saw her again after that day of the New Covenant.
Thas what we came to call it. A new beginning, it was.
But the truth is, I suppose I didn't need her after that.
Because from that moment on I had the Lord.