[soft instrumental music playing]
[indistinct chatter on radio]
Christ, it stinks in here, Dad.
Didn't I call someone last
week to clean this place up?
Are you sleeping down here?
The stairs are giving me a pain in the ass.
Yeah. Well, I told you you could call me.
We could bring the bed in here if you want.
- Did you get fired?
- No, I didn't get fired.
- Where's Cathy?
- She's not coming today.
Did she leave you?
Cathy's fine.
Your mother said she was fine, too.
Didn't stop her from walking off on us.
You can make yourself
somethin' decent to eat.
Something healthy.
Meatloaf.
And a little bit of gin.
Gin too much to ask for
a man dying alone here?
Hey, Dad.
I need to ask you something.
Leave me alone.
I got no answers.
[telephone ringing]
- [woman over phone] David.
- Hey, Linny.
[whispering] Listen, I
can't really talk very loudly
'cause Cathy's downstairs.
I heard at the office that Cathy kicked
you out and you're living in a motel.
Who said that?
That's not true. Who said that?
Wilson.
He's out of his mind. That is not true.
Hey.
- Guess what?
- What?
I'm lying here naked.
Come on, David.
[shushing]
Tell me what you're wearing.
Do that thing that you do.
[Linny scoffs]
Okay.
- Mm.
- One day, we go away together.
Keep talking.
Tell me. And?
There's sand.
A beach.
And we've made love all day long.
Mm.
Say that thing that we do.
This is what we do.
Yeah. Say it again.
- It's okay. This is what we do.
- Hm.
[instrumental music playing]
[speaking indistinctly]
Okay.
Hi.
I'm supposed to ask you for a cigarette.
What was it, some kind of dare?
What grade are you in?
- Seven.
- They don't teach you anything?
This your idea?
- Whose was it?
- Syd's.
The tall one?
She in seventh grade, too?
We all are.
She looks older.
I know.
She always put you up to things like this?
I guess.
All right. Put it in your mouth.
A lady doesn't light her own cigarette.
What's in the purse?
Makeup.
I don't have any money.
I just buried my father.
You ever been to a wake?
You know, your friends are
over there, laughing at you.
You know that, don't you?
I'm gonna give you a little tip.
Something that you can hold on to forever.
- What?
- I'll even give you this whole pack of cigarettes.
In exchange, you let me play a
little trick on your friend, Syd.
Teach her a lesson for doing this to you.
What kind of trick?
Let's scare them.
Let's pretend I'm kidnapping you, okay?
I'm gonna march you over to my truck.
And you're not gonna scream.
You're just gonna look back at them
so they know you're afraid.
- What? No, I...
- I'm just gonna play a trick on your friends, okay?
- I'm not gonna hurt you. Come on.
- What...
Teaching a little bit of a lesson, right?
Come on.
Get up.
You should know better.
I could be taking you
somewhere to kill you right now.
Your friend should know better.
It was a very dumb thing for you to
do to be coming up to me like that.
Which way? Where do you live?
...Terrace.
Look, I'm sorry.
I'm not a bad guy, but I could've been.
Maybe we should go inside and
tell your parents what happened.
Nobody's home.
You have any brothers or sisters?
You think your friends went into one of
the stores and told people what happened?
[sighs]
No.
Yeah. Me neither.
Purse.
[man] Knock, knock.
Coffee?
Thanks.
I'm really sorry about your dad.
He was a good guy.
A real son of a bitch.
You kinda made a mess of things here.
There's a great position for Linny.
I mean, don't wreck her career.
You put me in a hell of a spot.
Look, I'm sorry. I am.
This is all beyond what I'm used
to, dad dying and everything.
Look, I'm gonna insist you take some time.
Clear out, let the dust settle.
Okay?
You didn't tell her you're
getting divorced, either?
- David.
- Hi.
Are you going somewhere?
I was just gonna make some calls
today, so I thought I'd do it from home.
Mm.
[both moaning and gasping]
So, this is what we do.
Is this what we do?
You know, it hurts me to say this,
but you should let one of those
university guys take you out to dinner.
Buy you dessert, put his arms around you.
Don't.
I'm not stupid, you know.
I know I don't deserve you.
I know I'm lucky to have you.
So, come over and spend the night tonight.
I can't.
I'm just doing all the things I have to
do so we can spend a few days together,
free and clear.
Did you come back for cigarettes?
'Cause I quit since
yesterday. I'm on a new plan.
Glad to see you covered yourself up.
You know, I thought about you
a lot since yesterday. Yeah.
I was worried I hurt you.
None of them even called me.
To see if you'd killed me or what.
Sorry about your friends.
Not friends anymore.
Tell your mom about yesterday?
- No way.
- Are you too embarrassed to say anything?
You lived around here your whole life?
Probably gonna die here.
I'm sorry to hear that.
What's your name?
Tommie.
That's a beautiful name.
So, let me buy you lunch.
I won't drag you this time. It'll
just be my way of apologizing to you
if I scared you yesterday.
Well, it was pretty stupid.
- You or me?
- Both.
What's your name, anyway?
Gary.
Good thing it's not Tom.
- That'd be weird.
- We couldn't be friends.
[paper rustling]
Here you are.
Grilled cheese with nothing on it for you.
Thanks.
You know, my grandmother used to make
grilled cheese sandwiches with a slice of pear
when we went camping down by the river.
- With pear?
- Yup.
- Yuck.
- Don't knock it till you try it.
I was actually thinking about
taking a sort of camping trip soon.
Good luck finding a river.
I know plenty of rivers.
Well, I could give you
my email or something.
Why? Are we gonna see each other again?
I don't know.
I don't really have that
many friends around here.
[piano music playing]
Higher. Throw higher.
- You get it?
- Yeah.
Yes!
[David] Imagine a place
way better than this.
Acres of pale grass.
Slash of green
down where the tamaracks and the
cottonwoods grow by the river.
You see all that?
Well... sort of.
Okay, go.
There's only one road to
get in, El Rancho Road.
It's still unpaved.
It's locked in by a cattle gate. You
need a little black key to open it.
Mountains taller than your eyes can see.
Off to the side of the
cabin there's a shop.
Inside of it, there's a little wood stove.
A little AM radio and a bunch
of my father's old tools.
On the work bench there's
a bunch of old pickle jars
with rusted nails and
half packs of cigarettes.
You're not allowed to
have any of those, okay?
Beyond the shop there's a set of bunk beds.
Looking out at the river and the
old, brown ragged horses that we keep.
I love horses.
[train chugging]
Maybe this should be our
last outing for a while.
Why?
'Cause it's weird?
Yeah, 'cause it's weird.
[music on TV]
That's a lot of fish.
[man speaking indistinctly on TV]
[door unlocks]
Oh, eight grand. Eight grand in two weeks.
- [woman] That's a lot of money.
- Easy work.
Where you been?
Jenny's.
How many times I told you not
to walk around outside at dark?
It's dangerous.
Okay.
I know someone who died watching TV.
No, you don't.
Not someone I know, but
someone I heard about.
Well... he was probably old.
Just goes to show you that
you die the way you live.
Who told you that shit?
Some families do other stuff, you know.
Tommie!
Look, your mother is tired from busting
her tail to take care of you, you know?
And we sit up here worrying about
you, wondering where the hell you are
and the first thing you do
when you walk in the door
is tell us that we don't
give you enough attention?
I'm mean, God damn!
Go on, take your shower. Get ready for bed.
- It's not even 7:00.
- I said, do it!
[instrumental music playing]
[sighs]
[car honks]
- How did you know to come early?
- How did you?
Seem to talk without talking, you and I.
Are you bringing me to school?
I was thinking maybe we
could skip school today.
Maybe we should call in as
a kindness to your teachers.
No, I'll just tell my mom I was sick
and then she'll write me a note tomorrow.
- You've done this before?
- Yep.
I'm not corrupting you?
So, where are we going?
Got you a little gift.
You wanna try it on?
No.
I like it when it's new.
Don't wanna ruin it.
All right. Seat belt.
Tommie.
Gary.
You really wanna see those mountains?
Yeah.
I mean, you wanna go with me?
Sure.
Where?
A secret trip in your secret life.
You finally get your camping trip.
- For how long?
- Just a week.
Not even two Mondays.
I'll bring you back before
anyone starts to worry.
We're not gonna tell anybody where we went.
You'll have to swear to God.
Swear to God.
You promise?
I promise.
[David] You wanna leave now?
- [Tommie] I don't have my stuff.
- I'll buy you stuff.
We shouldn't even tell my mom.
She might let me, but Jesse would never.
All right.
Do you... like cartoons?
Listen, I'm gonna go out to the store
and get us some things for our
trip. We need to be prepared, right?
How long is it gonna
take for us to get there?
Two days.
Then how are we gonna make
it back in five nights?
That's why we're doing this in stages.
So we don't do anything stupid.
It's actually more like seven nights.
- Can I come with you to the store?
- No.
Why?
I want you to spend some time here alone.
You remember how to get
home from here, more or less?
That's for a cab ride home.
I don't wanna go home.
Look, I want you to think about this, okay?
I want you to take an hour, so
think about this really hard,
whether or not you wanna
stay here and wait for me.
This will look a lot like a
kidnapping to other people.
Right?
Oh.
Here you are with a
stranger in a hotel room.
But you're not a stranger.
Yeah, I know, but maybe this
makes you feel a little funny.
It doesn't.
I'm 47 and you're 11.
Okay?
Say, "Okay, Gary."
Okay, Gary.
Now, if you decide to stay,
I want you to rearrange
the room like it's your own.
Okay? You line your shoes up in
the corner, you wash your face,
you mess the pillows up.
So, that when I come back,
it's like you're inviting
me into your room.
You're weird.
Maybe so.
But if I come back and you're not here,
I will completely understand.
There's no hard feelings, okay?
What if I wanna go back, like,
at a certain point... later?
Well, we'll put you on
a plane and get you home.
All you have to do is say the word.
It's an open door policy.
Okay.
So, we have a deal?
Equal partners, 50-50?
[spits]
[spits]
I'll be back.
[electronic music playing]
I'm heading out of town.
Where?
Dad's cabin. Tomorrow.
It's for a few weeks.
Well, do you want me
to come with you again?
Not now. But soon, okay?
Now that he's gone, I just need a little time
to figure out whether or not I wanna sell it.
[indistinct chatter on TV]
You're such a doll.
[sighs heavily]
[screams]
- Tag!
- [giggling excitedly]
[instrumental music playing]
Gary, how come you never got married?
I don't know.
Never met the right girl, I suppose.
Oh.
What about you? You ever have a boyfriend?
No.
- Nothing that serious.
- "Nothing that serious"?
What do you mean? Like
you've never been in love?
Like not hooking up.
You never?
What is that, like it's no big deal?
Do you even know how much a stamp costs?
Like, 50 cents?
In 1968, the US postal
stamp cost a man five cents.
That doesn't mean anything to you, does it?
Not really.
We have to do a better job of
understanding the world around us.
Don't do that. Jesse does that.
- Does what?
- Says "we" when you mean "me."
You're right.
You haven't hooked up with
a boy yet, have you, Tommie?
Because it's a big deal.
Do you understand?
There.
The year I was born is
now on your beautiful head.
["Am I a Good Man" playing]
Memorize this.
You'll wish you were back here one day.
You'll wonder about the old
guy who drove you around,
showing you so much beauty in the world.
I know it's not for just one week, Gary.
Don't say that. It's not true.
I know you had to say that
or we would've never left.
Imagine being a truck driver.
Seeing a man like me and a girl like you,
talking about things. What do
you think that they would think?
I guess they would think
some guy and his kid.
If they were to ask you, would you
be able to look them in the eyes
and tell them that's what we are?
- Sure.
- Okay.
"Hey, kid, who's that guy you're with?"
That guy? Him?
You mean my dad?
Good.
You could be an actress.
Thanks.
That wasn't a compliment.
[sighs]
[sighs gruffly]
Brush your teeth.
Let me turn the bed down for you.
Turn down the bed?
Yeah.
You're the kind of girl who deserves someone
to turn down the bed for you every night.
This is like my grandma's.
Are you getting homesick?
No.
A little.
It's good.
If we're gonna be partners, we have
to be square with one another, right?
Right.
[David] Thirty three,
thirty two, thirty one,
thirty,
twenty nine,
twenty eight,
twenty seven,
twenty six...
Eighteen,
seventeen,
sixteen,
fifteen,
fourteen,
thirteen,
twelve,
eleven,
ten,
nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
Okay.
[door opens]
[door closes]
Are you just a little bedbug?
Delectable pizza.
[sighs]
- Did you brush your teeth?
- Yes.
Good.
It's my job.
Make sure you're taking care of yourself.
You're sweet.
Look at you, you are a perfect person.
You know, age 11 is the
perfect age to be a young girl
and you'll know it the minute you turn 12.
This is a perfect moment.
It's like we're camping.
Right?
Like I'm your brother.
We're brother and sister.
- I guess you're the older brother.
- No, I'm...
I'm the younger one.
The smaller one. You're the
older one, the smarter one.
You're gonna teach me about all the
beautiful things that I'm supposed to know.
Gary?
Yes, dear?
I think I might want to call my mom.
Okay.
Okay?
- In the morning?
- Sure.
What do you want to tell her?
Just that everything's
okay, that... I'm okay.
Not to worry.
Do you think she'll
worry more if we call her?
I don't know.
Maybe we should think about that.
[instrumental music playing]
[woman] Are you okay, sweetheart?
[sobbing]
Can I help you?
What's your name, honey?
Emily.
Emily, my name is Melissa.
Can I help you with something?
- Your mom or daddy here?
- Morning. Hey.
- Is she okay?
- Yeah, yeah, just a little carsick.
[blowing nose]
That's the most extraordinary
sound I've ever heard.
Blow again.
[blows]
What are the facts here? Do you remember?
I'm running away from home.
Is that what you think?
We spend a week and then you take me back.
Close.
We spend a few days and
then you take me back.
And we agreed to this deal, right?
Yes.
So, there's no running away.
You're just like a teenager.
You're going on vacation, right?
Look...
I know your mom's worried, but how
about we send her a postcard, okay?
It'll be such a relief to her to know
that you're out here in the world,
having so much fun.
And she'll love you more than ever and
you'll love her more than ever. Right?
Hey.
There's room in your
heart for more love, okay?
Okay.
[instrumental music playing]
Okay.
- You blow your nose like a honking loon.
- [Tommie chuckles]
Come on.
Twenty five,
twenty four,
twenty three...
All right.
One good gulp will refuel you.
That way I won't get
lonely until I get tired.
No, I don't want one...
- Ah! Ow! It's hot!
- Tommie, you've got it all over you.
- Ow! It's hot!
- We have to get you to the bath, cool you down.
- I don't want it to burn.
- No!
- It's okay.
- I don't want a bath!
I'm just gonna put you in the bath...
Aah! Goddamn it! My eye. That hurt, Tommie.
- Don't want a bath!
- We have to rinse it off. Come on.
- No...
- Look...
- Just go outside! Count to 60! Go away!
- Okay, that's what I'll do.
[Tommie] Ow! Ow! My lip! My lip!
- [crying loudly]
- Okay, okay, okay.
- [crying]
- [shushing]
Okay, look. Just gonna rinse you off
so we can get you cleaned up
so you can sleep better, okay?
[continues crying]
- Tommie, we have to...
- Go away!
- You have to get out of your clothes so we can rinse you off!
- Go away!
- Can you give me your shirt so we can...
- Go away!
[continues crying]
Give me your shirt so we
can rinse you off, Tommie.
Okay?
Just give me your shirt,
so we can rinse you off.
- Okay. Okay.
- Go away.
Go away!
[screaming] Go away! Go away!
- Okay.
- [faucet creaks]
[screaming and crying] Go away! Go away!
Go away!
[water sloshing]
Go away!
I wanna go home!
[shushing]
You hungry?
You must be.
You slept for two days.
I wanna go home.
All right.
We'll find a place to pull
over and we'll take you home.
- I'm gonna be in so much trouble.
- No, you're not.
They're gonna be so happy to see you.
And then I'll leave town and
then you can get over this.
Never to see me again.
I'm not a little kid.
I didn't sleep for two days.
You treat me like I'm five. I
don't need any fucking baths!
All right.
[car indicator clicking]
You're right.
We have to be honest with one another.
We have to tell each other everything.
Look, I wanna know when you're
sick or when you're homesick
or when you're cold. We have
to tell each other everything.
We'll turn around and take you home.
Just like we said we would.
[sighs]
My God. Is this the most
beautiful place you've ever seen?
Did I bruise your eye?
Wanna hit me again so you even them out?
Can you find it in your
heart to forgive me?
[piano music playing]
[birds chirping]
There's something up there for you.
- What is it?
- I don't know. Open it.
Isn't it pretty?
[door opens]
[birds chirping]
[crickets chirping]
[Tommie] I've never seen so many.
- Can you take your shoes off?
- Yeah.
Good.
[shivering] Oh.
- Cold?
- Yeah.
Ew.
[man] This here is private property.
Mr. Foster.
Who's that?
Walter Lamb's son. This is my niece, Emily.
You be here for a while?
Just about a week.
Ain't much of a place for a girl.
- I like it.
- Yeah, well.
Girl doesn't get to choose
where she lands, does she?
Hey, Em, give us a minute.
[David] She just lost her mother.
Sister? Yours?
Sister-in-law.
Oh, okay.
You got gutters comin' down in back
and you also got a broken window.
[crickets chirping]
Listen, Tommie.
I feel a little funny about that
old man peeping in the windows and...
getting any ideas.
- Like he'll know you're not my uncle?
- Exactly.
Well, you act like an uncle.
Even like a dad.
Well, my dear, that's a very
nice thing for you to say.
But neither one of us really knows
what a father should act like, right?
- Oh, yeah.
- So...
we'll keep the lights out,
and we use an old-fashioned
lantern and a candle.
Okay?
[music playing on radio]
[rock music playing]
[romantic music playing]
[David] Nice.
[Tommie] How do you know
how to do all this stuff?
[David] Well...
I've been waiting 40 years
for a moment like this.
I figured in all that time, I'd have
probably figured out how it'd go.
But you didn't know
about me that entire time.
No.
You are a complete and total surprise.
Good surprise?
Good surprise.
[birds chirping]
[sighs]
Will you miss me when you take me back?
No hard questions. Let's
just enjoy the morning.
- Gary?
- Yeah.
You think my mom called the police by now?
- Honestly?
- Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
Are you gonna get in trouble?
No.
How do you know?
You don't have to worry.
This is gonna be good for everybody.
There'll be a new light about you.
And you'll know about this
country's secret heart.
And you'll be drenched in it.
It's gonna get all over everybody.
Okay.
You really are beautiful, you know that?
[whistles]
You are whole.
I am?
Can I get a root beer?
Sure. Grab me a beer while you're at it.
- Can I have a sip?
- One sip.
Off the top, and then bring me the rest.
[birds chirping]
[suspenseful music playing]
Hello, there.
- What you got there?
- [David] Em?
- Hey.
- [glass shatters]
Go inside. Now.
Get inside! Go!
Sorry you had to witness that. She's
never done anything like that before.
Well, guess a little sip of
beer never hurt anybody, did it?
I saw you walking north, by the
river. You don't wanna do that.
We got some unfriendly
landowners up that way.
We got this old guy, Ed Granger,
had a metal plate put in his head in '91.
Hasn't been right since.
And he don't like kids.
See, he was up when my
brother-in-law put this place up
when his kid almost lost her arm
on a square of sheet metal.
[blows air]
Not the kind of picture you forget.
I guess not.
There's a hospital 70 miles away.
Should've taken that into consideration.
[sobbing]
You take a deep breath.
You promised there were horses!
Hey.
Can you calm down and listen to me?
[sighs]
What would've happened if I
didn't react like an angry uncle?
What do you think he would've thought of a
man letting his niece drink a beer like that?
I don't know.
It's child abuse, Tom.
And I would've gone to jail.
Then the police would've figured
out who you are and where you belong.
How do you think they would've
reacted to that at home?
Not good.
It breaks my heart to
see you crying like this.
Sorry.
[sniffles]
Can you forgive me?
[sighs]
I forgive you.
When you get older you start
to appreciate how short life is.
And you feel it in your bones.
Now, when that happens,
everyone becomes ageless.
Okay?
Okay.
Okay.
[crickets chirping]
[man speaking indistinctly over radio]
A Wyoming couple died overnight
in a deadly fire in their home.
Investigators are still
trying to figure out
exactly what caused the
deadly fire to ignite.
[woman over radio] I asked
the officer what was going on
and she told me that a house at
the end of the street was on fire.
[female newsreader] The folks who
live here on Hidden Mountain Lane
watched the flames, knowing
there was nothing they could do.
[suspenseful music playing]
[crickets chirping]
[birds chirping]
[rustling]
Okay, open up.
[sighing] Oh, gosh.
[instrumental music playing]
Big, brown, raggedy horses.
Who's that?
Let's go.
Come on! Run!
Come on, we've gotta run!
Get in, get in.
Okay.
Listen to me. This is the biggest test.
Foster was nothing compared to this.
If they come and go without you being seen,
then I won't get in trouble, all right?
How did they know you were here?
[Linny] David?
- Hey.
- Hey!
- Surprise!
- [laughs]
I felt bad that you're
out here all by yourself.
Linny.
- This is a surprise.
- [sighing] Oh.
- Champagne?
- Yeah.
How's it been going?
Okay.
Oh, wow. It's so nice to be back here.
[David moaning]
[chuckles softly]
You're acting weird.
[moans]
I'm gonna go to the bathroom first.
[whispering] We were just talking
out there, did you hear us talking?
- Is she your girlfriend?
- I'll explain later, okay?
I want you to run, as quiet
as a mouse to the shop.
She's not staying long, right?
Am I making the wrong decision not
being able to trust you out there?
Come on. Let's go.
Run.
[frogs croaking]
Is there somebody else?
Just a dozen others.
Kidding.
What do you think I'm doing
up here, huh? Having my kicks?
- I mean, come on.
- Sorry.
Really.
You know me by now, don't you?
Sometimes.
Hey.
I just need a little space.
I need to test myself.
Clean up my heart.
It's like an old, crowded garage
in there that needs some tidying.
I don't know if you can tidy a heart.
Not like you tidy a garage.
We don't have to do this,
you and I, and I want to.
I just feel like I'd be
stealing you away from the world.
I can wait for you.
I'm willing to do that.
I knew you would say that.
Why does that make you
look like you wanna die?
'Cause I'm afraid I made you say it.
I'm afraid I make everybody say everything.
Of course you didn't.
You're not that powerful.
You're not even at all angry with me?
Do you want me to be?
I think I want somebody to be.
Well, you can't go around and just make
people angry so you know where you stand.
I think I might be an awful person.
I think the whole world's out there
eying on something really wonderful.
And I don't know what it is.
I can't be part of it.
Why did she call you David?
That's like when I call you Emily.
Everything I do from here
on out is to protect you.
To protect us.
Does she love you?
Yeah, she does.
Do you love her?
Not in the least bit.
I'm doing this for us.
How long do I have to stay in here?
Just one more day.
Okay?
My stomach hurts.
I have to go to the bathroom.
- I can't see.
- [shushing]
[whispering] We have to be careful, okay?
Come on.
I'm gonna tell you something that
I've never told anyone before.
What?
You have to promise me
you won't tell anyone.
What is it?
It's about my little brother.
You have brothers?
I'm telling you this to show
you how special you are to me.
I promise.
My little brother disappeared.
Where?
We don't know.
When he was about your age.
Was he kidnapped?
I don't know.
We never knew.
He used to sleep in a sleeping
bag behind the gas station.
Why?
Our house was kind of a sad place.
I think you know how that can be.
Then one morning he just never came back.
Never showed up.
Not ever?
Not ever.
You have to promise you'll
always call me Gary, okay?
- Say, "I promise."
- I promise.
[sighs heavily]
[birds chirping]
Hi.
Here.
All right. You stay here and you
just hibernate and snuggle up,
my little mountain critter.
When she leaves, we'll have all
kinds of new energy, new fun.
- Right?
- Okay.
Okay.
[rustling]
- Hide?
- Hide.
Hey, what's this room?
It's just the bunk room.
Well, why don't we sleep in here
instead of the mess that's on the floor.
Yeah, they're infested with mice shit.
- But that's actually beds...
- No, they're old and shitty.
[door closes]
[both laughing]
[instrumental music playing]
I'm gonna go get the
mattresses from the bunk room.
It has to be better than this hard floor.
I told you it's infested with mice shit.
Yeah, but we can clean them.
We can cover them with towels.
No.
What?
It's haunted.
That room is haunted.
I don't wanna scare you. I
want you to really love it here.
Me, too.
Tell me.
All right. So, the owner of this
house was a man named Calhoon.
The old neighbor, Foster,
he had a little girl
with his sister.
And what was her name?
Emily.
So, Calhoon, he wanted to have a wood shop
built off the side of the
house to store all his tools.
And he and Foster decided to build it.
He'd dug the foundation,
set the footers, tied the rebar.
And Emily, who was all of ten years old,
she would come down everyday
and join them for lunch.
She used to love playing in the yard
with all the scrap metal and all the wood.
And dipping her hand into the wet cement.
One day, they were pouring
the concrete slabs...
and Emily disappeared.
Sheriffs came with cadaver dogs and
they searched the prairies for weeks,
but they never found her.
They never found her alive again.
And the kid is still haunting the place?
Even worse.
Foster comes down here every night
with a flashlight, looking for her.
Have you seen her?
I've talked to her.
What did she say?
She says she's in love with me
and she wants to live with me here forever.
[running footsteps]
Gary?
David.
David!
Who is this?
It's my niece, Emily. She's been sick.
I didn't want you to...
[Tommie] No! No! I hate you!
[clanging]
I hate you! I hate you!
- Tommie!
- I'm just a kid to you!
Linn, wait.
I'm sorry. This is just
such a bad time, okay?
We'll take a rain check.
We'll come back in a few weeks.
Linn...
She's my brother's girl.
My younger brother, the one who died.
You never told me that.
Now, that we can be closer,
you'll learn a lot about my family.
- I don't understand.
- Look at me.
I need you to be patient with me, please.
Please?
If you don't like her,
then how come you see her?
I told you.
For us.
To keep each other safe.
[sighs]
[instrumental music playing]
This is the beginning part
where we take you back home.
But they'll ask me where I was.
And you won't tell them, right?
I ran away, but here I am now.
[tapping]
Memorize that.
It's the 14th post on the 14th day.
Can you remember that?
- Why?
- The 14th fence post will always stand for you.
Turn around.
Turn around and see our little house.
It's ours, right?
Equal partners, right?
I will it to you, Tommie.
It's yours.
And maybe even more yours
than it was ever mine.
You'll move her long after I'm gone.
I will write you half a dozen
letters like this one here.
Every single day for the rest of my life.
And they will tell the
story of my love for you.
Messages from the dead.
I don't wanna go home.
You feel that?
That pressure right there?
It's the world calling you.
[car approaching]
[shower running]
[faucet creaks]
I feel hot again.
If you want, I can go to the
store and get you more medicine.
Yeah.
We've stayed here before, haven't we?
If you discover one day that you hate me,
that you're angry with me,
that I ruined your life,
at any time...
if I'm 90, you'll tell me, won't you?
Gary.
You'll buy a pair of steel-toed
boots and you will find me...
all alone and dried up...
and sick in a nursing home and
you'll kick my fucking teeth in.
Please don't say that.
You will outgrow me.
You will forget everything.
[sobs loudly]
N... No, I won't.
[continues sobbing]
[instrumental music playing]
This is how we said it'd go, didn't we?
I'll make you a promise.
Valentine's Day.
I'll come and find you.
You'll come and pick me up?
I'll send you a sign.
What kinda sign?
I don't know. Like a ribbon or something.
Tied to an unusual place.
Or I'll break a window
like the one at the cabin.
I'll leave it broken.
And that way you'll know I was there.
[sighs]
It's okay.
Hey. It's okay.
- It's okay.
- [sniffles]
It's okay, sweetheart. Aw.
Sweetheart.
Listen. Remember...
you have to be brave.
Okay?
Maybe...
What, sweetheart?
Maybe we can tell everyone.
I think... I think they would understand.
Because...
Because it's love, right?
Oh, sweetheart.
Remember what we said about
keeping each other safe?
Yes.
Okay.
Will you stop crying?
- I... I'm trying.
- Okay.
A love like ours is expensive, right?
Think of it that way.
We pay for it by not seeing each other.
Can't we just... Can't we just
go get a coffee or something?
I'm sorry, sweetheart.
This is the last chapter.
You remember what we said?
You know what to do if
they're not there, right?
- Yes.
- What?
I... I tell the security guard that...
"I ran away and here I am now,"
and, "Could you help me find my mother?"
All right.
- And you'll be strong and beautiful?
- Yes.
Then say it.
- I'll be strong and beautiful.
- Yeah, yeah.
Don't ever forget this hurt.
Don't ever forget the things
that we've seen together.
'Cause it'll save you.
You...
will be an apple tree among all the
ash-colored buildings of this city.
You just need to close your eyes...
take a deep breath and listen.
[instrumental music playing]
Listen to the rain and the wind...
All that rushing through you...
[softly] That'll be me whispering to you.
I'll be with you this way.
Right?
[sighs shakily]
Hey.
Hey.
[Tommie sniffles]
Come on.
You should keep it.
[sobbing]
It's okay.
We're gonna count to five.
One.
[David sobbing]
Wait!
Wait!
Wait!
Wait!
["Window" playing]