# Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged!
Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged! #
Fight! Jerry Sykes is fighting
Danny Hawkins! Jerry's got him down!
# Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged!
# Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged! #
Attaboy, Jerry.
Jerry Sykes sure can fight.
Danny's no better than his old man.
Got a present for you, Danny!
Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged!
Danny Hawkins' dad was hanged!
What do you want, Jerry?
I came here to dance.
Well, quit
dancing with Gilly Johnson!
I told you three months ago
she's out of your class.
You've pestered her ever since.
You're a drunk. No wonder Gilly
walked away on the dance floor.
You're out of line, Hawkins.
You're just ripe for
another beating.
- and I'm just ready to give it to you.
- Shut up, Jerry!
The killer blood, huh?
Did your old man have time to tell you...
how it feels to drop six feet
at the end of a rope?!
Had enough?
You had enough?
Jerry?
Jerry!
I thought someone was coming!
Come on, sugar.
I've gotta get back to the band.
Come on, Billy. He's coming over.
- Come on.
- Attaboy. Here, Billy.
That's it. Come on.
Isn't that pretty, Billy. Nice, huh?
Take it, go on.
- Come on, Billy.
- Once more.
Come on. Come on.
Attaboy!
What's the matter with you?
Who does he think he is?
Hey, what's the big idea? That's mine!
Yeah, that's Janey's mirror!
- Get off...!
- Lay off!
Just because he's deaf and dumb.
don't give you the right to make fun of him.
- Why don't you mind...?
- Lay off him!
Forget it, George. He looks like
he's had enough fights tonight.
How long've you been
standing there, Billy?
HOW LONG?
Must be nuts!
Talk about dummy.
Lose your girl, Danny?
Hi, Ken.
How about a game later?
- Just the usual.
- Some of the boys are staying.
The Brothers Pond
bourbon and poker club.
Not me, I can't afford
that kind of poker.
# It just dawned on me
# That there's magic in the moonrise
# It just dawned on me
# When we found our love at moonrise
# A serenade of silver strings
# From dreamy violins... #
Cutting in.
#... Turns winter into summer
# All at once
# My life begins
# It just dawned on me... #
You're not very courteous.
#... The night is filled with romance
# Let's give love a chance
# We must never let it pass us by
# Two hearts will sing in harmony
# Just like a symphony... #
What's come over you?
You're not dancing with
anyone else tonight, Gilly.
Daniel...
I'm a schoolteacher. I can't afford to fight
with you here in front of everybody.
I even stopped dancing with
Jerry because he'd been drinking.
Jimmy Biff's got his old man's
car outside. You're coming with us.
I'm certainly not.
Or I'll carry you out.
Take it easy, Dan.
This stuff is slippery.
Don't be such an old
cross pants, Jimmy!
Golly, do we have to go so fast?!
My old man will murder me
if anything happens to his car.
Danny, please?
What's the matter? You look scared.
I was just thinking about
a little boy in one of my classes.
School's out now.
- All the kids pick on him.
- Yeah?
Give him milk, he breaks the glass.
Hand him a toy, he smashes it.
He gives me a...
He gives me a lot of trouble.
- You don't like him?
- You know how it is with a teacher, Danny.
Even if I hated him, I'd have to hide
my feelings and try not to hurt him.
You see, Dan, he's unhappy.
You just can't hurt a little boy.
Golly, Dan, you're going too fast!
If we start skidding,
we'll never know what we hit.
Slow down, for God's sake!
Stop worrying about your old man.
I'm not worried about nothing but us.
Cool her down, will you, Dan?
For God's sakes!
Be careful, Dan.
That underpass is right ahead.
Look out, Dan! Look out!
Gilly?
Gilly!
Gilly.
It's all right, Dan.
# Work through the sunny noon
# Fill brightest hours with labour
# Rest comes sure and soon
# Give every flying minute
# Something to keep in store... #
Daniel?
- Yes, Aunt Jessie?
- It's late.
I was out at the Blackwater.
It's near time for hunting.
Did you hear anything
from the railroad?
I'll be on lay-off
for another three weeks.
Why, are you worried
about your room rent?
Come here, Daniel.
A man needs something
to keep him busy.
Keep him out of mischief.
I guess I don't know
very much about boys, Daniel.
Ever since Grandma sent you to me
from the hills to go to school, I...
I tried my best, but...
Now...
It isn't good for you
never to have known your own...
own pa and ma.
Why don't you say it?
About Pa shooting a man
and getting hung for it.
It's something
I've never talked about.
What are you trying to say,
Aunt Jessie?
Jimmy Biff's father spoke
to me after church tonight.
He said the car last night
was your fault.
Yours and that schoolteacher's.
What about her?
If she can't handle young people
a little better than that,
she wouldn't make
a very good schoolteacher.
I know you're not a bad boy, Daniel.
In spite of what happened a long time ago
there's never been a drop of bad blood
in our family.
You couldn't help but be a good boy.
That's what I told Walter Biff.
That's right nice of you,
Aunt Jessie.
After this, let's...
let's talk together...
a little more often.
We'll talk.
Kiss me goodnight, Daniel.
Gilly?
Gilly...
- You all right?
- I'm all right.
You don't sound very happy.
Should I be?
I called Julie's house this morning.
Her mother wouldn't talk to me.
The kids are OK.
The doc says it's just shock.
Everbody's blaming me for the wreck.
A schoolteacher and I let it happen.
Anybody can have an accident.
An accident?
Are you always like that
when you're drunk?
Like what?
Like...
Like you had nothing
but hate in you.
You were scared.
It was as though you wanted to
kill yourself, kill all of us.
Gilly...
People should understand each other.
Especially...
parties that are in love.
In love?
You're out of your mind!
What was between you
and Jerry Sykes?
I don't think that's
any of your business.
The way I figure it, you're
just a girl from the sticks.
You worked harder than everyone
and went to college and now you're
looking for someone like Jerry.
Jerry's a nice boy.
Last night he asked me to marry him.
- You said yes!
- Of course I said yes.
And because I went home with you,
he hasn't called me today.
Good evening, young folks.
Good evening, Miss Simpkins.
Didn't expect to see you
up and about, Daniel.
I'm all right, I reckon.
Try to come to church
next Sunday, Daniel.
It'll do you a heap more good
than those dances at Brothers Pond.
Good night.
Good night?
- Good night!
- Gilly.
Gilly, I...
I'm gonna sit on the porch with you
for a while.
Last night, I kissed you.
Dan, please go.
Don't touch me.
Don't you see or care?
If this goes on, I'll lose my job.
Is that all you're afraid of?
Dan.
Dan, let go!
Gilly.
Gilly...
- Dan, what am I going to do?
- Gilly...
This is all I want.
To the devil with everything else!
Gilly.
Gilly,
I want to make you happy,
not hurt you.
What am I going to tell Jerry?
Oh, what am I going to tell Jerry?
Maybe Jerry's in Richmond,
trying to date up someone else?
Maybe. Why all the phoney jive?
Heck, I ain't no square, you know?
Hi, Danny.
Hi, Elmer.
Hello, Hawkins.
- You all right?
- Why not?
Cup of coffee, Elmer.
Doggone, that gases me!
A wreck like that
and not even a scratch!
To top it,
Jerry Sykes takes a powder.
Man, the town's real gone, you know?
What about Jerry Sykes?
Ask him. He drove his car
home after the hop.
Danny don't care.
I bet you'd be happy
if he never showed.
Why don't you mind
your own business?!
Ssh, stash the yap.
Morning, Mr Sykes.
What can I do for you?
Where are the papers?
The Dispatch ain't come in yet.
Probably be in on the 10.10.
- Say, Williams?
- Yes, sir?
- Heard anything?
- No, sir, I haven't.
That Jerry Sykes,
he's a natural drag, you know?
Jerry had a beef with Gilly
Saturday night before he beat it.
All that corn liquor
he was soaking up...
Yeah? How was it you was able
to latch onto that mouse?
Maybe she got tired of waiting.
What's the matter? Haven't you
ever seen the kind that folds?
Want to go down to Brothers Pond
with me, Hawkins?
Try dragging the pond?
I reckon not. "I reckon, I reckon. "
When you gonna stop talking
like a hillbilly, Hawkins?
Ah, he's nothing but a square.
You gonna dig
that county fair, Danny?
I might.
You know that Jerry Sykes?
Strictly a sticky hicky.
Remember the time he trimmed
you down behind the schoolhouse?
Like cos his old man was JB Sykes
he had more rights than other guys.
I never did dig that.
Just cos your old man was a criminal,
that wasn't any reason why...
You talk too much!
Nothing in the whole town
but squares.
Hawkins?
Hello, Sheriff.
Made you jump, huh, fella?
You gotta be careful.
Wear your brain out, thinking.
I was looking for Mose Jackson.
The Tidewater freight ain't in yet.
- Whose boy?
- Jessie Hawkins.
Her nephew.
- Who?
- Daniel Hawkins.
Ain't Yankee.
He's from Chinnamuk.
The mountains.
Tell him to sit down.
You heard him, young fella. Sit down.
Educated fella, that Mose.
Engineer says he can read
as good as anybody - Better.
Read about every book there is, I guess.
That's too many.
Seven minutes late.
Huh?
Seven minutes late.
They oughtta whoop that engineer.
- Who's that fella just got off?
- Where?
Yonder. Last car.
You blind?
Black suit.
Preacher? Undertaker? Detective?
The town don't need any more
preachers and undertakers.
What use would we have
for a detective?
Peculiar animal, ain't he?
Ain't no telephone in there, mister.
Cab driver will be here soon.
Always is when the train comes in.
Talkative cuss, ain't he?
Maybe Uncle Joe was right,
a detective.
- Mr Chandler?
- Yes.
- I'm Mr Sykes.
- How do you do?
Well, I'll be hung for a witch!
Old JB Sykes helping somebody.
Must be an important guy.
What do you suppose a banker
wants a man like that for?
They tell me young Sykes ain't
been seen since the dance Saturday.
JB's been asking around.
You think Jerry's up to something?
- How would I know?
- I guess not.
I reckon you wouldn't care what happened
to him, the times he's licked you.
Figures his old man being
a banker makes him somebody.
Aah, you'll catch up with him
one of these days.
Detective...
There's something to figure.
Gilly?
Dan.
You're trembling.
I've been waiting since two o'clock.
But I told you three.
I have to be at school for this...
I can meet you after then.
Let's walk.
I know now why Jerry
didn't call me on Sunday.
Dan, I'm worried. No-one's seen him since
the dance and...
Are you in love with Jerry?
Ah, how could I be?
Danny.
Danny...
I don't understand anything.
Why are we meeting
in secret places as if...
as if we were hunted?
Why, Dan?
What is it in your eyes
that you never say?
It's like being in a long,
dark tunnel.
Why do you say that?
The way you look and act and talk...
Where will I meet you tonight?
- Blackwater.
- The old mansion?
Isn't that where Mose lives?
He's out in the back.
He'll never know we're there.
Danny, I hate this!
What are we hiding?
You make me feel guilty
when I've done nothing.
Danny?
Danny...
Why don't you tell me
I'm...
I'm crazy, or...
or upset or that it...
there's nothing to be afraid of?
That's right.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
Just keep saying it.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
- Mose?
- Yes!
Look at Mr Dog.
No manners. No manners at all!
Where have you been lately?
Oh, around. I came over to see
when we might go hunting for coon.
A couple of fellas from the lodge
asked me yesterday to take 'em out.
If the air stays clear, I'll have
to take 'em out tomorrow night.
Railroading isn't
going to feed Mr Dog.
Mr Dog?!
Why d'you call everything Mr?
Ain't enough dignity in the world.
Come here.
I want to show you something.
She did her duty by the dog race.
Daisy-Belle!
Daisy-Belle, I'll be doggone!
Look what you went and done!
- Who's pappy?
- Juniper.
Never saw such a disgusted dog!
Came in, took one look
and made a rapid departure!
You're sad and afraid.
How do you know it was Juniper?
Always tell when Mr Dog did something
he shouldn't.
Like killing a chicken -
he acts guilty as all get out!
How does he know what's good
and what's bad?
Someone told him.
So long. So long.
In a philosophical mood, aren't you?
- Not particular.
- Kinda serious.
Got me a girl.
Got me a girl.
Ain't you interested? I guess so.
What are you going to do about it?
Oh, I only met her a few times
to talk to.
I think maybe she's afraid.
Afraid?
Because of what happened
to your pappy?
I don't know.
What if she's right?
What if there's bad blood in me, Mose,
that makes me do bad things?
I don't know what you mean -
"bad blood".
Blood is red. It keeps you alive.
It doesn't tell you
what you have to do.
Tell you something, Danny.
When I was a brakeman,
I found a hobo
sleeping in a boxcar once.
There was something about The lonesome,
cold look on his face
and the way he was lying there
made me throw my coat over him
and leave him.
The next I knew, the sheriff was
grabbing my dogs to chase him.
I never felt right
about the sheriff using the dogs.
It's all right for a dog
to chase a coon, but not a man.
Did they... did they catch him?
He was sent up for 15 years
for making love to the constable's daughter
when she didn't want it.
Do you think he was bad?
Well, he was... he was guilty.
Sure.
But first he was lonesome.
I think he got 15 years
for being lonesome -
not from having bad blood.
Yeah, but you get lonesome
out here at Blackwater
with your back to the swamp,
don't you, Mose?
But you don't commit no crimes.
Sure, I get lonesome.
A man ought to have a woman.
Friends, anyway.
A man ought to live in a world
with other folks.
When I came out here,
I thought I'd be out of the way,
with no-one shoving me around.
What I did was resign
from the human race.
I guess that's about
the worst crime there is.
Only they don't hang you for it.
What's this talk about good and bad?
What is that to do with your girl?
You didn't do anything
that makes you ashamed?
Oh, nothing.
Nothing in particular, I reckon.
Gilly?
- I thought you'd never get here.
- I know.
After you left, I went to Maryville,
saw a movie.
I saw it two times.
If I had to listen to one more child recite
"On the shores of Gitche Gumee... "
Yeah, but at least you're working.
Time goes so slow.
This afternoon, it seemed like
all the clocks in Virginia stopped at once.
At night they hurry, making up time.
Night noises.
Old Lizzie Blackwater
clearing her throat.
After all it's her room.
She... she wants us always to behave
properly in her home,
as though she were here to chaperone us.
She don't care, as long as we ain't Yankees.
We shall, Miss Lizzie. I promise.
Good evenin', Captain Hawkins.
- You're most welcome at Blackwater.
- Gilly!
Colonel Calhoun!
I'd admire to dance!
Oh, Gilly! Stop fooling around.
You'll soon be going home and
- tomorrow I have to hunt coon with Mose and
- My!
You soldiers are so strong!
- Oh, Gilly!
- Aren't you gonna dance with li'I ol' me?
- Cut it out, will ya?
- Oh, please, Captain.
Uh-uh! Don't crush the taffeta.
Lovely party, Miz Blackwater.
You're doing fine, Captain.
I've never seen you
like this before, Gilly.
I've never been like this before.
We can't do business that way, Mr Sykes.
I know you're anxious, but only one person
can give us the answer.
- Suppose you don't find him?
- We practically always do.
%100 pratically always.
Things always look better in the
morning. Good night.
Good night.
Aren't we heading pretty much east?
Pretty much.
That's gonna fetch us right smack
in Brothers Pond, through the swamp.
Give those fellas their money's worth.
There ain't no coon in Brothers Pond.
Ssh!
Daisy-Belle.
Sounds like they got something!
Who says there's no coon
at Brothers Pond?
- What's eating them dogs?
- Scent crazy, I'd say.
Don't make noise like that for coon.
We'll take the hunting gentlemen
along the path by the dance hall.
Er... aren't we going back
the same way as we came?
Why? We'll save three miles on the road
and it's easier.
If you gentlemen would come along, it's 2am.
Don't know what's bellyaching
those dogs.
They've found something,
sure as sin.
Beat it, Billy.
Anything the matter? What's wrong?
You gentlemen had better go
and see for yourselves.
What is it?
They've been looking
for Jerry Sykes.
Get off!
There's no reason to kick the dog.
She didn't kill Jerry Sykes.
Sure you want a gig?
I don't want to climb the stepladder
for nothing.
If you've got one, I want it.
Hello, Sheriff.
Judd's in back.
You sweet on Gilly Johnson,
by any chance?
No.
Whose boy?
Ain't Yankee.
That's a darn good knife, Daniel.
Only We had too.
Sold the other one last spring.
Sold it to a young fella that...
Why, heck! It was you.
What do you want another one for?
I was just looking. I...
Why, jumpin' Jehoshaphat!
Something's wrong.
Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!
Will you look at that?
There been another wreck somewhere?
Murder's more like it.
That's what's left
of the Sykes boy.
Daniel!
You know of anybody had a grudge
against Jerry Sykes?
Lots of people didn't like Jerry.
Mm-hm. Come on, I'll buy you a soda.
Daniel, a small town's like
a stomach
always digesting.
Eat a green apple.
Nothing happens right away.
But two hours later,
you get a bellyache.
Folks talk, Daniel.
Sometimes the talk adds up.
Shucks!
I can catch me a criminal quicker
just walking down Main Street
and listening
than I can with bloodhounds.
Learned a thing or two
already this morning Daniel.
Know the little man in black
got off the 10.10 the other day?
Bank examiner.
Seems young Sykes helped himself
to around $2, 000
out of Pappy's cash box.
Doggone!
That Williams boy - the bandleader.
Folks say Jerry Sykes owed him
quite a bit of money.
Quite a bit.
What's buzzin', cousin?
Everything hot in the slot?
Stash that.
- Hey, Elmer!
- Be right with you. Clear track four.
I gotta blow.
Where does a college-boy bandleader
latch on to all that lettuce?
- Hey, Elmer! Let's go!
- Coming, Mother!
Must be all those stud games at
Brothers Pond.
He don't make it waving no sticks.
Ever play cards in the back room
at Brothers Pond, Daniel?
No.
Ken asked me to a game Saturday night,
but I ain't got that kind of money.
No, I guess you haven't.
Williams leave the bandstand
any time during the dance?
Yeah.
Yeah. There's ten-minute breaks
between dances.
Guess I'll have to ask Williams
a few questions.
Heck! I promised to take my wife
to the fair tonight, too.
Sure hate to miss that fair.
Can't be in two places at once.
I learned a thing or two
this morning, Daniel.
Your own county fair
presents for the first time
these enchantresses
direct from the forests of Lebanon.
The show starts in a moment.
He sells the tickets.
They're only a dime, ten cents,
a tenth part of a dollar,
and inside they unveil the most artistic,
blood-stirring dance ever seen!
Get your tickets!
Don't shove. Don't crowd.
After all, the show starts inside.
go ahead go ahead.
It only costs you a dime...
I don't think the school board would
approve of my blood being stirred.
...One little, teeny, bitsy dime,
tenth part of a dollar,
and see the greatest show on Earth!
He sells the tickets.
It only costs you a dime,
ten cents, the tenth part of a dollar,
and on the inside they will unveil
the most artistic...
Whose girl?
Ain't Yankee!
...Glimpse of a dance
seen by desert sheiks...
- I can't get over it!
- What?
You and I and all these people.
Why not? They can't
keep us a secret for ever.
Why was I afraid?
Why were we afraid all this time?
- Buy me a spun sugar.
- Gilly!
What, Dan?
Just "Gilly".
It's a nice name.
I'm glad we came...
Gilly.
Buy me a spun sugar.
Take your pick. Any one you want.
Six, please. Don't crowd!
I want that one!
All right, hurry, hurry!
Would a penny be enough?
- Hmm?
- Would it?
Oh...!
- I was just wondering...
- What?
What? I was wondering who could've
hated Jerry enough to kill him.
Folks say it was Ken Williams.
They picked him up today.
I know. The sheriff asked me
a lot of questions.
Danny Hawkins!
Lucky I saw you.
I've been looking for you to tell you
something before I forget.
Oh-oh! I forgot it.
Oh, no - that knife of yours.
Billy Scripture was out in back
of my store whittling with it.
Just because Billy found a knife
don't mean it's mine.
Couldn't be anybody else's.
I only had but two of that kind of knife.
Well, I've got to get over
to the jam contest.
Lydia Simpkins is waiting for me and
I've got to rescue the sheriff
and his wife, Martha.
- Sheriff? He ain't here.
- Sure is,
but he ain't happy about it.
But Sheriff's with Williams. They...
Uh-uh. Let Williams off free an hour
ago, and Martha's fit to be tied.
Says the whole town will think
he's off his head.
Course, I've got my own ideas
about what happened.
Well, I've gotta be going.
I wish they had that cinnamon bar this year.
That knife's yours all right.
Billy must've found it
when you were hunting.
Good night.
Try your skill.
Six balls for a quarter.
Six balls to try
and spill the milk...
What kind of questions
did the sheriff ask you?
He asked about everybody.
Asked whether you had ever shown
a grudge against Jerry.
If you please, folks, either step up and
take a chance, or don't block the way.
You look like you've got
a pretty good arm, fella.
Why not win the young lady a prize?
OK, pal, six balls for a quarter.
Here we go!
Take a box of candy home to your mother!
What did you tell him?
I told him I didn't
know you very well.
One down and five to go.
That's true, I don't.
Did you have a grudge against Jerry?
Ah, a baseball player, huh?
Let's change the subject, cos
I don't like to talk about Jerry.
I know.
All right. Who'll be next?
Six balls for a quarter.
Come on, young fella,
you got three to go.
Show the folks how easy it is
to win a prize for your girl.
Forget it, man.
I'm sorry.
Hey! Hey, wait a minute!
Wait, your prize! Your box of candy!
You're pushing people, Dan.
Let's get on a ride.
Six, please. Don't crowd,
you'll all get on.
How old are they?
It's disgusting, that's what it is,
releasing that cold-blooded killer.
One of the finest boys in this town
has been murdered.
Sure is remarkable how dying
can make a saint of a man.
Dan?
Go ahead. Grab a seat.
Two, please.
Well, she sure didn't wait long
to tie up with another boy.
Martha? Martha!
Who's Gilly Johnson tied up with?
For heaven's sake, Clem,
with Jessie Hawkins' nephew.
Been thick as fleas
ever since Jerry disappeared.
There's something to figure.
Dan.
Why do you always
get angry so sudden?
I'm not angry.
Gilly, look up -
it's like you're floating.
Gilly?
Gilly...
Dan, you keep trying to tell me
something. What?
When the sheriff was talking to me,
he said something about your father
and how Jerry and the others
had always used it against you.
Is that why you keep hitting out
at people, trying to get even?
Pa had it pretty tough.
After I was born, Ma...
Ma took sick at night.
The doctor said it was too far to come.
It wasn't serious.
Gave Pa a bottle of pills.
She died the next day.
Pa carried me to Grandma's cabin
and came into town.
Shot the doctor.
Shot him dead.
Took three bullets to kill him.
Took them three weeks to hang Pa.
- Let's get outta here.
- Dan, wait!
I gotta get off!
- Hey!
- Let us out of here, will you?
- I gotta get off!
- Dan, what is it?
I'm being followed.
I gotta get off!
Dan!
- Get me out of here.
- They're looking for Dr Peabody.
No... No doctor.
Get me out of here.
I'm all right.
Gilly, get me out of here.
All right, darling, I'll try.
# I warned her not to leave me
# Warned her not to grieve me
# Never to deceive me... #
Have you been back in the hills
to see your grandmammy lately?
Not lately.
Pretty old lady, isn't she?
I'll go see her one of these days.
Mighty peaceful there, up that way.
I have a feeling for mountains.
# Daylight coming in the morning
# Hangman waiting on this dawn
# Rope hanging from the gallows
# Death waiting for my bones... #
- What you singing?
- A story, Daniel.
A blues story.
#... Don't send me flowers
# Don't send me mail
# For where I am going
# I won't need no mail... #
You're saying something.
All stories say something.
You're saying it to me.
I'm just talking.
Talking to Mr Guitar.
You're talking to me,
but you won't speak it plain.
#... Daylight coming in the morning
# Hangman waiting on this dawn... #
How long have you known?
Since coon hunt night.
How?
I never saw you
kick a dog before.
#... Lonesome,
# lonesome...
Are you going to tell?
No. I figure I'll let you
do the telling.
You have to tell someone, Daniel.
You have to.
Or else you'll go on killing a dead man
over and over.
And you can't do that.
I'm sorry I kicked your dog.
Where have you got the knife?
Where have you got the knife?!
Where's the knife?!
WHERE'VE YOU GOT IT?!
Check the railroad station and the bus stop.
Did George pick up the schoolteacher?
OK.
I think you've gone plum crazy
on this case.
Why'd you let Williams go?
We had enough simple facts
to convince a jury.
What's a simple fact?
A man's dead! That's a fact.
The simplest fact there is.
Jake, you're a doctor. You ought
to know a lot about folks.
I knew a man once, kept accusing
his wife of being unfaithful.
After listening to him for 12 years,
she was.
Proves he was right.
He was just a little premature,
that's all.
I say the husband was a lot
responsible for what his wife did.
Sometimes, murder's like love.
It takes two to commit it.
The man who hates and the man who's hated.
The killer and the killed.
Yeah...
All I know is
I've got a corpus
delicti with a hole in his head.
You might end up writing the history
of the world.
You should have been a preacher,
not a bloodhound.
All I know is that a human being
and what's made him is a lot more
than you cut out of him
at the autopsy table.
Not when they're dead.
Come in, Miss Johnson.
Sit down.
I've got a problem.
I thought maybe you might help me.
Are you in love with Daniel Hawkins?
Yes.
What would you say if I told you
Daniel killed Jerry Sykes?
I wouldn't believe you.
Because you wouldn't want
to believe it?
No!
Because he's not hard
like he pretends.
Because inside he's gentle
and lonely and lost.
Because you won't let him forget
that his father died like a criminal.
Because...
I know all that.
That's why I want him to come back
and confess of his own accord.
Daniel Hawkins left town
some time last night.
When you used to see him, you must've
gone someplace,
someplace special.
Where?
No special place.
What are you trying to get from me,
Sheriff?
Why do you want me to help you?
So you can hound him like
he's been hounded all his life?
Right now I can send Daniel
to jail for life.
Worse, maybe.
Juries might not believe a man who
has to be brought back in handcuffs.
I don't want him punished
beyond what's right.
He's taken his share already,
for a long time.
I know Danny.
I knew Jerry.
Jerry's been attacking him
ever since they were school kids.
Then you think it was self-defence?
Only Daniel could tell us what happened.
That's why I want him to come back himself,
then the jury will believe him.
You don't have to stay any longer,
Miss Johnson.
Only, if you know where
to find the boy, find him,
tell him to come back
before it's too late,
while he still has time
to pay his punishment
and still has most of his life
to live like an ordinary human.
Danny.
You forgot to say goodbye.
Why didn't you tell me?
I tried to, but I was afraid.
What if I lost you?
What if you wouldn't touch me?
What have I got to lose any more?
Why should I be afraid?
Don't you understand?
From here on, it's all bad.
Dan...
Dan, don't be afraid.
Billy...
I almost killed Billy -
a guy I've helped and protected
all my life.
He didn't even know
what it was all about.
If he'd raised his hand,
I think I would've killed him.
Oh, get out of here!
You should've sent me away
when I might've gone.
It's too late now.
Dan, please don't hurt me any more.
Oh, Gilly! Gilly!
Dan, you've got to go back.
Ain't nobody gonna shake me
out of a tree like a coon.
- Maybe someday.
- Someday won't be soon enough.
Dan, the sheriff knows
you're not a killer,
and I know it without even asking.
Gilly, I don't even know
what happened.
He came at me with a rock and the next thing
I knew he was lying there.
Go back, Dan.
I ain't clear. I gotta get answers.
You won't get them this way.
Maybe not for the rest of your life.
I gotta get answers.
Where will you go?
Maybe Chinnamuk - Grandma's.
Ma and Pa are buried there
on top of the ridge.
After that?
I don't know.
What are you thinking?
Only how it will be tomorrow...
...going into school and
asking a lot of questions about dead history
and you...
- And...
- Shh!
It don't make no sense he'd
stay here. He'd keep going.
Do you think Mose was telling
the truth, that he hasn't seen him?
The boy was up here a lot.
Don't see no windows prised.
I'm going. It may be too late,
but I'm gonna try.
Goodbye, Gilly Johnson.
Ready, Mose?
You're not going to ask me
to hunt my friend, are you sure?
I need you to handle the dogs.
I wish they were dead.
This is no place for a woman.
Why don't you go on back?
Ain't no use going in there.
He's in the swamp.
Come on, fellas, leash up.
We'll have to circle
pick it up where he comes out.
Your Pa never had his picture took
for the trial.
Your Aunt Jessie sent these up
from town.
You're your father's son, Daniel,
especially the eyes and the voice.
What kind of voice?
Low, but not weak.
Funny thing
I never heard Jeb Hawkins raise his voice
except when he was happy.
Then you could hear it
across the mountains.
What's that about Pa?
His voice?
About his being happy?
- When was Pa happy?
- Jeb?
Why, he could kick a floor
like eight horses
if they had a good fiddler
at the dance.
Fine man, Jeb.
Fine man.
Shoulda seen him the night
he came home from his wedding,
back to this cabin he built special.
It was sun-up.
They'd been dancing all the time.
They came in that door,
Jeb looked as if he never needed
sleep again in his life,
so fresh he was.
Like sparks out of a pine log.
He was mighty proud of you, Daniel.
Well, I ain't proud of Pa.
He cursed me!
He cursed me all my life!
You can't hold something
against a dead person, Daniel.
Well, he held it against me.
He held it against me all my life!
All the beatings I took
since I was a kid...
on account of him.
Never could get a job, unless there
was nobody else left to hire.
Girls walking away from me
like I was poison.
"Hello, Hawkins," they'd say.
Simple, ain't it?
Yet every time they said it,
I wanted to change my name.
- Why didn't he think of me?
- He did,
but it was too late.
Some folks think he done wrong.
Some think he done right.
I think he acted like the man he was,
settling a question
Hard and quick.
He loved Betty.
He loved you.
He never did nothin' through hatin'
or fearin'.
Leave me be!
He paid.
He tried to spare you.
He told me to send you away
and change your name.
I sent you away,
but I didn't change your name.
I was proud of his name.
Now I know
why you want to hate your pa.
I wondered why you came back
after so long...
...bleedin', smellin' of swamp
and hatin' your pa.
Take till morning, I reckon, to
pick up your scent past the creek.
Your pa could have gone over the
ridge and down the river on a log.
No dogs can follow you there.
- You telling me to run away?
- No.
A man has to handle himself
his own way.
Good night to you, Daniel.
Good night, Grandma.
Your pa found the answer, Daniel.
The rock-hard answer.
But he found it.
He waited just about
where you're sitting now.
"I think I done right," he told me.
"If I done wrong, I'm gonna square
it. Maybe they'll leave the boy be,
"not make him grow up paying
for what I've done. "
It took a man, Daniel.
A coward blames what he does
on other folks.
They'll follow your trail
past the creek.
Better hit the river
before they break cover
in the meadow.
I ain't proud of what you done, Pa.
All the same, I didn't mean
what I said last night.
You did the best you could
to even things up.
That's what I'm doing now.
Then maybe we'll both
have some peace.
Daisy Belle!
Come here, Daisy Belle!
Hello, Sheriff.
What made you come back?
I changed my mind.
I thought you would
if I held the reins loose.
Only I was afraid you'd got the bit
in your teeth.
Gilly...
You were right
about finding the answers.
Aunt Jessie's got them
and Mose and Grandma...
...and you.
It's wonderful to see your face, Dan...
...to REALLY see it.
Whaddya doing there?
Leave the boy be.
Let him walk back like a man.
Mr Dog,
if a man knows how
to rejoin the human race...
...once he's resigned,
it helps, Mr Dog,
it helps.