| Hebron Grant | ............... | Fritz Weaver |
| Emilena Grant | ............... | Donna Baccala |
| Eliza Grant | ............... | Olive Dunbar |
| Arthur W. Denby | ............... | Paul Lambert |
| Mr. Clay | ............... | Mauritz Hugo |
Jarrod rents a farm to a Mormon man and his two wives, who have wandered the West since being expelled from Utah when polygamy was outlawed.
Nick and Heath meet while they are searching for cattle on the range.
Nick: Seems to me there should be a couple more around here, maybe, maybe upstream some way, I better have a look. That is unless you'd like to go.
Heath: No thanks I'll hold onto these.
Nick: [grinning] I figured.
He then rides off, and while searching sees a young, pretty woman bathing in the stream. On horseback, Nick follows the woman through the woods. As she runs from a horseman whom she doesn't know, she pauses to pull on the blouse top of her dress and pin her loose hair back. She begins running again, but trips and falls in the middle of the road leading to the front of a farmhouse where an older man is working on a chicken coop. Nick dismounts from his buckskin horse and runs to help her rise.
Emilena: [angrily] Get away from me. [wrenches her arm away from Nick's grasp]
Nick: Oh, sorry, I figured I could help.
Emilena: [clearly upset] Help? What are you doing? Why are you following me?
Nick: Following you? I wasn't following you. It's just that you're way out here away from town. I... I thought you were lost.
[They glare at each other.]
Nick: No, no, that's not wasn't it either, It's just that I never saw anyone quite so beautiful.
[The woman tries to walk past Nick but he catches her arm as she passes him.]
Nick: Wait a minute... you'd better let me... [tries to lead her to the farmhouse]
Emilena: Look, I'm only going right down to that house so just let me be.
Nick: Well, I can at least...
[The man who was working on the chicken coop fence by the farmhouse has come up to them and has his rifle with him.]
Grant: You heard her mister. You turn around and ride off the way you come. Get off my land.
Nick: Ah you must be Mr. Grant. I'm Nick Barkley.
Grant: I don't care who you are and I told you to go.
Nick: Look mister, I was just trying to help your daughter.
Grant: Don't need your help. [gestures for the woman to join the other woman who has come running from the farmhouse] I've warned you mister, now I don't want to have to use this.
Nick: Well you better not try using that 'cause I've got a right to be here. In case you've forgotten Mr. Grant, this is Barkley property.
Grant: I've paid my rent money, that made it my land for the time so I don't have to suffer nobody, Barkleys included. You go on now, leave us our privacy.
Nick: But...
Grant: [fires the rifle into the air and then turns to point it at Nick] I told you to go.
Nick: Yeah, I'd say you made that pretty plain.
[Nick walks away back towards his horse.]
[Opening Credit]
The Barkleys are drinking their coffee at the breakfast table.
Victoria: Yes, but didn't you tell him who you were?
Nick: First thing! I may as well have told him I'd come to poison his well. [accepts more coffee from Silas] Thank you Silas. [takes a drink] Oh! Silas!
Silas: Don't you like your coffee hot, Mr. Nick?
Victoria: [patting Nick's hand] Drink some water, drink some water.
Heath: That's your trouble Nick. You just jump right in before you know the temperature.
Nick: [grumbles] Well he could have told me.
Heath: I was talking about that girl. If I was her father I might have gotten a little heated up too.
Nick: [mumbles] Alright Heath.
Victoria: Jarrod, you rented the place to him. What sort of a man is he?
Jarrod: Oh, just a farmer. He didn't really say very much. I didn't know he had a wife, or a daughter old enough to interest Nick. Anyway I didn't ask him too many questions after he paid a half a year's rent in advance.
Victoria: That's strange, isn't it? For that kind of money he could have bought a place instead of renting it.
Jarrod: Well maybe he figured he couldn't get credit to finance the rest or had cash on hand. Anyway Nick, you do realize that legally you invaded the man's privacy.
Victoria: Well, still the shooting was uncalled for.
Jarrod: Well, I have to go out there to check on a couple of things so I'll speak to him about it. [rises from his seat at the table]
Nick: [starts to stand also] Oh, well, I'll go with you.
Jarrod: No, no that's not necessary Nick.
Nick: Huh?
Jarrod: I can handle it all alone.
Nick: [muttering as he sits back down] Oh, well, excuse me.
Heath: But, you know its strange that Jarrod didn't find out more about those people before he rented to them.
Victoria: He never mentioned them at all and that's even stranger.
STOCKTON LATER THAT DAY: Nick and Heath are walking across the street when Nick sees a wagon.
Nick: Whoa, looky here. It's our tenants, the Grants. Now, I'll be right back.
Heath: [cautioning] Nick, wait.
Nick: Now they can't be paying rent in the town street. I guess I can talk to her here.
Heath: Jarrod's waiting. We're already forty minutes late.
Nick: He'll wait. [goes to the wagon, removes his hat and greets the women] Morning Miss, I thought maybe I'd check and see how your ankle's doing.
Emilena: Just fine thank you.
Nick: Good. Good. Mrs. Grant, Mother's looking forward to meeting you. Maybe she could drop by and pay you a visit.
Eliza: [notices her husband leaving the store and answers quickly] No, please, you understand my husband doesn't like company. I'm sorry, please, thank her just the same.
Nick: I see, well, Mother's going to be terribly disappointed. Maybe she can drop by and pay her... [his reply is interrupted by Mrs. Grant]
Eliza: I think not, good day Mr. Barkley.
[Mr. Grant begins to place the items he purchased in the store into the back of the wagon. Nick and Heath go to help him but they are ignored by Mr. Grant. Accepting the brush-off, the two Barkley brothers move to the other side of the street.]
Nick: [leaning against the hitching post] Now, how'd you like that?
Heath: [drily amused] You asked for it.
Nick: I sure did.
[A burly man dressed like a blacksmith joins the Barkley brothers.]
Denby: Hey Nick, that wheel for your carriage is ready.
Nick: I'll pick it up tomorrow morning Denby.
Denby: Them your new tenants out to Northwoods Farm?
Nick: That's right.
Denby: Maybe I'll just drum up a little business. What's their name?
Nick: Um, Grant.
[Denby walks away towards the Grants' wagon. Heath starts to turn but Nick stops him.]
Nick: Wait a minute, hold on, this ought to be good.
Denby: Howdy there, Mr. Grant. Ladies. Name's Denby Arthur W. Denby. Blacksmith, wheelwright, potter. Keep your cutlery sharp, make you the best plowshare in the Valley. [to the shopkeeper] Ain't that right Mr. Clay?
Clay: That's right.
Grant: Got no need of those services.
Denby: No telling when you might though, is there? [trying to be friendly despite Grant's attitude] I'm a farrier too, take good care of your horses' hooves. Do all your shoeing?
Grant: Do my own shoeing.
Denby: Looks like it too, better try me. [laughs] That's only a joke friend. Here have a stogie. [pulls a cigar from behind his ear and tries to hand it to Grant]
Grant: [sneering] I never touch the things.
Eliza: [in warning] Hebron.
Denby: Hey, You don't have to be unfriendly about it. [begins to get angry]
Grant: Who gave you leave to talk to us?
[Grant climbs onto the wagon and begins to drive away.]
Denby: [moves out of the wagon's path] Well, pardon me mister. I'm only trying to be neighborly.
[The shopkeeper and the blacksmith walk across the street to join Nick and Heath who had watched the conversation.]
Denby: Well, wait do you make of that?
Nick: Just what I expected.
Denby: What got into him? [still trying to understand Grant's abrupt dismissal of him]
Nick: Plain cussedness, I'd say.
Denby: Some tenant you got. What was that name she called him?
Nick: Huh? Oh, oh, Herman.
Heath: [corrects his brother] I think it was Hebron.
Nick: Yeah, Hebron.
Denby: [nods] Hebron, that's what I thought. Over in Utah, common name of them Mormons.
Clay: Mormons? Say you don't think Grant is...?
Denby: Why not? [becoming upset] You Barkleys know anything about them? Where they come from?
[Nick shakes his head no.]
Denby: And he don't smoke, never touches the thing. That's their way. How about tea and coffee? How much did he buy?
Clay: Come to think of it none. Not a pound since they've been here.
Denby: Of course not, they're Mormons and that explains a lot.
Nick: Yeah, It might at that.
Denby: And they're here. In our valley. [his anger growing]
Nick: And why not?
Denby: I'll tell you why not, because they're no good, none of them. They call themselves saints, but they're more like devils.
Nick: Now come on. You can't dislike a man just because of his religion.
Denby: It's got nothing to do with religion. How come they been driven out of every place they've ever been way out in the wilderness to setup their own state. Now what are they doing here?
Heath: Grant's not bothering you.
Denby: Yes, he is, just by being here. I'm telling you there's no telling what's going to happen. Those people are murdering heathens.
Nick: Well now that's stupid.
Denby: Is it?
Nick: [yells] Yes!
Denby: Did you ever hear of Mountain Meadows Massacre?
Nick: Of course, everybody's heard of that.
Heath: They say the Indians did the actual killing.
Denby: They say! But Mormons egged them on, Mormons bossed them, and Mormons probably helped them too. A whole wagon train of peaceful helpless settlers murdered in cold blood, and I had an uncle and two cousins on that train. So you can see, I got no use for Mormons. It makes me sick to see them in this valley. And you Barkleys rented them a farm.
[Denby and Clay walk away from Nick and Heath. Jarrod joins his brothers.]
Jarrod: What's the matter with Denby?
Heath: He doesn't like Mormons.
Nick: Or people who rent to them. He seems to think that the Grants are Mormons.
Jarrod: Well, he's right, they are.
Nick: You knew they were?
Jarrod: No, I guessed it.
Heath: And you forgot to mention it.
Jarrod: I didn't think it was very important. After all, a man's religion's his own business isn't it?
Nick: Now that has nothing to do with it. They can just cause an awful lot of trouble around here is all.
Jarrod: Aw, Grant doesn't strike me as the type to stir up trouble.
Nick: Well now, he was pretty handy with a gun.
Heath: Well, Denby is the type.
Jarrod: His type is always the problem.
Nick: He isn't about to forget this none too soon.
Jarrod: Can you meet me back here a little later?
Nick: I thought you wanted to sign those papers.
Jarrod: Well, I have to take care of something first. See you here about 3?
Nick: Alright.
[Jarrod walks away.]
Heath: [walks away with Nick] Come on I'll let you buy me a beer.
NORTHWOODS FARM SAME DAY: Emilena is raking the dirt in the garden at the side of the farmhouse. She stops when she sees Jarrod Barkley ride into the yard. She runs into the house, a moment later Hebron Grant comes out of the house with a rifle in his hands.
Jarrod: [dismounts and greets his tenant] Hello Mr. Grant. Is that the way you greet all your visitors?
Grant: We don't have no visitors and don't want none.
Jarrod: [begins speaking in a friendly tone of voice] Now, I'm not exactly a visitor now am I? I just stopped by as your landlord to see if there's anything you need. [gesturing to the side] How's that pump?
Grant: It's all fixed. [moves slightly to stop Jarrod from going anywhere] There's no need to look.
Jarrod: How about the roof on the shed? Need any more shingles? [trying to maintain a friendly demeanor]
Grant: [not trying to be friendly] Mr. Barkley I paid you your money and don't need no help. Now I appreciate your interest but we like our privacy.
Jarrod: [drops all pretense and his voice becomes hard] Is that the way all Mormons feel?
Grant: [surprised by that question] How'd you know that?
Jarrod: It wasn't really very hard to guess Mr. Grant. I think maybe I've guessed a couple of other things too. It might be wise for you and me to have a little talk. Put that thing away.
[Jarrod moves past Grant and removes his hat he walks to the door of the farmhouse. Inside the house, Eliza and Emilena are watching the men. Eliza opens the door allowing Jarrod to enter the house,
Eliza: [nervously but politely] Come in. You're welcome Mr. Barkley.
Jarrod: Mrs. Grant. And this is your daughter?
Eliza: Emilena.
Jarrod: Miss Emilena.
Eliza: I could quick make up some lemonade. [still nervous but trying to be a proper hostess]
[Grant stops her by firmly closing the door.]
Grant: This ain't no social call. [to Jarrod] You had something on your mind.
Jarrod: As a matter of fact, I do. [turns his attention back to Grant] I think it would be a good idea if we got to know a little bit more about each other.
Grant: [belligerent] For instance?
Jarrod: For instance, why you came here. [trying to keep his voice neutral in front of the women]
Grant: Why not? Its good farming country, ain't it?
Jarrod: There aren't any other Mormons here, Mr. Grant.
Grant: You ain't interested in why I come here, you only want to know how quick you can get us away. Well I paid my money and I ain't leaving.
Jarrod: Now nobody said anything about leaving.
Grant: Well I'm saying it. [getting angrier] I want you out of here. Leave us alone.
Jarrod: I'm interested in why you left Utah to come here to hide out on this farm. Why you don't want any visitors, no contact from anybody. There has to be a reason for that. [continues to push for answers]
Grant: What reason would I have to hide out?
Jarrod: I think it's the same reason that most Mormons are hiding out now. Going out onto the desert. Some to Canada, some to Mexico. And most I'm afraid to jail eventually.
Grant: [tries to bluff] I don't know what you're driving at.
Jarrod: I'm talking about the Mormons who refuse to obey the new law. Who refuse to give up their plural wives. [turns to Eliza] Miss Emilena isn't your daughter.
Eliza: No. She's my sister.
Jarrod: And I don't believe that either. [to Grant] She's your second wife, isn't that right?
Grant: Can't prove that.
Jarrod: Is this your bible?
[Jarrod walks towards a stack of books on a side table.]
Grant: [orders] You leave that be.
Jarrod: [picks up the top book] They usually contain records. Hebron Jedus Grant married June 12th 1872 to Eliza May Goodhue, married May 30th 1878 Mary Emilena Hewitt.
Grant: Why did you have to know? It's nothing to you?
Jarrod: I'm afraid it is, if only as your landlord. People already know you're Mormons. Unfortunately, that could bring trouble enough, but when they find out about this.
Grant: You don't want any trouble?
Jarrod: [assuring] No more than you.
Grant: Well, you could just forget it, you can forget it.
Jarrod: I can't do that Mr. Grant. Now the laws against bigamy in California are explicit. If I let you go on living here and breaking the law, I'll become an accessory to the crime. I'm simply trying to tell you that you can't live in this house under these circumstances.
Grant: [insisting] You can't run me out. I won't leave. I paid!
Jarrod: I'll give you your money back.
Grant: I don't care. I don't want it, I won't leave.
Jarrod: There's no solution for you here, can't you see that. You can go on breaking the law but sooner or later it's going to catch up with you. If you don't do something about it, believe me there's plenty of people who will.
Grant: Well what am I to do?
Jarrod: I can't answer that, but I can only tell you the consequences of doing nothing. It's your problem, your decision. I can only tell you, you'll have to make it soon I can't give much more time.
Grant: Four times, four times I had to run. As a boy, my folks burned out in Missouri and again in Illinois. My pa dead. Turned out of Zion itself by my own people. Sent to wander homeless in the wilderness; bereft of God. And then again in Arizona and now here. You know what's that like?
Jarrod: I can imagine. But you cannot live in California with two wives.
Grant: Well, what am I supposed to do? Give up one of them? You tell me, Mr. Lawyer, which one? Which one of these faithful women am I supposed to give up? To turn out penniless and helpless into the world. Did it ever occur to you and your lawmakers that I might love my wives? Both of them equally and they might love me. Did it ever occur to you that these women might be happy in this house? That these marriages are made in Heaven and sanctified in the temple of the Lord. That this is a house of love and peace and blessed harmony. A house of God. I'm tired Lawyer, tired of being spat on and reviled and called every obscene name because of what I believe and because of the way I worship my god. I'm tired of having my marriage defiled, my wives' names sullied and treated like the filth of the earth. I've had enough of it and I won't take any more of it. And I won't run away from it. I believe what I've done is right. I'm good and righteous in the name of the Lord and I will be judged by him and by no other. Not by you. Not by anyone in this valley. Not by anyone else.
[A rock, thrown from outside, breaks through a window. A shout from outside is heard.]
Caller: Get out Mormon! We don't want you here! Get out of our valley!
Grant: [grabs his rifle and rushes to the door] I'll kill 'em. They got no right to do that!
Jarrod: Give me that rifle, don't be a fool man, give it to me. [puts himself between Grant and the door] You let me take care of this.
[Jarrod takes the rifle from Grant and steps through the door onto the porch.]
Jarrod: [to the group of men in front of the farmhouse] Now Denby, you be smart. Ride off and leave these people alone.
Denby: What are you doin' here Jarrod? This ain't your fight.
Jarrod: I'm making it mine.
Denby: Well, I ain't got nothing against you. We've been friends a long time.
Jarrod: You're not being very friendly at the moment.
Denby: Well it ain't you, I mean I don't blame you for renting to them. They probably fooled you too. But we're not going to have any Mormons around here.
Jarrod: Who's we?
Denby: All of us and a lot more too. Now I don't want no trouble with you Jarrod, but, we're not gonna run from it neither. We mean to turn 'em out. So maybe you better do it first.
Jarrod: And if I don't?
Denby: Then we will. And folks might blame you for bringing 'em here and you might not like what they do, it might not just be a busted window.
Jarrod: Now you listen carefully, ride out and don't come back. If you do, there'll be a warrant out for your arrest.
Denby: You're gonna regret this Jarrod.
[Denby the other men turn their horses and ride away. Hebron Grant joins Jarrod on the porch.]
Jarrod: There's your answer Mr. Grant.
Grant: I mean to fight.
Jarrod: You'll lose.
Grant: I may not.
Jarrod: You don't have a leg to stand on, legally or otherwise.
Grant: What else can I do?
Jarrod: Go to Mexico, nobody'll bother you there.
Grant: Run again?
Jarrod: Well, then there's only one other answer isn't there.
Grant: No. Never.
Emilena: [steps onto the porch] Mr. Barkley. [hands Jarrod his hat]
Jarrod: Mrs. Grant
[Jarrod leaves. Emilena and Hebron go inside the farmhouse.]
Eliza: [still worried] I'll tend the supper.
Emilena: Hebron, what Mr. Barkley says might be right.
Grant: Bout what?
Emilena: There's probably no other answer for us but to do like the others. Go to Mexico.
Grant: You want that? You want me to go a foreign nation where I don't even speak their tongue? How am I gonna earn a living for us? Find a farm like this one? No we ain't come to that yet, God willing we never will. I ain't done fighting here yet Em.
Emilena: But is fighting the answer? Won't they just hate us the harder?
Grant: Is running away to a foreign nation the answer? It's my country Emilena, just as much as it is the Barkleys. I was born here and I mean to die here. I'm an American, I'm not a Mexican.
Emilena: But, we can't stay here.
Grant: Now Em you stop your fretting. You trust Hebron like you always done. I took care of you til now didn't I.
Emilena: Yes Hebron. [agrees, reluctantly]
Grant: And I always will. I ain't gonna desert you. Neither one of you. So don't you worry. Lord's gonna take care of us and provide like he's always done.
Jarrod Barkley returns to Stockton and his brothers waiting at his law office. Nick is sprawled in Jarrod's desk chair, whistling, his booted foot resting on the desktop corner while Heath sits on the desk flipping through some papers.
Nick: Well, I told you he'd make it, Heath.
Jarrod: Its five minutes of three, isn't it. [lifts Nick's boot and drops it onto the floor]
Nick: Well how was your little trip out to the Grants? What'd ya find out?
Jarrod: I've found out your taste in improving for one thing.
Nick: Thank you, thank you very much.
Jarrod: But you're not running in luck Nick.
Nick: Huh, how's that?
Jarrod: The lady's already married.
Nick: [confused] Huh?
Heath: The young one?
Jarrod: The name's Emilena and she's Mrs. Grant.
Nick: What about the other one?
Jarrod: She's Mrs. Grant too. [hands Nick the pen] Sign here, here, and here. [points to three separate pages]
Nick: [to Heath] Of course, Mormon!
Heath: Well that explains why they didn't want anyone around.
Jarrod: Yep.
Nick: So. [signs the papers] What'd you say to them?
Jarrod: I told him I'd give him a little time to decide what to do.
[Heath takes the pen from Nick.]
Nick: Meanwhile you keep all this to yourself. Isn't that what you call being an accomplice Brother Jarrod?
Jarrod: It is. But, what am I supposed to do? Run down the middle of town, tell Denby, tell the sheriff, have him arrested, throw him in jail? What good would that do that to those two women?
Nick: Well now that is his problem, isn't it.
[Heath signs the papers]
Nick: I mean a man is not supposed to be married to two women at the same time.
Jarrod: What if he loves them both equally, Nick? [gazing out his office window]
Nick: Well, I doubt that.
Jarrod: He says he does.
Nick: Well, he can just give up one of them.
Jarrod: What if they both love him?
Nick: Look, the man is old enough to be Emilena's father! Why she'd be better off without him.
Heath: [to Nick] Sounds like a little wishful thinking.
Nick: Well, I'll tell you what is wishful thinking if this little problem goes any further its all gonna blow up in our face.
Jarrod: Well, Nick I told him that I'd give him a little time and that's what I'm going to do.
It is night in Stockton, Hebron Grant drives his wagon towards the general store, his wives on the seat beside him.
Grant: Evening Storekeeper. We need some supplies. Flour, lard, and some cartridges.
Clay: Came too late, I'm already closed.
Grant: But we drove all the way in here.
Clay: Can't help it, should've picked a decent time of day. I don't know why a body'd wait 'til so late unless they were afraid they were going to be seen by somebody. [turns away and continues to gather his wares from the boardwalk]
Grant: [climbs down from the seat of the wagon] Now look, you'd open up again for some other man wouldn't you?
Clay: I might and I might not.
Grant: My money's good as anybody else's.
Eliza: [begging] Please, Mr. Clay.
Clay: I'd like to oblige for your sake Mrs. Grant, but I... [is interrupted by Grant]
Grant: Now, you'll deal with me. Or I'll take my trade somewhere else next time.
Clay: I'd just as soon you did. Where will you go? Not everybody will deal with you.
Grant: You. [climbs onto the boardwalk to stand next to Clay] You know what you are?
Emilena: [warning] Hebron.
Grant: A swine, a filthy swine. [continues despite his wife's admonition] A swine. Now you get in that store and... [grabs Clay's arms and tries to push him through the open shop door]
Clay: Get your stinking hands off of me!
Clay pulls away and pushes Grant. Grant falls off of the boardwalk and strikes his head against the front wheel of his wagon.
Clay: [angrily] You... Mormon.
Emilena: [climbs down from the wagon's seat, kneels next to Grant] Oh Hebron. [to Clay] Look what you've done to my husband.
Clay: Husband? You? [looks between Eliza and Emilena] You too? Both of you? Ha! Ha! [laughs as he goes into his store] Well, I'll be...
Grant: Oh, Emilena. [in regret at his young wife's outburst]
Stockton, the next day, Denby is among a group of men who are drinking in the saloon.
Denby: Livin' in sin, right in our midst. Not to mention them flouting the law. [obviously drunk; shouts to the saloon patrons] If he's got two wives now, he'll be looking for more.
[Sheriff Fred Madden is standing just inside the saloon's door listening to Denby's rants.]
Denby: No decent folks in the valley will be safe.
[Sheriff Madden leaves the saloon and goes to Jarrod Barkley's law office.]
Fred: about it Jarrod, you're the only man in town who knows something about the Grants. Is it true or isn't it.
Jarrod: Yes. Its true Fred, he's married to both of them.
Fred: [frustrated] You just never got around to telling me.
Jarrod: Well, I didn't know for sure myself until yesterday and then I felt I had to give the man a little time to make his decision.
Fred: You got no right to do that Jarrod.
Jarrod: I know I didn't. I was hoping we could solve this thing without anyone getting hurt. [stands and walks around his desk to sit on the corner of it near Fred] What are you going to do now?
Fred: Well, the only thing I can do. Arrest him.
Jarrod: It would mean a long sentence Fred. The courts are tough on these cases.
Fred: [softly] Yeah, I know.
Jarrod: Those two women alone, nobody to support them.
Fred: Well that's not my problem. [angry with frustration] And I might add it's not yours either.
Jarrod: I don't know Fred, maybe it is when the law imposes this kind of hardship on people.
Fred: Jarrod, you're a lawyer. Every law works a hardship on somebody. But that fact in itself isn't enough to keep us from doing the jobs we have to do.
Jarrod: I know, but can it really hurt Fred to give them just a little more time?
Fred: A little more time? That law was passed two years ago.
Jarrod: And Grant married his second wife two years before that. The law's retroactive. It penalizes people for doing something that wasn't a crime when they did it.
Fred: It stands up in court.
Jarrod: I'm talking about justice Fred. How we enforce this law is a measure of our humanity. [fighting, hoping to gain Fred's concession]
Fred: [thinks about what Jarrod has said] You've been over to the saloon and heard Denby?
Jarrod: Yeah. [knowing he is losing his argument]
Fred: Time's running out Jarrod. And it may be that I won't be able to give him time. So you tell him to hurry up.
Jarrod: I'll go out and see him this afternoon. [The sheriff stands to leave.] Thanks Fred.
At the Northwoods Farm house, Emilena is sitting with a bowl of green beans in her lap while Eliza brings a vase of flowers from the kitchen to set on the table. The younger woman is thinking rather than working.
Eliza: He's still working on the shed. [takes a seat in a chair near Emilena]
Emilena: Yes.
Eliza: Its coming along fine isn't it. [tries to remain calm and happy]
Emilena: Fine.
Eliza: This is a nice farm, the best we've ever had. Hebron likes it here.
Emilena: Well, they'll drive us out again, Eliza. Mr. Barkley says so.
Eliza: Sister, don't talk about it, it upsets me so. [bends her head over her darning]
Emilena: But Eliza, you just can't ignore it.
Eliza: I leave such things to Hebron. And so should you. [The women exchange a look.] He'll know what to do and the good Lord will provide.
Emilena: [chooses her next words carefully] Hebron can be wrong.
Eliza: Of course dear, but God can't.
Emilena: Eliza? What if there were just one of us?
Eliza: [sighing] Now Sister, you know I don't like to talk of death.
Emilena: No, not death. I'm talking about the law. It says we both shouldn't be living with Hebron.
Eliza: That's a bad law and I don't talk about such things. [getting upset with the conversation] I don't even think about them. Hebron will know what to do.
Emilena: Yeah. [trying to calm Eliza] You've always had Hebron or someone to look after things for you. Haven't you?
Eliza: I've been very fortunate, Emilena. [her voice calm again]
Emilena: Well, I haven't. I've had to look out for myself. He will get along fine with just one of us. And there wouldn't any more trouble from the law or anyone else.
Eliza: Sister, I don't understand you. You shouldn't even think about such things. We're here the three of us and happy.
Emilena: Oh Eliza, I'm sorry. I won't talk about it anymore.
[Eliza is placated, but still troubled.]
Emilena: I'm going out for a while.
Eliza: For a while? Don't be long.
[Emilena rises and takes the bowl of green beans to the kitchen. She stops to look at Eliza who is once again bent over her darning.]
At the Barkley mansion, Victoria Barkley is seated on the settee. Opposite her is Emilena Grant.
Victoria: Well, it's about time we met Mrs. Grant.
Emilena: You're so kind, I wasn't even sure you'd receive me.
Victoria: Why not? I admire your devotion to what you believe is right.
Emilena: Well, that's just it, Mrs. Barkley. I'm not so sure what is right anymore. Oh, I don't mean my religion. I mean the plural marriage. And its not that I'm unhappy. I'm not. Its just that since they passed this law...
Victoria: I understand.
Emilena: Well Hebron says that there's a higher law that we must obey. But if they send him to prison, I think it would kill him. And I don't think the Lord would ask that.
Victoria: Have you talked this over with your husband?
Emilena: Oh yes, but Hebron is a steadfast man and when he's sure in what he believes well, its very difficult to change his mind. I've talked about Mexico a lot, but he doesn't want to go.
Victoria: It might be for the best.
Emilena: I know, but I can't force him. And I think there may be another way that would be better.
Victoria: What other way?
Emilena: Well, I've thought and thought about it and that's why I've come to see your son. He's a lawyer and he can advise me about, well, a divorce.
Victoria: [gently] For you?
Emilena: Well Hebron could get along with just one of us and Eliza's been with him longer, besides she needs someone. I don't, I can manage by myself. One of the reasons Hebron married me was so that I could give him children when Eliza hadn't given him any, but I haven't either.
Victoria: Well, what about your feelings?
Emilena: I'd rather know that he were free than in jail.
Victoria: Mrs. Grant, you must be very sure about this.
Emilena: Do you think your son can handle it?
[Jarrod enters the foyer of the mansion.]
Victoria: Well, you can ask him for yourself.
[Jarrod joins the ladies in the front parlor.]
Jarrod: Mother. [to Emilena] It's good to see you Mrs. Grant.
Victoria: Mrs. Grant would like to ask you something.
Jarrod: Oh? What can I do for you?
Emilena: [rises] Mr. Barkley, will you get me a divorce? You were right, we can't go on together.
Jarrod: You're doing the wisest thing possible, Mrs. Grant. Does your husband know?
[She shakes her head no.]
Jarrod: Well, he has to be told, of course.
Emilena: I'll tell him as soon as...
Jarrod: Knowing your husband it would be better if I approach him first. She can stay here until I get back. Don't you worry, everything will be alright.
[Jarrod leaves.]
At the farm.
Grant: I don't believe you. What have you done to her? Turned her against me?
Jarrod: Now calm down Grant. You've got to see this thing the way it really is. You're the one who's forced her into this and you know it.
Grant: What do you mean? [getting upset]
Jarrod: I mean you can't go on breaking the law or fighting it. She sees that, even if you don't.
Grant: No, I won't let her, she can't do it! [begins to shout]
Jarrod: I'm afraid its out of your hands.
Grant: I won't let her! I'll bring her back if I have to kill all you Barkleys. [lays his hammer down and grabs his rifle]
Jarrod: Now wait, Mr. Grant. [tries to stop Grant]
[Grant swings the butt of the rifle hitting Jarrod in the head knocking him to the ground. He then mounts his horse and rides off.]
Grant knocks angrily at the front door of the Barkley mansion.
Nick: [answers the door] Hold it. Hold it. [blocks Grant's way into the house]
Grant: I've come for my wife.
Nick: [calmly] Yes. We have been expecting you.
Grant: [raises his rifle] And I'll use this if I have to.
Nick: Now when are you going to stop being the hero and get it through that thick head of yours that you're not going to fight the world all by yourself? Huh? Now why don't you put that thing down right there and as soon as you decide to start acting like a gentleman you will be fully welcome into our home.
[Grant sets the rifle down on the porch near the door.]
Nick: Now isn't that better? [ushers Grant into the house]
[Grant steps slowly into the large foyer. Nick shuts the door firmly behind him, all gentility gone.]
Nick: [demanding] Where's Jarrod?
Grant: And where's my wife? And what'd you do to her?
Nick: We haven't done anything.
Grant: [accusing] You turned her against her own lawful husband. You've been casting eyes at her since that first day!
[Nick is trying to keep his temper. The men are interrupted by Victoria Barkley.]
Victoria: You're not making much sense Mr. Grant. Your wife makes a great deal more.
Grant: [removes his hat] You can't tell me that my wife has decided to go away from me herself without being pushed into it.
Emilena: Then I'll tell you. It's true.
Grant: [softly] Emilena. I'm not going to let you take my wife away from me. I'll fight the whole country if I have to.
Nick: Oh, of all the... [leaves]
Emilena: No Hebron, you don't. I don't think the Lord has taken sides in this. Anyway I don't want you to fight.
Grant: You don't mean you really want to leave me.
Emilena: Not want to. Don't you understand?
Grant: No, no I don't. I don't. Look we'll go to Mexico just like you want.
Emilena: No. You don't really mean that.
Grant: Yes I do. I meant to, only now we'll leave right away, tonight.
Emilena: You'll never be happy there.
Grant: You I will. Only, Em you gotta come back to me. I can't do without you. I love you.
Emilena: [thinks about what Grant has said] You really promise about going to Mexico?
Grant: I promise. [now hopeful his wife will return to him]
Emilena: [they embrace] And you mean no more fighting?
Grant: No, I'll only use that gun for hunting squirrels.
Jarrod: [enters the house] Now I for one am glad to hear that.
Grant: Oh Mr. Barkley. I'm truly sorry.
Jarrod: Forget it. [touches his head] One of the hazards of the legal profession I guess.
Grant: I just went out of my head. I don't know what I was doing.
Emilena: Mr. Barkley, we're going to Mexico.
Jarrod: Mexico? Well, then I say the sooner you get started, the better.
Grant: We'll start packing that wagon right away, tonight.
[The Grants start to leave the house, they stop when Jarrod starts speaking.]
Jarrod: Mr. Grant, if you're going to Mexico, you're going to need this. [removes some money from his coat pocket and begins to count some out]
Grant: What's that for?
Jarrod: It's the balance of your rent money.
Grant: You're a fair man, Mr. Barkley. [takes the money] I'm awful sorry about your head.
Emilena: Hebron. pulls him out of the Barkley mansion]
Night, Stockton, Mr. Clay the shopkeeper enters the saloon.
Denby: Bout time Clay. You got everything?
Clay: Outside on the buckboard. But Denby, you sure about this? You know that house belongs to the Barkleys.
Denby: What do you care? They've got it coming to them for letting them Mormons in. Now lets' go!
[The crowd of men leave the saloon. The bartender watches them go. Making up his mind, he removes his apron and leaves the saloon also.]
At Northwoods Farm, Hebron Grant is packing the wagon in front of the farm house. Inside, Eliza and Emilena are packing a trunk.
Emilena: Put them right there. [to Eliza, her arms filled with quilts]
Grant: Em you know this is all foolishness. [picks up a table] I don't see any need of doing this all tonight.
Emilena: But we told Mr. Barkley.
Grant: I know.
Emilena: You took his money.
Grant: I know.
Emilena: Well you don't want to cause him any more trouble.
Grant: Well what trouble can there be tonight. I mean what's it matter if we wait until the morning or the next day for that matter?
Emilena: Well you just don't know what might happen. And we've already caused that family enough upset. We promised.
Grant: I know, but... Em.
Emilena: [sharply] Hebron..
Grant: Alright, alright. [backs down from his wife's anger] Just making talk, don't mean anything. Now... [bends over and prepares to pick up the small table again]
Eliza: Want to help me with the sideboard Hebron?
Grant: [walks towards her] Eliza, I don't see how we can take that.
Eliza: We can't leave it behind, you just made it special.
Grant: We have to, we can't take everything. Its going to be a hard enough trip.
Eliza: Is it a long way, Hebron?
Grant: Yes it's a long way with a lot of country in between. Good country though. Farming and ranching.
Emilena: And all of it in the United States. With its laws.
Grant: Now Em, I wasn't suggesting a thing. You know, we might find places, lonely places where a body could settle in and never see an outsider from one month to the next. But no sir, we're going straight to Mexico. Never you fear, I made you a promise and I'm going to keep it.
Eliza: How long will it take to get there?
Grant: About a month, maybe more, depending.
Eliza: On what?
Grant: Well, rain mostly, though it ain't the right time of year for it. One thing we can with all of that time on the road is learn some of the language. Don't none of us speak a work of Spanish.
Eliza: How will we learn?
Grant: Find me one of them books somewhere.
Eliza: I don't know if I can learn Hebron. I never was good at foreign tongues.
Grant: Well, neither am I. But we gotta try, we do. [look at Emilena] And we will. We will. We'll do just fine, you'll see. Now don't you worry, we'll do just fine.
Emilena: Yes. [her voice rising in anger] But not like here.
Grant: No, not exactly.
Eliza: It was nice here.
[Its obvious that Eliza and Hebron don't want to leave and are trying to both bolster their spirits and find a reason to stay.]
Grant: Al least we ain't being run out. It my own decision.
Emilena: Oh may be it would be better if I...
Grant: Now, Em. You hush, this is the way I want it, its going to be alright. Now stop you're worrying. Leave all that to Hebron. Like Eliza here does. I'll take good care of you.
Emilena: And God will provide.
Grant: [embraces both women] Leave everything to Hebron and the good Lord.
Caller: Grant! [a shout is heard from outside the farmhouse] Grant!
Grant: [grabs his rifle and goes out onto the porch] Yeah? What do you want?
Emilena: [follows him] You promised.
Denby: I told you Mormons to get out. You should have left when you had the chance.
Emilena: We're doing that. [yells back] Can't you see? We're packing to go.
Grant: No. [angry now] We ain't budging. We're being run off.
Emilena: But Hebron, you did promise.
Grant: I won't be run off, I'll tell you. [to Denby] You hear that Blacksmith? I'm not budging.
[Grant raises the rifle and fires it towards the crowd of men who shoot back. Grant and Emilena run back inside the house. Denby raises his arm.]
Denby: Hold it! None of that now.
[Inside the house Emilena pleads with her husband as he is reloading his rifle.]
Emilena: Oh please, don't do this! Tell them we're going. Tell them.
Grant: I can't do that. Don't you see Em I can't do that. I can't be humiliated by swine like that anymore. I won't be run out of my home, my country. I won't be.
Emilena: But you promised.
Grant: I'm sorry Em. I gotta do it, I gotta, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't.
Emilena: They'll kill you.
Grant: I don't care, if I got to. [stoops to peer out the window] What are they doing?
[The men outside are tearing apart the chicken coop Grant has built.]
Grant: What are they doing? [tries to see what is happening outside]
[The men are pouring kerosene on hay bales stacked in the bed of the wagon and setting them on fire. The wagon is pushed into the barn.]
Denby: Alright Grant. You get the idea? Now you come out or we'll burn you out!
Emilena: Oh Hebron.
Grant: I can't. Even if I die for it, I can't. [breaks the glass in the window with his rifle, shouts to the men outside] Come on and get me.
[Gunshots are fired into the house.]
Emilena: Oh no.
Grant: Pray, Emilena, pray.
[Eliza runs to hide behind a table.]
Grant: Oh heavenly Father. Lord God the most, spirits in our need. [fires the rifle out the window as Emilena goes to hide with Eliza] Smite the sinners. God of Nephi.
Clay: [gives one of the mean a bag of rat poison] Pour it in the well.
Grant: God of Moroni. [keeps firing the rifle, striking the man at the well] Smite the sinners.
[Denby and another man are lighting a torch on fire]
Denby: Alright, lets go.
Grant: Help me God of Nephi. God of Moroni, save us thy servants.
[Denby and the other man pour kerosene close to the porch and window that Grant is firing through.]
Grant: Smite the sinners! [continues to fire his rifle] Praise of thy saints!
[The porch is set on fire. Clay is hiding behind a tree when he hears hoofbeats. He looks up and sees Nick, Heath, and Jarrod Barkley riding towards them. Jarrod tackles Denby from horseback. Nick and Heath try to fight the fire.]
Grant: Thank God.
[The other men scatter as Clay drives the wagon away. Heath sees the Grants inside the window, he enters the house and helps Eliza out. Nick continues to beat down the flames.]
Grant: The Lord has heard my prayer.
[Emilena stops, she is unsure that the Lord has heard his prayer and makes a decision.]
The next morning, the Barkleys are helping the Grants finish loading their wagon.
Jarrod: Well, Mr. Grant. It's all loaded and ready to go.
Grant: Thank you. Sure am sorry about the farm.
Jarrod: Nothing that can't be fixed. The most important thing is you're all still alive.
Grant: Yes. Well, we'll be leaving then. [shakes hand with each of the Barkleys]
Heath: Have a nice trip.
Nick: Got a lot of work to get done back at the ranch, so... Good luck to you.
[Nick and Heath nod good-bye to Jarrod.]
Grant: Eliza. Get on in. [helps his wife onto the wagon seat]
Jarrod: [spies another carpetbag on the porch, picks it up] Oops, can't forget this one.
Emilena: No, oh no. [stops him] That's mine. It stays.
Grant: [quickly turns around at her words] Stays? What do you mean Emilena?
Emilena: I'm not going Hebron.
Grant: What are you talking about? You know we can't stay here.
Emilena: You're not, me.
Grant: Em, I don't understand.
Emilena: I was right the first time. I'm... I'm getting that divorce.
Grant: Do you hear what you're saying?
Emilena: Yes. I'm saying, you're not the only man in the world.
Grant: But I'm your husband. pleads with her] You love me.
Emilena: I did once. I'm not so sure anymore. Some how you're not the man I thought. Anyway, I'm sure I can get over it. I want the chance to try.
Grant: But, Em. I love you.
Emilena: I suppose you do Hebron. In your own way. But, uh, some how that's not enough any more.
Grant: But...
Emilena: No. Go with Eliza. Don't you understand Hebron? I don't love you any more. Go.
[Grant abruptly turns away from her and goes to the wagon.]
Eliza: [kneels down and reaches out to Emilena] Sister!
Emilena: Good bye, Eliza. [grasping her hand]
Eliza: I don't understand this, but I'll miss you.
Emilena: I'll miss you too. Good bye Sister.
[Emilena moves away and Grant climbs onto the wagon.]
Grant: Emilena!
Emilena: Good bye Hebron.
Grant: I don't know what you're doing. You always did have a mind of your own.
Emilena: And you've always hated it.
Grant: Maybe so, but I loved it too. Good bye!
[Grant releases the brake on the wagon and drives off. Jarrod and Emilena watch them drive away.]
Emilena: Mr. Barkley, would you take me to the railroad station?
Jarrod: Of course, I will. Where you gonna go Emilena?
Emilena: Back to Utah, I think. I know people there.
Jarrod: What about the divorce?
Emilena: There won't be a divorce. But he won't know that will he? And it'll be alright because he won't be breaking any law.
[End credits]