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It's a nice night, huh?

Oh, it's too beautiful to waste indoors.

Oh, I'd almost forgotten how...

how silent the nights can be here.

I'd almost forgotten so many things that happened here.

Well, six years is a long time to be away.

Well, I had to have an Eastern education,

or Father wouldn't have been happy.

I say, dear boy, haven't you noticed

how terribly cultured I've become?

Well, no, actually, I've been too busy noticing

how you've grown up.

And how you have grown up.

You're still sweet, Little Joe.

Just as sweet as I remembered you.

Look.

Look, there's the North Star.

I studied astronomy in school, I'll have you know.

Well, I think that's fabulous.

Now you can help us navigate in case we get lost.

Jed, that Laurie of yours is sure a lovely gal.

Daughter any father'd be proud of.

Well, I don't mind telling you, Ben,

I was scared to death

when she got off that stagecoach yesterday.

You know, it suddenly hit me

that maybe after all those years in Boston,

she might not like it out here anymore.

Yeah. You know, her grandmother

never stopped thinking of me as some sort of savage Westerner.

Well, aren't you?

Well, anyway, Laurie's back,

and it's as if she never left.

You know, Ben,

during those last years when Mildred was so sick,

she worried

about how Laurie would get along after she was gone.

You did the right thing sending her off to school like that.

I also remember how high a value Mildred placed on education.

Yes, I...

I guess she would be proud of her.

Everybody seems to take to Laurie, don't they, Ben?

Yeah.

Including my little brother, Joe, if I can read the signs.

Listen, Hoss, your little brother's not so little anymore.

Matter of fact, I wouldn't mind having him in my family.

Well, who knows?

How many you up on me anyhow, Cleve?

1,642.

Yeah?

I kind of slipped up.

Oh, I just can't get over this beautiful sky.

And the fragrance of those pines.

Yeah.

Girl could lose her mind on a night like this.

Especially with a handsome young escort like you.

Well, thank you very much, ma'am.

Now that I'm back, Little Joe, I...

I hope that we're going to be seeing a lot of each other.

Oh, I hope so, too.

I-I guess we should be getting back to the house.

I, uh... I think you're right.

Are you really sure that...

that you want to go back to the house now.

No!

Laurie, what's the...?

Laurie!

Don't! Don't!

What's the matter with you?! Don't! Don't!

Laurie, what's the matter?

No!

No!

No...! No!

No!

Wait a minute! Cleve!

Cleve, now, that's enough, I told you.

Laurie, are you all right, honey?

Please take me home.

Come on, Laurie.

Mr. Ferguson, I... You shut up!

Now, wait a minute, Jed.

Give the boy a chance to explain.

Explain what? Isn't it clear what he was trying to do to her?

She hasn't come down all morning, Pa?

Six years we've been waiting for her to come home.

And now this.

You feeling all right, Laurie?

I'll be all right.

Honey, about last night...

Please.

I've known that boy all his life.

I just can't bring myself

to believe that he would do such a thing.

I told you what happened. Don't you believe me?

Of course I do, darling.

I was just going to say that... Daddy.

All right.

All right, Laurie, we won't talk about it.

Uh, why don't you have something to eat?

No, I don't feel like eating. I...

I'm going for a ride.

I'd like to get about five minutes alone

with that Joe Cartwright.

Now, look, you just leave the Cartwrights to me.

Hold on here, Cleve. What are you doing?

What's it look like we're doing?

There hasn't been a fence

between these properties in 20 years.

Yeah, well, there is now.

And it's gonna get bigger.

You got anything to say, rough boy?

Well, look, just how are we gonna get

out to the herds on the northwest section?

I don't know.

How are you gonna get out to the herds on the northwest section?

It'll cost us a half a day

just going around the... Nobody asked you, saddle tramp.

Hold it, hold it, Stark.

All right, let's get back to work.

Now, any time you got the stomach

for a little real trouble, you just come around.

We'll be here.

Come on, Joe.

Hello, Jed.

Was just coming over to see you, Ben.

Well, good.

Jed, you know, this talk about fences and all.

Why, we've been friends for such a long time...

That friendship is over, Ben.

I just wanted you to know

that I'm of no mind to see any violence.

Well, of course, nobody wants to see any violence, but...

Whether there is violence is entirely up to you.

Up to me?

You and your family.

You respect that fence, there won't be any trouble.

Otherwise...

Look, Jed, I don't know what you and I are doing

talking about fences.

Why...

Look, about last night...

The fence stays, Ben.

Don't cross it.

♪♪

Hello, Will.

Howdy, Mr. Cartwright, Joe.

How you doing, Will?

What brings you to town?

Will, you know that little, uh, little triangle of land

between the Ponderosa and the Ferguson property?

Yeah. Strange that you should ask about that.

Strange? Why?

Jed Ferguson was in this morning and bought it.

Well, first he builds the fences, and now this.

He hasn't got any dang use for that piece of land,

but he knows it's gonna cost us half a day

every time we have to ride out to the northwest section.

Jed Ferguson bought it.

Well, no point in fuming about it.

All right, son, I'll buy you a drink before we go home.

Been a dusty day.

Thanks, Will. Good day.

Good day, Mr. Cartwright.

Well, howdy, Mr. Cartwright.

Howdy, Little Joe. How you doing?

Haven't seen you folks for quite a spell.

How's everything?

Oh, just fine, thank you.

Uh, couple of beers?

Yeah, sounds good. Please.

Look who's here.

Hello, Cleve.

What's the matter, rough boy?

Not talking?

Just talk to girls, huh?

That's about all you can handle, I guess.

Thank you. I'll take that.

Another beer, please.

Oh, is this supposed to be for rough boy, here?

If you mean Little Joe, that's who I drew it for.

I beg your pardon.

How impolite of me.

Here.

I'm sorry, rough boy.

Wasn't that clumsy of me?

Oh.

Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this.

Now, just a minute, fellas.

Mr. Cartwright, can't you do something?

Oh, Sam, uh...

...that ought to take care of the drinks

and the damage.

Joseph, let's go.

Cleve.

Didn't I tell you to stay away from the Cartwrights,

to leave things to me?

But, no, you had to go and pick a fight.

I couldn't help it, Pa.

When I saw them come in and that cocky little...

Little Joe acting as if nothing had ever happened...

Good morning, everybody.

Morning, Laurie.

I'd better get started breaking in that new batch of horses, Pa.

All right. I'll be out in a minute.

Oh, Cleve, it's such a beautiful day.

Why don't you come riding with me?

I wish I could, sis, but I've got work to do.

I heard about the fight.

It was all on account of me, wasn't it?

No. It had nothing to do with you.

Just something personal between me and Little Joe.

Those Cartwrights, they think they run everything.

They're gonna find out fast that they don't.

Well, I'll just bet

that Little Joe looks a lot worse than you do.

Yeah.

I hope I didn't say anything wrong, Father.

Cleve seemed upset.

Oh, he's just a bit touchy now. He'll get over it.

How's my little girl today?

Your little girl is just fine, Father.

Oh, it's good to see you laugh again.

I'm glad you're not, uh,

you know...

Well, I'm not going to allow a silly little incident

to upset all our lives.

Well, I don't want my little girl to think about it.

Not ever.

We'll settle that account in our own way, Cleve and I.

All right, Daddy.

Laurie.

I'm sure you know as well as I do

that the, uh, men around here

are a different breed from the men you must have met back East.

Yes. I found that out in a hurry.

You're a very... pretty girl.

Lots of men are gonna be after you, and, uh...

Well, all I'm trying to say is be careful, dear.

Don't, um...

Well, you know.

Don't encourage them.

What kind of a girl do you take me for?

Well, you know what I mean, honey.

Yes.

Yes, I know what you mean.

And you don't have to worry, Daddy.

You know, your mother-- God rest her--

Was a gentle, sensitive woman,

and I know she would have wanted me to... No.

Don't you talk about my mother.

Laurie, I'm just trying to tell you that... No.

No, I don't want to hear you talk about my mother.

Laurie, where are you going?

I'm going for a ride.

No, honey.

Honey, I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have talked the way I did about...

I don't want to hear any more about it.

Morning, ma'am.

Good morning.

I'm Laurie Ferguson.

Yes, ma'am, I know. I've seen you.

Well, I'm sorry I didn't see you.

Yes, ma'am.

What's your name?

Bret, ma'am.

Bret.

What a nice name.

By the way, my name is not "ma'am."

I told you. It's Laurie.

Yes, ma'am.

I mean, Laurie.

That's better, Bret.

Well, I guess you want your horse.

Thank you.

Sure is a fine-looking horse, ma'am.

Do you like fine-looking things, Bret?

Sure.

So do I.

They make me feel good.

They excite me.

What do you do with them, Bret?

I don't know what you mean, ma'am.

Laurie.

I mean, Laurie.

I mean, is that all you do?

Just... look at fine-looking things?

No, I-I don't just look.

Well, what do you do, Bret?

Or don't you do anything?

Or are you just afraid?

Did you like that, Bret?

Did you enjoy kissing me?

Yes, ma'am.

I sure...

Now...

you'd just better get off this ranch as fast as you can, Bret.

Because if my father or my brother see you after this,

they're gonna kill you.

Oh, uh, Mr. Cartwright.

Look, uh, branding in this hot weather's gonna be bad enough.

Why do we have to take the long way around

to that northwest section?

I thought I made that perfectly clear, Stark.

We're keeping off the Ferguson property.

Well, look, that means we're gonna waste a whole half-day

just getting out there.

Well, then I guess you'd better get moving, huh?

All loaded, Stark.

I sure don't cotton to that long drive out.

All on account of one skirt these, uh,

fancy Cartwrights don't know how to handle.

Well, what the boss don't know won't hurt him, will it?

Got an idea? Mm-hmm.

Climb on. I know a strip the Fergusons ain't fenced yet.

Yeah.

Turn off at those trees up there.

Are you sure you know what you're doing, Stark?

Oh, yeah. We won't have any trouble.

The Fergusons got no reason to be out this way.

Sure like to run into that skirt out here, though.

I'd know how to handle her.

The fence line. Yeah. Hyah.

Hold your fire!

Keep your head down, Joe.

We're gonna have to stop this before somebody gets killed.

Yeah. You got any ideas?

Yeah. You just keep 'em occupied.

All right, hold it!

Throw your guns out in front of you.

I said throw 'em out in front of you.

Goes for your pistol, too, Cleve.

Hey, Hoss!

Hoss, you all right?!

Yeah, I'm all right!

If my brother Hoss hadn't have stood up,

I'd have shot you down right where you stand.

Now, both of you get out of here.

It won't end here, Joe.

That's up to you, Cleve.

Come on.

Let's get moving.

Hey, Stark!

Yeah.

Where do you think you're going with that wagon?

Start the branding.

You're on Ferguson property.

We're just taking a little shortcut.

This part ain't fenced off anyway.

You turn that wagon around.

I catch you on Ferguson land again,

you pick up your time and keep moving.

I, uh, guess he means it.

Turn around.

I thought you said you were all right.

Ah, it's just a crease. It's all right.

Come on. Let's get home.

Yeah.

How's that?

Yeah, that's fine.

Well...

I guess we better just stay off of that property.

That's about the only thing we can do.

Well, there's something I can do.

I can get Laurie to tell the truth.

Joe, you try talking to that girl,

and somebody's gonna get killed, namely you.

He's right, Joe.

Best thing to do in a situation like this is wait it out

till everybody cools down.

Look, Pa, Laurie goes riding every morning.

If I could just go out there and talk to her,

I could get the whole thing cleared up.

Joe, I'm telling you, if you get caught on that property,

they'll shoot you down.

I'll speak to Jed again. Oh, come on, Pa.

You spoke to him once. What good did it do?

Look, staying clear of the property

is not gonna help anything 'cause it's not gonna clear me.

Can't you see that?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Laurie, I want to talk to you.

So that's what you were waiting here for.

Yeah, that's right.

I think it's about time we got this whole thing settled.

There's nothing to settle.

Aren't you gonna help me down off this horse?

Well, in order to do that,

I'd have to cross this fence your family built.

Well, you're not gonna worry

about a silly little fence, are you?

Look, Laurie, my brother Hoss was almost killed yesterday

because of this fence, and so was your own brother Cleve.

And you're the reason why.

I don't know what you're talking about.

You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Now, you're gonna have to tell your father the truth.

The truth?

The truth about what happened

between you and me at the Ponderosa.

Look, your father's a reasonable man.

If you just... just explain to him it was an accident,

that your dress was torn by mistake, I'm sure that...

You mean you want me to lie?

Lie?

Well, that's not how it happened, Little Joe.

Why are you doing this to me?

Look, Laurie, I don't...

Don't touch me!

Don't you touch me!

Laurie!

Yeah, that's all there was to it.

Then she started hitting me with this thing.

When I took it away from her, she rode off.

Pa, if she'd just quit lying,

this whole thing would be solved in a jiffy.

I don't know if she's lying.

Well, Pa, you don't think that I really had...

No, no, no, of course not.

Laurie may think she's telling the truth.

What's that supposed to mean?

I've known her ever since she was a little girl,

since she was born.

Laurie was always a sensitive little girl.

Very much like Mildred, her mother.

Yeah.

Guess when her mother fell off that horse and became paralyzed,

that didn't help her much, did it?

Well, it was a hard time for everybody,

but particularly for Laurie.

She became even more withdrawn.

And then her grandmother

came out from the East to take care of everybody.

That wasn't a very happy time for Jed, I can tell you.

Oh, she blamed Jed for everything.

For the accident, for the lingering illness,

the paralysis, even blamed him for Mildred's death.

And then she forced Jed

to let her take Laurie back East with her.

Pa, I still... I still don't see

how this fits in with the way Laurie's acting now.

Well...

I know it may seem farfetched, but...

there's a connection somehow.

And look,

a person's caught between two opposing forces.

On the one hand, there's Laurie's father.

Now, Laurie loves her father. We know that.

On the other hand, there's Laurie's grandmother.

And she hates Jed. We know that.

And there's no telling what...

what her grandmother could have...

could have said to Laurie to change her,

because that girl is changed.

Something is... eating away at her.

It's Jed Ferguson.

Jed.

I want to talk to you, Ben.

Fine. Come inside.

Outside will do.

I'll get right to the point.

It's only out of regard for our former friendship

that Little Joe is still alive,

but believe me, Ben, he's pushed his luck beyond the limit.

Jed, the only reason Little Joe...

Now, I don't want to argue with you about it.

I'm just telling you-- keep him away from my daughter.

That's all I got to say.

♪♪

♪♪

Come in.

Hi, honey.

I saw your light.

Just thought I'd come in and say good night.

Is everything all right, Daddy?

Yes.

Yes, I-I just had some business to take care of.

Laurie?

Yes?

The picture of your mother by my bed-- it's missing.

Missing?

Yes. Do you know anything about it?

No.

Well, we'll look for it in the morning.

Good night, dear.

Good night, Daddy.

Good night.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Yeah, you look about as cool as that grass you're sitting in.

And you're breathing real nice and easy,

like a frisky young colt.

You're that Laurie Ferguson, ain't you?

Who are you?

Well, I ain't gonna tell you.

Not just yet anyway.

Now, you been, uh, fooling around with that Joe Cartwright,

and, uh, you know what a waste of time that is, don't you?

What you need, Laurie, is a man.

Real man, like me.

Wait a minute.

I may not be so rich and so fancy,

but one thing I know how to handle is a woman.

What makes you think I'd be interested in someone like you?

Don't bother me too much what you think you're interested in,

'cause I know.

Hey, hey.

I like that.

I like me a woman that fights.

And now, honey, I'm gonna show you

how a man tames himself a little wildcat.

Well, now I know you and me are gonna be good friends,

'cause we're gonna have...

Let's go take a look.

♪♪

♪♪

Laurie.

Laurie? No!

Honey.

Laurie.

Stark, what happened to you?

That Laurie, Joe, she... she's crazy.

She... she grabbed my gun.

She's meaner than a she-wolf, Joe. Crazy.

Come on, let's get him... let's get him to the doc.

Here, take him.

I'm gonna go over and try to talk some sense

into Mr. Ferguson.

Now, don't go messing around, Joe.

This here is work for the sheriff.

You just get him to the doc as quick as you can.

Laurie?

Laurie, honey?

Please tell me what happened.

Laurie, how are you feeling?

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

You rest quiet, child.

I'll be right back.

♪♪

Cleve!

Cleve, where are you?!

Laurie.

Laurie.

I'm going into town to get the doctor.

Honey, you needn't be afraid of me.

I'm your father.

I'm just gonna go get the doctor.

I'll be right back.

♪♪

♪♪

Going into town to get the doctor, are you?

Laurie, what are you doing out here?

I know what you're up to.

Honey, I'm not up to anything.

I'm just going in to get the doctor.

You're not going to leave me sick in bed to die

while you go into town to see another woman.

I'll see you dead first.

What are you talking about?

I'm your father.

I know who you are.

And you're not going to leave me sick in bed to die

like you left my mother while you go off with another woman!

Laurie, in Heaven's name, who are you talking about?

What woman?

You know what woman.

The one you brought in this house every day

while my mother was dying!

Laurie, she was a neighbor.

A friend of Mildred's.

That's all she was-- nothing but a friend.

No! No, she's not my friend.

Not my friend.

And I'm not gonna stay in bed and die.

Laurie, please, let me get the doctor.

You're not well.

You're imagining all sorts of strange things.

Don't you move!

You take one more step, and I'm gonna shoot you.

Laurie, please, listen to me.

No.

No. I listened to you.

I listened to you every night.

You and she alone downstairs laughing,

laughing your disgusting laughter,

while my mother was upstairs in bed dying.

Dying...

because you brought her out here to die,

to die among savages.

Savages. Savages like you!

No, Laurie. I loved her.

I loved your mother.

You loved her? And that other woman?

That-that friend?

That's all she was-- a friend.

She was a good friend of your mother's as well as mine.

No, you're lying! You're lying!

She was your lover. She was your lover.

Is that what she told you, Laurie?

What are you doing here?

What do you want?

Is that what she made you believe-- your grandmother?

Go away!

Go away. Don't come any nearer.

Be careful, Little Joe.

She teach you all this hatred?

To hate your father? To hate all men?

To make you feel the bitterness

she could never make your mother feel?

I don't want to hear any more.

I don't want to listen to you!

Laurie, give me the gun.

Don't move.

Don't touch me.

You come any closer, and I'll shoot you.

Laurie, what are you afraid of?

He killed her.

He killed my mother with his lies.

She lay upstairs in that bed dying,

thinking of him downstairs with another woman.

And it killed her.

Laurie, there was never anyone but your mother,

and she knew it.

We loved each other.

It's true that that woman-- and she was a good woman--

Would come in sometimes to help.

She tried to cheer me, to... to make me laugh,

to put up a pot of coffee or cook some supper

because Mildred wanted it that way.

But I never loved anyone but your mother.

No! You're lying!

You're lying!

Did your grandmother ever tell you how

your father worked and sacrificed himself

to build up this ranch

just for you and Cleve?

Did she ever tell you why your father never remarried again

after your mother died?

Because there wasn't another woman

in this whole world that he could love.

Did she ever tell you

what everybody in Virginia City knows?

That your father just lived for the day

you could come back here and be with him.

Laurie.

Little Joe, help me.

Please help me.

Laurie, your father loves you so much.

Give him a chance to help you.

Give him a chance.

She gave it to me to put back on my wall again.

What's the doctor say, Pa?

Well, it'll be along pull,

but eventually, he feels that she'll be all right.

Well, I'm sure happy to hear that.

Ben, I just can't find the words to...

Jed, there's no need to. You know that.

I'm mighty proud of your boy.

So am I.

Joe,

those fences are coming down in the morning.

Be out there to help you take 'em down.

Well, fences never did make for good neighbors.

Never found a fence yet that was a substitute for understanding.

Now, Jed, didn't you have some good ruby port wine

around here somewhere?

Ben, I know exactly where it is.

Come on. Thank you.

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