Original subtitles

Don't worry. We'll see you tomorrow.

It will only be for a short while, I promise you.

Why can't we just stay here?

It's the only the judge that says we got to go.

He represents the law.

Well, we're going to appeal.

I've already wired my father's lawyer.

He's one of the finest in Boston.

He taught at Harvard.

He'll come here,

and we'll have the ruling reversed.

How long will it take?

No matter how long it takes, we ain't givin' up.

You mustn't give up, either.

All right?

We put our minds to it, we can accomplish anything.

Trust me.

- Who's gonna read me stories? - Your father.

He never did that before.

Then Lillian will.

Bye.

Oh, dear.

Colleen's left her history book.

She has a quiz a tomorrow.

Brian's train.

He...needs his train.

Can't you keep that baby quiet?

You're scarin' her.

How am I doing that?

Well, you're supposed to hold her up like this

so she can see everybody, know where she's at.

And then, you pat her.

See?

Babies like this. It relaxes them.

Have you tried a pacifier?

She spits it out.

Maybe you haven't got enough milk.

Dr. Mike says I already have enough milk.

She's crying 'cause she can't move.

Look. She's wrapped up like a mummy.

Hank, babies need to be swaddled.

Makes their arms and legs grow straight.

My ma did it and her ma before her.

- Didn't yours, Grace? - Yes.

But I kind of agree with Hank.

Oh, Hank doesn't know anything about babies.

Well, it seems like they'd be much more happy

if they could move their little arms and legs.

No, no, no, no.

It makes them agitated and nervous.

Oh.

Horace, let's go unwrap the baby.

I'll try anything.

I don't know, ma'am.

Ma! Oh!

I miss you, Ma.

We miss you, too.

How are you doing?

So-so.

I, uh, brought you a toga, but...

Oh.

Lily made this out of one of her old dresses.

She was fittin' on me.

It's beautiful.

I just used some old sheets.

Did she make one for Brian, as well?

I'd rather wear yours.

Oh, no.

That's -- that's much nicer, really.

Well...

It's all right.

One day, other girls might need it.

Good luck in the race.

You're comin', ain't ya?

I wouldn't miss it.

Colleen.

She has a mild rash.

Put this on her.

Try to keep her dry,

and change her diaper as often as you can.

How long before it's cured?

A few days,

but she may be a little more cranky.

I don't know if I can take any more.

Myra, you're doing fine.

I wanted to have a baby,

but I didn't know it would be like this.

It won't always be this way.

All I do is nurse her and walk her and nurse her and walk her.

She's still very little.

Sometimes, I never get out of my bathrobe.

I'm lucky if I eat.

I-If I get to sleep, it's a miracle.

You're lucky.

Lucky?

You have a beautiful baby girl,

and no one can take her from you.

You'll be her mother always.

You'll be there to watch her grow up,

become a woman, get married, and have children of her own.

You should be grateful.

I'm sorry.

I'm losin' my nerves.

I ain't slept enough.

Please, I -- I didn't mean to say those things.

I really didn't mean them.

I know you didn't.

I'm sorry, too.

I know this is difficult, but it'll pass.

In a few months, your baby will sleep with the night.

I promise.

What's he say?

We have a weak case.

When's he comin' out here?

- He's not. - What?

He's advising us not to appeal.

I was afraid this was gonna happen.

Well, he's getting on in years. Perhaps he's lost his fire.

You know, it seems to me

that in the eyes of the law, we ain't got a leg to stand on.

What are you saying? Don't you want them back?

Why would you ask me that? Of course I do.

I'm just makin' sure that we look at this from all sides.

The children are gonna get pulled back and forth.

It's gonna take years.

It could still end up the same.

We might just be givin' 'em false hope.

There's no such thing. There's always hope.

No matter what we say or do, he's still their father.

And the court protects the father,

which means he's probably gonna win.

- We don't know that for sure. - No.

- Not for sure. - We don't know

until we hear the last word from the judge,

until we take it to the highest court in the land.

I don't care how long this takes or how much it costs.

I'll spend every penny I have.

But if there's even the smallest chance,

we have to take it.

Don't we?

Yes.

I'll tell them to press on with the appeal.

See ya.

There are things you should know about Ethan Cooper.

He's a robber and a swindler.

Is that so?

He came through town two years ago and sold me a horse.

I remember that. He was scared of horses.

And then, he stole it back from me.

You're saying the man's a horse thief?

Worse.

At our Founder's Day, we were raising money to build a school.

Ethan snuck into the church and stole all the money -- $600.

How come no one else knows about this?

Good question.

We put the money back before anyone noticed.

Why didn't you bring this up at the trial?

We wanted to spare Colleen and Brian.

But it was a mistake, and we're filing an appeal.

We need you to grant an injunction to prevent Ethan

from leaving town until we get a ruling from the appeals court.

- Can't do that. - Your honor, please?

My decision stands. He's free to go.

Good day.

Pa? Pa?

Pa? Pa?

Pa? Pa?

Pa?

- Pa? - I'm coming.

Brian, what is it now?

I still can't sleep.

I had a bad dream.

All right. Shh.

You're disturbing your stepmother.

She's feeling poorly. She needs her rest.

Could you read to me?

What's wrong, Ethan?

Ma always reads to me when I can't sleep.

I'm sorry. My eyes are bothering me.

Come here, Brian. I'll read to you.

Go on, son.

Hank?

Hank?

Hank, you up?

What are you doing out now?

I -- I was just walking the baby.

I wanted to let Horace get some sleep.

But it -- it's freezing outside.

Come on in.

Shh. Shh.

Doesn't she ever stop that?

Oh, Hank, I'm sorry.

I just don't know what to do.

I -- I took off her swaddle and gave her the drops.

Shh.

Give me -- give me the baby.

Shh. Shh.

Look at them eyes.

Oh, she stopped cryin'.

She's smilin'.

Shh.

Oh, Hank, You'd have been a good pa.

You're a good ma, Myra.

I don't know why you say that.

I feel so helpless.

You don't need to, Myra, 'cause you love her.

That's true.

I'd do anything for her.

She gets too ornery, you can give her a whiskey.

Here.

Shh. Oh, sleepin'.

We did it.

Hank...thank you.

Shh.

Sully.

Good morning, Matthew.

I want to talk to you.

What are you gonna do?

Well, I'm gonna haul this over to the school for Brian.

I mean about Pa.

You can't let him take them away.

You know we're goin' for the appeal.

That could take years.

We got to wait.

We can't wait.

Who knows where they could be by then

or what could happen to 'em?

I can't believe that you're just

gonna stand back and let them take 'em take them out of town.

We got to do this right, Matthew.

What's the matter with you, Sully?

You scared of him?

Don't talk crazy.

Why don't you fight him?

We are -- with the law.

Forget the law!

We got to get him out of here

and make sure that he never comes back to bother us again!

And if you won't do it, then I will!

And there are plenty of guys in town who can help me --

guys who ain't cowards.

This ain't about being a coward.

Sometimes, being brave

means not doing what every muscle in you wants to do.

You think I don't want to grab Ethan by the throat

and strangle him till he's got no more breath left?

I do.

But it's not the way, Matthew.

It won't fix things.

It's not gonna solve a thing.

It's my sister... my little brother.

I swore when my ma died...

...I swore to myself that I was gonna look after them,

that I was going to keep us together as a family.

You done that.

I'm losing 'em, Sully.

I'm losing 'em.

It's not over.

All right.

Begin the procession.

- Come on. - Oh, here they come.

Careful.

- There they are. - Good.

All right, boys and girls. Gather round.

We want to welcome you all.

The children have been working very hard

to bring you our Roman Day festival.

The first event is gonna be

the father-daughter chariot race.

So girls, get to your chariots.

We'll bring the fathers up.

What we'll do, we'll race down the meadow to the pylons.

And you'll turn around and come back.

The first one to make it back is the winner.

Let's get ready.

Uh, hold on a moment.

The reverend said this was for fathers.

But Sully and I have been practicing

since before you got here.

Well, I'm sure he won't mind if I step in.

Then I won't be in the race.

Chariots to the starting line.

What's Ethan doin'?

I thought Sully was runnin'.

He was supposed to.

Aw, it -- it just ain't right.

Oh!

Come on, Colleen! Come on!

Come on!

Come on!

Come on, Colleen!

- Come on! - Come on! Come, come!

Come on, come on!

Come on, Colleen! Come on!

Oh, good race, Ethan.

Colleen?

He ruined everything.

He wanted to win for you.

I don't care about that.

Our next event is the catapult contest.

The Romans didn't have guns or rockets.

They did have very ingenious weapons -- catapults.

Now, these boys have designed and built their own catapults,

and we'll see who can shoot theirs the farthest.

Samuel?

Oh!

Andrew.

Down, Andrew.

Careful now.

- Oh. - Oh.

Oh.

- And Brian. - All right, Brian!

Come on, Brian.

Oh.

I won!

Andrew!

Nice try, Brian.

I don't know what happened.

Well, I told you, Brian. The arm should have been longer.

If you'd used a counterweight, it wouldn't have snapped.

Son, you just can't go out there and try anything.

You're wrong, Mr. Cooper.

That's what science is all about -- trying anything.

That's how you make discoveries,

not by having someone else tell you what to do.

Everybody's laughing at me -- the whole town.

People always laugh at those who try new things.

Well, they laughed at Galileo

and at Columbus when he said that the world was round.

I'm proud of you, Brian.

You did this all by yourself.

Ethan, uh, maybe we should go.

Mm-hmm. Perhaps we should.

I promised that you could stay for your events.

They're over.

We leave for San Francisco in the morning.

- Come on. - Ma! Don't let 'em take us, Ma.

Mr. Cooper, please?

Children, come along -- now.

We have to get them out of there tonight.

- How? - How?

We've done far more dangerous things.

Surely, we can get our children out of Ethan's cabin.

This ain't like you.

We'll ride to Manitou. We'll catch the early stage.

Sully, please. Go get the horses ready.

Where are we goin' on the stage?

Boston. My family will --

And when Ethan finds us there?

We'll hire a battery of lawyers.

We'll get the adoption approved.

You think so?

How's it gonna look, us kidnapping the kids

from their father and dragging them across the country?

We're protecting them from a thief.

Nobody is gonna believe us.

We've got no proof.

Well, then we won't stay in Boston.

We'll find a quiet town where we can hide --

And we'll spend the rest of our lives living like criminals.

Where are they?

What are you talkin' about?

I know you're hidin' them.

They ran away?

We put 'em to bed. I went out for a walk.

When I came back, they were gone.

They're not here.

If anything happens to them, I'm holdin' you responsible.

Well, I'm goin' to town for help.

Let him go.

We'll do better on our own.

I'll get the horses.

- Brian, Colleen! - It's us.

I thought for sure they'd be at the reservation

or here at the lean-to.

Where else would they go?

Maybe to the new homestead you're buildin'?

- Or mine? - All right.

We got to split up now.

Matthew, you ride on back to town.

Ask around quietly. See if they been there.

We'll go out to the new homestead and check.

We'll follow Wolf. Come on, boy.

Brian!

Colleen!

Brian, don't be scared, boy.

It's me, Mr. Bray.

They ain't here.

Well, if they're plannin' on hidin',

they're gonna want to stay near the water.

We've been lookin' for 'em all night.

- I say we go back to town. - No!

Let's go on upstream.

Come on.

There's a thicket about a mile ahead.

Mr. Bray and I stayed there once.

We got to go across.

Come on, Colleen. Come on.

Hurry.

Come on.

Ah! It's freezing.

Come on.

Hurry.

Come on. Come on.

Got to go.

Go.

I'm freezing.

Be quiet. Be quiet.

Shh.

Light a fire.

No. They'll see the smoke.

I can't stop shivering.

My clothes ain't dry.

Let's go back to Sully's lean-to.

There's skins and blankets.

We can get you warm.

They'll find us.

I bet they looked there already and went away.

What if they go back?

We won't stay long. Just till you feel better.

Come on.

Sully!

Here.

Drink this.

I can't stop coughing.

You're burnin' hot.

Come on. We got to hide.

Come on.

Get down.

They must've been here.

We checked last night.

Missed 'em.

Probably stopped here, rested,

headed off towards those mountains.

Let's go.

Wolf! Wolf!

Oh! Ah.

Sully!

Thank God we found you. What happened?

I fell into the creek,

and I couldn't get try till night.

I'll go get your bag.

Why did you run away like this?

We had to get away.

This is the only way we could think of.

We'll take care of you now.

Oh, look.

They're -- they're here. They found 'em!

- Oh! - Where were they?

In the woods. Colleen is very sick.

You two shouldn't have run off like that.

Now, let's go home.

Didn't you hear? She's sick.

And I'm taking her home to bed.

She has pneumonia. She needs to stay at the clinic.

You heard the judge. She goes with her father.

You may be her father, but I'm her doctor.

And I'm telling you her condition is serious.

Oh, Colleen!

Brian, you're coming with me, too.

No. The boy isn't sick.

I want to stay with Colleen.

No. You're coming home with me right now.

- No. - We'll be back for Colleen.

Matthew!

Take your hands off my brother!

You stay out of this, Matthew!

Let him go!

Get a hold of yourself.

Let him go!

He's the father. He's got the right.

How is she?

The infection has spread to both lungs.

There's very little we can do except try

to to get her fever down and keep her comfortable.

It's serious?

Next few days will be critical.

But she's gonna make it?

Many people recover completely.

Some don't.

Dr. Mike.

How's -- how's Colleen?

She has a very high fever.

I've given her some willow bark tea.

I'm using quinine now.

- Horace? - Hey, Sully.

Is something wrong?

I'm sorry.

W-What is it?

The appeal has been denied.

But we never got a hearing.

The court won't reopen our case.

Why?

They agree with the district court's ruling and stance.

Then go somewhere else and appeal it.

There's nowhere else.

Are you saying there's nothing we can do?

Nothing. It's over.

It's over?

We promised the children

we'd find a way that they wouldn't have to leave.

It ain't your fault.

I gave them my word, and I've always kept my word.

There was nothin' you could do.

You're right.

For the first time in my life, I can't keep my promise.

Why?

Because of him.

I can't stand the thought of him, the sight of him.

I hate him.

Hatin' him isn't gonna hurt him a bit.

But it is gonna hurt you.

What am I to do?

Right now, Colleen's up there.

She needs her medicine.

Do everything you can do. You're gonna get her well.

Take this, sweetheart.

Please try. Just a swallow.

It'll help you get better.

There's so many people who want you to get better.

So many people who love you.

So many things.

Please, God.

Help her to get through this.

I don't care what else happens as long as she's well.

Ma?

Ma?

Colleen?

Ma?

Your fever's broken.

How long was I sleepin'?

On and off a few days.

Can I go home with you now?

Oh, Colleen.

You're gonna be all right.

Thank God.

Fever's broken. She's going to be fine.

Can I see her?

- We almost lost her. - I know.

Oh, Sully.

We have to let her go now.

She'll come back.

You always come back to the people you love.

I know I promised you, but I was wrong to do that.

'Cause this is one thing that's beyond my power.

The courts have made the final ruling.

Your father has custody.

Then let's run away, all of us, to Grandma's.

I thought about that, Brian.

As I was packing my bag... Sully brought me to my senses.

They'd just follow us to Boston.

We could hide.

We'd just keep running, taking on secret names,

having to lie and sneak around in the middle of the night.

You might get hurt again.

If we got caught, Sully and I would be thrown into jail.

I'd rather go to jail than to live with them.

I'd go to jail without complaint, Colleen.

But if we went to jail, we --

we'd be apart for 20 years, perhaps our entire lives.

If you go with your father now, just be a few years,

and we could be together again.

You even said you'd come and visit us once a year.

We'll come and visit you.

Then when you come of age,

you can decide for yourselves where you want to live.

And you can come home.

I don't want to wait that long.

- Me, neither. - I know.

It seems very hard,

but think of it as a long voyage, a trip around the world.

You'll be able to go to the opera,

and see the clipper ships and the Pacific Ocean,

meet new people, try new things.

It would just be for a few years,

and then, you're gonna come home again.

Come on. Let's climb aboard.

Ah, w-wait a minute.

I -- I got somethin'.

Colleen, here are some books.

I thought you might like 'em for the trip.

And, Brian...

I got one of them new yo-yos for ya.

Thanks, Mr. Bray.

I'm gonna send you copies of The Gazette

so you know what's goin' on here.

And you be sure to write us.

I fixed your favorite, fried chicken.

Thanks, Grace.

That's very kind.

I-if you ever want to send a telegram to us,

just send it COD.

We'll take care of the charges here.

We're gonna miss you both.

We'll come back and visit.

Once a year.

Pa promised.

Right?

There -- there is one thing I need to ask, Mr. Cooper.

What's that?

Colleen has her heart set on going to medical college.

She's been studying and planning,

and I want you to make sure

she goes to a school that'll prepare her.

I have no objection.

Mrs. Cooper.

Colleen's of an age where she needs a woman to talk to.

Could you show her and... help her with special questions?

I'll do my best.

And Brian needs help with his spelling.

He'll say that he doesn't, but he does.

I have a very fine dictionary.

He might be frightened at night.

I -- I know this will pass,

but right now, he's awakened by his dreams.

So...it would really help if you could read to him.

Dr. Quinn, I wouldn't worry.

Once we're on the road, I'm sure everything will be just fine.

Come along now.

Ma?

You know how you always tell us...

if you put your mind to something, you can do anything?

Yes.

Well, I -- I'm going to be thinkin' about you.

If you think about me real hard...

it'll be almost like we're talkin'.

I'll be thinking about you, talking to you all the time.

Hya!

- Stop. - Whoa.

Ethan...

We can't do this.

He said we could stay, Ma!