Original subtitles

[music playing]

My help cometh from the Lord who made Heaven and Earth.

It is He who shall preserve us from all evil.

It is He who shall preserve they soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out

and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.

Amen.

Heavenly Father, you have called your daughter

Sarah into your kingdom.

We ask that you give courage to these four loved

ones that she has left behind.

Help them to endure the pain of her loss

and to always remember their mother's love.

[music playing]

Josh.

Go ahead and get in the van.

Josh, I want you to meet Mr. Sanders.

He's with the Children Services.

I'm real sorry about your mother.

Thanks.

So, were you able to work things out for us?

Josh, I'm afraid that we'll have to separate you boys.

I'm sorry.

But I was hoping we could stay a family.

I know.

It's your ages, they just worked against us.

Again, I am sorry.

Josh, at least you and Jimmy will be together.

And, well, I'm almost sure there will be able to keep

John and Jason together too.

I want to be the one to tell them if you don't mind.

I understand.

Mrs. Barnes, if you could just give us some time by ourselves,

make things a lot easier.

All right.

You have everybody ready to go by this afternoon.

Yes, sir.

All right, everybody get in here.

What's wrong, Josh?

I need to talk to all of you so just sit down.

We all know that burying mom has made this

the saddest day of our lives.

But now there's more.

The County wants to separate us.

They can't keep us together as a family.

I don't want to be taken away from you, Josh.

I know, Jason.

That's why what I've got to say here is very important.

Mom was afraid something like this might happen to us.

So before she died, she made me promise that I would

keep us together as a family.

-

But how are you going to do that?

We're going to get out of here before the County

comes, all of us.

And we're going as far away as we can.

But what if they catch us, Josh?

They won't.

Not if we all pull together.

I know this is not going to be easy.

Mom left us a little money.

And I'll take care of everything else.

But what about your scholarship?

If you leave now, you won't be able to get it.

Look, all we have now is each other.

As far as I'm concerned, staying together

is more important than anything.

OK?

Together!

BOYS: Together!

All right, Jonathan.

I need two answers.

One, what's our next assignment going to be?

And give me a seven letter word for seer.

All right, this is the 10th answer I've given you.

Who is doing the puzzle, you or me?

I am and I'm almost finished.

Teacher.

I can't believe it.

You gave me the wrong answer.

No, I didn't.

That's what I'm going to be, a teacher.

That's our next assignment.

Oh, that's great.

You know how much I love being a teacher.

Maybe He'll make me a football coach or something

like that this time.

Oh, no, no. the Boss has something else in mind for you.

Oh, yeah?

Take a look at 35 across.

That's a three letter word for vagrant.

B U M. Bum.

Wait a minute.

Boss wants me to be a bum?

Well, come on.

You're the one who is always saying how much

you love the great outdoors.

Oh that's cute.

That's really cute.

That's cute, Boss.

Way to go.

I'm going to be a bum.

I think you'll be great at it.

[laughs]

Where are we?

It's a park.

I think we'll be safe here.

Go on back to sleep.

We all have a big day tomorrow.

Hey, let's go, guys.

I don't want anybody to be late.

Come on, Jason, let's go.

How do I look, Josh?

Zip up your pants, Jason.

All right now, look, guys.

We've got to take care of these clothes.

So no horsing around.

Morning.

Saw you guys pull in last night.

I wanted to welcome you to my park.

You uh, you own this place?

Well, no, not exactly.

I'm the only one around.

Yeah?

Well, what can I do for you?

My name's Gordon, Mark Gordon.

See, not many folks come up here anymore

and I'm just glad to see I'm going to have some company.

Listen, Mr. Gordon.

We're going to be keeping to ourselves.

I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same.

Nice talking to you too.

All right, come on, guys.

We got to go.

Let me give you a hand with that.

I've had Mondays that start out like this.

Thanks.

Mister--

Smith, Jonathan Smith.

I'm the new fifth grade teacher.

Stella Brisby.

I'm the old and soon to retire sixth grade teacher.

If you don't mind my saying it,

you don't look old enough to retire.

Mr. Smith, I've been teaching children for over 30 years.

And God knows I didn't do it for the money.

I did it because I enjoyed watching

children learn and develop.

Why are you retiring.

Because I'm tired.

I'm tired of fighting the distractions the children

seem to have these days.

I mean, there doesn't seem to be any desire for learning.

At least I haven't seen any for a long time.

Oh, maybe we're just not looking hard enough.

Well, you do the looking, Mr. Smith.

I'm too tired.

OK, now everybody knows exactly what to say, right?

Our dad travels quite a bit.

So we only get to see him on the weekends.

And our Mom works such different shifts

so we depend on my brother Josh to do most of the driving.

Good.

Hey, Jason, can you remember all this stuff?

Go ahead, just ask me.

If you remember to do exactly as I've said,

nothing should go wrong All right, let's go.

I don't want to see any roaming eyes during this test.

If there is, it's instant failure, all right?

Mr. Sheesly.

Good morning, Miss Brisby.

Good morning.

This is Jimmy Barnett.

He and his brothers are new students here at Madison.

And he will be in your class.

Nice to meet you, ma'am.

Well, I was just about to give a spelling test,

but you can be excused since you don't know the words.

Ma'am, I don't mind to take the test, that

is if it's all right with you.

All right.

Jimmy, you can take that desk over there

and then we'll start.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, ma'am.

All right, class.

Let's begin.

First word, catastrophe.

Next word, calculate.

Next word, chrysanthemum.

Next word, cultivate.

Hi, Miss Brisby.

Mr. Smith.

Tell me, has your day improved any since this morning?

Yes, a little bit.

As a matter of fact, that boy over there is the reason.

He's one of the Barnett boys.

His brother, John, is in my class.

I must say, he's a pretty good student.

Well, must run in the family.

Because Jimmy certainly shows a real desire to learn.

Well, it's nice to know that everybody

isn't affected by today's distractions, isn't it?

Yes, it is.

Zip up your pants, Jason.

Hey, boys.

Ate your lunch already?

Mom forgot to give us money.

But that's OK.

We're not that hungry.

Oh, now wait a minute.

I forgot all about the welcome lunch program for new students.

You guys are supposed to eat for free.

Isn't that right, Miss Brisby?

Oh, yes, that's correct.

OK, Jimmy, take your brothers over the hot lunch counter

and tell the server I'll take care of the lunches.

Yes, sir. Thanks.

That was nice, Jonathan.

I learned a long time ago that a child

can concentrate much better if he has a stomach full.

Amen to that, Miss Brisby.

It's Stella, Jonathan.

Amen to that, Stella.

OK, Josh, now you think you got the idea?

Yes, sir.

I'd like to thank you for this job, Mr. DiMaggio.

I won't let you down.

Hey look, any son trying to help his mom out

is OK in my book.

And you make sure you tell her that from me, all right?

Yes, sir.

I sure will.

Look since I'm not paying you that much, you

tell your mom to send in her laundry and we'll do it free

of charge.

Thanks, Mr. DiMaggio.

You bet.

Good morning.

Oh, Jonathan.

I really hate to see you working this hard, partner.

I was just resting my eyes for a minute.

Really?

Sounded like you were doing an impression of Rip Van Winkle.

Oh, that's cute.

That's cute.

Boss keeps me up till past midnight waiting

for the Barnetts to arrive.

You show up doing stand up angel.

Have you made friends with them yet?

Are you kidding?

They don't want anything to do with me.

I can't say I blame them.

You trust anybody dressed like this?

What you look like isn't what matters.

It's the kind of person you are that's going

to win their trust.

Well, that is going to be difficult.

Josh has told me to just stay away from them.

I brought you some things that might

help you win their confidence.

Oh, oh, Oh, look at this stuff.

What a setup.

After this, I think Josh will be a lot more trusting.

Just make sure you stay alert.

What do you mean, stay alert?

Jonathan?

Jonathan.

I hate when he does that.

Hi, how are you doing?

Help, Josh, help!

Quiet, quiet.

Josh, help!

Hey, hey, Quiet.

- Help! - Hey, kid.

Come on. It's all right.

Help!

Help!

Josh!

Quiet, quiet. It's fine.

Everything's all right.

What did he do to you?

I didn't do anything.

You stay where you are.

What did he do?

Nothing.

Remember what mom said about strangers?

You yell for help.

I, uh, OK.

Go wash up.

Sorry about the mistake.

It's all right.

Hey, Josh, just because I don't dress nice

doesn't mean I'm some kind of pervert.

Yeah, I suppose.

Looking for company.

I thought you were too.

You know, there is strength in numbers,

especially around here.

Hey, we're doing just fine by ourselves.

Excuse me, I'm going to make something to eat.

Wait, I got some hot dogs on the ice over there.

Put them on the grill, I bet the boys will love them.

Hey, man.

If my brothers need something, I'll be

the one to get it for them, OK?

Yeah, whatever you say.

All right, don't do anything stupid.

No keys up here.

Just get out and nobody gets hurt.

Come on.

Come on, move it, let's go.

Come on.

Move it.

Come on.

Give me your keys.

I said, give me your keys!

If you want them, go and get them.

Go on.

Hot wire it.

How are you doing in there?

Did you hear what I said?

Yeah, yeah.

I heard you.

I heard you.

Listen to me, pal.

When I let you go, you had better run

and I had better never seen you around here again.

You got it?

Yeah. Right.

Get over there.

Everybody all right?

Yeah, we're fine.

Thanks for saving us, Mr. Gornan.

It's Mark.

Why don't you guys go back to sleep.

Everything's all right now.

Hey, Mark.

I, uh, would like to apologize for everything I said.

I see now I was wrong.

I understand.

Hey, look, why don't we just forget everything that was said

and start over, OK?

OK.

Hey, listen.

You know, I would really appreciate

if you could keep an eye on them the next couple of nights.

I'm doing some house painting after I

drop them off from school.

And I mean, I should be back by 8:00 or so.

No problem.

Like I said, it pays to stick together.

Why don't you get some sleep now, huh?

I'll be here.

All right.

All right.

That's all for today.

Remember, tonight we have parent teacher conferences.

I'll be looking forward to meeting all your parents.

See you later.

My dad's out on business and my mom's working late tonight,

so they won't be able to come.

Oh.

I'm sorry to hear that.

My older brother would have come by,

but he's painting houses after work today this whole week.

I thought he worked at the cleaner.

Oh, yeah, he does.

He just wanted to make some extra money.

You're a hard working group.

Yes, ma'am.

I got to go.

Jimmy, if your brother needs more paint work,

have him call me.

I need a few things need done at my place.

I'll tell him.

[scraping]

Josh, you did a wonderful job on the dining room.

Oh, thank you, Miss Brisby.

I'm glad you like it.

Have some cookies.

That can wait.

Oh, well, thanks.

You know, I really like this house.

It's been around a long time, but it

could use some fresh paint and a few nails.

Well, if you're offering the work, I'm accepting.

Why not?

You've impressed me with your work so far.

Well, thank you.

I appreciate it.

I was born in this house.

There were no hospitals around back then?

Yes, there were.

We just did things a little differently back then, Josh.

So then you've been here all this time.

I've lived here all this time.

My mother had hoped that I would fill it with grandchildren,

but it didn't work out that way.

Now I've become one of those spinster school teachers

that you read about in Charles Dickens.

Well, I better get back to work.

Would you like to stay and have dinner?

Oh, thanks, Miss Brisby, but you know,

my mother has this rule about us all sitting

down together for dinner.

Well, that's a fine rule.

All right, I hope I get a chance to meet

this wonder woman who keeps the whole family together.

Oh, I'm sure you will.

You better get on with it.

Well, if it isn't the nerd brothers.

Can you believe these nerds?

They can't get enough of school, so they have

to study before it even starts.

What's your problem, Billy?

You are, nerdo.

I mean, you come to the school and think you're some kind

of genius or something.

Whatever Old Brisby asks, you got an answer for it.

My brother can't help it if he's smart.

Shut up, nerd face.

Nobody's talking to you.

You watch your mouth, Rucker.

Jimmy, remember, we don't want any trouble.

Yeah, Jimmy.

We don't want Old Brisby to think you're a troublemaker.

Oh, his little pocket ripped.

[crowd jeering and cheering]

Josh, if you'd just let me explain.

What is there to explain?

You blew it, Jimmy.

You blew it for all of us.

They want one of our parents to come in.

Sorry.

Well, sorry doesn't quite cut it with me.

All I wanted was for you guys to play it cool, man,

and we'd be all right.

So now we have to leave.

Josh, please.

I said I didn't want to hear it, OK?

Jimmy.

Jimmy, I'm so sorry, man.

It's OK, Josh.

No, it's not OK.

Jimmy.

I'm sorry, I'm--

I'm just trying to keep things going, you know?

It's so hard, but I still don't want them to tear us apart,

you know?

Me neither, Josh.

Me neither.

Boy, sure smell good.

Yeah, about ready to call you guys to come and join me.

Oh, I appreciate that, Mark.

Got plenty.

Mark, I need to ask you a favor, a big favor.

Ask away.

Jimmy got in trouble at school today.

And the thing is, his teacher wants to have a meeting

with one of his parents.

Oh, I see.

Yeah, and would you go for us?

You know, you know, pretend to be our dad?

Oh, wait a minute. Me?

Your dad?

Well, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you've gotten to know us

and we kind of look at you as, well, a special friend.

Oh, I don't know, Josh.

What if I mess things up for you?

But I know you won't.

I know you won't, Mark.

Just, what do you say?

Please.

All right, all right.

I'll be glad to be your dad for a day.

All right. All right.

Listen.

I'll get you some nice clothes from the cleaners

and everything.

All right, all right, now, why don't you go

tell your brothers to come and get it.

All right.

Oh, thank you, Mark.

You're welcome, son.

Miss Brisby, I want to assure you,

Jimmy now understands that fighting

is no way to settle a problem.

Well, he's such a fine student, Mr. Barnett.

I'd hate anything like that to overshadow

everything he's done.

Oh, I understand.

I want to thank you for confining it to this classroom.

And I guarantee you there will be no more problems.

Well , at least not with Jimmy.

I'm sure there won't be.

You know, he thinks the world of you.

Looks forward to seeing you here at school.

Well, I think it's a very special boy.

As a matter of fact, all your boys are just fine young men.

I can't tell you how I've looked forward to seeing you.

Oh, well, thank you very much.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I hope I have a chance to meet your wife.

My wife.

Yes, oh, I'm sure we can arrange that.

Well, I better run.

Oh, keep up the good work.

Yes, thank you for coming.

Josh, I got an emergency.

Can you stay an extra hour?

I'll pay you double.

Well, I got to pick up my brothers at 4:30.

This is important.

I'm got to get this work out.

Yeah, yeah, all right then.

They'll wait for me.

Great, thanks a lot.

[phone rings]

There's still no answer.

He must have had to work late.

Jimmy, they're going to close up the school yard pretty soon.

No, look.

Don't worry.

He'll be here.

[engine won't start]

Why now?

Hello, boys.

Oh, hello, Mr. Sheesly.

Do you boys have a ride home?

Yes, sir.

Our brother's due any time.

Well, it's pretty late.

Maybe he got held up or something.

What's your phone number?

I'll call for you.

Oh, we already did.

There's nobody at home.

We'll be OK, Mr. Sheesly.

I'm sure Josh will be along any minute.

Well, I got to lock up.

Tell you what.

You come with me I'll drop you at the house.

Oh no, we can't do that.

I can't let you stay out here.

It's against policy.

Let's go.

Come on.

How much further, Jimmy?

Well, we're getting close.

It's that house across the street.

I'll wait just in case no one's home.

Thanks a lot, but you don't have to wait.

Oh, well, you go ahead and make sure.

It's OK.

Our dad's home.

All right, let's get out of here.

Hi, Jimmy left his jacket in my car.

What are you selling?

I beg your pardon.

The jacket's is a great lead in.

What are you selling?

I just dropped your three boys off.

I have nine girls.

Are you Mr. Barnett?

No.

My name is Ramirez.

Sorry for bothering you, Mr. Ramirez.

I guess I got the wrong house.

Jonathan, was Jon Barnett in school today?

No, no, he wasn't.

Darn it.

And Jimmy was out sick too.

And here I wanted to send home Josh the money I owed him.

Stella, didn't Mr. Sheesly talk to you?

No.

Why do you ask?

The Barnett boys were taken out of school today.

Why?

They're runaways.

They have no parents.

That's impossible.

No, it isn't.

When their mother died, they were going

to be put into foster care.

They were going to be separated.

Rather than have that happen, they ran away.

They were living in a van in the park ever since.

Josh even quit school to try to help support them.

Oh.

I don't believe it.

It's impossible.

I met their father.

He was just an impostor, someone they met in the park.

But they're such fine boys.

What's going to happen to them?

The younger ones will be put in foster care.

Since Josh broke the law taking them away

he's going to have to have a hearing.

A hearing?

All it did was try to keep his little family together.

I know that but I'm not so sure the court's

going to see it that way.

Courts, the law, the system.

My god.

Doesn't anybody ever consider people's feelings anymore?

Not as much as they should, I suppose.

Anyway the hearing's tomorrow.

I'm going to take a run down there,

try to lend them a little support.

Is there anything you'd like me to tell the boys for you?

Oh, yes.

Tell them I pray God will help them.

I'll tell them.

They're not only find young students, Your Honor,

they're really fine young man.

I only hope the court can see its way past the law books

to do everything possible to keep this family together.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for coming, Mr. Smith.

You may step down.

Josh Barnett, please take the stand.

Please raise your right hand.

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth? - I do.

Please be seated.

Josh, do you understand that you broke the law when you

ran away with your brothers?

Your Honor, I wasn't thinking of any laws.

I was only thinking of keeping my family together.

Well, Mr. Barnett, it's time to think about the law.

And why you disobeyed the court order.

Your Honor, my mother knew that we might

be split up after she died.

So I promised her that I would do everything I

could to keep us all together.

And that's why you ran away.

Yes, sir.

Well, you may have acted a bit prematurely.

Children's services usually do everything they

can to keep a family intact.

Excuse me, Your Honor, but due to the ages of these boys,

we were unable to keep them together.

They will be placed in separate facilities.

Josh, the Court knows that no malice

was intended in your attempt to keep your family together.

Therefore no charges will be brought against you.

However, the court also recognizes

that your act was of extreme recklessness,

even though it was done to fulfill

a dying mother's request.

Excuse me, sir.

But I did it to fulfill our dying mother's love.

Yes, well, you may step down.

This Court hereby orders the minor children of Sarah Barnett

to be placed under the supervision

the County Children's Services.

Court is adjourned.

Excuse me, Your Honor.

Madam, the Court is adjourned.

But I must have a moment of your time.

Your, Honor my name is Stella Brisby.

I have been a teacher in this state for over 30 years

and in all that time, I never questioned

anything pertaining to the law.

But Your Honor, I have to speak out.

What happened in this courtroom today.

Four people's lives were changed by the simple stroke

of your pen.

Miss Brisby, I have already told you,

this court is adjourned.

Then unadjourn it.

Bailiff, please.

Your Honor.

What would it hurt the Court to listen

to what Miss Brisby has to say?

Mr. Smith, I have already made my ruling.

Nothing this woman says is going to make me change that.

Then let me ask one question.

What would it take to keep all these boys together?

Someone who is qualified, who is willing to take them

in and give them a good home.

I see.

I want all you boys to know, that I would

never fill your mother's shoes.

God knows, I wouldn't dare to try.

But I can offer you a good home, a home you can

call your own if you want to.

Miss Brisby, we don't know what to say.

I think a simple yes would make us all very happy.

Yes.

Mr Saunders, would you be kind enough to do whatever is needed

so I can take these boys home?

Well, I'm afraid it's not all that simple.

Well, it isn't that complicated either.

There are some paperwork to do but I'm sure we can expedite

that, can't we, Mr. Sanders?

Of course, Your Honor, of course.

All right, then.

Well, Miss Brisby, unless you have

a very unsavory background, in a little while

you will be the mother of four.

Congratulations.

[music playing]

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