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Afraid it's open and shut, Toby, open and shut.

Figures.

Take him down, Amos.

You callin me to testify, Toby?

Nope.

Foot was stickin' right out of the ground.

He didn't even finish burying her.

Amos, everyone in solona has heard your story

a hundred times in the past couple of months.

I'm Toby felker.

Hey, wait out front now.

Oh, I have to protect you, Toby.

You gotta listen so you can tell your buddies what's happening.

Now do you want to leave now

or do you want me to tell the sheriff?

Boy, you better be pleading guilty,

'cause he ain't never got nobody off.

You know, you don't have to take me as your lawyer.

Of course, you do know

that I'm the only lawyer in the valley.

Do you want to defend me?

I don't know.

I'm not a catholic.

What are ya?

Nothin'.

Doubt that.

Well, I'm... Fallen away methodist.

I'm a lawyer for the testate and the intestate.

And I argue for the just dispersal of pots, pans.

Not...

I ain't never argued a murder case.

And I drink.

Can you believe I'm innocent?

It's not easy.

A celibate priest and a bride of Christ.

I'm not a priest anymore.

I mean, this is gonna mean a full trial.

I'm gonna have to know a hell of a lot.

Like, uh, why did you try to escape?

- I didn't. - Come on,

the sheriff arrested you at the train stop.

I wasn't trying to run away.

I couldn't have done the thing.

I'm not a violent man.

Why did you ask for another nun?

The other two sisters were ill,

they couldn't teach.

Did you ask for a young one?

Yes.

There was a lot to do.

When exactly did she arrive?

Spring.

There were flowers.

I remember the train was late.

- Thank you very much. - You're welcome.

All aboard!

Oh, hello, father!

It's me.

I didn't know it would be so beautiful.

All those trees, it's almost a wilderness.

Welcome, sister.

Hello, sister!

Welcome!

That's erna Webber and her father.

He hasn't long to go.

They're in our parish.

I've fallen in love with this place.

It could be an infatuation.

No, I don't think so.

Monsignor Nicholson told me that the Indian name for solona

was land of rainbows.

- Monsignor. - Mm-hm.

Yes, he's very fond of Indian lore.

I must tell him I've yet to see a rainbow.

You have to know where to look.

Hello, father!

Come visit us sometime.

The ladies of the coal mines.

Do they come to church?

Sometimes.

Coal mines, so that's what they do here.

The mines are shut down.

Mostly they just wait in hopes they'll reopen.

It's only the remnants of the town.

The nights are long.

Sometimes those trees you like close in.

But if you keep busy, there's no time for melancholy.

Melancholy?

Thinking perhaps of what you've renounced for the church.

I don't believe in that, father.

- You don't? - No.

Mother Vincent used to say that to me,

a guardian angel.

I believe everything I've done is part of me.

Had to be a child then to be a nun now.

I'm a person who's a nun,

not a nun who used to be a person.

You said that to mother Vincent?

- Of course. - I see.

Well, now we know why you're here, don't we?

You're offended.

No, I wouldn't say that.

Well, if you're annoyed with me...

I'm not annoyed.

Father, please don't be angry with me

before you even know me.

I am not angry except by the fact

that you keep telling me that I am.

It's beautiful.

Hello, sister.

Our housekeeper, Mrs. shandig.

Would you like some tea, sister?

I just took out some fresh biscuits.

That would be grand, thank you.

You can bring it to the convent.

We'll go over and get sister settled in.

The convent?

Why not, Mrs. shandig?

The sisters are a tad cranky.

Mm.

Oh, sister,

I don't know if they told you, but the nuns,

well, they're a good deal older than you are.

I understand.

Coming in, sisters.

Well, sisters, I give you sister Rita.

Sister Mary immaculata, sister Mary Martha.

Oh, I'm sorry you've not been feeling well, sisters.

There's nothing wrong with me, sister.

It's her, she's the sick one.

No, she's much worse, I got it from her.

You didn't get it from me, I got it from you.

Better get those out of here.

The flowers, sister.

Now she'll probably sneeze all night long.

Yes, well, we'll take our tea outside.

You rest, sisters.

Sister, I want you to understand.

I really wasn't angry.

Oh, gracious, you're still not thinking about that, are you?

I'm sorry, what a start.

You see, I'm not accustomed to an exchange of views.

The other nuns here never talk much,

at least not to me.

I do enjoy discussing points of view, I do,

but the people here expect the priest

to stick to holy subjects.

Listen, I'm plain out of practice in conversation.

Oh, I think a conversation is as essential as breathing.

You know, when I first came to solona,

I, too, made a completely terrible start.

I don't feel that I've made a completely terrible start.

No, no, you haven't.

You're awfully quick to pick up on things.

I've done it again, I've offended you in some way.

No, no, you haven't.

Maybe we need someone around here

to keep us on our toes.

Not from what I hear.

Monsignor Nicholson told me you finished first

in your seminary class.

Class of 11.

You know, one would think you would have gone

straight to an important parish like St. boniface's.

My ideas were radical.

That's hard to believe.

Are you going to eat that muffin, father?

It's yours, sister.

You eat with great gusto.

Oh, thank you.

Radical or not, I'm surprised

you haven't earned a larger parish by now.

Yes, well, I needed a quiet place

to work on my book anyway.

Hm?

It's called augustinian order: An examination and extension.

A little pompous.

- Just a little. - Yes, I know.

Wasn't my choice actually.

Sister...

I do hope we'll manage to get along together.

I never doubted it, father.

Oh, aren't you going to tell me the story?

- What story? - About when you first came

- to solona. - Oh, yes, that.

Well, when I arrived here, no one met me.

I asked Maurice prindle,

he runs the grocery store, for directions.

And he sent me to that little church down there.

And when I got there and saw the sign out front,

I realized the joke he'd played on me.

It said, "solona Evangelical methodist."

Rivard.

Listen to me.

Rivard.

I did not kill sister Rita.

I believe in god, the father almighty.

Just that I don't have the church anymore.

She haunts me.

She haunts you?

Well, I don't believe in ghosts,

not even the holy ones.

I read, I pray, I do calisthenics all day

just to be tired, just to sleep,

just not to think of her.

Can you hear yourself, rivard?

You sound like a guilty man, for god's sake.

Now I can help you if I got something to go on.

I mean, I realize I haven't had a hell of a lot of experience,

but I'm a good lawyer.

What are you still doing here in solona?

What?

A woman.

Same as you.

That's not the same as you.

Mine...

Mine just up and married somebody else.

You know something?

I do believe that you're innocent.

Why?

I don't know.

Maybe it's what your theology calls a leap of faith.

You don't suppose that I could get a jury

to believe that a nun committed suicide, could I?

No.

So she was dead when you left, right?

They told me when they arrested me.

But she was alive when you left holy rosary.

Yes. You're certain?

- Yes. - Well, then who saw you leave

that knows you left before sister Rita was killed?

Wasn't your housekeeper, Mrs. shandig.

- She didn't? - No, no, no.

When she couldn't calm herself,

they put her over in the hospital,

and she didn't make any sense at all.

Maurice saw me.

Maurice prindle?

He was just opening the store.

I had asked him to replant some flowers

at the holy rosary.

Replant flowers?

It was important.

Was.

All right.

It's something.

I'll talk to Maurice.

Maybe I can get somewhere on this.

Amos!

I am good.

Hell, I'm already better than I thought I'd be.

Don't hurt yourself, Amos.

What?

"What?"

You gonna open the door?

I just know,

you're gonna make a great sheriff some day.

Maybe even a governor.

Oh, that's very funny, felker.

Just wait till you meet her

wait till you see

my rumble seat gal and me

just wait till you meet her

my rumble seat gal

ain't nobody sweeter

my rumble seat gal

the minute you give her the double o

you're bound to love her

really, really

some nights we go parking, the rumble seat's fine

she doesn't mind sparking, that baby of mine

just wait till you meet her

wait till you see

my rumble seat gal and me

Now I've written private notes

to each one of you on your compositions.

I liked yours, Kathleen.

Randy, there's a note for you.

Louise.

Louise, a little less time on lipstick

and a little more on english composition

might make a difference to your grades.

Carrie, I like your story about the dog.

Father.

- Good work. - Thanks.

James.

What's wrong with your hands, James?

It's sister Martha.

What about sister Martha”?

Sophie?

Multiplication tables, sister.

- What do you mean? - Sister Martha.

She uses the ruler when you get things wrong.

I see.

Would you please come up to the front of the class,

James?

Now, what I want is for you to read your paper aloud,

all right?

All right.

Just all of you listen to how specific James's reasons are.

"What I like about solona, three reasons:

I like tuffy, my dog,

'cause he's brown and likes my spinach.

Otherwise I would have to eat spinach

and it would be my worst reason.

I like running 'cause I am fast,

and I like the summer because the boards in the outhouse

are warm and toasty.

Them are my three reasons.

The end."

And "them" are pretty good reasons, James.

Now, tomorrow we'll work on pronoun agreement, okay?

Okay.

Is there something you'd like to say to the class, father?

No, not now.

Class dismissed.

You know what we're missing up at holy rosary?

Flowers.

I mean, it would be nice

if when people looked up at holy rosary

they saw flowers, don't you think?

What was the name of the song

you were teaching the children, sister?

It's called "my rumble seat gal."

Sister Martha always taught Latin songs.

Yes, I heard their sanctus.

I'm sure god would appreciate it

if they'd learn to carry a melody

before lifting their voices heavenwards again.

You don't always have to say the first thing

that comes into your mind, sister.

Some people might find that song flippant.

Do you, father?

I haven't really thought about it.

Well, I'm certain you try and bring people

to the higher things by starting at their level too, don't you?

No, not always.

Well, I mean, if you want to get into a locked room,

you have two choices.

You can bang your head against the wall

until you make a hole or you can find the key.

That's very clever, sister.

I don't think we want to belong to the headbanging school.

Well, sister Martha, with her switches

and gregorian chants, certainly does.

Let's all try to keep an open mind.

Maurice prindle always has those flowers out front.

I think we can afford a marigold or two.

Oh, these might look lovely in front of the convent.

Oh, no, I don't want those.

I want flowers that'll keep on blooming

right up to the first frost.

- These? - No.

Oh, these!

About six boxes of these and six of those

together in front of holy rosary,

don't you think?

Whatever you say, sister.

Any mail today, Maurice?

Are those other two nuns any better?

No, not yet, thank you.

Lucky for you, father,

they finally sent you a young one, eh?

Uh, Mrs. shandig,

erna said she'd like us to pick up some tomato soup

for her, too.

Better get in there and help her.

I generally have to.

Mrs. shandig.

Yes, sister?

I always make our soup, sister.

I could teach you to read.

I'm much older, you know.

We'll start right away then.

If I could...

You know, father, he works so hard on his book.

Maybe I could help him a little,

if I could read.

I understand.

I want to help him so much, sister.

He brought me into the church, you know.

Here we go.

Papa, father rivard's come to pay you a visit.

Wonderful, that's fine.

Hello, father.

Nice to see you, Mrs. shandig.

- This is yours, erna. - Oh, thank you.

How are you, sister?

Oh, fine, erna, how are you?

Very well, thank you.

Papa will be so glad you came.

Matt, you look good.

How are you feeling?

- It's good to see you, father. - Good to see you.

- Hello, Matt. - Nice to see you.

- How are you, Matt? - Thank you for coming.

- Nice to see you. - Would you like some lemonade?

- No, thank you. - No thanks.

So, Matt, you're feeling better?

Papa only had to get up twice last night.

That's true.

By the way, father,

did you hear about the mine reopening?

No.

I didn't hear that.

You didn't hear?

I thought everybody knew.

Maybe only a couple more months.

Amos heard it from some fellow who knows.

When it opens, I'll be ready.

Oh, erna, would you take that food inside please?

Yes, papa.

Bless you.

I found out they don't pay no compensation

lest you die on the job.

But with the mines reopening,

I'll be able to leave erna enough to get by on.

If anything happened, Mr. Webber,

we'd take care of erna.

You mean that for sure?

Absolutely.

And you'd stand by, father?

Of course, Matt.

But the mine's definitely gonna open.

They tested number three shaft just last year.

Remember?

I remember, Matt.

Well, we have some other calls to make.

Take care of yourself, Matt.

God bless you.

Mr. Webber's worse, isn't he?

And the mine?

Pipe dream.

Those mines were mined out years ago.

There's nothing left.

Bye!

P-e-a-s.

Peas, peas.

B-e-a-n-s.

Beans, beans, yes, beans.

Sister, sister, what is... are these?

What's this?

"Into saucepan, empty soup and one can of water.

Stir."

Is that saucepan?

Mm-hm.

Oh, that's hard.

Isn't it time for the convent tray?

Yes, yes, father, it's there, it's all ready.

I'll see you tomorrow, Mrs. shandig.

- Right after school. - Right after school.

What right after school?

Um... what...

It's all right, Mrs. shandig.

Sister.

How are our two patients, sister?

They are not without their complaints.

They had one or two before they got sick.

I find that hard to believe.

Well, you can laugh after all.

Well, yes, I'm not always as serious as you think.

Good, it becomes you.

- You know, you were right. - What?

The flowers.

It does look better up here.

Thank you.

And the children seem happy now, as well as learning.

I hope so, father.

That's important to me.

You know, I started this school.

Monsignor told me.

Of course, it didn't work out just the way I had hoped.

Until you came, I thought all I'd done

was make the public school classes smaller.

You know, I doubt monsignor would understand this,

but sending such old nuns,

some people just don't have the knack.

Coming.

Well, I should be off on my walk.

You'd be welcome to come along,

if you think you can keep up.

Just give me a moment.

Coming in, sisters!

You have to pick the steepest walk in solona?

It's worth it.

I have a special place up here.

I used to have a special place to go when I was a girl.

That sounds like a very long time ago.

Don't make fun of me, father.

Close your eyes, sister.

Now, open them.

There it is.

It's very peaceful.

Very sad.

"There comes an hour of sadness

with the setting of the sun,

not for the sins committed

but the things I have not done."

You do have the words, sister.

Mother Vincent recited that to me once.

I stitched it on a sampler and left it on her bed

for her name day.

Well, can we sit a minute before you run back down?

If you need to.

I appreciate you teaching Mrs. shandig to read.

Very good of you to take the time with her.

I appreciate her giving me time away from the convent.

You know, Mrs. shandig doesn't want me to know

about her past life.

It doesn't really matter, does it?

No, except I want to know.

Well, she wasn't married.

She lived out in one of the mining camps.

Her man did the hunting for the camp,

and she cooked the game he shot.

One day, he left and never came back.

The men got pretty rough with her after that.

She escaped by following the train tracks into the town.

Someone told her I was looking for a housekeeper.

And you converted her.

Mm.

Wow.

Once you get started, you have the words too, father.

Once I get started.

I, too, thought I'd have a larger parish by now, sister.

Too much headbanging, I guess.

You sound much older than you are.

I've slowed a step or two.

Not by the way you've climbed this hill.

That's the kind of challenge I still accept willingly.

Possible.

What do you want that's so impossible?

Oh, that's hard to explain.

This town.

See, I was thinking if I could get someone,

Maurice prindle maybe, to donate the hardware,

I could build a swing behind the rectory.

And not just for us.

All the children could come.

Well, that sounds possible.

But then I begin to wonder if it's worth the trouble.

I think it is.

Well, I've sort of lost my enthusiasm for confrontation.

Well, the worst anyone can say is no.

No, maybe.

You're right, of course.

I'll tell you what, I may just go see Maurice tomorrow.

Good.

Why do you suppose monsignor Nicholson

said I shouldn't talk with you?

I don't know.

Everything seems all right when we talk.

- Yes. - At least I feel like a person.

I get so weary of hearing sister's book, sister's rosary,

sister's this, sister's that.

No one ever refers to me just as a person.

Did monsignor really say that?

Yes, he did.

Amo, amas, amat!

I love, you love, he loves.

Yeah, Latin isn't so hard, is it?

I like pax vobiscum.

Ick, that sounds like a disease.

Well, do you know what it means?

- Mass is over! - No!

Pax vobiscum, peace be with you.

Time for your eggnog, father.

Father, can I ask you something?

It's personal.

I don't want to pry, I don't.

I know, it's too thick, don't mix.

But you seem so bothered.

Well, I am bothered.

Oh, father.

Everybody says you're the finest priest

they ever knew.

No one says that.

Oh, yes, they do.

But...

Well, even priests have to relax sometimes.

You've been twice as busy since sister came.

All I have to do is prepare a sermon,

visit the sick,

build another outhouse for sister Rita

so the boys and the girls can have recess together,

write this impossible book,

and at the same time avoid getting fat

on those repulsive egg nogs.

I'm sorry.

I am sorry.

Give it to me.

Only if you want it.

I do.

You know, father, I never understand about your book.

It's too dull to understand.

Maybe if you had somebody to talk it over with.

Well, who could I discuss it with?

Sister Rita.

Sister Rita?

She's educated.

Yes, but all those radical ideas.

"My rumble seat gal."

She is young, father.

Give her a chance.

All right, we'll invite her over for supper.

Oh, no, father.

What's wrong?

You can't be alone with a nun.

What would people say?

Well, believe it or not, Mrs. shandig,

I am capable of remarkable propriety.

I know that, father.

Father?

Father, I want you to hear this.

Father, the children and I just had this wonderful idea.

We thought that...

Oh, am I interrupting something?

Well, the other nuns always sent a note over

before they came,

otherwise the children feel

they could burst in here any time they wanted to.

I'm sorry, father.

Sister Rita's idea was to teach

art appreciation to the children.

Watercolors, collages, and the like.

It was not part of our regular curriculum.

Father rivard's ideas were sometimes radical.

However, permission was granted.

Monsignor Nicholson,

is it not true that at the time of the murder of sister Rita,

you were the chief administrator

of the local diocese of the holy Roman church?

I was and am bishop Kinsey's secretary,

a position, I think,

of greater responsibility than the title suggests.

Did you send father rivard to this out of the way post

because he was a troublemaker?

Father rivard was incredibly energetic,

but he was rather an aggravation

to the senior priest wherever we put him.

So you sent him here?

Not at first.

The bishop brought him into the chancery

to be able to guide him personally.

Did that work?

Regrettably, the bishop had to ask me to stop father rivard

from entering his office without an appointment.

He would burst in no matter who was present,

bring up some obscure theological point,

suggest his ideas for raising money through games of chance,

as is donein certain eastern cities.

Ultimately, he usurped a responsibility that was mine,

and mine alone.

The older nuns had come down with consumption.

All I'm saying is that it's consumption,

I know that now.

All right, there's a train tomorrow.

I'll send both sisters back to the motherhouse.

No, no, they can't be moved.

Priests don't deal with the motherhouse,

only with the monsignor.

What about my teaching?

Oh, I don't see that that's any problem.

As long as the children aren't using the same eating utensils,

towels, and other common household goods.

She can stay in the rectory.

Well, her order doesn't allow that.

We have holy laws guide us, doctor.

Whatever, whatever.

You four can figure that one out.

I want to see you.

The people up here think of consumption as a plague.

It's not anymore.

The sisters'll live.

I don't want any panic setting in in town.

Absolutely no one is to know anything about this up here.

I understand, doctor.

Sister.

You can ask monsignor for permission

for me to move in to the rectory.

He'll refuse.

Well, tell him we're doing it for the sake of the children.

Monsignor sees things only as the rules dictate.

What must be must be.

Very little must be, father.

I don't want to leave.

The school is my responsibility.

Mine too.

And in addition,

your life in Christ is my responsibility.

Well, what about your responsibility to the children?

Father!

If you don't write, I'll have to leave.

I don't think mother Vincent thinks

I'm a very good teacher anyway.

She didn't want to send me up here in the first place.

I have been good, haven't I?

Of course.

Then do you want me to leave?

Is that it?

I didn't say I wanted you to leave.

I don't.

I want you to stay.

You insist on making everything a personal question.

Everything is, isn't it?

Recently, yes.

Sister, sister!

What?

I'm not crying, so don't say I am.

Of course not.

That's the biggest splinter I've ever seen.

I can take it out, but you'll have to be brave.

I am.

I'm going to write monsignor for permission for you

to live in the rectory.

We'll try to do the best we can

under the circumstances, sister.

I know we will, father.

Father?

You better tell Mrs. shandig.

Just one more confrontation, father.

Are you gonna take it out or not?

I'm gonna.

God damn!

James!

I don't like that kind of talk and you know it.

I won't have you use the lord's name in vain.

Is that understood?

Well?

Pax vobiscum, sister.

Pax vobiscum, James.

What did the sisters say to you about moving into the rectory?

Did they say anything to you?

Enough.

Hm.

Mrs. shandig, too.

I know.

She feels at the very least we shouldn't be eating together.

She thinks there'd be ramifications.

What does that mean?

That people will talk.

There's nothing to talk about.

Well, people in small towns like to think the worst.

Well, I don't think that's true.

I do.

When I was a young man, I fell terribly and instantly in love

with a merchant's daughter

who wore blonde sausage curls.

No nice girls in our town

had ever dared wear sausage curls before.

It all would have come to naught,

except she found my eyelashes

to be a marvel of the modern world.

Everyone expected the worst to happen to us,

but they fussed and tore at me like a dog with a knotted sock

till I thought like they did.

Finally, she was sent away.

It was my fault.

Well, I hardly think so.

Hm.

Of course, father, she was right about the eyelashes.

I get the feeling we're being watched

by the ladies of the coal mine.

Mm-hm.

Father!

- Hello, father. - Marie.

Um, I'd really like to talk to you alone.

Give us a moment.

Of course.

What's wrong, Marie?

Look, father, you were always very nice to me.

I want to warn you.

About what?

You don't walk around town with her.

Sister Rita?

They say awful things about you and her, father.

I don't care if they're true or not,

but don't wave it right in their faces.

Thank you, Marie, I appreciate the warning.

You know, I'd like to see you in church.

Ah, now, don't start in.

Look, I've had my fill of the church.

The way the holier-than-thous look at me,

I can get all that I need without ever leaving the porch.

I think you'll find it different now.

Look, whatever you're up to with her,

I don't care.

What's the sense of letting everyone else

know your private business?

You've grown up, Marie Victoria hiskovich.

Yeah.

Marie thinks we shouldn't walk through town together.

Well, that almost means we have to, doesn't it?

Sister tells me you're full of questions these days,

Louise.

Sister Rita's nice.

Mm.

Good teacher.

Do you think sister Rita's nice, father?

Yes.

How much?

What do you mean?

I like her a lot.

Well, you should.

Do you?

How much do you think about this?

What?

Sister and me.

Never.

Lies are venial sins, Louise.

What if someone loved you?

I see.

Priests love everyone, don't they?

Yes, everyone,

and that's not a love to marry by.

Love between a man and a woman

isn't controlled by the same ideals

as it is when you love people.

Everyone.

You understand?

No.

Love between a man and a woman is more personal.

What would you do if someone said they loved you?

Louise, sister Rita and I

have to be clear-headed to help people.

Now how could we be married, worried about each other,

bothered about ice bills, children's teeth.

I didn't mean sister Rita.

I see.

What would you say?

I suggest you discipline your mind

as well as your actions, Louise.

I'm afraid it's as great a sin to think something as to do it.

Can I go now?

Those are some ideas she has there, father.

Aren't they?

Coming in, sisters.

All right, say what you have to say.

I don't want to say this, father, but I must.

We're concerned over your decision

to move sister into the rectory.

I have made no decision.

I'm frightened because I am also a human being

and you are a human being with a man's feelings,

just as I have, and have always had a woman's feelings.

We have our vows, but we remain fallible.

Can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned?

Stop these incantations, sister Martha,

and let father tell us what he is going to do.

Very little, sister.

I wrote monsignor exactly as I should,

and he will make the decision.

You see, it's not a proper request, and we cannot agree.

I didn't ask you to agree.

There are things more important than any temptation

you could imagine for me.

The school is changing those children for the better,

something we never managed to do.

I want you to stop talking about sister and me.

Do you understand?

God bless you, sisters.

Any mail for father rivard?

I think so.

"Directions.

Into saucepan, empty soup and one can of water.

Stir."

Well, I'll be damned.

Most likely, Mr. prindle.

Looks like a letter from the big boss.

Monsignor.

Oh.

Oh, my.

Oh, they're at the picnic.

Just wait till you meet her

my rumble seat gal

ain't nobody sweeter

my rumble seat gal

the minute you give her the double o

you're bound to love her

really, really

some nights we go parking, the rumble seat's fine

she doesn't mind sparking, that baby of mine

just wait till you meet her

just wait till you see

my rumble seat gal and me

it's here.

What does it say?

He appears to be very definite.

About sister?

What does it say about sister?

It's all right.

It's all right for sister to move in.

Oh, sister, I'm so glad.

What's this business about sister Rita living with you?

She wasn't living with me, she was staying in the rectory.

Why didn't you tell me that before?

- It's not important. - Oh, no?

The prosecutor can build his whole case on this.

All he needed was a motive,

and now you're gonna hand it to him

on a silver platter, crime of passion.

He can't prove that simply because she moved into...

He doesn't have to prove it,

all he needs is a situation!

Don't you understand?

That's what all protestants think happens

behind those heavy lace curtains in rectories.

If there's one thing they hate worse than catholics

in this town, it's sex, you can take that from me.

Well, that's open to question.

Oh, I did talk to Maurice,

and he went up to holy rosary

and planted the flowers like you asked.

Well, then call him to testify.

I can't, he's a living example of a hostile witness.

Seems the sheriff had already found the body.

You asked Maurice to plant the flowers

right where she was buried.

It's all right, I'm gonna see if there's any way

of getting Mrs. shandig brought from the hospital.

You know, it was Dr. McNabb who said

the sister couldn't live in the convent.

Why didn't you send her to another convent?

I would have had to close the school.

Oh, that's a lousy reason.

Who's gonna believe that?

Why did she have to live in the rectory, of all places?

Mrs. shandig?

You lied to me, father.

I read the letter.

Couldn't help it, I found it when I was cleaning.

He wants her to stay at the convent.

Mrs. shandig, he doesn't understand.

Do you want sister to catch consumption?

God would protect her.

This isn't the bishop, it's monsignor.

I want to help you, I do.

But it's wrong for sister to move in here.

I just know it.

Do you want it to go back

the way it was before sister came?

You wouldn't want that.

Father, I want to do what you want,

but I don't know what to do for you anymore.

Well, for one thing, stop crying.

But you lied to me.

Everything will be all right.

You'll see.

These are for you, Mrs. shandig.

Is there a vase?

The flowers might look pretty in your room.

We don't have one big enough, sister.

In the name of the father, the son, the holy ghost.

Bless us, oh lord, and these thy gifts

which we are about to receive from thy bounty,

through Christ, our lord.

Amen.

You know, I think it's the baptists,

maybe the methodists, too,

they stand up in church and tell what sins

they've committed before being saved.

If I ever did that, then Mrs. shandig

would have something to think about.

Not as much as you think.

Don't be too sure.

If people knew what I believed,

what I thought when I entered the priesthood.

I was a rebel.

Yet I understand how essential the church is

to decent life.

The church makes absolute order from absolute chaos.

- Always? - Mm.

This past winter, this place,

the sisters so cranky,

I came very close to despair,

thinking that nothing of what I wanted to accomplish

was possible.

Then you came.

You're very sure

in your feeling for the people and the children.

All my enthusiasm returned.

It's meant a great deal to me.

To me, too, father.

But now people talking about you moving in here.

It's like a cloud settling on us.

I really wonder if there ever will be

justice in people.

Well, we don't always see it,

I know, but god is just.

We couldn't know god if justice weren't in people.

He thought the priest was having carnal knowledge

of the nun.

Carnal knowledge.

I want to compliment you on your vocabulary, Louise.

I like big words myself like that.

Um, something or other knowledge.

Big word.

Did you ever imagine the priest in bed?

I don't know.

Did you?

I guess so.

And who was in bed with the priest

in your fantasies?

I guess sister Rita.

And, um, what did you guess that they were doing?

I don't know about such things.

You don't?

Well, you, uh,

well, you imagined something, didn't you?

Well, sounds, I imagined sounds, that's all.

Sounds?

Well, are the walls thin in your house?

I object.

I withdraw the question.

Did... did you ever imagine anyone other than sister Rita

up there in bed with the priest?

Making sounds.

Did you?

Did you confess your fantasies to the priest?

Did you?

He gave me cruel and mean penances.

Cruel.

Well, he wouldn't let me have lunch with the other students,

and he made me say endless hail Marys

and our fathers during recess.

Everyone made fun of me.

I hated him for that.

Hm, it'd be nice to get even,

wouldn't it, Louise?

Wouldn't it?

Monsignor Nicholson.

After your extraordinary request,

a sister of mercy living in the rectory,

I thought it best I visit.

But to come so far, I...

Not so far at all.

The bishop is consecrating the parish hall

over in leelanau tonight.

- I have one hour here. - One hour.

The bishop wishes that I speak with sister Rita.

Will you send your cook to the convent for her?

Yes, but monsignor...

You want me not to see sister, father?

No, no, I'll go.

Perhaps there's something I may be reading in the meantime.

Yes, of course, my manuscript.

It's on the desk in the study.

Mm-hm.

I've completed three chapters.

How many will there be?

Seven, I think.

I see.

One for each of the seven deadly sins.

Yes.

Excuse me.

Sister, I must tell you,

I still don't feel right about your leaving the convent.

- I know. - But I do like

having you at the rectory, I really do.

Thank you, Mrs. shandig.

Sister, monsignor Nicholson is here.

Oh, no, father!

Oh, the place must look...

I haven't dusted since June.

Listen to me.

- What, father? - I'd rather...

I'd rather he not know sister lives in the rectory.

Doesn't he know already?

You mean you want me to lie?

No, no, not that.

See, he's always looking for some mistake,

some infringement that would prove

we're not conducting the parish properly.

I'll help you, father.

Pithy, father, pithy!

Far more than I expected.

Yes?

Sister Rita.

The bishop sends you greetings.

Thank you, monsignor.

He is concerned with your well-being.

Well, I see Dr. McNabb every week.

Nevertheless, the bishop wonders if we shouldn't close the school

when the spring term ends.

No, father's worked so hard to start it.

Only until the danger of consumption is passed.

Oh, well, there is no danger,

I'm not exposed to them.

You're not?

Sister doesn't sleep in the same room, monsignor.

Mrs. shandig, monsignor.

Yes.

Where do you sleep, sister?

Sugar, monsignor?

I see them for prayers, but we are careful.

Good.

I go to mass in the church.

They take the sacraments.

But where do you sleep, sister?

May I ask what it is you all are hiding from me?

I sleep in the convent, of course.

Well, then we have no problem, do we, sister?

I'm sure the sisters would love to see you, monsignor.

Certainly.

Excuse me.

It is safe, isn't it?

Oh, well, maybe you'd rather see our classroom.

That would be better.

What have I done?

Oh, god, what have I done?

Forgive me.

I'm sorry I broke your bowl.

It was my best one.

I know.

I've never seen you in such a state.

You were right, Mrs. shandig.

I shouldn't have let sister move in here.

I've thought,

prayed.

I'll have to leave, won't 1?

No, monsignor thinks there's no reason for you to leave.

But do you want me to leave?

No.

I don't want to.

The only love and affection I knew was from the sisters.

There was nothing worldly for me to renounce,

not a thought or action.

I've been pretending I was a nun since I was eight.

I want you to know that lying today,

trying to help,

it's the worst sin I've ever committed.

There are things now which need not be said.

Cannot be said.

I know.

There's only one thing for us to do.

From now on, we will follow exactly every single rule.

If you see me on the stairs, in the hall, anywhere,

you'll ignore it.

I'll do the same.

It must be as though you were back in the convent.

We won't talk.

If it's ever necessary for us to talk,

I'll decide the appropriate time, place.

It must be.

God bless you.

Two times eight, sixteen.

Two times nine, eighteen.

Two times ten, twenty.

Three times one is three.

Three times two is six.

Three times three is nine.

Three times four is twelve.

Three times five, fifteen.

Three times six, eighteen.

Three times seven, twenty-one.

Three times eight, twenty-four.

- Hello, father! - Three times nine, twenty-seven.

Tree times ten, thirty.

Four times one is four.

Four times two is eight.

Is father mad at you, sister?

No, Louise.

Why should he be mad?

He didn't stop to talk to sister.

So what?

Oh.

She's a bitch.

James!

Now we've talked about this before.

I don't want to hear any more language from you.

I won't stand for it.

Is that clear?

She is one.

Oh, James.

I love you, sister.

Oh, hello, Judy.

Very good to see you back.

Hello, Louise.

Nice to see you.

Mrs. Delaney.

Father, beautiful service.

Thank you so much.

Mrs. shandig. Oh, Matt.

Well, Matt, it's good to see you out again.

- Good sermon, father. - Thank you.

- You take good care of him. - I will, father.

Well, isn't it wonderful

how well James did his first time?

Yes, yes, he did a very good job.

It's been a month since monsignor visited.

Can we talk?

I think not.

- Mrs. Delaney. - Hi.

- Sean. - Hi.

How are you? “Well.

Hello, Oliver. Good voice today.

Father! Yes?

Father, Dr. McNabb says you should go.

Matt Webber's dying.

I'll be right there.

- Morning, father. - Thank you for coming, father,

but papa's gonna be all right, the doctor's with him.

Erna asked me to stay with her last night.

I was seven when my father was sick,

something like your father.

Did he die?

Yes.

Papa's not going to die.

I had just planted a garden outside,

and there was a sparrow on the windowsill.

But I'd forgotten to put out crumbs for worry.

All of a sudden, he flew down to the garden

and started eating the seeds I'd just planted.

Well, that's awful.

No, he was hungry.

Now, erna,

what ever would have made him know

that those seeds were there?

God.

Yes.

God watches over all things.

Even the sparrows.

Sis... sister...

When my father died,

father walling took me to the good sisters

at guardian angel.

God watched over me just like he'll watch over you, erna.

You can cry, you can cry, don't hold it back.

Papa won't die.

Your father led a good life.

No!

- Papa can't die. - Erna, erna, please.

Crying will not help.

Perhaps it can, father.

Erna, listen to me.

Your father is in god's hands.

You don't have to cry.

I can't.

I just can't stop.

It's all right, erna, it's all right.

Say your rosary, say it for strength, erna.

You won't have to cry.

Sometimes people have to cry, father.

No, they don't.

Sit down, erna, sit down.

Sit down.

Listen.

One winter when I was a boy,

I saw two brothers buried from diphtheria.

After the first one, a baby,

no amount of coaxing could get me to stop crying.

I couldn't understand how god could allow such cruelty.

Why the baby?

I sat by the river all that night,

and I couldn't stop crying.

And then I understood.

I understood that even the bad, the ugly, and the cruel

was part of god's world.

And until I confronted that, dealt with it,

I would be of no use whatsoever.

I stopped crying, erna.

I went through the crisis nights

with a sister and another brother,

and the doctor said I may have saved their lives.

As soon as I stopped crying, I became useful to god.

And I haven't cried since.

You haven't?

No, I haven't.

I'm sorry, father.

No, erna, people should never apologize for their feelings.

Jesus wept.

This isn't the time or the place

for such discussion.

Please wait in the car.

Please wait in the car.

I'll pray with erna.

Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

You shouldn't have contradicted me

in front of erna.

I can't believe that you're serious about this.

I know what you believe.

Maybe you don't.

People cry, they have all kinds of feelings.

And so do you.

You're too good a priest to pretend that you're not human.

He came to earth as a baby, he worked as a carpenter,

he loved the children, and he wept.

Now you're in god's image.

You can't make god into something

other than what people are.

What do you think these people here are?

Do you have any idea of what I hear in the confessional?

Their homes have photographs of babies in coffins.

Kids pour kerosene on kittens in their father's lap

when they set the fire.

Women can't go to breakfast.

Their fingers are broken

from their husband's nightly beatings.

Confront that, sister.

Why are you doing this?

This has nothing to do with what's happening to us.

I know what this place is.

It is mean and it's ugly and it's frightening.

It's all that and it's more.

But anyone can face that.

You and I, we have to face what it can be.

Don't you think about what it can be?

I did once.

I thought planting flowers would make the world beautiful.

It didn't change anything.

I need to talk with you.

What we're going through is difficult.

We're sharing the same thing, I know that.

We must talk.

Please, we're not in the rectory,

nobody can hear us.

That doesn't matter.

Nothing matters.

You can't cut me off like a dying limb.

That's exactly what I must do.

In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti.

Bless me, father, for I have sinned.

It has been one week since my last confession.

May god Grant you the grace to make a good confession.

Ever since we went to erna's farm,

I've been trying to understand.

Do you think you might have been presumptuous?

Yes, I confess that, but there must be more.

No, that is all.

Then why do you act like I've committed...

It's not how I act.

This is the confessional.

But it is my only chance, father.

You talk to god here.

Only god.

Father rivard gets so angry with me, god.

I don't know what he expects of me.

- I don't know what he... - No!

I'm not hearing it the way I have to.

It's my confession.

I don't have the proper attitude of distance.

You can't stop my confession.

Your sins are forgiven.

In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti.

Amen.

Why do you burn your lamp so late at night, Mrs. shandig?

I hear you walking, sister, so I work on some mending.

I didn't know you could hear me.

I look out my window and pray.

You must walk when you pray, sister.

I'm sorry.

I like to look at those few lights down in the valley.

Try to imagine why those three or four

have such a warm glow so late at night.

Someone's sick.

Party.

Baby being born.

Do you ever do that?

And I look at those trees.

Trees, they catch the stars,

darken the ground.

It's no land of rainbows at night.

It can't be rainbows at night.

It's like you told me, father.

I pray against the dark.

Do you know what I mean, Mrs. shandig, about praying?

I don't stand when I pray, sister.

But it's not disrespectful if you want to pray,

Mrs. shandig.

I didn't think you were supposed to.

Are you, father?

I'm sorry.

I mean, god gave us a brain, after all.

I think he expects us to use it.

You shouldn't talk to me like that in front of father.

Let me talk to sister.

We'll all say rosary together later.

Don't you know we are very close to serious difficulty?

No.

We shouldn't even speak.

I'm here and you've got to let me help you.

I'm willing to help.

Whatever the trouble is, let's talk about it.

I won't be ignored.

You don't understand what it's like for me.

Days and nights and weeks.

I do understand.

I do.

All of a sudden, this summer,

nothing's the way I thought it would be.

At guardian angel, we laughed all the time

and they held you if you cried.

I don't know what's wrong with me, I don't,

but if only we could talk about it.

It would be so much better if I could talk.

It's been so long since we've talked.

I think you and I have to accept god's will.

This can't be god's will.

We can't question god.

I don't!

Sometimes I think you want the church to be imperfect.

- I do not. - You want it to be human.

But humans are imperfect.

Haven't you learned that you cannot bend the church

every which way for personal reasons?

I never said that.

In Europe, the peasants show their penitence

by crawling on their hands and knees

up to the top of a mountain to the churches.

By the time they reach the top, their limbs are ripped,

bleeding with bits of gravel embedded in the flesh.

They don't cry, they don't complain.

They smile because they know god smiles.

- Please. - He is only satisfied

when the pain of our prayers

equals his pain hearing our pitiful prayers.

Don't stand when you're praying.

If you kneel, it'll remind you

of your humility and your shame,

you stop questioning everything.

Stop it! Have you ever been human?

God is perfectly aware that I love and respect him,

and he knows I am a human.

And if I felt closer to him standing on my head when I pray,

I'd stand on my head.

Christ knelt.

There was just one thing that was human about you.

I don't believe you have the same blood

in your veins as I do.

Do you? Do you bleed when you're cut?

There's nothing human about you.

In the name of the father

and the son and the holy ghost.

Thou lord would open my lips.

My tongue shall announce thy praise.

Incline into my aid, o god.

O, lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the father and to the son

and to the holy ghost.

Why did you stop being a catholic?

I'm a born catholic.

Let me just ask you one simple question.

In what church were you married?

Can we talk about something else?

Mrs. prindle, in which church choir do you sing?

- Methodist. - What?

I'm a methodist.

But I still say the rosary, father.

Does your husband, Maurice,

know about rosaries in his house?

Wasn't wrong to marry him.

Maurice means well.

I know.

Why would a good catholic girl marry outside the church?

Sister said there was no reason...

- Sister Rita? - Yes.

Told you to marry a methodist.

You don't know how it was.

Make him stop.

How was it then, Mrs. prindle?

When papa died, sister Rita said it would be all right

to go to the methodist socials.

To look for a husband?

I don't know.

There weren't any unmarried men that were catholics.

Erna.

As a former catholic,

would you expect a good nun to encourage a mixed marriage?

Order, order, order.

Does a nun, not sister Rita,

any nun break the church rules?

Yes or no?

- No. - Yet sister Rita

wanted you to marry a methodist.

I don't know.

No.

I think you do, Mrs. prindle.

It's strange.

Hearing a methodist defend a nun.

Erna.

You got married right away after your father died.

Three weeks.

That's not very long.

Il... didn't know what to do.

I was all alone out there on the farm.

I was gonna be an old maid.

I'm not very pretty, you know.

I'm not.

I'm not.

And you're saying sister Rita is a bad nun.

She told you to go to those socials

while your father was going to his grave.

Yes.

Yes, she told me to go.

She taught worldly songs.

She was radical.

Father said to pray and she said to cry.

There's more, Mrs. prindle.

No!

She said it was more important

to be a good person than to be a good nun.

She...

What else?

Stop it!

Stop persecuting her!

- I won't allow it. - Order!

You know she was good.

She loved you, erna.

You can't try sister Rita.

She's not the guilty one, I am.

I want this in the record.

Order!

Order, order, order!

The hell was all that about?

You all but put the rope

right around your own neck, rivard.

You gotta help me on this.

I've never argued an actual trial before.

Hell, I've never even cross-examined a withess.

You've done it well enough.

Yeah, yeah.

Out, Amos!

He's cooked anyhow.

I just don't want them to know that you loved her.

I know it.

But, um...

You left here because of your vows, your faith,

something greater in your life

than just desire for her.

I gotta hand it to you for that.

I went up to holy rosary last night,

I wanted to feel what it was like up there,

to sit in your chair and look around,

and I found this in a cabinet.

Wasn't mailed.

But you did write it.

"Bishop, I beg you to transfer sister Rita or me, one of us.

I made her lie to the monsignor for my own selfish reasons.

There is something about her,

there's a way about her,

and it makes me feel afraid.

Afraid that I will love her."

God, in his infinite wisdom,

sent a pillar of fire.

There is no god.

That was lightning.

A bolt hit a tree,

a burning tree fell on the convent,

and the convent burned, that's all.

I could have prevented it.

Father, you're not alone now.

They've agreed to let Mrs. shandig

out of the hospital.

Why did I leave her?

I should have stayed.

What made me think I could leave her?

Don't punish yourself.

What you did...

That was the only thing that you could do.

That's more than most men even dream of doing.

Why the hell do you think I wanted to save you?

Amos!

- Sister! - Go get some blankets!

Father!

Father, the nuns are trapped!

Hurry up!

Jesus, he fell through the stairs.

Amos!

Jump, sister, jump!

Jump!

I'm all right, thank you.

Cover yourself, sister.

Hey, over here, over here!

Come on, you men, let's go!

Are they all right?

Sleeping now, sister.

That electricity always goes when you want it.

Is the fire out yet?

- They're all gone. - Oh.

You were very brave, Amos.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I guess I was.

Why don't you go and see if father rivard's all right?

Mrs. shandig and I can take care of things here.

The light.

Every night, I wonder how you're feeling,

what you think,

if you're happy,

if you can sleep.

L, too, just the same.

Even when I pray, I wonder what you're doing.

I look out through window at you with the children,

listen for your step.

I can only bear it if I pray about you.

Almost to you.

Every night I look down at the town,

the lights in the windows.

Families, people together.

It was you I was thinking of, wasn't it?

Now we can be together just like everyone else.

Oh, no, please, we're not so different.

- We are. - No, we're not.

We made a choice before we ever knew of each other.

But now we have each other.

I want you to know,

a year ago I could have turned my back on god.

And you,

you made it possible for me to believe again

in everything I ever wanted to do,

everything I thought people could be.

You and I, we can't deny

the very thing that brought us together.

Oh, we won't deny it.

I've renounced all that, destroyed all that.

I know you.

- You don't know me. - I know what you feel.

- You can't. - I do, I do.

Look, you'd hate me.

My wanting you makes me hate myself.

I don't hate you.

Don't talk about god.

You still have god.

I don't have god, I don't.

I don't, I've lost him.

Can't you understand?

I've lost him.

I have lost him.

Oh, I love you.

I'm sorry.

I love you.

Please give us time.

But can't you see, I must go.

You know that.

I can't let you go, I won't.

But you've just got to help us.

I'll find my penance.

- I'll go with you. - No, stay.

You stay in your order.

You'll be safe there.

I haven't told you.

I don't want to hear it.

I want you safe.

Please let me.

Help me.

Make it possible for me with your love.

Remember that.

Your love will make it possible for me.

And I will always love you.

You never heard the words.

Never heard the words.

I haven't said it.

I haven't told you.

I love you.

I love you!

I love you.

Sister watched till father was almost out of sight.

Then she screamed after him again.

She screamed.

But he never even heard her.

When she called to him, he did not turn back.

Oh, no, no, sir.

He did not return that night.

No.

I thought he might, but now he has.

Did anyone else come up the hill?

Maurice prindle came up in the morning.

What did he do?

He brought some flowers.

Father wanted him to plant some flowers.

Did Maurice see sister Rita?

No.

See, when father left,

sister ran back to the garden.

And she threw herself on the ground.

She was crying.

Sort of rolling back and forth

and she rolled herself into the ditch

the truck had made, and she didn't get up.

She just lay there shaking,

staring up at me with those dead eyes.

And, uh...

Then what did you do?

Well, I prayed to St. Jude for help and guidance

like father always said.

And my prayer was answered,

because I understood that god made her run there

a sign to bury her in the garden.

She was too evil to bury in the cemetery.

That's consecrated ground.

See, father had written to the monsignor

and told him how bad sister was.

Well, I didn't mail the letter

because I was afraid monsignor would blame father.

I looked at her down there.

Like a snake, she was lying there,

see, when I was a little girl,

my mother saw me playing in the yard with a snake.

And she took a hatchet and she chopped the snake up

and it kept wriggling even after it was dead.

It was moving.

And I heard her down there making noises,

but I knew she was dead,

so I started shoveling the earth over her dead body.

And when I was nearly finished,

the earth over her body started to rise.

The earth didn't want her body,

so I hit that head of the shake hard with the shovel, hard!

And then I scraped... I scraped the dirt

fast over its face.

And then... then... then Maurice came by with the flowers

from father for her grave.

But father shouldn't have bothered because, you see,

the sheriff had already taken the body away.

And holy rosary was quiet and peaceful again.

What kind of a god are you?

I loved her.

I don't have the church anymore.

Oh, god, there's no peace without her.

What do you want from me?

Tell me!

Peace be with you, father.

Pax vobiscum, James.

Let's go.