WEBVTT

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Testing, one, two, t--

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Ron Hansen.

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Writers at Work would like to
thank the English department

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and the Poetry
Center for helping

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us put this on, and a
special thanks to Lois

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Shelton for a lot of direction.

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There will be punch
and cookies after this.

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Our first reader
will be Jean Rukkila.

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Jean is a graduate student
in creative writing here

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at the university.

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She has a degree in journalism
from Arizona State University,

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and she works in the summer
in Lookout Towers out

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in the forest.

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Our first reader
is Jean Rukkila.

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[APPLAUSE]

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I was perfectly prepared
to be terrified tonight.

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I mean, I was almost
looking forward

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to experiencing fear
of public speaking,

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but then this, half
the neighborhood

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I grew up with in Phoenix
showed up, and somehow

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that cheering section just
kind of puts me right at ease.

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Could you turn it up?

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Ah, OK.

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Oh, maybe I can stand closer.

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How do you turn it up?

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Is that a new mic?

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Bend it more towards you.

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Bend the mic up towards you.

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OK.

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How's that?

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Better?

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Better?

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[LAUGHTER]

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I've found myself
thinking about my sister

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in the last week or two.

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She recently moved
to Connecticut

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to live on a farm
with her husband.

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And I keep getting
these letters about how

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she's taking care
of her sick pigs

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and raising big
vegetables in her garden,

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and it all seems
pretty foreign to me.

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I think she'd probably find it
foreign to see me standing up

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here, with my hair combed,
reading my fiction aloud

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to the public.

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It used to, oh, make me
nervous or set me on edge

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to imagine that my family would
become strangers to me, as we

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all got older and led
our different lives,

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but lately, I've found myself
thinking of it as being

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kind of interesting, really.

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It's like reading a
very, very long novel

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that you can hardly put down.

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So with my sister, my twin
sister Joyce, in mind,

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I'd like to read this story
tonight called "Andi and Ann."

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"I'm up a tree with my
cheerful independence,

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trying to figure something
out, and because I can,

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I'm staying entertained by
spying on my mother and sister

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below.

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I scraped my elbow getting here.

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It stings, and the feel of it
reminds me of being a girl--

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how I was often too busy
keeping up with the boys

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to stop for small injuries.

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I'm not a girl
anymore, but I'm still

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growing up to be
comfortable sitting

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in the fork of this mulberry,
leaning against a branch,

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enjoying a crisp
December Phoenix day.

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My sister is the quiet Ann,
and I'm the less quiet Andi.

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I've always figured my
parents had a boy name

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and a girl name picked out.

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And when they had twins,
they changed the y to i

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and use both names anyway.

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It turned out the
boy's name fit me.

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I was the twin, who
usually had one knee sock

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sagging, especially in
the school class picture.

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I was hard of hearing
at supper time.

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I was the twin who threw
the softball farther,

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punched more often,
and had blacker moods.

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Mom doesn't remember why
I became Andi and Ann was

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picked to be Ann.

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She does remember that
we blink [AUDIO OUT]

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quite alike and had
our own language when

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we crawled around the house.

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We put off learning
to talk, content

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with our very own combinations
of eye contact and nonsense

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words.

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Mom is 63, and Ann and I are 30.

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It may be odd to sit around in a
mulberry tree on a working day,

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but I'm not crazy.

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I'm just a reasonably
respectable teacher

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of eighth grade English.

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People are usually impressed by
my confidence in the classroom.

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I have a new car, a
subscription to New Yorker,

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and season tickets to
the local theater group.

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I also have this
street that sends

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me splashing right through the
rain puddles in the parking

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lot, especially when I know
my students are looking,

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and up trees on a whim,
when I visit my mother.

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It is shirt sleeve weather, but
there's a possibility of frost

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tonight, so mom is stripping
the tangerine tree.

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She reaches into the
tree with one hand

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and holds a paper
sack with the other.

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She can't quite reach the last
of the bright orange balls

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at the top of the little tree.

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In my sister's yard,
there are sheets draped

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over the wire clothesline.

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They slowly fill with
the sighing breeze,

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and the way they move,
standing out a bit,

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makes me think I'm
in the crow's nest,

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at the top of a square rigger,
judging the sails below.

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There's a hedge that separates
Ann's yards from mom.

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They don't see each other,
and they don't see me.

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Ann has the hiccups.

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I can hear her from here.

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She's being very loud with those
hiccups because she doesn't

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think anybody is listening.

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They soften, those great
plopping tuneful gasps of air

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when she hears my
mother crumpling a paper

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bag in the next yard.

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I watch mom's tennis shoes
bobbing through the wet grass.

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I hear the note of inquiry,
and my sister's voice,

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and the rising and
falling pitches

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of mom describing things.

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Ann is hanging up her
husband's shorts now.

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There they are in a line,
the new white shorts,

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the shorts with
the holes in them,

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and the ones that got a
little pink, probably when

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I volunteered to do
their laundry with mine

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and mixed in a new
red sweatshirt.

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That line of wet
shorts leap out at me

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as some kind of symbol
of married life.

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Symbol often leaps out at me, I
guess, because I read so much.

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Today, I read this
story in The New Yorker

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that has a woman in
it, who climbs a tree,

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but I can't figure exactly
why she climbs the tree.

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So I think the tree
must be a symbol,

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but I'm not sure of what.

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So symbols are on my
mind, and now, out

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of all of Ann's laundry, it's
her husband's shorts that

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seemed to stand for something.

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There she is-- my married twin
below me with the mom we share.

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Maybe they're talking about
me, although I doubt it.

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They aren't laughing
or shaking their heads.

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I am, as usual, out
of the conversation,

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and sitting in a tree is
just about where I often

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wanted to be when they were
discussing the many topics that

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bored me growing up.

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Basically anything my sister
was interested in bored me.

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She grew squash in the backyard.

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I decided I didn't
like the taste of them.

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She was a good swimmer.

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I wouldn't get in the water.

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She married.

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I didn't, and today she's
hanging up a man's wet shorts.

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She looks so calm
about it, so relaxed,

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like this is the most
perfect part of her day--

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this stretching her arms up
to the sagging clothesline

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to clip wet shorts
to the breeze.

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I don't know how she
can make something

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so dreary look so peaceful.

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From where I sit,
Ann is starting

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to look like another
version of mom.

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Something about
that makes me feel

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lucky to be sitting in a tree.

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Mom, I say to the tops
of the two heads below.

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Annie!

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They look up to me in the
mulberry, only a little

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surprised.

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What are you doing
up there, asked mom,

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not like it is so strange
to see me in a tree,

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but like she is kind of
interested, like she thinks

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I might be doing research,
or taking a photograph,

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or looking for something.

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And she's maybe wondering
if she should join me.

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I'm just thinking
I've been reading

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this story about a
woman who climbs a tree.

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Well, she's in the park
with her kids actually,

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and she's thinking
about life and stuff,

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and then she climbs this tree.

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I can see they're puzzled and
not sure whether to take me

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seriously.

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Ann is sending me "what
are you talking about"

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signals with her
knit-together eyebrows.

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Mom picks up a shirt, choosing
the practical over the puzzle.

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She snaps wrinkles out of it,
kindly shaking off my nonsense,

00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:09.510 align:middle line:90%
but it's not nonsense.

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I really-- figured out the
author's point of view.

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I can teach Treasure
Island to eighth graders

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and make perfect
traditional sense.

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But I really don't know
why this 20th century

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writer has put her
character in a tree,

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especially without describing
the actual climbing tree, which

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seems to me, to be, at least,
as interesting as a perspective.

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Pippi Longstocking, right?

00:08:28.410 --> 00:08:30.900 align:middle line:84%
And calls up to me,
she thinks I've been

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rereading Pippi Longstocking.

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I'm surprised and pleased
she remembers that girl,

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with the freckles
and strong arms,

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who used to lift the spirits
of our second grade class

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by lifting horses and
living with a monkey.

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She did climb trees, didn't she?

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I say, but no, that's
not who it was.

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She had a monkey
not a kid, and what

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was the name of that
monkey of hers anyway?

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Neither of us can remember.

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That makes me feel
old, and I start

00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.690 align:middle line:84%
to feel the way to my
years on my skinny ankles.

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I sit so I can let
my legs dangle.

00:08:59.780 --> 00:09:02.310 align:middle line:90%


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Forget to go to work, mom asks?

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I'm taking a
professional day, I say.

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The faculty is meeting to
discuss the curriculum,

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but I thought it more
professional to avoid

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the jargon.

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Have you considered
how dull it would

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be if you had to meet once a
month, with 10 other mothers

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to decide how to describe
how you'd spent your week?

00:09:20.098 --> 00:09:22.140 align:middle line:84%
Figuring out which words
sounded important enough

00:09:22.140 --> 00:09:24.180 align:middle line:90%
would drive you crazy.

00:09:24.180 --> 00:09:24.840 align:middle line:90%
Mom shrugs.

00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:27.600 align:middle line:84%
She's heard my lectures on
the administrative wasteland

00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.190 align:middle line:90%
before.

00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:31.000 align:middle line:84%
So Andi, this
woman in the story,

00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:33.420 align:middle line:84%
why did she climb the
tree anyway? asked Ann.

00:09:33.420 --> 00:09:36.668 align:middle line:84%
Was she being chased,
is she nuts, or what?

00:09:36.668 --> 00:09:37.710 align:middle line:90%
I don't think she's nuts.

00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:38.820 align:middle line:90%
No one is chasing her.

00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:41.070 align:middle line:84%
She just decides she
needs to sit on a branch.

00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.680 align:middle line:90%
It's a mystery to me, I say.

00:09:43.680 --> 00:09:45.930 align:middle line:84%
I swing my legs, and let
my feet bang together,

00:09:45.930 --> 00:09:49.160 align:middle line:84%
and look at my sister's apron
so neatly tied behind her neck.

00:09:49.160 --> 00:09:50.910 align:middle line:84%
Why should wear an
apron to do the laundry

00:09:50.910 --> 00:09:53.528 align:middle line:90%
is also a mystery to me.

00:09:53.528 --> 00:09:54.570 align:middle line:90%
What kind of tree was it?

00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:55.885 align:middle line:90%
Asked my mother.

00:09:55.885 --> 00:09:57.510 align:middle line:84%
My mother often
reminds me that fiction

00:09:57.510 --> 00:09:59.647 align:middle line:90%
takes place in a real world.

00:09:59.647 --> 00:10:00.480 align:middle line:90%
I don't know, I say.

00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.200 align:middle line:90%
It's in Brooklyn.

00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.030 align:middle line:84%
What kind of trees
grow in Brooklyn?

00:10:03.030 --> 00:10:03.990 align:middle line:90%
She doesn't remember.

00:10:03.990 --> 00:10:07.320 align:middle line:84%
She was a busy working girl
when she lived in Brooklyn.

00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:09.330 align:middle line:84%
And says, it was probably
a walnut, or a maple,

00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:11.670 align:middle line:90%
or maybe an oak.

00:10:11.670 --> 00:10:15.120 align:middle line:84%
Why would a writer go out on
a limb, I call down to Ann.

00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:16.680 align:middle line:84%
What is this, a
chicken road joke?

00:10:16.680 --> 00:10:18.390 align:middle line:90%
I don't know why, she laughs.

00:10:18.390 --> 00:10:20.220 align:middle line:90%
Her laundry basket is empty.

00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.230 align:middle line:84%
A slight breeze blows
her husband shorts

00:10:22.230 --> 00:10:23.610 align:middle line:90%
against her cheek.

00:10:23.610 --> 00:10:26.010 align:middle line:84%
I can almost feel that wet
cloth against her cheek

00:10:26.010 --> 00:10:27.750 align:middle line:90%
and her affection for it.

00:10:27.750 --> 00:10:30.120 align:middle line:84%
She reaches to feel the
sheet she hung up earlier,

00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:31.740 align:middle line:84%
and I imagine the
inside of her head,

00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:35.920 align:middle line:84%
busy calculating the task
of the rest of her day.

00:10:35.920 --> 00:10:38.130 align:middle line:84%
So Andi, did this
woman in the story

00:10:38.130 --> 00:10:39.750 align:middle line:90%
ever come down out of the tree?

00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:41.430 align:middle line:90%
says Ann.

00:10:41.430 --> 00:10:44.010 align:middle line:84%
Hints between twins can be
very subtle to outsiders

00:10:44.010 --> 00:10:46.920 align:middle line:84%
and look big as newspaper
headlines to each other.

00:10:46.920 --> 00:10:49.320 align:middle line:84%
I don't need eyeglasses
to catch Ann's meaning.

00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.500 align:middle line:84%
She's hinting I should
come down and join them.

00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:55.050 align:middle line:84%
I haven't got that far yet,
I say to her face, tilted up

00:10:55.050 --> 00:10:57.900 align:middle line:90%
to the mirror of my face.

00:10:57.900 --> 00:11:00.960 align:middle line:84%
Ann turns to chat with mom
about when irrigation is coming,

00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.448 align:middle line:84%
and whether the local Mexican
restaurant is crowded,

00:11:03.448 --> 00:11:05.490 align:middle line:84%
and when brother John is
arriving for Christmas--

00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:07.740 align:middle line:84%
the many topics mothers and
daughters have in common

00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:09.840 align:middle line:90%
at the bottom of trees.

00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.090 align:middle line:84%
I look down at them, and I
wonder if my mother's hair

00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:13.860 align:middle line:90%
will change color with age.

00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.200 align:middle line:84%
I look at my sister and try
to decide if that really

00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:17.940 align:middle line:90%
is what I look like from above.

00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:20.070 align:middle line:84%
Probably not, her
hair is more full

00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:22.413 align:middle line:84%
and is always neatly
combed, and there's

00:11:22.413 --> 00:11:24.330 align:middle line:84%
that little bit of extra
weight that keeps her

00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:27.030 align:middle line:84%
from borrowing my pants
anymore, and there's

00:11:27.030 --> 00:11:29.730 align:middle line:90%
that ring on her finger.

00:11:29.730 --> 00:11:31.170 align:middle line:84%
They continue
their conversation,

00:11:31.170 --> 00:11:33.750 align:middle line:84%
and I climb a little
higher, trying to show off.

00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:35.460 align:middle line:84%
When my foot slips,
my fingernails

00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:37.313 align:middle line:84%
pick up bits of the
soft mulberry bark,

00:11:37.313 --> 00:11:38.730 align:middle line:84%
and the entire
weight of my school

00:11:38.730 --> 00:11:41.700 align:middle line:84%
teaching body jerks
against my skinny arm.

00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:44.010 align:middle line:84%
I find a foothold and steal
a glance out of the corner

00:11:44.010 --> 00:11:47.910 align:middle line:84%
of my eye to see if they've
noticed, but they haven't.

00:11:47.910 --> 00:11:50.530 align:middle line:84%
The rough crotches of the limbs
feel smaller than I remember,

00:11:50.530 --> 00:11:51.930 align:middle line:90%
and I do remember.

00:11:51.930 --> 00:11:54.570 align:middle line:84%
I often climb trees through
the troubles of my growing up,

00:11:54.570 --> 00:11:58.320 align:middle line:84%
and this tree, in particular,
because it had the best view.

00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.170 align:middle line:84%
There was a certainty to feeling
the weight of my thin body,

00:12:01.170 --> 00:12:03.300 align:middle line:84%
hanging from one arm,
pulling so severely

00:12:03.300 --> 00:12:05.850 align:middle line:84%
at one shoulder
and five fingers.

00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:07.350 align:middle line:84%
You dangle pretty
long for a girl,

00:12:07.350 --> 00:12:09.750 align:middle line:84%
the boy next door told me
once, and I punched him,

00:12:09.750 --> 00:12:13.170 align:middle line:84%
intuitively suspicious about
what being a girl meant.

00:12:13.170 --> 00:12:15.750 align:middle line:84%
I try it again, holding
on to a branch overhead

00:12:15.750 --> 00:12:19.050 align:middle line:84%
and lifting my feet, and it
still feels like strength

00:12:19.050 --> 00:12:21.480 align:middle line:84%
after all these years
how my arm holds,

00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:25.020 align:middle line:84%
how my wrist carries weight,
the tree by-- fingers.

00:12:25.020 --> 00:12:26.970 align:middle line:84%
From foot to knee,
the inside of my leg

00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:30.600 align:middle line:84%
slides along the roughness of
the bark, feeling for a bump.

00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.460 align:middle line:90%
My toe snags a nub.

00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:36.150 align:middle line:84%
I trust my balance to that foot
and lean into a thick branch.

00:12:36.150 --> 00:12:37.620 align:middle line:84%
Released from
weight, my whole arm

00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:40.860 align:middle line:84%
tingles from the contrast
between flexed and un flexed.

00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:42.780 align:middle line:84%
Ann and mom look
even smaller, still

00:12:42.780 --> 00:12:45.240 align:middle line:84%
planted below in the
Bermuda grass, still content

00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:49.680 align:middle line:84%
with words only, while
I have to climb trees.

00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:52.590 align:middle line:84%
Some days, at my teaching
desk, when the class

00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:55.830 align:middle line:84%
is asleep at their books, I
look like I'm grading papers,

00:12:55.830 --> 00:12:58.560 align:middle line:84%
but I'm really daydreaming,
seeing the old neighborhood,

00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:01.770 align:middle line:84%
seeing mulberry trees and the
hedges I played Indian behind,

00:13:01.770 --> 00:13:05.640 align:middle line:84%
and the fields where I stirred
ant nest and chased my sister.

00:13:05.640 --> 00:13:07.230 align:middle line:84%
In this tree, too,
I feel like I'm

00:13:07.230 --> 00:13:09.450 align:middle line:84%
daydreaming, seeing all
those places of my history

00:13:09.450 --> 00:13:13.800 align:middle line:84%
from above, laid out like neatly
paragraphed scenes in a book.

00:13:13.800 --> 00:13:15.330 align:middle line:90%
I look for the horse.

00:13:15.330 --> 00:13:17.220 align:middle line:84%
Two yards in a
vacant lot away there

00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:18.810 align:middle line:84%
used to be a field
with a horse in it,

00:13:18.810 --> 00:13:21.690 align:middle line:84%
beside an old trailer,
where Mr. Bates lived.

00:13:21.690 --> 00:13:23.400 align:middle line:84%
The trailer, the
horse, and Mr. Bates

00:13:23.400 --> 00:13:25.620 align:middle line:84%
were gone before Ann and
I made that transition

00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:27.480 align:middle line:90%
to talking with the rest of--

00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:29.400 align:middle line:84%
Our older brother told
us about Mr. Bates.

00:13:29.400 --> 00:13:32.280 align:middle line:84%
He self-importantly
described touching the horse,

00:13:32.280 --> 00:13:35.160 align:middle line:84%
but to us, the horse was
only a shape we reached for,

00:13:35.160 --> 00:13:38.220 align:middle line:84%
each in a parent's arms, opening
and closing our baby fingers

00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.470 align:middle line:84%
when mom said, see
the horsey, Ann.

00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:43.017 align:middle line:90%
See the horsey, Andi.

00:13:43.017 --> 00:13:44.850 align:middle line:84%
The horse was gone
before we were old enough

00:13:44.850 --> 00:13:47.310 align:middle line:84%
to make complete
sentences and name things.

00:13:47.310 --> 00:13:49.470 align:middle line:84%
But the horse stayed in
that mental vocabulary

00:13:49.470 --> 00:13:51.240 align:middle line:84%
between twins, where
things are understood

00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.790 align:middle line:90%
more by sense than sentences.

00:13:53.790 --> 00:13:54.690 align:middle line:90%
Do you see the horse?

00:13:54.690 --> 00:13:56.637 align:middle line:84%
Became a way of
asking, are you OK?

00:13:56.637 --> 00:13:57.720 align:middle line:90%
Does it make sense to you?

00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.260 align:middle line:84%
are we still reaching
for the same things?

00:14:01.260 --> 00:14:03.330 align:middle line:84%
Fields that are
parking lots, I murmur,

00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:05.640 align:middle line:84%
trying to recover that
stretch of dry grass

00:14:05.640 --> 00:14:08.820 align:middle line:84%
and brown dirt, that dark shape
against a wire fence that shook

00:14:08.820 --> 00:14:11.130 align:middle line:90%
its tail and stamped its feet.

00:14:11.130 --> 00:14:12.970 align:middle line:84%
I'm in the top of a
tree from my youth,

00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:14.700 align:middle line:84%
and I can't quite see
the games I grew up

00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:19.110 align:middle line:84%
playing because there is a new
asphalt parking lot in the way.

00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:22.140 align:middle line:84%
A story I've been reading,
however, is coming into focus.

00:14:22.140 --> 00:14:24.090 align:middle line:84%
Maybe it takes looking
down from above to see

00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:25.882 align:middle line:84%
how a neighborhood,
that nurtured children,

00:14:25.882 --> 00:14:29.500 align:middle line:84%
has changed into a bank, a
restaurant, an office complex.

00:14:29.500 --> 00:14:31.020 align:middle line:84%
It takes a small
distance to sister

00:14:31.020 --> 00:14:36.310 align:middle line:84%
as changed from a comforting
mirror into a stranger's wife.

00:14:36.310 --> 00:14:38.532 align:middle line:84%
Is Mr. Bates at home,
asked Ann quietly,

00:14:38.532 --> 00:14:39.990 align:middle line:84%
penetrating my
thoughts, like she's

00:14:39.990 --> 00:14:42.150 align:middle line:90%
sitting on the next branch.

00:14:42.150 --> 00:14:45.270 align:middle line:84%
I smiled down at her and
her empty laundry basket.

00:14:45.270 --> 00:14:46.980 align:middle line:84%
Wife of a stranger
or not, I wish

00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.275 align:middle line:84%
I'd helped her
hang those shorts.

00:14:50.275 --> 00:14:51.150 align:middle line:90%
We're going to lunch.

00:14:51.150 --> 00:14:52.650 align:middle line:90%
Want to come-- want to come?

00:14:52.650 --> 00:14:54.000 align:middle line:90%
Asked my mother.

00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.280 align:middle line:84%
Sounds interesting,
I say, where?

00:14:56.280 --> 00:14:56.910 align:middle line:90%
Pablo's.

00:14:56.910 --> 00:14:58.980 align:middle line:84%
Pablo's, the neighborhood
Mexican beanery,

00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:01.830 align:middle line:84%
I exclaim, and put my
foot on the next highest

00:15:01.830 --> 00:15:04.950 align:middle line:84%
branch and strike a seafaring
pose, with hand to brow.

00:15:04.950 --> 00:15:06.780 align:middle line:90%
Let me see if it's crowded.

00:15:06.780 --> 00:15:09.870 align:middle line:84%
I loved the extra attention
from below, plenty of tacos

00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:12.870 align:middle line:84%
to go around to all
hands, I called down.

00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:15.240 align:middle line:84%
Tortillas blowing
in from the North,

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.750 align:middle line:84%
I pause, testing the barometric
pressure of Mexican food.

00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:23.430 align:middle line:84%
A big wind, Ann groans, guessing
a joke about beans is coming.

00:15:23.430 --> 00:15:24.930 align:middle line:84%
Well, all right
already, I'm coming.

00:15:24.930 --> 00:15:27.300 align:middle line:84%
I'm coming, I say, and
begin a quick descent.

00:15:27.300 --> 00:15:28.860 align:middle line:90%
I do remember this tree.

00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:30.720 align:middle line:84%
I know I can balance
one step only,

00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.030 align:middle line:84%
before the branch under
my foot will shake.

00:15:33.030 --> 00:15:35.995 align:middle line:84%
The ranch-- single step my
knees crack, when I bend them,

00:15:35.995 --> 00:15:37.620 align:middle line:84%
and the little girl
in me wants to jump

00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:40.698 align:middle line:84%
to the ground for the sheer
terror of a moment of flying.

00:15:40.698 --> 00:15:42.240 align:middle line:84%
But my grown woman's
head is a little

00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.820 align:middle line:84%
dizzy from my rapid
descent of mulberry.

00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:47.460 align:middle line:84%
The ground wavers
between close and far.

00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:49.770 align:middle line:84%
I turn to the trunk and
wrap my arms around it,

00:15:49.770 --> 00:15:53.490 align:middle line:84%
like an old lady or a fat kid,
and slowly, without grace,

00:15:53.490 --> 00:15:56.850 align:middle line:84%
inched my way down to the
grass, scraping pink streaks

00:15:56.850 --> 00:15:59.880 align:middle line:90%
on the insides of my arms.

00:15:59.880 --> 00:16:01.320 align:middle line:84%
Did you see the
horse, asked Ann,

00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:02.910 align:middle line:84%
picking up the
conversation we carried

00:16:02.910 --> 00:16:04.770 align:middle line:84%
on as children, whenever
I was brave enough

00:16:04.770 --> 00:16:07.020 align:middle line:90%
to climb higher than her.

00:16:07.020 --> 00:16:09.720 align:middle line:84%
It's gone, Ann, no more
horse, lots of parking lot,

00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:13.140 align:middle line:84%
but no horse, I say, standing
next to her eye to eye.

00:16:13.140 --> 00:16:14.830 align:middle line:84%
Some fiction I've
been reading, however,

00:16:14.830 --> 00:16:16.758 align:middle line:90%
is beginning to make more sense.

00:16:16.758 --> 00:16:19.050 align:middle line:84%
Climbing a tree is one way
of seeing what kind of story

00:16:19.050 --> 00:16:20.790 align:middle line:90%
you're in.

00:16:20.790 --> 00:16:22.500 align:middle line:84%
On the ground, my
mother looks so short,

00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:24.870 align:middle line:84%
but she still knows how to
shoo us along with authority.

00:16:24.870 --> 00:16:26.180 align:middle line:90%
Let's go girl, she says.

00:16:26.180 --> 00:16:27.840 align:middle line:90%
What are we waiting for?

00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.300 align:middle line:84%
She is smiling at her
independent, single daughter

00:16:30.300 --> 00:16:31.830 align:middle line:90%
and her quiet, married daughter.

00:16:31.830 --> 00:16:34.800 align:middle line:84%
And I can see we're really 12
years old and still identical

00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:36.240 align:middle line:90%
after all.

00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:37.860 align:middle line:90%
I feel a familiar panic--

00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:39.660 align:middle line:84%
that trapped feeling
from people assuming I

00:16:39.660 --> 00:16:42.150 align:middle line:84%
naturally want the
same things Ann wants.

00:16:42.150 --> 00:16:43.170 align:middle line:90%
But Ann looks happy.

00:16:43.170 --> 00:16:45.690 align:middle line:84%
Her face softened by that
connection we can't do anything

00:16:45.690 --> 00:16:47.280 align:middle line:90%
about anyway.

00:16:47.280 --> 00:16:49.560 align:middle line:84%
I look at the face
so much like my face,

00:16:49.560 --> 00:16:52.170 align:middle line:84%
and suddenly, I'm glad of those
identical girls still buried

00:16:52.170 --> 00:16:55.410 align:middle line:84%
beneath the not so identical
layers of adults in us.

00:16:55.410 --> 00:16:57.120 align:middle line:84%
I don't say that,
of course, but I

00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.180 align:middle line:84%
do ask my sister Ann if she'd
like to do a little reading.

00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:02.190 align:middle line:84%
I've got a magazine
with a good story in it,

00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:03.940 align:middle line:84%
and she's more than
welcome to borrow it."

00:17:03.940 --> 00:17:06.165 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:17:06.165 --> 00:17:20.839 align:middle line:90%


00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.359 align:middle line:84%
Our second reader
tonight is Ron Hansen.

00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:29.180 align:middle line:84%
Ron Hansen's published numerous
short stories and two novels,

00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:32.600 align:middle line:84%
novels are Desperados
and The Assassination

00:17:32.600 --> 00:17:35.928 align:middle line:84%
of Jesse James by the
Coward Robert Ford.

00:17:35.928 --> 00:17:37.220 align:middle line:90%
Our second reader's Ron Hansen.

00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:39.570 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:17:39.570 --> 00:17:42.860 align:middle line:90%


00:17:42.860 --> 00:17:43.400 align:middle line:90%
Thank you.

00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.550 align:middle line:90%


00:17:46.550 --> 00:17:50.720 align:middle line:84%
Is that satisfactory,
the voice level?

00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:55.370 align:middle line:84%
I'm going to read four sections
from the novel for all,

00:17:55.370 --> 00:17:58.380 align:middle line:90%
about four or five pages long.

00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:01.580 align:middle line:84%
The first is the beginning
of the novel where

00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:04.235 align:middle line:84%
I gave all the information
I knew at the time

00:18:04.235 --> 00:18:04.985 align:middle line:90%
about Jesse James.

00:18:04.985 --> 00:18:08.000 align:middle line:90%


00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.430 align:middle line:84%
"He was growing into
middle age and was

00:18:10.430 --> 00:18:13.760 align:middle line:84%
living in a bungalow
in Woodland Avenue.

00:18:13.760 --> 00:18:17.540 align:middle line:84%
Green weeds split the porch
steps, a wasp nest clung

00:18:17.540 --> 00:18:20.930 align:middle line:84%
to an attic gable, a
rope swing looped down

00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:23.120 align:middle line:84%
from a dying elm tree,
and the ground below it

00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:26.270 align:middle line:90%
was scuffed soft as flour.

00:18:26.270 --> 00:18:28.400 align:middle line:84%
Jesse installed himself
in a rocking chair

00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.770 align:middle line:84%
and smoked a cigar down in
the evening and his wife--

00:18:30.770 --> 00:18:34.340 align:middle line:84%
as his wife wiped her pink
hands on a cotton apron

00:18:34.340 --> 00:18:37.760 align:middle line:84%
and reported happily
on their two children.

00:18:37.760 --> 00:18:39.380 align:middle line:84%
Whenever he walked
about the house,

00:18:39.380 --> 00:18:43.310 align:middle line:84%
he carried several newspapers,
the Sedalia Democrat,

00:18:43.310 --> 00:18:47.390 align:middle line:84%
the St. Joseph Gazette,
and the Kansas City Times,

00:18:47.390 --> 00:18:52.280 align:middle line:84%
with a foot long, 44 caliber
pistol, tucked into a fold.

00:18:52.280 --> 00:18:54.800 align:middle line:84%
He stuffed flat pencils
into his pockets.

00:18:54.800 --> 00:18:57.830 align:middle line:84%
He played by flipping
peanuts to squirrels.

00:18:57.830 --> 00:19:01.700 align:middle line:84%
He braided yellow dandelions
into his wife's yellow hair.

00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:05.780 align:middle line:84%
He practiced out of the body
travel, precognition, sorcery.

00:19:05.780 --> 00:19:08.870 align:middle line:84%
He sucked raw egg yolks
out of their shells

00:19:08.870 --> 00:19:11.720 align:middle line:84%
and ate grass when
sick, like a dog.

00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:13.790 align:middle line:84%
He would flop open
the limp Holy Bible

00:19:13.790 --> 00:19:17.370 align:middle line:84%
that had belonged to his father,
the late Reverend Robert S.

00:19:17.370 --> 00:19:19.850 align:middle line:84%
James, and would
contemplate whichever

00:19:19.850 --> 00:19:24.170 align:middle line:84%
verses he chanced upon, getting
privileged messages from each.

00:19:24.170 --> 00:19:26.870 align:middle line:84%
The pages were scribbled
over with pencil comments

00:19:26.870 --> 00:19:28.130 align:middle line:90%
and interpretations.

00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:31.670 align:middle line:84%
The cover was cool to
his cheek as a shovel.

00:19:31.670 --> 00:19:34.820 align:middle line:84%
He scoured for night crawlers
after earth-battering rains

00:19:34.820 --> 00:19:36.470 align:middle line:84%
and flipped them
into manure pails,

00:19:36.470 --> 00:19:38.900 align:middle line:84%
until he could chop them
into writhing sections

00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:41.840 align:middle line:84%
and sprinkle them
over his garden patch.

00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:44.540 align:middle line:84%
He recorded sales and trends
at the stock exchange,

00:19:44.540 --> 00:19:47.840 align:middle line:84%
but squandered much of his
cap-- madcap speculation.

00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:51.140 align:middle line:84%
He conjectured about foreign
relations, justified himself

00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:55.010 align:middle line:84%
with indignant letters,
derided Eastern financiers,

00:19:55.010 --> 00:19:58.490 align:middle line:84%
seeded tobacco shops and
saloons with preposterous gossip

00:19:58.490 --> 00:20:01.470 align:middle line:84%
about the kitchens of
Persia, the queen of England,

00:20:01.470 --> 00:20:04.550 align:middle line:84%
the marriage rights of
the Latter-day Saints.

00:20:04.550 --> 00:20:07.250 align:middle line:84%
He was a faulty judge of
character, a prevaricator,

00:20:07.250 --> 00:20:08.850 align:middle line:90%
a child at heart.

00:20:08.850 --> 00:20:11.720 align:middle line:84%
He went everywhere unrecognized
and lunched with Kansas City

00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.060 align:middle line:84%
shopkeepers and
merchants, calling himself

00:20:14.060 --> 00:20:16.790 align:middle line:84%
a cattleman or a commodities
investor, someone

00:20:16.790 --> 00:20:20.210 align:middle line:84%
rich and leisured, who
had the common touch.

00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:24.470 align:middle line:84%
He was born Jesse Woodson
James on September 5th, 1847,

00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:26.420 align:middle line:84%
and was named after
his mother's brother,

00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:28.580 align:middle line:90%
a man who committed suicide.

00:20:28.580 --> 00:20:32.810 align:middle line:84%
He stood 5 feet 8 inches
tall, weighed 155 pounds,

00:20:32.810 --> 00:20:35.420 align:middle line:90%
and was vain about his physique.

00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:37.940 align:middle line:84%
Each afternoon, he exercised
with weighted yellow pins

00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:41.960 align:middle line:84%
in his barn, his back bare,
his suspenders down, two

00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.660 align:middle line:90%
holsters crossed and slung low.

00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:45.860 align:middle line:90%
He bent horseshoes.

00:20:45.860 --> 00:20:48.470 align:middle line:84%
He lifted a surrey 20
times from a squat.

00:20:48.470 --> 00:20:50.300 align:middle line:90%
He would until it pulverized.

00:20:50.300 --> 00:20:53.180 align:middle line:84%
He drank vegetable
juices and potions.

00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:55.550 align:middle line:84%
He scraped his sweat
off with a butter knife.

00:20:55.550 --> 00:20:58.700 align:middle line:84%
He dunked his head, at morning,
in a horse water bucket.

00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:01.910 align:middle line:84%
He waded barefoot through
the lank backyard grass

00:21:01.910 --> 00:21:04.430 align:middle line:84%
with his six-year-old son,
hunched on his shoulders,

00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:06.950 align:middle line:84%
and with his trousers
rolled up to his knees,

00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:09.110 align:middle line:84%
snagging garter
snakes with his toes

00:21:09.110 --> 00:21:11.420 align:middle line:90%
and gently letting them go.

00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:14.190 align:middle line:84%
He smoked but did
not inhale cigars.

00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:17.360 align:middle line:84%
He rarely drank anything
stronger than beer.

00:21:17.360 --> 00:21:19.520 align:middle line:84%
He never philandered, nor
strayed from his wife,

00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:21.810 align:middle line:84%
nor had second thoughts
about his marriage.

00:21:21.810 --> 00:21:23.660 align:middle line:84%
He never swore in the
presence of ladies,

00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:25.850 align:middle line:84%
nor raised his
voice with children.

00:21:25.850 --> 00:21:29.120 align:middle line:84%
His hair was fine in chestnut
brown and recurrently barbered,

00:21:29.120 --> 00:21:31.760 align:middle line:84%
but it had receded so
badly since his 20s

00:21:31.760 --> 00:21:33.680 align:middle line:84%
that he feared
eventual baldness,

00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:36.740 align:middle line:84%
and therefore rubbed his temples
with onions and myrtleberry oil

00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:39.500 align:middle line:90%
in order to stimulate growth.

00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:41.960 align:middle line:84%
He scissored his two-inched
sun-lightened beard

00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:45.230 align:middle line:84%
according to the fashion then
associated with physicians.

00:21:45.230 --> 00:21:48.500 align:middle line:84%
His eyes were blue, except
for iris pyramids of green,

00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:51.410 align:middle line:84%
as on the back of dollar
bill, and his eyebrows--

00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:54.440 align:middle line:84%
so deeply he scarcely even
squinted or shied his eyes

00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:56.180 align:middle line:90%
from a glare.

00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.970 align:middle line:84%
His nose was unlike his
mother's or brother's, not

00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:01.550 align:middle line:84%
long and preponderant,
no proboscis,

00:22:01.550 --> 00:22:03.380 align:middle line:84%
but upturned a
little and puttied,

00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:05.270 align:middle line:90%
a puckish, low born nose--

00:22:05.270 --> 00:22:08.540 align:middle line:84%
the ruin, he thought, of
his otherwise gallantly

00:22:08.540 --> 00:22:10.880 align:middle line:90%
handsome countenance.

00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:13.070 align:middle line:84%
Four of his molars
were crowned with gold,

00:22:13.070 --> 00:22:15.740 align:middle line:84%
and they gleamed
sometimes when he smiled.

00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:18.590 align:middle line:84%
He had two incompletely healed
bullet holes in his chest

00:22:18.590 --> 00:22:20.360 align:middle line:90%
and another in his thigh.

00:22:20.360 --> 00:22:22.820 align:middle line:84%
He's missing the nub of
his left middle finger

00:22:22.820 --> 00:22:26.990 align:middle line:84%
and was cautious let at--
lest that mutilation be seen.

00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:28.940 align:middle line:84%
He'd had a boil
excised from his groin,

00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.670 align:middle line:84%
and it left a
white star of skin.

00:22:31.670 --> 00:22:33.230 align:middle line:84%
A getaway horse
had jerked from him

00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:35.480 align:middle line:84%
and fractured his ankle
in the saddle strip,

00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:37.940 align:middle line:84%
so that his foot
mended a little crooked

00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:40.670 align:middle line:84%
and registered
barometric changes.

00:22:40.670 --> 00:22:42.390 align:middle line:84%
He also had a
condition that referred

00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:44.820 align:middle line:84%
to as granulated
eyelids, and it caused

00:22:44.820 --> 00:22:48.360 align:middle line:84%
him to blink more than usual,
as if he found creation slightly

00:22:48.360 --> 00:22:50.550 align:middle line:90%
more than he could accept.

00:22:50.550 --> 00:22:51.630 align:middle line:90%
He was a Democrat.

00:22:51.630 --> 00:22:53.160 align:middle line:90%
He was left handed.

00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:55.980 align:middle line:84%
He had a high thin-- of
a voice, a contralto that

00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:58.650 align:middle line:84%
could twang annoyingly
like a catgut guitar

00:22:58.650 --> 00:23:01.050 align:middle line:90%
whenever he was excited.

00:23:01.050 --> 00:23:03.420 align:middle line:84%
He owned five suits,
which was rare then,

00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:06.240 align:middle line:84%
and colorful brocaded
vests and cravats.

00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:09.990 align:middle line:84%
He wore a 32-inch belt and
a 14 and 1/2 inch collar.

00:23:09.990 --> 00:23:12.150 align:middle line:90%
He favored red wool socks.

00:23:12.150 --> 00:23:14.820 align:middle line:84%
He rubbed his teeth with
his finger after meals.

00:23:14.820 --> 00:23:17.130 align:middle line:84%
He was persistently
vexed by insomnia,

00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:19.980 align:middle line:84%
and therefore experimented
with vast number of soporifics,

00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.710 align:middle line:84%
which did little besides
increasing his fascination

00:23:22.710 --> 00:23:25.260 align:middle line:90%
with pharmacological remedies.

00:23:25.260 --> 00:23:27.600 align:middle line:84%
He could neither multiply
nor divide without error

00:23:27.600 --> 00:23:30.030 align:middle line:84%
and much of his science
was superstition.

00:23:30.030 --> 00:23:31.890 align:middle line:84%
He could list the many
begotten of Abraham

00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:34.440 align:middle line:84%
in the 66 books of
the King James Bible.

00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.320 align:middle line:84%
He could recite Psalms and
poems in a stentorian voice,

00:23:37.320 --> 00:23:38.760 align:middle line:90%
with suitable histrionics.

00:23:38.760 --> 00:23:40.980 align:middle line:84%
He could sing religious
hymns so convincingly,

00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:43.230 align:middle line:84%
that he worked, for a
month, as a choir master.

00:23:43.230 --> 00:23:46.080 align:middle line:84%
He was marvelously informed
about current events,

00:23:46.080 --> 00:23:50.190 align:middle line:84%
and yet, he thought incense was
made from the bones of saints,

00:23:50.190 --> 00:23:53.070 align:middle line:84%
that leather continued
to grow if not dyed,

00:23:53.070 --> 00:23:54.660 align:middle line:84%
that if he concentrated
hard enough,

00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:59.160 align:middle line:84%
his body's electrical currents
could stun lake as he bathed.

00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:01.140 align:middle line:84%
He could intimidate
like King Henry VIII.

00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:03.960 align:middle line:84%
He could be reckless or serene,
rational or lunatic from one

00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:05.250 align:middle line:90%
minute to the next.

00:24:05.250 --> 00:24:08.550 align:middle line:84%
If he made an entrance, heads
turned in his direction.

00:24:08.550 --> 00:24:11.970 align:middle line:84%
If he strode down an aisle,
store clerks backed away.

00:24:11.970 --> 00:24:14.190 align:middle line:84%
If he neared animals,
they retreated.

00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:17.820 align:middle line:84%
Room's seemed hotter when he was
in them, rains fell straighter,

00:24:17.820 --> 00:24:20.670 align:middle line:84%
clocks slowed, sounds
were amplified.

00:24:20.670 --> 00:24:22.590 align:middle line:84%
His enemies would not
have been much surprised

00:24:22.590 --> 00:24:24.840 align:middle line:84%
if he produced horned
owls out of beer bottles

00:24:24.840 --> 00:24:27.510 align:middle line:84%
or made candles
out of his fingers.

00:24:27.510 --> 00:24:30.060 align:middle line:84%
He considered himself a
southern loyalist and a guerilla

00:24:30.060 --> 00:24:32.340 align:middle line:90%
in a Civil War that never ended.

00:24:32.340 --> 00:24:35.070 align:middle line:84%
He regretted neither his
robberies nor the 17 murders

00:24:35.070 --> 00:24:38.100 align:middle line:84%
that he lay claim to, but he
would brood about his slanders

00:24:38.100 --> 00:24:41.580 align:middle line:84%
and slights, his callow need
for attention, his overweening

00:24:41.580 --> 00:24:42.300 align:middle line:90%
vaingloriousness.

00:24:42.300 --> 00:24:45.510 align:middle line:84%
And he was excessively
genteel and polite,

00:24:45.510 --> 00:24:48.810 align:middle line:84%
in order to disguise what he
thought was vulgar, primitive,

00:24:48.810 --> 00:24:51.300 align:middle line:90%
and depraved in his origins.

00:24:51.300 --> 00:24:53.610 align:middle line:84%
Sickness has made him
smell blood each morning.

00:24:53.610 --> 00:24:55.530 align:middle line:90%
He visited rooms at night.

00:24:55.530 --> 00:24:58.500 align:middle line:84%
He sometimes heard children
in the fruit cellar.

00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:01.830 align:middle line:84%
He waded into prairie whea--
stared at the horizon.

00:25:01.830 --> 00:25:04.800 align:middle line:84%
He had seen another summer
under in Kansas City, Missouri,

00:25:04.800 --> 00:25:08.010 align:middle line:84%
and on September 5th,
in the year 1881,

00:25:08.010 --> 00:25:11.530 align:middle line:90%
he was 34 years old."

00:25:11.530 --> 00:25:18.150 align:middle line:84%
All right, skipping ahead
to December of 1881.

00:25:18.150 --> 00:25:19.650 align:middle line:90%
He has met Bob Ford.

00:25:19.650 --> 00:25:22.080 align:middle line:84%
Bob Ford participated in
the last train robbery

00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:24.270 align:middle line:84%
that the James
Gang ever committed

00:25:24.270 --> 00:25:26.100 align:middle line:90%
in Blue Cut, Missouri.

00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:30.330 align:middle line:84%
And Bob Ford has managed
to insinuate himself

00:25:30.330 --> 00:25:32.040 align:middle line:84%
as one of the
members of the gang

00:25:32.040 --> 00:25:35.430 align:middle line:84%
and one of Jesse's confidants,
to a certain extent.

00:25:35.430 --> 00:25:38.760 align:middle line:84%
Jesse has stopped by
after a ruinous Christmas

00:25:38.760 --> 00:25:42.390 align:middle line:84%
dinner with his family, where
his mother thoroughly dominated

00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:44.910 align:middle line:84%
him, so he decides
to go visit the Ford

00:25:44.910 --> 00:25:46.920 align:middle line:90%
family at their Christmas.

00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:50.090 align:middle line:90%


00:25:50.090 --> 00:25:53.570 align:middle line:84%
Charley Ford, Bob's brother,
was with Jesse at the Christmas

00:25:53.570 --> 00:25:56.150 align:middle line:84%
celebration, and he's
accompanying Jesse

00:25:56.150 --> 00:25:58.160 align:middle line:90%
over to the Ford house.

00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.980 align:middle line:84%
Charley has just
come in the door.

00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:02.240 align:middle line:90%
"Bob was in a chair.

00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.190 align:middle line:90%
Juan and Charley startled.

00:26:04.190 --> 00:26:05.870 align:middle line:84%
His arms beneath
the oak table that--

00:26:05.870 --> 00:26:08.210 align:middle line:90%
like a schoolboy sticking gum.

00:26:08.210 --> 00:26:10.310 align:middle line:90%
Charley asked, is Dick here?

00:26:10.310 --> 00:26:11.810 align:middle line:90%
Kansas City.

00:26:11.810 --> 00:26:13.430 align:middle line:90%
Anything you should hide?

00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:15.140 align:middle line:90%
Jesse, Bob said.

00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:17.360 align:middle line:84%
Charley nodded and
removed his coat.

00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:19.520 align:middle line:84%
Don't let him see us so
much as wink at each other.

00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:21.350 align:middle line:84%
He's suspicious
as a dang coyote,

00:26:21.350 --> 00:26:24.020 align:middle line:90%
and he don't trust you one iota.

00:26:24.020 --> 00:26:26.300 align:middle line:84%
Bob lifted a cocked revolver
from under the table

00:26:26.300 --> 00:26:28.580 align:middle line:84%
and carefully let the
hammer click forward.

00:26:28.580 --> 00:26:31.400 align:middle line:90%
I guess that makes us even.

00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:34.280 align:middle line:84%
Then Jesse came inside in his
reddish brown Beaver coat,

00:26:34.280 --> 00:26:37.910 align:middle line:84%
frost in his dark brown mustache
and beard, moisture in his eyes

00:26:37.910 --> 00:26:41.090 align:middle line:84%
from the cold, and
communicated amicably with Bob,

00:26:41.090 --> 00:26:43.790 align:middle line:84%
joshing as he jigged
at the stove fire,

00:26:43.790 --> 00:26:46.070 align:middle line:90%
creating Christmas cheer.

00:26:46.070 --> 00:26:49.070 align:middle line:84%
Then as Charley vagrantly
talked about the weather,

00:26:49.070 --> 00:26:52.070 align:middle line:84%
Jesse played truant and roamed
the second floor of the house,

00:26:52.070 --> 00:26:55.580 align:middle line:84%
nosing into closets and
cabinets, seeking evidence.

00:26:55.580 --> 00:26:57.920 align:middle line:84%
As footfalls
overhead were faint,

00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.960 align:middle line:84%
Bob presumed that Jesse
gently pushed the shut door,

00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:02.780 align:middle line:84%
so that they swung
ever so gracefully

00:27:02.780 --> 00:27:05.150 align:middle line:90%
into the night of the rooms.

00:27:05.150 --> 00:27:07.640 align:middle line:84%
Bob told Lips to stop
Charley from speaking,

00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:10.760 align:middle line:84%
and the two brothers listened as
Jesse knocked a chair a kilter

00:27:10.760 --> 00:27:12.710 align:middle line:90%
and carefully righted it.

00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:15.110 align:middle line:84%
Bob said, Dick might be
making an arrangements

00:27:15.110 --> 00:27:17.390 align:middle line:90%
with Henry H. Craig.

00:27:17.390 --> 00:27:18.800 align:middle line:90%
Oh, and who would that be?

00:27:18.800 --> 00:27:20.390 align:middle line:90%
Charley said.

00:27:20.390 --> 00:27:23.120 align:middle line:84%
Martha came into the kitchen,
fastening a yellow robe

00:27:23.120 --> 00:27:24.230 align:middle line:90%
around herself.

00:27:24.230 --> 00:27:26.030 align:middle line:84%
Her auburn hair was
wrecked with sleep,

00:27:26.030 --> 00:27:27.860 align:middle line:84%
and her complexion
was very pale.

00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:30.320 align:middle line:84%
She murmured, are
you telling him?

00:27:30.320 --> 00:27:31.820 align:middle line:90%
Maybe you better sit, Bob.

00:27:31.820 --> 00:27:33.740 align:middle line:90%
I'll stand at the door.

00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:37.970 align:middle line:84%
Charley said in a constrained
voice, this is mysterious.

00:27:37.970 --> 00:27:39.920 align:middle line:84%
Martha poured water
into a tumbler

00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:42.780 align:middle line:84%
and turned with
it near her mouth.

00:27:42.780 --> 00:27:44.910 align:middle line:90%
It's just a guess on my part.

00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:47.120 align:middle line:84%
She sipped water and
put the tumbler down.

00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:49.520 align:middle line:84%
Mr. Craig is an attorney
and a Kansas City police

00:27:49.520 --> 00:27:52.340 align:middle line:84%
commissioner, has an office
in the Times building.

00:27:52.340 --> 00:27:54.770 align:middle line:84%
Dick said he was going to
give Mattie a Christmas gift.

00:27:54.770 --> 00:27:56.840 align:middle line:84%
My guess is he's actually
going to see Mr. Craig

00:27:56.840 --> 00:27:59.750 align:middle line:84%
and give him you
two for the reward.

00:27:59.750 --> 00:28:03.050 align:middle line:84%
Bob bent into the sitting room
and craned to see the chairs.

00:28:03.050 --> 00:28:05.960 align:middle line:84%
Jesse was apparently motionless
somewhere above them,

00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:08.690 align:middle line:84%
letting his fancies run
like red-eyed fer-- letting

00:28:08.690 --> 00:28:12.110 align:middle line:84%
the experienced air
educate his sense.

00:28:12.110 --> 00:28:14.000 align:middle line:84%
Bob could just make
out his sister's words,

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.550 align:middle line:84%
as she informed Charley
about the governor's reward,

00:28:16.550 --> 00:28:20.660 align:middle line:84%
about plea bargaining and
immunity, about exoneration.

00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:22.850 align:middle line:84%
She sipped water and told
him, Craig could only

00:28:22.850 --> 00:28:25.460 align:middle line:84%
negotiate for Jackson
County, so she and Bob

00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:28.940 align:middle line:84%
were considering a visit
with Governor Crittenden,

00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:31.430 align:middle line:84%
to see if he couldn't guarantee
the Ford brothers wouldn't

00:28:31.430 --> 00:28:32.870 align:middle line:90%
be prosecuted.

00:28:32.870 --> 00:28:35.210 align:middle line:84%
In exchange for that,
they'd promised the governor

00:28:35.210 --> 00:28:37.970 align:middle line:90%
to help him capture Jesse James.

00:28:37.970 --> 00:28:40.340 align:middle line:84%
Bob leaned his back against
the kitchen door frame

00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:43.730 align:middle line:84%
and saw Charley contemplating
his toes, his face temporarily

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:45.530 align:middle line:90%
60 years old.

00:28:45.530 --> 00:28:47.300 align:middle line:90%
Charley, Bob whispered.

00:28:47.300 --> 00:28:49.612 align:middle line:84%
His brother raised
his brown eyes.

00:28:49.612 --> 00:28:52.070 align:middle line:84%
You can forget about Wood Hite
and about Jesse getting back

00:28:52.070 --> 00:28:52.760 align:middle line:90%
at us.

00:28:52.760 --> 00:28:54.770 align:middle line:84%
You won't go to jail for
your train robberies,

00:28:54.770 --> 00:28:57.800 align:middle line:84%
and you'll be a rich
man come spring.

00:28:57.800 --> 00:28:59.540 align:middle line:84%
You're both talking
too fast for me.

00:28:59.540 --> 00:29:01.610 align:middle line:84%
I can't get a
straight in my mind.

00:29:01.610 --> 00:29:05.120 align:middle line:84%
Martha said, just let
us take care of it then.

00:29:05.120 --> 00:29:07.280 align:middle line:84%
They listened to the crump
of Jesse's slow descent

00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:08.960 align:middle line:84%
on the staircase,
and Bob started

00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:10.820 align:middle line:90%
to move out of the kitchen.

00:29:10.820 --> 00:29:13.640 align:middle line:84%
Charley, he'll kill us,
if he catches wind of it.

00:29:13.640 --> 00:29:15.590 align:middle line:84%
He'll cut our
throats in our sleep.

00:29:15.590 --> 00:29:17.690 align:middle line:84%
He's already put away Ed
Miller, said so like it

00:29:17.690 --> 00:29:19.940 align:middle line:90%
was something piddly he'd done.

00:29:19.940 --> 00:29:22.220 align:middle line:84%
Bob sauntered into
the sitting room

00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:24.620 align:middle line:84%
and saw Jesse crouched
on the stairs,

00:29:24.620 --> 00:29:26.690 align:middle line:84%
scratching his
thumbnail on a riser.

00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:29.060 align:middle line:84%
Jesse considered the
nail, and then sniffed it.

00:29:29.060 --> 00:29:30.950 align:middle line:90%
Is this blood?

00:29:30.950 --> 00:29:33.380 align:middle line:84%
Bob sat nonchalantly
in the rocker.

00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:34.370 align:middle line:90%
Could be.

00:29:34.370 --> 00:29:35.780 align:middle line:84%
Clarence Hite was
here for a week

00:29:35.780 --> 00:29:38.210 align:middle line:84%
and never could get the best
of that miserable cough.

00:29:38.210 --> 00:29:41.930 align:middle line:84%
Could be he was spitting blood
and had himself an accident.

00:29:41.930 --> 00:29:44.660 align:middle line:84%
Jesse rubbed his thumb on
the seat of his trousers.

00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:46.940 align:middle line:84%
Don't suppose it's
consumption, do you?

00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:48.050 align:middle line:90%
Oh, Lord, I hope not.

00:29:48.050 --> 00:29:50.150 align:middle line:90%
I never gave it a thought.

00:29:50.150 --> 00:29:51.920 align:middle line:90%
In England, they eat lemons.

00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:54.450 align:middle line:90%
Twelve per day isn't too few.

00:29:54.450 --> 00:29:56.600 align:middle line:84%
Jesse removed his
broad hat and attended

00:29:56.600 --> 00:29:59.180 align:middle line:84%
to the almost inaudible
conference near the kitchen

00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:02.510 align:middle line:84%
stove, and they sip
boiled water at bedtime.

00:30:02.510 --> 00:30:03.740 align:middle line:90%
He turned to Bob.

00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:05.690 align:middle line:90%
They talking about me.

00:30:05.690 --> 00:30:07.610 align:middle line:84%
Bob rocked and smiled,
probably, you're

00:30:07.610 --> 00:30:11.270 align:middle line:84%
the topic of conversations
in every part of the country.

00:30:11.270 --> 00:30:14.180 align:middle line:84%
Jesse extricated himself from
his heavy coat and li-- sofa

00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:15.650 align:middle line:90%
with his hat.

00:30:15.650 --> 00:30:18.380 align:middle line:84%
Did I ever tell you
about meeting Mark Twain?

00:30:18.380 --> 00:30:19.615 align:middle line:90%
No?

00:30:19.615 --> 00:30:21.740 align:middle line:84%
He was in this country
store, and I recognized him,

00:30:21.740 --> 00:30:22.160 align:middle line:90%
of course.

00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.785 align:middle line:84%
And I went over to
shake the man's hand

00:30:23.785 --> 00:30:26.180 align:middle line:84%
and congratulated him
on his good writing.

00:30:26.180 --> 00:30:28.340 align:middle line:84%
I said, you're Mark
Twain, ain't you?

00:30:28.340 --> 00:30:30.980 align:middle line:84%
He nodded, said yes, he
was, and I said, guess you

00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:33.860 align:middle line:84%
and I are about the
greatest in our line.

00:30:33.860 --> 00:30:35.720 align:middle line:84%
He couldn't very well
agree since he didn't

00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:37.430 align:middle line:90%
know who I was, so I asked--

00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:40.190 align:middle line:84%
he asked, and I say, Jesse
James, and scoot on right

00:30:40.190 --> 00:30:41.570 align:middle line:90%
out of there.

00:30:41.570 --> 00:30:43.592 align:middle line:84%
Hear tell that he
still talks about that.

00:30:43.592 --> 00:30:45.800 align:middle line:84%
They say you go over to
Europe and the only Americans

00:30:45.800 --> 00:30:50.120 align:middle line:84%
they know, all for certain,
are Mark Twain and yours truly.

00:30:50.120 --> 00:30:52.420 align:middle line:90%
I'm not surprised, Bob said.

00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:56.580 align:middle line:84%
Jesse seemed to peer at Bob
through a jewelers bifocals.

00:30:56.580 --> 00:30:59.100 align:middle line:84%
Got a bullet hole in
your bedroom door.

00:30:59.100 --> 00:31:02.450 align:middle line:84%
Oh, could have been put there
when Old Man Harbison ran

00:31:02.450 --> 00:31:03.890 align:middle line:90%
the place, I guess.

00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:06.080 align:middle line:90%
You never can tell, Bob said.

00:31:06.080 --> 00:31:08.390 align:middle line:84%
If you look, you'll find
holes in the kitchen, too,

00:31:08.390 --> 00:31:11.510 align:middle line:84%
gun cleaning, gun
cleaning accidents maybe.

00:31:11.510 --> 00:31:13.070 align:middle line:84%
Jesse batted the
Christmas ornaments

00:31:13.070 --> 00:31:16.190 align:middle line:84%
on a measly spruce that was
wired into a tin bucket,

00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:18.170 align:middle line:84%
and Wilbur-- from
the privy, rigorously

00:31:18.170 --> 00:31:19.700 align:middle line:90%
abrading his sleeves.

00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:22.370 align:middle line:84%
Jesse asked, Dick
Liddil come by yet?

00:31:22.370 --> 00:31:24.020 align:middle line:90%
Nope.

00:31:24.020 --> 00:31:25.340 align:middle line:90%
You know why he hasn't?

00:31:25.340 --> 00:31:28.040 align:middle line:84%
Maybe Mattie's got him on
a short leash these, leash

00:31:28.040 --> 00:31:29.570 align:middle line:90%
these days.

00:31:29.570 --> 00:31:31.145 align:middle line:90%
I've got my own theory.

00:31:31.145 --> 00:31:33.770 align:middle line:84%
I say it's on account of him and
Wood having a run-in like they

00:31:33.770 --> 00:31:35.147 align:middle line:90%
did in Kentucky.

00:31:35.147 --> 00:31:36.605 align:middle line:84%
It's my theory he
killed my cousin,

00:31:36.605 --> 00:31:39.200 align:middle line:84%
and he's scared
he'll meet me here.

00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:40.790 align:middle line:84%
Bob gripped the
rocking chair arms

00:31:40.790 --> 00:31:43.460 align:middle line:84%
and tried to appear
simply inquisitive.

00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:45.470 align:middle line:84%
Jesse said, I'd
appreciate it if you'd

00:31:45.470 --> 00:31:48.740 align:middle line:84%
spread the word that I'm
offering a reward for Dick,

00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:51.050 align:middle line:90%
$1,000, dead or alive.

00:31:51.050 --> 00:31:54.290 align:middle line:84%
And let people know
I'd prefer him dead.

00:31:54.290 --> 00:31:57.170 align:middle line:84%
You're saying that in the
heat of passion, Bob said.

00:31:57.170 --> 00:31:59.420 align:middle line:84%
Big Wilbur came in with a
jar of honey and a finger

00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:00.320 align:middle line:90%
in his mouth.

00:32:00.320 --> 00:32:02.100 align:middle line:90%
Merry Christmas, Jess!

00:32:02.100 --> 00:32:04.568 align:middle line:90%
$1,000, Jesse said.

00:32:04.568 --> 00:32:06.860 align:middle line:84%
Bob indicated the sheet that
skirted the Christmas tree

00:32:06.860 --> 00:32:10.460 align:middle line:84%
and asked, did you notice there
was a present up there for you?

00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:13.040 align:middle line:90%
Jesse beamed, you're teasing.

00:32:13.040 --> 00:32:15.740 align:middle line:84%
He stooped under a cincture
of popcorn blossoms,

00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:17.927 align:middle line:84%
sewn with a thread, and
retrieved a cardboard

00:32:17.927 --> 00:32:19.760 align:middle line:84%
box that was the size
of a brick and wrapped

00:32:19.760 --> 00:32:21.470 align:middle line:90%
in blue tissue paper.

00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:24.560 align:middle line:84%
He shook the box, and the
contents clobbered inside.

00:32:24.560 --> 00:32:26.120 align:middle line:90%
Heavy.

00:32:26.120 --> 00:32:28.490 align:middle line:84%
I can't wait to see
your eyes twinkle.

00:32:28.490 --> 00:32:30.080 align:middle line:90%
Wilbur grinned at his brother.

00:32:30.080 --> 00:32:31.400 align:middle line:90%
It's a gun, ain't it, Bob?

00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:33.320 align:middle line:90%
You'll see soon enough.

00:32:33.320 --> 00:32:36.200 align:middle line:84%
Jesse ripped off the
paper and the box flap,

00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:38.000 align:middle line:84%
and with childish
astonishment, withdrew

00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:41.270 align:middle line:84%
a black, ironworked model
of a salacious, naked woman.

00:32:41.270 --> 00:32:42.770 align:middle line:84%
Her arms crossed
beneath her head.

00:32:42.770 --> 00:32:45.500 align:middle line:84%
Her legs lewdly
cloven and lifted.

00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:48.470 align:middle line:90%
It's a bawdy bootjack, Bob said.

00:32:48.470 --> 00:32:51.710 align:middle line:84%
I wished I've owned
one a thousand times.

00:32:51.710 --> 00:32:53.840 align:middle line:90%
Well, now you do.

00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:56.090 align:middle line:84%
Jesse stroked the woman's
round breast with his thumb

00:32:56.090 --> 00:32:57.590 align:middle line:90%
and blushed as he smiled.

00:32:57.590 --> 00:32:59.600 align:middle line:90%
I love Christmas.

00:32:59.600 --> 00:33:01.580 align:middle line:90%
I can see that.

00:33:01.580 --> 00:33:04.280 align:middle line:84%
He imitated shame, but I
don't have anything for you.

00:33:04.280 --> 00:33:05.780 align:middle line:90%
I never dreamed.

00:33:05.780 --> 00:33:08.000 align:middle line:90%
Your friendship is plenty.

00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:10.160 align:middle line:84%
Charley slunk in from the
kitchen and then wearily

00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:13.400 align:middle line:84%
approached Jesse to examine the
articulation of the ironworker.

00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:15.740 align:middle line:84%
He asked his
brother, what is it?

00:33:15.740 --> 00:33:17.990 align:middle line:90%
It's a bawdy bootjack, he said.

00:33:17.990 --> 00:33:20.900 align:middle line:84%
It's something I'll
cherish always, said Jesse.

00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:25.070 align:middle line:84%
Then we both have something
to share, said Bob.

00:33:25.070 --> 00:33:27.110 align:middle line:84%
Jesse remained on the
farm that Christmas night,

00:33:27.110 --> 00:33:28.820 align:middle line:90%
and Bob remained awake.

00:33:28.820 --> 00:33:31.310 align:middle line:84%
The moon was in the window,
and a window of moonlight

00:33:31.310 --> 00:33:32.100 align:middle line:90%
was on the floor.

00:33:32.100 --> 00:33:34.730 align:middle line:84%
So that Jesse was unkenneled,
released from the room's

00:33:34.730 --> 00:33:36.530 align:middle line:84%
darkness, and there
on the cot, like a man

00:33:36.530 --> 00:33:39.980 align:middle line:84%
in a coffin, a man collected
and in an arrangement.

00:33:39.980 --> 00:33:42.170 align:middle line:84%
Bob sat in his bed in
his gray underwear.

00:33:42.170 --> 00:33:43.250 align:middle line:90%
His wrists crossed.

00:33:43.250 --> 00:33:46.550 align:middle line:84%
His ankles clasped,
incapable of movement.

00:33:46.550 --> 00:33:48.020 align:middle line:84%
He could see that
there was a gun,

00:33:48.020 --> 00:33:49.687 align:middle line:84%
on the nightstand to
his left, and could

00:33:49.687 --> 00:33:52.160 align:middle line:84%
imagine its cold
nickel inside his grip.

00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:54.800 align:middle line:84%
Its two pound weight
reached out and aimed,

00:33:54.800 --> 00:33:56.690 align:middle line:84%
but he couldn't even
maneuver toward it.

00:33:56.690 --> 00:33:58.970 align:middle line:84%
It was like a name
he couldn't remember.

00:33:58.970 --> 00:34:00.590 align:middle line:90%
He was a boy again, a rube.

00:34:00.590 --> 00:34:02.720 align:middle line:84%
There were connections he
was missing, and there,

00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.420 align:middle line:84%
across the room was Jesse,
placid and sovereign,

00:34:05.420 --> 00:34:07.862 align:middle line:84%
certain of both
heaven and earth.

00:34:07.862 --> 00:34:09.320 align:middle line:84%
His color in the
night was the blue

00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:12.290 align:middle line:84%
in veins of marvel, marble,
and the handsome head

00:34:12.290 --> 00:34:14.659 align:middle line:84%
that rested on the pillow
was appetitive, and proud,

00:34:14.659 --> 00:34:16.639 align:middle line:90%
and pleased with itself.

00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:18.739 align:middle line:84%
And even then,
with a man asleep,

00:34:18.739 --> 00:34:20.900 align:middle line:84%
with his acute
senses unattended,

00:34:20.900 --> 00:34:23.449 align:middle line:84%
his keen reflexes
numbed and slowed,

00:34:23.449 --> 00:34:26.060 align:middle line:84%
the exact location of his
fire possibly forgotten,

00:34:26.060 --> 00:34:29.130 align:middle line:84%
Bob could not screw
up the courage to act.

00:34:29.130 --> 00:34:31.250 align:middle line:84%
It was as if some spell
or sorcery had rendered

00:34:31.250 --> 00:34:33.710 align:middle line:90%
him meek, infirm, confounded.

00:34:33.710 --> 00:34:35.900 align:middle line:84%
He could contrive many
ways of snaring Jesse.

00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:38.352 align:middle line:84%
He could invent 1,000
deaths, but Bob feared

00:34:38.352 --> 00:34:39.560 align:middle line:90%
it would always come to this.

00:34:39.560 --> 00:34:41.060 align:middle line:84%
He would see a
chance, and then he'd

00:34:41.060 --> 00:34:43.460 align:middle line:84%
interpret it and speculate
on its consequences.

00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:45.590 align:middle line:84%
He would ponder each
option in particular,

00:34:45.590 --> 00:34:47.750 align:middle line:84%
and soon the opportunity
would pass away,

00:34:47.750 --> 00:34:51.830 align:middle line:84%
or qualms would overmaster him,
conscience make him impotent.

00:34:51.830 --> 00:34:54.139 align:middle line:84%
Bob consoled himself with a
thought that the next time,

00:34:54.139 --> 00:34:55.940 align:middle line:90%
he would not stall so long--

00:34:55.940 --> 00:34:58.670 align:middle line:84%
later, when Jesse was
sickened, or sorely distracted,

00:34:58.670 --> 00:35:00.800 align:middle line:84%
or the right situation
presented itself,

00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:02.690 align:middle line:84%
when Bob had
mastered his courage

00:35:02.690 --> 00:35:05.420 align:middle line:84%
and was not so susceptible
to uncertainties.

00:35:05.420 --> 00:35:08.660 align:middle line:84%
Bob was not yet 20 after
all, while Jesse was 34

00:35:08.660 --> 00:35:10.040 align:middle line:90%
and in physical decline.

00:35:10.040 --> 00:35:12.260 align:middle line:84%
Each calendar week
subtracted from Jesse

00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:14.150 align:middle line:90%
the powers that Bob accrued.

00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:16.760 align:middle line:84%
So Bob could afford to wait
if Jesse would only let him,

00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:19.610 align:middle line:90%
and that of course he did.

00:35:19.610 --> 00:35:21.320 align:middle line:84%
With that, Bob slid
under the covers

00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:23.210 align:middle line:84%
and closed his eyes
in imitation of Jesse,

00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:27.260 align:middle line:84%
and he woke next at sunrise
to noises in the kitchen.

00:35:27.260 --> 00:35:29.630 align:middle line:84%
Charley still-- his left,
but the cot across from Bob

00:35:29.630 --> 00:35:30.320 align:middle line:90%
was vacated.

00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:32.090 align:middle line:84%
And downstairs, a tea
kettle piped once,

00:35:32.090 --> 00:35:34.550 align:middle line:84%
before it was removed
from the stove.

00:35:34.550 --> 00:35:37.880 align:middle line:84%
Bob skulked down the staircase
and across the sitting room,

00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:40.550 align:middle line:84%
tomfoolishly tiptoeing
into the kitchen entrance

00:35:40.550 --> 00:35:42.920 align:middle line:90%
and peeking around the doorjamb.

00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:44.870 align:middle line:84%
Jesse had amassed
his suit clothes

00:35:44.870 --> 00:35:47.240 align:middle line:84%
next to the butter churn
and skidded a laundry

00:35:47.240 --> 00:35:49.730 align:middle line:84%
boiler into the pantry,
where he stood naked

00:35:49.730 --> 00:35:51.920 align:middle line:84%
in two inches of
steaming water, wringing

00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:53.900 align:middle line:84%
a soaked washcloth
over his skull,

00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:56.840 align:middle line:84%
spitting the water that
trickled into his mouth.

00:35:56.840 --> 00:35:59.060 align:middle line:84%
He didn't notice
Bob in the room.

00:35:59.060 --> 00:36:01.640 align:middle line:84%
He scrubbed his elbow and
knuckles with a towel brush,

00:36:01.640 --> 00:36:03.920 align:middle line:84%
and rinsed his arm, and
coughed twice, and then again,

00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.860 align:middle line:84%
until he was racked like a chain
smoker for more than a minute.

00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:09.330 align:middle line:84%
And Bob smiled as he
thought, you are old, Jess.

00:36:09.330 --> 00:36:11.900 align:middle line:90%
You're dying, even now.

00:36:11.900 --> 00:36:13.460 align:middle line:84%
His skin was white
as sheep's wool,

00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:16.220 align:middle line:84%
and the scars on his chest
were red as slaughter.

00:36:16.220 --> 00:36:18.050 align:middle line:84%
He was muscular in the
back and shoulders,

00:36:18.050 --> 00:36:20.090 align:middle line:84%
and sinews crossed his
pectorals like laces,

00:36:20.090 --> 00:36:22.070 align:middle line:84%
and his biceps bunched
when he lifted his wrist

00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:23.840 align:middle line:90%
to tenderly examine it.

00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:26.450 align:middle line:84%
But his ankle was knurled
where he'd broken it.

00:36:26.450 --> 00:36:28.700 align:middle line:84%
Varices mapped his
calves and thighs.

00:36:28.700 --> 00:36:30.600 align:middle line:90%
His buttocks were flat as books.

00:36:30.600 --> 00:36:33.590 align:middle line:84%
The skin, and his kidneys,
and neck, his ribs

00:36:33.590 --> 00:36:35.060 align:middle line:90%
could be easily numbered.

00:36:35.060 --> 00:36:36.950 align:middle line:84%
His shoulder clicked
when he circled it.

00:36:36.950 --> 00:36:39.410 align:middle line:90%
He bent with apparent pain.

00:36:39.410 --> 00:36:41.480 align:middle line:84%
The many injuries
of a reckless career

00:36:41.480 --> 00:36:43.400 align:middle line:84%
had made him
prematurely decrepit,

00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:47.960 align:middle line:84%
as ancient as the Noah that
Ham spied on in the tent.

00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:49.850 align:middle line:84%
Jesse coughed into
his fist once more

00:36:49.850 --> 00:36:52.190 align:middle line:84%
and swished his hand in
the water at his feet,

00:36:52.190 --> 00:36:54.230 align:middle line:84%
and then lifted an
ocean shell ashtray

00:36:54.230 --> 00:36:56.870 align:middle line:84%
and sacredly doused
the crown of his head.

00:36:56.870 --> 00:37:00.813 align:middle line:84%
It was then that he saw
Bob Ford and said, go away.

00:37:00.813 --> 00:37:02.480 align:middle line:84%
Never crossed your
mind that I was here,

00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:04.880 align:middle line:84%
and it's been nigh on to
three minutes, at least.

00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:06.140 align:middle line:90%
You sure of that?

00:37:06.140 --> 00:37:07.970 align:middle line:84%
Jesse stepped from
the laundry tub

00:37:07.970 --> 00:37:10.400 align:middle line:84%
onto a red flannel
shirt on the floor.

00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:12.020 align:middle line:84%
He covered his face
with a dish towel,

00:37:12.020 --> 00:37:14.330 align:middle line:84%
and then wrinkled his
dark brown hair with it,

00:37:14.330 --> 00:37:16.880 align:middle line:90%
as he smiled insincerely at Bob.

00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:18.170 align:middle line:90%
Maybe I was fooling you.

00:37:18.170 --> 00:37:21.230 align:middle line:84%
Maybe we were playing
cat and mouse.

00:37:21.230 --> 00:37:23.990 align:middle line:84%
I've never seen you
without your guns neither.

00:37:23.990 --> 00:37:25.910 align:middle line:84%
Jesse towed a bath
towel off a chair

00:37:25.910 --> 00:37:29.720 align:middle line:84%
and revealed almost,
almost incidentally,

00:37:29.720 --> 00:37:32.940 align:middle line:84%
a 12-inch Remington
revolver on the seat.

00:37:32.940 --> 00:37:35.180 align:middle line:90%
Don't happen more once a year.

00:37:35.180 --> 00:37:37.550 align:middle line:84%
But Bob simpered with
self-satisfaction.

00:37:37.550 --> 00:37:39.440 align:middle line:84%
Isn't no one can sneak
up on Jesse James

00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:41.630 align:middle line:90%
is the way it used to be.

00:37:41.630 --> 00:37:43.970 align:middle line:84%
Jesse shuffled himself
from a white bath towel

00:37:43.970 --> 00:37:46.430 align:middle line:84%
and sat down on the chair to
soothe his feet in the laundry

00:37:46.430 --> 00:37:47.300 align:middle line:90%
tub.

00:37:47.300 --> 00:37:48.980 align:middle line:84%
And now you think
you know otherwise.

00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:51.620 align:middle line:90%
Maybe that's just what I wanted.

00:37:51.620 --> 00:37:53.710 align:middle line:84%
I'm making fun is
all, you understand.

00:37:53.710 --> 00:37:55.460 align:middle line:84%
I wouldn't dream of
mocking you or causing

00:37:55.460 --> 00:37:57.230 align:middle line:90%
you any ill feelings.

00:37:57.230 --> 00:37:59.240 align:middle line:84%
Jesse rounded forward
under the towel

00:37:59.240 --> 00:38:01.940 align:middle line:84%
and cozied his feast
feet in the bath water.

00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:03.830 align:middle line:84%
It was as if no one
else were around,

00:38:03.830 --> 00:38:06.080 align:middle line:84%
and Jesse was once
again alone and at ease

00:38:06.080 --> 00:38:07.430 align:middle line:90%
with his meditations.

00:38:07.430 --> 00:38:09.890 align:middle line:90%
He said, I can't figure it out--

00:38:09.890 --> 00:38:14.450 align:middle line:84%
do you want to be like
me, or you want to be me?"

00:38:14.450 --> 00:38:19.460 align:middle line:84%
I'm going to skip ahead
now until April 1882.

00:38:19.460 --> 00:38:22.340 align:middle line:84%
Bob and Charley Ford are
living with Jesse James

00:38:22.340 --> 00:38:25.550 align:middle line:84%
in St Joseph,
Missouri, where Jesse

00:38:25.550 --> 00:38:29.420 align:middle line:84%
is under living under the
name of Thomas Howard.

00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:31.355 align:middle line:90%
It's April 1st.

00:38:31.355 --> 00:38:35.135 align:middle line:90%


00:38:35.135 --> 00:38:36.510 align:middle line:84%
"Saturday introduced
summer was--

00:38:36.510 --> 00:38:38.960 align:middle line:84%
state the skies were
blue, the sun insistent,

00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:41.300 align:middle line:84%
the temperature
close to 80 at noon.

00:38:41.300 --> 00:38:44.090 align:middle line:84%
The river flashed light
from its rills and currents,

00:38:44.090 --> 00:38:46.400 align:middle line:84%
and Zee could look up
from her scullery work

00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:50.270 align:middle line:84%
and see Kansas shimmer,
like a reflection in water.

00:38:50.270 --> 00:38:52.340 align:middle line:84%
The Fords removed the
storm windows and Jesse

00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:54.560 align:middle line:84%
raised each sash so
that sweet air could

00:38:54.560 --> 00:38:55.970 align:middle line:90%
stir through the rooms.

00:38:55.970 --> 00:38:58.880 align:middle line:84%
But they were too lazy or
lumpish to attach screens,

00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:01.220 align:middle line:84%
so flies crawled over
the rising loaves,

00:39:01.220 --> 00:39:03.977 align:middle line:90%
and birds flew into the rooms.

00:39:03.977 --> 00:39:05.810 align:middle line:84%
Jesse went to the market,
with Tim and Mary,

00:39:05.810 --> 00:39:07.880 align:middle line:84%
and came back at 4:00,
with a crate of groceries

00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:10.910 align:middle line:84%
and a black box clamped
under his right arm.

00:39:10.910 --> 00:39:12.500 align:middle line:84%
He kissed Zee, and
rubbed her fanny,

00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:14.570 align:middle line:84%
and asked her how
she was feeling.

00:39:14.570 --> 00:39:17.150 align:middle line:84%
She saw that he'd subjected
his skull to a barber--

00:39:17.150 --> 00:39:18.980 align:middle line:84%
a smear of white
talcum powder was

00:39:18.980 --> 00:39:22.132 align:middle line:84%
on his neck and his chestnut
hair smelled of lilac water,

00:39:22.132 --> 00:39:24.590 align:middle line:84%
but he looked much handsomer
now than when she married him,

00:39:24.590 --> 00:39:28.670 align:middle line:84%
a quality of aging that
she'd often envied in men.

00:39:28.670 --> 00:39:31.010 align:middle line:84%
Jesse saw cousin
Bob, and she told him

00:39:31.010 --> 00:39:34.720 align:middle line:84%
she thought Bob was resting
in the children's room.

00:39:34.720 --> 00:39:36.920 align:middle line:84%
Sunshine was
diagonal in the room,

00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:39.110 align:middle line:90%
and curtains flirted in the air.

00:39:39.110 --> 00:39:40.760 align:middle line:90%
I wasn't sure what woke him.

00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:42.680 align:middle line:84%
He pivoted in the
child's bed and saw

00:39:42.680 --> 00:39:46.040 align:middle line:84%
Jesse in a spindle chair peering
at him with great interest.

00:39:46.040 --> 00:39:50.120 align:middle line:84%
Jesse said, I never learned
what your nationality was.

00:39:50.120 --> 00:39:53.780 align:middle line:84%
How long have you been
studying me, Bob asked.

00:39:53.780 --> 00:39:55.730 align:middle line:90%
You look French.

00:39:55.730 --> 00:39:57.590 align:middle line:84%
Bob rolled to a
sitting position.

00:39:57.590 --> 00:40:00.140 align:middle line:84%
My grandfather married a
French girl in New Orleans.

00:40:00.140 --> 00:40:03.350 align:middle line:84%
He was with the Virginia
volunteers in the war of 1812.

00:40:03.350 --> 00:40:06.320 align:middle line:90%
I guess I take after my Grandma.

00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:09.020 align:middle line:84%
You're going to break a
lot of hearts Bob arched

00:40:09.020 --> 00:40:11.960 align:middle line:90%
an eyebrow, how do you mean?

00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:14.780 align:middle line:84%
Jesse revealed a black
box from behind his back

00:40:14.780 --> 00:40:16.430 align:middle line:90%
and reached it over to Bob.

00:40:16.430 --> 00:40:18.320 align:middle line:90%
It's a present.

00:40:18.320 --> 00:40:20.570 align:middle line:84%
Bob raised and
reckoned what it was.

00:40:20.570 --> 00:40:22.210 align:middle line:90%
Heavy, he said.

00:40:22.210 --> 00:40:24.260 align:middle line:90%
You're going to look inside?

00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:26.510 align:middle line:90%
Why are you being so nice to me?

00:40:26.510 --> 00:40:28.010 align:middle line:90%
You gave me that bawdy bootjack.

00:40:28.010 --> 00:40:31.010 align:middle line:84%
This is my Christmas
gift to you.

00:40:31.010 --> 00:40:33.200 align:middle line:90%
The wooden lid was nailed shut.

00:40:33.200 --> 00:40:35.420 align:middle line:84%
Bob crammed a coin
in the interstices

00:40:35.420 --> 00:40:37.910 align:middle line:84%
and twisted it until
the lid released.

00:40:37.910 --> 00:40:39.770 align:middle line:90%
Its April Fool's Day, you know.

00:40:39.770 --> 00:40:41.770 align:middle line:90%
Isn't a joke, said Jesse.

00:40:41.770 --> 00:40:43.550 align:middle line:84%
[AUDIO OUT] Box
nestled in red velvet,

00:40:43.550 --> 00:40:46.550 align:middle line:84%
was a pearl-handled
44 caliber revolver,

00:40:46.550 --> 00:40:48.680 align:middle line:84%
a New Model Smith
and Wesson number 3,

00:40:48.680 --> 00:40:51.680 align:middle line:84%
with a 6 and 1/2
inch nickel barrel.

00:40:51.680 --> 00:40:55.310 align:middle line:84%
Bob beamed at Jesse and said,
such extravagance, and then

00:40:55.310 --> 00:40:57.830 align:middle line:84%
turned the revolver
to admire it.

00:40:57.830 --> 00:40:59.870 align:middle line:84%
Doesn't that nickel
shine though?

00:40:59.870 --> 00:41:02.180 align:middle line:84%
It's more than I could
hope for us, said Bob.

00:41:02.180 --> 00:41:04.813 align:middle line:84%
He clicked the chamber around,
cocked and released the hammer,

00:41:04.813 --> 00:41:06.980 align:middle line:84%
cocked the hammer and aimed
the revolver to red ball

00:41:06.980 --> 00:41:09.710 align:middle line:84%
on the floor, investigated
the play in the trigger,

00:41:09.710 --> 00:41:12.710 align:middle line:84%
squeezed the trigger until a
steel hammer snapped forward,

00:41:12.710 --> 00:41:15.992 align:middle line:84%
listened to the mechanisms as he
cocked the revolver at his ear,

00:41:15.992 --> 00:41:17.450 align:middle line:84%
straightened his
right arm and shut

00:41:17.450 --> 00:41:20.540 align:middle line:84%
his left eye, skated his thumb
across the serial number,

00:41:20.540 --> 00:41:21.630 align:middle line:90%
measured the full length--

00:41:21.630 --> 00:41:23.270 align:middle line:90%
12 inches.

00:41:23.270 --> 00:41:25.100 align:middle line:84%
I want a gunsmith
to engrave this,

00:41:25.100 --> 00:41:27.290 align:middle line:84%
some sentence with our two
names on it, in the city

00:41:27.290 --> 00:41:28.820 align:middle line:90%
and the year of presentation.

00:41:28.820 --> 00:41:31.640 align:middle line:84%
There'll be a prize that can be
carried on from one generation

00:41:31.640 --> 00:41:33.255 align:middle line:90%
to the next.

00:41:33.255 --> 00:41:34.880 align:middle line:84%
I figured that
granddaddy Colt of yours

00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:38.300 align:middle line:84%
may blow into fragments, next
time you squeeze the trigger.

00:41:38.300 --> 00:41:41.180 align:middle line:84%
Bob grinned and said, you
might have something there.

00:41:41.180 --> 00:41:43.280 align:middle line:84%
He substituted the New
Model Smith and Wesson

00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:45.710 align:middle line:84%
for the tarnished revolver
in the scr-- leather holster,

00:41:45.710 --> 00:41:47.480 align:middle line:84%
that he then buckled
and let slant

00:41:47.480 --> 00:41:49.550 align:middle line:90%
across his right rear pocket.

00:41:49.550 --> 00:41:51.650 align:middle line:84%
He slapped it out like a
gunfighter, snugged it,

00:41:51.650 --> 00:41:53.420 align:middle line:90%
slapped it out again.

00:41:53.420 --> 00:41:56.450 align:middle line:84%
The gun chuckled against
the rigid leather,

00:41:56.450 --> 00:41:58.760 align:middle line:84%
but after repeated
pulls and replacements,

00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:01.970 align:middle line:84%
it made no more noise
than a man swallow.

00:42:01.970 --> 00:42:05.600 align:middle line:84%
Zee called from the dining room,
Jesse, you ready for supper?

00:42:05.600 --> 00:42:07.730 align:middle line:90%
Pretty soon, sweetheart.

00:42:07.730 --> 00:42:10.610 align:middle line:84%
Bob said, I might be
too excited to eat.

00:42:10.610 --> 00:42:13.760 align:middle line:84%
Jesse smiled broadly and
rose from the spindle chair.

00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:16.687 align:middle line:84%
You know what John Newman
Edwards once wrote about me?

00:42:16.687 --> 00:42:18.395 align:middle line:84%
He said, I didn't
trust two men in 10,000

00:42:18.395 --> 00:42:21.290 align:middle line:84%
and was even
cautious around them.

00:42:21.290 --> 00:42:23.960 align:middle line:84%
The government sort of
run me ragged, you see.

00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:26.570 align:middle line:84%
I'm sort of going a long
way around the barn to say,

00:42:26.570 --> 00:42:29.083 align:middle line:84%
I've been feeling cornered and
just plain ordinary of late,

00:42:29.083 --> 00:42:30.500 align:middle line:84%
and I'd be pleased
if you'd accept

00:42:30.500 --> 00:42:33.110 align:middle line:90%
a gun as my way of apologizing.

00:42:33.110 --> 00:42:36.450 align:middle line:84%
Heavens know, I'd be ornerier
if I was in your position.

00:42:36.450 --> 00:42:39.450 align:middle line:84%
No, I haven't been
acting correctly.

00:42:39.450 --> 00:42:43.220 align:middle line:84%
I can't hardly recognize myself
sometimes when I'm greased.

00:42:43.220 --> 00:42:46.070 align:middle line:84%
I go on journeys out of my
body and look at my red hands,

00:42:46.070 --> 00:42:48.620 align:middle line:90%
my mean face, and I get nickel.

00:42:48.620 --> 00:42:50.900 align:middle line:84%
Who is that man
who's gone so wrong?

00:42:50.900 --> 00:42:54.110 align:middle line:84%
Why all that killing
and even evil behavior?

00:42:54.110 --> 00:42:56.840 align:middle line:84%
I've been becoming
a problem to myself.

00:42:56.840 --> 00:42:58.280 align:middle line:84%
I figure, if I
can get you right,

00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:01.140 align:middle line:84%
I'll be just that
much closer to me.

00:43:01.140 --> 00:43:02.900 align:middle line:84%
Bob looked at the
man in bewilderment

00:43:02.900 --> 00:43:05.660 align:middle line:84%
and couldn't find the words
for an answer, so he said,

00:43:05.660 --> 00:43:07.520 align:middle line:84%
I need to wash my
hands if supper's on.

00:43:07.520 --> 00:43:10.340 align:middle line:84%
Gun's made them
feel sort of public.

00:43:10.340 --> 00:43:13.970 align:middle line:84%
Go ahead, the man said and
graciously opened the door.

00:43:13.970 --> 00:43:16.850 align:middle line:84%
Bob exited from the children's
room and smiled meekly at Zee

00:43:16.850 --> 00:43:18.620 align:middle line:84%
as he entered the
kitchen and leaned

00:43:18.620 --> 00:43:20.450 align:middle line:90%
on the counter for a moment.

00:43:20.450 --> 00:43:22.680 align:middle line:84%
He spilled pitcher
water into a pan.

00:43:22.680 --> 00:43:24.410 align:middle line:84%
And as he sank his
hands in it, he

00:43:24.410 --> 00:43:26.000 align:middle line:84%
listened to Jesse
greet his children,

00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:28.700 align:middle line:84%
listened to chairs sliding
away from the dining room table

00:43:28.700 --> 00:43:30.830 align:middle line:90%
and sliding underneath it again.

00:43:30.830 --> 00:43:32.690 align:middle line:84%
Jesse began to say
grace without him,

00:43:32.690 --> 00:43:35.640 align:middle line:84%
and Bob raised a brick of
yellow soap to his nose,

00:43:35.640 --> 00:43:38.910 align:middle line:84%
smelling its ingredients--
rainwater, sal soda,

00:43:38.910 --> 00:43:41.700 align:middle line:84%
unslaked lime,
tallow, rosin, salt."

00:43:41.700 --> 00:43:45.002 align:middle line:90%


00:43:45.002 --> 00:43:46.460 align:middle line:84%
The last section
I'll read from you

00:43:46.460 --> 00:43:55.105 align:middle line:84%
was the day of Jesse's
death April 3rd, 1882.

00:43:55.105 --> 00:43:56.730 align:middle line:84%
"Much later, Bob
would remember that he

00:43:56.730 --> 00:43:58.950 align:middle line:84%
woke at sunrise on
April 3rd, looking

00:43:58.950 --> 00:44:01.590 align:middle line:90%
at a racehorse named Skyrocket.

00:44:01.590 --> 00:44:03.750 align:middle line:84%
Charley was climbing
into a rough wool shirt,

00:44:03.750 --> 00:44:06.240 align:middle line:84%
that he wore whenever he
worked with the animals.

00:44:06.240 --> 00:44:08.100 align:middle line:84%
Bob dangled his
fingers to the floor

00:44:08.100 --> 00:44:10.430 align:middle line:90%
and walked them over his gun.

00:44:10.430 --> 00:44:12.240 align:middle line:84%
Zee was already at
the stove, and Bob

00:44:12.240 --> 00:44:14.520 align:middle line:84%
could see steam escape
from a covered saucepan

00:44:14.520 --> 00:44:16.710 align:middle line:90%
and shy phrases of smoke.

00:44:16.710 --> 00:44:20.490 align:middle line:84%
Tim was in the children's room
annoying his little sister Bob

00:44:20.490 --> 00:44:23.177 align:middle line:84%
would recall that Jesse then
came out of the master bedroom

00:44:23.177 --> 00:44:25.260 align:middle line:84%
and scolded the children
for pestering each other,

00:44:25.260 --> 00:44:27.270 align:middle line:90%
when it wasn't more than 7:00.

00:44:27.270 --> 00:44:29.190 align:middle line:84%
He wore the crisp,
celluloid collar

00:44:29.190 --> 00:44:30.900 align:middle line:84%
and the dazzlingly
white linen shirt

00:44:30.900 --> 00:44:33.390 align:middle line:84%
that he stole from the
Kansas hotel highboy,

00:44:33.390 --> 00:44:35.940 align:middle line:84%
and he adjusted the silk
cravat in a looking-glass that

00:44:35.940 --> 00:44:39.600 align:middle line:84%
revealed a section of shut
door, a chair woven with rushes,

00:44:39.600 --> 00:44:41.190 align:middle line:84%
a marred wall with
the heights of Tim

00:44:41.190 --> 00:44:43.980 align:middle line:90%
and Mary designated in crayon.

00:44:43.980 --> 00:44:45.510 align:middle line:84%
Bob slithered from
under the covers,

00:44:45.510 --> 00:44:48.570 align:middle line:84%
in order to conceal an
erection, and struggled his legs

00:44:48.570 --> 00:44:51.690 align:middle line:84%
into nut brown trousers, then
struggled his stocking feet

00:44:51.690 --> 00:44:53.700 align:middle line:84%
into boots, that were
so worn in the heels,

00:44:53.700 --> 00:44:56.130 align:middle line:90%
that his ankles caved out.

00:44:56.130 --> 00:44:58.350 align:middle line:84%
Charley slumped to the
stables via the front door,

00:44:58.350 --> 00:45:02.910 align:middle line:84%
and the screen door clapped off
a sinking mist of street dust.

00:45:02.910 --> 00:45:05.850 align:middle line:84%
Jesse buttoned his black
cashmere Prince Albert coat

00:45:05.850 --> 00:45:09.345 align:middle line:84%
over a vest and over his two
crossed holsters and guns.

00:45:09.345 --> 00:45:11.490 align:middle line:84%
He informed Bob
without nastiness

00:45:11.490 --> 00:45:13.710 align:middle line:84%
that he could stay inside
and sleep some more,

00:45:13.710 --> 00:45:16.110 align:middle line:84%
and he walked out into
sunlight just as Zee angrily

00:45:16.110 --> 00:45:19.560 align:middle line:84%
banged shut the oven door,
muttering, Oh, shoot.

00:45:19.560 --> 00:45:21.570 align:middle line:84%
Bob tucked in a yellow
shirt and called,

00:45:21.570 --> 00:45:23.940 align:middle line:84%
is that you make
it all that smoke?

00:45:23.940 --> 00:45:26.310 align:middle line:84%
He saw Zee flip some
burnt cottage biscuits

00:45:26.310 --> 00:45:28.920 align:middle line:84%
from a blackened
baking pan and say

00:45:28.920 --> 00:45:31.560 align:middle line:90%
to no one, this ornery stove.

00:45:31.560 --> 00:45:34.620 align:middle line:84%
He fingered combed his ginger
brown hair in the looking-glass

00:45:34.620 --> 00:45:38.640 align:middle line:84%
and slipped through gray, oven
smoke to go out to the privy.

00:45:38.640 --> 00:45:40.770 align:middle line:84%
He stepped over puddles
that an overnight rain

00:45:40.770 --> 00:45:42.930 align:middle line:84%
had put in the yard, and
he closed the privy door

00:45:42.930 --> 00:45:44.100 align:middle line:90%
behind him.

00:45:44.100 --> 00:45:47.130 align:middle line:84%
The temperature forecast
was 80 degrees and already,

00:45:47.130 --> 00:45:51.870 align:middle line:84%
the April morning seemed as warm
and moist as cooking papers.

00:45:51.870 --> 00:45:54.060 align:middle line:84%
Mary crouched outside
with a coffee grinder

00:45:54.060 --> 00:45:55.650 align:middle line:90%
that she'd ruined with sand.

00:45:55.650 --> 00:45:57.360 align:middle line:84%
Tim-- himself, on
a rope swing, that

00:45:57.360 --> 00:46:00.030 align:middle line:84%
rasped against the
Sycamore bough.

00:46:00.030 --> 00:46:03.990 align:middle line:84%
Bob walked over to the backyard
cistern, buttoning his fly,

00:46:03.990 --> 00:46:09.120 align:middle line:84%
and the cistern brayed foolishly
when he worked the iron handle.

00:46:09.120 --> 00:46:11.220 align:middle line:84%
Charley came up from the
stables and scraped off

00:46:11.220 --> 00:46:15.390 align:middle line:84%
manure on a rusted rake that
was forgotten in the grass,

00:46:15.390 --> 00:46:17.370 align:middle line:84%
and though Bob said
good morning to him,

00:46:17.370 --> 00:46:19.650 align:middle line:84%
his only gesture
of recognition was

00:46:19.650 --> 00:46:22.680 align:middle line:84%
to slouch down the slope of
the yard away's and squat

00:46:22.680 --> 00:46:25.950 align:middle line:84%
for some time inside
cigarette smoke.

00:46:25.950 --> 00:46:29.220 align:middle line:84%
Jesse caught the swing set and
gentled Tim down to a stop,

00:46:29.220 --> 00:46:31.740 align:middle line:84%
and then the two strolled
down Confusion Hill

00:46:31.740 --> 00:46:34.140 align:middle line:90%
for the subscription newspapers.

00:46:34.140 --> 00:46:36.540 align:middle line:84%
Cold water that
was slightly orange

00:46:36.540 --> 00:46:39.060 align:middle line:84%
splashed into Bob's
lifted white enamel bowl

00:46:39.060 --> 00:46:42.090 align:middle line:84%
and spotted his trouser
cuffs and boots.

00:46:42.090 --> 00:46:44.160 align:middle line:84%
He brought the water
to his face gratefully,

00:46:44.160 --> 00:46:46.480 align:middle line:84%
as a man might have
sweetheart's fingers,

00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:48.060 align:middle line:84%
and he imagined,
without willing it,

00:46:48.060 --> 00:46:50.490 align:middle line:84%
the gruesome fish he
caught in September.

00:46:50.490 --> 00:46:52.470 align:middle line:84%
When he looked up,
Zee was peering at him

00:46:52.470 --> 00:46:54.133 align:middle line:90%
through the porch screen.

00:46:54.133 --> 00:46:55.300 align:middle line:90%
How much do you want to eat?

00:46:55.300 --> 00:46:55.890 align:middle line:90%
She asked.

00:46:55.890 --> 00:46:59.299 align:middle line:90%
[AUDIO OUT]

00:46:59.299 --> 00:47:11.480 align:middle line:90%


00:47:11.480 --> 00:47:14.000 align:middle line:84%
--s fingers, and he
imagined, without willing it,

00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:16.460 align:middle line:84%
the gruesome fish he
caught in September.

00:47:16.460 --> 00:47:18.350 align:middle line:84%
When he looked up,
Zee was peering at him

00:47:18.350 --> 00:47:19.973 align:middle line:90%
through the porch screen.

00:47:19.973 --> 00:47:21.140 align:middle line:90%
How much do you want to eat?

00:47:21.140 --> 00:47:22.040 align:middle line:90%
She asked.

00:47:22.040 --> 00:47:24.860 align:middle line:84%
Just a smidgen, Bob said,
and got up on his legs.

00:47:24.860 --> 00:47:27.530 align:middle line:90%
I'm feeling sort of peculiar.

00:47:27.530 --> 00:47:29.330 align:middle line:84%
He pushed Mary in the
swing for a while,

00:47:29.330 --> 00:47:31.790 align:middle line:84%
responding to a two
year old's questions,

00:47:31.790 --> 00:47:34.820 align:middle line:84%
and then grew weary of that,
flung her higher than before,

00:47:34.820 --> 00:47:36.488 align:middle line:84%
and straggled into
the front yard, where

00:47:36.488 --> 00:47:38.030 align:middle line:84%
he leaned over the
white picket fence

00:47:38.030 --> 00:47:40.340 align:middle line:90%
to look down Lafayette Street.

00:47:40.340 --> 00:47:42.620 align:middle line:84%
Sunlight flashed off
the city's windows.

00:47:42.620 --> 00:47:46.580 align:middle line:84%
The railroad yards to the west
were cielinged with smoke.

00:47:46.580 --> 00:47:49.520 align:middle line:84%
The river moved with a
slow advancement of blood.

00:47:49.520 --> 00:47:51.020 align:middle line:84%
He lingered there
for five minutes

00:47:51.020 --> 00:47:53.750 align:middle line:84%
or so, his thumbs
cocked by his pockets.

00:47:53.750 --> 00:47:56.300 align:middle line:84%
He could have been a man at
the races, a gambler with money

00:47:56.300 --> 00:47:58.280 align:middle line:90%
on Skyrocket.

00:47:58.280 --> 00:48:00.860 align:middle line:84%
Craig and Timberlake would be
sitting at breakfast, perhaps,

00:48:00.860 --> 00:48:04.430 align:middle line:84%
making prep-- for Tuesday,
eating sweet croissants.

00:48:04.430 --> 00:48:06.650 align:middle line:84%
Craig would enrich
his coffee with cream.

00:48:06.650 --> 00:48:08.780 align:middle line:84%
A crew would be in the
freight car, strewing straw

00:48:08.780 --> 00:48:10.880 align:middle line:90%
for the deputy's animals.

00:48:10.880 --> 00:48:12.830 align:middle line:84%
Bob watched the great
man and his child

00:48:12.830 --> 00:48:14.840 align:middle line:84%
climb the steep ascent
of the sidewalk,

00:48:14.840 --> 00:48:17.480 align:middle line:84%
with shoes on their feet,
and grand aspirations,

00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:19.328 align:middle line:84%
and a common language
between them.

00:48:19.328 --> 00:48:21.620 align:middle line:84%
But Bob figured that only
meant they were slightly more

00:48:21.620 --> 00:48:22.880 align:middle line:90%
intricate animals.

00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:26.150 align:middle line:84%
It meant they were given
more mechanisms than guns.

00:48:26.150 --> 00:48:28.040 align:middle line:84%
Bob saw Jesse move
a cigar in his mouth

00:48:28.040 --> 00:48:29.750 align:middle line:84%
and squinted his
eyes from the smoke.

00:48:29.750 --> 00:48:32.420 align:middle line:84%
He said, how come you're
looking so interested?

00:48:32.420 --> 00:48:34.670 align:middle line:84%
Bob asked, do you think it's
intelligent to go outside

00:48:34.670 --> 00:48:37.670 align:middle line:84%
like that, so all creation
can see your guns?

00:48:37.670 --> 00:48:40.220 align:middle line:84%
Just ignored him, threw the
cigar so that it sparked

00:48:40.220 --> 00:48:43.700 align:middle line:84%
and rolled, screwing smoke, and
then he rushed his daughter,

00:48:43.700 --> 00:48:47.390 align:middle line:84%
monstering, catching Mary as she
ran squealingly to the screen

00:48:47.390 --> 00:48:49.250 align:middle line:84%
door, and swinging
the girl around

00:48:49.250 --> 00:48:54.440 align:middle line:84%
so wildly, her right
stocking foot lost its shoe.

00:48:54.440 --> 00:48:57.260 align:middle line:84%
Zee called everyone into
breakfast that was cooling,

00:48:57.260 --> 00:48:59.630 align:middle line:84%
and Mary hugged her father's
neck, as he gracefully

00:48:59.630 --> 00:49:01.190 align:middle line:90%
walked to the dining room.

00:49:01.190 --> 00:49:03.620 align:middle line:84%
Tim carelessly threw down
the rolled newspapers

00:49:03.620 --> 00:49:06.590 align:middle line:84%
in the sitting room, next
to his sister's high chair.

00:49:06.590 --> 00:49:08.750 align:middle line:84%
Bob sled open a
brown paper sleeve

00:49:08.750 --> 00:49:12.020 align:middle line:84%
and spilled out the Kansas City
Times, seeing instantly a story

00:49:12.020 --> 00:49:13.160 align:middle line:90%
about the rest--

00:49:13.160 --> 00:49:14.300 align:middle line:90%
the arrest and convict--

00:49:14.300 --> 00:49:16.760 align:middle line:90%
confession of Dick Liddil.

00:49:16.760 --> 00:49:18.350 align:middle line:84%
Charley slouched
into the dining room

00:49:18.350 --> 00:49:20.270 align:middle line:84%
late, looking weak
and afflicted,

00:49:20.270 --> 00:49:24.380 align:middle line:84%
lying about some complaint
with horses, to which Jesse

00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:26.450 align:middle line:90%
paid scant attention.

00:49:26.450 --> 00:49:29.180 align:middle line:84%
Bob slipped the newspaper
under a shawl and strapped

00:49:29.180 --> 00:49:32.120 align:middle line:84%
on the gun he had been given,
tying the leather holster

00:49:32.120 --> 00:49:34.210 align:middle line:90%
to his thigh with a string.

00:49:34.210 --> 00:49:37.130 align:middle line:84%
Zee called Bob again,
slightly irritably,

00:49:37.130 --> 00:49:39.020 align:middle line:84%
saying everything
was getting cold,

00:49:39.020 --> 00:49:41.420 align:middle line:84%
and Bob seated himself
across from Jesse,

00:49:41.420 --> 00:49:44.690 align:middle line:84%
accidentally scarring
the chair with his gun.

00:49:44.690 --> 00:49:46.850 align:middle line:84%
Zee jellied a biscuit
for Mary and mentioned

00:49:46.850 --> 00:49:49.130 align:middle line:84%
she'd invited a girl,
from across the street,

00:49:49.130 --> 00:49:52.520 align:middle line:84%
to go shopping with her for
Easter clothes that afternoon.

00:49:52.520 --> 00:49:55.280 align:middle line:84%
She asked Jesse to
give her some money,

00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:58.280 align:middle line:84%
and he removed two $5 bills
from a small roll secured

00:49:58.280 --> 00:49:59.990 align:middle line:90%
with a rubber band.

00:49:59.990 --> 00:50:02.900 align:middle line:84%
She asked if Jesse wanted some
sandwiches for his journey.

00:50:02.900 --> 00:50:06.320 align:middle line:84%
She asked if he'd come back
for the Holy Thursday services.

00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:08.870 align:middle line:84%
Jesse frowned at her old
son, who was staring blankly

00:50:08.870 --> 00:50:13.250 align:middle line:84%
at the sunshine wall gathering,
his oatmeal spoon in his mouth.

00:50:13.250 --> 00:50:15.860 align:middle line:84%
What do you think goes
on in that noggin of his?

00:50:15.860 --> 00:50:17.570 align:middle line:90%
Nothing, said Charley Ford.

00:50:17.570 --> 00:50:18.590 align:middle line:90%
Jesse laughed.

00:50:18.590 --> 00:50:21.800 align:middle line:84%
I was referring to
his mind, not yours.

00:50:21.800 --> 00:50:25.470 align:middle line:84%
Bob snickered cravenly, and
Jesse looked askance at him.

00:50:25.470 --> 00:50:27.860 align:middle line:84%
He then stood from his chair
and fetched the newspapers

00:50:27.860 --> 00:50:29.600 align:middle line:84%
that Tim had
abandoned on the sofa,

00:50:29.600 --> 00:50:32.420 align:middle line:84%
almost missing the Kansas City
Times that was incompletely

00:50:32.420 --> 00:50:34.160 align:middle line:90%
concealed by a shawl.

00:50:34.160 --> 00:50:37.880 align:middle line:84%
He sat again with solemnity
and stirred a spoon in his cup,

00:50:37.880 --> 00:50:40.280 align:middle line:90%
swirling ghosts from the coffee.

00:50:40.280 --> 00:50:43.340 align:middle line:84%
Bob noticed every motion,
every physical event,

00:50:43.340 --> 00:50:46.370 align:middle line:84%
the crease in the man's brow,
the fret in his reading eyes,

00:50:46.370 --> 00:50:49.460 align:middle line:84%
the stain on a finger
from the cigars he smoked.

00:50:49.460 --> 00:50:52.250 align:middle line:84%
Bob sled the second newspaper
around and scanned the items

00:50:52.250 --> 00:50:55.160 align:middle line:84%
on the front page,
legislation in politics,

00:50:55.160 --> 00:50:57.560 align:middle line:84%
advertisements for
curatives and clothes,

00:50:57.560 --> 00:50:59.390 align:middle line:84%
the outrages visited
on a young woman

00:50:59.390 --> 00:51:02.540 align:middle line:84%
in Memphis, the shedding
of innocent blood,

00:51:02.540 --> 00:51:04.520 align:middle line:84%
a man in Grandview
was ruled insane,

00:51:04.520 --> 00:51:06.470 align:middle line:90%
a farm was lost to incendiaries.

00:51:06.470 --> 00:51:11.300 align:middle line:84%
It was the 22nd anniversary of
the start of the Pony Express.

00:51:11.300 --> 00:51:13.490 align:middle line:84%
Jesse unfastened his
Prince Albert coat

00:51:13.490 --> 00:51:15.590 align:middle line:90%
and snared it over his guns.

00:51:15.590 --> 00:51:18.200 align:middle line:84%
Tim excused himself from the
table with a rasher of bacon

00:51:18.200 --> 00:51:22.130 align:middle line:84%
in his mouth, and Mary climbed
down from her high chair

00:51:22.130 --> 00:51:23.240 align:middle line:90%
after him.

00:51:23.240 --> 00:51:25.130 align:middle line:84%
Jesse flattened the
Kansas City Times

00:51:25.130 --> 00:51:28.010 align:middle line:84%
over the newspaper he'd finished
and lowered his crossed arms

00:51:28.010 --> 00:51:29.690 align:middle line:90%
to scour the articles.

00:51:29.690 --> 00:51:32.990 align:middle line:84%
Hello, now, he said, the
surrender of Dick Liddil.

00:51:32.990 --> 00:51:36.710 align:middle line:84%
Charley said, perhaps to
urgently, you don't say so.

00:51:36.710 --> 00:51:38.840 align:middle line:84%
Jesse lifted a coffee
cup close to his mouth

00:51:38.840 --> 00:51:40.572 align:middle line:84%
and stared at Bob
through the vapors.

00:51:40.572 --> 00:51:42.530 align:middle line:84%
Young man, I asked you
yesterday, and you said,

00:51:42.530 --> 00:51:44.480 align:middle line:84%
you didn't know
anything about Dick.

00:51:44.480 --> 00:51:46.080 align:middle line:90%
And I don't.

00:51:46.080 --> 00:51:47.900 align:middle line:84%
Jesse moved his
finger down the page,

00:51:47.900 --> 00:51:49.640 align:middle line:90%
guiding his eyes as he read.

00:51:49.640 --> 00:51:52.400 align:middle line:84%
It's very strange, he said,
and made no other comment

00:51:52.400 --> 00:51:54.665 align:middle line:84%
as he continued
to the conclusion.

00:51:54.665 --> 00:51:57.290 align:middle line:84%
Zee was scraping the children's
breakfast plates in the kitchen

00:51:57.290 --> 00:52:00.365 align:middle line:84%
and immersing them in
soaked dishwashing water.

00:52:00.365 --> 00:52:02.240 align:middle line:84%
They fluttered together
with the wooden sound

00:52:02.240 --> 00:52:05.000 align:middle line:84%
of a muscular heart,
pumping blood.

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.000 align:middle line:84%
Jesse sipped some coffee without
looking up from the newspaper.

00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:11.070 align:middle line:84%
He said, it says here Dick
surrendered three weeks ago.

00:52:11.070 --> 00:52:12.790 align:middle line:84%
He glanced at Bob
with misgivings.

00:52:12.790 --> 00:52:15.190 align:middle line:84%
You must have been right
there in the neighborhood.

00:52:15.190 --> 00:52:18.140 align:middle line:84%
Apparently, they kept
it secret, Bob said.

00:52:18.140 --> 00:52:20.140 align:middle line:84%
Jesse slumped back in the
chair with his fingers

00:52:20.140 --> 00:52:23.440 align:middle line:84%
knitted over his stomach and
glared at Bob and then Charley.

00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:25.630 align:middle line:90%
It looked sort of fishy to me.

00:52:25.630 --> 00:52:27.640 align:middle line:84%
Bob said, if I get
to Kansas City soon,

00:52:27.640 --> 00:52:29.590 align:middle line:84%
I'm going to ask
somebody about it,

00:52:29.590 --> 00:52:32.790 align:middle line:84%
and then he left the dining room
with his right hand on his gun.

00:52:32.790 --> 00:52:34.790 align:middle line:84%
He raised the Venetian
blinds and the screenless

00:52:34.790 --> 00:52:37.120 align:middle line:84%
sitting room windows
and reacquainted himself

00:52:37.120 --> 00:52:40.240 align:middle line:84%
with a rocking chair,
his body fidgety.

00:52:40.240 --> 00:52:42.250 align:middle line:84%
Tim hunkered down on
the stoop outside,

00:52:42.250 --> 00:52:44.860 align:middle line:84%
coercing the crank on
the coffee grinder.

00:52:44.860 --> 00:52:46.960 align:middle line:84%
His little sister
squatted beside him,

00:52:46.960 --> 00:52:49.510 align:middle line:84%
pushing her pale dress
down between her thighs,

00:52:49.510 --> 00:52:52.000 align:middle line:84%
stabbing at the earth with a
crooked spoon and repeating

00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:54.460 align:middle line:90%
for some reason, don't.

00:52:54.460 --> 00:52:57.910 align:middle line:84%
Jesse retrieved some remedy from
the medicine cabinet and pantry

00:52:57.910 --> 00:53:00.220 align:middle line:84%
and murmured privately
with his wife.

00:53:00.220 --> 00:53:01.720 align:middle line:84%
Charley walked into
the sitting room

00:53:01.720 --> 00:53:03.400 align:middle line:84%
and remarked on
the sultry weather,

00:53:03.400 --> 00:53:06.190 align:middle line:84%
said the afternoon would
be hot as a pistol.

00:53:06.190 --> 00:53:08.200 align:middle line:84%
He sat on the mattress
and looped his holster

00:53:08.200 --> 00:53:10.840 align:middle line:84%
off the bedpost, looking
significantly at Bob

00:53:10.840 --> 00:53:12.760 align:middle line:90%
as he put it on.

00:53:12.760 --> 00:53:16.300 align:middle line:84%
Jesse paused at the sitting room
entrance, as if to reconvene

00:53:16.300 --> 00:53:18.760 align:middle line:84%
and then proceeded across
the tasseled green rug,

00:53:18.760 --> 00:53:21.250 align:middle line:84%
with a long linen
duster over one forearm,

00:53:21.250 --> 00:53:25.060 align:middle line:84%
the other cradling packed saddle
bags and a folded newspaper

00:53:25.060 --> 00:53:26.980 align:middle line:90%
that carried a gun.

00:53:26.980 --> 00:53:29.410 align:middle line:84%
Bob jumped up from the rocker,
and it reared and rode,

00:53:29.410 --> 00:53:31.120 align:middle line:84%
clubbing the floor,
until he could

00:53:31.120 --> 00:53:33.100 align:middle line:90%
still the chair with his hand.

00:53:33.100 --> 00:53:35.590 align:middle line:90%
Jesse asked, you two ready?

00:53:35.590 --> 00:53:38.770 align:middle line:84%
And Charley said,
I will be by noon.

00:53:38.770 --> 00:53:41.730 align:middle line:84%
And Bob strode over to the
hanging straw portfolio,

00:53:41.730 --> 00:53:43.480 align:middle line:84%
and as he snatched
out, a children's book,

00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:45.760 align:middle line:84%
he could feel Jesse
glared his gun.

00:53:45.760 --> 00:53:47.650 align:middle line:84%
Bob shouldered into
the floral wallpaper

00:53:47.650 --> 00:53:49.960 align:middle line:84%
and vagrantly read to
himself the first sentence

00:53:49.960 --> 00:53:51.250 align:middle line:90%
of chapter one--

00:53:51.250 --> 00:53:53.770 align:middle line:84%
the kitchen had quieted down
from the bustle and confusion

00:53:53.770 --> 00:53:55.210 align:middle line:90%
of midday.

00:53:55.210 --> 00:53:57.790 align:middle line:84%
Jesse rammed a raised
window sash higher,

00:53:57.790 --> 00:54:00.610 align:middle line:90%
making the snug fittings moan.

00:54:00.610 --> 00:54:02.410 align:middle line:84%
Clouds were shipping
in and accumulating,

00:54:02.410 --> 00:54:05.470 align:middle line:84%
and most of the Eastern
sky was the color of nails.

00:54:05.470 --> 00:54:07.840 align:middle line:84%
It's an awfully hot
day, Jesse James said,

00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:10.150 align:middle line:84%
and Charley thought so much
of his earlier statement

00:54:10.150 --> 00:54:13.540 align:middle line:84%
that he said once again, it was
going to be hot as a pistol.

00:54:13.540 --> 00:54:15.550 align:middle line:84%
Jesse took off his
Prince Albert coat,

00:54:15.550 --> 00:54:18.490 align:middle line:84%
and Bob concentrated on
the man, stowing Five--

00:54:18.490 --> 00:54:21.190 align:middle line:84%
and How They Grew
among some magazines.

00:54:21.190 --> 00:54:24.280 align:middle line:84%
Jesse folded the fine
black coat on the oak bed,

00:54:24.280 --> 00:54:26.500 align:middle line:84%
and then removed a
six button, black vest

00:54:26.500 --> 00:54:29.920 align:middle line:84%
that was extravagantly
brocaded with red stitching.

00:54:29.920 --> 00:54:32.170 align:middle line:84%
Charley shambled over to
the screen door to scan

00:54:32.170 --> 00:54:34.000 align:middle line:90%
Lafayette Street.

00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:37.180 align:middle line:84%
Sunlight streaked off
Jesse's two revolvers.

00:54:37.180 --> 00:54:40.810 align:middle line:84%
He leaned on the window sill
and gazed at skittish weather.

00:54:40.810 --> 00:54:43.660 align:middle line:84%
A suspender was twisted once
across the back of an iron

00:54:43.660 --> 00:54:47.297 align:middle line:84%
shirt that coins of sweat
made the color of smoke.

00:54:47.297 --> 00:54:49.630 align:middle line:84%
He proclaimed it in a sentence
that seemed composed just

00:54:49.630 --> 00:54:52.390 align:middle line:84%
for Bob, I guess I'll
take my pistols off

00:54:52.390 --> 00:54:53.980 align:middle line:84%
or fear the neighbors
will spy them

00:54:53.980 --> 00:54:56.530 align:middle line:90%
if I walk out into the yard.

00:54:56.530 --> 00:54:58.450 align:middle line:84%
Charley instantly turned
from the screen door

00:54:58.450 --> 00:55:00.670 align:middle line:84%
with vexation in
his face and saw

00:55:00.670 --> 00:55:03.070 align:middle line:84%
his kid brother's right
thumb twitch as Bob

00:55:03.070 --> 00:55:05.470 align:middle line:90%
lowered his hand to his gun.

00:55:05.470 --> 00:55:07.990 align:middle line:84%
Jesse unbuckled the two
crossed holsters with their two

00:55:07.990 --> 00:55:10.390 align:middle line:84%
unmatched revolvers and
carefully placed them

00:55:10.390 --> 00:55:13.450 align:middle line:84%
on the mattress, as if
creating some exhibit,

00:55:13.450 --> 00:55:16.000 align:middle line:84%
and it seemed to Bob that
the man was pretending.

00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:19.120 align:middle line:84%
Each motion seemed stressed,
adorned, theatrical,

00:55:19.120 --> 00:55:23.050 align:middle line:84%
an unpolished actor's
version of con-- nonchalance.

00:55:23.050 --> 00:55:26.500 align:middle line:84%
Jesse lent his attention to
the racehorse named Skyrocket

00:55:26.500 --> 00:55:29.320 align:middle line:84%
and said, that picture
is awful dusty,

00:55:29.320 --> 00:55:31.900 align:middle line:84%
and withdrew from a wicker
sewing basket, a furniture

00:55:31.900 --> 00:55:35.110 align:middle line:84%
duster that was made from the
blue eyed feathers of peacocks.

00:55:35.110 --> 00:55:37.900 align:middle line:84%
He could easily reach
the picture by standing,

00:55:37.900 --> 00:55:40.660 align:middle line:84%
but he skidded the rush
bottom chair across the rug

00:55:40.660 --> 00:55:42.820 align:middle line:84%
and climbed onto it,
as if the floor were

00:55:42.820 --> 00:55:45.340 align:middle line:90%
inclined and uncertain.

00:55:45.340 --> 00:55:48.070 align:middle line:84%
Bob slunk from the wall in
order to stand between Jesse

00:55:48.070 --> 00:55:49.840 align:middle line:90%
and the two revolvers.

00:55:49.840 --> 00:55:51.880 align:middle line:84%
He shook loose his
fingers like a gunfighter

00:55:51.880 --> 00:55:53.890 align:middle line:84%
and instructed his
brother with scared eyes

00:55:53.890 --> 00:55:57.490 align:middle line:84%
as Jesse stood above them and
feathered the walnut frame.

00:55:57.490 --> 00:56:00.850 align:middle line:84%
Charley winked and the two
Fords slipped out their guns.

00:56:00.850 --> 00:56:02.710 align:middle line:84%
Bob was the speedier
and his 40--

00:56:02.710 --> 00:56:05.530 align:middle line:84%
had his 44 extended straight
out from his right eye

00:56:05.530 --> 00:56:07.510 align:middle line:84%
as Charley was
still raising his.

00:56:07.510 --> 00:56:10.810 align:middle line:84%
And Jesse appeared to hear
the three clicks as a Smith

00:56:10.810 --> 00:56:13.450 align:middle line:84%
and Wesson was cocked
because he slightly

00:56:13.450 --> 00:56:15.550 align:middle line:84%
swiveled his head with
authentic surprise,

00:56:15.550 --> 00:56:18.400 align:middle line:84%
strain his left hand toward
a gun that he'd forgotten

00:56:18.400 --> 00:56:19.930 align:middle line:90%
was gone.

00:56:19.930 --> 00:56:23.650 align:middle line:84%
Then Robert Ford's 44 ignited,
and a red stamp seemed

00:56:23.650 --> 00:56:25.600 align:middle line:84%
to spence the outlaw's
chestnut brown hair,

00:56:25.600 --> 00:56:27.820 align:middle line:84%
one inch to the rear
of his right ear,

00:56:27.820 --> 00:56:30.310 align:middle line:84%
and his left eyebrow sucked
into the glassed watercolor

00:56:30.310 --> 00:56:31.780 align:middle line:90%
of Skyrocket.

00:56:31.780 --> 00:56:34.000 align:middle line:84%
Gunpowder and gun
noise filled the room,

00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:36.550 align:middle line:84%
and Jesse groaned as a
man does in his sleep

00:56:36.550 --> 00:56:38.830 align:middle line:84%
and then sagged from his
knees, and tilted over,

00:56:38.830 --> 00:56:40.960 align:middle line:84%
and smacked the floor
like a great animal,

00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:43.660 align:middle line:90%
shaking the house with his fall.

00:56:43.660 --> 00:56:44.890 align:middle line:90%
He looked at the ceiling.

00:56:44.890 --> 00:56:46.840 align:middle line:90%
His fingers curled and uncurled.

00:56:46.840 --> 00:56:48.910 align:middle line:84%
His mouth worked
at making words,

00:56:48.910 --> 00:56:52.270 align:middle line:84%
and then the two Ford
brothers saw he was dying.

00:56:52.270 --> 00:56:54.470 align:middle line:84%
Charley leaped out the
window and into the yard,

00:56:54.470 --> 00:56:57.700 align:middle line:84%
and as Zee rushed into a room
that was blue with smoke,

00:56:57.700 --> 00:57:00.760 align:middle line:84%
Bob slowly retreated
and straddled the sill.

00:57:00.760 --> 00:57:03.040 align:middle line:84%
She screamed, what
have you done?

00:57:03.040 --> 00:57:05.170 align:middle line:84%
And the boy looked as if
he wanted to apologize,

00:57:05.170 --> 00:57:06.295 align:middle line:90%
but couldn't.

00:57:06.295 --> 00:57:08.080 align:middle line:90%
Zee knelt and cried, Jesse!

00:57:08.080 --> 00:57:11.690 align:middle line:84%
Jesse, Jesse, and cradled
his skull in her apron

00:57:11.690 --> 00:57:13.670 align:middle line:84%
and smothered his
right ear in petticoats

00:57:13.670 --> 00:57:15.830 align:middle line:90%
that soaked red with his blood.

00:57:15.830 --> 00:57:18.680 align:middle line:84%
Tim was at the screen
door, seeing everything,

00:57:18.680 --> 00:57:20.840 align:middle line:84%
and Bob was still crouched
at the sitting room

00:57:20.840 --> 00:57:23.330 align:middle line:90%
window, gawking at the man.

00:57:23.330 --> 00:57:26.150 align:middle line:84%
She asked with anguish,
Bob, have you done this?

00:57:26.150 --> 00:57:28.820 align:middle line:84%
And he answered,
God, that I didn't!

00:57:28.820 --> 00:57:31.340 align:middle line:84%
The man sighed and
grew heavy on her legs.

00:57:31.340 --> 00:57:32.630 align:middle line:90%
His eyes seemed yellow.

00:57:32.630 --> 00:57:34.160 align:middle line:90%
His muscles slack.

00:57:34.160 --> 00:57:36.470 align:middle line:90%
The blood was wide as a table.

00:57:36.470 --> 00:57:39.350 align:middle line:84%
He made a syllable like, God,
and then everything inside him

00:57:39.350 --> 00:57:40.940 align:middle line:90%
stopped.

00:57:40.940 --> 00:57:42.650 align:middle line:84%
Charley skulked
inside the cottage

00:57:42.650 --> 00:57:44.870 align:middle line:84%
to collect the Ford's
two hats and riding coats

00:57:44.870 --> 00:57:47.420 align:middle line:84%
and to look again at
the man they'd shot.

00:57:47.420 --> 00:57:51.450 align:middle line:84%
He told Zee, James, the
pistol went off accidentally.

00:57:51.450 --> 00:57:53.990 align:middle line:84%
Then Charley was outside
again, and the two Fords

00:57:53.990 --> 00:57:56.870 align:middle line:84%
ran down Confusion Hill,
their coats flying,

00:57:56.870 --> 00:57:58.520 align:middle line:84%
cutting through yards,
and down alleys,

00:57:58.520 --> 00:58:01.430 align:middle line:84%
until they achieved the
American Telegraph Office.

00:58:01.430 --> 00:58:04.490 align:middle line:84%
Wentz was sent to Sheriff
Timberlake, Henry H. Craig,

00:58:04.490 --> 00:58:07.590 align:middle line:84%
and Governor Thomas Crittenden,
an abbreviated message,

00:58:07.590 --> 00:58:10.730 align:middle line:84%
a message that read, I
have killed Jesse James.

00:58:10.730 --> 00:58:12.800 align:middle line:90%
Bob Ford."

00:58:12.800 --> 00:58:13.310 align:middle line:90%
Thank you.

00:58:13.310 --> 00:58:15.160 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:58:15.160 --> 00:58:28.000 align:middle line:90%