The Waltons (1971–1981): Season 1, Episode 12 - The Dust Bowl Cousins - full transcript
Cousins from Kansas come to visit while they await news of possible employment in Newport News.
Whenever I look
back to those days...
when I was growing up
in the Great Depression...
I am always convinced that I
came from a remarkable family.
It wasn't that my brothers
and sisters and Iwere...
sheltered from the realities
of those difficult times.
It was simply that
Mother and Father...
had a way of making
more of what we had
and less of
what we didn't have.
Have more, Grandpa.
No, thank you, daughter.
I had my full share.
I'll have more, Mama.
-There won't be any left.
-I made plenty for everybody.
Hot biscuits! You can smell them
all the way out to the barn.
The honey's almost gone.
One of you men will have to go
out and look for a bee tree.
I saw an oak tree
just buzzing with bees
up in John-Boy's
Meadow the other day.
Why call it John-Boy's Meadow?
He's never going to farm it.
Be too busy being a writer.
I named it John-Boy's Meadow
the day he was born, that's why.
Y'all going after
that beehive, Grandpa?
I like to get an early
start smoking out them bees.
You're too old to go
traipsing around that mountain.
Ever since we got
married, my sweetheart
just can't stand
me out of her sight!
What do you think
you're doing, you old fool?
You rattletrap woods colt.
Don't you quit on me now.
Anywhere near there yet?
It's a ways out.
If I remember, we come
to a country store first.
You slug-bellied sod buster!
You slab-headed ridge runner.
I tell you there ain't nothing
on God's green earth dumber...
than a back-country
sorghum lapper.
Set the spark, Cora!
Set the spark!
And with these
it comes to $1.29.
-You're in luck, boys.
-Why is that?
'Cause this week, I'm giving
two free jawbreakers away...
every time a grocery
bill hits $1.25.
We better not take
the peaches, Ike.
Why's that, John-Boy?
You can forget it this time.
Your mama can pay me
when she comes in...
and you get the free
jawbreakers.
Thanks all the same.
But you know
how she feels about
buying on credit.
Yeah.
You've got some change coming
from your $1. I'll refigure it.
Here you go.
Howdy. Morning.
-Morning to you.
-Howdy.
Sure are friendly folks.
Yeah. They're not from
around here. That's for sure.
No, sir.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Howdy.
Well, sir, you
got some cheese
and crackers, you
can sell us our lunch.
Don't forget
Mama's orange soda.
Orange soda.
Better make that two, my boy
and I will share the other.
You're strangers
hereabouts.
Yeah, just blowed
in from Kansas.
Blowed ain't
the word for it.
In a cloud of dust.
Yeah, I heard things
got pretty mean up there.
Mean ain't the word, mister.
-How much cheese you want?
-A dime's worth will do.
Okay.
Wind blew it clear into Missouri.
Okay, here's your dime's worth of cheese.
And here's a nickel's worth
of crackers, coming up.
And then we're going to be
adding to that the two sodas.
Anything else? No.
That's 34 cents.
That's kind of steep,
ain't it, mister?
Nine cents for the apples
in your boy's pocket.
Some folks will do almost anything
nowadays to help their family.
Some will.
I'm paying, and
I'm apologizing, mister.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I took
them apples, mister.
I truly am.
Fair enough.
Air here smells good, don't it?
Hadn't smelled honeysuckle
for a long time.
-You clumsy idiot!
-I am not either.
Alright. Tell your ma you saved up.
Old Silas Gully-Jumper ain't
as smart as he thought he was.
Mama, can I go visit Aunt Bea
in Washington this summer?
We can't afford the train
fare, Mary Ellen.
I'm going to be 13 forever...
and it's absolutely the worst
possible time
You'll live through
it. Come on.
Some days I just hate
to face the world.
Like to be in my room and not
have to say a word to a soul.
That's natural at your age.
I'm going to die
on Walton's Mountain...
and never see anything of
the world but Charlottesville.
Now, sugar, it's time you
found out the world is flat.
Twenty miles past
Charlottesville,
it just drops off into nothing.
Daddy, it's not funny.
You oughtn't to
tease her like that.
Turn your back,
and they're grown up.
I'm thinking of
giving this up.
Tobacco's so
expensive, anyway.
Good idea.
Daddy! Somebody's coming.
And wait till you see
what they're coming in!
Well, let's just take a look.
What in the world....
It's gonna rattle apart
before it gets here.
Howdy, Olivia, John.
John, it's Cora and Ham.
And that must be Job.
Come on, children,
and meet your cousins.
Hello, Cora. Hello.
-It's good to see you.-Same here. Look at you.
And Job and Ham, come on in,
you must be exhausted.
Hi, John.
Look at you. You're getting
to be such a big girl.
It's that old jalopy
we saw at Ike's store.
Yeah.
Wonder what they're doing here.
It ain't all that much, but
we couldn't come empty-handed.
Oh, how nice.
But you didn't
have to bring anything.
Of course not. You're family.
Well, it'll only be till
the end of the month.
Two weeks at the most.
Will you stop apologizing?
It's wonderful tohave you stay with us.
Thank you.
Won't be long, though.
We got a job promised
in Newport News...
they're going to write us here.
You're lucky, Ham. Jobs are
hard to find these days.
Losing the farm, there's no
other place to have them...
write and it's been my heart's
craving to see home again.
You can have our room.
John will move in with the boys,
I'll sleep with the girls...
and, Job, you can
bunk in with John-Boy.
And we can always put
another bean in the pot.
her son, Job, and her husband, Ham.
-Howdy, nice to meet you.
-Good to meet you.
The size of them boys.
This back country's
sure the place to raise them.
Where you folks from?
We've come all
the way from Kansas.
Boys, Hamilton here
lost his farm in the drought...
and him and Cousin Cora will be
staying with us for a spell.
I'm sorry about your farm.
It sure is a bitter thing
to see land you've worked...
go swirling off in a cloud of dust.
Last Sunday, the preacher
told us all to say a prayer...
that the farmers out West
would get rain soon.
You should've waited
a little while longer.
Son, it's long come to mind that
if God wanted to make it rain...
he don't need us
to ask him for it.
Well, let's get your things
off the car and stored inside.
-John-Boy, everybody help.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Sorry to be putting you out.
-You're not putting me out.
Come on, get the car unloaded,
and I'll show you the room.
Just take either
side of the bed you want.
Makes no nevermind.
I guess I'll just clear
out a dresser drawer
here for your things.
What things I've got, I wear.
Don't need a whole drawer
for what extras there is.
-You've a long trip from Kansas?
-Long enough.
You must be pretty wrung out?
Look...
you don't want me here
no more than I wanna be here.
So forget the friendlies?
That's not so.
You're welcome here.
Ah-huh.
Job, Mama said to bring you this towel.
Is that somebody's way
of saying I need a bath?
I haven't got that close
to you. I wouldn't know.
But if you do, help yourself.
It's down the hall.
John-Boy, Mama wants you to help
bring in string beans from the garden.
Sure.
Hi.
Mama said you moved around a lot.
Pa's worked here and there.
It must be wonderful to see a
lot of places, different people.
Yeah, I reckon.
Ever been to Snowflake, Arizona?
Never even heard of it.
She said you lived in Pittsburgh once.
And in Chicago.
Des Moines, outside of Wichita.
Few other places, too.
Gosh, you've really been around.
Yeah, I reckon.
I've never been any
further than Charlottesville.
I've never met anybody
who has traveled as much as you.
Like you said, I've been around.
Cousin Job. Yeah?
Uncle Ham says for you to
come help cut some wood.
Maybe you'd better wait
to take that bath.
Which one are you?
I'm Jason.
How old? Fifteen.
How old is she?
She's 13. Why?
Getting hatched
from the same family.
Are you and me kin?
No. We're just brother and sister.
Kin's people you gotta kiss
even if they have a mustache.
Oh!
When we get settled...
I'm going to plant me a garden.
Put in...
tomatoes...
and squash...
string beans, and some cucumber.
Seems like it's Ham's place
to work the garden.
Well, Ham's trouble is
he can't put down roots...
of any kind.
When John worked
over in Waynesboro...
we just never did see him.
He doesn't make
as much money now,
but we're more of a family.
That's the secret,
isn't it, Livie?
Secret?
The deciding what's really
important in life...
and then working for it.
Poor Ham.
My heavens, would you look at
this Christmas cactus
It was covered with blooms
up until a month ago.
I had one with me
when I went West...
but it died along the way.
They're a plant that don't
need much attention.
Easy to grow...
if they've got the right soil.
Maybe that was the trouble.
Do you know where Daddy
left his pipe and tobacco?
I think they're
beside the radio.
Remind him what time it is.
He'll miss Burns and Allen
if he doesn't get in here.
Could be this
line's got dirt in it.
Yeah, the carburetor
probably needs cleaning, too.
Man in St. Louis
tried to sell me a set of plugs.
Well, well.
We'll check them
out in the morning.
For Cora's sake, though
I'd like to find
something around here.
Here's your pipe, Daddy.
Mama says to remind
you what time it is.
We'll be right in, honey.
You go warm up the radio.
Okay.
I tell you, John,
you're blessed in a lot of ways.
This house, all this land.
How much acreage you got?
I got about 12 acres.
Grandpa divided it equally.
You're sure privileged
to have it handed
to you on a silver platter.
If a man don't reach
out and take...
he gets what goes over
the fence last, every time.
I tell you, Ham...
there's plenty of land for
those willing to work shares.
I tell you, John,
it tears at a man
to see his family do without.
Plenty are saying
that, nowadays.
Say, Gracie, if only the world
would recognize
my singing voice.
Well, it does, George.
Everyone recognizes
your singing voice.
Really? Well, sure...
For some reason my voice just
doesn't seem to sell.
Lots of people think it does.
Think it sells? Oh, sells!
What fools they are.
You have a beautiful voice.
You really think so? Oh, yes.
You sound like a nightingale....
But I never get a chance.
I know, dear. Just like that....
Seems to me that using past failures
as the seed for tomorrow's defeats...
is a poor waste of the garden
of life God has given us.
Only it's worse than it sounds...
they tried to drown you out
in the swimming pool.
Thank goodness, Jack....
He's just wandered
from one place to another...
and never made
a go of it anywhere.
And Job's just following
right in his footsteps.
It's just rabbit tobacco.
Just don't set the place on fire.
You're gonna tell?
Mary Ellen, why don't you
just learn to use your brain?
John-Boy, don't go. Help me
scrub some potatoes.
You get those berries to Grandma.
Mary Ellen, you will go to your room
and learn 10 verses
of the Bible before supper.
But, Mama--
Any backtalk and you will learn 15.
And put on something decent.
You watch your step, young man.
You snitch!
-I didn't say a word.
-Fifteen Bible verses!
Won't do you a bit of harm!
Hi, Mr. Godsey.
Hi, Yancy.
I want you to meet Ham Denby.
This is Ike Godsey
and that's Yancy Tucker.
Howdy. Howdy.
That bacon was yours, I thought so.
Nobody smokes bacon like Ike Godsey.
Bacon?
You're wrong about that, Cousin John.
I picked that bacon up
coming through Kentucky.
Somebody must have your
smoking secret in Kentucky.
Are you kin to John?
He's married to my cousin Cora.
You remember Cora, don't you?
Cora. The pretty little thing
that went off to Kansas to live?
Ham here is expecting a letter
from Newport News, care of us.
Glad to.
-Yancy, how've you been?
-Good, thank you.
Sure had me a nice meal last
night, thanks to you all, John.
How's that?
Shot me a mess of quail
up at John-Boy's Meadow.
Sure be a shame when he builds
up there, chases that covey off.
Ain't going to happen for years,
he's still a young squirt.
Him wanting to be a writer,
it'll likely never happen.
It's a shame, too. That
land is just begging for seed.
Seems to me I've
seen you somewhere.
No, I'm spanking
new around these parts.
I don't think so.
Guess you just remind me
of somebody I've run into.
What were you saying
about that John-Boy's Meadow?
Prettiest piece of
land the Lord ever made.
I understand old man Walton...
divided that up
amongst all of his boys.
I believe that's
what happened, yes, sir.
I wonder what happened to
Cora's daddy's portion.
I guess you'd have to ask
old Mr. Walton about that.
Remember you said you needed
rewiring done a while back?
Yeah, I've still been
wanting it cared for.
Well, I'm going to have some
free time the next few days.
How about the day
after tomorrow?
Good.
All same to you, we don't have
to have money change hands...
I could take
it out in groceries.
It's okay by me, John.
That way I can...
pay for some bacon
we've been eating.
I picked it up while
you two was inside talking.
I gave the money
to that Yancy fellow.
Say, he's quite
a character, ain't he?
Ain't that just like
John and Livie Walton?
Take in kin, house and feed them
when times are like they are.
Yeah.
I sure hope that business about
bread cast upon the water is true.
There are times, sad to say...
when bread upon the waters comes back
good for nothing except a soggy sandwich.
Hey, Ben.
Hey, you think that's going
to get off the ground?
Sure it is.
Would you show a fellow
the lay of the land around here?
Any place you
want to see special?
Place called John-Boy's Meadow.
Come on, I'll show you.
-I'm sorry, I should've knocked.
-Not at all.
I aired this quilt out
today, and I thought I'd....
Why, Cora, you have
such beautiful hair.
Why, thank you.
You should wear it loose.
Do you really think so? I do.
I've pinned it up for so many years.
Ham never liked it down loose.
Said it got in the way of work.
You should just gather it
and tie it at the back.
When did you quilt that
Grandmother's Flower Garden?
I finished this one last winter.
It's lovely.
I'm going to throw away
all those old quilts...
I brought from Kansas,
and when we get settled...
I'm going to quilt
me brand new ones.
I recall a Jacob's Ladder you had.
You ought to. You helped me do
it. You and Maggie Collyer.
I'm beginning to
remember a lot of things.
John-Boy? Yeah?
I saw somebody do something wrong
and then tell a lie about it--
If you're going to be a
tattletale, don't wanna hear it.
-But it's Cousin--
-I don't care who it is...
why don't you just
go and talk to them
and let them set it right?
Leave me out of it.
Thanks for the use of your truck, Ham,
parts for mine should be in soon.
I couldn't see you walking clear down
Besides, I can't help
with the rewiring job,
I'm all thumbs on a thing like that.
It's a one-man job, anyway.
See you tonight.
You must be thinking
somewhat the way I'm thinking.
Jason. Ham.
Doing some hoeing?
Yeah.
If you'd like something to do,
I have a chore or two
you could help out with.
Surely.
Livie's border
there needs some manure.
Her petunias are doing poorly.
You come along,
I'll show you the manure.
Getting any bites?
Kind of nice being here.
Just the two of us.
It's a pretty spot, isn't it?
Nobody for miles around.
What are you getting at?
I don't know.
Fool around, maybe?
You come near me, and I'll bash
your head in with a rock.
No need to be so touchy.
Uncle Ham? Little lady.
If somebody does something wrong...
the important thing
is for them to set it right.
Wrong been done?
I saw you snitch that
tobacco from Ike Godsey.
You saw wrong.
Yancy Tucker was standing right with me
when I put that dime on the counter.
Yancy was on the
other side of the store
when you took that tobacco.
Well, now, you are
a real disappointment.
I never thought I'd see a child
of John and Livie's sass back...
question their elders, same as
call them a liar to their faces.
But I-- You go on and clear out.
And you're just lucky
that I don't tell your pa.
Now go on, clear out of here.
Go on.
-Who are you writing that to?
-Nobody.
It's none of your business.
-You were writing about my pa.
-I was writing about a lot of--
You were writing about
me and Ma and Pa!
Okay, have it your way.
You ain't got no right
to say them things.
I've got a right to
think anything I want.
What have you got
to back it up with?
What? You heard me.
Come on, cut it out!
-Show me how tough you are.
-I didn't say I was tough.
Show me how right you are about
what you wrote in that tablet.
I'm not gonna fight you.
I could have figured.
You pantywaist.
Hello, sweetheart.
What have you got there?
I got 10 hours of rewiring
Ike Godsey's store.
Everything alright around here?
Something's wrong with this house, John.
Mary Ellen's in the worst mood
she's ever had...
Erin cried herself to sleep...
and John-Boy hasn't
said a word to anyone.
What if there is no letter?
I've been thinking about
that the last day or so.
I thought about it after the first week.
Well, we should know soon enough.
He said it was coming
by the end of the month.
That was the day before yesterday.
That letter should
have been here by now.
I laid awake half
the night knowing that.
You said they told you the end
of the month at the outside.
Can I help it if
they ain't sent it?
Have you given thought to the
possibility they never will?
It'll come.
But if it doesn't?
If they don't ever write?
There's land right
here we could work.
No.
Now don't say no, Cora.
If we work it right, we just
might get it.
-If you was to ask Olivia....
-No, Ham.
The boy ain't gonna use it.
I heard him say so.
No.
Cora, I had my share of bad
times. More than my share.
I'll not ask for
a foot of this land.
Cora, listen,
what if you're right?
What if they don't
send that letter?
What if they don't mail it
from Newport News?
We'll find someplace
somewheres and start over.
There's all kinds of land
we can work on shares.
Shares? I want my own place.
Shares, and this time
we say "no moving on."
When the times get hard,
we stay and work harder.
No.
Ham, listen. No, you listen.
I say what goes in this family.
I say what we do.
All I need is a little more time.
Now, you just see to it your sweet cousin
stays as soft as always.
You just see to it that
we stay here until....
Just see to it that they don't chuck us out.
Now you understand?
Well, you two slugabeds finally get up?
Morning, Uncle Ham.
Old bright eyes has been up for
hours. Haven't you, John-Boy?
You bet.
Come on, pick some berries
with us, Uncle Ham.
Listen, something going
on between you two?
He's a pantywaist. Now listen.
This is not the time to start
any trouble, you understand?
Yes.
Good morning!
Sit down, Ham,
let me fix you some breakfast.
It'll be dinnertime shortly.
Oh, boy, that supper
you two whipped up last night!
That can last me easy till noon.
Where's John got to?
-Speak of the devil.
-Good morning, Ham.
Let me give you a hand.
What's on the fire?
Fire? Yeah.
Anything I can help with?
No need for that.
There's gotta be a chore or two.
I had such a great night's
sleep, I'm just raring to go.
Come to think of it....
If you'd like, you can pick up
things for me at Ike Godsey's.
You can check on the mail
while you're there.
You just write up the list and
I'll crank up the old flivver.
Now, Ma....
There's been nothing said that
wasn't thought by both of you.
Would having done something
made you believe more firmly...
-in whatever it was you wrote?
-No, sir.
Would it have made your cousin
Job believe what you wrote?
Not likely.
Then fighting wouldn't
have been the answer, then?
Well, now he's got me
marked down as a coward.
What's the worst he could
do to me? Break my nose?
I guess that's some
kind of an answer.
I'm not afraid of him.
Then what difference
does it make
what he's got
you marked down for?
There's some things you've got
to fight for, aren't there?
You bet there are.
Well, then?
That's something that everybody
has to decide for himself.
But once he's
decided, that's it.
I wasn't sure which of these
Grandma wanted for dinner...
so we just shot right back.
I'm gonna take them on inside.
No letter. Mail hadn't come yet.
You gonna go back for it? No.
There's not gonna be
any letter. You know that.
How about you and me
have a cup of coffee?
Ben, take these in the house.
Grandpa, I'm going to milk the cow.
You can scare a person to death
jumping out at them like that?
Scaring you wasn't
what I had in mind.
Now don't! Quit that!
The marines to the rescue.
Don't fight him, John-Boy.
Don't let my being bigger than
you stop you, pantywaist.
I won't.
You two better come up with something
special to account for the way you look.
Of all the time to pull
something like this!
Get out.
What in the world could make
you do a thing like this?
I'll help you clean that cut.
I'm alright. Let me do it, okay?
You're going to tell us
what this is all about?
No, sir, I'm not.
This is more than two youngsters fighting.
Job, you got anything to say?
I reckon not.
It had something to do with
what we was talking about...
in the strawberry
patch. Wasn't that it?
What it was you wrote?
What are you talking about?
It seems Job took
exception to something
John-Boy wrote in his tablets.
It was all about us, Pa.
About how he didn't think you
were carrying your part of...
the load and how you and me and
Ma were a burden to everybody.
How he didn't think
there was any letter
Am I leaving
anything out, John-Boy?
No, I reckon you just about said it all.
We'll be leaving.
Cora, not just yet.
I want to bring up the subject
of a little piece of land...
that these folks call John-Boy's
Meadow. Shut up, Cora.
I've been talking to people
here about this...
and I came up with an
interesting fact.
When that mountain was
divided up, a share of it...
including John-Boy's Meadow...
was given to Matt Walton, your pa, Cora.
When he died, it should've
rightfully passed on to you.
I want you to go start
packing the truck.
You help, Job.
Listen, are you out of your mind?
I'm not going to let you turn
your back and run off.
This is your land!
Matt Walton was a wanderer, Ham Denby.
He had sand in his shoes, like you.
That was his land for
a while, his birthright...
but he sold it back...
and it's Grandpa's now...
to do with what he will.
It's not mine. It's John-Boy's
to do with as he pleases.
John-Boy? No, Ham.
We're through begging...
crawling...
failing...
making excuses...
running away...
giving up.
Cora, we're at the end of the road.
Not quite.
Out there in that Dust Bowl,
in that hot Kansas wind...
my pride just blew away.
But now I got it back...
and we're going on
to some other place...
and we're gonna
make it on our own.
Aren't we?
By Harry, I said, to the end
of the month when we came...
and end of the month's just gone two days.
No way I'll wear
out my welcome. No, sir.
Cora?
Cora?
I don't know how many slips
I've cut from this cactus.
It's sweet of you to give
it to me, it really is.
It'll be nice
having a plant again.
Oh, Cora.
Everything's gonna be alright.
Ham can be the man
he used to be...
and Job's young.
There's time.
Yes.
I know the life I want.
I don't know where it will be.
But it will be as much like it
is here as I can make it.
You better get a move on
before Pa blows his top.
Tell your father I'm coming.
Yes, ma'am.
Bless you, John, for everything.
Cora, we didn't do much.
You did more than you know.
Jim-Bob, get down off there.
We heard from Cora
a few times after they left.
They settled finally
in upstate New York,
in a place called
the Mohawk Valley...
and they did alright farming.
Grandpa used to say that
Ham must have learned...
one of the Walton's secrets
in spite of himself.
That the world wasn't,
like the song said,
just a bowl of cherries...
but that you had to go out
and climb the tree...
and bark your shins
a few times doing it
and pick those
cherries yourself.
I'm much obliged to you.
Goodnight, Mary Ellen.
Tonight, I stuck my pin
in my geography book...
and it came down
on Larkspur, California.
Wouldn't that be
a fair place to see?
I guess so.
Goodnight, Mary Ellen. Goodnight.
back to those days...
when I was growing up
in the Great Depression...
I am always convinced that I
came from a remarkable family.
It wasn't that my brothers
and sisters and Iwere...
sheltered from the realities
of those difficult times.
It was simply that
Mother and Father...
had a way of making
more of what we had
and less of
what we didn't have.
Have more, Grandpa.
No, thank you, daughter.
I had my full share.
I'll have more, Mama.
-There won't be any left.
-I made plenty for everybody.
Hot biscuits! You can smell them
all the way out to the barn.
The honey's almost gone.
One of you men will have to go
out and look for a bee tree.
I saw an oak tree
just buzzing with bees
up in John-Boy's
Meadow the other day.
Why call it John-Boy's Meadow?
He's never going to farm it.
Be too busy being a writer.
I named it John-Boy's Meadow
the day he was born, that's why.
Y'all going after
that beehive, Grandpa?
I like to get an early
start smoking out them bees.
You're too old to go
traipsing around that mountain.
Ever since we got
married, my sweetheart
just can't stand
me out of her sight!
What do you think
you're doing, you old fool?
You rattletrap woods colt.
Don't you quit on me now.
Anywhere near there yet?
It's a ways out.
If I remember, we come
to a country store first.
You slug-bellied sod buster!
You slab-headed ridge runner.
I tell you there ain't nothing
on God's green earth dumber...
than a back-country
sorghum lapper.
Set the spark, Cora!
Set the spark!
And with these
it comes to $1.29.
-You're in luck, boys.
-Why is that?
'Cause this week, I'm giving
two free jawbreakers away...
every time a grocery
bill hits $1.25.
We better not take
the peaches, Ike.
Why's that, John-Boy?
You can forget it this time.
Your mama can pay me
when she comes in...
and you get the free
jawbreakers.
Thanks all the same.
But you know
how she feels about
buying on credit.
Yeah.
You've got some change coming
from your $1. I'll refigure it.
Here you go.
Howdy. Morning.
-Morning to you.
-Howdy.
Sure are friendly folks.
Yeah. They're not from
around here. That's for sure.
No, sir.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Howdy.
Well, sir, you
got some cheese
and crackers, you
can sell us our lunch.
Don't forget
Mama's orange soda.
Orange soda.
Better make that two, my boy
and I will share the other.
You're strangers
hereabouts.
Yeah, just blowed
in from Kansas.
Blowed ain't
the word for it.
In a cloud of dust.
Yeah, I heard things
got pretty mean up there.
Mean ain't the word, mister.
-How much cheese you want?
-A dime's worth will do.
Okay.
Wind blew it clear into Missouri.
Okay, here's your dime's worth of cheese.
And here's a nickel's worth
of crackers, coming up.
And then we're going to be
adding to that the two sodas.
Anything else? No.
That's 34 cents.
That's kind of steep,
ain't it, mister?
Nine cents for the apples
in your boy's pocket.
Some folks will do almost anything
nowadays to help their family.
Some will.
I'm paying, and
I'm apologizing, mister.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I took
them apples, mister.
I truly am.
Fair enough.
Air here smells good, don't it?
Hadn't smelled honeysuckle
for a long time.
-You clumsy idiot!
-I am not either.
Alright. Tell your ma you saved up.
Old Silas Gully-Jumper ain't
as smart as he thought he was.
Mama, can I go visit Aunt Bea
in Washington this summer?
We can't afford the train
fare, Mary Ellen.
I'm going to be 13 forever...
and it's absolutely the worst
possible time
You'll live through
it. Come on.
Some days I just hate
to face the world.
Like to be in my room and not
have to say a word to a soul.
That's natural at your age.
I'm going to die
on Walton's Mountain...
and never see anything of
the world but Charlottesville.
Now, sugar, it's time you
found out the world is flat.
Twenty miles past
Charlottesville,
it just drops off into nothing.
Daddy, it's not funny.
You oughtn't to
tease her like that.
Turn your back,
and they're grown up.
I'm thinking of
giving this up.
Tobacco's so
expensive, anyway.
Good idea.
Daddy! Somebody's coming.
And wait till you see
what they're coming in!
Well, let's just take a look.
What in the world....
It's gonna rattle apart
before it gets here.
Howdy, Olivia, John.
John, it's Cora and Ham.
And that must be Job.
Come on, children,
and meet your cousins.
Hello, Cora. Hello.
-It's good to see you.-Same here. Look at you.
And Job and Ham, come on in,
you must be exhausted.
Hi, John.
Look at you. You're getting
to be such a big girl.
It's that old jalopy
we saw at Ike's store.
Yeah.
Wonder what they're doing here.
It ain't all that much, but
we couldn't come empty-handed.
Oh, how nice.
But you didn't
have to bring anything.
Of course not. You're family.
Well, it'll only be till
the end of the month.
Two weeks at the most.
Will you stop apologizing?
It's wonderful tohave you stay with us.
Thank you.
Won't be long, though.
We got a job promised
in Newport News...
they're going to write us here.
You're lucky, Ham. Jobs are
hard to find these days.
Losing the farm, there's no
other place to have them...
write and it's been my heart's
craving to see home again.
You can have our room.
John will move in with the boys,
I'll sleep with the girls...
and, Job, you can
bunk in with John-Boy.
And we can always put
another bean in the pot.
her son, Job, and her husband, Ham.
-Howdy, nice to meet you.
-Good to meet you.
The size of them boys.
This back country's
sure the place to raise them.
Where you folks from?
We've come all
the way from Kansas.
Boys, Hamilton here
lost his farm in the drought...
and him and Cousin Cora will be
staying with us for a spell.
I'm sorry about your farm.
It sure is a bitter thing
to see land you've worked...
go swirling off in a cloud of dust.
Last Sunday, the preacher
told us all to say a prayer...
that the farmers out West
would get rain soon.
You should've waited
a little while longer.
Son, it's long come to mind that
if God wanted to make it rain...
he don't need us
to ask him for it.
Well, let's get your things
off the car and stored inside.
-John-Boy, everybody help.
-Yes, ma'am.
-Sorry to be putting you out.
-You're not putting me out.
Come on, get the car unloaded,
and I'll show you the room.
Just take either
side of the bed you want.
Makes no nevermind.
I guess I'll just clear
out a dresser drawer
here for your things.
What things I've got, I wear.
Don't need a whole drawer
for what extras there is.
-You've a long trip from Kansas?
-Long enough.
You must be pretty wrung out?
Look...
you don't want me here
no more than I wanna be here.
So forget the friendlies?
That's not so.
You're welcome here.
Ah-huh.
Job, Mama said to bring you this towel.
Is that somebody's way
of saying I need a bath?
I haven't got that close
to you. I wouldn't know.
But if you do, help yourself.
It's down the hall.
John-Boy, Mama wants you to help
bring in string beans from the garden.
Sure.
Hi.
Mama said you moved around a lot.
Pa's worked here and there.
It must be wonderful to see a
lot of places, different people.
Yeah, I reckon.
Ever been to Snowflake, Arizona?
Never even heard of it.
She said you lived in Pittsburgh once.
And in Chicago.
Des Moines, outside of Wichita.
Few other places, too.
Gosh, you've really been around.
Yeah, I reckon.
I've never been any
further than Charlottesville.
I've never met anybody
who has traveled as much as you.
Like you said, I've been around.
Cousin Job. Yeah?
Uncle Ham says for you to
come help cut some wood.
Maybe you'd better wait
to take that bath.
Which one are you?
I'm Jason.
How old? Fifteen.
How old is she?
She's 13. Why?
Getting hatched
from the same family.
Are you and me kin?
No. We're just brother and sister.
Kin's people you gotta kiss
even if they have a mustache.
Oh!
When we get settled...
I'm going to plant me a garden.
Put in...
tomatoes...
and squash...
string beans, and some cucumber.
Seems like it's Ham's place
to work the garden.
Well, Ham's trouble is
he can't put down roots...
of any kind.
When John worked
over in Waynesboro...
we just never did see him.
He doesn't make
as much money now,
but we're more of a family.
That's the secret,
isn't it, Livie?
Secret?
The deciding what's really
important in life...
and then working for it.
Poor Ham.
My heavens, would you look at
this Christmas cactus
It was covered with blooms
up until a month ago.
I had one with me
when I went West...
but it died along the way.
They're a plant that don't
need much attention.
Easy to grow...
if they've got the right soil.
Maybe that was the trouble.
Do you know where Daddy
left his pipe and tobacco?
I think they're
beside the radio.
Remind him what time it is.
He'll miss Burns and Allen
if he doesn't get in here.
Could be this
line's got dirt in it.
Yeah, the carburetor
probably needs cleaning, too.
Man in St. Louis
tried to sell me a set of plugs.
Well, well.
We'll check them
out in the morning.
For Cora's sake, though
I'd like to find
something around here.
Here's your pipe, Daddy.
Mama says to remind
you what time it is.
We'll be right in, honey.
You go warm up the radio.
Okay.
I tell you, John,
you're blessed in a lot of ways.
This house, all this land.
How much acreage you got?
I got about 12 acres.
Grandpa divided it equally.
You're sure privileged
to have it handed
to you on a silver platter.
If a man don't reach
out and take...
he gets what goes over
the fence last, every time.
I tell you, Ham...
there's plenty of land for
those willing to work shares.
I tell you, John,
it tears at a man
to see his family do without.
Plenty are saying
that, nowadays.
Say, Gracie, if only the world
would recognize
my singing voice.
Well, it does, George.
Everyone recognizes
your singing voice.
Really? Well, sure...
For some reason my voice just
doesn't seem to sell.
Lots of people think it does.
Think it sells? Oh, sells!
What fools they are.
You have a beautiful voice.
You really think so? Oh, yes.
You sound like a nightingale....
But I never get a chance.
I know, dear. Just like that....
Seems to me that using past failures
as the seed for tomorrow's defeats...
is a poor waste of the garden
of life God has given us.
Only it's worse than it sounds...
they tried to drown you out
in the swimming pool.
Thank goodness, Jack....
He's just wandered
from one place to another...
and never made
a go of it anywhere.
And Job's just following
right in his footsteps.
It's just rabbit tobacco.
Just don't set the place on fire.
You're gonna tell?
Mary Ellen, why don't you
just learn to use your brain?
John-Boy, don't go. Help me
scrub some potatoes.
You get those berries to Grandma.
Mary Ellen, you will go to your room
and learn 10 verses
of the Bible before supper.
But, Mama--
Any backtalk and you will learn 15.
And put on something decent.
You watch your step, young man.
You snitch!
-I didn't say a word.
-Fifteen Bible verses!
Won't do you a bit of harm!
Hi, Mr. Godsey.
Hi, Yancy.
I want you to meet Ham Denby.
This is Ike Godsey
and that's Yancy Tucker.
Howdy. Howdy.
That bacon was yours, I thought so.
Nobody smokes bacon like Ike Godsey.
Bacon?
You're wrong about that, Cousin John.
I picked that bacon up
coming through Kentucky.
Somebody must have your
smoking secret in Kentucky.
Are you kin to John?
He's married to my cousin Cora.
You remember Cora, don't you?
Cora. The pretty little thing
that went off to Kansas to live?
Ham here is expecting a letter
from Newport News, care of us.
Glad to.
-Yancy, how've you been?
-Good, thank you.
Sure had me a nice meal last
night, thanks to you all, John.
How's that?
Shot me a mess of quail
up at John-Boy's Meadow.
Sure be a shame when he builds
up there, chases that covey off.
Ain't going to happen for years,
he's still a young squirt.
Him wanting to be a writer,
it'll likely never happen.
It's a shame, too. That
land is just begging for seed.
Seems to me I've
seen you somewhere.
No, I'm spanking
new around these parts.
I don't think so.
Guess you just remind me
of somebody I've run into.
What were you saying
about that John-Boy's Meadow?
Prettiest piece of
land the Lord ever made.
I understand old man Walton...
divided that up
amongst all of his boys.
I believe that's
what happened, yes, sir.
I wonder what happened to
Cora's daddy's portion.
I guess you'd have to ask
old Mr. Walton about that.
Remember you said you needed
rewiring done a while back?
Yeah, I've still been
wanting it cared for.
Well, I'm going to have some
free time the next few days.
How about the day
after tomorrow?
Good.
All same to you, we don't have
to have money change hands...
I could take
it out in groceries.
It's okay by me, John.
That way I can...
pay for some bacon
we've been eating.
I picked it up while
you two was inside talking.
I gave the money
to that Yancy fellow.
Say, he's quite
a character, ain't he?
Ain't that just like
John and Livie Walton?
Take in kin, house and feed them
when times are like they are.
Yeah.
I sure hope that business about
bread cast upon the water is true.
There are times, sad to say...
when bread upon the waters comes back
good for nothing except a soggy sandwich.
Hey, Ben.
Hey, you think that's going
to get off the ground?
Sure it is.
Would you show a fellow
the lay of the land around here?
Any place you
want to see special?
Place called John-Boy's Meadow.
Come on, I'll show you.
-I'm sorry, I should've knocked.
-Not at all.
I aired this quilt out
today, and I thought I'd....
Why, Cora, you have
such beautiful hair.
Why, thank you.
You should wear it loose.
Do you really think so? I do.
I've pinned it up for so many years.
Ham never liked it down loose.
Said it got in the way of work.
You should just gather it
and tie it at the back.
When did you quilt that
Grandmother's Flower Garden?
I finished this one last winter.
It's lovely.
I'm going to throw away
all those old quilts...
I brought from Kansas,
and when we get settled...
I'm going to quilt
me brand new ones.
I recall a Jacob's Ladder you had.
You ought to. You helped me do
it. You and Maggie Collyer.
I'm beginning to
remember a lot of things.
John-Boy? Yeah?
I saw somebody do something wrong
and then tell a lie about it--
If you're going to be a
tattletale, don't wanna hear it.
-But it's Cousin--
-I don't care who it is...
why don't you just
go and talk to them
and let them set it right?
Leave me out of it.
Thanks for the use of your truck, Ham,
parts for mine should be in soon.
I couldn't see you walking clear down
Besides, I can't help
with the rewiring job,
I'm all thumbs on a thing like that.
It's a one-man job, anyway.
See you tonight.
You must be thinking
somewhat the way I'm thinking.
Jason. Ham.
Doing some hoeing?
Yeah.
If you'd like something to do,
I have a chore or two
you could help out with.
Surely.
Livie's border
there needs some manure.
Her petunias are doing poorly.
You come along,
I'll show you the manure.
Getting any bites?
Kind of nice being here.
Just the two of us.
It's a pretty spot, isn't it?
Nobody for miles around.
What are you getting at?
I don't know.
Fool around, maybe?
You come near me, and I'll bash
your head in with a rock.
No need to be so touchy.
Uncle Ham? Little lady.
If somebody does something wrong...
the important thing
is for them to set it right.
Wrong been done?
I saw you snitch that
tobacco from Ike Godsey.
You saw wrong.
Yancy Tucker was standing right with me
when I put that dime on the counter.
Yancy was on the
other side of the store
when you took that tobacco.
Well, now, you are
a real disappointment.
I never thought I'd see a child
of John and Livie's sass back...
question their elders, same as
call them a liar to their faces.
But I-- You go on and clear out.
And you're just lucky
that I don't tell your pa.
Now go on, clear out of here.
Go on.
-Who are you writing that to?
-Nobody.
It's none of your business.
-You were writing about my pa.
-I was writing about a lot of--
You were writing about
me and Ma and Pa!
Okay, have it your way.
You ain't got no right
to say them things.
I've got a right to
think anything I want.
What have you got
to back it up with?
What? You heard me.
Come on, cut it out!
-Show me how tough you are.
-I didn't say I was tough.
Show me how right you are about
what you wrote in that tablet.
I'm not gonna fight you.
I could have figured.
You pantywaist.
Hello, sweetheart.
What have you got there?
I got 10 hours of rewiring
Ike Godsey's store.
Everything alright around here?
Something's wrong with this house, John.
Mary Ellen's in the worst mood
she's ever had...
Erin cried herself to sleep...
and John-Boy hasn't
said a word to anyone.
What if there is no letter?
I've been thinking about
that the last day or so.
I thought about it after the first week.
Well, we should know soon enough.
He said it was coming
by the end of the month.
That was the day before yesterday.
That letter should
have been here by now.
I laid awake half
the night knowing that.
You said they told you the end
of the month at the outside.
Can I help it if
they ain't sent it?
Have you given thought to the
possibility they never will?
It'll come.
But if it doesn't?
If they don't ever write?
There's land right
here we could work.
No.
Now don't say no, Cora.
If we work it right, we just
might get it.
-If you was to ask Olivia....
-No, Ham.
The boy ain't gonna use it.
I heard him say so.
No.
Cora, I had my share of bad
times. More than my share.
I'll not ask for
a foot of this land.
Cora, listen,
what if you're right?
What if they don't
send that letter?
What if they don't mail it
from Newport News?
We'll find someplace
somewheres and start over.
There's all kinds of land
we can work on shares.
Shares? I want my own place.
Shares, and this time
we say "no moving on."
When the times get hard,
we stay and work harder.
No.
Ham, listen. No, you listen.
I say what goes in this family.
I say what we do.
All I need is a little more time.
Now, you just see to it your sweet cousin
stays as soft as always.
You just see to it that
we stay here until....
Just see to it that they don't chuck us out.
Now you understand?
Well, you two slugabeds finally get up?
Morning, Uncle Ham.
Old bright eyes has been up for
hours. Haven't you, John-Boy?
You bet.
Come on, pick some berries
with us, Uncle Ham.
Listen, something going
on between you two?
He's a pantywaist. Now listen.
This is not the time to start
any trouble, you understand?
Yes.
Good morning!
Sit down, Ham,
let me fix you some breakfast.
It'll be dinnertime shortly.
Oh, boy, that supper
you two whipped up last night!
That can last me easy till noon.
Where's John got to?
-Speak of the devil.
-Good morning, Ham.
Let me give you a hand.
What's on the fire?
Fire? Yeah.
Anything I can help with?
No need for that.
There's gotta be a chore or two.
I had such a great night's
sleep, I'm just raring to go.
Come to think of it....
If you'd like, you can pick up
things for me at Ike Godsey's.
You can check on the mail
while you're there.
You just write up the list and
I'll crank up the old flivver.
Now, Ma....
There's been nothing said that
wasn't thought by both of you.
Would having done something
made you believe more firmly...
-in whatever it was you wrote?
-No, sir.
Would it have made your cousin
Job believe what you wrote?
Not likely.
Then fighting wouldn't
have been the answer, then?
Well, now he's got me
marked down as a coward.
What's the worst he could
do to me? Break my nose?
I guess that's some
kind of an answer.
I'm not afraid of him.
Then what difference
does it make
what he's got
you marked down for?
There's some things you've got
to fight for, aren't there?
You bet there are.
Well, then?
That's something that everybody
has to decide for himself.
But once he's
decided, that's it.
I wasn't sure which of these
Grandma wanted for dinner...
so we just shot right back.
I'm gonna take them on inside.
No letter. Mail hadn't come yet.
You gonna go back for it? No.
There's not gonna be
any letter. You know that.
How about you and me
have a cup of coffee?
Ben, take these in the house.
Grandpa, I'm going to milk the cow.
You can scare a person to death
jumping out at them like that?
Scaring you wasn't
what I had in mind.
Now don't! Quit that!
The marines to the rescue.
Don't fight him, John-Boy.
Don't let my being bigger than
you stop you, pantywaist.
I won't.
You two better come up with something
special to account for the way you look.
Of all the time to pull
something like this!
Get out.
What in the world could make
you do a thing like this?
I'll help you clean that cut.
I'm alright. Let me do it, okay?
You're going to tell us
what this is all about?
No, sir, I'm not.
This is more than two youngsters fighting.
Job, you got anything to say?
I reckon not.
It had something to do with
what we was talking about...
in the strawberry
patch. Wasn't that it?
What it was you wrote?
What are you talking about?
It seems Job took
exception to something
John-Boy wrote in his tablets.
It was all about us, Pa.
About how he didn't think you
were carrying your part of...
the load and how you and me and
Ma were a burden to everybody.
How he didn't think
there was any letter
Am I leaving
anything out, John-Boy?
No, I reckon you just about said it all.
We'll be leaving.
Cora, not just yet.
I want to bring up the subject
of a little piece of land...
that these folks call John-Boy's
Meadow. Shut up, Cora.
I've been talking to people
here about this...
and I came up with an
interesting fact.
When that mountain was
divided up, a share of it...
including John-Boy's Meadow...
was given to Matt Walton, your pa, Cora.
When he died, it should've
rightfully passed on to you.
I want you to go start
packing the truck.
You help, Job.
Listen, are you out of your mind?
I'm not going to let you turn
your back and run off.
This is your land!
Matt Walton was a wanderer, Ham Denby.
He had sand in his shoes, like you.
That was his land for
a while, his birthright...
but he sold it back...
and it's Grandpa's now...
to do with what he will.
It's not mine. It's John-Boy's
to do with as he pleases.
John-Boy? No, Ham.
We're through begging...
crawling...
failing...
making excuses...
running away...
giving up.
Cora, we're at the end of the road.
Not quite.
Out there in that Dust Bowl,
in that hot Kansas wind...
my pride just blew away.
But now I got it back...
and we're going on
to some other place...
and we're gonna
make it on our own.
Aren't we?
By Harry, I said, to the end
of the month when we came...
and end of the month's just gone two days.
No way I'll wear
out my welcome. No, sir.
Cora?
Cora?
I don't know how many slips
I've cut from this cactus.
It's sweet of you to give
it to me, it really is.
It'll be nice
having a plant again.
Oh, Cora.
Everything's gonna be alright.
Ham can be the man
he used to be...
and Job's young.
There's time.
Yes.
I know the life I want.
I don't know where it will be.
But it will be as much like it
is here as I can make it.
You better get a move on
before Pa blows his top.
Tell your father I'm coming.
Yes, ma'am.
Bless you, John, for everything.
Cora, we didn't do much.
You did more than you know.
Jim-Bob, get down off there.
We heard from Cora
a few times after they left.
They settled finally
in upstate New York,
in a place called
the Mohawk Valley...
and they did alright farming.
Grandpa used to say that
Ham must have learned...
one of the Walton's secrets
in spite of himself.
That the world wasn't,
like the song said,
just a bowl of cherries...
but that you had to go out
and climb the tree...
and bark your shins
a few times doing it
and pick those
cherries yourself.
I'm much obliged to you.
Goodnight, Mary Ellen.
Tonight, I stuck my pin
in my geography book...
and it came down
on Larkspur, California.
Wouldn't that be
a fair place to see?
I guess so.
Goodnight, Mary Ellen. Goodnight.