The Waltons (1971–1981): Season 4, Episode 7 - The Wing-Walker - full transcript

JOHN-BOY: While we were walking
the green meadows of Walton's Mountain,

daring fliers were conquering
the beckoning blue skies.

We had come to
know an airmail pilot

who would fly slightly off
course just to say hello to us

and especially to Jim-Bob.

Jim-Bob's head was in the
clouds back in those days,

dreaming of machines
which he hoped one day to fly.

See you all later.
GIRLS: Bye-bye.

JASON: Have a nice
day. ELIZABETH: Bye-bye.

Wish I could go with you.

Jim-Bob, when I get home,
I'm gonna tell you everything



you want to know
about wing-walkers.

Besides, you'll be able to see
them when they're at the fair.

Hey, Grandma, Grandpa!

How many eggs you got?

GRANDMA: Two dozen.

(HORN HONKING) Have a good day.

Have a good day.

Maude Gormley, what are
you doing way over here?

It looks like the goat's
taking Maude out for a stroll.

(GOAT BLEATING)

MAUDE: Well, good
morning, Esther.

Good morning, Zeb.

Morning. You all know Myrtle.

GRANDPA: Morning, Myrtle.



JIM-BOB: Hello,
Myrtle. ELIZABETH: Hi.

I came here this
morning for a purpose.

It's Myrtle.

See, seems like the older I get,

the more mischief she gets into.

She's got high-grade
intelligence,

but got so she's too
much for me to manage.

You might say that, uh,
Myrtle's got your goat, huh?

You've got my
goat's more like it.

I'm going to give
Myrtle to you all,

knowing you'll treat her
with love and kindness.

(BLEATING)

Don't touch her horns.
She's sensitive there.

Maude, with a...
with a bank loan

hanging over the mill
and 11 mouths to feed,

a goat with a bottomless
pit is just what we don't need.

Oh, Grandma. Look
at her. Oh, Grandma.

I'll pull grass for her.

Well, I'll milk her, Grandma.

Well, Esther, Myrtle will
more than pay for her keep

with the milk she gives.

(SIGHS) Well, I have heard
them called the poor man's cow.

Myrtle lets down the richest
milk in the Old Dominion.

We got a goat.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Well, I guess the sooner
me and Myrtle part, the better.

She favors alfalfa grass.

Well, thank you, Maude.

We'll take good care
of her, don't you worry.

Now you come back and see
her anytime you want to, Maude.

You know where she is
if you ever want her back.

You treat her with
love and kindness

'cause that's the
way I grew her.

(CHUCKLING)

All right now, you children,

you go on to school or
you're all gonna be late.

Go on. Now, Myrtle will
be here when you get back.

Yeah, you can play
with her anytime.

Play with her.
She's not a plaything.

She's a farm animal. (BLEATING)

Grandma, Myrtle wants to
follow me like Mary's little lamb.

Yes, you go on. Go on.

What're you doing
with her, Grandma?

I am going to tie her up so
she doesn't get near that garden.

BEN: Grandma! JIM-BOB: What?

Just go to school. Go to school.

(GOAT BLEATING)

There.

(IMITATING GOAT)

I think she's telling
you what for, Esther.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(WHOOPING)

You gotta have a
lot of guts to do that.

Yeah, either that or
you gotta be crazy.

(LAUGHS) Right.

Study hard. I will.

See you. Okay.

JOHN-BOY: Rex Barker? Yeah.

I'm John Walton, Jr.,
Jefferson County Times.

I've been assigned to do a story
on you and your wing-walker.

John. We need all the
ballyhoo we can get.

Oh, everybody's going
to come out to see you.

I was back in Westham,
and they were all watching.

Well, you know, come-on flights

before a fair do
help at the gate.

And I picked up a few passengers

who want to go up just
for the thrill. Uh-huh.

Well, that seemed like a pretty
smooth landing you just made.

Greased her in pretty good.

Better than a cornfield
or a cow pasture.

BARKER: Of course, uh,
they aren't always that smooth.

Oh, is that where you got that?

Yeah, I was, uh, touching my
wheels down and taking off again

and, uh, I kissed the
ground a little hard,

got a dashboard
right in the eye.

But I'm not your story.

John Walton, writer.

Death Defying Bobby Strom.

Oh. Uh, well, I... I... I
didn't know that. It's, uh...

What a pleasure.

Um, that's really something.

What's really something?

Well, I mean, you're
a girl... A w-w-woman.

Oh, good for you.

Well, I mean, it's just
that I... I never expected...

I never heard of a
woman wing-walker before.

Oh. Are you an authority
on wing-walkers? No.

No, I'm... I'm here assigned, uh,
from the Jefferson County Times

to do a story on you.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Uh, Rex, I think I'll drive on
into town and try to find a hotel.

Good luck.

Uh, could I ask you
a few questions?

Uh, I think you better
let her speak for herself.

Okay, well, nice to meet you.

Okay.

Miss Strom. Miss Strom.

I... I didn't mean to
be rude back there.

It's just that it was
such a surprise.

Uh, could I suggest
something to you?

Suggest.

Well, the next
time you're up there

on one of your,
your come-on flights

and you're walking on the wing,

why don't you maybe just take off
your aviator's cap and let your hair fly?

I think it'd be quite a thrill for people
to know it was a woman up there.

You'd attract a lot more
people to the fair and,

well, I know it
would attract me.

I like your idea. Any more?

I'm a student at the... At
the university in Westham,

and if you'd like I could take you
into town and find you a place to stay.

Oh, no, thanks. I'll
take my chances.

One downtown
hotel is like any other.

Sure. I know.

Good-bye. Bye.

You know, Miss Strom.

If you really feel that way
about downtown hotels,

you could always come out
and stay with us in the country.

It would certainly help me with
the story to have you nearby.

Your wife wouldn't object?

(LAUGHING)

I don't have a wife.
I just have a family.

Of... Of brothers and sisters and
my... my mom and my daddy, you know.

We have, uh, a little house
next to the main house.

Well, I guess you could call it
a guesthouse. It's very modest.

I wouldn't expect
anything grand.

Where is this little
guesthouse with family?

About 26 miles from
here, Walton's Mountain.

Uh, y-you'd have a good time.

Um, you can always speak
to my... my brother, Jim-Bob.

He's my younger
brother. He loves aviation.

Or else you could just relax.

It's... It's beautiful
countryside and quiet.

You could just take it easy.

I could get my story.

Well, this is crazy,

but I think I would rather
be staring at a mountain

than the walls of
another seedy hotel.

Okay.

Well, great.

I'll just, uh, get
my bags, okay?

Oh, I'll get them. Is this...

Just this one right here? Okay.

That's great.

Um, that's my car right
over there, the tan one.

Okay.

I'll tell you what. I can take a
dollar off for the three of you,

but five bucks is really
my rock-bottom price.

Sorry.

See you tomorrow, Rex.

Okay.

Miss Strom is going to come
home, uh, to stay with my family.

You're welcome to come,
too, if you don't mind the hayloft.

Well, thanks a lot,
John. I appreciate it, but...

Even though we are a stunt team,

when it comes to time off
we go our separate ways.

Her choice, not mine.

Well, pleasure to meet you.

Sure. Okay. Thank you.

Well.

I think you're really
gonna like my family.

Wait a minute. Your
door isn't closed yet.

Sorry.

JOHN-BOY: I got a
professor in college,

and he, uh, talks about what
he calls irresistible forces.

Things that have to happen
in order to reshape the world.

You know, like the
opening up of the Orient

and the invention of
electricity and airplanes.

Well, like that China
Clipper. Can you believe that?

That's a boat that flies
from California to Hawaii

and then straight on to China.

You must feel great being
a part of that whole thing.

You know, blazing trails
along with the rest of them.

Hogwash.

A wing-walker
just gives the public

what it craves,
ever-greater thrills.

Well, what made you
become a wing-walker?

I'm drawn to high places.

No, I mean, I mean why didn't you
just become a pilot like Amelia Earhart?

See, if I'm gonna
write this story,

I wanna know why you
take chances like that.

If that's the kind of
story you wanna write.

Last year, there were over
250 barnstorming accidents.

Some 80 killed,
over 150 injured.

Wings do collapse,
fabric tears loose,

engines rip away
coming out of a dive,

a wing-walker
or two is blown off

when the safety harness breaks.

Does that help your story?
No. You don't understand.

That's not what
I'm talking about.

I wanna know what makes
you take the chances you take.

When you have skill, it
isn't chance. Oh, come on.

Every time you walk out there,

you're taking your
life in your hands.

I know where I walk.

Got one. Yeah.

Grandpa, how many flies did the
brave little tailor kill with one blow?

Well, now, according to the
Brothers Grimm, they were seven in all.

Well, I killed
one in five blows.

(LAUGHING) Yes.

You know, I figure if I
can kill all the flies outside,

there won't be any for
Myrtle to draw inside.

Mmm. Well, Myrtle, she
likes company. Just look at her.

(IMITATING GOAT) Myrtle.

Ben.

Now, that goat's drawing
flies from miles around.

You go tie her to that tree.

Grandma, Maude Gormley
even let Myrtle in the house.

Well, Maude spoiled her rotten,

and it's up to
us to unspoil her.

Now go ahead. Go on.

Elizabeth, what in the
world are you doing,

swatting flies outside?

Well, you say that Myrtle
draws flies into the house,

and I figure that if I
can kill them all off,

there won't be any
to draw into the house.

Myrtle is not going inside.

Now, you help me
keep her in her place.

Ben, you make it good and tight.

You know, that one up there looks
like a resident housefly to me, eh?

Yes, I... I think
that's a Walton fly.

Leave her alone.

(SIGHS)

Hey, lookee here.

That one there.

Ah, must've just
eaten, that little fly.

It's washing its face
just like a cat would.

And it's looking around at us
with its beautiful big blue eyes,

watching out for its enemies.

With flyswatters. Mmm.

You know, the common housefly

is one of the most
perfect examples

of motherhood that
there is, Elizabeth.

The ordinary female
housefly can literally hatch up

thousands of young ones.

Grandpa, I'd rather if you didn't
tell me nice things about flies.

I could never kill them.

Life is like that.

Let's go.

It's all so excruciatingly
exciting and romantic.

A girl wing-walker.

Flying in the sky all dressed in
white, you must look like a dove.

MARY ELLEN: I'll bet
you get tons of proposals.

Oh, at least one a day.

But actually not
many men are willing

to follow me out on the wing of
an airplane going 65 miles an hour.

(ALL LAUGHING)

I'd like to set that to music.

What does it sound like?

At first, it's like a whistling.

But then you break through to a
whole other world where it's quiet,

and you feel as if you're the
only person alive in the universe.

Mama went up in an airplane with
a pilot who landed in her meadow.

It was the thrill of my
life. A whole other world.

I've got an aviator
cap like yours.

I'll go get it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
It'll wait till after supper.

Let Miss Strom
finish eating her food.

Strom. That's a very
interesting name.

Never heard it before.

It's Scandinavian. It
means electrical current.

Like lightning
striking. Like you!

Sounds like a
storm. Barnstormers.

I suppose you young ones know that
barnstormers were early play actors,

went around on horseback
playing in barns and such?

I didn't know that, Grandpa.

Well, Zeb would.

He's been putting on
a show most of his life.

And my only
admission price is a kiss.

GRANDMA: You see.

ELIZABETH: You know, we have a
picture of Amelia Earhart in our school.

She's a real hero.

But she's safe in a cockpit.

Bobby's on the
wing of an airplane,

flying with the
wind in her face.

What's the difference between
a woman flying an airplane

and a woman making
a spectacle of herself?

JIM-BOB: May we
be excused, please?

Yes, you certainly may.

GRANDPA: I haven't
finished the pudding yet.

You can just put it here.

I'll go get my aviator's
cap and plane, okay?

Okay, Jim-Bob.

You sure made
a big hit with him.

I think she heard you, Grandma.

I know she did.

GRANDMA: Well, she
ought to hear somebody.

That girl better get
ready to meet her maker.

(BLEATING)

(JOHN-BOY LAUGHING)

Hey, Myrtle, what
you doing up there?

You're sure gonna
catch it from Grandma.

Like I did?

Oh, well.

You gotta understand
Grandma. According to her lights,

it's sinful for someone to endanger
his life for sport or entertainment.

That's what sells tickets.

The entire family, friends
and half the town will be there.

Well, no, you don't really
understand my family.

There isn't one of them
that would go to see you do

a stunt like that
unless it was to pray

you'd come through
safe and sound.

I sure would hate to see
anything happen to you.

I'm sorry.

Is it Rex, your... your...
your partner? I mean...

He told me that... that, that he
went his way and you went yours.

We do.

You wouldn't understand.

I'd like to.

I'd like to know
you a lot better.

Good night, John-Boy.

Uh, Bobby?

Uh...

This is gonna
sound pretty silly,

but tomorrow when you're up on
your come-on flight, you know...

Well, I've never been
up in an airplane before.

And I'd surely like to know
what it feels like up there.

I think it'd be
good for the story,

if you got any
room in the cockpit.

(SIGHS)

It sure is hard
to say no to you.

Good night, John-Boy.

Good night.

This is great!

Welcome back!

You sure had me
scared there for a minute.

(LAUGHING)

Myrtle's found her own
mountain, that's for sure.

Would you like to come in?

Sure.

Yeah, I wonder how long this
old mountain's been here anyway.

They say that, uh, primitive
life forms showed up here

around 1,500 million B.C.

And here we are.

What's the matter with you?

I want to tell you something.

I've never told this
to anybody before.

When I was 15 years old,

I was walking
through some woods.

A man attacked me.

I never saw him before.
I never saw him again.

Can't escape that memory.

Say something.

I don't know what to say.

I want to say the right thing.

I think I'd like to be alone.

Um, Bobby.

An experience like that,

it doesn't have to
be a whole lifetime.

I...

JIM-BOB: Did you know
Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh

started out as a grease monkey

to earn money
for flying lessons?

He was a wing-walker, too.

I could learn a lot
from you, Jim-Bob.

I don't know. You've been doing
everything I've been dreaming of doing.

Have you ever flown, Mr. Walton?

No. Looked up at a few from the
trenches in France during the war.

Mostly German planes with
black crosses on their wings.

Oh, the German aces.

The war did more for the air age

than it did for anything else.

Well, it didn't do much for
our boys in Flanders Field.

The next war will do
even more for flying.

Well, thank heavens there
isn't going to be any next war.

Thanks to men like my
son and the other boys,

made the world safe. I
don't know, Grandma.

There's an awful lot of marching
going on over in Germany right now.

If the war does break
out, I hope to fly in it.

Oh, good Lord.

I don't know.

We had nurses and women
ambulance drivers behind the lines,

but women fighter
pilots? I don't know.

I was thinking of flying
soldiers to the war zones.

You might pay
attention here, reporter.

Some background for your story.

Say that Jim-Bob here is flying
the plane and I'm on the wing.

Air bumps, or turbulence,

need not be feared, Jim-Bob,
if you know what causes them.

Now, warm air travels upward.

You can expect it mostly
over cities and open fields

that catch the full
rays of the sun.

Cool air travels downwards
over lakes and forests.

Downdrafts can be dangerous.

The way to avoid a
crash is to gun your engine

and just fly up out of them.

Now, as the plane flies forward

the air flows and
goes around the wing.

In a declining angle, the
air helps to hold me on.

If the air meets the wing
at too sharp of an angle,

the wind just rushes over me and
I have a very hard time holding on.

This can cause
a decrease in lift

and your plane could stall.

Oh, I'd never let that
happen. Not with you out there.

With a good pilot,
and Rex is the best

until Jim-Bob gets
his wings here,

all I've got to do is just
lean into the wind, that's all.

If you know how to
combat drag and gravity pull,

there's nothing to be afraid of.

Unless I decide
to take that chance.

What chance?

Climb out of the cockpit,

up to the top wing.

Top wing?

Stand there with no support.

Free,

and lean into the wind
holding two flags on high.

With no safety belt?

With a safety belt,
I wouldn't be free.

Bobby.

I've been thinking

about what you told me

and about the way
you take chances.

I think if you wanna be happy

and you wanna make
anybody else happy,

you're gonna have to love your
own life and not be afraid of it.

Is my life worth loving?

Your life is precious.

Good morning.

Hey, Reckless.

Hi, Myrtle. Hi.

(BARKING) Where's Jim-Bob?

Oh, he's upstairs,
Mama. He'll be right down.

Bye-bye, have a nice day.

Wait for me. I gotta
say bye to Myrtle.

No.

You'll smell up the
whole school with goat.

Grandma.

You know, I'm going
to take that goat,

lock it in the barn, and throw
the key in Drucilla's Pond.

(GOAT BLEATING)

Jim-Bob, your lunch.

Thanks, Ma.

Have a good day.
ELIZABETH: Bye, Myrtle.

Where's John-Boy this morning?

Oh, he went to take that story he's writing
about you to the Jefferson County Times.

Bye, Elizabeth. Bye.

Do you have time for
a walk, Mrs. Walton?

Well, I should be doing the
breakfast dishes, but sure.

A walk would be more fun.

Yesterday there was
a rose in my room.

Last night there
was another one.

A long time ago, I had an
experience that changed my life.

I just stopped feeling.

I couldn't let anybody
be close to me.

I was determined to
not ever get hurt again.

I was too scared, too
scared to be close to anyone.

And then John-Boy

made me want to change all that.

Something wrong?

It's a place not much different
from this where it happened.

I've never been able
to go into the shadows.

Let's go back the other way.

It's beautiful here.

Does it have a name?

Drucilla's Pond.

John-Boy loves it here.

We all do.

We have a wonderful time
when we come here for picnics.

To hear the children's
voices yelling and screaming,

and Grandpa getting mad
'cause he's trying to fish.

I never used to think
of a family of my own.

If it's what you really want,

there's probably
no greater blessing.

You and Mr. Walton are lucky.

We've had a good life.

Hasn't always
been smooth sailing,

but we always loved each other.

That got us through
the bad times

and made the good
times even better.

I've been such a
disappointment to my parents.

They wanted grandchildren.

Mrs. Walton, I slept
so soundly last night.

I don't know if it was
the good mountain air

or all the warmth
and friendliness

I've felt here from all of you.

Oh, I slept soundly.

Even with Myrtle on your roof?

(LAUGHING) Yes.

I'm the kind of person who
just plunges right into life,

but here I've started to
change and look around.

I'm becoming
something different.

After all these years of not
allowing myself to feel anything at all,

can you imagine how
I really feel right now?

I think I'm falling in
love with John-Boy.

Does he know?

No.

A girl has never been
courted so tenderly.

JOHN-BOY: I've never encountered
a woman like Bobby Strom before.

From the first moment I saw her,

I found her tantalizing and
romantic, even challenging.

But what Bobby has told me
about herself has made me think

about my own feelings for her,

and I now realize that they may
not have been of the most noble type.

I feel embarrassed
and guilty when I think

of how I might have treated her.

From here on, I want to
put those feelings behind me

and be her friend
and truly help her.

Are you sure Myrtle
won't kick like Chance?

Not if you keep the flies away.

Shoo.

You know, Myrtle, if Grandma
likes your milk enough,

maybe she'll
let you out of jail.

Can I try? I'll
take in the bucket.

Hey, that's not fair.

I'm gonna tell Daddy on you.

Oh, wait a minute. Here,
you can milk the goat.

Here. Sit right down here.

Come on. Just like Chance.

No need for you to
help. You're company.

I want to.

You know, right now
you sure don't look like

that Death Defying
Bobby Strom to me.

Good.

Tomorrow's your
big day, isn't it?

Yes, ma'am. The fair.

Well, don't court death, child.

ELIZABETH: Mama!

Here's Myrtle's milk.

Why, thank you, honey, Ben.

Oh, it was nothing, Mama.

Three squirts in
there are by me.

You see, I got a lot
of pull with Myrtle.

Come on, Elizabeth.

Goat don't give much, does it?

They say it's very
rich, Grandma.

We'll have to learn how
to make goat cheese.

Haven't made it
since I was a girl.

Is John-Boy up in his
room, Mrs. Walton?

Yeah, I think so.

Would it be all right if I
went up and talked to him?

Sure.

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

Come in.

Oh, Bobby.

Have you got a minute?

Sure. Uh, come in. Sit down.

I'm sorry I've been
holed up here for a while.

It's just that I'm trying
to catch up on my books.

I've gotten behind on
just about all my studies.

Because of me?

Well, yes.

You know, the... the story for the
Times just made everything sort of pile up.

I wouldn't have missed
it for the world, though.

You look wonderful.

John-Boy, there's something
I wanted to ask you.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Is it too late to stop the story
about my going up tomorrow?

You're not gonna go up.

Well, that's great.

That's really great.

You don't mind the
story not being printed?

Oh, no, that's all right. I
mean, I... I enjoyed writing it,

but I can call Mr. Fletcher
and he can cancel it.

I mean, that's not
the important thing.

The important thing is that you're not
gonna take chances like that anymore.

I mean, Rex can still
do his crazy stunts.

I've never felt like
this before a stunt,

but then I never had
so much to lose before.

I'm glad we're having this talk.

I kind of feel like
I've been avoiding it

because I haven't
really known what to say.

I feel so many
different things for you.

I feel tenderness
for you and... and...

It's because you're such
a special kind of person.

You've changed towards
me because of what I told you.

Well...

No, not...

I mean, yes. I... I... It's just that
I feel truly like a friend to you.

A friend? And it's just
that I don't wanna...

I don't want you to be
hurt again by anyone.

Is every man I meet going to
feel like a friend towards me?

Now, wait a minute.
I didn't say that.

You did. You
said it for yourself.

I did not. Wait a minute.
That's not what I said.

I want to explain to you.
Go back to your books!

I'm not finished
talking to you yet.

There are things
I wanna tell you.

I've heard all I
want to hear! Bobby.

Bobby... Don't follow me!

The roses were from me.

Well, where is everybody?

We're gonna be
late for the fair.

Mary Ellen and Erin are
primping in front of the mirror.

You'd think they were
going to a beauty contest.

Well, the fair is gonna be
over if we don't get a move on.

Well, Bobby's not
going up anyway.

I never thought she'd quit.

Well, I'm glad she did.

Yeah, me, too.

Well, I still want to see
Rex and those crazy stunts.

Well, where is
everybody, Grandpa?

Young man, you spend
all your early years

waiting for the right
girl to come along,

and then the rest of your life

waiting for her to get
ready to come along.

Zeb, I'm here on time.

Where's Jim-Bob?

John-Boy.

Bobby? Where's Bobby?

ELIZABETH: Myrtle's
gone. She's gone.

Myrtle's gone! She's gone!

Daddy, Myrtle's gone!

Easy, easy, honey.
She can't go far.

But, Daddy, she's gone!

All right, now, we'll find her.

And it's all your
fault, Grandma.

Now you calm yourself, child.

She's gone because you
wouldn't let us love her!

Now, she's most likely in the
corn just foundering herself.

Now, I'll get her.

Daddy, please let's find her!

All right, honey.
Let's find her.

Everybody, take a look.
Let's go. Come on, look.

I know where. Let's
try over here. Come on.

Jason, come on. Myrtle!

Myrtle! Myrtle!

Mama? Zeb, you look down there.

Myrtle! JOHN: Myrtle!

Here, goat.

She's gone. She left a note.

"Thank you for the hospitality

"and thank Jim-Bob
for the roses.

"I love him for it."

We had a little
trouble last night.

Um, you see,
when I first met her

I had a kind of a
feeling about her,

and I think I led her on.

Did you know she's
in love with you?

Yeah. I think she tried to tell
me that up in my room last night.

You see, my feelings
about us changed a little bit.

Not in a bad way,

but when I tried to explain it
to her she wouldn't listen to me.

I don't know what's going
through her head right now.

She may be taking this more
sensibly than you give her credit for.

She said she wasn't
gonna wing-walk anymore.

Mama, I know her,

and I'm telling you she's
gone out to those fair grounds.

And I wouldn't put it past
her to try that top-wing stunt.

You want me to go with you?

Would you? Come on.

BEN: Hey, Myrtle!
GRANDPA: Myrtle!

ELIZABETH: Did you find her?

Myrtle! Myrtle!

Myrtle!

JOHN: Myrtle!

Myrtle! Myrtle!

Here, goat!

(GRANDPA IMITATING GOAT)

Zeb, I think I'll stay home.

Oh, now, Esther, you know
you never miss a county fair.

I've seen it all.
Nothing but crowds.

You go on.

Ladies and gentlemen,

introducing our aerial
circus extravaganza,

(ALL CHEERING)

with stunt pilot Rex Barker
and wing-walker Bobby Strom.

As an added
attraction this morning,

our Death Defying Bobby Strom

will attempt for
the very first time

to walk the top wing
without any safety devices.

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

Hey, mister, is there any way
I can talk to them up there?

You got radio
contact or something?

Is there anything wrong?

I gotta talk to her.
She's up there.

She's gonna do
something dangerous.

Maybe I could
talk her out of it.

No. When they're up
there, they're on their own.

And do you mean that you
want me to cheat the people

who paid good money to see this?

You're crazy.

And now Rex Barker,

sky-devil extraordinaire,

with Bobby Strom
riding in the front cockpit,

will first perform the
suicidal loop-the-loop!

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

ANNOUNCER: Watch out!
Here he comes. High up in the sky.

What we've been waiting for,

Death Defying Bobby Strom!

Attaboy! Attaboy!

Ladies and gentlemen,
for the very first time

Bobby Strom will
attempt, I say attempt,

the ultimate death-defying
wing-walking stunt

that flaunts all of the
principles of aerodynamics,

all odds of survival.

Bobby Strom will attempt
to walk the top wing

at 65 miles per hour
without a safety belt,

without a pole support,

without any safety
devices whatsoever!

John, I wish you hadn't
brought the children.

It's too late now, Liv.

Forget it, Bobby! Don't do it!

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

WOMAN: Oh, my!

(SCREAMING)

Are you all right?

Bobby?

Yes.

I wanted to talk to you.

I had to tell you that...

You don't have to say anything.

I'm just glad you're safe.

You set me to thinking,
John-Boy Walton.

I did fall for you,
but I'll get over that.

What's important is that
my feet are on the ground

and I know where I'm going.

Where's that?

Well, you ain't the
only cute country boy

with a choirboy face
and a way with words.

Good-bye, John-Boy.

Miss Strom.

Bye.

(HORN HONKING)

Myrtle!

You came home!

She didn't come home.
I brought her home.

Hey, Myrtle.

Myrtle. Hey, Myrtle.

OLIVIA: Where'd you
find her, Grandma?

GRANDMA: She
went back to Maude's

because nobody here is
giving her love or attention.

Now we... we gotta be
more careful with this goat.

She's, she's not stupid.

She's more sensitive than most.

You all remember that.

(ALL LAUGHING)

JOHN-BOY: We were never to see or
even hear from the wing-walker again.

To this day, I think
of Bobby Strom

whenever I see a
white dove in flight.

And within Jim-Bob's heart, I'm
sure there's a bittersweet memory.

ELIZABETH: Grandma,
remember all the flies

I swatted for you
so Myrtle could stay?

GRANDMA: You
did well, Elizabeth.

I see a lot of
fireflies outside.

Do you suppose they're friends

coming to look for
me with lanterns?

GRANDPA: More than likely
they're the flies you swatted,

bound for heaven with
their halos burning bright.

But I flushed them
down the toilet.

OLIVIA: Good night, Elizabeth.

Good night, Mama.
Good night, Daddy.

JOHN: Night, honey.

Come on, Liv,
turn off the light.

Turn out the fireflies, too.

(GRANDPA GIGGLES)

Good night, Elizabeth.