Welcome to the real America.
What did he do?
Just the colour of his skin.
You and I...
..how we met, it was in the stars.
Where you headed?
Caine County, Wyoming.
I've lived here my whole life.
I've seen hell and I've made hell.
What you gonna do now? Nebraska.
That ain't Pawnee land no more.
Don't want it all, just a few acres.
Gadding about with all that unbanked cash?
You're going to kill me?
Yep.
Without you, I'd have been killed.
My son, he is dead and, up on Powder River,
there is a man trying to forget that he ever existed.
Will you help me?
Please. Can you shoot?
If I have to.
Oh, you'll have to.
What? Best see for yourself.
Show me.
Sheriff. Mr Trafford.
Actually, I'm an Honourable, but I'll let it slide.
I would. This country, you've got to earn your titles,
not just get born with them.
So how must that feel, Sheriff Marshall,
to have a surname exceed your station?
Always looking to better myself... the American way.
You even arrested anyone yet?
Remarkably civic-minded lot.
That right?
What about this?
What is it? That, Sheriff Marshall,
is a 13-week gestated prized Longhorn Hereford cross.
I imported the bull from England. Huge expense.
Jesus, I'm sorry to hear that.
Hundred more lying up there.
All ripped out the same.
By what?
Oh, no, um, by whom.
Your people. Mine?
Homesteaders. Sod busters. Pig fuckers.
Not my people. They're the ones who pay your bills, Sheriff.
Are you not part of this community?
We had law and order long before you lot got here.
Your law, your order.
I opened this place up. Me. Alone.
But now it's just every...
..Mick, Spik, Paddy and Wop who thinks he can follow suit.
And this... THIS is how they do it!
Your people are trying to drive me off my land.
Your land? All of it.
Maybe you should check the statutes.
You're grazing public land, Mr Honourable.
Which I made.
You English!
I think maybe it was God done that.
You see, and yet now all your people
want to do is cut it up in barbed wire!
Is that really the future you're waiting for, Sheriff?
Who's your man? Night watch.
He see anything?
Does it look like he did?
I'd like to have a talk with him once he's got his jaw back on.
What for? He works for me. Just like you work for them.
Kel?
You read this the same?
Maybe.
But maybe not.
Sod busters,
they're up to shoot or rustle. Meat or money. But these...
..they just been sliced up and left.
Wolf? What kind of wolf does that?
Not any animal I ever heard of.
Then what?
Sand Creek '64,
heard something similar. But that was against Cheyenne.
Killing pregnant women? Yep.
You think this is Indians?
Nope.
But it don't read like no pig farmer and it certainly weren't no wolf.
What kind of community you got going on up here,
Sheriff, do a thing like that?
Jesus, man, even you can see the answer to that.
It doesn't matter how many times you ask me, I won't tell you.
You're right.
If wishes were where we would be, then we would be where we are not.
Not a wish...
..a message.
Who from?
Comes in a dream.
Oh, yes?
My dreams are wild.
Then you'd go to a Kurahus.
What's that?
An Elder. Helps you understand.
I'm not sure he'd like what he finds.
Oh, he's dead. They all are.
Up there now.
Where?
Path of the Dead.
The Milky Way?
Maybe that's them trying to send you a message.
What'd be the point in that?
Well, you won't know until you find out what it means.
But if they're up there and I'm down here,
who's left to tell me?
It's busy tonight.
HE PRAYS
You see, this is my point -
it's against the Laws of Nature.
Why else you think animals travel by herd?
So it makes it harder for the predator to choose.
But you, out here all alone, only yourself to blame.
Bitte! Huh?
Bitte! What you saying? Bitte, meine Frau.
And what is the point of coming to a country when you can't even begin
to speak its language?
English, all right? Speaken English!
Meine...wif!
Your whiff?
Ist schwanger!
Nah.
Schwanger!
Your...your whiff is fat...
Schwanger! Schwanger!
Oh!
Pregnant. Your wife is pregnant.
Ja!
Why didn't anyone tell me?
That ain't right. Death so close to new life - nah.
Now, that is the wrong way round. I am so sorry.
Truly. It's an awful thing.
Go on.
You go back to her.
Go back to your whiff.
You gonna let him go?
No! But when you put an arrow through his heart,
at least it'll be full of hope.
You missed his heart.
Are you all right?
Oh, yes. What's this?
West.
East.
South.
North.
For you if we get split.
But not for you?
My people lived here over 2,000 years. No need for sticks.
What's up there for you? Land claim.
Where?
Nebraska. Is that far?
Not as far as you want to go.
How come you came from the South?
Well...
..I should've left from Liverpool, and I get that now.
But, um, Southampton was closest, so...
..so that's how I ended up in New Orleans.
The thing was, I was in a bit of a hurry
and my son had just died, so...
..so my mind was fuggy.
Not fuggy - it was more, um...
It was... I don't really know what it was.
Or is, really. But, um...
But the man responsible is here, so here is where I must be.
Or at least up there.
Well, at least you can ride.
And shoot.
Big difference between shooting a pig and a man.
Especially when the pig hadn't done me any harm.
I'm good with a bow and arrow too.
I can strike a bull's-eye at 200 feet.
In England, we call it toxophily - it's quite the fashion.
Maybe I should go.
Oh, no. Look what happened to Pocahontas.
Who?
You follow the stars at night?
Yep.
Will you teach me?
No.
Well, you told me about Death Path.
Yeah, well, shouldn't have.
I like that idea.
Being able to see your way into the next world.
Makes this one seem less final.
Is that where your family is?
And my boy?
He die violent or ill?
Why?
Violent takes the short road, illness the long.
Which one did yours?
Short, mostly.
Long, some.
What if it was both?
The English gave us...
..all kinds of illness.
Some say that...that's the short.
Others, long.
What do you say?
Short.
Violent.
Well, then, you and I, we're looking at the same road.
I'm not sure.
Kickapoo, maybe.
Tribal lands?
Allotments.
What?
We're being followed?
Only one way to find out.
MAN SHOUTS OUT
Is he a friend?
Of mine? Maybe. Of yours?
Take out your rifle. Ratchet a bullet.
Comes to it, I'll take the two on the left,
you gut-shoot the Pawnee's horse.
His horse?
Oh, you're getting picky now?
If I go down, the scrub's your only chance, but then if I go down...
I haven't really got one.
Steady is quick.
Trooper Charlie White.
That why you didn't try and jump us back there?
Cap'n Clegg here, he wanted to meet you.
Often's the time Charlie here warms our campfire
with your heroic exploits.
Tall tales on a short story.
You can make it longer if you care to join us.
Bushwhacking?
Well, pays better than
an Army pension, which anyways you can't claim,
given the nature of your skin an' all.
Pay's even shares.
Don't go saying it's a livin'.
It's surviving.
A livin' ain't meant for the likes of you and me.
Unless, of course, you got other ideas?
Just go my own way. Let you go on yours.
What's in her bags?
Nothing worth dying for.
So, hand them over.
Well, against the natural order of things,
ain't it?
It's like being a military hero from
a breed we was all just looking to wipe off the face of the earth.
Now, the last man in your position, all he could do was pray.
And here we are.
Just give him the damn bags.
They didn't make the mess. Just cleaning it up.
Oh, my God!
Too late for her. But I can try for the child.
The baby's alive?
Weak.
Done it before, but only for horses.
Oh, God, you've got to save it. Please! Save...save the baby.
Go look for some sugar.
It's all right.
Give me your hand, give me your hand.
It's all right. That's a good girl.
Hold on to me.
It's all right. I have you.
BABY CRIES
Come on.
You do it.
I'm not a midwife. Well, neither am I.
Hold it to your atu.
Your milk will come on.
No! I couldn't. I mean, I...
I can't.
You don't want it?
Their mother is not yet cold in her grave.
Please.
Won't last a week on sugar water.
Well, then, we have to get her to a doctor. Out here?
Somewhere safe for the both of them. That money, travel north,
buy a spread, safe enough...
No, I don't... I don't want, I...
And I couldn't be.
A mother?
I am a mother.
I'm just not theirs.
You lost a child. Now you got another.
Well, you lost a family, so I could say the same.
With you? No!
No, I was merely reversing the argument.
BARKING, GROWLING
Should have left them to it.
I notice this about you.
You keep saying these negative things,
and you end up always doing the opposite.
Yeah, well...
..maybe I should start listening to myself.
You don't talk about that fight?
Most people do nothing but...
Do you want to?
No, things were hit, things were missed, 'bout it.
Is this part of your military training?
But you were in the Army? Yep.
The American Army? Cavalry.
So like a conscript?
Joined up.
Of choice?
I got enemies. Who?
Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, Osages, Kansas. A few.
A lot! Why?
Some of it, long time. Some of it...
Because of us?
Not looking for blame. Favours neither.
Well, then, what?
Just a piece of land.
The same thing happened to my father.
And they gave him a peerage and half of Devon.
Devon big?
I mean, in your terms, probably not.
I just need a few acres.
Mm.
Your father, soldier?
Yep.
Figures.
Why?
That where you live, with your folk?
Mm. But not in the main house - it was in a different,
separate part of the grounds.
With your boy?
Yes. Mm-hm.
Well, you can ask if you want.
I don't.
My father was much the same.
When they ask a question, if the outcome's uncertain.
About right.
Well, maybe that's what made him such a good soldier.
Like you.
Not me.
That Trooper told stories about you. Nothing to write home about...
Except obviously people did.
No point in that, we don't read. Never did.
You think that's wrong? Like an animal.
No, no, um,
it's just how do you keep a record of everything?
What we said to each other.
But you don't talk much. Learnt not to.
Why?
But in the before-time, nothing but.
One voice to the next for 1,000 years.
Pretty good record, as it went. Direct line to the stars.
No need to write it down.
Is that why you paused on your shot?
Didn't think you want to talk about that?
Killing him killed the story.
No, he was dead already,
whether I drew a bead on him or not.
Doesn't that bother you?
Don't see I got a say in it - ain't that the point?
I'll tell your story.
Yeah? Yeah!
Willingly.
Well, you ain't survived it yet.
We can't go to town.
Why?
Same reason we're off the trail. Can't move forward,
don't know what's ahead, got no choice.
Got to go back.
Don't go telling anybody about your money.
You don't trust them?
You met anyone out here you could?
Scout?
Kickapoo.
Cherokee.
That why you stayed?
Instead of what?
I thought the Kickapoo went south, Mexico someplace,
instead of picking up on these allotments.
Well, that was Kishko's people - the drunkards and fools.
We got offered allotments.
You taking them up?
Down there's just rock and dust.
Oklahoma, beautiful territory.
Some is, some ain't.
Well, takes time to make a bed for Mother Corn.
Never gonna grow without water.
We dug for ours.
Through 20 foot of rock till we hit it.
And they let you keep it?
They?
Oh, no.
You know the greatest enemy to an Indian?
Our past.
We have to turn our back on it if we've any hope to survive.
I got a knack for survival.
Well, then, you will look to the future.
Looking to head back north.
Why there? Where I was born.
Long as you remember it ain't who you are. Not any more.
John, quit your lecturing.
I apologise. I'm... I'm awfully quick for sermonising.
You are!
He really is.
But with this Ghost Dance going on,
I mean, that's pure insanity.
You can't go dancing to a better future -
you got to dig for it!
John, please?
I'll just talk to my doll here.
So, I got a mix we use for dogies. When the baby wakes,
it'll nourish it better than she's used to. Oh, thank you.
And I been thinking, John, there's that family near Hungry Horse
lost a babe. I'm guessing her milk's still on.
Yeah, we should ride out.
I'm not sure how they'd take to a couple of extra mouths.
Oh, I've got money, I can offer to pay.
No, it's Christian folk. I'm sure God'll find a way.
And seeing as that rabbit fell at your feet, no point in wasting it.
Milch.
I thought you said she didn't speak.
German?
Milch, ja?
Oh, you spooked her.
Now, ain't that something?
Do you... Do you speak German?
Yep. Ja, nein.
What did...
What did her folk look like?
Well, it was...
There a father? Yes.
He have like a pre-war beard, no moustache?
Yep.
Sunday suit? Some.
Mennonites. Come through here not five days ago.
Saying there was a wagon down, remember? Mm.
That there was a family with a pregnancy got held up.
Asked us to keep an eye out for them, should they pass.
Yeah. And here they are.
What's left of 'em.
Where...where were they going?
Oklahoma?
Sorry, which way... Which way is that?
Ah, south.
They're Boomers. Heading for another land run.
South, um, so, might you ride after them?
Us? It's just that we're headed north.
Well, they're back round ten days.
And farm work can't wait.
Couldn't you?
We...we have reasons, you know, not to...
Go backwards.
But we will. I mean, of course we will.
We must.
They've offered us supplies and a draft horse, if we want.
Not me.
Why?
Turned around far enough. Need to turn back.
You heard of Boomers?
No.
First the government sent us down to Indian Territory.
Now they just don't call it Oklahoma.
First it was ours. Now it's not.
Put us on little strips of hard rock scrabble
and opened up the rest to land runs for everyone else.
For white folk. That's Boomers.
White folk who come like locusts,
hopping over each other's back to steal
the land we'd only just been given,
even though, the best bites, we never even got a sniff.
See why we don't talk much no more?
English writes the Bible, but it didn't tell us no truths.
The other day, you said you weren't looking for blame or favours.
And I ain't.
It's just not where my future lies, like he said.
Well, or mine. But...
..what other choice is there?
Leave them local. Be on our way.
They are three days from their family, Eli.
Took mine through here once...
..15 years back.
Been strong-armed down from Nebraska,
heading where them folk are now.
Wife died with child on the way.
Can't be more than 100 miles off 'fore I cut that one out.
Kept the baby. Girl. Two years.
Till fever took her like it took most everyone else.
By the time the army came back to fetch me,
I was living for nothing, but the blanket covered my head.
I get what you got to do and why you got to do it.
And I ain't gonna make no dance about it.
But I've been here before. And I ain't going back.
I got to listen to myself on that one.
Different wagon?
They swapped it. Suits their horses better.
So you coming back?
I left the money.
Turns out I have met someone I can trust.
Fool thing.
Keep them close. But keep your knife closer.
Someone gets tight,
even your killer's gonna give you pause.
Why?
Your face.
What's wrong with it?
Some men look at it.
Use the moment.
And remember, steady is quick.
You a Scorpion?
Hm?
In the stars, you said.
Scorpio, yes.
The Stinger.
We call its tail Kawhat - the Swimming Ducks.
Mm.
Brings spring.
Good.
And storms.
Right.
Scorpions are dangerous. Oh, yes.
To themselves.
Looks so hard to kill its prey, ends up stinging itself.
Well, I'll watch out for that.
It's just your nature.
I brought you something.
Oh!
Apparently, the journey is quite straightforward.
Says the woman who looks for Wyoming from New Orleans.
Bought it from them.
Or at least I offered to work it off.
See, I knew you'd stay.
It's in the stars.
Oh, I was hoping you might say
a little bit more about what's up there and such.
It said it's made in England.
Yes, it is.
Thank you.
A week. Maybe more.
DISTANT SINGING IN PAWNEE
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