Old Friends, New Problems/dialogues

[Abby walks out the house.]

Abigail: John, we got a telegram from some lady friend of yours. A Bonnie something or other. Something you ain't telling me?

Marston: Bonnie MacFarlane. She's a friend. Saved my life when I went after Bill and nearly got myself killed again.

Abigail: Oh, and now you two's are in the habit of sending each other letters? How very nice.

Marston: It weren't nothing like that. What's it say?

Abigail: I don't know. I can't...well you know I can't read.

Marston: Give it here.

Abigail: You read that thing out loud.

Marston: I ain't hiding nothing. "Dear Mr. Marston STOP. Need corn sacks STOP. Emergency STOP. Weevils and moths ate entire county supply STOP. Can you help?" Not exactly the most romantic request now, is it?

Abigail: I guess not, and she saved your life you say?

Marston: Yes, ma'am.

Abigail: Well, then you're going to have to go and help her and her family out. We've got a plentiful supply of corn sacks over near the silo. 'Bout the one thing Uncle didn't manage to have stolen while we was gone.

Marston: Okay.

Abigail: Hurry back, John...and John, what's she like?

Marston: Well, you know...a little bit like you, I guess. She's a woman in a man's world.

[John loads up.]

Abigail: John! Wait! I changed my mind -- I'm comin' with you. Well, come on. Let's get goin'. I don't think I can let you go off again without me.

Marston: Fair enough. I'm glad of the company, you only had to ask.

Abigail: Ask? I was waitin' for you to ask me.

Marston: I thought you'd want to keep an eye on the boy.

Abigail: Oh, while you were off cavortin' with cowgirls in the next county? I don't think so, John Marston. You only just got home. That Jack has seen enough of me for a lifetime. So, is she married, this Bonnie MacFarlane.

Marston: No.

Abigail: What does she look like?

Marston: I don't know. Pretty normal, I guess.

Abigail: Normal? What normal like me?

Marston: What? No. Normal as in two eyes, a mouth, nose, that kind of normal. Besides, ain't no woman fine as you.

Abigail: A little flattery. Now we're finally gettin' somewhere.

Marston: If you find yourself in a whole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Abigail: Another pearl of wisdom from John Marston. I sure do miss those.

Marston: I never took you for the jealous type, Abigail.

Abigail: I ain't jealous so much as curious.

Marston: You heard what she wrote. It's just some corn. She saved my life, and she was decent enough to me, so I owe her this much at least.

Abigail: How did she save your life, anyway?

Marston: She found me half-dead on the side of the road and took me to the doctor. Most folks would have left me there.

Abigail: Half-dead from what?

Marston: Bill didn't take so kindly to me visiting unannounced.

Abigail: Bill never did like surprises. How was he?

Marston: Same as he was when we left. Angry and dumb. Takin' his revenge out on the world. People down there was really scared of him.

Abigail: Of Bill? You gotta be kidding me. He was only frightening if you was afraid of dumb fools.

Marston: Bill weren't so bad, but when Dutch went crazy, Bill took it hard.

Abigail: For awhile we all thought we'd found somethin' right, a better way to live, but it was just a lie. You saw it before they did.

Marston: Maybe. But they was still kind of a family.

Abigail: A family that left you for dead. You knew the truth, John, and they hated you for it.

Marston: Where'd they take you?

Abigail: Who?

Marston: Those government bastards! Where did they take you and Jack?

Abigail: I ain't sure. They kept our eyes covered there and back. Can't have been too far from here, though.

Marston: They treat you right?

Abigail: It ain't the first time I had a gun to my head, John. You're forgettin' your marriage proposal.

Marston: Very funny.

Abigail: No, they learned pretty quick what would've happend if they had laid a finger on me.

Marston: Sons-a-bitches.

Abigail: It wasn't them or bein' there. I didn't care about that. I've been in far worse situations. It was the waitin'. I didn't know if you was comin' back.

Marston: Of course I was comin' back.

Abigail: You were only supposed to be gone for a couple of days.

Marston: It took longer than I thought. The only thing Bill and Dutch was ever any good at was not gettin' caught.

Abigail: I started thinkin' you'd gone back to them.

Marston: That life's over.

Abigail: I hope you're right.

Marston: Bill, Javier, Dutch. They're all dead. It don't get more over than that.

[They finally arrive at the ranch.]

Bonnie: You came! Thank you so much. We lost the entire harvest.

Marston: Miss MacFarlane, I'd like you to meet my wife, Abigail.

Bonnie: Oh, ain't you quite the gentleman all of a sudden? It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Marston.

Abigail: Likewise. Thank you for savin' my husband's life. And for teachin' the miserable old goat some manners...among other things.

Bonnie: I didn't teach him anything. I knew better than to try to change a man. You should meet my father.

Abigail: Oh, people can change, Miss MacFarlane. John and I have to believe that more than anybody.

Ranch Hand: This is a decent first harvest for you, John. You should be proud. That's good land you got there.

Bonnie: How are you feeling, Mrs. Marston? From what your husband told me, it must have been awful for you.

Abigail: I've been through worse. And I knew he'd be back before too long. He can't cook a meal to save his life.

Marston: Abigail, in my darkest hours, when I was most homesick, just the thought of one of your rat meat stews kept me pushing forward.

Abigail: Well, about as amusin' as a weepin' saddle sore, ain't he, Miss MacFarlane? If you're gonna start yammerin' about women's work, John, I'd say you might be in the wrong company.

Bonnie: I'd say so too.

Marston: I've never felt so outnumbered.

[Bonnie longingly watches the couple ride off back home. Amos walks by.]

Amos: Howdy, miss.

[She follows him into the store. John and Abby start off towards their stead.]

Abigail: So that was the famous Bonnie?

Marston: That was her alright.

Abigail: She's pretty.

Marston: She's normal, like I said.

Abigail: Well, you always wanted to be a rancher. I'd have thought she'd be just your thing. The perfect rancher's wife, if I ever saw one.

Marston: I already got a rancher's wife.

Abigail: I'm only teasin'. I like her, and I'm glad she saved your life. Most of the time, anyways.

Marston: The MacFarlanes are good people.

Abigail: She did blush redder than a shepherd's sunset when she saw you, though.

Marston: I have that effect on women.

Abigail: You clearly had one too many blows to the head.

Marston: You ain't wrong about that, Mrs. Marston.

Abigail: That's quite a ranch they got there.

Marston: That'll be us someday. Soon as we get back on our feet.

Abigail: I don't know, John. How many times can we start again? An outlaw and a workin' girl. We ain't exactly farmers.

Marston: We are now. Forget that life. It's over.

Abigail: Do you really believe that?

Marston: We have to. It's the only way we'll ever have a future.

Abigail: The life we led, that doesn't go away. It's never over. You think those government men are just gonna leave us alone now?

Marston: The old gang's dead. I did what they asked.

Abigail: And that's it? A life of crime is forgiven?

Marston: We're back together, ain't we?

Abigail: Until they decide you owe them somethin' else.

Marston: Sometimes I think I was the stupid one for believin' I could get out. Maybe Dutch, Bill and Javier were just bein' honest with themselves.

Abigail: You ain't perfect, John, and I sure ain't. But you're better than they are...than they were.

Marston: Maybe we can't change, but we gotta try, for Jack's sake. Even if we have to start again a hundred times, it's better than going back to what we were. How is Jack doin'?

Abigail: Angry, upset. He's been through a lot.

Marston: I hope he's gonna be alright.

Abigail: It's gonna take time. For a while his world was safe...normal even. Then it got turned upside-down again.

Marston: He ain't sayin' much about it.

Abigail: I've tried to talk to him, but how do you explain any of this? What do you say when he asks about Uncle Bill and Uncle Dutch? They were his family when he was a little boy.

Marston: He hides away in those books of his.

Abigail: Wouldn't you? It ain't like the real world's done him many favors. He's just been kidnapped, he grew up with a gang. That's no life for a boy.

Marston: We did our best to protect him.

Abigail: Come on, John. He saw things no boy should see.

Marston: Well, now we got a chance to make it right.

[They reach home and Abby gives her husband a smooch.]

Abigail: We did good today, John. I guess I better go fix us something to eat.