_
Does that mean you're taking care of Onion?
- That's what Pa said. - No, he didn't.
Yeah, well, I'm not taking her.
Old Man's son Frederick, my friend,
barely cold in the ground.
Didn't nobody think to ask me what I wanted.
- Why is that? - I'm cinching up and riding to Iowa.
- Iowa? - The walleyed girl?
It d... I'm going courting, it doesn't matter who.
I'm not riding with the Onion on me.
Onion is your burden, too.
Uh, I will ride the Onion to Tabor.
All we need is some supplies and we'll be on our way.
Wait. Him taking care of her?
Yeah, what do you know about taking care of a girl?
I know plenty. I helped raise a couple of sisters
'fore they got sold off.
Fine. I'll take you both to Tabor.
But then I cut you loose.
First, we have to go back across the river
- and scrounge what's left. - Fine.
We'll head out as soon I get back.
You want us to wait here?
Yeah, we won't be long.
You see any Red Shirts, give a holler.
Give a holler? Why, so they can shoot us?
Hyah, hyah.
We can't stay here.
What?
Let's git.
What about Owen? He said to wait.
Forget about him. This white folk business.
You can stay back, but I'm gone.
_
Come on. Hyah!
Come on.
You best wrap that bonnet tight on your head and girl it up.
Pinch your cheeks some,
lick the dirt off your lips.
Whoa.
Afternoon, sir.
Where you going?
Why, I'm taking the missus here to the Lawrence Hotel.
You got papers?
Well, sir, the missus here got some.
Well, I don't need no papers
in that he's taking me to Lawrence.
Are you taking that boy?
Or is that boy taking you?
Why, I'm taking him.
We is just passing through from Palmyra,
and we heard all the gun shooting,
so I drug him around this way.
What are you?
You part-colored or white girl with a dirty face?
The best part of me is nearly as white as you, sir.
But I just don't know where I belongs,
being a tragic mulatto and all.
Yeah.
Well...
all the more reason to run these free staters
out of this country.
Damn Yanks.
I'm Chase.
That's Randy.
Don't you worry, little angel.
You can ride with us.
You's too kind, but we is heading
to the Lawrence Hotel, so I reckon we'll be off.
Hold on, now.
We're going to Pikesville, Missouri.
It's in your general direction. Why not come with us?
These trails is dangerous.
Bob here's sick. It's catching.
All the more reason to ride with us.
I know a couple slave traders up in Pikesville.
Sick or not, they'll give a couple thousand for him.
Well, now, that do sound like a fair offer.
But I can't do that.
For I promised my pa to never sell him.
- Hey! - Whoa.
There ain't nothing but...
free staters up in Lawrence.
What kind of work you seeking, you carry such a sour-faced coon?
Trim's my business.
Learned it from my pa.
Your pa?
Ain't you a little young to be selling trim?
That ain't what she mean.
That is most certainly what I mean,
and you'd be wise not to try and correct me.
Well, wouldn't you rather have a job
waiting or washing?
Why wash dishes when you can do ten men in an hour?
Oh, that stirs my britches.
I know the perfect place for you.
I know a woman that can give you a job.
But it's in Pikesville, not Lawrence.
Being that it is dangerous out here for a girl like myself,
I reckon Pikesville is as good a place to go as any.
And if I can make money selling trims, as you claim,
then why not?
Let's load the wagon.
Aim your lies about trim in a different direction.
What I done?
Pa taught me all about shaves and hair trims.
"Trim" means tail, Henry.
Birds and the bees. All that.
Pensive music
I'm the youngest of eight.
All boys, only one sister, Clarice.
She's married to Randy.
He... he ain't much to look at,
but he's good to my sister.
And they got-they got a little one on the way.
And hopefully it's a boy, so they can name him after me.
One thing I learned as a girl
is men together talk guns, spit, and tobacco.
But to a woman,
they'll spill their guts about losing their best dog
and their dreams and their thoughts on the constellations.
Winds might kick up tonight.
But I'll keep you warm.
_
In my travelings thus far...
Which was none...
Pikesville was the grandest town I'd ever seen.
Move it!
I was busy reloading, but I-I needn't have bothered.
Is that true?
Old John Brown dead?
Yes, sir!
- Yeah. - You killed him?
Why, I throwed every bullet I had at him
sure as you standing there.
I walked straight up to him.
He shot at me twice, but missed.
I pulled on his beard.
Said, "You yellow-bellied thief,
I'm gonna gut you like a pig!"
His story changes from one drink to the next.
You'd a-thunk it would dawn on some of them that he was
cooking it all up, the way his story growed legs.
Come on down! Guess who's back.
I once pulled a bullet out of a slaver's backside.
And he was so grateful
he give me a bowl of ice cream.
Something I ain't never had before.
But the taste of that ice cream
weren't nothing compared to seeing
that bundle of beauty coming down them stairs.
Cupid bust a charge right through my heart.
Where's my money?
Oh, that's a hell of a way to treat the man who just
killed John Brown with his bare hands.
I don't care who you killed.
You owe me nine dollars.
That much?
Where is it?
I have something a lot better than nine dollars.
There, look.
Shit, what is that uglification?
You got my money?
Well, what about the girl?
I carried her all the way from Kansas.
Then you can take her right on back to Kansas.
Hold on, now.
I'll take a look-see.
All right.
You flat as a pancake.
Ah, you small down there, too.
How much you owe?
- Nine whole dollars. - Well... nine.
All right, I'll take her and we're square.
Even let you get a little time with Pie.
I give you five minutes.
Five minutes? I take ten minutes to whiz.
- Whizzes is extra. - All right, let's go then.
Not now. You need a bath.
Come on. You can give it to me.
Take the other one to the Pen.
We'll come to terms on him later.
Excuse me, but he belongs to me.
And now you both belong to me.
Take him to the Pen.
- Come on. - Pie.
Give her a good scrub, get her ready for work.
Get out of them rags and get in.
I don't need no bath.
You smell like buffalo dung.
Go on, get in.
Uh-uh.
- You gettin' in this tub. - No, I ain't.
Get from under there.
I ain't.
I ain't gonna hurt ya.
Don't be scared.
You sure?
'Course, baby.
You a young thing. You don't know nothing.
You ain't got nobody in the world.
Come on out.
Don't be scared.
Come on.
Goddamn cockeyed idiot.
Don't move.
If you ever steal from me, I'm-a send you skint alive
down the road, you little shit.
- I ain't no thief. - Good.
- Now go and get washed up. - I-I can't.
No, wait, wait, wait.
You done put me in the damn fryer, you heathen.
You gonna get me hanged.
Oh, my...
Them rebels find out you was on the Hot Floor,
peeking at them white whores,
they'll cut out them little grapes hanging between your legs
and stick 'em down your gizzard.
I can't take no chances on you.
- You gots to go. - But I could be useful.
Uh, w-washing dishes and cutting hair and such.
That don't help me, child.
P-Please, wait.
I knows my letters. I can teach you.
- You lying lizard. - I ain't lying.
I swear it.
If you let me stay here and keep my secret...
I'll teach you.
Knowing your letters ain't something
- you can lie about, you know. - I swear it.
All right.
You teach me letters,
and I'll girl you up a bit,
work it out with Miss Abby so you can start cleaning beds,
emptying piss pots and working in the tavern
until you're ready for the Hot Floor.
That'll give you a little time.
But you stay away from them girls.
I will. And what about Bob?
- Can you take me to him? - You leave that be.
You best worry about saving your own skin right now.
And don't you go nowhere near that Pen.
You hear me?
_
I settled into Pikesville pretty easy.
It weren't hard. Pie set me up good.
She done me up like a real girl.
And I got to know all her regulars,
especially the important ones.
Right this way, Judge.
Like the judge.
I was always trying to see if I could spot old Bob,
but I never could.
Go on.
Weeks passed,
and I kept thinking I had to sneak off to see him.
But somehow...
time just got away from me.
Good, good.
$2,000? I think you're trying to get one over on me.
He's strong as an ox.
Loves to work.
There's no nigger in the Pen worth that much money.
It's a good deal, Judge.
You think it over.
Anybody see Bob?
Pretty, pretty, yeller, yeller.
Anybody see a fella named Bob?
He's a colored fella, about this high.
Anybody seen Bo...
Damn stupid fool.
- Get away from me. - Sibby.
Don't mind her. She feebleminded.
Come on, sit by me, Sibonia.
Coming through.
What you need?
I'm looking for Bob.
Ain't nar Bob here.
What you want him for, anyway?
He's a friend.
Hmm.
What's a redbone like you need a friend in this yard for?
I ain't come out here for you to sass me.
You sassing yourself by the way you look.
You own Bob?
No. I owes him.
Well, you ain't got to fret about paying him what you owe,
'cause he ain't here.
Miss Abby said she ain't sold him.
That the first lie you heard from white folks?
You sure got a smart mouth, for a colored living in the Pen.
And you sure got a smarter one for a big-witted,
tongue-beating, muleheaded sissy.
Walking around dressed as you is.
How I covers my skin is my business.
It's your load.
Ain't nobody judging you around here.
But dodging a white man's evil takes more than
a bonnet and pretty undergarments, child.
You'll learn.
Come on, sister.
This child is troubled.
Let the Devil have him, then.
Go on over yonder with the rest, sister.
So you faking crazy?
And you sporting trouble playing folks like a fool.
I'm doing what I got to do, wearing these clothes.
I ain't talking about that.
Talking about the other thing.
That's more dangerous.
There's whispers of you knowing how to read and write.
- How you know that? - Don't matter how I know it.
Is it true?
Tell you about your friend.
- You know Bob? - Is it true?
I know my letters. I can write.
You agree to write me something?
Like a pass?
Or a bill of sale?
I'll arrange for you to see Bob.
I'll do it.
You don't keep your word, something liable to happen to Bob.
I said I would.
Don't you stretch your mouth to nobody about this.
Especially Pie.
If you do, I'll know about it.
And you'll wake up with a heap of knives
poking out that pretty neck of yours.
I'll send word for you about a church meeting.
Afternoon, pretty redbone.
What you need at my Pen?
Uh, I got lost.
What you looking for?
I'm looking for Pie.
Don't mention that high-siddity bitch to me.
She's my friend.
Pie ain't nobody's friend.
But old Darg could be your friend.
You can be Darg's friend.
Why don't you do me a favor and give me a little sugar?
You old enough.
I best be going.
Uh, Pie's waiting for me.
What's these letters?
"Pie."
That's what it spells, but what's the letters?
"Pie."
P-I-E.
How you get that name, anyway?
How you think?
Chocolate. Cherry.
Furry.
Making you nervous somewhere again?
No, i-it ain't that.
Do you think you could get me some paper?
Don't ever ask me that.
I-I know it's dangerous, but...
Who's it for, boy?
I ain't supposed to say.
I snuck down to the Pen to see about Bob,
only he weren't there.
And the only way to get word on him
was to promise to write a pass for this lady... Sibonia.
Then when Darg came, I lied and said I was lost.
Darg saw you?
You gonna bring trouble on all us.
I'm sorry, Pie.
You ain't writing nothing,
and you ain't going back down to that Pen, you hear me?
Yes, ma'am.
Here. Get my back.
You keep off them low-down, no-account niggers.
Either that or don't come round me.
Ooh-whee.
I'd like to get you on the Hot Floor.
It might be time to put you to work upstairs.
But Pie said I'm not ready yet.
It don't matter what Pie says.
Get back to work.
Come on. This way.
I been looking all over for you.
You ain't been looking too hard.
I went by the Pen, but you weren't there.
Been working out at the sawmill.
We can't all have jobs wearing dresses and being indoors.
That weren't my choice.
I'm sorry about all this, Bob.
You missed the church meeting.
Sibonia was waiting on you.
- You made a deal. - That there deal is dead.
- I found you myself. - It don't work like that.
You gave your word.
If you don't do it, there's gonna be trouble.
What y'all building, anyway?
Ain't you heard?
There's gonna be a hanging.
I have it on good authority
that Negroes from the Pen
were trying to get papers to get free,
then come back here and lead an insurrection.
Yeah. At least a couple dozen of them
were planning on killing white families by the hundreds,
including the preacher,
who did nothing but love those ungrateful Negroes.
And how do you know this to be true?
- Huh? Who's your informant? - All I can say is
it's a reliable colored informant,
well known to many townsfolk.
Nine of them were found out.
Four of them belong to you.
There's big trouble.
They're planning to hang nine slaves, for a plot of insurrection.
That's all? Only nine?
They should hang them all.
- Every last one of them. - You ain't mean that.
Truth is, soon as I looked at Pie,
I knowed she was the one who told the judge.
Coloreds turn the tables on one another all the time,
just like white folks.
The only difference is the white man put his treachery on paper.
Coloreds put theirs in their mouth.
Wh... But they hanging nine people.
Uh, that could be us.
Ain't nothing gonna happen to you.
I already worked it out with Miss Abby.
For me and you.
But we can't be seen together.
And don't be seen talking to any other coloreds.
You hear?
Just lay low.
Now you got to get out.
I ain't think anybody else be up here.
That's all right, Miss Henrietta.
The more the merrier.
Hmm.
This was supposed to be a good trip.
I come back for the woman I love,
take her away from all this,
make her a proper wife...
She didn't even take me serious.
I take it you speaking on Pie.
I just know I could be the man she wanted,
if she just give me half a chance.
You love her?
Well, yeah.
She's the prettiest damn thing I ever laid my eyes on.
Guess I just got tired of sharing her.
And I convinced myself that that's what she wanted, too.
I mean, what whore wants to stay a whore?
I'm for getting the hell out of here.
Why, Miss Henrietta...
...you may be on to something there.
Really?
Why not?
I got a little ranch a few hours outside town.
Now, the house needs some tending to.
Oh, I'm good at tending. I tends all day.
B-Bob, he's right handy tending, too.
It is slow living, but it is good living.
We love slow living.
Bob says the slower the better.
And you can cook, right?
Of course. I got all kinds of recipes.
All right. I got to settle some shit...
Won't take me more than a few days...
And then we'll get out of here.
Yeah, it'll take us a few days to get Bob out the Pen.
Who?
Remember? My slave Bob?
We all traveled here together.
Oh, I ain't got no use for no Bob.
And there ain't no way Miss Abby's
gonna let me take the both of you.
Hey, mister, where'd you get that feather?
Owen?
I'm surprised you can see straight,
carousing around like a drunk.
I'm not carousing. I'm surviving.
You were the one who left me and Bob behind.
- Now they got him locked up. - That's not my fault.
Now, you were supposed to wait.
I came back there and you both were gone.
I been seeking you for a long time, kid.
That's why you here?
The one reason.
Though the other is we got to to do something about the hanging.
There's gonna be an attack on all these pro slavers.
I came here to get a proper count of things,
see what we're up against.
Now sit tight.
Yeah, we'll be riding here soon.
And quit sipping that joy juice.
So you just gonna leave me again?
No, I'll be back for you, Onion.
You got to trust me.
And you find us when the fight is done.
How?
Where will you be?
We'll be the only ones left drawing breath.
Not so fast.
- What you need me for? - Set a minute and talk.
I-I got to go work.
Every Negro in this world got to work.
But I'm more interested in what you been saying about Sibonia
and them letters.
I ain't said nothing about nobody.
Your job was to come back
and write Sibonia some letters and passes
and be quiet about it.
And you ain't do it.
Now we all likely to get sold off soon
'cause Miss Abby thinks we is trouble.
I'm telling you, I didn't tell nobody about nothing.
That lie ain't worth a pinch of snuff out here.
Onion might be many things,
but he never wanted nobody to get hurt.
Your word don't mean shit 'round here.
This little bird been flapping its wings, I can feel it.
Run. Run!
Bring in the accused leader of this wicked insurrection.
Sibby.
I aim to find out about this murderous plot.
We know you are the leader.
Several people have said it, so don't deny it.
I am the woman,
and I ain't ashamed nor afraid to confess it.
Who else was involved?
Give us all the names.
Me and my sister, Libby, and I ain't confessing to no other.
No reason to drag this out.
Now, you tell us what we need to know, this could be painless.
Come on, Sibby.
Who was gonna give you the papers?
Pain ain't nothing new to me.
We got other ways of getting you to tell it if you want.
Go ahead.
Set Darg on me again, if you want.
But it can't be whipped out of me nor plumbed in any way.
I am the woman. I done it.
And if I had the chance, I'd do it again.
Stop. Stop.
I'm gonna let these fine people
pull out your teeth,
tar you, feather you,
if you don't tell me who was helping you.
You give me names,
I'll make sure you die fast.
Preacher?
Please give us some space and some quiet, gentlemen.
Gotta respect the preacher. Back up.
Hello, Sibonia.
I've come to find out everything you know
- about this insurrection. - Oh, Preacher.
You come for no such purpose.
Maybe you were persuaded or forced.
But would you...
you,
the man who taught me the word of Jesus.
The one who taught me that
Jesus's sacrifice was for me
and all my brothers and sisters.
Would you now ask me to forfeit the lives of others
who would help me?
But, Sibonia,
yours was a wicked plot.
Had you succeeded, the streets would run red with blood.
You have no problem with blood
unless it's the blood of white folks.
You and my wife are friends.
Reverend,
it was you and your wife who taught me
that Jesus has no respecter of persons.
Do you remember teaching me that?
What does it mean?
That in His eyes, we're all equal.
Yet I am a slave.
My husband was a slave.
My children were slaves.
All sold away from me.
And after the last one was sold,
I said, "I will strike a blow for freedom."
I had a plan, Reverend.
But I failed.
I was betrayed.
Or maybe...
it was the will of the Father
to protect these good folks.
Don't you think it might have been God's gentle hand
putting a stop to this?
This weren't God.
This was fear.
I tell you right now.
Had I succeeded,
I would have killed you and your wife first
just to show them that followed me
that I could sacrifice my love
to have justice for them.
I would have been miserable for the rest of my life.
But in my heart...
Mmm...
God told me I was right.
Sometimes, a sparrow got to fly wild...
...for it to be set free.
Sibby...
let us pray.
God, our common Father,
we pray for our justice
to be in accordance with Your will.
Mm.
May those deemed the worst by us
be regarded the best by You.
Yes, Jesus.
I pray You forgive Sibonia for any transgressions...
...and if we whites are wrong,
please forgive us.
God in Heaven,
amen.
Amen.
Hang her if you want.
You find someone else
to preach to this town,
for I am finished with it.
Who's going first?
_
Get your lazy, good-for-nothing ass up.
Them spittoons ain't gonna clean themselves.
Board up the windows and doors.
Let's go.
Come on, I'm getting you out of here.
I ain't leaving without my money.
Forget the money. Let's go.
It's all I got!
Behind you.
Come on, Onion. We got to go.
Onion.
Get someplace safe.
Get back.
- Go, go, go. - Let's go.
Onion.
Owen says you're a drunk.
Said you've been swearing and using tobacco.
Is that true?
- Captain... - Is it true?
Captain, it's true.
I fell in love and got my heart broke.
Did you commingle with anyone in a fleshly way
- without being married? - No, sir.
- You didn't? - No, sir.
- You promise? - I am still as clean
and pure as the day I was born
in that fashion.
Your soul is more precious than your life.
You know that, right?
- You know that? - Yes, sir.
Yeah. Salmon, what's-what's...
what's the Good Book say about that?
- Ezekiel 16:8? - Uh...
uh, "Wh-When I passed
- by thee, uh..." - "When I passed by..."
- Yeah. Oh, Jason. - I don't remember.
- Help him out. - Father!
- What? John Jr. - Uh...
"When I passed by thee and looked upon thee,
Behold, that was the time of love
and the Lord spread his skirt over thee
- and covered thy nakedness." - Yeah. "And covered thy nakedness."
Onion. Onion, have you kept your nakedness covered?
- A-As much as possible, Captain. - Have you been reading the Bible
- at all? - Uh, not too much, Captain.
But I been thinking in a godly way.
You been?
Well, that's-that's something, boys. We can work with that.
You stand for the Lord, the Lord will stand for you.
You know that.
Pa, we got to go!
Have I ever told you the story
of King Solomon and the two mothers
with the one child? Have I?
No? Oh, I have to tell you that. I have to tell you.
Pa. Cannon.
We gonna kill 'em all.
Oh, shit.
- Fuckin' run! - Come back here.
My name is Captain John Brown!
And I am here
in the name of the Great Redeemer,
the King of Kings,
the Man of the Holy Trinity,
and I hereby order you
to git!
Git, in His holy name!
Git. For He is on the side of justice
and you are on the side of chains.
Brown!
Death is coming for you today!
Oh... shit.
In that moment,
just like the rest of the country,
Chase was divided in half.
Them Red Shirts is bound to circle back.
We better get while the getting's good.
Good idea.
We only come this far to put a hurtin' on those heathens
and rescue our Little Onion,
who's a good luck charm to me and our whole army.
And we haven't forgotten you, Robert,
our soldier in training. Who's your friend?
He ain't no friend of mine.
Well, you're right.
I stand corrected.
We are all brothers in this fight. Join us.
Pa, we got to ride.
Then let's ride.
Come on, Onion. Here we go.
Here we go.
What do we do?
Don't shoot. He's a preacher.
You...
are a man of God?
No, I'm a child of God.
Once dead in sin,
now baptized by the blood of righteousness.
Those are good words.
Go in peace.
Hah!
The Old Man was nuttier than a squirrel turd.
Wasn't nothing to "going in peace" about him.
But in that moment, that was fine by me.