Little House on the Prairie

Pa! I finished my chores. Can I go into town?

What, are you done already?

You're a real whirlwind this morning.

Must be something important.

It is.

All right. Go on. Have a good time.

Thanks, Pa.

Laura?

Yes, Ma?

Haven't you noticed the way Jack's been

scratching and fussing at his ears?

No, Ma.

Well, he has.

It looks like he's been running in the tall grass.

Maybe he's got another foxtail in his ear.

Well, couldn't Carrie pull them out?

Carrie's helping me bake a cake.

Laura, Jack is your dog.

You've been neglecting him lately.

You can't just cast him aside

like a stitch of old clothes you're tired of and forget him.

Ma, I promise to do it when I get home,

but I've got something real important to tend to.

Laura, right now you'll tend to Jack.

Yes, Ma'am.

Oh, such a lovely day.

A lovely day.

Morning!

Morning.

Beautiful day, ain't it?

Yes, it is.

As the man said,

cleanliness is

next to godliness.

Amen.

And I thought perhaps if we invited her to the Sunday services tomorrow,

we could all get to know her better.

Reverend Alden, in all due respect,

if we invite her into our church,

we will just be encouraging her to stay.

And we don't want her to stay.

As a matter of fact, she's about as welcome as a plague of locusts.

Is it something she's done?

Reverend Alden, people just don't live in a house that isn't there.

Now, if you ask me,

she's more than a little bit off her rocker.

You know, I agree with Mrs. Oleson.

And that animal of hers, Clyde,

is as crazy as she is.

He's the only horse I've ever known

that would rather eat beef jerky and hard candy

than my quality oats and hay.

Reverend, my only concern is with the children.

Now, I think she seems harmless enough.

But, miss beadle,

looks can be deceiving.

Now I have told my Nellie and my Willie

to just keep away from her,

and I can only hope and pray

that all of the other parents have sense enough

to do the same thing.

Mrs. Oleson, it seems to me

that the Christian thing to do under circumstances...

revered Alden,

you stay in walnut grove

only two days out of the month

while we have to live with that... that creature

every day.

Well, she seems intent on staying.

And since the property was abandoned,

legally she has every right to stay there.

Well, then, we'll just have to let nature run its course.

She couldn't possibly survive the cold of the winter

in the confines of that root cellar.

Jack, hold still! Jack, you're being stubborn as a goat.

Now, would you let me get the foxtails out of your ear?

Jack, stop it!

Jack, come back here!

Get back here!

I'm losing my Patience with you.

Get back here now!

Put that toy down. I don't want to play.

All right. Go around with foxtails in your ears.

See if I care.

Sorry I'm late.

I had to stay home and pick foxtails out of Jack's ears.

Are you sure it wasn't flowers you were picking?

I told you why I was late.

Just thought it'd be nice if we brought her something.

Willie thinks she's a witch.

You should have brought her a dead rat.

Stop talking like that, and let's go.

It's going to get dark.

It's still morning, silly.

Come on.

She saw us.

Shh!

Come on.

Ahem.

Uh, hi.

We came to welcome you to walnut grove.

May we come in?

All you have to do is knock, and the door will be opened.

Come on.

Knock knock.

Is anybody home?

My! My!

What have we here?

We're the welcoming committee.

Oh.

You shouldn't have, children.

You're too kind.

Please, won't you come into my house?

I'm kezia horn, and this is parrot Polly.

That's not a parrot. It's a crow.

Oh. Shh.

He thinks he's a parrot.

I wouldn't want to disappoint him.

Want a piece of candy.

Oh. I don't have no more.

Land sakes, Polly.

You and Clyde have got a sweet tooth lately.

Ha ha ha!

I was just about to have tea and oranges when you came a-knocking.

Would you like to join me?

Can I have coffee like my Pa drinks?

Oh, I think I can fix that.

Yes.

Yes, we'll be wanting... 7 cups and saucers.

It was whiskey Jake curry what give me these cups.

He knew I had an eye for pretty things.

Beautiful, aren't they?

Yeah, they sure are.

Beautiful. Yeah. Ha ha.

Water's boiling.

Nice and warm.

Yeah.

Here's your coffee,

all nice and hot like you asked for.

Thank you, Ma'am.

I don't see any coffee.

Nellie!

Well, this is dumb. I don't see any coffee.

Then you'll have to leave.

What?

You can't stay if you can't see it.

You might accidentally burn yourself.

They can't see it. They have to go, too.

I can see it.

Me, too.

Willie?

Nice and strong, just like Pa drinks it.

Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!

Some people never remember to close the door.

Ha ha!

Carrie, on the cake.

Yes, Ma.

Mom, we met kezia horn today!

And she read our fortunes from our tea leaves.

That's nice, girls.

I'm going to raise a big family someday...

bigger than ours, Ma.

And I'm going to travel far and wide.

Before you travel anywhere, young lady,

I want you to take a short trip out to the yard

and finish taking the foxtails out of Jack's ears.

I tried to, Ma, but Jack wouldn't let me.

Well, try harder.

And the next time I tell you to do something, young lady,

I want you to do it.

Yes, Ma'am.

Jack! Jack!

Pa, have you seen Jack?

I can't find him anywhere!

Last time I saw him, honey,

he was asleep in the barn.

Thanks!

Jack, are you in here?

Good-for-nothing dog.

Are you sleeping back here?

Boy, are you going to get it when I find you.

Jack, why didn't you come when I called you?

Get up, you lazy dog.

I said get up!

Jack?

Jack?

Pa, come quick!

Half-pint!

What's the matter? What are you yelling about?

He's dead, isn't he, Pa?

Jack traveled a lot of miles with us across a lot of rivers.

He was kind of old and tired.

His time had come.

Just wanted to go to sleep quiet

so he wouldn't make a fuss.

When he needed me the most, I wasn't there.

Hey, we always feel that when we lose somebody close to us.

Wishing we could be with them,

tell them how much we love them.

Life doesn't always work out that way.