A Cowgirl's Song

My parents named me after Halley's Comet.

And I've always been fascinated by my interstellar namesake.

It burns its way across the solar system visiting Earth every 76 years.

Steady and true, like clockwork over a billion years.

Now, I'm no scientist, but I know that comet is a freak of nature.

I sometimes wonder if life is like my comet,

unbending and predestined in following one course

no matter what I might do, or is life flexible?

Can we alter it? Change it?

I don't know the answer, but one thing was for sure,

my life was about to be thrown off its course.

This is unbelievable. But what are the charges?

Transporting stolen goods across state lines?

You were just helping Bill out.

Well, they used you, Dean.

I told you to stay away from those guys.

Well, where are they keeping you?

Dean, that is 40 miles away.

I can't just drop everything. I have a shift tonight.

I love you too, but sometimes you make it really difficult.

Okay.

Can we go and see him?

I have shifts all weekend.

Maybe Monday.

- Monday? - He needs us now.

Look, he's gonna be fine.

Okay, I'm sorry I know this is really hard on you girls but he is fine.

I have to go to work.

I love you.

Take care of each other.

What are you doing?

I can't wait till Monday to see dad.

Hailey, we... we don't have a car.

Who says we need a car?

Hailey?

A wagon?

Horse and wagon.

You're kidding, right?

Look, we'll take the backroads which I know very well.

We'll be there in a day, tops.

- I don't know, Hailey. - Okay, look.

Come or don't come, I'm going to see dad.

How's the ride?

First class.

I told you would be.

Mom's gonna be so mad.

She's already mad.

Where are we?

I'm not sure.

- We may have missed the turn off. - Missed the turn off?

- How could you get us lost? - We are not lost.

We are lost. You took the back roads and now we're lost.

We better just stay here tonight.

- Sleep out here? - Well, we can't keep going.

It's gonna get dark soon and that's too dangerous.

I can't believe you got us lost.

Okay, we are not lost.

I know exactly where we are.

Where?

Somewhere on planet Earth.

I can't believe you. You are so stupid.

Come on, Brooke.

Remember, you just gotta...

I still don't have a signal.

Would you look at the stars?

You're obsessed with your phone.

I am not.

I miss grandpa.

We all do.

I didn't even want to go to practice that day.

When we were driving I almost asked him to turn around.

If only I had, he'd still be here.

Grandpa wouldn't want you to beat yourself up, now would he?

No.

So shut up and go sleep.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Don't move.

I won't.

Quiet.

Snake! Watch out!

Howdy. You guys okay?

Yeah. Uh, thank you. I hate snakes.

What are you girls doing out here?

We can ask you the same question.

Uh, I spotted the smoke from your fire.

I just... I wanted to come check it out.

You can't be too casual about a fire out here.

We're on our way to see our daddy at the Grady County Jail.

What's he in there for?

Some crime he didn't commit.

I know someone at the jail.

I can take you there if you like.

How do we know we can trust you?

You seem pretty lost and, uh, I might be your best bet.

Always good to know someone on the inside.

- All right. - Great.

Hey, pack up your stuff.

Let's get our stuff.

Hey, Son. Come on in.

- Hi, Dad. - Hey.

Uh, who's this?

Dad, this is Brooke and Hailey.

- Hi. - Their father's here in jail.

- Oh, son. Now, I told you... - Sir...

we just want to see our daddy.

That's all.

Well, next time y'all need to go through the official channels.

Uh, yes, Sir.

- What's your father's name? - Uh, Dean Mays.

Uh, I'm not too familiar with his case,

but from what I can see, bail has been set at $50,000.

That's a lot of money, Sir.

Yes, it is.

Well, let's get you in for that visit.

Step in to my right.

Daddy!

- Hi. I miss you. - I'm so happy to see you.

Yeah, how are you?

I'm okay. I'm good. I'm good. I'm fine.

- Okay. - Well, what happened?

Uh, I was friends with some really bad people

and, um, they took advantage of me.

But I want you to know, I'm not guilty of anything

that they've said I've done.

- We believe you, daddy. - Yeah.

Thank you.

What... what are y'all doing here? How did you get here?

Oh, it's a... It's kind of a long story,

but we just couldn't stay away.

We wanted to let you know how much we support you.

- I love you two so much. - You, we too.

Thank you. It means the world to me.

I'm sure we'll find a way to get him out soon.

We will.

It was nice to see him.

It was.

- All right. - Where y'all headed?

Oh, um, our grandmother lives about five miles from here.

So we're gonna go visit her and see if she knows anything about our daddy's case.

Well, you have my number if you need anything.

I do, and as soon as my phone's charged, I'll text you.

Thank you, for all your help. We really appreciate it.

- Yeah. - It wasn't any trouble at all.

Where have you two been?

Your mama's been worried sick.

Hi, grandma.

Some rig you got here.

- It was Hailey's idea. - Yeah.

We texted mom before our phones died.

Texted her? You should have called her.

Swear, I'm witnessing the death of communication.

We just came from seeing daddy.

They said it'll cost $50,000 to get him out of jail.

I know.

Do you have that much money, grandma?

Well, darlin', I don't but we'll figure something out.

Here comes your mama.

I don't imagine she's going to be too happy with you two.

- Three, oh! - Oh!

- Hi, Mom. - Hi, Mom.

You cannot just ride cross-country whenever you feel like it.

Look, we're sorry, but we got to see dad.

Hey, Candace!

Hm. Erin. Can you believe your son?

Last time I heard you're innocent until proven guilty.

Well, I don't have the money to bail him out

and you haven't worked in years.

I'm literally going to have to pick up extra shifts

just to make ends meet while Dean's incarcerated.

Well, I could help you out.

Why don't you just leave the girls with me?

I'll look after 'em and its summer, so there's no school?

- Can we, Mom? - We can text you every day.

I should be punishing you, not rewarding you.

Does that mean, yes?

Fine.

But you better behave yourselves.

Erin, if they get into any trouble you better call me immediately.

Oh, well, I'm sure they're gonna be perfect little angels.

Get over here.

I'm worried sick about you.

Don't ever do that again.

All right.

Why do we have to go here?