Nell

Miz Kelty?

Miz Kelty?

You don't need me Mr. Baring Just wasting my time again

You know where I am No square dancing!

Do you reckon he ought to be in the hospital?

No, ma'am. My advice is

don't go near those places unless they pay you a heap of money

Your father's eighty seven years old, Janet Just be there for him

Don't worry I ain't a-gonna go nowhere

Been looking for you all over Jerry

Take care See ya

Thanks for seeing Papa Sure

Billy Fisher found her He delivers the groceries out there

I guess she's what you'd call a hermit

She talked kinda funny, too. She kinda like, uh, "Durr yurr mmm"

Only one side of her face was working

You try talking out of one side of your face

Oh, so you seen her then?

Just the once. When I first moved out here

It seemed to me she was doing okay

Oh, sure now she lived her own life

I didn't know there were folks living this far out

Well, there aren't Just ol' Miz Kelty

God

It's beautiful

Well, look at that

Just laid herself down folded up her arms and died

Don't look like she's been gone long

No...

In this heat, you'd know if she'd been dead more than a day

Well... anything I should be concerned about?

Not that I can see

I guess she hasn't been outside in a long time

Well, that figures. The last time I seen her in town was more'n a year back

Is this for real?

No electricity, no phone... no running water

She lived here all alone, huh?

Well, that's what hermits do, lovell

They live alone and they die alone

Peterson to Robbinsville base

Okay-ay-ay, we're outta here!

Let's get back to civilization

Billy Fisher found her when he delivered the groceries?

Yeah, that's right

I'll catch up with you

Hi there

It's okay, I won't hurt you

Stay back! Well, what the hell is it?

Stay back! What the hell is it, Jerry?

Put the gun away Leave her alone Don't touch my gun Jerry

Come on let's go Come on What the hell is it?

Get out. She's scared She's scared? Holy shit! What?

Good God Almighty

You ever heard of anyone else living out here?

No, never

Are you all right? Did you get hurt? Fine. Fine

- Okay - Jesus

Let's take this one step at a time. Stay here. I'm gonna go back inside

Jerry I can't let you go back in there We don't even know what that thing is

It's a human being And she's frightened

Well, what are you gonna do?

Talk to her. If I can

Please... don't be afraid

The Lord led you here, stranger. Guard my Nell. Nell

Good child. the Lord care you

Man, did you see this? That crazy old woman owned half of this damn woods

What kind a deal is this?

The first stranger who finds her is supposed to look after her?

Well, that means you, Jer Oh, sure. Just what I need

Well, "the Lord led you here". There you go

You led me here

Well, you want the Lord to take care of you or not?

The last time I saw the Lord was in church on my wedding day.

And look how that turned out. Come on

Well, she's definitely over age

So I guess we notify the Adult Protective Service

She doesn't need a social worker. She needs a padded call

That is one seriously disturbed lady

Well, I'm afraid that's gonna be your territory, Jerry

Thanks

Well, "the Lord led you here, stranger"

It's okay. It's okay. It's all right just calm yourself down. It's okay

Calm down, calm down

It's all right calm down.

No! Whackie!

No. Calm down

Come in

Nicole, you want to sing "Open Shut" then?

Doctor Olsen?

Could you close the door, please? Thanks

They said it was fine to drop by

I'm Jerry Lovell. I've got a family practice over in Robbinsville

Hi

This is my assistant, Diane

So what can I do for you?

Well... I could use some advice

This, uh, this woman speaks an unknown language?

Her mother was paralysed down one side. Apparently a series of strokes

It's possible the girl picked up the speech distortions

Speech distortion's not an unknown language

I know. It's more than that

Well, I want to see her right away

How about first thing in the morning? Nine?

Thanks. If you're not too busy

Well, no known living next of kin

Violet Kelty was just about as lone as a soul can get in this world

Except she wasn't Sheriff's Department

Well now officially that "creature" does not exist

Todd?

There, see what you make of that

Right here?

Perterson

Yeah, hey, Sally, what

Where is she now?

I'll be right over.

Yeah, thanks, Sally I appreciate your trouble

You think that's how she got pregnant? Rape?

I have to go

- Mary, huh? - Yeah

My Mary

You'll be all right now, honey. He's on his way. He's a-coming

Thanks, Sally

It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay. I'm here now

Why'd you get upset?

Hey!

Come on... come on. There you go

Okay, folks, the show's over

- You guys okay? - Yeah, yeah. We've been here before

Hi

You found me

Early

Yeah, I'm always early

Not a bad day

What happened to her?

Nothing and everything

It hits her once in a while

- Is there any obvious cause? - You want a list? Life's touch

But she's luckier than some. She's got a good husband there

Ready to head for the woods?

The things people do to their kids. Jesus

She's not like that when she's on her own

Strangers scare her

How do you know?

I've been watching her

She's been, uh, completely isolated. Almost certainly mentally retarded

A blood test will pick up childhood disease, any kind of metabolic disorder

Oh, you carry a blood kit?

You think she's gonna sit there and let me stick a needle in her?

I'll hold her

It's okay, darling. It's okay

Do it

Do it

Shh... shh. It's okay

If you're right...a big if...

if she's never left this cabin or this part of the forest

never known anybody but her mother...

never encountered any of the images of the modern world,

never seen a car, a television a gun, a Hershey bar...

never heard rock'n'roll music or But now you said she can talk

Yeah, but it's some kinda language of her own

Well, we haven't had a true wild child in this country for sixty years

She's not a wild child

It's just a shorthand term, Dr. Lovell

She's not a child

No. That's what makes this case so unique

This is not your field, I know

Bur let me tell you what we're dealing with here

Some pretty fundamental issues

How was the personality formed? We don't know

How much is innate, how much is learned? We don't know

Where do gender roles come from? We don't know

Because you can't take a baby and have it grow up in a lab...

and monitor and control every influence You want to have her grow up in a lab?

Grow up in a lab? No

Dr. Lovell thinks you're gonna do a Frankenstein number on her, Al

Oh, well, uh... all right...

Let me ask you this, Dr. Lovell

Can she survive on her own?

Well

I don't know

Yeah, well, all right, suppose she cannot

Who's gonna look after her? You?

Me? Why me?

All right, so who's volunteering?

I can tell you this much

It's gonna be somebody with an ulterior motive

Everybody who cares for someone has an ulterior motive

Even Mother Teresa

She wants to know that her life has been of some use to others

And so do I

Excuse me

Oh, shit

Yeah, I'm on my way

Well, Lovell, did I wake you up?

Hey, Todd, it's okay. I overslept. What's up?

I'm looking at a commitment order that's just been issued for Nell

What does that mean?

Well, it means they're gonna take her away

It's a court order, Jerry. I have to enforce it

When, now?