Walker: Independence (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

The Owl and the Arrow

1
NASCHA: It's time, it's time.

Next time you wake me,
I throw you in the river.
What do you want, little owl?
Calian, it's time.

I need answers.
I can't remember.
But I would never hurt
Francis. You know that.
Independence is about to wake up
and discover that one
of their Founding Fathers
was just killed by an Apache's arrow.
I need evidence you didn't do it.
Or they will have a noose
around your neck by sundown.
I saw her.
Your sister?

(CELL DOOR SHUTS)
(KEYS JANGLE)
ANNA MARIA: It's not like
your father to be late.
Perhaps it's also part of my punishment.
Our trip was not to
punish, but to give you room
to think about your future,
and who you might spend it with.
Mm. Ya veo.
This is about Hoyt.
We care for Hoyt.
He has a good heart, but
we see how he breaks yours.
And I suppose you and papá
have someone already chosen.
No, the choice is
yours. You have options.
Who?
Calian. I see how you look at him.
- Ay, mamá.
- Mm-hmm.
He's helped out at the ranch.
He's earned the respect
of Luis and your father.
He's a good man.
Piénsalo.
Even Otis thought Liam was running
from something back in Boston.
I admit he wasn't entirely forthcoming
about our reasons for heading west,
but now with the money in his account
That's 7,500 more reasons to keep quiet.
I don't want to think he
was corrupt, but I just
Seems to be the way with
folks who hop into bed with
the Davidsons, doesn't it?
Hmm.
I'm sorry, Abby.
All the more reason I'm looking forward
to meeting with your Pinkerton contact.
Ethan.
He hasn't left already, has he?
Uh, no, no. He has not.
I, uh saw him this
morning with my own eyes.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
What?
- ABBY: Luis
- Hoyt, what happened?
(QUIET MURMURING)
ABBY: Looks like one of Calian's.
Hoyt, no.
- No, he couldn't have done this.
- ANNA MARIA: No!
(SOBBING)
¿Papá?
- No
- (ANNA MARIA GASPS)
(WEEPING)
Where the hell is the sheriff?
(GRUNTING)
(GASPS)
(GROANS)
(GRUNTS)
- (KNOCKING)
- Sheriff, we need
- to talk about
- Talk about the murder of Francis Reyes.
Yes. And the accused.
Gus caught me up.
Calian's arrow was in a dead man.
I know it seems damning at first glance,
but I seem to recall you
telling me that Griffin
should've had his day in court.
Why not Calian?
The people out there
don't get their justice,
and fast, they're gonna
start to get violent.
- And with no courthouse
- Plenty of room downstairs.
I don't have time to find an
impartial jury, Miss Walker.
- This isn't Boston.
- I'm aware.
Nobody is gonna represent an Apache.
I will.
You will?
Right now, the people of this town
they respect you, they trust you.
But defending someone
who killed a Founder?
They're never gonna look
at you the same way again.
And what if you lose
and he gets the noose?
That's gonna stick with you.
You really want to do this?

- Yes.
- (SMACKS LIPS)
Best I can do is run Judge Parker down
from Travis County for a hearing.
It's faster. There's no jury.
Looser rules.
Congratulations, Counselor.
(LOUD, INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Get back!
If the man in my jail was your kin,
you'd demand a fair shake, right?
(INDISTINCT MUTTERING)
So a judge will hear the case today.
Voices will be heard.
The accused can say his piece.
And, in the end, if he is guilty,
I will personally see that he
hangs by the neck until dead.

You can ask it.
Did you kill Francis Reyes?
It's my arrow in his chest
but I don't remember shooting it.
And you had no other
reason to want to harm him?
No.
He was my friend.
Good. It's
it's the beginning of a
reasonable doubt defense.
Abby
- you don't have to
- Yes, I do.
You saved my life.
You've been here for me at every turn.
And, if you haven't noticed,
we've become friends, so
Can you tell me what you do remember?
I remember Nascha.
Nascha?
What does that mean?
My little sister's name.
It means "owl."
We called her that
because she was so curious.
You speak about her as if she
She disappeared
15 years ago.
I'm so sorry, Calian.
She is the reason I became a tracker.
I thought if I looked
long enough, I'd find her.
And you you saw her last night.
Sometimes she appears,
like an echo of the last
time we were together.
- (SIGHS)
- I know
I know she's just a memory,
but I can still feel her in my heart.
At times, she guides me
to places I need to be.
Abby, Nascha led me to you.

(WIND BLOWING)
And last night, when I
arrived at the Reyes' ranch,
she appeared to me again,
Nascha, and she led me away.
(HORSE NEIGHS WILDLY OUTSIDE)
(MAN SHOUTING)
Are you okay?
(SHUDDERS) Yes.
My tribe. They don't know
what happened last night.
If some in town blame me,
- they will blame them, too
- I will warn them.
HOYT: I still can't figure
out why Calian would do it.
LUIS: I've worked side by side with him,
mending fences the rustlers cut.
Nothing was off.
These rustlers were
shooting to kill last night.
Maybe Calian was defending himself
His eyes were open.
- Whose eyes?
- My father's.
The last thing he saw was his killer.
No a su familia.
I welcomed Calian in,
and asked papá
to bring him around more.
We are all responsible.
- Hey, Luis.
- Let him go.
You know, maybe Tom
Davidson isn't the devil
that you imagined him to be.
Like hell. How's that?
This man is a pillar of society.
He is dismantling his
entire establishment
just so a non-citizen
can have his day in court.
A non-citizen?
Ever think maybe we're the interlopers,
- Calian's the real citizen here?
- No.
Ethan, his ancestors
have been on this land
since back when ours
thought the world was flat.
Mm. I have always admired
your righteousness, Kate.
Well, I am always right, so
Okay, then prove it.
Where is the widow Collins
and all of the damning
testimony about the Davidsons?
Here's the thing. Unfortunately, she has
been delayed, somewhat indefinitely.
- Kate, you're wasting my time.
- Well, I don't have to be.
While you're here,
look into Calian's case.
Ethan, I know the man.
Something about this doesn't add up.
This hearing is a sideshow.
It in no way intersects
with our interests.
You're unbelievable.
Are we detectives or not?
What the hell am I doing out here?
I get it. A year is a
long time to be undercover.
You make friends, you make connections.
It's impossible to avoid.
- Sheriff.
- (CLEARS THROAT)
Have you met my friend
Ethan, by any chance?
- Uh, no.
- Pleasure's all mine, Sheriff.
TOM: Pleasure.
Calian mentioned seeing a vision
of his missing sister last night.
Have you ever seen him in that state?
Once. A year ago.
I lost Calian on a scout.
I backtracked, found him standing
in the middle of the river.
called his name, but
it wasn't until I got
right next to him that he woke up.
Calian cut you.
It was a reflex.
After the war, I saw men
escape within their own minds
because the truth of what they
had to do to survive was
too hard to face.
Some just have a hard
time leaving that place.
Only explanation I can figure
is that it was some kind of accident.
That's exactly why we
have to get to the truth.
Agreed.
Clearing Calian comes first.
But as for the truth,
after all of this is sorted,
I'd appreciate some clarity
on what exactly brought
Abigail Walker to Independence.
- (KISSING SOUND)
- (HORSE NEIGHS)

As if Independence hasn't
found enough ways to kill a man.
MAN: That door's swingin' pretty good.
- Hey, looky here.
- What's this?
(MEN MUTTERING)

Is there a problem?
A Founding Father's dead,
and one of them did it.
MAN 2: That's right. It's their fault.
I'd advise you stand down.
A little too early to hang the noose
before the trial starts, Sheriff.
Inclined to agree, Gus,
but I'd rather they get their
anger out building gallows
than burning down our office.
You will let us through
or shoot.
And cause more of the very
bloodshed you claim to detest.

(GRUNTS, SHOUTS)
Thanks.
HOYT: What is it?
Papá's cup.
I brought it to him when he was trying
to fix that rail, before
I left for Mexico.
(SIGHS) I was so mad
that he wouldn't let me
sing at Hagan's that
I never said goodbye.

He loved to wake up before the sun.
He was building our future, but
- now there might not ever be one.
- Hey.
That's not gonna happen.
It's gonna take a lot
of work and prayers,
but you, you and Luis,
you're gonna see it through. I know it.
You could stay.
Help us.
- Yeah.
- (SIGHS)
Maybe it's time I do.
(SNIFFLES)
HOYT (WHISPERS): It's gonna be okay.
(SPEAKING APACHE)
(DOOR CREAKS OPEN, CLOSES)
You know, not everyone throws bricks.
Most people here actually
want a fair trial.
But that
Might as well be
reading a fantasy novel.
There's nothing in there
that's gonna clear the man.
It was dark, and there
was gunfire nearby.
Perhaps Calian shot in self-defense,
and didn't see Francis.
Reasonable doubt, Sheriff.
(SOFT GRUNT) It's not that simple.
Tell me, why did you agree to
pin that star on your chest?
Because right now,
it really doesn't seem
as though you care about the
letter of law or finding the truth.
I'll admit, before I became the law,
I never got much out of following it.
Might work in a marble mausoleum
of a courthouse back east.
People here, on the
jagged edge of the world
they just want to know the man.
Judge is ready.
I thought you were leaving tomorrow.
Well, you asked me to stay
to meet with Mrs. Collins
and hear all this evidence
that you've been
so doggedly chasing down,
but, since that is not forthcoming,
I have more pressing
matters to attend to.
You were right, you know.
I may be losing a little
bit of perspective.
- Mm.
- (CHUCKLES)
Here. Let me do it.
Let me do it.
I will admit, I always did
like when you would take over.
You don't say. (GIGGLES)
You know, I'd be lying if
I said I didn't miss this.
Meeting undercover.
Sometimes
under covers.
(BOTH CHUCKLE SOFTLY)
You know, Katherine, I was
worried I lost you again,
down that same rabbit hole that
got you in trouble back east.
Well, that's history, isn't it?
Back.
- E?
- Mm-hmm?
What do you think of Tom Davidson
now that you've met him in the flesh?
Well, you know. It's hard to
tell from just a handshake,
but he hardly seems like
the cold-blooded killer
that you advertised.
And which handshake was
that? Was that earlier
or was that this morning,
when you met in secret?
And now that I have your attention,
I really would like some honest answers.
Thought there'd be more people.
After years of trying to
hide, now you want a parade?
I should've cut you loose at the ranch.
Let you ride away.
Put both our lives on the line?
No.
Still, always thinking of others.
(LIVELY CHATTER)
- Are you ready?
- Mm-hmm.
Djon-deh-zee.
I'm glad Nascha led me to you.

- (GAVEL BANGING)
- (PARKER CLEARS THROAT)
Now, normally, with
the evidence in hand,
and by virtue of the
accused being a non-citizen,
the punishment would have
already been meted out.
But, considering the proximity
between the accused's tribe
and the town, Sheriff Davidson
has called for these
proceedings to sort facts,
settle doubt, and assure
peace no matter the outcome.
I call this hearing to order.
(BANGS GAVEL)
Francis Reyes was already
dead when I arrived.
PARKER: Yes, with an arrow in his chest.
Have you assessed how
that happened, sir?
Any guess of mine would
be purely speculation,
and not applicable to
the fact, Your Honor.
PARKER: Fine, but what about motive?
Your town was established
on tribal land.
Francis lobbied for
Calian to be a liaison
between the tribe and the town.
He trusted him.
He knew he would help keep the peace,
not start a war.
Have you seen this man exhibit
any kind of violence?
Not that I can recall,
Your Honor.
Very well. Next witness.
I was tending to a new calf
when I heard my father call for me.
And then there were loud voices
Gunshots.
And I ran.
And that's when I saw
- him.
- (CROWD MURMURING)
LUIS: Standing over my dead father.
If I had just run when papá called
I could have stopped it.
Why did you take him from us?
(LOUD CHATTER ERUPTS)
(GAVEL BANGING REPEATEDLY)
Okay, I, uh
I understand that I've upset you,
but did you have to shave my mustache?
It's always bothered
me. Why did you lie?
Kate, you know how it works.
We-we compartmentalize. We
We keep secrets from each other.
- You used to read me in.
- Yeah,
and I was going to,
but you've-you've been so focused
on the Liam Collins murder,
and now this sham of a
hearing downstairs, that I
(SIGHS) I felt it best
to ease you into the news.
News? What news?
Pinkerton's pulled us off
the government contract.
We work for The Plains
Union Railway now.
I met with Davidson
because he is the sheriff
on a future rail stop,
so he's to be kept abreast
of any and all threats
that might endanger
- the railway's progress.
- Wait. So this whole time
I've been investigating
the corrupt, you've been
What, you've been protecting them?
Come on, Kate.
Does he know who I am?
No, he doesn't.
And I suggest you stop chasing
him before that changes.
Is that a threat?
Kate, I am trying to help you.
You've lost your compass again.
This is looking a lot like Baltimore.
Don't you talk to me about
Baltimore. Don't mention
- Baltimore to me!
- You want to get somebody else killed?
The powers that be assigned
you to this backwater town to
get right with the agency.
And I'm not sure you're doing that here.
Come on, Kate, you're the
you're the best agent I know.
I need you.
Kate. Kate.
I would like to call the accused.
(LOUD MURMURING)
(GAVEL BANGING)
What are you so afraid of?
You've already condemned
him in your mind.
What is the harm in letting him speak?
(MURMURING, SHOUTING)
Well, look at you.
Above it all.
(MURMURING CONTINUES,
GAVEL BANGS REPEATEDLY)
I will have order!
Your Honor, I acknowledge
that the accused has no memory
of the events surrounding the murder,
and, for some here, that would
be enough reason to convict.
I ask, however, that we not dwell
on what he cannot remember,
but rather on what he can.
Calian, can you tell me what
you remember from that night,
15 years ago
when your sister
Nascha was kidnapped.
PARKER: Miss Walker, I am trying to
- understand the relevance here.
- Your Honor, I promise,
if you'll indulge me,
I will get to the point.
(MURMURING QUIETS)
I know what happened that night
makes you feel alone,
but you're not.
NASCHA: It's time.
It was a raid, in the dark
They killed half our camp.
Injured so many others.
Calian!
(SCREAMS)
They took her. My sister.
I tried to stop them, but
Calian, you can stop there.
- It's my fault. I should've
- Should've done what?
Should've shot the one who took her.
Even if you had, there
were many attackers.
- Another would've come.
- Then I would have shot again.
And what if they had more
men than you had arrows?
Would you have tracked them
for miles into the night?
No. No.
And why couldn't you?
'Cause I was just a boy.
I was scared.
I think that's enough, Ms. Walker.
Your Honor, please,
just let me establish
- The accused may stand down.
- everything Calian has giv
Outside, you've built gallows
to hang me for a crime
but none of you have asked
me if I'm guilty or innocent.
So I ask for you:
Did I kill Francis Reyes?
My answer is no.
'Cause he was my friend.
I could never have hurt him.
After Nascha was taken, my
tribe was too injured to search.
I knew she was still alive,
so I came here for help.
I came to you, but
none of you believed me.
And now, years later, when
your children go missing,
you come to me
'cause you know I won't
give up until I find them.
And yet today, before I could even ask
that you believe in my innocence,
you already tied a noose.
Will none of you stand for me?

(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
PARKER: As I sit here today,
to weigh the goodness of a man's heart
against the evidence of his actions,
I am struck by a story of a man
who has experienced great loss.
Yet he did not fall into the abyss,
but rather turned his pain into purpose
to help the people of Independence.
(SIGHS)
But, uh
but the law's clear.
And as much as I would like
to determine reasonable doubt,
the accused cannot adequately explain
how his own arrow pierced
the chest of the victim.
Which leads me to the only verdict
I can make by our laws and customs.
Guilty.
(CROWD GASPING, MURMURING)
Son, may God have mercy on your soul.
I'm so sorry.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Did you hear him?
Clawing for compassion
before papá is even in the ground?
You're showing your tell, Luis.
You want to know why
you're a bad poker player?
'Cause your tell's always the same
when you got a bad
hand and empty pockets.
You were doing it on the stand.
You're doing it right now.
Why?
You want to talk about
lies and gambling now?
LUCIA: Stop this.
Nothing will erase
seeing your friend Calian
shooting his arrow
through my father's chest!
Help me out, here
On the stand, you testified you
found your father already dead.
Now you're saying you
saw Calian shoot him.
Which is it, Luis?
Hmm?
You were arguing with papá all day.
Why?
He always saw himself in you, Luis.
No! No, we were not the same!
You know how mad he gets!
He accused me of
stealing our own cattle,
said he couldn't trust me to
run the ranch when he's gone.
You did the best that you could.

Land only for this fate ♪
What did you do?
Why do you care
LUIS (SOBBING): He told
me to leave the ranch,
and this family, and never come back.
I want you gone by morning!

(GUNSHOT)
LUIS: It was an accident!
¿Papá?
Feels as though ♪
There was only one way out
We're never turning back here ♪
(GUN CLICKS)
LUIS: until another appeared.
The land returns to the dust ♪
- Is there any way ♪
- Lo siento, papá.
To get this
weight off my skin ♪
And find another one? ♪
Is there anyone ♪
To get this writing off the wall ♪
And find a new one ♪
And find ♪

And you figured, who are
they going to believe?
An Apache or the son
of a Founding Father?
How could you do that to us?
You?
You were never a son to him.
Didn't you realize how lucky
you were to have a father?
(SOBS) Hoyt.
Please no more.
Get your ass up.
(SOBS)
Any last words?
There is no death.
Is there any way ♪
Only a change in worlds.
To get this weight off my skin ♪
And find another one? ♪
Is there anyone ♪
(GIVING WAR CRY)
To get this writing off the wall ♪
And find a new one? ♪
And find ♪
Wait!
Call it off!
(PANTS)
There will be no hanging today!
(MURMURING)

Anyone has a problem
with that, come find me.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Pulled from the body of Francis Reyes.
The right man is in jail.
And an innocent one didn't hang.
It's a good thing.
"I have always found that
mercy bears richer fruit
than strict justice."
And who said that?
One of those Roman generals
you like to read about?
Abraham Lincoln.
I've been meaning to ask you
What were you and my predecessor doing
at the Reyes Ranch last night?
We were following a lead
on their stolen cattle.
Didn't expect it to be their own son.
I wonder who put him up to it.
Hmm.
(COUGHING)
Sheriff, you all right?
Right as rain.
(COUGHING)

KATE: Ethan.
I thought you might want this.
Kate, do you have any
any idea of what you're about to do?
Do you have any idea
what I've already done,
in the name of that badge?
E, we were supposed to protect people.
We were supposed to
protect hard-working people
that were building a dream.
Instead, we-we-we have
a a trail of broken lives
we left behind us.
For what? For a client?
The old man likes you, Kate.
He doesn't take well
to letting go of things.
Lucky that I'm not a thing.
(SCOFFS)
So, what, uh what do
you want me to tell him?
You tell him that if the Davidsons
somehow find out who I am,
I will burn you to the ground.
My government contacts, the press
I will make sure the world
knows what you've become.
Don't worry about me. I'll be fine.
It's nice here in Purgatory.
It was really good seeing you, Kate.
Thanks for the shave.
I, uh
I shouldn't have stayed
away when you needed me.
- I owe you an
- You helped save my life, Hoyt.
I'm sorry about Francis.
I know he cared for you.
Yeah, well
after I turned Luis in,
I don't know how Lucia
and her mom are gonna feel.
You have to be there for them.
Yeah.
Hey, that whole saving your life bit
Does that mean you owe me now?
I said you helped.
If they learned you lied
on the stand today
I was just doing what
you would've did for me.
Sometimes I wonder
why I'm protecting the same
people that would hang me
at the first accusation.
Part of me feels like
I should leave with you.
And part of you knows you should stay.
This town needs you, Augustus.
My heart is spilling over ♪
Crashing on the ground ♪
I can't see what's around me ♪
(SIGHS)
But soon I'll come around ♪
- Thank you.
- Well, considering the verdict,
I don't think the judge found
me particularly convincing.
But he wasn't the one
you needed to convince.
You helped others
think differently, Abby.
All the same
After everything
will I ever see you again?
In the sky tonight ♪
Maybe we'll find each
other in the tall grass.
Trick of the light ♪
May never come but
I'm willing to wait ♪
What can I say? ♪
I'm a man of the faith ♪
And there's an ocean in my body ♪
And there's a river in my soul ♪
And I'm crying ♪
(SPEAKING APACHE)
This path that I've taken ♪
Is the only one I know ♪
Well, I've come so
far to get here ♪
And if I see a sign
in the sky tonight ♪
No one's gonna tell me
it's a trick of the light ♪
May never come, but
I'm willing to wait ♪
What can I say? ♪
I'm a man of the faith ♪
And there's an ocean in my body ♪
And there's a river in my soul ♪
And I'm crying ♪
Thank you.

And we are the dawn ♪
- And we carry the sun ♪
- (EXHALES)
You know, the day might be
over, but I have a feeling
the adventures of Abby Walker, Esquire,
- might just be beginning.
- Hmm.
And we are the dawn ♪
The meeting with Ethan. I I forgot.
Did he agree to help?
Uh, no.
And we carry the sun ♪
I resigned.
But that's okay. That's just fine,
because we are gonna
solve Liam's murder,
and we are gonna take
down the Davidsons,
and we are gonna set this
town straight all by ourselves.
- Hmm.
- 'Cause nobody else is gonna help us.
"On the jagged edge of the world."
What's that?

Nothing.
Just I think I'm beginning to feel
the same way about this place as you do.

- (KNOCKING)
- Sheriff?
(EXHALES)
Oh, my God. Sheriff.
Hey. Hey.
(MOANING)
Help me, Abby.
(MOANS, COUGHS)

Previous EpisodeNext Episode