East of the Mountains

Hey. Come on.

Beat it.

Stay.

Hmm.

Am I late?

Oh, no! Hi, dad.

Hi.

Hi. How're you feeling?

I'm fine, I'm fine.

Chris was supposed to graduate this year,

but because of the divorce,

he's just gonna take a semester off.

Take a semester off?

Yeah, he wants to travel.

He's saved up some money, and...

You should come by the house. He really misses you.

Well, Renee, I'm... uh...

I'm going to take a few days

I'm going to go hunting in my old stomping grounds,

and I'm leaving in the morning.

Oh! Who's going with you?

Rex...

And me.

I've been thinking about it...

For a while.

Are you gonna go see uncle Aidan?

No.

I just thought that

maybe now things would be different than...

What would be different?

So when will you be back?

Uh...

Thursday or Friday.

I'm okay, I'm just fine!

I just wanna go over the mountains,

and let the dog run around,

and walk a little.

Okay.

When you come back, we're gonna have a serious talk.

A serious talk.

Yes.

About you coming to live with us.

You know.

If you have to start treatment...

If.

I haven't heard back from the doctors at all.

So it doesn't make sense to talk about anything.

Doesn't make sense.

No.

Well, you know that's what you say

when you just don't want to talk about something. Right?

Well, I just don't want to talk about it!

Just like you don't want to talk about mom...

It's...

It's late.

Dad, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to box you in or anything.

Chris is in college now

and you just need someone to take care of.

No!

I'm just concerned about your health, dad.

I'm not sure my health is your business.

I've barely seen you since mom died.

I miss you.

And I just want to spend some time together.

I... I'm sorry.

I have to go.

Dad...

Come on.

Come on. Up you go.

Up you go. Come on.

Please leave a message after the tone.

Hi, dad, it's Renee.

I hope I catch you before you leave.

I'm sorry about last night.

I didn't mean to offend you or upset you.

I'm just not feeling that great

about this trip that you want to take all alone.

Will you please call me back when you get this message?

Thank you, dad.

Love you.

Bye.

Oh!

Oh, Jesus.

Hey, how's it going?

Well, not great.

You got some car trouble?

Yeah.

Need a ride?

Well, I could use one.

I've got a dog, however, and, um...

Some other things.

That's not a problem.

Okay.

- Thanks. - Need some help?

No service.

What are you gonna do with your car?

I'll take care of it.

Where you want us to take you?

I was thinking of hunting up in frenchman coulee.

Meeting friends up there.

Sweet climbing spot.

Perfect.

Look, I don't want to take you out of your way.

We're super flexible. It's not a problem.

I appreciate it, really. I do appreciate it.

What's his name?

Oh, that's Rex.

Are you from around here?

Oh, I used to be.

Do you still have family out here?

Not really.

Are you okay?

Oh, yeah, it's just...

Bad back.

I'm okay.

Stay.

You got everything?

Yeah. I'm fine.

I appreciate you doing this.

Giving me a ride.

Um. Here you go.

Uh. Some snacks for later.

We thought you could use it.

Oh, that's really sweet of you.

Thank you very much.

You sure you're gonna be all right out here?

I'm gonna be fine.

Okay.

I'm gonna be just fine. Thank you.

You have a good climb?

Thanks.

Okay.

- Bye, Ben! - So long.

Come on.

Come on, come on.

Come on.

Ah.

Okay, here we go.

Okay, let's go hunting.

Hold up.

Hunt 'em up.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Okay.

Whoo!

Rex!

Dammit.

Rex!

Rex!

Get off!

Get off, dammit!

Oh, god.

Hey. You alone down there?

Can you help me?

My dog's hurt.

You fuckin' shoot my dog?

Your dog had my dog by the throat.

You coulda just kicked him off.

Give him a good kick, my dog'll listen.

I did that.

He wasn't listenin'.

Damn it.

Your dog was gonna rip my dog's throat out.

Maybe I ought to shoot your dog, too.

You get down on the ground now.

Turn your head away.

You killed my dog.

I'm takin' your gun.

I need that gun.

Shoulda thought of that

before you shot my best coyote dog.

Good boy.

Hold still...

Hold still.

Okay.

Okay.

I know.

Don't do that. Don't do that.

Shh.

Hey.

Hey.

Do you need help?

My dog needs help.

Let's get you into my truck.

A vet I know.

She's going to open her clinic.

You're awake.

You were sound asleep.

He seems to be doing okay back there.

Anita's here.

Are you the owner?

I am, yes.

Thank you for coming out.

Yeah, of course.

I mean, when he asks me, how could I say no?

I'm going to open up the clinic for us, okay?

Okay.

Thanks again. I owe you something.

No, you don't.

It's not necessary.