The Officer gets down from his horse and strolls to the back of the rig. He opens the door- A coffin lays inside with a Confederate flag draped over the top. A grey hat and sabre rest on top. Ben approaches the officer.
BEN
(Pointing to the coffin)
This is her husband- Captain Ambrose Allen.
The Officer looks up at Kitty- She's clad in black with a veil covering her face.
OFFICER
My condolences, Ma'am.
BEN
(Shutting the rig's door)
He died at the battle of Nashville.
OFFICER
Nashville? That was months ago.
BEN
He was buried on military ground. But now Mrs. Ambrose Allen's got a permit to dig him up and bury him on her ranch.
OFFICER
Where's your ranch?
KITTY
New Mexico.
OFFICER
That's quite the trip, Ma'am
KITTY
It's what he would have wanted.
OFFICER
(Addressing Ben)
You her son?
BEN
Me? No. She's hired my rig to do the carting. I never met Captain Allen; but I have heard through Mrs. Allen that her husband was quite the hero among his men. It's a crying shame.
OFFICER
(Pointless guilt)
Well, the wars over now.
The Officer mounts his horse.
OFFICER (CONT’D)
New Mexico's along way off, and you've got a lot of miles to cover. Godspeed, Ma'am.
The two riders return to the convoy, words are exchanged and the trail starts moving again.
The performance is over Mrs. Ambrose Allan becomes Kitty again.
KITTY
You her son? You her son!? The nerve. Am I looking old to you?
Kitty leans into the rig and pulls the flag off the coffin. She casually opens the lid of the coffin and pulls out a liquor bottle.
KITTY (CONT’D)
(Pulling the cork from the bottle)
He said it so I could hear it too... Bastard.
BEN
Quit boozing; you'll look plenty younger.
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