Little House on the Prairie S05E16 Blind Man's Bluff

You don't care what you spend your money on, do you? It cost 18 cents. Which could have gone for something we needed. We don't need this. Take it back. I will not. Ask your pa if he'd like more coffee. Tell your mother no. He doesn't want any more, Ma. Tell your mother... I'll be in the North Field come lunchtime. Tell your father I'm going to town. He can get his own lunch. Ma, why are you and Pa always mad at each other? A lot of reasons. Too many. You might as well know now as later. You're old enough. In the fall, when the crops are in... Your Pa's going to leave us. Where's he going? Doesn't matter. He's not coming back. Ever? I don't know that either. We're going to... We're going to be divorced. Do you know what that means? I'm going to say, take it calmly. Where are we going? We're staying here. He's leaving us the farm. You're big enough now to handle most of the work. And he'll send us money whenever he can, he says. Get along. You do understand what I'm saying, Jordan? Yes. But why are you getting a divorce? Because we can't live together. You've seen us, you've heard us. Had another fight this morning. About a sugar bowl. It could have been about anything, Jordan. Everything. Now that happens to some people. God alone knows why, but it happens. But it was just about a sugar bowl. Don't want to talk about that. You finish your breakfast. I'm not hungry. Bet you fall. Go ahead, but I bet you fall off. I better not, it's a hundred feet from the ground. Doesn't look more than four feet to me. And there's no net. I'll fall, I could break every bone on my body. You wouldn't even skin your knees. Don't distract the Magnificent, Jordan. He's risking his life. Ahoy, Magnificent. Do something. All right. The greatest thrill of all. Death-defying backflip. I'm dead. You sure don't sound it. I broke every bone on my body. You did if they're all in your behind. You been practicing long? Well, I'm ready. Next time a circus comes to Mankato, I'm gonna be in it. Your folks will have something to say about that. No, they won't. Why not? They just won't, that's all. Where are you going? To the blind school. I wrote a story in braille for Mary to read to the children. I'll go with you. I'll race you. You can't, you're dead. Dead or alive, I'll beat you. You are just as proud as can be of what you've done, darling. Mrs. Kendall said she's never seen anyone catch on as fast as me. That's true, Mrs. Herzog. Gets it from her ma, she does. Be quiet. Hi, Mary. Hi to Claire, Laura. You make more noise than a team of horses. I wrote you a story in braille for the children. I'll read it later, Laura. Hannah's parents are visiting all the way from Minneapolis. We want to spend some time. Go to the kitchen, I have donuts for you. Donuts? I'll be in the kitchen. That was my shy little sister. Jordan will get first choice as a consolation prize since you came in second. Well, that's because I walked on my hands part of the way. Oh, you walked on your hands, did you? Well, get over there and wash your hands good before you touch a donut. Thank you. That little girl, I guess her parents don't get to see her very often. Not if she lives in Minneapolis. Well, Hannah, her parents came to see her about three months ago. Does it bother her not seeing them? I mean, not having them with her? Well, she gets home sick just like all the rest. But distance doesn't make any difference about love. Hello, son. Ma said you were going to leave us. I guess she figured it was about time you knew. Will you tell me why? All she said was it happens. That's about the sum of it, I guess. That doesn't explain anything. Is it because they don't have enough money? Partly. But I don't know that it can be explained. It's a heap of little things all piled up until they got too big. You mean you don't love us anymore? I'll always love you, Jordan. I'll come and see you when I can. If you need me, I'll be there. What about Ma? Is she any different from what she was? It's not a matter of different. I, uh... I don't know. I'll tell you one thing. We'll both love you as much as now. That won't change. It's just... I won't be here. Then neither will I. Jordan! What are you doing? Stringing the tightrope. You're gonna walk on it? Yup. And when I get it right, I'm gonna join the circus and make more money than you ever saw. Are you gonna do a backflip on the rope, Jordan? I might. After I get the hang of walking. What about school? I'm not going. You'll catch it. I don't care. Girl, any monkey can walk a rope. Come on, we're late for school already. I don't care if I'm late. I'm gonna stay and watch. You should have put some hay bales down here in case you fall. I'm not planning to fall! Apparently there are no bones broken. I can't tell about internal injuries. Why doesn't he come to? Open your eyes, Jordan. Look at me. Easy, Dale. He'll come out of it. Look at me, Jordan. Timothy. He's beginning to come around. Ma? Here I am, Jordan. Are you all right? Pa? I'm here, son. Ma and I are both here. Don't leave me. Wait. I can't see. Oh, my God. Timothy, take her outside. Come on, Dale. No, I don't want to leave my son. Wait outside. Give the doctor a chance. Jordan, stop it. I'm gonna check your eyes. Pa, it's all my fault. If I had stayed to watch him... Don't start blaming yourself. You know Jordan was always up to some trick or another. He'd have fallen whether you were there or not. I keep seeing him falling. If only he had grabbed the rope. All right, I don't want you to think about it now. I want you to go on home. There's nothing we can do for Jordan. I'll stay here and I'll let you know what happens. And I want you to go. From what I've been able to determine, the problem is caused by pressure on the optic nerve. Apparently, he hit the back of his head when he fell, where the nerve passes very close to the skull. Will he stay blind? I wish I could answer that, Belle. There is some vision. We can distinguish light and dark. But there is impairment. I'd like to keep him here while I watch him. He has to see again. It's going to be all right, Jordan. Dr. Baker just wants you to stay for a while. He told me. Are you here, Pa? I'm here. Don't trip now. Venture home to the Doc's head. But you said you were going away. You won't be here. I'll be here. You promise? I promise. I couldn't sleep. I warmed up some milk. Would you like some? How could something like this happen? Always dreaming about that circus. Damn fool circus. That circus, that circus, that circus. Belle, stop it. He'll be all right. He'll see again. You don't know that. I pray he does. But if he doesn't, you need us to help him. To give him strength. See again. We'll make him believe something that might not be so. How's the boy? No change. It's only been a week. Charles, I'm not looking for miracles like Belle is. I want Jordan to start blind school. That's why I stopped by. I wonder if you'd talk to Mary about it for me. Certainly I will. I wanted Belle to talk to her, but she wouldn't. She doesn't want him to go. Says it means we're giving up. How's Jordan feeling about it? He says he'll do anything we want. He's been the brave one through all this. Been in good spirits the whole time. I'll stop by your place right after work. Much obliged. No problem. Tell Carrie and Albert to get ready for school. I'll drive you in. Kids have school. See you, Pop. Here, darling. If Jordan starts school here, I can help him, like walk him to school and all. Sure, I'll ask Mr. Harrison. I can help him with his schoolwork, too. I can teach him to use a Braille writer. Hey, now, come on. I know you're upset about Jordan. I shouldn't have let him do it. I should have told him. All right, now, that's enough. We've been through this before, haven't we? It's nobody's fault. Look, I don't mind you helping Jordan as a friend. I don't want you helping him out of some... some false sense of guilt. Which one is it? As a friend. You sure? All right. You can get yourself on to school. I wish you hadn't done it. I don't think we have much choice. We need learning, blind or not. But sending him to that school, that... It makes it seem final. Maybe it is. Come on, now. We promised we'd be strong for him, didn't we? Yes. All right, then. All right. I'll go check on the boy. Tim? Thank you. Give us the strength to help him, God. See you after school, son. Okay. Be sure and thank Laura for helping you. I will. Bye, Ma, Pa. Bye. Bye-bye. What is that letter? Elm. You're catching on very quickly, Jordan. It's not so hard after all, is it? No, ma'am. Here's another one. Lunchtime in about ten minutes. And how's our boy Jordan doing? He's doing just fine. You think you about ready for some of my cooking? I could eat a horse. Well, that's not on the menu, but... you think you could stand some chicken? As long as the feathers are off. Thank you, Lord, for the food we are about to receive. Amen. Now, Jordan, it's kind of like telling time. You find your chicken at 12 o'clock, mashed potatoes and gravy at 3 o'clock, string beans at 6 o'clock, and beets at 9 o'clock. You know what that means? Yes, ma'am. Eating time. All right, you eat. Now, Jordan, the ropes are to keep you from bumping into one another. Here we go. There you go. What? I'll show you something else. I don't want you to step all your studs, honey. Just the ones that'll hurt you, okay? All right, everybody, it's time to go back to class. Anything wrong, Jordan? I'm just resting. Well, supper will be ready in a bit. Something you and your Pa both like. Veal and ham pie? We haven't had that in a long time. I know. I'm enjoying cooking again. Ma, you and Pa are getting along good again, ain't you? I think so. Do you think you'll be staying on? For good, I mean. I don't know. That's something that we haven't really talked about yet. Why not? I don't know. Supper will be ready in five minutes, okay? Mrs. Kendall? Yes, Jordan. May I leave the room? Certainly. Would you like me to take you? No, ma'am, I can find my way easily. All right. Have you seen Jordan? Where is it, Mr. Who? Well, he's gone. He's wandered off. Is Mrs. Garvey inside? Yeah. Do you want us to help you look for him? Well, yes, if it's all right with Mrs. Garvey. She'll say it's all right. Come on. No, don't everybody go the same way. Split up. Go different directions. You're not blind. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. I'm sorry, Laura. Really? Making everybody think you were blind. You made everybody feel just awful. Why? I had to. Nobody else would do a thing like that. What's gotten into you, Jordan? Do you realize how bad you made your mom and pop feel? Were you faking all the time? Even in the doctor's office? At first I wasn't. Honest, everything was blurry. Well, why then? Why? Because when I came to, I saw my mom and pop. And he was holding her. And she was crying and hanging on to him. Well, you only made her feel worse by pretending you were blind. No, I made her feel better. Pop, too. They were going to get a divorce. They used to get awful mad at each other. And that was all stopped when they thought I was blind. Well, that's just because they were so worried about you. Well, I made them stay together. And they get along, so I keep on pretending. Don't you see? I have to. I want to tell them, Laura. I really do. Only I'm scared they'll be mad at me. They'll go back to being the way they were. Paul will leave us like he said he would. Maybe not. But I'm scared to find out. You're in a pickle, Jordan. You really are. I know. You won't tell on me, will you? Well, it's a sin to lie. It's not lying if you don't say anything. Yes, it is. Sort of. Not really. Please? Well, how long do you plan to keep on pretending? I don't know. Well, you've got to stop sometime. Jordan! Where are you? It's Albert. I've been looking for you. Everybody in the school's been looking for you. Don't tell me. Please? All right. I won't unless they ask me. He's here! I found him! Come on. Did you have a fight? What's the matter? You look like you've got the woes of the world on your shoulders. I've got a problem. You won't talk about it? Trouble is, I can't talk about it. There's a problem, then. Well, it's not mine. That's why. I'm just sort of mixed up in it. Pa, is it lying if you know about something and you don't say what it is? I don't know. You've got to give me a for instance. I can't. All I can say is then it depends. I mean, is not telling hurting somebody? No. Yes. A little bit of both, huh? Which one of you thinks the bigger the two? I don't know. I wish I could give you some advice, but I know I can trust you to make the right decision. I hope so. I'd best get to my chores. Okay. I think we've done enough for today. Yeah, Pa. Let's go sit with Mom. You getting tired, son? Not really. No? Here. Here we go. There. Well, got to get to work. Don't be gone too late tonight. All right. Bye, Pa. Bye. Want to help me do some beans up for supper? Okay. That's a boy. Put him right in that bucket there. Laura! What are you doing over this way? I made a batch of cookies, so I brought some over. Oh, how nice! Well, I think that calls for some lemonade to go with them, hmm? Yeah, to wash the taste out. Jordan! Well, have you made up your mind? Some. I'm figuring out a way. Well, you got to hurry up. I'm just not going to go along with it any longer. Laura! Laura, please, just give me till Monday. Why not now? It has to be Monday. Let's have our party inside. It's much cooler. Jordan? Ma? Yes? It takes so long walking me to school every morning. I was wondering if Laura could leave me on horseback, starting Monday. Oh, I don't know. Well, you don't have to worry. I can sit a horse, okay? Well, we'll ask your Pa. How's that? Fine. Okay. Whoa there. You haven't told him a thing. I got a plan. It'll work, you'll see. Dr. Baker said my blindness came from the pressure back here. And if the pressure's relieved, well, maybe I could see again. Maybe if I fall on another bump, it would do it. You're going to fall off the horse? Jordan, that's the meanest, rottenest, cheatingest thing I've ever heard of, and I won't have anything to do with it. Laura, please. Well, you just got to tell him straight out that you've been faking. I can't. Well, I'm not going to let you pile one fake on top of another. I'm just going to tell him myself. Laura, please! All right, you went ahead and did it anyway. But it's not going to do any good, I'm still going to tell. Do you hear me? Jordan Harrison, you get up off that ground this minute. I've had about all the faking I'm going to take from you. Jordan? Oh, dear God. I cleansed the wound and stitched it, but he's still unconscious. I want to see him. Belle, there is something else. What is it, Doc? A possible skull fracture, and he's not responding to stimuli. If he remains unconscious, I would recommend taking him to Minneapolis for surgery. Oh, my God. He'll pray, he doesn't. Does God really punish people like the Bible says? Sometimes it seems so. I don't think so myself. You think God's punishing Jordan for something? I don't know. You don't have to go to school if you don't want to. I don't feel much like it. Why don't you just go on home then? No. I think I'll just take a walk, do some thinking. I'll be at the mill if you need me. God, Jordan was just trying to help his Ma and Pa. That's why he did it. Maybe he was going against what with him lying and all. And I guess I shouldn't have gone along with it. But he just loves his Ma and Pa so much. He only wanted to see them happy. That's why he did it. And it just don't seem right for you to punish him for it. It's best. And I guess it was part of my fault for not telling him I should have. Please help Jordan. Please. Is it all right if I stay for a while? Dr. Baker, when you get older, do you understand things better? In some ways. Not everything. But one thing we do learn when we grow older, Laura, is how little we know. I hear something. I don't want to stand up. Sorry. You had a bad fall. Dr. Baker, I'm in your office. How'd I get here? God, thank you. Thank you. I can see. Well, we're sure I can see, Ma. You were blind, son. Blind? No, I wasn't. Remember falling and hitting your head? I remember I fell from a rope. Don't you remember falling from a horse? No, when? Do you know your name? Sure, Jordan Harrison. Your birthday? June 17th. What about today? Do you remember what happened today? I told you, I fell from a rope. Laura was there, she saw it. Partial loss of memory is a common result. Will he ever remember? Perhaps. It doesn't really matter. Will he be all right otherwise? I think so. Anyone who can come out of the tumbles he has is a pretty tough youngster. I'd like him to stay with me for a day or so. Afterwards, he's got to be a little more careful. Young man, I suggest you stay off slack ropes and wild horses for a while. I want to see Jordan. Isn't he going home today? Yeah, but I want to see him anyway. Okay, see ya. Laura? Can I see Jordan for a minute? Sure, for as long as you like. His folks will be here any minute. He's supposedly resting. Thanks. I want you to tell me something. I want you to tell me the truth, Jordan Harrison. Are you faking again? What do you mean, faking? You know what I mean. Faking and pretending you're blind. I don't. You mean you don't remember being blind? Or going to the blind school? Or all the pretending you've been doing? No, I don't. And why do you keep saying faking and pretending? Do you swear to God on your life you don't remember? I swear to God on my life. Come on, Jordan. Your folks are waiting. There you go, Jordan. Well, thank you, Doc. More than we can say. I didn't do anything. He's a wonder, that boy. Just keep an eye on him for the next few days. If he shows any signs of drowsiness or bleeding, I want to see him. Nothing drowsy about him now. He'll be fine. Take care, Jordan. Hello, Doc. Thanks again, Doc. Pa? Yeah, son? You know, there's lots I don't remember. I know. The Doc said not to worry about it. Let's go home. There was no reason now for me to tell anyone. God had made up his mind how he wanted it. Jordan never did remember. If he had, I think he would have told his folks. I think.