[INTRO — IMMEDIATE, NO FADE | booming dreadnought low-string gallop | ~104 BPM | five-string bass | lazy-but-driving snare] [TELECASTER — biting ♭3→4→♭5→5 | NO 6] Verse 1 Before her father's boots stopped swinging, Somebody whispered, “Girl, you run.” Mara Winter hit the alley 'Fore the square had cleared at one. Cut her hair behind a stable, Stole a coat and pulled it low, Left her name beside the scissors— Took the road nobody'd know. [BOOTHEELS → HORSEBEAT] Behind her bells in Crown Junction Started ringing one by one. Nobody had to tell her why. Run, Mara. Run. Chorus Run, Mara, run, Don't turn around. Badges own the courthouse, But they don't own the ground. Your father's dead, your sister's held, And Winter's far from done— Words are wind and news has wings. Run, Mara, run. [TELECASTER — ♭5→5, REFUSE 6] Verse 2 Sarah watched from shuttered windows As they searched the street below, Robert's widow called her “guest”— But guests are free to go. Servants smiled and doors stayed guarded. Meals came silver, sheets came white. Every kindness had a rifle Standing somewhere out of sight. [TELECASTER — cold double-stop] She wore silk to supper. Answered softly. Learned to listen. Learned to wait. A Winter trapped inside the house That murdered her father at the gate. Verse 3 Mara rode beneath the moonlight, Then she walked when horses failed, Rode a freight car under canvas, Slept where wanted posters nailed. Every station knew her father's name. Every saloon knew what was done. News kept passing her toward Winter— Faster than she could run. Bridge [HALF-TIME | sparse dreadnought] At a crossroads stood a poster: ELIAS WINTER — TRAITOR Mara stared until she laughed. [PAUSE] Then tore it down. She struck a match. Watched “TRAITOR” curl to ashes. Said: “Remember what is real.” [TELECASTER — for first time, gentle 5→6] Final Chorus Run, Mara, run, Let 'em hunt your name. Seven badges make their laws, But blood remembers shame. Sarah waits in Crown Junction. Northern riders load their guns. Winter County heard the news. Now everybody runs. Outro [TELEGRAPH clicking beneath dreadnought] Message reached the northern station: ELIAS WINTER DEAD. [PAUSE] Operator read it twice. Then sent it on ahead. [RESONATOR — distant ♭5→5→6]
