III-XXXI — WHAT WE DON'T REMEMBER [INTRO — AFTER MIDNIGHT | 6/8 ~68 | NYLON GUITAR | SOFT TELECASTER | SPARSE BASS] [MALE BARITONE — intimate third-person narrator] [VERSE 1 — JACK'S TENT] Sometime after midnight Jack heard footsteps by the tent. “Snow?” He knew the voice. “Come in.” Della slipped beneath the canvas, Closed the flap against the cold. Jack sat up beneath his blanket. “Can't sleep?” “Apparently neither can you.” “Occupational hazard.” She sat beside the lantern. Outside, A thousand riders slept. For once, Nobody needed either one of them. [VERSE 2 — FAMILY] Della looked around. “No pictures?” Jack shook his head. “Never had any.” “Your family?” “My father. Sarah. Rob. Mara. Brayden.” “And your mother?” Jack was quiet. “I never knew her.” Della looked up. “Nothing?” “A name would've been nice.” “Your father never told you?” “No.” “Did you ask?” “When I was young.” “And?” “He said some things hurt less when you leave them buried.” Della gave a tired smile. “Parents do enjoy deciding which truths belong to us.” [VERSE 3 — DELLA] Jack: “You remember yours?” “Pieces.” She watched the lantern flame. “My mother's hands, I think. My father's voice. Or maybe somebody told me what his voice was like often enough that I invented it.” Jack understood that. “Victor raised me.” “Your brother.” “My brother.” [PAUSE] “He wanted the Iron Chair more than he wanted anything.” Jack: “Including you?” Della's smile disappeared. “Including me.” [VERSE 4 — SOLD] [LOW TRUMPET — VERY SPARSE] “He gave me to Mateo because ten thousand riders looked like an army.” Jack said nothing. “He thought he'd bought himself a road back to the Chair.” “And instead?” “Mateo killed him.” Jack looked at her. Della shrugged. “Victor discovered too late that horsemen don't appreciate being ordered around by men who can't ride.” Jack almost laughed. “Then Mateo died.” “And the riders followed you.” “Yes.” “So Victor got you an army.” Della looked at him. “Just not for him.” [VERSE 5 — TWO STRANGERS] The lantern burned lower. They talked about fathers. Brothers. Things they'd lost. Things they wished they could remember. Jack poured the last of the whiskey. Della took his cup instead of reaching for another. Their hands touched. Neither moved. Della: “You were worried about me.” Jack: “You keep bringing that up.” “You keep avoiding the answer.” Jack looked at her. “Yes.” [PAUSE] “So was I.” “About what?” “You.” [INSTRUMENTAL — NYLON GUITAR + TELECASTER INTERWEAVE] [VERSE 6 — CLOSER] Outside, A horse shifted in the dark. Canvas moved softly in the wind. Della leaned against him. Jack didn't move away. Neither spoke for a while. There were armies waiting. And dead things in the cold An enemy somewhere north. An Iron Chair to the south. But beneath that canvas there was only Jack And only Della. The lantern went out. [LONG INSTRUMENTAL — NO VOCALS] [VERSE 7 — BEFORE DAWN] The camp was still asleep when Della found her shirt. Jack found one boot beneath the blankets. She nearly laughed. “Quiet.” “You're the one laughing.” “I'm not laughing.” “You are.” She found the other boot. They disentangled slowly from the blankets and each other. Della fastened up her coat. Jack: “Della.” She turned. No promises. No explanations. Just a look that lasted long enough. Then she slipped beneath the canvas. [OUTRO — FIRST HINT OF DAWN] Della crossed the sleeping camp Before the eastern sky grew pale. No guards called out. No riders stirred. She reached her tent, Looked back once, And disappeared inside. Jack lay staring at the canvas As morning found the ridge. Two people knew what happened there. Neither knew what they didn't know. [CUT]
