"Being the oldest in a large family was in
many ways a blessing, in other ways it could be a burden. For one thing it
meant I gave up earlier some of the carefree and irresponsible joys of being
young. It wasn't until I was spending some extra time at home during a break
between semesters that I realised that I was not only being big brother to my
own family but to the world at large".
John-Boy finishes writing in his journal when
he hears Ben hammering in his room. He is putting up shelves, where upon
John-Boy makes a few suggestions. Ben ignores those suggestions, as he
whistles. Outside Jim Bob is throwing at a duck model that he had spent hours
carving. He had given it to Eunice Margaret, who laughed at it. John and
Grandpa drive up announcing that a half million dollar contract is being
awarded at Newport News, Virginia, and John is driving there to get a lumber
order. John-Boy suggests to Jim Bob that he wait and give the model to his next
girlfriend. Grandma warns John that it is a port city, full of dangers to a
country boy. John suggests that Olivia goes with him, and she agrees. John asks
Jim Bob why is acting so quiet, but Jim Bob doesn’t say much.
In town, a girl carries her suitcase away
from Sheriff Bridges. She sits on the floorboard of John-Boy’s car. John,
Olivia, and John-Boy talk with Ep as the bus pulls up to the White Arrow Bus
Station. John-Boy says he’ll pick them up on Thursday at 5:30 pm. Suddenly a
burgular alarm is heard at Delilah Milhouse’s home. Ep runs to the alarm.
John-Boy finds Bridget Maloney (whose nickname is Muffin) at his car. She says
she is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is expecting her mother to be on the
bus. She and her mother are running away from Mr. Hapwell, her stepfather. He
is hurting her mother, and is very strict with her. Her mother had put her on
the bus yesterday, and she is suppose to meet her mother today so they can go
to Raleigh, North Carolina where her Aunt Claudie lives. When John-Boy says
they should go to the sheriff, but Muffin says her stepfather has already gone
to the police and doesn’t want him to find them. John-Boy volunteers to help
her, and return her tomorrow to the bus station after a good meal and a place
to sleep. The family questions her as she eats milk, bread, and jelly. Grandma
makes the children go off so Muffin can eat in peace. From a distance, Grandpa
watches as she throws her meal down to her plate after the family leaves. On
the front porch, the family discusses her predicament, but Grandpa thinks she
is a runaway, unsure about the look in her eye. When they come back Muffin is
snapping beans. Grandpa adds that the family wants her to stay “for the night”.
In the barn, Muffin looks in her suitcase.
John-Boy says that they have a cot ready for her in the girl’s room. She thanks
him for worrying about her. She thinks of John-Boy as her big brother, saying
she grew up alone. John and Olivia dance in their room to music coming from the
Silver Slipper dance hall. He wonders what the ladies of the Baptist Church
will say when they go off dancing in the middle of the night. In the morning,
Grandpa and Grandma share breakfast as the children walk downstairs. Grandma
will miss Muffin who has helped with the chores without being asked. Grandpa
quizzes her about her destination and her origin, but she correctly answers the
questions. Grandma thinks that the look in her eyes is from someone who is
“older than time”. John-Boy takes Muffin in his car, as the children say
good-bye to her. Jim Bob and Muffin say good-bye, with fondness in their
voices.
At the bus station, they find that her mother
is not on the bus. Muffin looks disappointed, thinking she can hitchhike to
Raleigh. John-Boy decides he’ll go down to the sheriff but won’t mention her or
her mother. On the way to Ep’s office he runs into the Baldwin sisters. They
drove to town to see a friend after awakening an hour early. Muffin creeps
around a corner. John-Boy asks Ep for any missing children reports, or anything
that might involve a girl of Muffin’ age. As the sisters walk along the street
they run into Muffin (not by accident). She says she spent her last two dollars
for medicine for her brother. The Baldwin sisters say they will give her the
two dollars for more medicine. Muffin says, “God bless you.” But, after they
leave, she pockets the money.
While John-Boy is in the jailhouse talking
with Ep, he sees a man behind bars. Sheriff Bridges says he is called Nifty, a
con-man and second-rate swindler. Nifty says he is innocent. After John-Boy
leaves Nifty asks Ep he if would like to play cards. Ep responds that he would
rather play solitaire; at least he would have a chance to win. John-Boy finds
that Muffin and her suitcase are gone. Back at the jail, Muffin shows up to say
that her Sunday School class made cookies for unfortunate people. Inside she
sings religious songs, but under her breathe talks quietly to her grandfather.
He says she needs to raise twenty-five dollars to make bail. Muffin responses
to his need, saying she has raised half of it through a family who is an easy
mark.
As John-Boy drives out of town, Muffin is
found walking (not accidentally) along the street. Of course, he stops for her.
She says she can’t ask him and his family to do more for her. John-Boy decides
that they will raise the money she needs in order to send her to Raleigh. At
supper, Grandma asks Muffin to say the blessing. Grandpa looks on in suspicion.
After saying grace Muffin looks at Grandpa and he cautiously looks back. The
girls talk about what they can do to raise money. Elizabeth starts to open
Muffin’s suitcase but Muffin comes over and yells at her to stop. She explains
that all that she owns is inside the suitcase. Muffin asks Elizabeth to forgive
her for yelling. They still are friends.
Grandma counts coins for a total of one
dollar and a half from her egg money. Jim Bob has twenty-seven cents. John-Boy
has a dollar. Mary Ellen goes to Ike along with Jim Bob, Elizabeth, and Muffin,
to sell her walnuts. Muffin shows Ike a ring that (she says) her Grandmother
gave her. It’s an amethyst ring, which is Corabeth’s birthstone. Mary Ellen
states a ring like that should go for ten dollars, but Muffin bargains down to
seven fifty. As Ike looks at the ring, Muffin spills the walnuts. Now Muffin
finds that the stone has separated from the band. Ike agrees to buy the ring
after Muffin says she needs the money for bus fare. She thanks Ike. But, Ike
can’t find the stone, after looking everywhere.
Jim Bob gives Muffin his model duck. She
thinks it is beautiful. She gives him a kiss. Grandma makes Muffin food for the
long bus trip. As they talk on the front porch the Baldwin sisters drive up.
They have heard from Mr. Godsey the effort to reunite a little girl and her
mother. They want to help. Then, Muffin exits the house. They are confused
after seeing the girl who needed medicine for her baby brother. Muffin runs
off, with John-Boy in hot pursuit. The family looks confused. John-Boy
eventually catches Muffin. She shows her true colors, saying she tells people
what they want to hear and gets a few dollars, too. John-Boy says he will take
her to the sheriff.
The family learns all of what she has done.
Jim Bob says he still likes her just as much. Muffin says she likes him, too.
She tries to get him to take her to Rockfish, by saying “if you like me”. She
asks for a drink of water, and while drinking it Jim Bob hops into the rumble
seat of John-Boy’s car. Grandpa says, “So you still think you know all the
answers.” Grandma admits to Grandpa that he had Muffin figured out all the
time. John-Boy goes inside to talk to Sheriff Bridges. Muffin talks with Jim
Bob and asks him to go to Delilah Milhouse’s home and set off her alarm. Ep
looks at all the con artist supplies she has in her suitcase. Ep says it’s a
professional bunko artist kit. He remembers her passing off cookies earlier.
Suddenly the alarm goes off and he puts her into jail while he investigates.
John-Boy greets his mother and father at the bus station. He has gotten a
contract. They see Jim Bob walking with the sheriff and see Nifty and Muffin
driving out of town with John-Boy’s car. They find the car abandoned outside of
town, with a flat tire. Ep goes further on to check if they are on the road,
but thinks they are in the next county by now. John sees the model duck and
John says that it looks like Jim Bob has found another loser. They change the
tire.
"You would expect that after such an
experience I would have given up trying to be a big brother to everyone I met.
I did for a while, but it wasn't long until I had lapsed back into the
comfortable and familiar role I had learned to play. In fact, I suspect that
even today, if I found Muffin Maloney sitting on my running-board, I might say
- Hi there, you look like you need a friend.... ".
Ben:
John-Boy?
John-Boy: Yes, Ben?
Ben: You know those shelves I put up? They all fell down.
John-Boy: Is that so?
Ben: I wish I'd listened to you.
John-Boy: Wider supports, 8 penny nails.
Ben: Well they'd probably would have fallen down anyway. At least it
would have been your fault!
John-Boy (chuckles): Goodnight Ben.
Ben: Goodnight.
Notes:
Elizabeth is ten years old.
It’s a break between college semesters for John-Boy.
Also appearing:
Ike (Joe Conley); Miss Emily & Miss Mamie Baldwin (Mary Jackson & Helen Kleeb); Sheriff Bridges (John Crawford); Bridget “Muffin” Maloney (Vicky Schreck); Nifty Mulligan (Bert Conway).