Taste of the Beholder [DeK6]
EPISODE 5
FANSHAW Lem! Everyone's gathering!
It looks a bit of a party.
LEM What's them Swedes a-doin?
FANSHAW They're standing by. Like a
menacing wall of blonde.
LEM [laugh, then coughs]
FANSHAW Are you quite sure you're up for
this? The doctor said you'd worn yourself nearly into a
relapse.
LEM Why you think I'm a-lyin here, stead-a
being out there?
MRS. DOC [behind door] You all right in
there? May I come in?
LEM [up] Yes ma'am.
SOUND DOOR OPENS, SHE ENTERS
LEM Jest tryin t'sort out some words as might
work with these fellers.
MRS. DOC That sounds wise. You've
already done wonders. But I have a favor--?
LEM Anythin' ma'am.
MRS. DOC [hesitant] If you can, can you
perhaps get them to-- uh--
LEM Go on?
MRS. DOC To fix my window, there? They
are the ones that broke it.
LEM I already planned on jest that,
ma'am. Donchoo worry.
MRS. DOC Mr. Roberts, you are a veritable
angel.
LEM Oh, no ma'am. Just a man of plain
talkin. [laughs, then coughs a bit]
MRS. DOC Get you round a bit more of this and
rest you til you're good and ready to come on out. They can
just hold their hosses.
FANSHAW I'll go and see how far the "royal
progress" has come.
FADE
SOUND OUTSIDE
FANSHAW [sigh] Still out of sight. Come
along Ezra, let us see if we can catch a glimpse of this mysterious
lady.
EZRA Are they gonna fight?
FANSHAW [definite] No. My friend Lem has
maneuvered them into peace talks.
EZRA It would be fun to watch them fight, but
ain't very angelic, is it?
FANSHAW No. Wouldn't want anyone to get
hurt, now, would we?
EZRA Is that the lady, in the cart? With
the big hat and veil?
FANSHAW I would assume so. A bit of an
affectation for the wilds, but everyone has their little
vanities.
EZRA Why'ud a lady wear a veil? Is she
really ugly?
FANSHAW I don't know about this particular
lady, but many ladies wear them to protect their delicate skin from
the harsh sun.
EZRA Ain't much sun under all these trees.
FANSHAW And some ladies, well, they wear a
veil to put men at a disadvantage. No one is entirely
comfortable talking to someone they cannot rightly see.
[pause] I need to let Lem know what all is going on.
I'll be back shortly.
SOUND SHOUTS
FANSHAW What?
EZRA Thought you said they wasn't a-gonna
fight!
FANSHAW They weren't supposed to!
Blast! That looks like more of the Swedes, taking the
cart!
MRS. BEAMISH [screams] Tyke yer bleedin'
'ands off me, ye dodgy swine!
FANSHAW Not much of a lady. And nothing
much we can do here.
EZRA Oh, lookee! That feller got punched
right off the cart!
SOUND GRUNTS
FANSHAW I need to go and tell Lem. Would
you stay with them and see where they go?
EZRA [eager] That would help ya?
FANSHAW It would be very helpful.
EZRA I'm your man. [distracted] Oh
goodness! That fellow slammed into the tree! That's
gotta smart something fierce!
FADE
LEM They here yet?
DOC No. It's not so far from the camp
that they shouldn't be in sight yet.
FANSHAW Lem! Ambush!
LEM [quiet] Aw hell.
DOC What?
LEM [sigh, considering best way to say]
I think I ...heard something.
DOC [more joking than suspicious] You must
have the plumb smartest ears I ever did encounter, Mr.
Roberts. The way you keep hearing things.
LEM [covering] Uh... Gotta be, livin' raw on
the range. Ya don't hear sumpin a-comin up on you, well, you
deserve whatever ya get.
DOC I reckon so.
LEM And with the window broken, sound can get
in more.
DOC What is it you heard?
LEM Fighting. Or leastways a yell.
Sumpin that spoke "fight" to ma mind.
DOC You think there's still trouble?
LEM I'll lay odds that lady ain't gonna make
it here any time soon.
DOC Dag nabbit.
SOUND STORMS OUT OF ROOM
FADE
SOUND OUTSIDE
SOUND SOMEONE RUNS UP
OLY Vad är det? [What is it?]
KJELL [out of breath] Vi tog henne! [We took
her!]
OLY [incredulous and angry] Du gjorde
vad? [You did WHAT?]
KJELL [uncertain] Vi ... tog kvinnan
tillbaka. [We ... took the woman back.]
SVEN Bra! Nu har vi vad vi betalat för!
[Good! Now we have what we paid for!]
OLY Du idioter! Nu blir det krig! [You
idiot! Now there will be war!]
FADE
FITCH What wasp flee up thon jacksey? [what
got into them?]
SCABBY BILL 'Appen t'were skrike I heered?
Lads-- [That might have been a shout. The lads--]
PIKEY Clack on't devil! Eyup
Jimmy! [speak of the devil.]
SOUND RUNNING FEET
JAMES [gasping and in some pain]
Eyup! Them brutes come out't snicket, 'ave cart upskelled and
auld lass gone, bahn for none can ken, afore aught'n us could raise
'and. [those fellows come out of the bushes and attacked!
Tipped the cart and took the woman before we could react!]
FINCH Good night! Could smell t beer,
sae close to settlin' t' slate, and such 'appens. [Damn! Just
when this was going to settle peacefully, this happens.]
JAMES Canna settle now! Yon 'eads want
thumpin'! Paid in full. [too late to make peace! I want
to beat some heads! They deserve it!]
FINCH Dustup does nae good for aught-- [a
fight won't do anyone any good]
PIKEY [playing devil's advocate] Nae,
lad. Tha path's neither nowt nor summat. Time fer
muckin out. Nae room fer them as tek such libertines - to
clamber out t' shrubbery and ketch up what's nowt fer them.
[no, lad. Your way is doing no good. Time to clean this
up. There's no place for those who would lay in ambush.]
SCABBY BILL Tha's the pot! Us'm tek'er
first! [You're one to talk! We took her first]
PIKEY [making his point] S'truth, do we
chance to scutch, mayhap yan or two might fall - and then us left
must delve t' more. [Of course, if we fight, if we strike a blow,
some of us may die - which leaves the rest of us to work even
harder at digging.]
MINERS [mutters] "s'truth." "Ba
gum." "It gets right up ma cuff." "'Arsh, that."
"Toes up o'er grub? Nae!"
JAMES Us'll clean them clocks! [we won't
lose!]
PIKEY Ne'er seen clock tha could clean.
DOC [loud, trying to get all attention] CALM
DOWN!
ALL GO QUIET
DOC Bother. That's about all I got.
FADE
LEM This's how wars get lit.
FANSHAW Who is this woman anyway? Helen
of Troy?
LEM Was she on the stage or sumpin?
FANSHAW [chuckles] no, she was a king's wife
who was abducted by another king and a great and glorious war was
begun.
LEM Ain't no war great and glorious. Not
till everyone as been there's long dead.
FANSHAW Oh.
LEM How'd they end that war?
FANSHAW [a bit embarrassed] They made a giant
wooden horse.
LEM [laughs] I think mebbe you gotta tell me
this story later, when we ain't about to have all hell cut loose on
us. [groans, getting up]
SOUND RUSTLING OF CLOTHES, ETC.
FANSHAW Don't--!
LEM Ain't no choice here. Both them top
fellers seem to lissen t'me. Much as doc's a good man, he
don't have the touch.
SOUND DOOR OPENS
FANSHAW Speak of the devil!
DOC Here now! What are you doing, Mister
roberts?
LEM I'm planning on facing them in full gear
fer once.
DOC You are not facing them at all... you know
what's happening?
LEM I gotta right good guess. Since the
miners were a-bringing her here, I spect twas the loggers jumped em
and done took her.
DOC I think so.
LEM Hitch up the cart. We're gonna mosey
to the logging camp.
FADE
SOUND OUTSIDE
LARS [commanding] Du! Kock! [You!
"cook"]
MRS. BEAMISH [snide] Ain't never understood
one bloomin word out ye mouf, but vat sounds rigth filthy ye
cheesehead!
LARS Du kom hit för att laga mat för oss. Du
är skyldig en skuld. [you came here to cook for us. You
owe a debt.]
MRS. BEAMISH Gah-on. Say somfing in
normal talk. Ah dare ya.
LARS [to Kjell] Tror du att hon förstår? [Do
you think she understands?]
ARN Hon låter lite arg. [She sounds a little
angry.]
FREDEK Jag tror att hon låter galen. [I think
she sounds insane.]
NELS Sure, it is like standing to the knees in
a mire.
EZRA Why's that, Mr. Nels?
NELS You! Can you do something?
EZRA What should I do?
NELS Get that woman over here. The one
that was calling out.
EZRA Who? Oh! [laughs] That's no
woman! That's Mr. Fanshaw.
NELS Well, he sounds like one to me. Is
there anything he can do?
FADE
DOC Brought the wagon round. Come on
then, lemme give you a hand.
LEM You kin carry my kit, if you would.
DOC You need support--
LEM [definite] No. Gettin me to the
door, that's right fine, but outside, I gotta put the fear o' god
in them, best I can. And being carried round like a cripple
sorta puts a bonnet on that.
DOC I'll be right behind you, then. Just
in case.
SOUND FOOTSTEPS
MRS. DOC [slightly defiant] I, on the other
hand, could use all the support you care to give.
DOC Irene?
MRS. DOC Not from you, dear. Mr.
Roberts, if you might give me your arm, sir?
DOC Irene!
MRS. DOC I've already got my hat on,
husband. We might as well get moving.
DOC What exactly do you think you are doing,
woman?
MRS. DOC [super sweet] Why, I'm accompanying
my beloved husband and his patient on a little wagon ride.
LEM [tries not to laugh]
DOC I forbid it!
MRS. DOC [sweetly] Oh, of course,
dear! If you prefer, I can wait here at home, the home these
silly men have already broken into - from both sides, I might
add. Wait until someone decides that the easiest way to get
this to end is perhaps to take me hostage, or threaten--
DOC [losing steam] Oh hush!!
LEM The lady has a point, doc. Seein as
I still think we gotta a fair chance of stoppin this without none
getting hurt, it'ud likely be safer, ma'am, if you were to stay by
us.
MRS. DOC Good. Now take my arm, Mr.
Roberts, for goodness sake! You're swaying like a
sapling.
FADE
EZRA Mr. Fanshaw! [laughs] Nels
says you sound like a lady.
FANSHAW It is just my accent. The way I
talk.
EZRA You do talk funny.
FANSHAW Can you go and ask Nels if his men
understand a white flag of truce?
EZRA What is that?
FANSHAW When men - or even armies - want to
talk rather than fight, they will come bearing a white flag.
EZRA Where do they get a white flag?
FANSHAW They just make one.
Please. It is important that we know.
FADE
SOUND OUTSIDE
SOUND SCUFFLE
MINERS [Arguing] "More brass'n
brains" "near as makes n'matter" " that's a threp in't
steans" "caffelin' t' 'oil works, am I."
SWEDES [arguing]
SOUND FOOTSTEPS
LEM [sigh] Shut up!
SOUND STILL FIGHTING
LEM Pardon me ma'am. Step aside if
you please.
SOUND HER STEPS
SOUND GUNSHOT
ALL [go quiet]
SOUND SOMETHING DROPS
Taste of the Beholder [DeK6]
EPISODE 6
1_MOVING OUT
LEM You miners. You... uh...
manskers. Um. [slowly, with gestures] We go in
cart to your--
OLY Mig?
LEM Yes, your camp. You lead
us.
SCABBY BILL [slightly out of breath]
Right. Nowt wait aught mair. Us'm goin - wi'thee, or
nowt.
LEM We's all a-goin. [to Mrs. Doc] You
get on up in the wagon now, ma'am.
MRS. DOC [a bit shaky] All
right.
DOC [quiet] Doesn't look like anyone is
hurt too bad.
LEM They's all still on their feet.
OLY [slowly, trying to be understood]
detta var inte min idé. Inte jag. Jag kommer att tala
strängt till dem. [this was not my idea. Not me. I will
speak sternly to them.]
LEM You lead. [turns to Scabby
Bill] You follow. Reckon?
SCABBY BILL Reckon.
FADE
2_GRADY1
SOUND SOMEONE RUNNING IN PANIC
GRADY [gasping muttered mantra] Don't
slow down, don't slow down. A log! Oh sweet Jesus!
SOUND THUMP, SCRAMBLE, SLOW
MOVEMENT
SOUND BEHIND HIM, MEN
MAN1 Keep heading downhill!
MAN2 Brush too thick over there! This
way!
GRADY [barely there prayer] Pity me!
[couple of deep breaths] [sound of exertion]
SOUND RUNNING AGAIN
FADE
3_AGREEING
SOUND CART PLODDING
DOC [quietly] That was a foolhardy thing you
done back there, Irene.
MRS. DOC I cannot disagree.
DOC You should never've - what?
MRS. DOC [sweet] I was merely agreeing
with you, husband.
LEM [quiet chuckle]
DOC [trying to stay annoyed] But-but you--
[loses it, laughs] My mother always said you would be a
handful.
MRS. DOC I believe mine said something very
similar.
DOC About me?
MRS. DOC [laughing] No, about me.
LEM If I was a man to interfere, I might say
you're a lucky feller.
DOC I cannot disagree.
LEM Lucky the lady is on your side, if you
don't mind me saying so, ma'am.
ALL [laugh]
FADE
4_LOGGING CAMP
FREDEK Många män kommer! [Many men are
coming!]
LARS Vi kommer inte ge upp! [We will
not surrender!]
FREDEK Detta är inte något att dö för! [This
is not something to die for!]
ARN Jag skulle hellre dö än att äta en annan
måltid tillagad av dig. [I would rather die than eat another meal
cooked by you.]
LARS Jag ser Oly. [I see Oly.]
ARN Han ser arg. [He looks angry.]
FREDEK De måste ha vapen. [They must have
guns.]
NELS Nothing worse than to have to sit and
listen to them babble.
OLY [off, yelling] Alla ni! Stå vid sidan!
[All of you! Stand aside!]
NELS And cannot do anything when Oly tells
them to calm down.
LARS [yelling] Är de hotar dig? [Are they
threatening you?]
OLY [off, yelling, pissed off] Du är en idiot!
Vi var överens. Då har du stört! Du står åt sidan! [You are an
idiot! We were in accord. Then you interfered!
You stand aside!]
FADE
5_CHUCKIE
JAMES Tha gormless bastard! Guns or
nowt, us could take 'em! [Idiot. Even with the guns, we could
win.]
PIKEY And 'oo ist 'aveta send tha mam word o
thy beefing. Appen I should say 'er son died of 'is own barm,
or sweeten tha death wi' claims thee lost fight to a chuckie. [And
I will have to write to your mother. What would you
like me to tell her, that you died of being stupid, or that you
lost a fight to a chicken?]
TED [sigh] And us start sommat, it'll
nae stop 'ere. [If we do start something, the fighting will
not end here.]
FITCH I dinna feel fer the fight. Yon
stormcloud, 'im seems a fair measure. [I don’t feel like
fighting. That fellow - he seems fair.]
PIKEY Cud gang fer a slurp missen. [This
would be a good time for a drink.]
FADE
6_GRADY2
SOUND RUNNING
MAN1 and MAN2 [closer than before] [yelling
"Just over that ridge!" "Get him!" "Yeller bastard!"]
GRADY [gasping and ragged] Good god
above, [gasp] please, [gasp] send me into a river.
Anything. [gasp] Just to get me [gasp] get me
away...
FADE
7_CART
SOUND HORSES. CART NOT
MOVING.
DOC [whispered] Irene, I prefer strongly
that you remain in the cart.
MRS. DOC As always, I defer to your wisdom,
dear husband.
DOC [rueful laugh] Hah. Good.
SOUND HE CLIMBS DOWN
MRS. DOC I'll also keep a close eye on the
shotgun.
DOC The what?
LEM I'll leave my satchel here as well, if you
please, ma'am.
MRS. DOC Happy to be useful. [like
speaking to kids] You two go on now and make peace.
FADE
8_OLY KOMMER
FREDEK Oly! De kommer! [Oly! They are
coming!]
OLY Var inte dum. De är redan här. [Do not be
stupid. They are already here.]
FREDEK Fler män! Bakom åsen! [More men!
Behind the ridge!]
NELS Sure I do not think those fellows are of
these men.
EZRA More fighting?
FANSHAW And this must be Nels.
NELS And you must be from England.
FANSHAW Why, yes. Though I do not sound
much like my "countrymen" down there.
NELS Nay. You sound like most
Britishers.
FANSHAW I suppose I do.
NELS Just like a woman.
FANSHAW I do not!
EZRA You do a bit.
FANSHAW [grinding out, trying to change the
subject] You said something about more men?
NELS Sure, over the ridge. Quite a ways
off. I can barely get close enough to see, but they are
traveling fast, for men on foot.
FANSHAW We'll have to keep an eye out for
them, though I am quite certain that all the men I've seen - on
either side - are here.
EZRA Mister Fanshaw?
NELS All of my men are here. Even those
with a head full of porridge.
FANSHAW That's a blessing anyway.
EZRA Mister Fanshaw!
FANSHAW I am so sorry, Ezra. I was lost
in thought.
EZRA You want I should go and look at the men
a-coming?
FANSHAW They sound like they're rather far
off.
EZRA I can go real far off.
FANSHAW [interested] Really. Very
well. You'll go and see how many there are?
EZRA I'll find out everything for ya.
FANSHAW I wonder just how far "real far"
is.
FADE
9_teh dam
SOUND CROWD RUMBLE, BUT NO TALKING
SOUND LEM'S SLOW FOOTSTEPS
LEM Um, [to Oly] Dam?
OLY Ta kvinnan här! [Bring the woman out
here!]
LARS [grumbling] Vi var bara försökte hjälpa
[We were only trying to help]
OLY Go! [Go!]
NELS If they wanted to help so bad, sure, why
did they never make the time for to learn some words?
FANSHAW Always much easier to see mistakes
when it is too late.
NELS Ya.
SOUND DOOR OPENS, LARS AND MRS. BEAMISH
COME OUT
FANSHAW This? This is the woman all the
trouble has been over? She's ...hardly what I expected.
LEM Ma'am. They's been quite a ruckus
over you.
BEAMISH Oh, Luvly. Anuvver what don't
speak the Queen's English.
LEM I guess I speak American, then. But
I hazard you understand me fine.
BEAMISH [begrudging] I kin mike yer out.
LEM That's good. Now these fellers, they
have some claim to you?
NELS Sure, she owes us five years service.
BEAMISH [grudgingly admitting] Aye... They
do.
LEM Five years. Legal.
BEAMISH [annoyed sigh] Aye.
DOC [whispered] How'd you get that?
LEM [whispered] Guessed. Standard
indenture.
DOC Ah!
BEAMISH [whining a bit] But I can't unnerstand
a bleeding word outtav'em!
FANSHAW I say, Nels, you paid for
that? Under all that veiling, she sounds rather...
old.
NELS What do you expect in a cook? Sure
we don't have to look at her while we eat.
FANSHAW A cook! Good gad!
LEM But you had no trouble doing the work they
put you to?
BEAMISH Good plain cooking. Even such as
they musta liked it, for I dessay they never let a plate go
cold.
DOC Cooking? They're willing to fight
over a cook?
LEM I reckon with a wife like your good
missus, you've never had to eat day-old burnt scratch.
DOC Well...
MRS. DOC [calling from off, excited]
Husband?
LEM Go on.
DOC [walking off] Yes, dear?
FADE
10_grady hides
SOUND MEN SLOWLY SEARCHING
SOUND BREATHING, IN A TIGHT SPACE
GRADY [trying to quiet his breathing]
EZRA That's a lot of men to send out fer one
fella. You must be a bad man.
GRADY [whispered] Someone up there,
please help me!
MAN1 I think I heard something!
FADE
11_shares
LEM [whispered, to fanshaw] Ask Nels the
word for "share".
FANSHAW You're thinking to split the baby
again.
LEM Amazing how many problems boil down to
something that simple.
DOC Lem? We - my wife and I - might have
a congenial answer for all this fuss.
LEM Do tell.
DOC Well, Mrs. - uh - Beamish, is it?
BEAMISH Beamish. Aye.
DOC My good lady wife suggested I extend an
invitation for you to stay with us.
BEAMISH Where's 'at, then?
DOC Our house. It's rather in the middle
of all this.
BEAMISH Won't say no to sleepin in proper
'ouse. Not them shanties.
DOC [a bit slowly, trying to make it
understandable to all] You stay our house--
SOUND [rumble of muttering on both sides]
DOC Cook. Cook a lot.
BEAMISH I dearly 'ope you're
tryin'a talk t'them, cos I ain't that bleeding thick.
DOC They are the ones who need to agree.
BEAMISH Go'ahn then.
DOC [to miners] You come. Eat. [to loggers]
You. Eat.
LEM [quiet] Eat? Nels?
NELS [Eat] ata
LEM Thankee. [up, to doc] "ata"
DOC Oh? All right. You. Come
to house. "ata".
LARS [annoyed] Jag tror att han säger att hon
ska laga för honom. [I think he is saying she will cook for
him.]
NELS Sure, they do not want to give her over
to the doctor either. He has a wife to cook for him.
OLY Nej, säger han vi äter, också.
Tror jag. [No, he says we eat, also. I
think.]
FANSHAW No, no. He's trying to say that
the woman will be in the middle, and both sides can come and eat in
peace. No more fighting.
NELS Tell them ["You eat too"] du äter
för.
FANSHAW Lem? Did you--
LEM Doo ah-ter fore.
OLY Ya. Mycket bra. [Yes. very good]
LEM And you all?
PIKEY Nae more tae eat bab out Bill?
[snort] I don't gi' a chuff where's hersen rest. [No more
eating the shit Bill cooks? I don't care where she
stays.]
TED 'Appen 'at's a relief! [That's for
sure!]
JAMES Eh, by gum.
SCABBY BILL Ere, now!
PIKEY Tha noz thee's no' called Scabby fer
Nowt. [You know they don't call you scabby for nothing.]
LEM Good.
DOC Nice to know that people can be peaceable,
even--
SOUND GUNSHOTS, DISTANT
LEM Damn!
ALL [reactions! Gasps, expletives]
"Hellfire!" "Wha's't faff?" "flipping 'eck!"
EZRA Mister Fanshaw? I think they's
heading this way.
Taste of the Beholder [DeK6]
EPISODE 7
MUSIC
SCENE
1.
AMB OUTSIDE
LEM [urgent, but even voice] Doc, I fancy it's
time you take the ladies back to that fine house of your'n.
DOC But I can help--
LEM [more forceful] BY taking THEM to
safety. If we's needin you atall, it's like to be
after the battle.
SOUND GUNSHOTS, DISTANT
MRS. DOC [off, a bit worried] Husband?
LEM Mrs. Beamish, you go on now with these
good folk. We got some rough work ahead of us.
MRS. BEAMISH Ain't never been one to run, but
finking feedin th'lads come vict'ry's more my place.
SOUND SHE WALKS TO WAGON
DOC [quiet, but knowing it will do no good]
You should come with us.
LEM And hosses should lay eggs.
[chuckles] I'll stay still as I can. But I'm the king
pin yokin these fellers one side t'other. Go on now.
[up] Ma'am, if you could hand me down my sack? I might find
myself in need of a few more shells.
MRS. DOC Here you go. [very concerned]
You make sure and look after yourself, you hear? My husband
put a lot of work into you.
DOC [amused but still worried] You heard
her - and you know how ornery she can be.
LEM I reckon I do.
DOC [confidential] You fire three shots
in the air, all at once, and I'll be back lickety-split with the
shotgun.
LEM Preciate it.
SOUND DOC WALKS OFF
SCENE
2.
LEM [slight groan] Quickly - You,
Bill. You, Oly.
SCABBY BILL Right.
OLY Ja?
SOUND SCRATCHING IN THE DIRT
LEM [talking while drawing terrain and
pointing at things] Sun. There. Hill.
There. Ja?
OLY Ja. Bäck. Ge. [stream.
Give.]
LEM Take it.
SOUND MORE SCRATCHING
SCABBY BILL Thass river?
OLY Bäck. [stream]
LEM Close enough I think. Bill, can
y'all circle round here, over to the left, with yer fellas, and
come up alongside? They got guns and you don't, so I suggest
comin on 'em from hidin.
SCABBY BILL Us'm?
LEM Course, it ain't yer fight, but--
SCABBY BILL Nay problem, lad. Lads're
pantin' fer a good donnybrook. [shrug] Canna beat on't
Swedes, them ticks'll haveta play the Judy.
LEM All righty then, sounds like yer all
in. Go on. Get ye some stout branches and knock em
down, but try not t'kill em.
SCABBY BILL Why them tea party manners?
LEM In case they ain't the villians
here.
SCABBY BILL Ah. Right. We're
bahn.
SOUND WALKS OFF
SCABBY BILL [off, calling] Ayup lads!
There'll be cracked pates afore sundown, I'll be bahn!
LEM Now for the tricky one.
OLY Du vill att vi ska åka på detta sätt. Runt
den andra sidan. Och angrepp från bakhåll? [You want us to go this
way. Around the other side. And attack from
ambush?]
NELS He says do you want our men to go around
the other way and attack from ambush as well?
LEM [startled laugh] Oly, old son, we'll
get you tricked up with English talkin yet.
OLY vad är det? [What is that?]
LEM Later. After dust settles.
NELS Tell him "senare" [Later]
LEM Senare
OLY Ja. Bakhåll? Ja?
[Ambush]
NELS [translating] Attack from behind.
LEM Ya. Go on.
OLY [going off] komma mäniskor! Dags att slå
några huvuden! [come on men! Time to beat some heads!]
LEM [heavy sigh, slight groan]
FANSHAW Lem?
LEM [quiet] I'm alright. I'm
alright. Just tuckered out. Ain't nothin better for
fellers like these, but to fight together 'gainst some other
varmints. Think this will end it once and fer all.
FANSHAW I certainly hope so.
LONG MUSIC
SCENE
3.
AMB NIGHT, CAMPFIRE ON LEFT
OLY [clearly storytelling] Vi reste snabbt och
tyst. Då vi hörde dem. Arn gömde sig bakom ett träd. Lars var under
en fallen stock. [We traveled fast and quiet. Then we heard
them. Arn hid behind a tree. Lars was beneath a fallen
log.]
ARN Hah! Bra att vara kort, eh, Lars?
[Hah! Good to be short, eh, Lars?]
LARS Bah!
SWEDES [general laughter]
OLY Vi ser tre kommer! En lång en i en hatt
och två andra. Gräslig. Cruel söker. De rör sig långsamt,
letar efter något-- [We see three coming! A tall one in a hat
and two others. Ugly. Cruel looking. They move
slowly, looking for something--]
MUSIC WIPE ACROSS THE SOUNDSCAPE
SCENE
4.
AMB CAMPFIRE ON RIGHT
SCABBY BILL Nowt but three up't front, but us
cud 'ear more clamberin in't lee.
PIKEY [bragging] Like scratch hisself
in't garden, I were oop on deadfall like bird in't nest.
Thass nowt ne surer as none'll raise them eyen. [I'd crawled like
snake up along a fallen trunk, like a bird in a nest. And no
one ever looks up]
SCABBY BILL Aye, lad. Ain't soul in t'
world cud suss windy sot might drop out of clear blue ont' im's
pate. [I'll give you that. No one expects a flatulant drunk
to fall out of the sky on his head.]
MINERS [general laughter]
PIKEY [correcting him haughtily] Nay,
nay. Windy sot wieldin' t' grandest thump 'im ever
see'd. [A flatulant drunk with a great big stick, I remind
you!]
MINERS [more laughter]
MUSIC WIPE
SCENE
5.
AMB CAMPFIRE ON LEFT
OLY Att en - med skriande skratt - var upp i
ett träd. Jag fruktade för dig som han tappade på toppen av. [That
one - with the braying laugh - was up a tree. I feared for
anyone he dropped atop of.]
ARN Åtminstone var det inte oss! [At least it
wasn't us!]
SWEDES [general laughter]
OLY Han vinkade till mig. Då pekade förbi
männen. Sedan lyfte han två händer fingrar. Många män skulle komma!
[He waved to me. Then pointed past the men. Then he
raised two hands of fingers. Many men were coming!]
FANSHAW It sounds like a fascinating
story. I wish I could understand a word of it.
NELS He was saying that the noisy fellow--
FANSHAW Aren't they all rather noisy?
NELS [laughs] THAT one - got
above. High up. Counted the men coming behind.
Showed him fingers for the count.
FANSHAW Accord without a single word.
Lovely.
MUSIC WIPE
SCENE
6.
AMB CAMPFIRE ON RIGHT
FITCH Beyond tha' ken, Bill, our Pikey gives
the wrist to yon tall tallow hair. [girlish noise] Ooooh! Tis
in ma mind him's a sight too long wi'out a damp scuffle. [But what
YOU didn't see, Bill, was Pikey making obscene hand gestures across
to the tall blonde fellow. I think he's been alone too
long.]
SOUND SLIGHT SCUFFLE - FRIENDLY
SMACK
PIKEY Dinna fash. Tha'd be first choice,
fitchy m'lad. Smack afore yows and kine. Past that,
mayhaps Swede. Blondes ain't nivver turned ma top. [kiss kiss
noise] [You'd be my first choice, Fitch, right before
ewes and cows. I have never been fond of blondes.]
FITCH [teasing] Ooh-ah. Get a good scrub
on thee aught often, afore thee clack. [Bathe.
Then we'll talk.]
MINERS [general laughter]
SCABBY BILL Right. 'oo's keeping a
tally? [jokingly making a list] Needed f'r camp - butter,
shot, tobacy, loose females. [Right. Someone make a list of
things we need for the camp. Start with some loose
women.]
MINERS [hysterical laughter]
MUSIC
SCENE
7.
AMB CAMPFIRE ON LEFT
OLY De var fortfarande ute. Kanske för en
person. Kanske för ett djur. Något som kunde dölja sig. Vi sprider
vidare bakom dem, lugn och vaksam. [They were still looking.
Maybe for a person. Maybe for an animal. Something that
could hide itself. We spread further behind them, quiet and
watchful.]
LARS Jag var längst. När den sista
passerade, jag slog ner honom snabbt. [hit noise] [I was
furthest. When the last passed by, I hit him down
quickly.]
SWEDES [approving mumble]
MUSIC WIPE
SCENE
8.
AMB CAMPFIRE ON RIGHT
SOUND WAGON SLOWLY MOVING IN FROM A
DISTANCE
PIKEY Afore mine eyen, them axes circle up the
jacksey, and I knew us'd ne'er let it be said us'd come up short in
t' tally! [I saw them blonde fellers moving behind. I knew
we'd never want to lag behind.]
SCABBY BILL No. So... Pikey made t'
shrill--
SOUND SHARP WHISTLE
SCABBY BILL [reacts in pain] NOWT up ma
lug! [angry sigh] Wi' a cry t' lads pounced! [Not in my
ear! And we attacked]
FITCH Like yoked set of dannys, us come right
side, cack side! And them'us jiggered like clemmy
shale. [Like a pair of hands, we came from right and
left. They broke like lose rock.]
MUSIC WIPE
SCENE
9.
AMB LEFT CAMPFIRE
OLY Var och en föll. Slås ner av våra modiga
händer. Eller våra vänner händer. [Every one fell. Struck
down by our brave hands. Or our friends' hands.
[raising his voice]] ALL GOOD!
SCABBY BILL [off] I hears that! [yelling
back] Ayup lads? ALL GOOD!
SWEDES and MINERS [not very much in unison- just loud]
ALL GOOD!
DOC [off] Ho there! Sounds like it's
safe to approach?
MUSIC
SCENE
10.
AMB INSIDE
SOUND [OUTSIDE] THE MEN YELLING AND
LAUGHING
FANSHAW Lem?
LEM [rousing from half sleep] Yup?
Sounds like peace at last.
FANSHAW And the doctor just arrived.
[chuckles] With a kettle of something hearty, and some lovely-
LEM Biscuits? [chuckles]
FANSHAW [chuckles too] He'll be in here
in a moment, I'm sure. [beat] The men - both factions -
were rather impressive. Possibly less impressive than the
tales they're telling at the moment, but they did very well.
LEM Who was it they's up against?
FANSHAW Looks like outlaws. Chasing a
fugitive.
LEM And the feller they'us after?
FANSHAW [sigh] He was already ... done
for. Gone.
LEM [sigh] The Doc's spare room is
looking like heaven just about now.
DOC [outside] Mister Roberts?
LEM [a bit weaker] In here!
LONG MUSIC
SCENE
11.
AMB DOC'S HOUSE
DOC I will not hear of you leaving that bed
for at least a week, Mister Roberts.
MRS. DOC [from off] Don't you get it
into your head that you'll be able to sweet-talk your way past me
neither.
LEM I got no plans to budge aught farther than
the broth and biscuits require to reach my mouth.
DOC Good.
MUSIC
SCENE
12.
AMB DOC'S HOUSE
LEM Alone?
FANSHAW They're all in the kitchen, yes.
From the smells, that Beamish woman is very nearly as accomplished
in the kitchen as our lady hostess, despite her lack of - ahem -
refinement. They have set the men to building a sort of
cookhouse. Just an annex big enough for her to serve out
of. The doctor's wife objected, you see, to having all these
men troop through the house at mealtimes.
LEM Cain't say that I blame her. Catch
me up a bit?
FANSHAW They say the way to man's heart is
through his stomach - and we now have clear evidence this works for
groups of men as well as it works on individuals. They've all
become the best of chums. And those Swedish follows are
learning English, bit by bit.
LEM One more victory for--
FANSHAW Civilization?
LEM [down] I was gonna say
salvation. Had a might too much time to ponder my past while
I been laid up here.
FANSHAW I shan't pry, but you know I will
gladly listen to anything you feel the need to unburden yourself
of.
LEM Thankee kindly, but my burden is my
own.
FANSHAW Well. When you are up to
visting, We should make a trip to speak to the fellow who was being
chased by the outlaws.
LEM Where ARE they, anyway?
FANSHAW Several of the men took them down a
flatboat on the river to the next landing. Haven't made the
return yet - I gather it takes a few days.
LEM Mm. Good.
FANSHAW But, you see... this fellow was
...killed a bit further out than I can reach. It's very
frustrating. Ezra, though...
LEM Oh, yup - this Ezra you been talking
about? How come I ain't seen him, never?
FANSHAW I don't know. He's a
child. A spirit. Who prefers to think of himself an
angel. I rather think he's been here quite a long time.
And Lem...
LEM Yup?
FANSHAW I-I feel quite dreadful about this,
but - you understand, I have been endeavoring to find some way to
help him pass on. But there's this---
LEM Spit it out and let's see what
color it is.
FANSHAW Ezra can go just about anywhere within
the entire valley. That is rather a long
distance. He seems to have very few of the limitations that I
find myself so hampered by. I don't understand it one bit,
and I have this - notion - to try and figure out why. Before
I help him find his way onward.
LEM Guess it's a good thing I'm laid up, then,
ain't it?
