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Scripts Aloud brings drama right into your ears. By using text-to-speech software, theater scripts go from the page into drama, every week. Typically 10-minute scripts are presented in each episode. It's like having a Theater Festival - right on your phone!
The Daughter Problem
by
Rick Regan
Rick Regan
PO Box 40039
Raleigh, NC 27629
Raleigh.rickregan@gmail.com
919-218-8834
1 INT - FARMHOUSE FRONT ROOM - FRIDAY EVENING
In the main living room of WAYNE WEBSTER and his brother
REUBEN WEBSTER. The house is outside of Medicine Lake,
Montana, near the North Dakota and Canadian borders, near
the edge of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Flat in
every direction and very few people. The year is 1956, in
the fall. The few trees in the yard have all lost their
leaves already.
WAYNE and REUBEN are playing cribbage, an old-time card
game with a small board and pegs in holes.
WAYNE
Ah, Roy G Biv! Cripes.
Wayne move his pegs forward but not very far.
REUBEN
Ya, they roll like that.
WAYNE
Lyle comin’ by?
REUBEN
He took another shift at the shaft, overtime. He’ll
be around tomorrow.
WAYNE
Deal ‘em.
REUBEN
(flips a card)
Go.
They both lay down cards and count up the points.
WAYNE
Ah, no luck tonight. You’ve got it.
REUBEN
Beer and a bump?
WAYNE
Sure, yeah.
Reuben shuffles the cards and resets the board, while Wayne
assembles some cocktail glasses, a bowl with ice, an
unlabeled rye whiskey bottle and some cans of Blatz beer. He
brings a tray to the table and they take turns preparing
drinks. They both have poured single shots of liquor.
REUBEN
You can’t drink all day...
WAYNE
If you don’t start in the morning.
BOTH
Cheers!
They down the shots and double-tap the glass on the table.
They open the beers sip those.
REUBEN
Did I tell ya’ I was out up to Plentywood this week?
WAYNE
Oh, did ya?
REUBEN
Ya.
WAYNE
Groceries?
REUBEN
Yup.
WAYNE
Hmm. Long way.
REUBEN
Ya, but I stopped by Hurst’s as well.
WAYNE
Just to see what’s new?
REUBEN
No, I took my Browning 30-30 in. The trigger needs
adjustment and I don’t trust myself with it.
WAYNE
Yup, it’s a job for a professional when you’re
dealing with triggers. Too loose for ya?
REUBEN
It would stick real hard. Instead of a smooth pull,
ya know.
WAYNE
That would make you miss every time. What’d Hurst
say?
REUBEN
He’d take a look and call me. Haven’t heard from him
though.
WAYNE
Funny, I was up that way myself this week.
REUBEN
Got a sticky trigger too?
WAYNE
No, I went up, then out Five. Out to the bend where
Keme bought it.
REUBEN
Oh, that was sad.
WAYNE
Not a damned thing out there.
REUBEN
What got you thinking about it?
WAYNE
Well, Josephine, she’s got a birthday coming up.
REUBEN
How old would she be?
WAYNE
She’ll be eighteen, end of next week.
REUBEN
So it put you in mind of Keme?
WAYNE
That, and I ran into Joe Grey Hawk down at the grain
co-op.
REUBEN
I haven’t seen him in years. Is he back?
WAYNE
Just hauling a load, I guess.
REUBEN
You talk to him?
WAYNE
I said, “Hey, Joe, how come you’re still driving?” I
said that, I did.
REUBEN
What’d he say?
WAYNE
He said he moved across the line into Dakota, got a
new license there. They just gave him one, I guess.
Never looked into him, saw what he done.
REUBEN
I still remember that night. Coming up on ten year,
isn’t it?
WAYNE
It is.
REUBEN
How old was Josie then?
WAYNE
She was only eight years old when Joe Grey Hawk
swerved his truck right into Keme. He said he never
even knew he’d done it. Said he was reaching down the
seat for something.
REUBEN
Whiskey bottle, most like.
The both refill the shot glasses, down the liquor and doubletap the table.
WAYNE
Poor Keme went into that ditch, blacked out. And then
froze right there in his own car. Damned cold that
night.
REUBEN
Colder than a well-digger’s butt, for sure. But you
went back to see it?
WAYNE
Like you said, it’s coming up on ten years.
REUBEN
Ya.
WAYNE
I pulled off and walked the ground. It was an icy
road that night. In clear day, why you could have
rolled a bowling ball straight for ten miles until
you got to that curve. Why them two was there at that
time, just like that, out in the middle of nowheres?
I don’t know.
REUBEN
Where was he going, Keme?
WAYNE
He was up on the rez, to see his people.
REUBEN
Was he full Blackfoot?
WAYNE
Yeah, Assini. He was coming back home after a
sweatlodge, his mother told me. Back to Colleen and
Josephine.
REUBEN
And Joe Grey Hawk? He just got away with it?
WAYNE
You remember, don’t ya? The paper in town had all the
news about Keme Marten, and Colleen and Josie, with
no info about what happened. And Joe come forward and
said it must have been him, on account of him saying
he was on that road, about that time. He said he
never knew he hit him or nothing.
REUBEN
He was just back from the war, wasn’t he?
WAYNE
Right, he was. Someplace in Italy, he said. Well, the
cops didn’t have any real proof, and Joe, he come
forward and all, and him being a war hero and all,
so...
REUBEN
They let him go.
WAYNE
They let him go.
REUBEN
I remember going to their wedding, Keme and Colleen.
That was a nice spring day, beautiful bride. So much
hope.
WAYNE
(chokes up)
Beautiful bride. Her and Irene.
Wayne sips his beer and Reuben pours more whiskey. They drink
and double-tap.
REUBEN
Ah, you suppose it had to happen that way, them being
twins?
WAYNE
One without the other, you mean?
REUBEN
Right, like, they looked alike, talked alike, thought
alike.
WAYNE
I suppose something must have been different between
them because me and Keme are, were, about as
different as two fellas could be.
REUBEN
Ach! You were like brothers, yourselves. Good looking
gents, or used to be, strong, with a good heart. And
both of ya, not-too-smart, put together.
WAYNE
Ha!
REUBEN
Heh!
WAYNE
They were as beautiful a pair of queens as you’d ever
see. Their smiles were like pure sunlight. Why Irene
and Mother would battle like hens, and love every
moment.
REUBEN
That was a dark day when they both went.
WAYNE
The darkest day.
REUBEN
And little Josie, how old was she then?
WAYNE
Eight when she lost her father. Twelve when she lost
her mother.
REUBEN
And now coming up on eighteen. You’ve done right by
her, Wayne. You really have.
WAYNE
Did I have a choice? I was the last one standing.
Imagine if I’d have been killed in a bailing machine.
What would have happened to them?
REUBEN
I suppose they’d have come to me.
WAYNE
Jiminy, they got lucky I’m still around. Three women,
under your roof? That would have put the starch in
your shirt.
REUBEN
I don’t even want to think about losing you too,
brother.
WAYNE
I don’t suppose the walls of your kitchen have seen a
woman inside there since Mother’s been gone.
REUBEN
Ach! You know it’s slim pickings out here.
WAYNE
Why I saw the widow Riley just the other day, coming
out of the Honk’r Stop. She’d be a frisky-fit for ya.
REUBEN
(derisive)
The widow Riley? No need to buy what is for rent.
WAYNE
She would be a woman with a robust appetite, for
sure, but sore-lonely too, I think. For rent, that’s
unkind. And you sleeping in the cold bed every night.
REUBEN
Ah Wayne, a woman would want to civilize me. I’ve
been too long on my own, too long alone.
WAYNE
Alone? You come here every night!
REUBEN
Oh, is that bad?
WAYNE
Of course, you are always welcome. Don’t get jerked
out of joint. That’s not what I mean.
REUBEN
Well then?
WAYNE
It’s just that you’ve got a lot of love in your heart
and it seems a damned shame to deny the widow Riley
what she wants most.
REUBEN
What’s that?
WAYNE
Your money!
REUBEN
Ha!
WAYNE
Heh-heh! No, she’s a nice girl. I invited her to
Josie’s party next week.
REUBEN
Have you?
WAYNE
Ah, it come out of my mouth before I was thinking.
But I thought of you and her and it seemed the right
thing. Just take a bath, would you?
REUBEN
Sure, and a new tie.
Reuben moves to pour more liquor. Wayne waves him off.
WAYNE
No more for me. Maeve will be around in a few
minutes.
REUBEN
Ah, right.
WAYNE
Should keep my head clear.
REUBEN
And how is she, Maeve?
WAYNE
Fifteen going on fifty.
REUBEN
Fifty?
WAYNE
She says she wants to be a farm-wife, with a herd of
kids and some buffalo cowboy. You’d think she was a
sod-buster Pioneer, from the old days.
REUBEN
Where’d she get that idea?
WAYNE
Mystery to me.
But with Marie in town, working at the bank, and
Josephine turning eighteen and going who-knows-where,
Maeve looks like she’s putting down roots, under my
feet.
REUBEN
How do you feel about that?
WAYNE
Ah, I think she should see some of the world, before
she plants herself up to her ears in Sher-i-dan
County.
REUBEN
She’s fifteen, but does she have a fella? Her own
buffalo cowboy?
WAYNE
Not that she’s told me, but she wouldn’t anyway. This
is when I wish her mother was here. Speaking of being
lonely.
REUBEN
I never understood that, Wayne. The two of them, good
skaters!, to fall into the ice. Twins, die together,
the same way. Drown in the frozen lake. Doesn’t make
any sense.
WAYNE
It was both or none with them. Twins, for sure. Could
hardly separate them.
REUBEN
And poor Josie, having to slot in between your two
girls. Best as could be done, I guess.
WAYNE
I guess. We done our best, I suppose.
REUBEN
Ya, I suppose. So what about the party? What are you
planning?
WAYNE
Me? Planning? Oh no! That’s way over my head, or so
they tell me. The girls just say, “Please, pa, just
stay out the way.” So I go out haying. Always work to
be done.
REUBEN
Heh! That Josie, she’s real comical.
WAYNE
She’s a strange girl. I love her to death but I don’t
understand half of what she’s saying. I realize now
that Marie, when she was still here, was translating
for me, telling me what Josie was up to. I miss her a
lot too.
REUBEN
How long has she been gone now?
WAYNE
A good year, I suppose.
REUBEN
She told me she was saving up to move to Toronto, get
a job in a bank there. I told her I’d pony up five
hundred dollars for the project, when the time come.
WAYNE
Did you?
REUBEN
Ya.
WAYNE
Well, you might better start counting out those
bills.
REUBEN
Why’s that?
WAYNE
The widow Riley asked me about my Marie. She said
that she’d seen her in the bank. They talked. She
said Marie hinted that she had a boyfriend and was
eyeing making a big move.
REUBEN
Well that’s news. I’ll ask her about it next week.
WAYNE
So will I. The name Ben Hair come up.
REUBEN
Ben Hair? What’s she doing with him? Mother said that
bunch isn’t smart enough to play cards.
WAYNE
It’s out of my hands. She’s a grown woman.
REUBEN
But you’re still her father.
WAYNE
I’m her father but it feels like the curse is closing
in. You know what I mean? First Keme, then Irene and
Colleen. Feels like it’s coming for me now.
REUBEN
Ah, that’s the whiskey talking. You’re alright.
WAYNE
I don’t know.
REUBEN
You make this?
(indicates the whiskey)
WAYNE
No, one of the Parnell boys, Irene’s brother, Pat.
REUBEN
Tasty. They make it or just bring it across the
border?
WAYNE
Just bring it over, I think. The Parnell’s were never
real whiskey makers. Not like Pa.
REUBEN
Still, it’s nice stuff. Thanks.
WAYNE
Right.
REUBEN
I’ll be on my way then. Leave you to it.
WAYNE
More hands make fast work.
REUBEN
Done working for today. See you tomorrow.
WAYNE
Good night, Roob.
REUBEN
G’night, Wayne.
(exits)
2 INT. - FARMHOUSE FRONT ROOM - LATER
Wayne is asleep in an overstuffed recliner. JOSEPHINE and
MAEVE come in, see WAYNE asleep and tiptoe by him. He wakes
up.
WAYNE
Hey, now. Hmm. Hey. What’s, uh... How are you?
JOSEPHINE
Fine, Dad. You alright?
WAYNE
Sure, just checking the inside of my eyelids for
cracks.
MAEVE
You were snoring, Dad.
WAYNE
Oh, well, that’s to fool ya, into thinking I was
asleep the whole time. But you won’t catch me
sleeping on the job. Did you eat?
MAEVE
It’s Friday night, Dad.
WAYNE
Meaning?
JOSEPHINE
We had fish at the church.
WAYNE
Did you see anybody?
JOSEPHINE
Marie dropped in. She was with Ben Hair. Can you
believe that?
WAYNE
Not so much. What do you think of the fella?
MAEVE
He’s cute but he’s not real smart. I don’t know why
she keeps him around.
WAYNE
Right. Me neither. Say, you have what you need for
the party?
JOSEPHINE
Well, I think so. The circus tent goes up on
Wednesday and the Hot Air Balloon comes on Thursday,
but the clowns and the circus animals don’t actually
get here until Friday.
WAYNE
Circus tent?! Clowns? Hot air?
JOSEPHINE
I’m just kidding, Dad. It will just be some streamers
and balloons. Simple and fun.
WAYNE
Ok. Well, if you need something, you know.
JOSEPHINE
OK, Dad.
WAYNE
I’m going to go hit the sack. Long day. You ladies
staying up?
JOSEPHINE
For a little while.
WAYNE
OK. Sleep tight.
MAEVE
You too, Pop.
WAYNE exits upstairs to his bedroom.
JOSEPHINE fishes around in the cabinet and pulls out the
whiskey bottle. She brings two glasses. MAEVE and JOSEPHINE
sit at the table with small glasses of whiskey.
JOSEPHINE
(sniffs)
Whoo! Smooth.
MAEVE
(sniffs)
Woohuhoo! That’s strong.
They clink glasses and sip, making faces at the strong
alcohol.
JOSEPHINE
You know what Marie told me tonight?
MAEVE
No.
JOSEPHINE
She missed her period.
MAEVE
You mean?
JOSEPHINE
With Ben Hair.
MAEVE
Uh no! He’s so dumb.
JOSEPHINE
I said, was she sure? She said, no, she isn’t sure.
MAEVE
I hope not. But maybe she won’t run away to Canada if
she has a baby. Maybe that would be alright.
JOSEPHINE
There are ways to get rid of it, you know.
MAEVE
Really? How?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know, but I know they can do it. I’ve heard
there is a doctor on the rez who does it. It’s
against the law but he’s on the rez so it doesn’t
count.
MAEVE
You think Marie would do that? To her own baby?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know. But maybe it’s better than being stuck
around here, married to Ben Hair.
MAEVE
I want to have a baby.
JOSEPHINE
Don’t say that.
MAEVE
It’s true. Lots.
JOSEPHINE
You don’t know anything about it. You don’t even know
how it works.
MAEVE
Sure I do.
JOSEPHINE
No you don’t. And you are too young anyway. Say,
you’re not fooling around with that boy, are you?
What’s his name?
MAEVE
Tyler.
JOSEPHINE
Tyler? What kind of name is that?
MAEVE
Bloodworth. He’s Flathead Native. Works at the mine
with Uncle Lyle.
JOSEPHINE
You’re fif-TEEN! You should not be hanging around
with some Flathead miner. How old is he?
MAEVE
Same as you. Just turned eighteen.
JOSEPHINE
Maeve, honey, you’ve got to stay away from him. He’ll
get you pregnant faster than you can swivel your
head.
MAEVE
He plays baseball in the summer. The Twins have
invited him to go out to the Cities in the spring for
a tryout. He wants me to come with.
JOSEPHINE
Have you told Dad any of this, or were you just going
to spring it on him, or not tell him at all?
MAEVE
I don’t mind staying here. I’ll just go, see the
Cities, then come back.
JOSEPHINE
I’m going to be eighteen next week and I want to
start my life, get out of this dusty place. But you
are only fifteen. You have to finish school, not get
in-trouble with the first guy who talks sweet to you.
Use your head.
MAEVE
Are you going to go away?
JOSEPHINE
Probably. I need go to Montreal or Quebec. That’s
where the serious artists live. And with my talent
and artistic vision, I really have to be around other
artists for my potential to really blossom. I think
that is best.
MAEVE
You could go to Helena. Or Denver?
JOSEPHINE
Cow-towns. I need to be in a place where there are
art galleries and book publishers, so that my work
has a place to live and breathe. The public will get
to experience my genius, not just hear about some
girl out West.
MAEVE
But you could paint here and mail them to Montreal.
JOSEPHINE
So much of the world of art, drama and criticism is
built on relationships, at cocktail parties. That’s
what Georgia O’Keefe said. I need to be in the mix,
in the mingle, in the marinade, of ideas.
MAEVE
Huh. OK. When do you leave?
JOSEPHINE
Oh I don’t have a train ticket just yet. And I need
to hear about what’s happening with Marie. If she’s
going to have a baby, I should be around to help.
MAEVE
Do you think she will have a baby, and marry Ben
Hair?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know. We’ll see next week. But I don’t want
you to have a baby either. Have you been seeing each
other?
MAEVE
He was in town with Uncle Lyle. He introduced us. I
met him at the ice-cream shop on Saturday and he
wants to take me to the pictures this Wednesday.
JOSEPHINE
Maeve, no. Do not do this.
MAEVE
He’s a sweet boy. He’s smart and funny, and soooo
cute!
JOSEPHINE
Guys like that are two-bits-a-dozen. Farmhands,
miners, railroad fellas. You’ve got to aim higher.
Find a boy who wants to be a teacher or a lawyer.
You’re smart. You shouldn’t have to fix your wagon to
some roustabout, baseball or not.
MAEVE
But how am I going to find out about the world, if I
don’t find out about the world?
JOSEPHINE
Listen, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.
MAEVE
But you don’t even have a boyfriend. You don’t know.
JOSEPHINE
Just because I haven’t subjected myself to being
pawed and groped by the whole football squad...
MAEVE
Like Susan Jennings!
JOSEPHINE
Like Susan Jennings, yes. Just because I haven’t gone
steady with any boys doesn’t mean that I don’t know
my way around.
MAEVE
I don’t believe you.
JOSEPHINE
Go ahead. I’ve spent many hours at the library,
reading up on such matters. Ask me anything.
MAEVE
OK. Why do we girls get a period every month?
JOSEPHINE
Because the world is unfair and there is no justice
for women. That’s why. We just do.
MAEVE
Huh. OK. Where to babies come from?
JOSEPHINE
Same place as the period.
MAEVE
But, it’s too small. That can’t be.
JOSEPHINE
You’ve seen cows calving, out on the ranch. She gets
with the bull and then after a while the calf comes
out. Same place.
MAEVE
That’s gross.
JOSEPHINE
Kinda.
MAEVE
Why would you do that?
JOSEPHINE
I wouldn’t.
MAEVE
But Marie does.
JOSEPHINE
Maybe. We’ll see. Listen, if you’re serious, you can
bring, what’s his name?...
MAEVE
Tyler.
JOSEPHINE
You can bring Tyler to the party. But no hanky-panky.
Got it?
MAEVE
Right, boss!
JOSEPHINE
Now go to bed. I’m going to clean up and read a
little.
MAEVE
OK. Good night.
JOSEPHINE
Good night.
Maeve exits upstairs. Josephine clears up the glasses,
replaces the whiskey bottle and sits down in the recliner
with a book.
3 INT. - WAYNE’S BEDROOM - LATER
In the small bedroom, Wayne is asleep on a narrow double-bed.
The ghost of his wife, IRENE, comes in and stands over him.
Wayne wakes up and notices her there.
IRENE
Wayne. Wake up.
WAYNE
Huh, what? Irene, what are you doing here?
IRENE
Wayne, what are you doing?
WAYNE
Trying to sleep. Go back to heaven.
IRENE
I will not go back to heaven. I mean, what are you
doing about our girls? They are running wild and you
are drunk and asleep. Do you even know what’s going
on, right under your nose?
WAYNE
They’re good girls. I trust them.
IRENE
They are running around like whores in the street.
WAYNE
They are not.
IRENE
You have to take a firm hand with them. Show them
that you won’t take this kind of thing. They are
turning into floozies.
WAYNE
They are good girls. They are smart.
IRENE
You need to use your belt on them. Particularly that
Josie. She’s a bad influence on our girls. Whip her,
Wayne.
WAYNE
Irene, I’m not whipping anybody. Not Josie, not
Maeve. I ought to turn you over my knee, is what I
ought to do.
IRENE
I will not have you just sit by like a chewed-up plug
of tobacco while Josie ruins my Maeve with her
disgusting ideas. She wants Maeve to turn tricks in
the street, for any Indian who honks. Do you realize
that? Do you?
WAYNE
You don’t know any of that, Irene.
IRENE
I know that you and your cripple brother just sit
around getting drunk every night, while my girls turn
into tramps. And you call yourself a father?
WAYNE
Reuben just comes by to visit. And you know he was a
hero. He was injured in the war. Not just born
deformed.
IRENE
Wayne, do you have any idea how filthy and dirty that
Josie is? She doesn’t wash her hair. She doesn’t
brush her teeth. She’s like a horrible witch.
WAYNE
Irene, you’re the ghost here. Why are you haunting
me?
IRENE
They are playing you for a fool, Wayne. They always
have. The people in town. That grain broker at the coop, he plays you like a fiddle, cheats you every
year. And you put up with it. If you had any guts
you’d have shot him in the street. But you don’t.
WAYNE
Prices are prices. I don’t set ‘em. Neither do you.
We do alright with our grain. Why, it was a good
solid crop this year. Both the rye and the millet all
sold out. The whole crop.
IRENE
That’s because you believed everything that snake
told you and you gave away your year of work for a
song. The next man in got twice as much. You look
like a fool, Wayne. You are a fool.
WAYNE
I asked you a question: why are you haunting me?
IRENE
You think they don’t know about you? They watch this
place all the time. They see what’s going on. There
is probably a tap on phone to keep tabs on you. They
are listening all the time.
WAYNE
Who?
IRENE
Everybody. The town. The Indians. The priest. He’s
the worst, you know. He’s been doing it with Maeve
since she was twelve. Any you, you look the other
way! Useless!
WAYNE
Cripes, Irene!
IRENE
You are going to end up turning this place into a
whore house, taking money from any man who drives by.
My girls, used like slaves, like breeding animals.
Don’t you see what’s happening? Wayne, get control.
Whip the girls.
WAYNE
No! No. Go back to the grave, Irene. Leave me alone.
Leave me.
IRENE
You want to go to sleep but, right now, there could
be a dozen men lined up to put their filthy hands up
her skirt. Miners, field hands, Indian trappers. They
only want one thing, young, white flesh. You’ll go
down in the morning and see the piles of dirty silver
dollars.
WAYNE
Jesus, Irene. Leave me. Leave me in peace. Leave me.
IRENE
Wayne, you are a worthless failure, as a farmer and
as a father.
Irene walks into a window and disappears.
WAYNE
(rattled)
Lord Jesus, please, let that woman rest in peace.
Wayne gets up, pulls on his trousers and goes out,
downstairs.
4 INT. - KITCHEN - SAME TIME
Wayne comes down the stairs and goes to the kitchen. He
fishes around for the whiskey bottle, noticing that it has
been moved and the glasses have been moved. He looks over to
see Josephine sitting in the front room reading.
Wayne pours a shot of whiskey, downs it, rinses the glass and
puts everything back.
WAYNE
You still up?
JOSEPHINE
Just reading some.
WAYNE
Can I joins ya?
JOSEPHINE
Of course.
Wayne sits on a chair near Josephine.
WAYNE
Ya know, I’m real proud of you. You’ve done real
well. I just want you to know that.
JOSEPHINE
Aww, thanks Dad.
WAYNE
And happy birthday, early.
JOSEPHINE
You’re sweet.
WAYNE
What are you thinking about now, since you’re done
with school and such?
JOSEPHINE
You mean, when can you get me out of your hair?
WAYNE
Oh, I don’t have much hair but I’ve got plenty for
the bunch of us. You’re no trouble.
JOSEPHINE
I know what you mean.
WAYNE
Like for after the holidays, the new year.
JOSEPHINE
1957.
WAYNE
Yup.
JOSEPHINE
Well, it’s not official yet but I wrote away to some
colleges.
WAYNE
Oh, have you?
JOSEPHINE
Yep.
WAYNE
Like M-T State?
JOSEPHINE
No, more like art school.
WAYNE
Oh. Is that right? Uh, where’s that?
JOSEPHINE
Montreal.
WAYNE
Roy G Biv! Cripes. Montreal? Why all the way over
there?
JOSEPHINE
Well, for one, it’s free.
WAYNE
How’s that?
JOSEPHINE
I sent them a portfolio and they offered a
scholarship. I just have to get there.
WAYNE
Well I’ll be. Aren’t you the one then. They send a
letter, did they?
JOSEPHINE
I called them on the telephone and talked to the lady
there. She said they sent a letter but she told me
over the long-distance that I was in, and there was a
scholarship attached to the offer.
WAYNE
Over long-distance, this was?
JOSEPHINE
Yep. Long-distance.
WAYNE
Why, can you beat that?
JOSEPHINE
Nope.
WAYNE
And when, you know, would you need to be there?
JOSEPHINE
First week of January.
WAYNE
Why that’s only, what, six-seven weeks. Right after
the Christmas. Where would you stay?
JOSEPHINE
There is a student dormitory on Rue de Saint Marie.
Isn’t that lucky? A street named after our Marie.
WAYNE
Oh, yeah. That’s... that’s a fine thing. Gosh, you’re
smart, Josie. I’m real proud of ya.
JOSEPHINE
I’m going to miss you, Dad.
WAYNE
Oh, I hate to see you go. I wish you wouldn’t.
JOSEPHINE
Dad?
WAYNE
But I’d hate it even more if you didn’t go. No,
you’ve picked your path. Time to step into it.
JOSEPHINE
Thank you, Daddy. I love you.
WAYNE
Say, there’s one thing, too. Uncle Reuben mentioned
that he told Marie he’d spot her five-hundred dollars
if she was headed to the big cities to get a job.
JOSEPHINE
Really?
WAYNE
Yup. And I don’t see why he wouldn’t put up the same
for you as well. I’ll bend his ear on it. But keep an
eye on him, would you?
JOSEPHINE
You betcha!
WAYNE
Right. My work is done here. I’m going back to bed.
Goodnight love.
JOSEPHINE
Good night, Daddy. Sleep tight.
WAYNE
Sleep right.
Wayne exits. Josephine is thrilled.
5 INT. DAY - SATURDAY AFTERNOON - MAIN ROOM
It is the day of the party. People are spread out, chatting
in the kitchen and the main room. BEN HAIR is there with
Marie, and WIDOW RILEY is talking to MAEVE.
MAEVE
Well, I just have one more year left and then I’ll be
done with school.
WIDOW RILEY
Done with school? You are such a bright girl, you
should go on to college.
MAEVE
I’m tired of school already. And besides, Marie
didn’t go to college and she’s got a job, and a
husband and a baby.
WIDOW RILEY
(shocked)
A baby? Who told you that?
MAEVE
Josie. She said it’s not real sure yet though. But if
she has a baby, maybe she and Ben Hair will get
married and stay here.
WIDOW RILEY
Is she going away? She works at the bank.
MAEVE
She works at the bank but has read all about how she
could get a job at a bigger bank, in Toronto.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh, yes. I remember her saying something about a
better job but this is the first I have heard of
moving away. Why Toronto?
MAEVE
I dunno. Maybe cause that’s where they have big
banks?
WIDOW RILEY
Maybe. I’ll ask her. Say, are you excited about
Josephine’s birthday?
MAEVE
Uh-huh! And I get to bring in the cake!
WIDOW RILEY
Well then, you’d better get going.
MAEVE
I’m going to light the candles!
WIDOW RILEY
OK!
Maeve goes into the kitchen area and begins preparation for
the cake.
WAYNE
(to Widow Riley)
Miss Riley, good of you to come today.
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne, how are you now?
WAYNE
On a daughter’s birthday, why it’s a reminder that
I’m the luckiest fella above ground.
WIDOW RILEY
Truly said, Wayne, truly said. And the birthday girl
is in fine form, is she?
WAYNE
That she is. In fact, and this is just between you
and me, she received in the mail today a letter from
an art college. She’s in.
WIDOW RILEY
That’s marvelous! Good for her. When does she start?
WAYNE
First week of January. I’m thinking we’ll ride up to
Regina after Christmas and she can take the new train
all the way to Montreal.
WIDOW RILEY
Montreal? Oh my, that’s so far.
WAYNE
Yep, it’s a fer piece but they’ve got a line that
goes all the way. Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay,
Sudbury, then a leg over to Montreal. I’ve looked her
over and it’s quite something that new Canadian-line.
Goes clear across, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Opened last year.
WIDOW RILEY
Goodness!
WAYNE
Right, well, I guess them Canadians had to catch up
with us down South, almost a hundred years later with
a transcontinental rail line. But a fine way to
travel, I’d wager.
WIDOW RILEY
And Marie? Is she going too?
WAYNE
Well, I don’t know about that. She’s been dreaming
big about heading east and getting a big job at a big
bank, in Toronto. But now Joe Hair is holding her
hand there so I don’t know if she might stick around
this dusty place for a while longer.
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne, just between us, she’s a smart girl. She can
do better than Joe Hair, don’t you think?
WAYNE
She’s grown now and can make her own decisions. If it
is a Hair-boy that’s going to keep her around, well,
by golly, I’d best keep my mouth shut. But, frankly,
I’d like to see her make her way in the wide world
before she gets too stuck-in here. Know what I mean?
WIDOW RILEY
I do.
WAYNE
Why it was Mister Riley done brought you round here,
wasn’t it? Where were your people?
WIDOW RILEY
I have a sister in Rhode Island. That’s where I grew
up.
WAYNE
And your Mister Riley, how’d you two meet if you was
back East?
WIDOW RILEY
Well, you knew Charles. Somehow he’d gotten the idea
to join the Navy during the war. A Montana man, so
far from the ocean that he said he couldn’t even
imagine how big it was. He was stationed at Newport
Naval Station, before he went to France. He was
killed in the invasion.
WAYNE
How’d you work in time to do any courtin’, if you
don’t mind me asking?
WIDOW RILEY
I was at a Catholic women’s college nearby, Salve
Regina, and the nuns kept a close watch, you can
believe me. But Friday night was free and with the
war-on, sailors filled the town. There were dances,
movies, suppers, lectures. It was a wonderful time,
for me anyway.
WAYNE
I see.
WIDOW RILEY
And when Charley got news that they were going to
ship out to the war in Europe soon, he proposed. We
were married that weekend. The school term was ending
so I got an apartment, for a month. That’s all I got
with him, one month of May, 1944. Then he shipped
out.
WAYNE
And he got it on the beach, they said here in town.
WIDOW RILEY
I suppose so. We got an official report but it was
all confusion and shooting, so nobody is really sure
what happened. And in the end, it didn’t matter. He
was dead.
WAYNE
Charlie was real character. He was a year ahead of me
at school. Him and my brother Lyle were friends. I
think him and Charley signed up together. He was Navy
too, but Lyle ran the engine room in one of them big
gunboats. He doesn’t talk about it much, on account
of what they seen, I guess.
WIDOW RILEY
Right. It’s hard.
WAYNE
So, I mean, you’re a good looking gal. You didn’t remarry?
WIDOW RILEY
Kind of you to say that. No, I took the train that
summer, through Chicago and the Twin Cities, to see
his mother. I stayed with her while we waited for
news. The War Department sent a letter saying that he
was buried in France but we could have his body sent
back to Montana if we wanted. As the wife of record,
it was officially my decision so I wrote Washington
and told them to send him back to Medicine Lake.
Which they did, three years later.
WAYNE
Cripes!
WIDOW RILEY
By that time I’d been in Montana with his mother the
whole time. She had been so crushed by losing Charles
that I felt I should look after her. She was ill but
still living for many years. So I got a job with
Sheridan County and lived with his mother until she
passed.
WAYNE
Two year ago, was it?
WIDOW RILEY
Almost three now. A man arrived with Charley’s body
in forty-eight, so we buried him in town, but I’ve
been here for twelve years myself.
WAYNE
Well I know my brother Reuben has been asking about
you. He was a soldier too, you know.
WIDOW RILEY
Was he?
WAYNE
Army. Rode a tank into Paris. But he got shot-up in
Germany and was in the hospital for a while after
that. It must have been something because he left
Montana with a buddy one day, and came back two-and-ahalf-years later a different man. His buddy didn’t
make it.
WIDOW RILEY
Does he live here, with you?
WAYNE
The other house on the property. Dad built it,
thinking that, with three boys, one of ‘em would be a
farmer and could take over for him but have a place
for a wife and a family here.
WIDOW RILEY
So he just lives alone in there?
WAYNE
Oh, we work the farm together, him and me. Then he
goes to wash up and sometimes comes down here for
supper. The girls like him and they get him all riled
up. There so smart, these girls.
WIDOW RILEY
You’ve done a good job with them. You have every
reason to be proud, as a father.
WAYNE
Thank you, Widow Riley.
WIDOW RILEY
And I must say that I didn’t know Irene for long but
she was such a sweet person. And her twin sister, my
word! They were just hilarious when they were
together. Talking so fast and laughing, making
everybody laugh. Oh my, oh my! I remember one time, I
went skating with them. It was so cold but we laughed
and laughed. They were such good skaters too. That’s
why it was so strange at the end. Oh, I’m sorry,
Wayne. I shouldn’t have brought it up.
WAYNE
The both of us have lost, and suffered. No denying
it. But it is a day for joyful thoughts, for
Josephine.
WIDOW RILEY
But you, Wayne, you never re-married?
WAYNE
Oh, with three girls, I’ve got more than my hands
full. But I do worry that Reuben’s house is awfully
cold. He’s never been much of the ladies-man.
WIDOW RILEY
What are you suggesting?
WAYNE
I think it would be a nice thing for him to have some
companionship. And if you two were to make a thing of
things, I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.
WIDOW RILEY
(chuckling)
So I have your blessings?
WAYNE
So you do. I don’t know of another lady round here
that I’d trust with my own brother. ‘Cept you.
WIDOW RILEY
Thank you, Wayne. But what is his feeling on the
matter?
WAYNE
I’ve been the little bird on his shoulder, saying he
should pay attention to such matters. But, I will
say, he might need a kick in the pants.
WIDOW RILEY
(laughs)
Doctors’ Orders?
WAYNE
Something like that. Speaking of...
(to Reuben)
Roob! Come here now.
REUBEN
(nods)
Wayne. Widow Riley. Good to see you today. Can I get
you something?
WIDOW RILEY
I’d like something stiff.
REUBEN
Um, drinks then?
WAYNE
A drop of rye would suit ya?
WIDOW RILEY
Very nice. With a splash of water.
WAYNE
I’ll fetch it. And one for you, Roob.
Wayne exits to get drinks.
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne tells me that you farm with him here.
REUBEN
That’s right. Pretty much spent my whole life planted
right here.
WIDOW RILEY
But he said you were in the war.
REUBEN
I don’t like to talk too much about it. Lotta hard
times then.
WIDOW RILEY
My Charley was in France. Killed in Action.
REUBEN
K-I-A, that’s what they called it. I was lucky to get
out with just getting shot all to pieces. By the time
I got back I didn’t ever want to see the inside of a
hospital again. And, aside from when Mother passed,
it’s been that way.
WIDOW RILEY
I see.
REUBEN
I remember Charly. Charles Riley. Him and my brother
Lyle were two years behind me at school. He could
throw a baseball harder than any man I’ve ever seen.
He was that good. Then they went into the Navy
together.
WIDOW RILEY
That’s right. It seems like yesterday.
REUBEN
Or a million lifetimes ago.
WIDOW RILEY
Yes. Like it all happened to somebody else.
REUBEN
But I remember Charley. His mother was a sweet lady.
You moved in with her then, didn’t you?
WIDOW RILEY
It was so hard on her when Charley died that I just
stayed with her for a while, and here I am, a dozen
years later.
REUBEN
Why have you not re-married then?
WIDOW RILEY
I talked to my sister on the telephone recently and
she asked me the same thing. I told her, the odds-aregood, but the goods-are-odd!
REUBEN
Oh. Well, I stick to myself mostly.
WIDOW RILEY
Well, what I mean is that there is not much to
interest an older woman here.
REUBEN
I see.
WIDOW RILEY
Excepting yourself, though. Did you see Paris?
REUBEN
(laughs)
Oh, long time ago. It was pretty though. Beautiful
river. Castles. Amazing.
WIDOW RILEY
Reuben, I don’t want to be too forward, but how about
you come into town for dinner at my house this week.
It will be a nice change to have some company.
REUBEN
Well, I don’t get out much, I suppose.
WIDOW RILEY
This will be a chance. We could cook some steaks. And
some potatoes.
REUBEN
Well, sure, ya. I could bring some down to you. We’ve
got plenty of prime cuts at the locker. Bring a
dozen, say?
WIDOW RILEY
A dozen? I don’t think we can eat all that.
REUBEN
Sure, ya, but you can keep them in the ice box. I
mean, you can’t really buy good meat around here,
even though we got steaks on-the-hoof right outside
this window.
WIDOW RILEY
Maybe I could come by your place, tomorrow and visit
as well.
REUBEN
Well there was talk of Lyle and me going fishing.
WIDOW RILEY
I see.
REUBEN
But I’ll wave him off. The fish aren’t going
anywhere.
WIDOW RILEY
I’d like that, Reuben.
REUBEN
Give me a little time to clean up, I guess.
WIDOW RILEY
I’ll come by mid-morning, if that works for you.
REUBEN
Sure, ya.
WIDOW RILEY
Say, what do you thing of Marie?
REUBEN
How do you mean? She’s smart as a whip and almost as
pretty as her mother.
WIDOW RILEY
But Ben Hair?
REUBEN
Ah, jeez. The Hair boys, Mother used to say, aren’t
smart enough to play cards.
WIDOW RILEY
(laughs)
Oh-ho! That’s a good one. Yes, I don’t see them
lasting long. But is there anything else holding them
together?
REUBEN
Just two love-birds, I’d say. I don’t know much about
it.
WIDOW RILEY
That’s probably it.
Wayne arrives with drinks.
WAYNE
Here you go now.
WIDOW RILEY
Thanks, Wayne.
WAYNE
Sure, and let me peel you away from clutches of my
brother. I’d like you to talk to Marie.
WIDOW RILEY
See you tomorrow then, Reuben.
REUBEN
Right-o!
They move across the room to meet Marie and Ben.
WAYNE
Marie, you know the Widow Riley, don’t ya?
MARIE
Hello, Missus Riley. You look lovely today.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh, thank you, Marie. Any excuse for a dress up.
WAYNE
(to Ben)
Ben, can I grab you a minute? We’re going to sing the
birthday song and I want to get some fellas together
to practice a few bars.
Wayne pulls Ben away and walks him out a side door. He
signals to Reuben, who follows them out.
WIDOW RILEY
I keep hearing that you are coming up on a promotion
of some kind. Are you taking a new job?
MARIE
I thought so. But now, I don’t know.
WIDOW RILEY
What’s happened?
MARIE
Well, with Ben and all, maybe I should stay here.
WIDOW RILEY
I heard you mentioned Toronto. Why Canada?
MARIE
I just want to get out of this little crossroads of a
town.
WIDOW RILEY
And the bank?
MARIE
They have an office in Toronto and I can slot right
in, they said..
WIDOW RILEY
So what’s holding you back? Ben doesn’t want you to
go?
MARIE
It’s that and..
WIDOW RILEY
(softly, close-in)
Marie, tell me the truth, are you pregnant?
MARIE
(nods)
Mmm-hmm. I think so.
WIDOW RILEY
How far along?
MARIE
Maybe six weeks.
WIDOW RILEY
I can help you. If you want.
MARIE
I don’t know what I want.
WIDOW RILEY
I have helped girls, in your condition, before. If
you want, it’s safe.
MARIE
My dad would kill me if I did that.
WIDOW RILEY
We’ll see about that. And Ben, does he know?
MARIE
I haven’t told him.
WIDOW RILEY
(nods)
Look, I know that you don’t really know me or have
any reason to trust me but I can help you. But you
have to decide soon. If it goes too long, then you
can’t. Or if you want to give the baby up, I can work
with you on that too. I work for the county, in the
areas that you need. I’m here to help.
MARIE
(nervous)
OK.
WIDOW RILEY
You think about it and we can talk about it tomorrow.
I’m coming by to visit Reuben in the morning.
MARIE
Wait. You? And Uncle Reuben? But you’re so pretty!
WIDOW RILEY
Thank you dear. But, honestly, the nights get cold.
MARIE
Wow. Uh, OK.
WIDOW RILEY
So let’s talk tomorrow and we’ll make a plan.
MARIE
Ok. Thank you. I don’t have anybody to talk to, about
this.
WIDOW RILEY
I know. But I’m here.
Wayne enters, with Ben and Reuben.
WAYNE
Seems like we ought to get the party started. Where’s
the star of the show?
Josephine is with a group of her friends. She breaks away for
the party.
JOSEPHINE
Dad! You don’t have to make a big show.
WAYNE
We sure do, darling.
(to the party)
Folks, listen up for a moment. I just want to say how
nice it is to have all you folks here today for
Josie’s birthday. She’s eighteen today so set back
the phone-poles because this little girl is going to
be blazing a trail.
JOSEPHINE
Oh, Dad.
WAYNE
And folks, here’s a gift that every parent loves to
give, and that’s a letter from the Academy of Fine
Arts in Montreal, with an announcement of acceptance
and a scholarship to go there. Congratulations,
Josie!
JOSEPHINE
(hugs Wayne)
Oh, Dad! You don’t have to make a big deal about it.
WAYNE
I certainly do, sweetie. I am over the moon for you.
(kisses her)
JOSEPHINE
I love you, papa.
WAYNE
I love you too, kid. Now let’s bring out the cake and
sing!
Maeve picks up a box of Canadian Rail matches, made of cedar,
and lights candles for the cake. She brings in the flaming
cake and sets it on the table.
Everybody gathers around Josephine and the cake.
WAYNE
(singing, everyone joins)
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birth-day dear Josie!
Happy Birth-day to you!
ALL
Hurray! Blow out the candles! Make a wish!
JOSEPHINE
Thank you, all!
She blows out the candles. People clap.
WAYNE
OK, step right up. First the birthday girl.
Wayne cuts cake for Josephine, Maeve and Marie. People eat
cake, pour drinks and kiss Josephine. Party.
6 INT. - FARMHOUSE FRONT ROOM - LATER
Wayne and Reuben are relaxing after the party. There is a
bottle of rye whiskey on the table in front of them.
REUBEN
Such a fun time, Wayne.
WAYNE
Turned out all right.
REUBEN
She’s a solid girl.
WAYNE
Right as rain.
REUBEN
Be a shame to see her go.
WAYNE
Be a shame if she stayed around this hick town.
REUBEN
Cleverest person in the room
WAYNE
I don’t know about that. The Widow is a sharp one.
And nice ankles too, I’d note.
REUBEN
Yeah, not sure what’s gotten into her but she’s
coming by tomorrow. And then we’re going to have
steaks at her place later this week. Reminds me, I’ve
got to swing by the Locker and pick up a dozen.
WAYNE
Cripes! A dozen steaks? You going to choke her with
‘em?
REUBEN
No, for the ice-box, I told her.
WAYNE
Oh, right. Makes sense.
REUBEN
A good time. Oh, to be young again.
WAYNE
I wouldn’t want to go through it again.
REUBEN
You mean the war?
WAYNE
No, just in general, being young. Why look at the
Hair boy. He knows he’s not half good enough for
Marie. One look and you know he’s about to get the
boot. I remember feeling that way with Irene.
REUBEN
Do ya?
WAYNE
She stuck by me, though. Lord knows why.
REUBEN
There’s no explaining a woman’s heart.
WAYNE
Yep.
REUBEN
Nothing for it, I suppose.
WAYNE
I suppose.
REUBEN
Why that Widow Riley though, she reminds me of
somebody.
WAYNE
Who’d that be then?
REUBEN
During the war, ya know, I was stationed in England
for training.
WAYNE
Was there a nurse or someone?
REUBEN
Local girl, from Sheffield. She was a volunteer and
worked in the staff office.
WAYNE
A secretary, like?
REUBEN
I guess. She didn’t say too much about it but we
kinda hit it off and we went to the pictures.
WAYNE
And what was her name?
REUBEN
Claire. Ecclestone.
WAYNE
So... did ya...?
REUBEN
Kiss her, you mean?
WAYNE
Well, OK, ya. Did you get to kiss her?
REUBEN
I did.
WAYNE
So, how’d that go, then?
REUBEN
Well, I’m telling you, aren’t I, so I guess I
remember it pretty fondly.
WAYNE
Sounds like. Did you write to her? Know what become
of her?
REUBEN
Oh, I got shipped out, then got shot up. I wasn’t but
a few years older than Josie is today. But I was
thinking about it, her, what with all the women
around about for the party. Don’t see that many
women, all in one place, too much. Just made me think
about what it might have been like, her and me.
WAYNE
Living there, you mean?
REUBEN
Me there, or her here. Which do you think would have
taken hold?
WAYNE
Oh, I’d imagine you’d a made a good show of her
either way. Seems a shame not to take a swing at it,
you know, on account of life being funny like that.
REUBEN
I don’t reckon it would have been right to bring her
back here. Nothing here for a woman like that. Smart,
pretty, sophisticated. Just not enough around, is
what I’m saying.
WAYNE
Well, now my Irene, she was smart as could be, and
you said yourself that she was as fair as they come.
She dug in here, married, children. The whole
shebang.
REUBEN
But she had her sister too, you know.
WAYNE
Well that’s right. Both or none with them two. So you
would’ve been an English farmer then? Wet sheep and
rocks?
REUBEN
Oh, you should have seen it, Wayne. Green fields as
far as you could see. Hedges, stone walls, soft green
grass. Lovely place. Not like the hard grip here,
with grass like sawblades and a wildfire if you’re
not looking, then freeze into a block come winter.
Here, it’s like nature is trying to kill you. There,
it’s like nature wants to help you along.
WAYNE
Quite the place.
REUBEN
And France was even more pretty, if you can believe
it. The vineyards and the pretty towns. Shame you
missed it Wayne.
WAYNE
Probably still there. Maybe I’ll take Maeve someday.
REUBEN
Or the Widow Riley.
WAYNE
Hey now, that’s up your line. I’ve got my hands full.
REUBEN
Wayne, I’ve been shot up real good. I can’t satisfy a
woman like that anymore. It’s not fair to her.
WAYNE
You talk like you are the ghost. Still got a beating
heart don’t ya? Well, sure you do. And about the
worst way of living in the world is to go to sleep,
alone in a cold bed.
REUBEN
And for you, yourself, Wayne!
WAYNE
I’m just glad for a night of peace.
REUBEN
So ya says. A bump then?
(indicates whiskey)
WAYNE
Nope. Say, I’m going up. You relax and I’ll see ya
tomorrow.
REUBEN
Sure enough then.
Wayne exit upstairs to his bedroom
Reuben sips the whiskey and is soon asleep in the chair.
7 INT. WAYNE’S BEDROOM - LATER
Wayne is asleep.
Ghost of IRENE enters.
IRENE
Wayne! Wake up!
WAYNE
Hmmgh?
IRENE
Wake up!
WAYNE
Irene, not again. Go to sleep, dear.
IRENE
I will not go to sleep when you are destroying our
home. Those scheming tramps are planning on turning
this house into some kind of dancing hall.
WAYNE
(confused)
A what? What are you saying?
IRENE
The minute you turn your back, those girls are going
to have their boyfriends moving in here, with
boarders. There will be god-knows how many people
loitering around here, all swapping sex, and drugs!
There will be police coming by at all hours of the
night. Our girls will be used-up hags by the time
Maeve is twenty. And look at you!
WAYNE
Irene, please! Let me sleep. Go away. The girls are
fine. They are nice girls.
IRENE
And your imbecile-cripple brother. That dummy is
going to get his whole life flushed down the drain by
that widow. And you invited her? Into MY home? This
place will never lose the stink of her. She’s been
scheming to get her hands on your farm since she got
to town. She’s coming for you, Wayne! She’s coming
for you! AAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!
AAAAAAAAAYYYYYEEEE!!!
Irene flies around the room, shrieking at Wayne. Terrified
Wayne jumps out of bed and runs out the door.
WAYNE
Get away from me! Get away! Irene!
IRENE
AAAAYYYYYYEEEEE!
Wayne bolts down the steps into the front room.
Reuben is awakened by Wayne’s shouts. He sees Wayne running,
waving his arms and see him run out into the cold night.
REUBEN
Wayne?!
Reuben jumps up and runs out the door after Wayne, closing
the door.
8 INT. - NIGHT- FRONT ROOM - LATER
Maeve and Josephine come in the door after the big night out.
JOSEPHINE
I’m beat.
MAEVE
That was so much fun.
JOSEPHINE
Where’s Dad?
MAEVE
He must have gone up to bed.
JOSEPHINE
Uncle Reuben too.
MAEVE
Happy birthday, Josie.
JOSEPHINE
Thanks, M. Good night.
MAEVE
Bed time.
The two women go up stairs, each to their separate bedrooms.
9 INT. DAY - SATURDAY MORNING
Front room of the house. Maeve and Josephine are up.
MAEVE
Did you hear Dad get up?
JOSEPHINE
No, I haven’t seen him.
MAEVE
I’m going to go check.
Maeve goes up the stairs.
WIDOW RILEY
(enters)
Good morning, birthday girl!
JOSEPHINE
Missus Riley, we can’t find Dad.
WIDOW RILEY
He can’t have gone far, his truck is there.
MAEVE
(comes downstairs)
He’s not there. His trousers are there but he’s not
there.
WIDOW RILEY
I’ll check with Reuben.
(exits)
JOSEPHINE
That’s not like him. I wonder what happened.
MAEVE
(excited)
Maybe him and Uncle Reuben had a fight. Maybe they
killed each other!
JOSEPHINE
Or fell down and froze in the field.
MAEVE
Oh my god, maybe we’re orphans.
JOSEPHINE
I am an orphan.
MAEVE
Now maybe we are all orphans. Now the cycle is
complete!
JOSEPHINE
They can’t be dead. We just saw them last night.
WIDOW RILEY
(returns)
Reuben is not there either.
JOSEPHINE
What do we do? Should we form a search party?
WIDOW RILEY
Where would they go?
MAEVE
Maybe they fell in the creek and both drown?
WIDOW RILEY
Let’s have a look around the place. If we don’t find
them, we’ll call the sheriff.
JOSEPHINE
Maeve, you go check the machine shed. I’ll check the
barn. Missus Riley, you’d better stay here, in case
they show up.
WIDOW RILEY
Ok. I’ll stay here.
Josephine and Maeve head out, searching.
Widow Riley sits down at the kitchen table, then gets up and
makes some coffee. While she’s waiting she looks around the
place, having the whole place alone for once. She looks at a
picture of young Irene with Wayne. There is a picture of
young Josephine and Colleen. Then she pours a cup of coffee
and waits. From outside, she hears Josephine.
JOSEPHINE
(outside)
Found ‘em!
Wayne walks in the door. He is covered in dirt and is not
wearing trousers or shoes. He is very cold. Reuben follows
Wayne in. He is dressed as when he left at night but with no
shoes.
WAYNE
Cripes! It’s cold.
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne! Reuben! Here. Here’s some hot coffee. Josie,
get some blankets for them.
The two men come in and sit down, warmed by the coffee and
blankets.
WAYNE
Roy G Biv.
WIDOW RILEY
What in the world happened?
REUBEN
I woke up in a ditch. It was still dark. I made it
back to the machine shed.
WAYNE
By the time I come to, I was flat on my back in the
barley field. All I remember was a terrible dream and
I had to get out. I started running, in the dark,
just to get away. I made it to the shed and found
Roob.
REUBEN
Wayne found an old horse blanket and we put that over
us ‘til it was light. We were fixing to come in when
we heard the girls.
WIDOW RILEY
My word! Are you alright? Are you hurt?
WAYNE
I must have gone teapot-over-kettle out in the field
but nothing broken. I best go back up to bed for a
while. You too Roob.
WIDOW RILEY
I’ll see to him.
Reuben and Widow Riley exit to his house on the property.
JOSEPHINE
That’s so strange!
MAEVE
(quietly)
Jo, do you think Dad is going crazy? He’s been acting
weird.
JOSEPHINE
Maybe. That was kinda crazy. I’ll be glad to get to
Montreal.
MAEVE
But don’t leave me like this!
JOSEPHINE
No, I mean, when it’s the right time to leave and
everything is normal.
Marie enters.
MARIE
Hey birthday girl! That was sure fun last night.
MAEVE
Marie, you won’t believe it!
MARIE
What?
JOSEPHINE
Dad and Uncle Rueben just walked in, from outside.
They spent the whole night outside.
MARIE
But it was near freezing last night!
MAEVE
Dad said he was having a bad dream and he had get
out.
JOSEPHINE
And I guess Uncle Reuben followed him out.
MARIE
Oh no. I know what this is. It’s Mom.
JOSEPHINE
Mom?
MARIE
Our mom, not your mom.
JOSEPHINE
Aunt Irene?
MARIE
Mom’s ghost is haunting Dad. He told me one time.
MAEVE
So the house is haunted!
JOSEPHINE
Aunt Irene is haunting Dad, from the dead?
MARIE
That’s what he said. He told me, Mom appears in his
bedroom and yells at him. He said she’s mean and sad,
not like she was in real life.
MAEVE
How come I never get to see her ghost?
MARIE
I think because Dad is dreaming it. She’s not real.
MAEVE
But maybe ghosts are real.
MARIE
Maybe. Did I see Missus Riley’s car outside?
JOSEPHINE
Yes. She took Reuben back to his house.
MARIE
Oh? Are they...?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know. Maybe.
MAEVE
I think Dad was trying to set them up. Hey, Marie,
are you going to have a baby?
MARIE
Would you pipe down! I don’t want Dad to hear.
MAEVE
Don’t worry, all he can hear is Mom yelling at him.
So?
MARIE
I’m going to talk to Missus Riley about it. She says
she can help.
JOSEPHINE
Marie, maybe you could come to Canada with me.
MARIE
What do you mean?
JOSEPHINE
I’m taking the train and it’s a real long way. We go
through Toronto. Maybe we go together.
MARIE
Oh, I can’t even think about that right now! Where is
she?
JOSEPHINE
Maybe you should go over and talk to her. I bet she
put Uncle Reuben to bed. They were both just about
frozen.
MARIE
How weird!
MAEVE
Dad was all dirty too. He said he fell down in the
barley field.
MARIE
Maybe you are right. I’ll go talk to her.
Marie exits and goes to Reuben’s house.
Josephine pours herself some coffee. Both sit down.
JOSEPHINE
This is so weird.
MAEVE
Should we do something?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know. He seems all right, I guess.
MAEVE
We’ll see how he is later.
JOSEPHINE
The thing is...
MAEVE
What?
JOSEPHINE
If Dad is going crazy, then he won’t be able to take
care of you.
MAEVE
What do you mean?
JOSEPHINE
If Marie is serious about going to Toronto, and Dad
goes insane, then, as a real grown-up, I think you
become my responsibility.
MAEVE
Do I have to call you Mom?
JOSEPHINE
It’s not like that. It’s like, I don’t know, like, I
have to adopt you or something, until you turn
eighteen.
MAEVE
That would be weird. I’ll have to learn French.
JOSEPHINE
Why?
MAEVE
Because I’ll have to come to Montreal with you, on
account of you being my legal whatever.
JOSEPHINE
I can’t go to Montreal if I’m responsible for you.
Maybe Marie can get me a job at the bank.
MAEVE
Or you could take up the farming?
JOSEPHINE
Me? Farming?
MAEVE
Or you could marry a farmer, like Marie and Joe Hair.
JOSEPHINE
Joe is no farmer. He works at the mine with Uncle
Lyle and your Tayler.
MAEVE
Tyler. He wants to farm. He says he hates the mine
and wants to have some property, to work the land.
JOSEPHINE
(scoffs)
Work the land. He doesn’t know the first thing about
farming. The Flatheads were buffalo hunters, not
farmers.
MAEVE
Tyler grew up on a farm. His brothers work on their
dad’s farm, north of Plentywood. Tyler took the
mining job because he was the youngest.
JOSEPHINE
So what are you saying? You want to have Taylor come
over and farm with Dad?
MAEVE
Well, he’s nearly eighteen so maybe he could be my
legal thing.
JOSEPHINE
That would be a husband. You’re moving pretty fast
there, girlie.
MAEVE
But if Dad goes crazy and you and Marie move to
Canada...
(starts to cry)
JOSEPHINE
Hey, hey now. It’s not as bad as all that. It’s going
to be OK. Dad’s just upstairs sleeping it off.
Probably just too much cake, is all.
MAEVE
(crying)
But what if he’s dead? What if Mom killed him?
JOSEPHINE
Maeve, honey. Put on your big-girl pants. Get a hold
of yourself. You’ve got to think straight.
MAEVE
But I’m only fifteen!
JOSEPHINE
I know, I know. It’s alright.
MAEVE
And what if Tyler goes to the baseball and all the
women throw their hussy-selves at him? What then?
He’ll leave me behind too. And I’ll be all by myself.
JOSEPHINE
Maeve, I won’t leave you. If Dad dies, I’ll stay
here.
MAEVE
But you have your art to do, with the famous people
in Canada.
JOSEPHINE
I will send them my art by parcel post.
MAEVE
But you’d hate me if you stayed here.
JOSEPHINE
It would only be until you turned eighteen. Then you
are out the door, little lady.
MAEVE
Really?
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know. Dad will be fine.
MAEVE
You really think so.
JOSEPHINE
I don’t know but I think you have to do some thinking
about what you want and how to get it.
I worked in the grocery store when I was sixteen,
after school. Then I got the full-time job at the
meat-locker. If I can get those jobs, so can you.
Then you can make your own money and look out for
yourself.
MAEVE
But how?
JOSEPHINE
I’ll talk to Joe Kobloisie, see if you can get the
part-time job at the grocery. Maybe start before the
holidays. He always needs help then.
MAEVE
Do you think I could do it?
JOSEPHINE
No.
MAEVE
No?
JOSEPHINE
(laughs)
But you’ll learn. Stacking-and-stocking, that’s most
of it.
MAEVE
Ok, if you’ll help.
JOSEPHINE
I’ll help.
They hug.
10 INT. KITCHEN - EVENING
Wayne and Widow Riley are sitting down at the kitchen table.
WAYNE
Can I pour you one?
WIDOW RILEY
A short one. I should head home.
Wayne sets up glasses and a bottle of whiskey.
WAYNE
It was a nice thing you done to help Reuben.
WIDOW RILEY
I hate to see him so exhausted. What in the world
happened?
WAYNE
Well I don’t like to speak about it but I guess it’s
good to get it out.
WIDOW RILEY
Tell me, Wayne.
WAYNE
My wife, Irene, she comes into the bedroom when I’m
asleep. She wakes me up and says terrible things.
Mean, cruel things. I don’t understand it at all.
WIDOW RILEY
You mean her ghost, her spirit visits you?
WAYNE
I don’t know. I see her. I hear her. But I don’t
know.
WIDOW RILEY
I see.
WAYNE
And last night she was on me about the girls. She
started screaming and shrieking, this terrible sound.
I got so scared I just started running out the door.
Like a damned fool.
WIDOW RILEY
Have you seen her any other place, like outside? In
town?
WAYNE
Nope. Just here.
WIDOW RILEY
So maybe it’s just a dream.
WAYNE
A hell of a dream then.
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne, there is something else we should talk about.
Marie.
WAYNE
Marie? What is it?
WIDOW RILEY
I think you know.
WAYNE
Her and that damned Joe Hair boy?
WIDOW RILEY
Yes.
WAYNE
And is she, in trouble?
WIDOW RILEY
Possibly.
WAYNE
Dammit. I was thinking she was acting strange.
WIDOW RILEY
She’s afraid to talk to you about it but I wanted to
let you know.
WAYNE
I suppose she’s going to have to marry that idiot
now.
WIDOW RILEY
Not necessarily.
WAYNE
What are you talking about there?
WIDOW RILEY
There are a couple of options.
WAYNE
What options?
WIDOW RILEY
Well, let’s go through them. First, what if they get
married and have a baby. Is that so bad?
WAYNE
Where would they live? What would they do?
WIDOW RILEY
What if Rueben moved over here and Marie moved in
there?
WAYNE
Hmmm. That’s an option. I don’t like it but it would
be a thing we could do. What next?
WIDOW RILEY
Next, what if she had the baby and gave it up for
adoption?
The baby would be half Native and would qualify to
live on the rez with a family that couldn’t have
children.
WAYNE
I don’t like that one either. I couldn’t think of
there being a Webster son or daughter, just out on
the reservation with some other family.
WIDOW RILEY
But it is an option.
WAYNE
It is an option. Again, I don’t like it but it is an
option.
WIDOW RILEY
Last is to end the pregnancy.
WAYNE
Kill the baby, you mean?
WIDOW RILEY
It’s not a baby yet, Wayne. But it will be if she
waits much longer.
WAYNE
That would be a terrible thing, wouldn’t it.
WIDOW RILEY
But it is an option.
WAYNE
It’s against the damned law!
WIDOW RILEY
Wayne, I work for Sheridan County and I deal with all
kinds of services. I know a clinic on the reservation
that handles these things, safely, legally. It is
Native law on the rez, so they have a safe option.
And I have seen too many young women panic and end up
butchered by back-ally people. I don’t want Marie to
feel like she has to hide and panic. And you don’t
either.
WAYNE
No. I don’t. I’d want her to talk to me about it.
WIDOW RILEY
But remember, she’s twenty-two. She’s her own woman.
She’s going to make the decision for herself. But,
Wayne, she’s scared and she is afraid you will be mad
at her and ashamed of her.
WAYNE
Well I am mad. And I am ashamed of her.
WIDOW RILEY
This is the hard part now. This is where we have to
be adults and think about what is the right, and
best, decision.
WAYNE
If you say so.
WIDOW RILEY
Do you think she loves him?
WAYNE
I don’t see how. He’s dumber than a box of rocks.
WIDOW RILEY
Why do you think she got involved with him? She’s a
smart girl.
WAYNE
Apparently not. And I don’t know. The mind of a woman
is a mystery.
WIDOW RILEY
We’re just people.
WAYNE
I know. And I appreciate you talking this out with
me. What’s the plan?
WIDOW RILEY
I’m going to take Marie to the clinic tomorrow. They
will talk to her about the options and she’ll decide.
WAYNE
And the Hair-boy? Does he get a say?
WIDOW RILEY
That’s between them.
WAYNE
(disgusted)
A kettle of fish.
WIDOW RILEY
I will stop-in and check on Reuben tomorrow.
WAYNE
Widow Riley, could I impose on you to stay with him
for the night? I don’t know what the accommodations
are but I’m worried about him dying all alone.
WIDOW RILEY
I am too. He looks awfully weak.
WAYNE
He meant to look after me, the younger brother. I was
out of my mind and he wanted to save me. Didn’t think
of himself, just took off after me.
WIDOW RILEY
He’s a brave man.
WAYNE
And I led him to the door of the dead.
WIDOW RILEY
Don’t blame yourself.
WAYNE
Could you find a way to stay with him, see if he
pulls through? Just for the night?
WIDOW RILEY
OK. Yes. I’ll work it out. See you in the morning.
WAYNE
Good night. And thank you.
WIDOW RILEY
Good night, Wayne.
11 INT - FARMHOUSE FRONT ROOM - NEXT DAY - LATE AFTERNOON
Wayne is eating a sandwich. Josie is drawing him on a pad of
paper.
JOSEPHINE
You are moving to much.
WAYNE
Should I chew slower?
JOSEPHINE
No, just like that.
WAYNE
Still, you mean.
JOSEPHINE
Right.
WAYNE
How can I finish my sandwich?
JOSEPHINE
I want to have the sandwich details, so don’t eat it
all.
WAYNE
You artists. Funny birds. Why are you drawing me
anyway?
JOSEPHINE
I want to have a picture I can hang on my wall in art
school. A picture from here.
WAYNE
You should go outside and draw the fields or
something.
JOSEPHINE
It would just be a straight line, “Horizon, Sky!”
WAYNE
(laughs)
I guess that’s right. Say, when you’re done there,
would you be a pal and go check on Reuben?
JOSEPHINE
Sure, just a minute more.
WAYNE
Maybe take him a glass of milk.
JOSEPHINE
Doesn’t he have milk?
WAYNE
I don’t know. I haven’t been in that place in, oh,
three or four years now. I just feel strange going in
there.
JOSEPHINE
I’ve been in there. It’s alright. No plants or
anything pretty, but it’s alright, I guess.
WAYNE
I suppose. Say, tell me what it’s going to be like at
art college? How’s it going to be?
JOSEPHINE
Oh, I think the curriculum will be full of drawing
and painting, nude modelling, sculptures, that sort
of thing.
WAYNE
Nude what?
JOSEPHINE
It’s called ‘figure studies’.
WAYNE
Why’s that?
JOSEPHINE
Because you study the figure.
WAYNE
In the nude?
JOSEPHINE
Not the artist.
WAYNE
The model, then.
JOSEPHINE
Right. You draw a naked man and see all the details
and proportions.
WAYNE
See all the details? That doesn’t sound proper. For a
lady.
JOSEPHINE
An artist has to explore the form of the body, the
shape of the figure, the details - from the hands and
feet to the hair on his head. I suppose they will use
a whole lot of models.
WAYNE
Change them up, the men? Rotate ‘em.
JOSEPHINE
I don’t see why not. An artist has to be challenged
with a new body, an new volume of space and motion.
WAYNE
You been reading all of this?
JOSEPHINE
Mmm-hmm. Georgia O’Keefe says that women have a
special responsibility in art to fill the spaces with
beauty.
WAYNE
Well, if it means anything to you, I want to let you
know that you, and the other girls, are the luckiest
thing that ever happened to me. You fill my life with
beauty. Now I want you to go to art college and learn
to fill the whole world with your beauty.
JOSEPHINE
Awww! Thanks Dad.
WAYNE
Now I’ve got to eat this sandwich and you have to go
check on Reuben. Go.
JOSEPHINE
(puts down pencil)
OK.
She gets up and goes out to check on Reuben.
Wayne finishes his sandwich.
Outside, Widow Riley’s car pulls up.
Marie and Maeve come in, followed by Riley.
WAYNE
Ladies.
MARIE
Dad, we went to see the clinic. But we’re back.
WAYNE
I can see that. What are you thinking?
MARIE
I don’t know.
WIDOW RILEY
Marie, go ahead.
MARIE
Daddy, I want to keep the baby.
WAYNE
And marry that dummy Joe Hair? Cripes!
MARIE
No, not marry Joe. Do this myself. He’s already
running around and I think he has a Native girlfriend
already.
WAYNE
Another girl?
MARIE
They were together before, I think, and got back
together. Anyway, I want to do this myself.
WAYNE
How’s that going to work then?
MARIE
I can keep my job at the bank but, Daddy...
WAYNE
Go on.
MARIE
I think I need to move back home.
WAYNE
I been thinking about that.
MARIE
And?
WAYNE
Maybe that’s for the best. We’ll see how Reuben feels
but the Widow Riley here suggested that he move in
here, and you might have more space over there.
MARIE
In Uncle Reuben’s house? Oh, my.
WAYNE
We’ll just see how she goes. What else did the doctor
say?
WIDOW RILEY
They were very helpful, very professional. They said
everything looks normal. She’s healthy and shouldn’t
have any trouble.
WAYNE
That’s good to hear.
WIDOW RILEY
And there is another option as well.
WAYNE
Go on.
WIDOW RILEY
What if Maeve moves over into the house with Marie,
for the time?
WAYNE
So it would be just Reuben and me then?
WIDOW RILEY
(sly)
Well, I’m not far.
WAYNE
Is that right?
WIDOW RILEY
We’ll see how she goes, like you said.
MAEVE
Could I, Dad?
WAYNE
Things are moving fast here.
Josephine enters. She is ashen-faced, stunned.
JOSEPHINE
Daddy, I think Uncle Reuben might be dead.
WAYNE
Ah no. I blame myself.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh dear!
JOSEPHINE
He was just cold. And didn’t move.
WIDOW RILEY
I’ll go take a look.
WAYNE
No, he’s my brother. I’ll do it.
WIDOW RILEY
We’ll do it together.
Wayne and Widow Riley go out the door.
Marie goes over to hug Josephine.
MARIE
You shouldn’t have to see that.
JOSEPHINE
He was so cold. He didn’t move or even blink.
Maeve comes over and hugs them both. All three hug together.
12 INT. FRONT ROOM - AFTERNOON - SUMMER
Wayne and Widow Riley are playing cards with a cribbage
board.
WIDOW RILEY
Go.
WAYNE
Fifteen-two and a pair, for four.
WIDOW RILEY
A run for three and a pair, for five, with the Jack.
WAYNE
Cripes! You’re a sharp one!
WIDOW RILEY
Ha! All in fun, Wayne.
WAYNE
If you say so.
(moves the pegs)
WIDOW RILEY
Did you see Marie this morning? She’s doing better.
WAYNE
I popped my head in. She said Joe would be coming
down to give me a hand with the haying.
WIDOW RILEY
She was so depressed lately, I was getting worried
but it seems like the better weather is helping.
WAYNE
That rain was no help for the hay, I can tell ya’.
Barely getting itself up off the ground, after that
string of storms.
WIDOW RILEY
Is Maeve working today?
WAYNE
I don’t know, not that she’d tell me. You, more like.
WIDOW RILEY
I was just wondering if she started working Saturdays
yet.
WAYNE
Oh, she did mention something about that, now that
you say it. Now, I’ve got to finish up here and get
back out at ‘er, before the heat gets too hard.
WIDOW RILEY
And Joe Hair is working out for you?
WAYNE
I will say it is a help to have an extra set of
strong hands. He’s not half-bad, I’ll say, but that
Tyler Bloodworth fella has got farming in his blood.
I don’t know how it’s going with him and Maeve but I
never knew the Flatheads to be real farmers. But by
god, he’s one.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh!
WAYNE
Why, I rode up by Plentywood with him to his Pa’s
place, and that’s quite a spread. Him and his two
sons have got the lines straight and square corners,
I tell ya.
WIDOW RILEY
What is his father like? Did you talk to him?
WAYNE
I did. Old-time rancher-fella, but a smile a milewide, proud of his sons. Out of the three, I’d put
Tyler at the top of the pile. Smarter and careful
with his hands.
WIDOW RILEY
Did he talk about the baseball tryouts?
WAYNE
Not to me, but Maeve said he never took to the
Cities, and the crowds. Going up to see his old man,
I can see why. Plenty of space up there.
WIDOW RILEY
Right.
WAYNE
Now you hung one on me here, but I’ll get it back
later.
(gets up)
WIDOW RILEY
Is that a promise?
WAYNE
Oh, now, you...
Wayne leans down and kisses Widow Riley.
Maeve comes in through the front door, holding an envelope.
MAEVE
You’ll never guess what I’ve got?
WAYNE
Looks like a letter.
MAEVE
From Josie!
WAYNE
Have you now?
WIDOW RILEY
Oh! Did that come today?
MAEVE
I came through the post office and it was there.
WAYNE
Well, open her up, let’s see.
MAEVE
(opens letter)
Oh, hey! Here is a picture!
She hands the picture to Widow Riley. It is a snapshot of
Josephine outside in Montreal, in front of a big church. She
is smiling and wearing and ‘art-y’ outfit.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh! Look at that. She’s got a beret!
WAYNE
Roy G. Biv! Cripes, isn’t that something!
MAEVE
Here, listen. She says,
JOSEPHINE
Greetings Montana from Montreal! I hope you are all
doing well back home. I am busy with art classes and
seeing the sights here. It’s so different here but I
am training myself to see with my artistic vision.
The city is beautiful and I have a small apartment. I
pinned my picture of Dad up on the wall in my room so
I can always remember you guys.
I got a letter from Marie and she says the baby Roy
is doing really well. That’s great! I hope she is
doing OK now.
Tell Maeve that she’s got to save up some money and
come out here for two-weeks at my term break in the
start of September. She’s got to see all the gorgeous
people here.
I want her to meet my friend Julie. We’ve been best
friends since we arrived.
She’s from Saskatoon so we really get each other. She
is working on making a set of full-sized buffalo out
of blue paper-mache. It’s the funniest thing I’ve
ever seen and the people here just can’t get enough
of it.
Tell Missus Riley that I miss her tons. I really had
to lean on her when Uncle Reuben died and Marie moved
back home. Tell here I love her.
Sorry for the rambling letter. I should close. Just
want to tell Daddy I love him too.
xoxoxo! J.
WAYNE
(choked up)
Well, can you beat that?
MAEVE
Can I go, Daddy? Can I go to Montreal? Missus Riley?
WAYNE
Well, sure, I suppose it would be good for you to see
the world some. Maybe the Widow Riley should go too,
go back East to see things again.
MAEVE
Oh my, that would be wonderful! We could be
travelling sisters. Riding the rails!
WAYNE
Maybe put pen-to-paper and tell her you want the
details.
MAEVE
Oh what fun!
Maeve exits out the door and heads into the other house.
WAYNE
Can you beat that?
WIDOW RILEY
But Wayne, if I take Maeve to Montreal, it will just
be you in the house and Marie and Roy next door.
Won’t that be lonely for you?
WAYNE
Well, Marie was telling me that Joe Hair’s mother
wants Marie to bring little Roy up to the rez for a
stay. Says they want to be sure Roy grows up to know
his people. Maybe that would be a swell time for them
to get to know little Roy.
WIDOW RILEY
And leave you all by yourself? I couldn’t do that,
leave you here all alone.
WAYNE
It’d only be a couple weeks and I’m a big boy. I can
handle myself, I should say. Why, I’m thinking about
how quiet it might finally be, without my three hens
clucking all the time. A fella could get a little
rest at last.
WIDOW RILEY
But the bed gets cold at night.
WAYNE
Well, not any more. So that’ll be the lure to get you
back here, so you don’t just stay out East.
WIDOW RILEY
I might need some more persuading...
WAYNE
Ah, all right. Come here, you.
Widow Riley stands up. Wayne takes her in his arms and they
kiss in a long, passionate embrace.
WIDOW RILEY
Well, now...
WAYNE
That’s gonna have to hold ya. I’ve got to get to
haying, before heat grips it.
WIDOW RILEY
Oh, the heat. Hurry back.
WAYNE
The Hair boy is coming so, more hands make short
work.
Wayne exits out the door.
Widow Riley packs up the card game and pegs. She straightens
the items on the table and sits down with a cup of coffee.
She looks around, alone in the place.
WIDOW RILEY
(to herself)
And just like that, the world changes.
END.