TRAIN DREAMS
Screenplay by
Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Based on the book by Denis Johnson
OVER BLACK.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
There were once passageways to the
old world.
BEGIN MONTAGE.
A forgotten train tunnel through a mountain.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Strange trails. Hidden paths. You
turned a corner and suddenly find
yourself face to face with The
Great Mystery. The Foundation of
All Things.
We see abandoned railroads. Broken and overgrown.
Old boots nailed to trees in forgotten forests.
Roads overcrowded with brambles.
Ruins of some logging mill left to rot.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
And even though that old world is
gone now. Even though it’s been
rolled up like a scroll and put
somewhere, you can still feel the
echo of it.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
2 -
Echoes of Labor and Reflection
EXT. PRIMEVAL FOREST - DAY
Camera is attached to a tree, looking up the length of it as
the crown sways in the breeze.
Then the tree trembles, lists, and starts to fall.
The tree CRASHES spectacularly onto the forest floor. A giant
fallen among tiny men.
The woodsmen climb onto the tree with axes to lop off the
limbs. Others take to sawing the giant into sections. Men of
all colors and persuasions.
ROBERT GRAINIER -- in his 30’s now -- is among them. Bearded.
Sweat-drenched. Covered in sap.
They work.
Grainier and another man yoke the sectioned trees to A HORSE
TEAM to drag the logs down the mountainside.
LOGGER (O.C.)
LOOK OUT!
Another tree crashes down among them.
EXT. PRIMEVAL FOREST - NIGHT
The mountainside is dotted with small campfires -- each
surrounded by a few loggers getting warm. The sky above them
filled with too many stars to arrange into constellations.
Grainier sits at one of these fires, a little apart from the
other loggers, all laughing and talking in at least three
different languages.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
His name was Robert Grainier and he
lived more than eighty years in and
around the town of Bonners Ferry,
Idaho. In his time he’d traveled
west to within a few dozen miles of
the Pacific, though he’d never seen
the ocean itself, and as far east
as the town of Libby, forty miles
inside Montana.
Grainier watches the men talk, his eyes getting sleepy.
WE SEE MEMORIES OF HIS LIFE NOW, IN SNATCHES.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
3 -
Fragmented Memories of Innocence and Injustice
INT. TRAIN - DAY
Grainier, as a young boy (7), riding a train with a note
pinned to his chest that reads: FRY, IDAHO.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
When he was sent by himself to the
town of Fry, Idaho, he was six, or
possibly seven.
EXT. RIVERSIDE - DAY
A 9-FOOT STURGEON hangs from a pole. People gather around it
in awe.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He never knew for sure the year or
day of his birth.
INT. BARN - NIGHT
As a boy, he watches as a TWO-HEADED CALF, standing in a
stall, takes stock of this world it’s come into.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
How he had lost his original
parents, nobody ever told him.
INT. GENERAL STORE / BONNERS FERRY - DAY
Still a boy, he stands next to his adopted mother at the
counter. Commotion erupts outside on the street.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
One of his earliest memories was
that of observing the mass
deportation of a hundred or more
Chinese families from the town.
They scarcely mark it before TWO MEN with bats burst into the
store, grab a CHINESE FAMILY and take them outside.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Grainier was baffled by the
casualness of the violence.
They line them up with two other Chinese families on the
sidewalk -- guarded by men with guns and clubs -- to be
expelled from town.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
4 -
A Chance Encounter by the River
EXT. MOYEA RIVERSIDE - MORNING - YEARS LATER
Grainer -- NOW 17 -- is fishing along the Moyea River.
The quiet is broken by a strange sound. A GROANING in the
trees.
Grainier stops. Listens. Then hears it again.
Grainier walks up the bank, carrying his pole. Gets closer to
the sound and finally sees the source.
A FIGURE is laid up among some birches in a sloppy camp,
nursing an injured leg. A BOOMER, as his sort was known in
those times.
BOOMER
Come on up here. Please, young
feller.
Young Grainier drops his fishing pole at the sight. The
Boomer sits against a tree -- his legs out straight,
barefoot, his old shoes on either side of him.
He is bearded and streaked with dust. Bits of the woods cling
to him everywhere. He gives the impression of a mouth hole
moving in a stack of leaves and rags and matted brown hair.
Grainier is paralyzed.
BOOMER (CONT’D)
I been cut behind the knee by this
feller they call Big-Ear Al.
His words come out labored.
BOOMER (CONT’D)
And I have to say, I know he’s
killed me.
We see the impact of this story on Grainier’s face.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
There were other memories that he
pushed from his mind any time they
arose.
For a few minutes the dying Boomer stops talking. He puts his
hands to the ground either side of him and seems to want to
shift his posture, but has no strength. He can’t seem to get
a decent breath in his lungs, panting and wheezing.
He closes his eyes and stops struggling for air.
MOMENTS LATER.
Young Grainier gives the dying man a drink of water from his
own boot.
The dying man finishes, nods and Grainier starts walking away
through the woods.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He quit attending school in his
early teens, and the next two
decades passed without much
direction or purpose.
Young Grainier starts walking faster, now running.
The soft harmonies of a little church CHOIR seep into the
space.
CUT TO:
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
5 -
A Chance Encounter
INT. METHODIST CHURCH - YEARS LATER
Grainier is in his early 30’s, looking like a stray animal.
Singing along to the hymns. It’s a small church. Not more
than two dozen in the congregation.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He felt that nothing much attracted
his interest, until, that is, he
met Gladys Olding.
He watches GLADYS, singing in the choir. Her voice stands
apart to him.
But when she looks at him, he’s too shy to hold her gaze. He
looks down to his choir book.
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH - A LITTLE LATER
The congregation stands out on the grass, talking after the
service. A horse is tied up, waiting to go home.
Grainier starts drifting away. But Gladys finds him.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Gladys introduced herself as if
women did things like that every
day.
GLADYS
Hello.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
And maybe they did.
GLADYS
I haven’t seen you here before.
GRAINIER
No, I just, uh. Came with my
cousin. He’s uh... Well his wife,
she uh...
I’m Robert.
GLADYS
Gladys. So nice to meet you.
GRAINIER
Nice to meet you.
She shakes his hand and, as they go on speaking, he notices
the curve of her hand, the slope of her neck.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He found he suddenly had more
interest in church than he ever had
before.
She notices his eyes, the drift of his shoulder.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
6 -
Dreams of Tomorrow
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - DAY
Grainier and Gladys lay on a blanket surrounded by tall
daisies.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Not three months later, they were
inseparable.
She watches the buttercups nod in the breeze and the petals
of the daisies tremble. He watches her hair tremble in the
breeze.
GLADYS
Right now I could just about
understand everything there is.
Grainier is looking for his words.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
What are you thinking about?
GRAINIER
I'm thinking we ought to get
married.
GLADYS
We are married. All we need now is
a ceremony to prove it.
He smiles to himself.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Our cabin should have a window
looking out toward the water.
GRAINIER
OK.
She looks around.
GLADYS
And we'll need a dog. I always
wanted a dog.
GRAINIER
OK.
They stare across the field a moment.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Could I hear you say my name again?
I like the sound of it coming from
you.
She smiles.
GLADYS
Robert.
He smiles too.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
All of a sudden life made sense to
Grainier, as if he’d been pulling
hard the wrong way and was now
turned around and headed
downstream.
They spend the rest of the afternoon kissing among the
daisies. Listening to the water, the wind, their own movement
against each other.
SUNSET NOW.
As the light is fading, they walk around an area of the acre
where they've laid out STONES marking the outline of a cabin.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The couple built a cabin on an acre
of land, and there alongside the
Moyea River, began a little life
together.
We see them from above, dreaming the rest of their years
together.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
7 -
The Weight of Silence
EXT. ROBINSON GORGE BRIDGE - DAY - SOME TIME LATER
Robert Grainier is working at a log beside a HALF-BUILT
BRIDGE, sectioning the log to make beams for the structure.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
In those years, Grainier’s work
took him far from home. He worked
alongside men who came from faraway
lands he’d never even heard of.
(MORE)
NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Places like Shanghai and
Chattanooga. It was a comfort to
him how easily they all fell in
with each other, became temporary
families.
Now there is commotion below them on the roadway.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
But then, in the summer of 1917, he
worked a job building the Robinson
Gorge Bridge for the Spokane
International Railroad. He’d never
taken up with a railroad crew
before, and he wished he’d never
had.
THREE MEN are hauling a fellow logger -- A CHINESE LABORER --
up the road to the bridge.
The Laborer screams and curses, kicking and trying to fight
them off.
Grainier drops his ax and runs to help.
He grabs one of The Laborer's feet and LOCKS EYES with the
man a moment. Though the man pleads in Cantonese, Grainier
knows what he wants.
Yet still they drag him on toward the bridge.
GRAINIER
I got him, Mr. Sears! What did he
do?
MR. SEARS
Just hold on to him!
Another man, holding an arm, speaks.
TOOMIS
(winded)
He's a thief! Stole from-- ah shit--
Toomis loses the arm of the man, then grabs him again
awkwardly.
TOOMIS (CONT’D)
Stole from the company store.
MR. SEARS
Boys, I'd be damned if we ever see
the top of this heap!
LABORER
[Pleading in Cantonese]
A crowd is gathering to watch the spectacle.
They move farther up the bridge. The Laborer wheels and KICKS
one of his captors in the stomach and that man doubles over
into the dirt.
MAN IN THE DIRT
It was just for fun. Come on
Toomis, let's give it up.
Grainier looks at him, then to the Chinese Laborer. CONFUSION
crosses his face.
Then Grainier is KICKED in the mouth and finds himself on the
ground too.
The others press on with The Laborer, more urgently now.
MAN IN THE DIRT (CONT’D)
Just for fun...
GRAINIER
Wait!
But they're already to the top of the bridge. The Laborer
kicks against the railing they're trying to push him over.
LABORER
[Cursing them now in Cantonese]
Then he loses. HE IS TOSSED OVER THE SIDE.
Grainier runs up to see his fate. But only finds the river
below: raging over stones.
They all watch the water, looking for movement. Waiting for
the man to surface. BUT HE NEVER DOES. The river just moves
along.
As they talk, Grainier stares down at the water below. Shame
crossing his face.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
8 -
Bridging Shadows
EXT. ROBINSON GORGE BRIDGE / 41 DAYS LATER - AFTERNOON
A little over a month later and the BRIDGE they threw the man
from is NOW COMPLETE.
A SQUAT LOCOMOTIVE sits ready to test it.
The loggers and railroad gang are celebrating in the river
below, hollering and laughing in the water. Shooting randomly
in the air.
Grainier is among them, apart from the celebrations.
He looks down and there, beneath the surface of the water,
lays the CHINESE LABORER, staring up at him.
They stare at each other a moment. Then Grainier brushes the
surface and The Laborer is gone.
MR. SEARS (O.S.)
Alright boys, looks like it's
almost time.
Mr. Sears steps out onto a rock above them, but the loggers
pay him little attention.
MR. SEARS (CONT’D)
Hey! Shut up!
The loggers hush each other as Mr. Sears shouts his speech
over the river.
MR. SEARS (CONT’D)
You boys showed this old river
valley who's boss.
(laughter from the group)
You've helped save the Spokane
International eleven miles it used
to take to get around this gorge
and you've opened up a new part of
the country. I know it ain’t the
Great Pyramids of Egypt, but I
think you boys have done something
pretty darn incredible.
As Mr. Sears continues his speech, WE JUMP FORWARD IN TIME.
Grainier -- an old man here -- rides a train. He looks out
the window as they pass over a valley spanned by a bridge
filled with cars of all colors.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Many years later a bridge made of
concrete and steel would be built
ten miles upstream, rendering this
one obsolete.
They pass it by.
BACK TO THE WOODEN BRIDGE.
MR. SEARS
Now. Let's see if she holds...
He RAISES HIS FOUR-SHOOTER, then looks up at the bridge. He
FIRES the pistol to signal the commencement.
The small contraption starts to make its way across the
expanse. The bridge groans.
No one breathes at first.
Then the men start to shout it on as it trudges slowly over
the tracks.
Finally it makes it, disappearing into the woods on the other
side of the river.
They all cheer.
Grainier looks across the river to the other bank group of
CHINESE LABORERS sit by themselves, apart from the
celebration.
Someone grabs Grainier's shoulder and he forces a smile. He
cheers with them, though a current of sadness still crosses
his face.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
9 -
Homecoming Harmony
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - DAY
Grainier walks down a little path off the main road. It winds
around through some trees then opens up into a gentle glade.
And there is his home. A quiet, idyllic spot.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - CONTINUOUS
He steps into the doorway of a little cabin. Leans on the
threshold. And there is Gladys: at the bed, singing quietly
to A BABY.
She turns and startles at seeing him.
She just stares a moment, as if he might just be a vision.
Then she almost cries at the sight of him. She grabs him into
a deep hug, kisses him.
GRAINIER
Oh Gladys, I--
GLADYS
Shh shh. I just got her to sleep.
He looks toward the bed.
GRAINIER
(whispers)
Is she...?
GLADYS
(nods)
Go see her. Just be quiet.
He moves tentatively to the crib where the little BABY KATE
(6 months old) lays asleep.
Grainier wants to touch her, to hold her, but doesn't.
Grainier and Gladys whisper together.
GRAINIER
She's so big. She's starting to
look like you.
GLADYS
At least she's starting to favor
one of us.
Gladys is looking him over.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Look at you. You're rail thin.
GRAINIER
We had a cook who hadn't done a job
this big before. It was a mess.
She's feeling his arms, inspecting him. Looks at his hands.
GLADYS
No broken fingers this time?
GRAINIER
I don't think so.
GLADYS
I didn't think you'd be home this
soon.
GRAINIER
Just couldn't stop walking until I
got here. Look at this.
He pulls a thick roll of CASH from his boot. Shows her. She
whistles.
GLADYS
I didn't expect that much after
what you already sent.
GRAINIER
We hit a soft stand right there at
the end. I brought something else
for you too.
He pulls out two bottles of sarsaparilla from his bag.
She beams. Sets them on the table.
GLADYS
Let's have a big dinner tonight.
GRAINIER
You don't have to go to all that
trouble.
GLADYS
Oh stop.
She joins him back at the door. Looks him over. Then they
pull each other close, holding each other as if they might be
able to make up for the months apart.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Come on. Let me show you something.
Camera remains in the cabin as she leads him across their
acre. Their voices trail away.
GRAINIER
Where's Willy?
GLADYS
Wolves got him. They've had a taste
for goats this summer. The Martins
have lost five so far.
They pass some chickens browsing in the grass.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
(to the chickens)
One of you girls is dinner tonight,
you can decide who.
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - LATER
They stand in the GARDEN PLOT she's made. Overflowing with
vegetables.
GRAINIER
Well this really took off.
GLADYS
It's good soil. The chickens have
helped.
GRAINIER
Should I pull some of these
carrots?
GLADYS
Just a few. No, not those. The
bigger ones.
They start pulling vegetables for dinner as music starts.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - NIGHT
Over a BIG DINNER, Kate sits on Gladys' lap. The baby stares
at this strange man in their home.
Gladys drinks the sarsaparilla, smiles. She puts some on her
finger, gives it to Kate. Kate makes a face and they laugh.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - LATER
LATER THAT NIGHT, Kate is sleeping on a pallet on the floor
while Gladys and Grainier quietly make love, a little
awkward, still getting used to the rhythm of each other's
bodies.
FADE TO BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
10 -
Midnight Reflections
EXT. FOREST RAILROAD - NIGHT
A BLACK LOCOMOTIVE hurtles through the dark night. We
experience it as if strapped to the front of the train, only
seeing what the train's light can reach. The forest spins
past in a blur.
EXT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - NIGHT
The cabin sits quietly in the night, smoke pouring out of it
as the world stands undisturbed around it.
EXT. SPOKANE INTERNATIONAL - NIGHT
The train barrels ahead. Fire burns in the belly of the
machine. The tracks ripple. The wheels rattle. As if the
speed is too much for the track.
EXT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - NIGHT
As more and more smoke issues from the cabin, an eerie light,
almost that of a train, cuts past in the night.
EXT. FOREST RAILROAD - NIGHT
The train turns a corner and there's A YOUNG BOY ahead --
standing in the middle of the tracks. Familiar to us. A paper
pinned to his chest reading Fry, Idaho.
The tracks tremble at his feet. The train barrels on toward
him and just before it hits him--
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - MIDNIGHT
Grainier WAKES UP from the dream. Alone in bed. He can hear
the distant call of the Spokane International in the dark.
Gladys sits across the room by the stove, holding Kate. She
scrapes cold boiled oats off the sides of a pot and the baby
suckles this porridge from the end of her finger.
The light of the stove barely illuminates them.
GRAINIER
I didn't even hear y'all get up.
(sits up in bed)
Was she crying bad?
GLADYS
Not too bad. She just woke up
hungry. I think my milk is drying
up.
Grainier speaks groggily.
GRAINIER
You know what all her cries mean?
GLADYS
Most of them, I guess.
GRAINIER
How much does she know, do you
suppose?
GLADYS
I don't know...
GRAINIER
As much as a dog-pup?
GLADYS
A dog-pup can live by its own after
its mama weans it away.
He waits for her to explain what this means.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
A baby couldn't just go off and
live after it was weaned. A dog
knows more than a baby until the
babe knows its words. But not just
a few words. A dog raised around
the house knows some words, too -—
as many as a baby at least.
Grainier is nodding off again.
GRAINIER
What words, Gladys?
GLADYS
You know. The ones for its tricks
and the things you tell it to do.
GRAINIER
Just say some of the words, Glad. I
want to hear your voice.
GLADYS
Well, fetch. And come. And sit.
Lay. And roll over. Whatever it
knows to do, it knows the words.
GRAINER
Do you think it knows the words
first? Or the thing?
GLADYS
The word and the thing are the
same. They're stitched together.
Like your name. You're Robert. Even
alone without anybody, you're still
Robert.
(MORE)
GLADYS (CONT’D)
If you had been named something
else you'd've turned out to be a
wholly different person. But you
weren't. And you never could have
been.
GRAINIER
(laughs)
I don't think I even know what
you're saying.
Then he's quiet a moment.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Do you think she knows I'm her
daddy?
GLADYS
Of course she does. Deep down she
knows it. Even if she doesn't know
she knows it yet.
Kate fusses and Gladys turns her over onto her shoulder.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Don't worry. You'll have plenty of
time to be her daddy.
She starts to softly sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat to her as
Grainier falls back asleep listening to her voice.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
11 -
Tensions and Tenderness
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - LATE MORNING
Gladys is SKINNING A GOAT that hangs from the porch by its
hind legs. Working closely with a knife, pulling down the
hide.
Grainier returns carrying a bundle of cut BIRCH. He walks
past the cabin. Then stops, turns back.
GRAINIER
Where's the firewood?
GLADYS
It's over here. The green wood
stacks on the left.
GRAINIER
Over where?
GLADYS
Over here. Just come look.
They start speaking over each other, both growing more
agitated.
GRAINIER
Well... Why'd you move it over
there?
GLADYS
So now we don't have to walk so far
for it. I was--
GRAINIER
It can't be up against the cabin.
It'll rot the wood if it's--
GLADYS
I don't have it up against the
cabin. Just go look.
He starts to say more, but the wood is heavy.
He goes out back, drops the birch in a pile, then comes back.
GRAINIER
What else got moved around?
GLADYS
Robert...
GRAINIER
Well none of my tools are where I
left them.
GLADYS
It was just the shovel.
GRAINIER
And the rake. And my--
GLADYS
And they're not your tools.
GRAINIER GLADYS (CONT’D)
I didn't mean it like that, I told you you didn't have to
but the last time-- cut wood. I'd rather you just-
-
Kate starts crying inside the cabin. Grainier steps inside as
Gladys washes her hands in a bucket of water.
He comes back out holding the baby.
She's calm, accepting of him at first. But then starts crying
worse.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Shh, shh. It's ok.
Now she's screaming.
GLADYS
Here, let me--
GRAINIER
No it's ok. I got her.
But he doesn't.
Kate reaches her arms out to Gladys, wailing. He hands her
over. She quiets in her mother's arms.
Gladys watches Grainier.
GLADYS
Don't worry. She just needs a
little time to get used to it all.
She doesn't do good with changes
either.
She smiles. Grainier looks up and cracks a smile too.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Come on. Let's clean up.
Genres:
["Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
12 -
A Day by the River
EXT. RIVER - AFTERNOON
The Grainier family spends an afternoon at the side of a
little river together. Splashing in the cold water. Washing
dishes. Throwing sticks in the water for Kate to watch them
slide downstream.
Gladys has an OLD LADLE, full of holes in it. They sprinkle
down water for Kate as she hold out her hands.
EXT. FIELD - LATER
They're laying on a sheet in the sun, all a little sleepy
from being in the cold water. Grainier is holding Gladys'
scarf above Kate and she grabs at it.
Gladys lays with her eyes closed.
GRAINIER
Should we move her out of the sun a
little?
Gladys cracks an eye and looks at her.
GLADYS
No. She's alright.
Grainier shakes the branch a little more for her.
GRAINIER
I'm sorry.
GLADYS
What?
GRAINIER
I don't want to bicker.
GLADYS
Well me neither.
GRAINIER
I just...
She waits. Nothing more comes.
GLADYS
I know.
Kate gets fussy. Gladys pulls her over and breastfeeds her.
GRAINIER
Do you suppose she can taste the
sarsaparilla from you?
She smiles.
GLADYS
Where do you come up with these
questions?
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - FIRST LIGHT
Gladys lays awake in the soft morning light. Grainier is
still asleep, his back turned to her.
The sheets have left an IMPRINT on his skin. Like a map of
some forgotten land on his back.
She watches it a while, watches the light play across the
room. Then she runs a finger along the ridges of the imprint.
He shifts a little then settles back to sleep.
EXT. RIVER - AFTERNOON
Gladys is finishing lashing together long, stripped branches,
hooking them together with hemp string and vine.
Grainier watches from the bank with Kate.
Gladys finally finishes. She's made a FISH TRAP. She holds it
up.
GLADYS
What do you think?
GRAINIER
I think it's a pretty funny looking
bassinet.
He laughs at his own joke. She smiles.
GLADYS
I'll put you in it, you think
you're so funny.
She ties a rope to the end, drops a piece of chicken meat in
it, and tosses the trap out into the river.
Grainier claps Kate's hands.
GRAINIER
Good job, Mama.
There's a long look between them.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - NIGHT
They make love again. Without shyness now. Moving together
like the river and the moon.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
13 -
Cycles of Departure
EXT. BONNERS FERRY - ANOTHER DAY
They're walking toward town together -- the little family.
Kate lets Grainier carry her now.
As they pass the church, a LADY is stepping out and she calls
Gladys over to talk. Grainier and Kate walk along, still
playing.
Gladys watches them as she talks.
INT. PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO - DAY
Grainier and Gladys sit with Kate for a family portrait, a
painted backdrop behind them.
They're waiting while the photographer finishes setting up
the camera. Grainier's mind is already preoccupied with
thoughts of leaving.
GLADYS
Hey.
He looks up. Knows what she means.
GRAINIER
It's hard leaving y'all.
GLADYS
Hard staying behind.
They share a look.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
You'll be back before you know it.
Grainier looks up at her.
Then the photographer is finally ready and snaps their
portrait.
EXT. TRAIN FLATCAR - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier sits on a FLATCAR among a small group of travelers:
LOGGERS like him, KOOTENAI PEOPLE riding to another town.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
It seemed that as soon as Grainier
felt used to being at home, logging
season would come back around and
it was time to leave again.
Grainier stares at the family photo a moment longer, then
tucks it into his bag and settles in. Watches home recede
away from him.
Camera moves off Grainier, focuses on the loggers. The
creases on their faces and scars on their hands tell the
stories of the lives they've led.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
That work was populated with
itinerate men -- most without
homes, without families.
(MORE)
NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
They moved from job to job, state
to state as the work dictated.
Though little note was made of them
in this world, they left a lasting
impression on Grainier.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
14 -
Silent Solitude in the Forest
EXT. THE CUT - PRE-DAWN
Grainier and some other loggers are hiking into the forest to
work for the day. The world is still at this hour, quiet.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He once worked alongside a man two
full months without exchanging a
single word.
Their tools speak in their place. The bite of an ax. The
shushing of saws.
ANOTHER DAY
The SILENT MAN finishes putting on CLIMBING IRONS and TIES
INTRICATE KNOTS into a rope.
Then -- a saw hanging from his belt -- CLIMBS a hundred feet
into the crown of a tree to top it. All without a word.
Grainier and the others watch him rise into the canopy.
ANOTHER DAY
A group of loggers sitting around eating a little lunch. One
finishes telling a story. The others laugh.
Except The Silent Man. He just stares at the ground.
CURIOUS LOGGER
(to the Silent Man)
How about you, Mister? You ever
been down to California?
Everyone goes quiet. Turns to The Silent Man.
But he just sucks his lip. Shakes his head and spits.
SILENT MAN
Ain't there no place in this world
a man can find some peace?
Then he gets up from the group and walks away. Grainier
watches him disappear into the forest.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Those were the only words Grainier
ever heard the man say. They
remained with him always.
EXT. THE CUT - DAY
An OLD MAN stands before a tall tree trunk that has been
hollowed out. He finishes hanging a door on it.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He knew Hank Heeley, who made his
home in the trunk of a tree.
Hank turns to the camera and poses and smiles as if he's
posing for a photo. Which he is.
EXT. THE CUT - DAY
THREE LOGGERS are cutting the notch out of a gigantic tree.
LATER, they pose for a photo from some unseen photographer --
two on the springboards, one in the notch.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
15 -
Divine Discourse in the Woods
EXT. THE CUT - DAY
Grainier works cutting a tree down with another logger who's
talking incessantly: APOSTLE FRANK.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
There was Apostle Frank, a faller
who spoke about God and The Bible
with such familiarity as to suggest
he had been there when it was all
written down.
APOSTLE FRANK
And he comforts me, you get what
I'm saying? I have a problem that
no man in this world could figure
out. Not John D. Rockefeller
hisself could figure it. But then I
know all I gotta do is pray.
GRAINIER
Mm-hmm.
APOSTLE FRANK
Now that don't mean the answer's
always clear to me, what with my
limited earthly understanding.
(MORE)
APOSTLE FRANK (CONT’D)
It's like that old boy, Balaam, in
the Bible. Sometimes God has to
find strange ways to tell you what
you need to hear. Sometimes it's a
donkey talking to you, sometimes,
who knows. Like this one time, I
was in Nebraska...
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
16 -
Revenge in the Logging Camp
EXT. THE CUT - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier is repairing A BUSTED WHEEL ON A WAGON while a few
other loggers stand around watching.
APOSTLE FRANK
...and so Jacob wrestled him all
night long, thinking it was an
angel he met out there in the
woods. But when the light broke in
the morning, it turned out to be
God. God himself. So he...
As they're talking, A MAN IN A LONG BLACK TRENCH COAT comes
trudging up the hill. He looks completely out of place here.
They all stop to look at him. He leans on his knees, catching
his breath.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT
Excuse me, gentlemen. I'm sorry to
interrupt you.
(he stands now)
Is one among you called Sam Loving?
From New Mexico.
They all stare at the man.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT (CONT’D)
Alternatively known as Buckskin Sam
in Southern Arizona and parts of
California. I've been trying to
find this man for a very long time
to deliver a message to him.
Grainier and the other loggers look between each other.
Apostle Frank TAKES OFF RUNNING.
The Man in the Trench Coat unfurls his coat, produces a
pistol and SHOOTS Apostle Frank in the back.
Apostle Frank skitters across the ground.
He tries to climb back to his feet but The Man in the Trench
Coat steps to him and SHOOTS HIM IN THE HEAD.
Apostle Frank goes still. The Man in the Trench Coat waits a
moment, staring at the body.
Then he steps back to the others at the wagon.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT (CONT’D)
(reloading his pistol)
That man shot my brother, Martin
Brown, in cold blood in Gallup, New
Mexico. August fifth, ninety-three.
He killed him only because the
color of his skin.
The loggers just stare at the man.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT (CONT’D)
If anyone present takes offense to
what I have just done here, then
let us have it out before I leave
this place. I do not intend to
spend the rest of my days looking
over my shoulder.
They look at each other. Confer silently. Then look back to
the man.
LOGGER AT WAGON
You sure it was him kilt your
brother?
MAN IN TRENCH COAT
I am certain of it.
One of them shrugs, shakes his head no, seeming to answer for
the whole group.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT (CONT’D)
Very good then. I'm sorry to have
interrupted your work.
The Man in the Trench Coat looks around.
MAN IN TRENCH COAT (CONT’D)
Big trees. I never knew trees could
get this big.
They just stare at him. He seems a little sad. He tips his
hat and walks back down the hill the same way he came.
Grainier stands from the wagon wheel, looks to Apostle Frank
laying dead in the pine needles.
GRAINIER
Guess we ought to bury him.
Genres:
["Drama","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
17 -
The Eccentric Logger
EXT. THE CUT / TUNNEL OPENING - DAY
NARRATOR (V.O.)
But at the very heart of The Cut
was a man named Arn Peeples. A
frail and shrunken gadabout whose
real use was occasional but
specific.
Many loggers stand around as a little old man is walking back
from A GAPING HOLE IN THE GROUND, unspooling a LONG METAL
WIRE behind him. This is ARN PEEPLES.
Arn walks back to where all the loggers are gathered. He
crouches at a stump where lays a metal box. He hooks the wire
around a screw atop the box. He looks around at the others:
all watching him.
ARN PEEPLES
You Minnesota fellers might want to
close up your ears.
Some do. All eyes turn to the opening in the ground.
Arn tightens the screw and everyone waits for the blast but
NOTHING HAPPENS. The forest stays silent -- feels even more
so now.
Arn lets out a long sigh.
Arn empties his pockets of his belongings -- a brass watch, a
tin comb, and a silver toothpick -- and lays them on the
stump.
Everyone watches him as he starts toward the hole in the
ground but stops, returns to the igniter box and unscrews the
wire from the ignition screw.
ARN PEEPLES (CONT’D)
(to them all)
Don't touch that. Don't even look
at it crossways.
He walks slowly away and disappears down into the hole.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He was the oldest man in the woods,
always yammering, staying out of
the way of hard work.
BEGIN MONTAGE OF ARN PEEPLES.
EXT. THE CUT - DAY
Several loggers, Grainier among them, are working at
sectioning a log, while Arn sits on a stump to the side.
ARN PEEPLES
Just let me at that hatchet when
one of yous needs a break. When I
get to chopping, you'll come to
work in the morning and the chips
won't yet be settled from
yesterday. I'm made for this summer
logging. I don't get my gears
turning smooth till it's over a
hundred.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
18 -
Echoes of the Past
EXT. THE CUT - ANOTHER DAY
RAIN is pouring down. Grainier and other loggers crouched
under trees like animals, trying to find what shelter they
can.
ARN PEEPLES
All this over a little rain. In my
day we worked around the whole
clock, not just the part that
suited us. Back then, we'd riddle a
bole with auger holes. Sometimes we
had to wait a week for a good wind
to topple those behemoths. Then
they all came tumbling down at
once. Trees twice as big as any of
these we're cutting out here. And
we didn't have no crosscut saw.
Didn't even have a word for it.
EXT. THE CUT - ANOTHER DAY
Arn stands talking while another man is SHOEING AN OX.
Grainier calms the beast as it hangs suspended in a sling
that runs under its chest.
ARN PEEPLES
I worked on a peak outside Bisbee,
Arizona where we was only eleven or
twelve miles from the sun.
(MORE)
ARN PEEPLES (CONT’D)
It was a hundred and sixteen
degrees on the thermometer, and
every degree was a foot long. And
that was in the shade. And there
weren't no shade.
BACK TO THE HOLE IN THE GROUND.
Arn REEMERGES from the opening in the earth, walking
carefully, glancing once behind him as if he might be
followed.
He returns to the igniter box. The others take a step back.
He looks around at them and they all cover their ears.
He tightens the screw again. This time the ground EXPLODES.
All the men cheer as a cloud of dust and powdered rock rains
down on them.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
19 -
Campfire Tales
EXT. THE CUT / CAMPFIRE - NIGHT
Grainier sits by a fire with several others, cleaning the
last of his food from his plate with his finger.
After a while, Arn arrives at the fire with his plate. He
scoops the dregs from their pot onto his plate.
ARN PEEPLES
Woo. You Minnesota fellers must've
been hungry tonight.
GRAINIER
How many different fires are you
gonna sit down at before you decide
you're full?
Arn stares at him a long time.
ARN PEEPLES
Did I ever tell you I met the Earp
Brothers? Wyatt Earp.
Grainier just laughs.
ARN PEEPLES (CONT’D)
They were crazy trash. The whole
lot of them. You'd only find less
honest men at the bottom of a well.
(MORE)
ARN PEEPLES (CONT’D)
I was passing through Arizona in
eighty-two, not a dollar to my
name, but I had a bag full of old
dynamite that I got half-price...
Arn eats their food and starts into another story about
blowing open silver mines in Arizona.
Genres:
["Drama","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
20 -
Whispers of the Past
INT. TENT - NIGHT
Grainier crawls into his tent, collapses onto his stomach,
exhausted. Arn Peeples is SINGING in the next tent over.
A logger yells from another tent.
TIRED LOGGER (O.S.)
Shut up that singing! Trying to
sleep!
Arn shuts up.
The forest is quiet but for the sound of the wind high in the
trees, voices murmuring somewhere off in the woods.
Grainier turns over on his back. He looks up at the canvas of
the tent hanging above him. At an OLD BLOODSTAIN.
GRAINIER
Hey Arn.
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.)
Don't worry. I won't sing no more.
GRAINIER
You told Adrien these tents were
from the Civil War?
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.)
That's right. Union infantry. They
went to the U.S. Cavalry after
that, for the Indian Campaigns.
Then something else catches Grainier's eye. By his feet,
crouched: the CHINESE LABORER, staring at him.
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.) (CONT’D)
These old things have served longer
than the people they sheltered.
Only rough canvas and yet they'll
probably still be here after we're
gone.
Still, the Laborer stares at Grainier.
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.) (CONT’D)
What's keeping you awake over
there?
GRAINIER
Oh...
(how to say it?)
Do you think the bad things we do
follow us through life?
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.)
I don't know. I've seen bad men
raised up and good men brought to
their knees. If I could make any
sense of it, I reckon I'd be
sleeping next to someone much
better looking than you fellers.
That doesn't settle Grainier.
GRAINIER
What's that song you were singing?
ARN PEEPLES (O.S.)
Don't have a name. It just come to
me.
GRAINIER
Maybe you could sing some more of
it.
Arn sings quietly in his tent so Grainier can just barely
hear him as he drifts off.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
21 -
The Perils of The Cut
EXT. THE CUT - MORNING
Grainier is walking up the hillside carrying an ax. RAIN is
turning the ground to slush. He passes a man standing with a
TEAM OF HORSES waiting to drag logs down.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The crews began to move deeper into
the forest with each job. There
seemed to be no end to the world’s
appetite for lumber. So they worked
from sunrise until suppertime,
felling spruce, cedar, and
tamarack, Doug fir, and white pine,
utterly changing the face of the
mountainside in the process.
(MORE)
NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
And while a good sawyer might
correctly judge ninety-nine times
how a fall would go, the hundredth
might take its toll.
GRAINIER
Morning, Freddy.
The man says hi as Grainier passes.
But then the quiet morning is shattered by SCREAMING from up
the mountain and a great cracking of timber.
A FIVE-TON LOG comes tumbling end-over-end toward them.
Grainier jumps out of the way and ducks behind a nearby tree
as the great log ROLLS OVER THE HORSES AND CART on its way
down.
The sound of the destruction is awful.
Grainier and the others yell after it, warning others below.
As the log CRASHES down the mountainside, SCREAMS of loggers
below fill the forest.
Grainier looks to the horse team. All SIX HORSES and their
pilot lay tangled together: DEAD.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Grainier began to feel a dread he
could not name. He felt Death was
following him. Seeking after him.
CUT TO:
Genres:
["Drama","Action"]
Ratings
Scene
22 -
A Somber Tribute at The Cut
EXT. THE CUT - EVENING
Grainier and Arn Peeples are nailing three BOOTS to three
different trees: one for each man killed. Arn holds the nails
as Grainier hammers.
ARN PEEPLES
There. Now they won't just pass out
of the world without nothing to
show that they was here.
THREE FRESH GRAVES lie behind them. A dozen workers around
them, silent.
The Boss is holding his hat.
BOSS
Well hell. I guess I didn't know
Ruggieri too good, or uh...
MOURNING LOGGER
Shin.
BOSS
Right. Shin. But Wilkes, he was a
good man and I reckon the others
must've been too. Anyway, they
didn't deserve to go like that.
No one really knows what to say.
BOSS (CONT’D)
I wish I could let us all lay off a
day. But it's the Company. And the
War don't stop needing spruce just
on account of a bad day for us.
The Boss dons his hat and leaves them all there at the graves
of their friends.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
23 -
A Day of Reunion and Resilience
EXT. / INT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - DAY
Grainier, tired, steps up to his home. The cabin is different
than the last time we saw it. A clothesline has moved. Some
plants have been added, others removed.
GRAINIER
Guess who!
Grainier walks through the doorway with two sarsaparillas and
a box of chocolates.
But no one is there.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Hello?
He sets the gifts on the table. Listens for his family.
He steps back outside. Looks out across the acre until his
eyes settle on a little bonnet that seems to be floating
across the tall grass. And then Kate -- almost two now --
breaks into the open, wearing that little bonnet, running
ahead as Gladys chases after.
They both stop, looking across the field to Grainier standing
on the porch.
Grainier runs over to them, Kate grabs his leg and they fall
into the grass -- the child breaking into a fit of giggles.
Then Gladys jumps on top of him and they all wrestle,
laughing.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - DAY
Gladys and Grainier sit at the dining table while Kate plays
underneath. Gladys inspects his hands, trimming his nails
over a cloth.
She studies a HALF-HEALED SCAR on his hand.
GLADYS
What happened here?
GRAINIER
Oh... We were bucking a larch and
it twisted up on me. Grabbed hold
of my ax like it was a man. Thought
it was gonna rip my hand clean off.
She runs her finger over it. He notices a bump on the bone of
her finger. She winces.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
What's this?
GLADYS
I broke it.
GRAINIER
On what?
GLADYS
One of Cooper's mules. I rented one
for a day to pull stumps and I
guess he gave me a crazy one. Got
my hand twisted up in his halter.
GRAINIER
Rented it to you?
GLADYS
It's fine. We don't need to ask for
favors.
GRAINIER
All the favors we've done for him.
We didn't charge him when his road
washed out and--
GLADYS
Robert.
He stops.
She kisses his hand.
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - DAY
Gladys sits in the bath outside with her head laying over the
edge while Grainier gently washes her hair. She's in heaven.
He starts to rinse it with a ladle and a bucket of river
water.
Kate plays on the ground around them.
Genres:
["Drama","Romance"]
Ratings
Scene
24 -
Moments of Solace
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - DAY
Grainier and Gladys in bed together in the long part of the
afternoon. She lays behind him with her arms around his chest
while he watches Kate nap on a pallet on the floor, curled on
her side like a little animal.
GLADYS
(whispers)
Hey. Are you alright?
Grainier watches their daughter.
GRAINIER
She's a different little person
every time I see her. I'm missing
her whole life.
GLADYS
It just feels that way right now
because she's growing so fast. It
won't always be that way.
He watches Kate sleep. He knows Gladys is just trying to make
him feel better.
GRAINIER
I want to be here more. Maybe I can
find some work closer to home. For
a time.
She turns him over to her and kisses him. Gives him space to
say more.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I'm just-- What if... What if I
die? And then I've missed all this
time. With you and her. And for
what?
GLADYS
You're home. Get some rest. We can
worry about all that tomorrow.
She kisses him again. They close their eyes and drift off.
Genres:
["Drama","Family"]
Ratings
Scene
25 -
A Day of Play and Dreams
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - DAY
Grainier and Kate are playing in the tall grass. Grainier is
crawling on his hands and knees, pretending to be some wild
animal. Kate giggles and runs around.
As they're playing, he HOWLS like a wolf. She stops at this.
Watches him curiously. He howls again, his voice echoing off
the mountains. But she doesn't howl along with him.
GRAINIER
Ah. Maybe another time.
INT. / EXT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - DAY
Grainier stands in the doorway of the cabin. He watches
Gladys as she tucks Kate into the pallet on the floor for a
nap. Kate snuggles in with a little stuffed animal.
Gladys grabs a rifle from the rack on the wall and she and
Grainier step out onto the porch.
They sit to put on their boots.
GRAINIER
Did she go down alright?
GLADYS
She was a little fussy, but she's
asleep.
They pull their boots on. Start to lace them.
GRAINIER
Did she...?
(listens)
Was that her?
GLADYS
No. I think you're hearing things.
One too many knocks to the head.
He smiles. Cuffs his pants.
They lace up their boots in similar fashion, like an old
married couple.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
I was thinking about what you said.
GRAINIER
About what?
GLADYS
About Kate.
GRAINIER
Oh that wasn't--
GLADYS
No, I feel it too. Every time you
come home it's like... The years go
by quicker and quicker.
Gladys takes up the rifle. Checks the chamber. Feeds
cartridges into the gun as she speaks.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
I was thinking. Maybe we could turn
our acre into a little farm. I
could grow twice as much as I do
now without much more work. If we
did that and if we saved up enough
for you to start a little sawmill,
maybe we could... Maybe you'd be
home more. We could be together
more.
GRAINIER
Yeah...
GLADYS
What?
GRAINIER
It's just... It's a lot.
GLADYS
Well I know.
GRAINIER
We'd need a horse. Or a mule. On
credit.
GLADYS
On credit for sure.
GRAINIER
And a sawmill's not cheap.
GLADYS
I didn't say that it would be--
GRAINIER
No, no, I think it's a good idea.
GLADYS
It is a good idea. I know it would
be hard. But so is this.
GRAINIER
I know. And I'm not trying to...
I'd do anything to make you happy,
Glad.
GLADYS
I am happy, it's not...
She looks at him a moment. Then looks away.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Mama was miserable her whole life.
Her mama was too. And I promised
myself I wouldn't be that way. That
I wouldn't pass that down to Kate.
But sometimes I...
(she stops a moment)
We're so lucky to have each other
and I just...
GRAINIER
I know. Me too.
He pulls her in under his arm.
EXT. WOODS - A LITTLE LATER
Grainier and Gladys walk softly through a stand of trees,
hunting, her carrying the rifle. Not a word between them.
EXT. WOODS - LATER
They are tucked in against a tree. Gladys watches the
clearing. Grainier leans back on the tree, his eyes closed.
She sees something. She gets up onto one knee. She taps
Grainier and he opens his eyes, looks around, sees what she's
looking at.
He keeps still as she slowly raises the rifle to her shoulder
and sights it in.
Then she squeezes the trigger and the rifle bucks with a
blast of smoke.
They watch.
GRAINIER
Good shot.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier sits at the table, tightening up the legs of a
chair.
Sunlight and the breeze play through the lacy curtains,
casting shapes on the floor. Grainier listens to Gladys and
Kate playing outside.
He steps outside to join them, leaving the chair upside down
and the shadows playing across the floor.
EXT. WOODS - ANOTHER EVENING
Grainier is walking with Kate on his shoulders in the early
morning light. They're foraging for Meadow Salsify, pulling
the plant up by its big edible roots.
Then A WOLF HOWLS in the distance. Grainier stops, listens.
Kate is listening too.
Another long howl. Then silence.
Then Kate answers.
KATE
awoooooo.
Grainier waits until she finishes, then bursts into laughter.
They walk on.
Genres:
["Drama","Family"]
Ratings
Scene
26 -
A Bittersweet Day in Bonners Ferry
EXT. BONNERS FERRY / FEED BARN - DAY
Another day: Grainier loads feed sacks onto a horse cart. The
work is backbreaking and monotonous.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Grainier tried to find work closer
to home, picking up odd jobs where
he could. But the war was over and
good-paying work was hard to come
by.
He hears a TRAIN WHISTLE -- the Spokane International passing
in the distance -- and he stops. He listens to it and his
mind goes off and follows it until it disappears on the wind.
Then he goes back to work.
INT. GENERAL STORE, 1920'S - LATER
At the END OF THE DAY, Grainier stands at the counter. A
Kootenai man we'll later come to know as IGNATIUS JACK hands
him a dollar and a few coins for the day's work. Grainier
thanks him and leaves.
INT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - NIGHT
Grainier and Gladys sit at the table finishing dinner. Kate
sits on the floor playing with her little wooden toys.
Grainier is quiet, pensive. Stares at his plate.
Gladys watches him.
GLADYS
What if we came with you?
GRAINIER
Hm?
GLADYS
Out to the cut.
GRAINIER
What do you-- Glad, we can't--
GLADYS
I'd be helpful.
GRAINIER
I know you would, you'd be great,
but--
GLADYS
I could make some money washing
clothes. And now she's not as much
to keep up with.
GRAINIER
Glad--
GLADYS
You told me some of the others have
had their wives out there.
GRAINIER
Not some of the others. Just that
one old man. But he was just--
GLADYS
And that young couple from
California.
GRAINIER
They quit and disappeared after a
week. Besides, they didn't have a
little one.
She's quiet.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
It's just too dangerous. I told you
about--
GLADYS
(quickly)
I know.
He watches her but she's looking off.
GRAINIER
What about our house? What about
the plot?
GLADYS
The house isn't going anywhere. And
I can ask Jane to check in on it.
They're both quiet.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
I'm just trying to find a way is
all.
She gets up and takes her dish to the sink. Stands there.
GRAINIER
Please don't be mad at me.
GLADYS
I'm not mad. But I'm gonna start
going off and leaving you here. See
how you like it.
GRAINIER
Can you just tell me where
everything is before you take off?
She smiles.
He goes to the sink to stand with her.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I wouldn't know what to do with
myself.
GLADYS
Oh you'd get on fine.
They stand there a moment holding each other.
Kate starts fussing on the ground.
Gladys picks her up, sits with her.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
It's alright, babygirl. We'll get
on fine too, won't we?
Grainier sits back at the table with her. Watches them.
GRAINIER
Maybe y'all should come.
GLADYS
No, you're right. Let's give her
another year.
Grainier nods, not quite convinced. Gladys nudges him.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
You want me to cry and tell you how
I'll miss you every day?
Grainier smiles.
GRAINIER
Maybe.
GLADYS
(to Kate)
What will we do with ourselves,
baby? How will we make it on our
own without your daddy?
Gladys pretends to cry to the baby. Kate laughs. Grainier
smiles.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
Here.
She pulls A BOX OF CHOCOLATES down from the shelf. Takes out
one for each of them. Counts how many are left.
GLADYS (CONT’D)
We'll have one every week while
you're gone. When the box is empty,
you'll be home.
EXT. RIVER - DAY
The family is together at the river again. Gladys and
Grainier are talking together offscreen while Kate plays with
the OLD LADLE at the waterside.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Money was tighter for them than it
ever had been. And though he didn’t
know it then, he would always look
back on this time in his life as
his happiest.
After a few moments watching the water run through it, she
loses hold of the ladle and it floats away. There's a sadness
in seeing it drift away down the river.
Genres:
["Drama","Family"]
Ratings
Scene
27 -
Bittersweet Farewell
INT. / EXT. GRAINIER'S CABIN - MORNING
Grainier is dressed to leave for the cut. Kate plays on the
floor of the cabin with a little wooden toy.
He hugs and kisses her goodbye. She doesn't understand it and
so isn't bothered, just says bye bye.
Gladys and Grainier hide their melancholy. They hold each
other a long time, whispering goodbyes and I love you's, as
if saying things too delicate to speak loudly.
He steps out of the cabin, slings his bag over his shoulder.
GLADYS
(to Kate)
Tell Daddy bye-bye.
Kate blows a kiss. Grainier blows a kiss back. Kate repeats
it, as a child does.
He steps out of view, then leans back in and says bye-bye and
she blows a kiss. He steps back out, then leans back in,
repeating the action several times, each time Kate responds
back. Then he just stands there in the cabin a moment.
He smiles to Gladys. She blows him a kiss too. They linger,
staring at each other a while.
And then he leaves.
Gladys and Kate watch the door, expecting him to step back
into it.
But only emptiness hangs there.
CUT TO:
THE FOREST. FROM ABOVE.
Looking down from the sky, the Washington forests are thick
as a carpet. We move across the land, they seem endless.
But then the trees START TO THIN. The green gives way to
brown land, EMPTY OF TREES, as we approach--
Genres:
["Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
28 -
Reflections by the Fire
EXT. THE CUT - NIGHT
Grainier sits around a little fire with a few other loggers
as the evening turns to night. The mountainside is cut clean,
shorn close, all the big trees gone.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He earned four dollars a day on
most jobs, minus expenses for what
the company provided. He and Gladys
figured that after one more long
stint in the woods, they’d have
enough money to start building a
sawmill back home.
They roll smokes and eat biscuits and dried deer meat. Arn
Peeples is among the group. Along with a man just as old but
twice as quiet: BILLY.
YOUNG LOGGER
Yall going on to another job? Or
you quitting for the season?
BILLY
(looking into the fire)
I can't decide. I'm never happy
when a job ends, for some reason. I
just feel itchy inside.
ARN PEEPLES
Because it's rough work, gentlemen.
Not just on the body but on the
soul. We just took down trees that
have been here five hundred years.
It upsets a man's soul to have done
it. Whether he recognizes it or
not.
YOUNG LOGGER
I'll have two hundred dollars in my
pocket tomorrow morning. It don't
bother my soul. Not one damn bit.
ARN PEEPLES
Well that's cause you Minnesota
fellers don't know nothing about
history.
GRAINIER
(maybe a bit bothered)
These trees were that old?
ARN PEEPLES
Some was older even. I seen trees
in the State of Washington that was
saplings when Jesus was walking the
earth. Saplings when Buddha was
preaching.
BILLY
Buddha?
ARN PEEPLES
A Chinese Jesus feller. This world
is intricately stitched together,
boys. Every thread that we pull, we
know not how it affects the design
of things. We are children on this
earth, pulling bolts out of a
ferris wheel, thinking ourselves to
be gods.
YOUNG LOGGER
That's horseshit. I've been to
Washington too. Cut all up through
Canada and back down again. There's
enough logs for us to cut for a
thousand years. And then when the
last one is cut, the first will be
growed up as big as anything around
today.
But even he seems a little bothered, despite his words.
ARN PEEPLES
I remember thinking the same thing
as a young man. The very same
thing.
Grainier watches Arn Peeples stare into the fire, seeming as
old in the firelight as the trees he described.
CUT TO:
LATER THAT NIGHT.
The fire now is just coals. Arn Peeples and Grainier are
still staring into it. Billy sleeps on the ground.
ARN PEEPLES
You moving on, Robert? Or packing
up for home?
GRAINIER
I think I'll do one more. Just a
short one. I'm trying to save up
some money. Maybe start a little
sawmill back home.
ARN PEEPLES
They're paying good over at Salmo-
Priest. Good crew, from what I
hear. The wood's soft over there
right now. Three swipes'll bring em
down.
GRAINIER
They say that about every job.
They laugh.
Grainier watches the dying fire hiss and glow.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I don't know where the years go,
Arn.
ARN PEEPLES
If you figure it out, let me know.
I'd like to ask for a few back.
They laugh at that. It grows quiet again.
GRAINIER
I miss my wife. Miss my little one.
ARN PEEPLES
What's her name? Your missus.
GRAINIER
Gladys.
ARN PEEPLES
Mmm. Welsh. A highborn name.
GRAINIER
(smiles)
That makes sense. If you knew her.
ARN PEEPLES
Those old names have power. The
ones who have them are blessed.
Grainier smiles at the thought.
GRAINIER
You got a family somewhere?
ARN PEEPLES
My family is everywhere there's a
smiling face. I've never been
somewhere I didn't find some family
there. Except for Kansas. That
state is a collection of savage
lunatics.
Grainier laughs.
ARN PEEPLES (CONT’D)
It's good having you around. Not a
lot of people I cross paths with
more than once in this life. I see
it as a blessing when they're
brought back around.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical"]
Ratings
Scene
29 -
The Weight of Silence
EXT. THE CUT / ANOTHER MOUNTAIN - ANOTHER DAY
A THICK DEAD BRANCH hangs high in a Larch. A SNAG, dangling
from the canopy.
Beneath the tree and all over this mountainside, loggers are
making short work of the trees here.
A little man passes underneath the tree.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
It looked certain Arn Peeples would
exit this world in a puff of smoke
with a monstrous noise, but he went
out quite differently...
The wind moves and the tree LETS LOOSE THE LIMB, dropping it
silently through the air.
The little man below yelps like a cat.
CUT TO:
DOWN ON THE GROUND - SIMULTANEOUS
Grainier turns at the noise to see Arn Peeples pinned to the
ground.
He runs to him, yelling for others to help. Grainier and
another logger pull the branch off him.
Grainier turns Arn Peeples over.
YOUNG LOGGER
Careful with him. Careful.
(looks up into the trees)
Widowmaker got him.
Arn Peeples is knocked silly. He's blinking a lot and staring
toward some other reality.
ARN PEEPLES
(faraway)
Right reverend rising rockies.
GRAINIER
Arn. Can you hear me? Arn.
His eyes finally find them.
ARN PEEPLES
Oooo. Ooo. I'm alright. Just sit me
up.
They help him sit up.
YOUNG LOGGER
Get him a little water.
ARN PEEPLES
I saw my sister. And her husband.
They was just here. Did you see
which way they walked to?
GRAINIER
Why don't we carry you down the
mountain a little, Arn?
ARN PEEPLES
No, no. I can walk. I don't need
folks seeing me carried around like
an old woman. Just help me stand
up.
They do. Arn Peeples takes a couple tenuous steps off to the
side.
GRAINIER
You ok?
ARN PEEPLES
My spine feels all knotty amongst
the knuckles.
GRAINIER
Why don't we get a horse to take
you down?
ARN PEEPLES
No no. I ain't crippled. I'm just
walking a little suchways -- a
little crooked.
Grainier watches him walk away from them. Just as he
described.
SOME TIME LATER.
Grainier is sitting with Arn. The old man watches the wind
through the trees, his mind somewhere above the crown of
spruce and fir.
ARN PEEPLES
You hear that? Beautiful, ain't it?
Just beautiful.
Grainier looks up into the trees.
GRAINIER
What is?
ARN PEEPLES
All of it. Every bit of it.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He had a number of dizzy spells and
grew dreamy and forgetful over the
course of the next few days.
Forgetting even his own name before
it was all done.
We sit with Arn a little while longer. Just watching the
world.
Genres:
["Drama","Adventure"]
Ratings
Scene
30 -
A Life Remembered
EXT. THE CUT - NIGHT
TWO DAYS LATER. Arn Peeples now lays DEAD on a bed out in the
open under the trees, sheets pulled up under his chin as if
he's just sleeping.
Grainier and the rest of the crew stand around him. No one
sure what to say or how to say it.
Billy is moving his mouth like he's trying to get words to
come out.
BILLY
Arn Peeples was my friend. He... he
said that a tree was a friend, if
you let it alone. But the second
the blade bit in, you had yourself
a war and the tree was a killer.
But he wasn't messing with that
tree, it was just a snag, so I
don't know what meaning to take
from that.
The loggers with hats take them off, realizing this is some
kind of eulogy.
BILLY (CONT’D)
Arn never cheated a man in his
life. He never stole, not even a
stick of candy when he was a small
small boy, and he lived to be
pretty old. I guess there's a
lesson in there for all of us to be
square, and we can all get along.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
OTHERS
(all together)
Amen.
They all stand around a moment staring at Arn Peeples.
Soon they drift away from the corpse, but Grainier stands
there a moment longer with him.
All of Arn's possessions sit in an open handkerchief on his
chest: the tin comb, the silver toothpick and his brass
watch, still ticking.
BILLY
A whole life. And it all fits in a
handkerchief.
Grainier looks over at Billy, staring down at his friend.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Though he couldn't put words to it,
Grainier felt the snag had been
meant for him. That again, Death
was seeking him. For the rest of
his life he would regret having
gone to that mountain.
Genres:
["Drama","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
31 -
Pillar of Smoke
INT. TRAIN - DAY
Grainier opens his eyes from this dream. His head against the
window on a passenger train. He's been sleeping. He's coming
back from The Cut.
Everyone on the train car is agitated. Most are pressed up
against the window facing east, staring and murmuring.
Grainier looks out. In the distance: a PILLAR OF BLACK SMOKE
billowing between the mountains. It's the biggest fire anyone
on the train has ever seen.
GRAINIER
(stunned)
What is that?
LARGE MAN
It's the end of the world. Just as
the Bible foretold it.
EXT. BONNERS FERRY TRAIN STATION - DAY
The train is still slowing and Grainier is already fighting
to push the door open and get off.
The station is chaos. The air is thick with smoke. To the
north, the sky is a furious orange.
People are crowded onto the station. Many trying to force
their way onto the train. Some carry their only belongings.
A Station Master is yelling, trying to get some order back.
Grainier searches for Gladys and Kate among everyone there.
He moves through the crowd, searching every face, questioning
them.
GRAINIER
Have you seen a woman with a little
girl? Her name is Gladys. The child
is two.
He sees someone he recognizes.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Alice! Have you seen Gladys? Did
she come to town?
Alice's face is covered in soot, ash in her hair. She just
shakes her head with a faraway look.
Grainier looks up at the PILLAR OF SMOKE filling the sky.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
32 -
Echoes of Despair
EXT. BURNED FOREST - NIGHT
The Fire has moved farther north.
Grainier walks along the Moyea River toward his home -- a
HANDKERCHIEF tied over his nose and mouth to strain the
smoke.
He stops to wet it often in the river.
The ground is still smoking.
Blackened trees burn from the inside, glowing. The world is
covered in silvery ash. The air thick with smoke.
Grainier stumbles ahead, calling out for his wife and
daughter.
An ember lights on his shoulder, sparking to a small flame on
his shirt. He smacks it out and walks on ahead.
He climbs a hill and finally sees THE FIRE, far ahead: as
high as a mountain -- hanging like a black and red curtain
down the sky.
Even this far back from the fire, the air pressure folds upon
itself, creating a storm of smoke and wind.
He shields his face from the heat and retreats back down the
hill.
Then he collapses to his knees, coughing in the warm ash
through which he's been wading. He can barely breathe the air
here. He looks like a lost ghost in a ruined world.
INT. GENERAL STORE - SOME OTHER DAY
Grainier lays on a pallet, paralyzed with grief. His face
still red, his lips cracked and peeling from the heat of the
fire.
Someone steps into the store room, grabs a few things from a
shelf, returns to work.
Grainier's face is blank as he watches dust fall through the
air.
INT. GENERAL STORE - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier steps up to the counter with an armful of tools, a
bag of nails, canvas. He struggles with the amount of
supplies.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
For nearly two weeks, he searched
every town in the region looking
for Gladys and Kate. Finding them
nowhere, he went back to his acre
to await their return.
Behind the cash register is Ignatius Jack, owner of this
store. He tallies up Grainier's purchase.
IGNATIUS JACK
Four-fifty.
Grainier counts some money onto the counter.
Two men stand at the doorway, gossiping about the fire.
DOORWAY WOMAN
I was talking to Ricky Welch, he's
up by Deer Ridge, or was. His herd
of cows, gone. Ever one of em.
Ain't nothing left. That's how hot
they burnt. No bones, no nothing.
(MORE)
DOORWAY WOMAN (CONT’D)
Found a couple bells, all twisted
up, and that was it.
Grainier stares at his things on the counter, bottling down
his emotions at hearing them speak.
Ignatius Jack looks like he wants to say something, but
doesn't.
Genres:
["Drama","Survival"]
Ratings
Scene
33 -
Ashes of Grief
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - AFTERNOON
Grainier stands in the place where his cabin once was -- now
only a patch of dark ground surrounded by the black spikes of
spruce.
His mind is far away.
Grainier begins to dig around in the ashes of the cabin with
a stick. Looking for any remnant of his family.
Only the WOODSTOVE lies exposed in the ash, lying on its side
with its legs curled up under it like a beetle's.
He rights it and pries at the handle. Finally the hinges
break away and the door comes off.
Inside lays a CHUNK OF BIRCH WOOD, barely charred.
GRAINIER
Gladys!
He pulls it to his chest.
Everything he's ever loved lying in ashes around him, but
here this thing she touched and held.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Gladys.
He searches around through the ash for anything else that
might have been spared.
SOME TIME LATER. ANOTHER DAY PERHAPS.
Grainier is laying in the ashes of his homestead. He WAKES to
the soft patter of RAINFALL.
It soon soaks him, washing the ash away, revealing again the
STONE FOUNDATION of the cabin. He opens his mouth and lets
the rain fall on his tongue.
Slowly he sits up as the rain falls down. He holds out his
hands, washes them in the rain falling down on him.
Then in the distance, A BEAR -- black against the ashen gray
world -- stares at him, looks around, as if wondering where
to go, then trudges away into the forest.
NIGHT.
The rain is gone now. Grainier sits shivering on the ground.
No fire. No blanket. His clothes matted to his body.
The birch sits next to him. He looks down at it. The only
thing unburned in this ruined place.
LATER THAT NIGHT.
The birch is NOW BURNING. A small, weak fire. Grainier
watches it burn from somewhere deep inside himself. Like he
just lost another precious thing.
Then, there, across the fire from him, sits the Chinese
Laborer. Crouched like him. Watching the fire too.
Finally, The Laborer looks up at Grainier. They just stare at
each other a long moment.
GRAINIER
You cursed me.
But The Laborer just stares at him.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I'm sorry... but--
(his throat catches)
This is too much. They didn't
deserve this.
But The Laborer doesn't respond.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Please...
Grainier puts his head in his hands.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Please.
The Laborer watches him a moment. Then stands and walks from
the fire, disappearing into the night.
And again, Grainier is alone.
From talking out loud, he is answered by WOLVES on the peaks
in the distance.
The sky above him is filled with stars. Cold and unconcerned
with the scorched world below.
Genres:
["Drama","Tragedy"]
Ratings
Scene
34 -
A Glimmer of Connection
EXT. THE BURNT ACRE - MORNING
In first light, Grainier lays on his side, staring out. As if
he didn't sleep all night.
Something in the sky catches his eye. He looks up to see it
come into view. A SCARF. Gladys' scarf. Just sailing past. He
watches it disappear over the ruined forest.
It feels like a blessing. He sits up.
ANOTHER DAY.
Grainier has busted down some skinny trees and is building a
rude LEAN-TO with the blackened trees where his cabin once
stood.
SUNSET.
The sun is dipping below the scorched mountains. The moon
already high up in the sky.
ANOTHER MORNING.
Grainier wakes on the cold ground. His fire has burnt to
nothing. He stretches. Then crouches to the fire to bring it
back to life.
All around him the ground is covered in the WHITE PAPER CUPS
that held the chocolates. They flutter like fallen leaves in
the wind, but they disappear whenever he looks directly at
them.
He sees birds flitting through the air. Not foraging, maybe,
but lighting to rest briefly as they head across the burn.
Then a melody comes echoing through the forest. A FIGURE
approaches, singing to himself. A towering presence in a
thick fur coat. Rifle on his shoulder.
The Figure makes his way toward Grainier and Grainier just
waits for him.
He stops when he gets close to Grainier, standing over him.
It's Ignatius Jack. He holds a satchel and four squirrel
carcasses slung together on a cord.
IGNATIUS JACK
Hello Robert.
A LITTLE LATER.
The fire has been stoked back to life. A squirrel is roasting
over the flames.
Ignatius Jack sits on the other side of the fire. Grainier is
wrapped in a blanket Jack brought him.
Ignatius Jack hands a cooked squirrel over to Grainier, who
tries not to devour it.
IGNATIUS JACK
I didn't know what I'd find out
here. You wouldn't believe the
stories they're telling about you
in town.
Grainier considers the blanket. The food.
GRAINIER
I'll pay you back for all this. I
promise.
IGNATIUS JACK
I didn't ask you to.
GRAINIER
I appreciate you checking on me.
Ignatius Jack watches him as he stares at the fire.
IGNATIUS JACK
You can lose yourself out in these
woods. I mean up here.
(taps his head)
Being around other folks keeps the
strange things of the world away.
Ignatius Jack takes up his rifle, stands.
IGNATIUS JACK (CONT’D)
Let's take a walk. See what has
returned to the woods.
Genres:
["Drama","Survival"]
Ratings
Scene
35 -
Silent Grief in the Regrowth
EXT. THE BURNT FOREST - A LITTLE LATER
Grainier follows Ignatius Jack as they track through the
burned forest. Green is starting to show across the ground.
Ignatius Jack carries his rifle. They don't speak as they
walk.
Ahead of them, they see MOVEMENT in the trees. They cut
around to get the wind on their faces and step toward it.
A lone BULL ELK is licking ash from the bark of a tree. A
rack of antlers as intricate as a map. Clouds of steam issue
from each breath.
Grainier watches in wonder.
Then a SHOT rings out like thunder. The Elk shivers and
stumbles away from them.
Ignatius Jack moves ahead and Grainier follows him.
A LITTLE LATER, they find the Elk laying on its side. Blood
pooled around it -- steam rising from the animal.
Grainier kneels to the Elk. Touches its fur. He pets it,
without knowing why. And this sends him into weeping, crying
at the animal, shameless as a child.
It's the first time he's cried since losing his family.
GRAINIER
They aren't coming back, are they?
Ignatius Jack just waits.
Finally Grainier stops crying, wipes his eyes.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Sorry. Don't know what came over
me.
IGNATIUS JACK
Let's clean him.
Ignatius Jack turns over the Elk to gut it.
BACK AT THE BURNT ACRE. EVENING.
The Elk is split in half now. The back half lays on the
ground by Grainier. Ignatius Jack has the front half tied on
his back, the antlers sticking out.
IGNATIUS JACK (CONT’D)
OK. I have to get back to town.
GRAINIER
I appreciate you. I hope to see you
again soon.
IGNATIUS JACK
Until next time, Robert.
Ignatius Jack walks back into the forest. With the Elk on his
back, he looks like some shape-shifting being from an ancient
story.
Grainier watches until he disappears. Then kneels to skin his
half of the Elk.
Genres:
["Drama","Adventure"]
Ratings
Scene
36 -
A Moment of Healing
EXT. RIVER - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier kneels to the river, washing his hands in the water.
In the distance, he hears A WOMAN'S VOICE talking softly.
Gladys' voice. He listens. Until slowly it fades away on the
wind.
EXT. THE BURNT ACRE - MOMENTS LATER
Grainier walks across his acre. The forest is still charred
but the GROUND IS HEALING. Fireweed and jack pine have
sprouted and stand about thigh high.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Grainier raised a lean-to at his
homesite, and there he lived
through the rest of the summer,
fishing for speckled trout and
hunting for a rare and flavorful
mushroom the Canadians called
morel, which sprang up on ground
disturbed by fire. Though he
confessed it to no one, he held
some faint hope that Gladys and
Kate might somehow return, and he
wanted to be ready for them if they
did.
His lean-to has been improved, now covered in CANVAS, enough
to shelter from the wind and rain at least.
A RED DOG waits for him near the lean-to, wagging her tail.
She has FOUR PUPPIES crowded around her.
The dog is a rough sight. Like she's been fending for herself
in the woods a long time.
GRAINIER
Well hello. What are you doing
here?
He kneels down to her and she instantly takes to him,
welcoming his affection. The puppies are more wary.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
You're skinny as anything. Here.
Grainier digs around for something in his lean-to. The dog
watches his every move.
He tosses her a piece of dried elk meat and she devours it.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Oh is that good? Didn't have much
salt.
The dog whines for more so he gives her some more by hand.
A LITTLE LATER.
Grainier has a small bucket of river water. He rinses the
dog's fur, matted with dried blood. He pulls burrs and
nettles.
Then he cleans each wiggling pup, which run off as soon as he
sets them down.
NIGHT.
He folds up his jacket and lays it on the ground, near enough
the fire to be warm.
GRAINIER
Here you go. Come here and get
those puppies warm.
Red Dog curls up on the jacket and the puppies join her.
Grainier sits on the ground next to her and pets her. He
watches the fire, some measure of peace back in his life.
Genres:
["Drama","Survival"]
Ratings
Scene
37 -
A Day in the Burnt Forest
EXT. THE BURNT FOREST - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier is cutting down a small tree with an ax, making
logs.
He senses something and stops cold. He turns. Behind him, in
a clearing, an ELK stares at him. With wide antlers and shag
hair like moss.
It tilts its head back, opens its mouth and cries out, long
and mournful.
As it does, its ANTLERS BURST INTO FLAMES.
EXT. THE BURNT ACRE - LATER
Grainier returns to his cabin site, dragging two logs, a
strange look on his face.
Ignatius Jack is there, helping him with what is shaping to
be A NEW CABIN.
Together they notch the logs and stack them into the
foundation while the pups play around them.
THE BURNT ACRE - ANOTHER NIGHT
They sit around a low fire, talking easily. Ignatius Jack
studies one of the pups. Red Dog lays nearby.
IGNATIUS JACK
They appear quite wolfish.
GRAINIER
Don't they? I reckon she must've
got with a wolf out there somewhere
on her own.
IGNATIUS JACK
No. That's impossible.
GRAINIER
Why's that?
IGNATIUS JACK
Only one he-wolf ever mates. And
that's the chief of the wolf pack.
And the she-wolf he chooses to bear
his litters is the only one ever
comes in heat.
GRAINIER
Yes, but if--
IGNATIUS JACK
He chooses only one.
GRAINIER
But what if she'd encountered the
chief wolf just at the right
moment? You know what I mean? Might
he not have taken her then, just
for the newness of the experience?
IGNATIUS JACK
(smiles)
The newness of the experience...
GRAINIER
Wouldn't be the strangest thing
I've seen.
IGNATIUS JACK
Well. Then perhaps. Might be you've
got yourself some dog-of-wolf.
Might be you've started your own
pack, Robert.
GRAINIER
Ah. It's Red Dog's pack. I'm just
here to get food for them.
Ignatius Jack laughs.
IGNATIUS JACK
(to Red Dog)
So that's your name then? Red Dog?
GRAINIER
Suits her, I think.
They both laugh.
IGNATIUS JACK
Suits her well.
(grabs two puppies)
And what are your names?
GRAINIER
They're all just Pup for now.
(Ignatius Jack laughs)
Watch this.
Grainier whistles and the oldest puppy looks over at him.
Grainier throws his head back and HOWLS.
The pups just looks at him, then go back to playing.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Oh come on, you were doing it the
other night.
Grainier howls again. This time he is answered by WOLVES in
the distance.
Everyone around the fire, dogs included, go still at the
sound.
IGNATIUS JACK
Howling then, are you? There it is
then.
GRAINIER
What?
IGNATIUS JACK
The old timers say there's not a
wolf alive that can't tame a man.
Ignatius Jack grabs a puppy and falls on his back, the
puppies crawling and playing all over him.
Grainier smiles at his friend.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Some years later, Ignatius Jack was
drunk for the first time in his
life. Some ranch hands fixed up a
mixture of lemonade and beer,
called a shandy, and as a joke
they'd told him he could drink this
with impunity, as the action of the
lemon juice would nullify any
effect of the beer. Ignatius Jack,
having never drank before, believed
them.
A puppy nips at Ignatius Jack's ear. He pulls it to his chest
and nips back at its ears.
CUT TO:
Genres:
["Drama","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
38 -
Echoes of Life and Death
EXT. RAILROAD TRACKS - SUNSET
We see Ignatius Jack, staggering along some tracks.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Sometime after dark Ignatius Jack
wandered off and managed to get
himself a mile up the tracks, where
he lay down unconscious across the
ties and was run over by a
succession of trains.
HARD CUT TO:
THE NEXT DAY.
A cloud of CROWS hangs over the tracks in the bright sun. A
GROUP OF KOOTENAI PEOPLE walk along the tracks.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Over the next few days his people
were seen plying along beside the
rails, locating whatever little
tokens of flesh and bone and cloth
the crows had missed, collecting
them in brightly painted leather
pouches, which they must have taken
off somewhere and buried with a
fitting ceremony.
EXT. THE BURNT ACRE - NIGHT
Back at the fireside, Ignatius Jack is asleep in the waning
firelight. Two puppies lay asleep curled up in the crook of
his chest.
Red Dog is curled with her other pups nearby.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Grainier always wished he had had
the words to tell Ignatius Jack how
much he meant to him.
Grainier watches them all. Soon he lays down and drifts off
to sleep himself.
Genres:
["Drama","Tragedy"]
Ratings
Scene
39 -
A Night of Loss and Reflection
EXT. RAILROAD TRACKS - NIGHT
Soaring over train tracks, inches from the crossties and
rails. A vision from the nose of a train. The headlight
doesn't do much against the dark even as it rushes through
the night.
INT. SECOND CABIN - ANOTHER NIGHT
Grainier wakes IN HIS CABIN to the long CRY of the SPOKANE
INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY.
All four walls are built now. With a door and windows.
He reaches out to pet Red Dog, but she's gone. He sits up and
looks around for her. The DOOR IS OPEN, just a crack.
GRAINIER
Red Dog?
No answer.
He whistles. But the wind is all that answers him. Sadness
crosses his face.
He rolls over onto his back. There is no roof and so he can
see the stars.
A COMET with a long tail hangs across the sky.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
In that year, a great comet
appeared in the sky, which many
said signaled the end of days. But
after two weeks it faded away as
quietly as it had come. Grainier
decided to return to The Cut as
soon as he finished the roof.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
40 -
The Relentless Call of the Foreman
EXT. LOGGING VILLAGE - WEEKS LATER
Grainier follows a line of men through a LOGGER'S VILLAGE.
The place is filled with motorized engines, many still run by
steam. Tractors. Chainsaws. The space buzzes, mechanical and
angry.
A BLACK BEAR has been killed and is set out on display.
The area around them has been stripped of trees. More
desolate than any cut Grainier has seen.
DEEP TRACKS from something unnatural and unknown to Grainier
have been cut into the ground.
At the depot, Grainier and the others check out gear from a
bespectacled man with a ledger.
Misery whip. Steel wedges. Wooden mauls. Single bit and
double bit axes. Sledgehammers and dog hooks.
Others are being given instructions on how to operate
mechanical chainsaws.
The Foreman yells at them as they wait.
FOREMAN
Get your asses up on that stand of
white pine. I want every one of
those trees down this mountain
before I wake up on the Lord's Day.
After that, I'm docking every one
of you a dollar a day.
Grainier pulls on a pair of faded leather gloves, stiff with
hardened pine sap, and follows the others out into the trees.
Genres:
["Drama","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
41 -
Echoes of Labor
EXT. THE NEW CUT - LATER
Grainier is standing over a chainsaw. Trying to recall the
instructions he was given. He looks around for help.
Finally a younger man shows up and pushes past him.
YOUNG LOGGER #1
Watch out old man, we gotta move.
The young man takes over the chain saw, starts it and pushes
it to a tree. The tree is cut down and falls in a matter of
seconds. Grainier scuttles out of the way.
Others pounce on it with mauls, axes and saws like wasps.
Bucking it into eighteen-foot lengths. Pounding dog hooks
into the ends with sledgehammers.
Grainier is trying to keep up with the work but constantly
finds himself falling behind, in the way.
GRAINIER
I'll go get the bull lines.
YOUNG LOGGER #2
Bull lines? Where you been cutting,
mister?
The logger puts his pinkies in his mouth and whistles.
Two men trot over with chains on their shoulder. Latch them
to the dog hooks.
A STEAM WHISTLE cries in the distance. A STEAM TRACTOR drives
in and is hooked to the tree. Then the driver drops it into
gear and it whines, pulling away a section of the tree.
The engine groans while its vapors roar out like a falls. The
horses nearby on the skid road move away from it in a
skittish silence, their noises erased by the commotion of
steam and machinery.
An engineer works the regulator. Men run out with the hooks
to noose another felled tree.
NIGHT.
Grainier sits by a fire by himself. He mats his new blisters
with pine sap.
The younger loggers are off laughing and drinking.
Then a man much older than Grainier comes to his fire.
Grainier recognizes him: Billy -- Arn Peeples' friend.
BILLY
Mind if I warm up a minute?
GRAINIER
(excited)
Billy?! Is that you?
BILLY
Yes... Do I know you?
GRAINIER
We cut together at Salmo-Priest
some years back. I was Arn Peeples'
friend. I'm Robert.
BILLY
Oh yes. Hi Robert. Good to see you.
Say, how is Arn?
GRAINIER
How is...?
BILLY
I ain't seen him in, gosh, at least
a year. Maybe longer.
Grainier realizes the shape of his mind.
GRAINIER
I, uh... I haven't seen him either.
BILLY
Hm. Ain't that how it goes.
They sit quietly a moment.
GRAINIER
Can't believe you're still out
here. I'm barely able to keep up at
my age.
BILLY
Ah well. I just look after the
Steam Donkey, keep it watered and
greased. Not much else I can do.
But it's a living.
Grainier nods.
GRAINIER
Say. Billy. Is it different now?
Out here?
BILLY
Different?
GRAINIER
It just seems... meaner. Rougher. I
can't tell if it's different, or if
it was always like this and I was
just as rough as these boys and
just don't remember it.
Billy stares at the fire.
BILLY
Well that's the age-old question,
ain't it, friend? That's the
question.
Billy is struggling to tie one of his boots, but his hands
are too shaky, won't cooperate.
GRAINIER
Here. Let me help you.
Grainier ties the old man's boots for him and they stare into
the fire as the night deepens.
Genres:
["Drama","Character Study"]
Ratings
Scene
42 -
A Swing and a Miss
EXT. THE NEW CUT - MORNING
Grainier is walking into the woods in the early light with
some others. He notices some OLD BOOTS NAILED TO A TREE and
stops. They've been there so long they seem to be becoming
part of the tree.
YOUNG LOGGER #2
They ain't paying you to stand
around, mister.
Grainier sets to hacking the limbs off a felled Douglas Fir.
Others are already sectioning it. Grainier raises the ax up,
and the tree twists on the ground like a giant child.
A BRANCH SWINGS UP AND KNOCKS Grainier back onto the ground.
OTHER LOGGERS
(laughing)
Whoa shit!!
They help him sit up. Grainier is rubbing his jaw. Trying to
work it straight.
YOUNG LOGGER #1
You alright? Want me to kiss it?
The others laugh.
YOUNG LOGGER #2
You'd be all day kissing that
thing, crossways as it is.
Grainier is still getting his wits back about him as the
others get back to work.
YOUNG LOGGER #3
Let us know if you need some water
there, bub.
Grainier sits there, trying to get his jaw working, watching
them move on deeper into the woods without him.
Genres:
["Drama","Character Study"]
Ratings
Scene
43 -
Reflections at Spruce Lake
EXT. SPRUCE LAKE - EVENING
Weeks later, Grainier is walking home from The Cut.
He stops for the night at SPRUCE LAKE, a high lake in the
mountains, reflecting back up to the sky the forest that
encircles it. He stares at the beauty of it.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The place where he made his bed
that night had once lay under three-
thousand feet of ice. Later it had
been the hunting grounds for tribes
of people who lived so long ago
that no one knows what they called
themselves.
Grainier cuts some branches from a nearby spruce.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
In more recent years, a band of
Kootenai people had stopped here to
fish on their way north, having
been forced off the land that had
been their home for untold
generations.
He makes a bed for the night out of the spruce branches,
staring out at the lake.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
But Robert Grainier knew none of
this as he lay down under spruce
branches.
The sound of the Spokane International wails softly in the
distance.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The last few years, he expected
some great revelation about his
life would descend upon him.
Grainier starts to drift off to sleep.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
But as of yet, none had. And he was
beginning to doubt that one ever
would.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
44 -
A New Chapter at Grainier's Acre
EXT. GRAINIER'S ACRE - LATE SPRING
The land that was burned has almost fully recovered now. As
Grainier walks, clusters of orange butterflies explode off
the blackish purple piles of bear scat and flutter magically
like leaves without trees.
Grainier arrives back at his homesite along the Moyea River.
The rebuilt cabin is complete now. Though it has laid empty
while he was gone, he finds his door ajar.
GRAINIER
Hello?
No answer from within. He sets down his pack and holds his
ax.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
This is my home. If you're in
there, you can just leave. I don't
want no trouble.
Movement inside. The door is pushed open more and Red Dog
bursts out, wagging her tail.
Grainier drops to the ground and hugs her and pets her.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The following April, he did not
leave for Washington to cut timber.
He knew he was finished as a
logger.
He notices some VINES growing up at the base of his cabin and
pulls them. Then moves off to clean up his homestead.
EXT. BONNERS FERRY, LUMBER YARD - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier shovels from an enormous pile of SAWDUST, filling up
a wagon, working alongside two young Kootenai men.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
And so Grainier strung work
together where he could. Work as
fickle and disparate as the
weather.
Genres:
["Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
45 -
A Sudden Loss
EXT. PINKHAM BARN - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier is loading sacks of cornmeal onto a wagon with a boy
named AVERY, who is only 17 but dwarfs Grainier.
Avery loads another sack onto the wagon. He turns back and
lifts a third, but IMMEDIATELY DROPS IT.
AVERY
I am dizzy as anything today.
Avery sits on the pile of sacks, removes his hat, flops over
sideways and DIES.
Grainier watches him a moment, in shock.
GRAINIER
MR. PINKHAM! COME QUICK!
MR. PINKHAM, well into his 70's, hurries in and kneels to his
son.
MR. PINKHAM
Oh. Oh. Oh. He's not gone is he?
GRAINIER
I don't know, sir. He just sat down
and fell over.
MR. PINKHAM
Oh. Poor boy. It's his heart. His
heart isn't strong.
GRAINIER
I don't even think he said anything
to complain.
Mr. Pinkham stands up, looks around.
MR. PINKHAM
I've got to go get Mother.
Mr. Pinkham hurries out toward the house, leaving Grainier
there with Avery. Grainier can't look at him while they're
alone.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Less than a month after burying
their son, Mr. and Mrs. Pinkham
would close down their feed store.
Mr. Pinkham comes back into the barn with Mrs. Pinkham,
wailing sadness. She bends down to the boy, touching his face
and arms.
Genres:
["Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
46 -
The Weight of Solitude
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - MONTAGE - DAY
Grainier drives the wagon slowly down a road. The back is
STACKED WITH FURNITURE while TWO CHILDREN run alongside.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
They sold Grainier their wagon and
horses for three hundred dollars,
paid in installments. They said it
felt as if a part of Avery would
still be out there on the road with
him.
Grainier sits in the same spot, with the same look on his
face, but the weather and THE CONTENTS OF THE WAGON CHANGE:
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - MONTAGE - NIGHT
A WEDDING PARTY rides in the back, laughing drunk.
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - MONTAGE - DAY
A WOMAN WITH FOUR LLAMAS.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
So began his career as a freighter.
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - MONTAGE - DAY
TWO SOLDIERS sit with A MAN IN CHAINS between them.
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - MONTAGE - DAY
A MAN SITS ATOP A PUMPKIN THE SIZE OF A BOULDER.
EXT. ROADSIDE - SUNSET
Grainier stands at the roadside with his horses, sharing
bites of an apple with them.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Through this work, he spent more
time with his neighbors of the
region than he had in all his years
prior. And yet with each passing
year, he only felt more alone.
FADE TO BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical","Western"]
Ratings
Scene
47 -
Echoes of Loss
INT. GRAINIER'S FIRST CABIN - DREAM
The SOUND of the Spokane International.
The cabin looks as it did BEFORE THE FIRE. Filled with the
belongings of the Grainier family.
The moan of the train grows closer. Through the windows, the
world glows a strange orange.
The logs in the walls start SMOKING FAINTLY. They stress and
creak. Then POP like large-bore cartridges going off.
On the table by the stove, a magazine curls, darkens, flames,
and spirals upward, page by page taking light.
The train sounds closer.
Now the glass window SHATTERS and the curtains blacken at the
hems. The wax melts off the jars of food on a shelf, candles
melt onto themselves and the kitchen tub steams.
Suddenly a lamp on the table is lit and a metal-lidded jar of
salt explodes.
The train sounds closer still, as if barreling toward this
place.
Then the whole structure IGNITES like a match head.
INT. SECOND CABIN - CONTINUOUS
Grainier wakes from the dream, to the distant call of the
train in this world.
Red Dog is asleep next to him on a pallet on the floor,
whimpering softly in her own dream. He pets her and she
calms.
He stares around the cabin in the dark. Somehow he is back in
the cabin AS IT WAS BEFORE THE FIRE. Before he lost his
family. Some aspects are different. Items from his new life
stand on shelves next to things that were lost to the flames,
while other things are simply misplaced.
Then A SHADOW cuts through the moonlight in the window.
Bringing with it a stillness so severe it quiets even the
running mind.
He can feel something moving through the cabin. A PRESENCE.
Red Dog feels it too. The hair on her back rises and stiffens
as The Shadow begins to manifest itself visibly in the room.
At first only as a quavering image. A form coming into focus.
But soon--
THE SHAPE OF A WOMAN. GLADYS.
Grainier's fear is replaced with longing. With cavernous
sorrow.
Gladys walks around, quietly inspecting the place. Moving
from piece to piece, putting things back in their rightful
place as she always did. Her shadow stutters around her.
Then she looks to him. Directly at him.
He can't move. Can't speak. And he becomes a witness,
experiencing her last moments.
The forest burns. Gladys frantically gathers what she can.
She takes up Kate, wraps her in her coat. She runs to the
front door, opens it and is confronted with A WALL OF FLAMES.
She turns back and escapes out the back door.
EXT. THE BURNING FOREST - NIGHT
She runs from the cabin carrying Kate as best she can, while
the fire engulfs the world around them.
She can barely see.
Trees explode in flames before her.
Of what she's snatched up, less and less seems worthy. She
tosses away clothes and valuables as the heat drives her
toward the water.
She struggles to hold Kate, struggles to cover the child's
face to protect her from the smoke. She pulls her up to get a
better grip, coughing deeply.
Soon she holds only her BIBLE and her red box of CHOCOLATES,
each pinned against her with an elbow. But now these are too
much.
Needing a better grip to hold her child, she drops The Bible
rather than the chocolates. And she runs ahead, struggling
again through the smoke and ash.
She comes at last to a ROCK: a place to crawl down toward the
water.
She starts to scrabble down the stone face. Precariously.
Then a stone comes loose and she falls off the embankment.
Leaving an emptiness in the smoke.
EXT. RIVER - MOMENTS LATER
Two heartbeats later, she's laying on the rocks in the
shallow water below.
Her legs won't move. Her back broken.
She feebly plucks at the knot across her bodice until the
child is free to crawl away and fend for herself, however
briefly, along the shore.
The world burns around her, even as the water strokes gently
at her side.
She speaks softly to her child.
GLADYS
Baby. Come here. Stay close. Stay
close to Mama, ok? We're just going
to stay here by the water and rest
for a minute. Everything's going to
be alright. We're safe now.
She softly closes her eyes as she speaks to the child.
INT. SECOND CABIN - NIGHT
WE'RE BACK WITH GRAINIER. HE IS ALONE AGAIN.
The cabin is dark. Red Dog no longer trembles.
GRAINIER
(softly)
Kate? Escaped?
But no one is there to answer.
Genres:
["Drama","Tragedy","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
48 -
A Serene Encounter
EXT. ROAD / WAGON - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier rides along in his wagon, his mind on the
visitation.
Ahead of him, walking along the road: A WOMAN ABOUT HIS AGE,
carrying a large rucksack. She's dressed in green pants and
shirt, her hair cut short.
CLAIRE THOMPSON.
Grainier stops the wagon when he catches up to her.
GRAINIER
Ms. Thompson?
CLAIRE
Claire. You must be Robert.
GRAINIER
Yes ma'am.
CLAIRE
Nice to meet you.
GRAINIER
Nice to meet you. I was looking for
you up at the train station.
CLAIRE
Well, I waited a few minutes for
you. Before I decided to just start
walking.
GRAINIER
I'm sorry about that. Had a little
trouble getting these boys going
this morning. You still want me to
take you up to Hale Lookout?
CLAIRE
If it's not too much trouble.
GRAINIER
Here, I'll take your bag.
He starts to get down to take her rucksack, but she tosses it
into the wagon and climbs onboard.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Oh. Alright, well...
He settles back into his seat and they continue on.
A LITTLE LATER.
Grainier and Claire ride along the river road with the
mountains rising on either side of them.
CLAIRE
It's beautiful country up here.
Grainier looks around like there might be something new to
see.
GRAINIER
What parts are you from?
CLAIRE
I've been all over. But I lived a
long time over in Montana. Noxon.
GRAINIER
I've never seen Montana.
CLAIRE
It's beautiful country. Worth the
trip.
He nods as if considering it. She's quiet a moment. Like
she's wondering if she should say what she's thinking. She
decides to.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
They told me about you, you know.
GRAINIER
Who's they?
CLAIRE
The people who recommended you.
GRAINIER
What'd they say?
CLAIRE
That you were different.
GRAINIER
Ain't everybody different?
CLAIRE
No.
GRAINIER
Hmm.
CLAIRE
It's a good thing. Being different.
As far as I see it anyway.
He nods.
She looks around at the wooly mountains.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
I'm so happy to be here. This
valley is special. It used to all
be under a glacier. Three thousand
feet of ice. When it broke, it
flooded the whole region and...
Claire goes on talking of the ancient history of this place,
but the audio shifts.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
She had an ease about her. Somehow,
this person he had never met felt
like an old friend.
Camera moves to focus on Claire as she talks. She seems to be
cataloguing the trees even as she speaks.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Claire had worked in Europe as a
nurse in the Great War. Now she was
employed by the newly-created U.S.
Forest Service, as part of an
effort to manage timber cuts and
prevent forest fires.
Camera moves to now focus on Grainier as he turns down a side
road, trying to navigate to the smooth parts.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
It was the first time in weeks that
he had not been preoccupied with
thoughts of Kate.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
49 -
Parting Ways
EXT. MEADOW - DAY
At last they come to a SMALL MEADOW. On the other side is a
granite escarpment at the foot of the mountains.
He stops the horses and he and Claire step down from the
wagon. The horses browse in the tall grass.
Grainier looks up the mountain. A FIRE LOOKOUT sits at the
top of the mountain, impossibly high, by Grainier's
estimation.
GRAINIER
You're going all the way up there?
She looks up toward it.
CLAIRE
That's the plan.
GRAINIER
Well. Be careful.
CLAIRE
I'll be OK.
(remembering)
Ah. Here you are.
She hands him some money from her pocket, pre-counted.
GRAINIER
Oh. Thank you.
He stands there awkwardly. Not sure how to leave -- even less
sure how to keep the conversation going.
CLAIRE
It was nice to meet you, Robert.
Thank you for the ride.
GRAINIER
Yep. OK. Nice to-- Take care now.
He walks back to his horses. He steals a glance back toward
her when he gets to his wagon. But she's already at the foot
of the mountain.
Genres:
["Drama","Adventure"]
Ratings
Scene
50 -
A Storm of Memories
EXT. SECOND CABIN / ROOF - DAY
Grainier is back at his cabin. Repairing some shingles up on
the roof.
The wind shifts, blows in COLD FROM THE NORTH. Grainier looks
up to the sky. To the cirrostratus veil forming high above
him.
He shivers. Pulls his collar tight. Then turns back to the
shingles.
INT. SECOND CABIN - THAT NIGHT
Grainier is hunkered in his cabin with Red Dog. Outside, A
STORM howls.
He's wrapped in a blanket but still shivering. Eating dried
meat, dried cherries.
Then he sneezes.
GRAINIER
(to no one)
Bless you.
He looks to Red Dog.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
How are you feeling?
Red Dog is snoozing.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Good.
He feeds another log into the fire. The little stove
struggles to keep up against the cold.
THE NEXT MORNING.
The storm has passed. The world is still now.
Grainier lays in his bed, RACKED WITH FEVER. He leans up on
his arm, sips a little water from a bowl. Then he immediately
vomits into a bucket by his bed.
He lays back groaning.
ANOTHER DAY.
He wakes up to vomit again. He wretches, but nothing comes.
He hangs over his bed a moment before slowly bringing himself
back up.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
After three days of sickness he
felt sure he would soon die. He
welcomed whatever was to come.
Red Dog whines. Grainier struggles to stand. He shuffles to
the door, opens it.
Red Dog runs out of the cabin. He leaves the door open and
stumbles back to fall in bed.
EXT. BONNERS FERRY STREET - NIGHT - YEARS EARLIER
Grainier walks with Gladys one evening. He wears an ill-
fitting button-down now. As they stroll along, he tentatively
touches her hand. She returns the gesture and they hold hands
as they walk. Drifting a little closer. Smiling to
themselves.
Then the reveries fade to black, as if someone turned out the
lights on the world.
Genres:
["Drama","Historical Fiction"]
Ratings
Scene
51 -
Awkward Encounters in the Meadow
INT. SECOND CABIN - MORNING
In the soft light of morning, Grainier lays still in his bed.
Eyes closed. Mouth hanging open.
No movement at all.
Then his eyes softly flutter open and he takes a deep breath.
Red Dog is curled up next to him, shivering. He puts some of
his blanket over her.
Grainier can finally stand again. He wraps himself in a
blanket and steps out to the world.
Framed by the doorway, he stands outside in the fresh snow.
He lets out a long hollow howl. The wolves answer him from up
in the mountains.
EXT. MEADOW - AFTERNOON
Grainier walks across the field where he dropped off Claire.
He's thinner than the last time he was here.
He comes to the base of the lookout. Several stories of
narrow ladders lead up to a wood cabin nested at the top. He
calls up.
GRAINIER
Ms. Thompson? You up there?
The wood beams groan in the wind. No other answer comes.
He looks around. The woods are quiet.
He starts to drift back the way he came.
But then he sees Claire crossing the meadow toward him. She
waves and he stops.
CLAIRE
Robert? What a surprise. How are
you?
GRAINIER
Oh I'm good. I didn't mean to
startle you.
CLAIRE
You didn't. I was just heading out
for an afternoon survey when I
heard you call.
GRAINIER
Oh yeah...
They both stand there awkwardly.
CLAIRE GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Did you... Well I was just passing
through and I thought I'd
check on you. Here.
He pulls some MUSHROOMS out of his coat pocket, offers them
to her.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I found a few extra of these.
CLAIRE
Oh wow. Morels.
GRAINIER
They're good. Especially if you
have a little butter.
CLAIRE
Thank you.
They stand there awkwardly another moment.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
Do you want to stay a minute?
GRAINIER
Oh no, I don't want to impose.
CLAIRE
Not at all. Come see the view from
up there. I'll make us some tea.
Genres:
["Drama","Adventure"]
Ratings
Scene
52 -
Reflections in the Fire Lookout
INT. / EXT. HALE FIRE LOOKOUT - A LITTLE LATER
Inside, the lookout tower is spare but comfortable. More
books than clothes. More windows than walls. Maps of the
forest spread across a table. A simple cot in the corner.
GRAINIER
It doesn't get spooky up this high?
CLAIRE
No, I think it's peaceful.
Below them, the Selkirk and Purcell Mountains stretch out
beyond the horizon.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
I watch the clouds form and the
light change. And I get paid to do
it. It's a gift.
She takes a kettle off the stove and pours tea made from a
plant she's harvested.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
Fireweed.
She hands him a cup of tea.
GRAINIER
Thank you.
Grainier steps over to a strange contraption in the corner. A
steel saucer with a map and two tall sights.
CLAIRE
It's a FireFinder. If you see
smoke, you just line up the hair in
the front sight. Take the
horizontal reading in degrees and
minutes. Then the vertical angle to
estimate the miles between the
tower and the fire.
(MORE)
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
Confirm it on the map and then
radio it in to the fire crews.
He leans over and looks through the sight out across the
country.
GRAINIER
How'd you come to this?
CLAIRE
Saw a flier for the job opening
just when I needed it. I had to get
a recommendation from a family
friend. In his words, Claire
Thompson is absolutely devoid of
the timidity normally associated
with her sex. She possesses more
than adequate work ethic and is
unafraid of anything that walks,
creeps, or flies.
Claire smiles at that.
Grainier sips from the tea, grimacing slightly at the
bitterness.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
How is it?
GRAINIER
Good. Thank you.
CLAIRE
Come see the view from out here.
They STEP OUT onto the BALCONY that encircles the lookout.
They sit with their tea and watch the light play across the
mountains.
GRAINIER
Everything down there seems so
small.
He watches the forest sway like a field of grass.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
(almost to himself)
You can barely tell that fire swept
through here. Like it didn't even
happen.
CLAIRE
Were you here when it came through?
GRAINIER
I wasn't. My wife and little baby
were. They, uh...
(hard to say out loud)
They didn't make it out.
CLAIRE
Oh Robert...
GRAINIER
Sometimes it feels like the sadness
is gonna eat me up. Sometimes it
feels like it happened to somebody
else. And uh... I...
He struggles with the thoughts, which seem to be coming of
their own accord.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
I wasn't there for their lives like
I should've been. And I wasn't
there when they needed me most. In
the end.
He seems to be thinking.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Sometimes I hear them.
He glances at her to see her reaction. She seems to
understand.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
In the woods. Talking. Laughing. I
don't turn my head cause I'm scared
that will make it go away. So I
just listen. Until they fade off
somewhere else. Wherever those
things go. Never told nobody that.
Claire watches him, waits.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Does that mean I'm crazy?
She thinks a moment on how to answer.
CLAIRE
My husband passed too. A little
over a year ago. It took him a long
time. When it was over it was like
there was a hole in the world. I
had more questions than answers.
Like no human had ever died before.
(MORE)
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
When you go through that, nothing
you do is crazy. You just go
through what you go through.
She looks out across the forest.
CLAIRE (CONT’D)
In the forest, every least thing is
important. It's all threaded
together so you can't tell where
one thing ends and another begins.
If you really look at it. The
insects you can't even see play a
role as vital as the river. The
dead tree is as important as the
living one. There must be something
for us to learn from that.
Grainer considers all that.
GRAINIER
And what if you've got nothing left
to give? What then?
CLAIRE
The Lord needs a hermit in the
woods as much as a preacher in the
pulpit, you know.
GRAINIER
Is that what I am? A hermit?
CLAIRE
I believe we both are. In our own
ways. Just waiting to see what
we've been left here for.
They sit in silence, watching the light turn from gold to
blue.
Genres:
["Drama","Character Study"]
Ratings
Scene
53 -
A Hymn of Remembrance
EXT. BONNERS FERRY - MORNING
Grainier is walking out of town with some sundries he's
bought that morning. He walks past the METHODIST CHURCH.
Where he met Gladys.
He hears singing inside and stops. Watches the church a
while.
INT. METHODIST CHURCH - MOMENTS LATER
Inside, Grainier finds a spot in the back pew. The
congregation is standing, singing a hymn.
He looks very out of place here. He mats down his hair, but
it doesn't help much.
The congregation finishes the hymn.
PASTOR
That was beautiful. Next, let's
turn to one-eighteen.
The old woman at the piano starts playing and the
congregation sings.
Grainier looks for a hymn book, but can't find one close.
Then they all start to sing. A familiar song. One Gladys used
to sing in the choir.
Before long, emotions start to well up inside him. Things
he's tamped down a long time. He closes his eyes, singing.
Then he starts WEEPING. Quietly at first, but soon it gets
the better of him. People pretend not to notice.
Before the second verse is finished he has disappeared back
out the door.
Genres:
["Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
54 -
The Return of the Wolf-Girl
INT. / EXT. SECOND CABIN - NIGHT
The moon rises near midnight and hangs above Queen Mountain.
Grainier is alone in his cabin. He's mending some old pants,
working a needle back and forth through the corduroy. Birch
burns in the stove.
The night is clear and cold. It suddenly fills with raucous
hysteria.
The whistle from the Great Northern gets the coyotes started,
and then the wolves.
The chorus crescendoes. The wolves and coyotes howl without
letup, sounding in the hundreds, more than Grainier has ever
heard.
It all seems to be some vast pronouncement -- the alarms of
the end of the world.
He feeds the stove and stands in the cabin's doorway half-
dressed and watches the sky, as if something might come from
there.
The night is cloudless and the moon burns white, erasing the
stars and making gray silhouettes of the mountains.
A pack of howlers seems very near, and getting nearer, baying
as they run.
He steps out his door and suddenly they flood into the
clearing, many forms and shadows, voices screaming -- he can
smell them as they pass, can hear their pads thudding on the
earth.
Before his mind can process it, they are gone.
All but one. Laying on her side in the yard.
A creature in the shape of a human, but formed into the shape
of a wolf.
A WOLF-GIRL.
Grainier believes he will faint. He grips the doorjamb to
stay on his feet.
The creature doesn't move. It seems hurt.
She lays on her side panting, a clearly human creature with
the delicate structure of a little girl.
In the dim form under the moonlight, he realizes she is bent
in the arms and legs.
With the action of her lungs there comes a whistling, a
squeak, like a frightened pup's.
Grainier turns convulsively and goes to the table looking
for... he doesn't know what. He owns no gun.
He fumbles at the clutter on the table, locates the matches
and lights a hurricane lamp. Then he grabs a piece of BIRCH
KINDLING.
He goes out again in his long johns, barefoot, carrying this
weapon.
OUTSIDE. MOMENTS LATER.
Grainier lifts the lantern high and, holding his club before
him, is stalked by his own monstrous shadow, so huge it fills
the whole clearing behind him.
The frost on the dead grass skirls beneath his feet with
every step. The rest of the world is SILENT.
The whole valley seems to reflect his shock. He hears only
his footsteps and the wolf-girl's panting complaint.
Her whimpering ceases as he gets closer. He approaches
cautiously so as not to terrify either this creature or
himself.
The wolf-girl waits.
Shot full of animal dread and perfectly still, moving nothing
but her eyes. Following his every move but not meeting his
gaze, her breath smoking before her nostrils.
He inches closer. Her face is that of a wolf, but hairless.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Though he knew it must be
impossible, the thought overwhelmed
him that his daughter had returned.
Then he recognizes it.
GRAINIER
Kate?
But it is.
THIS IS HIS DAUGHTER. He has to cover his mouth not to cry
out.
She stays stock-still as he draws closer. He hopes that some
sign of recognition might show itself and prove her to be
Kate.
But her eyes only watch in flat terror, like a wolf's.
Kate she is, but Kate no longer.
He drops the club.
She lays on her side, her left leg akimbo. The skin
protruding where the bone is broken beneath it.
She's just a child, exhausted from crawling on threes and
having dragged the shattered leg behind her.
Her hair is matted and wild and filled with leaves and
sticks.
Grainier comes within arm's reach. Kate-no-longer growls,
barks, snaps as her father bends down toward her.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Shhh.
And then her eyes glass and she so fades from herself he
believes she's passed.
But she lives, and watches him.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Kate. Oh my Kate. What's happened
to you?
He gets his arms beneath her and lifts. Her breathing comes
rapid, faint, and shallow.
She whimpers once in his ear and snaps her jaws but doesn't
otherwise struggle.
Grainier turns with her in his embrace and makes for the
cabin.
Genres:
["Drama","Fantasy","Horror"]
Ratings
Scene
55 -
Tender Care in the Cabin
INT. SECOND CABIN - CONTINUOUS
Grainier lays her on his pallet on the floor.
He sets the lamp on the table, illuminating the room, and
prepares to splint the broken leg with kindling.
He pulls off his undershirt and tears it into strips.
He gingerly grasps the child's ankle with one hand and puts
his other on the thigh to pull. As soon as he does, she gives
a terrible sigh, and then her breathing slows.
She's fainted.
Grainier straightens the leg as best he can and, feeling that
he can take his time now, he whittles a stick of kindling so
that it cups the shin.
GRAINIER
I'm not a doctor. I'm just the one
that's here.
He pulls a bench beside the pallet and seats himself, resting
her foot across his knee while he applies the splint and
bounds it around.
And now he's finished.
He opens the window across the room to give her air.
She lays there asleep with the life driven half out of her.
Grainier moves the bench against the wall, sits back, and
watches her sleep.
She is as leathery as an old man. Her hands are curled under,
the back of her wrists calloused stumps, her feet misshapen,
as hard and knotted as wooden burls.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
(whispers)
It's ok, sweet Kate. I'm here.
You're home now. We're together.
She whimpers in her sleep. He sings softly to her, just as
her mother did. And she calms.
He leans his head back, exhausted from the adrenaline. He
quietly dozes off.
A train going through the valley doesn't wake him, but enters
his dream.
Genres:
["Drama","Family"]
Ratings
Scene
56 -
The Final Goodbye
INT. SECOND CABIN - THE NEXT MORNING
Grainier opens his eyes near daylight, a much smaller sound
bringing him awake.
Kate has stirred. She is leaving out the window.
GRAINIER
Wait!
Grainier rushes out to his porch and watches her in the dawn
effulgence, crawling and pausing to twist sideways on herself
and snap at the windings on her leg as would any wolf or dog.
She disappears into the woods and he runs out after her.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Kate!
OUTSIDE - MOMENTS LATER
In the woods, he can see her again. Just a glimpse. But again
she dips out of sight and he trots ahead.
When he comes into a clearing, she's just on the other side
of it -- waiting for him. He stops.
She's looking back at him. They have a brief moment of
recognition. As if she might wait for his approach.
GRAINIER
Kate...
But the look, all too human, is one of goodbye.
GRAINIER (CONT’D)
Please...
Then she hobbles off into the woods and is gone.
He runs across the clearing and crashes into the bushes on
the other side, calling to her.
He wades through the brush, fighting through vines and
nettles, desperate to find her.
Eventually he realizes. She's gone.
He stands there, as if lost.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
And so she returned to the place of
myths and dreams.
INT. SECOND CABIN - A LITTLE LATER
Grainier's cabin feels even emptier now.
On the floor he finds A SMALL BIT OF FABRIC -- a piece of
clothing left behind by his daughter.
He picks it up, holds it tenderly.
Genres:
["Drama","Fantasy"]
Ratings
Scene
57 -
Enduring Solitude
EXT. WOODS - ANOTHER EVENING
Grainier walks through the woods, searching, listening.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He spent many days and evenings
wandering the forests and fields of
the region, looking for any sign of
her.
EXT. SECOND CABIN - NIGHT
Grainier sits on his porch, listening to the wolves howl in
the distance.
On his lap, his dinner is only half-eaten on his plate.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
And though he found none, he knew
he would spend the rest of his days
there, so that if she ever needed
him, she would know where to find
him.
He sets the plate down on the floor of the porch and looks
out one more time toward the darkness before going into his
cabin and closing the door on the night.
And the cabin sits there silently a long time.
INT. SECOND CABIN - ANOTHER DAY
Grainier sits down on the edge of his bed. Looks around at
his little cabin. Listens to the wind passing outside. And
sighs.
YEARS LATER.
Then, IN AN INSTANT, MANY YEARS PASS AND HE'S AN OLD MAN NOW.
Still sitting here in the same spot. A look on his face
similar to one he had as a child: full of wonder and
strangeness.
Genres:
["Drama","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
58 -
A Journey Through Time
INT. TRAIN - DAY, 1962
Grainier rides a passenger train along the edge of a forest.
The trees open, revealing THE ROBINSON GORGE BRIDGE in the
valley below -- now a web of steel running across the canyon.
A highway stretching away from it toward cities unknown to
Grainier.
Grainier stares out at the bridge.
Everyone around him is dressed in attire we haven't seen
before, as if he's time-traveled two decades ahead.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
In his later years, Grainier rode
the Great Northern from time to
time into Spokane.
EXT. SPOKANE / STREET - EVENING
Grainier walks down the street.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He wandered the city without much
direction or purpose, as if looking
for something he had misplaced a
long time ago.
He comes to a STORE WINDOW FULL OF TV's. A few people are
stopped watching.
On every TV: a man in what seems to be a silver diving suit
is cramped in a little metal machine. It's JOHN GLENN'S SPACE
FLIGHT.
GRAINIER
What's that feller doing?
BYSTANDER
He's in outer space.
Grainier looks up at the night sky, the faint few stars. Then
back to the TV's.
The next image is a wide sea of white and blue.
GRAINIER
Is that...?
BYSTANDER
That's us. That's this whole world.
Grainier can scarcely understand what he's seeing, much less
what he's feeling.
EXT. SPOKANE / STREET - AFTERNOON
Grainier walks down the street, his mind elsewhere. The Art
Deco buildings tower around him. Not a tree in sight.
Genres:
["Drama","Sci-Fi"]
Ratings
Scene
59 -
Reflections of Time
EXT. SPOKANE / THEATER - LATER THAT NIGHT
As he approaches a theater entrance, he passes a selection of
carnival posters announcing oddities and magic.
CARNIVAL BARKER
...A camel that spits out gold from
his teeth, gold! Witness Sanju The
Holy Man from the far, far east.
Sanju The Holy Man will read your
dreams -- experience the world
famous Bittler Sisters -- or better
yet, pay you a dime to see a
monster...
Grainier looks at the hand-painted sign, promising a
performance by A WOLF-BOY. The drawing promises a horrible
creature: half-man, half-wolf. Snarling in torn clothes,
blood dripping from his fangs.
The CARNIVAL BARKER beckons to Grainier.
CARNIVAL BARKER (CONT’D)
You! Come in, come in. Cast a stone
aside. Inside this theater the
mysteries of the world flit about
like bats and insects. Here, the
answers to everything...
INT. SPOKANE THEATER - MOMENTS LATER
The theater is small, shabby. A TRAVELING BACKDROP of some
fanciful world has been erected on the stage.
Grainier finds a seat among the thin crowd.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
That night in the theater, he took
in a curiosity show that promised a
vision of a monster.
And now the Wolf-boy steps out. Hunched and feral. No circus
music accompanies his entrance. Only the sound of a soft
wind.
The crowd is hushed as he silently prowls the stage.
NARRATOR (V.O.)(CONT’D)
But was only a boy in a costume.
He wears a mask of fur. A suit that looks like fur but is
really something else, shining silver and blue in the
electric light. He starts to frolic and gambol around the
stage in such a way the watchers couldn't be sure if he meant
to be laughed at.
INT. SPOKANE THEATER / BATHROOM - NIGHT
Grainier is washing his hands at a little sink. The walls are
tiled in geometric patterns -- the room is lit electric.
He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror there and he
watches himself a while. Like a stranger from another time.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He saw his face in a mirror for the
first time in nearly a decade.
(MORE)
NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
He could see now the toll that the
years had taken. He felt that he
was only just beginning to have
some faint understanding of his
life, even though it was now
slipping away from him.
Genres:
["Drama","Fantasy","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
60 -
Flight of Reflection
EXT. SPOKANE COUNTY FAIR / FIELD - THE NEXT AFTERNOON
Grainier finds himself on a field near the fairgrounds. A
sign on a truck advertises four dollar flights.
A little crowd has gathered around a BIPLANE parked on the
field. A flimsy ordeal with wings that seem to be made of
paper.
THE PILOT -- a young woman in a flight suit -- stands abreast
of the craft, talking to people.
A MUSTACHED MAN who looks to be her father stands nearby
trying to sell rides.
PILOT'S FATHER
Just four dollars and you'll see
the world as only the birds do.
Grainier takes stock of the strange machine.
INT. BIPLANE - MOMENTS LATER
Clouds roll by. The world below is very small now. Grainier
is high in the sky in the biplane. He looks down at the
fairgrounds as if from a cloud. It's glorious, though his
stomach is somewhere else.
Then the earth's surface turns sideways and he loses any
sense of up and down.
The craft rights itself and begins a slow, rackety ascent,
winding upward like a wagon around a mountain. Grainier is
holding on to whatever he can.
Just as he's getting accustomed to it all, The Pilot yells at
him from the seat behind him, shouting over the wind --
resembling a raccoon in her cap and goggles.
PILOT
Hey, you’d better hold on to
something.
GRAINIER
Huh?
Then the PLANE STARTS TO PLUMMET.
They fall out of the sky, steeper and steeper, the engine
nearly silent. Grainier's organs push back against his spine
and his eyes softly close.
Then all sound is swept away except for the sound of the
ocean in a seashell.
He experiences a SERIES OF DREAMLETS AND MEMORIES FROM HIS
LIFE:
A cabin he'd never remembered before -- the place of his
hidden childhood.
Arms encircling him as a young boy, a woman's voice crooning.
The day he proposed to Gladys.
Kneeling on the cabin porch, offering a yellow flower to Kate
-- the memory sweetened with time.
Other memories of Gladys and Kate jumble together.
He sees Ignatius Jack. Arn Peeples dying, taking in the world
one last time.
Stray dogs in the ashes of his cabin. A curtain moved softly
by the breeze.
A train passing in the night. The Chinese Laborer, alive
still.
A giant tree falling in the forest.
A pair of old boots nailed to a tree.
BACK IN THE BIPLANE.
Grainier nearly passes out.
And all the mysteries of this life are answered.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
When Robert Grainier died in his
sleep sometime in November of 1968,
his life ended as quietly as it had
begun.
We see his cabin, a few years from now. COVERED UP IN VINES
AND WEEDS. Seemingly forgotten.
Inside, he is dead.
His body lays there in his bed. Vines and plants have
overtaken his body such that he looks like a man mixed with a
plant in the corner of the room.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
He’d never purchased a firearm or
spoken into a telephone. He had no
idea who his parents might have
been, and he left no heirs behind
him.
The ENGINE ROARS BACK TO LIFE and the present world
materializes before his eyes again.
He takes a deep breath, relaxing now.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
But on that spring day, as he
misplaced all sense of up and down,
he felt, at last, connected to it
all.
The plane levels off, circles the fairgrounds.
Grainier leans back his head, closes his eyes. And finds
himself somewhere he has not been in a very long time.
At peace.
END.