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* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

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* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

presses

How many times the word 'presses' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

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How many times the word 'drawn' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

limbs

How many times the word 'limbs' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

obliging

How many times the word 'obliging' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

reste

How many times the word 'reste' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

qu'on

How many times the word 'qu'on' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

shopkeeper

How many times the word 'shopkeeper' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

monsieur

How many times the word 'monsieur' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

astonished

How many times the word 'astonished' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

turned

How many times the word 'turned' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

amounted

How many times the word 'amounted' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

library

How many times the word 'library' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

pied

How many times the word 'pied' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

palate

How many times the word 'palate' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

round

How many times the word 'round' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

therefore

How many times the word 'therefore' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

cream

How many times the word 'cream' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

trees

How many times the word 'trees' appears in the text?

* * * * * * * * On entering, she saw nothing of her husband. His hat hung on the hall-tree, and he was perhaps sitting in the library; the more genial temper would account for his not coming forth at once to meet her, as had been his custom when she returned from an absence alone. She changed her dress, and disguised as far as was possible the traces of suffering on her features. Weakness and tremor urged her to lie down, but she could not venture to do this until she had spoken to her husband. Supporting herself by the banisters, she slowly descended, and opened the library door. Widdowson was reading a newspaper. He did not look round, but said carelessly,-- 'So you are back?' 'Yes. I hope you didn't expect me sooner.' 'Oh, it's all right.' He threw a rapid glance at her over his shoulder. 'Had a long talk with Virginia, I suppose?' 'Yes. I couldn't get away before.' Widdowson seemed to be much interested in some paragraph. He put his face closer to the paper, and was silent for two or three seconds. Then he again looked round, this time observing his wife steadily, but with a face that gave no intimation of unusual thoughts. 'Does she consent to go?' Monica replied that it was still uncertain; she thought, however, that Virginia's objections would be overcome. 'You look very tired,' remarked the other. 'I am, very.' And thereupon she withdrew, unable to command her countenance, scarce able to remain standing for another moment. CHAPTER XXIV TRACKED When Widdowson went up to the bedroom that night, Monica was already asleep. He discovered this on turning up the gas. The light fell upon her face, and he was drawn to the bedside to look at her. The features signified nothing but repose; her lips were just apart, her eyelids lay softly with their black fringe of exquisite pencilling, and her hair was arranged as she always prepared it for the pillow. He watched her for full five minutes, and detected not the slightest movement, so profound was her sleep. Then he turned away, muttering savagely under his breath, 'Hypocrite! Liar!' But for a purpose in his thoughts he would not have lain down beside her. On getting into bed he kept as far away as possible, and all through the wakeful night his limbs shrank from the touch of hers. He rose an hour earlier than usual. Monica had long been awake, but she moved so seldom that he could not be sure of this; her face was turned from him. When he came back to the room after his bath, Monica propped herself on her elbow and asked why he was moving so early. 'I want to be in the City at nine,' he replied, with a show of cheerfulness. 'There's a money affair I must see after.' 'Something that's going wrong?' 'I'm afraid so. I must lose no time in looking to it. What plans have you for to-day?' 'None whatever.' 'It's Saturday, you know. I promised to see Newdick this afternoon. Perhaps I may bring him to dinner.' About twelve o'clock he returned from his business. At two he went away again, saying that he should not be back before seven, it might be a little later. In Monica these movements excited no special remark; they were merely a continuance of his restlessness. But no sooner had he departed, after luncheon, than she went to her dressing-room, and began to make slow, uncertain preparations for leaving home herself. This morning she had tried to write a letter for Bevis, but vainly. She knew not what to say to him, uncertain of her own desires and of what lay before her. Yet, if she were to communicate with him henceforth at all, it was necessary, this very afternoon, to find an address where letters could be received for her, and to let him know of it. To-morrow, Sunday, was useless for the purpose, and on Monday it might be impossible for her to go out alone. Besides that, she could not be sure of the safety of a letter delivered at the flat on Monday night or Tuesday morning. She dressed at length and went out. Her wisest course, probably, was to seek for some obliging shopkeeper near Lavender Hill. Then she could call on Virginia, transact the business she had pretended to discharge yesterday, and there pen a note to Bevis. Her moods alternated with distracting rapidity. A hundred times she had resolved that Bevis could be nothing more to her, and again had thought of him with impulses of yearning, trying to persuade herself that he had acted well and wisely. A hundred times she determined to carry out her idea of yesterday--to quit her husband and resist all his efforts to recall her--and again had all but resigned herself to live with him, accepting degradation as so many wives perforce did. Her mind was in confusion, and physically she felt far from well. A heaviness weighed upon her limbs, making it hardship to walk however short a distance. Arrived at Clapham Junction, she began to search wearily, indifferently, for the kind of shop that might answer her purpose. The receiving of letters which, for one reason or another, must be dispatched to a secret address, is a very ordinary complaisance on the part of small London stationers; hundreds of such letters are sent and called for every week within the metropolitan postal area. It did not take Monica long to find an obliging shopkeeper; the first to whom she applied--a decent woman behind a counter which displayed newspapers, tobacco, and fancy articles--willingly accepted the commission. She came out of the shop with flushed cheeks. Another step in shameful descent--yet it had the result of strengthening once more her emotions favourable to Bevis. On his account she had braved this ignominy, and it drew her towards him, instead of producing the effect which would have seemed more natural. Perhaps the reason was that she felt herself more hopelessly an outcast from the world of honourable women, and therefore longed in her desolation for the support of a man's love. Did he not love her? It was _her_ fault if she expected him to act with a boldness that did not lie in his nature. Perhaps his discretion, which she had so bitterly condemned as weakness, meant a wise regard for her interests as well as his own. The public scandal of divorce was a hideous thing. If it damaged his prospects and sundered him from his relatives, how could she hope that his love of her, the cause of it all, would long endure? The need of love overcame her. She would submit to any conditions rather than lose this lover whose kisses were upon her lips, and whose arms had held her so passionately. She was too young to accept a life of resignation, too ardent. Why had she left him in despondency, in doubt whether he would ever again see her? * * * * * * * * * * She turned back on her way to Virginia's lodgings, re-entered the station, and journeyed townwards. It was an odd incident, by Monica unperceived, that when she was taking her ticket there stood close by her a man, seemingly a mechanic, who had also stood within hearing when she booked at Herne Hill. This same man, though he had not travelled in the compartment with her, followed her when she alighted at Bayswater. She did not once observe him. Instead of writing, she had resolved to see Bevis again--if it were possible. Perhaps he would not be at the flat; yet his wish might suggest the bare hope of her coming to-day. The risk of meeting Barfoot probably need not be considered, for he had told her that he was travelling to-day into Cumberland, and for so long a journey he would be sure to set forth in the morning. At worst she would suffer a disappointment. Indulgence of her fervid feelings had made her as eager to see Bevis as she was yesterday. Words of tenderness rushed to her lips for utterance. When she reached the building all but delirium possessed her. She had hurried up to the first landing, when a footstep behind drew her attention. It was a man in mechanic's dress, coming up with head bent, doubtless for some task or other in one of the flats. Perhaps he was going to Bevis's. She went forward more slowly, and on the next landing allowed the man to pass her. Yes, more likely than not he was engaged in packing her lover's furniture. She stood still. At that moment a door closed above, and another step, lighter and quicker, that of a woman, came downstairs. As far as her ear could judge, this person might have left Bevis's flat. A conflict of emotions excited her to panic. She was afraid either to advance or to retreat, and in equal dread of standing without purpose. She stepped up to the nearest door, and gave a summons with the knocker. This door was Barfoot's. She knew that; in the first instant of fear occasioned by the workman's approach, she had glanced at the door and reminded herself that here Mr. Barfoot dwelt, immediately beneath Bevis. But for the wild alarm due to her conscience-stricken state she could not have risked the possibility of the tenant being still at home; and yet it seemed to her that she was doing the only thing possible under the circumstances. For this woman whom she heard just above might perchance be one of Bevis's sisters, returned to London for some purpose or other, and in that case she preferred being seen at Barfoot's door to detection as she made for her lover's. Uncertainty on this point lasted but a few seconds. Dreading to look at the woman, Monica yet did so, just as she passed, and beheld the face of a perfect stranger. A young and good-looking face, however. Her mind, sufficiently tumultuous, received a new impulse of disturbance. Had this woman come forth from Bevis's fiat or from the one opposite?--for on each floor there were two dwellings. In the meantime no one answered her knock. Mr. Barfoot had gone; she breathed thankfully. Now she might venture to ascend to the next floor. But then sounded a knock from above. That, she felt convinced, was at Bevis's door, and if so her conjecture about the workman was correct. She stood waiting for certainty, as if still expecting a reply to her own signal at Mr. Barfoot's door. The mechanic looked down at her over the banisters, but of this she was unaware. The knock above was repeated. Yes, this time there could be no mistake; it was on this side of the landing--that is to say, at her lover's door. But the door did not open; thus, without going up herself, she received assurance that Bevis was not at home. He might come later. She still had an hour or two to spare. So, as if disappointed in a call at Mr. Barfoot's, she descended the stairs and issued into the street. Agitation had exhausted her, and a dazzling of her eyes threatened a recurrence of yesterday's faintness. She found a shop where refreshments were sold, and sat for half an hour over a cup of tea, trying to amuse herself with illustrated papers. The mechanic who had knocked at Bevis's door passed once or twice along the pavement, and, as long as she remained here, kept the shop within sight. At length she asked for writing materials, and penned a few lines. If on her second attempt she failed to see Bevis, she would drop this note into his letter-box. It acquainted him with the address to which he might direct letters, assured him passionately of her love, and implored him to be true to her, to send for her as soon as circumstances made it possible. Self-torment of every kind was natural to her position. Though the relief of escaping from several distinct dangers had put her mind comparatively at ease for a short time, she had now begun to suffer a fresh uneasiness with reference to the young and handsome woman who came downstairs. The fact that no one answered the workman's knock had seemed to her a sufficient proof that Bevis was not at home, and that the stranger must have come forth from the flat opposite his. But she recollected the incident which had so alarmingly disturbed her and her lover yesterday. Bevis did not then go to the door, and suppose--oh, it was folly! But suppose that woman had been with him; suppose he did not care to open to a visitor whose signal sounded only a minute or two after that person's departure? Had she not anguish enough to endure without the addition of frantic jealousy? She would not give another thought to such absurd suggestions. The woman had of course come from the dwelling opposite. Yet why might she not have been in Bevis's flat when he himself was absent? Suppose her an intimate to whom he had entrusted a latch-key. If any such connection existed, might it not help to explain Bevis's half-heartedness? To think thus was courting madness. Unable to sit still any longer, Monica left the shop, and strayed for some ten minutes about the neighbouring streets, drawing nearer and nearer to her goal. Finally she entered the building and went upstairs. On this occasion no one met her, and no one entered in her rear. She knocked at her lover's door, and stood longing, praying, that it might open. But it did not. Tears started to her eyes; she uttered a moan of bitterest disappointment, and slipped the envelope she was carrying into the letter-box. The mechanic had seen her go in, and he waited outside, a few yards away. Either she would soon reappear, or her not doing so would show that she had obtained admittance somewhere. In the latter case, this workman of much curiosity and leisure had only to lurk about the staircase until she came forth again. But this trial of patience was spared him. He found that he had simply to follow the lady back to Herne Hill. Acting on very suggestive instructions, it never occurred to the worthy man that the lady's second visit was not to the same flat as in the former instance. Monica was home again long before dinner-time. When that hour arrived her husband had not yet come; the delay, no doubt, was somehow connected with his visit to Mr. Newdick. But this went on. At nine o'clock Monica still sat alone, hungry, yet scarce conscious of hunger owing to her miseries. Widdowson had never behaved thus. Another quarter of an hour and she heard the front door open. He came to the drawing-room, where she sat waiting. 'How late you are! Are you alone?' 'Yes, alone.' 'You haven't had dinner?' 'No.' He seemed to be in rather a gloomy mood, but Monica noticed nothing that alarmed her. He was drawing nearer, his eyes on the ground. 'Have you had bad news--in the City?' 'Yes, I have.' Still he came nearer, and at length, when a yard or two away, raised his look to her face. 'Have you been out this afternoon?' She was prompted to a falsehood, but durst not utter it, so keenly was he regarding her. 'Yes, I went to see Miss Barfoot.' 'Liar!' As the word burst from his lips, he sprang at her, clutched her dress at the throat, and flung her violently upon her knees. A short cry of terror escaped her; then she was stricken dumb, with eyes starting and mouth open. It was well that he held her by the garment and not by the neck, for his hand closed with murderous convulsion, and the desire of crushing out her life was for an instant all his consciousness. 'Liar!' again burst from him. 'Day after day you have lied to me. Liar! Adultress!' 'I am not! I am not that!' She clung upon his arms and strove to raise herself. The bloodless lips, the choked voice, meant dread of him, but the distortion of her features was hatred and the will to resist. 'Not that? What is your word worth? The prostitute in the street is sooner to be believed. She has the honesty to say what she is, but you--Where were you yesterday when you were not at your sister's? Where were you this afternoon?' She had nearly struggled to her feet; he thrust her down again, crushed her backwards until her head all but touched the floor. 'Where were you? Tell the truth, or you shall never speak again!' 'Oh--help! help! He will kill me!' Her cry rang through the room. 'Call them up--let them come and look at you and hear what you are. Soon enough every one will know. Where were you this afternoon? You were watched every step of the way from here to that place where you have made yourself a base, vile, unclean creature--.' 'I am not that! Your spies have misled you.' 'Misled? Didn't you go to that man Barfoot's door and knock there? And because you were disappointed, didn't you wait about, and go there a second time?' 'What if I did? It doesn't mean what you think.' 'What? You go time after time to the private chambers of an unmarried man--a man such as that--and it means no harm?' 'I have never been there before.' 'You expect me to believe you?' Widdowson cried with savage contumely. He had just loosed his hold of her, and she was upright again before him, her eyes flashing defiance, though every muscle in her frame quivered. 'When did your lies begin? Was it when you told me you had been to hear Miss Barfoot's lecture, and never went there at all?' He aimed the charge at a venture, and her face told him that his suspicion had been grounded. 'For how many weeks, for how many months, have you been dishonouring me and yourself?' 'I am not guilty of what you believe, but I shan't try to defend myself. Thank Heaven, this is the end of everything between us! Charge me with what you like. I am going away from you, and I hope we may never meet again.' 'Yes, you are going--no doubt of that. But not before you have answered my questions. Whether with lies or not doesn't matter much. You shall give your own account of what you have been doing.' Both panting as if after some supreme effort of their physical force, they stood and looked at each other. Each to the other's eyes was incredibly transformed. Monica could not have imagined such brutal ferocity in her husband's face, and she herself had a wild recklessness in her eyes, a scorn and abhorrence in all the lines of her countenance, which made Widdowson feel as if a stranger were before him. 'I shall answer no question whatever,' Monica replied. 'All I want is to leave your house, and never see you again.' He regretted what he had done. The result of the first day's espionage being a piece of evidence so incomplete, he had hoped to command himself until more solid proof of his wife's guilt were forthcoming. But jealousy was too strong for such prudence, and the sight of Monica as she uttered her falsehood made a mere madman of him. Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts. The whole course of dishonour seemed so clear; he traced it from Monica's earliest meetings with Barfoot at Chelsea. Wavering between the impulse to cast off his wife with every circumstance of public shame, and the piteous desire to arrest her on her path of destruction, he rushed into a middle course, compatible with neither of these intentions. If at this stage he chose to tell Monica what had come to his knowledge, it should have been done with the sternest calm, with dignity capable of shaming her guilt. As it was, he had spoilt his chances in every direction. Perhaps Monica understood this; he had begun to esteem her a mistress in craft and intrigue. 'You say you were never at that man's rooms before to-day?' he asked in a lower voice. 'What I have said you must take the trouble to recollect. I shall answer no question.' Again the impulse assailed him to wring confession from her by terror. He took a step forward, the demon in his face. Monica in that moment leapt past him, and reached the door of the room before he could stop her. 'Stay where you are!' she cried, 'If your hands touch me again I shall call for help until someone comes up. I won't endure your touch!' 'Do you pretend you are innocent of any crime against me?' 'I am not what you called me. Explain everything as you like. I will explain nothing. I want only to be free from you.' She opened the door, rapidly crossed the landing, and went upstairs. Feeling it was useless to follow, Widdowson allowed the door to remain wide, and waited. Five minutes passed and Monica came down again, dressed for leaving the house. 'Where are you going?' he asked, stepping out of the room to intercept her. 'It is nothing to you. I am going away.' They subdued their voices, which might else have been audible to the servants below. 'No, that you shall not!' He stepped forward to block the head of the stairs, but again Monica was too quick for him. She fled down, and across the hall, and to the house-door. Only there, as she was arrested by the difficulty of drawing back the two latches, did Widdowson overtake her. 'Make what scandal you like, you don't leave this house.' His tones were violent rather than resolute. What could he do? If Monica persisted, what means had he of confining her to the house--short of carrying her by main force to an upper room and there locking her in? He knew that his courage would not sustain him through such a task as this. 'For scandal I care nothing,' was her reply. 'One way or another I will leave the house.' 'Where are you going?' 'To my sister's.' His hand on the door, Widdowson stood as if determined in opposition. But her will was stronger than his. Only by homicide can a man maintain his dignity in a situation of this kind; Widdowson could not kill his wife, and every moment that he stood there made him more ridiculous, more contemptible. He turned back into the hall and reached his hat. Whilst he was doing so Monica opened the door. Heavy rain was falling, but she paid no heed to it. In a moment Widdowson hastened after her, careless, he too, of the descending floods. Her way was towards the railway station, but the driver of a cab chancing to attract her notice, she accepted the man's offer, and bade him drive to Lavender Hill. On the first opportunity Widdowson took like refuge from the rain, and was driven in the same direction. He alighted not far from Mrs. Conisbee's house. That Monica had come hither he felt no doubt, but he would presently make sure of it. As it still rained he sought shelter in a public-house, where he quenched a painful thirst, and then satisfied his hunger with such primitive foods as a licensed victualler is disposed to vend. It was nearing eleven o'clock, and he had neither eaten nor drunk since luncheon. After that he walked to Mrs. Conisbee's, and knocked at the door. The landlady came. 'Will you please to tell me,' he asked 'whether Mrs. Widdowson is here?' The sly curiosity of the woman's face informed him at once that she saw something unusual in these circumstances. 'Yes, sir. Mrs. Widdowson is with her sister,' 'Thank you.' Without another word he departed. But went only a short distance, and until midnight kept Mrs. Conisbee's door in view. The rain fell, the air was raw; shelterless, and often shivering with fever, Widdowson walked the pavement with a constable's regularity. He could not but remember the many nights when he thus kept watch in Walworth Road and in Rutland Street, with jealousy, then too, burning in his heart, but also with amorous ardours, never again to be revived. A little more than twelve months ago! And he had waited, longed for marriage through half a lifetime. CHAPTER XXV THE FATE OF THE IDEAL Rhoda's week at the seashore was spoilt by uncertain weather. Only two days of abiding sunshine; for the rest, mere fitful gleams across a sky heaped with stormclouds. Over Wastdale hung a black canopy; from Scawfell came mutterings of thunder; and on the last night of the week--when Monica fled from her home in pelting rain--tempest broke upon the mountains and the sea. Wakeful until early morning, and at times watching the sky from her inland-looking window, Rhoda saw the rocky heights that frown upon Wastwater illuminated by lightning-flare of such intensity and duration that miles of distance were annihilated, and it seemed but a step to those stern crags and precipices. Sunday began with rain, but also with promise of better things; far over the sea was a broad expanse of blue, and before long the foam of the fallen tide glistened in strong, hopeful rays. Rhoda wandered about the shore towards St. Bees Head. A broad stream flowing into the sea stopped her progress before she had gone very far; the only way of crossing it was to go up on to the line of railway, which here runs along the edge of the sands. But she had little inclination to walk farther. No house, no person within sight, she sat down to gaze at the gulls fishing by the little river-mouth, their screams the only sound that blended with that of the subdued breakers. On the horizon lay a long, low shape that might have been mistaken for cloud, though it resembled land. It was the Isle of Man. In an hour or two the outline had grown much clearer; the heights and hollows were no longer doubtful. In the north became visible another remote and hilly tract; it was the coast of Scotland beyond Solway Firth. These distant objects acted as incentives to Rhoda's imagination. She heard Everard Barfoot's voice as he talked of travel--of the Orient Express. That joy of freedom he had offered her. Perhaps he was now very near her, anxious to repeat his offer. If he carried out the project suggested at their last interview, she would see him to-day or to-morrow morning--then she must make her choice. To have a day's walk with him among the mountains would be practically deciding. But for what? If she rejected his proposal of a free union, was he prepared to marry her in legal form? Yes; she had enough power over him for that. But how would it affect his thought of her? Constraining him to legal marriage, would she not lower herself in his estimation, and make the endurance of his love less probable? Barfoot was not a man to accept with genuine satisfaction even the appearance of bondage, and more likely than not his love of her depended upon the belief that in her he had found a woman capable of regarding life from his own point of view--a woman who, when she once loved, would be scornful of the formalities clung to by feeble minds. He would yield to her if she demanded forms, but afterwards--when passion had subsided--. A week had been none too long to ponder these considerations by themselves; but they were complicated with doubts of a more disturbing nature. Her mind could not free itself from the thought of Monica. That Mrs. Widdowson was not always truthful with her husband she had absolute proof; whether that supported her fear of an intimacy between Monica and Everard she was unable to determine. The grounds of suspicion seemed to her very grave; so grave, that during her first day or two in Cumberland she had all but renounced the hopes long secretly fostered. She knew herself well enough to understand how jealousy might wreck her life--even if it were only retrospective. If she married Barfoot (forms or none--that question in no way touched this other), she would demand of him a flawless faith. Her pride revolted against the thought of possessing only a share in his devotion; the moment that any faithlessness came to her knowledge she would leave him, perforce, inevitably--and what miseries were then before her! Was flawless faith possible to Everard Barfoot? His cousin would ridicule the hope of any such thing--or so Rhoda believed. A conventional woman would of course see the completest evidence of his untrustworthiness in his dislike of legal marriage; but Rhoda knew the idleness of this argument. If love did not hold him, assuredly the forms of marriage could be no restraint upon Everard; married ten times over, he would still deem himself absolutely free from any obligation save that of love. Yet how did he think of that obligation? He might hold it perfectly compatible with the indulgence of casual impulse. And this (which she suspected to be the view of every man) Rhoda had no power of tolerating. It must be all or nothing, whole faith or none whatever. * * * In the afternoon she suffered from impatient expectancy. If Barfoot came to-day--she imagined him somewhere in the neighbourhood, approaching Seascale as the time of

reviendrais

How many times the word 'reviendrais' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

peril

How many times the word 'peril' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

pipes

How many times the word 'pipes' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

brotherhood

How many times the word 'brotherhood' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

gather

How many times the word 'gather' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

ceux

How many times the word 'ceux' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

moaning

How many times the word 'moaning' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

couvrant

How many times the word 'couvrant' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

lawn

How many times the word 'lawn' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

ponder

How many times the word 'ponder' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

anabel

How many times the word 'anabel' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

viciously

How many times the word 'viciously' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

slightiy

How many times the word 'slightiy' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

french

How many times the word 'french' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

showing

How many times the word 'showing' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

disposal

How many times the word 'disposal' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

avant

How many times the word 'avant' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

sound

How many times the word 'sound' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

seeming

How many times the word 'seeming' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

oh

How many times the word 'oh' appears in the text?

- A group of men are hanging around the door to the house, smoking, chatting, and laughing. A CLOSER ANGLE REVEALS that they are all dressed in the height (or depths) of seventies disco fashion. One of them is showing off some steps. Our heroes fall back behind the safety of the wall and confer. RAJA This is bad. SHOVELER Who are they? RAJA The Disco Boys. FURIOUS The who? RAJA The most vicious gang of thugs this city ever produced. Twenty years ago they were Casanova's personal bodyguard. But after he was busted they crawled into the woodwork. FURIOUS Well they've crawled back out. SHOVELER We may be getting in over our heads here. RAJA This looks like a job for Superman-- SHOVELER Or Batman-- RAJA Or both. FURIOUS Don't you guys get it? If Captain Amazing is still in there, we can rescue him--and get on TV! (goes right over the wall) They share an exasperated look, then scramble over the wall after him. INT. CASANOVA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Casanova and Dr. Anabel Leek are preparing for bed. Anabel sits in front of a huge mirror, brushing her long hair as Casanova moves up behind her and puts his hands around her throat, massaging, squeezing, just barely resisting the temptation to strangle her. (She loves it). CASANOVA Everything's going exactly as we planned. ANABEL (puts the sharp point of her comb handle under his chin) Not quite. You haven't announced our engagement yet. CASANOVA It must have slipped my mind. ANABEL Your mind is so slippery. CASANOVA Don't worry, Pootchkie. My womanizing days are over. You're my Lady Macbeth, my Imelda... my Nicole. (pulls her into his arms) We're such an incredible team. Who could possibly stop us? (kisses her) CUT RIGHT TO: EXT. THE LAWN - CONTINUOUS - ON OUR THREE HEROES as they crunch their way non too stealthily across the backyard. RAJA Don't crunch the leaves. SHOVELER Sorry. RAJA Be a Mohican. (bumps into a lawn chair) FURIOUS Wait. (They all stop.) I hear something. They all listen; there is a low rushing sound... It is the sound of water rushing through pipes. Suddenly, the lawn sprinklers all pop up... and our heroes get drenched. They duck off the lawn, behind the cover of a large tree. RAJA I'm soaked. (sneezes) Oh great. FURIOUS Shhh. SHOVELER Be a Mohican. RAJA Shut up. Furious sees a pair of French doors, off a small patio. One of the doors is slightiy open. FURIOUS Come on. They start sneaking toward it, but as they cross the patio... they trip the automatic security lighting, and suddenly find themselves bathed in light. RAJA Uh-oh. As our heroes look around as a dozen Disco Boys, armed with pipes, chains, brass knuckles, step into the light and encircle them... The French doors open and Tony P steps out. RAJA Oh I'm sorry. We must have the wrong house. TONY P You sure do. The Disco Boys attack. The Raja is instantly clubbed down. The Shoveler deflects only a blow or two with his shovel before he goes down, too... These guys are not the Red Eyes. Only Furious holds his own. He grabs a pipe away from one of them and swings fiercely, keeping the others off. Suddenly, the Disco Boys pull back. Furious doesn't know why, until he turns and sees... Casanova, standing right behind him, smiling. CASANOVA Hi there. With a cat-like move Casanova slashes his gold chain viciously--and repeatedly--across Furious' face. Furious, stunned with pain, lunges at Casanova, who neatly steps aside, then catches him with a fast combination of spinning disco kicks. Finally he lassos the chain around Furious' neck, and pulls it tight, strangling him. ON THE DISCO BOYS, watching, snapping their fingers with admiration... Casanova releases Furious, who slumps to the ground. Casanova steps away, and the Disco Boys gather around Furious and kick him viciously... as Casanova and Tony P watch, amused, chuckling. CASANOVA Superheroes. TONY P Should I kill them? CASANOVA (completely disdainful) Why bother? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE MANSION - A MOMENT LATER The Disco Boys drag our heroes through the gate and throw them like bags of garbage into the street... where thay lie in a moaning, agonized, semi-conscious heap. INT. THE DINER - LATER - CLOSE ON Furious, rubbing his neck; a thin red mark runs around it. The three of them are sitting at their usual table, in very bad shape, moaning and groaning... Monica approaches. She's made them ice packs and cold compresses. MONICA Here you go. (sits with them, applies a compress to the Raja's head) RAJA Ow. MONICA Maybe you guys ought to forget this Superhero stuff and join Kiwanis or something. A FUSSY CUSTOMER is calling out from another table. FUSSY CUSTORER Miss! She moves off. RAJA Maybe she's right. FURIOUS (still furious) Are you serious? This is the break we've been waiting for! SHOVELER What are you talking about? FURIOUS What have the famous superheroes got that we don't? RAJA Agents? FURIOUS Archenemies! Casanova isn't just a criminal-- he's a supervillain. Stopping him could be our ticket to fame, fortune--and babes! SHOVELER And it would be the right thing to do. FURIOUS (dismissively) Yeah yeah--and that, too. RAJA But there's only three of us, and he's got the entire brotherhood of evil at his disposal. FURIOUS Then maybe it's time for us to form our own brotherhood... (more) FURIOUS (Cont'd) a brotherhood of righteous, crime fighting, skull cracking, Disco Boy bashing, warriors of the night! SHOVELER I'm liking this. FURIOUS I say we send out the word--and summon all of the unsung superheroes we know! RAJA (after a moment) Yeah, but... who do we know? They take a long moment to ponder this. FURIOUS Well... there's the Spleen. Shoveler and Raja make disgusted noises. RAJA Do we have to? SHOVELER I got this cousin. He's a real doofus, but he claims he can become invisible. FURIOUS Have you ever seen him? SHOVELER How could I see him if he's invisible? FURIOUS Good point. RAJA And there's the Sphinx. SHOVELER The who? RAJA He's a legendary masked Mexican crime fighting superwrestler and master of the machete. FURIOUS Sounds good. RAJA No one's sure that he actually exists, but they say he can be contacted by leaving a message on a crumpled up napkin at the Tacky Taco down by the bus station. SHOVELER Get outta here. EXT. TACKY TACO - DAY - ESTABLISHING A funky Mexican restaurant by the bus station. INT. THE RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Our heroes, in normal clothing, have just finished a taco lunch. Furious is writing a mssage on a napkin with a ballpoint pen. FURIOUS You sure that's how you spell it? SHOVELER Yeah. CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Spinks, we need you." They crumple up the napkin and leave the restaurant... A moment later a shy looking MEXICAN MAN busses their tray... but in A CLOSE ANGLE we see him secretly pocket the napkin. EXT. HOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISHING A little brick house. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - DAY A teenage boy's room, decorated to the max with models and posters of the great superheroes: Batman, Spiderman, Captain Amazing, etc. INVISIBLE BOY, about fifteen, is being interviewed by the Raja, Mister Furious, and the Shoveler. FURIOUS So, let me get this straight. You have the power to become invisible. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA But... only when no one is looking. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS If someone looks at you, you immediately become visible again. INVISIBLE BOY Yes. RAJA So you're only invisible... to yourself? INVISIBLE BOY No. OUR HEROES (hopefully) No? INVISIBLE BOY If I look at myseif, I become visible. RAJA So you're only invisible, when abuolutely no one is looking at you? INVISIBLE BOY Yes. FURIOUS So how do you know that you've ever been invisible? INVISIBLE BOY I just know. Our heroes are less than impressed. FURIOUS Look, kid, we've got a lot of heroes to interview-- INVISIBLE BOY (desperate) I know I haven't got it entirely worked out yet, but I've always dreamed of becoming a superhero... Weren't you guys ever a kid? Didn't you ever need someone to just give you a chance? ON OUR HEROES, looking around the room... and softening up. INT. THE DINER - NIGHT Our heroes sit at their usual table along with Invisible Boy and a weird looking guy in a greasy, stained yellow superhero outfit. Across his chest in falling off stick on letters it reads "THE SPLEEN", and that's exactly who he is. Furious, the Raja, and Shoveler sit as far away from him as possible. He is a totally noxious, hyperactive person... and he is thrilled to be there. SPLEEN Boy I can't tell you how thrilled I was when you guys called--You gonna eat that pickle? (sucks it in) I've always dreamed of being a member of the a real superhero team--and to have friends--real friends--I mean guys I could live with--sleep with--die with--eat with... He puts the mustard dispenser to his lips and squeezes it straight into his mouth. SPLEEN I love mustard. Furious, Raja, and the Shoveler react; they can't believe they've actually invited this guy to join their group. INVISIBLE BOY So what exactly is your superpower? SPLEEN Well, when I was a kid I grew up on Love Canal- -remember that?--and my brothers and I used to go swimming in it--make Kool-Aid out of it-- stuff like that. Anyway my brothers all died, but I lived, and I grew all these like weird organs that have never been seen in humans before. So now I can do things like this! He leans over the table and lets just a little tiny drop of spittle dribble onto the table... CLOSE ON THE TABLE - as the spittle burns a hole in the Formica. SPLEEN Cool, huh? The Spleen inadvertently gives the tiniest little burp, and our three heroes duck out of the way or under the table. FURIOUS, RAJA, & SHOVELER Watch it!... Look out!... Whoa! The people in the next booth give a cry of revulsion, put their hands to their mouths, and immediately leave. SPLEEN Sorry, sorry. SHOVELER Hey, why don't you just put a cork in it? SPLEEN I tried that once. The cork melted. THE SAME - AFTER DINNER Our heroes mull their situation over coffee. Monica freshens their cups. The Spleen squirts mustard in his coffee. SHOVELER There's just not enough of us. FURIOUS But we know they're out there. Hundreds--maybe thousands of lonely, unknown superheroes, who desperately need a cause... RAJA And a social life. SHOVELER Yeah, but how do we get to them? SPLEEN Obscene phone calls? They ignore that suggestion. MONICA Why don't you throw a barbecue? (moves off to another table) ON OUR HEROES, realizing that's it. INT. INVISIBLE BOY'S ROOM - NIGHT - WITH MUSIC Invisible Boy sits at the desk in his room, writing immaculate little notes on small file cards. (He's made a whole pile of them.) CLOSE ON THE NOTE - which reads "Got superpowers? Want to fight evil? Then JOIN US and let's PARTY HEARTY! Beer! Burgers! Babes!" SERIES OF SHOTS - MUSIC CONTINUES as our heroes post these notes all over the city, in places where lonely superheroes night find them... The Raja posts a note on the door of a comic book store... The Shoveler posts a note on the bulletin board at a bowling alley... Mr. Furious tapes the note to the cracked glass of a vandalized phone booth... At an abandoned drive-in movie theater... Invisible Boy walks through the empty lot, taping a note to each of the old speaker posts... A White Castle hamburger joint... Inside the pay toilet Spleen is scratching something on the wall with a nail. He stops and admires his handiwork, and we see that he has engraved the entire message on the wall... END MUSIC. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - DAY A small, typical working class backyard. A round, aluminum above ground pool. A Weber grill with burgers on it. Unopened packages of hamburger rolls. An old Vic Damon record plays on a boom box. The Spleen floats around on a rubber raft in the pool. SPLEEN Come on in! The water's great! In fact, the water is turning a yellowish green... The rest of our heroes sit around on cheap folding chairs. No superheroes have shown up. The Shoveler, at the grill, serves burgers to his kids, who stand in line waiting for them. BUTCH (heavy on the sarcasm) Great picnic, Dad. EDDIE JR. Big turnout. ROLAND Are these guys real superheroes? LENORE They think so. The kids scoff... A moment later they head back to the house with their burgers. ROLAND But where's Captain Amazing? EDDIE JR. He wouldn't be caught dead here. They go into the house. No one says anything. The Shoveler just stares at the burgers on the grill. Vic Damon sings. Furious chugs his beer; he's working himself into a really morose mood. ON THE SPLEEN, munching on a chlorine tablet. SPLEEN Hey, these pool mints are delicious! Raja looks at his watch. RAJA Maybe there was traffic. FURIOUS Who are we kidding? No one's gonna show. We're living in a fantasy! INVISIBLE BOY Come on, guys--we're fighting against evil. FURIOUS Good or evil, what's the difference? SHOVELER There's a big difference. FURIOUS I used to believe that. Now I'm not so sure. RAJA Roy, remember, it is all within your power. The only thing that's in your way... is you. FURIOUS Oh shut up. Suddenly, there is a knock at the gate. Everyone immediately perks up. INVISIBLE BOY They're here! A moment later they open the gate and see... HALF A DOZEN BURLY GUYS wearing various superhero outfits. THEIR LEADER Hey, man, is this the superhero wingding? RAJA This is it. Come on in! SUPERHEROES All right! Party! (Etc.) At first glance these guys seem promising... but their outfits are decidedly improvised: weird goggles and sunglasses, shower curtain capes, baseball caps with beer cans on them. Their leader holds a squeegee with a long handle... Furious is suspicious. RAJA I am the Blue Raja, Master of Silverware. THEIR LEADER I am Squeegee Man, and these are my compadres, the Invincible Dudes! The Invincible Dudes spot the keg. INVINCIBLE DUDES Whoa! Brews! Party! (Etc.) They go immediately to the keg and start filling beer cups and guzzling them down. The Raja tries to hand out some forms. RAJA Would you mind filling out these forms; names, addresses, description of superpowers, that sort of thing. INVINCIBLE DUDES Sure, dude. No problem. (Etc.) (but they just toss the forms away) ON FURIOUS, watching, starting to get pissed off. INVINCIBLE DUDE 1 Hey, man, like where are the babes? INVINCIBLE DUDE 2 It said on the card there'd be babes! RAJA Actually we lied about the babes, but there's plenty of burgers. INVINCIBLE DUDES That's false advertising!... We came all the way from South Champion, man! We coulda gone plinking!... We coulda gone bunqee jumping! SQUEEGEE MAN No babes. No peace. INVISIBLE DUDES (chanting) No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! No babes--no peace! SQUEEGEE MAN Let's trash the place! INVINCIBLE DUDES Yeah! Furious, fed up, confronts Squeegee Man. FURIOUS If you're a superhero, what's your power? SQUEEGEE MAN I am Squeegee Man. (holding it out threateningly) Touch my squeegee... and you die. The Invincible Dudes are cracking up. FURIOUS Can you fly? SQUEEGEE MAN No. FURIOUS Wanna bet? EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE YARD - CONTINUOUS as Squeegee Man comes flying--and screaming--over the fence, landing none too gracefully in the front yard. A beat and his squeegee come flying out after him. Another beat and the Invincible Dudes come running out the gate in a panic. INVINCIBLE DUDES Let's get out of here!... That dude's crazy! They take off down the street, running right past a woman, carrying a bowling ball bag and dressed in a faded, threadbare old rayon superhero costume with a decidedly fifties flavor. She is THE BOWLER. EXT. SHOVELER'S BACKYARD - A MOMENT LATER Our heroes sit around the patio, dejected, miserable. BOWLER (O.S.) Who died? They look up, see her standing there, and aren't quite sure what to make of her. RAJA Who are you? BOWLER I'm the Bowler. SHOVELER The Bowler? I remember him from when I was a kid. He was killed years ago. BOWLER I'm his daughter. Our heroes share a look. SHOVELER Look, honey, being a superhero... it's a guy thing. BOWLER Really? She takes her bowling ball and spins it on the tip of her finger (like a Harlem Globetrotter). For a long moment she just looks at them, smiling. ON THE OTHERS watching, almost mesmerized by the spinning ball... Suddenly, she gives an ear splitting battle cry and starts swinging the ball around her in wide ferocious arcs, like a cannibal with a war club--or a twirler on meth, going so fast she almost becomes a blur... Then, just as suddenly, she stops, aims and rolls her ball... It shoots straight through Invisible Boy's legs... ON A NEATLY PLACED COLLECTION OF PLASTER LAWN DWARVES - as the ball smashes into then, pulverizing them... It goes into a reverse spin, passes through Invisible Boy's legs again, and returns to the Bowler who is holding its bag open for it... The ball rolls in. BOWLER Good ball. ON OUR HEROES, left absolutely speechless. BOWLER If it could zip up its own bag, then you'd be impressed, right? She turns and walks out. Our heroes share an amazed look, then run after her... JUST OUTSIDE THE GATE - ON THE BOWLER walking away... as Furious catches up with her. FURIOUS Hey... Can I buy you a beer? BOWLER I thought you'd never ask. She takes his arm and they all start to walk back into the Shoveler's backyard... but the CAMERA PANS ACROSS THE STREET to the dark place between two houses, where a MAN WEARING A STRANGE STEEL MASK with a frightening, impassively powerful expression stands in the deep shadows, watching them in motionless, predatory silence. We do not know who he is, and we cannot tell if he is good or evil. BACK AT THE BARBECUE - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON A FADED OLD SNAPSHOT of the original "The Bowler" holding a little girl in his arms. BOWLER (O.S.) He was more than just a superhero... He was my father... The others, touched by this, have gathered around the Bowler, who is holding the old snapshot in her hand. BOWLER And then one day, he didn't come home. The police said it was an accident. But cargo containers don't just fall on people. He was murdered... After that I fell apart. I dropped out of school, became a mud wrestler, married and divorced a jerk. When my mother died I hit bottom... but then, when I was cleaning out her attic, I found my father's old bowling bag and costume, almost like he'd left them there for me... and I knew what I had to do. SHOVELER So who killed him? BOWLER The Disco Boys. FURIOUS You know something? Those guys are really starting TO PISS ME OFF! SHOVELER But there's still only six of us. FURIOUS SO WHAT? BOWLER That's two more than the Fantastic Four. FURIOUS Half a Dirty Dozen! SPLEEN Twice the Three Stooges! INVISIBLE BOY And only one short of the Magnificent Seven. RAJA And you can't count Horst Buckholtz anyway. BOWLER He was cute though. RAJA But they all had one thing we haven't got. SPLEEN Girlfriends? RAJA A name. All the great superhero teams have got a fabulous name. They all think about it for a moment. You can almost smell their brains overheating. BOWLER How about... the Savage Six? RAJA The Inscrutable Six? SPLEEN The Six Pistols? SHOVELER The Exterminators! INVISIBLE BOY The Obliterators! RAJA The Eradicators! BOWLER The Emasculators! SPLEEN Wait--I got it!... The Spleen Team. He gets beaned by a couple of empty soda cans. FURIOUS To hell with a name. Let's get to work. MUSIC UP as Furious stands and starts out. The others stand and follow him... as our heroes form up for their first HEROIC GROUP SHOT. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES as A LITTLE OLD LADY crosses the street, when suddenly she looks up and sees a pair of headlights coming on fast. An immaculately maintained seventies limo is heading straight for her. INSIDE THE LIMO - CONTINUOUS Disco Boys sit in the front. Casanova, Anabel, and Tony P sit in the back, dressed for a night on the town... There is a thud as the limo hits the old lady, and everyone in the car explodes into laughter. TONY P Little old lady. That's a hundred points! INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE LIMO - A FEW MINUTES LATER as the limo drives past a billboard with an ad for "MILK" with a milk mustached Captain Amazing looking at the camera... TONY P He knows your every move. Tony P imitates a massive electrical convulsion, and the villains crack up. But as they pass the billboard, a pair of headlights illuminate in its shadows, and the Shoveler's Ford Esquire pulls out and follows. INSIDE THE ESQUIRE - CONTINUOUS The Shoveler is driving. Mister Furious sits in the front seat next to him, and our other heroes are packed into the back. FURIOUS Let's say hello. INSIDE/OUTSIDE THE TWO CARS - CONTINUOUS As the limo stops at a traffic light... and the Esquire pulls up alongside it. For a moment good and evil stare each other down. TONY P Not these guys again! The Disco Boys howl with laughter. CASANOVA Nice car. The D Boys laugh. Furious stares at Casanova, and Casanova stares right back at him, as cool as a snake. FURIOUS What did you do with Captain Amazing? CASANOVA Captain who? TONY P (spots the Bowler) Hey, in the backseat, who are you supposed to be, the Bowler? BOWLER I'm his daughter. TONY P His daughter? Well guess what, sweetheart? I'm the one who squished your Daddy. And he squished real good! The villains laugh, and Mister Furious EXPLODES INTO RAGE. He swings open his car door, mashing it into the limo and leaving a big dent. TONY P HEY! FURIOUS 'SCUSE ME! He starts punching the limo like it's a punching bag--putting big dents in it. TONY Waste him! Tony and the boys all reach into their coats for their pistols--but as they yank them out, the Spleen sticks his head out of the station wagon, puts his face right up to the open window of the limo and lets loose with a TREMENDOUS BELCH... As the villains choke and gag in the noxious fumes, Mister Furious goes on a DEMOLITION RAMPAGE, working his way around the limo, punching big dents with his fists, breaking the windows with his head, flattening the tires by kicking them, knocking off the rear view mirror with the back of his hand... Then he leaps up on top of the limo... While inside the villains gasp for air as big dents are stomped into the roof above them... ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHEILD as Furious leaps down onto the hood, and gazes in at them. FURIOUS Shall I check your oil? He plunges his hand through the metal of the hood, pulls out the car's dip stick, and checks it. FURIOUS Looks fine. He tosses the dip stick away, then leaps off JUST AS Tony P gets off a shot, EXPLODING the windshield of the limo. Furious lands safely on the hood of the station wagon. As the Shoveler throws the Esquire into gear, Furious shouts... FURIOUS NICE CAR! And our heroes streak off into the night... Casanova and the others stagger out of the demolished limo, sucking in the clean air. CASANOVA (impressed by Furious) That boy's got talent. TONY P And I'm gonna nip it in the bud. ANGLE ON A DARKENED ALLEY - where the man in the strange steel mask can be seen... watching. EXT. A BAR - LATER THAT NIGHT - ESTABLISHING A very typical, nondescript neighborhood place... INSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS Our heroes stand at the bar, celebrating their first victory. SHOVELER To us! RAJA Whatever our name is. They toast and drink. THE SAME - LATER The Spleen is passed out at a table, snoring. Shoveler and Invisible Boy sit next to him. SHOVELER Even his snores smell bad. Raja and Bowler sit at the bar, deep in it. BOWLER But she's your mother. You gotta tell her. RAJA I can't. ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY INVISIBLE BOY Dad thinks all this superhero stuff is a stupid waste of time. SHOVELER But he plays golf, right? INVISIBLE BOY Yeah. BACK ON RAJA AND BOWLER - RAJA I'm her only son, and she always had such high hopes for me. Medicine. Law. BOWLER But you're a superhero. RAJA The cape. The turban. She wouldn't understand. BOWLER I know... My girlfriends all dumped me after I put on the mask. They thought I'd lost it. RAJA But in fact... you'd found it. They clink their glasses and drink. BACK ON SHOVELER AND INVISIBLE BOY - SHOVELER This is your dream... and you can't ever give it up. The Spleen makes weird noises in his sleep. INVISIBLE BOY I wonder what he dreams about? SHOVELER We don't want to know. Mr. Furious sits alone in the corner, brooding, lost in his own angry thoughts.. OUTSIDE THE BAR - CONTINUOUS A black van drives slowly past the bar. INSIDE THE VAN - CONTINUOUS The van is packed with Disco Boys. Tony P sits in the front seat. TONY P There. HIS POV - He has spotted the Ford Esquire parked in the lot. BACK IN THE BAR - A LITTLE LATER ON THE BOWLER AND RAJA - BOWLER It's late. I'm headin' home. RAJA Me, too. BOWLER (to Invisible Boy) Come on, Junior, it's a school night. JUST OUTSIDE - A MONENT LATER As our heroes, carrying the Spleen, leave. FURIOUS Anybody up for a little White Castle? But suddenly the world is a whirling sass of chains and clubs as they are bushwhacked by the Disco Boys... EXT. AN ALLEY - A LITTLE LATER - CLOSE ON FURIOUS as he comes to with a qroan and sees... the Bowler and Invisible Boy tied up and gagged, with the Raja, Shoveler, and the Spleen trussed up right next to them. Furious looks up, sees Tony P standing over him. TONY P Hi, cutie. Furious struggles, but he has been secured with some very heavy tire chains. Tony P takes out a large caliber revolver, flips it open to make sure it's loaded. TONY P Six losers. Six bullets. Perfect... Got any last words, Angry Boy? FURIOUS Disco sucks. TONY P Disco sucks. Very good. You know what I'm gonna do, Angry Boy, since you're so colorful? I'm gonna save you for last. He turns and points the pistol right at Invisible Boy's head. Furious struggles against his chains--to no avail. TONY P Sweet dreams, punk. Invisible Boy closes his eyes... Tony P cocks the pistol... But suddenly, there is the ring of steel--a broad blade sweeps through the air, and Tony P's pistol is sliced neatly in half. TONY P (holding half a pistol) HOLY... The man is the strange steel mask is standing there, the drawn machete still in his hand. MAN IN MASK Buenos naches. TONY P Get him! The Disco Boys rush the newcomer, but he slices through their baseball bats with his machete, and sends them reeling and crashing into each other with expert forearm blows, whacks with the flat of his blade, and head butts with his mask. Furious struggles to break free and join the fight, but the chains are too strong... and the stranger doesn't need any help. Tony P flicks open a big switchblade and lunges at the stranger, who sidesteps him like a matador and swings his machete at him. Tony P turns, about to charge again. MAN IN MASK (Mexican accent) Would you like me to trim the sides? TONY P What? Tony P feels the top of his head, and realizes that the blow from the machete has neatly sliced off the top his disco-do, leaving only stubble on the top of his head. TONY P (freaking out) LET'S GET OUTTA HERE! Tony and the Disco Boys run for it... Furious and the others study their masked savior, who stands before them, machete in hand. FURIOUS You're the Sphinx. SPHINX And you are a fool. He raises his machete above Furious' head... and then slices clean through the chains. EXT. AUTO DEMOLITION YARD - LATER THAT NIGHT Our heroes have gathered around a scrap wood fire in a steel drum. They sit on the ground and on old car seats, feeling like schmucks as the Sphinx chews theu out, his mask looking very friqhtening and magical in the flickering light. SPHINX You call yourselves superheroes? A rooster fights more intelligently than you! You have shown yourself to your enemy and revealed your powers to him--and what have you accouplished for this? You have destroyed his car. Brilliant! If you want to survive you must fight like a wolf pack--not like a six pack! Furious sulks, but the others get the point. SPHINX The wolf is cunning. He knows that stealth is his greatest weapon, and he always fights as a team... (more) SPHINX (Cont'd) (at Furious) Not like some drunken Tejano on Saturday night. Furious grunts. SPHINX Casanova Frankenstein is a a master of evil. You will need more than shovels and dessert forks to stop him... What else have you got? They are silent. FURIOUS (angrily) So what else has Superman got? SHOVELER He's got the fact that he's Superman! BOWLER Bullets bounce off him! Furious sulks again, feeling that the others are turning against him. RAJA Firepower

overtired

How many times the word 'overtired' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

lukich

How many times the word 'lukich' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

tenement

How many times the word 'tenement' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

gunmen

How many times the word 'gunmen' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

third

How many times the word 'third' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

music

How many times the word 'music' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

xiv

How many times the word 'xiv' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

scream

How many times the word 'scream' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

apartment

How many times the word 'apartment' appears in the text?

- GOON He steps quickly, surely into the apartment. 282 CLOSEUP - BEDROOM DOOR It flies open. The goon points his gun AT the CAMERA. 283 GUNMEN'S POV Father Tomassino, the Costa Rican priest, stands at the window, he has been trying to open it. He turns. He knows he can't escape. 284 EXT. APARTMENT - POV FROM SALVANO'S CAR The light in the apartment window blinks twice. 285 EXT. TENEMENT - STREET - NIGHT From two cars emerge the shapes of several men. 286 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Jackson's car -- with Jackson, Nico and Lukich aboard -- swings around a corner into a traffic jam. The HORN BLARES. 287 INT. TENEMENT APARTMENT - THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT A STEREO SPEAKER BLASTS MUSIC from the front room. CAMERA PANS ACROSS Bonifacia's bedroom dresser. We see mementos of her life and a photo of herself with Father Genarro with a group of children. CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN PAST Bonifacia's bed, PAST Bonifacia's body! CAMERA CONTINUES DOWN TO the floor, where lies the lady who planted the bomb. They both appear dead. 288 CLOSE - FATHER TOMASSINO He is in a chair, his wrists strapped to the chair arms. He is sweating, fearful but clinging to his courage. 289 ANOTHER ANGLE Behind Father Tomassino, we see Salvano, Chi Chi and two other goons, armed with pistols. Salvano moves toward the priest, sets a small TV table down beside him. The priest glances toward it -- 290 PRIEST'S POV - TV TABLE Atop its rickety surface: a fearsome array of syringes and drug vials. 291 BACK TO FATHER TOMASSINO He glances up from the hypodermics -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80. 292 PRIEST'S POV INTO FRAME moves Kurt Zagon! We see clearly the 15 years of * aging since SE Asia. His face is even scarier than when he performed similar atrocities in those days. Zagon prepares a syringe, tests it, shooting a clear liquid skyward. ZAGON You'll be in heaven in a few minutes, padre. But first I'm going to put you through hell. 293 EXT. CHICAGO STREET - NIGHT Nico, Lukich and Jackson are speeding through the infamous Southside. We want to scream at them to get there already. 294 BACK TO APARTMENT Salvano holds the priest's arm steady, Zagon moves in with the needle. ZAGON You came here to talk to the * Senator's aide, didn't you? * FATHER TOMASSINO I tried. But you killed him first. * ZAGON Who told you about our plans? * FATHER TOMASSINO This is from confession. I tell no one. ZAGON You wouldn't lie to me, Father? It's a sin. Father Tomassino says nothing, he begins to cry. ZAGON (almost with kindness) If you spoke to anyone, tell me now -- (indicates hypo) -- and I won't have to use this. 295 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT The unmarked police car pulls up, across the street. 296 INT. CAR - NIGHT Nico, Jackson, and Lukich gaze at the building. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 80A. 296A POV FROM CAR * In the shadows by the corner, a hulking Latino man loiters. * JACKSON (O.S.) * That's an eyeball if I ever saw one. * 296B BACK TO CAR * Nico starts to open the car door. Jackson moves to join him. * NICO You're our backup. If we come out running, then you can shoot. Nico's eyes meet his partner's. It's plain he'll break her leg if he has to, to keep her safe by the car. Jackson accepts this reluctantly. 81. 297 EXT. TENEMENT - NIGHT Nico and Lukich exit the vehicle. Nico indicates an adjacent building; he and Lukich start for it. 298 INT. APARTMENT Father Tomassino is beginning to come under the influence of Zagon's chemicals. In spite of this the priest's spirit to resist is astounding... ZAGON Speak to me, Father -- who did you tell? FATHER TOMASSINO I know what you are. I know what beasts you are. 299 EXT. ADJACENT BUILDING - ROOF OF TENEMENT Nico and Lukich emerge from the roof door, guns drawn. The roof is empty. Antennas, skylights, clotheslines. The pair creep soundlessly onto the next roof. They cross toward the roof door like infantrymen, moving one at a time from cover to cover, covering each other. They reach the door that leads down into the building. Nico checks the far side of the enclosure, nods to Lukich. Lukich cracks the roof door open -- 300 STAIRWELL FROM ROOF - NICO AND LUKICH Nico and Lukich creep down the stairs from the roof. Nico opens the door leading to the top (third) floor. 301 INT. APARTMENT The drugs have taken hold. The priest's brain is an open memory bank for Zagon to probe. ZAGON I want to know who you told. FATHER TOMASSINO (barely coherent) I told them... you make the ninos... see... castrating their fathers -- raping... mutilating their mothers ... And... (breaks down crying) ... and sometimes... to the ninos... 302 NICO'S POV - HALLWAY As he slowly pushes the door open. The hallway is empty. 303 INT. HALLWAY Nico and Lukich pad in. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 82. Quickly Lukich checks the stairs leading down. Nico crosses silently past the first apartment door, checks the far end of the hallway. Nico comes back toward the apartment door. Lukich approaches from the opposite side. They take up positions flanking the door, guns drawn. The LOUD MUSIC CONTINUES from inside. 304 INSIDE APARTMENT Salvano and Chi Chi look on, revulsed. Whatever is happening to Father Tomassino is enough to make even cruel men ill. ZAGON (O.S.) -- Tell me the truth, Father -- The priest's eyes roll grotesquely; he convulses, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks like a man in the agonies of some narcotic hell. ZAGON (close to priest) -- Can we kill him? If you told anyone, about our plans to kill the senator, we cannot do it. FATHER TOMASSINO Nadie. Nadie. Nadie. * 305 NICO AND LUKICH IN HALLWAY O.S. we hear another ELEVATED TRAIN APPROACHING outside. Nico kicks the apartment door in! He and Lukich burst in, guns clutched two-handed. 306 QUICK CUTS The first goon reacts, raises his pistol. Lukich SHOOTS him. Nico NAILS the second goon, just as Chi Chi aims his sawed- off pistol-grip shotgun at Nico. Nico has a split second to dive behind a heavy upholstered chair. Chi Chi's DOUBLE- BARREL BLAST blows the chair into powder. Almost instan- taneously Nico sees the priest -- just as Zagon slashes the priest's throat! Salvano SHOOTS Lukich point blank, in the shoulder, sending Lukich's gun sailing. Nico, FIRING, grabs Lukich, dives out the door with him -- 307 HALLWAY Zagon and Salvano OPEN FIRE from the apartment full-tilt. BULLETS RIP through the WALL, BLASTING WOOD and PLASTER everywhere. Nico shoves Lukich toward the stairwell -- NICO Go! Go! -- Simultaneously FIRING back through the kicked-in door, EMPTYING his GUN. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 83. ZAGON (in Spanish, from apartment) Get him! Finish him! Nico is slamming a fresh clip in, Lukich is stumbling away toward the stairwell. Salvano and Chi Chi appear in the apartment doorway. Chi Chi levels his fierce "hogleg" at Nico's head. At that instant -- A broadside of BULLETS slam into the wall around Chi Chi. It's Jackson -- on the stairs! Chi Chi is hit, but spins, FIRES. His shotgun blast catches Jackson square in the chest, blowing her back like a doll, down the stairwell, out of sight. Nico reacts with agony, * twists on the floor, SHOOTS Chi Chi in the face. Nico pulls the trigger as fast as he can, sending a HAIL of FIRE through the doorway, through the walls. Salvano clutches his hench- man, using his dead body as a shield; Nico's BULLETS blow Chi Chi apart. Zagon FIRES back, hits Nico in the side by the ribs! Nico tries to fire back; he's empty! ZAGON Now! Nico bolts for the stairwell to the roof, clawing for a new clip as he goes. Salvano and Zagon burst into the hallway, SHOOTING at Nico. 308 INTERCUT - ELEVATED TRAIN THUNDERING along the tracks adjacent to the building. 309 EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Nico highballs from the stairwell as the tarpaper roof erupts all around him with GUNFIRE from the floor below! He dives sideways, rolling to avoid the fire -- He recovers his footing in time to see Salvano and Zagon burst onto the roof from the stairwell. Nico's BULLETS miss them; they separate, taking cover behind two walls at the roof's margins. Nico is trapped -- in the open. 310 ZAGON AND SALVANO pop back out, aiming at Nico -- 311 NICO leaps off the roof! 312 ANGLE - ELEVATED TRAIN - MOVING Nico lands on the roof of the speeding "el" train, his momentum nearly carrying him off the far side -- 313 NICO - ATOP TRAIN catches a railing, claws at it. BULLETS rip into the train roof all around him -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 84. 314 ATOP TENEMENT ROOF - SALVANO AND ZAGON FIRE for all they're worth at Nico's receding form. 315 ATOP TRAIN - NICO crawls to the space between cars, lowers himself down. He clings to the swaying chains. 315A INT. TRAIN CAR Nico staggers through the almost empty car and collapses on a bench. 316 AROUND CORNER - TWO POLICE CARS hurtle INTO VIEW under the El, SIRENS BLARING. * 317 BACK ON TENEMENT ROOF Zagon and Salvano scramble away. 318 OMITTED CUT TO: 319 EXT. EL STATION - STAIRWAY TO STREET - NIGHT A cleaner, more upscale neighborhood. Nico labors down the steps, clutching his jacket to his ribs. Several affluent people look at him oddly, he ignores them, keeps going -- He makes his way up the street, weakening, to a tasteful brown- stone. Nico climbs the steps in pain -- QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 320 INT. JACKSON'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT Nico over the sink, shirt off, WATER RUNNING -- applying a makeshift bandage to his bloody ribs. We see Jackson's make- up stuff along the counter, feminine robes hanging on the door, law books around a reading stand. Nico is in real pain, exhausted, weakening -- 321 LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Nico at Jackson's desk, its surface spread with the notes and papers she got from Senator Harrison's aide's place. We glimpse them: photos of Central American atrocities, dead bodies, etc. He tries to study them, quickly, but his attention shifts -- Nico glances around the apartment: more law books, Jackson's degree on the wall, her rowing machine on the floor, several framed photos beside him on her desk. Nico turns several toward him. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 85. 322 INSERT - FRAMED PHOTOS Jackson with her sisters and their kids, Jackson in law class, Jackson and Nico posing, smiling, at the police shoot- ing range -- 323 BACK TO NICO He starts to cry. NICO (to Jackson's photo) -- Had to be a hero... another fucking hero. I'm sorry Jax. He reaches for a small calendar, looks at it. 324 CLOSEUP - CALENDAR Nico circles "meet with Father Tomassino." Nico circles another date, "Senator delivers foreign policy position paper/Committee for Democratic Policy fund raiser." * 325 OMITTED & 326 327 BACK TO NICO Nico scoops up the aide's papers, stands, wobbly -- NICO -- Senator... -- (of papers, with scorn) -- dumb fuck... think they're gonna let you put 'em outta business -- 327A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM CORRIDOR - NIGHT Several cops frantically clear the way to the emergency room. A gurney is wheeled down the corridor. Lukich, a shoulder bandaged, walks beside the gurney, holding the hand of Jackson. 327B CLOSEUP ON a bloody flak jacket rests upon the gurney. 327C CLOSEUP - JACKSON She's been sedated. She has buckshot wounds on her neck and shoulder, but she is alive. JACKSON (to Lukich) You call Nico's goddamn Uncle and find out if he's heard anything. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 85A. * LUKICH (wounded himself) You just shutup and take it easy, pal. 328 INT. TAXI - NIGHT CLOSEUP of Nico riding through the wet streets. 328A INT. EMERGENCY ROOM Lukich is on the phone. His shirt is off and he's being bandaged. In the background Jackson is also being cared for. LUKICH (on phone) We don't know what happened to him, Branca. Ya, she's gonna be alright. 328B INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca, a bodyguard next to him, grimly puts down the phone. He looks devastated. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 86. 329 EXT. DRIVEWAY - BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT From the darkness, Nico appears, barely making it up the driveway. We hear the sound of the CAB DRIVE OFF. 330 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Branca and a bodyguard come forward, grabbing Nico as Nico almost collapses. BRANCA Jesus Christ! NICO The motherfuckas got Jackson. BRANCA Lukich called. She's not dead. She's gonna make it. She was wearing a vest. Nico can't believe it. In spite of it all, life comes to him. A little smile... NICO That broad didn't trust me. CUT TO: 331 EXT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - POV FROM WINDOW - NIGHT We glimpse several armed bodyguards in concealed positions. A late-model Cadillac pulls up. A man carrying a doctor's bag gets out and is escorted to the side door. 332 INT. BRANCA'S SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT Rosa has pulled back the curtain from the second-floor bed- room window. She witnesses the arrival of the doctor. On the bed behind her sleep Sara and Julian. A bodyguard * stands outside the bedroom door. 333 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT The doctor tends Nico. Bloody bandages and antiseptic bottles litter a coffee table. Two guards stand by. Branca is showing Nico an 8-by-11 photograph. BRANCA It was picked up with your mail this afternoon. 334 INSERT - PHOTOGRAPH A shot of Nico's family taken from a parked car, in front of the church, the morning of the bombing. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 87. 335 BACK TO NICO AND BRANCA Nico's grim expression shows he knows just what this means. BRANCA Don't worry, they're booked on an early plane. They'll be out of the country tomorrow. Nico winces as the doctor finishes applying a bandage. In the background we hear a COMMOTION. 336 INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - NIGHT A bodyguard tries to fend off the physical and verbal assault from Sara and Rosa. Sara carries Julian. * 337 INT. BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT Sara rushes to Nico's side. Nico reaches for her, but * the pain stabs him. SARA * Oh my God, Nico! * Rosa starts forward, her face in agony at the sight of her wounded son. BRANCA He's fine. The boy has ribs of steel! ROSA (touching Nico's brow) Enough of your humor. Sara clings to Nico's arm, tears in her eyes. Rosa * crosses herself. Sara begins to weep. The doctor finishes. * There's a long awkward moment. Then: BRANCA (to doctor and bodyguards) Leave them. Leave them alone. QUICK DISSOLVE TO: 338 INT. FAMILY ROOM - LATER Rosa sits in a chair. Nico on the couch, holding Julian. Sara faces him. Tears have stained her cheeks, but she * is in control of her emotions now. * SARA -- You've got to do it, Nico. You know you have to. Whatever Sara is proposing, Nico is dead set against it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88. * ROSA Listen to her, Nicola. (dead serious) Whatever you think of him, Federico is family. He is our family. Nico makes no response. Instead, he lifts Julian, nuzzles him tenderly. NICO Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet. Sara glances to Rosa. Rosa knows what she wants. Dis- creetly Rosa rises, exits. Sara and Nico are alone. SARA If you won't go to him, I will. NICO (in pain) Don't push me like this -- Her eyes meet his -- loving, but desperate. SARA Branca can put us on a plane -- but where can we fly to? Tibet? The moon? There's nowhere they can't find us. NICO You don't know what the hell you're talking about. SARA I'm talking about everything I've learned from you in the past five years. Nico is in agony. NICO You know I can't go to him. Sara takes both his hands in hers. SARA Do you know why I love you? Do you know what it is about you that I've always loved? (as Nico fights his own emotion) Pride. It's what you have inside. You don't live the way other people live. You trust what you see as right and won't let anyone or anything make you stray from it. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88A. * MOVE IN PAST Sara TO Nico's face. SARA (O.S.) But now that pride may kill all of us. (beat) You've got to swallow that pride, Nico. Choke on it if you have to. Lay it aside. 339 ANOTHER ANGLE - NICO AND SARA Close together, with their baby between them. Sara buries her face against her husband's chest. Nico's arm goes around her. He holds her tight. CUT TO: 340 CLOSE - NICO - AGAINST WALL - DAY He wears a suit and tie, a hat. All business. MAN (O.S.) Is this the attorney? ANOTHER MAN (O.S.) You can come now, Mr. Carlucci. O.S. we hear a METALLIC sound BEGIN, VERY CLOSE -- PULL BACK TO: 341 ANOTHER ANGLE To reveal bars which slide electrically to the side. A prison door opens, letting him through. 342 ANGLE - PRISON CORRIDOR - DAY Nico, escorted by a prison guard, walks down a long, blank hallway. CUT TO: 343 NICO Waiting in a barren reception room. Several benches, tables; heavy steel mesh over windows -- 344 NICO'S POV - ACROSS ROOM A steel door opens on the far side. Out steps a small Italian man in his seventies, wearing the faded denim of an inmate. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 88B-90. 345 INT. PRISON CORRIDOR - LONG SHOT - DAY * Nico and the small man (FREDERICO LARUSSO) walk together down * a long corridor, speaking occasionally, the tension thick * between them. Behind them, a discreet fifteen paces, walk * two armed prison officials. 346 CLOSER - LARUSSO AND NICO The old man never looks directly at Nico, yet we sense keenly that he is taking the younger man's measure. FREDERICO LARUSSO I am only an old man. An old man with a cancer. The two are like an old and a young lion, appraising each other -- using all five senses and more. NICO I don't have much time, Uncle. So I must speak plainly. Larusso listens. Nico waits for a beat. Then: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 91. NICO (this is very painful for him) -- For as long as I've been old enough to think, I've hated you and hated everything you stood for. Larusso takes this in without a flicker. NICO I was so sure that you and I were on opposite sides of the fence... and that you and your people were destroying this country -- Nico pauses, glances away across the grounds. NICO -- The most painful realization of my life was that the people I worked for and you are not far apart. (meets Larusso's eyes) -- And there's not much difference between what you are and what I was. Larusso studies Nico a long moment. Then takes Nico's elbow. * * 347 OMITTED * 348 NICO AND LARUSSO continue across the grounds. FREDERICO LARUSSO I will be candid with you. I knew, probably before you did, that you would be coming to me. I knew what you would ask... and I had every intention of refusing you. He glances to Nico. FREDERICO LARUSSO But it is a form of wisdom to know when to cease relying only upon yourself. He keeps walking. FREDERICO LARUSSO You know, of course, that this Senator Harrison will never live to make his speech tomorrow. (as Nico acknowledges) You know, too, that as long as this man... this torturer -- ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92. NICO Kurt Zagon. FREDERICO LARUSSO -- As long as this Zagon lives, nothing I can do will guarantee your family's safety. (beat) 'Ecce non uomine, ecce bestie.' You know Dante? (translates) 'These are not men, these are animals.' Larusso stops, takes a small note pad from his pocket. He quickly scribbles a few lines. FREDERICO LARUSSO Memorize this address. He holds the paper for Nico to see. FREDERICO LARUSSO Have you got it in your mind? Nico nods. Larusso tears the paper into tiny shreds. * 349 INT. ADMIN BUILDING - RECEPTION ROOM - DAY The old man takes his leave of Nico with a warm, if formal handshake. The guards stand by, waiting. FREDERICO LARUSSO Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. I trust you will give my love to my niece, Rosa. NICO I will do that, Mr. Larusso. (sincerely) I hope you will be well. 350 LARUSSO nods: "Bene." Then: without a word he turns and exits back through the steel door. CUT TO: 351 INT. O'HARE AIRPORT - BOARDING GATE - DAY Passengers file aboard a flight to Toronto. Hugs, goodbyes. Rosa, carrying the baby, is among the crowd moving toward the boarding door. Leaving with them are two of Branca's men. We PICK OUT Branca and two of his bodyguards near the fringes, looking inobtrusive but definitely on guard. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/29/87 92A/93. 352 CORNER NEAR BRANCA Hidden by a bank of phones, Sara clings to Nico, holding * him as tight as she can. When she releases him, we can't hear what she says, but it seems like, "Be careful, please be careful." Nico glances to Branca, who motions subtly to hurry. He squeezes Sara's hand, she joins the crowd swelling * toward the boarding door -- CUT TO: 353 EXT. O'HARE - RUNWAY - DAY (STOCK) * An Air Canada PLANE BLASTS skyward. 354 NICO AND BRANCA watch from an open corner of a parking lot. As the plane begins its bank to gain altitude, Branca turns to Nico. The two bodybuards keep a discreet watch nearby. BRANCA You got the architect's drawings? Wiring, floor plans -- Nico indicates a briefcase he is carrying. NICO It's all here. Nico turns to his uncle. Regards him with affection. BRANCA I could help you from here on. NICO It's not your business. Nico embraces his uncle by both shoulders. NICO Grazie, tio caro. Branca pats Nico's cheek. BRANCA Take care of yourself, Nicola. CUT TO: 355 SERIES OF SHOTS SEVERAL SHOTS of high-rise cityscapes at night. DISSOLVE TO: ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 94. 356 OMITTED * thru * 360 * 361 TELESCOPE POV - CHICAGO SKYLINE - NIGHT CAMERA PANS TO the apartment complex across the plaza. FOCUS ON one suite on the topmost floor. Curtains are drawn on all windows, but through one crack we glimpse a man pacing. The man wears a white shirt and a shoulder holster. 362 RAISE TELESCOPE POV TO the roof of the apartment complex. We see a heli-pad. Two more men, also in suits -- smoking, talking. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 95. 363 LOWER TELESCOPE POV BACK TO the apartment suite. Now another man crosses before the gap in the curtains. Wearing a cowboy hat: Zagon! He's laughing, pouring himself a drink at the wet bar -- 364 EXT. ROOFTOP SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT * Nico, looking through a high-tech night telescope. His * briefcase is by his feet, open. Several architect's * drawings, floor plans visible. 365 NICO lifts his eye from the scope, jots a note on a pocket pad. * VOICE (O.S.) Not even you can hit him at this range, Nico. O.S. behind Nico: the unmistakable sound of a .45 SAFETY being CLICKED OFF. Nico freezes, his back to the voice. He raises his hands. NICO That wasn't the plan, Nelson. 366 NELSON FOX covers Nico from behind with a silencer-fitted .45. He glances to the briefcase and building plans, on the floor. FOX Close range, huh? Never work. Place is rigged, scanned every 35 seconds. NICO (back still turned) I was thinking of a mine on the roof. Remote-triggered, when the chopper comes in. FOX Roof's wired too. Sensors every fifteen feet. Fox's finger rests ready on the trigger. FOX You can turn now. Slowly. Slooowly... Nico turns. We see Fox clearly now. His boyish features have weathered since his "spook" days in Vietnam. There is grey in his hair now: he wears an expensive suit and is alone. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96. FOX I figured you'd do your recon from this building. Nico regards his old mate across the gun barrel. NICO You're looking fit, Nelson. FOX Getting a bit of a tire. NICO (indicates Fox's suit) Your own tailor? FOX Hong Kong. NICO You've gone a long way. Fox motions for Nico to dump his gun; Nico complies, dropping it gently into the briefcase. Nico takes half a step toward Fox. Fox shakes his head in warning. FOX Uh uh. Uhhh-uh... (motions Nico back) I know what you can do when you get too close to a man. 367 CLOSEUP - NICO * NICO * I don't believe you, Fox. * 367A INT. BUILDING CORRIDOR - NIGHT * Nico walks, hands behind his head. Fox is catty-corner be- * hind him, carrying the briefcase, .45 leveled at Nico's back. * FOX -- What's so hard to believe. I want to help you, you dumb guinea! NICO Fox the fixer. FOX If I wanted to cap you, I'd have saved myself this chit-chat. Make big points for me to bring in your scalp. I'd be White House material. NICO Is that what Zagon is? One of your basement boys? ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 96A. FOX Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 97. * NICO Bought with what -- opium from Cambodia? FOX And a ton a week of coke from other places. NICO Which he funnels here through Salvano. With the Company getting its cut. FOX Legal tender. NICO Still dodging appropriations committees, eh, Nelson? FOX That's my job, Nico. They arrive at an elevator. FOX Keep your nose in the corner. When we get out, stay five paces ahead of me. Cross down to the garage. 367B INT. LOWER CORRIDOR Nico and Fox emerge from the elevator. Nico lowers his hands from behind his head. Fox keeps his gun out of sight as he and Nico step past. 368 ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT Fox maintains a slight distance behind Nico as they cross to- ward some escalators under a sign: "TO PARKING LEVEL 8." NICO The Senator couldn't be bought, could he? He was gonna blow the lid off, so you cleared Zagon to frost him -- FOX Keep walking. 369 INT. PARKING STRUCTURE They reach a corner and turn. 97A. NICO But the priest found out somehow and ran here. You couldn't do the Senator's number 'till you knew if the priest had talked. So Zagon flew in with his little medical bag. Only by then I was in on it -- and you thought I might recognize his handiwork. ABOVE THE LAW - Rev. 4/17/87 98. 370 PARKING GARAGE - VALET STATION * Several guests and diners wait by the cashier's booth for their cars to be fetched. Valets hustle with tickets. Fox and Nico come off the escalator. FOX If your name was Joe Smith I never would have caught it. But how many Nicola Toscani's are there? NICO You got it off the arrest sheet. Fox hands his ticket to the cashier, motions Nico to the side, away from the guests, still keeping his distance -- should Nico try to make a move. FOX I tried to warn you, old buddy. I knew you had wiretaps. and I knew you wouldn't let 'em go. NICO Only I was too dumb to crack it. I was so busy trying to figure a code, I didn't even recognize Zagon's voice. It's all crystal clear to Nico now. NICO So we kill our own senators now. FOX Why not? The Romans did. A Cadillac pulls up; the valet hops out, two particularly florid, well-fed guests get in, tipping the valet. NICO (to Fox, watching the guests) Are we the Romans? FOX We're an empire too. Fox doesn't like the look Nico gives him. FOX Would you rather spoon borscht and quote Lenin? (losing patience) I'm trying to save you, asshole! I got a spot for you. Thailand, deep under, no names, no numbers -- 99. NICO Doing what -- processing heroin? FOX You 'consult.' You 'assist.' You send checks to your family. Zagon won't touch you, you'll be on the team -- NICO Fuck you. FOX In five years you're out, with a fat Swiss account and a GS-15 pension. Nico stares at his old friend with contempt. He sees the gun under Fox's coat, but he's too tired and too disgusted to care -- NICO You know, Fox, right now in Israel they're trying some 80-year-old camp guard for war crimes. And all around our country there are guys on Death Row for killing one person, two people. And probably they all deserve it -- He takes a step toward Fox. Fox's hand tightens on his gun. NICO (emotion rising) -- but you and I know a couple guys personally who are responsible for the murder of at least what... 60,000 non- military personnel. (ticks off the beats) Viet. Lao. Thai. Cambodian. Librarians, teachers, doctors... women, children... and that's just a sliver of it. Fox tries to maintain a hard

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- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

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- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

old

How many times the word 'old' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

hospital

How many times the word 'hospital' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

noah

How many times the word 'noah' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

ward

How many times the word 'ward' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

tide

How many times the word 'tide' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

shared

How many times the word 'shared' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

sursaute

How many times the word 'sursaute' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

seat

How many times the word 'seat' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

instantan

How many times the word 'instantan' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

napol

How many times the word 'napol' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

bois

How many times the word 'bois' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

admitting

How many times the word 'admitting' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

echo

How many times the word 'echo' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

sun

How many times the word 'sun' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

desiccated

How many times the word 'desiccated' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

suppose

How many times the word 'suppose' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

demander

How many times the word 'demander' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

strikes

How many times the word 'strikes' appears in the text?

- LISA SLEEPING IN RUMPLED BED She is alone, reaches out for Neville. Sun strikes bed. She opens eyes, squints with more than normal reaction to sun. MED. SHOT - LISA GOING TO DRAW DRAPES She walks rapidly to balcony, draws blinds. She is nude. She rubs her eyes, looks at her hands. Stands in shadow, worried expression on her face. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE AT OTHER END OF APT. He is COMING THROUGH door to Richies room. Neville does not see Lisa at first. He stands scratching head, considering how to proceed with Richie, walks over to laboratory facilities. LISA (O.S.) How is he...? Neville does not glance up, is still studying. NEVILLE Stable. No loss of pigment since yesterday, vital signs steady. He's comfortable. He looks up, sees Lisa, smiles. NEVILLE Im sorry. I was thinking. It is been a long time since I had anyone to take care of... CLOSE SHOT - LISA She stands in the shadow, smiles. LISA You haven't lost your touch. You take very good care. MED, SHOT - NEVILLE CAMERA PANS as Neville walks over, CLOSE SHOT as he kisses her lightly. They exchange amused looks. NEVILLE Well, let's get on with it. LISA What? NEVILLE We take a ride. I need some things for the serum. Want to come...? LISA Richie...? NEVILLE Hell sleep for three or four hours. Well be back. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA IN DRUGSTORE They are taking things from shelves. CLOSE - LISA STANDING before shelf, labeled PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPLIES. She reaches up, takes down a bottle of pills, tosses it from hand to hand, grins at Neville. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION He returns the grin. TWO-SHOT Lisa tosses the bottle away. They walk from the drugstore hand in hand, Neville carrying a sack of supplies. MED. LONG SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA IN CAR pulling up in front of a hospital. It is surrounded by cars, an ambulance has crashed on the emergency ramp. The scene should take into account the awful final days of the plague, and how it must have been at the hospitals. CLOSE TWO-SHOT - IN CAR NEVILLE Why dont you wait for me? There's no use your going in... LISA Save it. You might need some help carrying things. SERIES OF SHOTS - INT. HOSPITAL These should be SHOCK SCENES recalling the actual dimensions of the city's final agony. Neville carries his sten gun, remains impassive as they walk. Lisa reacts to horrors despite her toughness. MED. SHOT - CORRIDOR corpses scattered-here and there. Some on stretchers, some on floors. CLOSE SHOT - LISAS REACTION LONG SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE walking through ward. PAN SHOT - BEDS IN WARD. In each bed there is a corpse, desiccated, skeletal, some are lying, some sitting up. One is half out of bed. The horror is moderated by the darkness and shadows of the ward. There may be an ECHO in this SHOT of PAN SHOT on FAMILY when Zachary is killed. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE AND LISA Lisa looks straight ahead now. Neville, sten gun in right hand, keeps on lookout for Family members. MED. SHOT - NURSES STATION The dead nurses, desiccated, uniforms rotted, sit in various postures as death caught them. CLOSE - LISA HOLDING ONTO NEVILLE'S ARM MED. SHOT -- INT. OF LAB it is light because of windows when Neville raises blinds. He looks around, spots a small centrifuge. NEVILLE Thats it. I wonder if theres anything else. Lisa stands staring blankly at a calendar, March 1975. LISA If there is, think about it. I dont want to come back again. Neville looks up with a small patronizing smile. NEVILLE It gets to you, does it? LISA I'm just fine, buddy. It would get to anybody who can feel... NEVILLE Look: it's over with. Make believe the dead are happy. CLOSE - NEVILLE He has centrifuge, spots a white lab coat hanging on a clothes tree. Takes it down, looks at it, bundles it up and sticks it into centrifuge. NEVILLE Come on. Let's go play doctor. LISA I never learned that kind of make-believe. I just keep wondering, why me? Why did I live...? NEVILLE Because you were young, strong and resistant. Thank your genes. LISA (bitter laugh) That's the first thing I ever did have to thank them for. MED. TWO-SHOT - INT. APT. - NEVILLE ON COT He lies with blood device in his arm. Lisa holds bulb to draw blood. NEVILLE Just squeeze it gently. Keep squeezing Till the bottle's full. LISA (uneasily) Will one bottle ... be enough? CAMERA PANS SLOWLY, SETTLING ON CLOSE SHOT OF PLASMA BOTTLE on left side of FRAME. It is empty. Neville and Lisa in B.G. Neville, Lisa in FOCUS. NEVILLE Its 160 proof Old Anglo-Saxon. One drop will ... LISA (trying to hide her queasiness) Corrode your mind, send you running for the front of the bus... NEVILLE (LAUGHS) Well ... there arent any busses anymore. Go on. Start. As he says last line, she begins. FOCUS CHANGES INSTANTLY TO BOTTLE. Blood gushes up, begins to fill the bottle. CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD IN CENTRIFUGE Centrifuge is turned on and begins to spin. NEVILLE (O.S.) I was a very peculiar doctor those last years... CLOSE SHOT WINE POURING INTO GLASS NEVILLE (O.S.) I looked for ways of treating diseases that hadnt existed... MED. TWO-SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE drinking wine over sandwiches on-work table. NEVILLE ...until other doctors invented them. LISA It was a peculiar world, wasn't it? NEVILLE It was what we made of it. Everybody helped. LISA They paid for it. CLOSE - NEVILLE Examining Richie. Finishes examination begins drawing blood with large syringe. NEVILLE But the last irony is Matthias. Look who gets left behind to play Noah after the flood. LISA Noah is up for grabs, Robert. Matthias is only a contender. CLOSE TWO - NEVILLE LOOKING UP NEVILLE UM...? Lisa smiles at him. CAMERA MOVES OUT to show Richie coming around. He looks up, suddenly terrified as he sees Neville. RICHIE (weakly) Hey... LISA Easy, baby. Its all right... RICHIE Where are we? Did they get us...? LISA Nobodys got us, Richie. You remember that place where there was light? The place where the creeps all came at night trying to bring it down? RICHIE Yeah, sure... LISA This is it. This is Neville. He's ...the landlord, I guess. (slyly) Richie eases back, somewhat reassured. RICHIE How sick is he? Lisa smiles sardonically at Neville. LISA He isnt hardly sick at all, honey. Maybe just a little spooked once in a while. He's going to get you well. RICHIE Well, hell. You know there aint no way... NEVILLE I'm going to try. What have you got-to loose? Richie smiles up at him. RICHIE Nothin' man. Not a thing. You go it, hear? LISA He will, baby. He will. VERY CLOSE SHOT - MICROSCOPIC SLIDE on the slide we SEE CELLS being attached and destroyed by other cells. NEVILLE (O.S.) I dont know how much it will take. Ill draw blood as often as I can. Well just have to keep pumping it to him. LISA (O S.) (tired) How long do you think it will take? NEVILLE (O.S.) How do I know? Maybe it wont work at all... Who do you think I am, Louis Pasteur? VERY CLOSE SHOT - LISAS FACE WE NOTICE that she is a little lighter than in past scenes. Streaking in her hair should now be somewhat noticeable. LISA But its a chance... MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE He looks up from microscope. NEVILLE Yeah, and it ought to be your chance. You need this stuff, too. TWO-SHOT LISA Not as bad as he does. And anyhow, he's my brother... Neville studies her a moment. NEVILLE That's why he is getting it first. (beat) And if it works, you understand what that should mean, don't you? Lisa looks puzzled. LISA What? NEVILLE Hell be the source of more antibodies. The more people we can inject, the more we'll have serum for...the others. And when thats done, we'll pull out. We'll take what we need, and head for the mountains and the valleys ... think of what's out there... MED. SHOT - LISA She is listening, but her expression shows that she is preoccupied with other thoughts. Neville has left workbench and walks across apartment. Lisa walks with him. They stop near liquor cabinet. NEVILLE (O.S.) A whole world. Vines, fields that will grow anything we want to plant. Streams full of fish again. Stands of timber... LISA You sound almost... NEVILLE Almost what? LISA Almost glad that it ... happened. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO TWO SHOT Neville pours a drink, mixes one for Lisa. He looks up coldly, almost angrily. NEVILLE I'm not glad, but Im not moaning, either. I told them in Biowar, you people are crazy. This kind of research... (breaks off) ...Ah, why do you think I was a colonel instead of a lieutenant general? LISA Now they know. NEVILLE No, they dont know a goddamned thing. They're dead. We know. (beat) Forget it. Its not worth our time. He takes off lab coat, climbs into coveralls, gets sten gun, belt with flashlight, grenades, etc. He cocks sten gun, checks pouch for ammo, checks flashlight. CLOSE - LISA LISA Where are you 'going? Dont you need some rest? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE This is the way I rest...Ill be back before sundown. Dont worry. LISA Robert... NEVILLE Later... CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE WAVING FROM ELEVATOR - LISA'S POV REVERSE SHOT - LISA She looks sad, subdued tears in her eyes. EXT. PLAZA - DAY empty and the fountain splashes untended. We SEE a small FIGURE on a bicycle pedaling across the far side of the open space. It is the child we met in the house with Al and Richie and the Others. She conceals her bicycle at the edge of the plaza and scurries fearfully across the open space to the fountain. On the edge of its lowest basin, she lays out a pitiful array of flowers and an apple or two from a paper shopping bag she carries. She crouches, kneeling with her hands clasped, hardly daring to look up at Neville's tower. GIRL Please...I brought you this stuff. Don't let them take me either, and put me in a bag. Please. She HEARS the SOUND of an ENGINE roaring closer and races terror-struck, for her bicycle. As she DISAPPEARS, Neville's car crosses the plaza at speed, slowing only enough for the garage doors to open and ENTER. The girl's offering lies unheeded on the fountain. VERY CLOSE HAND WITH HYPODERMIC NEEDLE CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE is injecting Richie with serum. The boy is unconscious, mumbling deliribusly. RICHIE ...got to move fast, keep on moving. That Matthias, he wants you. All the cops want' I you. They gonna get you, boy, they gonna make you come over, you hear? This dialogue in background while Neville and Lisa (who is O.S. in dressing room) talk. CAMERA PULLS OUT.TO MED. SHOT. INTERCUT CLOSE SHOT - LISA, looking in mirror at a streak of silver in her hair. LISA What do you think...? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE NEVILLE I don't. We'll have to see. CLOSE - LISA she uses mascara to cover the light streak in her hair. Stares at herself in mirror. LISA He's all the brother Ive got, all the family...in this world. NEVILLE Don't sweat. This is his best chance. MED. SHOT - NEVILLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. NEVILLE If there were time, I'd have trapped one of Matthias' things and tried the serum on it. Lisa bristles at this. LISA What do you mean "things Arent they human, too? NEVILLE Yeah ... I guess you could call them that. How many are there? Forty? ... Fifty? The last of those four billion steamy bodies that were crawling around last time somebody took a count. They were a dandy bunch weren't they? LISA They did the best they could. Who the hell are you to put down the human race? NEVILLE Me? I'm nobody, baby ... but at least I know it. I was just part of the crowd, and I didn't think much of it. LISA Well I do! They made the world...that's what it was all about. NEVILLE No, honey...they RUINED it ... we're living in what they made of it, and God help us. Pretty soon those sick animals out there'll be gone, and then we will be too and all that'll be left is this (points to his collection of cultural artifacts) That one Rembrandt's worth more than everyone left alive in this stinking city! Maybe in a hundred years or so Godll get around to kicking through the ashes down here and read Shakespeare and say, "Well ... maybe it was worth it." LISA I've heard that kind of talk before, you uppity, honky pig...and I HATE IT! NEVILLE Ohhh, lovely! Yeah ... I've heard THAT kind of talk before, too, and that got everybody a hell of a long way, didn't it? There're just about enough of us here to go through all that again, right? (more) NEVILLE (CONTID) You can found a Panther cell, and I can start up a White Citizens Council! Or shall I be the SDS and you can be the whole damn Harvard faculty?! Too bad we don't have enough folks around to do the United Nations over, isn't it! CLOSE - LISA She is boiling, but holds her control. She speaks quietly, matter-of-factly. LISA Neville, you are a bastard. A class-A bastard. MED. SHOT - LISA WALKING TOWARD DOOR NEVILLE (O.S.) Where are you headed? Lisa stops, turns. LISA I know it doesn't mean much to you, but it happens this is an anniversary. Two years ago today, all those no-good people you just wrote off, died in this town. I've got a mother and father Richie and I buried with our own hands out there, after the Army stopped burning the bodies. Id like to go visit them, if it's all right with you! Neville studies her for a long moment. NEVILLE Sure, it's all right. He tosses her something below CAMERA RANGE as he speaks. NEVILLE Take this with you. CLOSE - LISA catches a sten gun, stands holding it, looks down at it, back up toward Neville. FADE OUT FADE IN: CLOSE - LISA WALKING rapidly, purposefully. SHOT IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO MED. SHOT. She is walking along a path with grass grown up on both sides. CAMERA PULLS OUT TO LONG SHOT, DOWN ANGLE. WE SEE now that she is walking in a cemetery. The graves are overgrown, some of the stones fallen. The place is in general disrepair. MED. SHOT - LISA AND GRAVE She pushes aside some tall weeds and stands before a place relatively cleared, where someone has put gravel to keep down the weeds and has carefully outlined a large grave-site with coke and seven-up bottles by burying them in the ground neckdown. There is a faded plaque of wood, probably the bottom of an orange-crate or something more substantial. On it are the names and dates of her parents: Richard and Lorena McNally Born, Montgomery, Alabama Died, Los Angeles, California 1977 In front of the marker are a couple of tin coffee cans with the remains of long-wilted flowers in them. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE She stands for a moment, silent, near tears. Then she speaks in a low, almost conversational tone. LISA Listen, I know I don't come like I should. But it's hard times, momma, daddy. You never knew what hard times was. You only thought you did. Suddenly, above her monologue, she HEARS a SOUND. A SOB. It .is not the sound of an animal, but a human sound, She whirls, a copy of Neville, the sten gun she is carrying ready to fire. She cocks it as she turns, and her face is hard. She sees nothing. MED. LONG SHOT - CRYPT LISAS POV Perhaps some thirty meters away through the weeds and grass, she sees a crypt. It, too, is overgrown with moss, ivy, and has not been cared for. CLOSE - LISA She slowly approaches crypt, gun ready, a little on edge, curious. VOICE (O.S.) Oh, God ... oh... Lisa stops as she HEARS this MOAN, then moves cautiously around to front of crypt. The door is ajar slightly. Again, like Neville, after a pause, she kicks door OPEN, jumps past it, glancing inside. MED. SHOT - LISA - FROM WITHIN CRYPT Lisa is outlined against the bright summer sky, her shadow long, only her silhouette visible. She stands looking inside. her gun ready. VERY CLOSE LISAS FACE Her expression is one of astonishment, utter sorrow. MED. SHOT - WOMAN KNEELING IN CRYPT LISAS POV The woman, a hood over her head and shoulders like a shawl, kneels beside a tiny body laid out on rags. Her fingers touch its leg or arm. She faces the body as SHOT OPENS. Then she turns very slowly to her left, looks up at Lisa from the deep shadows. MED. CLOSE - WOMANIS FACE - SLIGHT DOWN ANGLE Her face is dead white, white hair straggled around it. Her eyes are the blank white of all Matthias' people. And there are tears running down her cheeks. In B.G. but clearly visible, WE SEE THE FACE of the dead child, its eyes, too, are white, blank. It is obviously a newborn infant. MED. CLOSE REVERSE SHOT - LISA - SLIGHT UP ANGLE The gun falls to her side. She stands for a moment watching the woman. LISA I'm ... sorry... MED. SHOT - LISA She turns and RUNS AWAY from the crypt, back the way she has come. LONG SHOT DOWN ANGLE LISA RUNNING THROUGH CEMETERY CLOSE SHOT FOUNTAIN EXT. NEVILLE'S APT. - UP ANGLE It is late afternoon. The fountain bubbles, its water spewing into the air and cascading down From one level to another, over the sides and into the bottom pool. CAMERA PULLS BACK, drawing Neville INTO FRAME, showing SHOT was NEVILLE'S POV. SHOT IS OF NEVILLE from BEHIND. REVERSE SHOT - NEVILLE Arms folded, he stands watching fountain splash. He enjoys watching it. SOUND OF CAR approaching in near distance. MED. SHOT - LISA IN CAR THE SHOT IS PAST NEVILLE IN F.G. Lisa pulls UP, parks the car, and gets out slowly, carrying her gun listlessly. She is absorbed in thought, stops a little behind Neville on the far side of fountain. She wears sunglasses and a scarf though it is not bright. Her hair has a few subtle streaks in it and her skin has lightened also. Neville has glanced at the car as it arrived, is now turned back to fountain. NEVILLE It's an illusion, you know. It looks like a tapped spring, but theres nothing new ... the same water coming up over and over again... Lisa says nothing. NEVILLE He's better. His skins a little darker; I cant tell about his eyes yet. MED. SHOT - ANOTHER ANGLE Lisa is restless. She walks around fountain, looks through at Neville from the far side. LISA He's got eyes like his momma, big and soft. Melting brown. I'll know when they're right. She always said held give the girls hell. And he would...if there were any girls. CLOSE - NEVILLES PROFILE - LISA IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS He is looking past fountain. NEVILLE Did you find ... your people? HOLD SHOT - Lisa in FOCUS, not looking at Neville. LISA Yes. Right where we put them down. We talked a while. (beat) And then something happened. HOLD SHOT FOCUS on Neville again. He glances through fountain at Lisa. NEVILLE Oh...? MED. SHOT - LISA - NEVILLE IN B.G. OUT OF FOCUS FAR SIDE OF FOUNTAIN Lisa walks slowly back and forth, not looking at Neville, profile to us. LISA A couple of Matthias' people were out there... HOLD SHOT Neville in FOCUS, looking at Lisa, interested. NEVILLE Did you take care of them? REVERSE SHOT - LISA THROUGH FOUNTAIN NEVILLES POV Lisa turns to fade him now, angrily. LISA NO. I did not. I didnt do a goddamned thing but look and choke and run. MED. CLOSE - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN - LISAS POV He looks puzzled at her angry response. As she continues, his expression changes to one of compassion. LISA (O.S.) Because one of them was a dead baby Stillborn, like all of them. And the other one was its mother. And because I don't go around shooting mothers and babies Anyhow... CLOSE SHOT - LISA LISA, ...and because In nine months I could be on my knees right where she was... VERY CLOSE ZOOM SHOT - NEVILLE THROUGH FOUNTAIN His reaction to Lisa's announcement of possible pregnancy. NEVILLE What are you talking about? CLOSE SHOT - LISA - SITTING ON EDGE OF FOUNTAIN She is turned away from Neville, looking INTO CANERA, still angry. LISA Well, now, man, Im not sure. I mean, I missed my appointment with the obstetrician and he was out of rabbits anyhow. But I was sick as a hound dog this morning and right now I feel like Ive been eating weeds. CLOSE NEVILLE'S REACTION NEVILLE Well I'll be damned... CLOSE - LISA turns toward him. LISA That is a damn good bet. LONG TWO-SHOT - DOWN ANGLE Neville walks around fountain to join Lisa. She turns, looks up at him, rises. They embrace, kiss, walk toward garage entrance together. VERY CLOSE SHOT - PENLIGHT BEAM, DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA FRAME is FILLED with LIGHT. It moves a little back and forth. NEVILLE (O.S.) Does that hurt...? RICHIE (O.S.) A little ... yeah, it hurts. How about off man? MED. GROUP SHOT - NEVILLE, LISA. RICHIE IS IN BED Richie's color is now clearly returning. His hair is perhaps dark blond, light tan. Lisa is smiling. So is Neville. NEVILLE A week ago, that much light would have driven you crazy. Richie LAUGHS, snaps his fingers. He is a tough young man, not easily impressed, but his recovery has made him demonstrative. RICHIE (sings) ...I'm beginning to see the light... NEVILLE (to Lisa) Hes doing fine. We can move him any-time now. (to Richie) Get some rest. Youre going to need it. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NMLLE WALKING INTO MAIN APT. LISA Move him...? NEVILLE Sure. I'll have another batch of the serum ready in a few hours, and that's It. We'll load up the Land Rover in the garage, meet Dutch and the others and head out. How about the Sierras? Maybe Washington...it doesn't matter. CLOSE SHOT - LISA who smiles with delight at the news. MED. TWO SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE Neville goes to his laboratory workbench. Lisa calls back to Richie. CAMERA STAYS ON LISA. LISA What you want to eat, honey? RICHIE (O.S.) Gimme some more of that great chicken soup...Ugh! Lisa LAUGHS, goes to cabinet for soup, takes it to stove. LISA (to Richie) Listen, you feel like coming out here to eat it? RICHIE (O.S.) Sure. You better ask the man, though. LISA Hey... CAMERA PANS TO NEVILIE, grinning. NEVILLE All right. Put on that robe I brought you. And walk easy. You may feel a little giddy. Lisa WALKS INTO FRAME, kisses Neville. LISA He's been giddy for 18 years. Lisa has a gun, wears her sunglasses and a shoulder purse. NEVILLE What are you up to? LISA You say we're going to leave. I'm going to hit the stores. What I pick up today, youre going to be seeing for a long time. Neville pauses in his work, looks concerned. NEVILLE Why don't you skip it. In those stores, some of them... LISA (laughing) The most dangerous thing I ever came across in those stores was ... you. (seriously) Look, I got my gun. MED. SHOT - LISA AND NEVILLE - ANOTHER ANGLE Neville shrugs, half-smiling. NEVILLE Watch yourself. Stay on the round floors, close to the doors in the light...and if you see anything, shoot. LISA (impatiently) Sure. And honey... Neville glances up questioningly. LISA Can I have your credit cards...? CAMERA FOLLOWS LISA INTO ELEVATOR. On the way down, she takes off her glasses. Her expression is one of fatigue. Under her scarf, the streak In her hair is mach more evident. Her complexion seems lighter than before. LONG SHOT - LISA DRIVING DOWN EMPTY STREET MED. CLOSE - LISA IN CAR MED. LONG - LISA WALKING ALONG STREET She pauses to look In the windows of various shops Doors are frequently open, window displays fallen down, Cars parked along street are rusted, flat tires, etc. In one or two cars, one can SEE a hint of a decayed CORPSE. CLOSE - RICHIE EATING SOUP dressed In Neville's robe, many sizes too large for him. He eats slowly, reflectively. In B.G., Neville is preparing to draw more blood. RICHIE Is that going to be for me...? NEVILLE No, you dont need any more. This Is for Lisa. She has to get it before... RICHIE Before she goes bad like I did. Lemme ask you something. Would that stuff work on say Matthias? MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIE BESIDE IT Richie helps Neville, draw blood. Pint bottle on table. NEVILLE It might. There's no way to tell for sure. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE RICHIE There's one way... MED. SHOT - NEVILLE ON BED, RICHIES POINT OF VIEW NEVILLE Forget It. Weve got...what? Six, eight kids to look after including Dutch. I can't use any more of my blood till we're clear of this place and I can afford the weakness... CLOSE - RICHIE RICHIE How about mine? CLOSE - NEVILLE NEVILLE Later. In a month...if your blood count is good, if you gain weight...but not soon. TWO SHOT - NEVILLE AND RICHIE Neville pulls needle. Bottle is full. He wipes arm with cotton, stands up, stretches. RICHIE That's not all of it, Chief. If there was a cow that gave two quarts of that serum a day, you still wouldnt (beat) ... go to Matthias, As he says the last part of speech, it is clear that Richie is formulating for the first time what he thinks should be done, MED. LONG TWO SHOT - ON ROOF There Is a kind of pillbox on the roof formed of sandbags. Topside is mounted a light machine gun aimed toward the roof access way. Neville is sitting on sandbags, Richie standing. NEVILLE Okay, you're right. The hell with them. RICHIE But... they're part of the human race NEVILLE You say. Your sister says. But when the wheel topped turning, I got left with the decisions and I say Matthias and his collection of loonieseven cured...would ruin a fresh start. CLOSE - RICHIE He is angry in turn. RICHIE You come on real stronglike Youd wipe out the whole Family If I told you where they hole up. CLOSE - NEVILLE His Interest is aroused. Does Richie know where the Family stays? NEVILLE The rat's nest? Just try me. MED. LONG SHOT - RICHIE He has walked away from Neville. Now he whirls. RICHIE All right. Theyre down In the Federal Court building. That's where they stay. Go, man, go. CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE stands at pillbox, his arm over canvas coveted machine-gun. His expression changes from disbelief to astonishment. SERIES OF FLASH CUTS: Federal Court building, Neville drinking, looking out at building as on p. 26 NEVILLE So that's where they were all the time, CLOSE SHOT - RICHIE Smiles wryly. RICHIE Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you gonna go zap em? Kill, you got to kill CLOSE SHOT - NEVILLE He looks a little sheepish, between anger and laughter. NEVILLE There's no time now. I've got to- go set it up with Dutch for tomorrow... CLOSE - RICHIE He smiles at Neville, his liking and respect returned. RICHIE Gee, you really a mean ass, aint you? MED. CLOSE TWO SHOT Neville smiles at him. NEVILLE I was, you little bastard Till I got mixed up with you and your sister and the rest of the Katzenjammer kids. They exchange looks of real affection. DISSOLVE TO: LONG SHOT - NEVILLE DRIVING We SEE him DRIVE UP to the house in which Dutch and the others live. Dutch COMES OUT to meet him. CAMERA CLOSES TO MED. TWO SHOT. DUTCH Richie...? NEVILLE Beautiful. The staff works. I've got blood drawn to make up some for Lisa. We'll start on the rest of you in a week or so. DUTCH You're using a lot of Juice, Doc. How do you feel? NEVILLE Fine. No problem. They walk, looking into canyon. DUTCH It's a nice world. Somebody ought to do something with It. CAMERA MOVES TO CLOSE SHOT- NEVILLE NEVILLE Its all ours, Dutch. Can you be ready to travel in the morning? CLOSE SHOT - LISA IN STORE In wine shop. She HUMS, smiles, reaches up and takes from shelf a bottle of wine, examines it critically, puts it in her large cloth shopping bag. CLOSE - RICHIE - INT. NEVILLES APT. He is talking earnestly. RICHIE not all that different from them, man. You got to try. Right? You can't walk away. Don't you see? You're a good man... CAMERA PULLS OUT showing Richie dressing, pulling on a shirt, talking to the bust of Caesar now on a shelf, still wearing the overseas cap, RICHIE But you dont listen. You go your own way. Well, this time It's gonna be my way, you know? My way He is dressed now and walks purposefully toward elevator. He pauses, looking at arsenal, goes over, picks up a flashlight, finds a scrap of paper, writes something on it, puts in gun barrel. ENTERS elevator. CAMERA FOLLOWS IN MED. SHOT of Richie's FACE as ELEVATOR DOORS

drapes

How many times the word 'drapes' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

apart

How many times the word 'apart' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

car

How many times the word 'car' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

our

How many times the word 'our' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

esprit

How many times the word 'esprit' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

pledge

How many times the word 'pledge' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

heard

How many times the word 'heard' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

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-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

understood

How many times the word 'understood' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

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-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

road

How many times the word 'road' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

marching

How many times the word 'marching' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

swinging

How many times the word 'swinging' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

seconde

How many times the word 'seconde' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

put

How many times the word 'put' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

wheels

How many times the word 'wheels' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

pulleys

How many times the word 'pulleys' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

tramp

How many times the word 'tramp' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

plunge

How many times the word 'plunge' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

grinning

How many times the word 'grinning' appears in the text?

-- all standing. He takes a step forward. GANDHI (a coarse singing) God save our gracious King... Long live our (the audience takes it up) ...noble King. (And their voices fill the auditorium) God save the King!! A prison door slams: we are close on one face, another slam, another face, and again and again in the rhythm of marching feet... MINE AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are leading a large procession of Indian mine workers along a dirt road from a mining complex -- sheds, elevator platforms, pulleys -- toward a distant city. We see crude, handworked banners: "We are Citizens of the Empire," "Justice for All," "One King -- One Law"... Tyeb Mohammed suddenly touches Gandhi's arm and nods ahead. Their point of view. A canvas-topped open touring car (circa 1910) pulls out from a turning between two factory buildings and comes towards them. Resume Gandhi. There is a little hesitation in the ranks as the car approaches. In it we can see two uniformed policemen and a civilian. The car swings across the center of the road and stops right in front of Gandhi. CIVILIAN These men are contracted laborers. They belong in the mines. GANDHI You have put their comrades in jail. When you free them they will go back to work. The civilian smiles slowly. He looks from Gandhi to the miners. CIVILIAN I've warned you. GANDHI We have warned each other. The civilian looks at him sharply, then smiles derisively, signaling the car off. As it pulls away, Tyeb Mohammed and Singh come up to Gandhi, both made wary by the man's evident satisfaction with what has transpired. SINGH I don't think that is very good. Gandhi watches the disappearing car worriedly, then turns and signals the miners on. They start forward. Their point of view. The car rides on past the factory building out of which it turned, and suddenly mounted police come swinging out from the buildings and face the procession. Tracking back before Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed as they move forward, fear suddenly making their pace more labored. Tracking back before the mounted police. SERGEANT At the canter -- for-ward! They come on fast, batons at the ready. Gandhi screws up his courage, marching on. Tyeb Mohammed sets his jaw in defiance. Singh forces himself along at Gandhi's side. The mounted police riding on, batons at the ready. Featuring an Indian miner. He is in the front rank of the procession, watching the horses approach. He has a blunt farmer's face. MINER (half to Gandhi) We should lie down -- the horses won't tramp on us. (Then shouting out) Down! Down! Everyone lie down! He starts to go down, and others around him, convinced by the authority of his voice. The sense of the idea seizes Gandhi, and as the sound of the galloping horses nears, he turns and shouts too. GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! And the miners begin to go down, some face up, shielding their faces with their hands, some burying their faces in the earth and covering their heads with their hands. Close fast traveling, the sergeant's point of view. We arrive at the prone miners. Close on Gandhi, his arms crossed in front of his face, staring up, frightened, but determined to bear it. Wide angle. The horses cannot bring themselves to gallop over the human carpet; they rear, plunge, swerve. Close shot -- miner who shouted "down." He is peering through his crossed hands, a tight smile of satisfaction at knowledge confirmed. He turns to see: The sergeant thrown off his horse. He lands heavily, scrambles up, furious, darts after it. Mounting, he is enraged to hear laughter. Close shot. Singh and the miner who shouted "Down" kneeling, grinning at the chaos. MINER The horses have more mercy than the men. Singh smiles, but suddenly looks up fearfully. The sergeant looms over them. SERGEANT You're right! And without taking his booted foot from the stirrup he swings it into the miner's face. The man goes down, bleeding. An angry roar from the miners. Several stand and shake their fists. "Bastard!," "God damn you, Englishman!," "Jackal!" The wounded miner himself starts to stagger up. The sergeant sweeps them, his eyes glittering -- this he can deal with. But -- GANDHI Lie down! Lie down! It is a command, and angry in its own way, but it carries all the weight of his influence on them. They begin to go down again and the sergeant wheels his horse and rides at Gandhi. With deliberate, almost fatalistic pace, Gandhi goes first to his knees and then sprawls down flat, his hands over the top of his head, awaiting the blow of the horse's hoof. Close shot, the horse's head, its eyes rolling as it swerves again. Close shot, the sergeant controlling it, cursing, but unable to make it plunge down on the man. Full shot, the sergeant wheeling his horse, angrily -- surveying the whole of the procession as they lie sprawled on the ground, his mounted police circling in front of them, not knowing what to do. SERGEANT Follow me! He turns his horse angrily and gallops back toward the factories. Gandhi, Singh and Tyeb Mohammed are looking off at the retreating horses. The car with the civilian has returned in the distance. Gandhi looks at the miner who first shouted "Down" -- a smile, a nod of recognition and thanks. The miner grins, rubbing at the blood on his face, shrugging off Gandhi's implied praise. Featuring the police. The sergeant wheels by the car with the civilian; his police turn their horses, lining up across the road again. Their point of view. Gandhi and the miners coming on once more, chanting forcefully. "One King! One Law! One King! One Law!" SERGEANT What the hell are we supposed to do now? CIVILIAN (watching the procession narrowly) Let them march... In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way -- we'll get them. SMALL CHURCH - SOUTH AFRICA - INTERIOR - DAY We are close on Charlie Andrews. CHARLIE Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has at last been put into prison. The congregation is listening to him stiffly, unsympathetically, and there is more than one murmur of assent at his words. The clergyman who has given Charlie the use of his pulpit sits beneath it, embarrassed, but sticking resolutely to his decision to give Charlie a hearing. CHARLIE But I would ask you -- assembled here in this house of God -- to recognize that we are witnessing something new, something so unexpected, so unusual that it is not surprising the Government is at a loss. What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do is ask questions about ourselves. A few men in the congregation rise and pointedly escort their families from the church. Charlie struggles on. CHARLIE As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer. How do we treat men who defy an unjust law -- men who will not fight, but will not comply? More of the congregation rise and march from the church... though a few pointedly do not. PRISON YARD - EXTERIOR - DAY Small, packed. Gandhi is threading his way in a line for soup. But it is a line that winds through masses of prisoners, some with bowls, eating, some not yet in the line. As Gandhi near the two stone blocks that hold the large barrels of soup, he sees that Khan is serving from one of them. He too wears a prison uniform and there is a bandage on his head. When he turns and reacts to the sight of Gandhi -- GANDHI They're sparing no one, I see. KHAN No. You were the surprise. It's been all over the prison. We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press. GANDHI So did I. He takes his soup from Khan. KHAN (acidly) Don't worry about the meat -- it's Hindu (referring to the soup) -- there's not a trace. Gandhi smiles, but they turn as the gate opens and a paddy wagon is backed into the press of prisoners. Khan shakes his head. KHAN I don't know who they've left out there to do the work. There can't be one mine left open. Have they touched the women? GANDHI My wife publicly defied the law. They've arrested her and four others. KHAN (angrily) The fools! (He spills some soup.) Sorry... GANDHI It's split the Government. KHAN Well, that's one victory. Gandhi looks around the crowded yard at the soiled bandages, the defiant, determined faces. GANDHI If we hold firm, it won't be the last. KHAN Don't worry -- I've never seen men so determined. You've given them a way to fight... And I don't think -- He is distracted by a phalanx of guards (an officer and four men) pushing their way through the prisoners. PRISON OFFICER Gandhi! I want Gandhi! Which sammy is it? The prisoners are moving back from them resentfully but their glances reveal who Gandhi is. The prison officer's eyes fall on him. CITY STREET - JOHANNESBURG - EXTERIOR - DAY A side street, but active. Gandhi -- now manacled -- is being marched down the pavement before two guards. The prison officer strides in front of them. People in the street stop and turn, staring. That part of Gandhi that is still the dandy is discomfited, but there is a growing part of him that defies appearances. Featuring a doorway. It is the side door of a large imposing building. The prison officer leads his little procession toward it. He knocks and the door opens. The tall civil servant has been waiting for them. The prison officer reaches forward and undoes Gandhi's manacles. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - INTERIOR - DAY The tall civil servant, moving with aloof distaste for his assignment, walks ahead of Gandhi, who in turn is followed by one of the prison guards, toward a grand staircase that is at right angles to them (i.e. facing the front of the building). People working in offices pause to stare at Gandhi as he moves along, more uncomfortably aware of his prison garb than ever. The grand staircase. The tall civil servant turns and starts up the staircase. Gandhi is even more exposed to everyone's surveillance on the wide, white expanse of the stairway. He hesitates, looking around in discomfort, then follows the tall civil servant on toward the large, white doors at the top of the staircase. SMUTS'S ANTEROOM - INTERIOR - DAY The tall white doors open, the tall civil servant indicates that Gandhi enter. Gandhi passes two male secretaries, and the tall civil servant scoots decorously around him to knock once on the inner doors. Then he pushes them open and gestures Gandhi in. SMUTS'S OFFICE - INTERIOR - DAY We have seen it before when Walker spoke to Smuts, but now we see its full breadth -- and the imposing figure Smuts makes as he stands behind the grand desk. SMUTS Ah, Mr. Gandhi. I thought we might have a little talk. He nods to the tall civil servant, who bows and closes the door. Smuts crosses the room toward a small cabinet. SMUTS Will you have a glass of sherry? GANDHI Thank you. No. Smuts looks at Gandhi, a little surprised at the frigid tone of that refusal. SMUTS Perhaps some tea? GANDHI (a shake of the head) I dined at the prison. SMUTS Ahh. He appraises Gandhi, measuring the irony of his words, his determination. Then with a little sigh at the lost opportunity he replaces the stopper on the sherry, turns and gestures Gandhi on into the room. SMUTS Please -- please do come and sit down. It's prison I wanted to talk to you about. He has indicated a chair near his desk, but as Gandhi goes forward he pauses by a spread of papers from England on a long table near the middle of the room. We see one headline in close shot: "Thousands Imprisoned in South Africa/Mines Close. Crops Unharvested," a subhead, "Gandhi Leads Non- Violent Campaign." He looks at Smuts. Smuts smiles, a passing nod at the papers. SMUTS Mr. Gandhi, I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the Act that you have taken such "exception" to. GANDHI (a beat) Well, if you ask, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done. Smuts smiles. SMUTS Hm. Of course it is not quite that simple. GANDHI Somehow I expected not. A wry smile, and he sits on the edge of the chair Smuts has directed him to. Smuts measures him again, not absolutely certain how to deal with him. A pause, and he affects to take Gandhi's irony at face value. SMUTS I'm glad to hear you say that... very glad. You see if we repeal the Act under pressure (a nod at the papers again) under this kind of pressure it will create a great deal of resentment. Can you understand that? GANDHI Very well. And Gandhi does understand it -- as a guiding principle. Never humiliate your enemy. And his tone conveys it. SMUTS (a bit surprised) Good. Good. (The bland politician: the compromise.) I have thought of calling for a Royal Commission to "investigate" the new legislation. (He gestures, implying they'll do what they're told.) I think I could guarantee they would recommend the Act be repealed. GANDHI (waiting for the catch) I congratulate them. Smuts does a slight double take, a smile, then the "tough" politician. SMUTS But they might also recommend that future Indian immigration be severely restricted -- even stopped. He measures Gandhi challengingly, obviously expecting some contest. Gandhi mulls it, then GANDHI Immigration was not an issue on which we fought. It would be wrong of us to make it one now that we -- we are in a position of advantage. Smuts stares at him... a moment, then SMUTS You're an extraordinary man. GANDHI (his grin; he brushes at his prison garb) I assure you I feel a very ordinary man at this moment. And now Smuts smiles with him. He bends suddenly and signs a group of documents. SMUTS I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next twenty- four hours. You yourself are free from this moment. Gandhi stands, a little uncertain about the sudden change in his status. Smuts signs the last document, then sees Gandhi's doubt -- and misreads it. SMUTS Assuming we are in agreement? GANDHI Yes -- yes. It's just that... in these clothes I'd -- I'd prefer to go by taxi. SMUTS (confused by his hesitation) All right. Fine. GANDHI I'm -- I'm afraid I have no money. SMUTS Oh! (He quickly feels in his waistcoat pockets -- and realizes he has no money!) Neither have I. (He reaches forth and touches a buzzer.) I'm awfully sorry. The tall civil servant (Daniels) enters. SMUTS Daniels, would you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi? Daniel stares. DANIELS I beg your pardon, sir? SMUTS (a second thought) How far will you be going, Mr. Gandhi? GANDHI (a mischievous smile) Well -- now that this is settled -- I had thought seriously of going back to India (he faces the startled Daniel) but a shilling will do splendidly for the moment. Still a little confused, Daniels reaches in his pocket and produces a shilling. He hands it to Gandhi. GANDHI Thank you. (To Smuts) Thank you both for a very enlightening experience. He bows slightly and starts out the door. Daniels immediately starts to accompany him, but Gandhi stops. A beat. GANDHI (ice) I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels, but I will find my own way out. And his own steel shows in the oblique reference to the ignominy of his way in. Daniel bows, and he and Smuts just stare as the uniformed "prisoner" goes out through the grand doors, past the stunned men in the office to the outer doors and on to the grand staircase. The prison guard appears in the doorway, looking off in confusion at Gandhi, then back at the office for guidance. Daniels simply shakes his head "Let him be." Finally, when Gandhi has disappeared down the stairs, Daniels turns to Smuts. SMUTS (a shake of the head) He's either a great man or a colossal fraud... Either way, I shall be glad to see the last of him. THE PIER AT BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY Ship's siren, military band... a jubilant crowd on the pier, passengers waving to the receiving crowd. A group of First Class passengers, ninety percent English, look down from the upper deck. From their point of view. We see the main section of the pier, a crowd of mostly European civilians on one side. A mass of military on the other: European officers, topees and swagger sticks, Indian cavalry, Gurkha infantry, Sikh lanoers -- turbans, rifles, bugles, an Indian military band -- a showy awe-inspiring display. Featuring two Englishmen. First Class passengers, white suits, Oxbridge accents; one quite young, the other a bit older, both civil servants coming to "administer" India. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN By God, he loves it... Their point of view. A British general is coming down the gangplank accompanied by his ADC. The officer commanding and the Guard of Honor await him. SECOND ENGLISHMAN I'm sure he hates it. The young Englishman glances at him quizzically. The General has taken the salute and moves to inspect the troops to the accompaniment of the military band. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Generals' reputations are being made in France today, fighting on the Western Front. Not as Military Governors in India. He is suddenly aware of a well-dressed Indian half-listening to their conversation. He glances at him and the well-dressed Indian simply nods slightly and moves off a little. The second Englishman grimaces at the young Englishman and looks down again. SECOND ENGLISHMAN What the devil's going on back there? He is looking aft. His point of view. Another far less elaborate gangplank extends from the aft section of the ship. Third Class passengers are disembarking here, and on shore, separated by a wire fence from the rest of the pier. A large crowd of Indians is reacting excitedly to someone coming down the gangplank but we can't yet see that person. The young Englishman glances back at the well-dressed Indian to make sure of his distance, then speaks quietly. YOUNG ENGLISHMAN It must be that Indian that made all that fuss back in Africa. My cabin boy told me he was on board. SECOND ENGLISHMAN Why haven't we seen him? (Finding the name) Gandhi? YOUNG ENGLISHMAN Yes. That's it. He was traveling Third Class. There he is. Their point of view. There has been a little hiatus in those disembarking but now Gandhi has appeared, coming down the gangplank with Ba and the children (grown-up sons now), and three or four people behind them, including the tall figure of Charlie Andrews. But Gandhi is wearing an Indian tunic and sandals and he has shaved his hair except for a central section on the top. SECOND ENGLISHMAN'S VOICE-OVER God -- he's dressed like a coolie! I thought he was a lawyer. The young Englishman glances back cautiously toward the well- dressed Indian again, then YOUNG ENGLISHMAN After he came out of jail he refused to wear European clothes. THE PIER - THIRD CLASS AREA - EXTERIOR - DAY Gandhi is smiling, trying to move on, but answering the questions of an Indian journalist. GANDHI No, no, I haven't "refused"... I -- I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dressed. He speaks with an uncertainty and tentativeness that he had lost in South Africa, patently overwhelmed by the reception. An English journalist catches him as he turns. ENGLISH JOURNALIST Will you support the war effort, Mr. Gandhi? An exuberant woman puts a garland over his shoulders. GANDHI I -- I have demanded rights as a British citizen, it is therefore my duty to help in the defense of the British Empire. He smiles uncertainly again. As he turns he is face to face with an American reporter. AMERICAN REPORTER What are you going to do now that you're back in India? GANDHI I don't know... I don't know... An Indian reporter has cornered Ba behind him. SECOND INDIAN REPORTER As an Indian woman how could you accept the indignity of prison? Gandhi half-twists to hear Ba's answer, but his arm is taken by a young Indian (Nehru) in elegant European clothes. Another garland is thrown over his shoulders. NEHRU Please, Mr. Gandhi. Featuring Ba. Offhand, her eyes on Gandhi ahead. BA My dignity comes from following my husband. She joins her hands, acknowledging a garland placed around her shoulders, and pushes on after Gandhi. Charlie helps to guide her. Featuring Gandhi. The young Nehru, somewhat amused by all the excitement, leads Gandhi through the crowd to a little flower-covered platform. We see a banner: THE CONGRESS PARTY WELCOMES GANDHI. NEHRU (he too speaks with an Oxbridge accent) Just a few words -- then we'll get you to civilization. He grins. He has guided Gandhi to the first step of the platform. Another garland is wrapped around Gandhi's shoulders, and in some embarrassment, he mounts the platform. There is a great cheer, but in the silence that follows we hear the military band from across the way as the troops prepare to march off. Gandhi looks around at the crowd. Finally he speaks out. GANDHI I -- I am glad to be home. (A little round of applause.) I -- I thank you for your greeting. He makes the pranam and starts for the steps. The crowd is a little disappointed, but they manage a cheer and applause. Nehru is standing next to a heavy-set, well-dressed man (Patel). They exchange a wry glance, "Not exactly a world- beater." A car door slams. The camera pulls back. Nehru has slammed the door of a gleaming Rolls Royce touring car, the top down. He has seated Gandhi in it beside Patel, taking Gandhi's knapsack. An Indian chauffeur rides in front. The crowd still surges around and Gandhi is looking apprehensively back for Ba. NEHRU We'll follow with your wife -- don't worry, everything's arranged. He grins boyishly, in part to comfort, in part unable to contain his amusement at Gandhi and his evident confusion. PATEL'S CAR - STREETS OF BOMBAY - EXTERIOR - DAY With Gandhi still looking back anxiously, the car pulls off. He finally turns to Patel. GANDHI Who is that young man? PATEL That's young Nehru. He's got his father's intellect, his mother's looks and the devil's charm. If they don't ruin him at Cambridge -- Wave! Wave! -- he may amount to something. There are crowds along the street, and Gandhi -- in surprise that they are for him -- waves tentatively. Patel waves too but he eyes Gandhi rather critically. PATEL I must say when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay I never thought I'd be greeting you as a national hero. GANDHI I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel. PATEL Oh, yes, you are. It's been two hundred years since an Indian has cocked a snoot at the British Empire and got away with it. And stop calling me Mr. Patel, you're not a junior clerk anymore. GANDHI (a beat; still hesitant) No. They have come to a main thoroughfare. A crowd still lines the streets but it is thin and around and between we see groups of desperate poor, parked on the pavement, staring with blank curiosity at the passing car, but too listless and too out of touch to move from their little squatters' patches. Patel looks at Gandhi's clothes rather disapprovingly. PATEL The new Military Governor of the North West Province was on that ship. Too bad you came back Third Class -- he might have been impressed by a successful barrister who had outmaneuvered General Smuts. Gandhi is staring at the street. From his point of view we hold on a gaunt young, aged woman holding a baby wrapped in rags as threadbare as her sari. Another hollow-faced child leans against her. GANDHI (leadenly) Yes... I'm sure... PATEL'S GARDEN - EXTERIOR - DAY A splendid peacock, its tail fanned in brilliant display, lords it on a velvet lawn. A woman in a sumptuous silk sari is trying to feed it crumbs. Behind her, Gandhi's reception is in full spate -- silver trays, tables covered in fine linen, Indian servants, a swimming pool, a small fountain, the grounds filled with Indian millionaires and dignitaries gathered with their wives to meet the new hero from South Africa. A beautiful and beautifully dressed woman (Mrs. Nehru) stands next to her distinguished husband (Motilal Nehru). MRS. NEHRU (wittily) No, I leave practical matters to my husband and revolution to my son... She nods lightly toward Nehru. Featuring Nehru who is introducing Gandhi to two men, one tall, slender, ascetic looking, but dressed impeccably (Jinnah). The other with a haunting face -- beard, flowing dark hair, the air of a poet or a ruthlessly dedicated radical (Prakash -- whom we recognize from the opening sequence in Delhi at Gandhi's assassination). NEHRU Mr. Jinnah, our joint host, member of Congress, and the leader of the Muslim League and Mr. Prakash, who I fear is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder. Gandhi has bowed to Jinnah, now he looks a little startled at Prakash. Prakash grins and makes the pranam to Gandhi. PRAKASH I have not actually pulled a trigger, Mr. Gandhi, I have simply written that if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law, then it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman for enforcing his law in a land that is not his. Gandhi nods... GANDHI It is a clever argument; I am not sure it will produce the end you desire. He meets Prakash's gaze firmly, the first moment we have seen any sign of the Gandhi of South Africa. JINNAH (testingly) We hope you intend to join us in the struggle for Home Rule, Mr. Gandhi. GANDHI (a pause) I -- Charlie Andrews touches Gandhi's arm, excusing himself to the others. CHARLIE May I? Mohan -- I would like you to meet someone. Gandhi bows to the others and is led off to an Indian bishop in full clerical robes. Behind him we see Patel regaling a small group with some story of court or society. As Gandhi leaves, Jinnah, Nehru and Prakash watch him clinically. Except for the servants, Gandhi is the only Indian male not in European clothes. NEHRU He told the press he would support the British in the war. PRAKASH (acidly) That's non-violence for you. JINNAH Is he a fool? Nehru grins slowly, thoughtfully. NEHRU I'm not certain... But I wouldn't be surprised. We get a shot of Ba in a gathering of Indian women. She stands listening, seemingly tongue-tied in the sophisticated patter. And we cut to Charlie introducing Gandhi to a man in obvious ill health, but well dressed, looking like the professor, philosopher and elder statesman he is (Gokhale). CHARLIE I lied to you, Mohan, when I told you I decided to come to South Africa to meet you. Professor Gokhale sent me. Gokhale is pleased, Gandhi amused. He bows very respectfully. GOKHALE We're trying to make a nation, Gandhi -- and the British keep trying to break us up into religions and principalities and "provinces." What you were writing in South Africa -- that's what we need here. He has offered his hand during this, and Gandhi has helped him from the garden chair he has been seated on, handing him the cane that is resting against it. GANDHI (a smile) I have much to learn about India. And I have to begin my practice again -- one needs money to run a journal. Another grin. Gokhale has started to walk with him, looking at him intently, penetratingly. GOKHALE Nonsense. (He turns to Charlie) Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk -- we want none of you imperialists. It is brusque but affectionate; we know he regards Charlie as Gandhi does... and Charlie does too. CHARLIE (a mock threat) All right -- I'll go and write my report to the Viceroy. GOKHALE Go and find a pretty Hindu woman and convert her to Christianity -- that's as much mischief as you're allowed. He still hasn't smiled, but Gandhi and Charlie have. ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN This is private -- beautiful and still. Gandhi walks along slowly, taking the pace of the ailing Gokhale. GOKHALE Forget your practice. India has many men with too much wealth -- it is their privilege to nourish the efforts of the few who can raise India from servitude and apathy. I will see to it -- you begin your journal. GANDHI I have little to say. India is an "alien" country to me. He grins self-deprecatingly but Gokhale persists. GOKHALE Well, change that. Go and find India. Not what you see here, but the real India. You'll see what needs to be said. What we need to hear. He pauses and looks at Gandhi -- and for the first time he smiles. When he speaks his voice is thick with feeling. GOKHALE When I saw you in that tunic I knew... I knew I could die in peace. (A dying man's command) Make India proud of herself. His eyes are watery with emotion, but he stares at Gandhi rigidly. CUT TO: TRAIN - EXTERIOR - NIGHT Indian. Steam. A breed of its own. THIRD CLASS COACH - INTERIOR - NIGHT Gandhi sits by a window in the dimly lit coach. Ba sleeps on the seat next to him, another member of the party next to her. Gandhi's solemn eyes are studying the huddled humanity in the rocking coach. People are sleeping everywhere, some half-erect on the benches, many

shouted

How many times the word 'shouted' appears in the text?