Arctic Blue Page #18

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The green dot on the screen and rhythmic BLEEP go suddenly

dead, just as Viking Bob and Mitchell run up to the jeep.

LEMALLE:

Northwest. Devil's Cauldron.

LeMalle dumps the half-naked Whore out onto the snow.

Viking Bob starts the jeep and they roar off.

160 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Eric shoves Kenai and Neff out the door.

NEFF:

What's wrong?

ERIC:

Just stay out of my face until

I'm gone!

He slams the door. Corbett smiles his Cheshire smile.

ERIC:

(continuing; picks up ELT)

Emergency transmitter? What

happened to signal mirrors or

two-tone smoke fires?

CORBETT:

Lets us watch each other's backs

over a wide area. Only thing

messed me up this time was

getting arrested in the baths.

ELT was in my duffel bag, not

around my neck where it should've

been.

ERIC:

No way they'll find you on a

five-minute signal. And no way

-more-

(CONTINUED)

160 CONTINUED:

ERIC (Cont'd)

they'll get here in eight hours

in this weather, unless they're

right around the corner.

CORBETT:

They haven't disappointed me yet.

161 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - DAWN

Fat, dry snowflakes pour through the still air. Gloomy

clouds hang immediately overhead. Visibility is ten feet;

the temperature is below zero.

162 INT. WILDER'S CABIN

It's 5:
30 AM. Sitting at Wilder's desk, Eric pries the tops

from some bullets and dumps the gunpowder into a styrofoam

cup. He rings the top of the cup with bluetip matches, then

seals it with masking tape. Watching him from the cell,

Corbett smiles.

CORBETT:

Flashbomb, eh?

Eric doesn't answer. He pulls on a heavy overcoat of

Wilder's. Putting the unused bullets back in Wilder's desk,

Eric finds Corbett's .44 magnum. He puts it and some

speedloaders full of .357 hollowpoints in his pockets.

163 EXT. / INT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - MONTAGE

Eric hobbles across town to the hot springs under cover of

the early hour and heavy snowfall. He paces out several

circuitous routes from the rental cabins to the airstrip at

the edge of town, pausing now and again along the way.

He hears a door SQUEAK open and someone COUGH nearby, so he

stands motionless in the snow.

Bundled in wool blankets, Kenai trundles down to his

outhouse.

After Kenai passes by, Eric sneaks inside the spa. He

climbs up into the catwalk.

As Kenai goes back to his cabin, he notices that the antique

bear traps on display in front of the general store are

missing. Suddenly, Eric grabs him and pulls him into the

spa doorway.

END MONTAGE:

164 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA

Eric's unexpected appearance startles Kenai.

ERIC:

I need to rent a cabin.

KENAI:

What's the problem with Sam

Wilder's place?

ERIC:

Will you rent me a cabin, or not?

KENAI:

Pretty clever:
If the trappers

got that signal beacon and get

here in time, Sam's is the first

place they'll look. They may

figure you're waiting for an

airplane, so you can't stay in

the shack by the airstrip. Last

place they'd expect you is on the

far side of town.

(shakes his head)

I can't afford any trouble --

ERIC:

(takes out all his cash)

-- Here's a hundred dollars. And

if you or anyone else will back

me up on this --

KENAI:

(grabs money)

-- Forget it. And try not to

bleed on my throw rugs.

(walks away, then turns

back)

Why do this?

ERIC:

If you have to ask, you wouldn't

understand.

NEW ANGLE:

Outside, there is the high-pitched WHINE of a snowmobile

(OS) driving into town. Eric cautiously follows the SOUND.

165 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - CLOSE ON ERIC

He listens as the vehicle cuts across town toward Neff's

house. The snowfall is too thick to see who it is. Eric

(CONTINUED)

165 CONTINUED:

moves in as close as he dares. The ENGINE stops (OS) and

FOOTSTEPS crunch up Neff's driveway.

WIDER ANGLE - NEFF'S HOUSE

A person in a hooded parka stands on Neff's stoop, about to

knock. Magnum drawn, Eric suddenly appears from the curtain

of falling snow. He shoves the person against the side of

the house.

NEW ANGLE:

It's Anne Marie. She gasps. Seeing Eric, she's more angry

than relieved. Eric puts the gun back in his waistband.

ANNE MARIE:

Eric! Why aren't you in

Fairbanks?

He pulls her away from Neff's doorstep. Her anger

dissolving, she wraps her arms around him.

ANNE MARIE:

(continuing)

Oh, Christ, sweetheart. Four

days! I thought you were dead,

or worse.

ERIC:

You can't stay here. Go back to

the Turtle. I'll meet you back

there in a few hours.

ANNE MARIE:

(stung by his coolness)

What's going on?

ERIC:

I'll tell you everything later.

ANNE MARIE:

Where's Corbett?

ERIC:

Here. A transport plane is due

at eleven. Once I put him on it,

it's all over.

ANNE MARIE:

So what's the problem?

(CONTINUED)

165 CONTINUED:
(2)

ERIC:

There isn't one, unless Corbett's

men get here before the plane

does.

Anne Marie grasps the situation with a sickening clarity.

ANNE MARIE:

Let the people here handle it.

It's their marshal Corbett

killed!

CUTAWAY - NEFF

has been eavesdropping on the conversation through his

window. The news about Wilder stuns him.

BACK TO SCENE:

ERIC:

Please, Anne Marie, you being

here only complicates things.

ANNE MARIE:

I'm staying.

Eric knows she won't relent.

ERIC:

Take the snowmobile, park it

behind Wilder's cabin.

Sighing, she STARTS the snow machine. Most of her photo

gear is lashed to the saddlebags. As she pulls away, Eric

limps back to Neff's house and knocks on the door.

INT. NEFF'S HOUSE

Shaken, Neff opens the door and lets Eric in.

NEFF:

I was just on my way to your

ladyfriend's, but I guess she

found you.

ERIC:

Yeah. Sorry I barked at you last

night.

NEFF:

I'm the one should be sorry...

Goddamn Kenai, always out for a

score. I never should've let him

go over there.

(CONTINUED)

165 CONTINUED:
(3)

ERIC:

I'd sure like that favor you

offered a while back.

Neff gets a seasick look on his face.

NEFF:

Look, Mr. Desmond, I didn't count

on it turning this ugly.

ERIC:

What are you talking about?

NEFF:

Bastards killed Sam, you think

they won't kill the rest of us?

ERIC:

There'll be three, four men at

the most. I have some backup,

nothing will happen.

NEFF:

I'm real sorry. In a while,

you're gone from this country.

But we live here. No one wants

to mix it up with those hombres.

Neff opens the door for Eric.

ERIC:

(angry)

You don't care enough about Sam

to --

NEFF:

-- Sam Wilder was my cousin.

He's why I came to Alaska. All

his letters, saying what a

paradise it is. But me ending up

dead won't do Sam a lick of good.

166 EXT. WILDER'S CABIN

Anne Marie waits in front as Eric hobbles up. She looks at

his bad ankle.

ANNE MARIE:

You're hurt.

ERIC:

Nothing broken. C'mon, we have

to hurry.

He leads her inside.

167 INT. WILDER'S CABIN

Corbett is calmly reclining on the cot in the holding cell.

CORBETT:

Could've told you no one would

help...

Seeing Anne Marie, he smiles.

CORBETT:

(continuing; to Anne Marie)

Maybe you can talk sense into

your boyfriend.

ERIC:

Shut up!

CORBETT:

(to Anne Marie)

Either way, you better clear out.

I don't want anyone innocent

getting harmed.

This comment has the intended effect on Anne Marie. Angry,

Eric throws Corbett a coat. Corbett puts it on. Reaching

through the bars, Eric cuffs Corbett's hands together.

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