Arctic Blue Page #8

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CUT TO:

56 INT. BEAR SIGN INN - NIGHT

Meyerling's campaign posters cover the walls. Many have

been pulled down and muddied underfoot by the drunken crowd.

In a booth covered with grafitti, Mitchell squints and works

on his scrimshaw. LeMalle, somewhat sober, eats a plate of

muktuk -- whale blubber. Viking Bob pours him more coffee.

MITCHELL:

(to Viking Bob)

...Ben never sent a signal.

VIKING BOB:

Musta never got a chance to

-more-

(CONTINUED)

56 CONTINUED:

VIKING BOB (Cont'd)

activate. Wilder's aiming to

take him to Fairbanks, we can

count on that much.

MITCHELL:

Meaning he'll need a plane.

VIKING BOB:

Closest planes for hire are here

in Cache.

MITCHELL:

Hang on...

(to LeMalle)

Remember that Cessna we saw at

the pumping station on the Haul

Road? Belongs to the guy they

got patrolling the pipeline.

LEMALLE:

There you go. Wilder's always

chummy with the f***in'

Bambi-lovers.

VIKING BOB:

It's a long shot.

MITCHELL:

You got a better idea?

57 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - DAWN

Wisps of light cut across the cold blue sky.

Eric comes out of the Turtle, leaving the front door ajar.

He throws a knapsack of supplies into the back of the Scout.

58 INT. THE TURTLE

Corbett's right hand is still handcuffed to the wall unit.

Terrified about being alone with Corbett, Anne Marie

cautiously puts a cup of coffee in front of him.

CORBETT:

How long have you been up north?

ANNE MARIE:

(after a beat)

Six months.

CORBETT:

Can't be. Too keen a sense of

this place in your pictures.

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED:

ANNE MARIE:

Six months this time. I was born

in the Aleutians.

CORBETT:

Your people Alaskan?

Anne Marie doesn't want to talk to a killer, but Corbett is

so soft-spoken and charming that she answers despite

herself.

ANNE MARIE:

My dad was a Navy doctor.

CORBETT:

Knew you had no native blood,

even with your dark hair. Blue

eyes give you away. My wife had

blue eyes.

ANNE MARIE:

Had?

CORBETT:

She's dead.

ANNE MARIE:

Oh.

CORBETT:

Had some good years. Met her in

'66. She showed up one day in

Coldfoot. No one knew her. One

Sunday morning, she marched into

a bar and announced she was

available as a wife to the

highest bidder. Didn't work out

in three months, she'd return the

money and leave, no hard

feelings.

(off Anne Marie's amazed

look)

My bid was eight thousand

dollars. Beautiful girl.

ANNE MARIE:

How did she..?

CORBETT:

I was gone, in September, laying

traplines. She went to our cache

for some meat. Got mauled by a

bear. Tore open her skull.

-more-

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED:
(2)

CORBETT (Cont'd)

Might've lived if she got help,

but the exposed part of her brain

froze.

Anne Marie shudders. Smiling good-naturedly, Corbett looks

around, spotting the package Anne Marie's new dress came in.

CORBETT:

(continuing)

What about you -- why come back?

Classy girl like you seems more

suited to the finer things.

ANNE MARIE:

That's why I left, moved to

Washington. When I met Eric I

was doing day shoots -- products

and fashion, mostly. Pretty

dull. Eric was teaching college,

and then he got the job with

Northland Oil. We wanted to stay

together, so we talked them into

funding some wilderness

photography... and here I am.

As she's talking, the Turtle ROCKS slightly. She looks out

the tiny window.

HER POV - THROUGH WINDOW

Eric is putting Wilder's body inside an enclosed storage

compartment built flush into the side of the Turtle.

BACK TO SCENE:

Horrified, Anne Marie turns away.

CORBETT:

You should know something.

ANNE MARIE:

I don't want to talk any more.

CORBETT:

Wasn't my intention to hurt

Wilder. I'm telling you the

truth. I liked the man. I only

meant to get loose... to survive.

Your cheechako boyfriend better

understand that.

(beat)

Listen, I've got some money put

away --

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED:
(3)

ANNE MARIE:

-- Don't ever think you can buy

Eric off, Mr. Corbett --

ERIC (OS)

-- Cheechako?

Eric comes in, none too thrilled about Anne Marie chatting

with Corbett.

ANNE MARIE:

(translating)

Outsider.

He carefully stuffs Wilder's magnum in his belt and ignores

Anne Marie's disparaging look as he does.

ERIC:

(to Corbett)

Let's go.

ANNE MARIE:

Wait a second.

59 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE

Anne Marie leads Eric out of earshot from Corbett. Eric

keeps a cautious eye on him.

ANNE MARIE:

Maybe you should drive him into

Devil's Cauldron, let them decide

what to do with him.

ERIC:

(reassuringly)

Fairbanks is a three-hour flight.

I'll be back by dinnertime.

Realizing he's determined, she sighs and kisses him.

ERIC:

(continuing)

Be careful, okay?

ANNE MARIE:

That's my line.

CUT TO:

60 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK - DAWN

Eric and Corbett drive toward the deserted pumping station.

They cross over a prefabricated steel portal bridge spanning

a fast-running creek.

61 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)

The wind whips through the shot-out wing window. Corbett's

handcuffs are lashed to the seat frame with sturdy nylon

rope.

62 EXT. PUMPING STATION

The pumping station consists of three corrugated steel

buildings. The largest is an airplane hangar.

Just beyond the hangar is a narrow blacktop landing strip

running parallel to the Haul Road.

63 INT. SCOUT - ANGLE THROUGH WINDOW - (MOVING SHOT)

Eric pulls up to the hangar. Suddenly, LeMalle steps out

from behind the building.

64 EXT. PUMPING STATION

LeMalle recognizes the International Scout. He swings his

rifle up to stop it.

Eric slams it in reverse and SCREECHES back around the

hangar.

MITCHELL (OS)

Aim for the tires!

LeMalle FIRES as the Scout rounds the corner. He hits a

fender, doing no damage. Angry, he runs after the vehicle.

65 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)

Eric slams on the brakes and turns the Scout around.

CORBETT:

Let me out and keep going. They

catch us, they'll kill you.

Eric doesn't need any convincing of that. He tears out.

66 EXT. PUMPING STATION

Mitchell runs out in front of them and BLASTS the front of

the Scout with his .45 Peacemaker. Steam HISSES out of the

radiator. Eric floors it and races past Mitchell, almost

hitting him.

(CONTINUED)

66 CONTINUED:

Mitchell and LeMalle SHOOT at the retreating vehicle. One

of the Scout's back tires gets blown out.

67 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)

Eric slows, shifts into four-wheel drive and continues,

driving on the rim.

68 EXT. PUMPING STATION

Chewing an unlit cheroot, Viking Bob pulls up next to

Mitchell and LeMalle in the trappers' jeep. They pile in.

69 EXT. HAUL ROAD

Eric backtracks as fast as possible in the crippled vehicle.

70 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - THROUGH WINDSHIELD - (MOVING SHOT)

As the Scout heads for the Feldspar Creek bridge, it

disappears from sight over a hill.

71 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK

Viking Bob zooms over Feldspar Creek. They come over the

rise, but the Scout still can't be seen ahead of them.

REVERSE ANGLE:

The Scout sits idling in a depression near the creek bed,

below the Haul Road. Above, the trappers speed past without

noticing.

After giving the trappers time to get around the next bend,

Eric drives the Scout up the embankment and crosses back

over the bridge.

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