Dances with Wolves Page #17

EXT. SEDGEWICK - DAY

DUNBAR (V.O.)

They have come again, as always the

same two with an escort of six.

Dunbar is standing in the same spot, it is a new day

Leaving their ever present escort behind, Kicking Bird and

Wind In His Hair ride into the fort.

Kicking Bird's pony is carrying something large and bulky on

his withers. A buffalo robe. Dunbar walks up to greet them.

Kicking Bird returns the welcome and signs to him as he

speaks.

KICKING BIRD:

Have you seen any buffalo?

Dunbar can only shake his head no.

Kicking Bird accepts this and dismounts.

Dunbar throws his customary wave but the escort remains

noncommittal.

EXT. HILL - DUSK

Dunbar is lying on his buffalo robe, his hand runs against

the grain of the thick fur. He begins writing in his journal.

DUNBAR (V.O.)

I believe I am dealing with Kiowa

Indians as I have heard that word on

several occasions.

He rolls on his back, and lays aside the journal, practicing

the hand signals.

DUNBAR (V.O.)

I am learning the Kiowa words for

head, hand, horse, fire, coffee,

buffalo, hello and goodbye.

EXT. SEDGEWICK - DAY

It's raining. High on a hill, the Indian escort waits

stoically, horses heads bowed in the drizzle. On the haunches

of one of the ponies is a single deer.

Down below, Wind In His Hair and Kicking Bird are still

mounted and converse with Dunbar using sign talk.

DUNBAR:

No, I haven't seen any buffalo. Are

you hungry? I have food... are you

hungry?

Dunbar suggests they take some of his supplies but Kicking

Bird will not stand for this. He waves Dunbar off. The three

men say their goodbyes, and Dunbar as usual throws a wave to

the six men on the hill.

Unexpectedly, one of them returns it and the other five react

with surprise.

ESCORT 1

He waved.

DUNBAR (V.O.)

Nothing I have been told about these

people is correct. They are not

beggars and thieves. They are not

the bogeymen they have been made out

to be.

Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair disappear over the hill,

followed by their escort.

Lightning bursts far out on the prairie.

INT. QUARTERS - NIGHT

Dunbar huddles beneath the warmth of his buffalo robe. He is

finishing up the second of two drawings. It is a portrait of

Wind In His Hair, he carefully titles it "The Fierce One."

He has already completed a likeness of Kicking Bird and

underneath it the words "The Quiet One."

EXT. KICKING BIRD'S LODGE - DAY

Several children are playing close-by as Stands With A Fist

works over a staked-out hide, scraping away the excess flesh.

Though her arms are lined with scabs her work is methodical

and unforced. She seems recovered.

KICKING BIRD (O.S.)

Stands With A Fist.

She looks up to see the medicine man looming over her.

KICKING BIRD:

We will talk awhile.

INT. KICKING BIRD'S LODGE - DAY

Except for Kicking Bird and Stands With A Fist, the tipi is

empty. They are just seating themselves at the firepit in

the center of the lodge. A brief silence, during which Kicking

Bird studies the girl with the bowed head.

KICKING BIRD:

Your wounds are healing well?

STANDS WITH A FIST

Yes.

KICKING BIRD:

You are happy here, with my family?

STANDS WITH A FIST

I am glad to be here. I am missing

my husband.

KICKING BIRD:

Perhaps you will marry again when

the time is right.

STANDS WITH A FIST

Perhaps.

Kicking Bird is leading up to something and Stands With A

Fist fears it. She keeps her head bowed.

KICKING BIRD:

We have word from many places that

the whites are...

Kicking Bird stops himself, he knows this must be hard. She

brings her green eyes to bear on the medicine man, waiting

to hear more.

KICKING BIRD:

They are coming into everyone's

country. They will soon be in ours I

think. This white man who lives at

the old soldier fort, the one who

calls himself loo ten tant... I have

visited him and I believe his heart

is a good one. He knows things about

the whites which we do not.

He pauses letting this sink in.

STANDS WITH A FIST

I am afraid of the man at the fort.

KICKING BIRD:

He is only one man.

STANDS WITH A FIST

I am afraid that he will tell some

whites that I am here. I am afraid

that they will try to take me away.

KICKING BIRD:

Every warrior in camp would fight

them if they tried.

She is not much reassured by this. In the way of a defeatist

she lowers her eyes once more.

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