Dances with Wolves Page #3

The union troops have the rebels in full flight, chasing

them into the woods beyond the field.

EXT. BATTLEFIELD - DAY

Suddenly the field is quiet. There is rifle fire in the

distance but otherwise everything is still. The field is

almost empty. The three dead dairy cows are still there. And

at one end of the field is a solitary buckskin horse. His

rider lies on the ground, a foot hooked in one stirrup.

The sound of men's voices is coming near. Suddenly, General

Tide is peering down at him. Dunbar stares back, glassy eyed.

DUNBAR:

Don't take off my foot.

General Tide stares down into Dunbar's blank face. He kneels

next to the lieutenant and bends to whisper in his ear.

GENERAL TIDE:

You rest easy son... you'll keep

you're foot. As God is my judge,

you'll keep it.

The general looks up at one of his aides.

GENERAL TIDE:

Bring up my ambulance...

AIDE:

Sir?

GENERAL TIDE:

Bring up my ambulance. And bring my

surgeon with it. We've got an officer

who's worth something lying here.

The aide dashes off to do what he's told, as General Tide

gently removes Dunbar's foot from the stirrup and lays it

carefully on the ground. The image fades out.

EXT. PRAIRIE - DAY

The image of a boot fades in, pull back to see that a lone

rider is coming toward us. He has had a long and dusty trip.

It's Lieutenant Dunbar. He's still riding the little buckskin.

LEGEND - FORT HAYS. KANSAS - 1863

Dunbar pulls up short. He stares thoughtfully at something

in the distance.

DUNBAR (V.O.)

The strangeness of this life cannot

be measured. In trying to produce my

own death, I was elevated to the

status of a living hero.

Dunbar starts forward and the camera swings around to cover

his back. In the distance we can see an isolated and dreary

military post.

The sky is very blue. The sun is bright. A rough-hewn,

unfenced fort is straight ahead.

There are several miscellaneous stone structures, a well-

stocked stable, barracks, officer's quarters and in the center

of it all, a headquarters building.

Lieutenant Dunbar, riding straight and tall on his powerfully

built buckskin, Cisco, passes into view. He's headed for the

center of the fort.

INT. FORT HAYS HEADQUARTERS - DAY

Silhouetted against the outside, Lieutenant Dunbar pauses in

the wide doorway of headquarters. We can hear the distant

sounds of work and life coming from the outside but in here

it's strangely quiet.

A SERGEANT sits at a desk in the foyer. Across the way, at

another desk, is an enlisted CLERK. Both men glance from

their paperwork at the man in the doorway. But it's only a

glance and they go right on shuffling paper.

Footfalls sound in a hallway and a blue-eyed officer with

slick, black hair swings into the foyer. He too has a

slackness that echoes the dreariness of this post.

The blue-eyed officer, LIEUTENANT ELGIN, and Dunbar meet at

the doorway. Dunbar glances down at a scrap of paper in his

hand.

DUNBAR:

Where can I find Major... Fambrough?

ELGIN:

Turn right... all the way to the end

of the hall.

Being roughly the same age and rank these two might idle

awhile, but Dunbar is eager. He's already moving.

FAMBROUGH (O.S.)

Lt. John J. Dunbar.

DUNBAR:

Sir?

Dunbar stops and turns, peering down the hallway. No one is

there.

INT. FAMBROUGH'S OFFICE - DAY

Sitting behind the desk, holding a set of orders is MAJOR

FAMBROUGH.

FAMBROUGH:

Lt. John J. Dunbar.

Lt. Dunbar is standing in front of the desk.

DUNBAR:

Yes sir?

FAMBROUGH:

Indian fighter, huh?

DUNBAR:

Excuse me?

FAMBROUGH:

(indicating paper)

Your orders say you are to be posted

on the frontier. The frontier is

Indian country. I quickly deduced

that you are an Indian fighter.

He arches an eyebrow, challenging the lieutenant. He has sad

swollen eyes. He is an army lifer passed over too many times

for promotion and right now does not look like a well man.

FAMBROUGH:

I did not ascend to this position by

being stupid.

DUNBAR:

No sir.

Fambrough returns to the order. Dunbar watches him in silence.

The major's tunic is covered with food stains. Sweat has

broken out all over his head. His grooming is awful. His

hands are trembling slightly. Something is very wrong with

him.

Now the major sees something on the official paper. He looks

quickly at the lieutenant, then back at the paper, moving

his lips but making no sound.

FAMBROUGH:

It says here you've been decorated.

DUNBAR:

Yes sir.

FAMBROUGH:

And they sent you out here to be

posted?

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