Days of Heaven Page #22

299EXT. FARMHOUSE

Four LAWMEN, in pursuit, interrogate some

FARMERS. Have

they seen the two people standing by Chuck in his wedding

portrait? Benson holds the bulky frame. There is a funereal

border of black crepe at the corners.

300EXT. ABOARD THE BOAT - DUSK

They drift idly on the flood. The phonograph is

playing

in the stern. Abby is back in trousers. Bill points to

a white house on the shore, an image of comfort and peace.

BILL:

I used to want a set-up like that. Something

like that, I thought,

and you'd really have it made. Now I don't care. I just wish

we could always live this way.

He sees that her mind is somewhere else. He wants to tell

her the truth about Chuck, for intimacy's sake, but it

would just put more of a cloud over everything. It might

even cause her to hate him.

BILL:

Maybe you want to write him a letter.

ABBY:

I hadn't thought of that.

BILL:

You really do love him, don't you?

She does not reply.

BILL:

You want to go back?

ABBY:

(shaking her head)

Too late for that. I could never face him again.

They look at each other for a moment. He touches her face,

to show that he does not hold it against her. She touches

him back. They only have each other now. They must save

what moments they can.

BILL:

Guess it's you and me again.

301NEW ANGLE

On a sudden whim, Abby takes off her wedding

bracelet

and holds it over the water.

ABBY:

Watch this.

Bill is caught off guard. Before he can make a move she

throws it far out into the river. They laugh, without

knowing why, at this extravagance.

302EXT. SHORE .. TRACKING SHOTS

They gather May apples and black haws. The music

from

the phonograph comes up full.

They dig clams from a sand bar in a playful way. We are

reminded of their first days on the harvest.

303XT. UNDERGROWTH

They make love in the undergrowth.

Abby, afterwards, lies in a naked daze. The damp greens

of the wilderness envelop her.

304THEIR POV - ON CITY ON RIVER - NIGHT

Rounding a bend in the river that night, they

come upon

the lights of a great city. They have doused the running

lamp. Except for a faint groaning of the trees along the

shore, the river is silent, conveying the sounds of the

city to them from across a great distance -- bells, joy-

ful voices, horns, the chirping of brakes, etc.

305EXT. CITY STREETS AND THEIR POVS - NIGHT

They sneak down an alley.

There are signs of life behind a few windows, but the

city pursues its gaiety elsewhere.

Suddenly, they come upon a POLICEMAN making his rounds.

They let him pass, then cut through a vacant lot back

to the boat.

306EXT. RIVER FRONT - DAY

The next morning finds them camped in a thicket

on the river

front below a factory.

Bill wakes up, mysteriously happy. Their blankets are heavy

with dew. Overhead, finches tilt from branch to branch. A

light wind rushes through the leaves. Whatever his trou-

bles, they seem very small to him in the great. scheme of

things.

He looks at Abby, mouthing silent words in her sleep.

He puts on a white scarf and starts down to the boat. The

slope is strewn with sodden cartons, burnt bricks and burst

mattresses, an avalanche of urban excreta.

307HIS POV

Abruptly he stops. Two POLICE OFFICERS are

combing over the

boat. They have not seen him. He edges back. Suddenly, there

is yelling on the hill above them. Bill looks up. Benson is

calling him to the attention of a car-load of POLICEMEN

pulling up beside him. The Officers at the boat now spot

him, too, and open fire. Bill darts like

a rabbit into the thicket.

308TIGHT ON ABBY

Abby bolts awake. Bill jumps down beside her,

breathless,

and begins looking frantically for the shells to his

shotgun.

ABBY:

What's going on?

BILL:

Keep down. Can't explain now. They're here.

ABBY:

Who? What're you talking about? Stop a minute.

He covers her with his body as bullets zoom through the

undergrowth. His face is close to hers. She bursts into

tears.

BILL:

Don't get shot. Look for me under that next

bridge down.

After dark.

He empties out the contents of his pockets -- a watch, a

couple of dollars in change, a ring -- and slaps them down

in front of her.

The Police fan out along the ridge above them. He jams a

flare pistol into his belt and kisses her goodbye--after

a moment's hesitation -- on the cheek. She tries in vain

to hold him back.

BILL:

I wish I could tell you how much

I love you.

309EXT. MUD FLAT

Bill runs from the thicket down to the water.

The Police

have bunched on the other side. It seems he might be able

to escape. Keeping low, he splashes across a mud flat.

Suddenly he runs into a trot line that a fisherman has

left out overnight. The hooks bite into his thigh and

shoulder, yanking a string of startled, thrashing catfish

out of the water.

He keeps running in a panic, not realizing the line is

staked to the shore. All at once, he jackknifes in the

air. The stake twangs loose. The Police now spot him

and begin firing.

310TIGHT ON ABBY

Abby runs out of hiding, thinking at first that

the Police must be looking for her.

ABBY:

Why're you shooting? You'll kill him! Have you gone crazy?

Stop! Oh, Bill, not you! Not you!

311NEW ANGLE

Bill stumbles along, trying to rip the hooks

from his

flesh, but the fish--fighting their way back to the

water--only drive them in deeper.

Ahead two MOUNTED POLICE surge into the river, blocking

his retreat.

He empties his shotgun at them and throws it away. They

hold up, astonished. He dashes across a sand bar for the

deep of the river and comparative safety. Black mud clings

to his feet, drawing him down like a fly in molasses.

Benson goes running out into the river ahead of the Police.

BENSON:

Leave him alone. I want him. Leave him alone.

(firing)

There you go! There you go!

He shoots Bill down. Bill turns and looks at him in sur-

prise. Benson shoots him again, point blank.

312UNDERWATER SHOT

Bill's blood fades off quickly in the gliding

water of the

river. The line of frightened catfish dances out behind

him like a garland.

313OTHER ANGLES

A dog trots off in alarm.

Benson wades into shore, tears streaming down his face,

his chest heaving with emotion.

Abby falls to the ground in a convulsion of grief.

A short way down the river PEOPLE come and go along the

bridge where they were to meet.

314ISOLATED ON ROLLER PIANO

A roller piano sits in a corner by itself,

playing a fox-

trot. The camera moves back.

315INT. ARBORETUM - ATTIC

YOUNG DANCERS are learning the foxtrot in the

attic of the

Arboretum, a tacky Western version of an Eastern finishing

school. The steps are painted on the floor as white

footprints.

Abby is apparently enrolling Ursula here. The headmistress,

MADAME MURPHY, boasts of the school's achievements.

Ursula looks trapped. Abby checks her watch.

She must go.

316EXT. BRICK STREET

Abby and Ursula walk down an empty street. Abby

wears a

mourning band on her sleeve. She is under the false im-

pression that Ursula likes her new home. An INDIAN PORTER

carts her bags along behind them in a wheelbarrow.

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