Days of Heaven Page #4

BILL:

What's the matter?

She begins to cry. He takes her in his arms.

BILL:

I know how you feel, honey. Things won't always

be this way. I promise.

36ABBY AND BILL - CHUCK'S POV

The men knock out their pipes as Benson's

whistle summons them back to their stations.

BENSON:

Tick tockl Tick tock! Nothing moving but the

clock!

Bill pulls Abby to her feet. He sees the Dutchman he fought

with and shoots him the finger.

ABBY:

You better be careful.

BILL:

Of him? He's just a. sack of sh*t.

ABBY:

Stop it! He's liable to see you.

BILL:

I want him to. He's the one better be careful.

37TIGHT ON CHUCK

Chuck looks on. Something about her captivates

hint, not so much her beauty--which only makes her seem

beyond his reach--as the way she takes it utterly for

granted.

38MONTAGE (DISSOLVES)

The work goes on through the afternoon. The pace

is stern and incessant, and for a reason: a storm could rise

at any moment and sweep the crops flat, or a dry wind

shrivel them up. A series of dissolves gives the sense of

many days passing.

Iany moment and sweep the crops flat, or a dry wind shrivel

them up.Animals--snakes and gophers, rabbits and foxes--dart

through the field into the deep of the wheat, not realizing

their sanctuary is growing ever smaller as the reapers make

their rounds. The moment will come when they will every one

be killed with rakes and flails.

The wheat changes colors in the wind, like velvet. As the

sun drops toward the horizon a dew sets, making the straw

hard to cut. Benson fires his pistol. A vine of smoke sinks

lazily through the sky. As the workers move off, the fields

grow vast and inhospitable.

Oil wells can be seen here and there amid the grain.

39EXT. ABBY'S ROW

Bill helps Abby finish up a row. Thousands of

shocks stretch out in the distance. Benson comes up behind

her, making a spray of the stalks that she missed.

BENSON:

You must've passed over a dozen bushels here.

I'm docking you three dollars.

BILL:

What're you talking about? That's not fair.

BENSON:

Then leave. You're fired.

Abby is speechless. Bill squeezes the small rubber ball

which he carries around to improve his grip and swallows his

pride.

BILL:

BILL:

Wait a minute.

BENSON:

You want to stay?

(pause)

Then shut up and get back to work.

Benson leaves. Abby covers Bill's embarrassment.

BILL:

I guess he meant it.

She turns her back to him and goes about picking up the

sheaf Benson threw down.

BILL:

He did. Ask him. If you can't sing or dance,

what do you do in this world? You might as well forget it.

Ising or dance, what do you do this world? You might as

wellu

rorget it.

40EXT. STOCK POND - DUSK

Their day's work done, the men swim naked in a

stock pond.

Their faces are black, their bodies white as a baby's.

A retriever plunges through the water fetching sticks.

41EXT. ROAD - DUSK

Some bowl with their hats on in a dusty road and

argue in Italian.

42EXT. BELVEDERE - DOCTOR'S WAGON - DUSK

A physician's wagon stands in front of the

Belvedere.

Bill hunts nervously through it for medicine to soothe

Abby's

hands. Not knowing quite what to look for, he sniffs

whatever

catches his eye.

Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a

DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill,

surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer

their conversation becomes faintly audible.

CHUCK (o.s.)

How long you give it?

DOCTOR (o.s.)

Could be next month. Could be a year. Hard to say. Anyway,

I'm sorry.

CHUCK (o.s.)

Got to happen sometime.

They shake hands

43NEW ANGLE - DUSKI

The Doctor snaps his whip at the horses. Bill

grabs holdI

The Doctor snaps his whip at the horses. Bill grabs hold of

the back of the wagon and lets it drag him away from the

Belvedere.the Belvedere. -

44EXT. BARN - DUSK

Ursula and Abby case the barn for dinner. Abby

points at a pair of peacocks strutting by, nods to Ursula

and puts a finger over her lips. Ursula, with a giggle,

followsone while Abby stalks the other.

45EXT. RAPESEED FIELD - SERIES OF ANGLES -

DUSK:

The peacock, a resplendent white, leads Abby

through a bright yellow rapeseed field. It keeps just out of

reach, as though it were enticing her on.

as though it were enticing her on.'U

All at once she looks up with a start. Chuck is standing in

front of her,

dressed in his habitual black. The Belvedere rises behind

him like a

castle in a fairy tale. She remembers Benson's warning that

this is forbidden ground.

ABBY:

(afraid)

I forgot where I was.

CHUCK:

Don't worry. Where you from?

ABBY:

Chicago.

CHUCK:

We hardly ever see a woman on the harvest.

There is a small rip in the side of her shirt, which the

camera observes with Chuck. She pulls her sweater over it.

CHUCK:

You like the work?

(she shrugs)

Where do you go from here?

ABBY:

Wyoming and places. I've never been up that way.

You think I'll like it?

He shrugs. Shy at first, she begins to open up.

ABBY:

That dog belongs to you that was running around

here? That little pointer?

(he nods)

What's his name

CHUCK:

Buster.

ABBY:

He seems like a good dog.

CHUCK:

I think so.

ABBY:

He came over and tried to eat my bread from

lunch.

CHUCK:

Maybe I should keep him penned up.

ABBY:

(smiling)

You asking me?

46EXT. SPIT - DUSK

Bill finds Ursula roasting a peacock on a spit.

She has arranged some of its tail feathers in her hair.

BILL:

You're getting prettier every day.

URSULA:

Aren't you sweet!

BILL:

Depends how people are with me. Where's Abby? I

found her something.

He holds out a jar of salve. Ursula shrugs.

BILL:

She mention anything to you about going back?

(pause)

What?

Ursula has no idea what he is talking about.

47EXT. STRAW STACK - MAGIC HOURMost of the

workers are fast asleep around the strawp�lU

Most of the workers are fast asleep around the

strawpile, their bodies radiating out like the spokes of a

wheel. A few stay up late to shoot dice in the back of a

wagon.

48EXT. SEPARATE STACK - MAGIC HOUR

Abby and Bill have laid their bedrolls out by a

stack away from the others. A fire burns nearby. Abby look

at the stars. Bill shines his shoes. The straw is fragrant

as thyme.

ABBY:

I've had it.

BILL:

You're tired, that's all. I'm going to find you

another blanket.

ABBY:

No, it's not that. I'm not tired. I just can't.

BILL:

Don't you want to be with me?

ABBY:

You know I do. It's just that, well, I'm not a

bum, Bill.

BILL:

I know. I told you though, this is only for a

while. Then we're going to New York.Then we're New York.

ABBY:

And after that?

BILL:

Then we're there. Then we get fixed up.

ABBY:

You mean spend one night in a flophouse and

start looking for work.

They are silent for a moment.

BILL:

You should go back.

ABBY:

And leave you? I couldn't do that.

(pause)

Someday, when I'm dying, I'd like somebody to

ask me if I

still see life the same way as before--and I'd like them to

write down what I say. It might be interesting.I

Suddenly they look around. The chief domestic at the

Belvedere, a churlish lady named MISS CARTER, stands above

them with a salver of fruit and roast fowl.

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