Hope and Glory Page #8

GRACE:

Half the time he's bluffing.

A moment of dread hangs over the room. GRACE summons her

resolve and bustles over to the wireless and snaps it off.

GRACE:

Bill, off to bed.

She gives him a shove towards the door to silence his

protest. She takes DAWN by the shoulder and presses her

into a chair and pushes her head into her homework.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - CHILDREN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Sirens are sounding, one after the other, some distant,

some close, then the one at the end of the street, like

dogs howling in the night waking other dogs. Three German

bombers, a Heinkel, a Dornier and a Stuka, fly in formation

across the black sky. GRACE appears behind the model

planes, which hang on threads from the ceiling, wakes BILL

and SUE and they stumble out of bed.

INT. ROHAN'S HOUSE - STAIRS - NIGHT

GRACE leads BILL and SUE down the stairs. They sleep on

their feet in this familiar routine. DAWN is still dressed

below, playing dance records on the gramophone and

finishing homework.

GRACE:

We better go to the shelter.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

They open the French windows and fierce wind cuts into the

room.

DAWN:

It's freezing out.

GRACE hesitates, then closes the windows.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

They squeeze themselves into the tiny space under the

stairs, close the door and light a candle. BILL and SUE

complain irritably as they try to arrange their limbs. The

shoving and pushing wakes them up.

GRACE gives each of them a biscuit from a tin.

DAWN:

What would we do if a German came

into the house?

GRACE:

Don't be silly, Dawn.

DAWN:

Well, why do you always bring the

carving knife in here?

DAWN picks up the knife, pretending to hear someone outside

the cupboard door. She presses her ear to the thin wooden

partition. BILL'S eyes bulge. He is half convinced. Even

GRACE looks uneasy. SUE, reacting automatically to crisis,

pulls on her red and white 'Mickey Mouse' gasmask. Suddenly

DAWN thrusts the knife through a crack in the boards. She

makes a blood curdling cry.

GRACE slaps her, amused, despite herself. BILL seizes DAWN

from behind and pulls her back on top of him. They writhe

and giggle. BILL c*cks an ear.

BILL:

Flak!

They are stock-still, straining to hear. He is right. The

anti-aircraft guns have started up. Their crisp 'crump'

sound gets closer and more frequent. Another separate sound

intrudes - falling bombs. The explosions are at regular

intervals, each one louder than the last.

BILL:

Basket bombing

Counts between the bombs

Two and three and four and five

and six and..

The next bomb falls closer.

GRACE:

Why didn't I take you to the

shelter?

Her hands tough and caress the children, as though weaving

a protective charm over them.

BILL:

...four and five and six and...

Another, louder still. They sit tense and straining every

muscle, willing the bombs away.

GRACE:

If only I'd let you go to

Australia.

BILL:

...and five and six and...

It is deafening, shaking the house.

DAWN:

The next one is ours. Either it

hits us or it goes past us.

BILL:

...and four and five...

DAWN:

Please God. Not on us. Drop it on

Mrs. Evans. She's a cow.

BILL:

...and six...

It drops, some way past them. They slump exhausted against

each other. A fire-engine bell approaches. The flask goes

on. DAWN gets up, untangles herself from the others.

DAWN:

I'm not going to die like a rat

in a trap. Let me out of here.

Staggers out of the cupboard.

DAWN:

I'm going outside.

BILL scrambles after her.

GRACE:

Wait. Don't.

EXT. ROHAN HOUSE - NIGHT

DAWN runs out. Searchlights criss-cross the sky. Anti

aircraft shells make little white puffs in the black sky,

the sound coming much later. Up the road, a house is

blazing. A fire engine swings by. ARP MEN run in the

street. DAWN dances in the tiny front garden.

DAWN:

Quick, quick.. slow, quick, slow.

BILL hesitates in the porch.

DAWN:

It's lovely. Lovely. Does little

Billy want to see the fireworks?

BILL runs out, sees something by the kerb and picks it up.

BILL:

Shrapnel! And it's still hot.

He tosses it from hand to hand. At the far end of the

street, the skyline of central London is silhouetted

against a burning sky. GRACE suddenly laughs at the sight

of the burning house down the street. She is shocked at her

own reaction.

GRACE:

Come in at once, or I wash my

hands of you.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes