Klondike Page #3

EPSTEIN:

Thought the west was supposed to be

about opportunity. Ain’t seeing

Jack for opportunity. It’s all

menial stuff.

11.

BILL:

Don’t mind menial. If that’s where

we gotta start and work our way

up...

EPSTEIN:

Always amuses me how the rich man

romanticizes the menial life.

Thinks it’s closer to the earth.

Like it’ll deliver him.

BILL:

I am nowhere near rich.

EPSTEIN:

All I’m saying is, I’ve lived the

menial life, brother. Ain’t nothin’

romantic about it.

BILL (RE NEWSPAPER)

How ‘bout you stop sermonizing and

start telling me what you’re seeing

in there.

EPSTEIN (READING)

Let’s see...they’re looking for

cowherds.

BILL:

Don't know about the first thing

about animals.

EPSTEIN:

Railroad men.

BILL:

Coulda done it back home.

Epstein orders 2 more beers, returns to the classified.

EPSTEIN:

We could be soldiers, go to the

Philippines...

BILL:

Got no interest in dying anytime

soon.

EPSTEIN:

Not for a dollar a day.

The new beers come. Bill moves to pay for them.

BILL:

What do I owe you?

Bartender nods up the bar.

BARTENDER:

Our man down there’s fronting

drinks til closing time.

12.

And it's here we meet a crucial figure in our story. A man

the end of the bar: The One Who Kept Going. An impossibly

weathered veteran of the gold fields. Call him BECKETT.

Bill & Epstein cross to him.

BILL:

Wanted to thank you for your

generosity.

BECKETT:

It's only generous if it hurts. And

buying drinks...ain't no pain in

that for me ever again. Sorta

beyond that phase, if you get me.

BILL:

Thanks all the same.

BECKETT:

Telling you, thanking a rich man

for a nickel's like thanking the

sky for air. Drink up. Take a

coupla bottles with you.

Bill and Epstein meet eyes. The man’s clothes bespeak a hard

life. The only thing currently with him is a rusting coffee

tin on the bar before him.

EPSTEIN:

Mind us asking what sorta business

you're in--?

In answer, Beckett produces a gold nugget, drops it on the

counter before them.

This is a big moment. The first time we see gold in the

series. And goddamn if it isn’t beautiful.

The size of a man’s thumb. Radiant with a deep luster native

only in the purest of gold.

Bill’s putting two and two together in his head. Ah...

BILL:

Colorado. That’s right. They been

saying in the papers for a while

now miners’ve been pulling all

sorts of gold out of the ground...

BECKETT (KNOWING SMILE)

If it’s in the newspaper, it’s

over.

(beat)

Colorado’s panned out. Has been for

a long time. Just like Black Hills

and California before that.

EPSTEIN:

Then where were you?

13.

BECKETT:

Just like anything else, if you

really wanna be the trailblazer,

you go as far as everyone else

does...then you keep going.

BILL:

And that gets you where exactly?

Beckett mulls, finally nods.

BECKETT:

The Yukon.

(beat)

Placer fields have been locked

beneath permafrost for thousands of

years. Only now are people starting

to realize what’s down there.

He finishes his beer. Nods knowingly.

BECKETT (CONT’D)

But...you gotta get there before

the newspaper does.

He hefts his coffee tin, moves to leave.

Epstein & Bill quickly realize the man’s left that beautiful

nugget on the counter.

EPSTEIN:

Forgot something, boss.

Beckett looks back. Shakes his head with a subtle smile.

BECKETT:

No. I didn’t.

He lifts the lid off the coffee tin. Revealing within,

crammed all the way to the top, more gold nuggets. Bigger and

more beautiful than the first one. A knowing smile from him.

BECKETT (CONT’D)

Keep it.

Then he’s gone.

EXT. COLORADO SPRINGS TRAIN STATION - DAY

Bill & Epstein sit on their satchels. Consider the nugget.

Mulling the man’s advice.

BILL:

Just so you know, technically, if

we were to go up there, and were we

to strike it rich, it's wouldn’t

have been your idea. It was his. So

don't think you're getting the

thousand.

Epstein hefts the nugget Beckett gave them.

14.

EPSTEIN:

We land coffee cans full of

this...I’ll give exactly half a

damn about a thousand bucks.

Off that nugget, glinting in the sunlight--DISSOLVE TO-

EXT. ALASKAN STRAIT - DAY

...foam dancing in the wake of a ship. Rise to find Epstein &

Bill on dock. Looking out at yet another world: black cliffs

with jagged peaks, coastline shrouded in fog. We are a long

way from anything they’ve known.

This is “The Lynn Canal, Alaska, June 2, 1897”.

As Bill considers the foreboding allure of the landscape, he

turns his attentions to the curious assortment of other

passengers. A diverse ship of fools and aspirants. A fat

SOCIETY LADY in tailored garb. Drinking tea being served to

her by a SERVANT.

A priest (later, FATHER JUDGE, 40s), with a rifle slung over

his shoulder. Consorting with a young native HAN WOMAN in

Western clothes. The woman, an early example of the local

population being “civilized”. Their relationship, seen in

pantomime, is a head-scratcher. What exactly are the terms?

As Bill absorbs it all in contemplative silence...he notices

a snaky little pickpocket (later, SOAPY SMITH, 30s), trying

to get into the Fat Lady’s purse while her back’s turned.

Yet every time he’s about to consummate the nab, she shifts

just enough to almost notice him and he retreats. This

happens 2 or 3 times, Soapy being silently and humourously

frustrated...then...

STEWARD (O.C.)

DY-E-A!

Everyone turns their gaze to the shoreline ahead. What

materializes from the mist is technically a ‘town’, but one

about as far removed from civilization as you can get. Dyea.

EXT. DYEA STREETS - MOMENTS LATER

Bill & Epstein disembark amongst the others, regard the

foreboding end-of-the-world town.

Visible in the streets, a surprising amount of MINERS.

Hastily rigging sleds, gearing up. Almost like one might

expect to see before the start of a modern Iditarod.

Bill nears Father Judge, who’s some ways ahead of them,

investigating the commotion.

BILL:

What's going on?

FATHER JUDGE:

Evidently, the Pass has been locked

up for last 4 weeks with storms.

15.

Said with a nod to the imposing mountain range behind town.

The Chilkoot Pass climbs up through a narrow shoot. It’s

heavy with snow. Impossibly steep. Intimidating.

FATHER JUDGE (CONT’D)

This is apparently the first window

they've had in the weather. So now

everyone’s heading out. Trying to

get over before the next storm

hits. Which, by the look of it...

(he considers his portable

barometer...)

...won't be long.

EXT. DYEA STREETS - MOMENTS LATER

Bill & Epstein, moving through the miners-

BILL:

Obviously, we wait.

EPSTEIN:

What do you mean? Obviously we go.

Remember what our boy back in

Colorado said. Get there first.

BILL:

You don't get anywhere first if you

die on the way.

Epstein nods to a nearby VENDOR, hawking provisions & gear.

EPSTEIN:

What’s it cost to kit up?

VENDOR:

300’ll get you a sled, provisions,

shelter, clothes. Cover you for the

next six months.

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