Klondike Page #6

Bill’s intentions are of course elsewhere-

BILL:

If you don’t mind me saying, miss-I

wouldn’t’ve expected to find

someone so...cultivated--this far

north.

SABINE (PLEASED)

Cultivated. That’s got more

syllables and sentiment than

anything I’ve heard in months.

Thank you.

(wry smile)

But...I’m as derelict as the rest

of you, trust me. Come this

ridiculous long way to make a whole

bunch of money in a very short

while.

She nods to a compatriot across the way.

SABINE (CONT’D)

Nice meeting you Billa Bill. Byron.

She smiles warmly at them, heads off. Bill watches her go.

Epstein looks over at Bill. Sees the fixity of gaze he’s

following Sabine with.

EPSTEIN:

Oh don’t go gettin’ that look.

He moves off. Leaving Bill there, cool as a cucumber, but

smitten nevertheless...

EXT. FROZEN LAKE / MAKESHIFT COMMUNITY - LATER

Bill & Epstein, moving through the workers, surveying the

fairly impressive progress they’ve made on the boats--given

that the wood’s not milled and their tools are limited.

EPSTEIN:

How in the hell we gonna build a

boat?

BILL:

Just like everything else, I

reckon. You start...and you don’t

stop til you’re done.

26.

They’re interrupted by a familiar face. Soapy Smith.

SOAPY SMITH:

Gentlemen. S. Rochester Smith.

Enchanted to make your

acquaintance.

Bill & Epstein meet eyes.

SOAPY SMITH (CONT’D)

I am not a mincer of words, and as

such, will get to the point. I can

safely assume that you two men are

bound for the Paris of the North.

A nod from Bill.

SOAPY SMITH (CONT’D)

Well then, I’m here to tell you

that, land-wise, it is feedin’

frenzy up there. Fortunately, I am

a representative of the only

certified real estate company up

there at present. I have on offer

gen-yine deeds to prime real

estate, as well as claims to

millionaire-making mining concerns

on the creeks in the Yukon.

Soapy:
diminutive, dumb as a log, though convinced he’s a

mover like none other. He presses DEEDS into Bill & Epstein’s

hands. Bill & Epstein consider them. Written there, in big

letters, “Lawson City...” It’s such an oversight, it’s almost

laughable.

BILL:

Think you might mean ‘Dawson City’

here, boss.

Soapy gives the deeds a gander, quickly comes to realize he’s

made a rather big mistake here.

SOAPY SMITH:

Well, Alackaday. That is a grade-A

head-scratcher, ain’t it?

Epstein crowds him.

EPSTEIN:

And brother, you are grade-A lucky

there ain’t a woodshed around here.

‘Cause if there were, my partner

and I’d be obliged to take you

‘round back and give you a princely

ass-whooping.

Soapy, in life preservation mode, makes a realist plea-

SOAPY SMITH:

It’s nothing personal-

27.

EPSTEIN:

And how is that-

SOAPY SMITH:

I don’t you know either of ya’s

from Adam. And if that’s the

case...think about it. How could it

be personal?

Bill & Epstein meet eyes again--is this guy kidding--?

SOAPY SMITH (CONT’D)

It’s just how it goes up here, you

understand? It’s the Game you’re in

now.

EPSTEIN:

Ain’t seeing nothing about this

that’s a game.

SOAPY SMITH:

Then boy, you don’t know people. Up

here, the mask is off. You’re

either gittin’, or you’re gittin’

got.

Epstein slowly lets go of him.

EPSTEIN:

Try to rip us off again, and I’ll

build that woodshed myself, got me?

A big, dumbass Labrador smile from Soapy-

SOAPY SMITH:

No, we’re boys now. We’re boys. We

understand each other. Right?

He pats both men on the shoulder, quietly tucks the deeds

under his arm, retreats.

Bill looks to Epstein. Both men quietly shake their heads.

Soapy’s dirty as they come. But strangely, in his stupidity,

without malice.

EXT. FROZEN LAKE / MAKESHIFT COMMUNITY - LATER

ON FATHER JUDGE & THE ‘SQUAW’--arriving at the encampment.

Bill, seeing this. Curious couple, these two. As he sorts, repacks

his gear-

SABINE (O.S.)

Guess that’s it for me.

Bill turns to see Sabine standing there. She nods to her

compatriots, loading their newly constructed boat.

SABINE (CONT’D)

They’re telling me she’s seaworthy.

(smiles)

Maybe we’ll see each other.

(MORE)

28.

SABINE (CONT’D)

Supposedly, up there, for such a

big place, it’s a small world.

BILL:

Hope so.

They share a smile, She turns to cross to her boat. As Bill

watches her go, he takes notice of something else, a few

yards downriver from her boat. Epstein, haggling with the

earlier Boatseller.

ON BILL--crossing to Epstein--hearing-

BOATSELLER:

Hundred’s the price.

EPSTEIN:

You think I’m going north of

eighty, you are one shithouse loon-Eighty...

As Bill moves to intercede-

BOATSELLER (TO EPSTEIN)

Put eighty US in my hand right now

and we're dutch.

Epstein quickly does so before Bill can arrive.

EPSTEIN:

Gimme the oars.

BILL:

Wait-

But the Boatseller takes the cash, presses the oars into

Epstein’s hands before Bill can do anything. As he turns to

other business, Epstein turns to Bill, sees the look of

anguish on his face.

EPSTEIN:

What's that look for? We got a

boat. We're in the game--

BILL:

You gotta stop pissing our money

away--we make these decisions

together, always-

EPSTEIN:

Yeah, no sh*t-

BILL:

We’re gonna be living here

indefinitely, and we're down

already, what, half our money?

EPSTEIN:

Ah, once our stake's up and rolling-

we'll be fine-

29.

BILL:

We are in the middle of the Yukon,

brother. We run outta money we are

dead.

Epstein gives him a look. Yeah, no sh*t. Like I don’t know

that? Bill puts out his hand.

BILL (CONT’D)

I want it. The money. I’m treasurer

now.

EPSTEIN:

Says who?

BILL:

Says logic. Of the two of us, who’s

just a tad less likely to run off

and spend it than the other?

Epstein rolls his eyes. Fine. Whatever. Hands him the cash.

BILL (CONT’D)

Is that all of it?

Epstein nods. Yes! Bill folds it up, puts it away.

EXT. FROZEN LAKE / MAKESHIFT COMMUNITY - LATER

As Bill & Epstein slide their new purchase into the shallows

of the river-

EPSTEIN:

And don’t act like you’re secretly

not happy. Imagine us sitting here

for a month trying to figure out

how to carve a boat out of that

goddamn forest. Then getting

upriver and finding out the claims

are all full. You know what you

would’ve said to me then?

BILL (GOOD-NATUREDLY)

“We shoulda bought the boat.”

EPSTEIN:

You’re goddamn right.

The men smile, of one mind again. As they lay the boat into

the shallows--CUT TO-

EXT. RIVER - DAY

“Yukon River, June 27, 1897.”

MONTAGE:
the men, navigating downriver. Around them, the

majesty of the Yukon Territory in summer. An illimitable riot

of jagged topography and color. Sky, land, and water teem

with life.

30.

As the boat glides along, camera looks down at it, finds it

ensconced in a sea of salmon, massive like they were 100

years ago, spawning tenthousandfold from bank-to-bank.

Bill’s absorbing it all like a silent, awed pilgrim.

He pauses then. Up in the trees, people. The Tlingit.

Watching them as they move down river. A couple of the

tribesmen, faces partially painted, shadow them through the

trees 40 feet away on the shoreline. Their faces impassive,

ancient.

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