Oscar and Lucinda Page #5

The odds were surely stacked against him.

Had it been a horse,

rather than a woman's heart...

he would never have bet on it.

Not even for a place.

How does your correspondent

enjoy Bellingen town?

Well enough.

Does he have a church built yet?

No, they still hold the service

behind the blacksmith's.

Mr. Hasset should have a church.

What is your idea?

What would be his feeling...

If he woke up one morning,

he looked out of his window...

And he saw a church...

Made of glass?

- A church?

- Of glass.

- A glass church?

- Yes!

- It is not practical.

- What is the practical purpose of a church?

If it is only to provide shelter

to Christians...

And my father would take this view...

Then it is better to worship

in rooms behind the blacksmith.

But if the purpose of a church

is also a celebration of God...

Then I would say I am the most

practical man you have spoken to all year.

It's like the stairs in the library.

It's what they call...

- Prefabricated.

- Yes.

You can pack it in crates

and transport it by cart.

- Or by ship.

- Yes, you can take it...

- across the Great Dividing Range.

- We are mad to think of it.

No! We are not mad!

We are not mad.

Can you imagine Mr. Hasset's face?

You will deliver it to him.

- I?

- Yes, surely you...

- I cannot leave the works.

- But you wouldn't...

No, it's quite impossible.

They're only just recovering

from my last absence.

Then I shall, on your behalf.

- Bellingen is approached by sea.

- Then I shall go by land.

You cannot.

It is largely unmapped country.

You think it is outside my scope?

- There is no shame in that.

- And no truth in it, either.

I wager you I can do it.

You may nominate the date.

- This is madness.

- I am prepared to wager you...

That I can have the glass church

in Bellingen by, say...

Good Friday.

And what can you bet?

- 10 guineas.

- It's not enough.

What is enough?

Your inheritance.

My father may live until he's 100.

He's not a rich man, anyway.

- That makes no difference.

- You will bet?

- The same.

- The same amount?

The same. My inheritance.

- But you already have it.

- Yes.

- Your works?

- Yes, everything.

- You will wager all that?

- Yes.

Five weeks without

even a game of Penny Poker...

And now this.

Very pretty, this fretwork.

It is quite ingenious.

Here is my head clerk.

Come in, Jeffris.

We have a question for you.

Miss Leplastrier, Mr. Hopkins.

This is from the horse's mouth.

Jeffris is quite the explorer.

He has been there, up north.

- On the road survey, wasn't it, Jeffris?

- Yes.

He knows all the ins and outs.

Would that road be of any use?

If you were carrying cargo of any sort,

it would be a fool's way to go.

We will have cargo, yes.

- Then you must go by sea.

- Mr. Hopkins is set on going overland.

- Is that so?

- Yes, I'm afraid it is.

Going by land, of course,

one of your main problems...

Is the butchering habits

of the blacks up north.

But you must know that.

If you go,

as all the incompetents have done...

Smack-bang through the center

of their kingdoms, what can you expect?

It is like thrusting your bare hand

into a beehive.

It gets them hopping mad.

Ergo, you take your time...

Go around their boundaries,

and you are left alone.

- Who knows these boundaries?

- I do.

Ease up.

You are not stealing my head clerk.

Morning, Captain.

- Mr. Hopkins.

- I'm in rehearsal, Mr. Jeffris.

I shall need some assistance at Bellingen...

Though it need not be skilled.

I have learned to glaze.

- Excellent.

- It's a lot harder than Latin verbs.

No, Harry. That's B. It should balance H.

He is a brave man, Mr. Jeffris.

Yes, he's an extraordinary chap.

He is far braver than you or I.

When I heard of this,

I could not believe it.

Now I see it, I still cannot believe it.

It is a scientific expedition.

Here is a list of the party we have...

The Australian sun

will scorch your congregation...

As though they are in hell itself.

How kind of you to come from Parramatta

to tell me this.

Have you become so sarcastic?

- It is to be built beneath a tree.

- Fiddlesticks!

- A shady tree in a cool aspect.

- It will be as hot as hell.

Where will the rector

change his vestments?

He is like a fish in an aquarium

for everyone to see.

Be calm.

You had such a start in life,

and now this folly!

Look at it, please.

Calmly.

It is so beautiful.

This celebrates God's name.

They will fry. They will curse God's name.

You don't look well, girlie.

"He has condemned himself

to everlasting hellfire.

"He has cast himself out

from those who can ask God's forgiveness.

"What brought your friend,

the Rev. Stratton, to this pass...

"we can only conjecture. "

- Mr. Jeffris?

- Miss Leplastrier, Mr. Hopkins.

I'm offering you a bonus.

Mr. Hopkins will give this to you

when he has been safely delivered.

Please, no.

As you wish.

So...

Mr. Hopkins, if you please.

- Oh, dear.

- Surely he can wait.

Mr. Hopkins must lead the expedition.

The Lord keep you safe.

The legal document of our wager.

I have this for you.

Go.

Goodbye.

When Oscar first talked

of going overland...

he had not known

there were six rivers to cross:

The Macleay, the Hastings, the Clarence...

the Manning, the Hunter, and the Namoi.

He was sick with fear

at the thing he had begun.

Help!

- Help me, man! He's having a fit.

- Help.

- Hold his head.

- No!

You are to supervise him at all times,

and not to let him out of your sight.

When you hold your cock,

you will have your eye on him.

When you wipe your a**hole,

you will have your hand around his ankle.

When there are rivers to be forded...

You will administer

5 fluid ounces of the laudanum.

- Do I make myself clear?

- My duty is as collector of animals.

All other duties are second to this one.

That she did not open Oscar's letter

was not forgetfulness.

She did not wish to weep.

They would carry him safely,

and they would bring him back.

"I dare not hope, and yet I must

"that through this deed, I gain your trust"

You had my trust.

Oh, you fool.

My darling.

Lucinda did not know

it would be four weeks...

before the next steamer left for Bellingen.

One, two, three, heave!

Lift it, you soft whores!

Get those horses up here, man!

Move this thing!

Does your throat still pain you?

It is not so bad.

If I coat the funnel with wax

when you have your fits...

- I had no fit.

- I found you in one.

That damn church of yours, sir,

is costing us time.

He forced his medicine upon me.

I had no fit.

He fears your phobia,

that you'll jump into the water.

He fears he will lose his bonus.

But he will not lose me.

I shall be here until the end.

I have much to live for.

Come on, put your backs into it.

Come on, some muscle.

Be quiet now.

Blacks! N*ggers!

- Captain!

- Simpson, over the top.

Dalton, watch the provisions!

One man secure the horses.

The rest of you, with me.

- By the rocks!

- Come on, lads.

No!

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