Outlander Page #2

Season #1 Episode #1 - 'Sassenach'

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(CONTINUED)

6.

CONTINUED:

MRS. BAIRD

When a new house is built in these

parts, the custom -- since far back

in the Old Days -- is to kill

something and bury it under the

foundation. The blood ye saw is

that of a black cock. The houses

on this street being what ye call

yer “pre-fab homes” the new

residents are only just now havin’

the chance to honor the old ways.

She drops her voice as if sharing an intimacy.

MRS. BAIRD (cont’d)

Some folks in these parts believe

that the late War was due to people

turning away from their roots and

omitting to take proper precautions

-- such as burying a sacrifice

under the foundation.

FRANK:

(quick)

Or burning fish bones on the

hearth.

MRS. BAIRD

-- excepting haddocks, of course.

FRANK:

-- never burn a haddock’s bones or

you’ll never catch another.

They share a laugh.

CLAIRE:

Please don’t encourage him, Mrs.

Baird. My husband is a historian

and could easily stand here all day

trading ancient aphorisms.

MRS. BAIRD

A historian is it? Are ye a

professor then, Mr. Randall?

FRANK:

Not officially, but soon.

CLAIRE:

He has accepted a post at Oxford

beginning in two weeks.

(CONTINUED)

7.

CONTINUED:
(2)

MRS. BAIRD

Ach, then this is a last holiday

before settling dun to the workaday

life again, is it? Well ye picked

a bonnie time to be here, just nigh

of the Beltane Festival.

FRANK:

(to Claire)

One of the four pagan sun feasts.

Beltane being the feast of the

spring equinox.

MRS. BAIRD

Ye’ll both be welcome, of course,

but mind ye -- ghosts are freed on

the feast days and they’ll be

wandering about, free to do good or

ill as they please.

CLAIRE:

Ghosts?

MRS. BAIRD

Oh, sure now, lassie.

(low)

Like up at Mountgerald, the big

house at the top of High Street?

Ay, there’s a ghost. A workman

killed in the eighteenth century as

a sacrifice for the foundation.

Mrs. Baird leans forward over the wooden counter, warming to

her subject as she tells an old ghost story to the young

couple in her parlor.

MRS. BAIRD (cont’d)

The story goes that by order of the

house’s owner, one wall was built

up first, ye see? Then a stone

block was dropped from the top of

it straight onto one of the

workmen. They buried him in the

cellar and the rest of the house

built up over him.

(beat)

To this day, he haunts the cellar

where he was killed, excepting on

Beltane, when he’s freed to walk

the streets of Inverness once more.

(beat)

A word to the wise: be careful

after dark.

(CONTINUED)

8.

CONTINUED:
(3)

She lets that hang in the air for a beat, leaving Claire and

Frank unsure for a moment whether they’re being had. But

then it dawns on them that she’s perfectly serious.

Frank finds his voice first.

FRANK:

Thank you, Mrs. Baird. We’ll keep

that in mind.

MRS. BAIRD

(hands Claire key)

Ye’ll have the room up the stairs

and first door to the left.

Breakfast is at seven and tea at

three.

CLAIRE:

Thank you. Oh -- I was also

wondering if you knew of anyone in

the village with knowledge of the

plants in the area. I have a

particular interest in medicinal

herbs and I’d be very interested in

learning about the local varieties.

MRS. BAIRD

I should introduce you to Mr.

Crook. He knows all about the

plants in the area, I’m sure he’d

be more ’n happy to show you.

CLAIRE:

Thank you, again.

Claire and Frank head toward the stairs.

INT. MRS. BAIRD’S - SECOND FLOOR LANDING/THEIR ROOM - DUSK

Moments later, Frank carries the luggage as Claire unlocks

the door and lets them into their modest, if well-kept room.

We might notice that Frank and Claire automatically separate

soon after entering the room, and that there’s almost always

a physical distance between them in any given space.

FRANK:

Not without its charms, certainly.

CLAIRE:

Beats an army cot and a tent in the

mud.

(CONTINUED)

9.

CONTINUED:

Frank drops the luggage, sits on the bed -- it gives out a

loud SQUEAK.

FRANK:

So much for marital privacy.

Claire smiles from across the room as he bounces a little and

the bed gives out progressively louder and more emphatic

SQUEAKS.

CLAIRE:

You think the sound carries?

FRANK:

(stops)

I think it’s safe to say Mrs. Baird

will be kept apprised of any

renewed attempts to start a family.

Claire plops herself down beside him.

CLAIRE:

Lazybones. You’ll never manage the

next branch on your family tree

unless you show a bit more industry

than that.

Claire begins energetically bouncing up and down. Frank

grins and in a flash the two of them are in danger of

breaking the rickety bed as it groans and shrieks.

INT. FOYER - DUSK

Mrs. Baird pauses in her work at the sounds coming down

through the ceiling overhead. She raises an eyebrow and goes

back to work.

INT. CLAIRE & FRANK’S ROOM - DAY

They’re laughing and bouncing on the bed -- they stop after a

moment and Claire regards him tenderly.

CLAIRE:

You know, one of those things I

used to try and remember lying in

my cot in the mud: “What’s the

sound of my husband’s laugh?” I

couldn’t conjure it no matter what

I did; I couldn’t hear it even

though I’d heard it a million times

before. Strangest thing.

Frank takes her hand, opens the palm.

(CONTINUED)

10.

CONTINUED:

FRANK:

I used to sketch this.

CLAIRE:

My hand?

FRANK:

The lines. Why exactly, I’m not

sure, but I had a very clear memory

of this pattern. Made little

doodles everywhere. A brigadier

once dressed me down because I’d

somehow managed to draw them in the

margin of a report for the

Minister.

Frank chuckles, then brings her hand to his lips, and in a

moment they’re kissing.

CLAIRE:

Now that we know the bed will stand

the strain...

He gasps as her hand is suddenly inside his trousers. He

fumbles with her blouse, but Claire has taken charge here and

she has him (literally) in the palm of her hand.

CLAIRE (cont’d)

Let’s dispense with the

preliminaries.

She hikes up her skirt and climbs on top of him. Frank gasps

as he enters her. Claire has her blouse and bra off in a

flash and she guides his hands to her breasts.

CLAIRE (cont’d)

Wait -- wait --now.

He PINCHES them hard and now it’s her turn to gasp. She

begins rocking back and forth with increasing speed and

urgency.

INT. FOYER - DAY

Mrs. Baird is cleaning some glasses when the sound from

upstairs resumes. This time it’s slower, more rhythmic,

somehow sexier. Mrs. Baird reacts with a secret smile.

EXT./INT. FRANK’S CAR - MOVING - DAY

The next day. Claire’s curls -- unruly at the best of times

-are blown into utter chaos by the wind, as Frank drives.

She’s smiling, happy.

(CONTINUED)

11.

CONTINUED:

CLAIRE (V.O.)

Frank’s passion for history was

another reason for choosing the

Highlands.

Frank points out a passing ROCK FORMATION shaped like a

rooster’s tail.

FRANK:

Cocknammon Rock. During the 17th

and 18th centuries, you’d have

often found a British army patrol

lying there in wait for Scottish

brigands or rebels. You see how

the position commands the high

ground in every direction?

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