Savannah Page #3

As a boy, I wasted

many beautiful days

in a dusty law office,

by arrangement of my parents.

They were bent on my

entering the profession.

Following the footsteps of the

Honorable John Eliot Ward, no less?

You seem to have inherited from him

a fine servant in

Christmas Moultrie.

My uncle saw in Christmas

an accomplished guide,

and he hired him for his services.

If anyone did the inheriting,

it was Christmas of me.

You turn everything on its

head, don't you, Allen?

Quite the rebel.

And here I thought you'd

been exaggerated.

Well, men should be what they seem.

Or those that be not,

would not they be none?

Well, I think it's

absolutely delightful...

a man of letters who's

returned to nature.

And a sprinkle of

civil disobedience

for good measure.

If you are suggesting

I'm some sort of

contemporary Thoreau,

you are mistaken.

I have no agenda.

I simply prefer this life.

Christmas!

The sheriff stole our order

from Ehrlich's store.

Mr. Ward?

I am guilty of nothing but

an honest day's work,

while he steals a meal

right off a man's table.

Mr. Ward!

I have a good mind to write

the editor of the paper,

and don't think I won't.

I beg your pardon.

I think writing to the

paper's a fine idea.

Miss Stubbs here

hired our services.

To do what?

Don't worry, Mr. Allen.

I simply wish to collect

cuttings for my garden.

A wildflower can be

cultivated in a city garden?

Well, with the right nurturing,

most anything can be cultivated.

Well, I better get these birds here

over to the DeSoto before

the Sheriff lock them up, too.

Yeah.

Good afternoon, Miss Stubbs.

Christmas.

I've seen artists' renderings,

but I had no idea.

It's like floating

on a sea of stars.

And that perfume.

Mmm.

It's like stars made of sugar.

Starry archipelagoes...

raving skies.

Yes.

Raving skies.

My father built a

solarium for my garden.

When I was a little girl,

I couldn't be outside,

and the solarium seemed

impossibly large to fill,

but I filled it till bursting.

And when there was no

more room for planting,

I laid down in the

middle of the floor,

buried beneath the flowers

and imagined I was flying.

A flying carpet.

You know Vasnetsov's painting?

Yeah.

Oh.

My father knew the

Russian Ambassador.

He described it in

such vivid detail,

I felt like I'd seen it

with my own two eyes.

Well, now, you must have known

the Russian Ambassador.

Father says you were in Russia?

Oh, the first time I disappeared

beneath the flowers,

my parents couldn't find me.

Well, Father nearly had

a heart attack, but...

He'd spent my whole life

trying to protect me

from all kinds of imagined horrors,

and there I had

vanished into thin air.

It was my refuge.

If I were a bird, you

wouldn't catch me.

You see, I recognize a

decoy when I see one.

So, what kind of bird would I be?

Uh, I beg your pardon?

If I were a bird and

you were hunting me,

what would I be?

Well?

A mallard.

Particularly beautiful

bird in flight.

That's all? Just a bunch

of pretty feathers?

Oh, no.

I enjoy a bird that uses its, uh,

native cunning to

outwit the hunter.

A mallard has canny.

I see.

Mmm.

Hmm...

There's some meaning

in it, I think.

I don't know if I can put

my finger on it, but...

sometimes I feel as

if I'm up there,

pulling toward some...

distant purpose.

Teach me to shoot.

What?

Not a bird, a...

a target.

That old barge over

there, is it loaded?

Of course, it is.

Careful, now...

Oh!

Uh... Here!

Grab this, here!

Grab it.

Grab the gun.

Hold on.

Good. Good.

You can't swim.

Don't worry, it'll be our secret.

It's not a secret.

It's just not a publicized fact.

Oh, well, hmm...

Truth hath a quiet breast.

You're a rare man, Ward Allen.

And while I do find your word

play entertaining to a point,

I'm not a patient woman.

Can you remember that?

I will.

Can you remember not

to touch my guns?

Yes, I can.

Okay, then.

Yes.

I've made my decision, Father.

You've ruined so many

prospects, Lucy.

Hmm.

Nothing but boys,

following in their

father's footsteps.

I'd know my life before

I had even lived it.

The man's a boor.

Ward Allen walked away

from a fine inheritance.

God knows why.

He wanted to be free.

Free?

His Negro's free.

Father!

Lucy, don't say anymore.

Let's talk this over while

we're away this summer.

I won't be accompanying you

to the Vineyard, Mother.

I am neither yours to

dispense nor to withhold.

Hyah hyah hyah!

Aah!

Mrs. Ward Allen!

Your beauty startles the night!

I shall make a quick loop

around the Earth and return!

Prepare!

Don't you dare!

Eat no onions nor garlic...

Stop that man!

for we are to utter sweet breath.

I will, soon as he stops shootin'.

Make way!

Hyah hyah hyah hyah!

They should be there

waiting for us.

Much obliged for the

sleep, Officer.

My pleasure, Ward.

Hope the little lady's

ready to receive you.

You know, a woman ain't an

argument to win, don't you?

One of these decoys here ain't

gonna bring Miss Lucy in.

Ah, but for thy sweet

understanding, Christmas, a woman.

You're a perfect beast!

Lucy.

Lucy?

Lucy, let me in!

You can sleep with the dog!

That's where you belong!

It's Rock you should

have betrothed!

Please, my dear, at least let me in

behind the privacy of closed doors.

Privacy?

Mm-hmm.

Do you think there's

a soul in Savannah

that doesn't know you left my side

in the middle of the night

to wallow in a vat of whiskey?

Now, Lucy...

You're right.

I... I temper myself

to keep my temper,

and if I need to water

myself down at times,

well, admit it.

A smaller man could never

hold your interest.

As I am, I adore you.

How well you show it.

What would you have me do, hmm?

What would you have me do?

To gild refined gold,

to paint the lily...

to throw perfume on the violet...

to add another hue

into the rainbow.

Mm.

Wasteful and ridiculous...

excess.

It's cold

It's cold

Now I lost my lover

It's cold

And where shall I find her?

Heh.

Pardon the tardiness, Mr. Moultrie.

Late's still better

than never, Mr. Ward.

Bring me a gator

Girl, when you get off the island

A ringtail 'ator

Oh, when you get off the island

Clear.

A Darien gator

Girl, when you get off the island

Ohh, when you get off the island

All right, that's it.

That's the last of them.

That's 10 for Ehrlich's,

20 for the DeSoto.

Uh-huh.

That's almost a quarter.

What the hell was that?

It's Old Man Lynah!

Ain't I tell you not to

get on his property?

Oh, sh...

Ho!

He knows it's us, Mr. Ward!

Well, if he knows it's

us, why is he shootin'?

He's mad about you hitchin' up

with Miss Lucy, that's why.

I did that man a favor.

Lucy'd eat his boy for lunch.

All the same, he all worked up,

and you the best one to blame!

This is ridiculous.

Let's get out of here.

Mr. Lynah, uh... truce!

Truce.

We'll just...

We'll be on our way.

Rock! Here!

Yeah. We'll... We'll

be on out of here.

Here! Go on up!

Here. Here.

Come! Sit. Come here.

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