The English Patient Page #9

ALM�SY

Very well.

CLIFTON:

(laughing it off)

Why are you people so threatened

by a woman?!

He settles into the controls. Alm�sy watches the plane taxi away.

Doesn't move at all. Katharine waves from the tent as the Steerman

takes off.

65a*.EXT. BASECAMP AT POTTERY HILL.

The THREE FORD CARS leave the campsite, loaded for a scouting

expedition. The rest of the party, Bedouin, tents, camels and Tiger

Moth is left behind. Madox shouts last-minute instructions from the

window of his car.

66*.EXT. DESERT EN ROUTE TO CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DAY.

FENELON-BARNES sits astride his camel, and wipes away the sweat. The

desert stretches for miles, shimmering, the sun baking the sand. His

GUIDES wind their headcloths tighter. Nobody speaks. Then one of them

looks round, raises a hand. A BUZZING noise. They all turn. A SMALL

CLOUD OF DUST EMERGES OVER A RIDGE. Locusts? A sandstorm?

A CARAVAN OF CARS, the Alm�sy/Madox expedition, bumps along,

suspensions threatened by the constant dips and ridges. On each car

there are three in the passenger cabin, the open backs crammed with

drums of gasoline and water and equipment. On the front vehicle, the

tenth member of the party, KAMAL, acts as a navigator and sits on a

CAMEL SADDLE, a rodeo cowboy, on the roof of the leading car, driven by

Madox. As they spot FENELON-BARNES they sound their horns and wave

good-naturedly. F-B scowls, watches them roar by, stealing his

thunder.

66a*.EXT. DESERT EN ROUTE TO CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DAY.

ONE OF THE CARS IS HOPELESSLY BOGGED DOWN IN HEAVY SAND. It's contents

have been unloaded, and a rope ladder is being inserted under the

tires. The entire company huff and puff and argue about the best means

of extricating the vehicle.

67*.INT. CAR EN ROUTE TO CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DAY.

LATER - Alm�sy drives the second car, accompanied by Katharine and Al

Auf. Katharine breaks the long silence.

KATHARINE:

I've been thinking about - how does

somebody like you decide to come to

the desert? What is it? You're doing

whatever you're doing - in your castle,

or wherever it is you live, and one day,

you say, I have to go to the desert - or what?

Alm�sy doesn't answer. Katharine, who has looked at him for an answer,

looks away. There's another long silence.

ALM�SY

I once traveled with a terrific guide,

who was taking me to Faya. He didn't

speak for nine hours. At the end of

it he pointed at the horizon and

said - Faya! That was a good day!

Point made, they lapse again into silence. Katharine boils.

KATHARINE:

Actually, you sing.

ALM�SY

Pardon?

KATHARINE:

You sing. All the time.

ALM�SY

I do not.

KATHARINE:

Ask Al Auf.

Alm�sy asks Al Auf in Arabic. He laughs, nods.

KATHARINE:

(sings wickedly)

I'll be down to get you in the taxi,

honey, you'd better be ready about

half-past eight...!

Al Auf nods and grins furiously, joins in, impersonating Alm�sy.

Alm�sy grunts in irritation.

68*.EXT. NEAR THE BASECAMP AT THE CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DUSK.

The group is investigating a cleft in the rocky massif. They climb

slowly. Below them, A NEW AND TEMPORARY BASE CAMP.

The group winds around the rock. Alm�sy turns to offer a hand to

Katharine behind him, pulling her up to the next rock slab. She smiles

at him. He smiles back curtly, continues.

The group stops at a level plateau. The Arabs stand apart and SING

THEIR PRAYERS AT DUSK. Al Auf leads the incantations.

AL AUF:

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar...

The westerners wait respectfully. As the sun sets in glory, Alm�sy

looks over at the range of rocks. One particular range seems to look

exactly like A WOMAN'S BACK. He squints at the rock. Alm�sy

discreetly pulls out his COMPASS.

69*.EXT. CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DUSK.

Alm�sy clambers up the rocks, coming through a narrow crevice to find A

NATURAL SHELF. He scrambles up this path, reaching up, only to notice

that his hand almost perfectly covers A PAINTED HAND on the rock, and

as he digests this he realizes he has climbed past what is THE MOUTH OF

A CAVE. He disappears inside.

70INT. CAVE OF SWIMMERS. FLASHLIGHT.

A FLASHLIGHT squirts into the cave. Alm�sy treads cautiously along the

narrow winding passage. He comes to an open cavern and takes his

flashlight up to a wall. PAINTINGS EMERGE, figures, animals, ancient

pictures. A giraffe. Cattle. Fish. Men with bows and arrows.

Alm�sy is astonished by what he sees.

71*.EXT. NEAR THE CAVE OF SWIMMERS. EVENING.

The others watch as a flashlight bobs and jerks among the rocks as

Alm�sy comes scrambling down, transformed into an excited teenager.

ALM�SY

Madox! Madox!

He slithers in a heap in front of the astonished expedition party.

Doesn't care.

72INT. CAVE OF SWIMMERS. FLASHLIGHT.

Alm�sy has led the whole party into the heart of the cave. Now Madox

comes alongside him at the wall, his flashlight joining Alm�sy's and

increasing the visibility of the paintings. A dark-skinned figure,

apparently in the process of DIVING into water, comes clearly into

view. Then others supine, arms outstretched.

MADOX:

(with audible excitement)

My God, they're swimming!

The others crowd round. FIVE EXCITED FACES IN THE GREEN GLOOM OF THE

CAVE.

73*.EXT. CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DAY.

A hive of activity. The team has set up TRESTLES to catalogue the

finds as the Bedouin come out with baskets of detritus, which they

empty onto a growing heap as the Cave is cleared out. Entering the

cave, Alm�sy passes with camera equipment, just as D'Ag emerges

carrying the corpse of a perfectly preserved DESERT FOX. D'Ag gestures

to Almasy with his customary enthusiasm, holding up the body of the

fox.

D'AGOSTINO

Have you seen this? Astonishing.

Perfectly preserved.

74INT. CAVE OF SWIMMERS. DAY.

Inside, Bermann is setting up LAMPS, running wires from a car BATTERY.

Kamal is helping him. And as Alm�sy arrives he catches a tiny moment

of tenderness between them. Bermann, seeing him, quickly disengages

and busies himself with the lights. At another wall, Katharine is

catching.

75EXT. THE DESERT. DAY.

The CARS are heading back to Basecamp. They bounce over the sand.

76*.INT. BERMANN'S CAR. DAY.

Bermann is driving the lead CAR along some STEEP DUNES. Alm�sy beside

him. Bermann is peeling AN ORANGE, a segment of which he holds out of

the window. Kamal, riding shotgun, leans down and collects it, his

head dipping in to grin at Bermann. Bermann looks uneasily as Alm�sy.

He wants to tell him of his passion, of his absolute love for Kamal,

but he daren't.

BERMANN:

I love the desert, you see. That's my,

that's my - I can't think of the word.

(Alm�sy nods)

How do you explain? To someone who's

never been here? Feelings which seem

quite normal.

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