The Horse Whisperer Page #12

TOM:

Now God has another idea entirely

with the mule.

EXT. THE FAIRGROUNDS - LATER THAT DAY

Tom has finished his "show." People are shaking his hand,

thanking him, as he walks away from the corral, towards a

trailer.

The Woman in the Ralph Lauren approaches:

WOMAN:

Excuse me.

He faces the Woman:

WOMAN:

Hi. I'm Dale. I just wanted to -- I

can't get over the way he felt under

me after you'd finish with him.

Everything had just, I don't know,

freed up or something.

The Woman is flirting. Tom shrugs, uncomfortably;

TOM:

Well, that'll happen.

WOMAN:

Where did you learn all this stuff?

TOM:

What stuff is that?

WOMAN:

About horses? I'd love to learn more

about it myself. Do you offer any

private lessons for riders?

TOM:

(getting the message)

Well... Dale... you know, a lot of

this stuff... it's just... nuts and

bolts.

WOMAN:

What do you mean?

TOM:

Well, if the rider's nuts, the horse

bolts.

(smiles)

That's the whole lesson right there.

You have a good day now... Just...

keep on freeing yourself up.

He leaves her, entering the trailer.

INT. RONA'S TRAILER - NIGHT

A small, well-used trailer. Tom and Rona are finishing dinner

like comfortable old friends. Rona rises, taking the plates

into the kitchen and starts rinsing them:

RONA:

Oh I clear forget. You had a call

from some woman in New York. She

sounded pretty wound up.

TOM:

I don't any woman in New York. But

from what I hear, most of them are

wound up.

RONA:

The number's by the phone.

He nods but doesn't move. He just looks at Rona and smiles.

She's a good woman. But Tom hopes she doesn't want anymore

than what they have together. Rona notices him looking and

smiles:

RONA:

What are you looking at, young man?

TOM:

How long were you married?

RONA:

Long enough.

TOM:

You ever miss it?

RONA:

Does a horse miss a saddle?

TOM:

Sometimes.

She chuckles, shuts the water off and crosses back to him,

sitting beside him.

RONA:

Well as a matter of fact, I don't...

most of the time.

She starts unbuttoning his shirt.

TOM:

You know, Rona, we weren't all that

good together even when we were good

together.

RONA:

Honey... I was always good.

Tom smiles as Rona leans in. They kiss.

INT. ANNIE'S OFFICE, N.Y.C. - MORNING

Annie is looking over a magazine cover with Lucy and her

staffers.

She is unhappy.

ANNIE:

You know it's perfectly shot, it's

perfectly cropped, it's perfectly

laid out and I'm so bloody bored,

I'd rather buy a Motor Racing magazine --

Start over.

Some general whines and groans as her assistant hands her a

note.

ANNIE:

Uh, would you all excuse me a moment?

She waits for them to leave as she sits before the phone.

One of her lines is lit:

EXT. A ROADSIDE SERVICE STATION SOMEWHERE IN UTAH - DAY

An endless sky. An empty ribbon of two-lane highway in Utah.

A small roadside station. Tom's pick-up truck, his horse

trailer hitched to it, getting gas.

Tom is on the pay phone. We hear Annie's voice:

ANNIE (O.S.)

This is Annie MacLean.

TOM:

Yeah. Hello. This is Tom Booker. I

got a message you called.

INTERCUT ANNIE IN HER OFFICE:

ANNIE:

(efficient,

expeditiously)

Oh! Yes. Thank you for calling back.

Uh, all right, let me try to explain

my situation as briefly as possible...

You see, my daughter had an accident

with her horse... They were both

injured and she, my daughter, she

hasn't been able to... fully... uh...

It was an extremely traumatic

experience... and uh...

Tom, sensing her turmoil, listening compassionately.

ANNIE:

I went on the Internet and found

this article about you... It says

you're a Horse Whisperer, that you...

you help people with horse problems.

And you have quite a success rate

when it comes to traumatized --

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