The Horseman on the Roof Page #2

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My sweet aunts drive me crazy.

Put your hat on.

Angelo!

Giuseppe.

You devil.

Dear Mother,

Will this letter reach you?

There no longer is any mail here.

The roads and harbors are all cut off.

Cholera has struck, as you must know.

May God preserve Italy.

I braved the epidemic,

reaching Manosque,

to reunite with my friends in exile.

One of ours betrayed us.

A man I thought my childhood friend.

He sold us to the Austrians.

Maggionari. Yes, Paolo.

Remember, he would bring berries

in the summer.

He is the traitor.

I've seen the disease strike blindly.

It can kill us all, friend or foe.

The Austrians chasing us

are almost all dead.

What is the meaning of all this?

Do you know?

Is there some hidden message

that eludes me?

Some talk of a holy punishment.

But for what sins?

I was not prepared for this trial.

I try to be honorable,

but it's not always easy.

I seem to be changing,

to be seeking more from life.

- What's up? Move on!

- I'm exhausted.

It doesn't matter to me.

What for?

Stop! It's pointless.

We will die. All of us!

Shut up!

I hate this country. I want to go home!

What are you doing?

I'm taking what's mine!

You scum!

Leave? Where do you want to go?

The whole region is sealed.

We can't get out.

There must be a way.

The army is controlling the roadblocks.

Find me a good horse, I'll find a way.

You might.

Where would you go?

I want to go back to Italy, Giuseppe.

Italy!

You'll be denounced

when you cross the border.

Fine! Then I'll fight.

If I die,

at least it'll be for something.

Here, we will all die for nothing.

Find me a horse, Giuseppe.

I'm leaving for Italy in two hours.

It was decided tonight.

I will go to Milan, to deliver the money

gathered by our patriots in exile.

Giuseppe used to ship it to Genoa,

an impossibility now.

The epidemic has ended it.

Our brothers need this money...

for the fight that lies ahead.

You never told me

revolutions require money.

Milan... will you be there,

or will you have returned to Turin?

I wondered who would

deliver this letter.

In the end, it will be me.

You will read it on your terrace...

with your impatient flick of the hand.

Behind you, the tall poplar tree

I climbed as a child...

to overcome fear.

I don't care about papers.

You can't come through!

Don't stay here, children!

My father.

They've got my father.

I had to...

Is he dead?

- You knew him?

- Since childhood.

Madame! Come back!

They fear contagion.

I see.

And you?

- What about me?

- Don't I frighten you?

Here.

No, madame, no!

Friends?

I don't even know them.

I can't bear them anymore.

Why stay with them?

An officer might get passes for us.

No. There aren't any passes anymore.

He'll put you in quarantine.

To kill you faster!

Why say that?

I've been looking for a way out,

jeered at by drunken soldiers.

If you want to, come with me.

- Where to?

- That way, by the river.

I tried. There's a barricade.

- How many soldiers?

- Ten, maybe twenty.

Are there horsemen?

It should be easy.

- You need a horse.

- I have one.

- Where?

- Up there.

Well, then we can leave right away.

Go get it.

Do you have a bag?

Wait for me. I'll go with you.

You don't trust me?

As you please.

I would have loved to help you...

after what you did for me.

I didn't do a thing.

You gave me tea when I was thirsty.

- There are more.

- I'm worried.

- What?

- No sun.

What are they up to?

Go check, Maugin.

I'll go. Don't move.

- Where are you going?

- I can pay.

Nothing to pay for. Go back!

How much? Seven francs?

- So it's fourteen?

- Stop it!

Twenty then? Who do I pay?

- Dismount!

- More? Just say how much.

You better stop!

Sergeant!

Now!

Shoot! Come on! Shoot 'em!

- Give it to me!

- We can't see!

I was right, you see.

Always get the sun in their eyes.

Remember that.

I promise. You look like an officer.

I'm a colonel!

A colonel!

There are colonels as young as you?

Yes, in Italy.

- Your horse is admirable.

- Glad you like him.

- What is his name?

- I don't know. I stole him.

For Italy, you go through Digne.

We part now.

I'm going by way of Sisteron.

To Sisteron?

- Where to then?

- Towards Gap.

- But that is so far.

- I'll be fine.

Don't worry.

I'm running late.

Thank you.

It was a blessing meeting you.

Without you,

who knows where I would be.

Good-bye!

Come! Quick!

- Looking for us?

- Could be.

We didn't go unnoticed.

Don't take the valley.

You'd be arrested.

Go by the mountains.

I don't know the way.

- I will go with you.

- But it's out of your way.

I'll cross the Alps to Italy.

- A detour.

- I don't care.

No, I won't let you change

your plans for me anymore.

I can travel alone.

No.

You think I'm not able to?

I will not leave a woman in all this.

If I forbid you to follow?

I would anyhow.

It is my duty to help you.

That is how I was raised.

Tell me where you are going.

To Thus.

- Where is that?

- Near Gap.

Let's go.

I'd hate being your soldier.

So would I.

Here, too, everybody is gone.

The barn.

There'll be hay there. You can rest.

I'm fine. I can go on.

In an hour it will be too dark.

Run!

You are not sleeping?

No, I can't.

No fire, really?

- Are you cold?

- A bit.

Who'd see us?

We're far from everything.

We're not,

and I know those soldiers.

Tonight, there'll be many scouts out.

I'll make a fire at daybreak.

You're so organized.

Are you from a military family?

- I think so.

- What do you mean?

I never knew my father.

He came to Italy with Napoleon,

then he left.

He may be dead or alive.

Nobody knows.

- Put these on.

- I have some.

- You must keep your legs warm.

- Wool stockings!

Do as I say.

This place is no better.

But the roadblocks?

Cholera doesn't stop for soldiers.

I am sorry.

Is all that money yours?

It's in my care.

To carry to Italy?

You came to France to hide?

Where were you?

In Aix.

Aix.

I spent three months there last year.

Were you there then?

We could've met.

- Did you go out a lot?

- Never.

Of course.

I love Aix.

I have many friends there.

Where are they today?

On the road like us,

or locked in their houses,

afraid to breathe?

I can't help it,

but I fear that everybody I love

will disappear.

One day this will end,

but my world will be meaningless.

Do you hear? Somebody's playing.

Across the valley.

Mozart... German dances.

Calm down.

It's over now.

I'm sorry.

I could hear him.

He was just beside me.

I was asleep, but I could hear him.

It was like a voice softly speaking,

seducing me.

I couldn't move,

as if I was accepting it,

as though I agreed.

I opened my eyes,

it jumped on me... and pecked me!

Where did it peck you?

Here.

Come!

You found water?

I can make tea.

No, not here. Later.

I hadn't thought about the birds.

They don't fear men

since they eat them.

You touched it?

The bird? Just a little.

Get up. Stick your hands out!

Rub. Rub them together!

What are you doing?

Don't get close! Stay where you are.

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