The Majestic Page #3

Always charging up and down the street

on his bike, screaming.

Scaring the crap out

of the old ladies.

Brad Hendersen.

Virgil Toynbee. And Patrick Vitger.

He was on the football team with you.

Stevie Wardlow.

His old man was a drinker,

used to beat him.

Youd bring him home,

wed give him a hot meal.

Kid practically lived with us

for a few years.

He died on Saipan.

Silver Star for bravery.

Teddy Parker.

Jimmy Trask.

And this boy over here...

...bright kid. Honour student.

Joined up right after Pearl Harbor.

Parachuted into France on D-Day,

June 6th, 1944.

Three days later, his platoon

got pinned down by German artillery.

They were nearly wiped out. Most boys

dead or wounded, torn up by the shells.

But this fella here...

...carried the injured back

to safety, one by one.

Always going back till

all men were accounted for.

He never wavered. He just kept doing

what he had to do...

...until it got done.

He was reported missing

in action a month later.

His body was never found.

Congress gave him the Medal of Honor

for saving the lives of eight men...

...without thought to himself.

His name...

...was Albert Lucas Trimble.

We called him Luke. He was my son.

Thats who you are.

-Well, Ill be!

-Morning, Ernie.

I heard about it, couldnt believe it.

I had to come see for myself.

There he stands.

I still cant believe it!

-Its really him.

-I can see that!

My God, Luke, it sure is good

to see you again.

-Luke, this is Ernie Cole, our mayor.

-Mayor Cole.

You dont have to go that far, son.

You can just call me Ernie.

-Care to join us at Mabels for lunch?

-Id love it.

Good.

Oh, my God!

Watch your step.

-I missed you.

-Not as much as I missed you.

-Well? How did it go?

-Not so bad. I think I passed.

-Thats my girl! What about the....

-Hiccups? Not a trace, thank goodness.

Who wants an attorney who hiccups

when shes nervous?

Like I always said, honey,

its all up here.

Its so good to be home.

Dad, what is it?

-Oh, my God. Did somebody die?

-Well...

...somewhat the opposite, actually.

Look at you! Look at you!

Great to have you back, son!

Luke! Remember the time, you and me,

we were playing with firecrackers?

One of them went off too soon

and singed all the hair off my head?

No. What happened?

Well, all the hair

got singed off my head.

It was pretty funny.

You really dont remember?

Im sorry.

Heck, thats okay. Its good

to have you back, thats all.

Aint that right, Bob?

Luke, you remember my cousin Bob?

You two joined up the same day.

Bob, nice to meet you.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

-More coffee?

-No, Im fine.

-What are your plans?

-Were gonna reopen The Majestic.

-Is that right?

-We were discussing it.

Thats the spirit, fellas!

We need a little more of that.

Where is Spencer Wyatt?

-Spence?

-Spencer!

-There he is.

-Come here.

-Hey, Luke.

-Hi, Spencer.

-Is your big band ready to play?

-Yes, sir.

What are you thinking?

This town has had a blessing of good

fortune after a long dry spell.

Im thinking that we ought

to celebrate.

So, what do you say?

Saturday night, out at the point...

...a big welcome-home celebration

for Luke.

No, its too much.

Luke?

Adele?

I saw your picture.

Do you remember me?

No, but Ill sure try.

-Adele?

-Yes?

It may just be my imagination...

...but I feel like were not alone.

Go about your business.

Hes not going anywhere.

Its okay, folks. Go ahead home.

And thanks for the welcome.

You two have a lot

to catch up on, I expect.

I think wed better--

Go on.

You handled that well.

Thanks.

So, where to?

Town hall?

Come on.

You first.

Why me?

In case the vicious guard dogs

havent been fed.

So you can be a gentleman

and help me down.

Careful.

There you go.

I got you.

Big, gloomy basement.

Nice.

It was a lot roomier before they put

the monument down here.

The gift from Roosevelt.

Stan Keller told me about it.

Your names on there.

So are the others.

I knew all these guys?

We both did.

We went to school with most of them.

You really dont remember?

Im sorry.

We used to sneak in here

when we were kids.

This was our secret place.

You, me, Stevie Wardlow...

...Tully Wentworth.

-Thats why you brought me here?

-Its a stroll down memory lane.

Dad said if I took you places

we used to go...

...and showed you things only we knew

about, it might help you remember.

So were here for...

...purely medical reasons?

Not entirely.

Im trying to make up my own mind

about you being Luke.

Join the club.

So, what do you think?

The jurys still out.

Fair enough.

Any other secret places

I should know about?

-Really, it fueled my dream.

-That cant be true.

Im serious.

Youll have to start making sense

sometime soon.

You wanted to be a lawyer because

of The Majestic?

We used to go

to the movies all the time.

Once, when I was 11, the movie playing

was The Life of Emile Zola.

About the Dreyfus affair.

Great picture.

You remember movies,

but you dont remember your life?

Yeah.

-Weird, huh?

-Its unbelievable.

In the movie, Zola stood up in court

and accused the French government...

...of forfeiting its honor

for wrongly accusing an innocent man.

Zola wasnt a lawyer, of course,

but the way he spoke....

I decided right then

thats what I wanted to be.

-Just from that?

-Just? Come on, it was great!

"In the presence of this tribunal,

the representative of human justice...

...before you, gentlemen of the jury,

before France, before the world...

...I swear that Dreyfus is innocent!

By all Ive won, all Ive written

to spread the spirit of France...

...I swear, Dreyfus is innocent."

"May all that melt away, may my name

perish if Dreyfus not be innocent."

"He is innocent."

Its pretty good stuff, huh?

Not bad at all.

The suns going. Come on.

Watch your eyes.

-Is this another secret place?

-Our special one.

We used to come up here all the time

to watch the sunset.

And thats what made it special?

This is also where we had

our first kiss.

We were 14.

That is special.

Wish I could remember that.

Me too.

We were in love, werent we?

Yeah.

-What was that?

-Nothing.

-Im fine. Really.

-You dont sound fine.

Just ignore it. Its going away.

So were we gonna be married?

When you got back from overseas.

We were engaged

just before you shipped out.

Anything I can do

to help you with that?

Yeah. But its something

that only we knew about.

-Tell me.

-No. I think Id rather die first.

Your father said any little thing

could jog my memory.

It still works.

-Found me.

-Sorry. I didnt know who was here.

Just me and the dog.

-Whats his name?

-Dog.

-Simple. I like it.

-Come on in.

-Is that you? In the first World War?

-Yeah. 1917, thereabouts.

-Its okay with you that I live here?

-Why wouldnt it be?

Just checking.

Think Ill get me a watch?

Right, the watch. Whats that for?

So I make sure the shows always start

on time. Thats important.

-Ill see what I can do.

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