The Purple Plain Page #3

thoughtful ones, Mr. Forrester.

You didn't tell me that, Anna.

She's very shy, of course.

Well, drink your whiskey.

Dinner will be ready soon.

l told you l'd come again.

l hoped you would.

Miss McNab says you're very shy.

Compared to Miss McNab,

everyone is shy.

She's quite a character.

We love her.

lf it hadn't been for her, none of us

would have got here from Rangoon.

Yes, the doctor was telling me.

Seems incredible.

Strange things happened

during the war.

Yes.

Strange landing places.

Strange meetings.

Dinner! Dinner!

lt's delicious.

Shall we go?

Some more curry, Mr. Forrester.

You're not eating a thing.

- Did you not like it?

- Oh, it was terrific.

l've eaten too much already, thanks.

l've been admiring your tablecloth.

Ah, you have an eye

for fine things, Mr. Forrester.

lt was worked by the girls

at the mission in Rangoon for Miss McNab.

They gave it to her

on her 21st birthday.

Take no notice of him, Mr. Forrester.

l'm not ashamed of my age.

For my 45th birthday they made it,

and all the way from Rangoon,

through every inch of the way,

l kept telling myself,

''McNab, whatever else you may lose,

you'll not be losing

that tablecloth the girls gave you.''

lt's a beautiful thing.

Aye.

Three hundred of us died

on that journey, Mr. Forrester.

That's how old l am.

Miss McNab,

when l get back home,

l'm going to see that you're decorated

if it's the last thing l do.

Ach, don't gab so much.

Give Mr. Forrester a cup of tea, Anna.

No, no. l mean it.

lf you want to decorate someone,

you should decorate the good Lord.

lf you could get His name

in the honors list,

you'd be talking, l'm telling you.

Well, if you'll write the citation,

l'll see what l can do.

What you can do, Dr. Harris,

is to think about Easter.

What's your favorite hymn

for Easter, Mr. Forrester?

Oh, Easter hymns?

''Hallelujah,'' isn't it?

Yes. ''Hallelujah.''

''Hallelujah.

Jesus Christ is risen today.''

Ah, that's splendid.

l can see you've been

well brought up, Mr. Forrester.

Come on, we'll all sing it.

Jesus Christ is risen today

Hallelujah

Our triumphant holy day

Hallelujah

Who did once upon the cross

Hallelujah

Suffer to redeem our loss

Hallelujah

Hymns of praise

then let us sing

Hallelujah

Unto Christ, our heavenly king

Hallelujah

Who endured the cross and grave...

What is it?

Jap bombers.

They're trying to find the airstrip.

There's too much light here.

You shut the door.

But the pains that He endured

Hallelujah

There's quite a bunch of them.

The children will be frightened.

l ought to get down to the dispensary.

Come on, then.

Look out!

Look out!

Anna!

Anna?!

Anna!

Are you all right?

Yes. Yes, l'm all right.

Are you sure?

- Are you all right here?

- Yeah, all right.

Come along, then.

We'll be needed in the village.

Dorothy's looking after your mother.

Come on, Mr. Phang!

Anna, you'd better get in there

and help out. l'll be in in a minute.

You two better go and collect the casualties

and bring them along here.

- What's this? What's going on?

- Escape from the Japanese.

The Japs aren't coming back here.

These people don't know that.

They've been bombed before.

Will you please attend

to this one, Doctor, now.

- l'll finish that dressing.

- Right.

Anna, you'd better go back

to the bungalow and lie down.

l'm all right, Doctor.

No, you're not.

You're still suffering from shock.

Now do as l say, please.

Give me that.

l told her to go back to the bungalow.

She's still suffering from shock.

- She got caught up in the crowd.

- l'm all right.

You lie down here for a while.

Put that blanket over her, will you?

l must be getting back.

That last lot sounded as if it was

near the camp. l'll be needed there.

l'd better go, too.

There's nothing you can do there,

but there's a lot you can do here.

- l'll call over for you in the morning.

- Right.

Mr. Forrester.

Would you hold her

while l finish bandaging?

Surely.

Excuse me if l ask you

a personal question, Mr. Forrester,

but are you married?

No.

l'm glad.

- Do you hear?

- Yes, l hear.

They are not like us, made of ice.

They get rid of their sorrow

and their fear.

They don't leave it inside, Mr. Forrester,

as you or l might, to rot.

That'll be all, Mr. Forrester.

lf you wouldn't mind

taking her over to the other children,

l'll see about getting Anna

something hot to drink.

The doc's here now.

l'll have to go over to the camp.

Please don't go for a moment.

l have something to tell you.

- You were going to tell me something.

- lt wasn't much.

Tell me.

lt was something to give you.

Open it. lt's for you.

lt's for you.

You have no one to give it to?

No.

l'm glad, because now

you can keep it for me.

- l can't say anything.

- Don't say anything.

There's nothing to say.

lt's only a little thing

for you to keep for me, that's all.

Anna...

Early in the war

l met a girl and fell in love.

When l got leave,

we went to London and got married.

And that night...

while we were out

having dinner...

there was an air raid,

and the building that we were in

got a direct hit.

She was killed.

After that...

l didn't want to go on living.

You'd think that'd be easy enough

in war, but it didn't work.

l wanted to die,

but l got medals instead.

l could see the trouble

in your face when you first came.

lt is not good to die inside.

lt was like living a bad dream.

Here we bury

the dead in the earth,

not in our hearts.

ls the dream over now?

l think so.

You said something

about never going home.

- What did you mean?

- l meant just that.

Would you rather stay here?

l never want to be anywhere else.

And will you always come back?

Always.

Then l will always be here.

- Good morning, sir.

- Oh, hello, Bill.

- Sit down, will you?

- Thanks.

Rather a dull job for you today, l'm afraid.

l know you won't mind helping out.

You haven't flown with that new

navigator of yours yet, have you?

No, sir, not yet.

l've got to send a body

over to Meiktila today.

You'll be trying out

the new chap anyway,

so l thought if you wouldn't

mind going that way,

we'd kill two birds with one stone.

Sure. Who's the body?

- Blore.

- Blore.

- lt will be a pleasure.

- You don't like him, eh?

- We've been sharing a tent.

- Oh, l see.

He's a good bloke, though.

A Cambridge man, physics.

He's very clever, l believe.

Didn't know that.

Well, l've told Blore

he may be going with you.

l'll bet that was

a real thrill for him.

There's nothing wrong with old Blore.

He's like the rest of us--

sometimes needs a change of air.

Yes, sir.

l hear you're gonna be my passenger.

Yes. How long will it take?

l can't say.

Carrington will have to figure that out.

- Thought l might find him here.

- He went over to the crew tent.

Well, how soon do you think

you'll be ready?

- l've got all my stuff to pack.

- So l see.

- There's no great hurry.

- l'd like to get it properly packed.

- Anything l can do to help?

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote