David Milch - Pilot lyrics

Epigraph: "But let us note, too, how glory may flare, of a sudden, up, from the filth of the world's floor." Montana Territory May, 1876 (Night. A gallows stands in the empty dirt street of a town. The camera pans to the left, and we notice bars on the windows of the building that the gallows is in front of, the jail.) (Next, the interior of the jail. Sheriff Seth sits at his desk, writing. He pauses, and the camera shifts focus from his face to someone standing behind the bars of a cell at the rear of the room. The prisoner is Clell Watson.) Clell: Is that some sort of a letter, marshal? Seth: Journal. Clell: Good. You know, I was goin' to Deadwood, same as you. Seth: Is that so? Clell: I had my plans about set. I only wish to Christ I could get these past three days back. Seth: I can imagine. Clell: (Appearing to consider something) No law at all in Deadwood? Is that true? (Seth nods slightly, and takes his cup over to the wood stove to pour himself some coffee. He's wearing a sling to support his right arm, which is injured.) Seth: Bein' on Indian land. Clell: So then you won't be a marshal? Seth: Takin' goods there to open a hardware business. Me and my partner. Clell: If I'd a got there, I'd a been prospectin'. Jesus Christ Almighty. No law at all. Gold you can scoop from the streams with your bare hands. And I gotta go and f** myself up by supposedly stealing Byron Samson's horse. Seth: It's poor damn timin' at the least. (Seth walks over towards the cell with two cups of coffee, and places one on a table next to the cell where Clell can reach it.) Clell: Thank you very much. Seth: You're welcome. Clell: I'm sorry as hell about your shoulder. Seth: Flesh wound. Don't look like it wants to infect. (Seth walks back to his desk and sits in the chair.) Clell: Well. Never mind flesh wound, sir. When you are goin' to meet your maker, you don't feature tellin' him you shot a marshal in the shoulder for only doin' his legally ordained job. Seth: He may have heard worse stories. Clell: God? Well if he ain't, I'll tell him six, or seven, just on people of my own personal acquaintance. (Clail and Seth both smile at that.) Clell: I'd like to suggest an idea to you, sir, that I pray as a Christian man you will entertain on its own f**in' merits. (Seth stands and walks back over to the cell bars.) Seth: Does it involve lettin' you go? Clell: I know two scores, Mr. Bullock, that we could make in transit without movin' 20 feet off our path. People with cash on hand. And if once we hit Deadwood and you didn't want to have anything to do with me, we'd never speak again. We would meet as strangers the rest of our f**in' lives. Now, you tell me what you think of that, sir. (Seth doesn't say anything, but has a slight smile on his face, like he's amused.) (Bullock has opened the front door to the jail house to admit SOL STAR -- Seth: (To Clell) It don't appeal to me. (Seth walks over to meet Sol at the desk. Clell is upset about being interrupted.) Clell: (To Sol) Get the f** out of here for a moment would you, sir? Sol: (To Seth) Byron Samson's comin' for him. Clell: (To Sol) Sir, would you please get the f** out of here 'til we have finished our previous conversation? Seth: (To Sol) How many in his play? Sol: (To Seth) A dozen, sh** faced. Samson just caved in Tommy Raymond's head over at the no-name frog. He went against it. Clell: What are you two conversing at? (gunshot) (From outside) Clell: Jesus Christ! (male): (From outside) Come out and talk to us, Bullock! (Seth walks over to the barred front window and looks out. A group of men armed with guns are standing in the street. Some carry lit torches.) Clell: Now who is that? That sounds like ah, Byron Samson. Seth: Yeah. Clell: What would he want? (Seth removes his arm sling and turns to look back at Clell. Clell smiles sadly.) Clail: Now tell me what kind of f**in' luck I got. Byron: (Yelling in to Seth) All you're doin' stallin', Bullock, is pissin' me off! Cause I guarantee you ain't makin' it through in there till sun up! So why don't you climb out from behind your badge, and your big brick building, and you bring Clell Watson out here so we can give him what he f**in' deserves! (Sol drives his and Seth's wagon, loaded down with supplies, from behind the jail, and stops the wagon next to it. He's armed, and aims his gun at the men in the street.) Byron: Well what do we got here? Sol: Whoa! Byron: It's a Jew on a wagon. Sol: (Yelling so Seth can hear him) Yeah, right out here in the alley! (Seth, followed by Clell, comes out the front door of the jail and stands on its porch. Clell's hands are tied behind his back and he wears a noose loosely around his neck. Seth is holding the rest of the rope.) BULLOCK If he has to hang tonight Sol it's going to be under color of law. Byron: You and your partner plan on makin' Deadwood, marshal, do not try for this scaffold. Seth: That's a deal you loud mouthed co*ks**er! (Seth throws the rope over an overhead support beam at the front of the porch.) Byron: You hear this? Clell: Ohh wait, this ain't right. My sister was comin' in the mornin'. Seth: What would you have her told? (Seth kicks a stool across the porch so it rests under where the rope is looped.) Clell: (Looking down) That's not enough of a drop. Seth: I'll help you with the drop. Now get up and say what you'd have your sister told. Byron: Do not tether that rope off of that porch! (Clell steps up on the stool and Seth ties off the end of the rope, securing it.) (gunshot) (From Byron's gun) Seth: Anymore gunplay gets answered. You called the law in, Samson. You don't get to call it off just 'cause you're liquored up and popular on payday. Byron: And you don't get to tell us what to do and what not to do. 'Cause you're leavin' Montana anyways! Now do not jump off that stool, you co*ks**er! Clell: (To Byron) Or what? You'll k** me? (To Seth) You tell my sister, if my boy turns up, raise him good. Seth: What else? Clell: Tell her, give him my boots. Seth: What else? Clell: Tell him, his... daddy loved him. Tell him, he asks God's forgiveness. Seth: Anything else? Clell: You help me with my f**in' fall! Seth: (Gesturing with his hand) Come ahead. Clell: (To Byron) f** you! (Clell steps off the stool, and his feet kick as he strangles.) Clell: (groaning) (Seth grabs Clail around his legs and yanks down firmly. Clail dies quickly. Seth looks at Sol and sniffs, puts his gun down, and pulls out a piece of paper and something to write with. Byron starts to walk towards Clail's body.) Sol: (To Byron) Stay back! (gunshot) (From Sol's gun) Sol: Move the f** back, while my partner... while my partner's takin' his sweet a** time writing whatever the f** he's writing over there! Seth: (To the men) Who'll give his last words to the sister? Byron: (To the men) None of you better f**in' move! Toady: sh**! I'll do it! (Byron's toady walks forward to Seth, and Seth gives him the piece of paper with Clell's last words, along with Seth's badge.) Seth: (To Toady) Thank you. (To Sol) Let's go. Sol: (To horses pulling the wagon) Hee! (Seth, holding his gun, climbs up and holds onto the back of the wagon as it pulls away. Fade to black.) SUPER: DEADWOOD SETTLEMENT BLACK HILLS INDIAN CESSION JUNE 1876 EXT. THE ENTRANCE TO DEADWOOD GULCH - DAY A wagon drawn by a team of eight oxen. The CAMERA ELEVATES to place the team and wagon in a line of twenty wagons. The wagons aren't moving, stalled in the traffic, wheels sunk into ground softened by the spring thaw and runoff and rutted by the pa**age over the past weeks of dozens of other wagon teams headed into Deadwood. We hear the voice of CALAMITY JANE -- CALAMITY JANE (O.S.) What a f**ing circus! The CAMERA FINDS her making her way back to the wagon. She's thirty, graceless, dressed as a man; carries a bullwhip -- CALAMITY JANE Half-a-mile's worth of wagons, all the way back from the camp. The driver's smallish, in buckskin. His name is CHARLIE UTTER -- UTTER sh**. CALAMITY JANE Must be fifty wagons before our group even starts. UTTER sh**. CALAMITY JANE It's not my fault, is it? UTTER Who said it was? CALAMITY JANE Don't blame me. UTTER I can say "sh**," can't I? They consider each other a stalemated beat, then Jane addresses some unseen second occupant in the covered back of the wagon -- CALAMITY JANE Tremendous line of wagons Bill. INT. CHARLIE UTTER'S WAGON - CONTINUOUS Lying on his back like a corpse in state, Wild Bill Hickok tries to outlast a migraine and hangover -- HICKOK That's the hold-up, eh? CALAMITY JANE Tremendous line, and no f**ing room to maneuver. The back step of the wagon takes Jane's weight, quashing Hickok's hopes he'll be left alone. Jane look in on Hickok, her idol and unrequited love. Hickok's eyes stay closed -- HICKOK Sound's like it's tighter out there than a bull's a** in fly season Jane. An incongruous shyness itself to Jane's manner -- CALAMITY JANE How's your headache? HICKOK Not bad. CALAMITY JANE You want a drink? HICKOK No. CALAMITY JANE Believe me, we're going to be a f**ing while. HICKOK Maybe later. CALAMITY JANE Don't say I didn't warn you. HICKOK No. Jane's head disappears. Off Hickok, eyes still closed -- RESUME - JANE - OUTSIDE THE WAGON climbing down; frustrated at her desire to be of service, she addresses the a**embled wagons as a single obstructive entity -- CALAMITY JANE It's only Wild Bill Hickok you got stalled here in the muck, you ignorant f**ing c*nts. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - DEADWOOD - DAY The camp's thoroughfare congested by freight teams and the activities of two newly arrived gambling outfits, who build up good will by parading their who*es on horseback and giving whiskey away outside the tents where they'll be doing business -- A NAKED WOMAN appears amid the wagons and horseback traffic. She's a who*e, benumbed by narcotics -- in an almost trance- like state as she walks barefooted through the muck. A big man, DAN DORITY, comes out of nowhere -- caries a blanket which he throws around her -- leads her toward -- INT. GEM THEATER - DAY The saloon's proprietor, AL SWEARENGEN, is weighing a bearded middle-aged miner named ELLSWORTH's gold poke on a scale behind the bar -- SWEARENGEN Eight and one half ounces. ELLSWORTH That's not a bad clean-up, is it Swearengen? SWEARENGEN Hell no it's not. The camera's CLOSER SCRUTINY reveals Swearengen's thumb adjusting the scale's balance in his favor -- ELLSWORTH What's that amount to in dollars? I know but I want to hear you say it. From the door behind, Dority enters with the who*e -- takes her to the back rooms. Swearengen's removed the weights from the scale, shows the miner a series of computations chalked on a board -- SWEARENGEN Eight ounces of gold times twenty dollars an ounce is a hundred sixty, plus ten dollars for a half-ounce makes a hundred seventy total. Dority re-emerges from the rear -- ELLSWORTH Inform you dealers and who*es of my credit and pour me a goddamn drink. As he pours the whiskey Swearengen looks to Dority, his number one muscle guy, indicates the miner with a show of respect -- SWEARENGEN Hundred seventy credit Dan, for Ellsworth. The bouncer falls in with his boss's tone -- DORITY Yes sir, one seventy for Ellsworth, I'll let everyone know. ELLSWORTH (re his drink) First one today with this hand. He downs his shot, lets the liquor burn -- ELLSWORTH Pour me another My Good Man. SWEARENGEN An honor and pleasure My Good Man. As Swearengen pours the drink -- SWEARENGEN Now are these rumors true you're descended from the British nobility? ELLSWORTH I'm descended from all them co*ks**ers. The miner downs his second shot -- ELLSWORTH Eight and one-half ounces. He coughs, situating the ropes of mucous in his lungs more to his satisfaction -- ELLSWORTH I tell you what -- I may have f**ed my life up flatter'n hammered sh**, but I stand before you today beholden to no human co*ks**er and working a paying f**ing gold claim -- and not the U.S. Government saying I'm trespa**ing or the savage f**ing Red Man himself or any of these other limber-dick co*ks**ers pa**ing themselves off as prospectors had better try to stop me. SWEARENGEN They better not try it in here. ELLSWORTH Goddamnit Swearengen, I don't trust you as far as I could throw you but I enjoy the way you lie. SWEARENGEN Thank you My Good Man. ELLSWORTH You're welcome, you conniving heavy- thumbed mother-f**er. We hear a gunshot from the rooms behind the bar. The Miner crouches -- ELLSWORTH Watch out. Ellsworth stays low, heads for the door. Swearengen's gaze moves in the opposite direction, to Dan Dority, who is rising -- SWEARENGEN I warned you about her. Like Swearengen, Dority's already hurrying in the direction of the sound -- INT. THE GEM - ROOMS AT THE REAR - DAY Swearengen enters, crouches before a mortally wounded TRICK, sitting against the wall, shot through the temple. At the entrance to the room stands a who*e names TRIXIE, whose face looks like raw meat -- TRIXIE I said not to beat on me. I told him. Dan Dority's just found Trixie's Derringer under the mattress -- DORITY Got her pistol Al. Meanwhile Swearengen's going through the Trick's pockets -- TRICK Barnett Robinson, Ticonderoga New York. Do you find it? SWEARENGEN Yeah here it is. Swearengen's extracted an envelope -- TRICK That's who to notify if this thing goes wrong. SWEARENGEN Barnett Robinson. I've got it right here. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. ENTRANCE TO THE GULCH - DAY From the back of the wagon Hickok has climbed forward to sit beside Charlie -- HICKOK Why don't we hobble the stock here Charlie and ride ahead into town. Utter calls to Calamity Jane, who's been walking ahead -- UTTER (re oxen) Let's pull these ba*tards out of line Jane -- (indicates saddle horses) Bill and me may ride ahead into camp. Jane climbs up on the wagon -- CALAMITY JANE Once I see to the stock, I may do the same. Utter hands her the reins as he and Hickok descend -- UTTER We'll know where to find you. CALAMITY JANE What in hell do you mean by that? UTTER Nothing. CALAMITY JANE That I enjoy a f**ing drink? UTTER Oh for Christ's sake. CALAMITY JANE I wasn't aware that's outlawed. HICKOK Thanks for looking to the stock. She's instantly placated -- CALAMITY JANE Excuse my ill-humor. Certain people wear on my f**ing nerves. She breaks out her bullwhip -- CALAMITY JANE Yaaah! Jane cracks the whip above the oxen's heads as Hickok and Utter ride away -- HICKOK (deadpan) She likes me better than she likes you. UTTER I wish to hell I knew what I ever did to get on that woman's wrong side. RESUME - JANE - THE WAGON Jane now notes a solitary wagon, occupied by a family of five and drawn by two horses, making its way in the opposite direction. The man and woman and their three children are blond. The youngest of the children, a five-year-old girl, stares at Jane. The wagon finds pa**age by navigating on the incline at the side of the mud path. It tilts precariously. Jane addresses the driver -- CALAMITY JANE You know a back way into the camp? DRIVER We don't go to the camp. The man's speech is heavily accented. He's used to having to repeat himself to be understood -- DRIVER We go home. Back to Minnesota. CALAMITY JANE You've probably got the right idea. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - DEADWOOD - DAY CAMERA FINDS Star and Bullock, the partners who have begun to unload their goods in proximity to Swearengen's saloon, and have heard the gunshot -- STAR It's a new day, isn't it Seth? -- not having to deal with every no- account who can pull a trigger? During which Bullock has seemed to process some internal conflict -- BULLOCK Think we're over-represented in the slop-pot department here Sol? Which refers to the wares they're unloading. Bullock's tacit acceptance of their mercantile identity brings Star relief -- STAR An a**et to every domicile. No such thing as having too many slop-pots to sell. Unnoticed, JOHNNY BURNS and DOC COCHRAN move by -- enter The Gem -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - ROOMS AT THE REAR Swearengen rises as in come Johnny Burns and Doc Cochran. Cochran greets the prostitute as he moves past -- COCHRAN How are you Trixie? TRIXIE I told him don't beat on me Doc. SWEARENGEN (to Trixie) No one asked for your version. TRIXIE He said I robbed him them he started in beating on me. (to the Trick) And I didn't rob you! TRICK I don't remember now. TRIXIE I didn't, goddamnit! Cochran's crouching before the Trick, appraising his wounds. The Trick tries to raise his left hand to his left temple -- TRICK She shot me right through the head. COCHRAN Keep your fingers out of it. TRICK Is it bad Doc? COCHRAN Quiet till I look. Cochran watches the Trick die -- COCHRAN It was adequate to the purpose. SWEARENGEN (to Dority) Get the Chinaman. Cochran reacts to this -- COCHRAN (to Swearengen, re the dead man) I'd sure like to know how he lasted twenty minutes shot straight through the brain. SWEARENGEN Prospect in him till Dan finds the Chinaman. COCHRAN Could I take him to my place? SWEARENGEN Sure -- (to Johnny Burns) -- help Doc move this guy -- (to Dority) -- bring the Chinaman to the Doc's. DORITY Sure I will. Dority exits -- BURNS (to Cochran) I'll bring the sled right in Doc. COCHRAN Good. Cochran's crouched again in front of the stiff, can't keep himself from probing the wound in his head -- SWEARENGEN You drink free today Doc. And I'd hope any talk of this would keep the gun out of the who*e's hand. COCHRAN That wouldn't come from me. Swearengen approaches Trixie -- SWEARENGEN C'mere. TRIXIE I said to stop. SWEARENGEN Tell me in my office. Swearengen's grabbed her arm, exits with her past Burns, who, returned with the stretcher, winces as he sees Cochran's probe -- introduced into the entrance wound at the Trick's left temple -- emerge from the exit wound on the other side of the dead man's skull -- BURNS (plaintive objection) Doc. COCHRAN Either something was peculiar in this man's cerebral set-up, or they can write off the forebrain as the seat of thought and speech. BURNS Let's just get him on the sled -- As Cochran and Burns proceed with this task -- COCHRAN It won't matter to Mr. Wu's pig. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - DAY Bullock and Star unload their wagon among the long-horned oxen clogging the thoroughfare. A LOUDMOUTH on horseback observes them -- LOUDMOUTH Jesus Christ Almighty. Two hundred miles through Indian country to have to put up with this crap. STAR We're pretty near done. We had a long wait same as you. LOUDMOUTH I'm just wondering of that's the first wagon you ever unloaded. Hold my f**ing horse, I'll show you how to do it. Bullock fixes his gaze on the Loudmouth -- BULLOCK We know what we're doing. Go back to your wagon. LOUDMOUTH And what if I don't. BULLOCK Stand there mouthing off and you'll find out. Hickok and Utter, riding into town, slow their horses on hearing this. Star approaches the Loudmouth with a chamber pot -- STAR Have a commode for your inconvenience. Bullock turns away, disowning Star's gesture at conciliation -- LOUDMOUTH (to Star) You think I'm paying you for that? STAR Free from Star and Bullock Hardware, open in Deadwood 'soon as we locate. Star hasn't given the Loudmouth a handle to keep hold of the dispute -- LOUDMOUTH Hurry up and get finished! The Loudmouth rides away carrying the commode. Hickok's watched with interest. For a beat his eyes and Bullock's meet, exchanging some shared recognition. As Hickok and Utter continue toward the hotel -- STAR My father's last words, just before he pa**ed away there in Vienna -- "Sol, those who can't abide a goddamn fool get slowed down some at retail." BULLOCK I've got to put a book together of your old man's d**hbed sayings. STAR That was Wild Bill Hickok just riding past us Seth. I've seen him in photographs. BULLOCK Pin a rose on Wild Bill. Bullock and Star note, in b.g., Burns and Doc Cochran transporting the body of the Trick, covered by a now- bloodstained sheet, toward Cochran's office -- CUT TO: INT. GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - LOBBY - DAY E.B. FARNUM, room clerk and sole proprietor of the Grand Central Hotel, behind the front desk. Farnum's hands are always clammy, but the legendary Hickok standing across from him has sweat beading on his forehead and words spilling from his mouth -- FARNUM We'd heard rumors you might be coming, but you can't believe every rumor. We heard you might be coming from Cheyenne. HICKOK Here I am. FARNUM If every rumor was true, we'd all have been scalped now by the Sioux, or the government would've tossed us out as treaty violators. Hickok just stares at him. The nervous Farnum seeks a transition, offers his hand to Utter -- FARNUM E.B. Farnum. How do you do? Utter shakes hands -- UTTER Charlie Utter. You've got some mighty clammy hands there Pardner. FARNUM Damp palms run in my family. As Farnum wipes his hands on his vest -- FARNUM Here to prospect Mr. Hickok? -- or on other business? HICKOK I'm here to get a room. Are you here selling 'em? As Farnum's a**hole puckers -- UTTER Could we get two? We're worn out looking at each other. FARNUM Separate rooms. I'll arrange that by tomorrow but today I can't arrange it. (to Hickok) Unless you k** a guest. It's a stab at humor. E.B. wishes he could grab the words from the air and stuff them back in his mouth -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - TRIXIE'S ROOM - DAY A counseling session. Swearengen sits on a chair. Trixie's on her bed -- TRIXIE He lost his stake gambling. He told me before he pa**ed out. Said he'd lost his stake and hadn't found no gold and he was going back east after one last piece of p**y. SWEARENGEN None of that's anything to me. TRIXIE Wakes back up and starts in beating on me, where's his stake, where's all his money... SWEARENGEN You call Dan or you call Johnny -- TRIXIE -- it must've been me took it from him. SWEARENGEN -- you don't shoot nobody 'cause that's bad for my business -- He tosses to the floor the crumpled envelope with the address of the Trick's next-of-kin -- SWEARENGEN -- and it's bad for the camp's reputation. TRIXIE Do what you're going to do to me. SWEARENGEN Don't tell me what to do. A beat, then he grabs her by the throat, throws her on her back and puts his boot to her neck, pulling hard on her arm for balance and to cut her breath off. It's how she'd always dreamed she'd end. Her eyes bulge as she begins to suffocate -- SWEARENGEN Either way this comes out we'll only have to do it once. Trixie's neck and face have gone purple above where Swearengen's has her by the throat. The anger's out of her, all that's left is a wistful fear. Her eyes glaze as she begins to die. Swearengen slacks his hold. She chokes, gasps. He watches, ready to finish her -- SWEARENGEN What's it going to be Trixie? TRIXIE (barely audible, childlike) I'll be good. I'll take what they do to me. SWEARENGEN All right then. Off which -- FADE OUT. END ACT ONE ACT TWO FADE IN: EXT. MAIN STREET - NIGHT Burning torches illuminate the street at irregular intervals. Still a few wagons being unloaded. Among the considerable pedestrian traffic, mostly on the lookout for trouble, are various open-air commercial establishments, including Flaherty's Tonsorial And Dental Tent, from which emerge howls of unremitted pain. The CAMERA FINDS -- A TENT Its flap being thrown open from inside by Bullock, revealing, as he steps out, a makeshift counter behind which Star is situated and which displays their items for sale -- BULLOCK Come have a look boys, Star and Bullock Hardware and Mercantile just open for business. We've got boots to sell you, leather and rubber -- STAR Leather boots ten dollars, rubber boots fifteen. BULLOCK We've got picks, pans, and shovels -- STAR Picks for twelve dollars, shovels at ten and pans at eight. BULLOCK We've got placer-cradles, the prospector's best friend -- STAR Perfected at the Montana Strikes, sifting-cradles at twenty-five dollars -- BULLOCK We've got chamber-pots to sell, and if you don't know what one of those is the man living next to you will appreciate your finding out. STAR Step up gentlemen and purchase quality goods! CUSTOMER #1 (at the counter) I'll look at your biggest rubber boots. STAR I got 'em right here. Star proceeds to pull the boots from stock while Bullock demonstrates the rocking motion of a placer cradle for a miner -- BULLOCK (for all to hear) We stand by out stock. Any item that don't do what it's supposed to will be exchanged for one that does, and we'll be here for you to find us. A shill approaches from the margin of the gathered onlookers -- SHILL Son of a b**h, the man said I might get a prize! His astonished outburst having drawn attention, the shill exhibits a torn plain-paper wrapper in one hand and a five- dollar bill in the other -- SHILL I paid fifty cents for the bar of soap, and here's a five-dollar prize in the wrapper! CUSTOMER #2 (to the shill) Where'd you buy that soap at? SHILL Man standing right over there. The shill's mug turns sour as Bullock come between him and the mark -- BULLOCK Front your game away from our tent. The shill, having checked out Bullock's eyes, calls out as he drifts away -- SHILL Cash prizes in every night's case of soap. Under the last of which a voice bellows toward Star from the rear of the gathering -- CUSTOMER #3 Store-keep! Hold some large rubber boots till I get there and I'll pay you two dollars extra. BULLOCK Set prices boys, and first-come-first- to-be-served. (to Customer #3, in friendly placation) We'll get you squared away. Star looks to Bullock -- STAR We should've brought more damn boots. Off the partners, pleased at the action -- CUT TO: INT. GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - HALLWAY - NIGHT Hickok, in near-foppish finery, leans against the wall outside in the room he shares with Utter. As when he was seen reclining in the wagon, the absence of expression in his features suggests a corpse in state, of a figure in a wax museum. But Hickok's eyes animate warily at the first sound of Utter's voice -- UTTER (O.S.) Conviction's coming over me Bill. I'm feeling more and more positive. The man-k**er relaxes his vigilance -- UTTER (O.S.) Are you out there? HICKOK And ready for whiskey? UTTER (O.S.) Which way will you provide for the new Mrs. Hickok is the sole and only question. Not if you make a stake, but how. It's just a matter of you focusing down, and choosing from alternatives. Utter appears, as well turned-out as his friend, mustering a self-approving enthusiasm which is meant to infect Hickok -- UTTER "Strangers in town, trouble expected." HICKOK This is my last camp Charlie. Utter chooses to put a positive cast on this -- UTTER Amen Pardner. We got the same exact conviction. This one gets it done. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SWEARENGEN'S OFFICE - NIGHT Swearengen's shaving, getting ready for the night's activity. Farnum and Burns are present -- SWEARENGEN Wild Bill Hickok. Nothing can ever be simple. FARNUM (tentative) He didn't speak of having lawman ambitions Al. SWEARENGEN Didn't he? How many communities was he a lawman in? FARNUM We're an illegal settlement on Indian land. What law's he going to enforce? Swearengen's pursuing his own line of thought -- SWEARENGEN Plus here come two new gambling outfits for me to deal with. BURNS 'Far as that goes Al, they say they met in Bismark by coincidence, the Chicago group in by railroad and the Wyoming boys coming off the river. SWEARENGEN Goof Johnny, you stay a f**ing imbecile. When I see lighting I expect thunder, and when two outfits come into camp together and one trumpets faro and the other one craps I feel like they might've had a conversation. He drinks, in his element, widening his horizons to consider other impositions by Fate on the smooth enactment of his will -- SWEARENGEN Starting right the f** with Custer getting himself ma**acred, it's one thing after another. Leaves the godless savage co*ks**er Sioux on the warpath. We could be operating here in peace. Dan Dority comes in -- DORITY That New York Dude's downstairs Al. SWEARENGEN Did he order whiskey? DORITY Yeah. SWEARENGEN Did he down it or is he sipping at it? DORITY He's sipping. SWEARENGEN Why did I even ask? (to Farnum) Go get Tim Driscoll. Make sure the Dude sees you leave. FARNUM What should I tell Tim? SWEARENGEN Send him over here. Tell him he's drunk and sorry for himself. Give him five minutes, then you come back. FARNUM All right Al. Farnum's about to leave, pauses -- FARNUM 'Far as Hickok, Al, if I'd pushed him any harder on his plans I was afraid he'd shoot me. SWEARENGEN Go get Driscoll. Farnum splits -- SWEARENGEN (re Farnum) Afraid he'd shoot him. Got that Dude downstairs gut-hooked and ready to land, here come all these distractions. who*e can't bang the trick and take his money, she has to put one in his head. Swearengen's minions carefully indicate a**ent -- SWEARENGEN How about Doc Cochran for a sick son- of-a-b**h Boys? (or Burns) Did you see the gleeful little grin on his mug when he shoved that rod into the Stiff's head? Don't run into Doc on any graveyards if you want to see the sun rise. Swearengen's dressed, ready -- SWEARENGEN Let's get that Dude's money. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - who*eS' WAITING ROOM - NIGHT Six who*es. Trixie's not among them. They smoke, drink beer, ready to be called -- who*e #1 I won't work early shifts. who*e #2 You get a mean-type trick. who*e #1 But I'll bet she was quick to the gun. who*e #3 You can call out awhile till Dan or Johnny show up. who*e #4 And meanwhile be taking a beating. who*e #2 But she's a mean type herself. Burns shows up to herd them off to work -- BURNS Let's go. As the girls rise -- who*e #4 (to who*e #2) She must've done some fancy f**ing to keep Al from k**ing her. who*e #5 (to herself) Some of them new Chicago girls looked shiny. who*e #6 See how they look in two weeks. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - TRIXIE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT JEWEL, the who*es' maid, having helped Trixie dress, now helps her get to her feet. Trixie looks at herself in a shard of mirror. After a beat -- TRIXIE I need another gun. JEWEL For in case they beat on you. She holds out a brooch to Jewel -- TRIXIE Never mind what for. Just get me another gun. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SALOON - NIGHT At the bar, BROM GARRET, thirty, a genial dilettante, reacts as -- SWEARENGEN (O.S.) Brom Garret Of Manhattan -- Swearengen, whose tone and features have taken on a new affability, joins the younger man -- SWEARENGEN -- Scourge Of The deadwood Faro Tables. Brom grins self-consciously -- BROM C'mon Al. Don't think I confuse two nights holding good cards with being a faro sharp. SWEARENGEN (to Dority) Two here Dan. (re Brom's drink) You see a finish to that? Brom nods, drains the remainder of his drink, trying not to gag -- BROM Did you hear Bill Hickok's in town? SWEARENGEN Yes I did. Does that give you the vapors? Brom's a little surprised by Swearengen's breezily standoffish tone. Studies Swearengen -- BROM Are you mad about something Al? SWEARENGEN I'm not mad about nothing. All's I can tell you, things sort out pretty fast around here Brom. They sort out fast in Deadwood, and I vouched for you with Tim Driscoll two hours in here last night when I gather you must've been home in bed sleeping, and the end result, Tim's just about got his claim sold to E.B. Farnum. BROM What? Where's Driscoll now? SWEARENGEN Not here so I'd a**ume at his hotel. BROM You told me he's here by six. SWEARENGEN Well he ain't yet. BROM Al, E.B. Farnum just saw me here and headed for the door. SWEARENGEN Well I wouldn't know how to interpret that. Brom rubs his neck -- BROM I was doing the leg-work Al. I was doing the due-diligence. You tell me Driscoll's got money trouble and he's a motivated seller. Fair enough. But how did I know his claim's not played out? I had to do the leg-work on that. SWEARENGEN I see. Fair enough. BROM That's what I had to ascertain. Dority's brought the drinks. Swearengen points to himself to indicate they're on the house, downs his drink as Dority leaves -- SWEARENGEN And did you do the leg-work? Brom throws his drink down too, doesn't gag, then -- BROM Al -- Brom's right hand is on the bar; he opens his fingers part way to reveal what he's concealed hitherto -- a nugget of gold; Swearengen reacts quickly -- SWEARENGEN For God's sake close your fist. BROM Cleaned up during the night, with five more just like it from Claim Number Nine above Discovery -- panned at the Driscoll claim. SWEARENGEN All's I can say Brom, I only hope while you were winning the battle you didn't lose the f**ing war. BROM But now Driscoll's not here, and E.B. Farnum see me and heads for the door. SWEARENGEN That's my f**ing point. Dority ostentatiously clears his throat, indication the approach of a full-featured, red-faced Irishman -- BROM Who is that? SWEARENGEN Tim Driscoll, sh**-faced. You may still be in luck. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. NUTTALL AND MANN'S SALOON NUMBER TEN - NIGHT Hickok and Utter enter the saloon -- ANGLE - A.W. MERRICK Mid-forties, mutton-chop sideburns and arm-garters, publisher and sole reporter of the Deadwood Pioneer, brought to his feet as if charged by an electrical current, despite a torpid liver and chronic lumbago, by Hickok's arrival; Merrick immediately sits down again to consider the tactics of his approach to the newsworthy man-k**er and his companion now taking their places at the bar -- ANGLE - HICKOK AND UTTER joined by TOM NUTTALL, the owner, tending bar -- NUTTALL Boys. HICKOK Whiskeys. NUTTALL Two whiskeys. (pouring, gaze averted)

I'm respecting your privacy, not saying your name, but I certainly recognize you, and I'd like to buy the round. HICKOK (indicates Utter) Charlie Utter. NUTTALL Tom Nuttall Charlie. UTTER Tom. As Hickok and Utter drink -- NEW ANGLE - TABLE LOU VARNES, Johnny Burns, JACK MCCALL and CON STAPLETON have been watching the activity as the bar -- JACK MCCALL I'll say one thing before anyone opens their mouth, and then I'll say no more on the subject, and I'll be through for the f**ing evening. I am not impressed. All right? Now you apply that to whatever you think may be my reference -- ANGLE - MERRICK His plan conceived and courage mustered, making his way toward Hickok and Utter -- RESUME - HICKOK, UTTER, AND NUTTALL Nuttall notes Merrick's approach -- NUTTALL (to Hickok) A newspaper man's coming up -- I don't know how you want to handle the publicity angle. Merrick's reached them -- MERRICK A.W. Merrick Mr. Hickok, of the Deadwood Pioneer. Hickok's look is not uncivil; he indicates Utter -- HICKOK We're drinking whiskey. MERRICK Certainly. Certainly. Merrick addresses Nuttall, eagerly searching his pockets -- MERRICK Whiskeys here Mr. Nuttall. HICKOK (indicates Utter) Charlie Utter. MERRICK How do you do. UTTER How do you do. Thanks for the drink. HICKOK You write for a newspaper? MERRICK Infirmities permitting. UTTER What's wrong with you? MERRICK Don't get me started. NUTTALL (to Merrick) Two bucks. MERRICK Of course. (paying) What's brought you to the camp Mr. Hickok? -- may I tell my readers? HICKOK A warrant out on me in Cheyenne. UTTER (feigns amusement) Get off that now Bill. Merrick responds diplomatically -- MERRICK I suppose for a man like you warrants are a vocational hazard. Hickok's self-irony is deadpan -- HICKOK Calling me a professional vagrant? UTTER Bill. MERRICK (to Hickok) The warrant was for vagrancy? UTTER He's kidding. You better not put that in your paper. You ought to know when someone's making a joke. Nuttall's taken all this in -- NUTTALL Anyways, in this camp warrants don't count. Hickok indicates the poker table -- HICKOK If you run that game, can I buy fifty in chips? NUTTALL I do and you can. Settle up after, see how your luck runs. Utter reacts with barely concealed dismay -- UTTER You feel like playing now Bill, or should we take in the rest of the camp? HICKOK I feel like playing now. Nuttall hands Hickok his chips -- NUTTALL Draw and seven stud, dealer calls the game. HICKOK Sounds fair. See you later Charlie. UTTER All right Bill. Merrick watches Hickok head for the table -- MERRICK What a grand surprise. I never thought he's live long enough for me to meet him. Off a stoically disconsolate Utter -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SALOON - NIGHT Swearengen, Driscoll, and Brom. They all seem to have made friends -- DRISCOLL (to Brom, re Swearengen) I wound up thinking he bullsh**ted me on the subject of you. SWEARENGEN I don't bullsh**. BROM (to Driscoll) I was indisposed last night. Driscoll stares at Brom skeptically -- DRISCOLL What were you? SWEARENGEN He wasn't feeling well Tim. But here we all are today. DRISCOLL (to Brom, re Swearengen) No because I wound up thinking he was bullsh**ting me, and just now I'm about to transact something, I think "Wait, all you got in this camp's your word, Al Swearengen doesn't bullsh**, I tell the other mother-f**er wait back at my room ten minutes, you know, just wait ten minutes at the hotel and let me just verify because Al isn't usually a mother-f**er." And so forth. By the end of which Driscoll seems totally incoherent. Brom looks to Swearengen for help -- SWEARENGEN (to Driscoll) What you're saying, you'll entertain an offer from Mr. Garret for your claim. DRISCOLL I don't "entertain" anybody -- (to Brom) -- don't expect anyone to f**ing entertain you. BROM I'd like to offer on Claim Nine above Discovery. DRISCOLL I've had all the f**ing entertainment I need from this f**ing place. You think I give a f** where you're from? Where are you from anyway? BROM New York City. DRISCOLL You think I give a f**? SWEARENGEN (to Brom, urgently) What's your offer? BROM Fourteen thousand dollars for mineral and riparian rights. Driscoll stares at him, apparently ready to come to blows -- DRISCOLL What the f** did you just say to me? SWEARENGEN Tim! Tim! BROM Fourteen thousand dollars for mineral and water rights above and below ground. DRISCOLL I'll knock you into f**ing next week -- I don't care how many suits you're wearing. BROM I have the money -- Al's discounting my letter of credit. SWEARENGEN Fourteen thousand dollars, Claim Nine above Discovery -- yes or no Tim? Swearengen, gazing with what seems to be anxiety toward the door, where E.B. Farnum can been seen returning, slams his fist on the bar, looking back to Driscoll -- SWEARENGEN Yes or no?! DRISCOLL All right. Fourteen thousand. SWEARENGEN (to Brom) Spit in your hand. BROM What? SWEARENGEN Hurry up and spit in your hand. Instead Brom stares mesmerized at the thick tobacco-brown loogie descending from Driscoll's lips. The loogie lands and pools in Driscoll's right hand. Brom's inaction apparently prompts Driscoll to suspicion; he looks to Swearengen, eyes narrowing -- DRISCOLL (re Brom) What's his f**ing problem? Brom snaps out of it -- BROM Nothing. -- quickly spits in his palm. Swearengen brings Brom's and Driscoll's right hands together -- SWEARENGEN Done and witnessed. Farnum reaches them -- FARNUM Am I too late? DRISCOLL You're too late Farnum. (re Brom) I just sold for fourteen thousand to this guy. FARNUM (to Brom) Will you take sixteen? BROM No. Thanks you, but no. DRISCOLL (to Swearengen, re Farnum) What a lying c*nt. "Twelve and a half thousand Mr. Driscoll, every cent I can lay hands on and all the claim's worth." FARNUM (ignoring Driscoll; to Brom) Sixteen thousand. That's two thousand profit standing over a drink. BROM I believe events will prove Claim Nine above Discovery was worth far more than sixteen thousand Mr. Farnum. Brom's optimism seems to arouse a new reservation in Driscoll about his decision's wisdom, to make him reconsider his options -- DRISCOLL (to Swearengen, re Brom) 'Course I haven't seen his f**ing money yet. SWEARENGEN I'm discounting his bank note -- He puts a sack of gold dust on the counter -- SWEARENGEN That's ten thousand, I'll weigh four out of the other sack right now. BROM Al's holding a full-faith letter of credit for twenty-thousand dollars drawn on the Bank of New York. DRISCOLL I'm only saying till money's pa**ed between us, the deal isn't done. SWEARENGEN The deal is done -- Swearengen pushes the sack toward Driscoll -- BROM We spat in our hand Tim. DRISCOLL What the f** do you know about it? I'll knock you into next f**ing week. (to Farnum) Will you offer me sixteen thousand? Farnum seems somewhat uncertain -- FARNUM I suppose, if you're open to further offers. BROM (to Driscoll) Sixteen thousand five hundred. Swearengen stares at Brom, incredulous -- SWEARENGEN What the hell did you just do Brom? -- BROM (to Driscoll) Will you close at sixteen-five? SWEARENGEN (to Brom) -- you just re-opened the f**ing bidding. FARNUM (to Driscoll) Seventeen thousand. BROM (to Driscoll) Seventeen thousand five hundred -- and I go no farther. FARNUM Eighteen. BROM Nineteen. FARNUM Nineteen thousand eight hundred, that's every cent I can put together. BROM Twenty thousand. FARNUM Damnit! Damnit! Driscoll looks like a sh**-faced, elegantly self-satisfied Cheshire cat -- DRISCOLL Twenty once? -- twenty twice? FARNUM I can't! BROM (to Driscoll, re Farnum) It's over, he's through... Brom spits in his hand again optimistically -- BROM Is it over? DRISCOLL All right. All right -- From sinus pa**age and lung Driscoll collects in his throat a fulsome bolus of phlegm, emits the into his right palm -- DRISCOLL -- twenty does it. BROM I got it Al. Swearengen again clasps together the right hands of the two principals -- SWEARENGEN (to Brom) Yes you did. Behind Brom, Swearengen notes Trixie ambulating painfully in search of a john. Her gaze meets his, though her eyes are so swollen he has no confident sense of what she's feeling -- CUT TO: EXT. A PIG PEN - NIGHT The Chinaman feeds the Trick, upon whose mortal remains Doc Cochran has completed his examination, to his pot-bellied pig -- FADE OUT. END ACT TWO ACT THREE FADE IN: INT. GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - THE GARRETS' ROOM - NIGHT Brom Garret enters a hotel room whose Spartan appointment has been embellished by his wife ALMA, thirty, beautiful, married to Brom to salvage her own family's straitened financial circumstances and come with him from New York pursuing her own idea of adventure -- BROM Spit in your hand Alma. ALMA Why? BROM Spit, I'm going to show you something. She watches the ingenuous fool she's trying to love spit in his own hand -- ALMA Promise you'll tell my mother about this. -- spits in hers to humor him. He brings their hands together -- BROM I've bought it. We own a gold claim. This was how e sealed the deal. ALMA And then did everyone dry their hands? He gives her his suit-coat handkerchief, continues eagerly -- BROM Do you know who was bidding against me? Farnum, who owns this hotel. ALMA And where was your Secret Agent? BROM Dan Dority -- he was tending bar. No one realized Dan had helped me reconnoiter the claim. Al Swearengen who owns the saloon was intermediary, he brokered the transaction. Driscoll, the seller? -- legless with liquor. You'll have a vivid entry for an article then I've told you all the details. ALMA I've already begun to imagine it. He's at the window, looking out at the Deadwood night -- BROM It was a near thing till the end -- I had to go all our twenty thousand to turn Farnum away. She smoothes his hair, watching him, convinced that, however inconceivable his behavior, she prefers her situation to the strictures of the life she'd left behind. And the laudanum takes the edge off -- ALMA Ah well. BROM I'll have to write the bank to renew my credit. (sour resignation) Of course they'll contact Father. ALMA I'd expect that's inevitable. He turns back to her -- BROM Wild Bill Hickok's here. I'm sure he's going to prospect too. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - NIGHT Inside the open-flapped sales tent, Bullock and Star secure the fraction of their wares they didn't sell with the a**istance of a bearded middle-aged man we'll come to know as H.W. SMITH. During which -- H.W. SMITH My wife and children are in Louisville Kentucky, I'm saving to bring them out. Day I dig on the Foster Water Ditch, nights I watch folks' goods like I'm going to do for yours. STAR Schedule like that, Mr. Smith, it sounds like you'll have them here soon. H.W. SMITH Then Sabbaths I preach Christ crucified and raised from the dead. Neither Bullock nor Star is quite sure how to respond to this. After a beat, as they continue to work -- BULLOCK I'm from Etobicoke Ontario. H.W. SMITH So you were born in Canada. BULLOCK Come to Montana when I was seventeen. That's when I met up with Mr. Star. H.W. SMITH Is that so. STAR I was born in Austria. H.W. SMITH Austria. Wonderful where people come from. STAR Born in Austria, then I grew up in Chillicothe Ohio. H.W. SMITH Then you and Mr. Bullock partnered in Montana. STAR That's where we partnered up. H.W. SMITH The Lord's our final comfort, but it's a solace having friends. I know that from past experience. They're finished. As they come outside the tent -- H.W. SMITH You sold up a storm here tonight, didn't you? STAR We did all right. BULLOCK We'll be a few hours Mr. Smith, we want to look around the camp. Bullock's noted the approach of an UNKEMPT MAN on a slow- moving horse. Bullock's scrutiny prompts the man to check his instinctive, furtive gaze at the contents of the tent -- MAN I seen a terrible thing tonight. BULLOCK What did you see? MAN White people dead and scalped, man, woman and children with their arms and legs hacked off. BULLOCK Where? How many dead? MAN A whole family on the road to Spearfish. My God. These heathen bloodthirsty savages. H.W. SMITH How many was it died? MAN The whole family hacked and mutilated. Parents and two children. H.W. SMITH The Metz family took the Spearfish Road -- MAN Then that was probably them. H.W. SMITH They had three children. The man takes this in -- MAN Were there three? It could've been three. They were that hacked and spread around. Smith clasps his hands -- H.W. SMITH Rest their souls. Star clasps his hands as well -- STAR Rest their souls. Tardily, the man clasps his hands as well and closes his eyes in perfunctory, unpersuasive piety. Star glances with sidelong uneasiness at his partner, who's studying the man. The man opens his eyes, instinctively looking toward Bullock -- BULLOCK You probably need a drink. The drink-idea sits well with the man, but not the prospective company -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SWEARENGEN'S OFFICE - NIGHT Swearengen and Driscoll. Driscoll hands the two bags of gold to Swearengen, who examines the knot in the cinch of one of the sack, his version of a seal -- DRISCOLL Don't insult me Al -- I haven't put a finger on either of those bags. Which brings no change in Swearengen's process. As he examines the knot on the second bag -- SWEARENGEN How much do you want? DRISCOLL How much? We agreed on thirty percent. Thirty percent of twenty would be six. SWEARENGEN Uh-huh. DRISCOLL So I want six thousand. SWEARENGEN What's thirty percent of fourteen thousand? DRISCOLL What the f** Al. SWEARENGEN Who told you to take him to twenty? DRISCOLL I could feel he had more in him. It was a spontaneous f**ing feeling. I knew there was more to get. SWEARENGEN And you thought six more would be the jackpot. Take him from fourteen to twenty. DRISCOLL Jesus Christ Al, if you had further plans I wish you'd've said something to me. SWEARENGEN Should I tell you when I plan to sh** tomorrow, or would that be none of your f**ing business. DRISCOLL Jesus Christ. If me taking him to twenty f**ed up some future plan of yours, I apologize for my spontaneity. Swearengen just stares at Driscoll -- DRISCOLL So fourteen thousand -- thirty percent of that's what? -- what is that, forty-two hundred? Swearengen doesn't answer -- DRISCOLL Or what the f** arrangement do you suggest now? SWEARENGEN What do you suggest? DRISCOLL Oh Jesus f**ing Christ. You know you get in a mood like this, I'd as soon not even discuss it. Let me hold five hundred and we'll discuss the rest of it some other f**ing time. SWEARENGEN Cash, or credit at the tables? DRISCOLL Fine, just give me five hundred at the f**ing tables then. Jesus Christ almighty. SWEARENGEN Are we holding markers? DRISCOLL What the f** do I know? Dority'll know that better'n me. Go ahead and credit it against the f**ing markers then, and let me hold twenty f**ing cash. SWEARENGEN Tell Dan to give you twenty. DRISCOLL And a piece of f**ing p**y. SWEARENGEN Tell Dan, and tell him to come see me. Driscoll's up, walking out -- DRISCOLL Goddamnit Al! He's gone. Off Swearengen -- CUT TO: INT. NUTTALL AND MANN'S - POKER TABLE - NIGHT Hickok's seated beside Jack McCall. Con Stapleton and WILLIAM R. MASSIE and Johnny Varnes at the table also. The others having shown their hole cards, Jack McCall now turns his -- JACK MCCALL You called my bluff Hickok, I was trying to run one. Then reacts with apparent surprise -- JACK MCCALL Whoa, wait on Mary, my God -- I got a third eight under there... Varnes wants to abbreviate the moment -- VARNES (to McCall) Three eights wins -- your pot. JACK MCCALL -- I absolutely did not realize that. VARNES (to McCall) Your chips. Despite Varnes' prompting, McCall doesn't collect his chips yet -- JACK MCCALL (to Hickok) Sitting here thinking I'm f**ing bluffing my third eight, I mistakenly outdraw the greatest gunfighter in the world. As if such luck demands some gesture of gracious contrition, McCall signals on of the girls -- JACK MCCALL Full round, entire round, dealer and players. -- then begins collecting his chips -- HICKOK Meaning the third eight. McCall, apparently coming late to the understanding he's being addresses, looks up from stacking -- JACK MCCALL What? HICKOK Saying you outdrew me. You meant the third eight. McCall grins with provisional innocence -- JACK MCCALL What else would I have meant? HICKOK Say it and then we'll play cards. The look in McCall's eyes no longer matches his lingering grin. A beat, then -- JACK MCCALL The third eight's what I meant. HICKOK (to Varnes) Deal. VARNES Antes up, same again. The players toss in their antes. McCall fans his stacked chips. The chips click -- JACK MCCALL Jesus Christ, can we shake hands or something? -- relieve the atmosphere? I mean how stupid do you think I am? HICKOK I don't know, I just met you. AT THE BAR Utter and Nuttall. Utter's a little drunk -- UTTER (re Hickok) Comes to look for business opportunity and he sits there losing at poker. Nuttall fills Utter's gla** -- NUTTALL Is he having a bad run? -- I can't see that far. UTTER You'd have to see back to Cheyenne. He's lost his patience, stays in the hands if he's holding cards or not. (wipes his mouth) How's your crowd here tonight anyway? NUTTALL All right. UTTER It's better'n all right and you know it -- you see that damn much. (finishes his drink) Bill Hickok's an a**et to any saloon, and joint he frequents, you agree with me on that or not? Nuttall considers Utter -- NUTTALL Have you got a say on that, 'far as where he drinks and gambles? UTTER Suppose I did. NUTTALL Fifty a night if he'll frequent here exclusive. UTTER Fifty -- what a sport you turn out to be. NUTTALL Then you quote a figure and we'll discuss it. UTTER Let's come to one understanding. Any figure I came up with, part of that you'd give him to gamble or piss away however else he was going to do it, and that's the only part he's know about. Nuttall takes this in -- NUTTALL I'd work with you. UTTER The rest you'd give to me and I'd hold it in trust for his future. NUTTALL That'd be your affair. UTTER Listen to me. That man's recently married. He needs to put a stake together. That's all I'd be in this for. I own a going freight business in Cheyenne. NUTTALL I'd work with you. ANGLE - STAR, BULLOCK, AND THE MAN entering, approaching the bar -- MAN Nothing against you fellas, I'd as soon do my drinking getting a piece of a**. BULLOCK First you'll want people to know about that family. The Man stares at Bullock, unsure if he suspects him or not -- MAN What harm is it me meeting my needs before I circulate the news? Tonight's a lost issue. No one's leaving camp in darkness to see to some dead folk's remains with heathen savages around. BULLOCK What if the third child's alive? MAN Listen Mister. It was a ma**acre, and I'm the one that saw it. No one was alive. BULLOCK Did you see the ma**acre or not? MAN I told you, I got there afterward. BULLOCK So by then the child could've got away from where you saw those other bodies, or the child could've been hiding and so afraid of who you might be it didn't call out. MAN Listen to me. I'm not going out there tonight, so mind your own goddamn business. His voice has gotten louder. Star, against his pragmatic impulse to avoid involvement, raises his voice, so it's impossible for those nearby not to hear -- STAR You're saying a family's ma**acred by Indians on the road to Spearfish and one child may still be alive out there and it's no one's concern in this saloon? Which brings Utter into the conversation -- UTTER (to the man) What's this about a ma**acre? MAN Ah for Christ's sake. STAR (re man) He says he saw the bodies. MAN Goddamnit I'm not going out there again tonight after I just made camp with my scalp by sheer dumb f**ing luck. Hickok's joined them, addresses the man -- HICKOK Ride out and show us the place. I'll guarantee your scalp. Another man, JIMMY IRON, heads for The Gem to pa** on what he's heard -- HICKOK (to Bullock) Are you riding? BULLOCK (nods, indicates Star) Yeah, we'll ride. UTTER (to Nuttall) More to be said. Merrick's joined them -- MERRICK (to Hickok) May I ride? I'd be honored to ride, infirmities permitting. Bullock looks to the Man with a disarming show of friendliness -- BULLOCK Here we go. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SWEARENGEN'S OFFICE - NIGHT Dority enters. Swearengen's behind his desk -- SWEARENGEN What'd you give Driscoll? DORITY Twenty bucks and a free poke with Wanda. SWEARENGEN Half-smart Mick that he is. DORITY Tim f**ed up with the Dude, huh? SWEARENGEN Gets the Dude's case-money with the Dude only out here three days. How's the Dude ask his people back home for more? They're liable to send the Pinkertons. DORITY So shut the Dude down? SWEARENGEN (nods) You being his secret best friend, he'll want you out prospecting in the morning beside him. (beat) That claim needs to pinch out. DORITY (grins) He don't have much stamina, a few days ought to do it. SWEARENGEN And Tim Driscoll needs to be seen to. Dority studies Swearengen -- DORITY No kidding Al? SWEARENGEN No kidding. DORITY Not that nobody asked, I'd look to Trixie for danger before I'd look to Tim. Swearengen stares at him -- SWEARENGEN No kidding. Dority looks away. Burns enters with Jimmy Iron -- BURNS (timidly) Jimmy says the Sioux ma**acred a family on the Spearfish Road. Swearengen looks at Iron -- JIMMY A hand come into Nuttall's Number Ten telling the story Mr. Swearengen. SWEARENGEN Who was he? JIMMY I never seen him before. SWEARENGEN Can you get him over here? Is he still in Nuttall's? Jimmy shakes his head no -- JIMMY They rode back to where it happened, Hickok and some others rode back out with him. Swearengen considers this -- SWEARENGEN Did he look happy to go? Swearengen's question surprises Jimmy -- JIMMY He didn't look that happy. SWEARENGEN How many people downstairs did you tell about this? JIMMY A few. SWEARENGEN A few? Swearengen punches Burns in the face, knocking him down -- SWEARENGEN You let him tell a few people downstairs before you bring this to me? BURNS Al, I brought him as soon as I heard. SWEARENGEN How many people you think the people he talked to have talked to by now? I guarantee at this minute my whole f**ing action downstairs is f**ed up, and nobody's drinking and nobody's gambling and nobody's chasing tail. I've got to deal with that. Swearengen, about to leave, takes stock -- SWEARENGEN (to Iron) You want ten dollars or a ball of dope? JIMMY Dope please, Mr. Swearengen. He looks to Dority, indicates Jimmy Iron -- SWEARENGEN Give him a ball of dope. -- now kicks the prostate Burns with less than full force -- SWEARENGEN Stand the f** up an go to work. Swearengen's gone. Dority signals Iron forward -- DORITY Come on, I'll take care of you. Dority look to Burns, who's remained on the floor out of residual fear and hurt feelings -- DORITY He's got a lot on his mind Johnny. Dority and Jimmy Iron leave. Off Burns, whose lower lip protrudes and trembles like a boy after his Pa's given him a licking -- FADE OUT. END ACT THREE ACT FOUR FADE IN: INT. LIVERY STABLE - NIGHT As Bullock, Utter, Star, Hickok, The Man, and Merrick adjust their as saddles and mount up -- the newspaperman glad of the chance to opine before a captive celebrity listener -- MERRICK These depredations are the Indians' d**h-throes Mr. Hickok. History has overtaken the treaty which gave them this land. The gold we've found here has overtaken it. I believe within a year Congress will rescind the Ft. Laramie Treaty, Deadwood and these Hills will be annexed to the Dakota Territory, and we who have pursued our destinies outside law or statute will be restored to the bosom of the nation. Hickok looks to Bullock -- HICKOK Does "bosom" mean "tit?" BULLOCK Same thing. Hickok pulls himself into the saddle, walks his mount near Bullock -- BULLOCK You were a marshal in Kansas? Hickok nods -- HICKOK You? BULLOCK Montana. HICKOK Come to your senses now? BULLOCK Yes Sir. Something in his disclaimer works on Bullock, who indicates the unnamed Man clinching up a fresh mount across the way -- BULLOCK His story on this don't hold water. HICKOK No. They ride out. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - DEADWOOD - NIGHT The rescue party turns onto the muddy thoroughfare -- heading for the spearfish Road -- POV THROUGH GEM THEATER WINDOW - NIGHT As the rescue party pa**es by -- AT THE GEM WINDOW - NIGHT Johnny Burns, watching the horsemen, then turns as he hears Swearengen's voice behind -- SWEARENGEN I know word's circulating the Indian's k**ed a family on the Spearfish Road. INT. THE GEM - SALOON - NIGHT Swearengen's come among his patrons -- SWEARENGEN ... And it's not for me to tell anyone in this camp what to do, much as I don't want more people getting their throats cut or their scalps lifted or any other godless thing these godless bloodthirsty heathens do, or if someone wants to ride out in darkest night. But I will tell you this. I would use tonight to get myself organized, and ride out in the morning clearheaded. And starting tomorrow morning, I will offer a personal fifty-dollar bounty for every decapitated head of as many of these godless heathen co*ks**ers as anyone can bring in tomorrow, with no upper limit. And that's all I say on that subject, except the next round is on The House, and God rest the souls of that family. And p**y's half-price the next fifteen minutes. His listeners receive Swearengen's arguments volubly. In the hub-bub, Jewel surreptitiously delivers a PISTOL to Trixie, while Burns comes to Swearengen's side -- BURNS (low) Good talk Al. Swearengen receives the compliment graciously -- SWEARENGEN I'll tell you the truth, the more I think about it, for murdering people on the road to Spearfish, my money's on Persimmon Bill. BURNS Making it look like the Indians. SWEARENGEN That is his specialty. Off which -- CUT TO: INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR - SECOND FLOOR - DAWN Dority approaches Tim Driscoll's room, a Bowie knife between his teeth. B.g., we see Farnum at the head of the stairs. Farnum begins his descent as Dority uses a pa** key to enter Driscoll's room -- INT. DRISCOLL'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS Dority enters. Driscoll sits up in bed -- DRISCOLL What is it? Dority takes the knife from between his teeth -- DORITY Hush Tim. He's on him -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SALOON - NIGHT Ellsworth's with Trixie. She doesn't realize he's seen the Derringer secreted between her breasts -- ELLSWORTH I don't intrude on the affairs of others. It's problem enough keeping my own life straight. If something's not my affair I don't pretend it is. Trixie looks away -- ELLSWORTH Contrariwise, if you feel like talking I'll pay a dollar a minute to hear you. Get anything off your chest you feel like. She doesn't answer. Ellsworth drinks -- ELLSWORTH And f** us all anyway for the limber- dicked co*ks**ers we are. CALAMITY JANE (O.S.) Peter-s**ing for drinks, even up! ANGLE - JANE entering the saloon from the street, sh**-faced -- SWEARENGEN AND DORITY Reacting -- Dority's been in quiet conversation with Swearengen, giving him the news -- DORITY That's the sewer-mouth that follows Hickok around. SWEARENGEN She's not s**ing dicks for drinks in here. Across the way -- Jane's been talking to a couple of drunken miners -- she turns to the entire barroom -- CALAMITY JANE (shouts) Is it true? Indians k**ing white people? Why are you standing here? A MAN We'll ride out tomorrow in daylight. CALAMITY JANE Really? Tomorrow? What's your f**ing rush? (collects herself) I'm going now. I know the road to Spearfish. And I don't drink where I'm the only f**ing one with balls. She's gone -- CUT TO: EXT. A CLEARING OFF THE SPEARFISH ROAD - NIGHT Coming through the deep woods, the riders show their horses as they arrive at the site of the k**ings. The family's wagon is overturned beside the road. Trunks have been broken open and rummaged -- clothing, pans, and various baking utensils are strewn about. The riders dismount, proceed into the meadow, except for The Man, who remains by the road with the horses. The bodies are a hundred feet in. Wolves tear at the remains, agitated and desperate as the men approach with their torches. To one side, at the hollow of a fallen, long-decayed tree, a renegade wolf paws and growls. Bullock brandishes his torch, drives off the wolf. He goes to his knees, inside the hollow sees the lower left leg of a child. The leg is bloody, lacerated by the wolf's clawings. Bullock suffers himself to pull at the bloody leg, draws out a child, THE GIRL whose eyes met Jane's as her family left the camp. She's lost half her blood, is beyond speech or terror. Bullock takes her in his arms. Off which -- CUT TO: EXT. MAIN STREET - DEADWOOD - DAWN As first light breaks across the now eerily quiet roadway -- INT. GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - GARRETS' ROOM - DAWN He's dressing to go out to Claim Number Nine, now The Garret Claim. Everything he puts on is new. Looks at his wife sleeping. Turns away, readying to leave. She's not asleep, opens her eyes, watching him -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - DAWN The crowd beginning to thin. Swearengen climbing the stairs to the second floor. At the landing looking down, seeing Trixie and Ellsworth. Trixie looking up, seeing Swearengen -- CUT TO: EXT. THE GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - DAWN Brom comes outside -- INT. GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL - DAWN Alma squeezes a draught of laudanum from a dropper into a gla** of water, drinks her first dose of the day, then goes to the window, peering out, careful not to be observed -- ALMA'S POV - THE STREET As her husband, relieved that his advisor has appeared, moves to join the approaching Dan Dority -- CUT TO: EXT. THE ROAD BACK FROM SPEARFISH - DAWN The Riders, returning, encounter Jane -- HICKOK Miss Jane. CALAMITY JANE I'd've been with you Bill, but I didn't get word about all this till a couple hours after you headed out. HICKOK It's all right. Nothing more could've been done. He rides on -- revealing Bullock holding the child. Bullock gives Jane the girl to hold. She wheels her horse, treasuring the child, rides back with them toward the camp. FIND Bullock and Star, careful to keep the unnamed Man in sight -- BULLOCK Did that look like Indians to you? STAR Seth, when this girl's in a Doctor's care, we have done our duty. BULLOCK (re the Man) His story's wrong. STAR A story don't have to be right to be none of my business. BULLOCK Your father tell you that? STAR (resigned) In Vienna. ANGLE - HICKOK AND UTTER riding beside each other, taking in the unnamed Man -- UTTER Keeps distance from the little one, don't he Bill? Hickok doesn't answer -- CUT TO: EXT. DEADWOOD STREET - MORNING Bullock and Merrick have dismounted in front of Doc Cochran's office, Merrick calling to Cochran as they hurry toward his door. Behind them the others rein their horses in as Cochran, coming outside, sees the bloody child in Jane's arms and moves toward her. Jane, handing the child down -- as Cochran starts inside -- CALAMITY JANE Easy goddamnit -- Draws her gun on Cochran -- CALAMITY JANE You just hold on till I'm with you. We all got an interest here. She dismounts. Merrick joins her at Bullock's nod, as Utter does at Hickok's. As now finally does Star with visible reluctance so that Bullock and Hickok are alone with the Man, who's stayed on his horse -- MAN I guess I done my duty, and I was glad enough to help. As Cochran and the child disappear with the others into his office -- BULLOCK Stick around and see if she lives. MAN No, I was glad enough to do my duty. That little one'll be in my prayers. BULLOCK Get off your horse. MAN What? Who are you to tell me what to do? This here's a free camp -- no one more law'n anyone else. BULLOCK Law or no, if need be I'll tie you to a tree till we see if that little girl lives and what she has to say about you. MAN Listen here! I'm an innocent man. It was Indians, goddamnit! BULLOCK Too much ransacking and too many good left behind. Someone was after money. MAN Goddamnit, if I had to do with that happened why would I come to this camp? HICKOK Maybe when it got thick out there you ran. Maybe the others was going to ground tonight but you had to have p**y or get to a faro layout. I've felt that way sometimes after a k**. BULLOCK Get down off your horse or face the consequences. The Man spurs his horse to escape, but it wheels and rears. Facing Hickok, he screams, gets his pistol a few inches out of its holster before Hickok's bullet hits his left eye. He loses all coordination, falls dead from the horse. A quick draw himself, Bullock has cleared his holster too, but not yet had time to fire. He stares at Hickok, incredulous -- HICKOK Was that you or me, Montana? BULLOCK That was you. As the others hurry from inside -- CUT TO: INT. THE GEM - SWEARENGEN'S BEDROOM - DAWN It adjoins his office but has a separate door. He lies on his bed, waiting. At the knock he collects his pistol, holds it under the covers -- SWEARENGEN Yeah. Trixie opens the door. She comes toward him. At the bedside, takes the Derringer from between her breasts, places it on the table. Gets into the bed beside Swearengen, lays her head on his shoulder. Off Swearengen, unsurprised, utterly alone -- FADE OUT.