SUZY: I don't know. I want to go on adventures, I think. Not get stuck in one place. How about you?
SAM: *pause* Go on adventures, too. Not get stuck, too. I guess that sounds almost like I'm just repeating what you just said, but I couldn't think of anything as good as it. On the other hand, maybe we'll get blown up by an atom bomb. You can't predict the exact future.
SUZY: That's true.
SAM: It's possible I may wet the bed, by the way. Later, I mean.
SUZY: *surprised* OK.
SAM: *reluctantly* I wish I didn't have to mention it, but just in case. I don't want to make you be offended.
SUZY: *softly* Of course, I won't.
SAM: Some people frown on these problems.
[Suzy nods. She holds Sam's hand. She points to the scorpion brooch pinned to Sam's shirt.]
SUZY: What's that one for?
[Sam looks at the brooch. He shakes his head.]
SAM: It's not an accomplishment. I inherited it from my mother. It's actually not meant for a male to wear -- but I don't give a damn.
[Suzy nods thoughtfully. Pause.]
SUZY: Are your foster parents still mad at you? For getting in trouble so much.
SAM: I don't think so. We're getting to know each other better. I feel like I'm in a family now. Not like yours, but similar to one.
SUZY: I always wished I was an orphan. Most of my favorite characters are. I think your lives are more special.
[Sam frowns. Tears suddenly well-up in his eyes. He shakes his head.]
SAM: I love you, but you don't know what you're talking about.
[Long pause. Suzy says genuinely:]
SUZY: I love you, too.
CUT TO:A campfire burns in front of the tent. Sam lies on his back on one of the bedrolls smoking his pipe while Suzy sits Indian-style next to him. She reads aloud from a book called The Light of Seven Matchsticks. There is an illustration on the cover of a child's hand extinguishing a little flame. A ribbon of smoke curls between its fingers.
SUZY: The flashlight's beam drew a moon through the black across the attic and settled on a gap in the base-board. A mouse-hole, no bigger than a pocket-watch. Eric crouched on his flat feet and placed his hand in front of the tiny opening. “It's windy,” he said. “Like someone in there's blowing on my fingers.” Christy rolled her eyes and sighed a sigh. He's right again, she thought. Little brothers drive people crazy.
[Suzy looks to Sam to see if he is still awake. Sam nods and signals for Suzy to continue. Suzy turns the page and reads on:]
SUZY: Part Two.
[OMIT]
CUT TO:The next morning. Sam and Suzy are asleep with their arms wrapped around each other inside the tent. They wear only their underwear. The sound of an airplane approaches. Sam's eyes open. The noise buzzes by loudly overhead. Suzy sits up. Sam scrambles to his feet, unzips the flaps of the tent, and looks out. Suzy crouches beside him, holding onto his leg. They see:
[Captain Sharp standing on the beach fifteen feet away. Scout Master Ward waits behind him with Gadge, Skotak, and Lazy-Eye. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop stride up out of the water. Mr. Bishop looks incensed. They are wet to the waist. The police launch is moored in the lagoon. Two larger boats with St. Jack Wood Fire Brigade printed on their hulls float further away. Men in red caps stand on their decks.]
[Suzy pulls Sam back inside. She zips up the tent again. She kisses Sam. Mr. Bishop hollers:]
MR. BISHOP: Suzy! Get out here!
[Mr. Bishop grabs hold of the entire tent by the top and rips it up out of the ground, uprooting the stakes which go flying. This reveals:]
[Sam and Suzy, half-naked, entwined, kissing.]
[Mr. and Mrs. Bishop both freeze. Sam and Suzy look up to them. Mr. Bishop growls and roars at them ferociously like a monster. Sam and Suzy look horrified. Mr. Bishop's face suddenly drains of all emotion. Pause. Mrs. Bishop commands Sam and Suzy:]
MRS. BISHOP: Put your clothes on. Both of you.
[Sam and Suzy remain perfectly still. Mrs. Bishop grabs Suzy by the arm and jerks her to her feet. Sam and Suzy hang onto each other. Mrs. Bishop slaps Suzy with a whack. Sam lets go, and Suzy is gone.]
[Scout Master Ward comes over to Sam sadly and hands him his uniform. Sam takes it. Scout Master Ward turns to the other scouts, claps his hands twice, and says:]
SCOUT MASTER WARD: Strike this camp.
[Sam starts putting on his socks. Captain Sharp watches him.]
[EXT. POLICE LAUNCH. DAY]
[Captain Sharp drives his boat along the coast with a grim look on his face. Suzy rides in the back with Mr. and Mrs. Bishop. Sam rides in the front with the other scouts. An interrogation is in progress:]
SKOTAK: How long were you planning to stay there?
SAM: I don't know.
MURRAY: You said ten days or less.
SUZY: That was a lie.
GADGE: Didn't you ever think about what would happen next?
SAM: Not to my recollection.
LIONEL: You're a traitor to our family.
SUZY: Good. I want to be.
[Scout Master Ward sits next to Captain Sharp. He shows him the air-mail envelope.]
SCOUT MASTER WARD: What do I do about this?
[Captain Sharp shrugs. He says, resigned:]
CAPTAIN SHARP: Give him his mail.
[Scout Master Ward turns to Sam. He holds out the envelope. Sam takes it. He opens it. He reads. Suzy watches him from across the boat. She calls out anxiously:]
SUZY: What does it say?
SAM: *puzzled* They can't invite me back.
SUZY: *outraged* Why not?
SAM: *upset* I gave them too much aggravation.
[Suzy stands up. She says as she starts across the boat:]
SUZY: Let me read it.
[Sam holds out the note. Mr. Bishop pulls Suzy back down to her seat. He stands up, himself, and walks over to Sam. He takes him by the wrist and leads him to a small cabin. He opens the door and presses him forward. Sam stumbles down the steps and looks back. Mr. Bishop shuts the door. Captain Sharp glares at him. Suzy says icily:]
SUZY: That's child abuse.
[Mr. Bishop returns to the back of the boat and sits down again. He gives Suzy a direct order:]
MR. BISHOP: Be advised: the two of you will never see each other again. Those were your last words. Do you understand?
SUZY: *darkly* I'd be careful if I were you. One of these days somebody's going to be pushed too far, and who knows what they're capable of.
MR. BISHOP: *hesitates* Is that a threat?
SUZY: *simply* It's a warning.
[Suzy looks from Captain Sharp to Mrs. Bishop and back to Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop falls silent.]
SUZY: I wish I knew what makes you tick.
MR. BISHOP: *hesitates* I beg your pardon?
MRS. BISHOP: Please, terminate this conversation.
MR. BISHOP: *to Lionel* She's saying that to me?
[Lionel shakes his head bitterly. Suzy stares out to sea. Scout Master Ward walks over to the cabin, opens the door, and goes inside.]
[INT. POLICE LAUNCH. DAY]
[A small room with two bunks, two portholes, and a pile of ropes. Sam sits hunched over with his hands in his lap. He stares at the envelope. Scout Master Ward sits down across from him. He motions to the envelope and says quietly, pausing between each sentence:]
SCOUT MASTER WARD: I'm sorry about this. I didn't know your situation. It's not on the register. How'd you lose your parents? I shouldn't ask that. Never mind. I wish we had time for an inspection back there. On the beach. I would've given you a “commendable”. That was one of the best-pitched camp-sites I've ever seen. Honestly.
[Sam does not respond. Scout Master Ward asks in a wounded voice:]
SCOUT MASTER WARD: You don't want to be a Khaki Scout anymore?
[Sam shakes his head.]
[INT. POST OFFICE. DAY]
[Becky sits at the switchboard with her head-phones on. Captain Sharp and Scout Master Ward sit behind her wearing their own sets of head-phones. There is a click on the other end of the line.]
OPERATOR *V.O.*: Hello, Becky.
BECKY: Judy, I have your person-to-person from New Penzance.
OPERATOR *V.O.*: Go ahead, New Penzance.
CUT TO: Split-screen. On one side of the frame, we see Captain Sharp, Scout Master Ward, and Becky. On the other side, we see a fifty-year-old woman in a blue and white uniform pants-suit with a Salvation Army officer-style hat and a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck. She is Social Services. She sits at a desk in a cinder block office. Guards and orderlies criss-cross in a bullet-proof window to a long, grey corridor behind her.
CAPTAIN SHARP: Hello? This is Captain Sharp.
[Social Services flips open a file-folder and picks up a ball-point pen. (She takes notes throughout the conversation.) She says into her telephone:]
SOCIAL SERVICES: Hello, Captain Sharp. This is Social Services. I'm calling in reference to Sam Shakusky, Ward of the State. I understand he's in your custody.
CAPTAIN SHARP: That's correct.
SOCIAL SERVICES: What's his condition? Has he suffered any injury or trauma of any kind?
CAPTAIN SHARP: He's OK.
SOCIAL SERVICES: Very good. How do I get to you?
CAPTAIN SHARP: The fastest way is by seaplane. Jed can bring you in with the mail.
SOCIAL SERVICES: I'll come tomorrow morning, if that's acceptable to you. Is someone able to
[more]
SOCIAL SERVICES: *cont'd* provide reasonable care and nourishment for the boy until that time?
CAPTAIN SHARP: Uh-huh.
SOCIAL SERVICES: Is that a yes?
CAPTAIN SHARP: Uh-huh.
SOCIAL SERVICES: Very good. I'll contact you again before the end of the day.
[Social Services starts to hang up the telephone. Captain Sharp says abruptly:]
CAPTAIN SHARP: Wait a second.
SOCIAL SERVICES: *hesitates* Yes?
CAPTAIN SHARP: Social Services?
SOCIAL SERVICES: *evenly* Captain Sharp.
CAPTAIN SHARP: *anxious* What's going to happen to him?
[Pause. Social Services puts down her pen. She clasps her hands together in front of her. She says finally:]
SOCIAL SERVICES: Well, normally, we'd try to place him in another foster home, but that option is no longer available to us, in my opinion, with his case history -- which means he'll go to Juvenile Refuge.
[Captain Sharp exchanges a look with Scout Master Ward. Scout Master Ward interjects:]
SCOUT MASTER WARD: What's that? An orphanage?
[Social Services frowns. She asks calmly:]
SOCIAL SERVICES: Who's speaking?
SCOUT MASTER WARD: This is Scout Master Ward.
[Social Services refers to a document in her file-folder. She nods.]
SOCIAL SERVICES: Right. An orphanage -- but the first step is the admissions panel requires a psychological evaluation to determine whether or not the boy's a candidate for institutional treatment or electroshock therapy. Beyond that --
CAPTAIN SHARP: *interrupting* Excuse me. Shock therapy? Why would that be necessary? He's not violent.
[Social Services picks up the document. She points to it.]
SOCIAL SERVICES: The report describes an a**ault with scissors.
CAPTAIN SHARP: *objecting* That was the girl! Who did that.
SOCIAL SERVICES: *pause* Well, maybe she needs help, too -- but that's not our job. OK?
CAPTAIN SHARP: *long pause* OK.
[Social Service hangs up the telephone. Becky pulls the cords out of their sockets. Scout Master Ward looks to Captain Sharp. Silence.]
[Becky opens a tin of home-made lemon bars. Captain Sharp declines one. Scout Master Ward tries one. He looks completely enchanted.]
[INT. BISHOP'S HOUSE. NIGHT]
[The living room. There is a wicker rocking chair, a vase filled with wilted wildflowers, and a portrait of some Pilgrims hanging over a stone fireplace. Lionel, Murray, and Rudy sit together on the floor playing Parchesi.]
[Mr. Bishop lurches into the doorway, shirtless. He carries an open bottle of red wine with a gla** in one hand and a long-handled woodsman's axe in the other.]
MR. BISHOP: I'll be out back.
[Lionel, Murray, and Lionel look up from their game. Mr. Bishop hesitates. He seems slightly disoriented.]
MR. BISHOP: I'm going to find a tree to chop down.
[Mr. Bishop exits. Pause. Lionel rolls a pair of dice.]
[INT. SUZY'S BATHROOM. NIGHT]
[Old linoleum floor. Dark curtainless window. One bare light bulb. Suzy sits erect in the bathtub staring blankly into space. Mrs. Bishop washes her with a soapy sponge. Suzy's clothes and leather folder are in the corner with the kitten scratching at them.]
MRS. BISHOP: I do know what you're feeling, Suzy-bean. I've had moments myself where I say: what am I doing here? Who made this decision? How could I allow myself to do something so stupid --
MRS. BISHOP: *with feeling* -- and why is it still happening? We women are more emotional. You have to remember --
[Suzy turns to Mrs. Bishop and interrupts:]
SUZY: I hate you.
MRS. BISHOP: *hesitates* Don't say “hate”.
SUZY: Why not? I mean it.
MRS. BISHOP: You think you mean it. In this moment. You're trying to hurt me.