Chuck drapes his neck with the stole he used in slaughtering the hog. Her face goes empty. He gets his razor strop from the shaving basin. She shrinks back in the corner. He looks at her for a moment, then leaves the room. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill shrugs, then hits him again, knocking him unconscious, when he reaches for a gun. Abby calls Ursula and they take off running, Bill stopping only to collect some of their laundry off a clothesline. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. Steve dies. Bullets kick up dust around him. He takes off running. One of the bullets has caught him in the shoulder.
</p><p><p ID="slug">7	INT. SEWER She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. He reaches out to catch her. She breaks away and starts to run. He walks quickly after her, cutting off any escape toward the town.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U </p><p><p ID="act">Bill runs through the night, still carrying his lantern. Chuck bears down on him. Abby chases along behind him, screaming for him to stop. He keeps running in a panic, not realizing the line is
staked to the shore. All at once, he jackknifes in the
air. The stake twangs loose. The Police now spot him </p><p><p ID="slug">13	EXT. FREIGHT YARDS
</p><p><p ID="act">They hop a freight train. Ahead two MOUNTED POLICE surge into the river, blocking
his retreat.
He empties his shotgun at them and throws it away. They takes off running, though not without first collecting his
rabbit.
Benson, meanwhile, bounds down the hill to Chuck's side.
His left sleeve has been burned away. The flesh beneath </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. Benson goes running out into the river ahead of the Police.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BENSON
<P ID="dia">Leave him alone. I want him. Leave him alone.
She does not respond. He yanks the sheet off. She is wearing a nightgown. She looks up and frowns. This is the first time she has ever seen him this way. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. She giggles her consent. He crushes her in a bear hug until she is just on the verge of passing out, then lets her go. She sinks to the grass, in a daze of sweet intoxication. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. She hasn't really contradicted him. He leans forward as though to kiss her. She lets him. She wishes that she could give herself to him, but she doesn't know what is right. Then, a sudden impulse of panic, she gets up and backs away. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. </p><p><p ID="act">She runs down an alley. A man steps out of the shadows--
George, the pilot. She throws herself in his arms. This She is cold to discourage false expectations in him--and because she feels that she at least owes Bill this. Chuck, however, assumes the fault must be his own. His naivete about women, and the world in general, protects </p><p><p ID="act">That evening he watches her from behind as she climbs the stairs to join Chuck at their bedroom door. She nods goodnight, sensing the jealousy that is growing in him. She is comfortable with Chuck now. Apparently, he has lost his place in her heart. He wants to rush in and drag her away.
</p><p><p ID="slug">230	EXT. BEDROOM WINDOW - NIGHT <P ID="dia">Probably that's the first noise down there for thousands of years.
She speaks as though she had done it a favor. He puts his hand on hers. She presses it against her chest. She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely She waits to see what he will do. He gets up and after a short chase catches her. He holds her at arm's length for a moment, then kisses her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA <P ID="dia">And I let somebody like that get away from me. Redhead. Lost her to a guy named Ed. Just let it happen. Should've gone out there outside the city Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses She hesitates a second, then slaps him as hard as she can. Blood glistens on his lip. He does not say a word in protest. She looks at the wound, horrified, then throws her arms tight around him. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck looks on. Something about her captivates hint, not so much her beauty--which only makes her seem beyond his reach--as the way she takes it utterly for granted. He throws his coat over Abby's head, picks her up by the waist and crashes through the flame. They have to shout to make themselves understood. The locusts roar like a cyclone. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch.
</p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. Ursula, her face caked with a mask of river mud, jumps from the bushes with a shriek, scaring the wits out of her sister. Suddenly they look around. The chief domestic at the Belvedere, a churlish lady named MISS CARTER, stands above them with a salver of fruit and roast fowl. She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely She hasn't really contradicted him. He leans forward as though to kiss her. She lets him. She wishes that she could give herself to him, but she doesn't know what is right. Then, a sudden impulse of panic, she gets up and backs away. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. She does not respond. He yanks the sheet off. She is wearing a nightgown. She looks up and frowns. This is the first time she has ever seen him this way. Abby takes the hat off and gives it to Ursula, who lately
has begun to take more trouble with her appearance, comb-
ing her hair free of its usual snarls. They laugh at their reflection Luckily they are interrupted as Ursula runs up, pointing over her shoulder. A pair of three-wing airplanes sputters into view low overhead. One seems to be having engine trouble. He nods at Miss Carter, who conspicuously lets the screen door clap shut as she goes back inside. She misses no opportunity to express her disdain for these newcomers. </p><p><p ID="act">The other GIRLS stand in their nightgowns and wave good-
bye, amazed at her boldness.
She slips off into the night. They are silent for a moment.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCKI
<P ID="dia">You seem close to your sister._ CHUCK:  The owner of a vast wheat ranch ("bonanza") in the Texas Panhandle.
URSULA:  Abby's younger sister, a reckless child of14. </p><p><p ID="act">That evening he watches her from behind as she climbs the stairs to join Chuck at their bedroom door. She nods goodnight, sensing the jealousy that is growing in him. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. She hesitates a second, then slaps him as hard as she can. Blood glistens on his lip. He does not say a word in protest. She looks at the wound, horrified, then throws her arms tight around him. She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U She is cold to discourage false expectations in him--and because she feels that she at least owes Bill this. Chuck, however, assumes the fault must be his own. His naivete about women, and the world in general, protects
Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. She waits to see what he will do. He gets up and after a short chase catches her. He holds her at arm's length for a moment, then kisses her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. of a ship. He cuts her loose. The ropes fall at her feet. She is free. 
They look at each other for a moment.
Then, in a rush of compassion for them all, she throws </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. She hasn't really contradicted him. He leans forward as though to kiss her. She lets him. She wishes that she could give herself to him, but she doesn't know what is right. Then, a sudden impulse of panic, she gets up and backs away. They stand and listen to the birds. There is a sense of the earth stirring back to life. Abby breathes in with a wild joy and hugs Chuck tightly by the waist. The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. He feels humiliated at not having a stronger excuse. But he loves her. He aches with love. He hoped their last fight was just another storm in the romance. Evidently it was more. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. She giggles her consent. He crushes her in a bear hug until she is just on the verge of passing out, then lets her go. She sinks to the grass, in a daze of sweet intoxication. Chuck and Abby lead the dancing off, as though to celebrate their agreement. Their giant shadows dance with them. Soon the other harvesters join in. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses She hesitates a second, then slaps him as hard as she can. Blood glistens on his lip. He does not say a word in protest. She looks at the wound, horrified, then throws her arms tight around him. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. <P ID="dia">As individuals? Very seldom.
She kisses him lovingly.
</p><p><p ID="slug">29	EXT. WHEAT FIELDS - DAWN Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George.
She hasn't really contradicted him. He leans forward as though to kiss her. She lets him. She wishes that she could give herself to him, but she doesn't know what is right. Then, a sudden impulse of panic, she gets up and backs away. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. She waits to see what he will do. He gets up and after a short chase catches her. He holds her at arm's length for a moment, then kisses her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA The plowing done, his father sows the seed. Poverty requires that for a harrow he drag a tree branch in back of his ox. Over his shoulder he carries a rifle. Chuck and Abby lead the dancing off, as though to celebrate their agreement. Their giant shadows dance with them. Soon the other harvesters join in. of a ship. He cuts her loose. The ropes fall at her feet. She is free. 
They look at each other for a moment.
Then, in a rush of compassion for them all, she throws They stand and listen to the birds. There is a sense of the earth stirring back to life. Abby breathes in with a wild joy and hugs Chuck tightly by the waist. She giggles her consent. He crushes her in a bear hug until she is just on the verge of passing out, then lets her go. She sinks to the grass, in a daze of sweet intoxication. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. She nods and draws her last stitch. Chuck musters his courage. It must be now or never.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. She throws a rock at him and runs off. He catches her, repenting of his meanness.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL He feels humiliated at not having a stronger excuse. But he loves her. He aches with love. He hoped their last fight was just another storm in the romance. Evidently it was more. </p><p><p ID="act">He looks around at his estate--his barn, his auto, his great house and his granary. None of them is any consolation now. Far a moment it seems to him as though he lived here in some time long past. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck walks out into the deep of his fields. The wheat, a warm dry gold, is almost ready to take in. He sits down and rests his head against a BENSON, a leathery man of fifty, bellows through a megaphone. In the background a NEWCOMER to the harvest talks with a VETERAN.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BENSON
</p><p><p ID="act">The other GIRLS stand in their nightgowns and wave good-
bye, amazed at her boldness.
She slips off into the night. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. He reaches out to catch her. She breaks away and starts to run. He walks quickly after her, cutting off any escape toward the town.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY </p><p><p ID="act">They roar off through the burnt grass of the prairie.
Abby waves goodbye. She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U </p><p><p ID="act">They have run back to the Belvedere. It seems they are safe until Chuck appears on the porch, yawning and stretching. Bill drops to the ground while Abby goes ahead. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. time to get away, but she must hurry. She bolts YOUNG GIRL who has run away from home. He asks Abby runs into the woods.U
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. </p><p><p ID="act">She runs down an alley. A man steps out of the shadows--
George, the pilot. She throws herself in his arms. This </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill runs through the night, still carrying his lantern. Chuck bears down on him. Abby chases along behind him, screaming for him to stop. </p><p><p ID="slug">92	EXT. POST
</p><p><p ID="act">They pitch rocks at a post and exchange intimacies. Abby has grown more lively. </p><p><p ID="slug">13	EXT. FREIGHT YARDS
</p><p><p ID="act">They hop a freight train. <P ID="dia">I had to let it go. One of them started following me, and I threw
a rock at him. I had a bunch stored in my pocket.
They take off running after her. He keeps running in a panic, not realizing the line is
staked to the shore. All at once, he jackknifes in the
air. The stake twangs loose. The Police now spot him
Arboretum, a tacky Western version of an Eastern finishing
school. The steps are painted on the floor as white footprints.
Abby is apparently enrolling Ursula here. The headmistress, He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. MADAME MURPHY, boasts of the school's achievements. 
Ursula looks trapped. Abby checks her watch.
She must go. </p><p><p ID="act">Benson drops the hands off at the dormitory, a hundred yards below, a plain clapboard building with a ceiling of exposed joists. Ursula sees Chuck watching them. He nods at Miss Carter, who conspicuously lets the screen door clap shut as she goes back inside. She misses no opportunity to express her disdain for these newcomers. She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">They'll teach you poise, too, so you can walk in any room you my way into school. They gave me a test. It was ridiculous. I got in fights. Ended up paying for a window. They threw me out. Don't blame them either. Still, I wanted to make something of myself. I mean, guys look at up with, riding the rods? The girl's never had a clean shot--
never will. She oughta be in school.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY Luckily they are interrupted as Ursula runs up, pointing over her shoulder. A pair of three-wing airplanes sputters into view low overhead. One seems to be having engine trouble. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. <P ID="dia">I never read a whole book till I was fifteen. It was by Caesar.
They laugh at her careful pronunciation of "Caesar." <P ID="dia">We get split up for any reason, you spend that on school.
</p><p><p ID="slug">196	EXT. PRAIRIE He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. </p><p><p ID="act">Abby changes bobbins on a huge loom. A pall of lint and
anonymous toil hangs over the factory. Down the way a </p><p><p ID="act">The other GIRLS stand in their nightgowns and wave good-
bye, amazed at her boldness.
She slips off into the night. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. She waits to see what he will do. He gets up and after a short chase catches her. He holds her at arm's length for a moment, then kisses her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA
</p><p><p ID="act">REVISED: 6/2/76
</p><p><p ID="act">SETTING
The story is set in Texas just before the First World War. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. </p><p><p ID="act">Most of the workers are fast asleep around the strawpile, their bodies radiating out like the spokes of a wheel.  A few stay up late to shoot dice in the back of a wagon. The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. <P ID="dia">Probably that's the first noise down there for thousands of years.
She speaks as though she had done it a favor. He puts his hand on hers. She presses it against her chest. of a ship. He cuts her loose. The ropes fall at her feet. She is free. 
They look at each other for a moment.
Then, in a rush of compassion for them all, she throws Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George. </p><p><p ID="act">They run down to the barn, where the cars are stored.
The saplings in the front yard have been stripped even Benson consults the large clock strapped to the back of his buggy, then fires a smoke pistol in the air. </p><p><p ID="slug">92	EXT. POST
</p><p><p ID="act">They pitch rocks at a post and exchange intimacies. Abby has grown more lively. <P ID="dia">First the birds go.
The peacocks are crowing outside. They burst out laughing. Bill checks the mussed bedsheets. Steve dies. Bullets kick up dust around him. He takes off running. One of the bullets has caught him in the shoulder.
</p><p><p ID="slug">7	INT. SEWER He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat.
Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. </p><p><P ID="speaker">STEVE
<P ID="dia">Run. Get out of here.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. </p><p><p ID="slug">309	EXT. MUD FLAT
</p><p><p ID="act">Bill runs from the thicket down to the water. The Police </p><p><p ID="act">They have run back to the Belvedere. It seems they are safe until Chuck appears on the porch, yawning and stretching. Bill drops to the ground while Abby goes ahead. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill runs through the night, still carrying his lantern. Chuck bears down on him. Abby chases along behind him, screaming for him to stop. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. Bill realizes the lantern is giving his position away He blows it out and vanishes from sight. All we can see is the thundering horseman, sowing fire. </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL
<P ID="dia">Get a doctor! Fast!
How much did he see? Bill does not stay to find out but </p><p><p ID="act">Bill shrugs, then hits him again, knocking him unconscious, when he reaches for a gun. Abby calls Ursula and they take off running, Bill stopping only to collect some of their laundry off a clothesline. </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">He can see you!
Bill nods; he knows. Abby runs ahead, angry and alarmed. Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and </p><p><p ID="act">He runs into Bill on the front porch.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Benson immediately regrets having spoken so freely. He checks his watch to suggest Bill should get back to work. This uneasiness confirms Bill's sense that Chuck is gravely ill. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill finds Abby sitting off by herself, wanting no part of the festivities. This is the first time since their arrival in Texas we have seen her wearing a dress. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. Bill glares at Ursula, then turns to Chuck and, referring to the dead prairie grass which runs through the front yard right up to the house, continues:
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Bill takes off the shirt, drapes it over a post and walks off, hurt and angry, but with a sad dignity.
her, then heads off to find Bill. The vaudevillians gorge </p><p><p ID="act">Bill finds Abby sitting off by herself, wanting no part of the festivities. This is the first time since their arrival in Texas we have seen her wearing a dress. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. alone. They all wear bathing suits, Bill a shirt as Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses </p><p><p ID="act">While the others pursue their merriment, Bill Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. Chuck goes to his horse. Bill grabs him by the sleeve. Does he really mean to set the fields on fire? Chuck pushes him aside. Bill, frantic, turns to the others for support. to heel. The FOURTH stays behind taking potshots at Bill </p><p><p ID="slug">15	EXT. MOVING TRAIN
</p><p><p ID="act">Abby and Bill sit atop a train racing through the wheat country of the Texas Panhandle. Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL (o.s.)
<P ID="spkdir">(continuing) Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U They look at each other and smile. It does not appear that she has held what he said by the river against him. Bill stands for a moment and looks up at the Belvedere before passing on. Bill realizes the lantern is giving his position away He blows it out and vanishes from sight. All we can see is the thundering horseman, sowing fire. fires. At first we think Bill has, but he cannot She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs.
Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck and Abby sit in their cozy living room playing Parcheesi. The sound of their voices is muffled. The camera draws back to reveal Bill outside the window, watching. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill looks deeply into Abby's eyes by the light of a lantern that night. They have made a shallow cut on their thumbs and press them together mixing their blood like children. </p><p><p ID="act">They lie by the river looking at the great dome of stars. Bill wants to believe things are the same between them as before. So does Abby--but she knows better. </p><p><p ID="act">As they approach the Belvedere, Bill sees Chuck standing on the front steps. Suddenly angry, he draws Abby to him and in plain view kisses her on the lips. </p><p><p ID="act">Abby and Bill have laid their bedrolls out by a stack away from the others. A fire burns  nearby. Abby look at the stars. Bill shines his shoes. The straw is fragrant as thyme. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. Suddenly they hear Chuck's footsteps. They pull back just in time, Abby returning the cigarette to him behind her back. They chat as though nothing had happened.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches Abby dance--it almost seems in farewell to their innocence. After a moment he turns off into the night.I </p><p><p ID="act">They have run back to the Belvedere. It seems they are safe until Chuck appears on the porch, yawning and stretching. Bill drops to the ground while Abby goes ahead. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. Abby smokes as Bill checks the radiator. Something in his behavior leads us to suspect he may have staged this stop.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Abby appears at one side of the house while Bill steals around the other. Luckily, they have come up from the back.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK </p><p><p ID="act">Bill has brought Abby into a nearby town Bill holds a plate up for Abby to see. Limoges china. Abby rolls her eyes and spits out a cherry pit. They eat like pigs, with no respect for bourgeois manners. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill kisses the bride on the cheek. Each believes she is going through with this for the other's sake. They whisper back and forth.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY </p><p><p ID="act">Bill shrugs, then hits him again, knocking him unconscious, when he reaches for a gun. Abby calls Ursula and they take off running, Bill stopping only to collect some of their laundry off a clothesline. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill and Abby sit by themselves in the
He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. <P ID="dia">Did you, sis? Well, there's always something doing. I can't
begin to tell you. State and Madison? Mmmm. Lights everywhere. of the Chicago they are leaving behind. Pigs roam the </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">Chicago.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill, surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer their conversation becomes faintly audible. Chuck gasps. Bill seems just as shocked. Chuck sits down to determine the gravity of his injury. Blood jets rhythmically out the end of the spoke, as though from a straw. Bill circles him, unbelieving. Michigan Avenue? Bunch of whores! You're better than anyI
of them. You ever think how they got where they are?
He wants to breathe hope into her. He thinks of himself as responding Chuck drapes his neck with the stole he used in slaughtering the hog. Her face goes empty. He gets his razor strop from the shaving basin. She shrinks back in the corner. He looks at her for a moment, then leaves the room. <P ID="dia">Maybe you should go back to Chicago. We've got enough for a ticket, and I can send you what I make. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. </p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK
<P ID="dia">He's not your brother, is he?
How much does he know? She edges toward the door. <P ID="dia">Did you ever have a brother. Then who are you to judge? Maybe if
you had, you'd understand. Anyway, times have changed while you've been stuck out in this weed patch. We're <P ID="dia">I can't wait to go back to Chicago, bring them down for a visit. Blackie and them. There's a lot of satisfaction in showing up people who thought you'd never amount to anything. Benson immediately regrets having spoken so freely. He checks his watch to suggest Bill should get back to work. This uneasiness confirms Bill's sense that Chuck is gravely ill. </p><p><p ID="act">WORKERS in a dark Chicago mill pound molten iron out in flaming sheets. The year is 1916.
</p><p><p ID="slug">2	EXT. MILL </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck, alone in the darkened living room, calms himself down by breathing through a rubber mask into a respirator. Joyful noises reach him from outside. </p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK
<P ID="dia">Worked hard, didn't fool around. I never saw a city. Never had
time. All I ever did is work. <P ID="dia">They shot the shit out of him. My brother. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck and Abby sit in their cozy living room playing Parcheesi. The sound of their voices is muffled. The camera draws back to reveal Bill outside the window, watching. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck looks on from the shadows, no longer just puzzled but angry. He has watched them behave this way a dozen times before, but tonight, with other people around, he must see it more directly.
Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. Abby and Bill join in, Bill reaping the wheat with a mowing machine called a binder, Abby propping the bound sheaves together to make bunches or "shocks." Nobody takes him up on this. Abby leafs through the
Sears catalogue, her mind dancing with visions of splendor. trained to farming. Most--Abby and Bill are no exception--have Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. </p><p><p ID="act">The camera moves back to reveal Abby listening in from the other side of the barn. Her eyes are full of tears. How can Bill prize her so lightly? He throws his coat over Abby's head, picks her up by the waist and crashes through the flame. They have to shout to make themselves understood. The locusts roar like a cyclone. They stand and listen to the birds. There is a sense of the earth stirring back to life. Abby breathes in with a wild joy and hugs Chuck tightly by the waist. Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. other was run over. Abby laughs. She knows this stunt. </p><p><p ID="act">Abby is sewing up her last sacks by the separator that evening when Chuck walks up, still in the flush of McLean's good news. Abby, a basket of cucumbers under her arm, waves goodbye, angling her wrist so that Bill and Ursula can see the diamond bracelet Chuck has given her. </p><p><p ID="act">Abby and Bill have laid their bedrolls out by a stack away from the others. A fire burns  nearby. Abby look at the stars. Bill shines his shoes. The straw is fragrant as thyme. He waits to see how she will respond. Half of him wants her to turn him down flat. Abby is bewildered. 
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY Chuck and Abby lead the dancing off, as though to celebrate their agreement. Their giant shadows dance with them. Soon the other harvesters join in. Abby have come out to the fields with a dozen </p><p><p ID="act">Bill helps Abby finish up a row. Thousands of shocks stretch out in the distance. Benson comes up behind her, making a spray of the stalks that she missed. Bill looks around in wonder. He knows these may be his
last days on earth. Abby throws a sounding line.
A COUPLE from a local farm seeks privacy in the willows.
She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Arboretum, a tacky Western version of an Eastern finishing
school. The steps are painted on the floor as white footprints.
Abby is apparently enrolling Ursula here. The headmistress, </p><p><p ID="act">Benson drops the hands off at the dormitory, a hundred yards below, a plain clapboard building with a ceiling of exposed joists. Ursula sees Chuck watching them. <P ID="dia">I never read a whole book till I was fifteen. It was by Caesar.
They laugh at her careful pronunciation of "Caesar." He nods at Miss Carter, who conspicuously lets the screen door clap shut as she goes back inside. She misses no opportunity to express her disdain for these newcomers. </p><p><p ID="act">That evening he watches her from behind as she climbs the stairs to join Chuck at their bedroom door. She nods goodnight, sensing the jealousy that is growing in him. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. She hasn't really contradicted him. He leans forward as though to kiss her. She lets him. She wishes that she could give herself to him, but she doesn't know what is right. Then, a sudden impulse of panic, she gets up and backs away. MADAME MURPHY, boasts of the school's achievements. 
Ursula looks trapped. Abby checks her watch.
She must go. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. </p><p><p ID="act">The other GIRLS stand in their nightgowns and wave good-
bye, amazed at her boldness.
She slips off into the night. </p><p><p ID="slug">92	EXT. POST
</p><p><p ID="act">They pitch rocks at a post and exchange intimacies. Abby has grown more lively. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. into a bindle. She has lost Chuck forever. Their life Suddenly they look around. The chief domestic at the Belvedere, a churlish lady named MISS CARTER, stands above them with a salver of fruit and roast fowl. She hesitates a second, then slaps him as hard as she can. Blood glistens on his lip. He does not say a word in protest. She looks at the wound, horrified, then throws her arms tight around him.
Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Chuck looks surprised. Bill glances at Abby, worried that he might have said too much.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill looks deeply into Abby's eyes by the light of a lantern that night. They have made a shallow cut on their thumbs and press them together mixing their blood like children. </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">Chuck is suspicious.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Abby guesses what is going through his mind, and it shocks her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">Oh, Bill! </p><p><p ID="act">Abby, with the look of a child that has wandered into aI
magic world, digs in. Bill looks on, suspicious of the_ </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck and Abby sit in their cozy living room playing Parcheesi. The sound of their voices is muffled. The camera draws back to reveal Bill outside the window, watching. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. </p><p><p ID="act">Abby has told him of the proposal. Bill broods over an unlit cigarette. Is this a great blessing or a great misfortune which has befallen them? </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">He can see you!
Bill nods; he knows. Abby runs ahead, angry and alarmed. Bill looks around. Abby would think it impolitic of him to speak so openly with Chuck.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILLI Abby smokes as Bill checks the radiator. Something in his behavior leads us to suspect he may have staged this stop.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Abby appears at one side of the house while Bill steals around the other. Luckily, they have come up from the back.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK Suddenly they hear Chuck's footsteps. They pull back just in time, Abby returning the cigarette to him behind her back. They chat as though nothing had happened.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">Bill finds Abby sitting off by herself, wanting no part of the festivities. This is the first time since their arrival in Texas we have seen her wearing a dress. </p><p><p ID="act">The camera moves back to reveal Abby listening in from the other side of the barn. Her eyes are full of tears. How can Bill prize her so lightly? Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. </p><p><p ID="act">As they approach the Belvedere, Bill sees Chuck standing on the front steps. Suddenly angry, he draws Abby to him and in plain view kisses her on the lips. </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">He knows. He must.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL
Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. Then, as you listen, a strange new sound begins to rise from them, a wild sea-like singing. As the camera moves over the fields and down into the wheat it swells in a crescendo until... against the sky. The waving fields of wheat have given </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck walks out into the deep of his fields. The wheat, a warm dry gold, is almost ready to take in. He sits down and rests his head against a </p><p><p ID="act">The bald earth has, as though by a mystery, become a sheet of grain, its green already fading to gold. The music dies away, replaced by the whirr of summer crickets. The plowing done, his father sows the seed. Poverty requires that for a harrow he drag a tree branch in back of his ox. Over his shoulder he carries a rifle. Bill stalls. The fire races toward them through the wheat. They appear as silhouettes against it.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL The wheat changes colors in the wind, like velvet. As a large area of wheat is eaten down to stubble. The harvesters spit and rub their hands as they wait for the dew to burn off. They have slept in their coats. The dawn has a raw edge, even in summer. Abby and Bill join in, Bill reaping the wheat with a mowing machine called a binder, Abby propping the bound sheaves together to make bunches or "shocks." </p><p><p ID="act">An ANONYMOUS YOUNG MAN, standing on a carpet 
of new-sprung wheat, looks up with a start. From the He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck, asleep in the deep of the wheat, bolts up in slow motion. His hair is seething with them. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. tractor follows, putting in the seed.
Ursula chases a flock of blackbirds off with a big rattle.
Every acre of ground for as far as the eye can see is under cultivation. the separating machines, huge rattletrap devices that shell the wheat
Bill reels back and cracks his head on the bicycle frame. This time he stays down. Satisfied the struggle is over, Chuck goes back to get some rope. Chuck gasps. Bill seems just as shocked. Chuck sits down to determine the gravity of his injury. Blood jets rhythmically out the end of the spoke, as though from a straw. Bill circles him, unbelieving. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. Bill realizes the lantern is giving his position away He blows it out and vanishes from sight. All we can see is the thundering horseman, sowing fire. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. fires. At first we think Bill has, but he cannot </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL
<P ID="dia">Get a doctor! Fast!
How much did he see? Bill does not stay to find out but </p><p><p ID="act">Bill puts his hand on the ground. Sam drops a keg of roofing nails on it and, his work done, leaves with his gang. Bill sobs with pain. She tells him of her hopes, then passes on. Bill Benson immediately regrets having spoken so freely. He checks his watch to suggest Bill should get back to work. This uneasiness confirms Bill's sense that Chuck is gravely ill. </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL (o.s.)
<P ID="spkdir">(continuing) There is nothing Bill can say to appease him. This will be a fight to the death. Chuck lashes out with the stool. Bill ducks too late.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Bill throws a plate of stew at him and they are quickly in a fight. No fists are used, just food. The others pull them apart. Bill storms away, flicking mashed potatoes off his shirt. Bill picks up Steve's gun and fires back. Three of Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. Bill glares at Ursula, then turns to Chuck and, referring to the dead prairie grass which runs through the front yard right up to the house, continues:
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. alone. They all wear bathing suits, Bill a shirt as </p><p><p ID="act">While the others pursue their merriment, Bill
</p><p><p ID="act">REVISED: 6/2/76
</p><p><p ID="act">SETTING
The story is set in Texas just before the First World War. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. of a ship. He cuts her loose. The ropes fall at her feet. She is free. 
They look at each other for a moment.
Then, in a rush of compassion for them all, she throws The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. </p><p><p ID="act">Most of the workers are fast asleep around the strawpile, their bodies radiating out like the spokes of a wheel.  A few stay up late to shoot dice in the back of a wagon. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George. Benson consults the large clock strapped to the back of his buggy, then fires a smoke pistol in the air. <P ID="dia">Probably that's the first noise down there for thousands of years.
She speaks as though she had done it a favor. He puts his hand on hers. She presses it against her chest. He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat. <P ID="dia">First the birds go.
The peacocks are crowing outside. They burst out laughing. Bill checks the mussed bedsheets. </p><p><p ID="act">He looks around at his estate--his barn, his auto, his great house and his granary. None of them is any consolation now. Far a moment it seems to him as though he lived here in some time long past. </p><p><p ID="slug">92	EXT. POST
</p><p><p ID="act">They pitch rocks at a post and exchange intimacies. Abby has grown more lively. A white picket fence surrounds the house, though its purpose is unclear; where the prairie leaves off and the yard begins is impossible to tell.
Bison drift over the hills like boats on the ocean. Bill shouts at the nearest one.
She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. </p><p><p ID="act">REVISED: 6/2/76
</p><p><p ID="act">SETTING
The story is set in Texas just before the First World War. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. He touches his lips for a fraction of a second to hers, notices another car approaching down the road. He picks her up like a doll and carries her back to the Overland. </p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. <P ID="dia">Maybe in Cheyenne.
She nods okay. They both know they will never see each other again. On a sudden impulse she gives him a love note. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. A white picket fence surrounds the house, though its purpose is unclear; where the prairie leaves off and the yard begins is impossible to tell.
Bison drift over the hills like boats on the ocean. Bill shouts at the nearest one. </p><p><p ID="act">They have brought an organ out into the middle of the fields. Ursula pumps up the bellows. Joey sits in front of the keyboard and shoots his cuffs.
His fingers strike the keys. They stand and listen to the birds. There is a sense of the earth stirring back to life. Abby breathes in with a wild joy and hugs Chuck tightly by the waist. He throws his coat over Abby's head, picks her up by the waist and crashes through the flame. They have to shout to make themselves understood. The locusts roar like a cyclone. </p><p><p ID="act">Most of the workers are fast asleep around the strawpile, their bodies radiating out like the spokes of a wheel.  A few stay up late to shoot dice in the back of a wagon. He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat. </p><p><p ID="slug">293	EXT. SHACK ON RIVER
</p><p><p ID="act">They have come to a lone shack on the river, a drinking The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. </p><p><p ID="act">Benson drops the hands off at the dormitory, a hundred yards below, a plain clapboard building with a ceiling of exposed joists. Ursula sees Chuck watching them. </p><p><p ID="act">They run down to the barn, where the cars are stored.
The saplings in the front yard have been stripped even
Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. of the Chicago they are leaving behind. Pigs roam the Benson immediately regrets having spoken so freely. He checks his watch to suggest Bill should get back to work. This uneasiness confirms Bill's sense that Chuck is gravely ill. Bill takes off the shirt, drapes it over a post and walks off, hurt and angry, but with a sad dignity. Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Chuck gasps. Bill seems just as shocked. Chuck sits down to determine the gravity of his injury. Blood jets rhythmically out the end of the spoke, as though from a straw. Bill circles him, unbelieving. Chuck nods goodbye and walks off, taking a stool with him. Bill sighs with admiration.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Bill can see that her interest is only polite. He knows that he should turn around and leave, but he cannot. The sight of him with his confidence gone is painful to behold.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. Bill realizes the lantern is giving his position away He blows it out and vanishes from sight. All we can see is the thundering horseman, sowing fire. Bill reels back and cracks his head on the bicycle frame. This time he stays down. Satisfied the struggle is over, Chuck goes back to get some rope. Chuck goes to his horse. Bill grabs him by the sleeve. Does he really mean to set the fields on fire? Chuck pushes him aside. Bill, frantic, turns to the others for support. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. Chuck shrugs. Bill gives Abby a cold look and goes outside.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK
<P ID="dia">He's a strange one. Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill, surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer their conversation becomes faintly audible. Bill glares at Ursula, then turns to Chuck and, referring to the dead prairie grass which runs through the front yard right up to the house, continues:
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and She is cold to discourage false expectations in him--and because she feels that she at least owes Bill this. Chuck, however, assumes the fault must be his own. His naivete about women, and the world in general, protects
of the Chicago they are leaving behind. Pigs roam the Chuck drapes his neck with the stole he used in slaughtering the hog. Her face goes empty. He gets his razor strop from the shaving basin. She shrinks back in the corner. He looks at her for a moment, then leaves the room. She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Chuck nods goodbye and walks off, taking a stool with him. Bill sighs with admiration.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">They roar off through the burnt grass of the prairie.
Abby waves goodbye. Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">Chicago.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK takes off running, though not without first collecting his
rabbit.
Benson, meanwhile, bounds down the hill to Chuck's side.
His left sleeve has been burned away. The flesh beneath <P ID="dia">All right. I'm going away. You'll never have to see me again.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill, surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer their conversation becomes faintly audible. The troupe is packing to leave. Still troubled, he walks to the bed and and stands over Abby.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">CHUCK <P ID="dia">Maybe you should go back to Chicago. We've got enough for a ticket, and I can send you what I make. Chuck and Abby lead the dancing off, as though to celebrate their agreement. Their giant shadows dance with them. Soon the other harvesters join in. She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U with sores. Chuck wants to embrace him, but the father
wards him off with a long stick as he passes on some last
instructions in Russian. </p><p><p ID="act">Benson collects the bases, a job he doubtless feels is beneath him.
The Doctor's wagon, unmistakable even at such a great distance, thunders away from the Belvedere. into a bindle. She has lost Chuck forever. Their life </p><p><p ID="slug">172	EXT. BELVEDERE
</p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches the Doctor walk out the front door and down the steps to his wagon. Chuck follows, smiling. Chuck goes to his horse. Bill grabs him by the sleeve. Does he really mean to set the fields on fire? Chuck pushes him aside. Bill, frantic, turns to the others for support.
He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Chuck gasps. Bill seems just as shocked. Chuck sits down to determine the gravity of his injury. Blood jets rhythmically out the end of the spoke, as though from a straw. Bill circles him, unbelieving. Benson immediately regrets having spoken so freely. He checks his watch to suggest Bill should get back to work. This uneasiness confirms Bill's sense that Chuck is gravely ill. Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill, surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer their conversation becomes faintly audible. Bill glares at Ursula, then turns to Chuck and, referring to the dead prairie grass which runs through the front yard right up to the house, continues:
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Chuck walks towards him. Suddenly Bill turns and takes off running. Chuck swings at him with the lantern. Bill escapes behind the building wall of flame that springs up between them. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill sits in a cold flophouse trying to write a letter. After a moment he wads it up and throws it away. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. Two POLICEMEN have appeared in the entryway talking with the LANDLADY. Bill edges out the back door and down the steps, as though they might be after him.
He walks briskly down the alley without looking back. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Bill reels back and cracks his head on the bicycle frame. This time he stays down. Satisfied the struggle is over, Chuck goes back to get some rope. Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and </p><p><p ID="act">Bill is repairing his motorbike by a rock in the middle of the scorched landscape. The tires are soft as licorice from the heat. Suddenly, he looks up. Chuck has found him. </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL (o.s.)
<P ID="spkdir">(continuing) alone. They all wear bathing suits, Bill a shirt as fires. At first we think Bill has, but he cannot Bill holds a plate up for Abby to see. Limoges china. Abby rolls her eyes and spits out a cherry pit. They eat like pigs, with no respect for bourgeois manners. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck and Abby sit in their cozy living room playing Parcheesi. The sound of their voices is muffled. The camera draws back to reveal Bill outside the window, watching. Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill puts his hand on the ground. Sam drops a keg of roofing nails on it and, his work done, leaves with his gang. Bill sobs with pain.
The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. Then, as you listen, a strange new sound begins to rise from them, a wild sea-like singing. As the camera moves over the fields and down into the wheat it swells in a crescendo until... A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck walks out into the deep of his fields. The wheat, a warm dry gold, is almost ready to take in. He sits down and rests his head against a Bill stalls. The fire races toward them through the wheat. They appear as silhouettes against it.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">The bald earth has, as though by a mystery, become a sheet of grain, its green already fading to gold. The music dies away, replaced by the whirr of summer crickets. He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat. The plowing done, his father sows the seed. Poverty requires that for a harrow he drag a tree branch in back of his ox. Over his shoulder he carries a rifle. against the sky. The waving fields of wheat have given </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck, asleep in the deep of the wheat, bolts up in slow motion. His hair is seething with them. Chuck slings fire out of the broken lantern onto the crops next to Bill -- a sudden, hostile gesture that catches them all by surprise. Independent of his will, the truth is forcing its way up, like a great blind fish from the bottom of the sea. The wheat changes colors in the wind, like velvet. As The harvesters spit and rub their hands as they wait for the dew to burn off. They have slept in their coats. The dawn has a raw edge, even in summer. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. The camera holds and holds on the fields until in their vacant depths, we begin to sense the presence of a deep malevolence, still biding its time but growing every minute. </p><p><p ID="act">Animals flee in all directions:  birds and deer and rabbits, pigs, buffalo and the horses from the barn. The locusts mill around crazily on the wheat stalks, backlit against the flame. He throws his coat over Abby's head, picks her up by the waist and crashes through the flame. They have to shout to make themselves understood. The locusts roar like a cyclone. </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George.
</p><p><p ID="act">ABBY, a beautiful woman in her late twenties, attends to Bill's wounds in a big vaulted sewer. Her sister URSULA, a reckless girl of14, stands watch. Abby rolls her eyes at this improvisation. No sooner does Chuck turn his back than Bill's hand darts out to touch her breast. He snatches it away a moment before Chuck turns back.
Together they walk into the living room. She is cold to discourage false expectations in him--and because she feels that she at least owes Bill this. Chuck, however, assumes the fault must be his own. His naivete about women, and the world in general, protects Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely They look at each other and smile. It does not appear that she has held what he said by the river against him. Bill stands for a moment and looks up at the Belvedere before passing on. At a shriek from Ursula, Bill turns around. She runs into his arms, and covers him with kisses.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA Suddenly the front door opens and Chuck steps out with a DOCTOR, a stooped old man in a black frock coat. Bill, surprised, crouches behind the wheel. As they draw closer their conversation becomes faintly audible. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. her, then heads off to find Bill. The vaudevillians gorge He steps forward to inspect the screen, actually just a sheet hung along a clothesline, to see whether the image is coming from behind. Bill and Abby sit rapt as children, nostalgic for Chicago. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses Bill lifts up the back of her dress and looks under it, testing the breadth of his license. She slaps it back down. He lifts it again, standing on his right to. She glowers at him. </p><p><p ID="act">They have run back to the Belvedere. It seems they are safe until Chuck appears on the porch, yawning and stretching. Bill drops to the ground while Abby goes ahead. Suddenly they hear Chuck's footsteps. They pull back just in time, Abby returning the cigarette to him behind her back. They chat as though nothing had happened.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">Bill finds the others around front. Abby lolls in the hammock writing in her diary and eating a peach. Ursula plays the guitar. She shrugs, disengaging her hand to brush aside her hair. She is painfully aware of his suffering but doesn't have the heart to tell him how it all is.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Chuck, feeling it would be wrong not to enter the spirit of the occasion, does his imitation. The likeness is astonishing. Abby wipes a bit of food off his chin with her napkin. Bill drums on the table with his spoon. She withdraws with a shrug. She does not appear to relish 
this duty. Bill watches her walk back to the buggy she 
came down in. Benson waits beside it.U
Chuck and Abby lead the dancing off, as though to celebrate their agreement. Their giant shadows dance with them. Soon the other harvesters join in. Abby, passing by, lifts her hat to wipe her face. As she does her hair falls out of the crown. Women are rare in the harvest fields. One so beautiful is unprecedented. A cloud of chaff rises over the field, melting the sun down to a cold red bulb.
Abby is well turned out, in a boater and string tie, as though she were planning any moment to leave for a picnic. The huge tractors start up with a bang. Despite Benson's warning a team of Percherons breaks free. Threshing, the separating of the wheat from the chaff, has begun. The plowing done, his father sows the seed. Poverty requires that for a harrow he drag a tree branch in back of his ox. Over his shoulder he carries a rifle. trained to farming. Most--Abby and Bill are no exception--have The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses </p><p><p ID="act">He looks around at his estate--his barn, his auto, his great house and his granary. None of them is any consolation now. Far a moment it seems to him as though he lived here in some time long past. <P ID="dia">What for?
Bill is wondering what might happen if Chuck got interested enough to marry her. Isn't he soon to die, leaving a vast inheritance that will otherwise go to waste? Abby and Bill join in, Bill reaping the wheat with a mowing machine called a binder, Abby propping the bound sheaves together to make bunches or "shocks." </p><p><p ID="act">The planes set their wheels in the furrows, rev their engines and wobble off into the sky. Ursula waves goodbye to George. BENSON, a leathery man of fifty, bellows through a megaphone. In the background a NEWCOMER to the harvest talks with a VETERAN.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BENSON She rushes up and embraces him, but her warmth just seems a tease to Bill. She is different. She looks different. The tutors and tailors Chuck has brought in over the winter have given her more polish. Her hair is nicely </p><p><p ID="act">Chuck walks out into the deep of his fields. The wheat, a warm dry gold, is almost ready to take in. He sits down and rests his head against a Abby, a basket of cucumbers under her arm, waves goodbye, angling her wrist so that Bill and Ursula can see the diamond bracelet Chuck has given her. She waits to see what he will do. He gets up and after a short chase catches her. He holds her at arm's length for a moment, then kisses her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">URSULA She takes it back immediately, but he snatches it away from her and, after a brief, giggling scuffle, hops aboard the train, now picking up speed. Ursula runs along behind, cursing and throwing rocks at him. The FOREMEN of the surrounding farms wait by their wagons to carry the workers off. A flag pole is planted by each wagon. Those who do not speak English negotiate their wages on a blackboard.
Chuck moves in for the kill. Bill gets to his feet. He wants to run but fear makes his knees like water. Suddenly, they are face to face. Chuck swings at Bill with the stool but misses. Bill lifts the spoke above him and Chuck drapes his neck with the stole he used in slaughtering the hog. Her face goes empty. He gets his razor strop from the shaving basin. She shrinks back in the corner. He looks at her for a moment, then leaves the room. The camera holds and holds on the fields until in their vacant depths, we begin to sense the presence of a deep malevolence, still biding its time but growing every minute. Bill looks at Chuck's exposed back. Nobody would know. It could be made to seem like a hunting accident. He cocks the hammer of his shotgun. His heart pounds wildly. Chuck talks in a low voice to the dogs. Their faces black with chaff, the hands fall out in silence. They shuffle across the field toward the cookhouse, keeping their feet close to the ground to avoid being spiked by the stubble. Chuck gasps. Bill seems just as shocked. Chuck sits down to determine the gravity of his injury. Blood jets rhythmically out the end of the spoke, as though from a straw. Bill circles him, unbelieving. Steve dies. Bullets kick up dust around him. He takes off running. One of the bullets has caught him in the shoulder.
</p><p><p ID="slug">7	INT. SEWER Bill throws a plate of stew at him and they are quickly in a fight. No fists are used, just food. The others pull them apart. Bill storms away, flicking mashed potatoes off his shirt. Bill reels back and cracks his head on the bicycle frame. This time he stays down. Satisfied the struggle is over, Chuck goes back to get some rope. He breaks open the mantle of his lantern, still unsure what he should do. Some of the flaming kerosene splashes onto the crops nearby, setting them ablaze. Bill drops his rattle and swats the fire out with his coat. Chuck slings fire out of the broken lantern onto the crops next to Bill -- a sudden, hostile gesture that catches them all by surprise. Independent of his will, the truth is forcing its way up, like a great blind fish from the bottom of the sea. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill watches her run her finger slowly around the closed heart of a rose. Suddenly they both look at each other. They have heard the squeals, faint but unmistakable, of a hog being led to slaughter. </p><p><p ID="slug">299	EXT. FARMHOUSE
</p><p><p ID="act">Four LAWMEN, in pursuit, interrogate some FARMERS. Have He jumps behind the handlebars and fishtails off. Chuck breaks into a gallop, rides him down, knocks him to the ground with the stool, dismounts and stamps in the spokes of the front wheel to make sure he goes no further. She does not respond. He yanks the sheet off. She is wearing a nightgown. She looks up and frowns. This is the first time she has ever seen him this way. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill puts his hand on the ground. Sam drops a keg of roofing nails on it and, his work done, leaves with his gang. Bill sobs with pain. Again he throws her aside, and again she keeps after him, desperate to prevent any harm coming to Bill. Finally he picks her up and drags her outside. </p><p><p ID="act">He lashes her with a rope to a column of the porch. She struggles vainly to free herself. Does he intend to use the razor on her? The harvesters itch madly as the chaff gets into their clothes. The shocks, full of briars, cut their hands; smut and rust make the cuts sting like fire. Nobody talks. From time to time they raise a chant. He throws his coat over Abby's head, picks her up by the waist and crashes through the flame. They have to shout to make themselves understood. The locusts roar like a cyclone.
Bill watches Chuck help Abby into the buggy. She is laughing about something or other. His hand lingers for a moment on hers. She does not brush it aside, as once she might have, but to Bill's dismay, presses trained to farming. Most--Abby and Bill are no exception--have Abby and Bill join in, Bill reaping the wheat with a mowing machine called a binder, Abby propping the bound sheaves together to make bunches or "shocks." <P ID="dia">Maybe you're right.
At each hint of consent from Abby, Bill feels he must press on.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Abby guesses what is going through his mind, and it shocks her.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">Oh, Bill! </p><p><p ID="act">Abby and Bill have laid their bedrolls out by a stack away from the others. A fire burns  nearby. Abby look at the stars. Bill shines his shoes. The straw is fragrant as thyme. <P ID="dia">What for?
Bill is wondering what might happen if Chuck got interested enough to marry her. Isn't he soon to die, leaving a vast inheritance that will otherwise go to waste? </p><p><p ID="act">The camera moves back to reveal Abby listening in from the other side of the barn. Her eyes are full of tears. How can Bill prize her so lightly? <P ID="dia">Then why'd you ask? Oh, how did I ever get mixed up with you?
Abby, in terror of Chuck's finding out, cannot understand why Bill seems to care so little. </p><p><p ID="act">Bill looks deeply into Abby's eyes by the light of a lantern that night. They have made a shallow cut on their thumbs and press them together mixing their blood like children. Abby looks at Bill, then nods okay. Ursula runs off. Bill opens the door, and she gets in. </p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL
<P ID="dia">Tell him you'll stay.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY She is cold to discourage false expectations in him--and because she feels that she at least owes Bill this. Chuck, however, assumes the fault must be his own. His naivete about women, and the world in general, protects </p><p><p ID="act">Abby has told him of the proposal. Bill broods over an unlit cigarette. Is this a great blessing or a great misfortune which has befallen them? </p><p><p ID="act">Bill has brought Abby into a nearby town </p><p><p ID="act">Bill takes Abby by the hands, spins her around until she is thoroughly dizzy, then grasps her across the chest.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><P ID="speaker">ABBY
<P ID="dia">You heard me.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL Bill holds a plate up for Abby to see. Limoges china. Abby rolls her eyes and spits out a cherry pit. They eat like pigs, with no respect for bourgeois manners. Abby smokes as Bill checks the radiator. Something in his behavior leads us to suspect he may have staged this stop.
</p><p><P ID="speaker">BILL </p><p><p ID="act">A POLICEMAN, looking for Bill, roughs Abby up behind the tenement where they live. Suddenly Bill runs out from a doorway and slams him over the head with a clay pitcher full of water.
Who does the killer flee to Texas with? What is the girlfriend's first name? What is the younger sister's first name? Who does the farmer fall in love with? Who encourages the farmer to marry the girl he falls in love with? Where does Linda run away from with a friend? What kind of school does Linda go to? When does the story take place? Why did Bill run to Texas? Who went to Texas with Bill? Why do Bill and Abby pretend to be brother and sister? What type of work did Linda's brother do in Chicago? How did Abby plan to inherit the farmer's money? When was Linda sent to boarding school? Who suspects that Bill and Abby are not related? What happened to the farmer's wheat fields? How did Bill die? When is the story set? Where does the story take place? What causes Bill to leave Chicago? Who leaves Chicago with him? Where did Bill work when he lived in Chicago? What destroys the wheat fields? Who pretends to be Bill's sister? Who does the wealthy farmer marry? Who kills the farmer with a screwdriver? Why did Bill want Abby to marry the farmer?
His girlfriend and the sister Abby
Abby Abby
Linda Linda
Abby Abby
Bill Bill
School Boarding school.
A boarding school boarding school
1916 1916.
he killed a boss at the steel mill he murdered someone
his girlfriend, Abby, and his younger sister, Linda His girlfriend, Abby Adams and her younger sister, Linda Manz.
to prevent gossip to prevent gossip
he was a manual laborer He worked at a steel mill.
by marrying him and waiting for him to ide By marrying him and inherit it after he dies.
After the farmer died after Abby inherits the money
the farmer's foreman the foreman
they were destroyed by a locust swarm and a fire locust swarm
he was killed by the police He is killed by police.
The story takes place in 1916. 1916
The story takes in Chicago. Texas
He kills someone. He killed his boss.
Bill's girlfriend Abby and his sister Linda leave with him. His girlfriend Abby and her sister Linda.
Bill worked in a steel mill. At a steel mill.
A fire and a locust storm destroy the wheat fields. A locust swarm and a fire
His girlfriend Abby pretends to be his sister. Abby
The wealthy farmer marries Abby. Abby
Bill kills the farmer. Bill
Bill wants her to inherit the farm from the dying farmer. the farmer's inheritance