RALPHIE In the jail? Did you put him in the jail? What did he do?
MIKE Not now, Ralph.
He kisses the fairy saddle on RALPHIE'S nose and turns to the gathered people.
90
MIKE
Peter! Peter Godsoe!
People look around, MURMURING. After a moment or two, PETER GODSOE shoulders forward, looking embarrassed and blustery (also a little frightened).
PETER GODSOE
Mike, about what that fellow said that's the biggest crock of MIKE
Uh-huh. Go on back there with Hatch. We're gonna watch this guy, and it's gonna be by the buddy system.
PETER GODSOE
(immensely relieved) Okay. You bet.
He goes through the door to the constable's office. MIKE, his arm still around MOLLY, faces his neighbors.
MIKE I feel like I have to have to close the store, folks.
(murmurs of reaction)
You're welcome to take what you've got; I trust you to settle up when the storm's over. Right now, I've got a prisoner to deal with.
A worried-looking middle-aged woman, BELLA BISSONETTE, pushes forward.
DELLA
Did that man really kill poor old Martha?
More murmurs this time FRIGHTENED, UNBELIEVING. MOLLY is looking at her husband tensely.
She also looks as if she wishes she could strike RALPHIE temporarily deaf.
MIKE
In time you'll have the whole story, but not now. Please, Delia all of you help me do my job.
Grab your stuff and go home before the storm gets any worse. I want a few of you men to stick around a minute or two longer. Kirk Freeman . . . Jack Carver . . . Sonny Brautigan . . . Billy Soames
. . . Johnny Harriman . . . Robbie . . . that'll do for a start.
91
The men move forward as the others turn and start to go. ROBBIE looks typically puffed up with self-importance. BILLY has a wad of paper towels pressed to his nose.
139 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
HATCH is at the desk, trying to use the radio. PETER looks at the cell, with nervous fascination.
LINOGE, sitting on the bunk, looks back from between his spread knees and cocked feet.
HATCH
Machias, this is Alton Hatcher on Little Tall. We have a police emergency here. Do you read, Machias? Come on back, if you read.
Lets go of the button. There's nothing but STATIC.
HATCH Machias, this is Alton Hatcher on channel 19. If you read PETER GODSOE
They don't. You've lost your good antenna off your roof.
HATCH sighs. He knows it, too. He turns down the SOUND, muting the STATIC.
PETER GODSOE Try the phone.
HATCH gives him a startled look, then picks up the phone. He listens, pushes a few buttons at random, then hangs up.
PETER GODSOE
No, huh? Well, it was a long shot.
PETER looks back toward LINOGE, who is staring at him. HATCH, meanwhile, is looking at PETER
with some fascination.
HATCH
You don't really have a load of Panama Red out there behind your lobster traps, do you?
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PETER looks at him . . . and says nothing.
140 INTERIOR: THE REAR OF THE MARKET, FEATURING MOLLY, RALPHIE, MIKE.
The townspeople are on the move (except for the little group of men MIKE has singled out), draining toward the front of the market and the outside world. There's a STEADY JINGLING from the bell over the door as folks leave.
MOLLY
You going to be all right?
MIKE Coss.
MOLLY When will you be home?
MIKE
When I can. Take the truck you won't get three hundred yards in the car. I've never seen it come down s'hard 'n' fast.
I'll use the Island Services truck, or get someone to drop me off when this is squared away. I have to go back to Martha's house long enough to secure it.
There are a thousand questions she'd like to ask, but really can't. Little pitchers have big ears.
She kisses him on the corner of the mouth and turns to go.
141 INTERIOR: BY THE CASH REGISTER, WITH CAT AND TESS MARCHANT.
CAT is still SOBBING. TESS holds her and rocks her, but we can see she (TESS) is pretty blown away by what LINOGE said. MOLLY gives TESS a questioning look as she carries RALPHIE toward the door. TESS nods, as if to say she's go it under control. MOLLY nods back and goes on out.
142 EXTERIOR: IN FRONT OF THE MARKET.
MOLLY carries RALPHIE carefully down the steps in what has become a BLINDING SNOWSTORM.
She walks toward THE CAMERA, having to brace against the wind with every step . . . and this baby is just getting warmed up.
93
RALPHIE
(shouting to be heard) The island won't blow away, will it?
MOLLY
No, honey, of course not.
But MOLLY doesn't look so sure.
143 EXTERIOR: THE CENTER OF TOWN, HIGH ANGLE.
The snow is coming down furiously. There are a few vehicles moving on Main and Atlantic, but they won't be moving much longer. Little Tall Island is effectively cut off from the outside world. The WIND SHRIEKS; the SNOW SHEETS; and we:
FADE TO BLACK. THIS ENDS ACT 5.
Act 6
144 EXTERIOR: THE TOWN, A HIGH ANGLE LATE AFTERNOON.
This is the same shot we went out on, but it's later, now there isn't much daylight left. The WIND SHRIEKS.
145 EXTERIOR: THE WOODED AREA SOUTH OF TOWN LATE AFTERNOON.
We're looking down at the SURGING OCEAN through a power-line cut. There's a CRACKING
SOUND and a HUGE OLD PINE topples on the lines. They go down in a SHOWER OF SPARKS.
146 EXTERIOR: MAIN STREET LATE AFTERNOON.
In a reprise of the first scene, all the lights, including the blinker at the intersection, GO OUT.
147 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE, WITH HATCH AND PETER.
The LIGHTS GO OUT.
94
HATCH
Aw, damn!
PETER makes no response. He's looking at:
148 INTERIOR: THE JAIL CELL, FROM PETER'S POINT OF VIEW.
LINOGE is just a dark hump . . . except for his eyes. They GLOW with a TROUBLED RED LIGHT . .
. like wolf's eyes.
149 INTERIOR: RESUME HATCH AND PETER.
HATCH is rummaging in the desk drawer. As he pulls out a flashlight, PETER seizes his arm.
PETER GODSOE Look at him!
HATCH, startled, wheels to look at LINOGE. The prisoner is still sitting just as before, but there's no WEIRD LIGHT shining out of his eyes. HATCH turns on the flashlight and hits LINOGE in the face with the beam. LINOGE looks back calmly.
HATCH (to PETER) What?
PETER GODSOE I ... nothing.
He looks back toward LINOGE, perplexed and a little afraid.
HATCH
Maybe you've been smokin' too much of what you're selling.
PETER GODSOE
(mixed shame and anger) Shut up, Hatch. Don't talk about what you don't understand.
150 INTERIOR: THE MARKET'S COUNTER, WITH MIKE AND TESS MARCHANT.
95
Looks like they're the only two left, now, and with the lights out, the market is very dim the front windows are big, but the light coming through them has started to fail. MIKE comes behind the counter and opens a UTILITY BOX built into the wall. Inside are circuit breakers and one larger switch. He flicks this one.
151 EXTERIOR: BEHIND THE MARKET LATE DAY.
There's a little shed marked GENERATOR to the left of the loading dock. An ENGINE STARTS UP