Characters in Storm of the Century

MOLLY Stop, or I'll shoot! But SONNY and ALEX HABER crowd into the aisle, blocking her off from LINOGE. LUCIEN and JOHNNY HARRIMAN grab her ... and HATCH plucks the gun neatly from her hand.

MOLLY Be quiet! The last thing in the world I want is Alton Hatcher down on me. 25 INTERIOR: RESUME MARKET. Steaming down Aisle 3, still wearing his hard hat, comes HATCH.

LINOGE looks at him. There's a beat when we're not sure he's going to answer. Then: LINOGE Andre Linoge.

Shoving down the stairs almost masking down the stairs comes ANDY ROBICHAUX, dragging JILL by the hand. ANDY knocks old BURT SOAMES down on the stairs. There's a CRUNCH as BURT'S ARM BREAKS.

We underestimated the storm. Several people wandered away and were lost. Ralphie was one of them. Angie Carver found her way back. None of the others did. MIKE looks at the porch, where the sign has landed, then turns and walks down to his car.

ANNIE smiles, a bit embarrassed, and holds out the headphones. ANNIE HUSTON Want 'em back? They were, like, slipping off. MOLLY No, thanks, Annie.

39 URSULA Yes . . . I'll be praying, too ... of course we all will. Thanks for calling, Betty. She hangs up and closes her eyes for a moment. MIKE Tough day? URSULA Betty Soames seems to think we have access to some secret forecast.

HATCH Mrs. Kingsbury? . . . George? . . . George Kirby? . . . Bill Timmons, where you at? He sees a BRIGHT SPLASH OF RED and goes to it. He picks up MRS.

One of them is BILL TOOMEY. BILL TOOMEY Say, Ferd where's the fire? Because of Ferd's job (it says LITTLE TALL V.F.D.

MIKE What are you, crazy? This guy's a killer! Stay out of his way! And stay out of mine, Billy Soames! LINOGE 83 Also, clean yourself up. We glimpse that STRANGE, BLACKISH WAVERING in his eyes again. 133 INTERIOR: BILLY, CLOSE-UP.

(knocks on the shell) Good t'ing you got your coat on, hey? He tosses Bob the lobster back into the live well SPLASH! The four men leave the boat, and THE CAMERA CONTINUES TO TRACK.

BOB RIGGINS There's a time to be stubborn, Michael . . . but there's also a time to let go of the reins and look toward the greater good, hard as that …

ROBBIE I don't blame him hell, ain't he got a houseful of women to support? BURT SOAMES CHORTLES. GEORGE KIRBY and HENRY BRIGHT exchange a more doubtful look. They're not completely comfortable with the meanness of the gossip.

HEIDI 200 Yeah! SALLY GODSOE Me! Yayy, I do! The kids start to line up, facing CAT. Only BUSTER CARVER lags. BUSTER Where's my mommy? SANDRA I'll just peek and see if she's upstairs, shall I? Or your daddy?

Nearby are ALEX HABER and CAL FREESE. CAL (looking around) Hey, where's old George Kirby? 259 EXTERIOR: THE ANDERSONS AND THE HATCHERS MORNING.

… The other two women, CARLA BRIGHT and LINDA ST. PIERRE, are already going through the other wrapped cuts. CARLA looks at something, almost takes it, then drops it back into one of the trays of the meat-display cabinet.

BOB RIGGINS and his wife, CATHY; URSULA GODSOE and SANDRA BEALS. ROBBIE BEALS is up on the stage, at a small wooden table to the left of the podium.

Kneeling in front of one of them is CORA STANHOPE. The basin is full of water, and CORA'S white hair floats on its surface. She has drowned herself in the basin.

… . . Stockton tries to steal the ball, but he doesn't have a chance . . . It's Davey Hopewell at the top of the key . . . clock running out . . . Davey Hopewell's the Celtics' only hope ... he shakes and bakes ... he DAVEY HOPEWELL …

SILENCE. They all believe it, but no one wants to be first to hoist his or her hand. DELLA BISSONETTE We all had the same dream . . . and they weren't regular dreams. I know that. We all know that. He's given us fair warning.

… Behind them, ROBERTA COIGN and her husband, DICK, look at ROBBIE with poker faces that can't quite mask their contempt.

… earth when all but the freshest and newest among you . . . Davey Hopewell, perhaps, or young Don Beals . . . * We INTERCUT SHOTS of DAVEY with his parents and DON sleeping on his cot. LINOGE (continues) . . . have gone to your graves. But in …

HENRY But there might be someone else upstairs. Jake Civiello . . . Duane Pulsifer, maybe . . . ROBBIE The only two names written on the duty board were "Ferd Andrews" and "Lloyd Wishman."

ROBBIE Where's Ferd? He's got EMT training, at least . . . Ferd Andrews, where the hell are you? 222 FERD (lost in the back of the crowd) Here We see him struggling to get through. ROBBIE Get your ass down here!

Just don't be smart and don't forget to say, "May I." Now here we go. Frank Bright, take two helicopter steps. FRANK takes two steps forward, whirling around, flapping his arms and making HELICOPTER SOUNDS.

… that had us opened its right arm ... it had me in its left . . . and . . . 33 EXTERIOR: OLD GEORGE KIRBY NIGHT. He FALLS AWAY FROM THE CAMERA, SCREAMING and waving his arms. He disappears into the dark and the snow. 34 EXTERIOR: RESUME ANGIE …

MRS. KINGSBURY They're very light sleeping pills . . . any lighter, Doc Grissom said, and I could buy them right over the counter. I think it's just shock.

MIKE (voice-over) He left what little he had to a fellow named Harmon Brodsky, who lost an eye in a barroom fight back in the eighties. 167 EXTERIOR: LITTLE TALL ISLAND, FROM THE REACH MORNING.

The other KIDS watch this with fascination. One, a boy of five, is JILL ROBICHAUX'S son. HARRY ROBICHAUX Can I feed her, Missus Anderson? I fed a monkey once, at the Bangor Fair. The other kids laugh. PIPPA is not amused.

… were initially put to bed, and quite a few of them are still there BUSTER CARVER, HARRY ROBICHAUX, HEIDI ST. PIERRE, and DON BEALS. The residents of Little Tall are sleeping. Their rest is uneasy, but they are sleeping. 206 INTERIOR: ROBBIE BEALS, …

… ROBBIE BEALS, the town manager, plus the three town selectmen: GEORGE KIRBY, BURT SOAMES, and HENRY BRIGHT. HENRY is the husband of CARLA BRIGHT, and is currently holding his son, another day-care pupil, in his arms. FRANK is fast asleep. Again, …

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.

HENRY But there might be someone else upstairs. Jake Civiello . . . Duane Pulsifer, maybe . . . ROBBIE The only two names written on the duty board were "Ferd Andrews" and "Lloyd Wishman."

MIKE goes to HATCH. MIKE Any sign of Bill Timmons or George Kirby? HATCH No. Janie Kingsbury, either. MIKE Jane Kingsbury's dead. 211 (to SONNY) Take it in, would you? SONNY climbs up into the cab of the Sno-Cat and revs the engine.

… shuffle up the aisles MOLLY and RALPHIE, the STANHOPES, JOHNNY HARRIMAN, TAVIA GODSOE, KIRK and JENNA FREEMAN, all our new acquaintances and every face is stamped with fear. DISSOLVES TO: 263 EXTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL AFTERNOON. TITLE CARD: 2:00 P.M.

Most of the other parents LINDA ST. PIERRE, CARLA BRIGHT, JACK CARVER, JILL ROBICHAUX are doing the same. URSULA GODSOE, however, is resisting SALLY'S imploring. URSULA Mommy can't, honey she's too tired. I'm sorry.

The lit one WHIFFS OUT, leaving her (and us) in SHADOWY DARKNESS once more. LINOGE Hello, Joanna Stanhope. Glad the old bitch is dead, aren't you? I did you a favor there, oh, ayuh. You kept a straight face, but inside you were dancing a jig.

… murder on this island for almost seventy years . . . unless you count Dolores Claiborne's husband, Joe, and that was never proved. MIKE You folks back off, now, and give me a little privacy. I get six thousand a year to be constable; let me …

… It's different on the island, (pause) Everything's different on the island, (pause) Anyway, Johnny Harriman came rushing in while we were having breakfast and said the lighthouse was going over. Everyone wanted to see, of course . . . and Mike . . …

Where's my mom, have you seen her? MOLLY I think she's getting ready for bed. JONAS STANHOPE Good. Good. He leans back against the wall, his face and body language saying, "Good God, what a day."

MARTHA Please don't hurt me! 11 INTERIOR: MARTHA'S LIVING ROOM. On the TV now is JUDD PARKIN, standing in front of a table.

PIPPA and HEIDI start to sniffle in sympathy. FRANK BRIGHT What's wrong with Katrina Withers? SANDRA Nothing, Frankie . . . she's just tired . . . You kids, pick up a little, okay?

… During this: MIKE (voice-over) Robbie Beals rebuilt the old fish house on the town dock, and hired Kirk Freeman to work there. Kirk said Robbie's wife Sandra came down there one early morning in the spring of 1996, dressed in her yellow slicker and …

The ROBICHAUXES are with HARRY, the CARVERS are with BUSTER, the BRIGHTS are with FRANK, LINDA ST. PIERRE is with HEIDI. Next to her, also alone, is SANDRA BEALS.

A really bad one. MOLLY Well, who wouldn't? Martha Clarendon murdered . . . Lloyd Wishman kills himself . . . the Storm of the Century right over our heads . . . who wouldn't? URSULA I think it's more than that.

JACK looks up quickly at LINOGE, then looks away. ALEX HABER and LUCIEN FOURNIER are equally uncomfortable. LINOGE You boys really ought to go see that gay fellow you beat up.

MIKE (voice-over) The first person on Little Tall to see Andre Linoge was Martha Clarendon. In the extreme foreground of the shot, there now appears a SNARLING SILVER WOLF. It is the head of a cane.

URSULA has been kneeling over SALLY, keening to her. Now MOLLY whispers something in her ear, and URSULA stands up. MARY HOPEWELL Then . . . they're not dead? The ISLANDERS are all quiet now, watching and hoping. ANDY has got his son HARRY in his arms.

JUDD But a storm doesn't need to be a disaster, Maura, and a disaster doesn't have to be a tragedy.

Stanhope easy does it. 169 The door between the meeting hall and the office area opens. MOLLY and MELINDA HATCHER come through. MOLLY'S distress turns to gladness when she sees MIKE, and she almost hurls herself into his arms. He hugs her hard.

We can see some dim lights in the buildings, but no human beings. The snow is drifted halfway up the shop windows. MIKE ANDERSON speaks with a light Maine accent. MIKE ANDERSON (voice-over) My name is Michael Anderson, and I'm not what you'd call a Rhodes scholar.

The phone is here, placed on a hallway table halfway between the stairs and the door. Using it is MOLLY ANDERSON, MIKE'S wife. She's about thirty, pretty, and right now vacillating between amusement and fright.

She has an overnight bag in one hand. ^ An older gent named ORVILLE BOUCHER passes her going the other way. He's wearing a bathrobe, slippers, white socks. In one hand he's got his plastic toothbrush case.

ROBBIE gets out and goes up the porch steps just as PETER GODSOE comes out of the market. PETER is a ruggedly handsome man in his early forties, father of SALLY, the little girl with the jam on her shirt.

MIKE I've got a few little problems of my own, hon. What's yours? 21 INTERIOR: PIPPA HATCHER, CLOSE-UP. PIPPA is a child of about three years old. Right now she fills the whole screen with her SCREAMING, TERRIFIED FACE.

One of the four-year-olds is RALPH ANDERSON, son of MIKE and MOLLY.

… oyd . . . shman . . . Ferd says . . . Robbie Beals . . . Henry Bright . . . have . . . can . . . hear me? MIKE looks frustrated, then has an idea. MIKE (to HATCH) Go out front and get her on …

CAL I don't see what choice we have, if we believe he can do what he says he can do. ROBERTA COIGN 243 Do you believe him? CAL First thing I asked myself. And . . . ayuh, I do. I've seen enough to convince me.

From the RADIO comes the LOUD SOUND OF STATIC. URSULA Come back? Rodney, are you there? Come back, Rodney! Nothing.

at least I don't think he did . . . UPTON BELL conies over, grinning like the amiable fool he is. SALLY GODSOE Who's blowing that horn, Mr. Bell? UPTON Someone tryin' to call the snowbirds, I guess. FRANK What're snowbirds?

THE CAMERA PULLS BACK to show us the DAY-CARE KIDS. They are being monitored by ROBBIE and SANDRA BEALS buddy system. SANDRA is leading the singing and trying to look vivacious.

… to grow around it ... During this, THE CAMERA PANS some of the sleeping faces among them we see SONNY BRAUTIGAN and UPTON BELL, SNORING on one sofa with their heads together, and on the other, JONAS and JOANNA STANHOPE with their arms around each …

Through the windows, we can see the women lighting the meeting hall. STAN HOPEWELL What about the generator, Mike? FIRST ISLANDER Is the power off for the rest of the storm, do you think? SECOND ISLANDER What about heat? They took the damn woodstove out three years ago!

The lights flicker on and off . . . 59 INTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL KITCHEN NIGHT. TESS MARCHANT, TAVIA GODSOE, and JENNA FREEMAN are taking BOXES OF CANDLES out of the supply closet adjacent to the pantry and stacking them on the kitchen counter.

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.

CAT Get right in line, Upton Bell. Just don't be smart and don't forget to say, "May I." Now here we go. Frank Bright, take two helicopter steps.

All bustle and activity stops. Forty or fifty faces turn to FERD. Central to this group is URSULA GODSOE, with her clipboard. STORM OF THE CENTURY 135 INTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL BASEMENT. The KIDS are still having a good time, shouting "Warmer!"