Why would the Almighty elect a witless blackamoor to bring his message?
She told me it would happen before it did.
Willmus Crabtree is in possession
of the promissory note that you wrote for Secretary Farlow.
He considers it proof of your corruption.
(SPEAKS ALGONQUIAN)
If you give shelter to the man who would kill the Governor of Virginia,
then there will never be peace between us.
Hm?
(INSECT BUZZING)
(HORSE NEIGHS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(THEY SPEAK ALGONQUIAN)
A living creature, gold, golden...
right there before me when I opened my eyes.
What were you doing working in the fields, Meredith?
Well, I don't recall. The drink makes me wander sometimes.
Doctor. Doctor!
Did you ever see a horse glittering like a precious coin?
Master Rutter, there is no surprise you see wonders
when your senses are so baffled with sack.
No, no! I saw it true enough.
It were there.
Did this horse whistle a tune and tap its toes as it appeared, Rutter?
Did it smoke a pipe? (LAUGHTER)
Will no-one believe me?
Perhaps it's because the world knows the worth of a drunkard's word.
We might seek out the golden beast, sir.
I shall help you.
You're like an itch, scratching at me. Scratching at me!
At least fetch me a drink.
That boy is the only one who will listen to your wild tales,
and you tread him down like a beetle in the dirt.
Master Crabtree, when I sought you out after dark,
my sole intention was to trick you.
I sought to seduce you.
No, to toy with you,
so that you might confide to me your hidden purpose here.
Your confession has no revelation in it, madam.
Honesty would have been to tell me as you stood before me then,
your eyes filled with horror.
Sir...
I have dipped my fingers into the politics of Virginia
because I have had to overcome every disadvantage and prejudice
and such attacks on my liberty and safety.
And to achieve that, I must make cohorts
with those that I detest with my every living breath.
My heart's true wish, sir, is to utterly unseat Yeardley.
Let me join with you.
Let me be a company agent, as you are.
You'll find no better accomplice.
You have much to learn, widow.
Mistress Castell, here's the letter you wrote for Maria and Pedro.
They have no need of it now.
Wish to thank you with my own words.
Verity...
You may be of service to me.
What do you make of Master Crabtree?
Well, keen to worm his way into others' business.
Comes into the tavern. He prises morsels of gossip
loose from men with tongues loosed by drink.
The same man possesses a note that belongs to me.
At least it has my name upon it. I wish to retrieve it.
My thieving days are behind me, ma'am.
Then forgive me for imposing on your good nature.
I could look in on him.
Cast my eye about.
See if there might be a place he might hide valued cargo.
Thank you.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
(NEIGHING CONTINUES)
(SNORTS)
(Mercy, come and see.)
(GASPS)
Wouldn't he be a prize for any man as can catch him?
Pedro, tomorrow you will go with Maria
to seek out the golden beast for me.
But Maria said it was only chance made us saw the horse, sir.
No. This golden spirit comes from God.
My wife saw it, and it was revealed to you, Maria.
I trust you will bring it to me, and I will ride it through the town,
and every pair of eyes that looks upon me
will see that God has blessed their Governor.
They will love what is divine.
Now, all of you, do not speak of what we have seen,
nor what we are about.
Catching the beast may not be so easy, sir.
Pepper! Pepper! (PANTS)
The Governor has forbid me from saying a word of what we saw,
but I must tell you, so that you might be the one to catch him.
A horse, wild and in the field, and as golden as the Sun himself.
When you catch it, Pepper, it shall be yours,
and I was the one who told you about it.
Did it have any markings on it? Er...I didn't see none,
but it was over there and we was over here.
Who else saw it? Maria did and Lady Yeardley did,
and the Governor has instructed Pedro to bring it back to him.
Let us move swiftly, Pepper. News of this prize will travel.
Where did you see it, Mercy? Not so far from Flowerdew Hundred.
I've sent to England for a wife.
Tam, where are you going?
I'll find the horse. You'll see if I don't.
Look, there ain't no damned golden horse.
Tam!
(SPEAKS ALGONQUIAN)
The hem of my dress was not stitched properly, Mercy.
And what is that look in your face, child?
You look as though you've swallowed a toad.
Mercy, what is it? Tell me.
I cannot tell you. Our Governor forbid it.
He knows and I know, but no-one else.
Only Maria, who was there when we saw it.
Mercy, I am your mistress, and you are my maid.
You owe your first loyalty to me.
Mercy, where were you today?
Did you go and visit Pepper Sharrow?
If you disobey me, I shall have to confine you to this house
for some considerable time, so that you might not see anyone.
We discovered the horse.
The golden horse.
And it is so craved by our Governor,
he wishes to have it caught before no-one else should even know of it.
He sees himself as Caesar striding upon a marvellous stallion.
We shall see.
(SPEAKS ALGONQUIAN)
Maria, I know that you attempted to escape.
You have tried everything.
But your life is here with us.
My husband has not slept.
He is so possessed of the majesty the horse will bring to him.
Find the spirit, and I will persuade my husband
to give you some cattle of your own, that you might breed them.
Go to see the doctor.
You are sick.
No, not sickly.
Go to the doctor.
What is that rope around your neck, Master Rutter?
I don't know.
You might be of service to me, sir.
You witnessed a golden horse, free in the wild.
That were just a phantom of my sack-soaked mind, and no more.
I think not.
I have great faith in your capacity, Master Rutter.
Mercy, ring the bell. (BELL RINGS)
This fine gentleman, our taverner Meredith Rutter, will tell us
what caught his eye when he ventured out into the nearby fields.
Please...
(CLEARS THROAT)
I...er...I lifted my head up
and I saw such a sight.
It were a horse, like any other horse.
Legs to stand upon, and a bold head with eyes
that fixed themselves upon me being there.
And it were made all of such gold
that a man could live his whole life in great indulgence
and never spend it.
I saw it.
But it wasn't there.
How could it be?
I know it was there
because you have about you, Master Rutter,
a wonder that cannot be accounted for by drink.
I have heard tales of golden horses.
I want this creature,
and I'll pay handsomely to whosoever brings it to me.
(CROWD MURMURING)
Hear that? That way.
He will be caught, he will be tamed...
..he will be tethered.
He'd be so very beautiful then...
I don't suppose we will find him, Maria.
Everybody here calls us Yeardley's servants.
We walk freely today.
This way...
or that way.
But we do not live freely.
From this day, we will call it what it is.
Look at me, Pedro.
We are his slaves.
I knew the maid would be too weak to keep my secret,
but I did not anticipate the widow being so bold
as to set the whole town searching for the animal.
When did we ever fully grasp the widow's cunning?
Maria will discover the creature.
Sir, it troubles me that you attach yourself so keenly to superstition
and to a witless blackamoor's delirium.
Will you catch it for me, Marshall? Hm? Will you?
Did you bring me Silas Sharrow when I asked you to?
No.
Master Read, were you not once a renowned huntsman?
I have a question for you.
If you intended to ask me to find the horse for you,
why did you offer the reward to the whole town?
You know why. (SCOFFS)
Here you are again, widow,
taunting, teasing and dangling wishes before me
like worms on a line.
You know, I envy every man in this world
that does not know your lips, because they're free men.
Surely you have good cause
to seek to bankrupt every man of his manhood.
But my burning intention, Mistress Castell,
is NOT to taste your kisses again...
..but to reclaim my manhood.
So you will not seek the horse for me?
Oh, no, I'll find the animal.
But not for you.
For James Read.
(SNORES)
Meredith, where did you witness the horse?
Which direction did it travel?
We saw it beyond the Black Wood.
Will you seek it?
James, Tamlin is as rascal a boy as ever there was,
but he seems to crave Meredith's affections.
Fetches his boots, fetches his ale, fawns after him.
That's what's sent Meredith into this madness, rage.
He can't live up to that child's expectations
because of how he left his own boy to die.
You fetch that horse, James...
..that Meredith might know just a taste of pride in himself.
Are you still living, young Meredith Rutter?
Is death too ashamed to take you?
Oh, I prayed that I might bring my husband a child,
that the pride of it might pacify him.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I've been asking God for this for so long.
And now it is here,
at a time when there are so many signs about us.
Sir, I have a few valuables I'd like concealed.
Have a terrible fear of thieves.
Might you have such as a chest with a lock on it?
Or...
I don't want anything that might catch a robber's eye.
How might you advise me?
Let me confide in you, sir.
My husband has some pieces of gold he obtained from the...
Madam, a wise-fingered forager will never be stopped by locks.
The trick is concealment. Thieves have a born instinct,
so your treasures must be hidden with wit.
Governor! Sir...
I have here the most majestic Turkey-work chair.
Might you consider it? I wonder it wouldn't suit you well.
Settlers come here to live. Traders go back and forth.
How long do you plan to stay with us, Master, erm...
Crabtree. Crabtree.
Jamestown is all riches, sir. Dealings are plentiful.
So you will stay? Will you sit?
I imagine you will appear most kingly.
Ah!
Your chair is worth a whistling, sir, certainly,
but it is a barren fellow who feeds on objects and fashion,
when he might glory in prizes more fantastical.
I was wounded at war, sir.
Your wounds are at the womb.
There stands the difference between us.
And I warn you...
..there lies our destinies too.
There was I believing that all I was a-doing
was selling a chair to a man.
Hey, James Read, what have you found?
If the beast is Spanish,
then it would have travelled many miles and many days,
and it would have encountered plenty of men.
Then why has it not been captured?
James Read, we do not want to discover the horse.
Yeardley plagues Maria to speak with the Ancients.
We wish him to leave her be.
It's one thing to catch sight of the great horse,
but another thing to catch it.
The Governor believes I saw the beast by magic.
I do not want the animal to be caught.
If I discover it, he will believe in me completely.
(HORSE SNORTS)
Move softly.
Listen.
Let him regard us for a while.
Will we catch him, James Read? No.
We'll let him catch us.
Put your rope away, my friend.
Act as though you will lead him. That's what he wants.
You move away now, Pedro, softly.
We must make him curious.
You see his eyes and his ears?
Let me approach him.
Horses look for a leader.
(HORSE NEIGHS)
(CHUCKLES)
He must know that he's safe...
..and that I'm here to be his captain.
James Read, you put a spell upon this creature.
Now we can put a rope on him.
Yeah.
(TWIG SNAPS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
Tam! Tam! Did you scare the horse?
(MUTTERS)
(BUZZ OF CHATTER)
My husband reels from revelling to forgetive,
then dull and crudy fooling,
then weeping out such sobs.
And then whole days that are lost, vanished forever.
A wife could waste her life on such a man.
Well, it ain't no feast of affection, I will admit it.
Then why do it?
There is no kindness in drinking.
Goodwill is more handsome than a fine face, sure it is.
Or a straight back.
Madam, your red hair could teach the torches how to glow.
(CHUCKLES)
Thank you, sir, for giving a maid a little shine on her day.
Hm.
But I am loyal to that sot,
not because it would wound his heart to betray him...
..but because it would wound mine.
I salute your fine honesty.
(HORSE SNORTS)
Vanished.
Let me gather some men, sir.
My king offers this as a kindness
and respect to you, Governor.
Chacrow, tell Opechancanough that we are beholden to him
for the great service that he has granted us.
We can know peace that reaches beyond the horizon.
My king who sent Pamunkey
to take the learning of your people and your gods.
Then we will be good cousins indeed.
Opechancanough wants to offer...
Chacrow to you.
To remain here with the English, to serve as your handsman.
Governor, your scout.
And to be the one who carries all of your words to the Pamunkey.
I am honoured beyond reckoning. Hm.
Madam, your red hair
could teach the torches how to burn brightly.
That is not the key.
THIS is the key.
I swapped it when I knew you would steal it from me.
Is this what you were seeking?
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
An honest woman would have asked me for it.
Mercy, go to your bed.
I watched you walk those women from the assembly
to rile the tempers of Jamestown's rulers.
I saw you rattle the men of the burgesses with your keen tongue,
and now you take on the Governor so publicly,
sending men out to seek the creature he craves.
I cannot seem to prevent myself from mischief where he is concerned.
Whatever the cost? He has earnt my hatred, sir.
Yeardley came here with no more than a sword,
and now he stands upon thousands of acres of power and wealth.
Everything about your curious intentions
spells to me that you are the company's agent.
Will you not admit it?
Truth...
prefers a quiet breast.
You are mistaken, madam.
I am NOT a Virginia company man.
But who would not suppose that I am?
That's what I want.
I will not pass for a factor for long.
But I choose to keep my true purpose concealed for some little while yet.
Will you not at least tell me?
I will give you honesty...
..and it is this.
No, I will not confide in you yet.
What a pity,
and I thought we might be friends.
The real danger to you, widow,
is not what I keep secret from you...
but what I confess.
I have learnt love in your eyes.
You are such a bright, particular star,
you have caused me to forget myself,
oblivious to my monstrous bearing.
It is this bleak hope that might distract me,
so that every enemy may win their advantage over me.
I am weak...
when I was strong.
(DOOR SHUTS)
(SIGHS)
(HORSE SNORTING)
Aye, lower your tongues and your eyes.
For what do I care?
Can a man not enjoy his relish?
Come on, come hither, come hither,
and I'll dance on your frowns.
(LAUGHTER)
Sir... (GROANS)
I saw the golden horse.
Would you lie to me, boy?
You're a known liar.
Famous liar.
You're made of lies.
Why would I wish to set my eyes upon such a bog of nothing?
Tam.
I know you saw the beast...
..and you will be truthful to me.
Was it you who made the noise to fright it away?
Is it so?
You truly witnessed the beast?
Didn't I tell you?
Oh...
Ain't you a fine lad?
(HORSE SNORTS)
Marshall.
I've lost my child.
Nothing cuts a man more.
I know as much.
(HORSE WHINNIES)
Even the babe Sharrow now has the gall of his brothers.
A man can only bear so much loss.
Family comes before everything for the Sharrows.
I want my brother returned to our farm.
It is a wound upon my cheek says Silas must come back only to die.
He put an arrow upon you to save his own skin,
you would do the same.
There ain't many men still standing been here as long as me and you.
Now we stand on opposite sides.
But I know this about you.
What comes first is...
How shall we name it?
Pride. Glory.
Now Silas will vanish into the faraway mountains,
gone forever, beyond your reach.
Perhaps you could offer him to Yeardley as your own prisoner.
Why would he give himself to me?
You would promise him a pardon.
The whole town would see Marshall Redwick
was the one who hunted down the deserter, the fugitive.
Your reputation will be burnished.
Silas will be baptised anew.
He will show submission to the Governor
and he will denounce the heathens.
Supposing you could persuade me,
Yeardley'd never allow it.
You will sway him...
with the gift of the golden horse.
You have it?
I would speak with Silas.
Well, then, find him, wherever he is.
He's here, with you. I've not seen him.
Did he bring the horse with him?
James Read, you take care how you speak
when you stand on another man's land.
I had the animal. Well, then, where is it?
I as good as had a rope around its neck,
when a noise frightened it away.
Seems to me like you want to blame some other for your own failing.
Is that how you choose to see it, Henry?
That a man has to have his hands on what he owns at all times
or do you prefer to forget how I served the Sharrows
when Silas's life was in danger?
If there are debts to be paid,
I will decide when and where they will be obliged.
What's eating the cheer out of you?
James Read says your heart is broke because you weren't allowed to wed.
Is that it?
Such is a maid's life, girl.
But there's some...
There's some do get their man by putting themselves with child.
(SOBS)
Oh, Mercy. Mercy.
Hey...
(SIGHS)
(HORSE SNORTS)
My dear, we are to pass your image on once more to future years.
It is true.
My body is rich with your child.
I pray it is a boy, lives in your like.
Governor, I have the horse.
You?
You're certain that I might ride the creature into town for all to see?
There is a cost.
A political payment.
A pardon for Silas Sharrow.
Will you pay it?
If you choose to give the horse to Yeardley
and tell him that it was you who found it...
..he will believe anything you tell him after that.
Anything.
Is that what you want, Maria?
You can trick him.
Make his mind diseased with what you tell him.
Is that what you want?
The decision's yours, Maria.
You said it yourself, Henry.
The man who possesses the horse owns him.
Silas can return to the farm, if we give the horse to the Governor.
My own brother will live and be hunted no more.
Well, he ain't mine to give you, Henry.
Belongs to Maria.
Maria, this is the man that hunted us down.
This is the man that put us into chains
and gave us to the Governor
that he might put that brand upon your cheek.
You find your Governor precious with generosity.
My wife bears within her the celebration of our prayers.
A babe!
The love of years.
(CHEERING)
Silas Sharrow...
you might enjoy the mercy and compassion of England...
..should you here renounce your heathen beliefs
and declare yourself a servant
of the one true almighty God.
I stand here ready to be baptised again, sir.
Oh...
Oh, you make the sun itself look dim.
The whole town sees that you were right and they were wrong, sir.
You think cos the horse stands here, I'm a true man?
All discoveries in drink are false.
Your hopes disgust me, boy. Meredith!
Your need is sickeningly ugly.
There's a monstrousness to you that even a drunk cannot abide.
Get gone from my sight. Meredith.
The rat had no ma and no pa,
because you ain't worthy of none,
and you never will be!
(SOBS)
My pa was a drunk like this.
A fool.
A madman.
A drowned man.
A coward.
A king.
And the cruellest tongue of the devil itself.
But he paid for it,
and so will you, Meredith Rutter.
I swear.
I swear you will pay.
(DISTANT CRIES)
(MUFFLED SCREAMS)
(SCREAMS REVERBERATE)
Maria.
Pedro...
There is so much blood.
It is coming, Pedro.
I hear the cries of the dying, Pedro.
It is a dream, Maria,
no more than that. There is no blood.
You might know me again, James,
if you promise not to love me.
You drove that boy away when you knew I loved him as my own child.
If you did not hide behind your hump,
I'd relish riding a sword through your throat.
I accept your challenge.
You will be the one who will pry Chacrow away
from his loyalty to Opechancanough.
Deliver him to us, or your brother's land will be taken from them.
You're not a factor, nor a company agent.
You are the most powerful man in Virginia.
My king says you must die, Silas.