Narrator: Welcome to America's last frontier
where the final lumbering remnants of the ice age
the massive and awe-inspiring glaciers
cast cathedral-sized icebergs into the sea.
Where nature's bounty unfolds in a panoply of flora and fauna
the like of which is seen nowhere else on the planet.
From the ocean depths plumbed by ageless cetaceans
to azure skies, where the mighty eagle soars
this land abounds with creatures great and small
strange and majestic.
It is a land steeped in tradition.
It's mists redolent of the hearty souls of men who have gone to sea.
Tlingit and Haida
Inuit and Aluit
Russian and Norwegian.
Their languages and deeds lingering on in the names of
our countless islands and passageways.
A land that, for centuries, has lifted its siren call to the bold and adventurous.
To men and women willing to risk their lives for the promise of untold fortune
be it from fur or fin
from the heaven-pointing spires of old growth spruce
or from the buried treasures of yellow gold
or black, energy-rich petroleum.
A land visited each year by the relentless and mysterious salmon.
Each river and stream welcoming home the king and sockeye.
The coho and dog, pink or humpback
which is smashed into cans and quick-cooked
to give the colorful local folks something to do
other than play cards and scratch their nuts all day.
The land where that nice old lady from Fort Lauderdale
who had the stroke three cabins down was probably parked next to the
thawed-out halibut you're eating on board tonight.
While your floating hotel chugs through the Hecate Strait to deliver its precious
load of geriatrics to the hungry, Visa-card accepting denizens
of our northernmost and most mosquito-infested state.
So?
What's redolent?
Having or emitting an odor.
You mean people are gonna want to come to this place because of the smell?
-Pleasantly fragrant. -Not talking about this place.
Damn right they're not.
Soon as they close this place down
they'll turn it into a tourist attraction.
They'll disinfect the joint and you can get a job in one of those uh...
cases, like in a museum. One of those displays, uh...
Dioramas.
Yeah, dioramas!
In that diorama, they'll hang fake fish guts all over ya
and put a label underneath that says, "Typical Filipino Cannery Worker."
Probably pay better than this.
I'll be out on the water in my boat
and every time I make a set there'll be one of those
floating nursing homes with 500 sons of bitches and their cameras
capturing the moment.
And what boat is this?
My boat.
You don't have a boat, honey. Remember?
Oh, yes I do.
I'm getting it back. Today.
Hi, would you like some hors d'oeuvres?
-Excuse me, would you like some hors d'oeuvres? -Thank you.
-Hi, would you like some hors d'oeuvres? -Thank you.
-Nice uniform. -The bride's parents wanted uniforms
so Frankie and Lou rented these. I look stupid.
You look like an angel.
I look like a little white maggot.
-Hi, would you like one? -Yeah. Thank you.
How come you don't have to wear one?
This is the official unemployed pulp mill workers uniform.
Right.
Excuse me, would you like some hors d'oeuvres?
-Uh, no thanks, darlin'. -I'll have one.
What I'm saying is, you've got to look at the big picture.
You clear cut the trees, what do you have?
-Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of timber. -But it's ugly!
The point is to try to get the trees down without spending a fortune.
No, you're thinking short term, Phil. Like my mother always told me
"You don't shit in your front yard."
-Your mother said that? -Constantly.
Look, our people cruise by an island.
They've got their binoculars out, the ones that can still see, God bless 'em.
What do we show them?
We show them a little Indian fish camp
some totem poles, maybe.
We show them a black bear foraging for breakfast in the early morning mist.
We do not show them deforested hillsides and logging equipment, Phil.
Heavy machinery they can see in New Jersey.
The timber industry has just as much right to make a living as anybody else does.
We all have to make our living. I'm not arguing that.
Cut the trees in the interior, turn it into a parking lot.
Just quit with the chainsaws when you get to where people can see.
We're trying to develop themes for each area up here.
The Whale's Causeway.
Island of the Raven People.
Kingdom of the Salmon.
-Lumber Land. -That's us.
That's a turn-of-the-century sawmill with a little water-powered generator
and a gift shop.
That's history, Phil. Not industry. History is our future here.
Not our past.
Would you look at her? She looks like a million bucks doesn't she?
Would you like some more, gentlemen?
No thanks, could you find the little girl with the shrimp and send her over this way?
It's like with these kayak outfitters, Phil... (MEN CONTINUE TALKING SHOP)
¶ C'est la vie say the old folks It goes to show you never
Thank you! Thank you all very much.
Today is kind of a special day for me. I know it's a special one for all of you, too.
This is my last appearance with Randy Mason and the Pipeline.
I'll be continuing my run as a solo performer at the Golden Nugget
while Randy, will be rapidly sinking back into the relative obscurity
he so richly deserves.
The time we've spent together has seemed much longer than it probably was.
And with that in mind, I'd like to dedicate this next song to him. Fellas.
¶ Room 16, the Palms Motel
¶ I can rest behind that door
¶ My life with you has become a living hell
¶ Don't wanna live like that no more
¶ And whatever it will take
¶ I will do to make this final break Yeah
¶ Better off without you
in my life ¶
You're not gonna take that attitude if I show up with a lawyer.
-A lawyer? Are you threatening us with a lawyer? -Yeah!
In schools now, when they teach contracts, you know who they use?
Francine here, that's who. She wrote the fucking book.
It's not exactly a textbook, Louise.
I, on the other hand, am a criminal attorney.
Some of the business practices you engaged in...
That's bullshit!
You see a couple of dykes wander up here from Seattle and you figure
"here's easy pickings."
When we bought these properties which you had run into the ground...
That is not true!
When we bought them from you promises were made about
plumbing, about dry rot, about roofing materials.
-I had a cash flow situation. -Promises which you did not keep.
-I gave you my boat. -As collateral.
That boat's worth a lot more than those repairs.
That boat is worth relatively little, we had it appraised.
-I gave you my license... -Hey but HarmOn, the problem is we're not fishermen.
Exactly.
So I take my boat
I go out, I make my limit
I give you the money.
-I get my boat back... -Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute.
We paid the docking fees all winter.
We had the engine overhauled.
And now that there's fish again you think you can waltz in here and take
our boat? Harmon, our boat. As if you still owned it.
As if you never defaulted on any of this stuff.
You're worse than the fucking bank
Harmon, if we let you treat us like this what does that say to everybody in Port Henry?
-It says, "Hey, don't take these women seriously." -You come up here
-you bust people's balls... -If your balls are being busted that's because you
put them in a vice and you yanked the handle.
The screw.
-What? -The jaws of a vice are moved by a screw or a lever.
They don't call it a handle.
Thank you, Louise.
The point being, Mr. King
if you are feeling pressure on your testicles you have no one but yourself to blame.
So you're just going to take the hit?
You're going to let my boat rot in the harbor.
You misrepresented the properties to us, Harmon.
You tried to swindle us into keeping your boat from being repossessed by the bank.
By assigning the title to it.
You gals already said you're not fishermen.
Yeah but, from what we hear there's no shortage of guys moping around town
willing to work for a piece.
For a share.
What?
On a boat, you know, in nautical terms it's called working for a share.
Thank you.
Francine, if we're gonna do this we have to get our terminology right.
You think that you're going to get anybody in this town to take my boat out
and fish on my license?
You're both fuckin' crazy.
¶ Better off without you
¶ In my life ¶
(AUDIENCE CLAPPING)
Is this your truck?
Uh-huh.
You're working here?
Well I gotta load this wine off, gotta help tear things down after.
Could you give me a ride?
Yeah, I guess.
After I uh... How far is it?
Just into town.
Well, let me know when you're ready.
Oh, I'm ready now.
-Oh aren't you the singer? -Well I was.
-Uh, you're really good. -Thanks. Listen.
I just broke up with a guy and he's here and if I'm going to keep my shit together and
not make a scene, I need to go now.
Okay.
I'll wait here.
Yeah, I'll just uh...
I meant what I said before.
You're really good. At singing.
Thanks.
Especially since I've never heard of you or anything.
Do you watch sports?
Basketball.
Well there must be basketball players who are really good that you've never heard of.
Nope.
No?
No, if they're professionals and they're really good, everybody's heard of them.
Singing is different.
It's a matter of taste.
Luck. Whatever.
Oh.
You okay?
Couldn't be better.
Your boyfriend was the guy in the band, Randy...?
Mason.
Oh, I never heard of him either.
Good.
Take a left here.
When we came up to this country 15 years ago
Margie was eight years old and convinced we would all be eaten by grizzlies.
(GUESTS LAUGH)
I'd like to say that so far none of us has lost
anything but the occasional backpack to the bears
and that this has been for us
like for so many people before, a land of opportunity.
A land...
There's just a couple more things.
I thought this was your house.
See if he can survive without the fucking microwave.
You taking his stuff?
My stuff. My daughter's stuff.
You sure?
Hey, you look around you. You see everything that looks like shit?
That looks like
somebody with no taste and bad personal hygiene would have it in his house?
That's his stuff. The rest is out of here. Would you grab the other end of that?
How long did you live here?
Three weeks.
(WEDDING GUESTS CHATTING)
PHOTOGRAPHER: Would you give me a smile?
WOMAN: Smile! Come on!
I used to gig with him in Spokane. He had this
anorexic girl singer who'd get too shaky to go on, so I'd fill in.
My booker talks me into doing a year up here
you know, "The money's real good, blah blah blah."
And I bump into Randy in Sitka and we hit it off.
So you move in?
No!
No, I told him, keep your distance.
I got a kid. I'm older than you are.
I don't smoke as much dope as you do.
Don't think I'm movin' in or anything.
So how does your stuff end up in his place?
-Unforeseen circumstances. -Oh.
You married?
No.
Live with somebody?
Nope.
Sorry.
You work for those two?
Franny and Zooey?
Frankie and Lou? Yeah.
What'd you do before this?
Pulp mill.
-Till it closed. -And before that?
This and that. Like everybody.
Fisherman.
Yeah, I was.
-You like it? -While it lasted.
You don't go out anymore?
Nope.
Why not?
Unforeseen circumstances.
I should get back.
Let's just move it off the truck.
And then the guys inside'll help me.
-You're gonna stay here? -We were before.
This is my regular gig for the next month or so.
I'll come see you then. Sing.
Great.
My kid is gonna kill me.
(MUTTERING)
-You outta here? -Time off for good behavior.
Saw all the groom's buddies checkin' you out.
Right.
I'm serious.
Bunch of preppie thugs.
You're a hard woman to please.
Catch you tomorrow.
Need a ride?
Know what they wanna bring up here? Frankie and Lou?
-What? -Alpacas.
-For sweaters? -No.
For hiking trips.
They wanna take people out on hiking trips for a week or so
and have the alpacas carry all the gear.
-They do it down in the Amazon or something. -The Andes.
Huh?
The Amazon is a jungle river, it'd be too hot. It's probably a mountain range, the Andes.
Whatever.
They get 'em up here, no way I'm cleaning their cages.
These are some strange people we work with.
I dunno.
We got the lesbo trail guides running the place.
-We got the human pin cushion in the kitchen there. -Rusty.
He looks like he took a staple gun to his eyebrows.
We got Eunice, the cashier, 26 years old and still lives with her mother.
We got the handyman there, killed two people.
He what?
Joe Gastineau. Mr. Dark-and-Moody.
-He killed people? -Got 'em killed. Same thing.
Took him out on his fishing boat and they both drowned.
How'd you like to carry that around with you?
I'm sorry you got stuck at work. I just had to get out of there.
I'm used to getting home on my own.
Just like to know where it is.
Half of my clothes are missing.
Well, I grabbed everything I could see.
-I had a load in the dryer. -We'll get it back.
Why'd you want to move over there in the first place?
I know. It was a dumb idea and I'm sorry.
He wasn't that bad.
-Compared to what? -Compared to Lyle.
He whose name must not be spoken.
Now look, I made a mistake with Randy, and I'm sorry. I'll help you get your stuff.
You're the mistake.
Your ladies did a really nice job with that reception.
I didn't eat, but it looked really good.
So is the cute boy that likes you the one with the shrimp things?
With the hair in his eyes?
I didn't say he likes me I said I thought he was good-looking.
And no, that's not him.
That's Perry.
Perry wants to be a break dancer when he grows up.
-Thought that was over. -Disco hasn't made it up here yet.
Oh, come on.
How could you think I think Perry is cute?
Well I don't know. You're a high school kid. What do I know what you like?
Right. You don't.
Are you mad at me about Randy?
Did you like him?
It's hard enough to keep their names straight, I'm supposed to like them?
Don't be that way!
I feel like shit, I could use a little support.
That's what therapy's for.
We're gonna have to rent a VCR again.
(COUNTRY MUSIC)
He's back.
There's nothing we can do about it.
He's gonna make a feud out of this thing with his boat.
Our boat. Doesn't he have a job?
If the temperature in the water changes
couple of degrees
becomes slightly more or less acid, any little change
it can mean the salmon won't return there.
Where do they go?
Oh, probably just keep looking along the coast until...
So, the whole run disappears?
Yeah, it's been known to happen.
Pretty hard-wired, fish. Not many options.
People though, got bigger brains.
They can guess at the future, make decisions.
They just do a real lousy job of it.
I hate it when they're stranded out in the air and
their gills are working and they have that desperate look on their face.
Well, they're drowning
in air.
What do you think it feels like to drown?
I dunno.
Never had the experience.
AEROBICS INSTRUCTOR: Blow it out!
Five more! (COUNTING DOWN)
Keep those knees going!
(COUNTING DOWN)
Well
that's all she wrote.
They say the Chinese might buy it.
Pack it all up. Ship it over.
They can have it.
Who wants a drink?
TOUR GUIDE: This is the Golden Nugget saloon. Founded back in 1881
when Port Henry was the gold mining center of the Northern Territories.
Prospectors, mining engineers...
They say nobody eats canned salmon anymore.
Do you eat it?
Why would I want canned when I can get fresh?
People in Peoria are saying the exact same thing.
And the only recorded bout between a domesticated wolf and a black bear...
He's in that little de Havilland of his
comin' in with the wind steady and the water's like glass.
Doin' his usual rap,
about the wilderness and the wildlife and the glaciers.
What am I gonna do?
Think you're the only person up here out of a job?
Tryin' to impress these two girls.
He's still got his wheels down...
So I drop these people off the boat, right. He's a big- time time corporate executive.
He's with his second wife, two kids from the first marriage.
Wham! His wheels dig in.
Flips tail over head.
They got heated tents, freeze-dried gourmet dinners.
Wearing about $4000 worth of Gortex.
Whack! One's lying belly-up in the channel.
The two girls are unconscious.
He's hanging upside down, hooked in by his belt
with water coming in from all sides.
Two hours they lasted.
Two hours and the exec gets me on the radio sayin'...
Wham-o! Head on into some other bozo in a Piper Cub
whose eyes are also down on the water.
It's so cold that your spit's frozen solid before it even hits the ground
and the metal on the truck has that tinny sound
when you slam the door, like the whole thing's gonna shatter.
No, I don't believe there have been any shootings in here recently.
Can't see the front of my own damn plane this fogs so thick...
Harvesting goddamn resources my ass.
A man goes out, he makes a set
and he catches fish goddammit he's not a goddamn farmer.
I know that there's mountain peaks all around me.
There's Russians and Japanese out there scoopin' up all our crab...
but the Golden Nugget has been the setting for many a desperate confrontation...
JOHANSSON: Hey, Joe!
Long time no see.
Smilin' Jack.
What brings you down to this altitude?
Flew some medical supplies salesman in from Cordova.
There's a thousand of the them over at the convention center.
Where are you living these days?
Two steps ahead of the finance company.
I'll see ya later.
(ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC)
Jumpin' Joe Gastineau.
Friend of yours?
Not exactly.
¶ You gassed her up
¶ You're behind the wheel
¶ With your arm around your sweet one
¶ In your Oldsmobile
¶ Barreling down the boulevard
¶ Looking for the heart of Saturday night
¶ Got paid on Friday
¶ Your pockets are jinglin' And then you see the lights
¶ You get all tinglin'
¶ Cause you're cruisin' with a six
¶ Lookin' for the heart of Saturday night
¶ And you combed your hair... ¶
(MUFFLED MUSIC FROM BAR)
(AUDIENCE CLAPPING)
Mind if I sit?
-No, please. -Thanks.
So.
You're terrific.
Who do I remind you of?
Remind me of?
Singers.
Most people go, "You remind me of, uh
"Judy Collins, but your voice is deeper.
"Emmy Lou Harris, but your hair is curlier."
Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
(LAUGHS)
Really?
No.
No, I think he usually wore a bone in his nose.
So, can you make a living doing this?
Sort of. Sort of.
You make a living working for the lodge ladies?
Sort of.
It can be nice.
One summer, I did
a cruise ship in the Caribbean. I got to take my daughter.
-Oh, you take her with you? -Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.
-Her father is? -Out of the picture.
Was his choice.
So you've sung in a lot of places?
Thirty-six states and the territory of Puerto Rico.
Whoa. Wow.
How about you?
Oh, I've been to Seattle a couple of times
and Canada along the coast.
-You must like it? -Oh, I don't think I'd do so well down south.
You know, cities.
How come you're not married?
-You know... -Sorry!
It's all right if you don't want to say.
Probably the same reason you're not married.
Because such a high percentage of men are jerks?
No.
Because women are scarce and winters are long?
That's true. But...
Because you're looking for someone fun to be with who understands your bullshit
but is still crazy about you anyway?
That's a bit much to ask for.
No, it's not.
So, have you like, recorded songs?
Um, I've made demos.
Uh, and I'm not exactly up here to try to be discovered or anything.
At my age.
Doesn't make a lot of sense, my so-called career.
So, why do you still do it?
Oh, almost every night.
Doesn't matter where I am or what song I'm singing.
All of a sudden I'll hook into it.
I'll be feeling whatever it is the song is about.
And I can hear it. I can feel it in my voice.
And I know that I'm putting it across.
Moments of grace.
Do you know what I'm saying?
I do.
I put my kid through a lot, though.
Moving all the time.
But when I take a straight job
bank teller, waitressing, whatever
I feel so defeated, I don't even want her to look at me.
Would you like to
do something?
Something?
Uh, it's real pretty country here, I could take you uh...
I gotta warn you
um
what's the thing with the long skinny boats and the paddles?
-Kayaking. -Yeah, I don't do that one.
Or anything, where if the
spike comes out of the cliff you plunge to your death.
-Climbing. -Climbing.
In general, things where you wear gear instead of clothing
I don't do.
Good to know.
What do you do, uh
during the day, when you're not working?
I read a lot. A lot, yeah.
I go to the gym.
Punish myself on the treadmill.
If I'm involved with a guy, I make pathetic attempts at ingratiating myself
often involving cooking and cleaning activities.
When my daughter was little, I would do stuff with her.
You don't anymore?
Uh, no.
So.
If you're willing
let's work on this doing stuff idea.
You think of stuff and I'll think of something.
But keep trying, really. Okay?
I will.
Okay.
You know where to find me.
Two shows a night. Bye.
TOUR GUIDE: And in 1897, the first wave of fortune seekers swept through Port Henry
on their way to Skagway, the Chilkoot pass and the Yukon gold fields.
They were desperate men, men willing to perish in search of the one big strike
every prospector dreamed of...
It could be the entire cruise yes, or we may have you work just one leg
and layover at one of our stops and work the next leg on a different ship.
How much time would I spend at home?
We like to think of our vessels as a kind of home.
Not much, huh?
We have this job for you.
-It's kinda different. -We have this ship.
-Boat. -We have this boat.
The Raven, yeah.
We had the engine overhauled, put a new gillnet drum on it.
Harmon King's boat.
It's our boat now.
-Uh huh. -And he gave us his license. -His entry permit.
Just to make up for some of the money he still owes us.
We want you to go out.
To go out?
Go out and fish.
I'm not a fisherman.
Well, you used to be, right?
I mean, you know what you're doing on a boat.
I suppose.
So you could if you wanted to.
Yeah, if I wanted to.
Well, we could figure out some kind of percentage deal.
We don't know if this is an asset we want to keep ourselves
but with the season almost over and that license so expensive.
You're not like, tight with Harmon King are you?
Not especially, no.
Look, if you could just go down to the marina, look it over.
Check it out, tell us if there is anything you need to make it operational.
I haven't been commercial fishing for 25 years.
Has it changed that much?
More technology, but I just...
You'd be really bailing us out on this one.
It's a matter of credibility.
If we just let people walk all over us...
I have to think about it.
Think about it.
Go down, look at the ship, the boat.
Think about who you'd like to have for your crew.
You think people would do that?
Knowing that it's Harmon's boat?
Well, you can always get somebody.
Uh, listen, if there are any calls for me, anybody comes by asking if I'm here
just say I'm not registered, okay?
I'm trying to surprise somebody, I don't want word to get around.
Could you do that for me?
(SEAGULLS CAWING)
Well, you get points for originality.
(LAUGHS)
You're the first guy that's ever asked me to come watch fish thrash around and die.
-Well it's... -No, no, no. I'm not complaining.
I think it's cool.
I've seen it on TV.
But in person like this it's...
They're so beat-up looking.
Well, they stop eating when they head in.
My daughter did that for a while.
Had to put an IV in her.
Jesus, it's relentless, isn't it?
Yeah.
They don't stop.
Well, some of them do, they
wear out and give up.
I'd make it.
-Yeah? -Yeah, no sweat.
Do this much at the gym every day.
I'm gonna be gone for a couple of days
as sort of a job, sort of a favor and
when I get back, it'd be great to see you again.
Okay.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
That's all?
A boat like yours, Mr. GastinEau, is a very unusual property.
Look, I don't wanna sell it.
I just want a mortgage.
Yes, but in view of your past financial difficulties...
That was San Diego.
A poor credit rating is a poor credit rating.
It's going to follow you wherever you go.
BARTENDER: Just out there waitin'.
Waitin' for the chance to fuck you over.
-Me personally? -Whoever.
One second, you're skimming along the surface, not a care in the world
then one little thing goes wrong.
-Yeah, like Rudy Bannister. -Rudy Bannister?
He's up in the fjord long linin' when the whole front of the glacier breaks off.
Makes this wave
four, five stories high by the time it hits his boat.
Gone.
-And Sonny McCarthy. -Sonny.
Gets caught in the riptides trying to shortcut through Rimsky channel.
They hit the rocks, two guys stay on board, two guys jump.
Sonny and the other guy stayed on board and bought it.
-Luck. -Luck nothing.
The ocean wanted them.
Hell, I'm glad I'm not going out there no more.
I mean it could be quick like that deadhead that Tommy Grogan hit.
Punched through his bow and sunk him in five minutes.
Or it could sneak up on you
when you're not even looking.
Like Joe Gastineau.
Fuck.
Ever a guy had the world by the balls, it's Joey.
This is the basketball player, right?
Yeah, he was headed for a full scholarship at some
university in California.
Senior year he blows out his knee and (SNAPS) kiss that goodbye.
Had a jump shot that'd make you weep.
So he gets on one of Torbitson's crab boats up north
back when that was a fucking goldmine.
Makes enough in one season to put a down payment on this little gillnetter.
The Arctic Dawn.
Get's a couple of friends of his.
Lester Pope, that used to work with his father, and this kid, Olli.
Jack Johansson's little brother.
Yeah, he'd never been out fishin'. Like a high school buddy.
Played hoop with Joe.
They were gonna go out with Joe and make a big score.
I was crewin' on the Cape Fox then.
We hooked into this run.
We were barely movin'. It was flat calm, no tide.
We were pickin' fishes fast as we could just so we could keep the net wet.
So by nightfall, we were all plugged, waitin' in line for tender.
'Bout six boats ahead of us, maybe eight behind, Joey's on the end.
It was party time. Everybody that wasn't unloading
drops anchor and they start boat hopping.
So about one, two, in the morning
Joe gets back on his outfit. Him and the Johansson kid
they go below to sleep it off
and Lester, he wrecks out on deck.
It was going to be morning before the tender could get to 'em anyway.
Maybe the boat was out of the water too long.
I mean, you get cracks, things dry up.
Maybe they were just so plugged
that the water line rose up to where it'd never been before.
Whatever.
Without a sound, the boat fills like a sponge and sinks in about 30 seconds.
Yeah, so Joey wakes up
it's pitch black, he's under water, right.
He's upside down, completely disoriented.
Swims out through the galley.
Yells loud enough to wake me up on the Cape Fox.
We fished him out okay but the other two, not a trace.
Lost.
Yeah, he lost his friends.
Lost the catch. There's no insurance on the boat. That's gone.
And Joe
Joe's not the same guy.
(STUDENTS CHATTING)
(INAUDIBLE)
¶ Why don't you come and
¶ Ease your mind with me
¶ I'm living for the night
¶ We steal away
¶ I need you at the dimming
¶ Of the day
¶ I need you at the dimming
¶ Of the day ¶
(APPLAUSE)
I already got you one.
How did you guess?
I've been keeping my eye on you.
I like your singing.
Thanks.
You really class up this joint.
Oh, I've played worse.
Jack Johansson.
-I've been warned. -Uh oh!
A lot of formerly married women took flying lessons from you.
Yeah, well a lot of formerly married women are suing me for alimony.
I'm thinking of getting out of the bush pilot game.
Find something more lucrative.
Let's see, fast food service? Camp counselor?
You live around here?
One year tour of the frozen north.
Out on your own?
No. No, I'm hooked up with a guy.
Musician?
He's a fisherman.
All right!
(GUNSHOT)
Oh, my God!
Frankie!
Frankie, he shot a fish.
Shot it?
A halibut, it was like a gangland execution.
We could use some halibut. When's Joe getting in?
(KNOCKING AT THE DOOR)
Joe, are you home?
Joey!
(MAN) But he still works here?
On and off. He's out on a fishing boat right now.
Fishing? Joe?
Uh huh! Can I tell you about our specials? Our special this aft...
(MAN) When you get on the road again. Without risk.
There's nobody but fringe consumers who want that but the illusion of risk.
Being hurled to the edge of danger but knowing that you'll never have to cross it.
Now Mr. Disney's innovation was to put these carnival rides and attractions
into a story context, where you could imagine yourself as a character
in of one of his cartoon epics as you floated through a plaster of Paris jungle.
The obvious next step, and this is at the core of our proposal
is not bigger and better facsimiles of nature
but nature itself.
Think of Alaska as one big theme park.
How did we do?
Got a couple of boatloads.
In three days?
They were running pretty good.
Kept a few out for the restaurant.
Oh, my God!
That's gorgeous.
Oh Joe, that's great!
-Bobby! -Jesus!
Look at this. You're all right where I left you six years ago.
Same bar stools and everything.
Hey Harmon! Aren't you looking good!
Somebody come in here and dust you off once a week?
How's the charter business, Bobby?
Can't complain. Thinking of bringing my Glacier Bay clients in here.
See Port Henry's wax museum. Incredibly lifelike figures
pose in various stages of drunken stupor.
Hey, why don't you set up a round for these characters, Vic.
Just come up from Baja, chit-chat the clients, slinging the cerveza .
-Harass a couple of whales. -You like that?
I like not freezing my nuggets off here, all winter waiting to see
who goes shacky-whacky and blows their brains out first.
Know Roscoe Carnes?
Roscoe, with the voice box?
Blew his brains out, February.
I rest my case.
Hey, Vic, I heard my brother's been coming in here.
Fucking sellout!
He's over in the corner there, Bobby.
Hey, Jumpin' Joe, the man himself.
Hey, bro!
Bobby.
Heard they shut the pulp mill down.
Town smells better.
They told me you were working for a couple of butt nibblers
over at Harmon King's old lodge.
Yeah.
How you been?
Terrific! Just terrific. I, uh
just, uh
took a National Geographic crew out to do a
piece on the sea lion rookery before I come up.
Get a lot of repeat customers. Computerized my navigation.
Theresa?
Theresa and the kids are cool.
Joachim starts kindergarten over at the Montessori this year.
Great!
Listen, someone said that you were out fishing.
Frankie and Lou got a boat. They got a license.
Asked me to go out.
Back in the saddle again.
So to speak.
Sorry I couldn't make it out for the old man.
Ah, no problem.
I had these clients. Hollywood real-estate honchos.
Yeah, well, you couldn't make it.
I didn't have a ceremony, or anything. I just did some paperwork.
Put up a headstone.
-You got my check. -Yeah, thanks.
I called my mom. Told her about it.
How did she take it?
Change the subject.
Well, he was who he was.
Died in bed, man. You know I always figured he'd
freeze to death in the parking lot outside of some joint.
You know the laundromat over at the Wrangle?
Where you can take a shower?
Yeah, the guys coming in off the boats.
Two, three years ago I was in there.
Got my soap, got my towel.
Back in the steam I see this old guy.
I say, that's one beat-to-hell human being.
Guy looks up, and it's the old man.
It's the last time I saw him.
The old salt. The old prospector.
You know I tell my clients stories about the old man.
You know, the colorful shit. You know, the tour guide part of the job.
How he lost those fingers, and how he
survived the earthquake, and all those tidal waves, and that tender.
Yeah, you heard 'em all.
The guy I was scared shitless of when I was little, nobody wants to hear about that guy.
Nope.
Joe, I gotta ask you a favor.
Me?
Yeah, have I ever asked you for anything?
What is it?
Well, I got a situation. It's a
finesse thing with a client. I've got to pick him up in Skagway.
Need somebody to crew for me, bring him back down.
You always run your operation on your own.
It's just for appearances.
It's a business deal.
I've got to impress the guy, so I've got to look less like a captain and more...
-Like an admiral. -Exactly.
It's a milk run, and since you're on the water again.
Well I've only gone out once.
I can trust you.
I mean, this deal, this business deal, it's
it's sensitive. Word can't get out.
When would we go?
Day after tomorrow. I've just gotta put a couple things in motion.
Hmmm!
Yeah! I'll see if I can get off work.
You save my ass on this, bro. I really appreciate it.
-Hey, you and me we're... -Practically strangers.
No, we're the Gastineau brothers, man.
Half-brothers.
Right.
Listen, I gotta run, bro.
I'm on a schedule, here. I'm down at the south marina.
Yeah! The Orca Princess.
Sunday morning. Seven sharp. We catch the tide.
It'll be a blast.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen
I'm Donna De Angelo and this is the Golden Nugget.
I, eh, well I see some familiar faces out there.
Welcome back.
Where's the tide?
Is it with you? Are you plowing into it? Is it slack?
Where's the moon in its cycle?
There's wind.
Which can jump around on you when you're ducking in and out of these islands.
There's the size of the channel you're going through.
Configuration of the bottom.
You still know all this stuff?
Yeah, yeah! As much as you can know it.
This isn't what I expected.
What did you expect?
Well, I don't know.
Some guys that live alone, it can get, eh...
I had the Health Department over this morning. They sprayed the walls down.
You listen to a lot of different stuff.
-Yeah! -That's good.
You see a whole wall of the Butthole Surfers...
-And you read books. -Yeah!
So, you're either a nice quiet guy
who lives alone, or you're a
serial killer.
I mean, my track record for
consciously choosing men is so horrendous that I
if I
ever hooked up with somebody good, it would be pure luck.
I'm being careful, okay?
Okay.
-Me, too. -Okay.
(TIMIDLY) The Water Baby
The midwife knew at first look it wasn't a normal delivery.
The newborn was cold as it struggled and gasped...
(TEACHER) A little louder.
(CONFIDENTLY) The midwife knew at first look it wasn't a normal delivery.
The newborn was cold as it struggled and gasped in her arms.
Wet and cold with a bluish pallor that did not change
when she cleared its throat with her finger.
It fought for air but did not open its mouth.
The mother, sweat-soaked in her bed sheets.
The father, video camera dropping away from his apprehensive face.
Her assistant already on the phone to the life support unit.
All seemed to move in a heavy slow-motion
as if under water.
The midwife was halfway down the hall with the newborn before she noticed them.
A tiny half-moon slit below each ear
lined with a deep-crimson membrane.
Gills.
I've never slept with a drummer.
Is that good?
Probably.
Probably indicates
some level of self-respect I've never fallen below.
So, ex-
fishermen
rate higher than drummers.
There are certain types of fungus that rate higher than drummers.
What brings this up?
I don't know if my daughter's a virgin or not.
She going out with a drummer?
No, no.
No, it's just
I don't know, just thinking.
Have you asked her?
I don't want to know that badly.
Hmmm!
I ask her if she needs underwear, and she considers it invasive.
She's been a major babysitter since she was 13.
She wants her own money, her own room.
Independent.
Ah!
You don't have any children, do you?
No.
But you were married.
Yeah.
I knew that.
It's a good thing you didn't have kids to fight over.
Uh huh!
So.
When's the last time you were involved with someone?
Oh, about a year ago.
Someone from the pulp mill?
An aerobics instructor.
Not Corky!
You know her?
(LAUGHS) Yes!
She works at my gym.
So?
Who dumped who?
She thought I was too downbeat.
(LAUGHS)
-She used that word? -Among others.
Well, she's a real spark plug, that Corky.
Joe, I have to tell you something.
Yeah?
I'm allergic to wool.
Oh.
Like in a carpet, even a blend.
So the blankets and clothes...
I can get rid of whatever...
Oh no, you don't have to. It's just, if you see me itching.
It's no big deal.
I bought new sheets.
In case you came over.
-Really? -Yeah.
Uh-oh!
Maybe this is a terrible idea. You can veto it, if you want.
Some guy.
He's really nice.
They're all very nice, right up until you say they're
scum and shouldn't be allowed walking the streets.
This will be fun. It's like a nature thing.
Please.
You like him, you don't like him. Whichever.
You don't really have to deal with him again. It's totally my business.
The why do I have to go on a trip?
Consider it a favor to me.
It's important he know you're more than a rumor.
I'd rather stay a rumor.
Anyhow, you already know him. You work with him.
Joe Gastineau.
Is there some problem with him? He seems really nice.
Is there something I should know about?
He's fine.
He's not the guy you like out there?
Oh, Noelle.
Honey, honey, he's my age. He's older.
What did you think could happen?
Nothing did happen, did it?
Oh, give me a break.
Maybe this is good, huh? Maybe it's a sign.
We don't usually like the same type of guys.
Oh, sweetheart, if I knew you were interested in him.
But I didn't. Did I?
So you can be mad at me. But not that mad, okay.
This isn't a willful boyfriend swiping type of thing.
It's something different.
Hey.
You do this for me. I'll love you forever.
-She's a good kid. -Yeah.
It's a...
She's funny.
Really?
In a morbid kind of way, yeah.
So do you find her attractive?
I never thought about it much.
She's a kid.
Noelle!
Am I sharing sleeping quarters with you or with her?
It's up to you.
Hi!
You two know each other.
I'm gonna go down below and get things squared away.
Some coincidence, huh?
Yeah.
So, you like boats?
I don't know. I've never been on them much.
Well, we're gonna cruise up north a ways
maybe see some whales, and seals, sea lions.
My mother hates boats.
Anything you do outdoors that's fun, she hates it.
Yeah.
And she's allergic to wool.
Yeah, she told me.
You allergic to anything?
My mother's boyfriends.
Hey! It's terrific down there.
Yeah, Bobby's got a real nice operation going.
I love boats.
Bobby!
Hey, Joe! Terrific, you made it.
Yeah.
Bobby this is Donna De Angelo and her daughter, Noelle.
-Hi. -Hi.
Hello.
They're gonna come along for the first leg of the trip.
Ah.
Great! Terrific! We'll take the scenic route.
(INAUDIBLE)
The first night
you maybe slap some water on your face
take your clothes off, crawl under the sheets.
Seems like minutes before they yank you out of bed.
You pick the money fish out of the web, ice 'em down, make another set.
Second night, you maybe take your jacket off
sleep with your boots on, on top of the rack.
Third night, you might not make it below.
By the end of the week, you just look for some place safe to lean on
and close your eyes for a few minutes.
-I've slept on fish. -Ha!
Sounds like hell.
People get hooked on it.
God knows why.
It's the thing itself, you know?
You go out.
You find the fish.
You pull 'em out of the ocean.
You're right there with it.
Everything else is second hand.
People work in canneries.
People sell real-estate, T-shirts.
What if you couldn't sing anymore?
What if you had to work, like, in a record store?
So you liked it.
Yeah.
And it was dangerous, and you got off on it.
Yeah, I guess I did.
Noelle is studying to be a nuclear physicist.
Very funny.
You could if you wanted to. You're smart enough.
Right.
She's been in a new school system almost every year.
But she's a really good writer.
How would you know?
I've read your stories.
When I was 12.
You still write, don't you?
Hey, everybody. Weather Service says we've got a gale coming down on us.
We're not gonna make it to the narrows.
Is that bad?
If we put it back around here, the mountains will knock down a lot of the wind.
-It's not a good anchorage. -You been in there?
No, but...
Well, if we stay out here, we're gonna get hammered.
How's the kid?
Do you want some water? To rinse out your mouth.
No? We could try another one of those pills.
No.
What are these cuts?
They're just cuts.
Just cuts? How did they get there, honey?
Oh God! Maybe I got 'em at work.
Sweetheart people don't...
We're going to this inlet and drop anchor for the night.
When it calms down, I'll throw on a couple of steaks.
You all right?
Frosh phenom, cans 30 in overtime upset.
Soft Sensation leads St. K to the state finals.
He's got those scars on his knees.
This is Jumpin' Joe Gastineau we're talking here.
The Houdini of the hardwood. The Beethoven of the bank shot.
He was good, huh?
John Wooden sent one of his scouts to look at him.
Is that someone I should know?
In basketball, it's like God sending the Angel Gabriel down to check out your moves.
When Joey graduated, they retired his number, retired his locker
bronzed all his old jock-straps, stuck 'em in the trophy case.
High school.
The game's changed a lot since then. Now I'd just be another guy.
Right.
This tofu burger thing, how does she like it?
Mealy, medium mealy or black and crispy.
I don't think she's very hungry.
When this was still a territory, there would have a hanging
if you tried to eat anything made out of bean curd.
She is picky about food.
At home if I scramble her an egg in the morning, she makes me feel like a criminal.
(BOBBY) If your own kid can't make you feel like shit, what's the point!
No meat?
No meat, no fish, no dairy.
Oh, food Nazi.
I could scrape some green stuff off the anchor chain and heat that up for her.
Listen.
You hear anything?
No.
Nobody comes back here.
I thought I heard a motor.
Listen, Joe, we got a problem.
I'm sorry, I should have asked.
Don't get me wrong. They're nice, they're terrific, but this guy I'm meeting.
Guys, actually.
What's going on?
It's complicated.
Tell me.
I was in a situation.
I invested in some real estate that didn't turn out quite the way I'd hoped.
There was a cash flow squeeze.
These clients owned an organic food business.
I took 'em all the way up from Baja to Glacier Bay
and they're high the whole time. But nice, you know.
At the end, we get along pretty good and
they gave me a bonus. A pound of hash, right?
-Bobby. -Primo stuff.
They said how, if I wanted to, if I was that kind of guy
how easy it would be for me to, you know...
Oh, Christ!
They connected me with someone who connected me with someone else.
I brought up a couple loads over the last few years.
It's a piece of cake, right?
The money gets me out of a jam.
It's just hash.
It's not crack or heroin.
Are you carrying drugs on board?
No, Joe.
I'm not.
That's the problem.
Last time I'm up off Cape Caution
a Canadian patrol boat comes racing out after me.
I get paranoid, I dump the whole batch.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars. I get nervous, and it's fish food.
Turns out they had me confused with some other boat.
Somebody reported 'em running too close to a pile of humpbacks.
These guys, Joey, I don't know that much about them.
But they don't fuck around.
They think I sold it on the side, that I'm holding out.
They arranged a meet in Baja.
I get nervous again, I smell a setup, I don't show.
I come up here, my home turf.
I contact them, arrange another meeting.
Tell 'em we'll work it out.
That's where we're headed?
Yeah, I got it all worked out. A payment schedule.
Get a mortgage on the boat, mortgage on the house.
I figure they'd rather get their money back, right? These are businessmen.
What am I supposed to do?
Huh?
I told Theresa, Joey. She left me.
She took the kids, went across to Tijuana to her sister's.
You gotta help me out of this.
You bring me on board, and you don't tell me shit.
I can't do this thing alone. I gotta have somebody backing me up.
Just for them to see I got somebody behind me, I got family, whatever.
I mean, who else can I trust?
But the women.
We go by Tenakee Springs first thing tomorrow. We drop 'em off there.
They were gonna fly back anyway. Have a plane pick 'em up there.
Joe!
You stay up here for a bit. I'll figure out something to tell them.
You save my ass on this, man.
You don't deserve it.
I don't know, I just feel funny.
Not as funny as I'm gonna feel sleeping in the same bed with you.
Come on, you used to all the time, it wasn't that long ago.
It was that long ago.
It was in another lifetime.
It could be kinda fun.
Look. If we weren't trying to impress some guy, we wouldn't even be here.
What do you mean "we"?
-You know what I mean. -I'm just...
(KNOCKING) Hey!
Hey, there's no room but come on in.
How you feeling?
A little better.
Good, the wind's gone down so it should be pretty calm.
Tomorrow we're gonna swing over to Tenakee and
drop you off there.
-What's that? -It's a little town...
No, that, upstairs?
(VOICES)
Did somebody come on board?
No.
(GUNSHOT)
What's that? What's happening?
(GUNSHOTS)
All right, follow me. Whatever happens, follow me.
(WHISPERING) Swim for shore.
(SHOUTING)
(GUNSHOT)
Keep swimming.
(GUNSHOT)
Keep going.
Are you all right? Come on.
Go up. Up!
Up here.
Come on.
What the fuck is going on?
Somebody shot Bobby.
What? Who shot him? And why?
I don't know.
He told me he was in trouble, just now.
What are we gonna do?
Take your clothes off.
What?
You gotta get your wet things off of you're gonna freeze.
-Hurry up. -You have to go get help.
There's nobody on this island. Nobody. Now help Noelle.
I'm cold.
If they come after us, we're gonna have to move. Put your shoes back on.
I don't have any.
I can't believe this is fucking happening.
Night doesn't last too long this time of year. We're gonna be all right.
Turn around, get your shirt off.
Scrunch down, scrunch down.
All right.
Rub her, rub her.
I can't breathe.
Shh!
Shh! Shh!
They're coming in.
Here. Get on my back.
(WHISPERING) Get the clothes.
(JOE) Hurry up.
The boats are gone.
Both of them.
Do you think they'll come back?
There's no way to know.
Look, I'm sorry.
I didn't have any idea until last night that something was wrong.
Do you think they killed him?
Yeah.
Where are we?
It's a little inlet
on the
backside of the big island.
Is that like up Shit Creek without a paddle?
Yeah, pretty much.
Now, I think we should head towards the channel.
While it's still light, and hope we run into a stream.
We'll be okay for a few days without food, but
water is...
Here, try this.
What are you going to use?
Don't worry about it, I'll just be careful where I step.
This is not happening to us.
Well, it could be worse.
It's not that cold yet.
And I've got my knife.
Christ, wait a minute.
We can have a fire.
I'm not sure. Smoke. They might not...
I'm not gonna let her freeze like that, not again.
Yeah for white folks to leave the mainland, well
they usually had some kind of scheme.
People used to raise foxes
for the pelts, you know.
It was a big deal for a while. Watch yourself.
Why come out here?
Well, land was available, I guess.
They would hunt and fish, try to grow some things.
Over here!
Somebody lived here.
Tomorrow they'll miss us.
Noelle won't be in class.
Nobody will miss me in school.
Well they'll miss you at your job. And Joe, and I'm supposed to sing at the Nugget.
It'll be a few days before people are likely to start calling around for us.
Bobby wasn't keeping radio contact, so nobody knows we cut in over here.
How long does it take you to starve?
I don't know.
Depends on, you know, what shape you're in
and what else you're doing.
You remember that fast that I did in Idaho? How many days was that?
-You cheated. -I did not!
-All right I had some tomato juice. -Then it isn't a fast.
Well, I'm starving now.
How long will it take us to get to the channel?
A couple of days. Maybe more.
Days?
I think we should hang here where we've got shelter for a while and
make sure those guys don't come back.
And then we can start a signal fire on the shore.
And people come here to fish?
No.
Nobody does anything on this island.
What about this stuff?
No, I don't think so.
That batch there that you've got, that's good.
-And you can look under the rocks for crabs. -All right.
But when are we gonna light the signal fire?
I think we could risk it tomorrow
and we find a place that doesn't go under when the tide comes in.
"My diary."
-So are we gonna eat that thing, too? -Sea cucumber.
-Lots of protein. -Can you hand me some of that algae?
-Sea lettuce. -Okay. Thank you.
It tastes like rubber.
Frankie steams them in white wine and ginger
with a bit of saffron couscous.
It's one of the appetizers, I memorized them.
Well, if we're here for a while I'll rig something up for cooking.
(SPITS)
Sorry.
Here, chew this, real slow.
"My name is Anne Marie Hooke and this is my diary.
"Papa and Mother and I have come here to make a go at the fox farming trade.
"If this pans out, says Papa, next year I can go back to finish with school.
"I offered to get on at the cannery to help out when we were in town
"but Papa says there's too much trash working there.
"He was a logger but
"fell while he was chopping and now has headaches and dizziness that prevent him
"from any of the trades other men pursue.
"This way, he says, we can live in the great outdoors and
"operate our own business at the same time
"which is every man's true desire. Mother doesn't care for it.
"We have transported a dozen breeding pairs of blue pelt foxes and
"put them in their pens. They are lovely to look at but nervous, and I need
"to mind my fingers when I am near them. When the vixens are ready to bear
"we will separate them to be alone with their litter. Papa is building a fish trap in the
"stream, as he hopes to catch the returning chum for fox food.
"I expect it will be a hard life but work is scarce back in town and
"Papa's spirit was getting low. Mother goes on about how she will miss female company
"and that I will have to be her special friend.
"I know that Papa thinks he has been a disappointment to her and sometimes
"she doesn't do much to hide it. I will be lonely here, I can tell, but
"it should be a great adventure like Caddie in Caddie Woodlawn .
"I will try to be a faithful writer, dear diary, and tell you my innermost thoughts."
Read some more.
Tomorrow night.
We may not be here tomorrow.
I found it. I'll read it when I want to.
Well, we'll have something to look forward to then
like a soap opera.
Sounds like we're movin' in.
Well, there is no telling how long it's gonna be.
Well, we're gonna be all right, aren't we?
We're gonna be fine.
(SHOUTING)
Help!
Help somebody, please!
Somebody help me!
Help!
Help me! Help! Help!
Who the fuck is that?
(INAUDIBLE) Are they on the boat?
What boat?
(GASPS)
Are you okay?
Yeah.
What's the matter?
How you can't always save people.
We're gonna need to feed this a couple of times a day, okay?
When the sky's like this
it won't be easy to spot, but on a clear day...
So, what if it rains?
Well if it rains or the tide comes in too high, well
we'll start from scratch.
And we hope that somebody sees this and wonders what the story is?
Somebody who doesn't want to kill us.
It's a possibility.
Gee, you two are a perfect match.
Doom and gloom.
-There's no use pretending. -Yes there is!
We're on a camping trip!
We're on a survival school camping trip!
I mean, this is what they call quality time, isn't it?
This is what they mean.
No distractions, no media stuff we just
we just get to know each other, we gnaw the bark off a few trees.
I mean, people pay money to come on trips like this!
You know, if you assume that bad shit's gonna happen, bad shit happens.
I just don't see the point.
Well, the fish go in through here
then they can't turn around and get out.
That's the idea, anyway.
All this wire's kinda brittle though.
Where'd you learn all this stuff?
Oh, my old man taught me.
You did lots of stuff with him?
Well, when he had something to do, and he needed someone to swear at, he took me along.
My father's a composer. My real father.
Good.
How long did you live with him?
I didn't.
She split up with him, you know, before.
Oh.
Bobby was your half brother?
Yeah.
Did you ever live together?
No.
We'd see each other around.
He was a lot younger.
Different friends. Different life.
I've got two half sisters and a half brother.
Oh yeah, what are they like?
I never met them.
They're pretty little still. I saw them in a picture.
He was in People magazine... my father.
So you don't visit?
She doesn't want me to.
So you just write letters and phone calls, huh?
No.
You don't think we're gonna get rescued, do you?
"The house is small, but cozy now that we have cleaned it up and made it our own.
"I have my own room and at night I can hear the owls calling back in the woods
"and our foxes yipping when something wild comes by.
"There are blueberries everywhere.
"My fingers are stained purple with them, though Mother insists I will be attacked
"by bears if I stray too far from the house.
"Papa's headaches are better and I help him clear the fish trap and prepare
"the food for the animals.
"It is unpleasant, sticky work but must be done.
"I have gotten stronger handling the skiff and Mother chides Papa
"for making a boy of me
"but I don't mind."
"The days it doesn't rain are God's glory
"and most of our vixens are close to giving birth.
"Some days I will go for hours without speaking
"and feel I am changing
"perhaps possessed by the soul of some long dead Indian girl
"or perhaps the spirit of a she-wolf.
"This morning I snuck up on Papa felling a spruce for the fireplace and
"watched him for a long time without him seeing me.
"Perhaps I shall learn to become invisible.
"I made blueberry pancakes.
"Mother says, if she eats any more fish, she will grow fins and swim back to town.
"At night she has me kneel with her to pray."
You gonna read us some more?
(WHISPERS) Yeah.
"The terrible birthing has begun.
"We think one of the vixens ate her litter.
"The kits, the ones that survived
"are lovely ones, their eyes are open.
"Papa told me not to handle them but when he is gone I do.
"Their heads are squarish and fluffy."
Fox babies?
Isn't that enough?
Don't want the bears to dig him up.
Sorry you had to see this.
Killing somebody for money.
Yeah well by the middle of the winter here people kill each other just 'cause their bored.
Bobby took a risk
it didn't work out for him, that's all.
Winter has locked us in its icy embrace.
The pelts of the animals are thick and bluish
and our home is blanketed with snow.
Papa calls it "Limbo"
because it sure isn't heaven and it's too cold to be hell.
Mother wondered about purgatory, but he said no.
Purgatory has an end to it.
"Don't torture me so," said Mother.
The salmon we dried up has run out.
The kids are eating solid food now and it's hard to keep up with them.
Papa went to the other side of the island and shot a pair of sea lions
but he could only bring one back without tipping over in the skiff.
I had to help him with the crosscut saw, breaking it down to pieces
that we keep in the shed.
Papa said it's just meat, but I tried not to look at what I was doing.
When Papa rode back, the other sea lion had been gotten to by a bear.
We put a piece of the frozen meat in each of the pens
and the foxes fight over it and gnaw at it
and the outside melts from the heat of their little tongues.
Mother won't deal with them anymore.
She has grown silent with the shorter, darker days
and only now and again will she break out into one of her Bible songs.
She asked me to join her, but we don't harmonize well.
"I have a dream about Fox.
"He is a young man who comes to me on snowshoes
"dressed in blue pelts.
"His skin and hair are dark. But his eyes are ice blue.
"All the others here are paired he says: Papa and Mother
"the sires and the vixens
"but I am alone
"and you can't let that continue.
"Sometimes in the dream he stays with us
"but usually he picks me up and carries me to his own island.
"Papa
"says, if we can get the animals through the winter, they are a gold mine.
"He says fortunes have been started on less.
"He says that, if he keeps having this dizziness, I will have to go hunting with him
"the next time.
"The burns from where Mother hit him with the bacon grease
"are only pink now. Healing
"though the hair doesn't grow on that part of his jaw."
"I am sewing a sampler."
You don't have to worry about it burning up this way, just flip it over after a minute.
-Did you put the trap back? -Yeah.
Great.
Good day for planes.
Nobody's coming.
Don't be negative.
In two weeks, how many planes have we seen?
Zero.
We heard that one.
Oh, there'd be more if they were looking for us here.
What's that supposed to mean?
Bobby probably told people at the dock that we were headed in a different direction.
He thought people were after him.
-People were after him. -Yeah.
-Stupid. -Noelle.
Trying to impress your boyfriend, drag us out on a boat...
Look, I am cold
I am hungry, I am dirty and I am scared shitless just like you are
but I'm trying to help us get through this thing.
I shouldn't be here! I shouldn't be in this state! I shouldn't...
Nobody is to blame for this!
Yeah, right.
And when you are of age, Noelle, you are free to fuck up your own life, but until
that time I'm afraid it's my job to do it for you.
You could help me with this.
-Ah! He's not my father! -Yeah, thank God for that!
Oh, what's that mean?
Your father would have gone off picking berries or something
-and that's the last we would have seen of him. -That's not true!
How do you know? You were maybe in the same room with him twice!
-Because you wouldn't let him! -Ah honey, come on, if he thinks of you once a year
-I'd be surprised. -Every Christmas he sent me a bike! He sent me a watch!
-He sent me a doll house... -I sent the bike!
I sent the watch. All of it.
When you were little I figured you had...
You have the Easter bunny, you have Santa Claus
you should have a father in California that sends you stuff.
(SNIFFING) I hated that doll house.
I know you did, sweetheart.
But you wouldn't let me exchange it because it was from him.
"I was the one who found them.
"It was time to clean the scat from the pens, so I had the buckets and the shovels
"and then there was blood everywhere in the snow.
"All of them torn and smashed, even the little kits.
"'A bear', says Papa but when has a bear gone into a half a dozen different pens
"without breaking the gates?
"Mother says nothing
"but she's only a black spot these days and refused to celebrate Christmas.
"I dreamed that Fox came and was angry for what we let happen.
"Then he held me down on the snow and I felt his hot breath on my face.
"Felt it bitter in my throat
"and felt his ice eyes cutting into me.
"I wish...
"I wish he would come soon.
"Mother
"sleeps with me now and it is cramped and tense.
"You would think that
"another body
"under the covers would bring warmth.
"But I awake feeling drained, like she has pulled all the heat from me.
"I am doing the cooking now and my eyes are always red from the smoke.
"The wood is too big for the cook stove but the ax has gone missing and
"we can't break it down.
"Mother says Hell is a cold place.
"Maybe
"I am the soul, not of a she-wolf
"but of a soaring bird
"that flies south every winter
"and my heart
"is so sick
"because I am not supposed to be here in this cold
"this dark, this wet.
"Maybe I am like the air in this house.
"The air that does not move when Papa and Mother pass in silence.
"That smoky air that
"smells of wood or bacon.
"We threw the animals on the rocks for the tide to deal with.
"Papa cried."
(SOUND IN THE DISTANCE)
They're coming!
(SOUND OF AIRPLANE) (UPBEAT MUSIC)
Donna!
Careful!
You folks picked a hell of a place for a clam bake.
We've been stuck here forever. We've been stranded.
-Any more of you? -No, no, it's just us.
We were on Bobby's boat, that's Joe's brother, and he was murdered.
I'm not sure who did it. We jumped off at night.
Couple of fellas came in looking, and we hid.
And then they pulled anchor.
Damn.
How long you been here?
Week and a half.
We've been living in what we found of an old house, we've been holing up there at night
I was hoping you people could help me.
My radio's shot. I'm low on fuel and
it's getting into bad weather.
Your radio's gone.
Crapped out on me a half hour ago. Not even static.
Tide's going out fast. I wanna have turned this thing around, try to get outta here.
Send help.
Well would you take my daughter then, she's sick?
I'd love to but I can't handle the weight.
No no no, she barely weighs a thing.
I barely got a fighting chance as it is.
Sorry ladies.
Here.
You wanna help me with this thing?
I've got a first aid kit in here.
No food, though.
I'm really sorry to hear about Bobby, man. I used to party with him up in Haines.
-So what's the story, Jack? -What's what story?
Who sent you?
Just have to spend one more night out here, honey, okay?
And then he'll come back and get us.
Couple of guys, Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown.
Never seen 'em before, but I don't think they're up here to save the whales.
They laid some serious money on me to poke around and see if I could spot three people
-roughing it in the Boonies. -And if you saw 'em?
Go back and tell 'em where.
So why'd you land?
I'm on the level about the radio and the rest of it, Joe.
I was hoping to find some sport fishermen with a radio and a cooler full of brew.
If I'd have known the deal about Bobby, I'd have turned 'em in.
You have to trust me on that one.
Hang in there, ladies! I'll be back with the cavalry tomorrow.
(SOUND OF PLANE ENGINE)
We're gonna make it.
Yeah.
Well, last time I heard he was flying out of Anchorage
kicking square halibut out of a cargo plane.
-What's that? -Marijuana bales.
You fly over a spot in the water and somebody signals you with lights
or they give you a code over the radio and you dump your load and
people down below fish the bales out and take them on to the next stage.
-He's a drug dealer. -He's whatever pays best and what he can get away with.
He hit on me a couple of times at the bar. He seemed like a really nice guy.
I'm not saying people don't like him, I'm just saying I don't trust him.
You think he might tell those men and bring them back here?
I don't know.
I don't believe him about the radio.
And uh...
we've got some personal history.
Like what?
His brother drowned on a fishing boat, and it was my fault.
He wouldn't do that to us.
-He's not a killer. -How do you know?
I've looked in his eyes. I can tell some things about a person.
Look, we don't have any choice!
You are sick, it's getting colder, we can't stay here!
Well, nobody's gonna show up for a while if it keeps up like this.
Not in a plane. Not in a boat.
It's got to stop some time.
Sooner or later.
Humor me, okay?
All right, it was worse yesterday and the day before.
The signal fire's probably out.
-Well, as soon as it clears, we'll get it going again. -Okay.
Hmm.
-Joe. -Umm hmm.
It's blank.
What is?
It's blank.
Look, to the first few entries.
(MUMBLES)
The foxes haven't even had their babies yet.
We won't bury her on the island. (SNIFFS)
She made me promise.
She whispered it... she hissed it
in my ear one night when she laid hot beside me in bed.
"Promise me."
She wouldn't listen to anything else.
We had come back from looking for deer, Papa and me
we saw signs at the salt lake but nothing to shoot at.
I was putting his rifle back where he hid it in the shed roof
when I heard him cry out.
He wouldn't
he wouldn't let me in at first
though I hollered and struck at the door.
He opened up
when he'd got her down on the table
but
I still saw the black mark around her neck
where the cord was.
The fire had gone out
so our breath was showing.
Papa and me
white, long sighs of grief
and her mouth open
and hair crispy to the touch.
We wrapped her in her afghan and then I
I got the fire going while Papa just sat.
Nothing to say.
Later, we found a note and she told how
the animals were Satan's hand maidens
and how their sharp little eyes
would not give her peace
so she killed them
and then threw the ax in the woods.
"We have looked into ourselves," she wrote
"and what is there condemns us."
We'll take her off the island come first thaw.
If Fox comes
padding through the trees
he will find us gone.
That's it?
(SNIFFS) That's it. The last entry.
-Poor thing. -Who?
Little Anne Marie, there.
Her mother didn't love her enough to stick around.
She was crazy.
But still
she left her daughter.
I would never do that.
No matter what.
(DONNA HUMMING A TUNE)
Kinda look forward to her being sick.
It's the only time she lets me hold her anymore.
That's some kind of fever.
It's in her lungs.
We have to get her out of here.
You really think he might bring people back to kills us?
I hope I'm wrong.
If...
When we get back
I still have some dates up north.
-And I'll only be gone for... -She could stay with me.
And so could you.
You're not sick of us?
You're not sick of me?
There's nobody in the world I'd rather be stranded in desperate circumstances with.
We should take our time with the furniture moving part.
You know, she pretends not to
but she gets her hope us for me and then when it doesn't work out...
I'll take care of her.
(WHISPERS) All right.
(SOUND OF AIRPLANE IN THE DISTANCE)
There it is.
Looks bigger.
-Room for all of us. -Or those men.
To hell with it. I'm not staying here.
Donna!