Script: Part 4  

SCENE: France, September 1918, on a train
RED CROSS WOMAN 2: Germans will eat humble pie for sinking the Lusitanian now that the Yanks have joined up.

ANNE: Its about time.

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: Bar-le-duc next. Were getting off at that field hospital.

ANNE: Then well catch the next train, meet up at Ypres in the morning. Why isnt the train stopping?

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: The town must be under siege.

ANNE: I have to get off. My husband might be stationed at the field office.

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: Stand back! Its far too dangerous.

ANNE: I have to get off! I have to get off.

MAN: Grab the baby. Grab the girl.

ANNE: [helping a man get on the train] Give me your hand! Here, reach! Here! Give me your hand!

JACK: Miss Shirley?

ANNE: What? Get off of me.

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: Close the door. Get back.

ANNE: OPEN IT! My husband may be back there, PLEASE!

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: Theres nothing left, even if you could get off. [to Jack] What happened back there?

JACK: The Jerries started trying to level the town, British mine fields went off everywhere. The field hospitals about the only thing left standing.

ANNE: How can I get back?

JACK: Its a cesspool; not many civilians make it this far.

ANNE: Ive been tracking my husband for months. If hes there, Ive missed my only chance to get off the train.

JACK: Life is full of missed opportunities.

ANNE: What are you doing here?

JACK: Ive been working as a war correspondent, back and forth between London and Belgium for a year.

ANNE: Putting the name Jack Garrison to good use?

JACK: It hasnt hurt. American papers love the sensational.

ANNE: Im sure they do.

PASSENGERS: What now?

RED CROSS WOMAN 2: The Germans have ambushed the line.

GERMANS: Open the door.


SCENE: Outside the train
ANNE: What in the name of God is going on?

JACK: Quiet down, will you? Well be shot because of you. Here. Go in the trench. Hurry. We have no choice but to hide here until morning.

ANNE: I have to find a way to get back to the field hospital at Bar-le-duc.

JACK: Maybe that is the only safe place, as long as its been cleared. Get rid of that uniform.

ANNE: Why?

JACK: Jerries will shoot you on site like those poor wretches back there.

ANNE: Why? They were with the Red Cross.

JACK: Red Cross volunteers equals supplies. The Jerries are in worse shape than the Limeys right now. Theyll kill you as soon as they look at you if they think youve got morphine. Colette, Anne Shirley.

ANNE: Anne Blythe.

JACK: Anne, this is Colette.

ANNE: Hello.

JACK: She doesnt speak English. Familys scattered. I planned on getting them to safety, but plans changed for worse. [to Colette] Tu dors, maintenant. Cherie, tu dors.

ANNE: Thank heavens, not everythings lost. How old is the baby?

JACK: Barely a year.

ANNE: I never thought Id live to see the day Id thank you, Jack Garrison. Colette, pour le bebe. Pour vous. Here, pour vous. Pour la manger.

COLETTE: Merci, madam. Merci.

ANNE: Jack?

JACK: No, thank you. Anne, I meant what I said, back in New York. I wanted to help you.

ANNE: Your life has obviously gone in one sweeping direction and mine in another. I meant what I said, too. [sensing movement above] Mr. Garrison. Mr. Garrison.

JACK: Its a German horse to boot.

ANNE: Maybe we can hitch it to a wagon and help us get back to the field hospital.

JACK: Anne. Anne! Theyre blowing up the train back there. Come back! You cant be seen, Anne!

ANNE: [explosives go off] No!

JACK: Are you hurt?

ANNE: No.

JACK: Thats the train theyre blowing up. Hell of a way to come up with story material, huh, Mrs. Blythe? Well hitch the horse to a wagon and move out at dawn, if its clear. Move!


SCENE: Next day
LIEUTENANT: Theyve broken through, Captain. They gassed us and broke through.

CAPTAIN: Fix your bloody bayonets, officers!

ANNE: We have to go help.

JACK: No, Anne, wait! [to Colette] Cover the baby. Anne, wait! Those fumes are toxic. A couple of whiffs of that stuff and you wont get up. I cant move them around here anymore.

ANNE: What are you saying?

JACK: Ill catch up with you at the field hospital.

ANNE: What?

JACK: If I dont show up, something happened.

ANNE: Jack, where are you going?

JACK: I need you to get Colette and the baby to this address in London.

ANNE: What are you talking about?

JACK: I have an apartment there. I keep it as an office. Its all paid for.

ANNE: I cant leave France while you run off and get yourself a good story!

JACK: I wish it were that simple. This war has to end and I have my part in it. The field hospitals down in the valley. Ho, Sergeant! Sergeant, is General Pershing on that train? I need to talk to him. Wait! Damnit! American soldiers: courage, but nothing upstairs. Madame Blythe vous protg tous les deux.

ANNE: No.

JACK: Shes a good woman.

COLETTE: Jack, amene-moi avec toi.

JACK: Non, ca suffit, ca suffit. Au revoir. Au revoir, big guy.

ANNE: Wait! Wait! YOU ARE DESPICABLE! If I ever get my hands on you!


SCENE: Field Hospital
GILBERT: Hell live, if we can find a quiet truck for him that doesnt shake.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Picked up a whole company half and hour ago, Doctor. No one noticed them missing until the gas attack this morning.

JACK: General Spence has orders that we move to Neufchateau by this afternoon.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Well never get all the casualties in from the field by then.

GILBERT: Well, then, were going bring back the one that we have a hope of treating, not these poor souls that are gone by the time we get them. If were overrun, theyll capture this hospital for supplies. Just give them all a good dose of morphine in the truck so they can sleep. My orders stand.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Right.

GILBERT: Dope them up. Ill be outside.

NURSE: Doctor will be on soon, love.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Come on, lets get out of here.

SOLDIER: Dr. Blythe, Colonel Marshall wants you to head up to the clearing station. Headquarters has been shelled. Theyre up to their eyeballs in fatalities. We can take this ambulance. [he leaves; Anne arrives]

ANNE: Here, Let me take him. No, no, no, its all right. Please, help me. This womans exhausted. No, its all right. My husband might be here. He can help us. Ill get food. Excuse me. Excuse me, Im looking for Dr. Gilbert Blythe. Hes my husband.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Up there, love.

ANNE: GIL! Gil! [bombs explode, Colette falls] Are you all right, Colette? Please, please, take the baby in the tent, please. Help me!

SOLDIER: Theres no time to spare. Were being bombed. Matron, round up all available drivers.

ANNE: Lay her down there. Okay. Its all right, Colette. Its okay. Its all right. Its going to be all right.

COLETTE: Promettez Promettez... Promettez, moi. Promettez. Mon bebe Promettez

ANNE: Promise? Yes, I promise.

COLETTE: Garde-le

ANNE: I promise.

COLETTE: Garde-le

ANNE: I promise.

FEMALE V.A.D.: We need every able-bodied driver, madam. If youre Dr. Blythes wife, you can meet him at the next station.

ANNE: Shes gone.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Step this way, dear.

ANNE: What about this baby?

FEMALE V.A.D.: Field nurses should look after it. Follow me.

ANNE: What about the girl?

FEMALE V.A.D.: Stretcher-bearers duty, dear. Maps and whatever supplies are in the canteen up front. [explosions] Get moving! This place is going to be destroyed.

NURSE: Right. Cripes, that was close. Here, let me take him. Whats his name?

ANNE: Dominic.

NURSE: Thank God you can drive, miss. When them shell-shocked stretcher-bearers get behind the wheel, Lord.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Avoid mud holes at all costs. Abigail, do navigate for her.

ANNE: What will happen to him?

NURSE: Maybe find a home, the church in the next town if it isnt blasted to smithereens.


SCENE: Neufchateau, September 1918
FEMALE V.A.D.: The field hospitals through there. Unload these trucks as quickly as possible.

NURSE: Little tykes bloody hungry, he is. Here, looks like hes yours from now on.

ANNE: Ill get you fed. Ill try and find some food. [to priest] Merci, mon pere.

PRIEST: Soyez prudente. Cest un miracle le petit qui a survi. Et quest devenue la maman?

ANNE: Elle est morte.

PRIEST: Et vous, mon enfant, dou venez-vous?

ANNE: Ah, je Canadienne. Je suis Canadienne.

PRIEST: Ah, Canadienne. Cest tres bon. On a beaucoup de Canadiens ici dans notre village. Vous cherez une famille pour soccuper de lenfant, cest a?

ANNE: Oui. Ah Sil vous plait, watch him. Garde-le, sil vous plait, while I help les malades. [to nurse] Have you seen Dr. Blythe yet? Hes supposed to have returned from the clearing station.

NURSE: I know they were trying to evacuate the station when we left. None of them troops have returned yet.

ANNE: Oh, Im so close. I just saw him.

NURSE: Youll meet up again, love. Calm down.

ANNE: Im sorry. Ive been searching for months. Did any of the American troops come here?

NURSE: Sorry, love. All of this noise about Yanks joining the war and I havent seen one of them set foot on French soil yet.

ANNE: I see. Can I help?

NURSE: Some of those blokes are in dire pain. Go slip one of these under their tongues with a little of water. Morphine.

ANNE: [to a soldier] Hello.

FRED: Anne? Anne? Anne.

ANNE: Oh, my God. Fred, its

FRED: It is you.

ANNE: Fred,its... Oh, Fred, we thought wed lost you.

FRED: Not yet.

ANNE: Oh, gracious Providence. I would have taken you for dead.

FRED: Can you find someone to treat this?

ANNE: Yes, of course, of course. Fred, here. Here, Fred. Put this on your tongue. Youre all right. Ill come back. Oh, gracious Providence. Oh, Fred. Hang on. [to nurse] Nurse, nurse. Can you get a someone to help clean and disinfect this soldiers wounds?

NURSE: Sorry, dear. As soon as the doctors free.

ANNE: All right. Fred.

FRED: Oh, how are my little ones, Anne? Hows Diana?

ANNE: Everyone was fine, I think. Ive written to Diana, but Ive been traveling around so much that she doesnt know how to... Fred, Im prattling on.

FRED: They say I cant fight anymore. Can you get me home?

ANNE: Gil can help.

FRED: Gil?

ANNE: I saw him at the field hospital. Hes coming from the clearing station. All right, Fred? Right. [to Red Cross woman] Is anyone going back to Bar-le-duc?

FEMALE V.A.D.: Theres nothing left. The Germans completely razed the field hospital.

ANNE: Did you see my husband leave?

FEMALE V.A.D.: I dont know.

ANNE: Didnt he leave the clearing station? Please, tell me what happened. [a bomb explodes]

FEMALE V.A.D.: Get down!

ANNE: Fred! Fred! Oh, my God. Oh, no, no. Dominic! Mon pere! Father! [seeing him dead] Father. Dominic. DOMINIC! [she finds him] Here we go. Here we go. [seeing Fred] Help me please, Im going to have to get this man loaded on. Ill help. Ill help you. This way. Where is this convoy departing for?

SOLDIER: All the way to Boulogne, I think. I have to get a few of these casualties back to England.

FEMALE V.A.D.: This whole town has to keep moving. Ah, Mrs. Blythe, we need you over here. Get that ambulance over here! Step this way. Hurry now.

ANNE: Please, my husband didnt get out, did he?

FEMALE V.A.D.: I cant say. Get in, please. Weve no time to even think.

ANNE: No, wait. Wait, please. The baby.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Give it up to one of the townswomen, please!

V.A.D. DRIVER: Oh, its like a state of siege, isnt it? You cant take a mum away from her baby. Will you get out of the bloody way; were trapped!

ANNE: Any of these vehicles from Bar-le-duc?

V.A.D. DRIVER: No, this it is. Everyone else left in the field is either captured or killed.

ANNE: I have to go to the convoy thats departing for Boulogne. I have a friend in the truck and I have to see that he gets out.

V.A.D. DRIVER: Well, you just relax. It cant get any worse for him.


SCENE: Nighttime
ANNE: [trying to soothe Dominic] Its okay.

FEMALE V.A.D.: Load the men back on. We cant afford to spend the night in this area. Come on. I need someone over here.


SCENE: Boulogne
ANNE: He needs to be fed. Can we get some milk?

NURSE: You help unload. Ill take him to the infirmary.

ANNE: Wheres Officer Blythe? He was in your truck.

FEMALE V.A.D.: If you want to find somebody, lady, get back on the next convoy to the front, but stop wandering around when these men are clamoring for help!


SCENE: In tent
SOLDIER: [in pain] No, no, no, no.

NURSE : Its all right. Its all right. Settle down now. Let me help you. Soldier, listen to me. Look at me. Youve got to listen to me.

ANNE: Nurse, Officer Blythe?

NURSE TILDA: Hes over there, maam.

ANNE: Doctor, I know this man. How can I help him?

DOCTOR: Well, I had to amputate the arm to remove the gangrene. Ive done all that I can do. See that hes lucky enough to get shipped out.

ANNE: Fred? Fred?

FRED: Whats going to happen to me?

ANNE: Were going to get you home. Fred. Were going to get you home. I saw their faces when you went missing. Were going to get you home to your children. [to nurse] Can I get him on the next ship out of port?

NURSE TILDA: All right. Cover him up and dont let anyone hear him cry.

DOCTOR: Were leaving for Paris, Tilda. The station at the embassy needs massive help.

ANNE: Excuse me. Can I trouble you further?

NURSE TILDA: Yes.

ANNE: Can you take this note to the embassy, in chance that my husbands whereabouts become known to the Red Cross?

NURSE TILDA: My mans missing, too. Its all we can do but try.


SCENE: Heading for the ship
ANNE: Ill get you home, Fred. Youll see your loved ones. Youll be all right Fred.


SCENE: On the ship
ANNE: Here, Fred. Fred, here. This is the first stage of the journey home.


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