Authors: Bonnie Bryant
Stevie (25 page)
LISA
What?
STEVIE
Veronica diAngelo.
CAROLE
(scoffing)
No way! Even Veronica wouldn’t have the poor judgment to try to get in on the hunt at the last minute—not after she was so officially disinvited a week ago. Are you sure it was her?
Stevie rubs her forehead and shakes her head in confusion.
STEVIE
It’s early and I could be wrong. But I don’t know another chauffeur-driven Mercedes in this area, and I know I saw one. It was
pulling out of a parking lot not far from here. It was heading back toward Willow Creek when I saw it.
CAROLE
I’m sure it was all in your imagination.
CUT TO
EXTERIOR Just outside the stable. A large truck is pulling into the driveway. A terrible din comes from the back of it—barking and baying. Students, including Stevie, Carole, Lisa, and PHIL, pour out of the building to see.
PAN TO
CLOSE-UP on Phil, who is smiling gleefully. The three girls are standing near him.
PHIL
Methinks the hounds have arrived!
CUT TO
STEVIE
(whispering to herself in happy disbelief)
This is real! The hunt is really real!
FADE OUT
FADE IN ON
EXTERIOR Cross County Stables. It’s a short time later—the sun is a bit higher—and the Pine Hollow horses have been unloaded from vans and the students are in the process
of saddling them. Everyone is rushing around getting ready or helping others get ready. Stevie is helping a cute little girl, MAY, tighten the girth on her pony’s saddle.
STEVIE
… and that’s why it’s so important to always do your homework, May.
Stevie gives a last pull on the girth, then steps back and brushes off her hands.
STEVIE
(kindly)
That should do it. Wait here, okay? I’m going to go get Topside. We can start out together in the hunt if you want.
MAY
(thrilled)
That would be great! You’re the coolest, Stevie. And thanks for all the tips about doing my best in school. You’re a true inspiration.
Stevie smiles and walks across the crowded stable yard. On the way, she passes a small paddock where the HOUNDS are milling around, making a lot of noise. The hounds’ owner, CHESTER, is standing nearby talking to MAX, who looks slightly worried. Stevie pauses nearby, sensing that something is going on, and listens.
MAX
Why are they making so much noise?
CHESTER
The fox must have been right through here. They’ve picked up a scent for sure, and they’re ready to go. If they’re this excited, the fox must be nearby. This may be a short hunt.
Stevie frowns at that. Then she moves on toward TOPSIDE.
FADE OUT
FADE IN ON
EXTERIOR Same location a little while later. All the RIDERS are mounted and gathered in one area. Max is walking around inspecting them. MR. BAKER is also present, as are Chester and his hounds.
CHESTER
(addressing the riders and indicating his hounds)
These guys are ready to go. Are you?
The young hunters all nod and/or cheer.
CHESTER
Then let’s be off!
PAN TO Max. He pulls a short brass horn out of a bag, raises it to his lips, and blows a rapid one-note call. As he finishes, Chester releases the hounds. The hunt begins. The hounds
leap forward dramatically. However, they soon pull up and start retracing their steps. Soon all the hounds are running around in circles in the stable yard, yipping and barking and howling, dashing beneath the horses, and generally going crazy. Stevie approaches Chester, who is riding near her.
STEVIE
What’s the matter?
CHESTER
(looking confused)
It’s the hounds. They should be following the scent, and Mr. Baker was sure it would head over to the east.
PAN TO
CLOSE-UP on one particular hound. He puts his nose to the ground, takes a few tentative steps forward, and begins a new kind of bark.
CUT TO
CHESTER
(excited)
He’s got something! It’s a find!
CUT TO the hounds. They are all beginning to follow the first hound’s lead. They all follow their new trail—right into the barn!
CUT TO the astonished faces of Mr. Baker and Chester.
MR. BAKER
(indignant)
No way was a fox in there!
CHESTER
(a bit irritated)
Something
was in there.
PAN OUT to WIDE-ANGLE SHOT of the barn.
In a FAST-MOTION ACTION SEQUENCE, all the riders urge their horses forward and follow the hounds into the barn. For a moment, they disappear from view. Then we see the hounds emerging from the far end of the barn, with forty riders just a few steps behind them. The camera PANS to follow the action as the hounds next lead the riders up onto the front porch of a nearby house, stopping just short of going inside, and dashing off the far end of the porch. Then they dash around the rear of the house, through a flower garden and under a clothesline full of flapping white sheets. The riders follow, accidentally crushing most of the flowers and trampling the sheets in the mud, as MRS. BAKER emerges from the house and shakes her fist at them. The hounds are still running, scurrying under a swing set and through a vegetable patch. The riders follow, dodging the swings and most of the vegetables.
CAMERA returns to NORMAL SPEED and PANS to CLOSE-UP on Chester’s confused face.
CHESTER
Something’s definitely wrong.
PAN OUT to show entire scene again as the hounds run toward the road. They stop dead at the roadside and begin sniffing around aimlessly. Then one hound crosses the road and howls. He has picked up the scent again. The hounds follow it along the edge of the road for about a hundred yards as the riders follow. The hounds stop again.
CUT TO
CLOSE-UP on Stevie.
STEVIE
Let’s see if it picks up on the other side of the road.
Another FAST-MOTION ACTION SEQUENCE. The hounds follow the track as it zigzags, jumping back and forth from one side of the road to the other. This goes on for about half a dozen jumps. The riders look more and more perplexed as it continues.
Return to NORMAL CAMERA SPEED
PAN TO Chester.
CHESTER
This is weird. Smells don’t leap across roads. Something’s fishy.
CUT TO Stevie’s face. She looks a bit suspicious, and a bit unhappy. She is wondering exactly what is going on.
FADE OUT
FADE IN on
EXTERIOR Near Cross County. Actually, just a little way down the road from previous scene. The hounds are sniffing about, still following the bizarre trail near the road. The adults in the group (Max, Mr. Baker, Chester) all look very perplexed and disgruntled. Stevie still looks slightly nervous and confused. All the other young riders look happy—they are having fun, joking and racing back and forth after the hounds. It is evident from their frequent glances at the adults that they are amused at the adults’ obvious confusion.
CLOSE-UP on Stevie.
STEVIE
(muttering)
This has been going on for half an hour. I have a bad feeling about this.…
PAN TO
CHESTER
The hounds have the scent again!
PULL OUT to reveal the hounds. They are racing in a straight line, dashing along the edge of the road. The forty riders follow, looking gleeful (except for the adults and Stevie, who still look perplexed). The hounds run along the road for a minute, then take a sharp right turn into a parking
lot. The only vehicles parked in the lot are a bunch of trucks and trailers labeled EMERSON CIRCUS.
CLOSE-UP on Stevie bringing Topside to a halt on the edge of the lot and looking around.
STEVIE
(muttering)
This is the same parking lot where I saw that dastardly Veronica diAngelo’s Mercedes this morning.
(looks at the circus trucks and gulps)
What if the hounds wreck the circus like they did Mr. Baker’s garden?
PAN TO the hounds. They are not going anywhere near the circus trucks. Instead, they are dashing wildly up to a lamppost in the center of the lot. Then they stop.
PAN TO the riders, with Max near the front.
MAX
(sarcastically)
Are we to assume the fox climbed the lamppost?
CHESTER
(unapologetically)
They just follow their noses, Mr. Regnery. Their noses tell them something stopped here.
MR. BAKER
(also sarcastic)
If the fox went to ground here, we’ve got a new burrowing and digging tool that the construction industry is going to want to know about.
CLOSE-UP on Stevie, who is beside Carole and Lisa. She is listening to every word the men say, clearly very uncomfortable and anxious about what is happening. Her great sense of responsibility is telling her that she may, somehow, have had something to do with what is happening.
Lisa leans over to whisper to both her friends.
LISA
(amused)
Boy, this fox is cleverer than you were, Stevie!
Carole laughs. Stevie doesn’t.
STEVIE
(with a gulp)
It’s not a fox.
CAROLE
(confused)
If it’s not a fox, what is it?
STEVIE
(grimly)
It’s my brothers and Veronica. I don’t know what they’ve done, but it’s something. This whole thing just smells of trouble, and I’m the cause of it.
LISA
(dismayed and disbelieving)
No way. They promised!
Stevie turns to give her a sharp, suspicious look.
STEVIE
What do you mean, “They promised”?
Carole gasps, looking guilty. Lisa looks guilty, too. She gulps.
LISA
(slowly and reluctantly)
Carole and I were worried about them. We met them and asked if they were plotting revenge.
STEVIE
(with disbelief and dismay)
You talked to my conniving brothers?
CAROLE
(naive and earnest)
Yes, we did. We wanted to be sure they wouldn’t do anything to ruin the fox hunt. They said they weren’t mad at you. They
promised they wouldn’t do anything. In fact, they were really interested to learn about the hunt. They asked us all kinds of questions.
CLOSE-UP on Stevie. We should be able to see her heart sink, almost literally, as she realizes the huge mistake her trusting friends have made.
STEVIE
Exactly what did you tell them?
LISA
Everything. We explained the differences among a mock hunt and a real hunt and a drag hunt—you know, that kind of thing.
Understanding dawns on Stevie’s face. Then guilt and dismay as she realizes that she has ruined the fox hunt for everybody just because of her silly feud with her idiot brothers.
STEVIE
I have to go talk to the adults. It’s the responsible thing to do.
She leaves her confused friends behind and rides toward Max, Mr. Baker, and Chester, who are still arguing and look quite angry.
STEVIE
(interrupting)
I know what’s happening here.
The three men fall silent and turn to look at Stevie. She looks nervous but brave. The light of responsibility is burning in her eyes.
STEVIE
It’s all my fault. My brothers and Veronica are angry with me, and this is their way of getting revenge. You see, my brothers know all about drag hunts. And I saw Veronica’s family’s car in this parking lot early this morning. I’m sure what she did was to take a bag of something that would draw the hounds and pull it behind her, on foot or maybe by bicycle. Can’t you just see her laying the trail across Mr. Baker’s porch and under the clothesline?
MAX
(nods slowly)
I guess I can.
He turns to Chester, looking apologetic.
MAX
And I guess we owe you an apology. Your hounds weren’t the problem here after all.
CHESTER
I knew there was something fishy about it all. These hounds will always follow a good line—unless something distracts them, like a fresh drag.
Mr. Baker turns toward Stevie with a serious look on his face. Stevie gulps, then looks sad, suspecting she is about to be formally disinvited from the rest of the hunt.
MAX
Would you excuse us for a moment, Stevie? We need to talk.
Stevie turns Topside and rides away from the adults and all the other riders. She looks very sad. Aimlessly she watches the activity going on near the circus trucks.
STEVIE
(softly, to herself)
I guess I might as well see what I can of the circus right now. Because once Mom and Dad hear about what happened, none of us will get to go.
She sighs sadly.
PAN TO an area in Stevie’s line of sight, just behind one of the larger trucks. An animal handler is guiding a big old BULL ELEPHANT as it works to set up a tent. First the elephant picks up a long pole and carries it to the center of the
parking lot, where the circus’s roustabouts are waiting to set it upright.
PAN BACK TO Stevie, who is watching the whole thing with a smile on her face, enjoying the sight. Then, a moment later, her nose suddenly wrinkles. She leans forward to pat Topside, addressing the following comment to the horse.
STEVIE
It’s a good thing I like to ride horses instead of elephants. Imagine what it would be like to muck out an elephant’s stall!
Stevie laughs and holds her nose.
MAX (offscreen)
Stevie, could you come over here?
Stevie suddenly looks nervous and guilty again. She rides back to rejoin the men.
MAX
We’ve had a little talk. We agree with you that this has come about because of your actions, and you know we have talked in the past about the problems with practical jokes.
He pauses to glare at Stevie. However, his glare isn’t totally convincing. One corner of his mouth keeps twitching as if he’s fighting not to smile.
MAX
One thing we know about you, Stevie—aside from your intense dedication to your academic studies, that is—is that if there’s a tricky problem, you’re always more likely than anyone else to come up with a tricky solution. That’s why we’re giving you a shot here. Can you think of a way to salvage this situation? To get the hounds back to Cross County and off the scent of the drag so they can pick up the line of a fox? You have one chance to save yourself, Stevie. This is it.
