140 INT. VESTRY. DAY. 1944
BEA and FOGARTY walk into the
vestry of the church. BEA is carrying her swag and an assortment of bags.
FOGARTY (a little annoyed)
...That may be so, Bea, but it was my soap box; not yours.
BEA Sorry Jacko...But the empty grave proves only
the absence of a corpse...
As BEA is talking, she drops one of her bags. It falls apart and hundreds of gum leaves of different varieties scatter on the vestry floor. She continues speaking, sweeping the leaves together with her free hand.
BEA ...And the
presence of Christ’s burial clothes proves only that he must have got about
naked after his resurrection...
FOGARTY removes his
vestments. BEA throws her swag on the floor.
BEA Did you know,
Fogarty, that there are 197 different varieties of eucalypt in Australia?
FOGARTY No, I didn’t
actually. No.
BEA There are.
All different.
BEA looks at her swag.
BEA Mind if I
doss down here for a few nights.
FOGARTY Not at all.
BEA Thanks. Dad’s
seven quid doesn’t stretch as far as it used to...I hear he’s in trouble with
the government again...for saying we shouldn’t be fighting the Germans. Ironic,
isn’t it...
FOGARTY (interrupting)
Bea!
BEA Yes.
FOGARTY You haven't
heard!?
141 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY. 1944
BEA stands in the doorway of
a hospital room - looking at her sick and prematurely aged father lying in bed.
He is being attended to by TWO NURSES. When he sees BEA his eyes light up.
MR. MILES Beatrice!
BEA Dad.
MR. MILES indicates to the
NURSES that he’d like to be left alone with BEA. As they leave, he and BEA look at each other.
MR. MILES You’ve put on
some weight.
BEA nods and walks to the
side of MR. MILES' bed; powerful emotions welling within her.
BEA How are you?
MR. MILES Bloody awful.
Doctor says I should be dead already.
How about you? Read something in
the paper the other day...Some trouble with the authorities in Bourke...
BEA Read
something about you, too.
MR. MILES manages a weak
laugh.
MR. MILES They want to
try me for treason. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make the trial. The farce
is almost done...
Tears have welled in BEA's
eyes. She and her father look at each other for a long moment, tears begin to
stream down BEA's face.
BEA I love you
dad.
MR. MILES reaches out and
takes BEA's hand. BEA takes it and squeezes it between her own, looking at him;
crying. MR. MILES attempts to sing - his voice soft; thin.
MR. MILES "Hushabye,
don’t you cry..."
They look at each other.
142 EXT. FOGARTY'S CHURCH. AFTERNOON. 1963
Through a crowd of well
dressed wedding quests (tuxedos, furs, jewels, etc.) BEA can be seen standing
on the footpath a short distance from the church - her swag beside her, a dilly
bag hanging from her shoulder, a sheath knife and tin mug hanging from her belt
- looking out into the passing traffic.
FOGARTY, in his finest clerical garb (along with several other similarly
dressed church dignitaries), chats with wedding quests as they arrive in
expensive-looking cars, casting an occasional worried look in BEA's
direction. Organ music can be heard in
the church.
BEA looks a little
anxious. It is late in the afternoon and
there is no sign of SYLVIE. Her eyes begin to light up as she sees a taxi
approach and pull up in front of her. SYLVIE gets out and looks out across the
top of the taxi with a mournful expression on her face.
BEA (worried) Well...?
SYLVIE grins and puts a felt
hat with corks hanging from it on her head. BEA's old face lights up.
FOGARTY is chatting with a
very distinguished looking woman - LADY HALIFAX - his back turned to BEA now as
she rushes up to him; excited.
BEA Fogarty...
FOGARTY turns and sees BEA
and SYLVIE, in the background, loading Bea’s swag into the taxi. He looks relieved.
FOGARTY She made it?
BEA Yes.
FOGARTY Splendid...(INTRODUCING
THEM) Lady Halifax...Beatrice Miles.
BEA (warmly) Hello.
LADY HALIFAX nods; a little
shocked. BEA takes FOGARTY’s face in her
hands and kisses him. LADY HALIFAX's jaw
drops.
BEA Thanks,
Jacko, for everything.
FOGARTY My pleasure.
They look at each other
fondly for a moment. The assembled hoi
polloi are all, now, looking at them with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
BEA See you in a
few weeks.
FOGARTY nods and smiles.
BEA rushes back to the taxi
just as three shiny white hire cars pull up the bridesmaids and members of the
bride and groom’s families.
BEA opens the taxi door and
is just about to get in then she freezes for a moment, thinking; then rushing
as fast as her old arthritic legs will carry her back to FOGARTY.
BEA Take me to the
wedding, Jacko.
FOGARTY (a bit startled)
This wedding!?
BEA Will you?.
FOGARTY Um...well...er...
BEA Please? I haven’t been to a wedding in thirty years.
FOGARTY If you
promise not to...er...smoke or interrupt.
BEA I’ll be a
credit to you.
143 INT. FOGARTY'S
CHURCH. DAY
In solemn procession, with
all the pomp and ceremony of a high Anglican Church wedding, the clerics,
servers and altar boys (swinging silver urns of smoking incense), make their
way down the aisle of the church. BEA
and FOGARTY appear, walking side by side as the sounds of organ music and
choral singing swell. The assembled
guests are amazed. BEA puts her arm
through FOGARTY's and looks at him.
FOGARTY smiles and together, arm in arm, they walk down the aisle. The triumphant organ music and singing build
and carry over to:
144 INT/EXT. COUNTRY ROAD. DAY
BEA hanging out of the window
of the passenger’s side of Sylvie’s taxi as it travels through lush green
countryside, past majestic white gum trees and flocks of sheep. She looks back at SYLVIE, who shakes her head
and smiles. MUSIC OVER.
145 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD. NIGHT
The music continues. The cab is parked by the road. SYLVIE is
sitting by a campfire while BEA swings a billy of tea around her head in
vigorous bush fashion.
146 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD. DAY
The music continues. Parked
on a bridge, SYLVIE looks down at BEA,
knee deep in the river, slapping wet clothes against a rock.
147 INT/EXT. COUNTRY ROAD. DAY
The music continues. We see
BEA and SYLVIE through the dirty windscreen of the cab. On the radio aerial are
BEA's bloomers. The wind is filling
them. A truck goes drives by. One of the men in it leans out of the window.
TRUCK PASSENGER Yea, Bea!
BEA waves to him. Dust flies
up, engulfing Bea's clean bloomers. Beside BEA, on the seat, is a newspaper,
with a photo of Bea: BEA MILES MAKES RECORD-BREAKING TAXI TRIP.
148 INT/EXT. COUNTRY ROAD. DAY
The music continues. Close to
the outskirts of a country town the cab slows as it approaches TWO YOUNG BOYS
(seven years old) on bicycles - one white and one full-blood Aboriginal. The
BOYS turn, see the dusty brown bloomers blowing in the wind and then BEA'S
wonderfully smiling face in the window as the taxi glides past.
149 EX. GIBSON DESERT. DAY
Close on BEA, sitting on the
ground, surrounded by wildflowers. She cuts the stem of a flower lovingly and
opens a book of pressed flowers she gave to JOHNNO all those years ago. As she
takes the flower and presses it between two pages the camera pulls back and
back and back to reveal BEA, a small figure in a vast landscape of wildflowers
that stretch as far as the eye can see.
150 EXT. CLIFFS
OVERLOOKING OCEAN. DAY
Close on BEA. She is looking
at something; her face filled with memories. Behind her, just a few feet away,
SYLVIE is standing. Deep in the background Sylvie's cab and behind it, desert.
BEA stands at the top of a
cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean.
BEA Dad said we
used to be joined to Africa. You could take one step from here and you’d be in
Transvaal...
She looks longingly over the
ocean, the seagulls, the clouds.
BEA We used to be
part of the world. And then we floated
away.
We see wider and wider shots
of her standing on the cliff, the sea between her and us, in the afternoon
light.
151 INT/EXT. CAR/CITY STREET. PERTH. DAY
A tight shot of BEA's tired
old face as she sleeps in the front seat of Sylvie’s taxi, her head propped up
against the door, resting on her folded great coat. Through the window of the car, as it moves
slowly down the streets of Perth, crowds of curious onlookers can be seen
looking in through the window. Faint sounds to applause can be heard. The shot
widens a little to reveal the taxi full, almost to overflowing with
wildflowers.
The sounds of cheering
increase and BEA begins to stir. She wakens and sits up, looking out of the
window in amazement.
The taxi is almost at the
Town Hall, in front of which is a large crowd and a banner across the road that
reads WELCOME BEA. SYLVIE pulls open the sunroof of the car and says something
to BEA.
The crowd laughs and cheers
to see:
BEA, standing on the seat,
the upper part of her body poking through the roof of the car, waving like a
Royal visitor - her face breaking into a joyous young girl's smile.
THE END
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