Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 14:13:29 +0100 Reply-To: Grail Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Grail Subject: Amanda (Act One Scene Four) ======================= Scene IV. The crashed coach. ======================= Enter Duncan and the Innkeeper. Innkeeper : Odds bodkins! I fear we are lost! I cannot see coach crashed. Duncan : Then we are in trouble, for I cannot See the end of this forest. It is as thick as a very thick thing. Innkeeper : Ah, wait. What is yonder large Yellow object? Aye, behold! The Coach which we seek, with its wheel So badly injured. Duncan : Then we are indeed lucky, for the rain gets Worse by the minute. Where are the passengers? Innkeeper : They wait under the trees. Stay, And I will fetch them. Exit Innkeeper. Duncan : An immortal's life is not what it was, For I was once a proud Scots warrior And now do skulk in the rain Beside a crashed Cornwall coach. But I do seek this man Hawk, In the hope that I may take his head And thus his money. It may sound Scheming, but Hawk is a villain And the money will be well spent To buy me a new kilt And Amanda some dresses. Enter Innkeeper, Penelope, Dorinda, Richard, Squire, and Lady Alana Devaux Innkeeper : Sire Macleod, allow me to present Miss Penelope Panchax, Miss Dorinda Cavendish, Young Sir Richard Ryan, Venerable Squire Peabody, And finally Lady Alana Devaux. These are the passengers Of that unhappy coach. Richard : Sire, I delight in seeing you, And hope you'll rescue us. Dorinda : Hush lad. Sire Macleod, I do apologise for the young man, For he is foolish, And hath spent too much time in America. Richard : Dorinda is my Quaker governess, And she holds me on too tight a leash. Duncan : Young Richard, show her respect, For she will teach you the ways Of a cold and devious world. Miss Cavendish, the pleasure is mine. Alana : Mr Macleod, I am Lady Alana, As the innkeeper introduced us. Can You help our stricken coach? Duncan : I am no wheelwright, lady, But the innkeeper and I shall Do what we can to get you To the inn, where you may rest. While wheelwrights will work On your wheel. Alana : I think that is a noble idea. My gratitude is yours, dear Duncan. Duncan (aside) : This worries me. She looks like She may be imagining hay-like situations With my immortal self. I must Be careful of her. Well, innkeeper, come and we shall Look at yonder coach. Young Richard May come and help us, if Miss Dorinda will give permission? Dorinda : She does. Richard : I shall be glad to help. Duncan, Richard and the Innkeeper go over to the coach and begin to repair the wheel. Squire Peabody : This Macleod seems a rum fellow, But honest and good to come out And help people like us. If I were not so Old and wrinkled, I would help as well. What say you, Penelope? I would know Your judgement, since you are Companion to my wife Angela. Penelope : I am sure 'tis as you say, sir, For I make it a policy to agree with All my employers do say to me. Squire Peabody : Indeed? This I shall note For later reference. But tell me, then, What say you of our predicament now? With the coach thus broken we will Ne'er make the next coach and will Not return to our house tonight. You Are newly-employed and you have Not even met my wife yet. Penelope : Squire Peabody, this is a Shame indeed. We may not sleep at an inn, Yet we have nowhere else to go. We must resign ourselves to shame. Dorinda : Penelope, thou shouldst not be So ashamed of inns, for they are vital To our country fair. Thou canst stay At this inn without fear. Penelope : Thou art a Quaker, Dorinda, and To thee matters of birth and breeding are as nought, But I say the Squire is too high-born For inns, as am I. Lady Alana, do you Not agree with me? Lady Alana : Aye, inns are not for squires And ladies' companions. I myself will Stay with Lady Peregrine, a childhood Friend, now widowed, who lives nearby. Mayhap she will give you shelter Against the shame from which you flee. Dorinda : Thou art too superior, Lady Alana; I say there is no shame in inns. Lady Alana : And I say your Quaker thees and thous Will be the death of thee. Oh, for shame, now I do it too. Squire Peabody : Let us not fight, for it is too cold. Lady Alana, if it be your mind to ask Lady Peregrine for hospitality, and if It be your mind to ask for it on our behalf, Then I thank you dearly. Dorinda, you and Young Richard may sleep at the inn and None of us will have been harmed by our Choices. Look, Sire Macleod and the Innkeeper have repaired our coach. We Will go to Peregrine Castle, and those Who want the inn may go there. Dorinda, Penelope, Alana : Agreed. Duncan, Richard and the Innkeeper return to the little group. Duncan : The wheel is part-fixed. Squire Peabody : We wish to go to Peregrine Castle. Will it take us there? Duncan : Peregrine Castle? Innkeeper : Home to Lady Peregrine and her Betrothed, Mr Daniel Hawk Esquire. The Coach shall take you there, but it needs a Driver. Duncan : In this I am skilled. I shall do so. I am most anxious to meet this Mr Hawk, For I think I may have known him before. Innkeeper : I shall return to the inn, and take Care of your servant, Sire Macleod. Exit Innkeeper. Exeunt Duncan and the others on the other side. -- //=== ||==|| //\\ || || u4d41@keele.ac.uk OR ksc15@keele.ac.uk // ||__|| //__\\ || || \\__|| || \\ // \\ || ||=== ...nearly 20 but definitely in love... =========================================================================