Episode 35: The Catbird Seat

(Open in the street before dawn, we see Harry Manning asleep on his horse, in front of the hardware store. Inside we see Seth, Sol, Trixie and Charlie gathered. Seth is pacing and looking at Harry outside. Cut to the Bella Union saloon, we See Cy is watching these going’s on as well, and the newest whore is with him. )

Janine: Quiet.

Cy: I notice too, stupid, we’re each of us breathing in and out. (Leon enters from the street.)

Leon: It’s Bullock, Star, Utter, and Trixie. And Harry Manning’s outside on a sorrel.

Cy: What’s the whore doing with ‘em?

Leon: I don’t know. They ain’t fuckin’ her.

(Cut to Al’s room, Dolly is lying in bed as Al is dressing.)

Al: What the fuck is afoot in that hardware store? Facing the dawn united, we’re even odds for disaster, let alone in fuckin’ factions. Knowing him for an errant maniac, I’ll still not believe Bullock doubts me. “Certain dangers meet to be faced only by the decent and decorous”, or idiocy of that fuckin’ ilk, is what must have captured his thinking, this fuckin’ jerk. I’m going over there. I am going the fuck over. Let them fucking try to exclude me, huh? (He pauses and looks at Dolly in the bed) You know, saying I like you hefty don’t mean you couldn’t stand losing a couple of fuckin’ pounds. (He leaves the office and is met on the indoor balcony by Merrick who has arrived with the morning edition of the paper)

Merrick: Oh. Ah. Ah.

Al: Whatever you’d have me scrutinize must wait until certain cocksuckers have received a piece of my mind. (Merrick backs up in front of Al, holding up the paper.)

Merrick: Of whom do you speak?

Al: Why are you walking backwards?

Merrick: The ink’s not yet dry, and I’d have your immediate attention to the article at the top right corner.

Al: Stop fuckin’ moving then.

Merrick: Oh, thank you.

Al: How’s the fuckin’ ribs?

Merrick: Very painful. Yeah, right there. (Al reads)

(Cut to the street, still dark. Jack is walking past Shaunessey’s. Shaunessey sees him from his office.)

Shaunessey: No rooms to let.

Jack: Only taking the air.

Shaunessey: Well, go away. I’m at prayer.

Jack: If that’s not a lie as I situate on the common, what claim has your piety on my deference?

Shaunessey: (pauses, flustered) Fuck yourself!

Jack: Fuck you, Sir! (continues on) Who’d prevent expedition of one’s life’s disarray.

(Cut to Al and Merrick still on the balcony as Blazanov enters)

Blazanov: Telegram from Mr. Swearengen.

Merrick: A superfluous trumpeting, Mr. Blazanov, as we three are alone. Do I accomplish my purpose, Al, as to the shooting at Mrs. Ellsworth? Short of accusation, do I waft the odor of complicity at Hearst’s direction…

Al: Give me the telegram.

Merrick: To settle not only upon his clothing, but as it were, on the man himself, in the very fabric of his being.

Al: (Reading the telegram) This is bullshit!

Blazanov: I’m sorry.

Al: “23 men hired, all on our way.” This squaw-fuckin’ idiot proves in eight words he’s incompetent and a fuckin’ liar. He can’t have Adams’ telegram more than four hours ago, yet he expects me to believe that in four hours he can prudently assess the qualities of 23 hires. And you know what “on our way” means, huh?

Blazanov: No.

Al: “On our way” means they’re getting drunk and blown in some saloon in Cheyenne and running their mouths about this big fuckin’ filibustering expedition they’re being commissioned for under the command of the famous Hawkeye. The laziest, most shit-faced whore-mongering cocksucker to ever piss my money away!

Blazanov: Please do not strike me.

Merrick: Have you finished the article, Al?

(Cut to E.B.’s room at the hotel. He is standing where Hearst last left him, with Hearst’s spit now dried on his face)

EB: That I have not wiped his expectoration from my cheek is understandable. I’m threatened with death if I do. That I stand immobile these hours later speaks of a flaw in my will. Surely this is not the culminating indignity. There remains, for example, receiving his regurgitations or swallowing his feces! Would I stand stoic…still? (pauses) I am going to fuck you up. (Wiping his face) I’m going to fuck you up. And I’m the kind of cunt you’ll let close. (He leaves his office and we see Richardson praying to the antler god.) Quit it, Richardson.

(Cut to Al and Merrick again)

Merrick: Is it all right then, the article?

Al: Perfect. Fuckin’ wafts just the way you want it to. (He descends the stairs)

Merrick: I’ll go ahead and publish then.

Al: I gotta get to the fuckin’ hardware store!

(Cut to the street, where Al and Jack meet up.)

Al: Jack.

Jack: Young man? At the soul’s dark hour?

Al: Name one that fuckin’ ain’t. (E.B. exits the hotel and approaches.)

EB: Mr. Langrishe.

Jack: Yes.

Al: (indicating the hardware store) We’re going in there, E.B.

EB: Shall I join you, as we all seem up and about?

Harry: (We hear Harry farting, he startles himself) Excuse me…(they all look at him.) Gentlemen. (the trio moves to the hardware store) Waiting for the Sheriff. We campaign in Sturgis. (He yawns and nods off again as a Pinkerton rider passes him)

(The trio enters the store.)

Al: A meeting, I gather, of the upper fucking crust exclusively. No hoi polloi need apply.

Seth: I ought to have called you. What events in the camp would argue I be called back from Sturgis is what we are trying to decide.

Sol: It’s not a meeting at all, per se.

Al: Now I don’t feel so horribly injured.

Jack: The meeting per se is what he’ll not be kept from.

Al: Jack Langrishe. He’s all right.

(Cut to Hearst’s room as he meets with the rider and another Pinkerton.)

Hearst: You showed perfect judgment, Sir. I’d keep from the camp that your janissaries have arrived.

Rider: We’ll quarter at your find.

Hearst: Ah…will you drink?

Rider: No, thank you.

Pinkerton: I will.

(Cut to the hardware store)

Sol: Shall we leave it being generally vigilant? Under very specific circumstances we’ll wire you to make early return.

Seth: Yes. That’s exactly it.

Sol: And those would be? (Everyone looks at Seth, who pauses)

Seth: Any further shooting out of the ordinary.

Charlie: Like at Mrs. Ellsworth, definitely.

Seth: Hearst-initiated horseshit of any sort.

Charlie: Intimidation or the like.

Sol: If it looks to eventuate in immediate violence. Otherwise why try even to make it to Sturgis for the speeches?

Trixie: Hearst-initiated bullshit is inevitable is his point.

Jack: Surely sir, you leave in the certain knowledge that you are the camp’s irreplaceable man.

Trixie: He don’t need no further encouragement in that way of thinking.

Charlie: Comes to sending a wire, I put that Russian ill at ease. (Al opens the door to leave)

Sol: Oh, I do all right with him.

Al: My meetings … I provide refreshments.

(They all leave as Seth readies to leave the camp with Harry. Cut back to Hearst’s room)

Hearst: You were shown the tent of the man I want killed first.

Rider: Looked fine, how he wants to work it.

Hearst: Ah.

(Cut to the Countess’ room in the hotel as Claudia knocks on the door.Both are still in their nightgowns)

Claudia: I’m leaving.

Countess: Come in.

Claudia: It’s too much. He’s too cruel.

Countess: Come in.

Claudia: Brazenly sends the other packing, to brazenly install her replacement in the theater.

Countess: How was he brazen with the one who left?

Claudia: No one with eyes could fail to recognize their connection. And now brazenly…

Countess: Us recognizing his connection to the one who left does not mean he was brazen.

Claudia: Fine. Fine then. I just came to say goodbye.

Countess: Must I agree he is brazen, for you to not leave the troupe?

Claudia: He has no respect for art.

Countess: Claudia.

Claudia: He hates me.

Countess: No.

Claudia: I was well-received in Denver.

Countess: Ya, very well received.

Claudia: I could have stayed. I could have let you all go on.

Countess: I think you were approached by Millerick.

Claudia: I was.

Countess: Go to sleep, Claudia. No coaches now anyhow.

Claudia: Did he suspect Millerick approached me?

Countess: He doesn’t miss much.

Claudia: He misses everything.

(Claudia leaves, and passes Richardson, still praying, on her way to her room.)

Richardson: I juggled at amateur night.

Claudia: And what are you doing now?

Richardson: Praying for my loved ones.

Claudia: How nice. Lucky them.

(Cut to Ellsworth’s tent at the mine as he is talking to his dog and feeding him scraps)

Ellsworth: Would my conversating with her or lingering after supper have disrupted the little one’s routine on a day that had been disrupted previous? Yes. Already she’d seen a series of people taking up watch to protect that schoolhouse, and how many questions must have occurred to her, because that is a bright child. “What is transpiring that we need guarding from?” And what memories must that have brought back of her own dear family murdered in a sudden fake Indian depredation by shit-heel fuckin’ road agents. Not solely how would I like to be passing the evening, the like. When I’ve left, have I given the mother more calming down to do before she gets the child asleep? Them’s the sort of things is what you have to consider.

(The dog turns to the back of the tent and growls. Ellsworth looks and sees the Pinkerton pointing a gun at him. A look of understanding crosses Ellsworth’s face, just as the Pinkerton fires. The shot hits Ellsworth in the forehead and he falls, dead.)

(Cut to the Gem saloon as Al reads the paper. Dan has his breakfast and is sitting at the next table. At the bar are Johnny and Silas, and Merrick hovers watching Al read the paper.)

Al: Fuck, must you hover, fucking Merrick?

Merrick: I admit to wondering, Al, if you have any further impression of my article.

Al: Didn’t I tell you how well it wafted?

Merrick: If on second reading…

Al: Oh, Merrick, it’s a good article. It’ll no doubt irritate him, fucking Hearst, but I’m wakeful wondering who he’s likely to shoot at next, so with regard to that I’ve gave your article all the thought I need to.

Merrick: Who do you think he might shoot at?

Al: I have no fucking idea, Merrick. I doubt it’ll be long before we find out, and in the fucking interval until we do, I guess I’ll just have to abandon any prospect of finding respite in any part of your rag I could just fucking read without having to evaluate how it fucking wafts! (He gets up and starts upstairs) Oh, which leaves me the solace of contemplating the journeying hither of the intrepid fucking Hawkeye and his 23 fucking reprobates to even the odds in the coming combat. Didn’t tell you that, did I, Adams? Hawkeye’s wire to announce he’s on his way. Does that sound likely to you or does it confirm our deepest doubts about his incompetence and veracity? And mine, in turn, about you that I allowed to fucking vouch for him! (He leaves and Silas looks at Merrick.)

Silas: Couldn’t let him read his fucking paper.

(Daylight now, cut to the meeting hall in Sturgis as Seth and Harry are waiting for the speeches to begin. Harry is counting people as they enter. Jarry is there, overseeing the event.)

Harry: 26…27…28. Uh, not counting them soldiers or Yankton’s commissioner. (A soldier watches them from the window.)

Seth: I won’t be lingering once we’ve finished. If you want to stay and politic, you’ll have to ride back alone.

Harry: I hate what happened in your home.

Seth: It’s all right.

Harry: Your wife good enough to ask me in for breakfast.

Seth: I’m working on my presentation.

Harry: That lovely woman putting her hand behind her for support when I feared she might fall to the floor.

Seth: Would you shut up about it?

Harry: And then, even if only briefly, to have failed to acknowledge it had been my wind, I’d …(Seth gives him a look and he stops. Seth then fixes on the soldier at the window.)

Seth: What’s your purpose here?

Soldier: What do you mean?

Seth: There’s no Sioux around here.

Soldier: Shall I go find some, ask ‘em to join us?

Seth: I’m saying there’s no Fort and there’s no Sioux. Why would they have you bivouacked?

Soldier: Seems like you got me confused for a general. (an official looking man is watching and stands, clearing his throat)

Seth: Don’t be grazing by the windows. Come in and listen or stay the fuck out of sight.

Soldier: I guess you got yourself mistaken for a general. (To his friend) He wants to know what we’re here for.

Soldier 2: We’re here for the election, maybe gonna exercise the franchise. (The official clears his throat again. Seth watches Jarry, who is also interested in Seth’s conversation with the soldier. Harry approaches Seth.)

Harry: Time for us to speak now, Sheriff.

Seth: Have they told you yet who you’re voting for? (The soldier shakes his head)

Soldier 2: Not yet.

Harry: Sheriff, we…

Seth: Shut up, Harry.

(Cut to the street in Deadwood. A wagon is in front of the bank, and several passersby look into the bed of the wagon and shake their heads. As the wagon driver exits the bank and climbs back onto the wagon, we see Alma come out and recognize Ellsworth’s body in the wagon. She is horrified, and sets off down the street. She spots Charlie at the freight office and calls to him.)

Alma: Mr. Utter! Mr…. (sobbing)

(Charlie’s confused, till the wagon passes and he sees Ellsworth’s body in the back. Charlie grabs her and rushes her into the Gem Saloon. Al is on the outer balcony as the wagon passes. He sees Charlie and Alma rushing into the Gem, then spots Ellsworth's body in the wagon. A look of grief passes over his face.. He turns and goes in. We also see Hearst on his roof, watching these events with some satisfaction, then ducking into the hotel.)

(Cut to the hotel hallway as Hearst enters from the roof. Jack is struggling with his room key and looks pretty nervous)

Jack: The key got stuck. (He finally gets inside his room and seems relieved to be away from Hearst. Hearst stands in the hallway watching this, deep in thought.)

(Cut to the Gem as Al descends the stairs)

Al: Ready for fucking Freddie? Hearst let his dogs loose. (They all grab their shotguns) Davey, get to the Russian. Tell him to wire Sturgis. Say to wire Bullock as agreed, huh? (Alma and Charlie enter.)

Alma: (frantic) I want my child.

Charlie: I’ll…I’ll go get her now. (To Al) Mr. Ellsworth, Mr. Ellsworth’s been shot. Mr. Ellsworth’s been killed.

Alma: I want my child!

Charlie: She’ll be here with you before you know it, Mrs. Ellsworth.

Alma: Oh, what did I do to him? (gasping)

Al: We’ll go upstairs, get you a drink.

Alma: What did I do to that poor man?

Al: You didn’t fucking shoot him. And don’t be going off into fucking hysterics, huh? (Alma pauses and looks at Al, then takes his arm and he leads her up to his office) Collect your child, Utter will. Be back with her here any minute. Come on. (As they go up, Jewel appears.)

Jewel: I’m going to make her breakfast.

(Cut to the street as the wagon turns down the alley to Doc’s. Trixie is walking and sees Ellsworth. She is horrified and starts crying. E.B. is watching from the hotel and looks shocked. We see Cy watching from the Bella Union, even he looks shocked and looks up at the hotel, then turns, shaking his head and walking back into his saloon where the whores are gathered.)

Cy: Pinchbeck motherfucker.

(Back in the street, Trixie pulls her derringer from her garter and starts for the hotel. She rips open her blouse, exposing her breasts and walks into the lobby. She walks past a number of people and heads straight up the stairs)

EB: My goodness! Bare-breasted. My word. Who has commissioned such behavior? Who summons you with such power to do his will? (EB is watching the Pinkertons in the lobby as he says this, he’s seeming to try to give Trixie some cover.)

Trixie: (Now at Hearst’s door, knocking loudly) Mr. Hearst? Mr. Hearst? (As she waits for him to open, she reaches down and lifts her skirt up, concealing the gun in one hand. Hearst opens his door and is stunned, his eyes fixed on Trixie’s crotch as she pulls out the gun and fires quickly, striking Hearst in the shoulder and spinning him back. He quickly shuts the door, never having looked at Trixie’s face. She turns and leaves quickly, passing several Pinkertons on the stairs who are rushing up. She leaves her blouse open till she exits the hotel)

EB: (To Trixie as she passes) Did someone interrupt your rendezvous? Did someone else attack him? Cover those things.

(In the street now, Trixie covers herself and stops, looking frightened and confused. She looks up at Al’s balcony, then heads for the hardware store, dropping her gun in a barrel on the way. Cy sees her doing this and seems to understand what has happened. She storms into the store as Sol is working)

Trixie: Give me your fucking poo-butt gun.

Sol: (confused) Why?

Trixie: Fucking shoot me with it if you don’t.

Sol: What’s going on, Trixie?

Trixie: Ellsworth’s murdered, and I fucking shot Hearst, and I don’t think I killed him! (hysterical) Shoot me or he’ll do for all of us. (He grabs her and pushes her out of the store) Shoot me! Shoot me!

Sol: Shh.

Trixie: Don’t you fucking take me anywhere!

Sol: Shut up! (He takes her down the street)

(Cut to the Bella Union, Cy is agitated and yelling at the whores.)

Cy: Stand the fuck up! I piss hard-stole money away to gussy you fucking cunts up. (He tears Tess’ dress and slaps the whore next to her.) Starchy bullshit. And fucking pretend there’s a difference between fat ass snatch and fat ass snatch in a fucking petticoat!

Con: Come on, Mr. T.

Cy: Where are we going, you rummy-faced piece of shit?!

Con: I’m just saying…

Cy: Just saying what? What were you just saying? (Cy is reaching under his coat for his knife)

Con: I don’t know, Sir.

Cy: Weren’t you being this fat twat’s gallant? (He pushes Con away, turns to Con’s favorite whore) Ain’t Con the nuts, fatso? Ain’t it great to have a fucking beau?

(He walks back out front, we see Sol and Trixie rushing down an alley.)

(Cut to the meeting in Sturgis as Seth is giving his speech)

Seth: I’m Seth Bullock. In Montana, I had a hardware bidness with my partner Sol Star, and we do the same in Deadwood, which we came to in ’76. (We see someone handing a not through a window to a man sitting in the back of the room, and whispering to him) I was Marshal and territorial delegate in Montana, and I’m Health Commissioner and Sheriff where we are now. (The note is passed to another man, more whispering) With the hills now part of the new territory, I run for Sheriff of the new organized county. If elected, my intention’s to look to the good and safety of people hereabouts. (The note is passed again, making it’s way to the front, more whispering. Seth is watching this.) I will venture my life (A man in front, now having the note, stands and approaches Seth) that law-abiding persons will be secure in their rights and their property. (Seth nods and the man passes him the note. He reads it.) I have to go. (The room whispers and watches as Seth leaves. Jarry follow Seth outside)

Jarry: What is it, Bullock? What happened?

Seth: Don’t you know? Have they just got you handling the votes? (Seth rides off, leaving Jarry to watch him ride away)

Jarry: The voting, exclusively.

(Cut to the Gem Saloon as E.B. runs in)

EB: He’s dead. Dead! And at my hands! Or the next thing to it.

Dan: Who?

EB: Hearst!

Dan: He’s dead?

EB: I think. (Silas hurries out the front door)

Dan: Boss! (In Al’s office, he stands and heads for the door when he hears Dan yelling)

Al: Excuse me. The gimp’s making breakfast for you, if you ain’t ate yet. Jewel. (He opens the door and leaves.)

Dan: Well, where was he hit?

EB: I don’t know. Trixie shot him.

Dan: Boss!

Johnny: Trixie said she killed him?

Dan: E.B. said Trixie killed Hearst!

Al: You saw him dead?

EB: No. (Al sighs)

Al: How bad was he hurt?

EB: I’m not sure.

Al: Well, how bad did Trixie say he was hurt?

EB: If he wasn’t hurt, wouldn’t I have seen him pursue her?

Al: What you mean is she might not have fucking shot him at all!

(In the street, we see Hearst leaving the hotel with a number of Pinkertons around him)

Hearst: Four steps removed no fucking closer. (Silas sees this, and goes back into the Gem.)

Silas: Boss. (Al looks at Silas and Silas nods towards the street.)

EB: Or w-wouldn’t he have?

Johnny: Wouldn’t he have what?

Dan: Shut up, E.B. (They all walk outside to see Hearst walking down the alley to the Doc’s)

EB: I’m a dead man.

Al: You ain’t gonna be alone. (Back inside, we see Sol leading Trixie in the back door.)

Trixie: I’ve made this fucking walk before.

Sol: All right. (He opens the whore’s room and pushes her in.) Stay here till I get him.

Trixie: Then you get out! Get out with your hovering and fucking clucking! (He closes the door, Trixie is sobbing.) Before hell breaks fucking loose.

(Sol walks out and meets Al coming back into the saloon.)

Sol: Trixie’s here, in back.

Al: Your idea, her coming here?

Sol: My fucking idea, after she did what she did. (shouting) Was it your idea to have her do that?

Al: (calmly) All right. (He walks into the whore’s room and looks at Trixie.) Loopy fucking cunt.

(In the saloon, we see Charlie come in the Sophia in his arms.)

Dan: Mother’s upstairs. (They head for the stairs as Jewel starts up with a tray of food.)

Johnny: Get out of the fucking way, Jewel. (Dan, Silas and Johnny are jammed up behind Jewel, with EB in the rear)

Dan: Here, let me take it up.

Jewel: No, you fucking won’t. (She starts upstairs, Charlie and Sofia are ahead of her.)

Johnny: Oh for Christ’s sake.

(He and Dan hand their guns to Silas, [who passes them to E.B]., and help Jewel up the stairs. Al comes out of the whore’s room.)

Sol: Mr. Utter’s come with the child. (Al goes back upstairs. We see all 5 men, and Jewel, all watching Alma hugging Sophia.)

Jewel: Getting another plate. (she leaves)

(Cut to the school, we see Jane and Joanie talking to Martha in the back of the classroom as the children study.)

Martha: (whispering) Mr. Utter said only that Sofia’s mother had requested her at the Gem.

Jane: (whispering) Rely that something fucked has transpired…(Martha looks at the children) With Mose God knows where, and me likely needed in camp.

Martha: Uh, go ahead, Jane.

Joanie: I’ll stay with Mrs. Bullock.

Jane: (walking to the door) Trouble jumps off, ring the bell. That’ll bring me fucking running.

Joanie: All right. (Jane strps and looks back at the children with affection.)

Jane: Or I guess maybe I’ll just stay instead.

(Cut to Doc’s cabin. We see Ellsworth’s body laid out, and in the back we see Doc working on Hearst)

Doc: I suppose there’s some connection between his condition and yours.

Hearst: That bare-breasted woman who shot me seemed to think there ought to be. (groans, as Doc is digging for the bullet) Shit! Go ahead, knowing I’d appreciate less enthusiasm. Through the years, that fellow’s path and mine crossed several times. I never meant him a moment’s harm, but the natural operation of my holdings and his bad luck brought me to figure in his imagination as some sort of bogey. (he takes drink form a bottle) I expect my attacker was a bawd connected somehow to the man in back before he married so luckily. Likely, she fell victim as he did to imagining me responsible for the change in her situation. (grimmacing) God damn it! Often, because our interests are extensive, people like me are believed the authors of events which may benefit our holdings, when our connection in fact is incidental. God damn it! (Doc finally pulls the bullet out) Whew, ahh. Mmm-hm. Mmm. Mmm. (drinks)

Doc: I have some calls to make. Will your gunmen let me pass?

Hearst: Of course. (Doc starts to get up, anxious to be gone) Don’t you want to dress the wound?

(cut to the hotel, we see Jack in his room looking worried. Downstairs, we see Joseanne the dancre approach the table of the Countess, Claudia and Bellegarde.)

Joseanne: My name is Joseanne. Mr. Langrishe was so generous to say he would install me today in the theater.

Countess: Sit down, dear.

Bellegarde: (pulling out a chair) Oh! We are waiting for him. One of our chief occupations. (Upstairs, Jack suddenly grabs his coat and hat and leaves his room.)

Jack: Mr. Farnum! (Jack passes a Pinkerton on the stairs, and opens his coat to show he’s unarmed) Ah, good day, Sir. Mr. Farnum, a little while ago I heard what I took for a gunshot, and impression, I remark, not on the grounds of its uniqueness, but for the shot having seemed to issue from so near to my recumbent ear…

EB: (whispering) You are not mistaken, Sir.

Jack: …The hallway, that is to say, separated from where I rested only by a wall whose thinness you’ve no doubt had others before me deplore.

EB: The walls do thicken in our west wing. I’ll have a quick look for vacancies. (whispering to Jack) Hearst shot, the wound alas, not mortal. “No help,” as we say at the tables.

Jack: Booth…never went you better. Anon anon, Sir. Anon anon.

(The troupe starts to get up as Jack looks at them them heads out the door, leaving them stunned)

(Cut to the kitchen at the Gem. We see Jewel busy as Richardson enters from behind her with a basket, and startles her

Jewel: God damn it, Richardson. You’re too ugly to be sneaking up on fucking people. (He holds out the basket.)

Richardson: From Mrs. Marchbanks.

Jewel: We got all the fucking food we need. (He continues to hold it out and she approaches him) Who the fuck is Mrs. Marchbanks anyway?

Richardson: It’s Aunt Lou.

Jewel: I guess I’d know her for Mrs. Marchbanks if she took time to introduce herself. (She takes the basket) Tell the arrogant nigger thanks.

Richardson: No hurry returning the basket.

Jewel: Tell her my fucking name’s Miss Caulfield…(Richardson leaves) I think.

(In the Gem saloon, Al is talking.)

Al: The terms come clear. If she’d (Jack enters) keep her property here, she’ll leave, having first hired as many as Hearst has, and who can kill as well as his do and ain’t disadvantaged too, to keep Hearst from killing her, which, by the shots yesterday and Ellsworth butchered today, means her to understand Hearst will not cease endeavoring to do. (Charlie nods) But if she’d herself stay in camp, she must sell her property to him.

Jack: A very pithy rendering.

(He puts his hand on Al’s shoulder and Al smiles. Upstairs, we see Alma and Sophia, alone now.)

Sofia: (whispering) I want to feel his beard.

Alma: Mr. Ellsworth’s with God now, Sofia.

Sofia: I want to feel his beard so I can pray that he’s saying goodbye to me.

(Cut to the school, where the children and Jane are sitting in a circle, playing a game)

James: Duck duck duck duck duck. Goose! (He taps Jane, she jumps up and starts chasing him around.)

Class: Go, James, go! Go, James, go! Go, James, go! Go, James! (He runst around the circle to sit where Jane was.) Yay!

Jane: Aww! Outflanked by a boy half my size. Next time I’ll get you, James.

(Cut back to the Gem saloon as Seth is entering)

Al: Ellsworth’s murdered, head-shot at the Garret find. Your partner’s sweetheart put one in Hearst’s shoulder.

Seth: Where’s Mrs. Ellsworth?

Al: Above with the child. (Seth starts upstairs) With the child.

Seth: I fucking heard ya. (Charlie starts up the stairs after Seth and stops at the bottom.)

Al: (to Jack) He once had something to do with her.

Jack: Reason for his making the case she sell, keep her here for another swing.

Al: Reason… ain’t his long suit.

(In Al’s office, we see Seth enter and go over to hug Sophia and Alma together)

(Back downstairs, we see Doc entering the saloon

Doc: Bullet removed uneventfully.

Jack: Let’s pray he avoids infection.

Al: What did Hearst say of the shooting?

Doc: That some bawd still connected to Ellsworth musta blamed him for the murder.

Jack: Wrong-headed and fallen in the bargain.

Doc: Would you find pretext to let the mother know I’m here?

Al: Bullock’s with her.

Doc: (angry) Shall I shout out and ask it of him? (Al goes upstairs, leaving Jack and Doc to talk)

Jack: Very much in your line, this type thing?

Doc: Yes.

Jack: Not to my taste at all. Time’s past, one’s fled.

(In Al’s office, Seth holds Sofia. Al knocks and enters.)

Al: Doc’s here. Someone fell. (Alma stands and puts her hand on Sofia’s shoulder)

Alma: Will you excuse me for a moment, darling? (Alma leaves Sophia with Seth.)

Sofia: I want to see Mr. Ellsworth. (Seth turns and looks at Al.)

Al: Excuse me.

(We see Charlie, still at the bottom of the stairs, looking uncomfortable. Jack observes this, and turns to pour Charlie a shot. As Jack turns to hand Charlie the shot, Al passes and takes the shot from Jack’s hand. Jack and Charlie exchange looks)

(We see Alma and Doc sitting on a sofa in the upstairs hall.)

Doc: Are you certain that she saw her family dead?

Alma: Yes. I certainly assume she did.

(Cut to the saloon)

Jack: The man I once was, Al, was not formidable, and I am but his shadow now. And yet I’d be put to use. A decoy, perhaps. A weight to drop on villains from above.

(Back upstairs)

Doc:As I heard the account, the child was found inside a hollowed-out tree trunk some distance from the others.

Alma: Having crawled from the carnage and hidden herself, I’d always assumed.

Doc:See, I suppose rather than Sofia crawling unseen from the carnage, the possibility might exist that the family hid her in the tree trunk and then fled that distance before the murderers fell upon them. For the child to have been found having been savaged by wolves, those hours later by strangers, and then taken away having never seen her family again, living or dead…

(Downstairs, Jack pour another shot for Charlie and hands it to him, then motions to Charlie’s sore back.)

Jack: I can fix that. (he holds up his shot) Slainte. (Charlie nods and drinks, then slowly makes his way over to the table where Dan sits.)

Dan: Thought you was near pitching a tent and setting up housekeeping over on that first step. (Silas snorts, Johnny laughs and pours a drink.)

Charlie: (To Silas) You sound like a pig my cousin run off with. (Silas and Dan both laugh. Charlie offers his empty shotglass to Dan.) Get another? (Dan turns to Johnny and gets another shot, then teases Charlie with the shot… holding it out to him then taking it away)

Al: If that cocksucker hadn’t shareholders, you could murder him while you adjusted his back.

Jack: Serpent’s teeth…shareholders. 10,000 would rise to replace him.

(In Al’s office, we see Sophia touching Seth’s mustache as Alma enters.)

Alma: All right, darling. All right. (Bullock picks Sofia up and walks to the door. They all walk downstairs.)

Al: Monitor my thinking, Jack.

Jack: Oh, no warrant as to competence.

Al: Had Hearst wanted this woman killed, she’d be dead already.

Jack: Agree. The husband’s murdered to coerce her to sell.

Al: For the moment, the child’s safe too, huh?

Jack: Pending the mother’s decision…agree.

Al: Safe then to let ‘em go, huh?

Jack: I would, sir. (Everyone stands as Alma enters) Yes.

Seth: Gonna take Mrs. Ellsworth home.

Al: As you think best.

Alma: I wish to thank you again, Mr. Swearengen. (he nods) We are all very grateful. (Al looks a little uncomfortable, glances at Jack)

Al: (to Seth as he passes) Trixie’s with Star at his place. No one knows but Shaunessey, who lives in fucking terror of me, huh? (Seth looks confused) Passages between their places only Shanessey knows.

Jack: (To Alma as she passes) Heartfelt condolences, Madam. (Alma nods at him.)

Sofia: I get to see Mr. Ellsworth tomorrow.

Jack: (drops to his knees to address Sophia) Very good, young lady. God bless.

Al: You take care of them, Bullock. Leave the other to me, huh? Oh, Bullock, you might want to stand guard outside her place.

Seth: I’ll take Charlie as backup.

Al: No no, Hearst ain’t gonna be coming for her. But to bring the matter home as grave, it’d make a case for her selling her claim. Not to jeopardize the tranquility of your own heart. Thank you for looking to them. (They leave, Charlie follows.)

Jack: Nimbleness lad, dexterity.

Al: I’d prefer Hearst’s advantage at arms.

Jack: True, true. The world is less than perfect.

(We see Seth walking Alma down the street, as Hearst watches from his window. Cut to Hearst’s room where he is is with the Pinkerton)

Hearst: The camp is galvanized. People scurry about. They’ve tasks to perform. They feel important. (He turns and looks at the Pinkerton, seeming a little troubled.) I oughtn’t to work in these places. I was not born to crush my own kind.

(Cut to Sol’s room, where we see he and Trixie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.)

(Cut to the Gem as Wu is entering through the back door. A group of whores sees him and moves to the front to get away from him, looking at Wu with disgust)

Al: (stopping Wu before he can enter the bar) Right with you, Wu. In there. In there. First door. (Wu stops) Yeah, in there. (Wu bows his head to Dolly and turns. He enters the whore’s room. Al follows and pauses outside the door.) When he leaves, them that ain’t lining this fucking hallway like he’s the tallest, best-looking white man ever got fucking lucky better prepare for a fucking beating. (Al enters the room. Inside, Al is drawing Wu a picture.) Wu…Custer City…brings back all his Chinks the fuck back to Deadwood. (Wu looks confused)

Wu: Wu…back Deadwood?

Al: Brings all his Chinks back, huh?

Wu: Wu, Custer City, back Deadwood! Ding n amah gai. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday! 10 day, Swedgin!

Al: I am sorry, Wu. I’m sorry I made you wait. But I want you to bring them now. While you’re about your journey, I’ll be trying to conceive some practical use for your countrymen’s arrival besides seeming to swell our ranks. Oh, we’ll give ‘em guns, yeah. We’ll provide ‘em with guns, so any of the slant-eyed bastards know what one is, or, perish the thought, know how to use one…we’ll enhance our prospects.

Wu: (tapping his chest) Guns. Chung Kuo. Wu, Custer City, back Deadwood. 150 Chunk Kuo cocksucker, Swedgin. (He kneels in front of Al.)

Al: Shut the fuck up, Wu.

Wu: (crosses his fingers) Heng Dai.

Al: (crosses his fingers) Heng Dai. Heng Dai, fucking Wu. (Wu gets up and leaves. As hepasses through the hall, the whores are all lined up against the walls with heads bowed.)

Wu: Big man. Wu—big man. (He smiles as he turns the corner and leaves. As Al exits the room, he sees a hoople sleeping in a chair)

Al: Rouse him to spend on pussy, or rob the son of a bitch. (He goes to the bar and has a shot, gazing out at the camp) Ah.

The End

Click for the music from the credits

Written by: Bernadette McNamara

Directed by: Gregg Fienberg