Episode 1 Scene 1 - Revised Version

Scene 1
The Brodies are walking towards town. Cyrus and Buck ride up.

Cyrus – Well howdy there, ladies.

Morgan – Howdy, stranger.

Buck – (to Cyrus) Aint they the strangers?

Cyrus nods.

Cyrus – My name’s Cyrus Grant. I own a ranch about a mile from here. This here’s my partner.

Buck – Buck McCain.

Hazel – Pleased to meet you. I’m Hazel Brodie. These are my sisters, Maybelle and Morgan.

Maybelle – A stagecoach dropped us off and we were walking towards town. You see, we cleared out of Willow Creek when trouble a-started.

Buck – Trouble? What kind of trouble?

Hazel – An outlaw there took hisself a liking to Maybelle. And she didn’t return the affection.

Morgan – Course he didn’t like that too much.

Cyrus – So you cleared out before it got any worse.

Maybelle – Yeah. Anyway, we’re hoping to open a tavern out here.

Cyrus – Is that so? It seems like Lakeville here could use a tavern.

Buck – You bet it could! A man could use a good drink now and then.

Cyrus – Speakin of which, have you gals thought of anywhere that you might set up a tavern?

Maybelle – No, we aint even barely seen the country yet.

Cyrus – Well, we’ve got a nice big house on the property. You could use all but a couple of rooms for the tavern, and we could get free room and board. There ain’t much stock on it right now ‘cause we’ve just come back from a cattle drive, so they ain’t gonna be a problem.

Buck – ‘Course, it won’t stay like that forever. We’ll be gettin’ some more cattle in the near future. Then we’ll have to pasture ‘em out near the house; might get a touch noisy at times.

Morgan – (dreamily) Sounds dandy, to live on a ranch and all.

Cyrus – Ranching? No more important job in the whole world, save preaching, miss Morgan. The Word grows yer soul and we grow yer food. I wouldn’t trade my job for the world.

Buck – Amen to that!

Cyrus – Well, miss Hazel? How does it sound?

Morgan – Kin we?

Maybelle – Oh come on, Hazel.

Hazel – Well how can I refuse terms like those? It’s a deal.

Cyrus – Come on then, I’ll show you the way.

Buck – It’ll be mighty nice to me to have some decent cooking around here.

Cyrus – Would you stop thinking of your stomach, Buck! Get of the horse and let the girls ride!

Buck – (hugely exaggerating but being completely serious) My apologies, ladies. Please, take the horse. (In a low whisper) But make sure to save some extra lunch for me.

Everyone laughs and they move of in a slow trot with the girls riding.

Fade out