ARCTIC BLUE

VIKING BOB

(calls out)

Ben? Ben Corbett?

No response. Carbine held at his hip, Viking Bob walks up

to the door and, with a mighty kick, BREAKS it in.

(CONTINUED)

170 CONTINUED:

REVERSE ANGLE - THROUGH WILDER'S CABIN DOOR

Viking Bob points the carbine at an empty room. He notices,

however, Corbett's duffel bag on the floor of the cell.

171 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON

The trappers march through town like an advancing army,

looking for some sign of Corbett. LeMalle stops to dig

through his pockets for some food. All he comes up with is

the stump of a candy bar. Viking Bob looks at him

impatiently.

VIKING BOB

Look, we pull Ben's ass out of

the fire, I'll get you a whole

damn crate of Snickers bars.

LEMALLE

(insulted)

I'm right fuckin' here with you.

To prove his point, LeMalle trots from dwelling to dwelling,

looking through windows and letting himself in through any

unlocked door. This proves fruitless, so he lets out a

frustrated YELL. Pointing the Remington skyward, he lets

off a couple thunderous SHOTS that ECHO back off the

foothills.

172 INT. RENTAL CABIN

Hearing the shots, Eric pushes Anne Marie against the floor.

Cautioning her to stay put, he crawls to the window and

tries to see through the snowfall. After a moment of

silence, from outside, not too far away:

LEMALLE (OS)

Ben! Speak out before I torch

every dump in town!

Eric points the magnum at Corbett.

ERIC

Answer and I'll shoot!

CORBETT

You kill me, you sign your death

warrant.

(re Anne Marie)

And hers.

173 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

Viking Bob and Mitchell come running over to LeMalle.

LeMalle fires another couple SHOTS for emphasis.

LEMALLE

(calls out)

You hear me? Ben?

VIKING BOB

(to LeMalle)

Ease off. We do this my way.

He and the others strain their ears for a clue.

VIKING BOB

(continuing; calls out)

Whoever's holding Ben Corbett,

listen to me: we just want to

know he's okay. He is, nobody

gets hurt.

174 INT. RENTAL CABIN

His mind racing, Eric stares at Corbett. Despite the

freezing temperature of the room, he's sweating.

CORBETT

They know I'm here. I don't say

something, they'll plow this town

under. You willing to accept

that responsibility?

Setting his resolve, Eric drags Corbett to the window. He

pushes the barrel of the magnum against Corbett's cheek.

ERIC

Say you're okay. Tell them I'll

kill you if they rush us.

Anne Marie bites her lip and tries to maintain a brave

front. Despite the gun in his face, Corbett remains calm.

CORBETT

(shouts through window)

Bob?

175 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

Hearing Corbett's voice, the trappers spin around, trying to

ascertain its direction.

CORBETT (OS)

Relax. I got a nervous man here

with a magnum up my nose.

(CONTINUED)

175 CONTINUED:

The trappers follow his VOICE toward the rental cabins.

VIKING BOB

You in one piece?

CORBETT (OS)

I'm fine. Look forward to seeing

you...

VIKING BOB

Count on it.

176 INT. RENTAL CABIN

Eric pulls Corbett away from the window. He shoots a look

at Anne Marie. They're in a bind and she knows it.

177 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

LeMalle grabs Viking Bob's arm.

LEMALLE

(to Viking Bob)

Sweet-talk won't get shit.

(calls out)

Choose it, asswipe -- cut Corbett

loose, or soon as you come

outside, I put a fuckin' bullet

through your eye!

178 INT. RENTAL CABIN

Eric glances at Corbett, whose grim look certifies LeMalle's

boast.

CORBETT

Snow's to their advantage, kid.

You can't see them, but soon as

that plane comes, they'll sure as

hell know where we're going.

Wise up. Take me to the Yukon.

I'll give you that money and

guarantee you'll walk away.

ERIC

Why offer a buyoff with your

gunmen waiting outside?

CORBETT

The time has passed for men like

them and me. I know it. But

they're still fighting for

survival, like cornered animals.

That's why they'll kill you.

-more-

(CONTINUED)

178 CONTINUED:

CORBETT (Cont'd)

(smiles)

Be rude to let that happen after

you kept me from freezing back

there.

Anne Marie tries to hide how tempted she is by Corbett's

offer.

ANNE MARIE

(to Eric)

He's right about the snow. We're

blind.

Eric sighs -- is she against him, too? From outside:

VIKING BOB (OS)

Ben?

The trappers are obviously much closer. Eric signals to

Corbett not to answer.

NEW ANGLE

Eric and Corbett face the window. They don't notice as Anne

Marie quietly shimmies outside through the narrow dumb

waiter shaft to the back of the rental cabin. Eric turns,

gasping as he realizes she's gone. Corbett smiles

sardonically.

CORBETT

At least your girl had the sense

to jump ship. Too bad she's the

only one small enough to fit

through that dumb waiter.

179 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - FOLLOW ANNE MARIE

Using the cover of the snowfall, Anne Marie circles around

the outside edge of town toward Wilder's cabin. She takes

some of her photo gear from the snowmobile.

180 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

Unaware of Anne Marie's maneuver, the trappers wait for a

response from Corbett. None comes. Viking Bob places a

calming hand on LeMalle's shoulder.

VIKING BOB

Just wait, we don't know what

this guy's up to. Ben'll let us

know what to do.

181 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - ANTENNA TOWER

With a camera bag slung over her shoulder, Anne Marie climbs

up the metal antenna tower behind Neff's house on the edge

of town. She grits her teeth and fights back a wave of

vertigo. The ground disappears from sight, hidden by the

snow and fog.

Fifty feet up, she attaches her infrared video camera to the

tower crossbars and, using a length of coaxial cable, hooks

its RF output to the feedline of the community TV antenna.

182 INT. RENTAL CABIN

Eric looks at his watch. 10:55 AM.

183 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

A CRACKING twig behind the cabins gets the trappers'

attention. Clutching his rifle, LeMalle goes to

investigate.

WITH LEMALLE

as he probes through the snow, listening. He reaches the

edge of the woods and, finding nothing, returns to the

others.

NEW ANGLE

Anne Marie crouches behind a tree, twenty feet behind

LeMalle. After a moment, she tiptoes back toward the rental

cabin.

184 INT. RENTAL CABIN

Eric and Corbett turn as Anne Marie's camera bag suddenly

drops from the dumb waiter shaft. Anne Marie wriggles back

inside. Before Eric can say anything, she puts her fingers

over his mouth. She turns on the TV set and tunes it to

channel 3.

ANGLE ON TV

A fuzzy IMAGE comes into view. It's Devil's Cauldron from

the vantage of Anne Marie's infrared video camera. The

falling snow shows up as a translucent yellow wash over the

scene. Buildings are distinguishable as bluish silhouettes.

Heat-producing objects -- warm walls, chimney smoke, etc. --

are pink and red. And there are three clearly-definable

human figures standing near the Maqi. The trappers.

BACK TO SCENE

Corbett is amazed. Eric smiles at Anne Marie.

(CONTINUED)

184 CONTINUED:

ERIC

Your infrared camera?

ANNE MARIE

(nods)

Technology in the wilderness.

Only problem is talking to you on

your way to the landing strip.

ERIC

I've got an idea. We'll have to

work fast.

He digs through Anne Marie's bag of equipment and supplies,

then stops and looks up. Outside, there is an OS SOUND that

is felt before it is HEARD. The cargo PLANE approaches in

the distance.

185 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - NEAR MAQI

The trappers look at each other as the SOUND of the plane

grows louder.

VIKING BOB

There's what they're waiting on!

MITCHELL

(smiles tightly)

They'll have to come right past

us.

186 EXT. RENTAL CABIN

Eric quietly pulls the door open. Holding the pistol to

Corbett's head, he pushes Corbett out in front of him.

Anne Marie and Eric exchange a long look. Fighting back

tears, she reaches up and touches his face.

ERIC

When you ran off, I thought you'd

keep going 'til you were back

home in Washington.

ANNE MARIE

My home is here. With you.

He smiles. Then he and Corbett are gone, lost from sight in

the snowfall. After a beat, Anne Marie takes a deep breath

and slinks away in the other direction, toward the dance

hall.

(CONTINUED)

186 CONTINUED:

ANGLE NEAR THE MAQI

The trappers wait, twenty-five feet from Eric and Corbett.

The DRONE of the plane grows louder.

ERIC AND CORBETT

start toward the airstrip. Corbett sees a patch of bare

dirt and SCUFFS his feet in it.

ANGLE NEAR MAQI

The trappers turn to the SOUND, heard under the RUMBLE of

the still-distant plane. Converging, they head in that

direction. Suddenly, Anne Marie's VOICE booms through the

town:

ANNE MARIE (OS)

(over PA)

They're moving toward you!

WIDER

Eric SHOOTS a couple times, then backtracks and pulls

Corbett behind one of the rental cabins.

Ducking the bullets, the trappers sprawl onto the ground.

187 INT. DANCE HALL

Anne Marie has turned on the rusty TV near the pulpit.

While watching the infrared IMAGE of the action outside, she

holds the microphone wired to the old PA.

ANGLE - THE TRAPPERS

Viking Bob gestures to Mitchell and LeMalle to separate.

ANNE MARIE (OS)

(over PA)

They're fanning out.

Angry, LeMalle BLASTS his rifle in direction of her VOICE.

LEMALLE

(to Viking Bob)

Kenai's PA -- but how the fuck

she seein' us?

VIKING BOB

Doesn't matter. We know where

they're going. C'mon.

Stalking, anxious, LeMalle follows Viking Bob.

(CONTINUED)

187 CONTINUED:

MITCHELL

splits off from them and looks for footprints in the snow.

188 EXT. ALLEY

Eric pushes Corbett through a narrow pass between two

buildings in the center of town. He walks in Corbett's

footprints. Almost through to the other side, he suddenly

stops. Pulling Corbett with him, Eric walks backwards,

still carefully placing each foot in an existing footprINT.

Corbett can't help but smile.

189 INT. DANCE HALL

Watching the TV screen, Anne Marie sees one of the red blips

change direction and head toward her.

ANNE MARIE

(into mic)

One is moving back toward the

cabins.

190 EXT. DANCE HALL

It's LeMalle. He crosses to Kenai's generator. With a

well-placed rifle SHOT to its innards, he GRINDS it to a

halt.

191 INT. DANCE HALL

The TV PICTURE disappears as the power dies. Anne Marie

keys the PA microphone; it's dead, too.

192 EXT. ALLEY

Eric and Corbett emerge from between the buildings. Eric

backtracks toward the hot springs spa, now leaving an

obvious trail.

193 EXT. HOT SPRINGS SPA

Eric and Corbett go inside. Eric pulls the door closed

behind them, but leaves it ajar.

194 INT. KENAI'S HOUSE

The DRONE of the approaching plane is ever louder. Kenai

stands and pulls on a succession of sweaters. Dixie looks

at him.

DIXIE

Earl, it's crazy to go out there.

(CONTINUED)

194 CONTINUED:

KENAI

I hear someone in the spa.

He straps on a holster under his sealskin coat.