Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (1993) s02e01 Episode Script

1 (serene guitar music) What's the matter, matey? Mommy won't let you have a drink? Go on, it's on the house.
It's a free sample, try it.
Oh well, give us it back then, if you're gonna be a mommy's boy.
My brother here will get you a glass of milk.
George, we got any milk in the back of the car? Leave it alone.
(laughing) Well let what we've got here Greg.
We got ourselves a real drinkin' man here.
Come on lad, show us another one.
(laughing and clapping) It's quite a large amount you're seeking, Mrs.
O'Neil.
Yes, it is.
But then with the railroad leasing part of your property, no doubt you'll be in a position to repay the loan quite quickly, hm? Money is meant to work Mr.
Elliott, and I'm planning other investments.
So I have no intention of paying off the loan quickly.
(footsteps approaching) Any more than I intend to discuss my business here in public.
Please, Mrs.
O'Neil.
Kathlene, please forgive me, my office of course.
I'll be with you in just one moment Mr.
Hocking.
(adventurous instrumental music) (whip cracking) Ya, ya! (dog barking) Hey dad! Go on, get up.
(dog barking) (whip cracking) (cows mooing) It's been good havin' you here, Luke.
You've been a real help with the master.
It's surprised you, hasn't it? Well I didn't think you and I would ever be friends.
The fact is, these past few months at Langara.
It's the first time I've felt like I belong somewhere.
Well you're part of the family.
You belong with us.
(whooping) (whooping and laughing) Wash them up.
(laughing and cheering) Harry, are you all right? Isn't this Bill Jarvis' boy? What are you tryin' to do, lad? I think he's drunk.
Rob, is that you? Come on, let's get you up.
(yells in pain) Must be broken.
See if you can find somethin' to use as a splint.
We'll have to straighten it.
Come on son, up you go.
You'll be all right.
You'll be all right.
(upbeat instrumental music) (cheering) (men chattering) (woman shouting) [Grady.]
And two pairs of boots.
Boots, uh, yes sir.
What size do you take? Not for me, my boys.
Make them size 12, they're big lads, both of them.
Well, pass the lads in, they could try them on.
12s will be fine.
I'll take all of this.
Yes sir.
Goodness, are you all right? Reckless.
[Woman.]
My wagon, and my cabbages.
Who's the lady? That's Mrs.
O'Neil.
Married, huh? [Shopkeeper.]
She's a widow.
A widow, eh? Are you all right? Out of the way, ladies.
Do you mind? [Matt.]
Kathlene! What is happening to this town, Matt? Well I've just seen worse.
Saw the Jarvis boy break his arm.
Well the miners and the railroad workers, especially the young ones, they seem to be more drunk than sober.
Who's that? That's a Mr.
Hocking.
He was just in the bank counting out a huge roll of money.
And those two hooligans with them, they almost ran me down up there.
(sighs) (chuckles) This collar is killin' me.
What do we have to go to church for, anyway? We've never been before.
Tell him, Greg.
'Cause we're settling here, I suppose.
Exactly, we're settling here.
Putting down roots.
No more living in the bush like wild animals.
Grady Hocking and his boys are gonna have a home.
- A house? - Why not? I still don't see why we've got to go to church.
What better place to meet our future neighbors? And our future customers, than in the house of the Lord? Hurry up with those boots or we'll be late.
And I don't want to miss the sermon.
(organ music) Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see Over the past few weeks, you've listened to me expressing concern over what you and I are letting happen to our town.
Patterson's Ridge is growing.
The railway's about to come through, the town is expanding.
Well, it's the progress we've all worked so hard for.
But, that progress has brought us new problems.
The illegally brewed alcohol that's being sold in the district has already caused bad accidents and nasty fights.
I know none of us like to be informers, but those of you who know anything about where this is coming from.
We do have a responsibility to your neighbors to do something about it.
(organ music) Brady Hocking, parson, and these are my two sons, Greg and George.
Nice to meet you Mr.
Hocking.
Welcome to Paterson's Ridge.
- Are you planning to stay? - We certainly are sir, although I was a little concerned about the subject of your sermon.
We're all concerned, Mr.
Hocking.
Ah, Mr.
McGregor isn't it? Yeah.
And Mrs.
O'Neil.
I hope it doesn't put you off our little town, Mr.
Hocking.
We'll find out who's responsible though, don't you worry.
So you don't know where it's coming from? 'Fraid not.
Young men around here don't like the idea of turning informer.
Alcohol.
It's the Devil's brew, and that's for sure.
I wouldn't let either of my sons touch the stuff.
Well don't worry, we'll find out who's responsible.
Can't keep a secret around here for long.
No, you can't.
Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you all.
No doubt we'll see more of each other in the future.
Goodbye.
That preacher's gonna make things hard for us.
Maybe we should move on.
Nobody moves Grady Hocking on, ever again.
It ain't the past that I'm worried about.
Then it should be.
A man pays more heed to the past than he does to the parson.
They listen to him, what he says goes.
I'm just telling you what I heard.
Matt McGregor's a member of Parliament, that's all.
Well well, you got me shaking now.
And what's he gonna do, pass a law against us? We're already breaking the law.
We could get 10 years, all of us.
What'd you do that for? George didn't mean anything.
Nobody moves Grady Hocking on.
And nobody puts Grady Hocking into jail ever again.
Grady Hocking or his sons.
Understand? Do you understand George? Yes.
Yes who? Yes dad.
Good boy, you're a good son.
You're both good boys, good sons.
Hocking and Sons.
No man, parson or no, is ever gonna put either of you boys in jail.
(cows mooing) Frank, what brings you to this neck of the woods? There's a fence down on the ridge up above Stony Hollow.
I'm wondering if any of your boys have been up that way lately.
And those boundary fences are a two-way responsibility.
Well as far as I know, Luke repaired that section before winter.
Yeah, I did.
Brombies must have brought it down.
Well these brombies did a very neat job.
You're suggesting that maybe we pulled it down to bring this mob through, huh? Bit of a short cut.
Well, it was none of our doing.
So I guess it's your responsibility.
I don't suppose you could've fixed it while you were up there? Ah don't worry Frank, I was thinking of sending Luke up there to look for some strays.
He can camp out overnight, all right with you? Yeah no problem.
You want any timbers cleared or anything else while I'm up there, Frank? You're crazy, you know what that stuff will do to you.
That's why I'm drinkin' the stuff.
All I'm sayin' is you're gonna get yourself killed.
How many times do I have to tell you? You're weak son, you're weak-willed.
I'm sorry dad, it was just one little drink.
One little drink! Will you listen to him! Do you want to grow up to be a drunk? Well, do you? Answer me.
No dad, no! Dad, leave him alone.
Read that.
Read it.
A reward of ten pounds.
Is offered for information to the location of an illegal still believed to be supplying And who do you think is responsible for this? It'd be the parson, that's who it'd be.
[Greg.]
He knows that, George.
Dad catches you again Well he's not here, is he? Are you all right? Tired, just a little.
You don't regret this, do you? Being out here in the mountains.
It's not too hard for you, is it? Because I'm a woman? (laughs) No, because you're a city girl.
I made a vow to you, Colin McGregor.
To support you for better or worse, in sickness and in health, and that's exactly what I intend to do.
I'm not a city girl, and I'm not a country girl.
I'm your wife.
(glass shattering) Don't be a fool.
Do you wanna be hung for murder? (bell clanging) Get down! - Colin! - Emily, just stay down! Stop! (horse neighing) (glass shattering) (Emily screaming) Colin! Colin! Colin! Hey! - Colin! - Emily! (bell ringing) What? Fire.
Fire! Fire, fire! The church is on fire! Come on, keep those buckets coming! Water, more water! (men and women chattering) Emily! Whoa, whoa.
They didn't hurt you? We're fine.
Come on, let's get you inside.
I've tidied up Colin's old room.
It's all ready for you.
I'll take care of her, son.
Thanks.
When we built that church, I thought it would last forever.
We'll help you rebuild it.
You know that.
I know.
I think we ought to find out who burnt it before we start rebuilding it.
Oh, they'll be flushed out.
I've sent for troopers.
In the mean time, we'll just poke around the high country.
If we happen to stumble across some illegal whisky still.
Well that'll be a nice present for those troopers, wouldn't it? Matt.
Yeah? I don't like the idea of Emily and Danni being left here alone.
I'm gonna stay with them.
Thanks, I'D appreciate it.
I'll need a rifle.
No, take mine.
I wouldn't use it anyway.
I would.
(wood chopping in the distance) Now why would you wanna go and undo all my good work, eh? Man's got a right to go where he wants in these mountains.
There didn't use to be any fences.
So you just chop 'em down whenever you see 'em, is that it? How else am I gonna get where I wanna go? Well there's a road on the other side of the ridge with a gate.
You know about gates? That's not the way I wanna go.
Boy you take one step closer to that rifle, and the only place you're gonna be going is straight to Hell.
No gates no fences, now back away from the rifle.
Now what makes me think the reason you don't want to travel by road has something to do with what's in this barrel here, huh? That's none of your business.
Well maybe not.
But there's some gentlemen in blue jackets who might think that it is.
(gun cocks) (horse neighing) Well, looks like you're doing a little illegal brewing.
Am I right? Is that what you reckon? You're welcome to look.
Smells like moonshine.
Prob'ly tastes like You certainly pack a wallop with that rifle, brother.
He ain't dead, is he? He ain't gonna die? I dunno, but we're not hanging around to find out.
But he had a gun! He had a gun? What's that you're carrying then, George? Why didn't you use that, instead of hitting him over the head and leavin' him to identify ya? - I thought I killed him! - But you didn't! - [George.]
I think we hurt him real bad.
- Not bad enough.
In a day or so these hills are gonna be crawling with policemen.
We're gonna have to get out of the mountains, right now.
It'll be dark soon.
We better wait 'til morning.
Don't you two clowns realize that if McGregor sent for the troopers, every police station in the mountains is gonna be looking for us? And how far are we gonna get with that bag of bones and those two old mags? Get me some new horses! (horse neighing) (muffled screaming) Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for good.
Greg, we're not bringin' her! You heard what dad said about us leavin' the yank.
(muffled scream) I said shut up! Now, you take the girl, 'cause I've gotta do something.
Well well well.
When my father catches up with you, you'll wind up in prison for the rest of your miserable lives, all of you! You're a real chip off the old block, Greg.
George, your brother's just bought us some insurance.
Something that'll make sure they don't come after us.
Something that'll make McGregor call off the troopers until we're out of here.
But she'll make him come after us.
If he does, he'll never see her alive again.
(Danni shrieks) You're your father's son, Greg.
And you're our ticket out of here.
Just get into town as fast as you can and get someone to stop those troopers.
Get 'em recalled, I'll handle this meself.
You can't do that Matt.
You need all the help you can get to find them.
Kathlene, just do it! Please.
I can't risk Danni's life.
I'm so sorry Matt, it's just that I feel responsible.
It's not your fault.
I think I know where to start tracking 'em.
Where Frank found the fence down? Now you come quietly, you hear? None of that wildcat kickin' and scratchin'.
Won't do you no good.
I'm not afraid of you.
I'm not afraid of you, any of you.
Well you oughta be.
That man over there killed half a dozen men.
Buried them in a barley field to make the snake juice in those crates over there.
Reckons it gives it that special bite.
Lay one finger on her, and you'll be sorry! We need her to get out of here.
If you want me to keep my boys away from ya, you better do what I tell you, understand? We've traveled a long way to arrest these men.
On Mr.
McGregor's say so.
And now he wants to let them go? Is that what you're saying? I am saying that if you attempt to stop these men, then I believe they'll have no hesitation in carrying out their threat.
I can't just turn my back.
I know that you're just doing your duty, Sergeant.
But I care a lot for that girl.
A lot more than I do for you or your men.
That's a very foolish attitude, Mrs.
O'Neil.
I'm a very foolish woman, Sergeant.
But if you try taking your men past me, then you're gonna have to ride over me to do it.
24 hours, Mrs.
O'Neil.
And then we either ride over you, or around you.
Choice is yours.
Let's get this circus on the move.
The creek's shallow enough for the wagon.
So we'll follow it for a while, cover the tracks.
Well, that sound like a good idea to you? I think whatever you do, you're going to get caught.
Well it's gonna be dark in a couple of hours, so if your father's been following us, you can say goodbye to him now.
Giddyup there! Clear as day.
Shouldn't have any trouble following him.
Yeah, maybe.
Let's go.
(horse neighing) (Grady yelling) Stop whipping the horse! He can't do any more than he's already doing.
You'll be surprised how the touch of the whip can help, man or beast! The tracks head downstream, but who knows.
Rob, you head up.
Colin, you follow me down.
Remember Danni's with 'em, they're capable of anything.
We'll camp here tonight.
Get that horse out of the chassis.
Rig up the tarp, pull it up for some shelter.
Well, it looks like your father had the sense to do as he was told.
Can you build a fire? Of course I can.
Then make yourself useful.
Build it yourself.
Here.
Do you wanna eat tonight? Wanna stay warm? Or would you rather starve and freeze? Build a fire.
Where are the matches? What are you doing over there? Nothing.
I thought you said you could build a fire.
I'm just lighting it now.
[Grady.]
Give it to me.
I can do it! Give me the matches.
That's how you light a fire.
Guess it needed a man's touch.
Aw Danni.
Hey, come over here by the fire.
I'm not gonna bite you.
Maybe you didn't hear me.
I said, get over here.
(Grady screaming) Nothing, just nothing.
The wagon! (explosion) (horse neighing) Funny, is it? (Danni screaming) You think it's funny, playing with fire? Dad! I warned you McGregor! [Matt.]
Come on, get up! Get up, get up! Get up, you gutless! Danni, you all right? - Dad.
- Danni you all right? (Danni crying) She's all right.
She's all right, she's just fine.
Your time is running out, Mrs.
O'Neil.
I'm afraid I can't have you threatening me again.
Not good for morale.
[Man.]
Hey it's Matt, Matt McGregor's back! He's back! (townsfolk chattering) (dog barking) These are the men you're looking for, Sergeant.
Today, we will lay the foundation stone of our new church.
The church will be built right here, where the old one burnt down.
And maybe that will teach us something.
Maybe that will help us remember that we're a growing community.
And provided we remain strong and supportive of each other, no matter how others may try to harm us, we have it in our hearts and in our souls to rise again.
Now I've been requested by you all to ask my father, Matthew McGregor, to lay this stone, the foundation stone of our new church.
(applause) (serene instrumental music)