"Robin." "Susannah." "Has the sun turned you idle, Robin?" "Susannah." "I'm dreaming." "No." "How are you here?" "You're so beautiful." "Who brought you?" "Are the children safe?" "Are they with you?" "I didn't bring them to sea." "No." "No." "Of course not." "Was it Santana?" "The Spaniard?" "We saw the flag on the Cliff on the other side of the island." "I knew someone was coming." "We raised it only yesterday." "Friday wanted to put the journey off to go hunting." "Friday?" "You have to meet him." "You won't believe your eyes." "He's the man who's kept me sane." "We sailed right around until we saw the smoke from your fire." "Right." "The ship's on this side." "I knew it had to be you." "Yes, but they can't stay there." "The currents, they're dangerous." "They change at any moment." "Come, come." "They're gone." "Gone?" "The captain was worried about the rocks and the currents." "They've gone back to the flag to await the next tide." "I bribed the bosun to put me onto the water." "Alone?" "I had to see you." "But, the tides, if they change, they'll be driven on the rocks." "They'll be wrecked." "No." "You dream something and then you make it happen." "Hey, hey, how's it going?" "This is Dundee." "He's heard your name about as much as he's heard his." "What do you think of England, Dundee?" "He'll retire." "And he'll bore the local dogs with his tales of wild beasts and gunpowder." "It's like the seeds from the maple tree on the walk to church." "Does Sophie still try catching them as they fall?" "They both do." "This is for Daniel." "It's for his birthday tomorrow." "You made the children presents?" "Daniel's getting strong." "He'll kill someone with that!" "Not if he has his father's skills." "Come on, we should hurry." "Did you say the ship was heading back to the flag?" "Yes." "Friday!" "Go on, he's probably hunting." "Well, if he is, how long will he be?" "An hour." "A day." "I know we can't wait." "The tides will change in a few hours and the captain won't stay at anchor for long." "Friday!" "Maybe he's up top." "It's not London, I know." "But there's so much to talk about." "Robin?" "I was here before." "Something happened." "There was smoke..." "Did you fall?" "Hit your head?" "You said you saw a fire." "There's no fire." "You said there was smoke in here." "That must be what we saw." "How long was I lying there?" "For six long years, all I've ever hoped of and dreamed of and prayed for is to see you again, to hold you." "Then I open my eyes and..." "And?" "Am I dead?" "Then, are you?" "Do you think that this is heaven?" "Our own paradise island?" "No." "Heaven would be the warehouse." "Mmm-hmm." "The Clumsy bed that I made." "Mmm-hmm." "Daniel and Sophie sleeping safely." "And you and I complaining about the endless rain." "Then we're not dead." "Not yet." "We have to go." "I need to make sure Friday's okay." "What's the last thing you remember?" "I made the flag, then marked out a route to the south Cliffs where your ship is now." "We've no markers on this side of the island." "A ship could pass us." "If they are seeking for us, they will find us." "No, they could still pass us." "What if it isn't a rescue ship?" "What if a merchant ship passes?" "What do you think?" "I think we can hunt any day." "I think a ship may only pass once." "Our supplies are nearly gone." "This is the ensign to the Triton." "Your ship?" "My ship." "The story will have passed from captain to captain." "Any ship that passes will know that there's a survivor here." "There will not be any survivors here if we die from hunger." "Then I'll go by myself." "But we made it there and back." "Yes." "Yes, we must have." "You saw the flag from the ship." "That's why you sailed around here." "Friday..." "Friday's spear's missing." "Why?" "He didn't take it with us..." "So he's taken it since..." "Then he's hunting?" "I suppose this could've happened after he went..." "Why can't I remember?" "Friday!" "Friday!" "Are you ill?" "Still some seasickness maybe." "Stay here and rest." "I'll tell your captain to stay at anchor by the Cliffs." "I'll come back for you and Friday." "I'm coming with you." "The journey's dangerous." "If I have to spend another hour alone, fearing for you..." "Please." "You'll remember." "You will." "Don't look so worried." "Trust me." "We'll be right back." "Good boy." "You talk." "I stay in all day." "I cook and I play Cribbage." "And in the evenings, I count the number of seeds in a pile." "She's following us." "She's beautiful." "I used to hate the birds." "Every year as winter would draw near, they'd gather in the trees, with excitement and expectation, getting ready to fly off." "I always imagined England." "Come." "Wait, wait." "What?" "I recognize this place." "We hid here." "From what?" "On the way out or back?" "Back." "I wasn't carrying the flag." "It is following us." "What is?" "What is?" "You said "It" is following us." "I assume you know what "It" is." "Otherwise you'd have said "Something" is following us." "You choose now to correct my English?" "I told you we shouldn't have brought that." "We were being stalked." "Friday had a small deer." "It was dead." "I thought it might be what was attracting the animal." "I asked him not to bring it." "I asked him to leave it here." "Did you have it at the tree house?" "Friday was there when the smoke happened." "What if he hasn't gone hunting?" "But his spear wasn't there when we left." "No." "Was it there when you got back with the deer?" "Yes." "Then stop worrying." "There was smoke and you both dealt with it and then he went hunting." "Why is my mind shutting it out?" "Robin, we will go back." "As soon as we've warned the ship." "We can't turn around now." "Ship!" "Come." "They've already sailed." "No." "They'll be behind the Cliffs." "If I fire a shot..." "We left in a hurry." "You're not yourself." "We'll get there in time." "Come on." "No, no, no." "We have to go the long way around." "Along the Cliff." "That way is a sheer drop." "There's a path to the beach from the Cliff with the flagpole." "You have a fever." "I've seen this." "I told you." "No." "From the Cliffs." "A boat from my ship, the Triton." "Other survivors?" "I knew these men." "Neugent." "He's the captain of the Triton." "This was his mark." "He was to sail to Guinea, but I persuaded him to go to England instead." "Looks like a mining cave." "It's gunpowder." "He must have been using it to blast the quartz out of the rock." "But to what purpose?" "It looks like this cave has a newcomer." "Leopard." "Find something to dig a grave with." "Leopard?" "It can smell you from miles away." "Climb up the very same tree that you try to hide in." "Let's go." "He buries his colleagues and then dies alone staring at an empty horizon." "At my worst of times, another soul has been suffering and only from a day away." "Is a day any different to a thousand miles?" "In England I suffered." "I knew you must be alive because I was hurting enough for us both." "We share each other's pain." "Come on." "If it was a leopard that was following..." "A leopard?" "If it was..." "We can't go back." "Friday could be in danger or..." "We'll bring men from the ship and search for him." "I have to get back." "And risk the ship setting sail?" "And putting those good sailors' lives at risk?" "But Friday..." "You don't know for sure that he's hurt." "You don't know for sure that he is there." "You have to remember what happened." "Try." "I asked about the deer and you remembered that." "Think about that." "The deer." "Slow that memory down." "Slow it right down." "There's nothing." "It's just a waste of time." "Please, one more time." "Remember the deer." "Why?" "Things may not be as they seem." "If you know something, if you know what's happening, what's happened, please, just tell me." "How can I know anything that isn't in your mind?" "Crusoe!" "It's Neugent." "He's alive." "He was at the tree house." "We have to get back." "Wait." "Stop." "Robin." "Why did he attack us?" "Why now?" "If he's been alive this whole time?" "Well, maybe he didn't know you." "You didn't know him." "Yes." "He left me for dead." "He could have killed Friday." "We'd have seen his body." "Then where has he taken him?" "To the caves." "The caves of the south Cliffs." "Which is where we're going, isn't it?" "The flag." "The south Cliffs." "Yes." "Yes, we've been going in the right direction the whole time." "Thank God that you've come back." "Let's just hope that we're in time." "So what had he, your Robinson Crusoe?" "How did his wealth compare to mine?" "Where are his diamonds?" "They're nowhere!" "They are not diamonds, it is just quartz." "Kneel!" "Crusoe must have been soft." "Crusoe was my brother." "Well, I am your brother now." "Your brother, your father, your owner and your king." "You all right?" "Robin!" "Susannah!" "This isn't like me, Robin." "This isn't me." "You must wish I hadn't come." "No." "In sickness and in health." "For richer or for poorer." "In mountains and forests and falling off paths." "That was it, wasn't it?" "It's all right, it's just a graze." "It's just down the valley now, it's not far." "We'll get you to the ship and we'll find Friday." "Come." "There you are, rest here." "Did you say a prayer for the man who stared at the horizon?" "The man you buried." "Whoever he was." "Let me hear your prayer." "Please." "Father, you alone saw his suffering," "you witnessed his pain and his despair." "Lord, please allow him into your kingdom and let the love of your son be his salvation." "Amen." "We buried the flag." "Find Friday." "He can save you." "The flag never flew." "How could you see a flag that never flew?" "The ship..." "Survive, Robin." "For us." "Don't move, Crusoe." "Don't move." "He's watching me." "I thought you were dead." "How did you make it this far in your state?" "It is not possible." "Susannah." "Susannah?" "Don't move." "It is the smoke from the bomb that he threw into the tree house." "What we inhaled was toxic." "It attacks the mind and the body." "But he gave me this to drink so that I could work." "Drink it." "You did not Crawl halfway across the island so that I could watch you die." "Drink it." "Neugent." "That man is Crazy." "He wants me to build him a palace." "Liege, it is king?" "Yeah." "I see what you're doing!" "I said chop!" "It was an order." "Yes." "Yes?" "Yes?" "Yes, My Liege." "Kneel!" "Your head never higher than mine!" "I need more medicine." "In order for me to work, I must be able to breathe." "You breathe when I say you breathe." "Up!" "Look alive." "So, then?" "What do you think of your proud tree house now?" "Your deckhand's cuddy." "This will be a palace, built with your sweat and blood." "Decorated with jewels." "And here the skull of your friend Crusoe." "Once the vultures have picked it Clean." "Now we lay out the grand design." "This will be my throne room." "Here." "Be careful." "Now, get up, alive." "Friday." "Crusoe." "What are you doing here?" "You're not well enough to walk." "The medicine's working." "I'm getting you out of here." "Is there anything to cut these?" "If I had, would I still be chained?" "I have nothing." "Did you leave your weapons behind?" "Yes, along with half my blood and my mind." "So you saw Susannah?" "It is hallucination." "Somehow you must have known that you had to find your way here." "So you made her lead you." "She was so real." "If I had been your hallucination, I'd have told you to bring an axe." "Perhaps I can pick the lock with these." "Robinson Crusoe." "Kneel." "We are not your enemies." "Kneel." "If I may just speak..." "Silence in court!" "State your name." "State your name." "Robinson Crusoe." "My liege!" "You must address me as "My liege. "" "Robinson Crusoe, My Liege." "Take the Bible in your right hand." "Your preacher's Bible?" "With the family history written in." "You took my Bible?" "You have no property." "You are a prisoner." "Now swear to tell the truth." "Swear it!" "I swear to tell the truth," "My Liege." "The charges against you are, theft of property, one deer." "Attempted theft of land..." "Land?" "Your flagpole on my Cliff." "You intended to raise a flag and Claim my island for yourself." "The flag was to guide a rescue." "Your flag was a declaration of Civil war, Crusoe!" "A rescue is Coming." "I have sent word to England." "What would I want with rescue?" "I listened to you once." ""Take me to England. change your course." "I need to get home. "" "Never will I take orders from another man again." "You have the blood of two score sailors on your hands." "He did not cause the storm." "Silence!" "Or steer the ship." "May I speak, My Liege?" "No!" "Theft of property and land." "Trespass, mutiny, treason." "How do you plead?" "Whose were the bones?" "Who survived with you?" "How do you plead?" "Did it bring you no relief to discover that we were here?" "That you were not alone?" "How do you plead?" "Not guilty." "The bones were Hadley Seabrooke." "The cook?" "Why didn't you give him a proper burial?" "A dissident." "A deserter." "Why should I tend to his soul?" "The court has considered your plea." "And finds you guilty on every count." "And, no." "No part of me was pleased to discover that you lived." "Rise." "By the power invested in me as monarch of these islands," "I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until dead." "Lower." "More rope." "More." "Less!" "Not so much less." "I know how to hang a man." "The weight, the height, the drop." "You think I don't know?" "I know!" "Twelve and a half stone." "I'm right, aren't I?" "Six foot one?" "See, I'm never wrong." "I always know." "By eye, I'm faultless." "I'm faultless!" "Where's my measure?" "A yard." "You are two yards and one inch on top." "You'll see I'm right." "Surely if I were standing, you could measure me more accurately?" "Don't give me orders." "Nobody instructs me." "Stand, stand." "You think I'm stupid?" "could a stupid man rule this island?" "Could a stupid man amass my wealth?" "My diamonds?" "No!" "No, no, no, don't shoot him." "Release me." "What are we going to do with him?" "Take him home, with us." "Up, My Liege, and keep walking." "Don't touch that!" "Don't dare!" "No!" "He is different." "To what?" "To you." "Desperation can make a man forget himself." "Yes, but desperation does not make every man a killer." "How long will you keep him prisoner, fed, guarded?" "My Bible." "Crusoe!" "Please, please, Friday." "Keep walking, My Liege, keep walking." "I will not waste our food on you for long." "Hey." "If I had known you survived the Triton," "I'd have found and killed you the same day." "It would have been as pointless as digging into this rock." "The roof's coming in." "It will be your tomb." "Crusoe!" "Crusoe, you must get out now." "We have to get out." "I don't obey your orders." "Leave it, it's worthless." "You're not a king." "And they're not diamonds, they're just rocks." "No." "Diamonds!" "What use is wealth to you here?" "Please, come with us." "I'm king of this island, Crusoe." "I rule here." "Come on!" "And I judge you guilty." "There's blood on your hands and you'll pay!" "You're guilty of murder." "And you'll pay for the blood on your hands." "You're dead Crusoe and the sentence is death." "Are you okay?" "Susannah." "Crusoe, please." "Susannah is not there." "He used the smoke on you again." "I have the medicine." "I thought you were dying." "I'm stronger than you imagine." "I imagine you in many ways." "I hope you survive without me." "Sometimes I fear you survive too well." "I have to go." "I believe I'll see this one day." "I would choose madness if it meant that I could stay with you." "It is a beautiful place." "It is." "Cribbage, cooking and counting seeds." "And don't hate the birds, Robin." "When they fly away, send them with your love and I'll look out for them." "Crusoe!" "Please." "If you're so determined to choose death, at least dig your own grave." "Stay strong." "Thank you." "It's Daniel's birthday today, my son." "I don't even know if he's alive." "Crusoe." "Tell me, is the flower dead or alive?" "You cannot choose what is happening where you cannot see." "But you can choose what you want to believe." "They're having a party." "Yes, yes." "They're raising a toast to you." "Not to me, to Daniel, then to me." "Susannah and Sophie." "They're in their new dresses and Daniel shined his shoes." "And what of your friend, Blackthorn?" "Oh, he's there." "The party's in his drawing room." "And my father's there as well." "He pats his belly and he asks for another piece of cake, that's three now." "Yes." "Happy birthday, Daniel." "alice was your grandmother." "She died before you were born." "Is father with her?" "No, Sophie." "Your father's alive." "And wherever he is, he knows that it's your birthday." "And he's thinking about you."