"(whistling wistful melody)" "( bird hoots )" "( clock ticking )" "( water gurgling )" "( hooves clomping )" "( thunder rumbling )" "( kids shouting )" "( horn beeps )" "( engine stops )" "NARRATOR:" "For some, time passes slowly." "An hour can seem an eternity." "For others, there's never enough." "For the Tucks, it didn't exist." "( bird fluttering )" "( tranquil music playing )" "Time is like a wheel-- turning and turning, never stopping and the woods are the center, the hub of the wheel." "( melancholy melody playing )" "It began the first week of summer a strange and breathless time, when accident, or fate bring lives together when people are led to do things they've never done before." "( water running )" "On this summer's day, not so very long ago the wheel set lives in motion in mysterious ways." "It set Mae Tuck out in her wagon for the village of Treegap to meet her two sons as she did once every ten years." "( horn blares )" "( horse whinnies )" "( women talking indistinctly )" "( music box playing wistful melody )" "Ma!" "Miles!" "Jesse!" "Oh...!" "( both laughing )" "Oh, I missed you." "What are you doing here?" "Oh, I couldn't wait to see you." "I missed you, Jesse." "Oh, wait, I got something for you." "Oh, look at you." "I got something." "Here, look." "The Eiffel Tower." "Would you look at that." "Got it in Paris, France." "Oh, Mom, you've never seen anything" "so tall in your life." "Hello..." "Oh, I got something else." "I got something else." "How are you, old friend?" "Your favorite-- chocolates." "Oh, I've died and gone to Heaven." "Oh, Jesse." "( gasps ):" "Miles..." "Miles." "Give your mother a hug." "Ten years." "( laughs )" "You're as cozy as barbed wire." "I have you back." "WOMAN:" "Winifred!" "Winifred!" "Yes, Mother?" "I need a new name." "One that's not all worn out from being called so much." "( frog croaking )" "Come inside this instant." "You're getting filthy!" "( piano playing )" "( playing classical music )" "Ow!" "I can scarcely breathe." "( speaking French )" ""You must suffer to be beautiful."" "So say the French." "The French are crazy." "( piano music continues playing )" "( women speaking softly )" "NARRATOR:" "For Winnie Foster one thing was true:" "the heat of summerwas not nearly as stifling as the formality of her life." "( piano music continues )" "With every passing day the feeling grew stronger." "She was coming closer to the end of something and moving towards the beginning of something new." "( playing off-key )" "( groans ) -( music stops )" "( sighs )" "Change was in the air." "It was only a question of when." "( horn honking )" "( engine stops )" "Wait for me in the car." "I won't be a minute." "In the car, Mrs. Foster." "( kids yelling playfully )" "BOY 1 :" "Throw it home!" "Throw it home!" "BOY 2:" "Come on, throw it home!" "Go!" "Run to me!" "Yay!" "No, no, no, no, no." "Too large for tea cakes." "None of these will do." "I prefer petit fours." "BOY ( laughing ):" "What kind of a funny hat is that?" "Well, look'ee here." "If it's not Miss Moneybags in herfancy car." "What's the matter?" "Don't want to get your feet dirty?" "( kids chuckling )" "Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Foster." "Not much call for such treats out here." "Well, I could just make them up for you, special." "girl:" "Winnie Foster?" "You've got to be kidding!" "BOY:" "Wow!" "girl:" "Winnie, run!" "Run, Winnie, run!" "Throw it!" "Throw it!" "BOY 2:" "Throw it home!" "Come on!" "Slide, Winnie, slide!" "Winifred!" "( fiddle music playing )" "( geese clucking )" "( clapping and laughing )" "JESSE:" "Oh, and they had their arms crossed and you see, the lines were perfectly square." "Come here, come here." "I want to teach you." "Come on." "Oh, all the way from France." "How about that?" "Oh, look." "Look-Look at this one." "I want to see, Pop." "Let me see." "Look it." "Oh!" "Aah, he shot me!" "Oh, I'm dead!" "MAE:" "Oh, oh, my!" "( Jesse groaning )" "Oh, my!" "Oh, you'll have to see this one." "Miles, look at this!" "( laughing )" "Oh..." "let's see." "Okay, come here, I want to show you." "I want to show you." "All right." "Good to have you home, son." "I'm glad to see you." "And the family together." "But don't get used to it." "War's coming, I hear." "I'm joining up." "I'm going to fight the Huns." "Get as far away from this place as I can." "Oh, you think that'll solve things, do you?" "You haven't had enough killing fortwo lifetimes?" "Somebody's on to us." "I know it." "There's a man who's been following us and we've lost him several times, but... he keeps coming back." "I think he knows something." "This man... ( laughing )" "Jesse..." "( laughter)" "Whoo!" "We're being tracked." "Oh, Miles, we lost him." "Don't go spoiling everything." "Yeah, we lost him, Jess... but he keeps coming back." "It was only a matter of time before someone found us." "The world is closing in." "Entire forest is almost gone." "All except this little wood." "I saw tire marks down on the lower wash... a few weeks ago." "There'll be more." "I don't want anyone going to town." "Not for anything, and that's that." "Tuck." "You see any strangers in the woods getting too close you know what to do." "No exceptions." "Our time here is almost done." "I can feel it." "MAN:" "You'll never catch one that way." "Do you know about catching fireflies?" "Afraid not, never tried." "I prefer... bigger game." "Though I suspect the strategy is much the same." "Strategy?" "One must never announce one's presence to the prey." "One must become part of the scenery-- invisible... almost disappear." "And be patient until the exact, right moment arrives... ( grunts )" "( gasps )" "Take a prisoner." "For you?" "No, thank you." "You're quite right." "A girl of your age should find... trapping suitors more interesting than trapping insects, anyway." "Far easier, I might add." "Have you lived here long?" "Forever." "Why?" "I'm..." "looking for some old friends who live hereabouts." "Thought you might help me find them." "My father practically built Treegap." "He knows everyone." "Perhaps he can help you." "Perhaps." "I quite like talking to you." "MRS. FOSTER:" "Winifred?" "Winifred, who are you talking to out there?" "I don't know." "He hasn't told me his name." "Good evening, madam." "Please forgive my intrusion." "This young lady tells me you've lived here forever." "I thought you might know of a certain family goes by the name of..." "I hardly know everyone, nor do I want to." "And I don't stand outside discussing such a thing with... strangers." "Then I beg your pardon." "Good evening, young lady." "Madam." "( whistling wistful melody )" "This is why I worry about you, Winifred." "You don't have the sense not to talk to a man like that." "( whistling continues )" "MRS. FOSTER:" "A proper education gains one entré into society." "MR. FOSTER:" "Yourmother and I have given this a great deal of thought." "Middlehouse Academy for Girls in Pensford, has an excellent reputation." "Middlehouse?" "But that's a terrible place, everyone says so." "It's like a jail." "Nonsense." "Girls emerge from there as refined young ladies well-versed in etiquette and manners, both of which you are sorely lacking." "But I don't want to be one of those girls." "Which is precisely why you must go." "I cannot let your unbridled nature ruin your chances for a respectable future." "Winifred..." "I'm sorry... but we have to do what's best for you." "I won't do it." "I'm not like those girls." "I won't go!" "Winifred!" "I won't go!" "( melancholy music playing )" "NARRATOR:" "Winnie Fosterwas to be sent 500 miles away to be educated." "But what herparents didn't understand was she only wanted to step just outside her fence... so she did." "( birds chirping )" "What in these quiet woods should be so forbidden?" "Winnie had always sensed a mystery waiting for her there." "It was a place so entirely different from what she knew so far away from her tight, pruned world." "( birds screeching )" "( gasps )" "( foreboding music playing )" "( water gurgling )" "( music playing gently )" "Ah!" "Ah... ( exhales )" "How long have you been standing there?" "Not long at all." "I was only walking past, and I..." "Well, you shouldn't... be in these parts of the woods." "It's best you turn around and go home." "Well, go on, now, get!" "Excuse me, but I own these woods, and..." "I'll go on and get when I want to." "You own these woods?" "Yes, I do." "What's your name?" "Winifred." "Winnie..." "Foster." "A Foster?" "Well, I'll be." "Is that a fact?" "Well..." "Winnie Foster, like I was saying you need to turn around and go home." "It just so happens that I was on my way home before you made your rude suggestion and I would be happy to continue on my way if I only knew which way to go." "In other words, you're lost?" "I'll point you home." "I'd be much obliged." "But I want a drink first." "Wait... no!" "No!" "What?" "You don't want that water." "Uh, it's poisoned." "I saw you drink some." "Well, now I'm feeling sick." "You don't look ill." "I'm dry as dust." "I said, leave it alone!" "Let go of me!" "My father will have you arrested!" "You're not going to go and tell him, now, are you?" "Hey!" "Come back!" "Don't run away!" "( panting )" "Come back!" "( screams )" "Where you going so fast, Miss?" "Miles, wait!" "No!" "No!" "You know what Tuck said, Jesse." "No exceptions." "Help!" "You can't do this." "Stop!" "Let go!" "We can't." "( Winifred grunting )" "( rapid drumbeat music playing )" "( horse snorting )" "( panting )" "Miles!" "( grunting )" "( grunting )" "( panting )" "Miss Foster!" "Miss Foster!" "Miss Foster!" "Where are you?" "!" "( horse galloping )" "Ho." "( horse snorts )" "We're stopping here." "Not a word out of you, hear me?" "( yells )" "Miles!" "What are you doing?" "No!" "Let the poor girl go." "There's no reason to be frightened, young lady." "( crying )" "I caught her at the spring with Jesse." "She's a Foster." "Oh, Lord." "It's finally happened." "I want to go home, please." "I want to go home." "There, there, child." "Please don't cry." "We're not bad people." "We'll take you home just as soon as we can." "I promise." "Miles, go find your father." "He's across the lake." "He'll know what to do with her." "Tell Jesse I'm going to fix that mouth of his." "( sighs )" "( music box plays wistful melody)" "I've heard that." "Have you?" "It's, it's my little music box." "I found it in the forest one day." "Just waiting for me, I expect." "I've had it a long, long time." "( sighs )" "Oh!" "I put my baby boys to bed with it every night." "Gave 'em such sweet dreams." "( music boxplays )" "( crickets chirping )" "( frogs croaking )" "I'm sure my boys didn't mean you any harm." "Then why did they bring me here this way?" "Why am I here?" "( sighs )" "You have every right to be upset." "And I know yourfamily must be... worried sick about you." "( door opens )" "Where's the child?" "MAE:" "She's no child..." "Angus." "( whispering ):" "Does she know?" "Why do you think I brought her...?" "( indistinct whispering )" "Yeah, but now she knows about us, thanks to you." "Shh!" "Shh!" "She's a Foster, she only knows..." "Know what?" "Miss Foster, this is my husband, Angus Tuck." "Angus, meet Miss Foster." "Hello, Miss Foster." "She's the most important event that's taken place in this house in 80 years." "You hungry?" "MAE:" "Oh, well, let's, let's all eat." "Yeah." "Jesse, pass your mother a plate, please?" "JESSE:" "Mmm, where's the fish?" "Oh, they weren't biting for some reason." "( chuckles ):" "'Cause Pa can't fish?" "Don't matter." "There's plenty." "I catch fish." "If there's no fish, there's no fish if you keep scaring the fish away." "( chuckling )" "Mmm, this looks good." "MAE:" "Oh!" "Isn't this nice?" "Everybody sitting down together and having Miss Foster here." "It's just like having a party." "Myfatherwill come looking for me." "Your father... will cut down the entire forest the way things are changing around here." "Make himself a very rich man." "Oh, now, let's not ruin a perfectly good meal with a lot of talk." "My father has plenty of money." "He'll pay." "Anything you want." "We don't want your father's money, Miss Foster." "Then let me go home." "We will." "We'll let you go home..." "just like I promised." "Directly." "We'll need to be able to trust her first before we're sending her back to her folks." "Trust her?" "We can't trust her." "Or any normal people." "She'll turn on us in a second." "No, she won't." "You're a fool." "You don't even realize what you've done here." "( slams door)" "( clock ticking )" "( clock ticking )" "Him." "It's him." "Robert!" "I expect you to find her, Henry." "That's your job." "I've already wired her description down the main line." "They'll keep a lookout and we'll get up a search party come morning." "My wife is certain that this man wearing a yellow suit has something to do with Winifred's disappearance." "And Miss Foster says so based on...?" "Her instincts." "Hmm." "Well, maybe you better step in here, Mr. Foster." "Am I whom you're looking for?" "I do believe I fit the description." "My wife said she saw you talking to my daughter." "Yes, I did." "She's a charming girl, full of fire." "Perhaps too much." "She's gone, is she?" "Looks like she... ran away." "Did she now?" "Somehow I'm not surprised." "My daughter did not... run away." "And I'm not interested in what surprises you, sir." "I want to know if you know anything of her whereabouts." "No, Mr. Foster." "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I do not." "I am quite coincidentally here in search of someone myself." "I'm seeking a family that used to live in these environs." "I thought the constable could help me locate them, but ironically, Mr. Foster your daughter thought you could help." "Name of Tuck." "Long lost relatives." "I-I can't help you." "Nor I you." "At least not now." "However, I'd be happy to search your woods for you, Mr. Foster." "I'm rather talented at finding people." "I just might meet with success." "Good evening, Constable." "Find out what happened to her, Henry." "Please." "She's our only child." "Angus made that cradle." "Brought it all the way from Scotland." "Oh, it's rocked a few Tucks." "There you go." "The breeze off the lake will keep you cool all night." "The boys sleep up in the loft when they're home so you'll have your privacy." "Oh, that corset looks painful." "May I help you off with it?" "Oh, honestly, I can't understand why women torture themselves this way." "It's no way to live." "Do you have a daughter?" "A granddaughter." "And a grandson." "Anna and Beau." "Oh, Miles loved them so." "What happened?" "They died." "Their mother, too." "I'm afraid the good parts of Miles died along with them." "You'll have to forgive what's left of him." "I'm sorry." "Well, it's... it's the way things are, Miss Foster." "Can I call you Winnie?" "MAE:" "Do you have brothers and sisters?" "WlNlFRED:" "No, it's only me." "My mother... ( soft music playing )" "( conversation continues indistinctly )" "MAE:" "There." "winnie:" "So where do they go?" "Oh, they go different places, do different things." "Miles can do carpentry and he's good with his hands." "Jesse, now, he seems to have settled himself." "Of course, then, he's... he's young yet." "Well..." "I hope you will be comfortable here." "It's a good feeling having another woman here." "Try and get some sleep now." "( church bells toll in distance )" "( scoffs )" "MAN:" "Hello?" "( church bells tolling )" "Have you lost your way, friend?" "Not hardly, Reverend." "I'm looking for a family name" " Tuck." "Are you familiar with it?" "Tuck." "Tuck?" "I'm afraid I can't help you." "There are no Tucks in this cemetery that I know of." "No, I wouldn't think so." "Ha!" "Or in any other." "Tell me, Reverend you who have attended so many deathbeds... what is it people most desire as they face the end of their lives?" "More time?" "Well, I suppose." "Exactly." "They'd give almost anything, I imagine, for one more year." "Imagine what they'd give for all eternity." "Sir, I don't quite understand what..." "You will." "Reverend, are you prepared to die right now, this instant?" "If it's God's will." "What if it is my will?" "What if you could be eternal?" "Right now, this instant?" "Without having to face the uncertainty of death?" "Hmm?" "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" "No muss, no fuss." "Invincible to disease." "Never having to suffer the stench and rot of old age." "Forever young." "You speak blasphemy, sir." "Fluently." "( laughs )" "Good night, Reverend." "( whistling wistful melody )" "Hey, Winnie Foster, you asleep?" "Not anymore." "Good." "Hey." "Listen." "How would you like to see the Eiffel Tower?" "What?" "Someday." "No, now." "While the day is still ours." "( birds singing )" "Get those dogs overthere." "Yes, sir." "Come on, boys, let's go." "Henry, this is Winifred's nightgown." "Give it to the dog handlers." "Start in the north end." "Let's split up when we get to the lake." "We'll find her." "I know we will." "Winifred!" "Miss Foster!" "Winnie!" "Winifred Foster!" "Miss Foster!" "Winifred!" "Over here!" "I found something!" "( both panting )" "There it is." "This is the Eiffel Tower?" "The one in Paris, it's prettytall." "Mine's two feet higher." "Here." "Come on." "Have you really seen the real one in Paris?" "Yes, I have." "And climbed 1,652 stairs to the top." "Much easier than this." "Yes." "You doing all right?" "I think so." "You're doing great." "Here." "If I went to the Eiffel Tower" "I would take one of those elevators." "Not with me." "You'd take off your shoes and walk up every single solitary step." "How old are you?" "Do you really want to know?" "Yes." "104." "I'm serious." "So am I." "Let's just call it 17." "There's my Paris." "The view from the Eiffel Tower can't be better than this." "I've seen a lot of views, and this is one of the best." "( piano playing classical music )" "( clock ticking )" "( men shouting )" "Come on." "( dogs barking )" "( music ends )" "( shouting playfully )" "NARRATOR:" "Winnie Foster was beginning to lose track of time." "Had she been there a day, a week, a month?" "It seemed to Winnie that the Tucks lived in a way the rest of the world had forgotten." "They were never in a hurry and did things the slow way." "For the first time" "Winnie felt free to explore, to ask questions, to play." "?" "?" "Me?" "I'm going to see the world." "Every speck of it." "Heck, I may even find some new continents or something." "I mean, I've been to a lot of places but the world is huge!" "Jesse Tuck, what-what are you doing?" "What does it look like?" "Woo-hoo!" "Woo!" "Ah, whoo." "( gasping )" "Come on!" "I can't!" "Why?" "You're not afraid of a little cold water, are you?" "No." "Are you afraid of me?" "No." "Well, what then?" "I can't swim." "You're joshing me." "I wish I were." "So, you're afraid you'll drown, right?" "Swallow too much water, sink to the bottom and die." "Thank you for putting it so vividly." "And, yes, considering I'd sink like a rock drowning is a fair concern." "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to enjoy this all by myself." "Hmm..." "Hmm!" "( yells )" "Ah, Jesse!" "Hey, hey, it's okay." "Come here, come here, come here." "I've got you, I've got you." "I've got you, relax." "Relax against me." "You all right?" "I think so." "Whoo!" "You did it!" "I did it!" "Ah, it feels wonderful." "I'm weightless." "That's 'cause we're carrying you, see?" "The water and me." "We're both carrying you." "You like the feeling?" "I love it." "Jesse, don't let go!" "It's okay, it's okay." "There's no chance of that, Winnie Foster." "I'm never going to let you go." "?" "?" "?" "?" "( horse nickers )" "( carhonking )" "( honky-tonk music playing )" "You know, I don't like being laughed at by a cheat." "Now "cheat" is a nasty word, sir." "I much prefer "card sharp."" "( chuckles )" "You are looking for trouble, aren't you, mister?" "Yes, sir, I sure am." "Going outside!" "Come on!" "Perhaps next time... ( glass breaking )" "Come on!" "He can't hurt me!" "Whoo!" "( laughing )" "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Excuse me, citizen." "( bird hooting )" "( bird screeching )" "You hearthat?" "Tuck says it's the most melancholy sound in all of nature." "Listen." "Just listen." "( cacophony ofbird sounds )" "They're playing for you." "( drumbeats )" "( rhythmic tapping )" "?" "?" "Whoo!" "Yeah!" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "I wish this moment could last forever." "Forever?" "You want to spend forever with me, Winnie?" "I do." "You know, we could see the world together." "We could do everything together." "Have a million moments like this one that... never, never stop." "There's a part about us you don't know-- the part I've sworn not to tell you." "The secret?" "The reason you don't want anyone to find out about you?" "I knew it." "You're... you're bank robbers or grifters." "You are the first human I've ever met" "I wanted to know the truth." "Jesse Tuck, you're the first human I've ever met that I've ever wanted to... to to do that." "Winnie, listen." "Remember the giant oak tree at the center of the wood where we met?" "The little spring bubbling up you saw me drink from?" "You rememberwhen I told you I was 104 years old?" "Well... it's the honest truth." "I'm going to live forever." "I'm never going to change." "The same with Miles and Tuck and Mae." "Something happened to us." "As far as I know, I'm..." "I'm going to be 17 until the end of the world." "It's the spring, Winnie." "The water, something's wrong with it." "It stops you right where you are." "If you had a drink of it today, you'd stay just like you are." "( twigs snapping )" "Don't you wish he'd told you... before you kissed him?" "Did he tell you immortality isn't all the preachers crack it up to be?" "Hey, leave her alone, Miles." "Oh, now... you want her to hear it, Jesse boy." "She's the first person you want to tell the truth to." "You just don't want me to have what you lost." "winnie:" "Stop this both of you and tell me the truth." "I want to know." "We all had a drink except for the cat-- that's important." "( gentle music playing )" "The water tasted like..." "Heaven." "Floated overyour tongue like a cloud." "Tuck carved a "T" in the trunk, to mark where we'd been." "We moved on west, looking for a place to settle down." "Put up a house for Mae and Tuck and a little shed for Jesse and me." "That was the first time we figured there was something... ( chuckles ) peculiar." "( muffled yell )" "Jesse fell 30 feet, landed right on his neck." "( muffled yell )" "He was up on his feet again before Mae could work up a good cry." "Didn't hurt him a bit." "No broken bones... nothing." "That's not all." "Not by a long shot." "Things began to happen." "?" "?" "Some brushpoppers mistook" "Mae's horse for a deer." "( gunshots )" "Thing is, the bullets didn't kill him." "Barely even left a mark." "Then Tuck got bitten by a rattlesnake, and you know what?" "He didn't die... ( laughs ) ...but the cat did of old age." "?" "?" "And Miles got married." "Daddy!" "( laughing )" "( laughing )" "( whispering ):" "Beau." "Little Anna." "Tuck figured it early on." "It's the spring." "We all drank from it, even the horse." "Had to be... the source of our changelessness." "I begged her to come back..." "for me and find the spring and drink from it." "The children, too." "It was our only hope to be together." "( chain creaking )" "( creaking )" "She made up hermind" "I'd sold my soul to the Devil and she left me." "She took my babies with her." "( creaking )" "Everyone..." "pulled away after that." "There was talk of witchcraft..." "black magic." "( whinnying )" "( whinnying )" "?" "?" "I went looking for wars to fight... and I saw brave men die at Vera Cruz... and then Gettysburg-- thousands, in the blink of an eye..." "( voice breaking ):" "...but not me." "I couldn't die like little Anna." "The influenza took her before she's 15." "And Beau." "He'd be almost 80 now if he were still alive." "And my sweet my sweet young bride." "She died in an insane asylum old and alone." "( crying ):" "But I'm still here." "I'm still here." "( crying )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( birds chirping )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "Winnie Foster, you're the only other person in the world who knows about us." "We'll have to have a talk." "Pa." "Come on." "( birds chirping )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( whispering ):" "Look around you." "It's teeming life." "It's flowers and trees and frogs." "It's... it's all part of the wheel." "It's always changing;" "it's always growing" "like you, Winnie." "Your life is never the same." "You were once a child." "Now, you are about to become a woman." "One day, you'll grow up and you'll do something important." "You'll have children, maybe, and then one day you'll go out... just like the flame of a candle." "You'll make wayfor new life." "That's a certainty." "That's the natural way of things." "And then, there's us." "What we Tucks have, you can't call it living." "We just... are." "We're like rocks, stuck at the side of a stream." "Listen to me." "Winnie, you know a dangerous secret." "If people find out about the spring they'll trample all over each other to get to that water." "There's one thing I've learned about people." "Many will do anything, anything not to die and they'll do anything to keep from living their life." "Do you want to stay stuck as you are right now, forever?" "I've just got to make you understand." "I don't want to die." "Is that wrong?" "No." "No human does... but i-it's part of the wheel... the same as being born." "You can't have living without dying." "Don't be afraid of death, Winnie." "Be afraid of the unlived life." "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( knocking at door)" "( hinges creaking )" "Yourtea, sir." "She's with them now." "I came directly here, knowing how tormented you must be." "We-we just want her back safely." "Course you do." "Dreadful business, kidnapping." "Fortunate I was witness." "I'm perhaps the only person... who knows where to find her." "Just what is your game, sir?" "What is my game?" "You detect in me a playful mood?" ""Playful" is not the word I had in mind." "What I have in mind is a simple, clear-cut trade." "You see, I very much like your woods not for their timber, mind you but for their natural assets." "Wh-What is it you want?" "You want your daughter." "I want your woods." "You're involved in this, aren't you?" "If you have touched my daughter...!" "I have my faults, Mr. Foster." "Kidnapping is not amongst them." "These are rough people, the ones who took her." "No telling what they might do." "( exhales )" "Unless we do what you say." "Give the man whatever he wants." "( hinges creaking )" "Done and done." "Nice to have things legal and tidy, don't you agree?" "You're an intelligent, reasonable man, Mr. Foster." "I'm seldom wrong as a judge of character." "Have your friendly constable on hand to make the appropriate arrests." "Your terrible ordeal is as good as over." "I'll get there before you." "We have to move quickly." "They were packing to leave." "ROBERT:" "What kind ofhorrible people must these kidnappers be?" "HENRY:" "There is evil in the world, Mr. Foster." "There aren't fences high enough to keep it out." "ROBERT:" "Bring your men directly to my house." "I'm going with you." "( dogs barking )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( birds calling )" "It isn't fair, Tuck." "No, it isn't... but when has life ever been fair?" "How am I going to take you home when I can't make my feet move from this spot?" "If I could die tomorrow, I'd do it... just to spend one more night with you." "Forgive me for interrupting such a tender moment." "Hello, Winifred." "Everyone's been so worried about you." "I'm relieved to find you so well." "You know this man?" "I met him once." "Hello, Mr. Tuck." "You have no idea what a pleasure it is to meet you." "You're the man who's been following my boys." "Been expecting you." "Yes, and here I am." "Tell me, is it a relief..." "to finally be discovered?" "Over a century of hiding out must have taken its toll on you." "Who are you?" "And how do you know so much about us?" "I first heard about yourfamily from my grandmother." "She knew a woman in a mental facility who used to..." "rant and ramble about a family who never grew old and never died." "This woman, she used to call out a name." "What was it, now?" "Anna." "Crazy old woman." "Kept on talking about a music box." "It seems the melody had a calming effect on her children." "I'm sure you know it, Mrs. Tuck?" "( whistling wistful melody )" "( music boxplaying )" "You have no right... to come to our home..." "and bring us such pain." "There, good mother." "I mean no harm." "Tell us, sir." "What is it you want?" "Well, you see, the Fosters have given me these woods in exchange for bringing young Winifred back home to them." "I have the papers, all signed and legal." "Gives me the rights to the forest and everything in it." "Don't be alarmed." "I'll let you stay here..." "on my land if you prove cooperative." "Cooperative?" "I want you to take me to the spring." "I don't know what you mean." "Don't insult me, Mr. Tuck." "It's immediately clear to me that the water's powers have been wasted on... unimaginative people like you." "I intend to make this fountain of youth, as the simpletons would call it available to those who deserve it... for a price, of course." "You'll die of old age before I'll take you." "Is that so?" "Then, perhaps Winifred will!" "JESSE:" "No!" "( fires )" "( grunts )" "Jesse!" "( groans )" "?" "?" "( whispering ):" "Yes!" "Bravo!" "Come now, Winifred." "I'm feeling thirsty." "Show me where the spring is." "Perhaps I'll let you have a drink." "After all then we can spend..." "eternity together." "( yelps ) -( screams )" "( gasping )" "( moans softly )" "Winnie, Winnie, come here." "It's okay." "It's okay, I gotcha." "( crying )" "( dogs barking in distance )" "Pa." "( dogs barking louder)" "( barking continuing )" "There they are!" "Winnie Foster!" "MAN:" "I see her!" "I got her!" "Circle around to the right!" "Watch the water!" "Go!" "Don't let anyone get away!" "Jesse, come on." "ROBERT:" "Winnie!" "MAN:" "Block that trail!" "It's my father." "( men shouting )" "MAN:" "Keep them alive!" "( dogs barking )" "Be careful of the girl!" "Winnie!" "Let's go!" "Wait..." "Get on." "MAN:" "Behind the house, men!" "He's setting the house on fire!" "Winnie!" "You're all right." "You're all right." "( crying )" "We found you." "You're safe." "You're safe now." "Everything's all right." "Winnie." "( men shouting )" "Hyah!" "( men shouting )" "( dogs barking )" "?" "?" "NARRATOR:" "The hall clock chimed the hour." "Outside, the wind was still." "Everything, it seemed, was waiting." "( music box melody playing )" "( feet pounding rhythmically )" "( music droning )" "( clock ticking )" "ROBERT:" "We just want to understand what happened." "( sighs )" "Winnie... try, please." "They didn't kidnap me." "I was with them because I wanted to be." "( fan snaps )" "She doesn't know what she's saying." "The Tucks were kind to me." "They're my friends." "ROBERT:" "If they didn't kidnap you, why on earth did that woman club that man overthe head with a shotgun?" "Because Mae Tuck was protecting me." "MAN:" "Doesn't matter anyway." "That fella died." "It's a murder charge now." "I didn't much like the man but that won't stop that poor woman from hanging." "Miss is an eyewitness." "She'll have to testify." "Oh, my God." "( footsteps departing )" "( hinges creaking )" "( door slams )" "I figured you might want this." "Doesn't exist, far as I'm concerned." "( sighs )" "I sure am sorry about all this." "Good day." "Thank you, Henry." "( clock ticking )" "?" "?" "( thunderrumbling )" "( wind blowing )" "( grunting )" "( whispering ):" "Winnie." "Jesse!" "Oh, it's you." "I was afraid I would never see you again." "I need you to help me." "I need you to help us." "Mae can't go to the gallows." "She won't die." "She can't die." "They're going to find out our secret." "We have to get them out." "( thunder crashing )" "winnie:" "Help me!" "( pounding on glass )" "Please, help me!" "Somebody, help me!" "Please, someone help!" "( lively melody plays )" "Please!" "Help!" "All right." "Help me, please!" "All right!" "Help!" "Pl..." "Please!" "Help me!" "You have to stop them!" "They're after me!" "Miss F..." "Miss Fo..." "Who's after you?" "The people who kidnapped me!" "They're going to take me away again!" "My parents couldn't stop them!" "They're right outside!" "You have to stop them, please!" "Help!" "They'll kill me if theyfind me!" "Please, they're going to kill me, please!" "Stay right there!" "I'll handle this." "Hurry!" "( thunderrumbling )" "Help!" "( thunder crashing )" "?" "?" "( thunder crashes )" "( thunder crashing )" "Come out and meet your doom!" "( thunder crashing )" "Hell is upon you!" "( thunderrumbling )" "Stop right there!" "You're under arrest!" "( thunder crashes )" "?" "?" "Come on, we have to hurry." "The boys are outside." "Stay back, now!" "I'll shoot!" "( yelps )" "( grunts )" "( grunting )" "( thunderrumbling )" "( thunder crashing )" "?" "?" "( rifle cocking )" "( thunder rumbling )" "( thunder rumbling continuing )" "( lively music ends )" "( door shuts )" "My dear, sweet Winnie." "What I wouldn't do to keep you." "I wish you were ours..." "for Jesse." "For all of us." "( crying ):" "You have to hurry and get away from here." "JESSE:" "Winnie..." "Winnie, come with me." "There's nothing for you here." "We can be together forever." "If she comes with us, they'll hunt us down." "They'll never stop looking." "Tuck is right." "If I go with you it'll be too dangerous for all of you." "I can't go without you." "( crying )" "You have to." "Go back to the spring." "Drink from it." "When it's safe..." "I'll come back for you." "Will you?" "I have to show you the Eiffel Tower, don't I?" "1,652 steps to the top." "Winnie... until we're together again... wake up with the dawn." "I will." "We got to go..." "before it's too late." "( straps snap )" "( horse whinnies )" "Winnie Foster..." "I will love you till the day I die!" "( thunder crashing )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "DOCTOR ( whispering ):" "She's going fast but you can have a couple of minutes with her." "( footsteps )" "How are you?" "( labored breathing )" "( labored breathing continuing )" "MAN:" ""...and to Almighty God" ""we commend the soul of our sister" ""and we commit her body to the ground." "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."" "( pastor continuing indistinctly )" ""..." "Resurrection into eternal life" ""through our Lord Jesus Christ;" ""at whose coming in glorious Majesty to judge the World" ""the Earth and the Sea shall give up their Dead;" ""and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him" ""shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious Body;" ""according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."" "?" "?" "Mother?" "I was just wondering what it is about these woods you love so much." "Mother, are you all right?" "( sniffles )" "I'm going to miss her, too." "( crying )" "Oh..." "Every time I look at you, you're different." "( sniffles )" "I'm losing you, too." "( crying )" "( sniffling )" "I'm right here." "( kisses )" "Forgive me, Winnie." "I just wanted to keep you my little girl forever." "( sobbing )" "( watertrickling )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( frog croaking )" "JESSE ( echoing ):" "Go back to the spring." "When it's safe, I'll come back foryou." "ANGUS:" "What we Tucks have, you can't call it living." "We just... are." "We're like rocks stuck at the side of a stream." "( birds twittering )" "( motor running )" "NARRATOR:" "The first weeks of summer were long over." "There was a feeling that the wheel was turning again slowly now, but soon to go faster." "Winnie and her family left Treegap to see the world." "She wasn't certain what herjourney might bring but this much she knew-- it would be something of her own choosing." "( bell tolling )" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( engine stops )" "For some, time passes slowly." "An hour can seem an eternity." "For others, there's never enough." "For Jesse Tuck, it didn't exist." "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "Tuck said it to Winnie the summer she turned 15:" "Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life." "You don't have to live forever." "You just have to live." "And she did." "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "?" "( music ends )"