The Lord of the Manor

Later all four of them are sitting in the plush leather chairs. They are smoking cigars. A moment of stillness.  The smoke lingers along the ceiling in a translucent cloud that glows from the lamps and the reflection of the glass of the photographs on the wall.

Bill's sitting off by himself, behind Bunny, who is in the center.

Bill's sitting in the air tray, a small bit of smoke curling up.  He is looking from chair at the far wall, in contemplation. Bunny is the center of the men, with Bill off behind him. Bunny's jacket is off and his sleeves are rolled up. His collar and tie is loosened.  His shoes are off and his feet in socks are up on an ottoman. Pres is holding his cigar looking at the ceiling.  Knight is cradling a tumbler with ice and scotch.

Bunny speaks to his brother over his shoulder.

"So now that you're back in the area, are you going to the old castle."

Bill smiles. Suddenly in his mind he is far away among the canopy of treetops in the Catskill Mountains, with a tapestry of leaves, and sunlight through them. He sees the pointed roofs of the giant house tucked in among the trees, and the vista out from them, down towards the valley.

"The castle. I haven't heard you call it that in a long time."

"The Lord of the Manor has to return home some time, after all," says Bunny.

Bill breaks a smile, almost a laugh. "The Lord of the Manor...You sound like father," he says.

"He took that stuff seriously," says Bunny.

"Indeed he did," says Bill.  In my mind he is ten years old. Out the window of the automobile he sees the onion farm as they pass it, where the man and the woman are at work in the field with hoes, next to each other. They are clad in costumes from the Medieval Era.

Bill takes a breath. "Actually I have to go to Omaha first," he says.Pres breaks his concentration on the ceiling and looks at Bill.

"Much to do on the ground there. Preparations," says Bill.

"Omaha," says Bunny. He sighs. "That brings me back."

"Going the old way? No, of course not, what I am thinking? You'll be flying there of course."

"But sometimes I miss the old way," says Bunny. "It felt such luxurious...even when it was rustic."

"Yes," says Bill. "It was that indeed," he says starting at the photograph on the opposite wall which we see it is black-and-white image of a 4-6-0 steam locomotive of vintage 1902. There are several figures in the scene, one apparently a hunter with a rifle, and next to him an Indian of the Shoshoni tribe. On the side of the locomotive near the cabin is the emblem of the Union Pacific Railroad.

FADE TO BLACK

LONG PIERCING SOUND OF A STEAM WHISTLE