The Man In The Seventh Row by Brian Pendreigh Page A
Authors: Brian Pendreigh
Tags: Novels
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and wet in his. The rain eased suddenly, the last few drops fell and the sky lightened as the voice cried 'Cut'.
'Look, a rainbow,' said the little girl, pointing to the ethereal arc some way up the glen.
***
Los Angeles, March 1996
All Wallace had to do was say 'Mercy' and his ordeal would be over. A swift deliverance was promised, no more torture. The crowd had wanted to see the Scottish murderer suffer. But even they had had enough. They had seen him hung, drawn and quartered – cut open like butcher meat – but still alive. They wanted no more. It could end with a single word, 'Mercy', that would signify Wallace's allegiance to the king.
The film cross-cuts between Edward on his deathbed, Bruce, the nobleman who cannot decide where his allegiance lies, Wallace's men in the crowd and the vision of Murron. Wallace summons up a hidden reserve of courage and energy and yells out the single, final word, 'Freedom'.
Roy can hear Anna choke back a sob. He feels her hand on his arm.
The film reopens at the field of Bannockburn where it seems Bruce is about to pay homage to the English army. The English expect it, the Scots expect it, perhaps even Bruce expects it. Bruce addresses his troops dispassionately.
'You have bled with Wallace,' he says, 'now bleed with me.'
And the film ends with the Scots charging the English. Wallace is dead, but the man with the lightning in his face charges forward towards the viewer.
Tears run down Anna's cheeks and one drops heavily on Roy's arm. They watch the credits roll, each thinking their separate thoughts. They rise and silently make their way to the exit. Roy wants to reach out for her hand, but does not.
13
They stand on the sidewalk of Beverly Boulevard outside the Fairfax cinema, neither one of them wanting to say goodbye.
'What are you going to do now?' asks Roy.
'I'd kinda thought I would just spend the day at the festival of old movies,' says Anna. She smiles at the craziness of the notion.
'Maybe it's a bit silly – spending all that time in cinemas watching movies you can see any time on TV for free. But I've nothing else to do.'
They stand a moment without saying anything. Anna thinks he must be about to go. It had been a brief encounter, a moment in time when their lives touched and separated. If he walks away, she cannot expect to meet him again by chance in Mann's or the Roosevelt, can she? No, almost certainly not. It is not impossible. Fate might throw them together again. But she does not believe in Fate. They will not meet again. She will know no more about the man from Sean Connery's street who had a part in Braveheart . Roy Batty. Soon he will be the Man With No Name in her memory. Just a fading picture of a blue-eyed, blond-haired man whom she might have liked to know a little better. He is divorced. Does he have children? What does he do? Who is he? She knows almost nothing about him. She knows where he came from, but where is he going? And when next she sees Braveheart on television, there may be a pang of regret when she sees the warrior with a lightning flash of woad on his face.
'Where are you going?' she asks.
'The movies,' he says.
'Let's go together,' she says.
They sit in her old red Buick poring over the extensive cinema listings in the Calendar pages of the LA Times. Anna suggests The Searchers . She has heard about it, but never seen it. John Wayne as a Civil War veteran who spends seven years on the trail of Comanches who have kidnapped his niece. Brad was not really a western fan, not really a film fan actually. He preferred books and chess and politics.
'Have you seen The Searchers ?' she asks Roy.
'About a dozen times,' he says. His mind flashes back to the very first time, more than 20 years ago. He can still remember Debbie's tears. He can still remember her walking off towards Princes Street and out of his life after all they had been through together. And why did they split up? Because of John Wayne and The Searchers . It is
'Look, a rainbow,' said the little girl, pointing to the ethereal arc some way up the glen.
***
Los Angeles, March 1996
All Wallace had to do was say 'Mercy' and his ordeal would be over. A swift deliverance was promised, no more torture. The crowd had wanted to see the Scottish murderer suffer. But even they had had enough. They had seen him hung, drawn and quartered – cut open like butcher meat – but still alive. They wanted no more. It could end with a single word, 'Mercy', that would signify Wallace's allegiance to the king.
The film cross-cuts between Edward on his deathbed, Bruce, the nobleman who cannot decide where his allegiance lies, Wallace's men in the crowd and the vision of Murron. Wallace summons up a hidden reserve of courage and energy and yells out the single, final word, 'Freedom'.
Roy can hear Anna choke back a sob. He feels her hand on his arm.
The film reopens at the field of Bannockburn where it seems Bruce is about to pay homage to the English army. The English expect it, the Scots expect it, perhaps even Bruce expects it. Bruce addresses his troops dispassionately.
'You have bled with Wallace,' he says, 'now bleed with me.'
And the film ends with the Scots charging the English. Wallace is dead, but the man with the lightning in his face charges forward towards the viewer.
Tears run down Anna's cheeks and one drops heavily on Roy's arm. They watch the credits roll, each thinking their separate thoughts. They rise and silently make their way to the exit. Roy wants to reach out for her hand, but does not.
13
They stand on the sidewalk of Beverly Boulevard outside the Fairfax cinema, neither one of them wanting to say goodbye.
'What are you going to do now?' asks Roy.
'I'd kinda thought I would just spend the day at the festival of old movies,' says Anna. She smiles at the craziness of the notion.
'Maybe it's a bit silly – spending all that time in cinemas watching movies you can see any time on TV for free. But I've nothing else to do.'
They stand a moment without saying anything. Anna thinks he must be about to go. It had been a brief encounter, a moment in time when their lives touched and separated. If he walks away, she cannot expect to meet him again by chance in Mann's or the Roosevelt, can she? No, almost certainly not. It is not impossible. Fate might throw them together again. But she does not believe in Fate. They will not meet again. She will know no more about the man from Sean Connery's street who had a part in Braveheart . Roy Batty. Soon he will be the Man With No Name in her memory. Just a fading picture of a blue-eyed, blond-haired man whom she might have liked to know a little better. He is divorced. Does he have children? What does he do? Who is he? She knows almost nothing about him. She knows where he came from, but where is he going? And when next she sees Braveheart on television, there may be a pang of regret when she sees the warrior with a lightning flash of woad on his face.
'Where are you going?' she asks.
'The movies,' he says.
'Let's go together,' she says.
They sit in her old red Buick poring over the extensive cinema listings in the Calendar pages of the LA Times. Anna suggests The Searchers . She has heard about it, but never seen it. John Wayne as a Civil War veteran who spends seven years on the trail of Comanches who have kidnapped his niece. Brad was not really a western fan, not really a film fan actually. He preferred books and chess and politics.
'Have you seen The Searchers ?' she asks Roy.
'About a dozen times,' he says. His mind flashes back to the very first time, more than 20 years ago. He can still remember Debbie's tears. He can still remember her walking off towards Princes Street and out of his life after all they had been through together. And why did they split up? Because of John Wayne and The Searchers . It is
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