Original subtitles

Once upon a time, children,

there was a history teacher

who came home after giving a class on the French revolution

to find that his wife,

a woman he'd loved since they were children,

had herself committed a revolutionary...

A miraculous act.

Mary?

Mary?

Mary?

Children, I should have seen it coming.

Three months before, we'd been out walking.

Just one of our usual walks,

one of the many things we've enjoyed

in the new life we've built together...

Over the 20 years we've spent in your country.

Yes, he was naughty, wasn't he?

Well, he wasn't that bad, were you, paddy?

I mean, to be fair on him.

Tom, do you remember...

After the war...

You know, when we met again...

Do you remember me telling you once that...

It would take a miracle for me to have a baby?

Yeah, yep, I remember.

Well, it's happened.

The miracle's happened.

Love, you can't.

I mean, you...

I'm going to have a baby.

God has said that I will.

Wait.

You'll see.

Why can't you accept that you can't have a baby?

You'll never be able to.

Face that.

I should tell them at work I'm leaving,

probably fairly soon.

What do you think?

I was thinking...

I-I'm losing her.

She's slipping away from me,

away to where I most feared to follow.

Mary...

Back...

Mary...

Back into the past.

What, are you scared?

Come on, Mary.

I don't like this.

We've done it before.

But we never had your brother watching.

What's wrong with him?

He's a potato head, isn't he?

So?

I don't like him seeing me.

You're such a wall, Shirley.

Now your... Your knickers.

Yeah. Your knickers.

We're equal now.

You've got to do something first.

Go on, Shirley. You ain't scared, are you?

Go on.

You shut up, Freddie parr.

There.

You've had a feel.

Not bad, eh?

That's not like we used to play it.

Bugger off. Nothing worth seeing.

Yeah. Bugger off.

Get lost.

You coming, Mary?

Go you on, Mary.

You first.

There's four of us.

Do you want me to choose?

Anyway, there's five of you, really.

Come you on, then.

Well?

I don't know.

That ain't fair.

That ain't right. You promised.

Unless... Unless you pass a test.

A test?

Swimming test.

Whoever swims the furthest underwater.

Underwater?

But I can't swim.

You'll just have to learn.

Come on.

Hurry up.

This ain't right. We made a bargain.

1... 2... 3...

Go!

Yaah!

I won!

Tom!

Come on.

Tom!

I'm coming.

Come on.

Hey, come on, Freddie.

Grab a hold.

You all right, Freddie?

Me swim, too?

Yes, dick. You can swim, too.

What is this...

Oh, no...

Dick!

Where is he?

Dick!

Dick?

He's gone.

Christ. Did you see?

Dick won, Mary.

He won the game.

So?

So?

So?

Well, you'll have to show him.

Go on, dick.

Ha ha. Mary's waiting.

Her knickers are going to come down.

Come on, dick.

She's got to show someone.

Here's your chance, Mary.

Ha ha ha.

Come on, Mary. Loosen up for dick.

Ha ha.

Come on, dick...

Ooh!

Aah!

Where you going, dick?

Dick?

Tom?

Hey.

Morning.

Morning, Lewis.

If a total stranger were to look at these two cars,

which one would he say belonged to the boss?

I don't know how you do it, tom.

No kids.

Oh, is that it?

You must be a lucky man then, huh?

How is Mary?

Oh, she's fine.

Ah, good, good, good.

Rebecca and I were just talking

about how long it's been since we've seen her.

How about dinner next weekend?

Not Saturday. School board meeting.

How about Saturday after Saturday dinner?

What do you say?

That would be very... very nice, Lewis. Thank you very much.

It's a date then. Good.

I'll look forward to that.

Maggie Ruth, light of my life.

Mr. Scott, keeper of my destiny.

Where were we last Tuesday's school council meeting?

I had this history test.

Weren't we talking about how leadership brings responsibility?

Remember, in the French revolution,

people were looking to the past

just as much as to the future.

And when they took up the cry, "back to nature,"

whose cry was that... Originally?

Come on. Which famous thinker?

Oh. Price.

A surprise and a pleasure.

Who was it?

Well, what's the point?

You see, what,

you're talking about something

happening in France 200 years ago?

Thank you, price, but if you don't know the answer,

just keep your hands...

No. I know the answer.

I'm just asking you what the point is.

The only thing interesting I see about history

is that it's about to end.

But not today, price.

All right?

Um, Joe?

Vanessa?

Sorry.

Freddie?

I'm sorry. Stephen?

Somebody help Freddie!

Um... O.K.

For God's sake, somebody!

Come on. Somebody.

All right, price.

Tell us...

How is history going to come to an end,

if you could be specific?

Well, take your choice.

Well, I like history.

I don't care if it's got no point.

You go ahead, Mr. crick.

Yes, sir. You don't...

You don't care.

Just the fucking world's going to end, right?

And you don't...

Are we finished with the French revolution, Mr. crick?

Yeah.

Yeah, Alison, I think, uh...

I think for today we are.

Wait a minute. We still have 20 minutes left.

Yes.

So why don't I tell you another story?

Tell us a murder story, Mr. crick.

Yeah. There'll be murders in it.

Why don't I tell you a story about the fens?

What's the fens?

Well, the fens are an area

on the east coast of england

reclaimed from the sea,

land that was once water

and which even today is not quite solid,

so that people can only live there

because they dig it and drain it year after year,

century after century.

For the sea is always trying to return,

to break through the ditches and dikes

and cover the rich, flat earth again.

My brother dick

was one of those who dug and drained.

He worked on a dredger,

keeping the river nene free of mud.

It was a job he loved, a job he did well,

even though he was what the fen folk call a potato head.

He was simple.

I didn't care.

In fact, I think it made me love him even more.

My father, Henry crick,

took care of the sluice gate

on a branch of the river ouse.

That's where I was born.

I lived there with my father

and my brother dick.

Mother...

Oh, she was dead.

This is the BBC home service program.

Here is the news. This is Hugh tovey speaking.

Last night, the luftwaffe's main target

was again London.

Considerable damage was done to residential and industrial areas.

It is feared the loss of life will prove heavy.

Three enemy aircraft were destroyed.

Yes, you're right, children.

When I was your age,

the second world war was raging,

and every night we'd hear the bombers droning overhead

on their way to Germany.

You might say things were approaching

a bit of a climax.

But I have to tell you, children,

there were other climaxes happening just then

that seemed far more important to me.

Hockwell!

Hockwell!

Newham, gildsey, and peterborough!

Newham and gildsey train!

¶¶

Come on.

Ahh...

Ohh...

Ohh... Ohh...

Why'd you have to do it in a train?

We didn't have a car.

Why didn't you go to a motel?

That's what I do.

Not a lot of motels in the fens, Joe.

Not a lot of anything.

Remember, it's flat country, open.

I once asked my father why the fens were so flat.

He said to me,

"so... So God can have a clear view of us."

However, we weren't hiding from God.

We were hiding from our parents, friends...

Well, no...

One friend in particular

and his big mouth.

Freddie parr.

The one that put the eel down Mary's...

Yeah. That was Freddie.

Did I tell you about that?

Yeah.

Huh.

I'd forgotten.

No. Anyway,

that was years before this.

By now, Freddie was into the big time.

He was a smuggler,

trading illegal bourbon and camel cigarettes

with some of your lot,

the yanks who were stationed there.

You limeys always have a trick

up your sleeve, don't you?

I had a secret.

I had an appointment each afternoon

from 3:00 till 5:30.

I didn't want Freddie finding out about that.

What?

Nothing.

Come on.

Well, I just think it's weird

that you keep telling us these stories

about you doing your girlfriend.

That is what you were going to tell us,

isn't it, Mr. crick?

But we were 16.

Well, I'm 16, and I'm not doing it.

That's for sure.

No, look. Come on.

You mustn't... You mustn't misunderstand.

Mary... my Mary... She wasn't like that.

She wasn't...

A slut?

Just that we were both...

We were both young...

And into everything.

Everything was so fresh and so new

and to be discovered.

What Mary mostly was was curious.

Yeah.

Yeah, about that,

but it wasn't just about sex.

She was... she was curious about everything.

Like what?

Well, she was curious about dick.

My brother dick.

I'll tell you...

I'll tell you something she told me.

He follows you? Are you sure?

Wherever I go, just about.

I never seen him.

I'm telling you, he's always hanging about.

What for?

Why do you think?

Not that.

Not dick.

He don't think that way.

Since when has he been following you?

Since that day when we went swimming,

when Freddie nearly drowned.

Don't you remember?

That were ages ago.

Do you mind?

He's only following.

Never tried to talk to me.

Remember what happened that day

when Freddie got the eel?

Big, wasn't it?

The eel?

No, not the eel.

Must have been twice as big as this.

What's he like?

What's it like living with him?

Take it off.

Don't you ever feel sorry for him?

Yes.

You don't have to worry about dick...

If he's following you.

Dick wouldn't hurt you.

He wouldn't hurt anyone.

I ain't worried.

I feel sad for him.

He's got nothing, has he?

Except that old motorbike.

He's got me...

And dad.

He hasn't got this, though,

has he?

If my brother keeps following you around,

maybe it'd be nice if you did talk to him.

Then he'd know what girls are like.

Maybe it'd help him get his own girl.

Better watch yourself, Mr. Freddie parr...

Hooey!

Potato head!

Thicky!

Thicky!

Potato head!

Thicky!

Freddie.

Hello, dick.

Hello.

Your brother told me you came down here

for the eels most evenings.

Caught many?

Many?

Eels.

Some.

My dad's fond of eels, you know.

So am I.

If you could spare us a couple...

Or one big one would do.

Look.

I brought something to take it home in.

Have you got a nice eel for me, dick?

Never mind.

Another time, maybe.

No!

Yes. Yes, that's a nice one.

You want?

Yes, I do, dick.

But how will you get it across to me?

It's not going to swim to me by itself, is it?

You can swim with it, though, dick, can't you?

I've seen you swim, haven't I?

Don't you remember...

How you went swimming...

How you showed me?

No.

But if you really want to know what's going on here,

you have to come even further back.

We're still in the fens,

but it's 1911 now.

Just down the road is kessling hall...

Where I want to introduce

some other family members.

I know what you're doing.

What am I doing, price,

if you wouldn't mind being specific?

Just what you're doing.

You're telling us these dirty stories.

It's not just dirty...

Shut up, dobson.

All right, all right.

What do you think I'm doing, Judy?

It's like history, right?

Ha!

But you're showing us,

like, you were part of history, too,

like the French revolution...

Oh, bullshit.

Price, what do you think I'm doing?

You're trying to buy us off.

You're scared no one's listening to your lousy history lessons,

so you're starting to make things up...

Schoolgirls fucking...

Thank you, price.

To keep us quiet to get in with us,

but you can't because you're just a teacher.

That's all.

Am I right?

I'm right.

Might be.

So might you, Judy.

But I wasn't planning on telling any dirty stories today.

A murder story, Mr. crick?

No. Not yet, Stephen.

No. Today, children,

I thought we'd talk about beer.

Now, this is where my mother's been growing up.

Her father brews beer,

as did his father and his grandfather before him.

Good morning, sir.

This is the house, built on beer.

Atkinson's ales...

Millions of bottles of the stuff.

Look at it.

Leave your things on the bus.

Take your notebooks with you.

Don't... Stay together.

Don't get lost.

And no smoking in the house.

This is cool.

Is this your mother's place?

Yeah.

It was built by... By her grandfather

George Atkinson.

You rich, Mr. crick?

No, I'm not rich.

But this place...

They'll get rid of it

long before I turn up.

Why?

Why? Well...

After the first world war...

Dates, somebody.

Uh, 1917 to 18.

No, we're in england.

Oh. 1914 to 18.

Good.

After the first world war,

it's going to become an asylum.

For crazies?

No. For soldiers.

Well...

Yes, crazies.

Soldiers that the war has driven mad.

My father was one for a time.

He was here.

There's my grandfather, Ernest Atkinson.

He doesn't look like a beer maker.

Brewer, bates.

Well, he was.

A hell of a good one.

In fact, he'll turn out

to be the best of all the Atkinson brewers.

Today...

He's creating a special beer

designed for revenge.

What do you mean, revenge?

We'll get to that.

Who's the girl?

It's his daughter... Helen Atkinson.

My mother.

His only child.

His wife died when Helen was 12.

Let's go on.

Price, you'd like my grandfather.

He worries about the world, too.

Three months ago,

he stood for parliament as a pacifist,

but he got hardly a vote,

even here in his hometown, gildsey... population 3,000...

But swollen today to over 6,000.

Why?

Because today,

a nation hungry for war, glory, and profit

is crowning its new king... George v.

Mr. crick, they're all drunk.

So they are, bates.

It's my grandfather's revenge.

Remember the beer he was brewing?

He's giving it away today...

Thousands of bottles of the stuff.

Atkinson's coronation ale...

A beer so powerful,

it shows these people up for what they really are...

Blind fools.

Just one bottle will do it.

¶ God save our gracious king ¶

I want you to remember something else.

Within three years,

these people are going to get exactly what they want...

The war to end all wars.

All right, everybody, back here in one hour.

Hey, don't get lost.

One hour exactly.

Are you listening in the back?

Back here in an hour.

Bates, did you hear that?

Heard you.

Now, Marshall, don't get lost, all right?

Do your best.

Uh...

Can they see us, Mr. crick?

¶ Land of... ow! Hope and glory ¶

I think some of them can't see anything, Judy.

Come on, then, darling.

¶ 13 men went to the hole ¶

you said you're a friend.

Well, you've got an hour, price.

Go and enjoy yourself.

I'll stick with you.

I'm going in the pub.

O.K.

I'm sorry, price. You're underage.

May you all die, for God's sake!

¶ I'm running, and I can't... ¶

relax. See, I...

Get out of here. Get out.

What?

What's this?

Are you not open?

Have you drunk any of that bloody coronation ale?

No.

Then I'm open.

Good. Well, I'll have a Brandy.

And, uh...

You'd better give the boy a lemonade.

I'll have a Brandy, too.

For God's sake. What's happening now?

Aah!

Better go and watch, price.

They've set the brewery on fire.

The brewery's on fire!

I promise you it'll be spectacular.

The whole place will burn to the ground.

Fire brigade won't be able to cope.

They're drunk like everybody else.

Oh. This will be the end of the family firm.

All the stock will be destroyed,

including every single bottle of this...

Except for one crate,

which my grandfather would rescue from the flames...

And one day...

Hand down to his... Son.

What son?

I thought he had a daughter.

...just have to say...

Au revoir. Adios.

Good night, everybody.

Very right you are. Here we go.

Yes. Go. No, I...

Can I have one of these, Bob?

Tom, I have parents who come to me

and say, "how is teaching my son or daughter history

going to help them get a good job?"

What do I say?

You tell them the truth.

We're not just in the business

of turning out good job prospects.

That's what I say?

Just that simple?

Yeah.

Come on. Jump up.

Come on, tom.

You say that what really matters

is what we teach them about life

and how to live it.

They won't have a good life

if they can't get a good job. Right?

Yeah.

See?

Alex, it's time for bed.

Good night. Give me a kiss.

Have you got your monkey?

Go find your monkey.

Nobody's trying to eliminate history.

We're just trying a little merger thing

with social studies, that's all.

Something that might,

if you'd go along with it,

give what you're doing a shot in the...

Foot.

Couldn't it, really?

Here you go, fatso.

Thank you.

Uh, tom, give me a break, you know?

Give social studies a break.

You have to admit

there has been a steady decline

in the number of students opting for history.

Frankly, you know,

they're voting with their feet.

That's not true.

In the last few weeks,

I've had six requests to transfer to history.

I've got to be doing something right.

Yeah. Don't think I don't know what it is.

What is that supposed to mean?

It means that you're not teaching the curriculum.

You're telling these children stories...

Stories about eels and stories about crazy brothers

and God knows what else.

Tom, what great news.

I...

Your wife just told me...

About the new arrival.

Ha ha ha!

I'm sorry. I was...

About the baby. About your new baby.

What?

What baby?

Oh, come on, tom.

I mean, why hide it? It's true, isn't it?

Actually,

we're lucky it didn't happen before.

We weren't really ready.

In fact, we're always late.

We're congenital latecomers.

But we get there in the end.

Paddy.

You're talking about paddy.

Our new puppy.

I... I didn't...

I'm sorry. Yes.

Um...

Golden retriever.

Uh-huh. Ah.

It's true. We, uh...

We thought for ages

it wouldn't be fair to have a dog.

We're always out at work

and don't want to leave him all day.

We found him,

and he's great. He's really great. Paddy.

Baby, she c... well, we both call him that.

It's a... Private joke.

Was a private joke.

It didn't sound like a puppy.

No, it was... it was paddy. Wasn't it, darling?

Yes. I was talking about the dog.

I'm sorry. Did I not make that clear?

Sorry.

Anyone for coffee?

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

We have a house rule...

When coffee's served, we all change places.

In that case, I'd like to sit next to Lewis.

Oh, Mary, I'm flattered.

Maybe we should get home, love. Uh...

Don't be silly, tom.

Because I want to ask him

why there's no place in school assembly anymore

for the teachings of our savior Jesus Christ.

Marie antoinette.

The bastille.

The tuileries palace,

the king's home

until he was dragged from it in '92

by the screaming mob.

The place de LA revolution,

the home of...

Of what?

Come on.

Dead easy.

Bates.

The guillotine?

The guillotine.

The great new invention.

A better way of putting people to death.

A kinder,

more humane way.

Just the thing for an enlightened age.

Was it more humane?

Than hanging?

Probably.

Than the ax?

Well, it was quicker.

Mind you, there are stories of limbs moving

and eyes rolling, tongues lolling,

even after the blade...

Had severed the head from the body.

Eww!

So they were guessing about the kindness, really.

You see, the... The trouble was

the only people who could really tell them were dead.

Questions.

Price, you had a question.

No, I didn't.

Yes.

About a son.

In regard to my grandfather, you asked that.

How was that possible?

Mr. crick.

Mr. crick?

Are we done with the guillotine for good

or just today?

I mean, are we going to...

Shut up.

I want to know...

Please drop it.

Yeah.

Yeah, sure. I asked that question about your grandfather.

Well, how it happened...

You see, you've got to try to imagine...

When the first world war began... dates, Judy.

I told you the dates.

Just give it to him.

Fuck you.

1914 to 18.

When it began,

the war that my grandfather had...

Predicted,

he became...

Melancholy, despairing,

despairing of...

Of the world.

All the slaughter and horror and...

He didn't go out from the hall at all.

He...

He was mad.

I th...

He...

The war... see, the war...

It made him...

And my mother...

His... Daughter...

Stayed there with... with him.

Looked... looked after him,

like a...

Like a mother.

You remember this?

Yeah. We were up there.

That's where your grandfather and your mother live?

Not anymore.

They moved out to the gate lodge.

It's 1922, price.

They moved down there after the war,

and the hall became a home for mental patients,

for soldiers that the war had driven mad.

It was my mother's idea,

but grandfather went along with it.

When she wanted to be a nurse,

he went along with that, too.

He doesn't want to confine her.

He doesn't want to hold on to her for himself.

No matter what people are saying.

It's just rumors.

What rumors?

What's she doing?

She often stops there.

You see...

That's halfway between the lodge and the hall.

Between her mad father and her mad patients.

I think she stops to say to herself...

These are the only...

Sane moments...

In my life.

If this is sanity. Come on.

Four years since the end of the war.

For them it hasn't ended.

For some of them, it'll never end.

Ah.

Why don't you play something, sweetheart?

There, there, there.

What's she looking for?

My father.

Afternoon, boys.

Good afternoon, Helen.

And what did gramps think about that?

Oh, he was happy for them.

He still had a bit of influence in the town,

so he got my dad a job here.

And, uh...

The cottage went with it.

So my mum and dad came to live here.

This is where she died.

Influenza.

Just plain flu.

This is the sluice gate.

Catches everything that comes down the river.

Old clothes,

dead sheep,

branches,

bottles...

So what about those rumors?

What?

Oh.

Going out.

Must be a girl in gildsey.

That's been going on a couple weeks now.

Just shows. It just shows.

There's more to that dick

than people give him credit for.

Shit.

Tom.

What's the matter with him?

Oh, he's just jealous.

This is the room my mother died in.

Dad couldn't sleep in it after, so...

It became my room.

Didn't seem to bother me.

Holy shit.

Bombers.

Heading for Germany. It's 1943, price.

There's a war on.

I remember a night just before my mother died.

She called Dickie.

Just him, not me.

And...

See, I was sleeping down here.

Dick was there.

I think they thought I was asleep.

But I heard.

This key belongs to you.

It's special.

A key?

Yeah. A key.

The day that my grandfather died...

This trunk appeared,

to be held in safekeeping

for her firstborn child.

You know what's inside of it?

I do now.

It's a letter from my grandfather

to my mother's firstborn,

to be opened on his 18th birthday,

and 11 bottles of beer.

He left beer?

Yeah. Special beer.

Oh, what, that, uh, the coronation ale

he got from the fire.

Right. 12 bottles of the stuff.

You said 11.

Well, there's... There are 11 now.

Dick's had one of them. Made him drunk.

Yeah, I bet.

Very drunk. I was watching.

There he is back from his date.

Already?

It's hard to keep track of time.

Where do babies come from?

Where do babies come from?

They come from love, dick.

They're made... With love.

Love?

Yes.

That's, uh, a feeling, dick.

That's a... Beautiful feeling.

Like the feeling you had

for your poor mum,

like the feeling she had for you.

Love.

Say it.

Go on.

You said it to him.

That's true, isn't it?

I'm...

I'm going to have a baby.

Oh, Christ.

It's dick's, isn't it?

It's his baby.

No.

You've been seeing him all these weeks.

I never...

You're lying.

We didn't do it.

We tried to.

I tried to show him.

It wasn't any use.

He was too big...

Down there.

You said...

You said to show him about girls.

I was sure you'd be pleased...

'Cause he's your brother

and you wanted him to know.

Why didn't you tell me?

'Cause I didn't know how.

Hoo-hoo!

Mary! Tom!

Make way for Freddie parr!

Mary! Tom!

Bye!

Freddie parr.

Where'd he get that?

Borrowed it off a yank, probably.

Bet he ain't got a license.

Everybody's doing it.

We got caught.

What are we going to do?

I don't know.

We're going to have a baby.

I'm 16!

So are you.

But we love each other.

That's all that matters.

What'll we tell dick?

He frightened me sometimes.

Sometimes, when I was telling him

and showing him about what people do...

He got upset.

I was scared of him.

You don't have to worry about dick.

He wouldn't hurt anyone.

A baby.

It's my baby.

Yes.

I'm sure it is.

I mean...

I know it is.

It has to be.

Mother of God!

Dick?

Dick!

Come here, boy!

Fetch the boat, dick!

Bring that boat down here!

Bring that boat over, dick!

That's it, boy.

Boy, there.

'Tis a boy, I tell you!

Bring her around, dick, bring her around!

That's it.

Lean into it!

Poor fellow.

Bring him in.

That's it, dick.

Steady, now.

Oh, Jesus Christ!

Easy.

That's it.

God!

Richard parr's lad?

Freddie parr.

It's young Freddie.

Freddie parr.

Dead.

Young Freddie parr.

Dead Freddie.

That's the boy.

Dead Freddie.

Freddie.

Make it.

Please, Freddie.

Freddie, come on.

Right you are.

Did anyone say anything?

About what?

About how he died.

He drowned.

How he drowned.

He fell in the river.

He was probably drunk.

He couldn't swim, could he?

Somebody made Freddie fall in.

Dick made him.

Why would dick...

I told him.

I thought he'd have to know in the end

the baby couldn't be his

'cause we hadn't really done it...

So I said it was Freddie's.

Freddie's?

I don't know why I said it.

I couldn't think.

And dick... He scares me,

so I said it was Freddie's.

Dick killed Freddie parr 'cause he thought it was him that made the baby,

which means I killed Freddie, too.

You don't know that.

Mary!

Everything's all right!

Mary!

The verdict's accidental death.

Accidental!

Do you hear me?

At the inquest.

At the court!

They said it was all an accident.

I heard you.

They said Freddie was drunk.

That's why he fell in.

So it was an accident.

Well, if it were an accident,

then dick didn't...

And Freddie, he's not your fault.

Mary?

What are you doing?

Go away!

You'll hurt yourself!

Wait a minute.

Go away!

Mary?

Mary!

Uhh!

That's dangerous.

Leave me alone!

Stop!

That's dangerous for the baby.

You're so stupid!

Mary!

Uhh!

God forgive me.

Didn't you think it would come up

from the mud flats in the end,

just like Freddie did?

I saw the marks, dick.

Freddie's face.

Hook.

That were the hook!

It weren't the boat hook.

The marks were there before dad used the hook.

It were you.

You made Freddie drunk.

You hit him with this.

You pushed him in the river

and threw the bottle in after, didn't you?

You stupid potato head.

You hated Freddie because of the baby.

Well, it isn't Freddie's baby...

Or yours.

It's mine.

Go on.

Go on.

Do it again.

Uhh!

What are you doing?

Get off!

Go on.

Do it again, huh?

You going to kill everybody?

Is this what you did with Freddie?

"To the firstborn of Mrs. Henry crick."

It's for you, dick.

You read it, tom.

Oh, it's not important.

Yeah.

You don't have to know.

Well, read it, tom.

No. It's nothing, dick.

No... Read it.

Read it to me, tom.

Dick...

I ain't going to read it, dick.

Oh, you'll read it.

You read it.

No.

I said you read it!

Tell me!

You tell me!

Now you tell me, tom.

You want to know?

Mmm.

It's from granddad.

Granddad Atkinson.

Says you're going to be very special.

He's made sure of it.

You're going to be the savior of the world.

You're going to save the world

from blood and war and horror.

The reason he's so sure is 'cause, see...

Dad...

He ain't your dad.

He's mine, but he's not yours.

Granddad's your real dad.

Dick!

Easy! Tom...

The letter... I read it. Granddad's letter!

And he killed Freddie!

Killed who?

Freddie parr!

Dick!

Dick!

Tom!

Tom!

Dick!

What did you say? Tom, come here!

T...

Dick!

Dick!

Ah-haaa...

Ha ha ha ha!

Must have got a boat.

Dick!

Come back here, boy!

Dick!

Dad, this way!

Hey!

Help!

Help! Help us!

Help! We need a boat!

Heh...

Gaah!

Ha ha!

Aw, I can't see nothing.

Here you are, son.

Have a look.

Dick!

We're going to help you, dick!

We're going to take you home!

How much bloody beer has he drunk?

Dick! Someone's going to get hurt, boy!

Stop that!

Dad...

He's seen them.

They're in uniform!

That's all right, dick!

Never you be afraid!

It's only me... And tom...

And Stan!

These here men are nothing!

Dick!

Dick!

Blast it, stop fooling around!

Dick!

Dick!

Dick!

I'll be your father!

I promise.

Mummy!

Help me, mummy!

Raah!

Mummy!

Dick!

Dick!

No!

Christ.

He's gone?

No.

Dad, you don't know.

He can swim so far.

Mary?

Mary?

I said it would happen, didn't I?

I told you.

Ohh, look...

Look.

Come and look.

Look at your son.

Oh... Christ.

Where did you get him?

I got him from God.

It's because we've been forgiven.

Christ.

Give him to me.

No. He's my baby.

Give him to me!

No! He's my baby!

God promised.

He said I could have him.

Mary, where did you get him?

I got him from God.

Where did you get him?

God.

Where?

God.

Mary... Where?

God.

God, from God...

Where... where did God leave him?

Shop 'n save.

It was easy...

Easy.

She left the stroller by the turnstiles.

That was risking it, wasn't it?

When I was at the check-out, I saw her.

I saw her just leaving him there...

Going off like that.

Well, it was easy, wasn't it?

Wasn't it, ba-ba?

Shh, ba-ba.

Come on.

Uh, where's the officer in charge?

Over there.

Lieutenant...

Um, we've found the baby.

Is he here?

Yes, um, my wife has him.

Get the mother.

Right away, sir.

Francis?

Ma? Mummy...

Uh, my name's crick.

Shh, baby.

I'm a teacher at Franklin high.

We...

We found the baby

outside the school.

Uh...

Where is he? Is he all right?

Oh, my g...

He's all right. He's quite safe.

Oh! My baby!

Mary. Mary...

Come to mommy! Thank God! Ohh!

It's o.K.! Mommy's here.

Oh... Oh, thank you.

Oh!

My baby.

It's o.K.

It's o.K.

Oh... Oh!

Oh... Oh!

Mary...

Look, I can't...

Just... just talk...

Just talk to me.

Don't cry.

Aah!

Aah!

Just... just talk to me, Mary.

Just talk to me.

Talk about what?

I think...

I think perhaps you should see someone,

a counselor.

We could both go.

I just...

I just think you need some help.

You've just stolen a baby.

What are you going to do next?

Are you going to kill someone?

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean...

I'm sorry.

No. I've done that, haven't I?

I wouldn't want to repeat myself.

It was my fault.

You're leaving me, aren't you?

How could I leave you?

Without much of a backward glance...

I'd say.

But she did leave me, children.

A week later I came home

to an empty house and a note.

She said she'd left me,

probably forever.

I know what I did was wrong.

I'll never forget...

Or forgive myself for the look on that mother's face,

but I swear I knew no other way

to break out of this prison.

And we've been in it for so long, tom.

At the end,

she asked me if I'd take back her library book.

It was two weeks overdue.

I'll see you.

Yeah, bye.

Mr. crick?

Mr. crick...

Price.

Yeah. Hi.

What are you doing here?

Uh... Extra math.

Extra math?

After school?

What, voluntarily?

Y-yeah. Just started.

Oh.

Bloody hell, price!

Why do you make all that effort for mathematics

and nothing for history?

'Cause math makes sense.

45...

45...

Where's the 45 bus stop, price?

What, don't you have your car?

Oh, no.

I'm having a drink with Mr., um, Scott.

I thought it was best if I...

Didn't, um...

I didn't drink and, uh, you know.

Did you get fired?

Is everyone expecting me to get fired?

Yes.

Well, they're wrong!

I've been retired.

Sounds much better, doesn't it?

Do you want a drink?

Or have you got to go off somewhere?

Well, I'm underage.

Oh, hell, price, just a drink.

It's not as if it's the first time, is it?

I mean, you must have...

Been to a bar before, haven't you?

O.K., fella.

It came as no surprise.

Scott's been after my job for years.

Just... Just, uh...

You know, Mr. crick, I'm sorry.

Oh, that's rather nice of you, price.

No, I'm sorry about what I did.

Some of the kids were talking about complaining to Scott,

and I said, "go ahead."

I'm sorry.

Ohh...

I've had it coming...

A long time.

Well, some of those girls, they, uh...

You can't really...

I mean, an eel down the panties?

I know, it's absolutely right.

Screwing on a train, it's disgusting.

I mean, I should be the one who apologizes.

I was absolutely wrong.

I shouldn't have done it.

It wasn't fair on you.

Aw, I didn't mind.

Didn't you?

I thought you did mind.

I seem to remember you didn't...

You weren't very fond of my stories.

No, I wasn't. Not at first.

I thought you were telling them for us.

I thought, "hey, give me a break."

But then I figured you were doing it for yourself,

and I thought that's o.K.

You know, I didn't mind then.

Strange.

I thought I was telling them for you.

I mean, I thought you were scared.

That's what you do for children when they're scared, isn't it?

You tell them stories. I'm sorry... not children.

Well...

Have you...

Have you heard from your wife?

No.

Do you know where she is?

Yes.

Come on.

One for the road.

Yeah. Sure.

The kid, you sure he's 18?

Yeah.

Yeah. Look...

I mean, I know.

He's my son.

I can brush my hair.

Oh, what beautiful flowers.

Jonah! Jonah! Come here!

I mean, why aren't you at the school?

Today, as many of you will already know,

it is my sad task to have to say goodbye...

To Mr. tom crick...

Who, after 20 years as a pillar of our school,

is leaving us.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. tom crick.

As...

Uh, Mr. Scott has told you,

I've been teaching here for...

A long time.

Probably much too long.

Oh, maybe you'd be...

Interested to learn...

Why I chose...

History.

I was in Europe, uh, Germany,

right at the end of the war...

The second world war.

I was about your age.

And they were still digging the...

Corpses out of the...

The rubble.

Um...

Women and... and... Children.

And, uh...

And of course babies, and...

And the only way that I could cope

with what I was seeing

was to think of it...

As history,

as part of a...

Part of a story...

And not just those bits of meat.

And that's what we've been doing.

Telling stories...

Children.

But there's...

One story...

We never quite finished, isn't there?

So, tom crick and Mary metcalf.

So we did it together, did we?

We ain't got no money,

but we can get you something.

Anything.

You know, my old bill

says young Freddie parr don't come round no more...

With his whiskey bottles and stuff.

My bill's missing his bottles.

Anything, Martha. Please.

Martha?

Mrs. Clay to you, boy.

Where's your manners?

Now, girl, you swallow some of this.

Don't matter if you don't like it.

Just swallow.

It ain't going to be so much fun getting it out

as it were putting it in.

Fetch the kettle.

You're a pretty one, ain't you?

Now, gal...

Martha don't want to hurt you.

But if she do,

you just put your hand over the candle.

Right over the flame.

Put the kettle there.

Martha's tool kit.

You make yourself scarce, boy.

Now then, girl, turn to your side.

I want you to get up on there. That's right.

Please don't hurt me, Martha.

Please don't.

Sit leaning forward.

Please!

That's right.

That's right.

Aah! Aah!

Shh, shh! It's all right.

It's all right.

Shh, shh. Now keep still.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

Aah! Aah!

Hush. Hush.

Shh, shh, shh.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

All right. Shh, shh, shh, shh.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

Oh, God.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

Mother of God. Mother of God.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

Aah!

Aah!

Tom!

Tom!

Tom!

Tom!

Aah!

From that day,

I discovered there are many ways the world can end...

As many ways as there are people.

You've got to do it, boy.

In the river, boy.

And when you throws it, never you look.

It's bad luck if you do.

Then you best get back here.

May have to take her to the hospital.

And I think, too, that...

In one life there can be more than one ending.

Ohh!

It's been like that in mine.

But as for what...

Really bothers some of you...

The end of the future,

the final end...

How can I help you?

I can't.

I'm the same as you now.

I don't...

Expect much from my future.

I mean, I'm gone. I'm...

I'm history.

But at your age, price...

Ohh...

At your age...

Do you know,

I sometimes think all this story telling is a...

Is a bit like a disease,

a disease that I caught a long time ago.

A disease of the fens...

Like influenza.

I caught it from my father, he was a storyteller.

He caught it from his father,

and he caught it from his... Back, back it went.

Goblins and sprites and...

Murders...

Will-o'-the-wisps...

The headless ferryman...

The madwoman of the marsh.

Still, it seemed to keep my father going...

Through his life, telling stories...

Though they never ended well.

And it was always blood and horror or...

Just sadness and despair.

I said to him once,

"don't you know any stories that have a happy ending?"

He said no.

No.

He said if I was to ever find one...

I should be sure to let him know.

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Captions copyright 1993 palace Limited/ New Line Productions Inc.

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