SCENE ONE: THE CARRIAGE HAS STOPPED AND EVERYBODY IS LYING AROUND THE FLOOR. FLUFFY GETS UP AND LICKS BRIAN'S FACE TO MAKE HIM WAKE UP. MELISSA WAKES UP NEXT FOLLOWED BY FRANKIE AND EVE. THEY ALL SEEM TO BE OKAY. THEY CALL JACK AND JENNIFER; SHE CLIMBS OUT OF A LUGGAGE RACK. EVE IS UPSET BECAUSE HER BRAND NEW DESIGNER HIGH HEELS ARE BROKEN. THEY ALL CALL JACK BUT CANNOT FIND HIM.

SCENE TWO: JENNIFER IS WORRIED, AND DESPERATELY SEARCHES FOR JACK. SHE BENDS OVER A BIG PILE OF SUITCASES AND JACK IS UNDER THEM.

 

JENNIFER: Here he is, he's over here.

JACK: Help me.... help me.... HELP ME!

JENNIFER: Are you alright?

JACK: Alright, well other than the fact that I've got a ton of suitcases on my face, I couldn't be better.

EVE: Well why don't you just stand up, get up, get out?

JACK: Oh what a brilliant idea. Why didn't I think of that myself? Oh I know why, because I've fallen and I can't get up. Now would somebody please help me?

FRANKIE: Okay shut up and we'll get you up.

JENNIFER: Okay, what should be we do?

JACK: Yes, what should be do?

BRIAN: Ya know it's tough to concentrate here with all everything going on. I'm not sure what to do with him.

FRANKIE: Well I wish we could help you get a load off here.

JACK: Well somebody get a load off this.

BRIAN: Yeah, you know it would make me concentrate and get things done a lot easier if I had the murder weapon.

JACK: Oh, don't, don't.... don't go there.... don't.

JENNIFER: Brian, don't do this, he's claustrophobic. You don't understand, this isn't funny.

BRIAN: Yeah well neither is confiscating state evidence.

JACK: Alright, alright, whatever.... just get me out of here and I promise you.... I promise you I'll do whatever you want me to do....

 

FLUFFY THE GERMAN SHEPHERD LOOKS AT JACK, AND JACK HE LOOKS ACROSS AT FLUFFY.

 

JACK: Well.... almost anything.

BRIAN: Okay, okay, here we go. Now we're making headway.

FRANKIE: Okay, let's move this so he can get out.

EVE: Wait, wait! Maybe we should make him talk first before we let him out?

JACK: You what Bundt Cake? I know now why I married you. For your undying love and support. Thank you very much.

JENNIFER: Jack don't listen to her, don't listen to her alright. Let's just get these things off you. Come on.

JACK: Yeah.... ouch.... argh!

 

THEY MOVE MOST OF THE BAGS AND JACK STANDS UP.

 

JENNIFER: Come on Jack, are you alright? We were so worried about you, are you okay?

 

JACK LOOKS A BIT STUNNED.

 

BRIAN: Alright buddy, now that you're fine and you're okay (Beat) hand over the gun. Alright Jack come on now stop screwing around. Just give me the gun or I'll come over there and get it.

JACK: May I remind you, I'm a married man.

EVE: Shut up Jack! Just give him the gun.

JACK: I would. I really would if I could but I.... I can't.

BRIAN: Why not Jack?

JACK: Because I don't have it.

BRIAN: Come on Jack, you're being ridiculous. I saw you in the lounge car and you took it from the grating.

JACK: Oh from the grate in the lounge car! That's a brilliant deduction detective except for one thing. It's Nutty! I mean you all remember Nutty that wild and friendly guy who befriended your erstwhile younger brother. He held me up at gun point and he took it.

BRIAN: Oh right and he's an alien from another planet.

FRANKIE: No Brian he's telling the truth.

JACK: Yeah.

FRANKIE: About Nutty anyway.

BRIAN: Come on this is ridiculous. You know I can't take anything you guys say as the gospel truth. You know you haven't been dealing with a straight deck since we got on this train.

EVE: If we had the gun believe me I wouldn't keep it from you. I want you to have it more than anybody else so we can find out who killed Nick so we can get this whole stupid thing over with.

JENNIFER: That's what we all want but Jack doesn't have the gun.

JACK: Yeah.

 

SHE LOOKS CLOSELY AT JACK TRYING TO GET HIM TO LET HER KNOW IF HE STILL DOES HAVE IT.

 

MELISSA: Well I tell you something Brian, I don't think it's going to make much difference.

BRIAN: Huh.

MELISSA: Take a look. We're stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

THEY ALL RUSH TO THE BROKEN WINDOW AND LOOK OUT ON A FOREST COVERED IN SNOW.

SCENE THREE: AFTER PRESSURE FROM THE OTHERS BRIAN SAYS HE THINKS IT IS BEST THAT HE GO OUT AND INVESTIGATE WHERE THEY ARE. HE FINDS A BATTERY LANTERN, GRABS A GREEN TRAIN BLANKET AND HEADS OUTSIDE WITH MELISSA AND FLUFFY.

 

JACK: (Imitating Dr. Smith from the old Lost in Space TV show) We're doomed, doomed. We'll never make it. Not with wrong way Scofield on the case.

FRANKIE: Alright Jack, he's gone. What's going on huh?

JACK: Well what do you mean, what's going on? What are you saying?

FRANKIE: What I'm saying is, is he right? Do you have the gun, huh?

JACK: I told you that Nutty took the gun. I'm sorry.

EVE: Jack you had the gun in your hot little hand and you let it go. How could you be so stupid?

FRANKIE: Either that or he's got and he's lying and that would be really stupid.

JACK: Wait a minute, you both saw him. You saw Nutty and you saw that he had a gun.

EVE: Yeah but you didn't just have to hand our gun right over to him Jack.

ACK: I didn't. I left it there for him.

EVE: Heh!

JACK: I suppose I should have taken a bullet for it. As much as that would have pleased you, I'm not the heroic type.

EVE: No, not heroic.

FRANKIE: Look Jen, come on, if you know that Jack's got the gun, you've got to tell us. We're talking about Eve's life here.

JENNIFER: Look it's all of our lives if we don't get some help and get out of here fast, alright.

JACK: That's right, that's absolutely right. And I for one am going to help our fearless leader.... fearless detective leader out there. Miss Horton will you join me?

JENNIFER: Yeah, come on, come on.

JACK: Yes, let's go.

JENNIFER: Here's a blanket Jack.

 

JENNIFER HANDS JACK A GREEN TRAIN BLANKET.

 

JACK: Thank you. Hey, you¡ll keep the home fires burning. Let's get out of here.

JENNIFER: Let's go.

 

THEY BOTH WRAP THE BLANKETS AROUND THEIR SHOULDERS AND GO OUT TO LOOK FOR BRIAN.

SCENE FOUR: OUTSIDE, JENNIFER IS HOLDING A BATTERY LANTERN AND THEY HAVE THE BLANKETS WRAPPED UP AROUND THEIR HEADS. JACK SEEMS TO BE STUMBLING A BIT.

 

JENNIFER: Jack?

JACK: What?

JENNIFER: What do you mean what? Why are you walking so funny?

JACK: Why do you think?

JENNIFER: Huh?

 

HE STRUGGLES FOR A MINUTE AND PULLS THE GUN OUT OF HIS PANTS. IT IS STILL WRAPPED IN THE OLD PLASTIC CHIP BAG.

JACK: It feels much better now.

JENNIFER: The gun! I knew that you still had the gun. Jack....

 

SHE TRIES TO GRAB IT BUT HE PULLS IT AWAY.

 

JACK: Uh, uh, uh. Well if you knew, thank you for not spilling the beans to all the rest of them.

JENNIFER: Oh come on, it's not like we're going to keep it a secret forever. Just until we find out who really killed Nick and get that letter.

JACK: Wherein lies Lawrence's deep dark secrets. (Beat) I wonder how he'll feel when he finds out that we and everybody else who reads The Spectator has been reading up on him as well.

JENNIFER: I just hope we get a chance Jack. I hope that we get out of here.

JACK: Of course we'll get out of here.

JENNIFER: You seem so sure.

JACK: Well of course, I mean we've been in direr straights than this. Stuck up on ledges forty storeys in the air with rain coming down and sinking ships.... stuck on deserted islands.

JENNIFER: I'll never forget the island Jack.

 

JACK FROWNS.

 

JACK: I'm just saying that we'll be able to get out this mess as well as those messes.

JENNIFER: You're right, you're right. We can't give up Jack, not when we're this close to getting exactly what we want.

JACK: Finally getting to Lawrence.

JENNIFER: Yeah well that too.

 

THEY BOTH LOOK AT EACH OTHER.

 

JENNIFER: Well I guess it's going to be a while before we get any answers on that gun, huh.

JACK: Well in the meantime we'll just have to guard it with our lives.... metaphorically speaking of course.

 

JACK PUSHES THE GUN BACK DOWN HIS PANTS AND IT IS SO COLD THAT HE SHIVERS.

 

JACK: Ah.... OOOOH! It's still the safest place that I know of.

JENNIFER: You really still think we're going to get out of here, right Jack?

JACK: Well.... I'm sure it's going to take more than a train wreck and a.... and a wilderness.... in.... in the dead of winter to keep down a couple of enterprising reporters.

JENNIFER: Jack, we may survive but what about the jade plant?

 

JACK LOOKS PUZZLED.

 

JENNIFER: We left it on the train. Who's going to take care of it?

JACK: Well.... who cares! It's just a plant. We'll just get another one.

JENNIFER: That wasn't just a plant, Jack. It was much more than that.

JACK: Alright, it was.... it was.... it was something more, symbolically speaking.

JENNIFER: Jack, that plant was our hope. It was our future.

JACK: Well alright if that's the case we'll just have to....

JENNIFER: What, have to what?

JACK: We'll just have to.... ah....

JENNIFER: What?

JACK: Go find another one.

JENNIFER: We can't just go find another one Jack. That plant was irreplaceable.

 

SHE WALKS AWAY UPSET.

 

JACK: Ah.... I'm just saying we'll just have to replace it.... OUCH!

 

THE GUN IS HURTING HIM.

 

JACK: Doggone it....

 

HE LOOKS PUZZLED AND FUMBLES IN HIS POCKET AND FINDS THE ENGAGEMENT RING IN IT IS VELVET BOX. HE TAKES IT OUT AND HOLDS IT UP TO LOOK AT IT.