WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL

Screenplay by Dick Croy

9413 Southgate Dr. Cincinnati, OH 45241 513-600-4042

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL FADE IN: EXT. DAY - DESERT Through heat rays shimmering off the surface of a narrow paved road, a pickup truck gradually emerges. INT. DAY - TRUCK CAB WALTER BARRY, a good-looking middle-aged man with a weathered face, is driving, gazing out at the... DESERT POV WALTER ...baking landscape of cactus and little else. Was that a flash of movement? INT. - TRUCK CAB The truck continues but from Walters expression we can see him wondering whether to stop and investigate. EXT. TRUCK Comes to a skidding halt, then begins to back up.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL EXT. - DESERT Walter holds a canteen for a gasping, grizzled OLD MAN nearly dying of thirst. WALTER Not too fast. INT. DAY - TRUCK CAB The exhausted man is slumped against the passengerside door, as Walter drives. OLD MAN You was the first to come by in two days. WALTER Not surprised. I work a small mine up past where I found you. Hardly ever see anyone out here. OLD MAN Id like to do something in return. WALTER Thats not necessary. OLD MAN It is to me....Ever witched for water? WHITE OUT WHITE IN EXT. DAY - RIVER The dazzle of sunlight on the surface of the Thothwillow River (the name the Shawnees gave the Muskingum), a tributary of the Ohio. Jet skiers, pleasure craft and a dockside marina. Summer, lots of trees along the riverbank.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL EXT. DAY RIVERBANK A city pickup truck turns into the parking area of a municipal artesian well field next to the river. EXT. DAY - WELL FIELD The truck stops and two men get out. RUSS (RUSTY) FAWCETT, head of the Water and Sewer Dept. of Lafayette, OH (actually Marietta), a Midwest city of 30,000, and City Service Director DEAN CHANNEL converse while walking toward the gate of a cyclone fence enclosing the well field. Both are middle-aged. DEAN CHANNEL We've never had contamination in these wells before. Not the kind you're talking about. What the hell's the name of this stuff again? Tetrachlor... RUSS FAWCETT Tetrachloroethylene. PCE. It's a solvent used in dry cleaning. Used to be used in diesel fuel and fire extinguishers too. DEAN CHANNEL There's a combination for you. So how'd it get here? Fawcett unlocks the gate and the two men enter the well field and proceed toward one of the wells. RUSS FAWCETT Beats us, Dean. Could have been buried here years ago or dumped somewhere nearby just recently. The states taking soil samples and using metal detectors to see if they can locate some kind of underground storage tank.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL DEAN CHANNEL Couldn't it be coming from the river? RUSS FAWCETT That's what we thought. But Well Six is the only one contaminated, so far, and it's the farthest from the river. DEAN CHANNEL You're sure none of the others are polluted? RUSS FAWCETT Not yet, and we're monitorin' 'em awful close. DEAN CHANNEL What're the odds this could spread? RUSS FAWCETT Can't say. Well Six tests out at 33 parts per billion. Thats not a dangerous level not yet even though this is a poison we're talking about. Fatal if inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the skin, according to our HAZMAT info. DEAN CHANNEL Jesus Christ. RUSS FAWCETT Course we shut it down right away. The men climb steps to a catwalk which is part of the steel superstructure atop each of the wells. A big painted numeral identifies this as Well 6. DEAN CHANNEL Well need test wells to locate the source. What the hell's all that going to cost?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL RUSS FAWCETT Depends on how many we have to drill $15-20,000 to start. Thatll get us four test wells... (gesturing) ...around Number Six, which should give us the direction. Once we know that, well extend out till weve determined the source. DEAN CHANNEL How far? How longs this going to take? RUSS FAWCETT ...We can get along with one well down for a while. But give us a couple of dry months and we may have to add another shift pump from midnight to six. Or drill a new well, at a cost of $50,000 or more....Worst case scenario? We lose the whole damn field. EXT. DAY - ESTATE ENTRANCE A car leaves the two-lane onto a winding gravel lane to a large stone house set among fruit and shade trees and presenting a magnificent view of the countryside, dominated by a broad river, the Ohio. Near the house the car is met by an unruly pack of barking dogs. INT. - CAR The driver, CORK ROCKNER mid-40s, rugged good looks, tanned intelligent face, dress shirt with no tie is annoyed but obviously used to the noisy greeting. EXT. - CAR Proceeds without slowing, accompanied by the dogs, to

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL a circular drive in front of the house and parks. The dogs surge around the car as Cork gets out, glaring as one lifts its leg against an aluminum-alloy wheel. But he pauses to rub the ears of another that jumps up to greet him and smiles, watching... THE DOGS ...square off with one another, jaws playfully interlocked or fastened around a foreleg as the pack drifts off toward the shade of the back yard. CORK opens the screen door in an impressive, almost baronial entryway and enters the house. INT. - KITCHEN This is spacious and well-appointed but lived-in since the dogs come and go as they please. Pots hang from the ceiling. A pair of womans riding boots by the screen door. CARLOTTA, late 40s, with an aristocratic bearing tempered by the grace of the dancer she still is and a boisterous, childlike enjoyment of life is at the sink preparing the evenings macrobiotic meal. She calls out to Cork without turning around. CARLOTTA Hel-lo! Hope youre hungry. Cork embraces her tenderly from behind, a hand around each of her arms, inhaling her scent, and kisses her onthe cheek. She turns at the waist to kiss him on the lips, her hands still in the sink, then after a loving smile returns to her work. CORK (wearily) ...I will be by the time its ready. Looks good.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Oh it will be. Sounds like you could use the energy. CORK Another one of those days. How was yours? CARLOTTA Had a great ride on Queen Anne. Good dressage lesson with Sidney. Ill make a show horse of him yet. Corks warm smile as Carlotta chatters on about her day fades as the day he has just spent at the office intrudes on his thoughts. Carlottas voice, too, GRADUALLY FADES in volume so that we, like Cork, hardly hear what shes saying. DISSOLVE TO: INT./EXT. DAY - LUMBER YARD MONTAGE A) INT. OFFICE IRENE, Corks secretary/bookkeeper, slim and pretty in a plain, country sort of way, stands in the doorway of his office, listening with a rather pained expression to Cork, ranting behind his desk. Stopped by she wasn't wasn't off contractor about. B) EXT. - LUMBER YARD Cork gestures angrily to a forklift driver in the act of loading a truck with kiln-dried lumber. CARLOTTA (V.O. contd) I don't understand that woman. She (MORE) CARLOTTA (V.O.) to see Cindy too but there. I hope she somewhere with that she keeps talking

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA can be so much fun, but she doesn't use her head sometimes. If she starts runnin' around on Bill again she's liable to lose her kids this time. C) INT. - PLANER BUILDING Cork runs his hand critically over a board emerging from the planer. It has rough spots missed by the planers knives. The loud sound makes Carlottas words even more indistinguishable, until the last sentence when volume RETURNS TO NORMAL. CARLOTTA (V.O. contd) I can't say that I'd blame him. And that little boy of hers Rooty, they call him is darling. He says I'm his girlfriend. When I'm over there he wants all my attention. INT. - CAROLOTTAS KITCHEN LATER Dogs are sprawled on the hardwood floor and on the dilapidated couch in front of the fireplace. Cork and Carlotta carry healthful food coleslaw, hummus surrounded by triangles of pita bread, etc. to a... EXT. - PATIO ...bordered by shade trees and a rose garden. More dogs on the patio, a picnic table set for two. The sun is behind the trees, the lawn a deep, vibrant green. Cork and Carlotta sit at the table. The laughter in her face has brought a smile to Corks. CARLOTTA Went to see my aunt today. CORK The one at the nursing home?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Right, Aunt Elsa. She was really sweet today. Asked me to take her for a drive. CORK Where'd you go? CARLOTTA Out where Cindy and her husband bought that little farm. I was going to introduce her to Cindy, she's such a character. But since she wasn't there, we drove clear up the hollow just to give Elsa something besides old people and crabby attendants to see for a change. CORK She must've had a great time. CARLOTTA Oh she did till we had to stop so she could go to the bathroom. Carlotta's eyes light up in amusement rather than disgust as she relates the incident. CARLOTTA (contd) I said, Can't you wait, Elsa? I can have you back in 15 minutes. But she says, no, she can't wait and then starts to get a little frantic. So we pull over...I help her out of the truck...shes whimpering and a little panicky. I whipped her pants down right there and held her out away from me...diarrhea. It went everywhere. (laughing) I tried to keep it off her as best I could. Found some rags in (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA (CONTD) back to wipe off what got on her. Of course she's humiliated, and I'm reassuring her that everything's all right, these things can happen. What an afternoon! Cork gives Carlotta an admiring smile. EXT. GOLDEN HOUR - CARLOTTAS PROPERTY MONTAGE Surrounded by the dogs, Cork and Carlotta stroll down her gravel drive through the woods to a riding ring and small private dock on the river. Her interaction with Cork and her dogs reinforces our sense of Carlottas life-affirming nature. Shes obviously in love with Cork, who appears to share her feelings. By the end of the montage darkness has fallen and the night is alive with fireflies. INT. DAY - CORKS OFFICE Cork, in a dress shirt and chinos with no tie, is digging impatiently through papers on his desk when Irene appears in the open doorway. IRENE You don't wanta hear this. Cork looks up with a pained expression. IRENE (contd) Thompson rejected that load of face-and-better red oak. CORK ...Why? IRENE They said it has too much stress.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK What do the kiln records show? IRENE That load came out of Kiln Three, which had two days of conditioning. It should have been all right. CORK It didn't get wet did it? IRENE No, I know it wasn't raining when we loaded the container, and Herman said it couldn't have got wet during storage. CORK What else did they say was wrong with it? IRENE That was it. They said the color and surfacing looked okay, but they haven't graded it yet. CORK They'll probably claim that it's off-grade too. It couldn't have had any stress in it to speak of. They want us to bend over. If we're willing to make a three-or four-thousand dollar adjustment on the load, they'll be happy to take it off our hands. IRENE (mildly uncomfortable) ...That's probably about right. CORK What the hell are we gonna have t do to get a few loads out of here (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) without a claim, Irene? It seems like every third or fourth load somebody's gotta call up here and bitch about it. If it's not the kiln-drying it's the surfacing, or the lumber's too wavy. If it's not that, then there's too much mineral or off-grade. If we can't put out a decent goddamn product we might as well shut down!

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Throughout, Cork has resumed throwing things around on his desk, trying to find whatever he was looking for when Irene entered. But he glares at her now. CORK (contd) Do you agree? Am I exaggerating? Have we managed to get five loads out of here in succession this year without a claim? IRENE Well, that may be an exaggeration, but I know what you're saying. We are getting too many claims. CORK Tell Herman to get in here, will you please. I want to hear what he has to say before I call Thompson. Irene exits as Cork furiously sorts through the stack of papers and trade magazines on his desk and slams most of the material into an overflowing wastebasket which tips over, prompting him to kick it savagely. INT. DAY - RESTAURANT Carlotta and two other women in their late-30s are having lunch at a health food store and restaurant. LESLIE is a slim woman with an angular but attractive

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL face. AMY is a pretty long-haired back-to-the-earthlooking brunette. There is an air of mutual respect among the women. Though the mood is generally lighthearted, it also carries a feeling of suppressed tension. Carlotta laughs loudest and most often, and while her laughter is robust and infectious it has a slightly forced quality as well. CARLOTTA (laughing) Good for you, Amy! I hope he's smart enough to know you insulted him. AMY You know, I'm not sure he is. LESLIE Oh he'll figure it out eventually. Think how much better it'll be when he realizes how long it took him. Hearty laughter from all three. AMY Why do men have to be so sneaking and secretive about it? If they have to have two or three different women in their lives, why can't they be honest about it and hang out with women who can accept that? LESLIE Because no woman's going to admit she'll accept it, that's why! CARLOTTA Won't admit it maybe, but there are plenty willing to be the "other woman" who makes someone elses life miserable.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL LESLIE That's pretty cynical, Carlotta. CARLOTTA I'm sorry but it's true. You know it is, Leslie. AMY I'm afraid she's right, as much as we'd like to think otherwise. There are a lot of groveling women out there. CARLOTTA Give me dogs and horses any day. You know where you stand with animals. LESLIE Well...does this mean you and Cork aren't getting along these days? CARLOTTA Oh no, there's plenty of room for Cork up on the hill too. He and I and the animals all get along fine. She laughs, noticing but not commenting on a look between the other two. There's an awkward pause. AMY ...Isn't this soup great? Peter's got a new sous-chef, a woman who commutes all the way from Athens. She's great with soups. Wait'll you taste her mushroom barley. CARLOTTA It is good. LESLIE Aren't we getting fancy "sous-chef." What's next, fingerbowls and sorbet?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL AMY Hey, being macrobiotic doesn't mean you can't have a little class, does it? I doubt that Peter will ever put sorbet on the menu though. CARLOTTA I don't know, Amy, I wouldn't exactly call this a macro menu any more. He even serves coffee for God's sake. AMY Well this is a business after all, Carlotta; he's gotta make money. How long do you think he could stay open with a strictly macro menu? LESLIE I think we're lucky to have him. AMY Damn lucky. And there are plenty of macro items look. (pointing to menu) Cucumber-wakame salad and soba noodle salad with tofu...brown rice and azuki beans with sauteed onions, carrots and squash...miso soup of course, and hummus and pita...miso-tahini spread... CARLOTTA (laughing) All right, all right don't get so upset, Amy. I'm glad Peter's here too. I just hope he doesn't forget his original intentions, that's all. How far is he willing to go to bring in customers?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL AMY (in mock surrender) I give up, you're hopeless, Carlotta. LESLIE Can't we talk about something besides food, for God's sake? CARLOTTA Great idea, Leslie! I'm boarding a new horse Sidney, the cutest twoyear-old. He fetches, just like one of the dogs. I throw him a stick and he brings it back to me. AMY Another horse? I didn't know you had room for another one. CARLOTTA I don't really. The others aren't too happy about it. Except for Queen Anne I think the old slut's got a crush on him. LESLIE (laughing) You and your animals! CARLOTTA They're a bunch of characters. The goats got out again the other day had to have one of my semi-annual roundups. AMY Are you still milking any of them? CARLOTTA Not any more. The people who said they wanted it didn't show up half the time. One woman pleaded (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA (CONTD) with me to sell her goat's milk for her baby, couldn't drink anything else, she said. Promised to come by twice a week without fail. I think she came twice. AMY That's too bad. I'll miss your ice cream. What did you called it? CARLOTTA Bah-moo wasn't it great! Goat's milk and cow's cream. AMY I remember you had some at your macro-potluck last summer. It was delicious. LESLIE Ah-ah we're talking about food again. Somebody change the subject. AMY ...You haven't said much about Cork, Carlotta. How's it working out with the two of you living together now? CARLOTTA It's working out okay, why? Is there something going on I don't know about? AMY ...Are you aware that Cork came to see Leslie the other night? CARLOTTA What? When? LESLIE Tuesday evening.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL AMY We thought maybe we should say something. I had a feeling you might not know about it. CARLOTTA ...What do you mean, "came to see you"? Did something go on between you two, Leslie? LESLIE No. I was surprised that he came by. He didn't call first, just dropped in. We sat and talked, mostly. CARLOTTA "Mostly"? LESLIE Well, nothing happened, but there was a feeling in the air, you know what I mean? AMY Carlotta, we're not trying to make something out of this that isn't there at least I hope not. I just felt you should know about it. CARLOTTA Why, if nothing happened? AMY I'd want to know. CARLOTTA You mean just the two of you were there, Leslie? LESLIE No, the kids were there too.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Well, I don't know what to say. You say nothing happened, but you're making it sound like something did. I know Cork was home when I came in Tuesday. LESLIE I probably wouldn't even have said anything. But Amy thought we should. AMY I've told you before, Car, I think Cork has wandering eyes. Maybe it comes from living in California. I don't wish any ill toward him, but I wish someone had told me about Tim's nocturnal visits at the very beginning. It would've saved a lot of pain.

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They fidget with their hands, fiddle with napkins, sip their water. Amy touches Carlottas wrist. AMY Maybe this was a case where "eternal vigilance" was overkill, but I feel we should look out for one another. Anyway, we both care for you, you know that. CARLOTTA I thought I knew. LESLIE We do, you know we do. CARLOTTA ...It just seems to me, Leslie, that if you feel Cork was wrong enough in coming over there to tell me about it now, then you should have said something to him then.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL Leslie has no answer to this. CARLOTTA ...Do you see what I'm saying? AMY I'm the one who thought we should tell you, Carlotta. LESLIE I told Amy because I didn't feel quite right about it. But Cork never came onto me or anything like that. CARLOTTA Well, I don't know whether to thank you or cuss you both out, but you've sure ruined my lunch. EXT. DAY - PASTURE FIELD - MONTAGE

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Walter Barry, the man we met in the first scene BUT OLDER, is dowsing for water and talking to a RANCHER client, a man about his own age. Walter walks randomly but quickly with a metal rod held out, palms up, in front of him. This is a 3-foot "scanning" rod: two lengths of steel welding rod joined at one end, with handles made of copper sleeves on the other ends. WALTER I call this my "scanning" rod, for finding the general vicinity of an underground stream. Watch what happens when we cross where I marked the near side earlier. The rod dips abruptly. WALTER (contd) It's realll sensitive but not precise enough.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL Continuing to talk, he walks over to a long leather case and exchanges the scanning rod for a pair of Lshaped metal rods. The short leg of each "L" is the handle, again encased in a copper sleeve. WALTER (contd) ...So to lay out the boundaries, I use my "cross" rods. Holding a rod in each hand so they're sticking straight out in front of him, the long leg on top, Walter walks to where the scanning rod has indicated the course of an underground stream. WALTER (contd) Now watch when I cross the edge of the stream. The rods swing toward each other and cross. WALTER (contd) ...I'll keep walking, until I pass over the other side, and... The rods uncross and swing back so they're pointing straight ahead again. WALTER (contd) You see? I've just crossed the stream; it's behind me now. Still talking, Walter turns and goes back to his case and replaces these rods with a third one. WALTER (contd) ...Now, how deep is it? I determine that with my "counter" rod. I won't take the time now to tell you how long it took me to learn the rod's "language," but I found the first clue in the Bible right there in Exodus. Moses struck the rock at Horeb (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER (CONTD) and water flowed....God said to Moses, "Hold the rod in front of you, and I'll do the talking."

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He stands over the subterranean stream with the rod in his right hand. It begins to swing up and down at a slight angle to the ground. He counts with it: a foot for each cycle, each up-and-down movement, of the rod. WALTER (contd) One...two...three... DISSOLVE TO: RANCHER looking on in fascination. WALTER (O.S.) Nineteen...twenty...twenty-one... DISSOLVE TO: WALTER WALTER (contd) ...Thirty-eight feet to water. Why that's not gonna take much drilling at all. You see how this flows? (gesturing) Probably through a crack in the volcanic rock up there in the coastal mountains. Thermal energy pushed it up from deep beneath the ocean, as steam, until it cooled and turned back into water. Then it runs past your house here a little subterranean tributary of some big underground river on into the valley and, eventually, back to the ocean. A natural cycle that will keep repeating itself forever, with water in enough underground streams like this for everyone on the planet. While we (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER (CONTD) sit here with our hands tied and our throats parched, locked into scientific theory that says the only way to tap underground water is by drilling into an aquifer. That, my friend, is a bunch a bull. INT. NIGHT - CARLOTTA'S LIVING ROOM Carlotta paces in a large under-lit room with a high beamed-ceiling, full of heavy old furniture,, pausing at times to make a point. Cork sits in a chair. CARLOTTA I don't care what you talked about. If it was all so innocent why didn't you tell me you were going over there? CORK I didn't know myself; it was just spontaneous. I feel sorry for her, Carlotta. She's lonely. She's got those kids to take care of by herself, on not near enough money... CARLOTTA If it was spontaneous why is it you just happened to go over there the night I work late with my dressage class? CORK You just answered your own question. I knew you wouldn't be here. And I made it a point to be back by the time you got home. CARLOTTA But you never said a word to me about it then. I had to hear about it from my friends.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK You're right, Carlotta, I'm sorry, I should have told you. I planned to. It just never came up, the time was never right. CARLOTTA That's bullshit! I'm sure I must have asked you how your day went or something. And you never said a word about going to see Leslie. CORK Because I knew it would just make you uptight. But I don't know what the hell she could have said to make you so upset or make you feel so insecure. CARLOTTA If I'm insecure, it's because that's the way you make me feel. Doing things like this behind my back... CORK Believe me, I'm sorry I went over there and not just because your feelings got hurt. CARLOTTA Now yours are too huh? Your little rendezvouss not as secret as you thought it would be. CORK ...Will it make you feel better if I admit I was wrong? I was feeling a little guilty about it. We've gotten ourselves into a vicious circle, Carlotta. I feel you're too possessive, and you feel I'm out trying to make it with other women, because I'm not satisfied enough (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) with you or something. We're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy here. It's true I wanted to share some time with someone else for a change. I feel suffocated by you sometimes. We end up talking about the same old things which is what happens in a relationship. That's natural. We need to have connections with other people to keep it alive. CARLOTTA (sitting down heavily) Well that's just great, Cork. You start out saying you went over to Leslie's because you feel sorry for her, and now its because you needed to get away from me. If we keep talking long enough, what else will you confess to? You may be deceiving yourself, but you're sure as hell not kidding me. You need to satisfy your ego with a little flirtation, without the work a real relationship requires. CORK A little harmless flirting shouldn't be lethal to a relationship, Carlotta. CARLOTTA Tell me, Cork, did you or didn't you go over to Leslie's to sleep with her? CORK Oh c'mon, Carlotta. Don't get hysterical. Nothing happened. CARLOTTA You're telling me only a little (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA (CONTD) bit at a time, and you keep changing it! First you say one thing, then you add something to it. How the hell do you expect me to believe you? CORK Hey, if you really think I was just over there to make it with Leslie, and you're not willing to listen to what I'm trying to tell you, then I don't see any point in continuing our conversation. Do you? CARLOTTA No! And I don't want you living in my house while you're sneaking around with other women either. That's not right, Cork, no matter how you try to rationalize it. EXT. DAY - RANCHERS FIELD A truck-mounted drilling rig is being set up where Walter was dowsing. The DRILLER, a wiry man in his mid-30s, talks to the rancher while motioning to an assistant who is backing the rig into place. DRILLER You may have water out here somewhere, but youre never gonna find it up in these rocks. RANCHER This is where the man said to drill. DRILLER Well you keep in mind what I said when your money well starts to run dry. We get paid whether theres water down there or not.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL The rancher starts to reply but the response becomes an expression of concern. He has a lot riding on Walters being right. DRILLER (contd) I been drillin water wells long enough t know we oughta be down alongside your creek somewheres. In a low place. The treesll tell ya. Look for cottonwoods. RANCHER Thats what I thought. But this guy found water for another fella I know. And he seems t know what hes doin. DRILLER You think hed still be doin this if he was right every time? Hell, hed be rich. Hes just got some crazy ideas. EXT. DAY - RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD Cork walks across the front lawn of a well-kept Victorian home and up the steps onto the front porch. INT. - FRONT HALL He enters, calling out. CORK Hel-lo! INT. - KITCHEN

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of his parents' home. MRS. ROCKNER, a pleasant-looking woman in her late 60s, is preparing a meal in the circa-60's kitchen while Cork converses with her from a chair at the table.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL MOTHER I was afraid you and Carlotta living together wouldn't work out. CORK I know, you warned me. But we had to try it eventually. MOTHER I hope we'll still see her. CORK So do I. She's pretty bitter at the moment but I think she'll get over it. MOTHER Will you still be friends? CORK I hope it's not over between us. We just need a change. But I can see us getting back together again just not living together maybe. MOTHER It's certainly okay with us if you stay here while you look for a place of your own. CORK Thanks. It shouldn't take too long to find something. Cork leafs listlessly through the local paper, until seeing an article that sparks his interest. INSERT - NEWSPAPER HEADLINE City Still Seeking Source of Contamination.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (O.S.) Have you been following this whole business about a city well being contaminated? BACK TO SCENE MOTHER Yes. That's a heckuva note isn't it. CORK If they don't find the source before long, it's liable to spread.

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His mother doesn't respond; Cork looks off into space. CORK (contd) ...I wonder if a dowser would be able to find something like that? MOTHER A dowser...is that one of those people who can find water, like? CORK Right, we had a segment on a dowser in our TV series. This guy found water all over Southern California still does for all I know. We filmed him...what? must be almost ten years ago. Walter Barry's his name. MOTHER I don't remember seeing that one. CORK You may not have. He's a healer too. Alex feels he saved her life. MOTHER Well of course. (melodramatically) Naturally Alexandra would think (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL MOTHER (CONTD) she was going to die, or something equally dramatic....What is as dramatic as death anyway? Torture maybe. Having to listen to Dorothy at lunch tell me for the umpteenth time about an incident in her past. CORK Alex wasn't being melodramatic this time, believe me. MOTHER Alexandra will probably outlive us all. What's this have to do with a contaminated well though? Is he going to heal it the way he healed her? CORK (equally sarcastic) Right. (now seriously) I'm wondering if Walter could use his dowsing rods the way he does to find water. They use dowsers to find oil and minerals... missing children...lost items all kinds of things. MOTHER Who does? CORK All kinds of people. Walter found water for some very wealthy people, living on these beautiful thousandacre ranches in the middle of nowhere, with everything but water. That's how he makes his living. MOTHER Well, finding water I can (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL MOTHER (CONTD) understand no, not really understand, but at least it's something I've heard of. CORK Right. But dowsers do all kinds of things. The real ones, I mean even map dowsing. MOTHER What, in God's name, is map dowsing? CORK Just what it sounds like: instead of dowsing at the site itself, you do it over a map of the site. That might be the way to get Walter involved in something like this. Send him a map of the well field and see if he could find anything from that first. MOTHER You're not really thinking of getting someone like this involved in our problem here are you? CORK Why not? MOTHER Because you'd be the laughingstock of the city, that's why. CORK Why do you say that? If he found the source of contamination he could end up saving the city thousands of dollars. You could go about it discreetly enough.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL MOTHER Oh come on, Cork, this isn't L.A., and we're not talking about a TV series on, on paranormal phenomena. We're talking about the city's drinking supply. CORK Exactly, that's my whole point. What could be more important? MOTHER I'd think you have enough to worry about with the business being the way it is. That's all we need right now: your name in the paper connected with some crazy water-dowsing scheme, to go along with the company's financial problems. CORK What the hell's wrong with wanting to help out? I've been reading about this in the paper for weeks now, and they haven't been able to do a goddamn thing to solve their problem. Should I just stand by and watch the city pour money it can't afford down the toilet rather than risk making a fool of myself? MOTHER That's exactly what I'm saying. Concentrate on the business's problems and let the city worry about its water wells. CORK (angrily rising) That kind of attitude is exactly what's wrong with this country! (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) Don't get involved if you can help it, and for Christ's sake don't try anything too new or different! People might think you're trying to be a hero or something!

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Mrs. Rockner watches him storm from the kitchen, then, shaking her head, returns to her work at the sink. EXT. DAY - RANCHERS FIELD The drilling rig. Water gushes from a plastic hose about two inches in diameter which is attached to casing in the well. RANCHER (quietly elated) By gum, he said it was here! The driller and his assistant say nothing, their silence and expressions more eloquent than words. EXT. DAY RIVER - MONTAGE On the Thothwillow. Cork and JIMMY MAJORS, a friend his age, remove the waterproof cover of Jimmy's solidwood Chris-Craft and head out into the river among a flotilla of pleasure craft idling up- and downstream in the no-wake zone several hundred yards on either end of the floating dock. Outboard bass boats, kayaks and jet-skis, phallic-looking cigarette boats, houseboats on pontoons, and cabin cruisers large enough for coastal ocean navigation. The boats 115-horsepower inboard has a throaty rumble the equivalent of Hollywood mufflers on a '55 Ford, as Cork and Jimmy pop the tops on their beers and lean back to relax. Despite his graying hair, Jimmy is good-looking and appears to be in good physical condition.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK You look a lot better now than you did a few weeks ago. JIMMY Oh, man, getting that goddamn business off my shoulders was a lifesaver literally. CORK Any leads on a new job yet? JIMMY Not yet, I just started sending out resumes last week. CORK What're you looking for? JIMMY What I'm good at: something in sales. Where it's warm. I can't wait to get out of the Midwest. Gray isn't a color I identify with. (running hand through hair) And I don't need any comments from you about my hair, Rockner. CORK (innocently) What makes you think I was going to say anything about your gray hair? JIMMY Screw you, buddy. You're in no position to gloat. CORK I'm not gloating, I'm sympathetic. You've gotta stand by your friends during their mid-life crises.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL JIMMY You're real sympathetic all right. You're a goddamn bleeding heart. It's obvious this kind of banter is normal between them and they enjoy it. CORK ...If you leave, will Sarah and the kids go with you? JIMMY Who knows? Sarah's not about to share her plans with me. If she can find a way to keep the house, she'll probably stay. CORK How would you feel about that? JIMMY I don't want to lose my family. I'd miss my kids! But bein' away from Sarah's sharp tongue would be a relief. She sure as hell hasn't been sympathetic through all of this, believe me. CORK I know it's been tough. It's been hard for her too though, ya know. JIMMY She seems to thrive on an adversarial relationship. But what I need is some nurturing, I really do. Aside from the kids, it's been so long since I had a little human warmth I forget what it feels like. CORK I've told you before: you could (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) take care of those needs if you were discreet enough. JIMMY That isn't me though, Rockner. I couldn't lead that kind of life. CORK Why not? It's not as though you'd be being unfaithful to Sarah. JIMMY That's for sure....Sorry to hear about you and Carlotta, by the way. CORK Yeah, I wish it hadn't happened the way it did anyway. But living apart may be the answer for us. We sure as hell can't live together. Carlotta feels I'm not loving enough. Just because I want to have friendships with other women I must not care enough for her. JIMMY (chuckling) You're not exactly the world's most compassionate person, Ace. CORK Well I care a lot more for Carlotta than she seems to realize. It's hard to show it when you feel like you're under attack half the time. JIMMY Tell me about it. CORK My problem is, sometimes when I need to be compassionate the most, (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) that's when I become the most judgmental. When Carlotta starts complaining about needing more love and attention, it brings entirely the wrong reaction. I feel like she's too busy asking for more to feel what's already there, you know what I mean? JIMMY Are you kidding? CORK I know I'm not the easiest person to live with. No one else has ever been able to for long. Maybe this change will be good for us, I don't know. I sure wouldn't want to lose Carlotta from my life, no matter what happens.

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Both take a long swig of beer and sit back wordlessly. Jimmys just relaxing, but we can sense Cork mentally gearing up for something. CORK ...What do you think of this fiasco about the city's contaminated water well? JIMMY It's no surprise to me. I think we're going to be hearing about a lot more of them before long, all over the country. CORK Why's that? JIMMY Because of all the shit we've been dumping and burying for (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL JIMMY (CONTD) years, that's why. We have two Super Fund sites right here in Lafayette, you know. CORK ...With all the money spent so far and nothing to show for it, I've been playing around with the idea of a more unorthodox way to find the source. JIMMY Unorthodox? CORK I know this is probably going to sound weird to you, but I've been thinkin' of contacting a guy we filmed in California to see if he might be able to find it by dowsing. Jimmy spews the beer he's just taken a drink of. JIMMY Dowsing? (laughing, shaking his head) Now I've heard everything! I thought taking over the family business might put some sense in your head, Rockner, but you must think you're still out in La La Land. CORK Just the response I was looking for. JIMMY You wanta learn something about industrial pollution around here, Ace including your water well? Talk to Andy Byers, he's a friend of mine works for ChemLab. You know who they are don't you?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK The environmental testing company on the West Side? Yeah, I know them. JIMMY Andy will tell you stories that'll have you drinkin' bottled-water with the Perrier crowd. EXT. DAY CALOTTAS MONTAGE

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Carlotta feeds her horses and mucks out their stalls; wheels a heaping wheelbarrow load to a large pile outside the barn; then saddles her Arab mare and canters on open wooded property along the river, brushing the horse down lovingly after the ride. Later she trains Sidney in the ring. Its late afternoon by the time she leads Viceroy, her feeble old palomino stallion, to the broad expanse of lawn and fruit trees bordering her drive just as the sprinklers come on. The low sun catches the sweeping fans of water magically, and Carlotta laughs as she runs with Viceroy to a spot outside the sprinklers reach. She encounters HANK, the gardener, a physically fit, pleasant-appearing man in work clothes, in his 30s, climbing onto a riding mower after turning on the sprinklers. CARLOTTA (teasingly) Driving up my water bill huh? LUKE (smiling) You want it to stay green doncha? CARLOTTA Sure do. Viceroy likes to come up and graze when I let him. Doesnt like getting wet though. Again she laughs heartily, and Hank smiles along with

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL her: obvious affection, of a non-intimate nature, between them. EXT. EVENING - RIVER LEVEE

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Cork and ANDY BYERS, a clean-cut young man in his late 20s, walk and talk alongside the river in front of cafes, restaurants, etc., with lights reflected in the water and a towboat pushing a string of barges upstream. Andy projects a sense of youthful earnestness tempered by professional cynicism. CORK What makes you think there's been some kind of cover-up, Andy? ANDY (grimacing) May be, I said "cover-up's" a word I'd prefer not to be associated with, until one is actually proven. CORK Right. ANDY But there have been irregularities in procedure. For one thing, drilling all these test holes was never put out to bid. The city ends up hiring a firm from Columbus when there are local companies who could do the job just as well. CORK Who else besides Chemlab? ANDY Geologic Survey, for one. We were (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL ANDY (CONTD) working on a joint bid with them, with GS doing the drilling and us handling the chemical analysis, and we weren't even allowed to present it. Why not? We've both done a lot of contract work for the city. They know we're more than competent for a job like this. CORK Why didn't they let you bid? ANDY This is just speculation, you understand, but we think maybe they wanted to keep the lid on around here keep as much information as possible from getting into the wrong hands. That'd be a lot easier to do with an out-of-town company, right? CORK Maybe....Is there anything else that makes you suspicious? ANDY Yeah, the fact that they haven't nailed someone for this yet. Even though the city says after months of digging test holes they still haven't found the source of the plume, they do have chemical samples they can analyze. I don't think there's a site in the country, unless it's an open dump site, where you can't identify whose waste you're dealing with. We'd have identified it by now. PCE is extremely carcinogenic. It's very volatile, one of the (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL ANDY (CONTD) worst solvents you could have in groundwater. If Capital Drilling can't identify the plume, why hasn't the city brought in someone who can? CORK Have you asked city council that question? ANDY Of course. And all we got was a complete glaze-over: "Capital's taking care of the problem and the plume is unidentifiable." I'll tell you this. The liability for dumping that stuff could very well be in the millions to clean up. Whoever did it could afford to pay a small fortune to keep from being identified with it. INT. DAY - LUXURIOUS HOME

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Walter Barry is drinking coffee with a middle-aged couple in the atrium of an Architectural Digest kitchen in their multi-million-dollar home. The two of them radiate the casual beauty, well-being and health of relatively old money. Southwest dcor. WEALTHY WIFE Do you mean to say well have enough water now to bathe whenever we want? WALTER Darlin, you can take as many baths as you want...water your stock without haulin it...and build that swimming pool youve always wanted.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WEALTHY WIFE We can live like ordinary people! WALTER Well, I dont know about that. But I can find you water. Theyre interrupted by the ringing of Walters cell phone. He starts to turn it off. WEALTHY HUSBAND No, answer it. Someone else needs you. Walter nods his appreciation and answers. WALTER Walter Barry here. What can I do for you?...Well now, that sounds interesting. A little different from my normal line of work but not out of my range, I'm not sayin' that. Finding poison's what healing's all about. How'd you get my name, by the way?

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Walter glances up at the couple, excusing himself, and lets himself out. EXT. DAY - HOUSE The house is just as magnificent from the outside, but everything around it is dry: no lawn or gardens. WALTER (contd) ...Oh yeah, I remember. I brought quite a few wells in as a result of that show. Not all thee calls serious but you're never gonna get away from that. Do you have any maps of your well field?...Good. Send me as much information as you (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER (CONTD) can. See, what most folks dont realize is that the earth has a circulatory system much like the human bodys. And it sounds like what you all have is some kind of local infection. EXT. DAY - LUMBER YARD MONTAGE Cork makes a tour of inspection through the yard. The noisy chaos of trucks being loaded; forklifts transporting bunks of lumber; men working, shouting, receiving instructions. He stops here and there to observe or converse with someone, then heads to the office and sticks his head in the door. INT. OFFICE CORK Goin to lunch. IRENE You havent forgotten the bank will be here for inventory this afternoon? CORK I wish. INT. DAY - RESTAURANT

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Cork enters the health food restaurant where Carlotta lunched with her friends, waves to a couple of people, then joins Jimmy Majors at a table. Jimmy puts down the paper hes been reading, having finished his meal. JIMMY You're late today, Ace. What's wrong, the banks foreclose on you?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK Not yet. (looking up at the sky) They're beginning to circle though. That sound ominous to you? JIMMY (chuckling) Not unless you have something against bein' dead meat. How are things? CORK I figure we have about six months at the rate we're going. JIMMY Till one of the banks calls their note? CORK Until I have to meet with all of them with another song and dance about how we're about to turn things around. But I'm gonna have to come up with a new verse. Something catchy about lumber sales. JIMMY (chuckling, starting to rise) ...Hang in there, Bud. CORK Don't go yet. Amy, waitressing, comes over for his order. Some tension between her and Cork, which Jimmy doesn't appear to notice. CORK Hi, Amy, what kinda soup today? AMY Old-fashioned bean and spinach-lentil.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I'll take the bean, carrot juice, and a corn muffin, heated. AMY Comin' up. He watches her walk away until prompted by Jimmy. JIMMY So what's the word, big guy? CORK I met with Andy Byers. He thinks there may be some kind of cover-up in connection with the citys contaminated well. JIMMY No shit why do you think I had you talk to him? CORK Do you think he knows what he's talking about? JIMMY It's his business, what he's trained for. Andys a little idealistic at times. Tends to get a mite testy when plants keep callin' him in not to clean up their act but to find out the least they can do to stay legal. CORK You think he may be over-reacting? JIMMY I don't know, Rockner what am I his shrink? I just thought you oughta know what you might be getting into, before goin' off (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL JIMMY (CONTD) half-cocked with this crazy idea of yours. CORK I talked to Walter Barry this morning. He wants me to send him photos or diagrams of the well field so he can do some map dowsing. JIMMY (disbelief turning to disgust) ...Didn't anything Andy said register with you? CORK Sure it did. If what he thinks is true, that's all the more reason to find the source of pollution. As soon as possible.

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BROOK, a petite attractive brunette in her late 30'searly 40's, appears, holding a store-supplied shopping basket she is briskly putting things into. She spots Jimmy and comes over. JIMMY Hi, Brookie! Shopping on your lunch break? BROOK That's the life of a harried schoolteacher, Jimmy. How are you? JIMMY Couldn't be better. Do you know Cork Rockner? BROOK Never had the pleasure but I've heard your name, Cork. Nice to meet you.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL She extends her hand and Cork stands. CORK Nice to meet you, Brook. Where do you teach? BROOK I'm a reading disability teacher at Madison Elementary. Trying to squeeze in some shopping for a little dinner party tonight. JIMMY Who is it, some of those arts-andcrafts hippies you hang with? BROOK You'd fit right into that group, Jimmy. The main thing is, they know how to have fun. JIMMY Yeah, that part I could handle. BROOK Do I hear a but in that answer? JIMMY (laughing) Butts is right. I can see taking Sarah to one of those naked sweat baths. Brook laughs too and puts a finger to her lips. BROOK Jim-my! not so loud. You'll get me fired. I'd better hurry or I'll be late to class. JIMMY Always on the run, Brook. Gotta take time to smell the flowers.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK (over her shoulder) All I'll smell is what hits the fan, if I'm late to class. See you both. JIMMY She's somethin' else. That's someone you oughta look into, Rockner, if you and Carlotta are history. CORK She's cute. But I hope its not over between us. What's this about naked sweat baths? JIMMY I figured that'd get your attention. Sounds like your kind of activity doesn't it? That crowd's into all kinds of weird stuff. I kid Brook about it call 'em retro-hippies. But the ones I know are good people. CORK I think you're the one who should spend some time with her. Looks like she could give you all the nurturing you could ask for. JIMMY She could all right. But I told you, thats not my style. Sometimes I wish it were. (rising) Well, I've got a job interview in Columbus at four. CORK Good luck, man. Nail the sucker.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL JIMMY (heading for the door) Plan to. See ya, Ace. INT. DAY - CARLOTTAS LIVING ROOM Carlotta, in tights, is working out to music when the doorbell rings. Its Cork. She is polite but cool. CORK Guess I caught you in the middle of your workout. CARLOTTA That's all right, come on in. I can't breathe in this goddamn Ohio Valley smog anyway. CORK It is bad today isn't it. L.A. weather: about as close as we get to the atmosphere of a big city around here. CARLOTTA (laughing rather bitterly) You can say that again....I put all your stuff in the bedroom at the end of the hall. Cork starts in that direction, then stops. CORK ...I wasn't looking forward to this. CARLOTTA Well it didn't have to come to this, Cork. CORK Didn't have to maybe...

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Not if you were willing to be satisfied with one woman in a relationship, instead of... whatever it is you want from life. God knows, since you wont share that with me. CORK Oh come on, Carlotta, that's not fair to either one of us. I haven't been that remote from you. You're too busy feeling sorry for yourself to focus on the positive in our relationship. It far outweighs the negative. CARLOTTA Let's hear it for the buzzwords, Cork. Who's keeping score? How much are the positives ahead by today? Corks gesture says she's just proved his point. He starts down the hall, then stops and turns when Carlotta addresses him. CARLOTTA That's right, score another for the negatives. You know, Cork, if you were half as good at showing your affection as you are in telling me about it in that superior attitude of yours whenever we have an argument, there might not be so many arguments. CORK I can never give you enough, Carlotta. You get far more affection from me than anyone else.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA There shouldnt be anyone else, Cork. I won't compete with anyone. I shouldn't have to. CORK You're competing in your own mind, Carlotta. It's a one-woman competition. Both recognize that nothing useful is being said. CARLOTTA (turning to address CAMERA) Do you know what Cork said to me when we first started seeing each other? "When you really love someone it's just between you and you. The only commitment you make is with yourself." (a can-you-believe-it look) I told him that was the most selfish thing I'd ever heard. That's the way I ended up living in New York in self-defense. I took what I wanted and made no bones about it. I don't want to live like that anymore. INT. NIGHT - CARLOTTAS LIVING ROOM (FLASHBACK) Cork and Calotta on the floor in front of the lit fireplace. CORK Why is it so selfish? It's just an acknowledgment that no one can hurt you but yourself. CARLOTTA I'm not afraid of getting hurt. Why should I change my way of (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA (CONTD) life for someone whose only commitment is to himself? I've known enough people like that to last a lifetime. CORK I'm talking about your commitment to yourself. If you dont get what youre looking for in our relationship, you don't have to interpret that as some kind of betrayal. See it for what it is, a lack of what you need, and walk away. CARLOTTA Why this emphasis on my needs? Arent you the one you're protecting? All this sounds to me like just a fancy way to rationalize why you don't want to make a commitment. You can't expect me to look at life the way you do just to make things easier for yourself. CORK (wearily) ...No, of course not. I'm trying to communicate how I feel. I know I'm not doing a very good job of it. Let's just both shut up for a while. CARLOTTA That's the best idea you've had all night.

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They look into each other's eyes, and it's obvious that dissension has been replaced by mutual attraction and affection. They embrace and lie down together.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL INT. DAY - CARLOTTAS HOUSE (THE PRESENT) As Cork and Carlotta were before the flashback. CARLOTTA ...If you're just going to get your things and leave, I wish you'd do it, so I can get back to my workout. CORK Is that what you want? CARLOTTA Don't ask me that, Cork. You know what I want. If you're unable to give it to me to us then there's no sense in prolonging things. CORK Do you admit you're unwilling to compromise? To try seeing things from my perspective? CARLOTTA I've made a lot of changes in my life for you, Cork. CORK And I have for you. But here we are. (gesturing) Are you willing to accept half the responsibility? CARLOTTA Would you spare me your goddamn pop psychology, Cork! Just get your things and get out please! She rushes away from him, stifling sobs, while Cork stands there, stiff and awkward.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL EXT. NIGHT - RIVER/WELL FIELD - MONTAGE

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Boats at the dock wallow in the light-reflecting water. A party is in progress on the deck of one of the cabin cruisers. VOICES, LAUGHTER and the TINKLE of glasses. The CREAK of the segmented wooden dock on the water. Somehow a sense of loneliness, which becomes unease. In the well field beside the river, the well super-structures rising like sentinels in the night. EXT. - WELL FIELD A mans silhouette on the steel catwalk of Well SIX. EXT. - WELL SIX Dean Channel stands at the railing, looking into the distance. EXT. DAY MAIN STREET Cork pulls into a parking space in an attractively restored historical section of downtown and gets out. EXT. DAY - SIDEWALK Brook approaches, smiles and stops to talk. CORK Hi, Brook, off today? BROOK No, just extracting the maximum mileage from a dental appointment. It's nice to see you again. EXT. DAY - SIDEWALK CAFE On the levee. Cork and Brook are having coffee.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK ...I'm surprised we've never run into each other. BROOK Me too. You grew up here, right? CORK Sure did I used to tell friends in L.A. it was a great place to grow up in, but I sure wouldn't want to live there. BROOK So what brought you back? CORK The family business. My father needed help. BROOK That was certainly good of you. CORK It was the right thing for me too. I was just another of L.A.'s hundred-thousand or so writer-producers: a title that sorta comes with the territory out there. Don't know how much good I've done here though. The company was in such a hole when I got back it's been next to impossible pulling us out of it. BROOK You've been a big help, I'm sure. CORK (smiling) Sounds like my disinformation campaign's working....You know, Ive just bought a little house (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) out in the country havent even had a house-warming yet. I wonder if youd help me give one by having dinner with me. BROOK A house-warming! Sounds delightful. When did you have in mind? EXT. DAY - HOUSE Corks small contemporary house, set amongst trees at the end of a long gravel drive, is surrounded by a well-trimmed lawn and, beyond it, thick forest. INT./EXT. DAY - HOUSE - MONTAGE

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Cork hurrying through some cursory housecleaning, with impromptu timeouts to play with Frannie, his cat; showering; then programming his CD changer and pouring himself a glass of wine as Brook drives up in a small convertible with the top down. Her summer dress shows off her shapely figure. She appears somewhat startled when Cork hugs her but recovers easily. He shows her around his bachelor tree house. She is delighted by its setting and views and enthusiastic about the framed photographs on the walls, particularly those (apparently) of his daughters. She makes friends with his cat. Then Cork pours her a glass of wine and ushers her onto the deck, where, joined by Frannie, they sit and talk in the golden hour. BROOK Its so peaceful. CORK My sanctuary. Youre the first to enjoy it with me. BROOK I feel honored.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK Frannie and I are too. Shes been staying with my parents. ...I like your dress: very becoming. BROOK Thank you. CORK ...So youre a teacher. BROOK Reading disability. CORK How do you like it? BROOK Love it. Ill give you an example that just happened today. Timmy Potters one of my favorite third graders. Hates school, mean as a snake sometimes. Ornery...years ahead of his classmates in street smarts. He's either going to be very successful or in jail much of his life, I don't know which. CORK These days maybe both. BROOK (chuckling) That's true. Timmy can't read of course, or he wouldn't be in my class. This afternoon he came in and told Larry, the principal, that so-and-so had used the J-word. Larry's sitting there trying to figure out what the heck the J-word could be. Finally he asks, What's the J-word, Timmy? (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK (CONTD) You know...the J-word, as if Larry's just trying to get him to say it. I don't know what the J-word is, Timmy. Come over here and whisper it if you can't say it out loud. So Timmy comes around the side of his desk... (starting to giggle) and whispers it in his ear. Brook is laughing so hard she can't go on, or is reluctant to. CORK (laughing too) ...So what was the word? BROOK (recovering enough to speak) I wont repeat it, but it's more commonly known as the 'F-word'. This sets Brook off on another peal of laughter. CORK (laughing) The J-word! BROOK That's the sort of thing we face every day. Its an experience. INT./EXT. DAY/NIGHT - CORKS HOUSE - MONTAGE

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While Cork prepares their meal in his galley kitchen, Brook enjoys the sunset from the deck, where they eat as night, held at bay by Corks Tiki lanterns, settles over them. They become more and more at ease with and attracted to each other. BROOK Youve led such an interesting (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK (CONTD) life, Cork. It makes mine seem so uneventful. I sometimes wonder if Im wasting it, living in a small town like this. CORK Wasted it? Taking kids no one can help under your wing and teaching them to read? Showing em someone really cares about them? I dont see how you could say that. BROOK Well thank you, Cork. I guess I take that for granted sometimes. CORK Because it comes so naturally. BROOK Maybe....I have a similar feeling about you. That you want to make a difference in some way. I dont care what Jimmy says, I think you should go in and talk to Dean Channel. The worst he can do is say no. The words both please Cork and strike home with him. EXT. NIGHT - CORKS HOUSE Cork walks Brook to her car and after an endearingly awkward moment between them, kisses her goodnight. No grand romantic moment but holding promise for more. INT. DAY OFFICE

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Unremarkable, utilitarian. City Service Director Dean Channel is seated at his desk. Cork, in a chair facing it, has a file folder on his lap.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL DEAN Paranormal phenomena" huh? I knew you'd been involved in some kind of TV series in California. Never knew what it was. CORK Some of it was pretty hokey, but other things I was really impressed by. Unorthodox healers, in particular. But what I wanted to tell you about, Dean, is what I learned about dowsing. DEAN Dowsing for water you mean. I always knew it as "water witching" around here. With a hazel rod, I believe. CORK Apparently you can use anything. My father told us when we were kids about a man finding a gas line at the lumberyard with a pair of coat hangers. DEAN No kidding? I can see our sewer line inspectors wanderin' around town with coat hangers in hand, can't you? Keepin' the budget down, we'd tell taxpayers. He and Cork chuckle. CORK ...Anyway, dowsing's fairly common in Southern California. A lot of homes and ranches get their water from wells located by dowsers. And we filmed one of the most successful in our TV series. (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) Had all kinds of testimonial letters from people he found water for. Long story short, I contacted this guy Walter Berrys his name a week ago and told him about our contamination problem here with Well Six. Leaning forward, Cork pauses and shifts gears to get into the meat and the touchy part of his pitch. DEAN ...I'm followin you so far. CORK I know the city can't get publicly involved with a dowser, Dean, not here in the Midwest. But what about some kind of behind-the-scenes arrangement, where there's no city money involved, not up-front anyway? Walter thinks he's found the source of the contamination, by map dowsing. DEAN Map dowsing?

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Cork takes something from his folder. Getting fidgety, Dean starts to interrupt but Cork holds him off. CORK Let me just add one more thing, Dean, if I may. I'm pretty sure I can make a deal with Walter to come back here and verify the location, by dowsing at the actual site, so it won't cost the city a dime. It doesn't have to be public knowledge. If he can't confirm the location, nothing's been lost, and no one (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (CONTD) needs to know a thing. But if he does come up with convincing evidence of where the source of the contamination is, we could drill a test well there and maybe save the city thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars. What do you think? Dean cant restrain himself. He gets up and paces. DEAN Well, I appreciate your interest, Cork, I really do. It takes guts and a real sense of civic responsibility to come forward with something...different like this. But I have a responsibility too. When you say "convincing evidence," convincing to who? And it would be awful hard to keep something like this secret. CORK I understand your position, Dean. I figured it'd be a hard sell. ...Let me ask you this: what if I came up with the money for a test well? Would you permit that if I took all the financial risk, with the city reimbursing me if we found the contamination? DEAN ...Well, I suppose thats possible, Cork, but do you have any idea what that would cost? We're talking about a 200-foot well through rock and heavy gravel. Then we'd have to put in a well screen to monitor water quality. All that's not cheap: could be as much as $10,000.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK That much huh?....Well, I'm still willing to try if you are. DEAN (considering) Wellll...as long as you keep it quiet, without city money, and use a reputable drilling company. I'd prefer the people were using if they're available, they know the conditions here. I guess that's a possibility. I'll need to talk to the city attorney. He'll probably raise hell but I can handle him. There'll be a number of conditions you'd have to adhere to of course. Dean thrusts out his hand, ending the meeting. Cork, looking somewhat stunned, rises and shakes his hand. DEAN (contd) Let me know what happens! Good luck. CORK I will. Thanks, Dean.

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When he turns to leave, Cork hesitates for a moment, a what-have-I-gotten-myself-into? look on his face. INT./EXT. DAY WELL FIELD Sitting in his car, Cork appears almost entranced as he stares at the well towers. CORK (V.O.) Deans going to let me bring Walter Barry in to locate the source of the contamination. All I have to do is come up with the money somehow.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL RESTAURANT INT. DAY Cork and Jimmy are having lunch in the health food store. CORK (contd) I thought maybe you could help me come up with a list of environmental angels. JIMMY (chuckling scornfully) I don't know anyone dumb enough to invest in something like that, Rockner. And I'm not dumb enough to ask them. CORK What's so dumb about it? You just wanta sit back and let the city keep pouring money into dry holes? JIMMY It's none of my business. And I can't see how you think it's any of yours either. CORK I get tired of hearing how people are so afraid to get involved. I could pretend this doesn't concern me, but it does. The city's losing a lot of money on this. And if the contamination spreads, we could end up losing all our goddamn wells! JIMMY Jesus, don't get your bowels in an uproar, Ace. What do you think it would cost to drill a test well? CORK Dean says about $10,000.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL JIMMY Where the hell do you expect to find that kind of money on a moment's notice all because some new-age witch doctor with a magic wand says, Dig here.? CORK That's what I'm asking you. Who with that kind of money would even consider such a thing? JIMMY You know, if you really are serious about this, your timing couldn't be worse, moving out of Carlotta's now. CORK Carlotta? What the hell's she have to do with it? JIMMY Well you know her brother's as much of an environmental fanatic as she is. He could come up with that kind of money in a minute if he wanted to. And since he's always looking for some kind of PR gimmick to promote his solar energy business, he just might go for it if Carlotta was behind it.

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We can almost see the light bulb in Corks head go on and then off again as he dismisses the idea at once. EXT. DAY - RURAL LANDSCAPE - MONTAGE From Corks house he and Brook go for a walk along country roads with sweeping views of rolling hills and farmland, beneath a few large clouds. They enjoy each others company and the countryside, pointing out and inspecting wildflowers, exploring an old abandoned

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL barn. Brook swipes low-hanging apples for them and later bends to examine the dried remnants of some creature squashed into the gravel, responding to Corks amusement at her fascination embarrassment.

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Meanwhile the clouds have begun to stack up and darken. The sun angles shafts of light through them like heavenly golden staircases a la Cecil B. DeMille, his production designer influenced by Maxfield Parrish. The wind picks up and distant thunder rumbles; approaching rain obscures the horizon. Theyre both enjoying the spectacle; Cork has to raise his voice to be heard. CORK If you ever get too old to find this exciting, you're in trouble! BROOK You think maybe we'd better turn around? CORK We'd better but you know we're going to get soaked anyway! They start to run but when the rain catches them they give themselves up to it, spinning around with outstretched arms, palms up, like trance dancers with big grins, their clothes and hair plastered against them. When a car stops, they laugh and wave the driver away. When they get back to Corks house the rain is little more than a mist, but they're both shivering. INT. - CORKS BATHROOM He turns on the hot water in the tub-shower while Brook leans against him for warmth. CORK We can shower together or you can go first.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK N-no, you g-go first. CORK No way, get in here, you're freezing! BROOK I'll b-be all right hurry up! Cork peels off his wet clothes, hops into the shower and pulls the sliding glass door shut. Hes just sudsing up when the shower door opens and Brook steps in, white with cold and shivering miserably. BROOK I c-couldn't w-wait. Cork wraps her in his arms as the hot water streams down on them, and their bodies begin swaying in unison. Brook looks up at him and they kiss. INT. EVENING - LIVING ROOM Cork, his back against a loveseat facing a fireplace, and Brook, leaning back against him in his sweatshirt and sweatpants, sit on the floor in front of a fire. BROOK ...Remember Jimmy kidding me about our sweat baths? CORK How could I forget? BROOK Well, we call them sweats. They're part social gathering and part...like a cleansing ritual. Is that too far out, or does it sound like something that might appeal to you?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK (with mock bravado) Hey, I'll try anything once.... I've been wondering about them. Sounds kind of L.A. Im all for it. BROOK Good. Ive been trying to work up the nerve to ask you, but I guess seeing each other naked isn't such an issue now, is it. CORK (playfully) Maybe not for you, but I don't think I'll ever get over seeing that lovely body of yours in the raw. BROOK (playing along) Oh, I like that! I like your body too, Mr. Rockner. The name suits you, buster. EXT. NIGHT - CAR On a two-lane blacktop beneath a nearly full moon. INT. NIGHT - CAR Cork driving, Brook beside him. CORK Ive been meaning to tell you, your little pep talk the other night gave me the gumption to go in and talk to Dean Channel. BROOK It did? What did he say?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK He agreed to give it a try. But now Im getting cold feet. I'm already personally liable on some of the company's notes and property taxes. And we could be in Chapter 11 in a month or two. BROOK Oh, I hope not. (pointing) Theres their drive! EXT. NIGHT - CAR

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turns into a gravel driveway and approaches a renovated farmhouse around which half a dozen vehicles are randomly parked. People are seated on logs around a bonfire midway between the house and a dilapidated barn. Reflecting the flames is a dome-shaped enclosure consisting of old sleeping bags and comforters covered with plastic, laid over a framework of saplings which have been cut, bent into shape and tied down. INT. - CAR CORK I know most of these people from the arts and crafts festival. I just don't know any of them very well. BROOK Well they know you well enough for me to be bringing you. They're pretty careful about who comes. CORK (exiting car) I guess it isn't the sort of thing you'd want to broadcast. EXT. CAR

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK No, this isn't California. A teacher told me shed heard that after the sweats the men go off naked into the woods and howl, and the women also naked of course come beat them with sticks. Laughing, they walk toward the bonfire, waving at and being greeted by the others. BROOK (contd) Besides, it's an intimate experience. You want the people sharing it with you to be there for the same reasons you are. CORK (putting arm around her) Simpatico huh? BROOK Simpatico. She swings her hip playfully against him. BROOK (contd) Sure you don't mind doing this in the nude? CORK Not if you think I'll measure up. She laughs. Their host TOM SAVAGE, boisterous, in his 30s, beside the fire pitchfork in hand, greets them. TOM You're just in time, Brook. BROOK Hi, Tom. You know Cork, right?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL TOM Sure do glad you could come, Cork. He thrusts his hand out and proceeds to introduce the rest of the group, all in their 30's or early 40's. TOM This is STEVE and PAULA... She's cute with boyishly short hair; he has a ponytail, not the fashionable little yuppie foal's tuft. TOM (contd) ...REBA and NATHAN...

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He has shoulder-length hair framing a bald head, she's in loose-fitting clothing of her own design. TOM (contd) ...KAREN and DAVID... Her small body, twisted by some crippling disease, hasnt diminished her smile. David, 30ish, offers a thumb's-up welcome. TOM (contd) Over there is SUSANNE, and that's her husband TONY beside the sweat hut. Shes an earth mother with a warm smile, hes slender with long dark hair and an impish grin that he's sharing with SONIA, their hostess. She has a husky voice with a lilt in it, as if shes someone floating with life rather than fighting or struggling with it. SONIA Have a seat, you two. We're just taking in the bricks. I'm Sonia, Cork. Good to see you, Brook. Brook and Cork sit down on a log in front of the fire. Tom thrusts his pitchfork into the coals and comes out with a red-hot firebrick.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL TOM Fire in the hole! Tony lifts a corner of the sweat hut's opening flap and Tom disappears inside with the brick on the tines of the pitchfork, then backs out with it empty. The couples drift off into the shadows to undress. BROOK (handing him a bath towel) You can undress and leave your clothes inside the barn if you like. There should be a light on in there. CORK Okay. INT. - SWEAT HUT Dark. People just barely discernible by highlights on limbs and faces from the fire in a pit in the center. SONIA Everyone have enough room? (murmurs of assent) Welcome, Cork, to our humble sweat hut. SONIA (contd) Mmmmm...this feels so good. Ahhhh. I don't know about the rest of you but I've really been looking forward to this. KAREN I certainly have. This past week's been murder. I think we got more orders out last week than the whole rest of the month put together.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL TOM I'll bet Sid was a lot of fun to be around then, wasn't he. KAREN (snorting) He was frantic. Too much business makes him more uptight than no business at all.

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An extended pause, punctuated only by inarticulate sounds of pleasure and relief as everyone settles in. Tom dips a cup into a bucket and sprinkles water onto the bricks in the fire pit, producing a hissing cloud of steam and more exclamations including some not of pain exactly, but with a sense of stoic endurance. SUSANNE Tony and I are going away this weekend. We've rented a cabin at Old Man's Cave for our tenth anniversary. TOM Congratulations, you two! (assent by others) SUSANNE Thanks. TONY (with a touch of irony) Seems like ten months at most. After a chorus of "Awhhhs" both sarcastic and genuine has died down, Nathan utters a war-whoop, followed by a Native American-sounding chant, and some of the others join in, all of them making their own sounds at different pitches. The chanting eventually trails off into another extended silence. BROOK Who has the drinking water?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL SONIA Over here, I'll pass it around. As the cup comes around, Brook glances at Cork and... INSERT THEIR HANDS ...squeezes his hand. BACK TO SCENE BROOK (to Cork) I hope you don't mind my mentioning this, but... (to the others) ...I think its something youll all be interested in. Cork's arranged for a dowser to come look for the contamination in the city's wells. TOM Really? That's great, Cork. DAVID I didn't even know they were contaminated. REBA I didn't either, I stopped reading the Snooze years ago. But I'm not surprised. We have our own well. SONIA I heard about it, but nothing about a dowser. How on earth did you get the city to approve that? CORK ...Well, actually its supposed to be confidential.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL BROOK Oh, I'm sorry! CORK No, no that's all right, Brook, I didn't mean you can't say anything about it. The city just wouldn't want it to get in the paper that's all. As long as it's kept quiet, they don't have anything to lose. They're not putting up any money. They're sure not having any success the way they're going. TONY The city's really going to let a dowser come in here and tell em where to dig? CORK Well, the city service director anyway. The problem will be coming up with the money for a test well if he says hes found the source. TONY How much? CORK Ten thousand dollars, maybe more. TOM If the city's not going to come up with the money, who is? CORK (growing uncomfortable) That's the other problem. I guess we'll have to cross that bridge if and when we come to it. TONY (laughing) Some bridge!

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I know. That gives you an idea how much this is costing us the city, I mean. They can't afford to keep screwing around with this much longer. And in less than a week theyre scheduled to drill in another location unless Walter and I convince them otherwise. TONY You've gotta come up with the money? SONIA Where do you hope to get it? CORK (chuckling ironically) Who knows? BROOK Tell them what Jimmy said. CORK (giving her a look) ...Jimmy Majors do you all know Jimmy? (murmurs of assent) He thinks the best prospect might be Bud Knowland. SONIA Carlotta's brother? STEVE Oh yeah, he opened that solar panel franchise a year ago didn't he. PAULA What makes Bud such a good prospect?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL STEVE PR. What a way to tell the community, Hey! Here I am, folks in the solar energy biz now. CORK That's what Jimmy said. You know how vocal the Knowlands are about the environment. NATHAN So what's stopping you, have you asked him? (an awkward silence) ...Oh, yeah. SONIA I don't think you should let breaking up with Carlotta stop you, if he's really a good prospect. PAULA From what I know about Carlotta, I don't think she'd stand in the way. Would she? CORK No, I don't think so. But I wasn't that close to her brother to begin with; now I'm sure he'd have no interest in talking to me. If I were to ask him, I'd have to go through Carlotta. TOM I'd say you've got yourself in a real Catch 22 Cork. SONIA I'd go ahead and ask her. BROOK So would I.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL PAULA What have you got to lose? I don't know how you two left things, but I never thought of Carlotta as vindictive. It's awkward, sure, but that's the way life is sometimes. What do the rest of you think? SUSANNE I don't know her at all, but if you can really bring someone in here who can clean up the wells, I say ask her. It sounds exciting. TOM That's what I say. Go for it! SONIA What do you think, Tony? TONY Well, if you really want my opinion...$10,000 is a lot of money to ask someone to gamble on finding a contaminated water well. You've got more balls than I do, man. STEVE Yeah but think of the publicity Bud gets if the guy's successful. DAVID That's a big if. What about the ten Gs if the guy's wrong. PAULA That's for Bud to decide. If he doesn't want to take the risk, fine, who can blame him? But you won't know if you don't ask.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL SONIA Same with Carlotta. You'll never know how she'd take it either if you dont give her the chance. INT. DAY - CARLOTTAS HOUSE Cork and Carlotta are perched uncomfortably on the edge of their chairs in the living room. CARLOTTA Of all the goddamned nerve, Cork, you must take the cake! CORK I'm not asking you for the money, Carlotta. Just if you'd be willing to help set up a meeting between Bud and me. I thought this would concern you too. CARLOTTA That's right try to make me feel guilty about it. This is an environmental issue, so I should forget all about what's happened between us and help you ride to the rescue. CORK I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, Carlotta. It is an environmental problem a serious one. What could be more critical than the poisoning of a community's water supply? CARLOTTA This is all on your say-so, Cork, and I don't know that I trust you anymore. I don't trust your judgment, that's for sure. So why (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA (CONTD) should I get mixed up in some off-the-wall stunt like this with you? A dowser! It's not my money to lose anyway. CORK Well if you don't trust me, would you be willing to meet with Walter when he gets here? Everything depends on what he finds anyway. We wont do it unless he convinces us he's found the source. CARLOTTA He's not going to convince me, Cork. I don't know anything about dowsing. I'd be taking the word of someone I don't know and someone else I dont trust. With a lot of Buds money riding on my decision. Why should I put myself in a spot like that for you especially? I don't how you can ask. CORK Bud would make the final decision, not you. If youre willing to meet this guy, I think you might be impressed enough to introduce him to Bud. CARLOTTA Right, and put Bud on the spot. I'm sure he doesn't know any more about dowsing than I do. This is the city's responsibility, not mine or Bud's. Why isn't the city willing to pay the guy if he's so reliable? CORK Well you're being nave if you think

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Im being nave? When you just walk in here and ask something like this of me? And you're adding insult to injury by suggesting I get involved for environmental reasons. CORK ...I guess you're right about being nave, I mean. I thought it was something we could do together, something important in spite of all the problems we've had. He turns to go. Carlotta accompanies him to the door. CARLOTTA With Bud's money, right. (laughing bitterly) Thanks for the investment opportunity, Cork. Maybe next time. CORK Don't call us, we'll call you, huh? CARLOTTA (opening the door for him) Something like that. CORK Someday you're going to realize I care a lot more for you than you give either one of us credit for. CARLOTTA Ha! Do you really think I look down on myself because of your lack of caring? CORK I don't know what all your selfpity and insecurity stem from, Carlotta.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL

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Carlotta shakes her head with the same bitter chuckle. CARLOTTA Good-bye, Mr. Wonderful. She closes the heavy front door behind him. EXT. MORNING - CORKS HOUSE Cork lets his cat out on his deck and carries a cup of coffee and the paper to the glass-topped table where he and Brook dined. After playing with Frannie a moment, he sits down and opens the paper. INSERT HEADLINE EPA To Inspect Well Field Today BACK TO SCENE Cork looks up from the paper, takes a sip of coffee. EXT. DAY - WELL FIELD Cork is talking to CLARA TEAGUE, a professionallooking woman from Ohio EPA's Division of Remedial Response, in front of Well Six. (Identified by the logo on her state car, in the parking area next to the well field.) CORK Someone who ought to know said it should've been possible by now to identify the company that dumped the PCE. Is that true? CLARA That they'd have left a corporate fingerprint you mean?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK That's a good way to put it. CLARA I wish it were that easy. Chemical analysis can often tell us the process that created the toxic waste but not necessarily who did it. Unfortunately, PCE was a common industrial solvent at one time. Many companies used it, for a lot of different purposes. CORK So then it wouldn't be possible to pinpoint the company that used this? CLARA (putting things in briefcase) Not scientifically and definitely not legally. Even when we know who a polluter is, proving it in court is another matter. There are companies who choose to spend millions in legal fees rather than using the same money or less to clean up after themselves. Cork and Clara walk toward her car. CORK ...So what did your inspection today reveal? CLARA Just that, so far, the citys doing what they said they would. Were watching this carefully. With all the chemical plants in The area, the last thing we need is another multi-billion-dollar environmental disaster in the Ohio Valley.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL INT. DAY - CORKS OFFICE

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Cork is going through the mail. His bookkeeper enters. IRENE The bank just called about this months payment. CORK Which one? IRENE First National. Century Trust called yesterday and Citizens' isn't due till the middle of the month. CORK What'd you tell them? IRENE What we've been telling 'em. That we'll be late again but we won't get a month farther behind. CORK (sighing) Did they buy it? IRENE They weren't too pleased...but I think we'll be okay for a while. CORK Did you call Hardwood Design about their bounced check? IRENE They're sending another one this afternoon. CORK Is it

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL IRENE But its not a cashier's check. CORK Ten to one thisll bounce too. IRENE Probably. CORK Well, I guess if First National will accept it we may as well. IRENE Doesn't look like we have too much choice. CORK Did you fax Western Woodworks invoice yet? IRENE They said they'll wire it to our account first thing tomorrow. CORK Why the hell can't they send it today? We may start bouncing checks tomorrow. IRENE I think we'll be all right. Dee that's who I usually talk to and she's pretty reliable said there was some sort of mix-up with the container number or something. CORK Great! Was it our fault or the freight forwarders? IRENE As near as I can tell, it was (MORE)

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL IRENE (CONTD) theirs. We had the right number on the invoice and shipping papers. CORK Then call and give 'em hell. Here Western is, wiring our money in advance, and we can't even give 'em the right container number? IRENE Is that all? CORK Yeah, I guess oh shit! I almost forgot. Citizens is coming in for an inventory audit late this afternoon. IRENE ...They are? CORK Yeah, they called a little while ago. Are we going to be all right? IRENE Not unless I can move some receivables around. Hardwood Design had better get here with their check before the bank closes. But even that wont be enough. CORK I'll call them. See what you can do with your receivables. You always manage somehow. IRENE But it's getting harder all the time. CORK I know. Do what you can.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL IRENE Oh there's a woman waiting to see you. CORK (annoyed) Who is it? IRENE I think she said her name was Brook or something like that. CORK Brook? Great, send her in! He attempts to tidy up his desk as Brook enters. BROOK Hi, Cork, sorry to just barge in on you like this. Hope I'm not interrupting anything. CORK (motioning to chair) No, what a pleasant surprise! Sit down. You've just rescued me from Monday's mail. Can I get you some coffee? BROOK (sitting) No thanks, I'll just be a minute. CORK Welcome to the Executive Suite. What is it they say about a busy executive's desk being messy? BROOK (laughing) I don't know, but if there's a positive correlation, you must be putting in 16-hour days.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK Even that wouldn't be enough. What's up? BROOK Well, I ran into Jimmy this morning and he told me you hadn't had any luck with Carlotta....I just wanted to stop by and give you a word of encouragement. CORK That was sure nice of you, Brook. I guess you could say Carlotta was less than enthusiastic. BROOK You're not going to give up are you? CORK It looks like I'll have to even though Walter's flying in this afternoon. It was too late to stop him. BROOK I wish I had the money I'd give it to you in a minute. CORK Well I wouldn't take it. Not unless you could afford to lose it. But I certainly appreciate your support. BROOK I believe in you, Cork and what you're trying to do. CORK Thank you, Brook. That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a long time.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I mean it. Don't give up surely there must be some way to make this happen. CORK Oh, I'm sure there is, but I've got so many problems here with the business...and everyone thinks I'm either crazy or on some kind of ego trip. I even wonder myself if I'm just trying to create some kind of grandiose Hollywood production number out here in the boonies or something you know what I mean? BROOK I don't believe that for a minute. I think you've seen an opportunity that no one else can. And your, I dont know, producer instincts or whatever took over. I've been reading up on this myself. I went down CORK You have? BROOK Yes. I went down to the News and asked to see all their back articles on the contamination. And I agree with you, its a lot more serious than people realize. Myself included, initially. CORK Well, I've convinced someone anyway. BROOK You're daggone right you have. ...Is the dowser going to check the well field anyway?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK Oh sure might as well, while he's here. BROOK Well if what he finds confirms his map dowsing, I think you've just got to find a way to dig a test well. CORK You keep giving me new energy, Brook. I'm gonna call Dean Channel and see if I can cut some kind of deal with him. Brook stands and Cork comes around the desk to give her a big hug. He starts to kiss her, but something holds him back. The awkward moment is covered up by both of them. BROOK ...Good luck, Cork. CORK I'll let you know what happens.

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He returns to his desk and picks up his phone. But not to call Dean Channel. CORK Jim Meekle's office please. ...Cork Rockner....Jim? Cork. ...Good, how are you?...I want to talk to you about taking out a second mortgage on my house. INT./EXT. DAY AIRPORT Cork meets Walter Barry at the small regional airport serving the area. Walter gives him a hearty greeting, then hands Cork the case with his dowsing rods. He himself pulls his carry-on bag while conducting an

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL animated nonstop monologue (MOS) on their walk from the gate toward the parking area. EXT. NIGHT - WELL FIELD Scattered over ten acres or so, the seven water wells are dimly illuminated by a mercury vapor lamp next to the parking lot at one end of the field. The superstructures, combining well casing and pump-motor platform, loom over the fenced-in field like oil well drilling platforms. Cork and Walter arrive in Corks car. They get out and survey the moonlit landscape, framed by the gleaming river. WALTER Thothwillow. Strange name for a river. Indian? CORK Shawnee. Means bright horn. Something like that. He shines a flashlight on the newspaper diagram he sent Walter for his map dowsing. CORK Heres where we are on the diagram, and... (pointing) ...over there by that vacant lot is where you think the pollution is. Must be about a quarter mile or so from where we're standing. WALTER All right...I'm going to try something a little different. The scanning rod should show us where there's water underground, but what we need to find is contaminated water. Thats what Ive gotta focus on.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL With Cork holding the flashlight, Walter crisscrosses the part of the well field Cork pointed to. WALTER You sure this is the area on the map you sent? CORK I'm sure. Why? WALTER I just don't seem to be gettin' the kind of vibrations I'm used to. I grant you this is a little different from your normal dowsing this is dowsing for bad water. But I should be gettin' some kind of signal. CORK I walked it off before you got here. I know this is the right area. WALTER Well then, the next question is how accurate is the map. I've worked from maps before, lots of times, and I can tell you they're worse than useless half the time. Why don't we extend out toward the river as far as those willow trees? CORK The ground's really soft out that way, but I'm game if you are. They haven't gone far when the rod begins to vibrate. WALTER Do you see it? CORK I see it.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL Walter slows. The rod dips dramatically. WALTER There she is right below us. INT. NIGHT - COCKTAIL LOUNGE

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A showplace of fine hardwoods and Late Victorian architecture overlooking the Ohio. Cork and Walter sit over drinks in a booth with a view of the river with its intermittent traffic of towboats pushing long lines of barges up- and downstream. From the looks of the table, theyve been here for a while. Walter exchanges an appreciative glance with a young woman half his age or less sitting at the bar. WALTER ...Cant leave em alone and I wouldnt want to. The trouble with me, Ive always had to have the extra woman. I guess if I'm going to travel the freeway of love, I've got to have that spare tire in case I get a flat. Cork laughs. WALTER (contd) Which, from what you tell me about you and that horse woman of yours... Carlotta? CORK (melodramatically) Car-lot-ta. WALTER Thats something you must know a little about yourself. CORK You got that right. Then when someone comes along who really believes in you...

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER Because you dont trust yourself, you cant really trust them either. Not entirely. CORK Thats right!

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We see in Corks face and response that he is just now getting this about his new relationship with Brook. CORK (contd) ...You know what we need, Walter? We need a dowsing rod for love. If you can dowse for water and use a dowsing rod to heal, why can't we dowse for love? WALTER Well, that's a good question. I never thought of that. I expect maybe you can if that's what you set out to do. The tone of irony in Walters next words is pitched somewhere between exaggeration and utter seriousness. WALTER (contd) Tap hidden springs of love, to bring to the surface of consciousness. CORK Something like that. You think it's possible? WALTER Well, thats water from a deeper well. But anything is possible, my friend. If I've learned anything in my 60-plus years on the planet, I've learned that. We're as far removed from the (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER (CONTD) beings we have the potential to become as we are from the furry folks we're descended from....But you can't stress the word potential too strongly. EXT. NIGHT - MUNICIPAL WELL FIELD

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A truck-mounted drilling rig and a two-man crew drill in the area indicated by the dowsing rod. The rig's 35-foot mast, lit from below by a generator-operated portable light tower, looks like a slender monument from Greek stele to totem pole as interpreted by a machine-worshipping cargo cult. Surrounded by pipe, heavy tools, and a mound of mud and sand removed from the hole, the cable rig is jacked up on 4x4s to keep it level and away from the hole. Dean Channel walks up to Cork and Walter, who are standing nearby. CORK Are they at 120 feet yet? DEAN About an hour away. CORK If it's really down there we should be hearing about it pretty soon, shouldn't we? WALTER Whaddaya mean, if it's down there? CORK Do you think we'd have seen some sign of contamination by now with the main source at 120 feet? DEAN Well, not necessarily. Some of the samples we've been taking may (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL DEAN (CONTD) show trace amounts when they're analyzed. Has the crew reported any kind of odor yet? CORK No, that's why I asked. WALTER Now don't you get yourself all worked up there, Mr. Rockner. If the rods say it's down there, it's there. Maybe not exactly where I think it is, because I'm not as accustomed to dowsing for chemicals as I am for clear water. But it's down there. CORK I'd like to, Walter, believe me.

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WALTER (to Cork after glancing at Dean) Why don't you get something to eat. CORK I couldnt eat anything. But I am going to go pick someone up. I want her to be here when we hit paydirt. DEAN I hope to hell it's paydirt. And I wish there were someone we could hang this on. But more'n likely it's been down there for years. CORK (eyeing Dean closely) You'd still think whoever dumped it should've known it was going to pollute the groundwater.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER Sure they knew, they just didn't stop to think about the consequences. They didn't want to think about them. CORK Dean, one thing I've been meaning to ask you. Why hasn't city council put the test drilling up for bid? Dont we have a couple of local companies who wanted to bid on it? DEAN Yep. ChemLab and Geologic Survey have been lobbying for a joint engineering study for a year now. We're going to give 'em a crack at it if this next round of test holes doesn't give us an answer. CORK You are? DEAN They should have been allowed to bid in the first place. But Capital Drilling's been around longer and done more work for the city, and the severity of this problem's had council spooked from the start. But all that's gonna change if Capital or Mr. Barry here can't deliver this time around. CORK ...So much for the latest conspiracy theory. (exiting, to the others) See you in a while keep your fingers crossed. EXT. DAY - CORKS MOTHERS HOUSE

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL She and Brook are in the back yard when Cork enters. MOTHER Good of you to stop, honey. Brooks been filling me in on your...how should I refer to it? CORK Fiasco? MOTHER Oh, now, I wasnt going to say that. BROOK Ive been telling her how well things are going. CORK Did Brook tell you she offered Walter her guest bedroom? MOTHER Yes! CORK Then he asks for a rental car, which is costing me more than the motel room was. (to Brook) I sure wish I shared your confidence. The drilling crew is due in northern Ohio tomorrow. They agreed to go to 120 feet and theyre almost there. BROOK Any sign? CORK Nothing. EXT. NIGHT - CARLOTTAS ESTATE

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A car turns off the road into her private drive and, surrounded by barking dogs, follows the circular drive to her front door. EXT. NIGHT - WELL FIELD Cork, Brook, Dean Channel, and Russ Fawcett, the city water director, are at the site. Walter Barry is absent. Russs attitude about the drilling is obviously more than just skeptical. RUSS Where are they now, they past 120 feet yet? DEAN One-twenty-two. Still no perceptible odor or P.I.D. (pron: pee-I-dee) reading. BROOK What's a P.I.D. reading? DEAN (showing it to her) P.I.D.'s short for 'photoionization detector'. Has a probe and a built-in pump, so you can hold it over the hole and suck in an air sample. If there's any measurable gas in the air, it'll light up the lamp. BROOK And when you uncover the contamination, some of it'll get dispersed into the air? DEAN Exactly. Ain't science grand?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I sure hope Walter's science comes through. Right now I wouldn't be willing to bet on it. DEAN Cork, whatever it is Walter has I sure as hell wouldn't call it science despite that scrapbook of success stories he carries with him. CORK Oh, I've seen the results. I just don't know what his hits-and-misses ratio is. RUSS Well, so far hes hitless here. CORK Do you know where he went? DEAN No, I don't, but whether he's back here or not, I'm gonna have to release the crew pretty soon. I'm tired just lookin' at 'em. CORK They told me a few minutes ago that since this is their last day on the site they're willing to keep going a while if you give 'em the OK. DEAN Well, I know you're anxious to find something, Cork. I am too. But I can't allow these fellas to keep drilling until they drop, or have some kind of accident. You understand.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK Sure, Dean, I know. I wish to hell Walter would get back so we can find out what he thinks the odds are we'll find something. Brook puts her arm around him and gives him a hug. DEAN My guess is he'll say they're the same sure-fire odds they've been all along. I admire self-confidence, and I guess in his business you're dead before you begin if you don't have it. But you've gotta be willing to face facts too, and the fact is we've gone well beyond where he said the contamination would be. CORK I know, you're right. I can't afford to spend any more money anyway.

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A gloomy silence descends; the drillers keep working. Suddenly Walter and, of all people, Carlotta are walking toward them. Cork can hardly believe his eyes. WALTER Look who said she wanted to come watch us find that contamination! Carlotta, smiling at taking him by surprise, gives Brook a quick appraising look, then turns to Cork. CARLOTTA Hello, Cork. CORK ...Well, hi, Carlotta...what, what're you doing here? WALTER I told the crew to take a break (MORE)

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL WALTER (CONTD) while we figure out what to do next. They're beat. Dean appears taken aback by Walters assumption of authority. DEAN ...Uh, well, okay, Mr. Barry. What do you recommend? CARLOTTA Walter's been filling me in on your project. I just came to see how you're getting along.

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Cork gives Walter a look of incomprehension. Carlotta is clearly enjoying his confusion. CORK ...Not so hot I'm afraid. This is our last day and the crew's already into double overtime. WALTER We're right there, I can feel it. Another hour or two at the most. You don't have any choice now but to go on. DEAN I don't see how I can permit another two hours. I think you need to consult with Cork here. He's financing this, you know. CORK ...Reality sets in. WALTER Well, before giving up sets in I think you oughta ask Ms. Knowland what we've been talking about for the last few days.

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL Everyone looks at Carlotta and she nods for Cork to walk off with her where they can talk in private. He glances at Brook, who nods vigorously. CORK ...What's going on? CARLOTTA Your friend Walter's something. He came over to my house a few days ago and tried to talk me into helping out with this. I thought you must have put him up to it, but he swore up and down that all he got from you was my name. CORK I dont know anything about it. CARLOTTA He's pretty sure of himself, isn't he? I agreed to see him for a few minutes and he ended up staying a couple of hours. What a character! CORK Well...so what happened? CARLOTTA I told him I wasn't going to do it and I wasnt going to ask Bud either. I told him it was all very interesting but not my problem. CORK ...So then, why are you here? CARLOTTA I had a few days to think about it my curiosity was starting to get the best of me. Then Walter called this evening and said he'd do a water survey for me for free if I got involved.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK He did? CARLOTTA Sure did. You know, I have a pretty steep water bill in the summer with all the watering we have to do to keep the lawn from dying, and my horses and garden and all. He said I'd never have to pay a dime for water again. But why isn't the city willing to pay for this? CORK Dean's been skeptical from the start. Now he's about ready to call it off can't say that I blame him. CARLOTTA But Walter says you're almost there. CORK Walter says. Dean's not convinced. He put his ass on the line for us and he's not willing to leave it out there any longer. I'm running out of money anyway. I'm afraid to ask what all this has cost. CARLOTTA That's what I want to talk to you about. I can't ask Bud to risk his money CORK Jesus Christ, Carlotta! No one's asking you to youve already made that abundantly clear. CARLOTTA You interrupted. I've thought it over and, under the circumstances, I'm willing to help out myself.

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK ...You are? CARLOTTA You've gone so far already. I have a hunch Walter knows what he's talking about. I called two of the people he found water for in California, he gave me their phone numbers. Now I want a well of my own. CORK The trouble is, this is the crew's last day, tomorrow they have to be somewhere else. When drilling's resumed here it'll be in a different location. CARLOTTA Which Walter says will be a waste of time and money. CORK He told you that? CARLOTTA (laughing) He put it more colorfully than that. CORK I'll bet. Anyway, as late as it is now, I dont think Dean will even let em start up again. CARLOTTA Well if he does, I'll split the cost of drilling with you. CORK ...That's...great of you, Carlotta. But I've already spent too much as it is. I don't think

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CARLOTTA Whatever you think it's cost you so far, I'll pay half. The city will reimburse us if they find the contamination, right? CORK Yeah....Let's go talk to Dean about this. CARLOTTA No, you speak to him. I'm leaving. CORK Leaving? You're just gonna leave everything up to me to spend your our money? CARLOTTA Most of it's already spent. Besides, there ought to be something I can still trust you with, Cork. (seeing Brook look away) I hope she knows what she's getting herself into.

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She exits with a bitter smile, giving Brook who smiles gutsily though uncertainly at her a sidelong glance in passing. Cork walks over to Brook. CORK ...She said she'd split the cost of drilling with me. BROOK I knew it was something like that. CORK ...I don't know whether to ask Dean to keep going or not. BROOK Why not?

WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I've asked a helluva lot of him already I'm amazed he's gone along with it this long. Maybe we'd just be throwing good money after bad. Eventually you have to be willing to admit you made a mistake and give up, right? When to hold and when to fold. And now I'm responsible for Carlotta's money as well as my own. BROOK Cork, if that's what concerns you, then don't stop now. CORK That's easy for you to say. BROOK Just...trust me on this, okay? CORK ...I'll go see what Dean says. He walks over to Walter, Dean and Russ. CORK (contd) Dean, let's drill just a little longer. I think we're close. I know we are, I feel it. DEAN ...You sure? WALTER Sure he's sure, can't you tell? DEAN (looking at his watch) ...It's damn near three o'clock, Cork. How much longer do you want?

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WATER FROM A DEEPER WELL CORK I don't know, till dawn if they'll work that long. If we haven't found it by then, we'll quit no if's, and's or but's. DEAN Go see if they'll work that long. WALTER Oh they'll work all right. (to Cork) Let's get 'em started in the right spirit.

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Cork starts to walk away with him when he suddenly remembers Brook. He motions for her to come with them, waiting with a big smile on his face for her to come up to him, then giving her a big one-armed hug. CORK Whatta you think of our dowser here, Walter? BROOK Me? CORK No one else has done any more than you to make this happen. BROOK Well, you have. And Walter, for heaven's sake....And Carlotta's helping to pay for it. CORK That's all true but I'd have given up if you hadn't kept encouraging me. WALTER All I can do is find water, I don't make it wet. Thanks for the inside information, by the way.

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Corks expression reveals that hes just now realizing that it must have been Brook who helped put Walter in touch with Carlotta. She's actually blushing. CORK (hugging her again) See? We all had to become dowsers to make this happen. (turning to Dean) Right Dean? Dean grins without answering. With a pleased smile of her own, Brook acknowledges her honorary title. As the three of them walk toward the drilling rig, Russ Fawcett turns to Dean with a look of incredulity. RUSS You're really gonna let 'em keep diggin'? DEAN Yessir...keep diggin'. Till the sun's rays reflect off the Thothwillow River. And turn it into the Shawnees' 'Bright Horn' again. RUSS (an are-you-crazy? look) ...You don't really think they're gonna find anything do you? Dean laughs heartily and throws his arm around him. DEAN Stranger things have happened, Russ. Stranger things have happened. FADE OUT. THE END