Original subtitles

Jenny's out.

- How long do you think? - Hard to tell.

Since morning, anyway, by the feel of it.

Snow probably piled up and clogged the exhaust.

All right, Sonny, you and Henry are on meat patrol.

Grab the big cuts of beef, plus the turkeys and chicken.

The best stuff's in the freezer.

- Will it still be all right? - Are you kidding me?

Let's get going. Dark is going to come early.

Stick with canned goods.

We'll come back and get the potatoes, bread...

...vegetables and milk.

Little kids have got to have milk.

Hey, Mike.

Are you going to tell them what the guy's name spells?

When we moved the blocks around.

- What good would that do? - I don't know.

God, Mike. That gave me a chill.

Me too. But for now we're going to keep that chill to ourselves.

We've got one more night to get through.

- But Mike... - Come on. Let's load up.

Angie Carver!

Billy Timmons!

(honking) Angie Carver.

Billy Timmons.

- Ferd. - What?

- Any sign? - No. Wouldn't I tell you?

Just keep blowing that thing.

Here, you watch. Let me honk.

Your eyes are better.

(continues to honk) Mrs. Kingsbury.

George. George Kirby.

I'm ok.

Go upstairs. Find your husband and your little boy.

But the kids?

- Who wants to play giant step? - I do...

Where's my mommy?

I'll just peek and see if she's upstairs, shall I?

- Or your daddy? - Yes. Please, Mrs. Beals.

- Where's Ralphie? - I just saw him.

Oh, he must have chased Donnie upstairs to get a doughnut, too.

I'll send them both down.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

I've got to find her, Molly.

You know what it's like out there, Jack.

I know she's out there.

Wandering around freezing to death...

in a whiteout 50 yards from the building.

And if you go out there, you'll be lost, too.

They'll hear the horns, same as in a fog at sea. You know that.

Yeah. I'll go spell Ferd.

- Hatch said if you go... - Alton Hatcher...

can't tell me what to do. It's my wife out there.

Just don't go past the truck. Don't go wandering, Jack.

- Where's Ralphie? - I don't know.

- Didn't he come upstairs? - He was picking up with the rest.

What are you saying? Ralphie's not down there?

- He's not with the others? - I didn't see.

- Kat started to cry... - You were supposed to watch him.

- I didn't see. - You were supposed to watch him.

Don't you yell at her.

One more trip.

Sonny, you and Henry get the bread and rolls.

Everything off the shelves.

You want to grab at least a hundred pounds of potatoes.

I'll get the milk. Come on, let's go.

I want to get back as soon as we can.

What the hell?

Oh my God, Mike.

It's Jane Kingsbury.

Ralphie?

- Did you see him? - Ralphie.

Oh God, what now?

I told you he didn't go upstairs with Donnie Beals.

But where was Ralphie when you last saw him?

Ralphie?

Mom.

I'm in here.

Hey, Mom. What's up?

What are you doing in here? You scared the life out of me.

The man was in here.

- The man? - The one Daddy arrested.

Except I don't think he's a bad man.

It's ok, honey.

Take him somewhere safe.

Jonas.

Molly.

What is it?

I don't know.

What is it?

- What the hell does he want? - Oh God.

Ralphie.

Ralphie, where did the man go?

He must have disappeared when I turned my back.

There's no door there for a guy to go out of, dumbkins.

Shut up, Don Beals.

What is this, Ralphie?

It's a present. He gave me a present.

That's why I don't think he's a bad man like on TV.

Because bad men don't give kids presents.

Let Mommy see, ok?

Don't, Molly. Don't.

It's all right, Mom. Don't be scared.

You mean you know what's inside this?

You've already looked?

Sure, we even had a game, me and Mr. Linoge.

He said that these are special.

And I should share them. 'Cause they're not only for me.

They're for everyone on the island.

I don't think I'd open that, Mrs. Anderson.

Given the dreams we all had last night.

And the possible nature of this...

...this man.

No, I suppose you wouldn't, Reverend.

But since he's had his filthy hands on my son twice...

Just old Mrs. K.

None of the others.

Where do you suppose they are?

George.

And Angie?

Bill Timmons?

How did he get her down there?

Where's the dummy? Anybody see the dummy in the store?

How did he get her down there in this?

Let it go, Sonny.

Why is this happening to us?

You're the lay reader down at the church...

always got a quote from the Good Book handy.

You must have some idea why this is happening.

Remember the story about Job? In the Bible?

Uh-huh...

Part of that story's never been written down.

After the contest for Job's soul is over

and God wins, Job falls to his knees

and says, "God, why have you done this to me?"

I worshipped you, yet you destroyed my livestock,

blighted my crops, killed my wife and children...

You gave me a hundred horrible diseases...

Because you had a bet going with the Devil?

Well, okay... but all your humble servant

wants to know is, why me?"

Job waits... and when he's convinced himself

that God's not gonna answer...

a thunderhead forms in the sky, lightning flashes...

and a voice calls down...

Job... I guess there's something about you

that pisses me off."

Does that help you?

Me, either...

Angie!! Over here!

Angie...!

Jack, get in, warm up...

No! She's out here somewhere,

now keep hittin' the horn!

Take it easy, Jack, we'll find her.

My wife is out here, she's alive,

I can feel it! Keep hittin' that horn!

Hatch! Jack! Look!

Angie...!

We've been worried about ya, Buster's worried sick.

My God, Angie... what'd he do to you?

Where did he take you?

We have to give him what he wants.

What? Honey, I can't hear you...

- Linoge? - Yes, Linoge...

We have to give him what he wants.

He brought me back so I could tell you...

We have to give him what he wants...

Do you understand?

We have to give him what he wants.

Angela...?

Oh, my God...

What does he want? Did he tell you?

He said he'd tell us tonight...

He said we're gonna have a special town meetin'...

and he'd tell us then.

He said if some folks don't want to go along...

they should remember the dreams we had last night.

They should remember what happened in Roanoke...

they should remember "Croaton", whatever that is.

Jack! Take me inside!

I'm freezing! I wanna see Buster!

Yeah, sure...

Hatch...

Any sign of Bill Timmons? Or George Kirby?

Nah. No Mrs. Kingsbury, either.

Jane Kingsbury's dead.

(wind whistling)

...So the little puppy said...

"I know where my ball must be...

That mean little boy put it in his pocket...

and took it away. But I can find it...

because my nose is..."

(singing:) I'm a little teapot, short and stout...

Sally, you shouldn't sing, this is storytime...

When I get all steamed up...

What's going on, Kat?

I don't know...

I guess they wanna sing.

(singing:) I'm a little teapot...

All right, folks...

just settle down.

Everyone take a seat.

Mike...?

- The kids were acting funny. - What do you mean?

Now I know how easy it is...

to get yanked out of the world.

I wish I didn't, but I do.

I was just standin' there...

watchin' the lighthouse... then, I was his.

It's okay, it's over.

I burned my fingers... they're red...

but they're still cold!

Angie, do you want to go someplace more private?

You can if you want to.

No, this is for everyone, everyone should hear.

What happened, Angie Carver?

We were watchin' the lighthouse fall down...

then I was flyin' backwards into the snow.

First, I thought it was a joke...

Then, I turned around, and what had me...

It wasn't a man... It wore clothes like a man

and had a man's face, but...

There was blackness where his eyes shoulda been!

And when it smiled at me...

I saw it's teeth...

I fainted. First time in my life!

When I came to... I was flying...

It sounds crazy, but it's true.

Ahead of us, as if it was leading us

or holding us up, there was a cane...

A black cane, with a... silver wolf's head.

As fast as we flew, that cane was always

ahead of us... It was the island we saw...

The storm was over, the sun was out...

But there were cops on snowmobiles everywhere...

Mainland cops, state cops and game wardens...

Newspeople, from the local stations and networks...

All of 'em, they were lookin' for us.

But we were gone. Where nobody could find us.

- Like in the dreams. - Yeah... like that...

Then we stopped... I could feel the clouds!

Not cold they way snow clouds would be...

but damp... like wet cotton.

George saw what it meant to do.

He screamed...

But that thing opened his arm and...

I was in its left...

Then what happened, Angie?

He told me he was bringin' me back...

Back through time and through the storm...

He was gonna let me live, so I could come back

and tell you... tell everybody...

We have to give him what he wants

when he comes tonight.

If we have something that Linoge wants...

why doesn't he just take it?

I don't think he can.

I think we have to give it to him.

The next thing I was sure of,

I was stumbling around in the snow...

I could hear the horn, and I thought

the lighthouse must not have blown down...

'Cause I can hear the foghorn...

I tried to go toward it...

And I saw someone come out of the snow...

I thought it was him coming to take me back...

except this time he was gonna let me drop.

But it wasn't! It was you, Jack!

Why?

Why us?

Maybe because he knows we can keep a secret.

I brought these games...

What's goin' on?

Buster?

Heidi?

Pippa...?

Ralphie, you okay?

Pip... Pip? Pip, what's wrong, honey?

Pip... what's wrong?

Honey...?

Pip...! What's wrong, honey?

What is it? What's wrong with the kids?

I don't know... but their eyes...

There's nothing there.

Pip... wake up... Wake up!

Come on, honey, wake up!

All of you... wake up!

Hey, look!

It's got a doggie head... a silver doggie head...

...how cool!

A doggie!

Yeah, look at the doggie head.

What are they looking at...?

Go get Mike.

Right now! Go get Mike!

Doggie's head! Yeah!

Why don't you see if you can get her to lay down.

That's a good idea.

Mike!

There's something wrong with the kids.

Buster? There's something wrong with Buster?

Angie, no... Maybe you shouldn't...

Buster!

Buster? What're you doing?

(sobbing)

Melinda, what is going on?

What are they looking at?

Donnie, stop!

Let me go! I wanna see the doggie head!

Stop it! Stop it!

- No, Ralphie! Let me go, let me go!

No, Ralphie!

Hey... Neat.

LET ME GO! I wanna see the doggie!!

I said NO! No!

What's going on?

Let me go... you bitch!

Pippa!

They're dead! He's killed them!!

Please God, no! Not my Sally!

Ralphie... Is he...?

- No. - Thank God.

(rushing and yelling)

Mr. Soames!

(screaming)

You're trampling him, stop!! You're killing him!

- Is he asleep? - I don't know...

Come here, baby. Come to mama.

- I need a doctor... - You'd be lucky, Beals.

The closest one's in Machais.

The wind's blowin' up a hurricane.

Where's Ferd? He has EMS training!

Ferd Andrews, where the hell are you?

- I'm here! - Get your ass over here...

take a look at my son.

C'mon... get out of his way!

That's enough! Just shut up!!

Don't tell me to shut up...

I've taken all I'm gonna take...

JUST SHUT UP!

(crowd quiets)

I don't think Don's in any immediate danger...

or Pippa, or Ralphie, or any of them.

They're not dead?

- I think he's sleepin'. - This isn't sleep...

If they were asleep, we could wake them up.

It's okay...

Then, what is it?

I don't know.

Having fun, kids?

(children cheer)

(hissing)

(engine sputtering)

Are we gonna lose the generator?

It's a miracle it's gone as long as it has...

Wind must have kept the exhaust clear...

but now it's shifted. In a way that's good...

means the storm's almost over.

Main meetin' hall?

Yeah. Mike wants that ready first.

A couple of emergency lights in there,

but that's not enough for him.

Just caught the latest NWS bulletin

on the shortwave. We might see the moon tonight.

- That's wonderful! - Aye.

- Where's Ursula? - With Sally and the others...

Sleepin', the last I saw.

Not like the kids' sleepin', you know...

They'll be all right, they'll wake up just fine.

Hope you're right. I pray you're right.

- Can I help? - You can go to the kitchen...

and get the rest of the candles.

I'm afraid we're gonna lose the generator.

- Any change? - No.

Any change in any of 'em?

Respiration's normal, reflexes are normal...

Their pupils respond to light. That's good.

- She's dreamin'. - They all are.

Where's Robbie, Sandra?

Don't know.

(howling and rattling)

(engine dies)

Wanna help get some candles?

- Honey? - Go ahead.

The radio says the storm will pretty much

be over by midnight. If Linoge intends something...

We can pretty much count on that.

Oof! Dear...

Hello, Joanna Stanhope...

Glad the old bitch is dead, aren't ya?

I did you a favor there, didn't I?

You kept a straight face...

but inside, you were dancing a jig.

I know...

I can smell it on you like musk.

(shriek)

SHHH!!!

When this fella comes, Michael...

We must give him what he wants.

I've prayed on it, and this is the guidance...

We'll listen to him, and then decide, okay?

There is a time to be stubborn, Michael...

there is also a time to let go of the reins...

And look toward the greater good...

"Pride goeth before destruction...

and an haughty spirit before the fall."

Book of Proverbs...

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things

which are Caesar's...

and unto God the things which are God's."

Book of Matthew.

Stay here, please. We've got this under control.

I know you believe that, Michael...

but not all of us are convinced.

Come in, come in, boys.

Don't do that, Constable Anderson...

Unless you want to watch this woman burn her face off.

Shall we watch it burn?

- No. - Come in, then.

Having trouble with the local witch doctor?

Here's something you can file away for later...

Assuming that there is a "later".

The Reverend Riggins has a couple of nieces...

Eleven and nine... cute little blonds.

He likes them a lot...

Quite a lot.

They run and hide when they see his car.

- In fact... - Let her down!

Unless you want to see Mrs. Stanhope's impression

of the world's biggest birthday candle...

I advise you not to speak again

until you're invited to.

Hatch! Close the door.

You don't like... knowing, do you?

Not your brand of it, no.

Perhaps you don't believe me.

I believe you, but you see only the bad...

none of the good.

By and large, Constable, the good's an illusion.

Little fables folks tell themselves

to get through their days without screaming too much.

- I don't believe that. - I know...

A good boy to the last.

You'll find yourself on the short end this time...

Your town is full of adulterers, pedophiles...

thieves, gluttons, murderers, bullies...

scoundrels and covetous morons.

I know every last one of them.

"Born in lust, turn to dust."

"Born in sin, Come on in."

What do you want, Linoge?

Everyone on those benches an hour from now.

That will do for a start.

We're going to have an unscheduled town meeting.

Nine o'clock pm, prompt.

After that... well... we'll see.

See what?

If I'm through with this town...

Or just beginning.

Nine o'clock, Constable...

You, Hatch, her, Reverend Bobby...

Town Manager Robbie...

(wind howling)

Everyone.

He's the Devil! He's the Devil!

Don't let him near me! I'll do anything,

just don't let him near me again!

Mike, what are we gonna do?

What can we do?

Listen to whatever else it is he wants...

If there's another way, I just don't see it.

- Let's tell Robbie. - What about the children?

I'll watch them... I don't want to be where he is!

- Not ever again! - Jo, no! He said everyone...

that means you, too.

We'll bring the kids, cots and all...

put 'em in the back of the meeting hall.

Yeah, that'll do.

(rings)

(chiming)

Ladies and gentlemen...

Like you, I don't know what we're waiting for...

Then why don't you sit down,

and wait like the rest of us, Robbie?

I just wanted to say, Johnnie... that I'm sure

that we can find our way through this situation...

if we stick together...

like we've always stuck together on the island.

(thump)

Davey Hopewell... Your day off from school would make

quite an English composition, wouldn't it?

Your father's a thief... Over the last six years

he's stolen $14,000 from the company he works for.

He gambles with it.

He loses.

Dad...?

I don't know who you are, mister, but you lie.

- You lie! - "Born in vice...

Say it twice." Eh, Davey?

At least twice.

Well... Johnny Harriman.

The fellow who burned down the mill in Machais.

- I never did that! - Of course you did!

Two years ago, right after they fired you.

And Kirk helped... didn't you?

After all, what are friends for?

70 men lost their jobs, but you got your payback

and that's all that matters, isn't it?

You dope, look at the trouble you got us into!

Shut up!

You boys oughta see that gay fella you beat up.

Jack, you'd get a kick out of that paisley

eye-patch he wears.

Please, just stop it!

Fella lives in one of those walk-ups...

I can give you the address...

Maybe the three of you can go

and take away the rest of his light.

What do you say, Lucien?

Wanna poke out his other eye? Finish the job?

Alex?

"Born in sin, come on in."

Robbie, why did I have to die among strangers?

You still haven't explained this.

Why did I have to die calling for you?

When all I wanted was a kiss...

Put that down!

(gun drops)

Why don't you tell these people

where you were and what you were doing

when I died, Robbie?

I think your wife would be especially interested,

- don't you? - You shut your mouth...

Sandra, don't listen... This is all lies...

Your eyes... I'm going to eat your eyes...

right out of your head!

Not to worry... he'll recuperate just fine...

In the meantime it's kind of nice to see him

cowering quietly in a corner...

wouldn't you say?

Come on now! Tell the truth!

And shame the devil!

Now we come to it, don't we?

Let me lay things out for you.

Why'd you come here? Why us?

Maybe there's just something about us

that pisses him off.

I'm here because island folk know how

to pull together when they need to.

Island folk know how to keep a secret.

That was true on Roanoke Island in 1587...

and true on Little Tall Island in 1989.

Quit dancin' around! Tell us what you want!

Your children are here... but they're not.

It's the same for me.

Because part of me is with them.

Look...

(crowd marvels)

Jack! He's got our Buster!

That's all of them.

If I drop them there...

...they die here.

You'll see it happen. They'll puff out...

Like candles in the wind.

Please don't hurt Sally, mister...

She's all I got left now that Peter's gone...

We will give you what you want

if we have it to give... I swear we will.

Won't we?

(crowd agrees)

What is it? Tell us.

I've lived a long time. Thousands of years...

But I'm not a god, nor one of the immortals.

So now you see me as I really am.

Old and sick... Dying, in fact.

By the standards of your existence,

I've long to live yet...

I'll still be walking the earth

When all but the greenest among you...

Davey Hopewell, perhaps...

Or young Don Beals... have gone to your graves.

But in terms of my own existence...

time has grown short.

You ask me what I want...

No... no...

I want someone to raise, and teach...

to whom I can pass on all I've learned

and all that I know...

who will carry on my work when I can no longer do it myself.

I want a child.

One of the eight sleeping back there.

No.

No. Never.

It doesn't matter which one...

All are just as likely in my eyes.

Give me what I want, and give it freely...

And I'll go away.

Never.

We will never give you one of our children!

Never!

- Get him! - Let go of me!

Stop him!

Grab him unless you wish me to drop the children,

and I will, I promise you, I will.

Damm it! Let go of me!

Mike, we gotta listen to him.

No, we don't!

Listening's the worst thing we can do.

Be still, Michael! Let him have his say.

Molly...?

- Molly? - I don't think we have a choice.

We have to listen.

In a matter such as this, I cannot take...

but I can punish.

I assure you. I can punish.

Give me one of the babies sleeping yonder

to raise as my own and I'll leave you in peace.

He or she will see much, and live long...

Long after the others are gone.

Give me what I want, and I'll go away.

Refuse me, and the dreams you shared last night

Will come true, the children will fall from the sky,

and the rest of you will walk into the ocean.

And when this storm ends...

they will find this island as they found Roanoke.

Empty... Deserted.

I'll give you half an hour.

Discuss it...

and then... choose.

(chatter)

(gavel bangs)

I call this meeting to order.

I think it's best if we deal with this matter

as we would any piece of town business...

That's what this is, isn't it? Town business?

Any objections?

(crowd declines)

The item on the floor... is whether or not

to give to this... this... thing

that has come among us, one of our children.

He says if we give him what he wants,

he'll go away.

He'll kill us all, including the children...

if we don't.

Have I stated that fairly?

(crowd agrees)

All right.

How say you, Little Tall, will you speak to this?

I don't see what choice we have,

if we believe he can do what he says he can do.

Do you believe him?

That's the first thing I asked myself...

I do... I do.

Roberta Coign has a good point...

How many believe Linoge is telling the truth?

That he can and will wipe out everyone

if we stand against him? A show of hands...

It's not a question of what we're going to do,

not yet... It's just a question...

I know what the question is.

Once we start down that road,

every step is easier, I know that too.

All right. I guess we believe him...

that's one issue out of the way.

Now, if there is any discussion

of the main question...

I have something I'd like to say.

That's fine, you're a taxpayer, have on.

No. He's not a man.

I didn't vote, but I agree with that...

I am your constable.

The man you elected to enforce your laws.

I saw what he did to Martha Clarendon,

Peter Godsoe...

And I've seen what he's done to our children...

So I understand as well as any of you...

the reality of what he's threatening.

But folks, we don't give our kids away to thugs,

do you understand that?

We don't give away our children!

What's the choice, then?

What do we do, Mike? What can we do?

We stand against him!

Side by side, use our will and tell him "no"!

In one voice!

We do what it says over the door we use

to come into this place...

We trust in God!

And in each other!

And then... maybe he goes away.

The way storms always do when they've blown themselves out.

"Render, therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's."

Book of Matthew. You said that to me not an hour ago!

"Get thee behind me, Satan,

for thou savorest not the things that be of God"!

Book of Mark!

Folks... If we give up a child...

One of our own...

How will we live with each other?

Even if he lets us live.

By the grace of God...

We've all got something to hide, Mike...

Or maybe you're different!

Jack, no... I'm not different...

This isn't like a test you cheated on,

or someone you hurt when you were drunk...

we're talking about a child...!

Do you understand that, Jack?

Michael...

suppose you were right about sending him away...

Suppose we gather our will in a collective "no"...

And he goes back where he came from...

You saw our children.

I don't know where he actually has them...

but I have no doubt...

that flying above the earth is a representation of it...

they can fall.

I believe that.

All he has to do is wave that cane and they fall.

How are we gonna live with ourselves if that happens?

He could be bluffing.

He's not, Michael.

And you know it. You saw it.

You speak as though he were to kill the child...

As though it were some kind of human sacrifice.

Sounds more like... an adoption to me...

And a long life as well...

If you believe him, that is.

After seeing him, I guess I do.

I don't believe this... I don't believe this!

Linoge killed Martha with his cane!

He knocked the eyes right out of her head!

And we are debating whether or not to give

this monster a child?!

We might as well give away our souls!

You wanna know the worst thing I can think of?

Suppose you're half right...

Suppose we live and they die...

How are we gonna look at each other?

How are we gonna live with each other then?

And how will we ever live with you?

(crowd murmurs)

He said half an hour, we have ten minutes left.

We can't do this!

Don't you understand that?

We cannot do this! Don't you see?

We cannot allow...

I think we've heard your side of the story.

Take a seat.

- Sonny...! - Mike...

Maybe you should do what he says.

All right... all right.

You need to think about this, folks.

You need to think about this. Very carefully.

I need to go sit with Ralphie.

What do you say, folks? What's your pleasure?

God help us, let's give him what he wants.

Give him what he wants, and send him on his way.

Even if it's Sally...

Better that she live with a bad man than die.

My God, Michael Anderson, where's your heart?

They're children!

We can't let him kill all eight children!

Anyone else...?

Don't.

Please. Please...

Ursula... please.

Hatch... Jack... Robbie, all of you...

Don't do this... Don't do this.

Don't give in to this!

This is damnation!

All right, let's restrict the vote...

Let the parents vote and the parents only!

- They're all residents... - No! That's not fair!

I raised her by myself. I've had help...

including you and your wife.

But mostly by myself.

I shouldn't have to make a decision like this all by myself...

What's a community for, if it isn't supposed to help

when something terrible happens?

When none of the choices look good?

Couldn't have said it better myself, Lin.

For God sakes, let's vote and have done!

Call the question, Robbie. Call the question!

All right, fine. But you understand this...

My son is not a part of this...

My son is not a part of this obscenity!

Yes, he is.

We have never shirked our duty, Michael.

We have taken part in all the life on this island

and we will take part in this as well.

You don't mean that, Molly...?

You can't mean that?

I do, Mike.

Well, screw this! Screw all of you!

I am taking my son and leaving!

You can't leave... we're in this together!

Let go of me!

(angry shouting)

Michael, calm down...

Okay...

I'll sit.

- Mike, are you...? - Get away from me!

- Mike... - Shut up, Hatch!

When you've had a chance to think about it,

you'll understand... you'll come around.

It's the only thing we can do!

What else? Die for a principle... every one of us?

You have to think about it.

And if it's Pippa Linoge ends up taking...

I'll tell myself she died as an infant...

It was crib death... something we couldn't help...

and Melinda and I will both believe it.

(gavel bangs)

Oyez, oyez, oyez!

The question has been called...

do we or do we not give Mr. Linoge

what he wants pursuant to his promise to leave us in peace?

How say you, Little Tall?

All those in favor signify in the usual way.

I'm Harry's father and I vote yes!

I'm his mother... so do I.

I vote yes...

- Carla and I vote yes - Yes...

We have no choice.

- No choice. - I vote yes... it's the only way.

Got to.

To lose one in life is better...

than to lose them all in death. I vote yes.

Those opposed...?

I count all in favor, save one...

The motion is carried.

Have you reached your decision?

We have. We voted in favor.

Excellent. You've made the right choice.

You've done a hard thing, my friends.

Despite what the constable told you,

it's also a good thing.

The right thing... The only thing...

Ioving, responsible people could have done

under the circumstances.

These are weirding stones.

They were old when the world was young...

and were used to decide great issues

before Atlantis sank into the African Ocean.

There are seven white stones and one black one.

You're eager for me to be gone, I know...

and I don't blame you.

Will one parent of each child come forward.

Let's finish this.

It's perfectly simple.

You each draw a stone...

Do not reveal your stone until all have been chosen...

The child whose parent draws the black stone...

comes with me.

To live long, see far, and know much.

Mrs. Robichaux? Jill... Will you start us off?

Go on, honey... do it.

Mrs. Hatcher?

I can't, Robbie. You.

Go ahead. Draw.

Ladies?

You go first, Molly.

No. You. Please.

Well, my friends, so far it's gone very well.

Now then... who has the courage to show first?

To put fear aside, and let relief take it's place?

Come come, have you not heard...

The gods punish the faint of heart?

Buster... I love you!

Show it, Sandra... let's see!

I can't, Robbie! I can't!

I know it's Donnie, I've never been lucky.

White!

Please, dear God, I beg of you...

Don't take away my Heidi.

White.

Mrs. Robichaux?

- Jill... - I can't...

I thought I could go through with it,

but I can't. I'm sorry!

(gasp)

(sobs)

Mr. Bright... Henry?

Would you favor us?

(sighs)

No! No!

No!

(stone drops)

No!

No!

Pip, Mama's comin', Mama's comin', sweetheart.

Mike!

This can't be!

You can't have my son!

I feel you grief keenly, but you agreed...

You fixed it! You fixed it somehow!

I assure you that's not so.

The game was, as you'd say... straight.

And since I believe long farewells

only add to the pain...

No! You can't do...

Ladies and gentlemen... thank you

for your attention to my needs...

I now declare this meeting at an end...

with a suggestion.

The less you say to the outside world about our arrangement,

the more happy you are apt to be.

Such matters are ultimately up to you.

With that, I'll take my new proteg�...

and leave you to your thoughts.

May they be happy ones.

(howling)

Go, go... Go!

Mike! Stop him! For God's sake, do something!

I can't!

Stop him! Don't let him take my son!

Sorry, Mrs. Anderson, but we made a deal...

You tricked us!

Perhaps you tricked yourselves!

He'll never belong to you! Never!

But he will... He'll come to love me...

He'll come to call me "Father".

No!

- I think don't you should... - Don't touch me!

Don't ever touch me ever again!

Any of you!

Ralphie!

Ralphie... Please... Bring him back!

I'll do anything... anything you want...

Bring him back...

Please! Bring him back!

Ralphie!

You and Mike haven't slept together for how long?

Five months.

The last time was the night before the big storm.

The "Storm of the Century."

When you lost your son?

Correct. When I lost my son.

And Mike blames you for that loss?

I think he's going to leave me.

You're very afraid of that, aren't you?

I think he's running out of ways to stay.

You understand what I mean by that?

Tell me again what happened to Ralphie.

We've been through this. What good would it do?

He's gone... What good can that do?

It was the second day, we were in the Town Hall...

The storm... you can't believe how bad it was.

I know, I was here.

You were here on the mainland.

It's different on the island...

everything's different on the island.

It was a mistake for any of us to go out...

especially the children.

We underestimated the storm...

Several people wandered away and were lost.

Ralphie was one of them...

Angie Carver found her way back,

but none of the others did.

Mike?

You got something to say, you better say it.

The ferry leaves in 20 minutes.

Where're you going?

Mike, don't. Don't leave.

Would it do any good to tell you

I haven't had a good night's sleep since February?

Would it do any good

to tell you we might have been wrong?

I've gotta go, Hatch.

Robbie says to tell you

the constable job's yours whenever you want it.

I'm done here. I've tried... I can't try anymore.

Molly needs you. Have you seen the way she is,

have you even looked?

You look for me, okay?

Aye.

Melinda's not doin' well either...

She takes a lot of tranquilizers.

I think she might be hooked on 'em.

That's too bad.

You got your daughter, at least.

You may not sleep so well...

but you can go into Pippa's bedroom...

and watch her sleep.

Any night you want.

Can't you?

Good luck, Hatch.

(engine starts)

(Molly:) He wandered into the white-out...

Maybe he was with Bill Timmons...

I'd like to think he wasn't alone in the end.

They must have lost their bearings completely...

and gone into the sea.

They were the two who were never found.

There's a great deal to this story

you haven't told me... Isn't there?

Until you tell someone...

it will keep festering.

It'll fester no matter what I do...

Some wounds can never be cleaned out...

I didn't understand that before... now I do.

Molly, why does your husband hate you so?

What really happened to Ralphie?

He wandered away.

People do, they get... lost.

That's what happened to Ralphie.

He was lost in the white-out. He was...

Iost in the storm.

(Mike:) Nine years ago, that was.

I just gassed up and left on the ferry.

I've never been back.

(Mike:) I had to wear sunglasses every night when the sun went down.

Every mile was a mile further from Little Tall.

Molly got the store, the house,

and a little piece of land we had.

I got the truck, and peace of mind...

what was left of it.

I wound up here, back on the water again.

Ironic, I guess. But it's different...

The Pacific doesn't have that hard glow

when the days run down to winter.

And it doesn't have the same memories.

I went back to school, got a degree in law enforcement,

another in accountancy...

Thought about a law degree, then thought again.

Started out keeping store on the coast of Maine...

wound up a federal marshall, how do you like that?

Sometimes the island seems very far away...

and Andre Linoge is just a bad dream I had...

Sometimes, when I wake up late at night...

trying not to scream...

It seems very close.

And as I said in the beginning, I keep in touch.

Melinda Hatcher died in 1990...

Iocal paper said it was a heart attack...

I don't know if there was more to it or not...

35's young for your pump to quit, but it happens.

(church bell rings)

Molly and Hatch married in May... from what I hear,

they've been good for each other.

I'm glad.

I wish them every happiness. I mean that.

(camera clicks)

Not everyone on Little Tall has been so lucky.

Jack and Angie Carver divorced...

Jack fought for custody of Buster, and lost.

He moved off the island, rented a room...

killed himself there one night...

He left what little he had to a fellow

who lost an eye in a barroom fight.

Robbie Beals rebuilt the old fish house

and hired Kirk Freeman to work there...

Kirk said Robbie's wife, Sandra, came down there

early one morning, dressed in a slicker and boots...

and told him she wanted to go for a little row.

Kirk made her put on a life preserver...

He said he didn't like the way she looked...

Like she was dreaming with her eyes open...

But what could he do? It was a mild morning...

No wind, not much swell...

and she was the boss's wife.

They found the boat, but they didn't find Sandy.

There was one strange thing...

but they didn't know what to make of it.

There were people on the island...

who maybe could've helped them a little there...

But island folks can keep a secret.

We kept our share...

And the people who live there can keep them still.

This is a cash-and-carry world. Pay as you go.

Sometimes you only have to pay a little...

Mostly, it's a lot.

Once in a while, it's all you have.

That's the lesson I thought I learned...

during the Storm of the Century...

but I was wrong.

I only started learning during the Big Blow...

I finished just last week.

(humming:) "I'm a little teapot..."

Ralphie?

Ralphie!

(hissing)

Ralphie!

(Mike:) I could have written Molly and told her...

I thought about it... even prayed about it...

When every choice hurts,

how do you tell which one's the right one?

In the end, I kept silent.

Sometimes, mostly at night when I can't sleep,

I think that was wrong.

But in daylight, I know better.

In daylight, I know better.