The lights gradually come up on the same setting. It is the morning.
The table is in front of the door. The Grandmother sits in a chair in the center of the room, fast asleep with the gun in her lap. The Daughter enters and takes in the scene. She gently wakes the Grandmother.
DAUGHTER: Granny—Granny—are you okay?
GRANNY: What! Oh—oh my back
DAUGHTER: Did you sleepwalk?
GRANNY: No I did not, oh
DAUGHTER: Did you move the table all alone?
GRANNY: Yes
DAUGHTER: But it’s so heavy
(The Nephew enters.)
NEPHEW: What happened?
DAUGHTER: Help me move this—I need to check the mouse
GRANNY: No, don’t
DAUGHTER: I want to make sure he’s okay—something’s going on
GRANNY: Don’t go out there!
NEPHEW: I’ll go with her don’t worry
(They are out the door.)
(The Cousin enters.)
COUSIN: What’s all the noise? Gun? Who you shooting now Mrs.?
GRANNY: Stop! They’ve gone outside—get them—something happened in the night
COUSIN: What?
GRANNY: Quickly!
(He registers her fear.)
COUSIN (Shouting): Children!
(He rushes out the door.
The Grandmother looks out the door. The Mother enters.)
MOTHER: What is it? (Referring to the gun) Put that away
GRANNY: It’s okay—everything looks normal I think
MOTHER: What do you mean?
GRANNY: Didn’t you hear it?
MOTHER: No—what?
GRANNY: In the night—the noise—it terrified me so I came down and put the table in front of the door and kept guard
(The Father enters.)
FATHER: Why is everyone up—it’s barely dawn
GRANNY: I can’t believe none of you woke up
MOTHER: Mother thinks there was a noise in the night
FATHER: Probably just wolves
GRANNY: Not that kind of noise
FATHER: Then what?
GRANNY: Something bad. A bang
FATHER: A gun?
GRANNY: Bigger
FATHER: What? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, Mother?
(The Daughter, Nephew and Cousin come back to the door.)
NEPHEW: There’s a huge hole in the field—behind the shed
MOTHER: A hole?
FATHER: Do you think it was a tremor?
COUSIN: A tremor doesn’t make a crater
MOTHER: It could, couldn’t it?
FATHER: Show me
(The Father and Cousin exit.)
GRANNY: I knew I wasn’t dreaming
DAUGHTER: The mouse is fine—he was snoozing away as if nothing had happened
NEPHEW: The hens were a bit funny though
DAUGHTER: Like when they see Granny with her gun
NEPHEW: That’s because they know one of them’s for it
MOTHER: Oh God—what was it?
GRANNY: Children move the table back to its proper place. I can’t believe you all slept through it—well! It woke me right up and I looked at the picture of your grandfather and I said, Did you hear that? We’d better go and see what’s happened, and it was eerily still. I didn’t trust it. So I set up camp down here
NEPHEW: Did you move the table all alone, Granny?
GRANNY: Yes I did
NEPHEW: But it’s so heavy
GRANNY: I wasn’t going to let anything come in here
NEPHEW: Who wants to come in here?
MOTHER: No one, it was a tremor, nature
(The Father and Cousin appear again.)
FATHER: It’s huge. It nearly took out the whole field, the bordering trees were uprooted
DAUGHTER: Like a giant’s footprint
FATHER: At least that field was just for grazing—it didn’t damage any crops
COUSIN: This time
FATHER: Children go and collect eggs for breakfast
DAUGHTER: Do we have to?
NEPHEW: Don’t worry—I’ll distract the cock, you get the eggs, then you won’t get pecked again
(The Daughter and Nephew go.)
COUSIN: You see—I told you. This is what happened in my home too
FATHER: Describe the noise exactly—what was it like?
GRANNY: A bang, a rumble
MOTHER: A rumble is like a tremor
GRANNY: I can’t believe no one else woke up
COUSIN: It was no tremor. It just missed the shed
MOTHER: What missed the shed?
GRANNY: If it just missed the shed then it just missed—
COUSIN: The house, and next time you might not be so lucky. We must leave
FATHER: We’re not going anywhere
GRANNY: But the children?
FATHER: This is their home
COUSIN: Don’t be stupid, you don’t want them to die in this place
FATHER: Who’s talking about dying? They are just trying to frighten us
MOTHER: It’s working
COUSIN: She’s sensible—she knows how to look after herself
(A look passes between the two women.)
FATHER: I won’t leave—it’s taken me years to get it to where it is now—this is our home—and there’s the livestock, the fields to be tended—we can’t go anywhere
COUSIN: You need to get your priorities right, Cousin
FATHER: If you’re afraid, go—my family and I are staying
COUSIN: I’m not afraid for myself—talk to him, Auntie
GRANNY: You are both right
COUSIN: What?
GRANNY: Well, we can’t leave—this is our home
COUSIN: Think of the children. If that thing had been any closer . . .
MOTHER: Maybe we shouldn’t stay here
GRANNY: Listen, we can stay and go
FATHER: We’re not splitting up
GRANNY: No, no, listen—if we go to the woods beyond the last field—we’re still on our property—we can set up a camp and come back to look after everything, but know we are safe. Then this man can go
MOTHER: The woods?
FATHER: With the wolves and wild boars and hyenas?
MOTHER: I don’t go into those woods
COUSIN: You’d rather take your chances here?
GRANNY: There hasn’t been a hyena there since I was a girl— (To the Mother) You can do it
FATHER (To the Mother): Listen to them—this is madness!
MOTHER: The woods? But maybe—we don’t need to go in too deep—we’ll be close enough to come and do things but we’ll be safe—just for a couple of days while we see what happens
GRANNY: Listen to your wife
COUSIN: I shouldn’t think that will be an issue
MOTHER: Their safety comes first
COUSIN: It’s amazing how a woman always thinks of her children
GRANNY: We can tell them it’s an adventure
MOTHER: Yes—good idea
FATHER: Stop, this is crazy—I’ve work to do
COUSIN: Please, look I’ll stay, help you with the work. Just humor me—if I’m wrong, well I hope I’m wrong—either way your family will be safe
MOTHER: Better safe than sorry—just for a few days
GRANNY: The children
(The Mother goes to the Father.)
MOTHER: Please
(A beat.)
FATHER: Oh all right then. But this is . . . Come on Cousin we’ve a lot to do— (To the Mother) You get the household things together
MOTHER: Yes of course
GRANNY: And we’ll have a hearty breakfast with eggs and cheese before we go
(The Father and Cousin exit. The Mother begins to collect together bits and pieces to take with them—not much though—she knows it’s only for a few days.)
What do you think of that?
MOTHER: Don’t Mother
GRANNY: You know what he’s up to
MOTHER: Of course—what shall I do? What if he says something? Do you think he means to?
GRANNY: Yes. I do. You know what he’s like. Can’t keep it shut. Look what happened to his sister
MOTHER: Oh God! What shall I do?
GRANNY: Nothing—we’ll just keep an eye on him
MOTHER (Referring to some kitchen utensil): Do you think we’ll need this?
GRANNY: Probably not—leave it—we can always come back for it
(A beat.)
(In a whisper) Shall we bring?
MOTHER: I was just wondering about that—will it be safe here?
GRANNY: I don’t know—shall I get it?
MOTHER: Yes—quick
(The Grandmother exits and returns with a small pouch.)
GRANNY: I’ve slept on this for eleven years—I think I’ll miss lying on it. Can I open it?
MOTHER: No Mother
(A beat.)
Oh, go on, but quickly
(The Grandmother opens the pouch and removes four or five pieces of gold jewelry.)
GRANNY: This one is my favorite—poor you, never being able to wear it
MOTHER: I wouldn’t want to wear it
GRANNY: If I’d had something like this I’d never take it off. You put it on
MOTHER: No—you know where it came from—I hate it
GRANNY: I can’t imagine you cleaning in it. But try it on—you’ll look pretty
MOTHER: No it makes my skin crawl
GRANNY: It’s gold, it’s yours
MOTHER: It’s for him for when he’s grown up
GRANNY: We may need it sooner than that
(She puts it away.)
MOTHER: What shall we do with it?
GRANNY: We’ll worry about that later—for now it’ll be safe here
(She puts it down her ample bosom.)
No one will look there, eh?
(They both giggle.)
MOTHER: Will you get some bedding?
(The Grandmother goes.)
No need to go too mad—we shouldn’t be there long
(She continues to collect things together. The Father comes in.)
FATHER: Where’s my knife?
MOTHER: In the drawer—I told you, I don’t like it left out with the children
FATHER (Finding the knife): Here it is. Make sure your mother packs the gun
MOTHER: What, why?
FATHER: Just in case
MOTHER: What did he say to you?
(No answer.)
Tell me. You are making me frightened
(A beat.)
FATHER: Maybe that’s good
MOTHER: I hate those woods
FATHER: I’ll be there to protect you, remember what I promised. I haven’t let you down yet, have I?
MOTHER: No
(A beat.)
Is it fair to ask him to come? He’s done what he wanted to, warned us, he should go back to his people now
FATHER: He wants to stay
MOTHER: Why?
FATHER: To help us. What is it?
(A beat.)
MOTHER: Some people like times like this—they find it exciting. Not me. I want everything safe and routine, in our home
FATHER: Me, too. It’ll be okay
MOTHER: You still love me don’t you?
FATHER: Why are you saying that?
MOTHER: You do though?
FATHER: Of course—
MOTHER: You hesitated
FATHER: No I didn’t
MOTHER: You did you did—you, oh—
FATHER: No, what is it?
Silly hen. What is it? Why are you crying?
MOTHER: I wish he’d never come
FATHER: You can’t blame him—he’s just the messenger
MOTHER: He’s going to ruin everything
FATHER: What? What is it that you are frightened of?
(A beat.
The Daughter and Nephew run in.)
DAUGHTER: What is it, Mother? What’s the matter?
NEPHEW: Please don’t cry
FATHER: She’s not crying, she’s—
MOTHER: Excited—I’m excited—your father has just come up with a great idea
FATHER: Have I?
MOTHER: Yes, remember? The “adventure”
NEPHEW: Adventure?
FATHER: Oh yes, we are going on an “adventure”
DAUGHTER: Really?
(The Grandmother walks into the room, her arms full of blankets. She puts them down, goes to the dresser, and takes the gun.)
MOTHER: What are you doing with that?
GRANNY: I’m going to shoot two chickens to take with us
NEPHEW: Can I watch?
GRANNY: Yes, come on boy
DAUGHTER: Don’t frighten the mouse
(The Grandmother and Nephew exit.)
Why doesn’t she just ring their necks like you Dad?
FATHER: She likes to practice her aim
(A beat.)
Have you got everything together?
MOTHER: It’s hard to know what to bring . . .
DAUGHTER: Where are we going?
MOTHER: On an adventure, we’re going to sleep in the woods
DAUGHTER: That’s creepy though
MOTHER: Not with your father to look after us
DAUGHTER: Can I bring Mousey?
MOTHER: If you like
DAUGHTER: What about school?
FATHER: You’ve got a few days holiday
DAUGHTER: Oh! Today is the best day, first a giant wakes up and walks in our field and now we get to play in the woods
MOTHER: Get your things ready, go on
(The Daughter goes to the stairs. The sound of a gunshot is heard—the Mother jumps.)
DAUGHTER: Don’t be scared Mum, it’s just Granny in the henhouse.
(Lights down.)