Queen of Swords
Episode Transcripts

Soldier - [cracks whip] Back to work!

Sgt. Alonzo - That should be enough to blast the vein wide open.

Grisham - Then do it. Montoya wants his gold, and you're a week late already, sergeant.

Sgt. Alonzo - [sighs] Capitan, the men I have are all sick.

Grisham - [sees incoming wagonload of prisoners] Then it's your lucky day... more volunteers.

Soldier - Come on! Move it. I don't have all day. Come on!

Grisham - No more excuses, sergeant.

Sgt. Alonzo - Yes, capitan.

[Torlio escapes from wagon, runs.]

Soldiers - Stop! Hey! Stop! [soldiers & other prisoners yelling, gunfire]

[Torlio scrambles up steep hillside.]

Grisham - [to Torlio] Need a hand? I'd take it if I were you.

Torlio - [spits at Grisham] Never. Go to hell!

Grisham - Your choice.

Torlio - [loses grip, falls down side of hill to his death] Aaaaaah!

Guard on horse - [riding past man with hand-cart] Hey, move, peasant!

Marta - [holding up a strip of cloth] You couldn't make a shawl for a mouse.

Tessa - Where's the supply ship?

Marta - Late.

Tessa - I'm tired of beef for breakfast, beef for lunch...

Marta - There's always corn. [holds up some]

Tessa - No fruit, no spices... Ah, wait! [spies a lone apple in a barrel, reaches for it]

Dr. Helm - [grabs apple first, takes a bite] Mmm.

Tessa - I beg your pardon?! That was mine!

Dr. Helm - Mmm. Was it? We could share. [breaks off piece & offers it] Didn't think so.

Tessa - You could at least have asked me first.

Dr. Helm - But then I'd have had to introduce myself and exchange pleasantries. It would have taken far too long.

Tessa - So why not just grab it??

Dr. Helm - I was hungry. I still am. Very hungry. And obviously being a woman of wealth and privilege, you wouldn't know what that feels like.

Montoya - Ah, Dr. Helm, you've arrived!

Tessa - You're a doctor?

Dr. Helm - I rode all the way from Texas just to steal your apple.

Montoya - We have been awaiting your arrival with great impatience. I see you've already met Señorita Alvarado. And now, doctor, allow me to show you around our humble pueblo. Señorita.

Marta - Who was that?

Tessa - He calls himself a doctor.

Tessa - I thought he was the most ill-mannered, foul-smelling... arrogant...

Marta - Don't tell me you've run out of insults!

Tessa - Mmmm, tarantula.

Marta - Ah, a tarantula with teeth white as pearls, broad shoulders, blue eyes...

Tessa - Green eyes.

Louisa - Marta! [notices Tessa] I'm sorry to disturb you, señorita, I will come back.

Tessa - No, wait, Louisa. What's wrong?

Louisa - Torlio, my husband. He was taken yesterday by two men.

Marta - Try to calm yourself.

Louisa - The soldiers wanted to question him about stolen cattle.

Tessa - I know Torlio. He's not a thief.

Louisa - I waited all night, but he did not come home. This morning, I went to the jail.

Tessa - And?

Louisa - They said they'd already let him go.

Tessa - He must be on his way home then.

Louisa - No, señorita. He has disappeared, and I am very frightened for him.

Montoya - Disappeared?

Tessa - Colonel, I'm only concerned because my people are gossiping when they should be working.

Montoya - Perhaps your people need a firmer hand.

Tessa - You're right. Maybe because I'm not a man, they take advantage of me.

Montoya - Señorita, I am in the middle of some business.

Tessa - One of my workers is convinced that once men enter your jail, they're never heard from again.

Montoya - Disappearing husbands are nothing new. You know, señorita, many a man discovers, alas too late, that he has made an error in his choice of life companion. [knock on door] Enter!

Grisham - [enters] Señorita.

Tessa - Captain.

Montoya - Señorita was just leaving.

Tessa - I was?

Montoya - Regrettably.

Tessa - About Torlio...

Montoya - Be careful, Maria Teresa. If one so beautiful as you were to disappear, it would break my heart.

Tessa - Don't worry, colonel, I have no intention of disappearing. [leaves]

Montoya - You are still behind schedule.

Grisham - I have --

Montoya - Another excuse? Yet another example of your own incompetence?

Grisham - We are behind schedule because the men are dropping like flies.

Montoya - Look. [points out window] A few dozen soldiers, some horses, a small pueblo. It's insignificant, really. Do you have any idea what it takes to build an empire?

Grisham - Gold.

Montoya - And?

Grisham - Armies.

Montoya - And?

Grisham - I don't know.

Montoya - And cannon. Just like the ones which are coming on the supply ship, right here. And all they ask of me in payment are a few nuggets of gold, which are where? Exactly! That's right, they are still in the mine.

Grisham - I push the men, and the men drop. So we grab more men now... how long before the Queen of Swords finds out? Hm?

Montoya - Of course the Queen of Swords will come. We will make sure of it.

[Dr. Helm is using a broken mirror to shave.]

Vera - You don't look married, Dr. Helm.

Dr. Helm - I wasn't aware marriage had a look.

Vera - Oh, yes. And certainly, it doesn't look like you. So, what brought you to California, doctor?

Dr. Helm - Adventure.

Vera - A man like you would find adventure anywhere he went.

Don Hidalgo - [calls from his buggy] My petal, the dons are waiting.

Vera - A welcoming gift. [hands Dr. Helm a wrapped bottle] Wine from Rioja.

Dr. Helm - Thank you very much.

Don Hidalgo - My wife is lovely, isn't she, doctor? Perhaps soon you'll find one of your own.

[QoS hides behind rocks, watching soldiers & prisoners. Soldiers load two prisoners in a wagon & drive off. QoS gets on her horse & follows.]

Dr. Helm - If you want to keep the arm, soldier, keep that dressing dry.

Montoya - Nicely done, doctor. You are an angel of mercy. A moment of your time.

Dr. Helm - I still have two to see.

Montoya - Before you came, they had to lick their wounds clean. I'm sure they will not mind having to wait another minute or two. [Dr. Helm & Montoya begin walking down the street.] Hypothetically speaking, doctor, what if several men, working in confined conditions, suddenly became ill? Unable to work.

Dr. Helm - Why are they confined?

Montoya - That is unimportant. The symptoms are all the same. Trouble breathing, fainting sometimes...

Dr. Helm - Perhaps they are being worked to exhaustion.

Montoya - No, no, no. Of course not. Hypothetically speaking, would there be a medicine you could prescribe?

Dr. Helm - Well, I would prescribe that you take them out of the place they're working.

Montoya - And if that were not possible? Surely there must be some medicine, no?

Dr. Helm - If these men are truly sick, hypothetically speaking, then I should see them, and sooner rather than later.

Montoya - Perhaps. But now, doctor, you have more pressing matters to attend to. Hasta luego.

[QoS is still following wagon, riding through a canyon. She becomes nervous about how exposed she is & draws her sword. A hidden soldier shoots at her & then more soldiers appear along the canyon rim. One of them shoots her & she falls from her horse.]

Grisham - Get after her! Hyeah!

[Soldiers yelling, QoS & soldiers swordfighting.]

QoS - [backed up to edge of cliff over ocean] Who's first, boys?

Soldier - Get her! [Soldiers attack, are beaten, another comes forward.]

QoS - I wouldn't if I were you.

Grisham - She's mine! [QoS puts a hand on the bullet wound in her side.] Does it hurt? Don't run away.

QoS - Where could I possibly go, captain? [drops sword off cliff, dives off cliff]

Grisham - I could have just shot her.

[Soldiers comb the beach.]

Soldier - She might have drown, sir.

Grisham - Then find me her body.

[Soldier finds shred of black fabric, gives it to Grisham.]

Grisham - I want what's left of her clothes! [takes fabric & rides off]

Don Hidalgo - Hm, you're offering me a percentage of the mine?

Montoya - [chuckles] You surprise me, Hidalgo.

Don Hidalgo - I'm a quiet man, but I know things.

Montoya - The mine is only a small part of what I am talking about. What I need --

Don Hidalgo - Is coffee! [laughs] You need to relax a bit. You are always so tense.

Montoya - You know, you're right. It is what you have that I don't. You have this marvelous ability to... to relax and enjoy life. It's what draws people to you. This is why you have maintained your great influence over the other dons.

Don Hidalgo - Yes, that's true. I tell them to be calm even though their men are disappearing. One day soon, the colonel will solve the mystery to all our benefit.

Grisham - [rides up with soldiers] Colonel! [holds up cloth]

Montoya - The skin of the fox. Look at the stitching, huh? And the cloth. It's the finest silk. No peasant made this.

Grisham - She was a Spaniard, just as you thought.

Montoya - Skin of the fox is one thing. The fox itself is another thing entirely.

Grisham - No, she couldn't have survived that fall.

Montoya - Not without sustaining a few broken bones, not to mention her wound. The party tonight, in honor of the good doctor... no Spaniard would dare to refuse my invitation, unless of course... unless of course they were badly injured.

Vera - Marta, I've been looking for Tessa all day.

Marta - If you have a message...

Vera - Oh, all right, then. You can tell her, "She's dead. The Queen of Swords is dead." She was shot. Then she threw herself off a cliff. Her body shattered on the rocks below and was swallowed by the ocean.

Marta - No.

Vera - Yes, it's true. The capitan told me himself. He was very proud, and I think the colonel will probably want to celebrate.

Marta - I'm sorry, I can't be late.

Vera - Oh, Marta, I know you made the señorita's dresses. They are exquisite. I must have one. I will come around tomorrow morning and show you the brocades.

[Soldier sees QoS's sword buried in the sand, then sees body further up the beach.]

Soldier - The Queen! [stabs sword upright into sand, goes to body]

[QoS wakes up & fights soldier, knocks him out. A second soldier (Arnaldo) rides at QoS with a lance. She sidesteps & grabs the lance, knocking Arnaldo off his horse. She steals his horse, grabs her sword & rides off.]

Marta - [enters, crying, then sees Tessa] They said you were dead.

Tessa - There was no way to warn you, Marta. I needed them to think I was dead. Forgive me?

Marta - Oh! You're hurt.

Tessa - It's nothing. It's just a scratch.

Marta - [looking at wound] Two inches to the left, and you'd be dead. How are your ribs?

Tessa - They're fine.

[later that evening]

Tessa - Marta, it's getting late. Lace me for the party, please.

Marta - You can't go. Make some excuse.

Tessa - That's what Montoya will be waiting for.

Marta - Look at you! You are dead on your feet. If you pass out at the party, you will give Montoya what he's waiting for.

Tessa - Marta, men are disappearing. Maybe dying. I must find out what I can. Please, help me dress.

Marta - This is going to hurt. [pulls corset lacings]

Tessa - Aaaah!

Montoya - I need that gold before the supply ship docks. No gold, no artillery.

Grisham - Sick men can't work.

Montoya - Make it happen, Grisham, or I will make you dig that gold out with your own bare hands.

Grisham - Colonel. [leaves]

Montoya - [as Dr. Helm enters] Dr. Helm. You now, it's a boorish guest who arrives late for his own party.

Dr. Helm - And it's the poor host who points this out.

Montoya - Quite correct, doctor. I must apologize, it is not you. It's this thorn in my side, the Queen of Swords.

Dr. Helm - Ah, yes. I understand she's quite the local hero.

Montoya - Vigilante, doctor. She steals my gold in the name of the people, and she keeps everything for herself. She leaves as many dead in her wake as... Napoleon.

[elsewhere at the party]

Vera - Tessa, you don't look well.

Tessa - The wine doesn't agree with me this evening.

Vera - Smile anyway. You would do well to look ravishing at a party where, who knows, you might meet that certain caballero. [leaves]

Marta - A slight chill in the air. [wraps shawl around Tessa's shoulders] The wound is bleeding through your dress.

Tessa - [looking around at crowd] That's the soldier from the beach. [Tessa & Marta move away.]

Grisham - [to woman] You look lovely in that dress. I'd like to see you--

Montoya - Grisham!

Grisham - [to woman] {??} [turns to Montaya as woman leaves]

Montoya - You leave that fool to search for the Queen of Swords? [sees blood on wall] She is here. Secure the entrance. Let no one escape. We have her, and this time, we shall keep her.

[moments later]

Montoya - [to crowd] Please, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that someone at our celebration has suffered an injury. Fortunately, we have our new doctor at hand. [Crowd claps.] Come, doctor. He will treat your wound in a gentle and gracious fashion.

Dr. Helm - What the hell is going on?

Montoya - The Queen of Swords is here. She is wounded and concealing it.

Dr. Helm - Ha, this is absurd.

Montoya - I announce that she is here and there will be violence. Play along with me, doctor. We don't want to see any innocents hurt. [to crowd] I gather that modesty is preventing the injured party from stepping forward, from which I would conclude that it is a woman. Come, ladies, surely your husbands cannot object to another man's hands being upon you... if he is a doctor. [chuckling from crowd] So, Dona Vethelia will be first. A little relaxing music for the ladies. 'La Confidente'. Please, doctor, an injured woman needs your attention.

Dr. Helm - Señora. I apologize for this rather abrupt method of introduction. [looks her over, shakes head at Montoya] Señora Hidalgo. [Vera does a 360, next lady steps up.] Excuse me for tearing you away from your husband. [Line moves forward.] Are you feeling any pain anywhere? [another lady] Señora. If you would turn around, please? Thank you, good evening. [It is Tessa's turn.] We meet again. Señorita Alvarado, I believe you are next. [Tessa hesitates.]

Marta - [crushes a wineglass in her hand] Please, I beg your forgiveness...

Montoya - [stops musicians] You!

Marta - I know servants aren't allowed to drink, but, Colonel, the evening was so lovely, I wanted wine.

Dr. Helm - Come with me.

Montoya - I do not see the need.

Dr. Helm - As I said before, I am the doctor. [leads Marta away. Tessa starts to follow.]

Montoya - Señorita, your servant would not want you to be worrying about her so.

Tessa - I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about me. Who will do my laundry?

Montoya - Come, a dance before you go.

Dr. Helm - Okay, that should stop the bleeding.

Marta - I am sorry to be so much trouble.

Dr. Helm - It's alright. I never did much care for parties, especially those given in my honor.

[Marta touches Dr. Helm's hands, sees flashes of battle, soldiers fighting & dying.]

Marta - Your hands...

Dr. Helm - Pardon me?

Marta - These hands are not the hands of a doctor. [More flashes of battle, cannon firing, Dr. Helm aiming a musket.] So much blood... so much death.

Tessa - Is she alright, doctor?

Dr. Helm - Re-bandage every two days. See me next week. [exits hastily]

Tessa - Marta, are you in pain?

Marta - It's nothing. It's you we must worry about.

Tessa - Marta?

Marta - [scrubbing laundry] Go away. Look at this. [holds up a bloody cloth] See what you have done? It will never come out.

Tessa - Please, Marta, you shouldn't be using your hand.

Marta - We're not in Spain anymore. We can't just order more fabric and call for a tailor! {Will you at least} be more careful.

Tessa - Marta?

Marta - First, I thought you were dead. Then I thought I would lose you again last night.

Vera - [drives up in buggy] Hello? Hello? Oh, there you are, Señorita Alvarado. Did Marta tell you? She's making my dress. I hope you won't mind. Oh dear, how painful that must be. This has been the worst day, and it's only ten o'clock.

Tessa - We don't have any coffee, but...

Vera - I've had a headache since six. You were right about the wine. Then, at breakfast, I discovered two of my best grooms were in a brawl and dragged off to prison. And my husband is furious.

Tessa - Your grooms? Well, I'm sure they'll be released.

Vera - No, I {won't see them} for a while. I'm sure they've been taken to the mines.

Tessa - But why would they need grooms in a mine.

Vera - Exactly what I say. But what do I know of these things?

Montoya - [as his carriage stops] Dr. Helm. I need you.

Dr. Helm - I'm afraid this is not exactly a good time.

Montoya - I am sorry to be so abrupt, but I need you *now*.

Dr. Helm - I'm busy.

Montoya - Are you too busy to tend to the sick and the dying?

Dr. Helm - I gather the hypothetically sick have suddenly become real?

Montoya - It is a military matter, and I am sure you understand the need for discretion.

Dr. Helm - Oh, I am beginning to understand many things, colonel.

Montoya - Good. My men will escort you. [to driver] {?? sounds like 'caro' ??} [Carriage drives off.]

Don Hidalgo - Hm, so much has changed in California since you were a little girl.

Tessa - [sighs] It seems that way.

Don Hidalgo - But you're settled now, back in your father's hacienda?

Tessa - At least the hills and the ocean haven't changed.

Don Hidalgo - Hm, we are most fortunate. [reaches to pour a glass of wine]

Tessa - Please, Don Hidalgo, let me. [pours the wine] When I was a child, I used to ride in these hills. Play hide and seek up and down the valley. I remember old water wells, and weren't there abandoned mines, too?

Don Hidalgo - I don't recall.

Tessa - But you must. There were dozens of them near the quarry and by the old river bed.

Don Hidalgo - Stay away from the river bed. Those mines were dangerous then, and they are dangerous now.

Tessa - [sees donkey & cart arriving bearing a dead body] Pardon me, Don Hidalgo.

Don Hidalgo - Maria Teresa... here curiosity is not a virtue.

Tessa - [goes to the cart] Louisa? Louisa.

Louisa - The soldiers found his body in the hills. They say he fell.

Tessa - My God, I'm so sorry.

Louisa - I have to wash this for his burial. They are his best clothes. How will God receive you, Torlio? How will he receive you?

[Tessa notices dirt in folds of the clothes.]

[QOS looks at dirt cupped in her gloved hand, then is seen galloping away.]

Soldier - Get to work! Move it! You think this is siesta?

Dr. Helm - [coming out of the mine] It's arsenic. Poison. The longer they work, the worse they'll become.

Sgt. Alonzo - They only work twelve hours at a time.

Dr. Helm - The only way to save these men is to keep them out of the mine.

Sgt. Alonzo - Tell that to Colonel Montoya.

Dr. Helm - How can he possibly justify that?

Sgt. Alonzo - Because the colonel says. There is no mine. No gold. And no men. That is how he justifies it.

Soldier - Sergeant, Corporal Pedro's hat.

Sgt. Alonzo - [sighs] Capitan Grisham said she might be coming.

Dr. Helm - Who might be coming?

Sgt. Alonzo - Bring me three men. On second thought, make it six.

Soldier - You, come on. You, too. We don't have all day. You over there. Move it! You, come with me. Come on! That's it, move! [lines prisoners up]

Sgt. Alonzo - If any of you move, you're dead.

Dr. Helm - What the hell do you think you're doing?

Sgt. Alonzo - Queen of Swords! You have ten seconds! Seven seconds! Show yourself, or I blow his brains out!

Dr. Helm - This is barbaric! If you think that I... [Soldiers pull Dr. Helm back & hold him.] You're mad!

Sgt. Alonzo - I have all the time and the men I need! Three seconds, Queen! Two! One!

QoS - Stop! [stands up on ridge]

Sgt. Alonzo - You waited long enough.

QoS - I wasn't sure you could count. [Dr. Helm chuckles.]

Sgt. Alonzo - Hands in the air! Or this man dies! [QoS raises her hands.] Go get her. [QoS is brought to the Sgt.] Such a pretty neck. Get word to Captain Grisham. He will want to slit it himself.

Soldier - Yes, sergeant.

[some time later]

Dr. Helm - [arguing with the Sgt] Unless these men get fresh air and water, they will be no good to anyone.

Sgt. Alonzo - Alright. Give the prisoners some water... and some rest.

Dr. Helm - Go.

Prisoner - The Queen.

Sgt. Alonzo - The Queen can't be much help to you now.

Prisoner - They're going to kill the Queen! We are finished!

Soldier - Let's see who she is.

Sgt. Alonzo - Captain Grisham would rip out your heart if you saw her before he did.

Dr. Helm - She's bleeding.

Sgt. Alonzo - You can't go near her. She is a prisoner.

Dr. Helm - You want her alive for Captain Grisham, don't you?

[Marta is sitting in a pew, a young girl is praying at the altar. Montoya enters, girl startles.]

Montoya - [to Marta] Don't tell me that I frighten you, too.

Marta - Good afternoon, colonel.

Montoya - Today is the anniversary of my father's death. I never let that special day pass without celebrating.

Marta - You find such exultation in death. It is a rare gift. {??}

Grisham - [enters church] Colonel, we have the Queen.

[Girl gasps offscreen.]

Montoya - You see, señora? You should never underestimate the power of prayer.

QoS - [bound to a post] Don't bother.

Dr. Helm - I have to stop the bleeding.

QoS - So that Grisham and Montoya can kill me later?

Sgt. Alonzo - [offscreen] That's enough. Quiet.

Dr. Helm - No. So that I can do this. [uses scalpel blade to cut the ropes] The rest is up to you.

[QoS wriggles her hands free as Grisham & Montoya ride up.]

Montoya - At last!

[QoS sneaks up behind a soldier (Pedro), grabs his gun, knocks him out & runs into the mine.]

Sgt. Alonzo - I'll get her!

Grisham - Kill her and you're a lieutenant! [moves forward toward mine entrance]

Montoya - No. She's trapped. There's no way out. Let the sergeant take her.

[inside mine]

QoS - Congratulations. You found me. [Sgt & QoS fight.]

Montoya - [from outside] {¡La fugit bandita!}

QoS - [to Sgt] At this moment, silence is a virtue. Turn around.

Montoya - Come out, please! We must take some time to talk! [motions soldiers forward toward mine entrance]

QoS - [punches hole in gunpowder barrel with her foot] Move. [prods Sgt forward, rolls barrel along ground, takes lantern from hook]

Dr. Helm - If you plan to commit murder today, you'll have to commit more than one!

Montoya - I may have to hold you to your word, doctor. Now get out of my way.

Sgt. Alonzo - Don't shoot! Don't shoot!

Montoya - Checkmate, my queen.

QoS - [pushes the Sgt down the slope] I'd like to say a prayer.

Montoya - As long as you make it a short prayer.

QoS - [drops lantern, igniting trail of gunpowder, drops to her knees] A plea for my executioners' souls.

Montoya - Ah, how touching. [to Grisham] When she is finished, kill her.

[Gunpowder barrels in mine explode.]

Montoya - Shoot her! Shoot her!

Grisham - Shoot! Now! Fire!

Montoya - What are you waiting for?!

Grisham - Shoot! [runs up slope to mine entrance]

Montoya - Grisham! I want her, dead or alive. Well, where is she?

Grisham - I don't know.

Montoya - Grisham, is she dead? [Tarot card flutters to Grisham's feet.] What is it?

[Grisham brings card back to Montoya.]

Dr. Helm - I think she left that for you.

Montoya - Look at them, Grisham. It doesn't take much, does it? Give them a bolt of cloth and a few jars of spices, and they are happy. Everyone has what they wanted from the supply ship but me.

Grisham - It looks like your empire will have to wait.

Montoya - You'll be waiting on me, Grisham... whatever happens.

[Dr. Helm reaches for apple from a barrel, Tessa grabs it first.]

Tessa - Pardon me, doctor, but I'm famished. I took your advice and didn't eat anything all morning. Just to see what hunger felt like.

Dr. Helm - And?

Tessa - Now I know.

Marta - Salt from Marseille, vinegar from {Carreas de Fontaina}, and... chocolates! Doctor.

Dr. Helm - Señorita.

Marta - We should get this home, before the sun melts everything.

Tessa - [walks off with Marta] Marta, I want you to make me a new dress. I think the red brocade. {??} Something bright and colorful...