ADAM AMANDA ANISHA CALEB CAROLINE CORRINE DAN ISSIE JULIA MIRIAMA MITCH NATASHA SAM STELLA TOM TWO_IC ISSIE I’m coming home. I’m not staying in this hell hole any longer. ISSIE Are there horses in the forest? NATASHA No. There are horses at the stables. ANISHA Ok, so you’re seeing ghost horses now. ISSIE That’s the horse. He’s the one I saw yesterday. It was running away from someone. ADAM Oi. ISSIE There was a man. He was chasing me. I think he drugged her. TOM I’ll call my vet. AMANDA Come in, it’s cold. ISSIE Yeah, I’ll be in, in a minute. So no-one else can see you? SAM Ah, Julia. Sam. Yeah, I still haven’t received details of the expansion plans. I can’t be across this if I don’t know what’s going on. Anyway, could you get back to me please? Okay. Yeah, thanks, bye. NATASHA Finally. Can we please go to the stables now? SAM Yes, yes, yes. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting all of 30 seconds there. NATASHA What? SAM I can’t be across this if I don’t know what’s going on. TWO IC He doesn’t know yet? JULIA He doesn’t need to know. ISSIE Check it out. Two plane tickets for Thursday afternoon. We land in the UK first thing Friday. ANISHA Your mum is gonna have a fit. I can’t believe you didn’t ask her first. ISSIE I don’t care. We always do the wild swim on Dad’s birthday. I’m not missing it just because she dragged us halfway across the world. ANISHA Well yeah, I hear you babe, but, are you ok? ISSIE What do you mean? ANISHA Well, like after yesterday, I mean, it all seemed pretty hardcore and, like, you’re seeing ghost horses and stuff. ISSIE I’m tired, I guess. But, I’m definitely coming home. ANISHA Well, good luck telling your mum. MITCH Is Issie up yet? I haven’t seen her this morning. AMANDA Yep, she was up at dawn. I found her outside, just staring at the sea. She seemed pretty spaced out. MITCH Well, wouldn’t you be after getting entangled with a horse rustler. MITCH Issie love. Did you have a bad night? ISSIE No, I mean. I. ISSIE So, listen mum, about Dad’s birthday this weekend. AMANDA We will do something special, I promise. ISSIE Yes, but it won’t be the same here, will it? Doing the wild swim in Cornwall was his thing, that’s the whole point. AMANDA I know, and I’m sorry, it’s just too far to travel. ISSIE So, we’re not gonna celebrate his birthday anymore? Is that it? Shall we just, pretend like he never existed? AMANDA Did I say that? ISSIE Whatever. I knew you’d be like this, so… SAM Hello? Anyone in? AMANDA Hey. SAM Morning. I brought Issie’s bike back. You left your stuff in the car the other day. I went ahead and changed the tyre. ISSIE Thanks, I completely forgot. AMANDA Oh, that’s very thoughtful of you. SAM Oh, no. No worries. MITCH Can I help you Sam? AMANDA Sam very kindly brought Issie’s bike back. MITCH Did he now? I wanted a word with you anyway. SAM Oh. Good. MITCH Your little friends are building right by my hives. SAM Sorry? MITCH That shiny new Hexronn expansion is messing with my bees and they’ve stopped producing. SAM Mitch. MITCH You’ve sold out to a bunch of environmental bandits. AMANDA Mum. SAM Look, sorry, I don’t know anything about your bees. But Hexronn is an eco-friendly company. I guarantee it Mitch. AMANDA I am, I’m so sorry about all of this. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea? ISSIE Oh right. I guess I’ll go then. AMANDA Issie. AMANDA ISSIE What’s wrong with her? TOM Keep your distance. What are you doing back here? ISSIE I wanted to see her before I… never mind, how is she? TOM She’s kicked off her bandage and I can see the wound’s infected, but she won’t let me clean it. ISSIE What about the horse rustler? Did they manage to find him? TOM No. Not yet. ISSIE But they can’t just let him get away with it. TOM Yeah well, that’s life I’m afraid. ISSIE Brilliant. Did you find out who she belongs to? TOM Woah, woah. Woah, woah. Yeah, I made some calls, but nothing yet. She doesn’t seem to be chipped either, which doesn’t help. Easy girl, easy girl. Ssh. Ssh. ISSIE No. ISSIE It’s ok. TOM Issie. ISSIE It’s ok, nobody’s gonna hurt you. There’s nothing to be frightened of. ISSIE I like the stripe on her head. TOM It’s called a blaze. ISSIE Blaze. That’s what her name should be. TOM That wound’s getting worse. I need to call the vet. CALEB You two have the most dysfunctional relationship. DAN Alright, next time remember, straight horse, straight line. Keep your eye on the paddle at all times. ISSIE Hey. CAROLINE Oh, Issy. I can’t believe we missed all the action yesterday. STELLA Yeah, are you ok? DAN Amazing that you saved that horse. ISSIE Yeah, Tom says he needs to call the vet though. DAN Look, Tom will do everything he can, he knows his stuff. CAROLINE Yeah, he used to be a professional event rider. DAN He’s a bit of a horse whisperer. ISSIE A horse whisperer? CAROLINE You know, like when you speak to them in a secret language. CALEB It’s not a secret language, it’s just, using body language to communicate with the horse, and gain trust. DAN So if anyone can help that horse, it’s Tom. ISSIE Hey, Tom did you speak to the vet? TOM Yeah. She confirmed what I thought. It’s cellulitis. DAN Cellulitis. Oh man. ISSIE What’s that? TOM It’s a very serious infection. ISSIE But can’t you give her something? Like antibiotics? TOM She’s too volatile, she won’t let it heal. And if that infection gets too strong, well then. ISSIE What? TOM Well the kindest thing would be to put her down. ISSIE No. No. You can’t. TOM The vets gonna come out first thing Thursday morning to see if there’s any improvement, but. DAN Anyway I can help? TOM Yeah, well it’s pretty tough getting these painkillers into her, you could help, it would be good practice. ISSIE Practice? DAN Yeah, I’m training to be a vet. ISSIE Oh, great, then you can kill horses too. TOM Come on Dan. ISSIE Tom. You’re not really gonna let her die are you? TOM Look, I’ll do what I can. But I’ve got eleven other horses I’ve gotta look after. ISSIE But there’s nothing wrong with them. Blaze needs you. TOM What do you expect me to do? ISSIE What about horse whispering? TOM What about horse whispering? ISSIE They all said you’re an expert. DAN It was mostly the others. ISSIE If you can get Blaze to calm down, then we can treat her. TOM It’s not that simple. I can’t put all my resources in to one horse, I’ve got a business to run. ISSIE So it’s just about money for you is it? What makes you any better that the horse rustler? ANISHA Hey Is. Have you started packing yet? Babe, I can’t wait to see you. Ring me back when you can. Yeah. AMANDA Oh. Why has this gone all tiny now? MITCH What are you doing? AMANDA My CV. For some reason it’s got seven different fonts. MITCH Looks like you’ve sat on the keyboard. Let me have a go. AMANDA No, you know less than I do. Oh, cancel the search party, my missing daughter has returned. Where have you been all day? ISSIE I went to see that horse we found yesterday. AMANDA What? ISSIE Just to check on her. Don’t have a meltdown. AMANDA No I’m not, I’m just, pleased you’ve made friends, with a horse. Why don’t I come down and meet it? ISSIE Really? AMANDA Yeah, tomorrow morning. ISSIE Oh, mum I need to talk to you about something. AMANDA Do you know, I can’t tomorrow morning, ‘cause I’ve got a, I’ve got to do this… MITCH What? AMANDA What? MITCH What have you got tomorrow morning? AMANDA Nothing, nothing, none of your business. Stop looking at me. MITCH Oh yeah, I see. AMANDA What? What do you see? MITCH You know he’s sold himself to the devil? ISSIE Wait, what are we talking about? AMANDA He’s just going to show me round a bit. MITCH Sam. Your mother’s fancy footing with him. ISSIE What? Are you kidding? AMANDA I’m just… MITCH Do you have any idea what Hexronn’s gonna do to this town? ISSIE How serious is it? AMANDA What do you mean? ISSIE Your date. AMANDA It’s not a date. ISSIE Wow. I can see why you don’t want to go home. AMANDA Issie. ISSIE You can’t wait to move on from dad. AMANDA You don’t know what you’re talking about. ISSIE Ok. Prove it. AMANDA What’s this? Ah, please tell me this is a joke. ISSIE If I left it to you, we’d never go. AMANDA Issie. How much did you spend on these tickets? ISSIE Who cares? It’s my money and it’s Dad’s birthday. The plane leaves Thursday afternoon, you have all of tomorrow to pack. AMANDA This has got to be one of the stupidest things you have ever done. I’ll have to see if I can get a refund. ISSIE Why? AMANDA Because it’s ridiculous. ISSIE Fine. Forget it. You might have turned your back on dad, but I never will. MITCH Listen love. AMANDA Look, it’s fine. It’s fine. MITCH Now, let me sort this out for you. How hard can it be? Ok. Mitch taps on the keyboard. MITCH Uh oh. MITCH Sorry love, I’m just looking for my glove. ISSIE What? What’re you? MITCH I need to move the hives before those Hexronn vampires trample them into oblivion. Mitch spots a bee-keeping glove. MITCH Aha. You ok love? The day’s cracking on. ISSIE Yeah, I had a bad night. MITCH Oh. Anything I can help with? ISSIE I’ve been having these really weird dreams lately. MITCH You tell me, I love a bit of dream interpretation. ISSIE Ok. Well. I was in the woods. MITCH Oh see, that’s travel. Well that makes sense. ISSIE And there were these horses, running, they were scared. It was horrible. MITCH Horses. Need to check my dream guide. Oh, it’s in the attic. Come on. MITCH You’ll find some treasures up here. ISSIE Wow, this is a lot of stuff. MITCH Well, you never know when something’s gonna come in handy. Now, where’s that dream guide? Oh this is even better. ISSIE What is it? MITCH It’s a dream catcher. I brought it back from New Mexico. You hang it above your bed, and it catches all your worst nightmares. ISSIE Problem solved. MITCH Ok, now what else have we got in here? AMANDA Hey. SAM How you going? AMANDA Good. And you? SAM Yeah, very nice thanks. DAN Back again, London? You sure you’re not into horses? ISSIE I came to see if Tom changed his mind. ISSIE I don’t actually think you’re a horse killer by the way. Just in case you were wondering. DAN You sure say the nicest things. ISSIE Yeah well don’t get used to it. DAN Come on then, Tom’s this way. DAN Tom. TOM Ah. Alright. Here. You can get rid of the rocks and you can make sure the fence is secure. ISSIE What makes you think I’m gonna do your manual labour for you? TOM Do you want me to help Blaze, or not? ISSIE What? You mean you’ll try horse whispering? TOM I ain’t promising any miracles, it’s been ages since I’ve done this. DAN Can you teach me how to do it to? TOM No. You’re both gonna have to keep your distance. Now you make sure the ground is smooth and you make sure the fence is steady. I’ll be back with Blaze. SAM …three meals a day and it’s just toast. AMANDA Oh, thanks, for this morning and showing me around and… SAM It’s good to get the lay of the land. AMANDA Yes, and it’s important, I know where to get a top-quality fishing rod. Yeah, everyone’s been really friendly. SAM Well, we don’t get that many new faces around here. Especially pretty ones. AMANDA Oh. MIRIAMA What can I get you two? AMANDA I, ah, a coffee. SAM You don’t want something to eat? AMANDA Oh. I didn’t know we were eating. MIRIAMA Two coffees it is. AMANDA A big one please. Mum’s coffee is terrible, she’s got this ancient machine and she will not get rid of it. SAM I guess it’s not easy, moving back with your mum. AMANDA No, I mean I should have known. We spoke every couple of weeks when I was in the Uk and still managed to wind each other up. SAM Only every couple of weeks? AMANDA Why. How often do you speak to your mum? SAM Well not as often now that she’s… AMANDA So she’s not haranguing you all the time. SAM No. AMANDA Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. SAM She died. Last year. AMANDA Oh right, oh God, I am, I’m so sorry. AMANDA Gosh, this, yeah. I’ve just remembered, I said I’d pop into the stables to see Issie, she’s got a, a horse. I should go. SAM Really? Now? I can give you a lift. AMANDA No, No, No, I’ll walk, so, it’s left out of here. SAM Come on, come on, I’m going that way anyway. Coffee’s to go please Miri. ISSIE What are you trying to do? DAN Tom has to get her to run around him, so she can see him properly. ISSIE You’re scaring her. TOM Keep it down. DAN The horses see different to us. They’ve got their eyes on the side of their head. But Blaze isn’t behaving like she should, she’s trying to fight him rather than learn. ISSIE I should be in there with you. TOM No. ISSIE She trusts me. TOM You’ve never even ridden a horse before. I’m in charge here. Come on. NATASHA Dad? What are you doing here? With Issie’s Mum? SAM I was. I was just giving Amanda a lift. AMANDA Yeah. Is Issie about? TOM Back, back, go on, back. CALEB How’d you get Tom to do this? CAROLINE We’ve never seen him horse whisper before. Like ever. TOM Back. Go on. DAN London here, basically shouted him into submission. ISSIE Shut up. DAN See. TOM Yeah. Ooh. ISSIE What’s he doing now? DAN Trying to get her to trust him. She’s thinking about it. ISSIE Hey, what’s he doing? TOM Alright. We’re done here. ISSIE What? TOM It’s not gonna work with this horse. Sorry. I can’t heal her if I can’t get through to her. ISSIE But you can’t just give up on her. TOM No Issie. Whatever’s happened to her, runs too deep. ISSIE Well, let me try. TOM No. CALEB Issie. TOM Issie. ISSIE Blaze. No. AMANDA Issie. ISSIE Ah, my foot. AMANDA Issie. TOM Woah, woah. AMANDA Issie. Are you ok? Are you hurt? Can you move it? Is it broken? ISSIE Mum stop, I’m fine. AMANDA What do you think you’re doing? Putting my daughter in danger. TOM It’s not my fault she’s out of control. SAM So’s that horse. You’re not keeping it here are ya? ISSIE No, no, we can still tame her. TOM No. The vet’s coming in the morning. There’s nothing more we can do. AMANDA Issie. MITCH Seems ok to me. ISSIE Yeah, it’s fine. MITCH It’s just bruised. I’ll get you something. ISSIE Thanks. AMANDA I think you were right. About your dad’s birthday. ISSIE What? AMANDA We should go. It’s our tradition. ISSIE Look, I thought you said. AMANDA Yeah I know I did, and I was gonna cancel those plane tickets, but I’ve changed my mind. MITCH Amanda think about this, you’re not really gonna travel eleven thousand miles just for a swim? AMANDA It’s not just a swim though, is it? What time do we need to check in? ISSIE About midday tomorrow. AMANDA Ooh. We’ll have to leave first thing. ISSIE Yeah, there’s just something I have to, I mean we’d have to leave… AMANDA No, it’s ok. You were right. It’s important to be there. Well go pack your things. Go on. ISSIE Thanks. MITCH What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? AMANDA I don’t know mum. I came here to start again, to get over, but leaving everything behind just feels, terrifying. MITCH What do you mean? Did something happen? Amanda? AMANDA No. Fine, I was fine, it’s just today, I suddenly felt, just winded, just panicked at the thought of moving on. MITCH This is about your tour with Sam. AMANDA No, well maybe a bit, but, he’s, it’s not his fault. It’s just it’s been three years and I thought I was fine, and I am fine, it’s just Ed’s birthday’s coming up and I just, I feel like a traitor. What, so I just sit around having coffee with people? MITCH You’re not a traitor. You’ve got every right to live your life, Ed would want you to. Flying all the way back to England, is that really gonna make you feel better? AMANDA Well, I’ve promised Issie now. Anyway, thought you’d be pleased to have us out of your hair, be nice and quiet again. Won’t it? Eh? ISSIE I don’t know what to do. The vet’s gonna put Blaze down just as I leave for the airport. ANISHA I mean, maybe that’s a good thing? You wouldn’t wanna watch that would you? ISSIE I can’t leave her. ANISHA Okay, look on the bright side, you can come see me after your swim. ISSIE That’s the bright side is it? ANISHA Well yeah, we can go to Mia’s party, we’ll have a great time, I promise you and let’s be real. You’re not really a horsey person aren’t you? Like what could you have really done with Blaze? ISSIE Hey. ISSIE I’m not giving up on you, Ok? ISSIE You’re here again. What do you want from me? ISSIE Come on. TOM Issie. What are you doing? ISSIE Look Tom, she’s doing it. TOM Ok Issie, nice and calm. Good, good, good. Now wait, if she drops her head. TOM Send her round again. AMANDA I can’t find her anywhere, we’re supposed to leave for the airport in an hour. MITCH Her bike’s not outside. AMANDA Where could she have got to? Oh, I think I know. DAN Issie. TOM Quiet. Don’t distract her. ISSIE Other way Blaze. Come on. CALEB She’s slowing down. TOM Alright, see if she’s ready. ISSIE That’s it. STELLA How did she do that? TOM She made Blaze feel safe. CORRINE Oh, cool. ISSIE Alright, come on Blaze. We need to get that wound sorted. ISSIE Good girl. ISSIE There you go. You’re safe. Don’t worry. TOM That was a very reckless stunt you just pulled. I can’t argue with the results. AMANDA Issie. Issie, what are you doing here? We’re supposed to be catching a plane. ISSIE Yeah, yeah, ok, just hang on one sec, yeah. AMANDA Oh yeah, no problem, I’m sure our international flight will wait for us. ISSIE Look, you have to cancel the vet. Blaze can be managed, you can help her. TOM It’s not that easy. You’re the one with the connection. ISSIE I know. TOM And she’ll take a lot of care and attention, more than Dan and I can give. If you want to help, it’s gonna be a lot of mahi. A lot of work. Every day. And I can see that you’ve got somewhere else to be. ISSIE Mum. AMANDA I know. You do what’s right for you. ISSIE What about the flights? I spent all of that money. AMANDA Well luckily for you, money bags, they’re flexi tickets, so we can just post-pone the trip for a bit. ISSIE Sorry for messing you about. AMANDA It’s alright. And we can discuss your insane approach to health and safety later. TOM Oh, right oh, look forward to that one. ISSIE Well. Looks like I’m staying. And so is she. MITCH Here you are. I’ve had a clear out, so you’ve got your own room. ISSIE Really? Oh, I love it, cheers Gran. AMANDA And this is what you call a clear out? MITCH Yes, I’ve thrown out bags and bags of stuff, I know where everything is now. There’s still some work to do, but make yourself at home, what’s mine is yours. ISSIE Cool. AMANDA Oh look, you kept my old French horn. MITCH Yeah, yeah that was a difficult summer. AMANDA Issie. Issie. ISSIE Hmm. AMANDA I am sorry about your dad’s swim. ISSIE That’s ok. MITCH You know girls. It’s not just England that has sub-zero temperatures to freeze your cockles off in.