Chapter 29
Finn
Dark clouds sped across the far-off hills, making the green fields look dull and grim rather than verdant and lush.
Finn leaned against the ancient dry-stone wall beside him and eyeballed a sheep in the field on the other side.
Just a few feet away from him, it chewed as it stared at him.
Finn jigged on the spot, trying to stay warm while the crew reset.
As the teams hustled to get ready for the next take, there was a noticeable sudden increase in chatter. People stopped what they were doing and looked at one another. Some scrabbled in pockets and pulled out phones. Jake jogged past Finn, eyes to the ground, talking into his radio.
Finn, not sure what the sudden change in energy was, watched as Anna from the locations team ran along the periphery of set, waving her arm for Ben to follow her.
Jake, with the set medic now in tow, jogged up to Anna.
Ben brought a quad cart around, and Anna and the medic hopped in before Ben spun the wheels and headed off in the direction of unit base.
Jake turned and started jogging back up the hill, against the biting wind.
Hannah, his standby makeup artist, came up to him, her heavy kit bag banging against her hip.
‘Hey, Finn, can I just check you before the next take?’
‘Sure,’ he said with a smile.
Hannah unzipped the bag and pulled out a brush and palette.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked, trying not to move his face too much as Hannah worked.
‘Oh,’ she tipped the corners of her mouth down. ‘I think there’s been a little accident. I’m not really sure.’
‘Oh,’ Finn’s head turned involuntarily in the direction that the quad cart had driven. ‘Is that why the locations guys ran off?’
Hannah shrugged, dropped her brush back in her bag, and pulled out a smaller one.
‘Maybe, I guess so. Not sure.’
She was a fountain of information.
The camera team were huddled together talking, then the focus puller lifted a hand, and all tipped their heads as if listening to their radios.
Leanne appeared in front of him. ‘Hey Finn, we’re going again in two,’ she said.
‘Sure.’ He nodded. ‘Leanne, wait. What’s going on? Hannah said there has been an accident?’
She glanced over her shoulder and shifted on her feet.
‘Uh, yeah, we’re finding out what’s happened.’
‘Has anyone been hurt?’
‘Like I said, we’re still finding out what’s going on,’ she said, with a wide smile. ‘I’m sure it’s all okay, probably just a bit of a muddle. Seems like one of the mini-buses is stuck on the track down towards base or something.’
‘Oh, okay. So we’re still shooting?’ he pressed.
‘Oh yes!’ Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Of course. Ready in one now.’
And she zipped off, ponytail swinging jauntily behind her.
Finn started to walk to his mark near the edge of the bluff overlooking the lake.
Trackway had been laid as close as possible, but the last hundred yards or so were only accessible on foot.
The ground was uneven, thick tufts of grass creating little mounds to trip over, and the chill northerly wind was picking up.
It was almost April, but signs of spring were few and far between today.
The sky was grey and heavy, and the lake was an uninviting shade of grey-brown.
Finn pulled the thick, padded coat around him, over his costume, holding it in place until he had to take it off for the shot.
Jennifer came up beside him.
‘Holy fuck, it’s freezing,’ she said, her own coat zipped up to the neck. ‘Even under all this garb,’ she gestured to her huge gown and wig. ‘This wind is still arctic.’
‘Have you heard what’s happened?’ Finn asked, as they both strained to see.
‘Not really, only that there’s been some sort of accident. A telehandler went the wrong way on the one-way track, or something. No one seems to know much.’
‘Oh. I heard a mini-bus was stuck.’
Jennifer shrugged. ‘Either way, it can’t be that much of an issue if we’re still shooting,’
Ed came up and chatted through the scene with them.
They would be on the bluff the rest of the day, shooting a scene where Beatrice tells Nathanial that her father is sick, and doctors have said they can’t do anything else for him.
They should wait for one another, she tells him.
She’ll be free to marry when her father is gone.
The lighting guys angled reflective screens just out of shot, bouncing the natural light back at them.
The camera team checked the shot. Hannah came back and peered at him again but seemed satisfied.
Just before they went for the take, Kathy came up and took his and Jennifer’s coats.
A gust of chill wind cut right through his thin costume shirt and jacket.
He saw Jennifer shiver, then shake it off.
They stepped towards one another, clutching their hands to their chest between them, and the 1stAD shouted, ‘Action!’
The crew were hushed, the boom operator fighting against the wind to keep the mic steady. The wind whipped at his face as Beatrice asked him to wait for her.
‘Cut!’ came the shout. Kathy reappeared with their coats. ‘Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,’ Jennifer said through chattering teeth, as her makeup artist arrived in front of them. ‘Stacey, do I look blue? I feel like my lips must be turning blue in this wind.’
Stacey shook her head. ‘You look fine. The nude lip colour is working well.’
Jennifer gave a dramatic shiver and stamped her feet.
Leanne came up to them, fiddling with her radio earpiece, biting her lip.
‘Are we going again?’ Jennifer asked, shoulders hunched inside her padded coat.
‘Um, we’re going to take a pause for a moment. I’ll walk you back to the green room.’
‘Thank fuck,’ Jennifer muttered, as they turned to follow Leanne. ‘Is it a long reset?’
‘Uh,’ Leanne stepped carefully over the tufts of grass. ‘They are just, uh, working some things out.’ She paused, then said. ‘We are trying to find out what has happened with this little accident.’
Jennifer wrinkled her nose. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘Well, we don’t get a steady mobile signal here, and we’ve had some issues with the radio signal because of the valley, so we’re still trying to understand what happened at the accident site.’
‘What do you mean, accident site?’ Finn said.
He suddenly looked around for Violet. There was no sign of her, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her.
‘That sounds serious.’ He stepped closer to Leanne. ‘What do you know?’
Jennifer gave a tinkling laugh and started marching towards the shelter of the easy-up green room.
‘God, Finn, calm down. I’m sure they’ll sort it out.’
He shot a look at the back of her retreating head.
Leanne followed her, and Finn fell in step beside her.
‘It seems like a telehandler ignored the one-way signs on the access track and went the wrong way,’ Leanne said.
‘A minibus with some crew was coming the other way, and they couldn’t get past. The telehandler wouldn’t back up, so the minibus driver tried to pull into the side of the track, but they slipped off the track. ’
‘What do you mean, off the track?’ Finn said sharply, stopping abruptly. ‘You mean they’re just stuck in mud, or is it in a ditch or something?’
Jennifer turned back. ‘Finn, stop being so dramatic! You’d think your wife and children were on the bus or something!’
Finn clenched his jaw and ignored her, his eyes zeroed in on Leanne.
Leanne shuffled on the spot and pulled a face.
‘I am sure if it’s serious, they’ll let us know, but locations and production are handling it.
We don’t know much yet,’ she said, looking shifty.
‘But I think they have called an ambulance, probably just as a precaution. I can try to find out more, but they told us to keep the channel clear.’
Finn was barely listening. He was trying to think when he had last seen Violet.
He was concerned about the crew. He hoped to God that everyone involved was okay.
But he was more worried about one particular crew member than any other.
As he looked in the direction of the little track they had driven in on, he could see blue lights flashing and moving slowly through the trees.
It looked like more than one ambulance. Oh god, how serious was it?
They arrived at the easy-up, and Leanne held up the canopy for them to step inside, and he followed Jennifer in.
‘Who was on the mini-bus?’ he asked suddenly, turning back to Leanne.
She grimaced. ‘Sorry, I really don’t know anything else at this stage. But I am sure it’ll be just a minor thing and will all be sorted soon.’
‘We should go down there,’ Finn said suddenly. ‘See if we can help.’
Jennifer looked aghast. ‘Not much chance of me being helpful in this get-up.’ She gestured to her full-skirted dress and wig.
Leanne was shaking her head. ‘No, no, we need you to stay here in the green room. We’re going to find out what is happening and then we’ll know what we’re doing next.’
Her anxious expression did nothing to comfort Finn as she backed out of the green room, pulling down the zip on the awning against the wind.
Jennifer settled into her chair and rubbed her hands in front of the little gas heater.
Finn, still hovering near the entrance, stared at her.
‘Why aren’t you more worried?’
She dropped her hands into her lap and looked up at him.
‘About what? Oh, the accident? Well, we don’t know anything, do we? It might be nothing much. I’m not going to waste energy on a rumour that something is wrong.’
‘There are ambulances, Jennifer!’
‘Yes, well.’ She sighed. ‘That’ll be a precaution. They’ve got to cover their arses as well, haven’t they?’
Finn looked at her, his mouth agape. It was true, they didn’t know much. It could be nothing at all; the ambulances might really be there just to check everyone over. But it could also be so much worse.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes and appraised him.
‘I think the question is, why are you so worried?’
‘What?’ Finn snapped.