EXT. FOREST - DAY
In a clearing in the distance Jackie, Sess and Claire prepare lunch on a picnic table. Beyond them the horses nibble grass where they are tied to a rudimentary post.
We HEAR THEIR FOOTFALL before Hunter, Tom and Chloe walk into foreground and stop at a ponderosa pine. Tom looks up at its considerable height, Hunter and Chloe do the same.
TOM: Any idea why they're called ponderosa pines?
CHLOE: Pinus ponderosa. Because they're ponderous. Which is to say of considerable weight, as far as the tree goes. It can mean something else depending on context. But I'm sure you know that.
TOM: Well, don't be too sure. But I reckon it can mean slow, or somethin' like it.
CHLOE: Yes. Maybe slow and awkward, or something like it.
TOM: Do ya speak any other languages besides Latin?
CHLOE: I don't speak Latin but I do know a few terms. I remember pinus ponderosa from an eighth grade flora and fauna class. I'll be starting my fourth year of high school Spanish.
TOM: Hijole. I reckon that puts ya there in the fluent category.
CHLOE: I reckon I can navigate it well enough. How about you?
TOM: Un poquito de español. Suficiente para meterse en problemas.
HUNTER: Traslación, por favor.
CHLOE: Tom says he speaks enough Spanish to get in trouble. I'd bet he knows enough to get out of trouble, too.
TOM: It's come in handy a couple times.
CHLOE: Any of those times one you'd be willing to share?
TOM: One of 'em.
CHLOE: Before you leave?
TOM: Maybe on the way home.
Chloe extends hand, they shake.
TOM (CONT.): How 'bout you, Hunter.
HUNTER: What little I remember from two years of high school French.
TOM: Any particular reason ya took French?
HUNTER: Yes. Charlotte Charboneau. Call it a crush.
TOM: Maybe more on that later?
HUNTER: We can do that.
Jackie gets something from the underside of the picnic table, holds it up and RINGS IT LIKE A TRIANGLE DINNER BELL.
TOM: Chuckwagon flashback.
Hunter leads them to the table.
HUNTER: One you could share?
TOM: Sure. Be like bein' there again. And not the old days chuckwagon that you might imagine. But we stilll called it that.
HUNTER: Where being there?
TOM: Alongside the San Saba River south a Menard, Texas on a cold December day.
PICNIC TABLE
Jackie, Sess and Claire watch them approach. And indeed a triangle bell on the corner of the table, chained to its underside.
SESS: So what can you tell us about Tom's relation to Hunter.
JACKIE (BEAT): That they just met.
SESS: Fast friends.
JACKIE: More later.
SESS: K.