Barkskins

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Charles.

Huh. Charles.

Hmm?

I want to go back to France.

There's no going back.

We must ready for our new lives.

Hey, you! Sit down!

He has a fever.

I will have him delivered properly

into the custody of Captain Bouchard, as that in my contract,

Then he will serve your indenture.

I didn't take the dress, just the apples.

Yes, I'm guilty of stealing apples.

You are a thief there.

But here you can be whoever you want.

It was the dress.

My Jacqueline wanted the dress,

So I took it on credit.

But I couldn't pay for it so I became a thief.

It was prison or this Godforsaken place.

It doesn't matter what happened before.

Here we can begin again.

Wait.

Move.

Come.

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Vite! Vite!

Uh-uh.

Mud, Thom.

Other room.

And the land?

Everything west of the creek like I told you

has been cleared just like you asked.

Hmm. And the French settlers?

Killed.

Dead.

And the Iroquois?

I took care of them myself.

Captain Bouchard hung their bodies from the trees.

You should go to the dock and see them for yourself.

- Excellent. - We made a right proper example of them.

And what of the Hudson Bay man? What of Cross?

Yeah, there's no sign of him.

He was there when the killings started and then he was gone.

He vanished into the woods.

Vanished?

And where is he then?

I did what you asked.

Land cleared, the Iroquois blamed,

the time to move on this territory is now.

Gus, there is no luck except where there is discipline.

Now, I see things that you cannot possibly see.

Angles in the ways of coin, that is my gift.

Well, I see land that's rich and ripe for the taking.

And a creek that connects it all.

The time to stake our claim is now.

No. We must not appear anxious.

The Hudson Bay Company must see us as allies,

- And I will take care of that. - The time is now, Mr. Cooke.

The land should be ours.

- Father? - No. Uh-uh.

Men are discussing business, Thom.

Thom.

Do you think your father here is threatening me?

Do not bring my boy into this.

No, I will hear him.

Step forward, Thom. Don't be afraid.

Thom, would you like to know

exactly what it is that your father does for me?

He does important work, Thom.

He does important work.

And some day, you might be able to do the same.

Would you like that very much?

Yes, sir.

Good, Thom.

Now, tell me. What is it you came to say?

The boat is here with the new men.

I counted a dozen.

Coming through. Get out of the way.

What about this one?

- This? - Eight.

Yeah. Strong back.

- Do you want him? - No.

Cochon!

This one.

Oh. Hey. Wood cutter?

- Yes. - Yes.

C'est bon.

- Cochon! - Open.

- Ah. - What are you doing here, Lafarge?

Uh, I'm with Mr. Cooke.

We need man, we will pay for him. Come.

Barrel king and beard splitter.

He should know his place,

and his place is he shall get no man.

- Number three, we will take him. - He's spoken for.

They are for French citizens only.

Now move away until I have their marks.

Gasquet!

Make your mark and be quick.

I am prepared to double whatever the offer, Captain Bouchard.

And double I say, he is spoken for.

He is Monsieur Trepgany's.

Now step away or I shall knock you back to some manners, English.

Claude Trepagny!

Claude Trepagny!

Perhaps, uh, the heretic, Monsieur Trepagny,

has suffered the same fate

as the recently slaughtered French settlers.

I have hung fair warning down by the docks.

The Iroquois are no threat to us!

Well, that was very convincing, Captain.

Now let us discuss this man who has no claim.

Monsieur Trepagny will have his allotted time to claim.

Go!

Claude Trepagny!

Claude Trepagny!

Behold, I am arrived.

In glory.

Ah.

Yes.

What sort of a man are you?

René Sel, sir.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Your name matters no more than the mouth of a fish.

I will ask you once again, what sort of a man are you?

- I am your man. - Yes.

Come.

Come!

Do you need another man?

He could be had on the cheap.

He is a sickly malingerer.

No, no, a bad tooth is all.

Charles Duquet?

Yes?

Well, he does not look like much.

Do you vouch for him?

Yes.

Yeah.

I will take him.

He's yours.

Pleasure.

Hey, take the ram, too.

I will have his name.

Charles Duquet.

Perhaps I can show Monsieur Duquet

the path back to the light

so that he may bathe in the grace of good labor on my Doma.

You will contemplate your contribution to this realm

before I knock you from it.

Look at me.

Look at me!

Now rouse him, and I will procure us some meat.

Huh.

Get up.

Come on.

Here.

We are Monsieur Trepagny's now.

We make good for three years,

and we will be granted our freedom and a parcel of his land.

The chance to work the land and someday raise a family,

pass that land down to them.

Raise your name up.

Work will raise my name?

I believe that.

Your father worked, yes?

Yes, a wood cutter and his father before him.

And so on, and so on, and so on,

and yet here you are, same as me.

Two landless fools.

Tell me, how many rich men do you know with calluses on their hands?

Do not grind your pearls.

Come on, they're beautiful.

They are the king's, not of your station.

It is men like myself who will have a wife

to fill this land with sons and daughters.

Indians.

Not French.

Wendat? Montagnais? Mi'kmaq?

The sort matters, Yvon.

Matters to you, and your book.

Precision, Yvon.

Yes, I know.

We must be precise with all things or it will all go to mud.

Just go examine them.

Oh.

Iroquois.

Iroquois are the wrong sort to be put on display.

Hopefully we'll be gone

from this backwater before payment comes due.

Do you wish to take them down and bury them proper?

I wish to be gone from here.

Let's find Cross and be quick.

Compliments of King Louis,

So that you may begin your new lives

properly attired and fetching to the eye.