The Fire Waltz

The Fire Waltz

Little Miss Higgins

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The Fire Waltz is a multimedia project by Canadian musician Little Miss Higgins, featuring a 5-part podcast (music-driven, radio-style drama) inspired by her great-grandmother's journey from Jersey Island to Canada.

This is the complete show. All of the episodes compiled in order into one listening experience. Enjoy!

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SPEAKER_02

Hello listeners. I am Jolene Higgins, or you may also know me as Little Miss Higgins. This is a prologue to the Firewalls. I want to give you a little background and provide a land acknowledgement for this audio experience. Now I'm not exactly sure what it is. It's part of music, part of storytelling, part of radio play, but it is the firewalls. And it's a project that began many years ago, even before I knew it was going to be the firewalls. As I gathered stories about my great-grandmother from Jersey Island, which is an island in the English Channel off the coast of France. The idea to create something inspired by her legacy was strong. But I needed help because I didn't know where to start. So I asked musician and poet Chris Demeiner as well as theater director Eric Rose to collaborate. And in October of 2019, after sharing Eva's story with Chris and Eric, the first thing we did was tell the story through the song titles. Then Chris and I wrote 18 songs in 12 days. From there, the project grew, shifted, and metamorphosized into what you will hear in the five episodes of this podcast. Now, I know it's not common in podcasts, but I'm going to do a land acknowledgement. Though the story focuses on Eva and her journey, I want to recognize the land that she came to in southern Alberta, near where I was born. It is the home of many First Nations whose footsteps marked this land for centuries and continue to do so today. It is the traditional territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy of the Treaty Seven Region. The Treaty Seven Nations are the Pigani First Nations, the Sigziga of the First Nation, the Ghana of the First Nation, the Sidoni Nakota First Nations, and the Sutina of the First Nation. It is also home to the Metis region number three. I was born in southern Alberta to parents of European descent. I grew up in independence, Kansas, and I often wondered about the land as my family and I drove from Kansas to southern Alberta to visit relatives. I wondered about the the First Nations communities and reservations we passed. I had questions and daydreams and unfortunately colonized ideas in my head. I feel humbled to know that we have a long journey ahead of us as we unravel our history, and there are many more stories to be heard. I highly recommend listening through headphones or earphones. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to the Firewalls. Performed by Little Miss Higgins, Krista Meiner, and Matt Foster, with Adrian Smook and Edic Lemoine. Directed by Eric Rose.

SPEAKER_15

As a little girl on the northern coast of France who helped her mother do laundry in a pond, the idea of becoming a housekeeper in the windswept land of the Great Northern Plains never crossed her young mind.

SPEAKER_24

Nor would she have dreamt of land as big as the ocean. Stand atop the Milk River Ridge of southern Alberta and watch the hills rise and fall like permanent waves covered in grass and sage and ropes.

SPEAKER_02

Not only was this a risky thing to do because of the war, but because she was a woman. In 1918, women did not wager much beyond what was expected of them. Never mind, leave a husband, traverse an ocean, and cross three-quarters of a continent with two little girls in tow. However, the world was changing. As it always does. Soldiers were marching in the great groups of the First World War, and suffrages were marching in the great groups of war against the ignorance of men. Eva Bursay, the potato farmer's daughter, was about to use both of these wars to her advantage. Fucking the odds for a better life.

SPEAKER_28

Goodbye, Jonathan.

SPEAKER_23

Au revoir, Eva. I will miss you too. Josephine, this is the letter I got from the captain. Remember, he said there are no warships in the water today. This ship is the best ship in the sea. It will not sink. If you keep this letter in your pocket, his words will always be true. Ah petite Marguerite. Keep this feather in your pocket. In plume the canal. It will help you fly across the ocean. Now here toss these coins into the sea. In offering to Sequana. She will keep you safe. Oh I will miss you. And here this coin is for you. Eva. Merci Jean-Viev Darianne. Eva. Je t'aime.

SPEAKER_31

I love you too.

SPEAKER_29

You must marry. Here we go, Josephine, Marguerite, and Eva. We do not want to miss this boat.

unknown

Come on.

SPEAKER_03

See takes me away from you, away from all the things that I want to know.

SPEAKER_02

Thursday, January 27th. Left Jose for Canada at 7am. Got to London.

SPEAKER_03

The 28th. Left London. Arrived at Liverpool. Girls left on train. Sail from Liverpool for SSilium. Away from you, away from all the things that I want to do.

SPEAKER_02

The 29th, along the coast of Ireland. Sea calm. Stop for shipping distress. Rattling supplies. Thursday, February 3rd. The girls are sick. The sea takes me away from you. I could not take the threat. I could not survive that life anymore.

SPEAKER_04

Away from all the things without one.

SPEAKER_03

We own no house and we own the no land when we moved to the rock in the wooden shoes on rented land. We walked long hours golf by and potato season would last six weeks.

SPEAKER_05

And when we were done, we got some of the In my twenty-first year on a hot sunny day.

SPEAKER_03

I was in the field digging away. I felt your hungry eyes upon me.

SPEAKER_02

Ma famille Lou Satarin? Quiet vous?

SPEAKER_15

No, no, no, mademoiselle, you you misunderstand me. Just me François Milou. This is my family's land, you're in. I spent most of my time in France. I'm in the army there. You have uh grown up since I was away. No, I I refuse to let your beauty be wasted in the mind. Let me wash your hands.

SPEAKER_02

Eva's family is watching from the wagon where they eat their beans, soup, and cabbage bread. Mama burse holds Papa Burse back from storming across the field, and she hopes Eva will find someone to marry before her grows may become a permanent teacher. Instead, Papa Burse rings the lunch bell again. Eva leads water to the well. He takes off his jacket and goes up. I am not afraid of a little cold water. Eva plunges her hands into the bucket. Francois does not move. Some of us can't afford to keep the sheet of our shoes. Eva shakes the water from her hands, then dries them on her dress, never dropping her gaze from Francois. Time to go.

SPEAKER_15

Marry me, Makacon.

SPEAKER_02

I don't even know you, Francois Milo.

SPEAKER_10

Give me two weeks.

SPEAKER_15

Two weeks to convince Eva to marry him. Two weeks to win her over.

SPEAKER_02

The next day when her family stops at the harvest to eat, Francois is still on Eva's mind. She does not know anything about him. Maybe he is a liar. She is a fool. Distracted, she ladies being stupid with her siblings. Eva is hungry, but she cannot eat.

SPEAKER_10

She leans against a stone drinkon, drink les filles de Paris, Drincon les Dame de Cartier's to the ones making days of de love.

SPEAKER_15

Voila de Cedre de Pom qui postal ma famille. Francois, in a freshly pressed suit and waxed mustache, offers one of two jugs of cider to Eva's father, then steps back into a fresh pile of mule manure. Eva's siblings snort with laughter through their mouthfuls of bean soup and cabbage bread.

SPEAKER_02

Nice to see you have some shit on your shoes.

SPEAKER_15

For two weeks, Francois comes every day during her midday meal with cider and gifts for the family. And more than once, he rolls up his pants and helps Eva in the potato patch. On the 14th day, they ride bicycles to Boulet Bay for a picnic. They share a bottle of wine in unequal proportion. What do you know about that though?

SPEAKER_02

He is the guardian of the road, the predictor of storms. It is said that his dead is the private entrance into the underworld. And he comes to take the spirits of the dead away.

SPEAKER_15

What does he do?

SPEAKER_02

On the full moon. He stands in the heather overlooking the bay.

SPEAKER_03

He howls at the moon and wakes up the sun.

SPEAKER_02

If he is hungry and your legs are not fast enough, he will chase you and eat you. On the walk to the ceremony, a strong wind, La Faule d'Aval, appears and rips the veil off Eva's head. Papa Berze tries killing the whirlwind by throwing a pitchfork at it, but the veil is carried away over the trees and into the sea. In the church, the anticipation between the bride and groom is so thick it could be turned into butter. Eva stands in a simple white dress borrowed from a neighbor, holding a bouquet of white lilies from the Milou family's greenhouse. Eva promises to obey, which she thinks is stupid. Francois puts a ring on her finger. Until death do they part.

unknown

Now, darling, I'm your dog.

SPEAKER_16

Tell me what to do.

SPEAKER_03

Isn't that a little strange? It seems you've had it for you.

SPEAKER_16

Don't deny me now. I need to howl and lick it by.

SPEAKER_03

Step boy. Stay. Now come to me tonight.

SPEAKER_02

The marriage burns with new love anywhere. Everywhere. All the time. It takes a few moon cycles, then evil blooms with child, or rather, children. Twins. Though the anticipation of a family excites Francois, his previous habit of debauchery often leads him astray.

SPEAKER_15

One night, after a rousing time at the Black Dog Tavern, he stumbles home down a dirt road through the woods. Two giant glowing eyes stare at Francois, stirring his senses. He stands slowly. His eyes never leave the ones shining back at him. It is as though Francois and the dog breathe the same breath. What do you want from me? Suddenly there is a rustling in the bushes across the road. He looks back to the dog, but the eyes are gone. I saw the dog. No, I saw his eyes. Giant glowing eyes.

SPEAKER_02

But he did not eat you. Maybe he was not hungry.

SPEAKER_15

My dog is always hungry.

SPEAKER_02

Your neck smells of perfume.

SPEAKER_15

I went to see my mother.

SPEAKER_02

Your mother?

SPEAKER_15

It was an old friend.

SPEAKER_02

Francois.

SPEAKER_15

She embraced me for getting married. That's all.

SPEAKER_26

I don't believe.

SPEAKER_15

I swear, Eva. No Eva Chen Boulet.

SPEAKER_26

I don't care.

SPEAKER_15

Eva.

SPEAKER_31

Go to sleep.

SPEAKER_02

Eva goes into labor just after harvest. Two long difficult days. Eva thinks she sees Letienne de Boulet from the underworld with his giant glowing. Just one more push. She has lost a lot of blood.

SPEAKER_03

In the cliff to the west of Boulanger Bay was the den of Latienne de Boulet. The big black dog with hunger and stirred up storms drove people to their homes. In the dark one night he howled at the moon and the maiden sun was awoken. He licked his lips and it launched at the girl. But at once the illusion was broken.

SPEAKER_05

She said, I'm the sun. Why do you wake me? Why did you forsake me?

SPEAKER_03

I am hungry. Sonna took pity, so she made the dog a deer. At dawn and dusk she would give the dog a meal. Every morning and night from that time hence She gave him a piece of a glowing flesh. It took two bikes from summer every day. In the darkness of winter was born.

SPEAKER_02

Not only did she lose two babies she barely knew, her entire family, her mother, her father, and all her siblings, emigrate to the great northern plains of Canada, most of them to Whiskey Gap along the Milk River Ridge of southern Alberta. Two years after the loss of the twins, Josephine is born. And two years after that, Marguerite. Consumed by motherhood, the howling in Eva's heart does begin to fade. Francois shows great love for these two girls who carry his blood. However, as part of the French army, he would come and go from their lives. And in 1918, with Francois in the trenches of the Great War, Eva makes a decision.

SPEAKER_03

So here we are on the SS surrounded by German.

SPEAKER_02

Submarines. The sea takes me away from you.

SPEAKER_03

Away from all the things that I want. The sea takes me away from you. Away from all the things that I want.

SPEAKER_02

Little Miss Higgins is also the producer, head writer, and sound designer. Jamie Sitar of Out of Town Sound recorded, mixed, and mastered the music, as well as edited and put everything together. Adrian Smook was the dialect coach. The music was performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeiner, Matt Foster, Eric Lemoine, Gilles Fournier, Joanna Miller, Rain Hamilton, and Carrie Latimer. Thank you to executive producers Phyllis Higgins, Darlo Bickham, and Janice Weaselbear. The Firewalls has been supported by the Canada Council of the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music. It is a production of Dish Duty Dramas and Chicken Coop comedies. Thanks for listening. Performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeiner, and Matt Foster. Directed by Eric Rhodes.

SPEAKER_22

What is sixpence? Sixpence is half a shilling. One forty pound sterling, or simply six pennies. And ninety eight penny, six pennies is what you lose triple. Three and four days of this one.

SPEAKER_02

Thirty-eight days in transit. Thirty-eight days of incertitude and stale bread, of cold tea and propositions from drunk men. But the glimmer of a different life in a different land fuels Eva's fortitude. The weary traveling trio makes their destination. Cardston, Alberta, February 1918.

SPEAKER_24

Standing on the platform at the station is Eva's beloved father. His hair whiter, his face thinner, but his smile is just as warm. He kisses her cheeks and introduces her to the man beside him, Henry Champney. He is tall, striking, with blue eyes like the sky. He is their neighbor down the road, and offered his mules and sleigh as there had been a huge snowstorm two days ago. Welcome to Alberta, Mrs. Malou.

SPEAKER_30

Please call me Eva. This is Marguerite. She is not feeling well, and hiding in my skirt is Josephine. Come, Josephine! He will not bite you.

SPEAKER_24

Josephine, have you ever ridden a sleigh before? Josephine shakes her head and stares suspiciously at the man in front of her. There is a kindness in his eyes. Josephine lets Henry lift her into the driver's seat of the sleigh. She grabs the reins and shouts at the animals to Bouge, Bouge, allez, allez!

SPEAKER_30

Josephine! Those mules do not speak French. Use your English.

SPEAKER_24

Henry smiles at this interaction and catches Eva's eye. He can see her worry.

SPEAKER_22

Move on.

SPEAKER_24

I'll take you to my friends the Hadfields here in town. You can rest there and I'll get the doctor for Marguerite.

SPEAKER_02

Merci beaucoup. I mean thank you.

SPEAKER_24

The front porch of the Hadfields quickly turns into a bustle of welcome as everyone works to get the weary travelers inside. Shortly after, Henry arrives with the doctor. Pneumonia. The wiry old man says, and gives the sick child some medicine to bring down the fever. He tells Eva the girl must stay inside and stay warm.

SPEAKER_02

So Eva and Marguerite stay at the Hadfield in Cardston while Henry takes Grandpa Berze and Josephine to the Berze homestead. Eva is overwhelmed with concern. As the Hadfield house settles into sleep, Eva lays beside the sick Marguerite.

SPEAKER_24

His mind was not one to wander, but the past few days had been a whirlwind.

SPEAKER_25

I seem to get the latter the more I speak best. Everybody and the French. I'm not married to the body. I'd rather have a dance. And you can blame the British when it comes to romance. There is more anti than most will ever see. Who is the play? I think that means key. And we're back. I think it's a bridge. Okay and of course.

SPEAKER_02

Would you like tea?

SPEAKER_24

Oh no. No, uh I just don't buy the check on you and Marguerite.

SPEAKER_02

Come, come, come. Tea is no bother. And there are biscuits. Sarah is a wonderful beggar. Oh I forgot. Marguerite is just asleep. Thank you again for everything. I'm so grateful to the Adfields and the doctor. He stopped in again yesterday. He says, Marguerite sounds better. So I think we are out of the woods. Thank goodness. The poor thing had polio when she was a baby, and it not only affected her legs, but she gets sick easier. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

SPEAKER_24

Henry goes to Eva as she listens for a disturbance in the sleeping child. He slowly takes the tin from her hands. Please, Mrs. Malou, sit. I'll get the tea. And I know where Sarah hides the jam.

SPEAKER_02

And so she sits. Eva had never, ever in her life been served a cup of tea by a man. Henry's kindness breaks the damn. She does not remember building.

SPEAKER_24

Milk and sugar.

SPEAKER_02

She picks it up and wipes her cheeks. It smells unique. Like a forest she does not know. I apologize. I don't know how this come over me. Eva watches Henry reach deep into a cupboard and pull out a jar of jam. He sits, and when she makes no move to the biscuits, he takes one. Eva notices his hands. They look like leather. Smooth, steady, colored by years of working in the sun that does not fade in winter. Henry carefully cuts the biscuit with a knife, butters it, and spoons a bit of raspberry jam on top. He takes the saucer from under his cup, sets the biscuit on it, and slides it across the table to Eva.

SPEAKER_24

I have had to coax a few worried mares to eat.

SPEAKER_02

Eva gives Henry a look.

SPEAKER_24

Sorry, Eva. I I did not mean to compare you to a horse.

SPEAKER_02

Or a cow.

SPEAKER_15

Horrific reports from the front line confirm the use by the Germans of a deadly green gas. Casualties number in the thousands, with Allied soldiers suffering vomiting, blindness, and death by asphyxiation. In an effort to boost morale, Field Marshal Haig addresses the troops.

SPEAKER_13

Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end. The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind alike depend upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.

SPEAKER_15

I think of you and the girls often. A beacon in this hell of mud and death. Jean-Pierre, Madame Champlain's eldest son, was shot in no man's land last week. He was a good man, well liked by all. It is endlessly wet here. I long for your son, your warmth. We make the big push at daybreak. So many of the young men sing hushed songs in the trenches. What I wouldn't do to hear your voice ever. Je t'aime toujours, Monsoleil. Francois.

SPEAKER_02

There has been a chinook, and most of the snow is gone, so Henry comes with a wagon to take them to the Berze farm. With her daughter asleep in her lap, Eva stares in wonder at the landscape of the Milk River Ridge. The rolling foothills, the enormous sky, the clouds that go on and on and on. Not like this. The Rocky Mountains. It is so strange. They look so small for me, but they must be gigantic.

SPEAKER_31

The air is so different here.

SPEAKER_02

It is so dry. Have you always lived here, AirN?

SPEAKER_24

No.

SPEAKER_02

Where did you come from?

SPEAKER_24

I moved here from Rome.

SPEAKER_02

In Italy?

SPEAKER_24

No. Rome, New York.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, New York. In America.

SPEAKER_24

That's right. It's a small town upstate.

SPEAKER_02

Do you miss it?

SPEAKER_24

No.

SPEAKER_02

I missed my family so when they left Jose. I cannot wait to see Mama. Do you have any family here?

SPEAKER_24

No.

SPEAKER_02

I'm sorry, I ask so many questions. Suddenly the wagon shifts. Eva clutches Margarita. Whoa!

SPEAKER_24

Not again. I'll have to do a little repair here before we can move on.

SPEAKER_02

Certainly.

SPEAKER_24

Henry grabs the wagon jack from the back of the box. He tightens the wheel back in place. As he puts the tools away, he sees Eva standing with Marguerite beside her. They gaze at the mountains in the distance. The Blackfoot call that Ninestaco.

SPEAKER_02

It is quite amazing. Like a big box coming out of the earth, eh, Marguerite? What do you mean by the Blackfoot?

SPEAKER_24

The Blackfoot people. I had been told there was no one here before I came. But that is not true. There have been people here for a very long time. I have a Blackfoot man who works for me at the ranch, John Many Bears. He tells me how they were pushed off the land onto reservations.

SPEAKER_02

The train went through a reservation before we got to Carts, then the woman that sat with us for a while, she she did not call them the Blackfoot. She said that the government agent may makes it very difficult to leave the reservation if they want. Like being trapped on an island, wishing for a ship to take you away.

SPEAKER_24

It is warm and welcoming amidst the wind-swept land. Josephine bursts through the door, followed by Grandma and Grandpa Berze. Upon Grandpa's insistence, Henry stays for supper. Roasted chicken, which Josephine proudly informs her mother she helped slaughter. And there are biscuits, gravy, potatoes, and grandma's famous cherry clafuti for dessert. Needless to say, Henry's visits to the Berze farm become more frequent. Spring brings flocks of geese and budding trees. Henry points out a purple crocus to the girls blooming in a pasture through melting snow. After that, the girls ask Henry to identify every plant they would encounter. Well, that's sage. If you rub the leaves, you can smell it. Oh, and uh Marguerite, though those are wild roses. Those are everywhere.

SPEAKER_02

A midsummer hailstorm takes shingles from the roof of the Berze farmhouse. Of course, Henry comes to lend a hand. Eva brings out water and cucumber sandwiches.

SPEAKER_24

Thank you, Eva.

SPEAKER_02

Of course. Uh please eat. Papa! Viantine. He does not ear so well anymore. Or maybe he's choosing not to listen. Thank you for helping, and we um he has never had good luck with the ladders.

SPEAKER_24

Well that was quite the storm.

SPEAKER_02

I think after the chickens blew away, there was a cross-eyed an stumbling home through the pasture this morning. I have to judge the girls. They are picking Saskatchewan in the coolie with mama. Enjoy the sandwiches anyway.

SPEAKER_24

A barn dance at the Anderson farm over by Jefferson. You would like to join me. It'll give you a chance to meet some more people.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. That would be fine. You will have to show me how you dance here. Anyway, I'm going to go to the hospital.

SPEAKER_25

You love me and I like your stick my hands.

SPEAKER_03

I have enough.

SPEAKER_02

Eva enters the small bedroom she shares with her daughters. She looks at the sleeping beauties lit by moonlight and quietly removes the new dress she had made. Her head swirling with dancing gin and the nearness of Henry Champney. She sits on the edge of the bed twirling her wedding band, then pulls an envelope from her trunk. Her fingers run over the stamp. Next she unfolds the worn letter that she can barely see, but knows the words by heart. November twenty eighth, nineteen sixty. Dear wife that night we lay awake aglow in our liberation.

SPEAKER_15

Your eyes were white as though the price as though I had stolen someone the game we played without little goods where I am dark.

SPEAKER_17

Reminds me I will have to catch my family every day. For I know I am the dark, protective and loyal for love.

SPEAKER_14

You are the one Jeff, je m'entre pas tant que j'ai tant que j'ai mon amour, j'ai mon amour for I know you are the son providing and giving light.

SPEAKER_03

You do not fade, you give me life as long as I have your love.

SPEAKER_02

You have been listening to episode two of the firewalls. Created by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeanor, Eric Rose, and Matt Foster. Little Miss Higgins is also the producer, head writer, and sound designer. Jamie Sitar of Out of Town Sound recorded, mixed, and mastered the music as well as edited and put everything together. Adrian Smook was the dialect coach. The music was performed by Little Miss Higgins, Krista Meiner, Matt Foster, Eric Lemoine, Jill Fournier, Joanna Miller, Rain Hamilton, Jeremy Hamm, Darwin Baker, and Alex Campbell. Thank you to the executive producers Phyllis Higgins, Darla Bickam, and Janice Weaselbear. The Firewalls has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music. Thanks for listening. Season one, episode three, Wounded Souls on Stolen Land. Performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeanor, and Matt Foster with Sheldon Davis. Directed by Eric Rose.

SPEAKER_03

You're the unforeseen that I cut in my net. You're the dream I'm asleep that I'm an idiot. You flown to the field of my mind. A flame on my fire. Take good in the width of needin' desire, you're the flock in my head, oh the flame on the fire. Yo rockin' a stream that's flown to me. Put a feeling in my heart I didn't know that could be. Yo the speedin' train that keeps coming to me. Yo the flockin' my head. Yo the flock in my head.

SPEAKER_02

Yo the flock in my head that I didn't expect. Yo the unseen that I caught in my neck.

SPEAKER_03

Yo the dream I'm asleep that I haven't had yet. Flockin' my head. Flockin' my head It flew to the feed of mama. I good in the wheat of need and the thigh oh the flock of my head for the flame on the fire. I good in the wheat above need and the side oh the flock of my head with a flame on the fire. I put it in the whee the beat and desire.

SPEAKER_02

A flock in my hand. The flame in my fire. Flock in my head.

SPEAKER_27

Flock in my head.

SPEAKER_24

Hello, Eva.

SPEAKER_02

It's springtime.

SPEAKER_24

No, no, no. Not yet. Eva. It's just a chinook.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yes, the chinook. This land is upside down. It snows in the spring, it melts in the winter, and it is always windy. I I love it. Thank you, Henry, for bringing the saddle for Josephine. She uh truly loves riding Sadie.

SPEAKER_24

I I think Sadie loves her. You you've become quite the rider too. Still no interest from Marguerite.

SPEAKER_02

No, her poor legs. Perhaps when she is bigger.

SPEAKER_24

Would you like to walk a bit? You can really see the mountains today.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_24

Let's you and the girls have still not gone to the mountains.

SPEAKER_02

No. We can see them from here. And how would we get there, Henry? You would have to take us.

SPEAKER_24

We should all take a ride out there in the spring. We might see an elk herd. There's hundreds of them. Or a wolf if we're lucky.

SPEAKER_30

Lucky to see a wolf.

SPEAKER_24

Oh, they are magnificent creatures.

SPEAKER_30

Would it not try to eat you?

SPEAKER_24

No.

SPEAKER_02

There is a big black dog back on Jusé. Kind of like a wolf, but with a giant glowing eye. Le tienne de boulet. He is just a story. So they say if you see him and he walks beside you, there will be a great storm. If he is hungry and your legs aren't fast enough, he will catch you. And eat you.

SPEAKER_30

Better hurry, Henry!

SPEAKER_22

Well good thing I'm fast!

SPEAKER_03

Henry! No! Don't leave me to the wolf!

SPEAKER_24

Fortunately, Eva, the the wolves here in Canada stay mostly in the mountains. I even know some people who uh found an abandoned baby wolf, tamed it. Yeah, now it sleeps beside their bed.

SPEAKER_29

No. Have you seen it?

SPEAKER_24

Yes. Well, not beside their bed. But in the yard.

SPEAKER_02

I would like to have a wolf beside my bed. I would like to tame a wolf.

SPEAKER_24

Eva, there is something I would like to ask you.

SPEAKER_28

Yes.

SPEAKER_24

Well, you know I am alone on my farm, besides the odd hand I hire. The house is bigger than I need, and the garden is overrun. I know your folks appreciate you and the girls. And your situation has been difficult, but you and the girls could come live in the house with me. As anyway. A working arrangement. If you wanted some work. It is what I can think to offer. For you to be my housekeeper. I hope I haven't offended you. I was just thinking.

SPEAKER_02

How much would you pay me?

SPEAKER_24

Ten dollars a week?

SPEAKER_02

Twelve.

SPEAKER_24

Okay. Shall we shake on it?

SPEAKER_27

Okay. Shake on it.

SPEAKER_02

Dear Francois. It has been almost four years since you left your family to go to war. Two postcards, a letter, and the handful of happy memories I tell the girls is all we have. And now you have started to fade from me. Your face, your eyes, your hands, your touch. However, because I still wear this ring on my finger, I remain bound to you. There is a rancher who lives near my parents. He offered me a job as his housekeeper. As he has no wife and no family, the girls and I moved into his house. It is easier this way.

SPEAKER_31

The war ended six months ago. Are you back on José?

SPEAKER_02

Are you dead? I do not know if your death could find me here. In this place. Sometimes I wish I knew. Sometimes I just want to let you fade away. I do not know what to do, Francois. You abandoned me even before you went to war. Now, if you still breathe the air on this earth, you will know that the girls and I have come to Canada, and you will know why. Am I still your wife after all this? Ava stops writing and puts down the pen. She grabs the letter, wraps herself in a shawl, and slips one foot into a moccasin. The other one stares at her. She picks it up, runs her fingers over the intricate beating. A sense of isolation and sadness washes over Eva as she puts on the other moccasin and steps out quietly into the night. The wind nips at her, and she holds her shawl tight at the neck. Soon the ridge of the river valley is before her, and she stops at its edge. She feels something behind her. She turns the silhouette of a coyote trots across the horizon, backlit by moonlight. It pauses in its path, looks at her. A guardian of the road. A predictor of the storm. Eva challenges the dog. Come and take it by the But the cur carries on. Eva retrieves the letter from her skirt pocket. The words scatter as she tears the paper into pieces. They fall like giant snowflakes whipping into the dry, coolie walls, down, down, disappearing into the darkness of the ridge.

SPEAKER_24

Though there were rooms enough for each of them, they shared only one. Less bedding to wash. Fewer rooms to clean, thought Eva. One October morning, after digging potatoes, Eva saddles a horse. As she puts on the bridle, Henry rides up to the barn. Going somewhere?

SPEAKER_02

Post office. A letter for a friend back home. Well, she is embarrassed now.

SPEAKER_24

Oh, I'll I'll join you.

SPEAKER_29

Over the ridge?

SPEAKER_24

Good idea. Eva and Henry ride along without words. There is a comfort in the silence between them. They pause atop the ridge and stare at the giant square mountain on the horizon to the west.

SPEAKER_02

They descend down to the Whiskey Gap post office. Eva gets off her horse and loops the reins around the hitching post. She enters the small, dusty building and puts her letter and three pennies on the counter. The old postmaster looks up from his ledger. Ah, Miss Meyle, there's a postcard from your husband. Sounds like he'll be here by Christmas. Eva takes the card. An image of a beach and the word Cuba in the corner. Confused, she turns it over and sees the unmistakable writing of Francois Milou.

SPEAKER_09

Je viens, je te jouais très bientôt.

SPEAKER_17

Le voyage est long comme tu le sais bien. Je devrais arriver à vin no way. My wife, I miss you. And our dear little ones. I've settled things and come to you. The world is done. The journey is long. I should be there by Christmas's snow. I think I moved for sword.

SPEAKER_02

Eva steps onto the porch, the postcard a lead weight in her hand. To hide it or not to hide it, she would not be able to hide the man. Henry looks at Eva's pale face. A postcard. It's from my husband. He's coming to Canada.

SPEAKER_24

Without thinking, reacting to the bomb exploding in his heart, Henry pulls his horse's head to the right and gallops away.

SPEAKER_02

Eva chases him through the short brown grass. A leafless rose bush catches her skirt. Let me go. Let me go! Eva's mind races. She lifts herself into the saddle. She has never pushed Sadie to a full gallop before, but the creature must feel her fury. By the time she reaches Henry's farm, her hair is loose, her cheeks are flush. She finds him in the barn, removing the saddle from his horse. Henry, please. I did not know. I I have not that friendly. It has been a year since the end of the war. I I did not know. Henry, I don't uh I don't I can still work for you. Emily.

SPEAKER_24

Supposedly moving back to your parents' place while you wait for your husband. I'll fix the team for you. I think it's best to call me Mr. Chester. Henry walks out of the barn into the house, into his room, and shuts the door. In the morning, the two mules stand ready with the wagon. Henry's horse is gone.

SPEAKER_02

Having packed through the night, Eva puts a blanket under her trunk, pulls it across the wood floors, onto the porch, down the steps, and through the dry, dusty glass. Too heavy to lift by herself, she must unpack the trunk to get it into the wagon. The whole time the girls offer more questions than help. So Eva and the girls move back to the Berze farm. For two months, like a slow ticking time bomb, Eva waits for words from François. Then one day, it goes off. She receives a telegram saying he will be on tomorrow's training parkstone. Don't let it show how much tomatoes to put up no.

SPEAKER_29

Don't let it show feel like a bone.

SPEAKER_02

Regardless of her father's pleading, Eva drives his horse and wagon to Cardston alone. She stops in front of the train station. No sign of Ramsois. A young man shovels snow off the platform as the storm fills in the path behind him. Eva waves. Is there anyone waiting? He shakes his head. Eva urges the horse. The Mormon community of Cardston, Alberta is a drought as far as liquor is concerned. However, alcohol always has a way of seeping through the cracks. And Eva knows Francois would find it. She arrives at the front counter of the Hawk and Smith Hotel covered in snow. The portly middle-aged hotel keeper looks up from her crochet and slowly shakes her head. Eva turns, brushing some snow from her shawl and looks into an almost empty dining room. The eyes of a fat gray dog stare back at her from the shadows. How to ask about the secret room. What did the people call it? Something about a blind pig.

SPEAKER_25

On his way to the whiskey gap on the Milk River ridge to a beautiful wife. Daughters who won't recognize him for their life. He came by train past the Indian camps where they stand. Stand them on the buffalo sweet. The bicycle ride and a fucking blue face. Takes a man to a place with a white horizon.

SPEAKER_02

Eva spins around. She squints, then smiles at the woman behind the counter. Perhaps he is with a blind. The woman considers this, then directs Eva to a door behind a curtain. A dark set of stairs leading down to more darkness. She bites her bottom lip. She takes a deep breath and submerges her way down step by step. An intoxicated smell of dankness and men that need to be cleaned as badly as their boots assaults her senses.

SPEAKER_15

Cows and Jose are the best in the world.

SPEAKER_02

Francois sees Eva before she sees him.

SPEAKER_15

Ma chérie! Mon amour! Ma femme! My wife!

SPEAKER_02

He drunkenly dances his way to her lips.

SPEAKER_15

Isn't she beautiful? Ma Belle Cherie.

SPEAKER_02

Eva would know that mustache anywhere.

SPEAKER_15

Francois. See, I told you she would come.

SPEAKER_02

He plays with Eva like a puppet, then pulls her to the bar, blood rushing to her cheeks.

SPEAKER_15

One for my beautiful wife, s'il vous plaît. And one for the wagon ride, eh? Second way, you do have a wagon, don't you? We don't have to walk, do we?

SPEAKER_02

Eva meets the bartender's eyes. He slides a shot of rum in front of her. The booze burns as it hits her throat and briefly drowns the battle of love and contempt inside her. Suddenly Francois smacks her hard on the ass.

SPEAKER_15

My wife!

SPEAKER_02

The room bursts with belches of hoots and whoops. Francois does a ridiculous jig, then stumbles over a stool, hitting his face on a table. Eva sets her bag on the bar and pulls out some coins. How much does he owe? The bartender shakes his head.

SPEAKER_01

Don't accept money from a woman. Consider it a gift for your husband's arrival. The war hero.

SPEAKER_02

Little Miss Higgins is also the producer, head writer, and sound designer. Jamie Sittar of Out of Town Sound recorded, mixed, and mastered the music as well as edited and put everything together. Adrian Smook was a dialect coach. The music was performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demainer, Matt Foster, Edic Lemoyne, Jill Fournier, and Joanna Miller. Thank you to executive producers Phyllis Higgins, Darla Bickham, and Janice Weaselbear. The Firewalls has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music. It is a production of dish-duty dramas and chicken coop comedies. Thanks for listening. Performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeiner, and Matt Foster with Adrian Smook. Directed by Eric Rose. The apple harvest is always cause for celebration. A little bonfire burns, jugs of cider pass around. A young Eva looks across the fire to her newlywed husband. He is surrounded by two actors, a painter and a poet. He twirls his mustache as he talks. She isn't sure if they truly like him or they are just studying his character. Regardless, Francois loves entertaining the entertainers.

SPEAKER_15

Nothing like Jersey cheese.

SPEAKER_02

She is a performer wanting to become a painter. But kicking up her legs in the can can at the Moulin Rouge has paid the bills up till now. She has come to Jersey Island with a group of Bohemian artists searching for something beyond the Paris Flare. Eva and Jean-Viev quickly become friends. The artist presents a whole new world to the potato farmer's daughter. While the men rant and carouse, the two women sit close together, smoking cigarettes and sipping cider.

SPEAKER_15

Okay, I got one. A boastful yet fearsome lieutenant told a girl, I sure as hell can it. She proffered her ass. He said, Las, ah, alas, your vessel's too great. I can't man it. Okay, okay, okay. Let's have some real talent. All the way from the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Geneviève Tetrou.

SPEAKER_07

If things don't work out who you are, you can always go. If things don't work out who you are, you can always be too much cake. Cut down a tree. I'm lost by someone. Should be love. I'm lost by someone. Come on together. I do never have a lot of time.

SPEAKER_06

The one way to go. The one way to feel.

SPEAKER_02

And the bruise of a blind pig on his eye. He pulls himself up and sits on the edge of the hotel bed. The snowstorm had settled in last night, and he and Eva had been advised not to travel back to Whiskey Gap.

SPEAKER_26

It is noon, Francois.

SPEAKER_15

Sleeping off the war.

SPEAKER_02

The war has been over for more than a year. Where have you been?

SPEAKER_15

I went home. You You'd already left for Canada. The French army was sending soldiers to Cuba, so I agreed to go. Seemed like my ticket across the pond. I have always been finding my way back to you.

SPEAKER_02

I thought you were dead.

SPEAKER_15

I didn't have the words to write you.

SPEAKER_31

Oh favorable for you.

SPEAKER_15

Is it true? I'm not surprised, Eva. I saw how she made you feel.

SPEAKER_26

You don't even know Francois. What I feel.

SPEAKER_15

Let's just forget about it. Go back to Jersey and start again. There is uh no one way to live, Eva.

SPEAKER_02

Francois has taken Eva's left hand and plays with her wedding band. Then he leans into her. She gives into the fire inside. Ava puts her other hand on the back of Francois's neck. He looks up.

SPEAKER_15

I forgive you.

SPEAKER_02

Stop talking. Lay down.

SPEAKER_15

Masha, I am your dog. Tell me what to do.

SPEAKER_02

Eva pulls up her skirt and slides her underpants down her legs.

SPEAKER_03

Loved the maid. So now gave him a lie. The maid was not made up but the mother. She took kiss when it took his last bag.

SPEAKER_05

And the dog when winter snow filled the moon.

SPEAKER_03

The days grew longer. Snow melted way into spring. But Sunna missed the child. She bore. She went back to the door.

SPEAKER_05

At the door. And she took his seed when it took his last by. Oh she took his seed when it took his last bye.

SPEAKER_02

Since Francois's arrival two months ago, sightings of Henry have become scarce. The one time he stops in, he heads directly to the barn and then disappears shortly after, leaving the girls asking questions and Francois growling indignantly.

SPEAKER_15

You lived in his house.

SPEAKER_02

It was a working arrangement, Francois.

SPEAKER_15

And the girls the girls live there too.

SPEAKER_02

It was easier. He let the girls take a horse to school, or he would drive them in his automobile.

SPEAKER_15

You lived in his house!

SPEAKER_30

I did not know where you were, Francois.

SPEAKER_13

You are married to me until death do us.

SPEAKER_30

I did not know if you were dead or alive.

SPEAKER_02

I needed the work.

SPEAKER_15

Did you not sleep with him?

SPEAKER_02

I was his housekeeper.

SPEAKER_15

Why should I believe you?

SPEAKER_13

He is a man.

SPEAKER_04

Not every man is like you, Francois.

SPEAKER_13

Ah, Eva! Why is there nothing to drink in this windy shit place?

SPEAKER_02

A few more weeks go by. The Berze home was feeling small with Francois in it. There had been talk of Grandma and Grandpa moving back into the sod barn. It had been their original shelter when they first arrived. Plus, as Grandma announced after breakfast, once Grandpa had gone to start the chores, she could see there was going to be another little bird in the nest. Eva comes in with a steaming cup of coffee. After she sets it down, Franzo grabs her wrist.

SPEAKER_15

The girls enter Eva rattles herself free and retreats. She accepts his affection and then twirls on her weakened legs behind Josie Finn's chair. Mama is having a baby. What did you say, Mama? Did you wet? Josie Finn spins around scolding her sister. Maggette defiantly repeats the words of her song. Mama's having a baby. Is that so, my little cabbage? Oh, do you think the papa is, huh? Do you think it is me or do you think it is Mr. Henry? You told me they went dancing, eh? In a barn in a barn?

SPEAKER_13

Prince one the cows and the pigs.

SPEAKER_04

She pulled the pen exploded with flame on the towel. Actually, stations to knock the final trap.

SPEAKER_03

When I come back, I'm taking my girls at that child. Still here. Evo's quiet sadness to the breath.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, that's you know us that turnies alone to the i know what done, yeah.

SPEAKER_30

Francois, you can't just walk from here. Deal with what?

SPEAKER_29

The child is yours, Francois. You impossible.

SPEAKER_15

You abandoned me. You take my girls. You come to Canada, fuck some English-speaking rancher man.

SPEAKER_30

You've lost your mind, Francois! You are not the man I married. I will not let you declare war on this family.

SPEAKER_15

They're my girls. I will have you put away.

SPEAKER_28

What?

SPEAKER_15

You would Don't push me, Eva. Get rid of the bastard. Or I'm taking the girls back home to Jersey, and you will never see them again.

SPEAKER_02

You are ease, you are not immaculate. I should know what makes this life.

SPEAKER_03

I loved him once, loved him twice. Now you are the life inside. Can you see into that other world? Do you know what I don't know?

SPEAKER_02

What does a mother do, my child? Do you think it's coming back? What can a woman do, my child? Hell's a tie that can't attack. What does a mother do? What can a woman do?

SPEAKER_03

The dog wants to go back to take the girls he has to ride. It's the thread hanging over.

SPEAKER_02

Unless he's the minefield of Francois's imminent return plagues Eva. She makes a decision. She finds a housekeeping job south of the border. So with the baby growing in her belly and the two girls by her side, she has Grandpa Burzet drive them to a wagon train heading to Montana. With tears in his eyes, he watches his blood memory disappear over the foothills. Eva does not look back. You have been listening to episode four of The Firewalls. Created by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeiner, Eric Rose, and Matt Foster. Little Miss Higgins is also the producer, head writer, and sound designer. Jamie Sitar of Out of Town Sound recorded, mixed, mastered the music, as well as edited and put everything together. Adrian Smook was the dialect coach. The music was performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeiner, Matt Foster, Adrian Smook, Eric Lemoyne, Jeff Fournier, Joanna Miller, Gary Latimer, Jimmy James Fraser, Jeremy Hamm, and Alex Campbell. Thank you to executive producers Phyllis Higgins, Darla Bickam, and Janice Weaselbear. The Firewaltz has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music. It is a production of dish duty dramas and chicken coop comedies. Thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_05

Your warmth, your strength, your love put me at But I saw something between the trees.

SPEAKER_03

I went in the wood so I could see on the table step too. There was a beast. I said the knife picked up my knife and got a mic in me safe tonight.

SPEAKER_04

I keep falling.

SPEAKER_03

I keep running the four steps.

SPEAKER_02

A waning moon howls silently at her through the small window. Sleep's return now distant. She sits up attempting to disperse the disturbing dream of dogs and Francois and dying and Henry. I am a housekeeper for Dr. Richardson. He does not pay me as much as you, but it was the only work I could find in my situation. I am required to live at the doctor's residence, but he does not allow the children. They are in a state of children's home nearby, and I see them as often as my work will allow. I long for the day we will live all under the same roof again. I am sure you have heard by now that Francois has gone to his brother's orchard in the Crescent Valley. We thought and he threatened to take the girls if I did not give up the baby I was carrying. He does not believe the child is his. But I tell you, if baby Robert had been born with a mustache, he would be the suspicion image of his father.

SPEAKER_29

I am sorry, Mr. Champney. I do not wish to open any wounds.

SPEAKER_02

But I miss our friendship. The time we spent on your farm was the happiest. I have ever seen the girls.

SPEAKER_29

I needed to remain that way so Francois cannot find us.

SPEAKER_26

Respectfully, your former housekeeper, Eva Perse.

SPEAKER_17

Eva, can you hear me? I guess the war it left a wound, and it's just begun to fist all that longin' for my true love. And I just come home and lived like a coward, like a cur, not a decorated hero, just a dark hero.

SPEAKER_12

And either can heal me?

SPEAKER_17

Now you're pregnant with another. What's happened to our family? Do my daughters have a brother? How come I feel you've left me like a dog licking and died?

SPEAKER_12

Either can you hear me?

SPEAKER_25

Everywhere I'm running from is waiting and it's raging. Wherever I wake up, and the bed I made for comfort looks like nowhere can be home. For a man who fails his family, no father to a child, a soldier or a savior, just a dog. Licking wool. Eva can hear me. Now you toil out the way. Alone without your children. There's a mountain to the west. Here's my imitation. Good for nothing. Frozen plate. Cowed by a man I've never seen but hate. So I wait. The cut before the blood. The king wool sand hell. Eva, can you hear me?

SPEAKER_12

Eva, can you hear me?

SPEAKER_24

Henry and Grandpa Berze lift a repaired wagon wheel into place. A bitter wind bites at their necks. Henry tightens the nut, then Grandpa releases the wagon jack with a good swing from his hammer. In the distance, they notice dust rise from the dirt road leading to the Berze farm. A few moments later, Francois Milou, in a store-bought suit, strides up the trail carrying a jug in one hand and a suitcase in the other. He does not notice the pair watching him from the barn. Francois goes up the porch steps and lets himself into the house. Grandpa Berze sets down the hammer and insists Henry stay put. He heads across the yard. Henry waits. The muscles in his jaw clench.

SPEAKER_11

We are going back to Jersey. She didn't tell you. Margaret.

SPEAKER_24

Like a wild dog, Francois bursts onto the porch. Henry steps out from behind the wagon.

SPEAKER_10

Hey! Come to your papa! Eh?

SPEAKER_11

Where are you? Eva! Eva! She's gone, Mr.

SPEAKER_22

Melou!

SPEAKER_13

Of course you are here. Where is my wife?

SPEAKER_24

I don't know. Liar! Francois advances, grabbing the hammer from the back of the wagon and pushes Henry against the barn, the hammer hanging in the air. You stole her!

SPEAKER_13

She kept your bastard church. You need to go, Francois. I'm not the enemy.

SPEAKER_24

Grandpa Berze stands on the porch, smoke wafting from the barrel of his gun. Francois moves back, drops the hammer, and stands in shock, his hands shaking.

SPEAKER_13

I should have let him go. I never should have come to this winding shit.

SPEAKER_24

Henry sits at his desk, the mid-October morning spilling through the window. He is writing a letter. Trying to. His third attempt. His fingers are stained with ink. He dips the pen, writes her name, and stares at the rest of the paper, wondering how to fill it with what he needs to say. What he needs to do. Henry grabs his hat and coat, strides out the door, and cranks up the model tea.

SPEAKER_25

You're the fuck in my head. You're the fuck in my head. You're the fuck in my head. You're the fuck in my head. You the fucking speed of the fucking head.

SPEAKER_21

You're the fuck in my head. You're the fucking mind. You're the fucking mind. You're the fucking head.

SPEAKER_24

It is dark by the time he finds the residence of the doctor Eva mentioned in her letter. He makes his bed in the back seat under some horse blankets. After a fitful sleep, Henry emerges from the car and shakes off the night with the crisp morning air. He approaches the house and sees Eva through a window in the scullery kitchen, filling a basin with water.

SPEAKER_02

Why are you here?

SPEAKER_24

I know you're not expecting me out. I'm sorry to impose Will you give me five minutes?

SPEAKER_02

How did you find me? Did you get my letter?

SPEAKER_24

I needed to tell you something.

SPEAKER_02

This is where I work now.

SPEAKER_26

And the doctor is very particular.

SPEAKER_24

I am married. We lost a child. He's going home to Jersey. Your father and I made sure he knows he is not welcome anymore. Eva, I promise you I will be there for you.

SPEAKER_31

If you want to come back to my house as your housekeeper.

SPEAKER_02

Or you have fifty a week. And I want a new saddle.

SPEAKER_24

Okay. Shake on it.

SPEAKER_27

Shake on it.

SPEAKER_02

After almost losing baby Robert to another family who wanted to adopt him, Eva and all three children return to Canada with Henry in the Model T. They move into his house, sharing the room the girls and Eva had before. The transition was not a smooth road. Invisible scars remind them of all they had endured. But Eva's love holds them together and time settles them back into the rhythm of the Milk River Ridge. Late one winter night, Eva lies awake, the reverie of waves and cliffs and wind washing upon the shore of her mind. She rolls onto her back and listens to the chorus of little dreamers beside her. With sleep's return beyond reach, she quietly sits up and makes a decision. I want to lie beside you. She touches Henry's arm, then nuzzles his shoulder, testing the waters, testing the wind of Henry Champney. It is warm like a Chinook. It feels so right. Still half asleep, Henry puts an arm around Eva and pulls her close.

SPEAKER_21

Let me be your wolf.

SPEAKER_25

I will be your wolf. I will be the one beside you when you're ready. I will listen for your call. There are moments I do not know the dance. The light that shines from you is a second chance, but I need you to show you the steps this time around. I will be the one beside you. There's no distance to I'll be I'll be the one beside you when you're ready.

SPEAKER_07

I will cause.

SPEAKER_02

She wraps baby Robert to her chest and climbs into her new saddle. It is January, but the small crust of snow that had covered the ground is gone. A chinook is in, and it feels like spring. The baby is the first to settle back into being with his mother. The girls had been acting out mostly at each other, but Josephine would forever hold the weight of abandonment over Eva's heart. As Eva and baby Robert head out across the rolling hills, he coos as usual and falls asleep. Winter knows how to keep them both content. Suddenly a coyote trots across the horizon. Eva watches, but the car carries on. Not once, looking back. Eva stops along the Milk River ridge and carefully climbs down from the horse. The great, ever-changing sky full with shifting clouds, she feels security in its enormity. Never would she have imagined herself in this place. Never in her wildest Jersey Island dreams. She removes her wedding ring, rolls it between her fingers, then throws it into the ridge. Once she and baby Robert arrive at Whiskey Gap, Eva gets a tin of tea and a bag of flour at the general store. When she puts her purchases in the saddlebags, she takes out a letter she has written. She apprehensively stops at the post office, her first time since Francois's postcard. The postmaster greets her with one eyebrow raised. He reluctantly sets a package on the counter, then goes back to his ledger without a second glance. Thank you, Mr. Annum. Oh, I also have a letter. Eva's heart and mind begin to race when she reads her name, her maiden name, written in a unique script. Eva stares at a small painting, a beautiful landscape of a place she once knew well. The cliffs of Boule Bay. An unknown signature. In the corner. Baby Robert plays with a brown packing paper. Something falls to the ground. A letter. Eva picks it up. The unmistakable handwriting of Jean Viev Tetro. She begins to read. Macher Eva. Created by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeanor, Eric Rose, and Matt Foster. Little Miss Higgins is also the producer, head writer, and sound designer. Jamie Sitthart, out of Town Sound, recorded, mixed, and mastered the music as well as edited and put everything together. Adrian Smook was the dialect coach. The music was performed by Little Miss Higgins, Chris Demeanor, Matt Foster, Edic Demoine, Jill Fournier, Joanna Miller, Carrie Latimer, and James Franklin. Thank you to executive producers Phyllis Higgins, Darla Bickam, and Janice Weaselbear. The Firewalls has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Manitoba Film and Music. It is a production of dish-duty dramas and chicken coop comedies. It's been a journey. Thanks, Phyllis.

SPEAKER_03

That's no one like to live.

SPEAKER_05

If you don't like who you uh know what we're doing, why didn't we make it? No one's a little bit more than a little bit.