03x01 - The Low Road

[bunniefuu]

[SOFT MUSIC, NO AUDIBLE
SOUNDS OR DIALOGUE]

[SOFT MUSIC CONTINUES]

Look at your dead.

sl*ves.

You are nothing more than sl*ves.

Owned by a company that would turn boys

into dead men in pursuit of profits.

sl*ves to a crown.

A crown that spits on you,

as you wallow in your own filth.

They don't even see you as humans.

A crown that forces you to cross
unforgiving seas to fight free people.

We are the Black Wolf Company.

We are your outlaws.

You call us the merciless savages,

filthy half-breeds,
natives of this land.

We fight with the dregs, the despised!

We are the k*ller of Redcoats.

You think us devil to
the Crown, and we are.

We are because we are free.

This.

This is your worth.

You are prostit*tes for fur.

This is our land, and you
wh*res don't belong here.

So leave, go home,

and live a life decided by your masters.

Or...

or...

... you turn coat and fight with us.

Earn your way as free men
with the Black Wolf Company.

Lord Benton left Fort James by
ship with the redheaded woman.

Where did they go?

They were pressing north.

They... pressed north to collect
the rest of the provisions they need.

Did he bring the woman ashore?

No, just... just a few sailors.

Sir.

- Now, the only outpost I know further north is...
- Moose Fort!

You're having a laugh. That's a
sh*thole. And it's cold as f*ck.

Well...

if you dogs want to have a hope
of making a life for yourselves,

you're going to abandon those
coats and follow this man.

He's gonna continue what I started
with the Black Wolf Company.

I need you to take
control of Fort James.

How am I supposed to do that?

Chesterfield's gonna
be on the hunt for me.

Chesterfield won't be
bothering anyone ever again.

Where is he?

Last time I saw him, he was standing
too close to the edge of a cliff.

Take Fort James.

Avoid the bay. Head further west.

But first you need to
solve things with Sokanon.

She won't listen to me, Harp.

- I don't know if I can fix it.
- You need to find a way, Michael.

And what about you?

Oh, we go north, to the ice.

No, I mean is this about
Grace, or is this about Benton?

He will not take Grace from me.

And if it costs you your life?

I'm already dead.

This is my resurrection.

[THEME MUSIC]

I'd eat if I was you, or Benton'll
force it down your throat.

I suppose I'll need my strength if
I'm to k*ll such a formidable man.

I'm kidding.

You don't need to fear me.

I'm just a helpless woman.

[SCOFFING]

You know how helpless women are, right?

'Course you do.

Why else would you be
compelled to dress as a man?

Sorry. Is that a secret?

Sit.

I am sure you all know why
I have gathered you here.

All of this land, from every waterway

that contributes to Hudson's Bay,

is the exclusive property of the HBC.

Those who carry on their
business on this land

in defiance of the Hudson's Bay
Company are not our competition.

They are our sworn enemies.

Since the abrupt and unauthorized
departure of Lord Benton,

it appears Fort James has been
wrapped in a personal rivalry

with a former company
employee named Declan Harp.

In recent seasons, the leadership
of our men at Fort James

has deteriorated to such an extent

that we appear to have
all but lost control.

The most recent report speaks of a
successful raid on the fort itself,

which has deprived our company of
an entire season's stock of furs.

Gentlemen...

... it is not the French
who will bring about

the downfall of this great company.

It is our own indiscipline.

Our men sit in their cozy
forts, getting fat and drunk,

waiting for the Natives
to come to them in the bay,

while the French and Scots
are free to roam the interior,

cutting us off at will.

We must move inland.

We must persuade their trading
partners to do business with us.

I have sent a man to instill
this much-needed discipline.

His name is Major Vinnicombe.

A name the heathens
will soon learn to dread.

It is our duty to ensure

that our complete dominance
of the dominion lasts forever.

[SPEAKING CREE]

[SOFT EXCLAMATION]

[CRACKING BRANCH]

- [EXCLAIMING]
- Hey, easy.

It's only me.

Why have you come here, Michael?

I'm here to make amends.

It's too late for that.

Wahush's death was an accident, Sokanon.

Wahush died so you could make money.

I want you to leave.

Sokanon, I came here because
I'm worried it's becoming unsafe.

We need to stick together! You'd
understand if you saw what I saw.

What did you see?

I was fighting alongside
Harp and I saw Redcoats

attack a Métis settlement.

They were k*lling
everyone, men and women.

Do you think I do not understand
what that looks like, Michael?

We arrived too late to stop the Redcoats

from burning the settlement
to the ground, but...

That's why I want you to come
with us. We're safe together.

There are young girls being held
against their will at Moose Fort.

Sokanon, you can't go to Moose Fort.

Harp is on his way there
and he's looking for a fight.

If there are any women there, they'll
be gone by the time you arrive.

Harp wants to secure a deal
with the Lake Walkers here.

Of course. This is about business.

- I want the Black Wolf Company to...
- [RUSTLING]

[BACKGROUND CHATTER]

We're searching for a
fugitive named Michael Smyth.

- Has he been here?
- No. I have not seen him.

Trading with the French, are ya?

Mr. Rivard is my guest.

There's no crime in
welcoming a traveller.

My men and I are free men of Quebec.

Well, you're not in Quebec,
are ya? You're on HBC land.

[IN FRENCH]: This is nonsense.
You brutish as*h*le!

Take the trade goods and furs.

Consider this a warning
of what's to come

if I find out you've
seen Michael Smyth here.

And if I see you with this French
scum again, then you will suffer.

[EXCLAMATIONS]

[IN FRENCH]: There will be no violence.

Just give me an excuse,

and I'll set this whole camp ablaze.

This is what you bring.

Good afternoon.

You obviously don't know who I am.

Oh, I know who you
think you are, Mr. Grant.

The question is, do you know who I am?

- A c*ck spaniel?
- Hmm. Hmm.

Cobbs Pond, I presume?

Are you still wanted
in your home country

for burning down churches in
New England, priests and all?

Well, we were all young once.

Indeed.

Most people cower when
they see me arrive.

- Hmm... Shiver me timbers.
- Yes.

I don't give a g*dd*mn who you are.

What do you want?

There are rumours about you, Mr. Grant.

His Highness, the King, wouldn't
send a major to peddle in rumours.

Why are you really here?

Brandy.

Cobbs, would you kindly
get the major a brandy?

Business has been good, it seems.

There is great interest in London

in the nature of your
dealings as of late.

Specifically, with whom
you have been dealing.

LeBlanc, leave us.

And him?

[DOOR CLOSING]

Thank you so much.

Mm. Lovely

I shot a mountain lion near the
Cumberland Gap when I was a child.

I skinned it and sold
its hide for two dollars,

and since that day,

I have traded more
hides than any man alive,

and I've done business with
hundreds, maybe thousands.

So you might need to be
a little more specific.

The law is very clear that the land

that encompasses all
the tributary rivers

flowing into the Hudson Bay
is the dominion of the HBC.

And a man like yourself, Mr. Grant,

who buys furs from voyageurs, is
in direct violation of that law.

Yes, well, we are in Montreal;

not in his Highness's
jurisdiction, but under French law.

L'acte de Quebec
does not supersede the grant

of Rupert's Land in 1670
to the Hudson Bay Company.

At this very moment,
my men have descended

upon your dock-front warehouse
to seize its contents.

You obtained those furs
illegally, Mr. Grant.

It is my duty to enforce the king's law.

What is your price, Major?

I'm aware that Mr. Pond
accompanied a group of voyageurs

to a location known as Petrie's Rock

to purchase stolen HBC furs from
a man known as Michael Smyth.

See, it seems you paid your voyageurs
well enough for their labour,

but not for their silence.

Even if that were true...
those furs are long gone.

Oh, I don't want the furs.

I want Michael Smyth.

[MICHAEL]: I'm saying that we
can cut the HBC out entirely.

Those are dangerous words.

You can trade with
the buyers in Montreal

through Rivard and others like him.

You don't represent
the buyers in Montreal.

But the Montrealers, they know
a good deal when they see one.

The Montreal companies will climb
over their dead for a beaver token.

When the Black Wolf
Company robbed Fort James,

we proved that the HBC could be beaten.

We can get enough fur to
start our own independent fort,

to trade fairly with
you and your people.

[RIVARD]: What he's saying is true.

If I could go to Montreal with a
guarantee of Lake Walker pelts...

No, the HBC will stamp us out
before they let us band together.

The power of the HBC is the very issue.

That's why we have to band together.

If you can bring a supply of
trustworthy buyers from Montreal,

and a predictable supply of trade goods,

then I'll consider your arrangement.

But only then.

Thank you.

[GRANT]: No, the simplest solution

is to find Michael
Smyth and turn him in.

- Might prove to be challenging.
- Not with Clenna's help.

She's gonna need to
be steered into that.

Clenna's not gonna
betray Michael on purpose.

What makes you so sure?

He stepped in and saved her
so gallantly at Petrie Rock.

- Is she more loyal to him than us?
- [POND SIGHING]

Let's not test that if we don't have to.

If she's not loyal to us, what
the hell is she doing here?

All I'm saying... is that
there are other people

we can make alliances
with beside the HBC.

Samuel, are you alright?
You don't seem yourself.

Hmm?

I feel like I'm going mad.

I wouldn't consider myself
a religious person, but...

... I feel like someone's puppet.
Who's pulling my strings, Pond?

No one is pulling your strings.

You just feel a little bit guilty.

You have to forgive
yourself for Elizabeth.

I don't... feel guilty for
what happened to Elizabeth.

She brought that trouble on herself.

Of course she did.

Dance with me. Please, come.

Let's just forget all of this.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Two, two, three.

Perhaps you and Clenna
can go visit Mr. Brown,

see if he's ready to discuss business.

I do not need you to manage me!!

- Look lively, Chaulk.
- Yes, sir.

Right, we'll be going to shore now.

Where's he taking me?

I dunno. Get supplies, I expect.

When will we leave?

I don't know, do I?

You've taken on many traits
of a man in order to survive.

How did you know?

Let me ask you something.

What are his Lordship's plans with me?

I dunno.

I think it's got something to
do with that, uh, Declan Harp?

What do you know about Harp?

All I know is, he's an animal.

First time I met him, he
had just delivered ten boats

of trade goods in exchange for furs.

I had a bit of fire at the
livery the night before,

and the food stores had been destroyed.

So Harp and his men go out on a hunt.

And they came back with
eight quarters of moose.

They ate and drank all night at the
alehouse, but when they were done,

they left enough meat so
the people of Fort James

had food until the
next supply boat came.

When I asked him why
he did that, he said,

"Because everyone gets hungry."

Is that how you two came
to be together, then?

- He had a wife back then.
- What? What, you...

you fell for a married man?
Well, how'd you get rid of her?

That was Benton.

He k*lled her.

k*lled his son, too.

That changed Declan.

Declan was once loyal
to Benton, like you are.

But you can never be loyal enough.

You will always be in
danger of betraying him.

And when you do... he will
go where it hurts the most.

Why do you think he's helping you?

Don't you think it'll have a cost?

- [BELL CLANGING]
- Chaulk!

Get to your station!

Remind me, Charlie. Why
are we doing this exactly?

Chasing this b*stard
Benton. It's a waste of time.

He'll be long gone.

Well, Harp's not gonna let
Benton harm Miss Emberly.

Yeah, but we're all
going to perish, Charlie.

Oh. Could freeze the bones off
a brass monkey where we're going.

Did you ever search
for something that...

you're afraid you might find?

A man's hopes are a
dangerous thing, McTaggart.

Really?

But Benton's probably chopped her
up into wee bits a long time ago.

She'll be the meat
ingredient in a good soup-

- [GRUNTING]
- Harp, he didn't mean it!

- [MCTAGGART SCREAMING]
- He didn't mean it, Harp!

- The man's just at the end of his rope, is all!
- [GRUNTING]

- You bite your tongue or I'll bite it off.
- [MCTAGGART CHOKING]

[EXCLAIMING]

[COUGHING]

You turn back. [PANTING]

This is my fight, not yours.

Have a word with yourself, Harp.

Of course I'm coming with ya.

What else am I gonna do?

Options are a bit limited now.

- Wadlow?!
- Benton.

Is that you?

- [BOISTEROUS LAUGHTER]
- How are you, my boy?!

[LAUGHING]

To what do I owe this... pleasure?

I presume you've heard
that Declan Harp and myself

have had some... disagreements of late.

- I heard you couldn't break that thick neck of his.
- In time.

But in the meantime,

I need a secure area
to hide my prisoner.

Be my guest.

You see, Chaulk... loyalty is power.

Mr. Brown.

Every day on your knees,
mourning your wife.

You're an excellent widower, Douglas.

I mean that sincerely.

How dare you come here?

I know what you did to Elizabeth.

I may not be able to prove it.
That doesn't change the truth.

I'm not here to lament
water under the bridge.

I'm here to offer you
a business proposition.

You k*lled my wife.

And usurped our business deal
with the Black Wolf Company.

And you now have the delusion,
somehow, that I'd do business with you?

Yes, well, the tides
are changing in Montreal.

I was visited by a man
named Major Vinnicombe,

who casts the long shadow
of the Crown. And if...

I'd sooner drink my own piss
than partner with scum like you!

Shh!

- Sorry.
- [DOUGLAS PANTING]

Hear me out, please.

I know that Carruthers & Company
suffered the same setbacks

we did from this crackdown.

Probably worse.

The only way we move
forward in this business

is if we pool our
resources. Us against them.

- You understand that.
- I still see her,

lying there in the dirt...

... whenever I close my eyes.

Her skull's caved in,

flies buzzing about.

I respect the fact
that you need to mourn.

But don't underestimate me.

This is our opportunity
for a fresh start, Douglas.

Do not underestimate me, Samuel Grant.

It'd do you well to remember
there's nothing more dangerous

than a man who's had
everything taken from him.

Ahem.

[GRANT]: Brown is a damned fool

whose feeble morality
will be his demise!

- He's still grieving. He just needs some time.
- There is no time, Cobbs!

I'm going to lose everything I've
built, and it's thanks to you.

- Me?
- Yes.

- What did I do?
- Because of you,

Major Vinnicombe has
linked Michael Smyth to me.

- Samuel, that's not entirely true.
- Watch yourself, Cobbs!

I'm sorry. I was trying to help.

I'm beginning to wonder
where your loyalties lie.

I'm not the one who snatched that deal

- from Elizabeth Carruthers's dead hands.
- Clenna, that's not helping.

I think I may have misheard you.

I believe I have demonstrated how
loyal I am to you and Mr. Pond.

Have you forgotten who
cleaned up Elizabeth's brains?

Still, you men never ask my opinion
about your business dealings,

so I'm not going to take your blame.

Oh, you have an opinion, now do you?!

It was the voyageurs that betrayed
us to the major, not Clenna.

Douglas Brown...

is not a businessman.

He... he wants to be, he tries
to be, but he is a failure.

And when did you discover
this amazing secret?

He is vulnerable. He
fell for a ruthless woman,

and more importantly, she fell for him.

Cobbs, do you understand
any of this woman-speak?

The only way to get to him is his heart.

Stop trying to break Mr. Brown
and... and let me handle it.

It is impossible to impress me.

But you almost did.

Let me demonstrate my loyalty.

I will appeal to Mr.
Brown's softer side.

And he will join you.

Oh, I'm sure you'll have
him eating out of your palm.

Very well.

[WIND RAGING]

Harp!!!

Harp!!!

Harp!!!

Harp!!!

Harp!!!

I got ya.

I got ya. Hold on now.

- Stand him up.
- [GRUNTING]

Wrap this around him.

Get some heat to his bones.

- I can't feel my hands!
- Let me see.

- Let me see your hands!
- Ah!!

- Sorry.
- f*ck!

- Ah, damn it, no.
- [GROANING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]

Sonofa... [MCTAGGART MOANING]

Ah...

Charlie, we gotta keep going.

- Push on.
- Come on, come on!

[MOANING]

He's a cruel and
dangerous person, Chaulk.

You're not safe with him.

He has taken me simply
because I love a man he hates.

And he will k*ll me for that.

I don't think that'll sit
well on your conscience.

Look, I don't know you.

But I know you must
have dreams of a life.

For yourself.

For a family maybe?

There's no life with Benton.

You're no better than his sl*ve.

Do you know the way to Fort James?

Why would we go there?

Because that's where your husband is.

We're gonna need protection.

The only thing I need from
that man is an annulment.

We'll find a safe spot, not
far from here... and we'll wait.

Wait?

For what?

For Declan Harp.

You leaving in the morning?

Not quite sure when I'll be leaving.

I'm waiting for something.

What?

A Black Wolf.

There's someone here to see you.

Clenna Dolan is insisting
she speak with you.

Alright. Ahem. Send her in.

Mr. Brown.

Ms. Dolan.

What can I do to help you?

I wanted to return something.

Mrs. Carruthers gave me this hat
some time ago, when I worked for her.

Ha.

She... had an eye for style, no mistake.

After what happened, I... I
felt it wasn't right to keep it.

I thought you should have it.

I thank you.

Hmm. How are things at the factory?

Oh... aside from the fact that
there's no furs to process,

or wages to pay anyone, I'd say
it's going quite well, thank you.

Well, I owe your wife a great
deal. I hope you know that.

I was on my way back to London...

I ran out of money for passage.

I was utterly lost until she
picked me up and took me in.

Only to see you fly into
the arms of Samuel Grant.

It's quite complicated.

I'd think you'd understand
that more than most.

Sorry to have bothered you.

Ms. Dolan.

My wife never believed in
half measures about anything.

So if she gave this to you,
she wanted you to keep it and...

And so do I.

[SIGHING]

It's my fault Vanstone stole
your trade goods, Rivard.

He came to the Lake
Walkers looking for me.

Well, if you take a bite at
them, they will bite back.

Take a chunk of flesh
from everybody like...

sharks with wool coats!

This is the way it is, Michael.

The Natives and my
people do all the work,

and the... the English take the benefit.

Well, I plan to make
it up to you. Somehow.

What can one man do, eh?

Against such a force.

No one man can beat the HBC.

Not one-on-one.

Good evening.

No. No, please, we mean no harm.

Already had enough muskets
waved in our faces for one day.

Oh, God bless ya.

Evening.

Hello.

Were you guys hit too?

Those b*stards keep knocking us back.

Took everything we got!

Name's O'Reilly.

And my wife, Kahwihta.

Madame.

Mercer. A few men from the outfit.

A few?

I got a few dozen more at camp.

And I'm Michael Smyth.

This is my outfit.

I can do the work of
a couple-dozen men.

Perhaps I should task you
with kicking some English arse,

get me f*cking furs back!

Ah, nothing would give me more pleasure.

The Company's been making it
harder on everyone to trade,

starving people out.

Before long, it won't be worth
working on the lines anymore.

We should use their own
techniques against them.

Starve the HBC out.
Choke out their trade...

... break their arrangements
with their partners.

Fine theory.

We need to form an alliance.

With every independent company
from here to the northwest.

Us...

... Rivard, and his
access to the voyageurs.

O'Reilly...

How many men did you say you had?

[SHOUTING IN THE DISTANCE]

Wadlow!!

[GROANING]

[SOFT MUSIC]

[BIRD CALL ECHOING]

[GUSHING]

[GRUNTING]

Charlie?!

Charlie!

Get McTaggart.

We've gotta keep moving.

Head out.

Harp! Dare I ask,

when we get to Moose
Fort, what's our plan?

'Cause you know that place
will be rammed with Redcoats!

The man makes a good point.

Harp!

- What?
- We're gonna need an army.

Fine. Let's go get an army.