In 19th century Dartmoor a young man is sent by his father to stay with friends to toughen him up. His stay there is not happy, but enjoys an escape from mundane servitude by riding across the moors. One day he falls and injures himself and finds himself being comforted by a young woman, but when he is found by a rescue party she has disappeared. With the mysterious girl still in his mind he decides to try and find her, little realizing the tragedy that is to unfold...
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00:00bird on an endless journey this bird of legend flies on and on across an eternity of summer skies
00:09further and further from evil no destination and no purpose but this
00:16a celebration of its final freedom
00:18that summer the summer which gave birth to the legend of laughter tour
00:48a stranger came to the southern quarter of the moor he was a young man of breeding and education
00:54his father was in the army he returned from overseas and was dismayed to find that his son
01:00had become lazy and london soft the boy was promptly dispatched to this remote corner of
01:07the kingdom in the belief that rugged country life would toughen him up and so it was that
01:13he found himself staying at a manor house on the edge of the moor an unwilling guest of a friend
01:19of his father still more so when he realized the company devonshire was to offer his hosts
01:30were wealthy in their estate impoverished in the social graces despite occasional forays
01:36into london society
01:48is
02:00mischievously the boy's father had thought this the ideal place
02:05he knew of no acquaintances likely to show less concern for the comfort of his son
02:10what are you doing boy well i'm just getting you like that the reins first thank you sir
02:26the taunting tone of his guardian spurred the young man to an eager
02:30investigation of the best means of escape because you can sit on a horse doesn't mean you can ride
02:35in but within a short time necessity had made a proficient horseman of him
02:57in the days that followed his arrival he grew quickly to an acceptance of his situation
03:02and then to a delight in the freedom that he discovered beyond the boundaries of the manor
03:17mile upon primeval mile of harsh stubbled emptiness
03:26strange heather scents wandering water courses
03:32so
03:39fragile splinters of birdsong lodged sharply in the great cavity of silence
03:58the landscape began to beckon him as a friend
04:02so
04:11there was no fear to be found in it no threat no thought of any danger and foolishly little caution
04:32at first the arrival of the girl made no sense to him
04:38he'd been lying there for so long drifting in and out of consciousness
04:43growing steadily weaker and colder
04:48don't move for a brief moment the darkness cleared from his mind
04:52there was uncertainty about this new vision whether it was real or imagined
04:58finally the return of the veil slowly falling draping itself across his mind
05:05until he could resist it no longer
05:14at the manor the boy had been not exactly missed but his absence had been noticed
05:21the girl unable to lift him had remained with him
05:25her desperation deepening her attempts to keep him warm increasingly futile
05:32now as the search party drew closer she left unnoticed slipping into the folds of darkness
05:39oh you all right boy oh you all right
06:02here boy have a pinch of snuff it'll do you good
06:06no
06:09mercifully the doctor from the village had remedies more powerful even than
06:13snuff and soon the boy's cuts and sprains and bruises were healing
06:19in his mind though there lingered a half remembered image of the young woman who had come to his aid
06:31dinner at the manor was an occasion of enormous appetite
06:35but little taste my love down at the market my dear you didn't go by yourself oh i was quite alone
06:42i don't believe you oh i was by myself i've seen you looking at that little daring me oh that
06:47wasn't me but somebody else my dear here do you like this chicken oh it is a lovely bird i rang
06:54a snack this morning myself i taste all the sweeter my love i thought you'd like it here
07:00where'd you get this wine oh the usual supplier my dear that's not your usual wine i got a special
07:07at this table braver men than he had been known to hesitate before striking a note of serious
07:13conversation sadly naivety of youth did not allow for such portion excuse me sir excuse me sir
07:24i just happen to wonder if you know of the young maid over at sherbeton
07:31i don't know you're no young maid she's fair a slip of the thing
07:34and you're no maid at sherbeton at all after my fall one such approached me
07:39oh
07:49alternately ignored and repudiated the boy sought refuge in his own silence
08:00as soon as he was recovered from his injuries he returned to his horse
08:04and to the welcome solitude of the moors
08:09gradually his need to find the girl he had glimpsed in those moments of pain became an obsession
08:21time and time again he retraced his route
08:25out across the wilderness towards the spot near laughter tour where he'd had his fall
08:34as the days drifted by his hopes of ever seeing her again faded
08:39until finally he began to believe that she had never existed at all
08:51it was on that very morning as he stood
08:54at the edge of abandoning the memory forever it was on that morning that he found her
09:09she moved slowly a slight solitary figure absorbed in the work of gathering firewood
09:21she seemed weary her clothes ragged and bruised
09:31still an image of curious frailty but apparently real nevertheless
09:37the young man was glad of that glad to know that his senses had not cheated him after all
09:45hello there
09:52lovely day at first there seemed little response no immediate recognition in her eyes
09:59as if their last encounter had never taken place or at least as if she were reluctant to admit it
10:06you from around here
10:17there beside the river he voiced the questions he'd wanted to ask
10:21a name where she came from why it was that she'd proved so elusive but there was not a single answer
10:37all she asked of him was that he forget her
10:41totally and that he tell no one of having seen her
10:46i can't answer any of that
10:54why not now that he was here close to this girl she seemed more elusive than ever
11:00as if there were a great distance still to be crossed before he might actually reach her
11:07abruptly she completed her task and walked away
11:15guiltily he permitted his curiosity to draw him across the hills in the direction she'd taken
11:23then he spotted her by the river near a farmhouse almost hidden in the trees
11:27from the hill the boy felt rather than saw the fear that the voice had instilled in the girl
11:41but what happened next shocked and angered him
11:46but what happened next shocked and angered him
11:55where have you been girl?
12:02where's the water girl?
12:03where have you been all morning girl? I've been as quick as I can father. don't you answer me back now girl!
12:25no please not again
12:29now pick it up then
12:34hey! get away!
12:36get back in the house girl!
12:38you're crazy!
12:40get back in the house!
12:42you're crazy!
12:44get away!
12:46get away!
12:48I told you I'd do it!
12:50no you're crazy!
12:52you're mad!
12:54quiet!
12:56quiet!
13:03quiet!
13:05quiet!
13:28the boy had escaped with his life but his self-esteem lay in shreds about him
13:35he was tormented by terrible remorse for the cowardice of his retreat
13:39what had become of her as he rushed to save his own skin
13:43who was the man who had attacked her in such bestial fashion and what was to be done now
13:49the following day not long past dawn he found her again near the very place of their previous meeting
14:13in a matter-of-fact way the girl explained that it was her father who had shot at him
14:17she warned the boy against ever returning to the farm next time he would surely be killed
14:27now she was willing almost eager to answer the questions he put to her
14:31as if suddenly there existed between them a bond forged in the danger they'd shared
14:48their conversation seemed to provide a release that she had long waited for
14:53like him she regarded the vast open moor as a sanctuary a place in which to seek solace and freedom
15:01for the first time the boy heard the sound of her laughter
15:21piece by piece as they sat together her story unfolded
15:25her mother dead some two years past now worn out by the toil of their hard existence on the moor
15:32her father crushed by the weight of loss a sick man now he feared that somehow his daughter would
15:40be taken from him too he insisted that she must be protected sheltered kept out of sight for her own
15:47safety his protection was so fierce it could no longer be distinguished from cruelty i can't
15:58in spite of that she could not bring herself to leave him the girl had sworn to her mother
16:04on her deathbed that she would always remain at the farm and look after her father that vow could
16:11not be broken now nothing on earth could release her from it you don't know
16:28she kept the gift and in the weeks ahead it became an important symbol of their friendship
16:42the boy rode each day to the valley where she lived but never dared to venture into it
16:53from the trees beside the house the girl would
16:55signal with the handkerchief when it was safe for her to slip away
16:59so
17:08later they would meet in their usual place beside the river
17:30so slowly the summer began to burn down to autumn
17:37the long moments in the sun becoming fewer against the shortening of the days
18:00so
18:04the young man had quite forgotten that he'd once been an unwilling traveler
18:08to this weather-beaten country he felt now that he belonged here
18:13that he had a place alongside its creatures and its wildness
18:22he could hardly conceive of returning to his life in the city still less could he bring himself to
18:27think that the girl would then remain locked into a life of loveless misery he tried again
18:34and again to persuade her to go away with him but she was adamant she would not leave
18:41then after a letter from home he knew that he had to tell her that it was almost time for him to go
18:47with or without her
19:06the wild pony drift the great annual ritual of the moor
19:10chasing the animals from the hills herding them together counting claiming ownership
19:17so
19:23it was a spectacle the boy might well have enjoyed but for a growing sense of unease
19:29several days had passed since his last meeting with the girl
19:32he'd waited patiently but there'd been no waving from the trees
19:40now as he watched the roundup he felt a sense of foreboding deep inside
19:45and well he might
20:01get down out of that tree girl
20:03I know what you're up to
20:05I warned you about this
20:07I'm going to teach you a lesson you're not going to forget
20:09just you wait till I get my hands on you girl
20:11get away
20:15I'm doing nothing
20:37I'm falling
20:45girl
20:55come on girl speak to me
20:57girl
20:59girl
21:15she's gone
21:19she's gone
21:39when two more days had passed without a signal
21:41the boy could wait no longer
21:43the following morning a carriage was to take him back to London
21:47he decided
21:49that whatever the danger
21:51he must now go to the house in the valley
21:53in search of the girl
22:13as he approached the river
22:17he saw a figure ahead of him
22:19it was her father
22:21silent
22:23sitting quite alone
22:25for a moment the terror of their first encounter
22:27filled the boy's mind
22:33but this time there was no fire
22:35in the man
22:37no fury
22:39no glimmer of recognition even
22:42he seemed
22:44empty
22:46lost
22:52alarmed
22:54the boy spurred his horse
22:56heading for the farm
23:12there was nothing
23:14no sign of the girl
23:16except
23:18except for the handkerchief
23:20he had given her
23:22why had she left it behind
23:24why had she left him behind
23:32he was convinced
23:34that her father was lying
23:36he probably locked her in the house
23:38his only fear now
23:40his only fear now
23:42was for the safety of the girl
23:46hello
23:52she wasn't there
23:54the things were there
23:56but she had gone
24:00hello
24:10bewildered
24:12he returned to the river
24:14determined this time
24:16to make sense
24:18of what her father said
24:20but he too had vanished
24:22aimlessly he rode
24:24up and downstream
24:26looking for her
24:29her father lay
24:31face down
24:33in the water
24:35he was dead
24:37must have stumbled
24:39a deep gash
24:41had split his head
24:45servants from the manor
24:47helped him bury
24:49the old man in the grounds
24:51of the farm
24:54but was he never to see
24:56the girl again
24:58she had disappeared
25:00from the moor
25:02as completely as if
25:04she had never been
25:06his early doubts
25:08of her existence
25:10crowded back
25:12was it all a dream
25:16the day he was to leave
25:18for home
25:20the boy returned to the trees
25:22in the valley
25:24for the last time
25:26it was a despondent pilgrimage
25:28with him
25:30he took the only remnant
25:32of their friendship
25:34the handkerchief
25:36he had offered
25:38to stem her tears
25:40had he in fact
25:42never given it to her
25:46he left it there
25:48in the branches
25:51where he felt it belonged
26:07then
26:09as he turned for a last look back
26:21the white bird
26:23climbed higher and higher
26:25above the trees
26:27then out
26:29across the moor
26:31her soul
26:33flying free
26:41now he knew
26:43this time
26:45she was leaving
26:47she circled and flew
26:49towards him
26:51as she passed high above him
26:53he thought he heard
26:55her laughter
26:57and his sadness
26:59was overwhelmed by joy
27:03his joy for her freedom
27:06his joy for her freedom
27:10his joy for her freedom
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