Always Pull the Blue Wire By RaizelinPlaid
Dedicated to the Cast and Crew of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Thank you so much for 35 years of pure entertainment, joy, laughter, adventure, and of course - romance.
A/N: This was originally written for Martha Smith's scriptwriting challenge. It has been slightly altered from what was originally submitted. Thanks go out to Janet and Cindy for taking the time to read this script in its various forms. Any spelling or grammatical errors belong to me.
Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine but the characters are not. The script is meant for entertainment purposes only. No infringement was intended.
Characters: Lee Stetson (Scarecrow), Jamie King, Francine Desmond, Paul Barnes (The Wizard), Dr. Symth, Efraim Beaman
Setting: Present Day - It is Thanksgiving Day. Amanda has invited all her colleagues from IFF for a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Dinner has just concluded. Amanda, Dotty, Phillip, Billy, and his wife, Jeanie are in the kitchen having just cleared the dishes and are preparing dessert. Seated at the table are Lee Stetson, Jamie King, Francine Desmond, Efraim Beaman, Paul Barnes, and Dr. Smyth. They have all just pushed their chairs back from a large traditional Thanksgiving meal. Lee and Amanda's marriage has remained a mystery for over 30 years as well as the fact that they are actually spies. The family thinks that Amanda just didn't want to remarry and that she has been working for IFF for all these years with Lee.
Int. Location: Amanda King's Dining Room
Lee (pushing back a bit from the table): Francine, do you ever think you will learn to cook like that?
Francine: I don't know, Lee. Did you ever think you would take Amanda up on her offer of having Thanksgiving dinner with her family?
Lee: Touché. (Turning his attention to Jamie next who has been sitting quietly at the end of the table.) So, Jamie, your mom says she hasn't seen you around much lately. What have you been up to? Some new projects at that research think tank you've been working for?
Jamie (not wanting to make eye contact): I don't know. Not much. My new project hasn't been exactly, um, what you would call…um
Lee: Spit it out already.
Francine: Oh, I can answer that one. His new project is that he is starting formal Agency training in January.
Lee: What?!
Francine: Oops, did I just let the little kitten out of the bag?
Dr. Smyth: Now, now kids. Let's not pussyfoot around. This little kitten didn't lose his mitten after all. Instead, he was Little Jack Horner and went down into the corner and pulled on the wire.
Lee (in an exasperated tone): Are you ever going to stop talking in rhymes and get to the point?
Dr. Smyth: The boy here came to us a year ago with his application. Figured he would make a good candidate being he is King's son and all. Good head on his shoulders so pretty safe bet.
Paul Barnes: Dr. Smyth actually asked me to do his initial interviews, Lee. He has all the makings of a good agent just like his mom.
Lee (turning to the Wizard with a look of pure annoyance): And you're supposed to be in retirement.
Paul Barnes: Well, Dr. Smyth, here (pointing at him to direct blame), occasionally asks a favor or two. Did you really think I could stay out of Oz forever? I thought you would want me to do his initial intake. He just completed Station One this fall.
Lee: What? How? When did this all happen?
Jamie: You know how Mom loves to decorate for fall with scarecrows. Right? You know how she always hung that paper one up on the wall when we were kids. I could never figure out why exactly. Well, until...Anyway, last year, she asked me to go down to the basement to bring up her collection of Scarecrows to begin decorating. And you know how she always told us to use the switch on the wall on the left-hand side before going down the stairs because she was afraid we would trip?
Lee: Yeah, so…
Jamie: Um, well, I forgot because some light was coming in from the basement window. I didn't realize how dark it was until I got to the bottom. I ended up tripping over a step stool left in the middle of the room. I could see there was a blue wire hanging from a bare bulb. So, I used the step stool being too short to reach as usual, and I …
Lee: And you pulled the blue wire?!
Jamie: Well, I didn't mean to. I just wanted a little more light. Mom had always said to us when something broke, like the dishwasher, to pull the blue wire. So, I did. What I thought was just an old bookcase then swung open. I was surprised to see there was another storage room behind it. I thought maybe Mom stored her really antique and vintage scarecrows in there. You know, the ones that were probably losing their stuffing and torn to shreds with tattered clothes. The ones maybe she didn't want us touching as kids.
Lee: You mean old scarecrows?
Jamie (looking a little sheepish): Well, sort of. Anyway, I saw some boxes and started looking through them for scarecrows. First, I found a football with the name Sandy Newcomb. Then, I pulled out a wedding dress that didn't look anything like the one Mom wore at her wedding to my dad. Under that was a really old sweater with a hole near the pocket which was wrapped around some award signed by President Reagan. I saw some manacles and handcuffs too. Towards the bottom was a sketchbook of places from around Germany but they weren't from our trip; a picture of four hearts intertwined; and a really strange box watch thing. I was just picking up another item when…
Efraim Beaman: I walked in on him. Amanda had sent me down to see what was taking him so long. Francine and I were over because Amanda had offered to give us both baking lessons on how to make her Poppy Seed Cake.
Lee: Jamie, could you get the point already. Please. (running a hand through his hair in frustration) How did you find out about the Agency?
Jamie: Well, I found Mom's Guest Pass. I guess you guys let her keep it as a souvenir when she became a full-time Agent.
Efraim Beaman: He asked me if I knew what everything was. What was I supposed to do? Lie?
Lee: Of course lie! You work for the government.
Jamie: After Beaman explained everything to me, I asked him if I could see the Agency where you guys worked. After he and Francine took me around, I decided wanted to make the world a safer place just like you and Mom had been doing all these years for us.
Francine (having been intently listening to the conversation pipes in): You know, he has already earned his code name.
Lee: Really? What?
Francine: Vader.
Lee: Vader? You're that Vader - the new secret weapon recruit everyone's been talking about?
Jamie: Well, since I always thought my hair cut as a kid made me look more like I had a helmet head...
Paul Barnes: I thought the code name Vader would fit.
Lee: You gave him the code name?
Paul Barnes: Well, he was hiding one very deep, dark secret, too.
Jamie getting up from his chair, walks over to Lee, puts his hand on his shoulder and says looking down on him: I know.
Lee: Know what?
Jamie: Lee, I am your step-son.