Ext. On the beach at Avril Bay - day

 

Two older Seascouts look on with stop watches and clipboards,

while some Parents shade their eyes from the sun, watching

their offspring. Brody pulls up in the Amity Police jeep,

and starts toward the people. Behind him, Vaughn's Cadillac

pulls up and skids to a stop. In it are Vaughn, Meadows, the

Doctor, maybe a Selectman, and Hendricks, with his arms still

full of sign material. Vaughn intercepts Brody, the others

circle around him, effectively slowing his progress through

the sand to the scouts.

 

VAUGHN

Martin!

(he catches up with

him)

Are you going to shut down the beach

on your own authority?

 

BRODY

Do I need any more authority?

 

MEADOWS

Technically, you need the instruction

of a civic ordinance, or a special

meeting of the town selectmen...

 

VAUGHN

(the good guy)

That's just going by the book. We're

just a little anxious that you're

rushing into something serious here.

This is your first summer.

 

BRODY

Now tell me something I don't know.

 

VAUGHN

All I'm saying is that Amity is a

summer town -- we need summer dollars,

and if they can't swim here, they'll

use the beaches at Cape Cod, or Long

Island.

 

BRODY

So we should set out a smorgasbord?

 

MEADOWS

We're not even sure what it was.

 

BRODY

What else could've done that?

 

VAUGHN

(to Doctor)

Boat propeller?

 

DOCTOR

I think, possibly... sure. A boating

accident.

 

VAUGHN

Some weekend tramp accidentally goes

swimming too far, she's a little

drunk, a fishing boat comes along --

 

MEADOWS

Remember when Fred Ganz went

scalloping in his BVD's? He was going

to swim to New Bedford, he said.

 

The men all laugh, ad lib their remembrances of this

foolishness.

 

MEADOWS

...and Bill Mayhew almost caught him

in his net...?

 

BRODY

(interrupting the

merriment)

Doctor, you're the one who told me

what it was!

 

DOCTOR

I was wrong. We'll have to amend the

report.

 

MEADOWS

We never had that kind of trouble

here.

 

VAUGHN

I don't think you can appreciate the

gut reaction people have to these

things.

 

BRODY

I was only reacting to what I was

told.

 

Brody looks out to the water where the scouts are rounding

another buoy on the home stretch.

 

VAUGHN

(taking Brody aside)

It's all psychological, anyway. You

yell 'Barracuda' and everyone says

'huh'. You yell 'Shark' and we've

got a panic on our hands. I think we

all agree we don't need a panic this

close to the 4th of July.

 

Vaughn indicates the beach where the Scouts are flopping out

onto the sand, exhausted, glad to be finished.

 

BRODY

I can't work in a vacuum. Why don't

you make Hendricks Chief? His family's

been here since the Puritans -- half

this island are his cousins.

 

VAUGHN

Martin, we hired the best man we

could find.

 

All ad lib agreement.

 

VAUGHN

We need someone who isn't prejudiced

by old feuds or family ties, someone

who can referee things.

 

MEADOWS

You have our complete support.

 

VAUGHN

Now then. We've got a vandalism

problem we ought to talk about...

 

The others surround Brody as Vaughn leads the way back to

the cars, ad libbing their problem with the little karate

choppers.

 

Hendricks puts the signs back into the trunk of Vaughn's

Cadillac. Vaughn waves casually to the Scouts and swimmers

who are vigorously toweling off in the background.

 

EXT. AMITY STREET - DAY

 

In front of Amity's only Music Store, a battered old pick-up

truck pulls in to the curb. Quint and his mate cross silently

heading into the music store.

 

INT. AMITY MUSIC STORE - DAY

 

A gently tinkling bell tolls Quint's entrance. Inside the

store, a ten-year-old boy is being shown a clarinet. He is

playing a mellow low tone, and running "Ode to Joy." Quint

looms past him like Neptune rising from the deep, and lets

his hand drop on the counter with a slap that sounds like a

club on flesh. The Shopkeeper abandons the little boy and

meets Quint.

 

SHOPKEEPER

Hello, Mr. Quint.

 

QUINT

Four spools of Number 12 piano wire,

Okay? I ordered them.

 

SHOPKEEPER

(finding them under

the counter)

Yessir, right here. What do those

fish do, eat this stuff?

 

QUINT

They choke on it.

 

Without waiting for it to be wrapped, he picks up the gleaming

wire in his gnarled fist, and drops a bill on the counter.

 

SHOPKEEPER

Bye now.

 

No answer from Quint, who stops and sings along with the

boy.

 

The little kid's music degenerates into a series of awkward

squeaks and blurps, as Quint stares at him. Quint continues

out the door, threading his way through the people in the

street like some great fish. As he gets up into the cab of

his pick-up, its door swings open so we can see a crude

stylized shark decorating its side. It slams behind him as

Quint gets in and drives away.

 

EXT. AMITY BEACH - DAY

 

A plump jelly-bowl of a woman plunges into the ocean. There's

enough there to satisfy the most gluttonous shark. Buoyant,

joyful, she splashes away in abandon. From her, we pan off

to reveal other cheerful bathers enjoying that last

uncluttered weekend before the season starts in earnest.

 

ANGLE ON THE WATERLINE

 

A Man and his dog are romping at the water's edge. The Man

is throwing a stick out into the surf, the dog, a happy

retriever, is bounding into the waves after it.