Episode 9: Penelope
SFX: Ignition. A van engine rumbles. The god radio hisses as someone turns the dial to tune into a station. The instrumental version of the opening theme plays, with wind instruments and a sparing guitar, at first distorted before clearing up.
TITLE:
Hearthbound
Episode 9
Penelope
SFX: A radio plays inside an old pickup truck as it drives down a dirt path. Shorebirds call in the distance.
DISC JOCKEY: (through the radio) This is K1THA bringing you all the latest local news from our little bluff by the bay. Top at the ticker today, we’re sending off our very own one-woman trade delegation to the Greater Lake Daemon area! Big news, since lines have been closed with that community for three years now. It looks like winds be changing once again, and maybe bluegill will be back on the menu this fall. If you want to say goodbye, you can catch Penelope heading out the main gate at the quarter hour, but don’t worry, she’ll be back by Monday. Keep all your petty disagreements and spicy takes to yourself until she’s back. Or you know, be adults and handle your own shit. You know who you are. Sending her off, we’ve got Caro Cara in the studio today, with an oldie but a goodie.
SFX: “Even Over Odd” by Anna/Kate Band plays on the airwaves. As the song plays, the truck continues on. At some point, the truck driver opens a canteen for a sip of water. Eventually, the truck slows to a stop and honks twice. A gate slides open. The driver honks again in thanks and heads out onto the open road.
ANNA: (sings)
I have so much love to give
But I don't know where to put it, she said
While she was lying on my bed
KATE: (sings)
And I have given up on love
And I'm running low on empty
You could give some to me
And we could split it evenly
BOTH: (sings)
La la la la la la la
Can you help me see
La la la la la la la
Can you set me free
La la la la la la la
Can you help me believe
That I can I can I can I can love again
(whistles)
ANNA: (sings)
I love like a child loves
And it gets me into trouble, she said
While she was cradling her head
KATE: (sings)
Still, I'm breaking all the rules
Giving second chances for free
I won't give up on you
BOTH: (sings)
So don't give up on me
La la la la la la la
Can you help me see
La la la la la la la
Can you set me free
La la la la la la la
Can you help me believe
That I can I can I can I can love again
SFX: A two-way walkie-talkie beeps. The driver dials the music volume down.
DISC JOCKEY: (over the receiver) You’re free and clear, but I can only cover for you for so long. Folks are gonna start wondering if you’ve pulled an Odessa if we don’t hear back from you in a couple of weeks.
SFX: Penelope fumbles for the walkie.
PENELOPE: I know, but this is my only chance. Manny says Helen is finally ready to talk to me, and if I don’t go now, I don’t know when she’ll clam up again.
DISC JOCKEY: Be honest with me. Are you coming back?
PENELOPE: I promise. If I don’t get a good lead, I promise I will come straight back. I swear.
DISC JOCKEY: Alright, alright, alright. We’ll miss you, you hear? And we miss Odessa too. Bring her back so that we can kick her ass for taking so long.
PENELOPE: (laughs) I will.
DISC JOCKEY: You gonna stay tuned to the K1THA frequency on your way over?
PENELOPE: You kidding me? How else do I get to enjoy all the drama I don’t have to deal with for the next few days?
DISC JOCKEY: Happy to be of service. Hold on, they’re wrapping up, I need to get back on the air. Gimme a sec.
SFX: Penelope turns the radio back up.
ANNA AND KATE: (sings)
I can I can I can I can love again.
DISC JOCKEY: (on the radio) Once again, that was just something for Penelope as she takes a well-earned vacation from you grouchers.
Next up, announcements! We’ve got one here from Eunji. Cast list is going up at noon today for this season’s production of As You Like It. And if you didn’t get a part, just try again next season and don’t think that walking into the rehearsal room with a script you stole means you’re actually in the play, Aiden. Don’t listen to her, Aiden. I thought your role as Burnham Wood last season was inspired. Dunsinane was never the same again, I hear.
Captain Siba’s got a message here for Julio and Kit. He says I know you’re not actually sick today, so you better come in to help with the evening haul. The abalone ain’t taking itself to market.
Big Bertha wants to know who’s been stealing from her quince tree. Well, that’s definitely not me, but if anyone’s looking for some prime quince jam, I hear Meera’s got some on the menu at the Drinking Hole today. But you didn’t hear it here.
Alright, we’ve got Pete and the Stray Dogs here with “I’ll Meet You at the End of the Line.”
SFX: “I’ll Meet You at the End of the Line” by Pete and the Stray Dogs plays on the radio.
PETE: (sings)
Miss the days of summer bled into the fall
When the leaves were slowly turning
In the southbound geese would call
On the road again together
Getting out going anywhere
Driving towards the sunset
A strange-looking pair
Holding on to the setting sun for when it closed its hand
This was no kind of friendship that I had ever planned
It’s for another story
Another place, another time
But I’ll meet you at the end of the line
Oh I’ll meet you at the end of the line
(guitar solo)
Now winter shakes the branches
The snow up on the trees
I take care of myself now
I’m the only one I’ve got to please
Sometimes I think of Cleveland
How boring it was then
And I can’t explain the urge I get
To go back there again
It’s funny after all this time
After all the forgotten schemes
And all the faded memories
I’ll still see you in my dreams
It’s for another story
Another place, another time
But I’ll meet you at the end of the line
Oh I’ll meet you at the end of the line
SFX: The walkie beeps, the receiver now more staticky with distance. Penelope turns the music down again.
DISC JOCKEY: (on the receiver) Still there?
PENELOPE: Nice touch ratting Meera out.
DISC JOCKEY: How else are those two ever gonna say more than two words to each other? They’ll either fight or fuck, and my money’s on fuck.
PENELOPE: Please tell me I’ll have more than a smoking hole to come back to next week.
DISC JOCKEY: No promises.
SFX: The song on the radio ends and cross-fades into “Wildflower” by Blair Baldwin.
DISC JOCKEY: Everyone’s gonna be okay, you know.
PENELOPE: I know.
DISC JOCKEY: You did that. We’ll keep us safe, and that’s thanks to you.
PENELOPE: And Odessa.
DISC JOCKEY: Maybe for the first few years when you were still collecting strays like bottle caps, but once it was more town halls and bake sales than salvage and triage, she left.
PENELOPE: That wasn’t by choice. Manny came to both of us, and you know Odessa would do anything for anyone who asked her for help.
DISC JOCKEY: Just because we didn’t need help anymore didn’t mean that we didn’t need her here.
PENELOPE: Are you mad?
DISC JOCKEY: At Odessa?
PENELOPE: No. St me.
DISC JOCKEY: (sighs) No. And I’m not mad at her either. We were fine when she left, and we’ll be fine while you’re gone. I’m just being selfish and crabby.
PENELOPE: I miss her too.
SFX: Just the crackle of the receiver and the song on the radio.
PENELOPE: Remember when those assholes came through town and killed Ladybug?
DISC JOCKEY: Marisa’s goat? Yeah. That animal was the devil in a little bubble bod, but what a bad end. Also, I still dream about Marisa’s cheese.
PENELOPE: Yeah, but remember how everyone who had ever been kicked by Ladybug, who’d ever knocked on Marisa’s door with that little goat by the bell collar and a fistful of uprooted rutabegas, who’d ever said they were going to shoot that goat on sight, chased those fuckers out of town before I had even pulled on my socks?
DISC JOCKEY: They murdered our evil cheese machine!!!
PENELOPE: That’s when I knew you all could take care of yourselves. And better still, take care of each other.
DISC JOCKEY: They never even paid their tab.
PENELOPE: Yeah. And one of them tried to slap Meera’s ass. I almost stabbed him in the hand, but her fist got to his face first.
DISC JOCKEY: Holding onto your stabbiness until you get to Helen, then?
PENELOPE: Ha ha. No. From what I dragged out of Manny, Helen’s been having trouble adjusting to being back home. I mean, closing off their borders is a hell of a way to avoid talking to me, but I remember fear like that once. I think this is going to be good for both of us. I’ve got my recorder, though, in case I need to pick through whatever she feels like saying. Manny says she’s been… wandering.
DISC JOCKEY: (breaking up with static) Here’s hoping they get what’s coming to them.
PENELOPE: You’re cutting out. I’ll check back in on this frequency when I’m back in range. Don’t worry, I’ll keep your radio on until I get to Lake Daemon.
DISC JOCKEY: Copy that, boss. Be safe.
PENELOPE: You too.
SFX: Penelope turns up the radio and rolls down her truck window.
BLAIR: (sings)
Go on
Move on
Go on
And now I know I don’t need you anymore
So go on and move on
SFX: Penelope turns off the radio and drives in silence. She flicks on her turn signal and veers towards the lake community. A chorus of frogs chirps noisily in the background.
SENTRY: (from a distance) Who goes there?
SFX: Penelope rolls to a stop.
PENELOPE: Penelope of Ithaca. Manny’s expecting me.
SFX: Footsteps run up.
MANNY: (out of breath) I’m here, Pen. Come on through.
PENELOPE: Manny.
MANNY: Hey. It’s been a long time.
PENELOPE: Sure has.
SFX: The electronic gate beeps and rolls open.
MANNY: Thought I’d come out to meet you, and we can ride back up to the house together.
PENELOPE: Hop in. I’m recording all of this, by the way. I’m not wasting this chance.
MANNY: I don’t expect anything less.
SFX: Penelope rolls up her window and opens the truck door. Manny hops in. The door shuts. She heads into town. As she drives past, metalworkers work, a dog bays far away, and some people chatter quietly at corners.
MANNY: I’ll tell you everything I know, but Helen is the only one who holds all the pieces.
PENELOPE: You said.
MANNY: It’s good to see you, Pen.
PENELOPE: It would’ve been better to see you three years ago.
MANNY: I know. When we got back, all I wanted to do was save our marriage. I knew you were hurting, but it’s no excuse; I just couldn’t handle anything more.
PENELOPE: You’re right. It’s no excuse. How are you guys doing now?
MANNY: Better. Helen wouldn’t say more than three words to me the first year. I sort of left the running of things to Nico. He had handled things well enough while we were gone. He still is. Better than I ever done.
PENELOPE: Closing the gates for three years was her idea?
MANNY: No. that came down to a vote. Helen… was worried. She thought people would come after us, and the Lake decided that we were self-sufficient enough to close the gates for a while as a precaution.
PENELOPE: What people.
MANNY: I’ll.. let Helen tell it.
PENELOPE: Manny.
MANNY: I know, I know. You’ve been beyond patient and understanding and fair to us, and we’ve been bad friends and bad neighbors. We don’t deserve it. I promise, I want to help you find Odessa. I just want to do this right. Give you everything, not just the pieces. You can pull your truck up here. Around the back. We made dinner.
SFX: Penelope pulls her truck up to park. She and Manny both exit. They traipse through the gravel up to heavy double doors. A garden fountain burbles.
MANNY: Nico, Pen’s here!
NICO: Hey. Good to see you. Glad you could make it.
PENELOPE: Who let you get taller than me?
NICO: It’s something in the water. Here, let me take your hat and coat for you.
PENELOPE: I’m keeping the recorder.
NICO: Right. No worries.
SFX: A harp plays gently from inside as they enter and head towards the dining room. Their footsteps echo across the floor.
MANNY: Come on over and sit! It’s an honor to have you at our table again. Oakley insisted on serenading us on their strings for the occasion.
SFX: Chairs scrape as Manny and Penelope sit. Helen is already seated.
PENELOPE: Hi Helen.
HELEN: Hi, Pen.
MANNY: (clears throat) Wine?
HELEN: No thanks.
SFX: Manny pours wine for himself and Penelope.
MANNY: Uh, alright, well let’s see. We’ve got some sweet corn and radish over redleaf to start. Some roasted Queen Anne’s Lace on the side here. Nico found a healthy patch of them roadside on his way back in the other day. Ah, and I skillet-fried some bluegill for us today. Caught them fresh this morning. There’s dill, parsley, chives, lemongrass, and basil in the batter. And then we got a strawberry and peach trifle I whipped up to round us out.
PENELOPE: Thanks, Manny. This looks amazing.
SFX: Footsteps approach. Nico joins the table.
NICO: What’d I miss?
PENELOPE: Your dad’s showing off.
NICO: That’s old news. Did he tell you what’s in the bluegill batter?
PENELOPE: Dill, parsley, chives, lemongrass, and basil.
NICO: Herbs, Dad, just say herbs.
MANNY: Well, dig in then!
SFX: Silverware clink as they eat.
NICO: (clears throat– much like his father)
PENELOPE: Helen—
NICO: (At the same time) The bluegill have been biting real good this season. If you took a cooler home with you, think next season, you could bring over a bucket of abalone?
PENELOPE: Sure. Just like old times.
NICO: How are your pomegranates doing? I remember you had just planted them a couple years before we last talked.
PENELOPE: We had our first harvest last fall.
NICO: That’s great! What do you think, Manny? We’ve been harvesting the local currants and gooseberries and jamming and canning them like mad.
MANNY: Oh, uh, that sounds fair to me. You’ve ever had gooseberry jam before, Pen?
PENELOPE: I haven’t actually. Please—
NICO: We’ve pulled a bunch of boletes by our old oaks. We can throw in a basket of those.
PEN: Nico—
NICO: On the house. I think our community is just excited to have seafare again.
PEN: Nico—
MANNY: (clears throat insistently)
NICO: Yeah?
PEN: Can I speak?
NICO: Oh. Yeah. Uh, I’m– I’m sorry. I got a little— we can—
PENELOPE: Helen. Where’s Odessa?
SFX: Helen does not answer.
MANNY: We got separated on the road home.
PENELOPE: When?
MANNY: Pretty much immediately after we were on our way back. Odessa got us out, but once we got on the road, she gave us the slip.
PENELOPE: She stayed? Why?
HELEN: To clean up my mess. I couldn’t do it, so she stayed instead.
PENELOPE: What mess, Helen? What happened out East?
MANNY: (clears throat) Remember why we went in the first place, Pen?
PENELOPE: Yeah. A boy had shown up at your gates.
HELEN: Alexander.
PENELOPE: He had been traveling with a caravan, but got separated from them in a rockfall.
HELEN: He was starving. Bone thin. A ragged wisp of a thing.
PENELOPE: You asked him where he came from.
HELEN: By a burning ocean. Under a sour sky.
PENELOPE: You asked him what he was looking for.
HELEN: Clean water. Bounty. Abundance.
PENELOPE: And you thought—
HELEN: Why settle for saving this one boy when we could save all the wretched he left behind?
PENELOPE: And so you left.
HELEN: With seeds and soil.
PENELOPE: You didn’t tell Manny.
HELEN: It was my choice.
PENELOPE: So Manny asked us for help.
HELEN: I never asked for it.
PENELOPE: And Odessa left.
HELEN: I never wanted any of this.
SFX: Penelope slams her hands on the table and stands abruptly.
PENELOPE: Helen, what happened?!
HELEN: I was naive and arrogant, and I wanted to make something beautiful. I thought I could make something beautiful.
MANNY: Helen got there before us.
HELEN: The rain ate through everything. The only good water was as deep underground as a thirsty man could dig. Their wells pockmarked the mountains.
MANNY: She had found one of the larger enclaves.
HELEN: Behind five walls, they were good people.
PENELOPE: Five?
HELEN: They had to cover the sky. I was a shiny thing, and they were kind.
MANNY: They wouldn’t let us in.
HELEN: I had no idea you had followed.
MANNY: We camped out in Alby for months. The rain left deep scores in her hood. We went to their gate every day, and every day they turned us away. Until one day, Helen came out, with three score people with her.
HELEN: We were going to make something beautiful.
MANNY: Odessa and I had no choice. Helen wasn’t ready to leave. She wanted to create a new community with these people. With her seeds and her soil, and they believed her. They trusted her. And when we joined them, they trusted us. Odessa didn’t want to. Kept telling me it was a bad idea. That we were peddling in broken promises and hubris. But I… I believed. I also wanted to make something beautiful.
HELEN: We dug our own wells. Used wood meant for walls for fences instead.
MANNY: We did the best we could. For two years, we survived on hope and devotion alone.
HELEN: The seeds I gifted never took. The soil I brought sickened their meager crops. The day they scorched their fields, I cried and tasted their bitterness.
MANNY: Odessa and I smelled the smoke, and we heard them gathering.
HELEN: Spades, rakes, and firebrands.
MANNY: Farming tools.
HELEN: They were not seasoned for death, but their furies were immense.
MANNY: We had to fight our way through. Odessa shot someone. She got into her van, and I got Helen into a truck and then didn’t look back. We thought Odessa would be right behind us.
PENELOPE: How do you know she went back?
MANNY: I looped back and saw her tracks turn.
PENELOPE: And you didn’t go after her?!
MANNY: I… I wanted to get Helen home. All I wanted was for Helen to be home.
HELEN: It’s all my fault.
PENELOPE: Yes. It is.
MANNY: I’m sorry, Penelope.
PENELOPE: You left her there.
SFX: Penelope upends the dining table.
MANNY: She stayed.
PENELOPE: You came home. And you locked yourself away. And you made me wait three goddamn years to tell me that my wife stayed behind in a hellhole of your making to make amends with the angry mob you fomented.
SFX: Silence, except for the fireplace.
PENELOPE: Which way?
MANNY: What?
PENELOPE: Which way do I need to go?
MANNY: I don’t think—
PENELOPE: No. You don’t.
NICO: Okay, let’s all take a moment. There’s trifle.
PENELOPE: Fuck your trifle. Which way do I need to go to find my wife?
HELEN: Take the old highway.
PENELOPE: The 50?
HELEN: Take it to the far sea. That’s where we left her.
PENELOPE: I’ll be on my way then.
SFX: Penelope starts walking away.
NICO: Now?
MANNY: (At the same time) Penelope—
PENELOPE: I have my heading. I’ve waited for three years. For three years, I sat at home, making as good as I can, wondering when my wife would ever return. I’m not waiting anymore. I’m going after her.
MANNY: What if she isn’t there?
PENELOPE: Then I’ll look somewhere else.
NICO: Wait, if you’re leaving, who will we negotiate our trade terms with?
PENELOPE: My people can handle it.
NICO: But whose authority—?
PENELOPE: Every one of them is a capable advocate for their neighbors’ needs. Now that the lines are open again, I am confident that they will manage very well while I look for my wife. Is that clear enough for you?
NICO: Yes, ma’am.
PENELOPE: Thank you for dinner. I’ll let you finish your meal and be on my way.
MANNY: I’m really sorry, Penelope. Can you ever forgive me?
PENELOPE: Honestly, Manny? I don’t know yet.
HELEN: Drive safe.
SFX: Penelope exits and walks through the back garden. An elk bugles in the distance. She gets in her truck and slams the door shut, and lets out a deep breath. Another elk bugles in response to the first. She starts the ignition and pulls out. She begins to drive out of the town and turns onto the road heading east. She clicks on the radio. “What You Know” by Ali Dineen plays over the radio.
ALI: (sings)
What you know
It was summer when we
Learned that you might be leaving us
For warmer country
SFX: Penelope turns the volume down and clicks on her walkie-talkie.
PENELOPE: Hey Melanie, you copy?
MELANIE: (over the receiver, very distorted) Hey, boss. That was fast. Your signal’s weak.
PENELOPE: I’m not going to be back.
MELANIE: Odessa?
PENELOPE: I’m going after her.
MELANIE: Yeah. Bring her home, okay?
PENELOPE: I will.
MELANIE: Good. See you later, boss.
SFX: The walkie beeps off. The song over the radio eventually transitions off the radio until it’s here, with us. It plays out under the credits.
ALI: (sings)
And you've got to stop telling yourself what you don't know
Cause you know
What you know
And nowhere is without rainfall
Nowhere is without drought
Nowhere is without madness
Nowhere is without doubt
Nowhere without cruelty and nowhere without war
Nowhere without sunrise when the candle won't burn anymore
Resting in the dawn
Waking to ourselves
CREDITS:
Hearthbound
Episode 9
Penelope
Features the voices of
Lillian Meredith as Disc Jockey
Keren Abreu as Penelope
Pete Winfrey as Manny
Schuyler Van Amson as Nico
Tosha Rach as Helen
Levi Sharpe as Sentry
Strings by Ginger Dolden and Pete Lanctot
Hearthbound is created, written, and produced by Jo Chiang
Directed by Jack Towhey Calk
Music directed by Ginger Dolden
Sound design and editing by Levi Sharpe
Additional dialogue editing by Anna Kelly Rodriguez and Amador L. Rodriguez
Music production, additional engineering, and mixing by Pete Lanctot
Production managed by Charlotte Muth & Neaco Fox
Special thanks to Multitude Studio, Sunny’s Bar, our illustrator, Anya Boz, and the National Park Service
Featuring
“I’ll Meet You at the End of the Line” by Pete and the Stray Dogs
“Even Over Odd” by Anna/Kate Band
“Wildflower” by Blair Baldwin
and “What You Know” by Ali Dineen
Stay in touch with us on hearthboundpod.com
You get home safe now, you hear?
THEME: (sings)
Set her back to walk the stone
You may wonder, but never know
Will she find her way back home
JO: Hi! Jo here. Penelope’s Ithaca and Menelaus’ Mycenae are loosely placed around Point Reyes and the Napa Valley. Point Reyes is the traditional land of the Coast Miwok. You can learn more about them at coastmiwokofmarin.org. The Napa Valley is the traditional land of the Wappo. Today, there is no longer a land-based tribe in the Napa Valley due to historical mass relocation and the detrimental exposure to diseases. Currently, the Suscol Intertribal Council works to connect the existing inhabitants with the people who historically called the area home. You can learn more at suscolcouncil.org.
In Episode 3, you know them as the stranger on the radio, in Episode 8, you met them as Tig, and in this episode you hear them as themselves, Blair, a queer-rock powerhouse from Houston, Texas, who blends raw grit, Tex-Mex soul, and unapologetic rock energy into their performances. I’m recording this from the past, so by now they are releasing or they have already released their debut EP, which you should definitely check out. Keep up with them on Instagram at @iamblair___.
Then there’s Anna/Kate Band, my dear, dear friends, whose music has gotten both me and Penelope through dark days and difficult times. Go listen to their album, How to Hold, for some beautiful queer love songs about people, places, and possibilities. And for their little one, Oakley, who was born right as we were going into post-production, and I now get to watch grow into the world: I feel so lucky that I get to be your Auntie Jo.
That’s all for now! If you’ve come all this way with us, stuck with us since the beginning, thank you for listening to Hearthbound.
