Dark Sister, The 4.7.5

THE DARK SISTER
A Traditional Folk Tale of Old California
by
Vonn Scott Bair
2011 by Vonn Scott Bair

928 Haight Street, Apt. 5
San Francisco, CA 94117
Telephone: (415) 505-2662
vonnscottbair@comcast.net
vonnscottbair.wordpress.com

CHARACTERS
(in order of appearance)
MOIRA BANNON .................................................................. 30-35, black hair, Irish-born
VILLAGER.........................................................................................Male, American-born
WRITER .............................................................................................Male, American-born
MARY BANNON .......................................................20-25, MOIRAS sister, blonde hair
WILLIAM BANNON................................................... Their father, 60s - 70s, Irish-born
JAMES LONDON ............................................................................... 40s, American-born
FIDDLER............................................................................................Male, American-born
PRIEST .................................................................................. Male, American or Irish-born
The Bannons of Sonoma County, California trace their ancestry to County Westmeath in Ireland,
a very small landlocked county that suffered such devastation during the Great Famine that it
was virtually depopulated. WILLIAM must speak with an Irish accent. MOIRA, who was born
in Ireland, has a lighter Irish accent, but an American accent is mandatory for MARY, as she was
born in the United States.
MARY is The Light Sister, a flaxen beauty of whom 99 men in 100 would proclaim the most
beautiful woman in the county. MOIRA is The Dark Sister, a black-haired woman of whom 1
man in 100 would not only proclaim more beautiful, but would castigate the other 99 for their
poor judgment.
The actors portraying VILLAGER and WRITER shall become mourners, wedding guests and
doctors as the VILLAGER tells his story.
TIME
Sonoma County, California, 1875.
SETTINGS
A small harbor town on the Northern California coast, home of the Bannon farm. Specific scenes
include: the Bannon kitchen; their dining room; the Bannon family graveyard with a nearby
river; a Catholic church; and a hospital room.
The Dark Sister - 1
(Act I, Scene 1. LIGHTS UP upon MOIRA in the kitchen, dozing. We can see
how hard she has worked by the food stains and spilled flour on her apron.
ENTER the VILLAGER and WRITER.)
VILLAGER
There, sir, lie the ruins of the Bannon estate.
WRITER
So even today you villagers shun this place?
VILLAGER
Tragedy still skulks about the grounds. I myself have observed a shape dressed as if for a
wedding moving about the kitchen late at night. Others claim observation of a woman, dressed in
the colors of the sea, rising from the family graveyard and stalking toward the ruins with a
deadly purpose, moving as swiftly as these winter winds.
WRITER
Is it true the disaster resulted from the accumulation of great wealth and power? That would be
great for my story.
VILLAGER
One cannot speak thus in California; that counts as treason and blasphemy. Strange though this
might sound to one of your learning, some say the disasters beganwith butter and a slice of
freshly baked bread.
WRITER
You are the last survivor from those days; you must tell me everything.
VILLAGER
I will, but not here; I would fain dare to fan the flames of these phantoms. Come, away.
(EXIT VILLAGER and WRITER. ENTER MARY from the house.)
MARY
Moira! Sleeping!
(MOIRA awakes and rushes to check her oven.)
MARY
On this of all days, with my future and our familys fortune at stake on one dinner-
MOIRA
I only napped a few minutes, sister-
The Dark Sister - 2
MARY
-you want to ruin the dinner and make me look bad-
MOIRA
-Mary, I know how important this meal is-
MARY
-in front of my future husband and ruin my chances of marriage! You are so envious of my good
fortune that you would spoil Fathers months of work-
MOIRA
No, Mary-
(ENTER WILLIAM. The sisters immediately quiet down and try to act as if
nothing is wrong. Long pause.)
WILLIAM
Squabbling again?
MOIRA & MARY

No, Father.
WILLIAM
Squabbling a-gain?
MOIRA & MARY

Yes, Father.
WILLIAM
One thing you shall both be keeping to yourselves is your petty squabbling, and your caustic
humor. Two things; your petty squabbling, your caustic humor, and your sharp intelligence.
Three thingsno, just one: dont be showing off your thinking skills. Both of you.
MOIRA & MARY

No, Father.
WILLIAM
Mary, tend to your appearance; I wont be having six months of written negotiations spoilt by
one out of place lock of hair.
MARY
Yes, sir.
(EXIT MARY.)
The Dark Sister - 3
WILLIAM
Is she right? Are you enviousso envious you would ruin your familys chances?
MOIRA
Father, look! The bread is perfect, the roast looks beautiful, and the pies are already cooling on
the windowsill. The pickled oysters and vegetables, and the nuts and dried fruits, are ready at a
moments notice. All is well, Father. Please do not punish your hard working daughter!
(WILLIAM inspects her work as she watches him.)
WILLIAM
(Laughing.)
Of course all is well, Moira. Well done, daughter! How could I have doubted your skill? What an
old fool am I!
MOIRA
No, Father, youre no fool-
WILLIAM
-oh, yes I am, and when I call myself a fool you wont disagree! This day is so important for us
Bannons, the culmination of months of letters negotiating the marriage contract. Think, Moira
my raven-haired beauty: in a matter of a few hours, we could become rich, richer than even the
bastard landlord who bled dry my father and my fathers father in County Westmeath.
California! What a state! America! What a country!
MOIRA
Yes, sir.
WILLIAM
Youll be ready, too, I hope, as ready as the food.
MOIRA
I can change into my good dress in only a moment, sir.
WILLIAM
Youre so practical that way, Moira. Not at all like Mary, with her fancy shoes and fancy styled
hair. Our hopes rest upon you tonight. You have been such a blessing to me. Dont forget to
brush your hair for our caller. Thanks to you, the Bannon household looks as good as it ever has,
even better than when your mother kept it, God rest her soul. Pray you look your best for Mr.
London. He arrives in one hour.
MOIRA
The table is already set.
The Dark Sister - 4
WILLIAM
Best linen and china?
MOIRA
The best we have, sir. I borrowed the silver cutlery from the Thompsons, and the tea service
from the Garners. We owe both of those good families a fancy dinner in return.
WILLIAM
But you couldnt find better linens than ours?
MOIRA
I arranged the good tablecloth so that the wine stain will hide neath my plate at the supper.
WILLIAM
Well done, girl, well done. Mr. London shall be pleased. A wealthy, childless widower who lost
his wife in childbirth; Mr. London will be like bread dough in your hands.
MOIRA
Brave words, Father, yet you look nervous.
WILLIAM
So much at stake, so much at stake, daughter.
MOIRA
I shant be worrying for you, Father: youll strike such a hard deal on poor Mr. London that he
wont know what struck him.
WILLIAM
When he sees Mary for the first time, and then partakes of your dinner, he will see what struck
him, eat what struck him, and still wont know what struck him. One last inspection of my
property, and then to see to that silly, impractical yet so important Mary. Remember, my good
Moira; dont show off your intelligence to Mr. London as you are so wont to do; it might
jeopardize all my plans.
MOIRA
Yes, sir.
(EXIT WILLIAM. MOIRA resumes cooking.)
MOIRA
When shall a man come a-courting for me?
(A knock at one of the doors.)

The Dark Sister - 5
MOIRA
You neednt knock, Father-
(ENTER JAMES LONDON from outside, beaming as if a salesman. He dresses

formally.)
LONDON
No one has ever called me Father.
MOIRA
I beg your pardon, sir! But what are you doing entering our home through the kitchen? Youre
not a travelling vendor, are you?
LONDON
Oh, no, thank God for that. Im a decent man.
MOIRA
(Amused.)
Then you think as I do. A politician seeking votes?
LONDON
(Amused.)
I said I was a decent man.
MOIRA
So all politicians think themselves.
LONDON
Its good that women cant vote; youd elect honest men.
MOIRA
We would elect honest women.
LONDON
Well played, Miss!
MOIRA
Well, who are you, Mr. Laughing Man?
LONDON
A businessman, here on appointment to see Mr. William Bannon.
The Dark Sister - 6
MOIRA
How odd. Were expecting another visitor, a Mr. James London, come to discuss and settle a
marriage contract.
LONDON
Oh, youre Mr. Bannons daughter? Pleased to meet you, Miss Bannon, Im sure.
MOIRA
Please dont shake my quite messy hand quite yet, sir. Cooking, you see.
LONDON
We can postpone our quite proper pleasantries until the quite proper time.
MOIRA
Are you certain you were engaged to meet Father today?
LONDON
Engaged. Yes. Im a little early, in point of fact. Habit of mine. Visit prospective business
partners when they arent prepared, for if they are prepared when they arent prepared, then Im
prepared to do business with them.
MOIRA
Beg your pardon, sir, were hardly prepared.
LONDON
You smell prepared.
MOIRA
I beg your pardon?
LONDON
Your bread smells prepared. The aroma!
MOIRA
Please, sir, wont you have a slice? Here is some butter, freshly churned. How long shall you be
staying?
LONDON
Long enough to conclude a successful negotiation, I pray, but not so long as to overstay. Only
one slice, please, Miss Bannon.
(MOIRA serves him and awaits the verdict.)

The Dark Sister - 7
LONDON
Theres not bread finer than this in Heaven itself!
MOIRA
Thank you, sir!
LONDON
Truly, you were prepared. I think I shall stay for dinner, thank you! Have you done all of the
cooking, Miss Bannon?
MOIRA
Yes, sir.
LONDON
On such a day as this?
MOIRA
Especially on such a day as this.
LONDON
I hope you shall prove as saucy of hand as you are of tongue.
MOIRA
Im sorry, sir, I tend to speak more forward than proper for a girl, but I do make a good sauce.
LONDON
I like your tongue.
MOIRA
My sister is more properly modest.
LONDON
I said, I like it.
MOIRA
You do?
LONDON
A woman of intelligence, who can speak forthrightly, without a forked or a barbed tongue, is a
boon to a wise man. Two heads are worse than one when both are foolish: when they are wise,
two heads are worth twice their sum.
MOIRA
True, sir.
The Dark Sister - 8
LONDON
And when a woman can keep her wits as well as she can keep her house, a man should feel twice
blessed in body and soul-
MOIRA
-or in his soul and in his stomach.
LONDON
But in which order of preference?
MOIRA
For most men, the stomach comes first.
LONDON
(Laughing.)
Well played, again! And truly spoken, I fear.
MOIRA
Truly spoken, I know.
LONDON
So what have you prepared for this occasion? Or would I enjoy your cooking even more if I
didnt know?
MOIRA
I shall keep it a surprise. Pleasant, I hope.
LONDON
If this bread is any guide, all of your surprises shall prove quite pleasant. I must ask, though: on
such an occasion as this, should you not have an assistant in the kitchen? Im impressed that you
would take on such a task for this evening, but wont you be too tired to enjoy the fruits of your
labor?
MOIRA
Ill be fine, thank you for asking, sir.
LONDON
Wont you feel too tired to enjoy the pleasure of my company?
MOIRA
I always enjoy the pleasure of all our guests company, and shall happily share that pleasure with
my family.
The Dark Sister - 9
LONDON
And shes generous, too! Even with so small a treasure as I.
MOIRA
False modesty ill suits youunless you are a salesman.
LONDON
Now I suppose its my turn to beg your pardon.
MOIRA
Granted, sir.
LONDON
You must prove a great comfort for your father. A man needs a wife who will not become a
greater care and worry than his business, a woman who will keep a clean and thrifty house and
show herself a credit to him.
MOIRA
(Smiling.)
Put another way, men want women to do all the work.
LONDON
Not at all. A husband and wife should labor together for each other, for themselves, and for their
family. Poor Abigail, my first wife, shein childbirthGod keeps her now. Mutual friends put
me in touch with your father, so here I am. But it is odd.
MOIRA
What, sir?
LONDON
I had the impression from his letters that you were fair.
MOIRA
My father is an honest man; I do have very fair skin. Only my hair is black. The townspeople call
me The Dark Sister and her The Light Sister to tell between us.
LONDON
I like your dark curls. I like you. I feel quite properly fortunate today.
MOIRA
But rather more forward than proper. (Pause.) Wait one moment. Who are you? Really?
LONDON
Im Mr. James London, come to see Mr. William Bannonand you.
The Dark Sister - 10
MOIRA
Youre Mr. London?! My goodness! We shant have been expecting you until late afternoon!
Youre Mr. London?!
LONDON
Yes, Im Mr. London and yes, Im Mr. London.
MOIRA
The same Mr. London in response to both questions?
LONDON
Yes, and not the least improved in the interval.
MOIRA
Then Mr. Unimproved London, wont you please take my seat? My father shant have walked
too far, Ill call him at once. Father? Father?! Mr. London is here! Father!
(ENTER WILLIAM.)
WILLIAM
Mr. London?! We werent expecting you so soon!
LONDON
Mr. Bannon, a pleasure to meet you at last! Had I known what sort of daughter you have, I
should have arrived yesterday. Mary proved as fine a companion as she proved a baker.
WILLIAM
(Laughing.)
Mary? What an amusement! No, that is my other daughter, Moira.
(ENTER MARY, beautifully dressed.)
WILLIAM
This is the daughter Mary, whom weve discussed!
MARY
(With dainty and perfect manners.)
Mr. London, it is a pleasure and an honor to make your acquaintance.
(Pause.)
LONDON
The pleasure is all mine, Im sure. Well. This is a big surprise indeed.
MARY
(Aside.)
Father, my hair ribbons-
WILLIAM
(Aside.)
-theyre fine, darling. Sir, wont you join my daughter and I for a while in the parlor? Moira will
need to get back to preparing our humble dinner whilst we clarify our comic confusion.
LONDON
Mr. Bannon, I look forward to making your acquaintance through plain talk instead of my florid
letters. And your daughter, too.
(But he looks at MOIRA, not MARY. MARY notices this. EXIT WILLIAM,
MARY, and LONDON, he last, looking over his shoulder at MOIRA. MOIRA
resumes her work for a moment, then stops.)
MOIRA
Me. Mr. London thought I was his prize.
(Act I, Scene 2. LIGHTS UP on WILLIAM, LONDON and MARY in the

Bannon dining room. MOIRA, with a platter, is visible to the audience, but not
the others, as she spies upon them. LONDON is speaking:)
LONDON
If you want freedom, you came to the best state. By Heaven, Mr. Bannon, we have more freedom
in California than we know what to do with! In 1850, I lived in the town of Rough and Ready-
MARY
Mr. London, theres a town with that name?!
(MOIRA joins the others, serving food.)
MOIRA
About one hundred and fifty miles northeast of here as the crow flies, but almost two hundred
miles by wagon.
WILLIAM
Is that true?
LONDON
Um, uh, yes. Very good, Moira. In 1850, the citizens of Rough and Ready had had their fill of
onerous federal laws and taxes. Therefore, I joined a movement that led to a vote to secede from
the United States of America.
WILLIAM
Secession?! Like what caused the American Civil War?!
LONDON
Indeed, sir! Rough and Ready, California seceded from the Union. (Long pause.) For three
months. In late June, the neighboring towns invited us to join their Independence Day parties, on
condition that we rejoin the Union. Since they were to receive a considerable shipment of fine
Barbados rum, the brave citizens of Rough and Ready decided that we had proved our point,
taught Washington D.C. a lesson it would never forget, and voted to rejoin the Union in time to
help crack open the first barrel.
(Everyone laughs.)
MOIRA
I daresay that should have proved a jolly rum celebration.
MARY
Because of the rum?
MOIRA
UhJames, more bread?
LONDON
Yes, thank you, Moira.
(MARY notices the familiarity.)
WILLIAM
Can you imagine the celebration next year?
MARY
What celebration?
LONDON
The Centennial.
MARY
Of?
MOIRA
Our adoptive nation shall turn one hundred years old.
MARY
There shall be a lot of dances for meusto attend!
WILLIAM
(Aside, to MOIRA.)
What did I tell you about showing off your intelligence?!
MOIRA
If you shall kindly excuse me, I should attend to my chores.
(MOIRA leaves them, but does not exit; she returns to her listening post.)
WILLIAM
I own 6,400 acres of Sonoma County, greater than any English estate in County Westmeath! I
could return to Ireland and purchase the pompous British fat arses who purloined the fruits of my
forefathers labors for generations!
LONDON
Well, why not purchase their fat arses? Pardon my language, Miss Bannon, Im a miner of minor
manners, but why not buy the English? Millions of Americans and not a few Irish would cheer
each ring of the cash register!
WILLIAM
Mr. Londonone question: what is wrong with your gold mines that you seek another line of
business?
LONDON
Nothing; however, I find it better to own a tenth share of ten ships than to own all ten shares of
one, which is a fancy way of saying dont put all your eggs into one basket. No vein of gold,
however vast, can last forever.
MARY
Ive never lost any eggs putting them all in one basket.
LONDON
Anyway, you can harvest kernels of gold only once; you can mine nuggets of corn forever. A
dish of three eggs can cost fifty dollars at the mines.
MARY
Thats a lot of money, right?
WILLIAM
I should rather fancy becoming the sole supplier of foodstuffs to the miners who toil for you.
LONDON
You have much that I need.
MOIRA
They behave like two bulls stomping and snorting over a cow, but James will soon know with
whom hes locked horns.
LONDON
Its only natural that you needed second deeds of mortgage on your holdings. Seed money for
your seeds, as it were.
(Long pause.)
MOIRA
What does he mean? Why is Father silent?
LONDON
I receive many business propositions. Investigation and preparation prove invaluable. Naturally I
wanted to learn all about my prospective partner and father in law.
WILLIAM
Of course. Perfectly reasonable.
MOIRA
Father is not in serious debt. Or is he?
LONDON
Was it truly possible for one man to own so much farmland in California? Thus I asked certain
trusted men with special talents; they conducted inquiries. Their reports were a big surprise.
Truly I can state that William Bannon, a seemingly unlettered and unintelligent Irish peasant, is
the most canny businessman on the entire Pacific Coast.
WILLIAM
Thank you, I think.
LONDON
I mean what I say. Men like you, men of enterprise, men who fear not risk, are as American as
America herself. I look at the staggering debts you accumulated and I say to myself, William
Bannonnow thats an American.
WILLIAM
Thank you.
MOIRA
That was no compliment.
LONDON
I need ready access to ever expanding supplies of meat and produce. You need to eliminate your
debts. I need your help to realize my plans. But you need my help to help me with your help that
I need to be helped. I know your debts as intimately as I know you. Almost as if you are your
debts and your debts, you.
MOIRA
I knew nothing of this.
LONDON
Since these other Californians understand not the value of farmland as we do, they do not value
your properties highly. Hence, it is but a simple matter for me to pay one hundred per centum of
your mortgages and assume the deeds from the banks.
WILLIAM
Surely you jest.
LONDON
You dont know me that well; I can prove very surprising. You deserve to become a very rich
man. I know exactly how to make you that very rich man.
MOIRA
So all is well?
LONDON
Of course Ill pay off those onerous mortgages with those usurious interest ratesI swear, the
Irish are sometimes treated worse than the Negroesand in return I wont ask for more than fifty
per centum ownership of the properties.
MOIRA
(As before, sotto voce.)
Fifty?! He never worked our land, he doesnt deserve one acre. Father, say something!
LONDON
That includes, of course, fifty per centum of future profits. But only future profitsyou will
keep all you have already earned. Youll become the richest Irishman in American history.
MOIRA
(Sotto voce.)
Father, you are not so helpless that you must agree.
WILLIAM
Well, Im thinking that I should become Americas richest Irishman.
MOIRA
What can I do?! The salmon!
(EXIT MOIRA into the kitchen.)
LONDON
My proposed company, which I propose to call Bannon & Company-
WILLIAM
Bannon & Company, not London & Bannon or Bannon & London?
LONDON
Im afraid that my name has cost me in my business.
MARY
How is James a bad name for business?
LONDON
My other name.
MARY
You have two names?
WILLIAM
He means his surname, Mary.
MARY
Which is?
LONDON
My last name.
MARY
Oh! London. (Pause.) How is that a difficulty?
LONDON
I would think that the Irish would know.
(ENTER MOIRA, with the fish course.)
MOIRA
Mary was born in America, James.
MARY
James?
LONDON
I gave her permission to be so familiar. You and your father may also address me so.
WILLIAM
Thank you, sir, er, James. Call me William.
MOIRA
I understand why your name should cause some difficulty. 99 years after their rebellion, some
Americans still harbor quite the grudge against England.
MARY
Ohhh. And London is in England.
WILLIAM
Moira, careful with your intelligence-
MOIRA
Baked salmon, with my own herbed white sauce!
MARY
My favorite!
WILLIAM
One of Moiras most famous dishes!
LONDON
The aroma astounds the senses!
MARY
Thank you. My perfume came from New York.
WILLIAM
Do you fancy salmon, Mr. LondonJames?
LONDON
My favorite seafood. (Eats.) Astounding. (Pause.) About what we just agreed, I have changed
my mind. William, after I pay off the mortgages, you shall take full possession of all of deeds:
one hundred per centum ownership of the ten square miles.
(WILLIAM and MOIRA are stunned by the concession.)
MARY
Is that good?
LONDON
I shall still take a percentage of the profits from the agricultural products, but twenty, no, ten per
centum should suffice. I still have my mines, after all.
(WILLIAM and MOIRA are stunned again.)
WILLIAM
(Whispering, to MOIRA.)
Have you more salmon?
LONDON
Moira, wont you join us?
MOIRA
Iuh, wellI have more to do in the kitchen, then Ill join you. I see youre wanting more bread
and butter.
LONDON
Indeed, thank you.
(MOIRA leaves the stage as she EXITS to the kitchen.)
LONDON
The Cornucopia of California. What cant this state accomplish?
WILLIAM
California could produce too much food, depressing prices.
(ENTER MOIRA into the dining room with bread.)
MOIRA
I have read of recent discoveries by Doctors Pasteur and Koch in the science of food sanitization.
We could open a cannery and ship California produce, fish and meats to the East Coast.
LONDON
Making money and reducing hunger in the Eastern cities.
MOIRA
Food preservation as an act of benevolence: how ironic, given that the French invented canning
as a military weapon.
LONDON
You have an extraordinary head upon your shoulders.
MARY
Thank you, James, but I dont think even the French would fire cans from cannons.
(Brief, uncomfortable pause. LONDON laughs.)
LONDON
Perhaps they do; that would explain their lack of success versus the Prussians.
(MOIRA starts to leave the party.)
LONDON
Really, Moira, it seems unfair that you labor so hard yet not partake of your work.
(MARY starts to realize that there is something more going on between

LONDON and her sister than she previously thought.)
LONDON
After all, Moira has such a talent for free enterprise and business she could prove rather a
fineum, fine-
WILLIAM
Fine what?
MARY
What is the term for a woman who works in business?
(Long pause.)
MOIRA
Businesswoman?
(Extremely long pause.)
WILLIAM
No.
LONDON
Cant be that.
WILLIAM
I doubt that such a term exists.
LONDON
I doubt that such a woman exists.
MOIRA
Business is hardly a suitable role for a woman, anyway. After keeping up this house and feeding
these Bannon appetites, I should have hardly enough time for sleep!
MARY
I think Moira should fetch the rest of the dinner.
LONDON
And then will she finally be able to remain with us to receive our thanks and praise for her
industry and artistry?
MOIRA
I shall, I promise.
MARY
Unless you have some other work to do. Mmm?
(MOIRA returns to her same hiding place as before.)
LONDON
A merger of our fortunes-
WILLIAM
And our families-
LONDON
-shall make the combination greater than the separate parts might have ever become.
WILLIAM
And Marys hand in marriage shall seal the deal.
LONDON
Yes. I suppose it shall. No, I mean, yes, indeed it shall.
MOIRA
I saved my familys landsmy salmon caused Mr. London to soften his termsand my reward
is the kitchen I already have, while Mary gets a man who better suits me.
MARY
If I might be so rude, James, do you have brothers?
LONDON
Yes, two, back home in Illinois.
MARY
Married?
WILLIAM
Mary!
LONDON
They wont mind the question. Unmarried and seeking wives.
MARY
(Calling as if MOIRA was in the kitchen.)
Moira! Good news! James has brothers! After were done with my business, we can negotiate a
husband for you!
(The three laugh and resume talking. MOIRA stands alone, miserable and
seething. FADE TO BLACK.)
(Act I, Scene 3. Next day. Lights up on the Bannon family graveyard, occupied
only by the tombstone of the late Mrs. Bannon. ENTER MOIRA with a broom
and a bouquet of wildflowers. She places the bouquet on the tombstone, kneels
and prays, then begins sweeping around the grave.)
MOIRA
Hello, Mum. Have you slept well? Look at this place. You havent been keeping your home
proper, now have you? Now your daughters have to be cleaning up after you, just as you would
be cleaning up after us. I brought wildflowers. They look as pretty as you remember them, which
is unfair; now that youre gone, that doesnt seem right.
We have a visitor staying with us. Have you heard? A fine gentleman named James London has
come to wed Mary. To marry Mary. Made Mary quite merry. But when he arrived, he thought
Moira was Mary. He wooed me, Mother. Yes, he did. Found me quite to his liking and that made
him merryhe would marry the Moira he thought was the Mary. The confusion made Father
quite merry; Mary, less merry.
When I might meet a man who might be wanting me? I havent many years left before I can no
longer become the mother that a woman should become.
Act normal, Mother; he comes. Mums the word, Mum; not a word of what Ive said.
(ENTER LONDON.)
LONDON
Do I wrong in coming here?
MOIRA
None, James; please come; you should meet Mum. Mum, this is Mr. James London, Mr. London,
this is Mrs. William Bannon.
LONDON
An honor and a pleasure, Maam; it pleases me to inform you that you have raised two daughters
of prime quality.
MOIRA
Mum thanks you.
LONDON
Shes still here, isnt she?
MOIRA
The dead are never gone; they arent even dead.
(A moment of silence.)
MOIRA
The typhoid. I was twenty, Mary ten.
MOIRA
She loved this part of our property the best. Sundays the whole family would come here. She
would pack a lunch and we would eat and watch the ocean.
LONDON
To eat and watch the ocean? The Bannons have powerful appetites.
(MOIRA laughs. LONDON moves closer.)
LONDON
May I ask you a foolish question? Isnt Moira Irish for Mary?
MOIRA
Father had this idea: when Mother was with child for the second time, we had already settled
here. Therefore, the first Bannon born in America should have an American name. So he
thought.
LONDON
I never would have thought that I would see anything more lovely than the five-ounce nugget
that started my fortune.
MOIRA
Wrong, were you?
LONDON
Quite.
MOIRA
I referred to the Pacific Ocean. And to Mary, your betrothed.
LONDON
Im sure you did. (Pause.) Rather close to the river.
MOIRA
Mum kept closer to us girls at our picnics, she did. Would not let us wander too close to the river
or the cliffs.
LONDON
What is California like to someone from Ireland?
MOIRA
You might as well ask what America is like.
LONDON
Then I shall; what are California and America like?
MOIRA
A stunning state within a still more stunning country. America could gulp down twelve Irelands
for breakfast and complain of hunger an hour later. We Bannons hail from landlocked County
Westmeath. Poor tenant farmers, growing nothing but potatoes. Didnt even own our own land.
The Great Famine drove us out of Ireland; the promise of wealth drew Father to California.
LONDON
Ah, but not for the gold.
MOIRA
Father had no interest in those yellow rocks; The so-called decent Christians will jump my
claims, he would say.
LONDON
He knows a lot about Christians.
MOIRA
We came for what none of the Forty-Niners wantedthe farmland.
LONDON
Terrible stuff, that farmland; aside from food, its of no use at all. But it does amaze one to
consider the wealth contained within this state; California possesses such infinite riches. Crops,
livestock, the oil fields they discovered near Los Angeles; how odd that gold should have
become almost an afterthought!
MOIRA
Even the poverty is wealthy. In Ireland, we hadnt even enough potatoes. But here in California!
Until our first crops bore fruit, our family had to subsist on whatever trout, salmon, mussels and
abalone Mum and I could catch.
LONDON
Oh, how terrible.
MOIRA
We did want for variety. When our first onions came up, we ate an entire row for dinner.
LONDON
Thats one way to keep the neighbors at a distance. Did you know much of the world before
emigrating to America?
MOIRA
I had never even been close to the sea, not until we sailed to New York City. This small girl
thought Ireland was the vastest thing on earth.
LONDON
New York City must have been shocking.
MOIRA
What about America isnt shocking? One flock of passenger pigeons can blot out the sun for
hours. One herd of buffalo can cover more land than Dublin! I had never seen a snake until we
moved here.
LONDON
No snakes in Ireland?
MOIRA
St. Patrick crushed all their heads, he did. And the snakes here are so polite!
LONDON
Never have I heard polite and snakes used in one sentence.
MOIRA
Its your rattlesnakes. They politely rattle their tails and politely invite you to politely stay away.
Not at all like the English adder. Honest fellow, the rattlesnake; tis an ethical creature that tells
you its deadly before it strikes.
LONDON
If only certain humans Ive known came equipped with rattles.
MOIRA
Like the Indians; they attacked our wagon train in the Utah Territory. Mum went into labor
during the attack and ten-year-old Moira had to play midwife. Mary picked a bad time, she did;
no young girl should have to learn midwifery by doing it on her Mum whilst ducking arrows.
Were you ever attacked by Indians?
LONDON
No, but a few white men have pointed guns in my direction.
MOIRA
This is no country for weak women.
LONDON
Or drunk men with guns: they all missed.
MOIRA
Did you have a gun?
LONDON
Yes.
MOIRA
And were you drunk?
LONDON
No. (Long pause.) I never killed a man. A little nick in the arm can induce sobriety in any
drunkard. I like to think that I should prove competent to defend my wife.
MOIRA
Meaning Mary, of course.
LONDON
We haggled over her for months. I want to prove I can provide whatever should prove necessary
to prove worthy of my wife.
MOIRA
And her dowry. Father does own 6,400 acres of farmland.
LONDON
True, although one might argue that the banks are more the owners than he.
MOIRA
You neednt prove your business skills to me; I saw them quite plainly for myself.
LONDON
Moira, have I said something wrong?
MOIRA
No. You havent. I dont mean to suggest that you have. I know how America works; you won
the best deal for yourself because that is right and proper and moral in this country. I would have
done the same.
LONDON
You would not have negotiated as well as I have.
MOIRA
Just because Im a woman-
LONDON
You would have done better. Yes, I shall profit handsomely from the marriage and merger of our
families. It would be worse than wrong not to; It would be un- and anti-American.
Ive seen the deeds of mortgage. It does not require the genius of Newton or Franklin to see what
burdensome debts your father shoulders. I could have reduced your father to the American
equivalent of Irish vassalage. I know rich. He does not. Yes, I could have won a better deal, and I
would havebutbut.
(LONDON moves very close to MOIRA.)
LONDON
Nothing can show you your own emptiness like losing your wife and son in childbirth. Oh, yes, it
was a boy. Wife and son lived a daylong enough to live in my minds eye forever.
Now Ive met the Bannon family, and I want to make that family fill my emptiness. I want sons
like me and daughters like Williams. I did not fall in love with a Bannon daughter, I fell in love
with the family. If the Bannons shall become part of my family, then I cannot negotiate so hard
against them because I cannot negotiate so hard against myself.
MOIRA
By a Bannon daughter, you do mean Mary, do you not? She has been the centerpiece of your
contract negotiation, has she not?
LONDON
I guess I do speak of her.
MOIRA
Yes you must; not guess, you must.
LONDON
You sound quite emphatic on this point.
MOIRA
Yes, James, take her. I have my duty to my father.
LONDON
What if I change my mind?
MOIRA
Dont say that!
LONDON
I didnt know of a second daughter.
MOIRA
What?!
LONDON
Your father never wrote of The Dark Sister. I charged my trusted men to investigate your
fathers business, not his family. Consider the buyer in negotiation with a seller who does not
inform me of his entire line of products. How could I not wonder if I might have preferred his
other offering?
MOIRA
James, please, you are not being funny.
LONDON
Really.
MOIRA
Not this time; for the first time, your jests lack humor. I have my duty as the older sister to care
for my father and I must remain by his side. You have signed the contract, have you not? Then
marry my sister, please marry her, and jest of this no more. Please leave me now. I wish to be
alone with Mum. Please.
LONDON
Of course. I have spoken ill, and I apologize. But Moira, I was not joking; I would have liked to
have known about you.
(EXIT LONDON.)
MOIRA
Mum, I did right, did I not? I did do what was right for the family by not doing what was right
for me, did I not? Mum, I have fallen in love with James London. I know that is wrong and I
shall fall out of love. You neednt say anything. Ill take one of his brothers to have my own.
Dont get me wrong, I will always be dutiful to your husband, but Mum, when do I stop being
dutiful to my father? When do I get to be a woman? When will a man take me for his? When do I
get to be a wife?!
(ENTER MARY.)
MARY
Look who thinks shes the clever fox.
MOIRA
Mary! Dont you be sneaking behind me like that!
MARY
Very clever ploy to try and win my husband from me.
MOIRA
No, I was not-
MARY
Who would have thought the spinster Dark Sister could be so sinister?
MOIRA
I do not have it in me, whatever this it might be.
MARY
Tempting him by pushing him away. Clever. Too late, but clever.
MOIRA
You do me wrong, you-
MARY
Pity, isnt it? Moira Bannon finally finds a man who finds her fierce and fiery tongue quite to his
fancy. But then she finds that her sister possessed him first, her sister who is smart enough to
reveal her intelligence last.
MOIRA
So tell me, my dear fair sister, how does it feel to be dealt? Bartered? Negotiated? Rather like a
cow, are you not? Shall you be milked? Bred? Slaughtered?
MARY
Envious sister! Of course, I shall play the faithful and dutiful wife, but know you this: I have
James signature on my contract. I have my husband, but my husband does not have me. Ill keep
my husband as mine, but perhaps hell keep you as his plaything. I dont mind. It amuses me. In
a manner of speaking, Ill own both of you.
MOIRA
So speaks the girl whom Father and James have traded like shares of ownership in farmland and
gold mines. You sound like the chicken that claims it owns both its farmer and its farmers ax.
MARY
You can be witty; it suits you. I shall be wed; it suits me. A man of substance like James is all a
girl like me could want. Especially when his substance is gold. And I even fancy him. But not to
worry, my dear old sister; there are men who appreciate the plainer virtues of an older woman. If
youll excuse me, my older sibling, I have my business to attend to; my merger and marriage
with Mr. London. Enjoy your spinsterhood.
(EXIT MARY.)
MOIRA
Cruelty would be kinder than her kindness.
(MOIRA turns to her mothers tombstone.)
MOIRA
Mum, I have not told anyone of this, not even God; I want James. But she will marry him. Is she
wrong to have him? Am I wrong to love him? This one time, maynt I have what I want for my
own?
(Pause. MOIRA seems to be listening.)
MOIRA
Thank you, Mum. I always knew you loved me best.
(Act I, Scene 4. The Bannon kitchen, a few days later. ENTER MOIRA, with
groceries.)
MOIRA
This happy grief for my sisters betrothal, this grieving happiness for her betrothed is so
exhausting. This double burden weighs as heavily as a black bear at sunset that youve
shouldered since sunrise.
And I havent even begun lunch, let alone dinner. Think upon that, Moira Bannon; think about
how you must keep everyone happily fed; think not upon how you think upon James London.
(MOIRAs musings are interrupted by the sound of very bad fiddle playing. She
reacts, startled.)
MOIRA
Did anyone overhear me? Did anyone hear?! No. Wait. Calm yourself, girl. Those two. Again.
(MOIRA slices bread and sets out a wedge of cheese and some dishes.)
MOIRA
(Calling to OS.)
Of course! You are always welcome to enter.
(PRIEST and FIDDLER appear at the kitchen doorway.)
PRIEST
Good morning, Miss Bannon! May we enter?
MOIRA
Gentlemen, please take a seat.
FIDDLER
Do you mind if we sit down?
MOIRA
Why, thats six miles youve been walking.
PRIEST
We took a little stroll, from the church to your fathers farm. How many miles is that?
MOIRA
Wanting some nourishment, youll be.
FIDDLER
Would it surprise you that weve worked up an appetite?
MOIRA
Have some bread and cheese.
PRIEST
If you could spare us some of your delightful bread and cheese-
MOIRA
And waterno alcoholic beverages, of course.
FIDDLER
Do you have anything to drink, as well? Water, please, no spiritsthe priest is here.
(They laugh.)
PRIEST
I swear upon my Bible, its like reciting the Kyrie Eleison.
MOIRA
You gentlemen and your freeloading are a day overdue.
PRIEST
We had to preside over a funeral in Jenner yesterday.
MOIRA
Im very sorry for the family.
PRIEST
Pity all the poor parishionersthey had to listen to him.
MOIRA
I was pitying the poor parishioners.
FIDDLER
I tell you, this bow is a problem.
PRIEST
Tis a poor carpenter blames his hammer. The only problem with the fiddle is the fiddler.
FIDDLER
One of these days, Ill move to San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, or even New York, and the
people shall hail me as a great genius of the violin! You will regret how you called me a mere
fiddler, how you failed to appreciate the great artist in your midst.
MOIRA
So be off and be gone and be done with you.
PRIEST
No such luck, Miss Bannon. Hes been threatening to leave for San Francisco, Denver,
Chicago, or even New York for over twenty years.
MOIRA
I knowweve lived here over twenty years.
FIDDLER
Ill do it, I warn you, some day Ill do it! But not until after The Light Sisters happy day.
PRIEST
Yes, the entire county is filled with excitement over the impending nuptials. Even when the old
Johnson sisters come to confession, they would rather talk about the marriage than their sins. Not
that they do much in the way of sinning. They rather disappoint me.
FIDDLER
I can practically sense the excitement building up in this household. Its the artist in me. You
must feel quite thrilled for your sister.
MOIRA
Yes, I suppose I must.
PRIEST
All eyes were on your father and Mr. London as they rode in Mr. Bannons buggy to his office
this morning. I heard rumors that they had to settle some minor details concerning the business
of the marriage, I mean, uh, meaning the business and the marriage.
MOIRA
Yes! Well, there shall always be those minor rumors, shall there not? Im so sorry to be so rude
so much sooner than usual, but I shoulder chores heavier than Sisyphus boulder. Might I trouble
you gentlemen to leave? Please take more cheese and bread with you. Twas good to receive
your company, but I havent even begun lunch-
PRIEST
-and you dont want him to begin fiddling.
FIDDLER
Philistine! And I meant that kindly, too, youyouPriest!
PRIEST
Oh! How doth he wound my tender feeling! And me, his only friend! Away with us, knave; Miss
Bannon has favored us with her sustenance, and we should sustain her with our absence.
FIDDLER
Thank you, Miss Bannon, for your cornucopia of kindness. And your bread and cheese, too.
PRIEST
I trust well see you and the family on Sunday.
MOIRA
Of course you shall. Thank you for visiting.
(EXIT PRIEST and FIDDLER, saying their farewells.)
MOIRA
How kind of them to relieve my fevered mind. I might have gone quite mad without their
company. Tis well I have tonights dinner to occupy my hands and mind. Think of dinner,
Moira, not of the marriage din. I count myself lucky to know that I have no chance of landing
James; that fish shall stay on Marys hook.
I want James.
Bite your tongue, girl! The priest and the fiddler might have overheard! (Pause.) Good. No one
heard that; lucky again, girl. Lucky no one but Mum knows of your love. Love. I did not just say
that. But I did say that.
I love James.
Cook, girl. Cook away your cares. Boil away your feelings. Bake away your thoughts, your
longing, your pain. You shall never have the man you have never wanted more.
(MOIRA sits and cries. Fighting through her tears:)
MOIRA
Ham. Well have ham, baked beans, carrots and my famous bread. A bottle of hock will suit our
dinner. Everyone will be feeling happy. Happy for the meal. Happy for the excellent cooking.
Happy for the happy man and happy for his happy bride.
All shall be well with the world. James will marry the wrong sister, and we shall all feel happy
for them.
(MOIRA sits, exhausted from grief.)
MOIRA
Sleep, hide me from my life as you have always hidden me.
(MOIRA, done crying, sits still in her chair and soon dozes. Time passes. ENTER
MARY. She stands before the knife rack, fingering the handles. She leaves them
and goes to stand behind MOIRA.)
MARY
WAKE UP!
MOIRA
What? What happened? Something burning? Dinner ruined?!
MARY
I know what you have done.
MOIRA
Its no secret-
MARY
Why?!
MOIRA
I know I said rabbit, but the butchers apprentice hadnt shot any, so-
MARY
Why are you doing this to me?!
MOIRA
People need to eat, sister-
MARY
How could you do this to your sister??
MOIRA
Im a better cook than you, therefore-
MARY
Why???
MOIRA
I practice the culinary arts and you dont.
MARY
You know what I mean!
MOIRA
So youre not inquiring about dinner?
MARY
YouWITCH!!
MOIRA
What do you mean?
MARY
Youknowwhat I mean. I warn you, my dark sister, youll only make all three of us unhappy,
you most of all.
(Long pause.)
MOIRA
So youll be speaking of James, no doubt.
MARY
Thats Mr. London to you! My James!
MOIRA
This is not the place for discussing this matter-
MARY
You will not escape me!
MOIRA
Mary, no matter how far they have walked, the priest and fiddler shall overhear, and as loudly as
youre speaking, they shall overhear even against their will.
MARY
We will settle this, sister, and we will settle this now.
MOIRA
Then we shall settle this somewhere else.
MOIRA & MARY

Mothers grave-
MOIRA
-though she should prove very grave indeed, should she hear your grievous growling.
MARY
After you, dear sister.
MOIRA
After you.
MARY
No, you first, Moira. You have stabbed me in the back once; Ill thank you to leave your knives
behind.
(MOIRA, genuinely baffled, EXITS, followed by MARY.)

(Act I, Scene 5. The Bannon graveyard. A brewing storm matches the storm
brewing between the sisters as MOIRA and MARY ENTER. They pause before
their mothers grave to cross themselves, place flowers upon her tombstone and
pray briefly. They keep an eye upon each other as if each expects an attack.
Finally, they face off.)
MARY
My sister, the sinister spinster spinning her spider web. Happy, are you, with your web? Happy,
are you, with your housefly?
MOIRA
I know nothing of what you speak.
MARY
Such knowing innocence!
MOIRA
I am innocent of knowing.
MARY
Think, sister: what sort of men do I attract?
MOIRA
All of them.
MARY
Wrong, sister. Wrong. I dont attract men at all!
MOIRA
You fill two, sometimes three dance cards at the town balls, when other girls including me cant
even half-fill one!
MARY
I do not attract men. I attract boys. Flirty, flighty, fine-feathered fops! That is the male I attract.
Pretty preening peacocks parroting puerile phrases from pretty poems as if the sugary words
were their own! A parrot understands the language it mimics better than these boys!
MOIRA
But, Mary-
MARY
Do you think its so wonderful to be beautiful? Do you think its so wonderful to feign a dull
mind? Do you think its so wonderful to walk around town with all those drooling dullards
lollygagging behind you? I want a real man. Am I wrong to want a real man?
MOIRA
Of course not-
MARY
I want a man of substance and depth for my husband! A man who shoulders responsibility as
lightly as oxen shoulder their yokes! A wealthy man, ready to settle down and care for a wife
who will bear him sons to follow after him! A far-sighted man who keeps both eyes on the
future, prudent in saving, and careful with spending! A man like James! I have never had a real
man pursue my hand in marriage. Not like the men you attract.
MOIRA
I dont attract men. How foolish you are-
MARY
You know not what men have had their eyes on you.
MOIRA
None of them.
MARY
Wrong.
MOIRA
With Mum gone, I took her responsibilities and made them mine. Those are the rules, and I obey,
and the entire county knows that I obey! Therefore, no suitors.
MARY
While you toil in the kitchen without a care in the world-
MOIRA
-feeding this family is a big care in the world-
MARY
-I have overheard Father in his study entertain inquiries from mature, responsible, established
career men. The sort of man that I want to have for myself!
MOIRA
Lies, lies, lies-
MARY
Ask father about Mr. Richardson, the railroad man. Hes come to enquire what it would require
to make you his own.
MOIRA
You lie. I have heard nothing of this.
MARY
Father wants you for his own, until I am married off to James, until James pays off the deeds of
mortgage, and then Father can bargain you off to the railroad man. I must marry James for the
sake of our familys fortune! Do you think I understood nothing of what Father and James
discussed at our first supper?! Foolish Moira! I know better than you how our familys fate rests
so heavily upon my marriage. I also happen to like him. I have far more intelligence than you
think! Unlike you, I have the intelligence to conceal my intelligence!
MOIRA
Oh, spare us the intelligence of a flirt.
MARY
You will ruin all of us if you dont get out of my way!
MOIRA
I understand all of this. That is why I have never told James of my feelings for him. I have told
him that he must wed you.
MARY
You havent told him enough! Im telling you to tell James that he cant have you! That hes
mine!
MOIRA
Thus I have told him! With emphasis!
MARY
I heard you, and I know what a liar you are!
MOIRA
I told him to marry you!
MARY
Did you tell him you dont love him?!
MOIRA
No!
MARY
Why not?!

MOIRA
Becausebecause II do love him. Yes. I do.
MARY
So the assassin boasts of her work.
MOIRA
I am no assassin-
MARY
You want to be the assassin of my hopes!
MOIRA
Enough! You want my confession? You shall have it. James met me first, thinking I was you.
And he was very pleased of that. You are merely a beauty. I have a brain. He likes that. He likes
my fearless outspokenness. Compared with me, you are a bit of a falling-off. I know what
qualities I have as a woman, because I see myself as James sees me. You hide your intelligence
because thats what the boys dont want to see of youthey would like to see something else.
You treat James like a possession, as the Queen of England treats her crown jewels or her pet
dog. I would not, because I love him. James loves me, not you. James wants me, not you, and I
want him to have me! Can you not find enough kindness to, well, totogive me James and
take one of his brothers instead?
MARY
No! Hes mine, all mine!
MOIRA
My fair sister is fairly unfair. So be it. I love your man, I want your man, and I want you out of
my way!
MARY
How dare you attempt to steal my husband!
(MARY assaults MOIRA feebly, girlishly.)
MARY
I hate you, Moira! I want to kill you!
(MOIRA effortlessly defends herself and subdues Mary.)
MOIRA
You dont work in a kitchen. You do not know strength.
(MOIRA starts to maneuver MARY to the riverbank.)
MOIRA
This is strength.
MARY
Sister, what shall you do?! No, no, Moira! No, no! NO, NO!!
(MOIRA pushes MARY into the river. We can hear MARY scream after she hits
the water.)
MARY
(Off-stage.)
Moira! Moira!! Please save me! The waters sweep me to the sea! You can have James, but please
save my life!!
MOIRA
I already have James.
MARY
Moira! Moira!! MOIRA!!! Save me!! Save me! Save me. Save
(MOIRA looks down upon her sister. She turns and walks away. Before she
leaves, a weird music begins, discordant notes as if from a damaged fiddle.
MOIRA looks around, fearful of witnesses, but then realizes the awful music
comes from the river. She returns to the edge and forces herself to look into the
water. The music suddenly ceases.)
MOIRA
She cant have survived. Shes gone. Truly gone. Even her body is gone. Eaten by the waters.
Gone.
(A weird light fills the stage. The music begins again. MOIRA looks around, then
EXITS. The music continues as lights FADE TO BLACK.)
(Act I, Scene 6. The Bannon kitchen. ENTER MOIRA.)
MOIRA
What have I done?! What did I do?! How could I have done that?! Have I done that?! What evil
spirit could have guided my hands, taken them from my control and will, and done that to her?!
Did I do that to her?! Sleepsleepshall I ever sleep again?!
(MOIRA collapses into her chair and sits still. This is the same pose as when
MARY entered the kitchen, suggesting that it might have been a dream. Pause.
ENTER WILLIAM and LONDON.)
WILLIAM
Poor girl. Her work sometimes affects her so.
LONDON
She should have maids to ease her cares.
WILLIAM
She does look lovely when she sleeps.
LONDON
So happy and so innocent. We can dawdle no longer.
WILLIAM
Yes, of course, James. Moira? Moira, my dear.
MOIRA
(Starting awake.)
I didnt do it!
WILLIAM
Didnt do what?
MOIRA
Ohohuh, rabbit.
WILLIAM
Never mind our repast, daughter. Moira, James would like to have a word with you. Sir?
LONDON
Ill state my case plainly. Moira, I have seen how you manage a household by yourself, how you
manage to keep your wits and wittiness in your speech. You are a woman of fine character and
strong body and more beautiful than the common rabble can know. Most of all, I can no longer
(CONT.)
LONDON
(CONT.)
hide how I feel for you. Moira, I have fallen in love with you; I have loved you from the moment
we met. I pray God, Miss Moira Bannon, that you will grant this poor soul the honor, privilege
and pleasure of accepting my hand in marriage.
MOIRA
F-F-F-Father?
WILLIAM
James and I have discussed this business in detail, and while my results have turned out rather
differently from my intentions, we have rewritten the contract. You have my blessing to accept
him as your husband, and my hope that you say yes.
(Long pause.)
WILLIAM
Moira?
LONDON
Moira?
MOIRA
Moira Bannon saysyes. Yes! Yes!
(MOIRA and LONDON embrace and kiss in a moment of shared happiness, but
then MOIRA breaks away.)
MOIRA
Wait. What of Mary? When shall you tell her?
LONDON
Ah, yes. Mary. Yes.
WILLIAM
We have already spoken to Mary. She did not take it well.
MOIRA
She already knew?! I meant, she already knows?!
LONDON
Im surprised you havent seen her. She stormed out of Williams office in the village, swearing
that she would find you.
WILLIAM
We had to walk home; your sister took the buggy and rode off at full gallop, abusing the poor
horses. Havent you seen her?
MOIRA
Wellyes. But not spoken to her.
LONDON
What happened?
MOIRA
She walked past that kitchen window not half an hour ago. She stopped to stare, but before I
could call her, she walked away.
WILLIAM
Where, Moira?
MOIRA
I thought she might walk toward the river or the cliffs.
WILLIAM
James, come with me at once! Moira, send for help! Quickly! Both of you, quickly!
LONDON
William?!
WILLIAM
Mary cant swim!
(JAMES understands the implication and both men EXIT in a great hurry.
MOIRA remains in place, stunned.)
MOIRA
Why did she not tell me?! Oh, yes, because II have committed a perfect, and perfectly
pointless, crime. A great mortal sin. A great, mortal, and pointless sin.
(The weird light appears again, and we hear the same discordant music as before
during the FADE TO BLACK.)
(END OF ACT I.)

(Act II, Scene 1. The graveyard. LIGHTS UP on the end of the burial. Present are
MOIRA, WILLIAM, LONDON, PRIEST, FIDDLER, WRITER, VILLAGER,
the latter two acting as mourners. We see a second headstone with Mary Bannons
name on it. The FIDDLER is dealing with a bow that has ceased to function; the
horsehairs have all been torn somehow.)
PRIEST
(End of prayer.)
and we humbly beseech Thee, Lord, to have mercy on Your poor sinners and welcome us into
Your kingdom on the last day. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-
ALL EXCEPT MOIRA

(Who remains silent.)
-Amen.
PRIEST
This concludes our ceremony. Mr. Bannon would like to say a few words at this time.
WILLIAM
Thank you, Father. Friends, my family cant say how grateful we are to have your support in our
time of need. To show our thanks, wed like to invite you into our home for refreshments. Moira
has prepared a simple repast. If youll enter our parlor, we shall be joining you shortly. At this
time, the family would like a moment alone. Thank you all for coming. Your sympathy is a great
consolation.
(WRITER and VILLAGER approach the family to extend their condolences, and
then turn to leave, followed by FIDDLER and PRIEST.)
WRITER
Were very sorry.
WILLIAM
(Speaking for MOIRA and LONDON.)
Youre very kind.
VILLAGER
If theres anything we can do-
WILLIAM
Im most grateful to you.
(VILLAGER and WRITER turn away and start to leave.)

WRITER
(To VILLAGER.)
Your description makes the funeral sound almost beautiful.
VILLAGER
The weather was almost shamelessly pleasant.
WRITER
Now, they still hadnt found the body at that point?
VILLAGER
They never did. The river bore her out to sea. Mores the pity. Where I come from, a funeral
without a body is a curse.
WRITER
After a week in the ocean, with sharks and other scavengers nibbling at her, would you want to
find the body?
VILLAGER
Understand that where I come from, you have to have something to bury. That was when I began
to wonder if more disasters lay awaiting.
(EXIT WRITER and VILLAGER.)
WILLIAM
Fine service, Father.
PRIEST
The least I could do for such a fine Catholic family.
FIDDLER
Im very sorry about the bow-
WILLIAM
No need to apologize.
FIDDLER
-all the strings on my bow snapping like that-
WILLIAM
Im sure that will be happening a lot for a fiddler-
FIDDLER
-but it never happens, thats what Im trying to say-
WILLIAM
Well be happy to pay your fee anyway.
PRIEST
Lets leave the Bannons to have this moment for themselves.
FIDDLER
Yes, of course. Well see you inside. Thank you, William.
PRIEST
(Aside, to FIDDLER, as they leave.)
I would say the fact that your bowstrings broke offers bounteous proof of Gods wisdom and
mercy.
FIDDLER
I tell you, Father, the most eerie feeling shakes my soul-
PRIEST
Better than your bowstrings shaking our ears.
FIDDLER
Im not talking about the fiddle, Im talking about this most peculiar feeling-
PRIEST
You as well?
FIDDLER
You felt it, too?
PRIEST
What did you feel?
FIDDLER
We were watched.
PRIEST
I felt it, too. Did you perchance espy a young lady near by the wood, dressed in the colors of the
sea, watching the ceremony?
FIDDLER
No, but I felt someones gaze, looked about, but saw no one.
PRIEST
Nor am I sure that I saw her, but I could have sworn that something stood in the corner of my
eye. Come. Let us away. I would speak more of this with you in private.
(EXIT PRIEST and FIDDLER. A moment of silence.)
LONDON
Im so sorry.
WILLIAM
Its not your fault.
LONDON
I feel that its my fault.
WILLIAM
You should not feel that way at all.
LONDON
If I had known this would happen-
WILLIAM
James, please-
LONDON
-I would have married-
WILLIAM
-there was nothing you could do.
LONDON
If only I had known-
WILLIAM
Dont torture yourself, James. We shall always grieve for our loss, but we must always look to
the future. We still have our business to conclude; the company, the marriage. Lets look to the
joys to come, even as we recall the sorrows of the past. If you dont mind, sir, I would have a
moment with my daughter.
LONDON
As you desire, sir. MoiraMoira?
(Getting no response, LONDON EXITS. MOIRA has stood still and silent,
staring at the grave. Long pause.)
WILLIAM
As God in His heaven is my witness, I have never heard such silence. (Pause.) You were even a
noisy one as a baby. (Pause.) I suppose its a blessing the fiddler couldnt play. (Pause.) I should
be wondering when youll be recovering from this dreadful shock.
(Silence. WILLIAM continues to look at her.)
WILLIAM
Moira, do me this one favor. Bury your father, but never your child. (Pause.) Well be heading
into the house now.
MOIRA
Father? (Pause.) Im afraid that I killed Mary.
(Silence. WILLIAM continues to look at her.)
WILLIAM
Moira, you did not. We know what happened. Come, lets to the house, our guests shall be
awaiting us.
MOIRA
I shall join you. I want some time with her.
WILLIAM
Very well, girl. But dont be standing out here too long, the evening fog looms nigh. And dont
stand too close to that river and stay away from the cliffs. Come join us, soon.
(EXIT WILLIAM. A moment of silence.)
MOIRA
Are you happy, girl? Do you see what youve done?
(Pause, as if awaiting a response.)
MOIRA
What was it you said? Oh, yes: James has brothers. We can foist you on one of them. Another
acquisition, as Father would say.
(She leans over the grave.)

MOIRA
Or perhaps the Mayor. He has an eye for sweet young things like you. You could have had him.
Him having you, you having him, doesnt matter, you could have become the subject, object or
product of yet another one of Fathers business deals. James and I are different. We are in love.
You should not have gotten in our way.
Know you what you have done? In the small hours of the morning, the floorboards creak under
Fathers weight as he enters your bedroom and walks around, touching your things.
This is all your fault. Not mine. Yours. All you had to do was let James have me without a fight.
Father would have negotiated a deal with Mr. Richardson. You would have had your husband
even as a man would have had you. Now Im hoping youll be staying in your grave. No more-
(MOIRA suddenly looks offstage right as if spotting someone. Pause. She

resumes her speech.)
MOIRA
No more of you visiting me in my dreams. We conducted a proper funeral for you, sister, so
youll stop waking me in the middle of the night, several times every night-
(MOIRA suddenly looks offstage left as if spotting someone. Pause. She resumes
her speech.)
MOIRA
Is someone espying upon me? Hello? Hello! Look, girl, youll be leaving me alone, if you know
whats good for you. Dont make me come after you to commit a second pointless sin.
(MOIRA suddenly looks behind herself as if sensing someones presence. The

weird fiddle music we heard before begins to play again.)
MOIRA
That fiddler is worse than ever.
(MOIRA looks everywhere, realizes that the FIDDLER is not present. Turns to
MARYS grave again.)
MOIRA
No more of your tricks, sister. James loved and loves me and James wanted and wants me to
have as his own. And he has me and shall have me forever until death do us part. Goodbye sister.
Your jealousy put you there, not I, and I pray you stay there-
(The weird music suddenly turns louder, and the weird light appears.)
MOIRA
-forever.
(MOIRA looks around again, as if sensing the presence of an eavesdropper, then

quickly EXITS.)
(Act II, Scene 2. The Kitchen. At LIGHTS UP, the kitchen is empty in the
daylight. The one new item we see is an earthenware crock. MOIRA APPEARS
outside the kitchen window, but she is not looking inside; she scowls at something
she sees at her feet, invisible to the audience. She walks into the kitchen, putting
down her burden, a basket of potatoes. She walks back outside, picks up the
puzzling item, and carries it into the kitchen.)
MOIRA
Kelp?!
(She tosses the kelp into the fire heating the stove, washes her hands, and begins
cleaning the potatoes. MARYyes, MARYwalks past the window looking at
MOIRA, accompanied by the same weird music heard in Act I. MOIRA looks up,
too late to see her dead sister, and walks outside again. She looks down, scowling
again, picks up another item and carries it into the kitchen. Its more kelp. She
tosses this into the fire.)
MOIRA
I wonder if James has a knavish sense of humor.
(MOIRA resumes cleaning the potatoes. She is startled by the same weird music.
MARY walks past the window again, but disappears before MOIRA can see her.
The music ends.)
MOIRA
I am not amused.
(MOIRA EXITS to the outdoors. We see her at the window again. She looks
down, scowling again, picks up another item and carries it into the kitchen. Its
more kelp. She tosses this into the fire.)
MOIRA
I am quite certain I saw someone!
(She washes her hands and resumes with the potatoes. She frequently turns
suddenly to the window, hoping to catch the practical joker. ENTER WILLIAM,
unnoticed.)
MOIRA
Ill catch the knave. Ill catch him.
WILLIAM
Catch whom?
MOIRA
Father! You startled me. Some rogue has been dropping bundles of kelp outside my kitchen and
playing the most dreadful and discordant music on a fiddle. Worse than our Fiddler.
WILLIAM
That is the oddest knavery, both the kelp and the fearful fiddling. Say! What have we here? Did
you buy this crock?
MOIRA
That crock wasnt there before.
WILLIAM
You didnt notice it until now?
MOIRA
No, Father, that crock wasnt there.
WILLIAM
Im sure you were too busy to notice, you do work so hard, girl. What have we? Somebody likes
us quite well, daughter!
MOIRA
Father?
WILLIAM
Shelled oysters, Moira! Fresh, too! I wish you enjoyed them as much as I do.
MOIRA
I am content not to.
WILLIAM
Your sister loved oysters.
MOIRA
I had just thought upon the same thing.
WILLIAM
Have we fresh cream and butter? Then prepare an oyster stew to accompany our lunch today.
MOIRA
I dont like oysters.
WILLIAM
James does, and you need to keep him happy. Now that Marynow that our family is just you
and I, now that we can marry into only one fortune, especially his fortune, the Bannons need this
marriage to go through.
MOIRA
Father, may I ask something? A few days ago, before Marybefore shea few days before that
day, my sister told me that some of the townsmen had approached you to discuss me. Is it true
that there have been men who wanted my hand in marriage?
WILLIAM
Moira-
MOIRA
Unlike what you have told me?
WILLIAM
I see. (Long pause.) Moira, Im surprised you never knew. We live in Northern California, where
the men greatly outnumber the women, where any woman is a golden prize. Your mothers raven
hair, your mothers smile, her way around a kitchen: you should have wondered if I didnt want
to keep you. Once I married Mary to Mr. London, I had plans to secure a husband for you; Mr.
Richardson, the railroad man, had made an enquiry.
MOIRA
He would have been a fine, fat fish to hook on your line.
WILLIAM
I was looking to be hooking him for you.
MOIRA
I wish I had known sooner. Thank you, Father.
(Accompanied by the weird music, MARY reappears at the kitchen window. Only
MOIRA sees her. MARY EXITS. MOIRA EXITS as well in pursuit of her sister.
The music ends. ENTER MOIRA, panting.)
MOIRA
Father, did you see her?! We have a prowler about the grounds!
(MOIRA grabs a knife and EXITS. WILLIAM looks out the window after her.
After a moment, ENTER MOIRA.)
MOIRA
Whoever that was could give our winter winds a hard race.
WILLIAM
I saw no one, daughter.
MOIRA
No one, Father? She disappeared that quickly? No woman of light flaxen hair, dressed in the
colors of the sea?
WILLIAM
Moira, child, you are imagining your poor sister.
MOIRA
I saw someone!
WILLIAM
Tis but a trick of your eye and but a trick of your mind. Stop blaming yourself for Marys death.
Her death was not your fault.
MOIRA
Somehow, it feels like my fault.
WILLIAM
Well be having no more of that. James has an older widowed sister, who still has a few
childbearing years left in her; he and I shall match her with Richardson, a fine man of finer
property and finest salary. A niece by marriage wont lend me the same control over the railroad
man as you, but Ill take it.
MOIRA
Marriages have ever and only served to create and cement alliances amongst families and
nations. But something happened between James and me. We have fallen in love.
WILLIAM
It happens. Your mother and I fell in love. After the marriage, of course; about the time you
came into this world. I rather fancy you had something to do with that.
MOIRA
I rather fancy the compliment. James widowed sister should likely prove amenable to any
arrangement that benefits her brother and her circumstances, but would it be such a crime if they
shouldwell, for lack of a better termlike each other?
WILLIAM
I know the financial circumstances of most widows; if she is like the norm, shell marry a man
first and tolerate him later. James and I will provide for the widow just as men should; we wont
fail her, even as I hope that you wont be failing me.
(ENTER MARY at the window, staring at her oblivious sister and father.)
MOIRA
I wont fail you, Father. This shall be the grandest wedding in Sonoma history. I promise you as
many grandsons as can scramble onto your back.
WILLIAM
A girl or two might prove handy in our future dealings. But grandchildren! I shall be the first
Bannon in the familys history to shake hands with my grandson.
MOIRA
Then you shall have them, all pouncing upon you amongst the tomatoes like kittens upon their
mother.
WILLIAM
Give your poor father a hug, daughter. There. Our fortune now depends so strongly upon this one
wedding, depends so strongly upon you: yet, knowing that our fortunes depend so strongly upon
you makes me feel confident of my familys future wealth.
MOIRA
Frankly, Father, no dissembling betwixt us: how great are your debts?
WILLIAM
Daughterdaughter(Pause.)we can get by without JamesbutI need this marriage.
MOIRA
Thank you, Father, I can deduce the truth; and you must know I will never hurt you.
(EXIT WILLIAM. MOIRA returns to her cooking. The weird music is heard
again, but MOIRA chooses to pretend that she does not hear it. MARY continues
to stare.)
(FADE TO BLACK.)
(Act II, Scene 3. Evening, days after Scene 2. The kitchen. ENTER MOIRA,
looking around as if expecting or fearing a threat. Finding none, she relaxes and
begins to clean the dishes after the evening meal. Every once in a while, she will
start as if hearing or seeing something. Then shell resume work. ENTER
LONDON, behind her. MOIRA turns and screams.)
LONDON
Moira, forgive me, I didnt mean to startle you!
MOIRA
James, forgive me, I didnt mean to be startled.
LONDON
Now that we are both forgiven, whats for dinner tomorrow?
MOIRA
Spoiled you for my cooking, have I?
LONDON
Im spoiling for another good dinner.
MOIRA
The butchers apprentice fared well today and bagged a brace of mallards. I shall bake them in
orange sauce, as do the French.
LONDON
God bless the French. God bless any good influence on you.
MOIRA
And God bless your blessings upon me, and cast still more blessings upon us.
LONDON
Moira, you have taken such firm possession of my heart and soul that if you insist upon blessing
me by cooking all of my meals, then I am helpless but to agree!
MOIRA
Oh, you make that sound like such a terrible fate!
LONDON
Oh, the terrible fate of being your husband!
MOIRA
Oh, the terrible fate of being your wife!
LONDON
I feel like dancing.
MOIRA
I feel like finishing my chores. And theres no music.
LONDON
Lets find that fiddler.
MOIRA
That is not music.
LONDON
I hear hes improved greatly and suddenly. Something about a new bow for his violin, strung
with golden hair.
MOIRA
I must finish my chores, James. Sometimes Im thinking that you menfolk dont appreciate a
womans labor as you should.
LONDON
My stomach appreciates you.
MOIRA
True, your stomach presents a weighty consideration. Rather sticks itself into every conversation,
it does.
LONDON
Right now, it would speak of leftover pie, if any exists.
MOIRA
Is that all you can think of, food?
LONDON
I can also think of beverages.
MOIRA
Think of food and beverages and be done with you!
LONDON
Too much thinking for my feeble mind and not enough eating for my robust stomach.
(Long pause.)
MOIRA
What?
LONDON
Shall we?
MOIRA
Shall we what?
LONDON
You know what.
MOIRA
I know not what.
LONDON
You do know what.
MOIRA
Tell me which what.
LONDON
Ill show you what.
(He sweeps her into his arms and offers to kiss her. She resists, but playfully.)
MOIRA
James! Not here.
LONDON
Why not here?
MOIRA
My father might find us thus!
LONDON
Your father wants to find us thus.
MOIRA
James, youre being a naughty boy, you are!
LONDON
It isnt naughty when youre engaged. Besides, you hugged and kissed me when you accepted
my proposal, so I have a right to hug and kiss you back!
MOIRA
Ugh, you are an evil businessman, arent you! Stop chasing me, I have to go to work!
LONDON
I have to go to play.
MOIRA
Oh, go play with something else, will you?
LONDON
Oh, now youre being naughty!
MOIRA
What did you think I meant?! Ack!
LONDON
Ah-ha! Got you now! Not that you were trying hard to escape.
MOIRA
I suppose I must now girlishly swoon and melt away into your strong, manly arms, mustnt I?
LONDON
Think of it, Moira! A man is contractually bound to marry, and yet he loves the prospect! How
extraordinary!
MOIRA
What is extraordinary is that the woman loves the prospect! Youre not the only pioneer in
California!
(A moment for them to savor their hug.)
LONDON
I still have the right to kiss you.
MOIRA
Oh, no, naughty Mr. London.
LONDON
Oh, yes, prudish Miss Bannon.
MOIRA
Mr. London! You are so forward. Were not married yet.
LONDON
I thought we might practice.
MOIRA
We might practice, but only a little.
LONDON
What would the future Mrs. London prefer?
MOIRA
You may hold my hand.
LONDON
Hows this?
MOIRA
Your handholding be a tad rakish, sir.
LONDON
Hows this?
MOIRA
Now this is more proper, Mr. London.
LONDON
Pleeeeease, Miss Bannon, might this poor soul become even a wee bit rakish? I have been so
serious for so long, and I have so longed for so long to become so rakish again.
MOIRA
Oh, Mr. London, I have never seen the homeless dog who wore such a hangdog expression as
yours. You may kiss my hand.
LONDON
Most kind of you! Mmm, nice hand. May I kiss your lips?
MOIRA
There you go again, you knave, taking advantage of an innocent girl! (Pause.) You may kiss my
cheek.
(LIGHTS OUT SUDDENLY, as the wind blows out the candles. The following
takes place in darkness.)
MOIRA
Naughty Mr. London! The very wind conspires with you.
LONDON
Youre not enjoying this?
MOIRA
Perhaps just a little.
LONDON
I thought so.
MOIRA
But only a little!
LONDON
I think more than a little.
MOIRA
Father might catch us.
LONDON
I cant wait until you move into my home.
MOIRA
Trust me, neither can I.
LONDON
Then you are enjoying this.
MOIRA
Where are you putting your hands on this innocent girl?!
LONDON
You dont know?
MOIRA
Well be saving that for our wedding night, we shall! Where are those candles?
(More fumbling in the dark, then MOIRA lights a candle, revealing only herself
and MARY.)
MARY
An innocent girl?
(The wind blows out the candle, plunging the stage into darkness again. MOIRA
shrieks.)
LONDON
Moira?! Did you burn yourself?!
(LONDON lights the candles, and they become visible.)
LONDON
Moira?! Why are you like this? What are you staring at?
MOIRA
Shes here. Marys here!
LONDON
Moira, shes gone. Shes not here anymore.
MOIRA
I saw her! She spoke to me!
LONDON
Moira, listen to me. Look into the eyes of the man who will have you for his bride. Your sister
shall always remain with you.
MOIRA
Do not say that.
LONDON
Calm down! I didnt mean to frighten you. I know your true problem.
MOIRA
You do?! No, you cannot!
LONDON
I do know, better than you might know. Moira, Ive lost a wife. Abigail died in childbirth.
MOIRA
I know but-
LONDON
-I blamed myself. I held myself responsible for her death. Day after day, night after night, one
thought raced through my mind: I killed my wife. Abigail became with child because of me; she
died in childbirth; therefore, I killed her.
MOIRA
But that was not your fault!
LONDON
I felt the fault. Now you feel it. You are the last person who saw Mary alive. You saw her
walking past the kitchen window, and yet you did not stop her on her last walk to the cliff.
MOIRA
James, theres something I must tell-
LONDON
Stop thinking that your sister is gone. Your sister is here in spirit. Her memory lives in your
heart. And as long as her memory will live in your heart, so long shall she live. Abigail still lives,
she lives in my heart, my mind, my soul. So too shall Mary remain with you.
MOIRA
None of this cheers me.
LONDON
Then think not upon the memory of your poor sister. Think of the pleasures of a family,
especially children, should God so bless our labors-
MOIRA
Our labors wont prove entirely laborious, I promise.
LONDON
Such soothing words from such a sharp tongue! Think of it, Moira, a family, our family.
MOIRA
Children.
LONDON
Lots of children?
MOIRA
As many as their father and grandfather can handle.
LONDON
More little Londons than we can handle is at least two little Londons too few.
MOIRA
Then youll be working me as hard as you work your miners.
LONDON
Productivity is a blessing in families as in business.
MOIRA
Then I shall look forward upon our future and not look back upon my past.
(They kiss and hug. MARY appears at the kitchen window. MOIRA sees her, but
LONDON cannot.)
(BLACKOUT.)
(Act II, Scene 4: The Kitchen. Many days later. ENTER MOIRA, looking ragged
and sleep-deprived. She is dressed to go out, and writes a shopping list as she
goes through the kitchen.)
MOIRA
Dinner for five tonight; Father, James, the priest, the fiddler and the happy bride. Tis Friday, so
we shant be eating meat. The greengrocer expected a shipment of those fancy artichokes they
grow in the South. Enough potatoes here. I fancy a whole baked salmon with artichoke hearts
shall suit us. A simple fruit course and a bottle of Port after dinner, and all the gentlemen shall be
happy for the happy bride.
What a happy bride.
Cheese would be nice with the olives and pickles before the dinner. Steam beer will suit that. No
need to buy flour. The happy bride should bake a few extra loaves and donate them to the church
where she shall get married. Married thanks to and only because of the mortal and pointless sin
she has committed. Married in a church. Beneath the eyes of God.
Such a happy bride.
The church shant lack for guests on my wedding day. The whole county knows of my cooking
skills. We have enough walnuts to serve with the Port. Mary always liked walnuts. Ill serve
almonds instead. Look for almonds. What herbs will complement the salmon? If I find almonds,
feed the walnuts to the pigs. A suckling pig will taste good on my wedding day.
Theres a happy bride.
A suckling pig served in the church on my wedding day. Sacrificed like Our Savior. When you
cut into that dead body at your wedding, Moira, try not to think of her dead body in the sea. We
have dried apricots. Cheese and bread, olives and pickles first; salmon with artichoke hearts and
potatoes second; fresh and dried fruit, almonds and Port for dessert. What bounty has California!
Try not once to think of her empty chair next to yours, Moira. Good luck with that. Pointless. I
wonder if I shall ever sleep again.
Im a happy bride.
Take this pork and eat of it. This is her body.
Moira. Calm yourself, woman. Your father and your husband to be have told you that marriage
will cure all my worries. My lack of sleep is natural for a girl about to become a wife. With
absence of sleep comes abundance of dreams, but I know dreams cant hurt me. She cant hurt
me, either. Not even in my dreams. Im making no sense. A rest, a brief rest, perhaps a nap.
(Noises off-stage.)
MOIRA
Whats that?! Who comes?! Did they hear me?! (Pause.) No, no, silly girl, theyre far too far
away. Oh, bother. They are on time and on schedule.
(MOIRA slices bread and cheese; then she goes to the kitchen door and calls OS.)
MOIRA
Come in, come in.
(ENTER PRIEST and FIDDLER.)
MOIRA
Sit, make yourselves sandwiches, theres water for you.
PRIEST
But we havent done our own Kyrie Eliaison.
MOIRA
Busy, busy, busy.
FIDDLER
Dont mind us; we can eat without talking.
PRIEST
Or making any other noise?
FIDDLER
I have never made noise! I am a musician!
PRIEST
Twould appear someone needs to come to confession.
MOIRA and FIDDLER

What?!
MOIRA
Confession?! Why?! What have I done?!
PRIEST
Miss Bannon, calm yourself! I referred to our friend who broke the Fifth Commandment
sanction against lying.
MOIRA
Oh. Yes. Of course.
FIDDLER
If ever I ever played badly, which seems impossible to me, twas me bow that was responsible!
But no more.
PRIEST
Oh, you and your new horsehair again.
FIDDLER
And again and again!
MOIRA
Pardon me?
FIDDLER
I must report the happiest yet strangest news, Miss Bannon! A few days ago, I received a
package, no return address, which contained the most beautiful flaxen horsehair for my bow that
I ever did see. It came with a note unsigned stating my new bowstrings will make my violin sing
like an angel.
MOIRA
Could you not recognize the hand?
FIDDLER
I could, but it could not be. The hand strongly resembled the writing of your departed sister.
Indeed, the horsehair itself most strongly reminded me of her long flaxen locks.
MOIRA
No, no, enough! Enough, enough, enough!
FIDDLER
But you asked me-
PRIEST
Enough. (Pause.) Fortunate fiddler, you perform at the weddings, you never plan them. Miss
Bannon has so much to do with her so happy day coming so soon upon the town. We shall leave
her now. Miss Bannon, would you mind?
MOIRA
Yes, yes, you may take some bread and cheese with you.
PRIEST
Come, my friend; you may rail all you wish in my ear. After all, listening is my vocation, if
sometimes my curse. Thank you, Miss Bannon, for your kind attentions. But if you dont mind
my saying so, I have had many decades experience at weddings, and I recommend that your
father hire some women to help you. Until the I do, weddings are nothing but chores.
MOIRA
Thank you, but Ill be fine.
FIDDLER
Marriage fixes everything. Fare well. Until dinner-
PRIEST
-God keep you. See you this evening.
MOIRA
Good-bye.
(EXIT PRIEST and FIDDLER. MOIRA collapses in a chair. Becomes very still,
as if asleep. Long pause. ENTER MARY. MARY walks about the kitchen, sees
the knives in their rack, examines them, finds one to her liking, takes it and stands
behind MOIRA. MARY smiles and strokes MOIRAS hair, then yanks back her
sisters head and puts the knife to her throat.)
MARY
Tell me again how dreams cannot hurt.
MOIRA
Mary-
MARY
Silence, sister, lest your sea-silenced sister silences you.
(Pause, as MARY enjoys the moment.)
MARY
Shall I cut your throat, my dark sister? Revenge so demands. But revenge is so primitive, and
cutting your throat can only please me once; thereafter, not so much. No. I shall behave as a
good Christian, and want only the best for my dear, dark sister.
MOIRA
Please dont slit my throat!
MARY
You shall get the most cutting of cruelties; you shall get all you want. My kindness shall be
crueler than cruelty. You shall have your wedding, you shall have my James, you shall have a
church filled to the rafters with friends filled with their admiration for how well youve done.
Your dead fair sister has returned to make your dreams come true for that is how your fair sister
shall make her dark sister suffer for what shes done.
MOIRA
You make no sense!
MARY
I will. You voided my contract. You took my life. Do you truly believe that you can break all
laws of God and men and escape justice?! All that was mine is no more; all that was mine is now
yours, by your murdering hands. You owe me, and like a debtor thrown in prison, you shall pay.
MOIRA
You wont slit my throat?
MARY
Slit your throat?! Oh, my dear dark sister, I am so sorry. I did not mean to mislead you so. I will
not slit your throat. I love my sister. I want you to have everything you ever wanted, and have
everything you ever wanted you shall. I want you to live; I want you to live forever.
MOIRA
You dont want revenge for what I did?!
MARY
A suckling pig for your wedding. I like that idea. The dead fair sister shall stuff her dear dark
sister as her sister stuffs the pig, pleasing the pig until the moment you slit its throat. I will stuff
you with all manner of happiness until your happiness drives you drowning of despair into the
river. Do all of the cooking for your wedding feast, Moira. You are the finest cook in all of
Sonoma County. Only you can create the perfect wedding. None can assist. None may assist.
None shall assist. And make sure you invite the entire county to your wedding. I command that.
The happy bride must have happy witnesses.
Take that pork and eat of it. That will be your body.
Such a very happy bride.
(MARY shoves MOIRA back into her sleeping posture. This is the same posture
as before, and suggests that MOIRA dreamt the previous events. MARY puts
down the knife and starts to leave, but pauses at the exit.)
MARY
Oh, and sister? Our father likes walnuts: do not feed them to the pigs.
(EXIT MARY. Long pause. ENTER WILLIAM and JAMES.)
WILLIAM
So those are my hopes for the northern acreageMoira?
LONDON
Darling?
(MOIRA awakens and screams.)
WILLIAM
Calm yourself, girl! You have had another bad dream!
LONDON
One of many lately.
WILLIAM
Can you blame her, with these events both past and yet to come?
LONDON
Perhaps not, but Moira, are you all right?
MOIRA
She was here. I swear she was here! Mary was here!
(The men look at each other.)
WILLIAM
Marriage will fix this.
LONDON
I know it shall. Marriage will solve everything.
MOIRA
No, you must believe me, Mary was here!
WILLIAM
You have been working too hard on too many chores.
LONDON
Since the future improvement in Williams financial situation will permit him to hire more
domestic help, and as the biggest wedding in Sonoma County history draws near, we have
decided that its not premature to hire a few maidservants to serve under your direction.
WILLIAM
Theyll assist in all areas of the preparations, including the cooking, which will assuredly prove a
great relief-
MOIRA
No!
LONDON
You dont want helpmaids?!
MOIRA
Not for the cooking!
LONDON
The guest list is rather long for one woman to-
MOIRA
I have cooked for two or three dozens!
WILLIAM
The number will be closer to a hundred-
MOIRA
The food must be perfect! I am the only woman in Sonoma County who can make it perfect!
James, you and I deserve the perfect wedding. I swear upon my mothers grave that we shall
have it.
LONDON
If you say so, my love. May we be permitted to hire maidservants for other purposes?
MOIRA
Yes. You may.
(WILLIAM and LONDON glance at each other.)

WILLIAM
I dare say that we should say that we have concluded a successful negotiation. Moiras fine, sir;
truly she is. Tis the hustle and bustle of the wedding chores that make her behave in such
uncharacteristic fashion. Marriage will make all things better for all of us.
LONDON
Yes. Indeed. I suppose so. Let us now proceed to town, so we may discuss the plans for the new
railroad depot and the canning factory, and so Moira may proceed with her chores unmolested.
WILLIAM
Indeed we should. Until lunch, daughter.
MOIRA
Until then, Father, James.
(EXIT WILLIAM and LONDON. MOIRA makes final preparations to go

shopping, but then stops before she leaves and stares at the misplaced knife that
MARY used on her.)
MOIRA
Thats not where I store that knife.
(Act II, Scene 5. The Wedding. The wedding takes place in a building that
functions as a town hall, chapel, meeting space or as a church, depending upon
the need. At LIGHTS UP, we see LONDON, PRIEST, FIDDLER, WRITER and
VILLAGER, and a sumptuous feast upstage center, including a suckling pig with
a carving knife embedded in it. LONDON and the PRIEST stand to one side,
while the WRITER stares in wonder at the food.)
VILLAGER
Behold the buffet, sir, the most famous feast, the feast most famous as the one of which no one
partook.
WRITER
Not true; I see the Fiddler helping himself.
VILLAGER
Of course; he is an artist and that is free food. Mind you, we will now become two of the
multitude of happy witnesses to this happy occasion. Bear careful witness to the scene.
LONDON
I never knew you had a financial interest in todays events.
PRIEST
Yea, but a financial interest only interested in serving Gods interests. Bannon tells me that with
his future profits, he shall donate funds enough to construct a Catholic church, large enough to
serve the entire county. No more of this common meeting hall.
LONDON
Why do I feel so nervous? Ive done this marriage business once before.
PRIEST
Its because of the terrible loss youve suffered. Deep down inside your soul, you fear the same,
my son. Trust in God to protect you and your innocent bride.
WRITER
Can you even slightly comprehend the magnitude of this feast?
VILLAGER
I heard the future Mrs. Bannon worked herself into a frenzy to provide this magnificent feast for
her marriage celebration.
WRITER
Surely Mr. Bannon provided women to help with the feast.
VILLAGER
Miss Moira would have none of that! She insisted upon staying up all hours, cooking as if the
Devil would take her should she sleep.
WRITER
I have heard tell that of late she behaves strangely.
VILLAGER
So I have heard as well. In fact-
PRIEST
And now, our fiddler shall perform as best as possible-
WRITER
God help us all.
VILLAGER
He better, were in His house.
PRIEST
-a wedding march.
FIDDLER
My performance shall prove a most pleasant surprise.
PRIEST
(To LONDON.)
The only sort of surprise it could prove.
(The FIDDLER begins, and all present are indeed surprised by the drastic
improvement in quality.)
WRITER
Telegraph the Vatican-
VILLAGER
-for we are witnessing a miracle!
PRIEST
I tell you, sir, this is a miracle.
LONDON
Is there no logical explanation?
PRIEST
The fiddler claims that those new golden bowstrings have made all the difference, but cannot tell
how. Look where Miss Bannon comes. Prepare yourself, sir: the future Mrs. London has never
looked so lovely.
(ENTER WILLIAM, with MOIRA clinging to his arm. Actually, this is not one of
her lovelier days; for all her finery and makeup, she looks even more ragged than
before. WILLIAM takes the PRIEST to one side.)
PRIEST
We were starting to wonder.
WILLIAM
Never mind that, start the service.
PRIEST
Of course. Youll be quite pleased with my sermon, Im sure-
LONDON
Moira, darling, are you well?!
MOIRA
Yes, truly, just another bit of excitement last night-
WILLIAM
Im sure you wrote a fine sermon, but Father-
PRIEST
I have perfected it for weeks, and feel certain it shall stand with my best-
WILLIAM
Listen to me, about your sermonsyour sermons are very good, but very long sometimes-
LONDON
Are you sure youre quite well?
WILLIAM
-perhaps too long today-
MOIRA
Im quite well, just nervous, no, excited, excited-
PRIEST
Do you impugn me with implications of long-windedness?!
LONDON
Well, dont worry yourself, love, marriage fixes everything.
MOIRA
Yes, I cant wait, I cant wait! The sooner the better!
WILLIAM
Look, priest, the bride needs you to keep your ceremony brief today; save your liturgical
masterpiece for another wedding.
PRIEST
Truth be told, staring at the banquet has stimulated my stomach.
WILLIAM
The faster you finish, the faster youll feel less famished.
PRIEST
You are a persuasive man of business, even in the house of our Lord. (To the congregation.)
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, please, to your proper places!
(All on stage take their assigned places.)
MOIRA
(Sotto voce, as if MARY were present.)
In a moment, Ill be married and rid of your malice forever.
LONDON
I beg your pardon?
MOIRA
(Playing on malice.)
My lace, Ill treasure my lace forever.
PRIEST
Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for partaking of this smiling occasion in the midst of
such scowling weather. I shall follow the example of Our Savior and keep the ceremony short, an
example both of His mercy and of mine.
(Laughter from all but a nervous MOIRA.)
PRIEST
For I know full well that though you are full of good feeling for our happy couple, you would
also feel full of Miss Bannons good food.
(Laughter from all but a nervous MOIRA.)
PRIEST
Let up pray. Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God to witness the holy
matrimony of Miss Moira Bannon and Mr. James London. God has brought these two together to
share in the trials and triumphs of marriage and bear witness to His goodness and love. James,
will you take this woman Moira-
(A flash of lightning and crack of thunder interrupt the PRIESTS speech for a
moment.)
PRIEST
-to love and cherish, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until
death do you part?
LONDON
I do.
PRIEST
And Moira-
(A flash of lightning and crack of thunder interrupt the PRIESTS speech for a
moment.)
PRIEST
-someone up there has a talent for melodramaMoira, will you take this man James, to love and
cherish, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you
part?
MOIRA
I do.
PRIEST
Then by the power vested in me by God in His Heaven and by the Roman Catholic Church, I
now pronounce you-
(We hear the loudest crash of thunder yet, as windows break and the stage is
plunged into total darkness. We hear the discordant music as the weird light
appears, revealing MARY standing in the place of the statue of the Virgin Mary.)
MARY
(Singing.)
Envy-poisoned, my sister there
Did she attack me unaware.
With hands like claws, she grappled me
Threw me down to the ravnous sea.
Song played with strands of golden hair
Reveals the murdress standing there.
MOIRA
Its not true! I didnt laugh or smile! Mary was going to take my husband away from me! He was
mine!
MARY
(Singing.)
Smiling at me did she look down
Laughing wildly as I did drown.
MOIRA
(Yanking the carving knife out of the pig.)
I hated you! I still hate you! Ill always hate you!
(MOIRA rushes to attack MARY. LIGHTS OUT SUDDENLY, and now a weird
light reveals only MOIRA and the statue. MOIRA stabs the statue.)
MOIRA
Die! Die and stay dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!
(LIGHTS OUT SUDDENLY, and now LIGHT UP again. Now we see

WILLIAM standing before the statue. He stares at MOIRA, the knife buried in his
chest.)
WILLIAM
Youcantattack the VirginMary. No, no. No-
(WILLIAM falls and dies. The PRIEST rushes to perform last rites, while the
WRITER and VILLAGER seize MOIRA and relieve her of the knife. LONDON
approaches her. Long pause.)
MOIRA
Marriage fixes everything.
LONDON
We arent married. The ceremony never ended.
(He joins the PRIEST. The PRIEST shakes his head.)
MOIRA
James?! You and I are married! And youre right; marriage fixes everything! I feel so much
better now. She will never haunt me again! James, look! We have a wonderful feast! Please,
dont hold me, let me serve you all, as a good wife should. Modesty would forbid, but this is my
finest suckling pig. Let me go, so I can serve you gentlemen, as a good wife should. I know how
a woman should behave. James? James, your food will go cold. Where is that carving knife? I
know it was right here. Why must you restrain me?! Where is that knife?! Where is? (Long
pause.) Father? Father?! Father!!! Who did this!? Who?! Why do you look at me?! My sister did
this! I know she did! Listen!
(ALL stare at MOIRA as sheand only shehears the music again.)
MOIRA
Hear ye that?! She is here! My sister is here, and she has attacked our father! Give out the alarm!
Raise a search party! Dont just stand there gaping at me like cows just arrived at the
slaughterhouse! What do you think I have done??
What have I done?
(LIGHTS OUT.)
(Act II, Scene 6.)
(A hospital room. MOIRA is bound tightly to the bed on which she lies examined
by WRITER and VILLAGER, who dress as, and become, doctors, as LONDON
watches and prays.)
VILLAGER
Our town doctor had experience and skill in setting the broken bones of men, but the broken soul
of a woman was beyond his ken.
WRITER
So you will now become him while I become the consulting physician from San Francisco?
VILLAGER
Yes, sir. (Pause.) Odd case. Fascinating, really.
WRITER
Do you think so? I disagree. This is but typical of the madness and hysterical delusions that
women, being of the weaker gender, are prone to suffer. Her violent outburst and fathers death
notwithstanding, this case looks typical of feminine insanity.
MOIRA
No, no. You cant be here. I murdered you, Mary! You flailed as you sank, your screams
drowning in the waters!
WRITER
I can tell you that in my experience, she will remain thus for the rest of her life.
MOIRA
Take her away from me, please take her away!
WRITER
Keep her bound securely, set careful watch. Feed her not: hunger will weaken her, making her
easier to handle. The orderlies from the lunatic asylum will arrive in a day to take her.
MOIRA
No! No!! NOOOOOO!!!
(MOIRA falls into a series of spasms and wordless moans. The straps hold, and
yet the DOCTORS still back away from her.)
WRITER
I did not hear of how her sister died.
MOIRA
Shes not dead. Shes here.
VILLAGER
We believe that Mary Bannon either fell into the river by accident or jumped in quite
deliberately. That Miss Bannon had been disappointed in love and might have resorted to
desperate action. To this day, her body has not been recovered.
MOIRA
Mary is here!
WRITER
Both sisters seem subjected to rash, violent and mad impulses, wholly lacking in self-control. I
wonder if such traits are innate to the Irish, or just their women.
VILLAGER
Probably just their women. This mental disorder looks like a womanly condition.
LONDON
You know nothing. Your medical degrees deceive you, render you senseless to your
senselessness. She could have been an extraordinary wife and mother, and you cant sense that,
cant sense the loss.
VILLAGER
Sir, this woman is a ghost of what she used to be.
MOIRA
I drowned her, but shes come back! She is here in this room, here to kill me!
WRITER
(Ignoring MOIRA and LONDON.)
Doctor, let us take leave of her. I suspect our presence provokes such outbursts.
LONDON
I will remain. Leave one light.
(VILLAGER and WRITER revert back to themselves.)
WRITER
I know London returned inland, but how did he end? The old newspaper articles told me nothing;
do you know anything?
VILLAGER
He used his trusted associates, the law and his purse to seize the Bannon lands and other assets.
Then he surrounded himself with widowed and never-married men, ordered a wife from a
catalog, and his family grew with his wealth, and his wealth grew with his bitterness, and his
bitterness grew with his family. Perhaps they grew each other.
(As WRITER and VILLAGER EXIT, one will blow out all but one candle. Light
changes to the weird light and REVEALS MARY already present in the room,
smiling at MOIRA. LONDON will never notice MARYS presence. He will
remain silent, praying and staring at MOIRA.)
MARY
Hello, Moira.
MOIRA
No, no. James! Help me! Doctors! Shes here!
MARY
Moira-
MOIRA
Mary has come for me!
MARY
Quiet.
(MOIRA goes quiet as if her sister had somehow silenced her. MARY still smiles
at MOIRA and shall remain smiling for the rest of the scene.)
MARY
Yes, Moira, I have come for you.
MOIRA
James!
MARY
Oh, do stop that, sister. He cannot hear you. He does not even know that you try to speak. You
think that you are screaming louder than you ever thought possible, but no matter how loudly
you scream, they cannot hear you at all. You do not need him anyway. You have me.
MOIRA
Pleaseyou might not believe this, but I really did love you, after all, youre my sister, but I
wanted so badly to become a wife and James did love me-
MARY
-you do not have to explain a thing. All you need to do is get well again. That is why I have
returned; because I love my dark sister and want her to get well again. Ah, ah, ah! Do not say a
word. You cannot say a word that the living can hear. Those pompous men who replaced their
brains with medical degrees shall hear nothing from you.
MOIRA
Mary, please leave me alone and go back to-
MARY
My dear dark sister, I cannot do that. You need me to help you get well. I have my filial duty. I
will remain at your side and do everything in my power to help you become well again. I will
stay and help you for as long as I must. I will remain with you.
(MARY blows out the last candle. LIGHTS OUT SUDDENLY. In the darkness:)
MARY
I will remain with you forever.
(We hear the weird fiddle music again.)
FINIS.

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THE DARK SISTER

A Traditional Folk Tale of Old California

Vonn Scott Bair

2011 by Vonn Scott Bair

Sonoma County, California, 1875.

(EXIT VILLAGER and WRITER. ENTER MARY from the house.)

(MOIRA awakes and rushes to check her oven.)

MOIRA & MARY

MOIRA & MARY

MOIRA & MARY

(WILLIAM inspects her work as she watches him.)

(EXIT WILLIAM. MOIRA resumes cooking.)

(A knock at one of the doors.)

(ENTER JAMES LONDON from outside, beaming as if a salesman. He dresses

(MOIRA serves him and awaits the verdict.)

(ENTER MARY, beautifully dressed.)

(Act I, Scene 2. LIGHTS UP on WILLIAM, LONDON and MARY in the

(MOIRA joins the others, serving food.)

(MARY notices the familiarity.)

(EXIT MOIRA into the kitchen.)

(ENTER MOIRA, with the fish course.)

(WILLIAM and MOIRA are stunned by the concession.)

(WILLIAM and MOIRA are stunned again.)

(MOIRA leaves the stage as she EXITS to the kitchen.)

(ENTER MOIRA into the dining room with bread.)

(Brief, uncomfortable pause. LONDON laughs.)

(MOIRA starts to leave the party.)

(MARY starts to realize that there is something more going on between

(Extremely long pause.)

(MOIRA returns to her same hiding place as before.)

(MOIRA laughs. LONDON moves closer.)

(LONDON moves very close to MOIRA.)

(MOIRA turns to her mothers tombstone.)

(Pause. MOIRA seems to be listening.)

(PRIEST and FIDDLER appear at the kitchen doorway.)

(EXIT PRIEST and FIDDLER, saying their farewells.)

(MOIRA sits and cries. Fighting through her tears:)

(MOIRA sits, exhausted from grief.)

MOIRA & MARY

(MOIRA, genuinely baffled, EXITS, followed by MARY.)

(Extremely long pause.)

(MARY assaults MOIRA feebly, girlishly.)

(MOIRA effortlessly defends herself and subdues Mary.)

(MOIRA starts to maneuver MARY to the riverbank.)

(Act I, Scene 6. The Bannon kitchen. ENTER MOIRA.)

(END OF ACT I.)

ALL EXCEPT MOIRA

(VILLAGER and WRITER turn away and start to leave.)

(EXIT WRITER and VILLAGER.)

(EXIT PRIEST and FIDDLER. A moment of silence.)

(Silence. WILLIAM continues to look at her.)

(Silence. WILLIAM continues to look at her.)

(EXIT WILLIAM. A moment of silence.)

(Pause, as if awaiting a response.)

(She leans over the grave.)

(MOIRA suddenly looks offstage right as if spotting someone. Pause. She

(MOIRA suddenly looks behind herself as if sensing someones presence. The

(MOIRA looks around again, as if sensing the presence of an eavesdropper, then

(A moment for them to savor their hug.)

(LONDON lights the candles, and they become visible.)

What a happy bride.

Such a happy bride.

Theres a happy bride.

Take this pork and eat of it. This is her body.