ROUGHSTOCK

               FADE IN:

               EXT. CHEYENNE, WYOMING RODEO - DAY

               The sky offers not a puff of cloud or shade to keep the hot 
               rays of the July sun from baking the cowboys, wranglers and 
               clowns who maneuver around the dusty grounds.

               SUSAN BRIDGER, a rancher in her thirties with a sense of 
               defiance about her, watches a crew of rodeo workers shove a 
               bull into one of the pens lining a large ring filled with 
               dirt and surrounded by spectators.

               Leaning on the fence and taking a quick look up at the sun, 
               Susan's face is impassive until she receives a slap on the 
               arm from VIC CORDOVA, her head ranch hand and lifetime family 
               friend.  He's dressed like a rodeo clown.

                                     VIC
                         Praying to God?

                                     SUSAN
                         As if he'd care about a bunch of bad-
                         tempered bulls.

                                     VIC
                         I think those bulls need some hats.

                                     SUSAN
                         Hotter this year than last.

                                     VIC
                              (nodding at the ring)
                         That rider will fall off good and 
                         fast if he knows what's good for 
                         him.

               A few words from an unintelligible announcer's voice precedes 
               a loud buzzer after which the gate of one of the pens opens 
               and a rider is thrust into the center of the ring while 
               sitting on top of a particularly nasty bull.

                                     SUSAN
                         That's my boy.  Send him flying.

               The bull obliges and the young rider is flung off the animal's 
               back.  A group of clowns emerges from the side to guide the 
               bull away from the rider who rises slowly, wiping his dusty 
               Wranglers off with his hands and walking out of the ring.

                                     VIC
                         Particularly bad-tempered.  Absolutely 
                         marvelous.