Friend (A Field in England)

Friend

Background

Friend is a soldier in England. He is married, but is having an affair with his wife's sister. Friend was a cooper at Wickford, Essex before he joined the army. He once had to pull his overweight father-in-law from a bog.

During the events of A Field in England (2013) played by Richard Glover

During a battle of the English Civil War in Monmouthshire, Friend collapses near Whitehead and Cutler checks on him. Cutler starts to take things from the supposedly dead Friend. Whitehead stumbles towards Jacob who is also going through Friend's stuff. Jacob starts attacking Whitehead and Cutler when he thinks they are members of the opposing forces and Cutler tells him that they are no longer a part of any army. He tells the others that he knows of an ale house not far away and Friend suddenly gets up. They start to walk towards where the ale house is supposed to be and Whitehead contemplates going back to the battle. Cutler notices the sounds of battle have faded and they continue on their way. Friend tells Whitehead that he noticed his hands were soft and clean and they tell each other about what they did before the war. They arrive at Cutler's camp and he goes to gather mushrooms for a soup. He offers the soup to the others and Friend and Jacob eat it, but Whitehead says he is fasting.

Whitehead asks the others to help him and takes them to a fairy circle where they find a rope tied to a rune covered wooden post. Cutler then convinces them to pull on the rope and they pull O'Neil from the ground. Jacob and Friend start to feel the effects of the hallucinogenic mushrooms Cutler fed them and Whitehead tries to get them to help him detain O'Neil. Cutler hands Friend and Jacob shovels and orders them to follow him. O'Neil brings them to his camp and then tortures Whitehead in his tent. He ties a rope around Whitehead and Whitehead, in a trance runs to a certain spot in the field. O'Neil then has Jacob and Friend dig a hole. Friend, Jacob and Whitehead continue to dig the hole and eventually have to put in shoring.

Friend and Jacob start to fight and Cutler pees on them to get them to stop. Jacob charges at Cutler and Cutler fires at him, but shoots Friend in the chest. Friend tells Jacob and Whitehead that he never had friends like them and asks that they send a message to his wife that he hated her, burned her father's barn down and that he loved her sister who he had sex with often. Friend's body is then dragged out of the hole. Jacob and Whitehead go to O'Neil's tent and Jacob takes a rifle that was left behind. Friend appears behind them alive and with no wound and calls to O'Neil. O'Neil fires his pistol and shoots Jacob in the stomach and Jacob shoots O'Neil in the ankle, which collapses under him. Whitehead tells Jacob that the treasure was the friendship they had. Jacob dies and Friend charges at O'Neil with a spear, but O'Neil shoots him dead.