Scarlet Leyendecker

**Scarlet Leyendecker** is a secondary antagonist of *Big Sky* Season 1 and 2. She is the girlfriend and lover of Ronald Pergman, and mother to Phoebe Leyendecker.

## History

### Dating "Arthur"

Scarlet was dating Ronald Pergman after he escaped Helena to avoid the consequences of his actions, though she and her daughter knew him as Arthur, a meal delivery driver. They enjoyed their time together until Scarlet's sister, Mary, came over for a surprise visit during dinner one evening. This surprised Ronald, as Scarlet had told him she had no family. She insisted that she wasn't in contact with Mary and Mary had probably just heard that Scarlet had been seen around town with a new guy.

Scarlet found Ronald's taser under the sink and asked him about it. She encouraged him to confess his dark secrets to her, even admitting that she gets a thrill from stealing things. Later, in bed, she asked him again to tell her what he likes, but he refused.

Scarlet was doing laundry one day and found a note in Ronald's pocket that said, "I'll always be with you." This aroused her suspicion and she confronted Ronald with his taser, saying he needed to explain the note and every time he lied, she would shock him. He lied and got shocked a few times before finally telling her a story of finding the note and believing he was meant to find it. This story was also a lie, but she accepted it as the truth and said she thought she was falling in love with him.

Mary returned to Scarlet's place to try again to convince her that Ronald was bad news and that she knew him from somewhere. Scarlet again brushed off her concerns. Ronald arrived while they were talking and overheard part of their conversation. When Mary tried to take a picture of him, he refused until she joined the picture. He forced her to stand in the middle and then ominously said that when three people are photographed together, they say the one in the middle dies first. He later stole Scarlet's phone, though she believed she'd simply lost it.

Soon after that, Ronald surprised Scarlet and Phoebe with his new truck, saying they were going camping. Scarlet was hesitant, asking to wait until the morning, but Ronald insisted. When they arrived, Scarlet observed that it wasn't a regular campground and then took Phoebe out to explore. Later, Scarlet and Phoebe went out looking for Ronald, who had disappeared. When they found him, he claimed he'd followed a noise, thinking it was a wounded animal. He started to tell Phoebe about animals killing other animals until Scarlet stopped him, saying she didn't want him to scare Phoebe.

While they were still out in the woods, Scarlet got a call from Mark Lindor, who told her her sister was missing. Frantic, Scarlet started packing and insisted they leave immediately. Ronald refused until Scarlet told him there was something at Mary's house police could not find. They dropped Phoebe off with Peg, a neighbor, then went to Mary's house. On the way, Scarlet explained to Ronald about Steve, how he hurt her and she ended up sticking a screwdriver into his skull. Then she made up a story to tell Mary and they hid his body in a freezer in Mary's basement. She then told Ronald he could tell her anything, using his real name to show him she knew who he was. He was startled, but recovered quickly and they agreed to stop pretending with each other. When they arrived at the house, the found the freezer missing. Then they heard Jerrie arriving outside. Ronald pulled out his taser as they prepared for them to come inside.

The two of them kissed, then Ronald told Scarlet the plan. Scarlet screamed to draw them to her, pretending Ronald was holding her hostage. She also bit Ronald's hand. She then broke free and ran to Mark as Ronald ran in the other direction, only to get caught by Jerrie. Once Ronald was arrested, Scarlet told Mark, Cassie, and Jenny that she had no idea who he was and believed he was named Arthur, who worked with her sister. When she started crying, they sent her home, where she located the drive taped under the bathroom sink, as Ronald had instructed, and called the number she found on the drive. She was told to secure the drive and standby. After taking Phoebe to school, Scarlet let a man into the house who was wearing a Montana Highway Patrol uniform.

He took the drive and pulled out his gun. Scarlet told him Ronald had made a copy in order to keep him from killing her. He realized she had no idea what she was involved in and showed that he had pictures of Phoebe on his phone. He then took her and left. He dropped her off at a van parked on the side of the road with a burner phone and instructions to wait there. Later, a different man arrived with Ronald and they drove away together. He gave them both new identification and told them to study it as they'd be at the border in three hours. Scarlet said they had to get Phoebe first, but the man said the plan had changed and they didn't have time. Scarlet started to panic and said they had to go get her. Ronald and Scarlet then overpowered the man, killing him and dumping his body on the side of the road. Then they drove off together, holding hands.

Later on, she and Ronald are picked up by Wolfgang Legarski and held captive at his ranch. After six weeks of being held hostage they escape from Wolf, who has severely injured Ronald. Knowing Ronald is in major damage, she abducts a doctor to fix him up. Cassie, Wolf and Mark catch on to them and she gets temporarily knocked out by the doctor. She later escaped with Phoebe when nobody was inside the house, knowing Ronald has been killed. Later on she and Phoebe are at a Café and a member of the Syndicate finds them and demands to know where he the copy of the hidden object she has is, he follows them into the restroom and thinks they went out the window and leaves but Scarlet and Phoebe where hiding behind the door. Scarlet later called Cassie and told her that she wants to make a trade with her. Cassie rejected and told her to give Phoebe up since it's the only good option to get out of the mess.

Later on she and Phoebe are at a store and they spot the same member of the Syndicate again and they run, with the man close behind. The man followed them outside the door and into a warehouse, Scarlet jumped and stabbed him. The man's last words were that she will never be safe and that there are many others who are affiliated with him. Phoebe then told Scarlet that she's scared and doesn't want to keep running anymore. Scarlet realized she couldn't keep doing this because of Phoebe, and accepted she had to let her go.. She dropped off Phoebe at Cassie's home. Cassie returned and received a call from Scarlet. Scarlet asked her, mother-to-mother, to make sure that Phoebe is safe, letting Cassie take her to her aunt. Then she told Cassie to look inside Phoebe's backpack, which has information about the Syndicate inside. After this, she hung up, threw her phone on the ground and drove away.

## Relationships

### Familial

She and her sister grew up in Utah, where their father was a member of a splinter LDS group.

## Notes and Trivia

* She gets a thrill from stealing.
* It is unknown if Scarlet is still alive, as it's known she is being hunted by the Syndicate.

## Gallery

### Episodic

* Catastrophic Thinking
* All Kinds of Snakes
* No Better Than Dogs
* White Lion
* Nice Animals
* Bitter Roots
1/6

## References

1. ↑ Catastrophic Thinking, 1x10
2. ↑ All Kinds of Snakes, 1x11
3. ↑ No Better Than Dogs, 1x12
4. ↑ White Lion, 1x13
5. ↑ Nice Animals, 1x14
6. ↑ Bitter Roots, 1x15
7. ↑ Love is a Strange and Dangerous Thing, 1x16