Bare Knuckle Page #4

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DESTINE:

Thank you for the food.

Jack moves in for a kiss, but Destine turns her cheek.

DESTINE (CONT’D)

Je suis desolee, I cannot. I belong

to another.

She hops off her bar stool and Jack quickly grabs her arm.

BAD JACK:

I do not see your Irish mate.

DESTINE:

He’s at war.

BAD JACK:

Then he’s as good as dead.

DESTINE:

You do not know him. Nothing will

stop him from coming back to me.

She squirms her arm away and runs out of the bar.

Jack will not stoop to chase. He picks up a stool and heaves

it across the bar. The patrons stop and stare.

DRUNKARD:

Why don’t ya just drag her upstairs

and have your way with her?

BAD JACK:

‘Cause I don’t get my kicks from

rape like you, ya rat-eating

shanker. Gideon!

Gideon comes rushing up from the crowd.

BAD JACK (CONT’D)

Spread the word. No man gives her

work. I want every door in New York

slammed in her face!

Gideon nods and runs off.

19.

EXT. HENRICO COUNTY VIRGINIA - FIELDS - DAY

BOOM! Clouds of smoke and bursts of light. Sounds of gunfire

and death. Kieran and Cillian stand shoulder to shoulder

firing volleys at the Confederate forces across a field.

Kieran trudges through the twelve step process of reloading

his musket while Cillian simply puts a new cartridge in the

trough of his breechloader and fires.

INT. RUNDOWN SALOON - EVENING

Destine sheepishly walks through a shoddy saloon full of

thieves and miscreants. She approaches the bartender.

DESTINE:

I was inquiring if you need some

female entertainment.

BARTENDER:

Maybe, gorgeous. What’s the name?

DESTINE:

Destine.

BARTENDER:

Can’t help ya.

He turns his back. Destine backs away confused and

downtrodden.

EXT. URBANA - EVENING

Kieran sits alone against a large Oak tree a couple hundred

feet from the Union tents. Rows of cannons and stacks of

cannon balls surround the encampment.

The setting sun gives just enough pink light for Kieran to

put ink to paper. His hands are marked with blood yet to be

washed off.

KIERAN (V.O.)

My dearest Destine, how I miss you

my love.

VARIOUS SHOTS - DESTINE AND KIERAN’S STRUGGLES

--Kieran and his men march through the forests of Virginia.

20.

KIERAN (V.O.)

I have become a soldier. I march. I

practice loading my musket and I

march some more. It feels like I’ve

walked across the entire world.

--Destine talks to a man in the doorway of his saloon, but he

shuts the door on her.

KIERAN (V.O.)

I hope our savings is keeping you

well fed and warm. Or perhaps your

singing career has blossomed.

--Blood turns the fields red as men fall dead around Kieran’s

firing regiment.

KIERAN (V.O.)

There is only death here. I cannot

count how many men have been cut

down at my side. I’m not ashamed to

say I fear that soon I could find

myself amongst the slain.

--Destine pleads with the owner of a chicken factory but is

sent away.

KIERAN (V.O.)

That fear is only a whisper when

compared to the bellowing worry I

have for your safety. It was Bad

Jack who sent me here. I know he

wants you for his own.

--Kieran weaves his way through soldiers and drops his letter

in the postman’s bag just before he rides off.

KIERAN (V.O.)

Stay clear of Bad Jack at any cost.

All my love, Kieran.

EXT. MALVERN HILL - SUNRISE

The birds are singing atop a large hill full of small trees

and bushes. Kieran stares out over the mass of sleeping and

wounded soldiers.

Cillian approaches from behind.

CILLIAN:

Does it taste the way you thought?

Kieran turns to Cillian standing behind him.

21.

KIERAN:

What?

CILLIAN:

Killing.

KIERAN:

It’s like I’m not myself anymore. I

think of my old life...it seems

like a dream.

Cillian sits and lights a cigarette.

CILLIAN:

It was. Now you’re awake and will

never sleep again.

KIERAN:

I feel Godless.

CILLIAN:

That’s good.

KIERAN:

Good?

CILLIAN:

Those who will survive are the

fastest, smartest, the most

ruthless. God has nothing to do

with it.

KIERAN:

And if a stray bullet was to blow a

hole in your leg or a cannonball

roll you over, I wonder if you

would sing this same song.

CILLIAN:

Hasn’t happened yet.

KIERAN:

You’re wrong about one thing. I

will sleep again. Beside my woman I

will lay, and this war will be the

dream.

CILLIAN:

Ten thousand Confederates will

surround this hill before the month

is out. Your focus must remain on

nothing but blood. Because the

blood of your enemies is the only

thing that can get you back to her.

22.

This sparks a sharpness in Kieran.

KIERAN:

Then I shall paint these lands red.

INT. CHURCH BASEMENT - NIGHT

Destine grabs the only item left on her kitchen shelf. She

opens the jar of maple syrup and scrapes the last drop onto

her tongue.

She takes off her dress. Her ribs are poking through her

pasty skin. She puts on her dressing gown and lays her

emaciated body in bed.

She clasps her hands and closes her eyes to pray.

DESTINE:

Please God, do not let me fall into

darkness. Do not let me starve

again as I have before. Anything

but that. Please.

CRASH! A burning torch flies through the window.

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE (O.S.)

GO BACK TO IRELAND YOU WHORES OF

BABYLON!!

The wooden walls catch fire. Smoke fills the basement.

Destine rushes from the burning building.

EXT. ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH - CONTINUOUS

She joins the other scattering occupants of the church who

gaze upon their home now engulfed in flames. FATHER JOSEPH

has a musket and he swings it around in every direction.

FATHER JOSEPH:

Where are you cowards? I’ll blast a

hole through the lot of ya!

The flames grow bigger. A shadow catches Destine’s eye. A

brief moment of focus and she sees Lester. He stares at her

with menacing eyes. Then slyly walks off.

DESTINE:

They burn our church and you do

nothing! Nique ta mere! (f*** your

mother) Nique ta mere.

23.

The wind changes and the smoke swells over Destine. She drops

to her knees, hacking, trying to crawl away.

EXT. MALVERN HILL - NIGHT

The Irish Brigade are firing volley after volley into the

Confederate lines mounting there way up the hill.

Cannon fire is exploding in both directions. The lines of

Kieran and Cillian’s formation are scattered.

The determined Confederate foot-soldiers weave their way to

the Union outfit. Cillian pulls out his bayonet and wields it

like a knife. Kieran readies himself with his bayonet

attached to his musket.

CILLIAN:

No hesitation. Be vicious.

Cillian runs to a large leafy tree and puts his back to the

trunk. Kieran and the rest of their brigade hit the

Confederate forces head on and engage in hand to hand combat.

Cillian leaves the tree and slays two enemy soldiers from

behind. His moves are calm, calculated, and deadly accurate.

Kieran grunts as he takes on attacks from all angles. He

smacks the butt of his gun against a Confederate’s chin then

turns and buries his bayonet into the guts of another.

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