Braveheart Page #3

CAMPBELL:

William... Come down here, lad.

William looks away, he takes quick breaths, he looks back...

but the bodies are still there.

EXT. HOUSE - DAY

It's now surrounded by horses, wagons, and neighbors. The

undertaker arrives in his hearse.

INT. THE SHED - DAY

On a table the undertaker has laid out the bodies and is

preparing them. Cloths around the lower jaw and top of the

head bind their mouths shut; pennies cover their eyes.

Softly, William enters the shed, drawn to his father and

brother. Campbell follows him in, wanting to stop him -- but

what can he say now? The undertaker goes on with his work.

William approaches the table; the bodies don't look real to

him. He sees the wounds. The dried blood.

The undertake pours water from a bowl and scrubs off the

blood. But the wounds remain.

EXT. GRAVESIDE - DAY

CLOSE on a grave, with a headstone marked ANNE WALLACE. We

INCLUDE the two new graves freshly dug beside it, and see

the mourners gathered before them. The sight of the boy,

standing alone in front of the graves of his dead mother, as

the bodies of his father and brother are lowered with ropes

into the ground beside her, has all of the neighbors shaken.

The local parish PRIEST drones mechanically in Latin.

The farmers who were secretly gathered in Malcolm Wallace's

kitchen the previous night are now glancing at William; but

no one is anxious to adopt a grieving, a rebellious boy.

Behind MacClannough are his wife and two daughters; his

youngest is barely four, not half William's age; she's a

beautiful girl with long auburn hair, and she clings to her

own mother's hand, as if the open graves are the mouths of

death and might suck her parents in too.

PRIEST:

...Restare in pacem eternis, Amen.

With the final Amen, the neighbors drift from the graveside,

pulling their Children along, to give William a last moment

of private grief before the grave diggers cover the bodies.

The boy stands alone over the open graves, his heart so

shattered that he can scarcely cry; a single tear makes its

way down his face. And the tiny girl feels for William in a

way that the adults cannot. From the ground she pulls a

Scottish thistle, moves to the softly weeping William and

places the beautiful wild blossom in his hand.

William looks up and their young eyes meet; her sad blue

eyes hold William's as the grave diggers cover the bodies.

Then a lone, mounted figure appears at the crest of the hill

above them. Tall, thin and angular, in black clerical garb,

he looks like the grim reaper.

The girl hurries back to her mother's side; everyone watches

in silence as the figure rides down to them. He is ARGYLE

WALLACE. He looks like a human buzzard, his face craggy,

permanently furious.

PRIEST:

You must be the relative of the

deceased... William, this is your

Uncle Argyle.

Argyle glowers at the man, dismounts, and glares at William.

William stares up at this frightening figure. They are

interrupted by the ominous sound of approaching horses; a

dozen mounted English soldiers, armed with lances, are

approaching. Argyle rattles to the priest...

ARGYLE:

You were wise to hurry.

The soldiers ride right in among the mourners and stare down

from their saddles, haughty, menacing, their LEADER brusque.

LEADER:

Someone dead from this household?

ARGYLE:

We just had a funeral, isn't that

what it means in England as well?

LEADER:

What it means in England -- and in

Scotland too -- is that rebels have

forfeited their lands. We were

ambushed last night. But the Scots

dragged their dead away.

ARGYLE:

My brother and nephew perished two

days ago, when their hay cart turned

over.

LEADER:

Then we'll just have a peek at the

wounds.

(to his men)

Dig 'em up!

ARGYLE:

They've been sanctified and buried

in the holy rites of God's church,

and any hand that disturbs them now

takes on eternal damnation. So please --

do it.

Outmaneuvered, the leader reins his horse away. Several of

the farmers spit on the ground. Argyle glares at them.

ARGYLE:

Funeral's over. Go home.

INT. THE KITCHEN - NIGHT

William and Argyle are sitting at the table, eating. Argyle

has laid out a proper meal, with exact place settings.

ARGYLE:

Not that spoon, that one's for soup.

Dip away from you. And don't slurp.

Argyle sits down and begins to dine with the boy.

ARGYLE:

We'll sleep here tonight. You'll

come home with me. We'll let the

house, and the lands too; plenty of

willing neighbors.

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