The Last of the Mohicans Page #21

CORA:

He knew the consequences. And he

stayed. Are those the actions of a

criminal? ...Duncan, do something.

HEYWARD:

He knew the penalty for breaking

regulations. He ought to pay without

sending you to beg.

CORA:

You know he wouldn't send me...!

You misrepresented what you saw and

caused this.

(frustrated)

I, too, was at that farm. It was as

he said...

MUNRO:

Not with enough certainty to outweigh

British interests in this fort.

HEYWARD:

And who empowered these provincials

to pass judgment upon England's

policies in her own colonies? To

come and go without so much as a "by

your leave."

CORA:

They do not live their lives "by

your leave." ...They hack it out of

the wilderness with their own two

hands, burying their dead and their

children along the way.

HEYWARD:

(distant)

You are defending him because you've

become infatuated with him.

Cora is having her intelligence written off as a hormone

attack. She contains her fury.

CORA:

Duncan, you are a man with a few

admirable qualities. But taken as a

whole, I was wrong to have thought

so highly of you.

Heyward's shot through the heart.

MUNRO:

But the man is guilty of sedition

and subject to military justice and

beyond pardon.

CORA:

"Justice"? If that's "justice"...,

then the sooner French guns blow the

English army out of America, the

better it will be for these people.

MUNRO:

You do not know what you are saying!

CORA:

(explodes)

Yes I do! I know exactly what I am

saying. And if it is sedition, then

I am guilty of sedition, too!

She exits, leaving them there.

CUT TO:

INT. FORT, STOCKADE - NIGHT

Heavy timbered door. A sentry. They stand at attention when

Cora passes as opposed to barring her entry.

INT. CELL - NIGHT

HAWKEYE:

comes to the door, grips the bars with his hands and looks

at Cora.

THROUGH THE BARS TO CORA

They are silent for a moment, then...

HAWKEYE:

Sorry... can't ask you in.

Cora's pale smile.

CORA:

They're going to hang you.

(pause; soft)

Why didn't you leave when you had

the chance?

HAWKEYE:

Because what I am interested in is

right here...

CORA:

What would you have me do?

He touches her hand.

HAWKEYE:

Webb's reinforcements will arrive or

not. If they do not arrive, the

fort will fall. If that happens,

stay close to your father. The French

will protect the officer class among

the English.

CORA:

No. I will find you.

HAWKEYE:

Do not.

(pause)

Promise me.

Cora drops her forehead to Hawkeye's hands wrapped around

the bars. She acquiesces, nods. Then HEAVY SHELLING commences.

Cora & Hawkeye look up. Mortar bombs begin striking the

fortress. Still dark. The final French bombardment has

started.

CORA:

The whole world's on fire, isn't it?

A pause.

HAWKEYE:

This part of it sure is...

Reaching through the bars set in the thick door, their hands

clasp each others. On that image...

CUT TO:

EXT. FORT WILLIAM HENRY - DAWN

VARIOUS CUTS (2ND UNIT)

French cannoneers in Batteries #1 and #2 fire again and again.

They work like precision drill teams.

FRENCH TRENCH:

ending in Battery #3 is complete and surprisingly close to

William Henry's walls. Crews reload the squat and massive

newly arrived thirteen inch mortars.

MORTAR ONE:

The flash-hole is primed. The burning fuse is jammed into

the bomb. The primer charge is lit off and the crew ducks as

the crude iron belches red flame and black smoke into the

lightening sky. The second mortar ROARS. Then a THIRD.

CUT TO:

INT. FORT WILLIAM HENRY - DAWN

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