The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc Page #2

She hears the drunken laughter getting closer...

CATHERINE:

Quick -- hide in here...

JEANNE:

What about you?

CATHERINE:

Don't worry about me -- just stay in

here... and don't move!

JEANNE:

But where are you going to be?

CATHERINE:

I'll be right here... I promise.

Catherine quickly lifts Jeanne inside the cupboard, locks

the door, then turns to confront THREE hefty ruffians

calling themselves soldiers. The biggest and ugliest has

a jet black beard.

BLACKBEARD:

Now that's what I call booty!

Blackbeard turns back to his comrades, who are sharing out

a roast chicken between them. Catherine picks up the

sword dropped by Jeanne as Blackbeard swaggers up to

her...

BLACKBEARD:

A woman with a sword?

(to his comrades)

Hey, take a look at this --

Frenchmen are such cowards that

they've left all the fighting to

women!

CATHERINE:

If that's God's will, then so be it!

Blackbeard's comrades start tucking into their food,

leaving Blackbeard to his pleasure.

BLACKBEARD:

Fine with me. I love women.

He undoes his buckle. From her POV behind the cupboard

door, Jeanne can just about see Blackbeard's face through

a crack. Catherine raises the heavy sword as Blackbeard

advances, then brings it sweeping down. But he intercepts

it effortlessly, grasping the blade as though it were a

twig...

BLACKBEARD:

Oh... now you've hurt my feeling...

He puts his hand around her throat, rips off her little

wooden cross, pins her against the door, then, with a

lecherous roar, plunges his face on her...

Jeanne is terrified. Blackbeard has his tunic down and is

attempting to gain entry -- Catherine tries to scream --

he slams his hand over her mouth -- she bites it --

Blackbeard howls... with laughter. Now his juices are

really moving. Catherine squirms against the door,

twisting and turning --

BLACKBEARD:

Hold still, b*tch. How can I do it

if you keep wriggling about?

He picks her up by the throat, lifts her clear off the

floor by several inches, then rams the sword clean through

her gut and the door behind her, the blade just missing

Jeanne.

BLACKBEARD:

There, that's better.

With a grin at his comrades, Blackbeard resumes his

intercourse with the lifeless Catherine. Behind the door,

Jeanne is suffocating with terror.

The little wooden necklace lies on the floor in f.g. as

Blackbeard pulls up his pants and turns to his comrades --

BLACKBEARD:

Your turn.

EXT. CHURCHYARD - VILLAGE - DAY

The little village church is no more than a smoldering

pile of rubble -- among it, the twisted stained-glass of

an angel. Corpses are piled up alongside a warren of

shallow graves, awaiting committal. The Priest passes by

each grave in turn, administering hasty last rites, then

moving onto the next while a harassed grave-digger fills

in the last.

Jeanne stands by a shallow grave, now wearing her sister's

wooden cross and grazing fixedly at her body, wrapped in

linen and awaiting interment. Her parents and other

adults stand nearby, but at Jeanne's level we only see

them from the waist down.

MAN #1 (O.S.)

We shouldn't be doing this by

daylight... it's too dangerous.

MAN #2 (O.S.)

You're right -- the English are

still around -- I can smell them...

MAN #3 (O.S.)

When is the king going to do

something?

MAN #1 (O.S.)

He's good for nothing...

MAN #2 (O.S.)

Yeah... we can't even be sure he

really is a king...

(whispering)

I heard someone say he's a

bastard...

MAN #1 (O.S.)

With a mother like that? I wouldn't

be surprised... she's such a

whore...

WOMAN (O.S.)

Can you show some respect? We're

burying our children. You should be

praying instead of cursing...

MAN #2 (O.S.)

That's just about all we can do.

WOMAN (O.S.)

Yes... because only God can help us.

Now the Priest scurries over, hurriedly mumbles the last

rites in Latin, then moves on to the next grave. Jeanne's

family have their eyes closed in prayer, and it is only

Jeanne who sees the Grave-digger nudge the corpse into the

shallow grave with his foot. He shovels in the earth,

then moves on. The Father puts his hand on her shoulder.

FATHER:

Listen, Jeanne... your Uncle and

Aunt are taking you to their house

for a few weeks... just to give us

time to rebuild what we can.

Jeanne looks at him blankly, her thoughts too deep for

tears.

EXT. VILLAGE & ROAD - DAY

Jeanne sits on the back of a small hay-wagon. Her Uncle

and Aunt are up front, eyes on the barren, devastated

countryside ahead, while Jeanne gazes fixedly on the road

behind. From her POV: the receding figures of her

parents, gradually merging with the dusty landscape.

INT. DAXART'S HOUSE - NIGHT

A large, low room, almost identical to Jeanne's house: a

bare, earthen floor with chickens running about, and a

huge cave of a fireplace. The Aunt doles out soup from a

cauldron -- first to her husband, then to Jeanne.

DAXART:

Lord, we give thanks for the food

you have given us. Teach us always

to love this land, and to save it

from those who seek to destroy it.

Amen.

Jeanne says nothing -- noted by Daxart. His wife nudges

him with a gesture to let her be.

INT. DAXART ATTIC - NIGHT

Daxart opens the door to an attic room, his wife standing

behind him with Jeanne. She wanders into the room, tidy

but sparse, and sits on the edge of the bed. Daxart looks

a little put out.

DAXART:

So... good night then.

The Aunt understands Jeanne better than her husband, and

leads him from the room.

INT. SLEEPING QUARTERS - NIGHT

The Daxarts share the communal sleeping area with a couple

of goats and a mangy dog. Daxart is settling down to

sleep, but his wife lies awake.

AUNT:

What's going to happen to her?

DAXART:

She'll be fine. She'll grow up...

find a good man... make him some

children. Don't worry -- she's been

hurt, but she'll survive. Tomorrow

she'll be as right as rain, you'll

see.

INT. DAXART ATTIC - DAY

Daxart opens the door to the attic. Jeanne has not moved:

she's still sitting on the bed like the day before.

JEANNE:

I want to see a priest.

INT. VILLAGE CHURCH - DAY

Christ, crucified in stained glass. A silver cup is

raised in blessing...

The local PRIEST, much older than the one at Domremy,

lowers the cup, filled with wine in preparation for the

Mass. The Daxarts enter the church at the far end, with

Jeanne between them. The Priest is expecting her.

INT. CONFESSIONAL BOX - DAY

Jeanne sits in the shielded darkness of the confessional

box. She clutches at her little wooden cross and at last

begins to cry.

PRIEST:

I heard about your sister, and I...

understand your pain...

JEANNE:

Why did she have to die?

PRIEST:

Only God knows the answer to that.

JEANNE:

I know Jesus says to love our

enemies but I can't -- I just want

the English to burn in hell for ever

and ever!

PRIEST:

I realize your anger, Jeanne, but we

must learn to forgive. It's hard,

but revenge will never bring about

peace.

JEANNE:

Then what will? And what will bring

her back? And why did she have to

die in the first place instead of

me? Why didn't he take my life

instead of hers? It was my fault --

I was late -- she gave me her hiding

place...!!

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