The Patriot Page #15

Marion's men mount, one motions to Marion...

MARION:

GO!

Marion's men ride off, leaving him ALONE... a Dragoon is

almost on him, SWORD RAISED. Marion, his weapon spent,

sees a thick branch on the ground, two feet long... grabs

it...

The sword flashes and SINKS DEEPLY INTO THE WOOD... Marion

YANKS, brings the rider off his horse, grabs the reins and

SWINGS HIMSELF UP INTO THE EMPTY SADDLE. Marion rides

down the embankment...

The Dragoons rein back, slowed by the dead horses and men.

They spur their reluctant mounts over the bodies and

follow Marion and his men into the swamp...

EXT. BLACK SWAMP - DAY

MARION RIDES HARD, galloping along a circuitous, barely

visible dry trail... A MOMENT LATER, Tarleton and Green

Dragoons follow...

EXT. DEEP IN THE SWAMPS - EVENING

MARION CATCHES UP to a dozen of his men, including Gabriel

and Billings. Several of the men are badly wounded,

barely clinging to their saddles...

They ride through the shallow water, get to a fork, SPLIT

UP. As they disappear into the swamp, the sounds of their

horses are swallowed up in the LOUD BUZZING OF SWAMP

INSECTS and the CRIES OF THE SWAMP BIRDS...

A moment later, Tarleton and the vanguard of Dragoons ride

up. Tarleton signals stop at the fork...

Looks... nothing. Listens... nothing. Chooses a path,

the one Marion took. Rides off, the Dragoons following...

EXT. DEEPER IN THE SWAMPS - NIGHT

Darker still. Tarleton and his men come to a dead end,

blocked by a heavy tangle of huge swamp ferns and thorn

bushes.

They rein back their horses, stopping in a confused mess.

Tarleton calls to Gaskins and the Loyalist scouts.

TARLETON:

Which way?

GASKINS:

This way... no this... I think...

Tarleton makes his own choice... rides off... the Green

Dragoons follow, the Loyalists bring up the rear.

EXT. SWAMP MORASS - NIGHT

Tarleton and his mounted Dragoons struggle through a

nearly impassable morass of swamp-grass, reeds and

swarming mosquitoes...

The exhausted Dragoons are wet, covered with mud, and

bleeding from swamp briars. The horses are spent and

foaming...

Tarleton struggles harder than any, but finally even he

has had enough. He reins back his horse.

TARLETON:

HALT!

Tarleton glares into the impenetrable darkness of plant-

choked water and swamp...

TARLETON:

Enough of this. There are other

ways to run down a fox.

Tarleton yanks on his reins, turns his horse and starts

back the way they came. His grateful men turn their

horses and follow.

IN THE UNDERGROWTH, Marion, Gabriel, Billings and three

badly wounded men, with only four horses between them,

calm their mounts...

They can hear, but not see the Dragoons. Then, through

the thick undergrowth, MARION CATCHES A GLIMPSE OF

TARLETON...

Gabriel, tending the wounded men, sees his father lock his

eyes on Tarleton...

Marion quickly opens his weapons pouch and pulls out one

of the bullets he made from Thomas' lead soldiers.

Walking to his horse, Marion loads...

Marion mounts, scanning the terrain, planning a route...

GABRIEL:

Father, no...

As Marion spurs his horse to ride after Tarleton, Gabriel

grabs the bridle. He YANKS HARD, stopping Marion's horse

dead. THE HORSE BUCKS, nearly throwing Marion...

MARION:

That's him. Tarleton.

MARION SPURS THE HORSE which tries to respond but is

JERKED BACK AGAIN by Gabriel. Marion angrily turns on his

son...

MARION:

Damn you! Let go!

Gabriel looks up at his father, never loosening his iron

grip on the bridles but speaking softly, almost

pleadingly:

GABRIEL:

Father, please...

Marion looks down at Gabriel. Then Marion looks over at

Billings and the three wounded men...

One bleeds from an ugly neck wound... their shared mounts

are nearly spent...

Marion takes a last look in the direction of the departing

Tarleton. Then he dismounts and hurries over to help the

wounded. Gabriel watches his father for a moment, then

joins him with the wounded.

EXT. WOODED GLEN - NIGHT

Dark. Marion and his battered men gather, taking stock.

Men drift in, mounted and on foot in ones and twos, past

wary sentries. GABRIEL RIDES UP, dismounts and reports to

Marion, out of earshot of the other men.

GABRIEL:

Fourteen dead, eleven wounded,

eighteen captured.

MARION:

I should have killed him when I had

the chance?

GABRIEL:

When was that? In the swamp at the

expense of your men? Or when he

killed Thomas at the expense of your

family?

MARION:

No...

GABRIEL:

Or perhaps tomorrow at the expense

of our cause.

Marion is silent.

GABRIEL:

There will be a time and a place for

revenge but killing Tarleton at the

expense of your duty serves no one

but yourself.

(beat)

Stay the course.

The parental-sounding formality of Gabriel's words brings

a thin smile to Marion's face.

MARION:

Stay the course... your mother used

to say that to me when I'd get drunk

or lose my temper.

GABRIEL:

She'd say it to me when I picked on

Thomas or Nathan.

MARION:

You learned her lessons better than

I.

GABRIEL:

She got me at a more impressionable

age.

Marion smiles, nods a silent thanks to his son and heads

over to help with the wounded.

EXT. MARION'S ENCAMPMENT - NIGHT

A cold, winter rain falls. Most of Marion's grim men are

huddled in lean-to's and around campfires. Green and

several other Pembroke townspeople unload a wagon of

supplies while Marion, Scott and Fielding stow the

provisions.

Gabriel and Anne sit at a fire, under the cover of a lean-

to, taking quietly. He's troubled. She tries to be

hopeful.

ANNE:

Next time we'll bring more blankets.

GABRIEL:

That would be nice.

ANNE:

Maybe we'll be lucky this winter and

have just rain, no snow.

GABRIEL:

That would be nice, too.

She takes a pot off the campfire and pours him a cup of

tea.

ANNE:

Just because the French didn't come

this fall, doesn't mean they're

never going to come.

He nods and takes a drink of the tea. She smiles.

Gabriel smiles back to her, revealing a mouthful of ink-

stained, black teeth. Before she has time to laugh...

ROLLINS RIDES HARD INTO CAMP. Marion hurries over,

accompanied by the Great Danes. The other men gather

around.

ROLLINS:

They're to be hung!

GABRIEL:

But they're prisoners-of-war!

Marion isn't as surprised as Gabriel. He is, however,

taken aback by Gabriel's black teeth. Gabriel notices

everyone looking at his mouth.

Anne is embarrassed and regretful, seeing her joke fly in

the face of the troubling news.

EXT. FORT CAROLINA - DAY

A REDCOAT SENTRY sees a lone figure on horseback ride out

of distant woods. It's Rev. Oliver, carrying a white flag

with one hand, holding a dispatch case in the other. The

sentry calls to the Commander of the Watch.

REDCOAT SENTRY:

Sir.

INT. CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - FORT CAROLINA - DAY

A temporary HQ has been set up in a commandeered

farmhouse. Cornwallis stands uncomfortably while a tailor

measures him and marks alterations on a partially

completed uniform. Tarleton enters.

TARLETON:

General, a message from the

commander of the rebel militia.

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