The Patriot Page #17

Cornwallis glares at Marion.

CORNWALLIS:

You are not a gentleman.

Marion can't help but laugh at the insult.

MARION:

If your conduct is the measure of a

gentleman, I take that as a

compliment.

(coldly)

Get my men.

Cornwallis turns to Colonel Huntington.

CORNWALLIS:

Arrange the exchange.

Colonel Huntington leaves to do so.

MARION:

Thank you, General. I'm sure your

officers will thank you, as well.

Marion salutes Cornwallis who doesn't return the salute.

THEN MARION TURNS TO TARLETON. He walks up to him and

looks him in the eye.

MARION:

You don't remember me, do you?

Tarleton examines Marion's face, finding him familiar, but

unable to place him... then Tarleton remembers...

TARLETON:

Ah, yes, that boy.

Tarleton calmly holds Marion's glare.

TARLETON:

Ugly business, doing one's duty.

MARION:

Yes, ugly business.

Marion takes a step closer to Tarleton, then speaks very

softly, very slowly, very clearly.

MARION:

If you are alive when this war is

over, I'm going to kill you.

Marion locks his eyes on Tarleton to make it perfectly

clear that he means what he says. Tarleton tries to cover

his reaction but it's apparent that he's taken aback by

Marion's icy words.

Marion turns and walks out. The two Great Danes start to

follow, but Cornwallis SNAPS A COMMAND:

CORNWALLIS:

Jupiter! Mars!

THE DOGS FREEZE, looking after Marion, who doesn't turn

back. The dogs reluctantly sidle over to Cornwallis'

side.

EXT. ASSEMBLY YARD - FORT CAROLINA - DAY

Redcoats glare at Marion who sits, mounted, waiting. His

eighteen men are led out of the prison blockhouse and

directed to waiting horses. Surprised to be freed, they

mount up.

CORNWALLIS AND TARLETON step out onto the front porch of

Cornwallis' headquarters and watch as Marion and his men

ride toward the gate.

THE TWO GREAT DANES, watch Marion from Cornwallis' side.

Cornwallis motions to the Redcoat Sentries to OPEN THE

GATES. They do so and Marion and his men, without

hurrying, ride out.

Then, just as the gates are closing behind him, Marion,

without turning around, lets loose with a PIERCING

WHISTLE...

THE TWO GREAT DANES INSTANTLY RACE AFTER MARION, making it

through the gates just as they're closing.

CORNWALLIS, seeing his dogs run after Marion, SPUTTERS,

then turns and storms back into his quarters.

TARLETON, still off-balance from Marion's parting

statement, watches Marion ride away. Then he turns to

Major Wilkins who stands nearby.

TARLETON:

Take a detachment and go get our

officers.

Wilkins hurries off.

EXT. HILLSIDE CLEARING - ABOVE FORT CAROLINA - DAY

Major Wilkins and a detachment of Green Dragoons ride up

the wooded slope toward the bound Redcoat officers that

Cornwallis saw through the spyglass. As the Dragoons ride

out of the trees into the clearing they stop dead, seeing

that:

THE "REDCOAT OFFICERS" are not real -- they're nothing

more than SCARECROWS IN REDCOAT UNIFORMS. There's no sign

of Marion or his men.

INT. CORNWALLIS' HEADQUARTERS - FORT CAROLINA - DAY

CLOSE SHOT:
One of the "Redcoat Officers," stuffed with

straw is thrown onto Cornwallis' desk by Tarleton.

Cornwallis looks at the scarecrow, then turns to Tarleton.

CORNWALLIS:

This fox believes himself clever.

We shall see.

EXT. POND BLUFF - DAY

Tarleton and Wilkins wait while Green Dragoons and

Loyalists search the remains of Marion's house and barn.

Gaskins, filthy from the ashes, walks up to Tarleton.

GASKINS:

Nothing.

WILKINS:

No one's been here for months.

TARLETON:

But now we have a name for our

Colonel... Francis Marion. And with

a name will come a family.

EXT. CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

A thick ground fog surrounds Charlotte's house. The soft

lights of candles glow in the windows. All appears

peaceful.

Then, the SHADOWED FIGURES of THREE DOZEN GREEN DRAGOONS

appear out of the mist, silently approaching the house on

foot.

INT. CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

A fire crackles in the fireplace. A curtain blows in the

open window. THE DOOR BURSTS OPEN. WINDOWS BREAK. Green

Dragoons pour into the house, muskets brandished. No sign

of occupants. CAPTAIN MORROW barks a command:

CAPTAIN MORROW:

UPSTAIRS!

The Dragoons THUNDER UP THE STAIRS... Tarleton and Wilkins

stride in, watching the search... the parlor... nothing...

The kitchen... food is cooking...

The dining room... the table is set, half-eaten food is on

the plates, abandoned in mid-meal. TARLETON WALKS INTO

THE DINING ROOM, touches some of the food, gauging its

warmth.

TARLETON:

They can't be far. Check the

outbuildings and the woods.

The Dragoons race outside.

EXT. CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

A TORCH BURNS. A dozen Dragoons light torches off of it

and fan out to search. The thick fog turns the torches

into diffused, floating balls of light, turning the

Dragoons into ghost-like apparitions.

CAMERA FOLLOWS ONE OF THE TORCHES, carried by a

particularly rough-looking Dragoon who skirts the edge of

the underbrush closest to the house. As the torch moves,

its flame sends long shadows and shafts of light into the

underbrush...

The CAMERA STOPS to reveal, in the brush, TWO FACES,

GABRIEL AND CHARLOTTE, dark, motionless, watching the

search. Behind them, MARION'S OTHER CHILDREN, Nathan,

Samuel, Margaret, William and Susan...

Around them, SEVERAL MORE OF MARION'S MEN, including ABNER

BROWN, weapons ready. The moving lights play on their

faces.

AT THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE, the torches converge,

illuminating Tarleton who gives the unheard order. The

torches fan out and begin SETTING FIRE TO THE HOUSE, BARNS

AND OUTBUILDINGS.

MARGARET grips Charlotte's arm. Gabriel motions and they

all ease back, disappearing into the brush.

EXT. SHANTY TOWN - NIGHT

A compound of rude shacks, built of scraps of lumber and

rough-hewn logs, stands on the side of the Magpie River.

Marion's men wait with the children while Abner, Charlotte

and Gabriel, flanked by Aaron and Abigail, Marion's

middle-aged, black servants, seen in the opening sequence,

talk with several stern-looking, middle-aged, black

FREEDMEN.

The conversation, which is out of the children's earshot,

is testy, with one of the middle-aged freedmen

particularly troubled.

Marion's stone-faced children look around, appraising

their surroundings, registering the poverty of the shanty

town.

THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE GROWN-UPS ends with a guarded

exchange of handshakes. Gabriel, Charlotte, Abner, Aaron

and Abigail rejoin the children and Marion's men.

GABRIEL:

It's all set.

They follow Aaron, down an alley to A SHACK. Small.

Barely standing. The children stop in their tracks,

knowing this is to be their new home.

Charlotte sees their hesitation. She walks up to the

little structure, examining it with a critical eye. She

looks on the doorway, seeing a single room, a dirt floor,

wax-paper instead of glass in the windows, a rude,

chimney-less fire-pit against the back wall. She smiles.

CHARLOTTE:

This will do fine.

She turns to Aaron and Abigail.

CHARLOTTE:

Thank you.

Charlotte walks inside without looking back. The children

hesitate, then follow her inside.

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