The Patriot Page #21

MARION:

How many came back?

REV. OLIVER

About a hundred and twenty. Less

than a third.

Marion nods. He and Gabriel join some of the men under

one of the lean-to's.

EXT. RIVERSIDE - DAY

The rain has stopped. The ground is still wet. It's

spring. The first buds are on the maple trees. A fox

tentatively comes out of its winter den, followed by a

pair of pups.

Marion stands on the side of a river, looking up at a

chevron of Canadian geese flying north.

EXT. PEMBROKE - DAY

The Canadian Geese fly over Anne who is behind her

father's store, tying food and provisions to a couple of

packhorses. A mare and a foal cavort in a nearby paddock.

Suddenly Anne senses someone behind her and turns to see

HALF-A DOZEN REDCOATS. She's initially frightened but the

REDCOAT SERGEANT, speaks politely.

REDCOAT SERGEANT

Excuse me, Ma'am, everyone has been

requested to gather at the church.

ANNE:

Everyone?

REDCOAT SERGEANT

Colonel Tarleton wants to address,

the whole village.

The Redcoat Sergeant deferentially motions for Anne to

follow him and his men. She sees several other

townspeople, with Redcoat escorts, already heading down

the street. She follows along.

EXT. PEMBROKE VILLAGE SQUARE - DAY

Tarleton and Wilkins, on horseback, watch as a large,

mixed detachment of Green Dragoons and Redcoat Infantry

directs the villagers into the church.

One of the Redcoats walks out of the general store with a

bowl of gumdrops. As he starts giving them to a few of

the children their parents waver, unsure of the gesture,

but they reluctantly allow the children to take the candy.

The townspeople are uneasy but they follow the orders of

the Redcoats who, though carry muskets, are polite and

unthreatening.

REDCOAT:

Into the church, please.

ANOTHER REDCOAT:

Colonel Tarleton wishes to address

all of you.

Tarleton sees the last of the townspeople enter the

church. He nods to the Redcoats near the door.

The Redcoats CLOSE THE DOORS, chaining them shut. The

DOOR IS POUNDED ON from the inside.

VOICE:

Open this door!

ANOTHER VOICE:

By what right are we made prisoners?

TARLETON NODS TO GASKINS who, along with several rough-

looking LOYALIST MILITIAMEN, disappear into the blacksmith

shop. They reappear a moment later with FLAMING TORCHES

and approach the church.

Several Redcoats see what's about to happen and are

appalled. Even some of the Green Dragoons, including

Wilkins, are troubled. Wilkins rides over to Tarleton.

WILKINS:

Sir?

TARLETON:

Yes, Major.

Gaskins and the Loyalist Militia stop around the church,

torches ready, waiting for the final go-ahead from

Tarleton. The POUNDING AND CALLING from inside the church

grows louder.

WILKINS:

Sir, there is no honor in this.

TARLETON:

The honor is found in the end, not

the means. This will be forgotten.

(to Gaskins)

Proceed.

The Redcoats turn to the Redcoat Officers. The Redcoat

officers turn to Wilkins, who struggles with himself.

Tarleton calmly watches Wilkins' distress.

Finally, Wilkins accepts it. Weakly steadying his horse,

he takes his place next to Tarleton.

The Redcoats and Dragoons follow his lead and watch as

Gaskins and the Loyalist Militiamen light the church on

fire, heaving their torches onto the roof, through the

windows and under the raised foundation.

SCREAMS are heard from inside. The DOOR THUDS with the

shoulders of men trying to escape. The CHAINS HOLD.

As the FLAMES RISE, another group of Loyalist Militiamen

and some Redcoats drag half-a-dozen young women out of a

side-street...

Among the women, desperately pleading, kicking and

screaming, is ANNE...

The men drag her and the other women into the livery

stable...

Tarleton watches them carried off, stone-faced...

Then he turns and watches the church go up in FLAMES...

A WINDOW SHATTERS, with a chair heaved from inside...

SOME MEN TRY TO CLIMB OUT, but waiting Redcoats FIRE THEIR

MUSKETS POINT BLANK...

KILLING THREE MEN, driving the others back...

The SCREAMS FROM INSIDE THE CHURCH grow louder...

The FLAMES AND SMOKE RISE...

EXT. WOODS - PEMBROKE OUTSKIRTS - DAY

SILENCE. A dark forest of old growth trees. No

underbrush. Marion and a couple dozen of his men,

including Gabriel, Rev. Oliver, and Dalton ride warily on

a carpet of pine needles toward a thin column of smoke,

visible over the treetops in the distance.

With hand signals, Marion directs his men to fan out.

They do so, weaving through the dark forest, weapons

ready.

EXT. PEMBROKE - DAY

Marion and his men slowly ride into Pembroke. The remains

of the church smolder only slightly. The town is

deserted, no one, dead or alive, is visible.

Unsure what they have found, Marion and his men spread out

and dismount, warily checking out the buildings, looking

for some sign of life.

Rev. Oliver and a few other men head for the charred

remains of the church.

Side-stepping some still-hot, charred beams, Rev. Oliver

looks through the rubble...

Then he sees the bodies...

THE CAMERA CATCHES ONLY A FLEETING GLIMPSE of...

Dozens of charred, blackened bodies, intertwined with the

remains of the church...

Rev. Oliver staggers from the rubble...

The other men see what he has seen...

One-by-one Marion and his men walk over and look into the

remains of the church...

Marion see several charred hands extended through a

shattered window, as if grasping for escape... one of the

hands is tiny, A CHILD'S HAND...

Marion is stunned...

No one says a word...

Dalton and a few of the other men continue the search,

weapons ready...

They step into the livery stable, then walk out a moment

later, ashen faced...

Dalton speaks quietly to Marion, motioning toward an

increasingly frantic Gabriel who has just found Anne's

packhorses...

Gabriel notices the gesture, he watches Marion walk into

the livery stable... Growing more nervous by the second,

Gabriel hurries after his father...

GABRIEL:

Anne...?

As Gabriel gets to the entrance of the livery stable,

Marion walks out and intercepts him.

MARION:

Don't go in there.

GABRIEL:

Is it her? Is Anne in there?

MARION:

She is. Don't go in there.

Gabriel understands... he reels... growing faint... Marion

grabs him... keeping him from falling...

Marion holds Gabriel who begins to weep...

EXT. PEMBROKE - DAY

Marion's men, led by Rev. Oliver, tend to the dead. Some

dig in the small graveyard adjacent to the remains of the

church. Others carry out the grim task of pulling the

charred bodies out of the rubble.

ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

Marion sits alone. Gabriel walks up behind him.

GABRIEL:

Father, tell me what happened at

Fort Wilderness?

MARION:

You know what happened.

GABRIEL:

No, I don't.

MARION:

Everyone knows. It's what made me a

hero. Me, Harry Lee, all of us. I

got a medal. Men bought me drinks.

They still do sometimes. Everyone

knows what happened.

GABRIEL:

Tell me what everyone doesn't know.

MARION:

And what do they know?

GABRIEL:

That the French and Cherokees

captured the fort and when you

retook it, you took revenge on them

for what they did during the

occupation.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes