The Patriot Page #26

Tarleton gets closer... raises his sword... slashes...

Marion catches the flash of the blade out of the corner of

his eye...

Diverts the blow, knocking Tarleton from the mount...

Tarleton hits the ground... Marion draws his pistol, about

to fire at Tarleton...

Tarleton KICKS OUT, knocking the pistol from Marion's

hand...

Tarleton GRABS HIS SWORD, SLASHES AT MARION who dodges the

blow...

Tarleton advances... Marion scrambles back, then rises...

Marion grabs a BROKEN CAVALRY LANCE and FENDS OFF REPEATED

BLOWS from Tarleton's SWORD...

Then Marion sees his pistol, loaded with a bullet from

Thomas' lead soldiers, lying on the ground...

Marion makes his way toward the weapon... still BLOCKING

BLOWS from Tarleton's sword...

Marion focuses on the pistol... leaving himself exposed...

Tarleton sees the OPENING... MOVES ON MARION... TARLETON

RAISES HIS SWORD, about to deliver the killing blow...

Marion dives... GRABS HIS PISTOL... FIRES... KILLING

TARLETON WITH A SHOT TO THE CHEST...

Marion, stunned, exhausted and surprised to be alive,

watches Tarleton fall...

Marion stands over Tarleton's body and gives himself a

moment of bitter triumph, then he turns back to the battle

at hand...

Marion picks up Tarleton's sword and runs to the AMERICAN

LINE which stiffens as Dalton and Rev. Oliver are joined

by Marion and a dozen other Patriots...

The blue-uniformed Continentals reform their line...

Marion looks back toward Tarleton but finds that his body,

along with the place and the moment of his death, has

disappeared into the smoke of the battle...

Marion and his men fight on... then, Redcoats start

fleeing the field...

First one Redcoat at a time... then more and more...

EXT. YORKTOWN - DAWN

The next day. Silence. The battlefield, as far as the

eye can see, is covered with the debris of war, dead men

and scattered weapons.

The British have retreated back behind their defenses but

have left many of their men on the field.

The Patriots, regulars and militia, wait behind their

barricades.

Then, a single figure appears on one of the British

parapets. A DRUMMER BOY, no more than ten-years-old.

Behind him, a single British officer.

They boy begins to beat the drum. The officer raises a

white flag.

In the American lines, the men see the flag. Some call

out, some cheer, some laugh, most, among them MARION,

simply take a deep breath. It's finally over.

EXT. YORKTOWN FIELD - DAY

A massive ceremony, carefully orchestrated, laid out on

the cleaned up battlefield.

Thousands of men, everyone in his place, as if well-

directed actors in a grand theatrical performance.

The French and American armies, fifteen thousand men

between them, stand in perfect formation on either side of

the field, forming an avenue for the British army which

marches out of it's fortification.

At the head of the avenue, WASHINGTON AND HIS STAFF stand

waiting.

A musical band of Continentals, thirty men strong, loudly

plays a tune, "The World Turned Upside Down," a jaunty

British air with a melancholy undercurrent.

CORNWALLIS marches with his officers, eyes straight ahead,

covering his agony as best he can.

As he walks along the avenue he passes the remnants of the

South Carolina militia.

MARION, standing with Dalton, Rev. Oliver, Abner, Scott

and the rest of his surviving men sees Cornwallis pass...

CORNWALLIS glances over, noting what unit they are by a

tattered battle standard that flies over them. It's only

a glance and he DOESN'T PICK OUT MARION, who is just one

man among the many...

AT THE HEAD OF THE AVENUE

Cornwallis reaches Washington. They exchange unheard

formal greetings.

Cornwallis, DRAWS HIS SWORD AND HANDS IT TO WASHINGTON...

FIFTEEN THOUSAND MEN, American and French, RAISE THEIR

VOICES in a CHEER OF ASTONISHING VOLUME...

With every other pair of eyes directed toward the ceremony

between Washington and Cornwallis, MARION quietly and

unnoticed, slips out the back of the formation and walks

away.

EXT. YORKTOWN - DAY

The surrender ceremony continues. Marion, on the fringe

of the field, finishes saddling his horses and prepares to

leave. LEE walks out of the crowd and joins him. They

lock eyes for a moment, then Marion mounts up.

LEE:

Goodbye, Francis.

MARION:

Goodbye, Harry.

Marion reaches down. They shake hands.

MARION:

And congratulations on the birth of

your son.

LEE:

Thank you. Maybe all of this will

buy him some peace.

MARION:

I hope so.

As Marion starts to ride off, he reins back and stops,

speaking back to Lee over his shoulder.

MARION:

Your son, what did you name him?

LEE:

Robert. Robert E. Lee.

Marion smiles.

MARION:

A good name for a farmer.

Lee nods. Marion rides off.

EXT. CHERAW FALLS - DAY

Marion's children and Charlotte sit by the river. Samuel

sits on the lookout ledge with his musket. Suddenly he

stands, looking out, seeing something.

Charlotte and the others notice. They're worried. Then

they see Samuel throw down his musket and tear down the

path, running as fast as he can, tumbling, then regaining

his feet...

Charlotte and the others know who's coming...

The children take off running after Samuel...

Racing toward the road...

Charlotte hurries after them...

AND THEN THEY SEE HIM...

MARION, riding at a full gallop...

The children cry out with tears of joy...

MARION see Susan...

He gallops toward her...

LEANS OVER...

Without slowing, he SWOOPS HER UP into the saddle...

She wraps herself around him...

He reins back, stops and dismounts, just as the other

children reach him...

They throw themselves into his arms... embracing him...

Charlotte hurries up behind them...

She and Marion lock eyes and he is enveloped by the hugs

of his children.

EXT. POND BLUFF - EVENING

Summer. The apple tree at the top of the hill is covered

with apples.

Marion's house is partially rebuilt and habitable. The

workshop is already completed.

MARION'S CHILDREN, Nathan, Samuel, Margaret and William,

play in the tall grass in front of the house with the two

GREAT DANES.

CHARLOTTE sits on the front porch, NURSING AN INFANT.

MARION walks out of his workshop, trailed by Susan. He

carries a just-completed rocking chair.

The chair is a work of art, thin and light, a spider-web

of perfectly turned wood, no nails, no glue.

He steps onto the porch next to Charlotte and places the

rocking chair next to her.

MARION:

Two pounds, fourteen ounces.

CHARLOTTE:

Lovely.

He smiles and make a minute adjustment in the chair's

position. Then he sits down, settles back and begins

rocking. Not a creak.

Marion and Charlotte watch Susan run out of the yard,

calling as she joins the other children.

SUSAN:

Wait for me...

As the CAMERA CRANES UP, Marion and Charlotte disappear

beneath the overhang of the porch roof. Suddenly, the

SOUND OF A CRASH.

MARION (O.S.)

Damnation!

The CAMERA CONTINUES TO CRANE UP as Marion walks off the

porch, crosses the yard and enters his workshop. A moment

later, the SOUND OF MARION'S LATHE RISES.

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