The Patriot Page #5

They all nod. Marion walks off toward the workshop,

followed by Susan. The others hesitate.

MARION:

Children.

They head off to do as they were told.

INT. WORKSHOP - DAY

Marion works the lathe. Susan watches from her perch on

the woodpile.

EXT. BARN - DAY

The SOUND OF A CRASH from inside the barn. An angry cow

runs out of the barn, dragging a tenacious Samuel who is

holding onto the cow's neck.

Samuel's grip fails and he lands in the dirt. The cow

runs about thirty yards down the hill, stopping on the

bank of the river. Samuel grabs a rope and heads down the

hill to get the cow.

ON THE RIVERBANK

As Samuel approaches the cow, he see it skittishly

approaching then retreating from the water. Then he sees

the cause -- the water in the river has a pale, pink hue.

Samuel stares at it, trying to figure out what it is.

Behind him, Margaret sees her brother beyond the yard

wall.

MARGARET:

Samuel...

He doesn't respond. Margaret, trailed by William, walks

down toward Samuel.

MARGARET:

Samuel, get up to the house. You

heard father...

Then she sees it, too. The pale pink is turning redder

and redder. And then the BODIES. First one, then more,

many more. Torn apart. Missing limbs. Those with wide-

open wounds, are already drained of blood. Others are

still seeping, leaving trails of deep red in the paler red

of the surrounding water.

Samuel, Margaret and William stand frozen, appalled and

fascinated.

MARION steps out of the workshop and sees the children at

the river. He can't see what they're looking at.

Irritated, he walks toward them. Then, as he nears the

river, he sees the color of the water and the bodies that

have hypnotized his children. He quickens his stride,

speaking calmly but firmly, careful not to frighten them.

MARION:

Up to the house, now. All of you,

come on. Now.

EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Quiet. Dark. Marion stands on the front porch, looking

out into the night, listening, hearing nothing. He

glances up at the star-filled sky, tracking his eyes from

the Big Dipper to the NORTH STAR.

BEHIND THE HOUSE, A FIGURE IN THE DARKNESS, carrying a

musket, moves from shadow to shadow.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Margaret and Samuel and William talk, their voices low.

SAMUEL:

They're going to come.

MARGARET:

Quiet.

SAMUEL:

We're going to have to fight them

off.

WILLIAM:

Father will do that.

SAMUEL:

They'll probably kill us men and do

Lord knows what to you women.

MARGARET:

Samuel!

A SOUND. They all stop. Something moved behind the

kitchen. Margaret silently eases the others out of the

room, through the darkened hall toward their father.

SUDDENLY IN FRONT OF THEM, A BLOODY FIGURE

Big. Hulking. In uniform. Margaret SCREAMS. William

and Samuel CRY OUT. The figure moves toward them...

Marion, on the porch, hears the scream, races into the

house. He sees the figure, moves toward it...

THE FIGURE MOVES INTO THE LIGHT... Marion sees the

bloodied face...

MARION:

Gabriel!

Gabriel is wounded, battered and dirty. He carries a

musket and a dispatch case. He sways. Marion catches him

and eases him to a seat.

MARGARET:

You're hurt.

THOMAS:

The battle, were you there?

MARION:

Margaret, get bandages and water.

Thomas, the porch, eyes open.

Marion checks Gabriel's wounds which are nasty but not

life-threatening.

GABRIEL:

Have you seen any Redcoats?

MARION:

Not yet. What happened?

Margaret brings water and linen to Marion who expertly

cleans Gabriel's wounds and applies field-dressings.

GABRIEL:

It wasn't like Saratoga. There, we

stayed in the trees, but this time

Gates marched us straight at the

Redcoats. They fired two volleys

into us and we broke like straw. I

was given these dispatches... I saw

Virginia Regulars surrender... as

they laid down their weapons the

British Green Dragoons rode into

them and hacked them to bits...

killed them all, over two hundred

men.

Marion's appalled.

MARION:

They had surrendered?

Gabriel nods. Marion's stunned. Gabriel tries to rise.

GABRIEL:

I have to get these dispatches to

Hillsboro.

MARION:

You're in no condition to ride.

GABRIEL:

I have no choice, I...

Gabriel passes out. Marion catches him and carries him to

a day-bed in the parlor. As Marion lays him down, they

hear HEAVY MUSKET FIRE, VERY CLOSE.

Marion hurries to the door and looks out into the night,

the children cluster around him, seeing a strange sight.

A SKIRMISH IN THE FIELD BELOW THE HOUSE

Pitch black. Then a MUSKET FIRES, creating a FLASH OF

LIGHT that illuminates a tableau of soldiers, about three

dozen Redcoats and as many Patriots.

The strobe of the musket shot provides targets for an

ensuing VOLLEY OF SHOTS in every direction. Then

darkness, punctuated by SCREAMS OF PAIN, CONFUSED

HOLLERING and the RUSTLING OF ARMED MEN IN MOVEMENT.

Then the pattern repeats itself: A MUSKET FIRES,

illuminating a tableau of targets for another MURDEROUS

VOLLEY OF SHOTS.

MARION:

Margaret, take William and Susan

down to the root cellar. Thomas, go

to the back porch. Nathan and

Samuel, the side windows. Keep out

of sight.

They hurry off. Marion steps into the house and opens his

gun cabinet. He extracts two pistols and a pair of

muskets. Then he steps back to the front door. He waits

and watches.

EXT. LOWER FIELD - POND BLUFF - DAWN

First light. The morning mist lies low over the field.

Marion warily approaches the scene of the battle. He

carries a Pennsylvania rifle, has another slung over his

shoulder, and has a pair of pistols in his belt.

As Marion nears the field he sees, appearing out of the

low mist, a nightmarish vision. Young Redcoats and

Continentals are scattered on the ground, dead and

wounded. Many have been hideously torn apart by the

massive musket balls. Blood is everywhere. Marion

hurries back toward the house.

EXT. LOWER FIELD - POND BLUFF - MORNING

Marion loads the wounded men onto a wagon, helped by

Thomas, Nathan and Samuel.

EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - POND BLUFF - DAY

The porch and yard have been turned into a field hospital.

There are about two dozen wounded, a few more Patriots

than Redcoats. Thomas, Nathan, Samuel and Margaret help

Marion tend the soldiers. William and Susan watch from

inside.

Marion treats an arm wound, retying a tourniquet,

stanching an ugly flow of blood.

Marion moves to the next of the wounded. Thomas starts to

help but Marion shakes his head.

MARION:

He's dead...

Marion moves on to another.

MARION:

Thomas, help me turn him over...

They turn over a young Continental and see a horrible

wound on his back. Thomas, swoons.

MARION:

Thomas!

A hard glare from Marion strengthens his son. Together

they bandage the wounded man.

EXT. MARION'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

Triage completed. Margaret and Samuel give water and

food. Marion kneels next to a CONTINENTAL SERGEANT and a

COUPLE OF PRIVATES who are less severely wounded than the

others.

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