The Reckoning Page #4

Get me the sheriff!

Now!

Get off the stage.

Get off. That's it.

Please! Quiet!

Quiet! Maybe she hit him

before strangling him!

No! There were no marks

on the body! Just his neck!

MAN:
Yes.

That's what I heard

from Jack Flint.

The man who found the body?

MAN 2:
He's the only one

to have seen the boy dead.

Even his own mother

weren't allowed to see him!

Is this true?

A mother has a right

to see her own son.

Is this how you repay

the charity of your lord?

The man who gave your son

a proper burial?

Clear the yard!

Come on! Clear the yard!

Let's go.

Clear the yard.

SHERIFF:

Get word to the Lord de Guise.

WOMAN:
Show us a play

about the other boys.

- What other boys?

- SHERIFF:
Get a move on!

- SOLDIER:
Out of this square.

- There were other boys?

Four in a year.

Disappeared without trace.

SHERIFF:
Come on, come on!

I've never seen anything like it.

Neither have I.

You wanted meaning...

you got chaos.

He got truth.

Gossip.

( door slams open )

Sunrise finds you on the road

or in my jail.

The axle's broke.

It won't be ready in time.

Your axle, boy,

was ready this morning

at first light, as well you know.

It's only by the grace

of the Lord de Guise

that you lot still have your freedom.

Sunrise.

STEPHEN:

You lied to us.

A broken axle,

just to put on your play.

Master player?

You're not worthy

of your father's title.

( festive medieval music plays )

( crowd cheers )

( chattering and revelry )

Forgive me.

Grave robbery.

That's a capital offense.

Help him dig.

That's not a boy.

It's a man, my lord.

It's a friend of ours

that we buried here

just to save expense.

And who performed the service?

I did.

Priest...

turned player.

Take him out.

( strains )

( coughs )

Well, uncover him.

That's why you came here,

to examine him,

see what his parents

were prevented from seeing, yes?

Do as the king's justice says.

The king's justice?

Uncover him.

Remove his robe.

Nothing.

Except the bruising at the neck.

Bite marks.

Yes.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

- Oh, Christ!

- What? What is it?

A swelling, in the pit of his arm.

If he hadn't been killed,

the plague would have taken him.

It's all right, there's no danger.

He's three days dead.

There's no danger.

Help me.

Help me.

You'd be wise to move on

with your friends.

NICHOLAS:

Are they gonna hang her?

She's innocent.

No woman could have done this.

Are they going to hang her?

And you, too, if you reveal

what you've done here tonight.

What does the king's justice

want with a dead peasant boy?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

The sun isn't up.

They waited as long as they dared,

then they left by the north gate.

You might just make it.

( chuckles )

Hyah.

Jesus!

You mean you dug Brendan up?

I had to, to get to the boy.

He'd been violated.

She didn't do it.

She couldn't have.

We have to help.

STRAW:

How? And why?

You said yourself the king's justice

has shown some interest.

Martin...

you gave her hope.

You gave her hope!

You can't walk away.

Why are you doing this?

I got no choice!

I have nothing else to lose.

Except your life.

It's just a matter of time

before they find me and hang me.

What, for bedding another man's wife?

Martin?

Come back with me.

Oh, Christ, Martin.

Come back.

Please.

( stammers )

( pushes roughly )

( somber violin theme plays )

( metal clanging )

( grunts )

How much were you paid?

( struggles and grunts )

- What?

- How much were you paid?!

I don't know what

you're talking about!

How much?!

I found the boy and I brought

him back, that's all.

He'd been missing for two days!

I don't believe you.

Found him in the clearing,

by the big oak!

I thought he was asleep, resting,

and then I saw the marks on his neck!

- What were you doing there?

- I was collecting firewood.

I'm a potter, you can ask anyone!

And then I loaded him onto

the horse, and that wasn't easy

- because he was stiff as a board!

- He was what?

He was stiff!

But he'd been dead two days.

Well, so what?

Rigor mortis?

Come on.

Good boy.

Good boy.

Whoa.

( sighs )

I wish I were half the man

my father was...

and half the father you deserve.

I shall see you all in Durham!

( suspenseful theme plays )

MARTIN:
I went to the jail

to see your daughter.

I have no daughter.

You don't care

that she's to hang tonight?

It is God's will.

But she's innocent.

No one is innocent.

Then what's her sin?

For it wasn't murder.

Blasphemy.

She lays on hands and claims

that God himself speaks through them.

She's a healer?

God is the only healer.

Man's nature is corrupt.

It has been since the fall of Eden.

We can be redeemed,

but God is to be found

nowhere in ourselves

as she and her followers claim.

What followers?

Who are you that brings

a message from my daughter

yet knows nothing of her repute

in these parts?

She's scared.

I warned her.

Warned her they would find a way

to bring her before the judges.

- They always do.

- Who?

The monk? The Benedictine?

A minister of hell,

Simon Damian.

The lord he serves, the judge.

They are as one.

And as one,

they will face the flames...

with their hounds, their horses,

and their whores...

that they feed and clothe

from the blood we sweat.

You talk of divine justice.

What of human justice?

You're not from these parts,

are you?

Else you would know,

those who seek justice...

fall prey to it.

( indistinct chattering )

( knock at door )

Father?

There is a brother of yours

who wishes to speak with you.

Well, have him come in.

( door closes )

Hush.

I know that the woman

didn't kill Thomas Wells.

She wasn't even there

the night he died.

What is that to me?

Shh.

I've seen the body.

Wounds no woman

could have inflicted.

No, the body is buried.

Was...

and is once more.

( scoffs ):

So this is your proof?

Evidence you dare not reveal.

I don't have to.

The king's justice

was with me when I dug him up.

It's only a matter of time

before you're taken.

Why tell me this?

Because I'm giving you your life.

Your freedom.

But in return, I want hers.

A written confession,

to be found after you're gone.

( scoffs )

I will not confess to a crime

I didn't commit.

( door opens )

Brother Paul is leaving.

( suspenseful theme plays )

Get that one.

( goat bleats )

( door opens )

Whoa.

JUSTICE:

Have they caught him yet?

Is it not enough that

an innocent woman should die?

Must I die too?

There is more at stake here

than you will ever know.

How do you sleep?

You!

Daniel! Leave him!

Leave him! Leave him!

The monk's dead,

found hanging in his chamber.

Dead by his own hand.

Out! Out!

I'll have no gropers here!

Out!

Gentlemen excepted, of course.

You went to see him.

Why?

To ask for his confession,

and if you'd just--!

In return for his freedom?

He wouldn't have got far.

His confession, if there

was one, will never be found.

This is his confession.

Why else take his own life?

He didn't.

When a man is hanged,

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