The Patriot Page #3

Squadrons of lead soldiers stand ready for battle as

Thomas, lying on the floor, deploys his men. Gabriel

reads the new pamphlets and broadsides. Marion walks in

and pours a drink. Gabriel hands several of the pamphlets

to his father.

GABRIEL:

The New York and Rhode Island

assemblies have been dissolved...

MARION:

The middle colonies?

GABRIEL:

Rioting both sides of the bay, in

Chestertown they burned the Customs

House and tar-and-feathered the

Customs Agent. He died of burns.

In Wilmington they killed a Royal

Magistrate and two Redcoats.

MARION:

Anything about the convention in

Philadelphia?

GABRIEL:

Poor Richard says they'll make a

Declaration of Independence by July.

Marion shakes his head and sits down, carefully extracting

a delicate pair of reading glasses from a wooden box. He

begins reading.

GABRIEL:

Scott Higgins joined the militia.

Marion hears but doesn't respond. Thomas looks up from

his lead soldiers.

GABRIEL:

He's seventeen. A year younger than

I.

Gabriel and Thomas wait for a reaction. There is none.

Gabriel goes back to reading and Thomas resumes playing

with his toy soldiers. Marion's eyes drift from the page

to Gabriel.

EXT. SWAMP ROAD - DAY

The Marion family, in two tightly-packed carriages, drives

on a beautiful road, cut through the swamps. The canopy

of swamp maples and weeping willows forms a tunnel of

green, mottled by sunlight.

EXT. BENNINGTON OVERLOOK - DAY

The two carriages pass a view of their entire valley.

Scattered farms with a patchwork of cultivated fields

surrounding the town of Bennington.

EXT. SANTEE ROAD - DAY

Passing through rolling farmland, the Marions head toward

the coast. They pass a large contingent of South Carolina

Militia, drilling in a field. The children, particularly

Gabriel, watch avidly.

EXT. CHARLESTON - DAY

A big, bustling city. Marion and Gabriel negotiate the

carriages through the busy streets. The children watch,

wide-eyed, seeing taverns, a public gallows, drunkards,

street entertainers, well-dressed ladies attended by their

maids, food venders, a man with a trained bear.

EXT. CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - CHARLESTON - DAY

Grand. Four stories. Marion and his children pull up.

CHARLOTTE MOTTE hurries out. She's in her mid-thirties,

beautiful, with a deep sadness that she keeps hidden as

best she can.

The children leap from the carriages and swarm around her,

embracing her, smothering her with kisses.

THE CHILDREN:

Aunt Charlotte! Aunt Charlotte!

CHARLOTTE:

Welcome! Welcome! Margaret,

William, look at you...!

(to Marion)

They're huge. What have you been

feeding them?

MARION:

They're from good stock on their

mother's side.

CHARLOTTE:

Thank you.

Charlotte hustles the children toward the door.

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