Sleepy Hollow
BROM We cannot win this.
They head towards the forest.
Behind, the Horseman extracts the sickle, throws it. He strides after them, picks up his axe on the way.
EXT. RIVERBANK-DAY
Ichabod and Brom stumble down a hillside. Brom points.
BROM There…
They run to a DOCK at the edge of a wide, rapid river. They jump into a FLAT BOAT barge.
BROM Go to the front and guide it.
Ichabod goes. Brom uses a scythe to slash the ropes.
Ichabod picks up a GUIDE POLE. The barge lurches, set free.
Ichabod struggles to push the boat out. it moves swiftly, caught in rain swollen current.
Brom looks back. No Horseman. He leaves the scythe and moves to the front, hefting another pole to help guide.
BROM Let’s see him catch us now.
Ichabod looks to the shore. Horror.
ICHABOD Look.
LIGHTNING ILLUMINATES-ahead, the Horseman stands on the bank with Axe and sword. Daredevil near.
BROM We’ll pass right by the son of a bitch.
Ichabod and Brom push with the poles, trying for speed.
At the bank, the Horseman walks directly to the water…
Just as he takes a step onto the water, the rain churned surface TRANSFORMS-instantly BECOMING a SHEET of ICE…
SPREADING and supporting the Horseman as he advances.
ICE SHOOTS OUT ahead of him, towards a point in the river where it will intercept the barge.
BROM My Christ…
The Horseman’s ICE BRIDGE engulfs the barge, HALTING IT.
Ichabod and Brom are thrown. The barge is trapped.
The Horseman nears.
Brom runs to the rear to retrieve his scythe. Ichabod holds up the only weapon he has, his guide pole.
The Horseman steps on board. Ichabod swings. The Horseman’s axe cracks the pole in half…
The Horseman thrusts with sword-into Ichabod’s chest- clean through. It SIZZLES as Ichabod screams.
The Horseman lifts Ichabod up, flips him, pulling the sword out as Ichabod goes…
SMASHING through the ice and under.
UNDERWATER water carries Ichabod, slams him against ice above. He’s pulled down by undertow.
ABOVE WATER, beyond the edge of the ice bridge: Ichabod comes up, gasping, choking on rain.
He treads water, looking to the barge.
ICHABOD’S P.O.V.-FROM THE WATER
Aboard the barge, the Horseman cuts Brom down… stands over him, chopping with sword. Our VIEW grows BLURRY, and…
FADES OUT/IN
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, ICHABOD’S ROOM-NIGHT
Candlelight. Ichabod, shirtless, feverish, opens his eyes. The wound at the top of his chest is raw. Katrina inserts a needle in the skin around it.
KATRINA Lay still, Ichabod. Do not move.
LADY VAN TASSEL Doctor, he is awake.
Ichabod tries to sit. Pain stops him. Lady Van Tassel helps bleed the wound with the needle and a tube leading to a SUCTION JAR of blood.
ICHABOD (barely a voice) What… what are you doing… ?
KATRINA I’m drawing bad blood from the wound.
Doctor Lancaster comes to the bed.
DOCTOR LANCASTER Keep still, Constable. You were half-drowned when they found you.
ICHABOD … Brom Bones…
DOCTOR LANCASTER He is dead. You would be also, if your wound had not somehow shut.
ICHABOD Bring Young Masbath here.
DOCTOR LANCASTER You need to sleep.
ICHABOD Bring him.
DOCTOR LANCASTER You need rest.
Ichabod gives up, closes his eyes. Katrina, needle in one hand, brings her other hand to hold Ichabod’s.
Blood drips into the suction jar.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, ICHABOD’S ROOM-LATER NIGHT
Ichabod is soundly asleep. Across the room, Katrina is at his work table. Ichabod stirs. Katrina looks to him.
Once she is satisfied he will not wake, she returns to what she was doing, turning a page. She is reading his ledger.
EXT. SERVANT’S QUARTER’S, MASBATH’S ROOM-NIGHT
Young Masbath lies awake. A glint of light crosses the window. Masbath looks to it, gets up, peers out.
THROUGH THE WINDOW, he can see the Van Tassel Manor House in the distance. Lantern LIGHT crosses the lawn.
EXT. VAN TASSEL ESTATE, ORCHARD-NIGHT
The lantern light moves through the orchard, away from the house. We cannot make out the person.
Elsewhere, Young Masbath runs in pursuit. He hides against one tree, leans to look…
The light enters forest. Young Masbath follows.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, ICHABOD’S ROOM-MORNING
Ichabod’s hurting. Masbath helps with a shirt.
YOUNG MASBATH Someone left last night. Looked like they headed to the square, but I lost them in the forest.
ICHABOD Man or woman?
YOUNG MASBATH All I saw was their lantern.
ICHABOD Business, best hidden is hidden best at night.
Ichabod goes to his work table, organizing his satchel.
YOUNG MASBATH If someone has the Horseman’s skull… if they control the Horseman, then why haven’t they sent him for your head yet?
ICHABOD Because, I serve a fine purpose alive. It is perfection for our murderer if I return to New York City with nothing more than tales of a galloping ghoul. (pause) We must uncover the reason these victims were targeted. What was taken from them… other than their lives? Who benefits by their deaths?
Ichabod fumbles the bottle of white powder.
It bounces, cork popping out… rolls under the bed.
ICHABOD Damn it.
Ichabod kneels, pained. A trail of the blood-detecting powder has spilled. The bottle is out of reach.
YOUNG MASBATH I’ll get it.
Young Masbath gets down, ready to crawl for it, but Ichabod stops him, peering under.
ICHABOD Wait…
Far under, near the bottle, some powder is bubbling.
Ichabod moves to the end of the bed and lifts, in pain. Young Masbath helps. They drag the bed to one side.
Under the bed: a Satanic PENTAGRAM has been DRAWN IN BLOOD.
Ichabod stares, trying to grasp the implication. Masbath is about to speak, but Ichabod puts a finger to his lips.
Ichabod moves to lock the door.
YOUNG MASBATH (whispers) Who did this?
Ichabod does not answer. He picks up a wash basin and dumps the water to wash the Pentagram away.
EXT. TOWN SQUARE/CHURCH-DAY
WAGONS, HORSES and TOWNSPEOPLE swarm. A CROWD loots the town’s general store. Provisions are passed along man to man and loaded on wheelbarrows.
All up and down the long straight road, home owners board up windows with lumber.
