Sleepy Hollow
YOUNG MASBATH Thank you.
ICHABOD (nods, almost shy) Now, hold the bowl steady. Back to business.
Young Masbath lifts the bowl. Ichabod drops in the needle/straw which floats and turns compass-like.
ICHABOD If the Western Woods are truly the Devil’s Glen, we will see for ourselves.
YOUNG MASBATH (uneasy) Father said witches live there.
ICHABOD Witches do not exist. However…
Ichabod uses a knife to notch the bowl lip where the needle points, then surveys the smoke, making a second notch.
ICHABOD Not long ago, I would have said the same for Headless Horseman.
KATRINA (o.s.) Constable… !
Katrina’s on horseback below, unhappy.
KATRINA I need to speak with you. Alone.
EXT. VAN TASSEL GREAT LAWN-DAY
Ichabod and Katrina lead their horses. A heated argument.
KATRINA Why would you do such a thing?
ICHABOD No stone may be left unturned. It may appear harsh…
KATRINA I have misjudged you I think. I did not imagine you were so cruel.
ICHABOD You are not regarding it in full. The Widow Windsor had been run through by a sword. I followed the bloodless wound, a wound whose path I could not comprehend till I had seen the Horseman with my own eyes.
KATRINA What are you on about?
ICHABOD The child she carried was eight months grown at least… near to birthing. The sword had pierced its tiny heart exactly.
KATRINA Must I hear this?
ICHABOD There was no blind stabbing. This singular thrust found its target omnipotently, as if the Horseman made certain the unborn child died with its mother.
KATRINA And this gives worth to butchery?
ICHABOD It was not butchery.
KATRINA What is it then? Scientific method? How can any of this matter in the slightest?
ICHABOD I have no solution for its meaning yet, but I could not just ignore it.
KATRINA Take a lesson from Young Masbath’s desires, Ichabod Crane. He follows with you to avenge his father’s death. That I understand. But, what do you want?
ICHABOD To avenge his father, and the others.
KATRINA But, why? Tell me why.
Ichabod struggles for a reply.
KATRINA You falter with your answer because you strive without putting the whole of your heart into it. Can’t you see? You’ll bring dignity to the dead even if you have to chop them into little pieces to do it.
ICHABOD (fed up, growing anger) If it had been surgery on a living person, done to save that person’s life, you would not question it. Not for a moment. So, let me be the first to tell you, dear girl… on the other side of these sheltering mountains, a whole world has advanced beyond such plebeian thinking as yours. And someday, no matter how much you fear it, that world will come to roust Sleepy Hollow out of its slumber.
Katrina storms away. Ichabod’s already regretting.
EXT. BELLTOWER FIELD-DAY
Ichabod and Young Masbath ride to the Western Woods, horses loaded for expedition. At the Belltower remnants, Ichabod slows, looking to the wreckage.
At forest’s edge, Young Masbath waits.
Ichabod circles the tower. With a sigh, he rides to join Young Masbath. They head into the woods.
EXT. WESTERN WOODS-DAY
Dark, dense and creepy. Ichabod and Young Masbath move through. Young Masbath halts his horse and looks around.
ICHABOD What is it?
YOUNG MASBATH Listen.
ICHABOD (listens, looks) I hear nothing.
YOUNG MASBATH No crickets or cicadas calling. No bird songs.
Stark quiet. Ichabod notes this unhappily.
EXT. WESTERN WOODS-LATER DAY
Ichabod’s hand drops the needle/straw in the water bowl. The needle spins. The bowl is turned to match notches.
Ichabod points the way to Young Masbath.
ELSEWHERE, SOMEONE WATCHES: A MOVING P.O.V. WATCHES them as they ride, FOLLOWS.
EXT. WESTERN WOODS, FURTHER ON-LATER DAY
Ichabod and Masbath reach a hill crest. They stop, uneasy. Below: a CAVE with a rock archway. An ill-fitting door covers the mouth. The chimney spews smoke.
ICHABOD We have apparently arrived.
EXT. CAVE HOME-DAY
The horses are tied to a tree. Ichabod walks to the cave door. Unsure, he hesitantly knocks.
INT. CAVE HOME-DAY
Ichabod and Young Masbath step in.
Walls are hung with skins and skeletons, dry flowers and reed grass in patterns. An OLD CRONE sits facing away.
The old Crone, a mountain woman with matted hair and grey features, sits disinterested. Ichabod edges closer.
ICHABOD Pardon. You did not answer when I knocked. Are we intruding?
OLD CRONE You are from the Hollow?
ICHABOD In a way, yes.
Ichabod looks at tables of gourd bowls of dead insects and acorns. Knifes, scissors, yellow bones. He takes the Lenape’s piece of reed grass from his pocket.
ICHABOD The Lenape who lived in these woods… do you know him? The Redman? (uncomfortable wait) I should tell you… he has been murdered.
OLD CRONE Leave me. You are not welcome here.
The old Crone places something on a table beside her-a dead cardinal, bright red.
Ichabod is afraid, backing away, but Young Masbath takes the woven piece and steps to the Crone.
YOUNG MASBATH Were you a friend to the Indian? (waits) You should have this… if you were his friend.
Young Masbath puts the woven piece beside the cardinal. He walks to join Ichabod in leaving.
OLD CRONE You seek remedy against the Horseman?
The Old Crone reaches to pick up the weaving. She stands, faces them. Tall. Ichabod nods.
OLD CRONE (to Young Masbath) Go out and keep away, child. (to Ichabod) You stay. Follow with me.
The Old Crone takes a candle and walks, deep into the cave.
INT. CAVE HOME, LOWER CAVE-DAY
The Old Crone comes through a passage in the wet walls. Ichabod enters, scared, bent under low ceiling.
OLD CRONE I hear him. He rides to the Hollow and back.
ICHABOD The Horseman. Yes.
OLD CRONE Sit.
Ichabod sits on crooked stool. The old Crone kneels with her back to him, gathers straw in a pile on the floor.
ICHABOD Can you help?
OLD CRONE You want to see into the nether world… I can show you. Whatever you see, do not move or speak. I will hold him.
She gathers bowls, putting grass and powder on the pile.
ICHABOD What… what are you doing?
OLD CRONE (turns, furious) Close your mouth! Keep silent.
She takes two jars from a table, pours ashes on the pile from one. She shakes the other roughly, takes the lid off and upends it. A baby bat squirms on the floor, dazed.
The Old Crone holds the bat, using a knife to cut off its head. She soaks the straw with blood, SPEAKING IN TONGUES, guttural. Using a wick, she lights the straw.
She grasps two METAL CUFFS with chains attached, slides these onto her bony wrists, then bends to inhale smoke.
OLD CRONE He comes now.
Ichabod would like to leave now.
EXT. CAVE HOME-DAY
Young Masbath, waiting by the horses, looks up. Through the trees, black clouds billow and block the sun.
INT. CAVE HOME, LOWER CAVE-DAY
The old Crone slumps, still with her back to Ichabod. She does not move. Wind howls through a hole/window. Rain.
