Sleepy Hollow
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, ICHABOD’S ROOM-NIGHT
Ichabod jerks awake in his bed.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, KITCHEN-NIGHT
Ichabod enters with a lantern and his ledger. He sits, studies notes, then notices there’s a light down the hall.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, SEWING ROOM-NIGHT
Opposite an elaborate loom, Katrina reads by candlelight. She looks up, seeing Ichabod enter.
ICHABOD Sorry for disturbing you. I thought a forgotten candle was burning.
Katrina self-consciously closes her shabby book, puts it with another on her lap and covers them.
KATRINA You do not disturb me. Please stay. Having trouble sleeping?
ICHABOD May I ask… why do you cover your book that way?
KATRINA You pay great attention to small things. I hide these as I hide all my books. Father would not approve, lest it were the Bible.
ICHABOD I, um… I have something to show you, if you have a moment.
Ichabod sits, looking through his ledger.
KATRINA These are strange… may I?
She takes his hand, spreads the fingers to the palm. She touches the many evenly spaced scars.
KATRINA These scars. How did you get them?
ICHABOD I have had them since childhood. I cannot remember what from.
KATRINA It would be interesting to find out.
Their eyes meet. Ichabod gets back to the ledger. Katrina seems to relish the effect she has. Ichabod finds a paper disk on string, illustrated thusly:
ICHABOD Here it is. A bird on one side. His cage on the other. Now, stare at it. (spinning it) The bird seems to be in his cage.
KATRINA Yes, he does. May I try?
Ichabod gives it. She spins it, smiling.
ICHABOD He only appears to be inside the cage. The point being…
KATRINA You made this, and the drawings?
ICHABOD Yes, but listen. The illusion is easily explained. The eye retains each image, till they combine. And yet, some would call this toy magic.
KATRINA Don’t you see why? Look closely a moment. Put your intellect aside. (spinning it) Can’t you see what is inexplicable?
Ichabod watches it spin. He shakes his head, unimpressed.
KATRINA Oh, you are hopeless. May I keep it at least?
ICHABOD If you want. But…
KATRINA Then, I also have a gift for you. True magic which even you will not be able to deny.
She hands him a book. “ROMEO AND JULIET.” Ichabod stands, offering it back, but she will not take it.
ICHABOD Thank you. No. Here…
KATRINA I insist that you have it.
ICHABOD (resigned, leaving) Very well. But, it will only sit gathering dust.
KATRINA That would be a pity. Those words might show you something you’ve never seen before.
Ichabod stops at the door, looks back. He exits.
EXT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE-NIGHT
A light glows in Ichabod’s window. LOOKING IN: Ichabod’s in bed, fully dressed. He sits up. Pause. He crosses to pick up “Romeo and Juliet.” He begins to read.
EXT. PHILIPSE’S FARM-DUSK
Ichabod walks with Philipse. Young Masbath follows with the horses. CICADAS CHATTER from a vast corn field.
PHILIPSE Not more than a year ago, a mob hung a man for stealing a horse. For stealing a horse! And, you dig up our dead.
ICHABOD Are you saying I should be frightened? Is this a message passed on from Clergyman Steenwyck?
The CICADAS SUDDENLY go SILENT. Young Masbath notices.
PHILIPSE We are farmers here, not lawyers or bankers, or even constables. Every penny we earn comes from what we send down the Hudson.
ICHABOD I know it.
YOUNG MASBATH Um…. excuse me, sirs…
PHILIPSE (still to Ichabod) Because of the Horseman, our migrant workers flee for their lives. There is a danger that our crops will rot. So, if you are going to help us, you stop the Horseman. That is your task… to kill an undead thing.
Young Masbath looks to a fenced grazing area, worried. The sheep there are agitated, all running one direction away.
ICHABOD Listen to what you say….
PHILIPSE No, you listen! You may think we are a pack of superstitious dullards…
ICHABOD At times I do.
YOUNG MASBATH Sirs… please!
PHILIPSE What will it take for you to realize this is no laughing matter?
The horses go crazy, braying and rearing. The reins yank Young Masbath off his feet as the horses flee.
Ichabod and Philipse look to Masbath. A SOUND is HEARD, distant: THUNDERING HOOFBEATS. Wind kicks up. HOOFBEATS seem to come FROM ALL DIRECTIONS.
Philipse looks to the corn field. A flock of birds alights; a great sheet of black against the sky.
PHILIPSE Oh my… oh my oh my oh my…
Philipse runs towards his house, past Masbath. HOOFBEATS are LOUDER, CLOSER. Ichabod faces the corn field.
The field explodes open, stalks bending to make way as the Headless Horseman gallops into view atop Daredevil.
Young Masbath runs, following Philipse.
Ichabod’s stunned. He looks down to draw his flintlock pistol, but the Horseman blows by before he can raise it. A blast of air knocks Ichabod off his feet.
The Horseman chases Masbath and Philipse.
Ichabod follows.
The Horseman draws his sword.
Young Masbath falls in the grass…
Daredevil’s pounding hooves will certainly crush him.
Daredevil leaps over Young Masbath, continuing the charge.
Philipse has a long way to go before home. He looks over his shoulder. No way he’ll make it.
Ichabod, running, watches Philipse slow.
Philipse gathers all his courage and stops, turning. The Horseman is closing, sword held high.
Philipse raises his talisman.
ICHABOD Philipse!
Philipse holds the talisman up, trying to be fearless. The Horseman swings-WE HEAR the CLANK of sword on talisman…
Philipse’s severed head spins. His body falls and folds.
Ichabod runs past Young Masbath.
The Horseman halts just as Ichabod reaches a point in front of dead Philipse, aiming his pistol. Daredevil lets out a SCREECHY CRY. The Horseman rides toward Ichabod.
Ichabod gets on one knee, trying to steady his pistol. The Horseman closes. Ichabod sweats bullets. FIRES…
The slug SLAMS the Horseman dead center-bursts through and rends his uniform without slowing him.
The Horseman is almost on Ichabod. Ichabod cringes, arms up… as the Horseman passes.
The Horseman leans to skewer Philipse’s head with his sword.
With the head as his prize, the Horseman races away.
Ichabod gets up, watches the Horseman head to the forest. Ichabod looks to Young Masbath, finds his legs will not support him, falls, trembling. THUNDER BELLOWS.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, SECOND FLOOR HALL-NIGHT
Lady Van Tassel comes to a door, knocks. Sarah stands behind with a tray of food. Young Masbath is seated near.
LADY VAN TASSEL (to Young Masbath) Has he not come out at all?
Young Masbath shakes his head.
INT. VAN TASSEL HOUSE, ICHABOD’S ROOM-NIGHT
KNOCKING is HEARD. Ichabod sleeps restlessly.
ICHABOD’S DREAM-YOUNG ICHABOD’S BEDROOM-NIGHT
THUNDER BOOMS. WIND and POUNDING RAIN blast open a window. Mother comes to it, then moves to comfort fearful Young Ichabod in bed.
