Synopsis
History records that Edward Teach, the pirate known as Blackbeard , was killed in a hand-to-hand battle with Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy and his crew of volunteers aboard Blackbeard’s ship in Ocracoke Inlet, a small island in the North Carolina Outer Banks, on November 22, 1718. Maynard cut off Blackbeard’s head, tied it to the bowsprit of his sloop and sailed back to Williamsburg, where he presented it to the Governor of Virginia. The battle essentially ended the Age of Piracy in the Caribbean and the American colonies.
History knows a lot about Teach, Blackbeard, the pirate. History knows almost nothing about Maynard.
Kevin Costner wanted me to write a movie about Lieutenant Maynard, who he might have been, what might have brought him to Blackbeard’s ship on that fateful day in 1718.
I thought that was a super-terrific idea.
This script is owned by Tig Productions.
Ocracoke
EXT THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TWO SHIPS DAY
A slow pan across the calm Atlantic. Scroll the following:
The record shows that on July 10,
the ship Dover Prize, out of
Jamaica, bound for Charleston, was
captured off the Carolina coast by
the Adventure galley, under the
command of the notorious pirate
Edward Teach, better known as
Blackbeard.
Discover two ships, prow to stern. At the mizzencap of one,
Blackbeard's personal ensign, a white skeleton holding a
severed head on a black field.
EXT DECK DOVER PRIZE
The swirling violence of a pirate raid. Pirates raise crates
from the hold and smash them open. Barrels of rum are
breeched-- women shriek as pirates haul them off to
dark corners. At the center of the mayhem, Blackbeard himself,
EDWARD TEACH, a broad-shouldered, smiling man, feet wide
spread, two bandoliers of pistols over his shoulders, sabers
on either hip, his eyes glowing through a full beard that
curls across his brocade coat down his chest.
ANGLE
What he's smiling at is the sight of the passengers and crew
of the Dover Prize being killed, one by one, each in some
imaginative way. His second in command, STEDE BONNET, a
fastidious, gentlemanly pirate, is in charge--he's currently
lashing a middle aged passenger, SAMUEL BARRETT, face to face
with the body of a dead crewman. Barrett yells over his
shoulder.
BARRETT
Toby, don't watch me..!
ANGLE TOBIAS BARRETT
The object of his warning--his son TOBIAS, aged twelve,
standing among the passengers.
2.
BARRETT
Toby, I forbid you--don't look...
But Toby does, with unblinking eyes.
FULLER, SHOT
Blackbeard turns to the boy, his smile twinkling.
BLACKBEARD
Do, by ail means, Toby. Learn
lesson that will prove useful in
your later life...
BARRETT
You can do this now, but someday,
someone will stop you. You will
pay...
BLACKBEARD
Will I? I look forward to him.
Send me your worst, your true
Achilles--I will meet him any time,
on any ground...
Barrett screams as the lashings are tightened and his face
mashes into the dead man's. Pirates shove him towards the
side.
BARRETT
Toby, I command you, do not look..!
ANGLE TOBY AND BLACKBEARD
But Toby does, flinching at his father's yell, the splash
overboard. He regards Blackbeard with a look, surprising in
someone so young, of pure hate.
EXT OCEAN (UNDERWATER)
As the bodies sink. Barrett tries holding his breath, but
it's futile. He finally surrenders, his last sound on earth
a scream which rises towards the surface in a flurry of
bubbles.
3.
CUT TO:
EXT MEADOW AND MEN MORNING
The mist still hovers over this quiet meadow outside
Jamestown, Virginia. Two groups of men stand apart. Super
the card:
Jamestown, capital of the Virginia
Colony
EXT MEADOW LOFTON AND POPE
It's a duel. JAMES LOFTON, a young Lieutenant of the Royal
Navy and a second, talks with his opposite second, a wealthy
young planter named POPE. He leaves and crosses to another
navy Lieuteant who stands with a pistol.
ANGLE LOFTON AND MAYNARD
He joins ROBERT MAYNARD, a proud, handsome Irishman in his
thirties. He's poor--his uniform coat is threadbare--and he
ties his long yellow hair back, in this age of wigs, at the
base of his neck with a bow.
LOFTON
This will amuse you--he offers you
200 pounds to go away...
Maynard smiles.
LOFTON (CONT'D)
Of course, you must swear never to
reveal where it came from...
MAYNARD
No ....
LOFTON
I might get him up to three...
Maynard shakes his head. Lofton turns around.
LOFTON (CONT'D)
My principal refuses. Mr. Adams, it
is not too late to retract...
ANGLE ADAMS AND POPE
Maynard's opponent is MARTIN ADAMS, a young planter. He's
clearly scared to death, but he shakes his head.
4.
ADAMS
I do not retract a word, sir...
FULL SHOT GROUP
Pope clears his throat.
POPE
That being the case, you will each
take your positions...
Maynard and Adams approach each other, turn, stand back to
back.
POPE (CONT'D)
You will each proceed ten steps--I
will count them off. On reaching
ten, you may turn and fire. I
begin now--one, two...
As he counts, the two men separate. Adams's knees are
knocking--Maynard is calm. At "ten", Maynard turns--and
finds himself looking down the barrel of Adams' gun; Adams
has turned at the count of nine, taken aim, now fires. The
ball slices a slit along Maynard's cheek below his eye.
Maynard flinches--now he raises his pistol.
MAYNARD
Not only are you without honor, Mr.
Adams, you cannot count...
Adams turns to Pope for help.
LOFTON
Stand, Mr. Adams...
POPE
You must stand, Martin...
Adams is beseeching Pope now.
MAYNARD
Stand, sir, as I stood for you...
Adams turns to Maynard, drops to his knees.
ADAMS
Oh, Lieutenant Maynard, I retract
any slur I may have made about the
Royal Navy, its officers, or its
integrity, and I most humbly
beseech your pardon...
5.
MAYNARD
What about courage? As I remember,
I took particular offense at what
you said about the Navy's
courage...
ADAMS
Retracted, sir. No one braver in
the world than the Queen's Navy...
POPE
Most nobly said...
But Maynard does not lower his pistol. Pope crosses to him--
Lofton falls in step.
POPE (CONT'D)
Won't that satisfy you, sir..?
LOFTON
He has the right to fire...
POPE
Clearly he has--I only ask that you
forgo it. He has a name and you do
not--he is rich, you are poor. If
you kill him, his family will spare
no expense to prosecute you...
Maynard considers. He finally motions Adams to stand. Adams
does, hope in his eyes.
MAYNARD
I would like to kill you, Mr.
Adams. I will not. But you will
never dance as well as you once
did...
He lowers the pistol and fires it at Adams's knee. Adams
falls, with a scream, clutching his leg. Maynard returns
the pistol to Pope, bows, and heads off.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND LOFTON
Crossing the field, both glad it's over.
MAYNARD
And now to church...
LOFTON
And then a hanging. What a
glorious day...
CUT TO
EXT JAMESTOWN HARBOR DAY
6.
It is a glorious morning--the harbor is flat calm. Jamestown
isn't much in these early years--a few warehouses, taverns
and government houses. A British sixth-rate frigate, the HMS
Pearl, 28 guns, lies at her anchor a hundred feet off the
wharf. On the wharf, two scaffolds stand. A crowd is
gathering for the hanging this morning--sailors, apprentices,
farmers from the outlying plantations, bringing in their
slaves for a taste of what mischief will bring.
INT JAMESTOWN CHURCH OFFICIALS, OFFICERS AND MAYNARD
The prominent of the colony, the Burgesses, merchants, the
planters and their families, singing a hymn. Alongside them,
the officers of the Pearl--FAIRCHILD, her captain, Lofton,
another lieutenant RALPH POWELL, and several midshipmen.
Many among them steal a glance behind them at Maynard, who
sits alone--they've heard about the duel. He doesn't return
their glances--he looks out a window, edgy, restless.
ANGLE FANNY AND GEORGE TILDEN
GEORGE is a prosperous young planter--his sister FANNY is
pretty and bright, in her twenties. She looks back at
Maynard.
ANGLE MAYNARD
She's the only one he responds to. He gives her a guarded
smile.
CUT TO:
EXT WHARF MAYNARD AND FANNY DAY
Church has let out--Maynard and Fanny stroll side by side
down the wharf along the edge of the crowd. She tries to
touch his cheek--he shies away.
FANNY
It must hurt...
MAYNARD
Not as much as Mr. Adams' knee, I
assure you...
FANNY
I worry about you...
MAYNARD
You are sweet to do so, Fanny...
7.
FANNY
I am not sweet. People always say
that--I am much more. You seem so
angry...
MAYNARD
It comes from being Irish--we are
all this way. You are fine and
good, then, but your feelings
towards me are wasted--I can't
imagine a man less deserving of
your goodness than I am. My
compliments to your brother...
A jollyboat from the Pearl waits at the end of the wharf-
spotting Maynard, its coxswain calls its crew to attention.
Maynard bows and heads down the gangway towards it.
EXT WHARF FANNY AND BOAT
Watching the boat pull out for the Pearl, Maynard in the
sternsheets. She calls across the water.
FANNY
Lieutenant Maynard, I forgot.
We're having guests this evening--I
wondered if you'd care to join
us..?
8.
MAYNARD
({calling back)
I regret it is not in my power to
come, Miss Tilden, as I am already
engaged this evening. I'd be most
pleased to wait on you some other
night...
She watches him go.
EXT GOVERNMENT HOUSE
The crowd begins to stir--they're about to bring the
prisoners out. Two bailiffs emerge, shouting "make a lane."
EXT QUARTERDECK THE PEARL MAYNARD AND OFFICERS
As the master-of-arms calls the mustered ship's company to
attention. Maynard has joined the other officers on the
quarterdeck--he stands watching with them.
EXT GOVERNMENT HOUSE CROWD AND PIRATES
Behind the bailiffs come the prisoners, two young pirates in
chains. If the crowd was expecting hangdog looks and last
minute repentances, forget it--the two wear expensive coats,
jewelry, rouge on their faces, and their hair is prettified
in curls with pink ribbons. The crowd hoots and catcalls,
shakes its fists at them. The pirates only smile.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE PEARL MAYNARD LOFTON AND POWELL
The crew's uneasy--they mutter at this spectacle. Lieutenant
Powell, standing beside Maynard, whispers.
POWELL
At least we caught two of them,
sir...
MAYNARD
They were drunk, lying in a public
road, and singing songs. Rum and
contempt for the law caught them,
Mr. Powell, not the Navy...
POWELL
Perhaps now they'll turn us loose
against Blackbeard...
Maynard and Lofton exchange glances.
9.
POWELL (CONT'D)
Whoever takes him stands to find
his treasure...
MAYNARD
I don't think Blackbeard could take
a Spanish gold ship. I don't think
much of him at all. His
name's Teach, he was never
rated higher than able, anyone can
sail the Carribean--it's a bathtub,
you're never far from land--and he
raids the helpless and undefended.
The truth is, Mr. Powell, nothing
would please me more than cutting
off his head and presenting it as a
gift to the Governor of Virginia...
LOFTON
Mr. Maynard's petitioned Admiral
Drummond for a command. The Ranger
sloop--you can see it across the
way, in Indian Creek. French
built, ten nine-pounders, eight
foot draft--just the thing for
inshore work, onluy the Admiral
won't approve...
MAYNARD
And may never. I'm on your side,
Mr. Powell, but not your man...
EXT SCAFFOLDING PIRATES
The pirates are positioned over their traps, the nooses
placed around their necks. A PRIEST raises his hand to quiet
the crowd.
PRIEST
Do either of you have any last
words before we carry out your
lawful sentences..?
The pirates look at each other. One clears his throat.
PIRATE ONE
I wish to say I'm sorry I didn't do
more damage in my short life, and I
damn the soul of each and every one
of you...
The crowd yells--the priest must shout to quiet it so the
second pirate can speak.
10.
PIRATE TWO
I only wish to say I pity you,
because I've seen and done things
you'd never dare, and this ain't
parting because I'm sure we'll all
meet in Hell someday...
The crowd is enraged--it screams now. The pirates only
smile.
ANGLE FAVORING MAYNARD
The sight disturbing him--but not the same way it disturbs
the crowd.
ANGLE PIRATES
Still smiling, even as the traps are sprung and their bodies
fall. An ""ooh" from the crowd.
CUT TO
EXT PINEY WOODS SHACK NIGHT
A scrapwood shack in the trees behind town. The sounds of
sweaty lovemaking, sighs and gasps, then the catch of climax
and the silence that follows it.
INT SHACK MAYNARD AND LUCY
As Maynard rolls alongside LUCY, a comely young black slave
girl. She molds to him--she touches his wound.
LUCY
You're thinking about something...
MAYNARD
Did you see the hanging..?
LUCY
They would not let us...
MAYNARD
They smiled. Two men, facing the
fires of all eternity, and they
smiled. I wonder why...
LUCY
You don't want to ask that. That's
the Devil's question...
11.
MAYNARD
It is..?
LUCY
You ask those things and he
appears...
(on his look)
It's true--I've seen him. In the other
country. He comes out of the
trees and he asks men to go with
him--they get up and leave, and you
never see them again...
Maynard considers that. There's a look in his eye that Lucy
finds arousing.
LUCY (CONT'D)
Do you want me that way..?
MAYNARD
Which way..?
LUCY
Like a pirate..?
She raises her arms against the wall, to be tied up. He
shakes his head.
MAYNARD
That does nothing for me, Lucy, and
you should not wish it for
yourself...
CUT TO
EXT TILDEN HOUSE NIGHT
A handsome plantation house outside town. It's bright with
light, loud with conversation.
INT PARLOR MAYNARD AND ADMIRAL DRUMMOND
Fanny, a tray in her hand, pauses in the doorway--she's
pleased to see Maynard has managed to corner ADMIRAL DRUMMOND
in the quiet of the parlor. Drummond's an old blue-water
sailor--his eyes twinkle as Maynard tells him the story of
his taking of the Finesterre, using snuff boxes and relish
bowls on the table.
MAYNARD
The Finesterre here at her dock--me
here, in the armed ketch standing
in, but here we go aground...
12.
DRUMMOND
The sandbars at Brest being
notorious...
MAYNARD
Yes sir--and begin taking fire from
both the ship and the French
batteries here on the heights.
We're soon sinking--I put the men
into the boats, but then I think,
row back to the fleet or towards
the Frenchman and take her..?
DRUMMOND
Much more risk...
MAYNARD
Begging your pardon, but I don't
think so, sir--a long pull under
fire either way, so we make for the
ship. They don't smoke us until
we're almost there, then it's over
the side, five minutes hearty, my
topmen let go the forecourse and a
lucky gust heads her away from the
dock...
DRUMMOND
And you take her out through a rain
of fire and now she sails for the
Channel Fleet. How good it does me,
Maynard, hearing that story--I
never tire of it...
MAYNARD
Yes, sir--but that was six years
ago...
DRUMMOND
I know--you want the Ranger. I
can't--I have no funds...
MAYNARD
Can't, or won't, sir..?
DRUMMOND
(a beat)
There is a tone in your voice I do
not like, sir...
MAYNARD
Sir, yesterday I met a boy whose
father was killed aboard the Dover
Prize. He asked me to go after
Teach and I could say nothing--I
could not tell him it was not that
kind of Navy, that we did not chase
pirates...
13.
DRUMMOND
I believe this interview is over...
He heads for the other room--Maynard follows him.
MAYNARD
...that you buy a cup of coffee in
Jamestown and the beans are pirate
beans, the sugar as well, the cup
is a pirate cup...
INT HALLWAY MAYNARD AND DRUMMOND
Following Drummond down the hallway.
MAYNARD
...that pirates sell things cheaply
and so are welcome in every town
along the coast, and so we clean
our ships and paint them but never
fight them--my love of the service
kept me from saying any of that,
sir...
DRUMMOND
You go too far, sir. You are over
the line...
MAYNARD
Then I beg your pardon. I'm aware
I'm speaking to Drummond of
Schelde, and men speak of Schelde
whenever they gather to discuss
naval warfare. This can please you
no more than it does me...
DRUMMOND
Patience, Maynard. Patience and
hope--that's all I can give you.
Things may come your way...
Maynard nods. He knows that's all he's going to get.
EXT TILDEN HOUSE DOORWAY MAYNARD GEORGE AND FANNY
Maynard's leaving--he shakes hands at the door with George.
GEORGE
You must come more often, Maynard.
It's always a pleasure to see
you...
But both of them know he doesn't mean it. He is not of this
world and never will be.
14.
CUT TO
EXT TOM MAYNARD'S FARM MAYNARD AND TOM DAY
In bottomland by the river, thirty acres of tobacco, a split
log house and lean-to barn. Maynard's older brother TOM,
hoeing his field, looks up at a shout. Coming down a hill
towards him is Maynard. He waves back, shouts into the
house.
EXT HOUSE
Tom's wife DEBORAH emerges, holding one-year old ROGER in her
arms--she beams at their guest.
EXT HOUSE
Maynard and Tom embrace--Maynard kisses Deborah, holds Roger
high over his head.
MAYNARD
This weed. I will soon need tackle
to lift him...
DEBORAH
Will you stay for supper..?
MAYNARD
If it's no trouble. How fine you
look, sister...
With Roger on his shoulders, he walks Tom towards the crop.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Thick. You must be ready to
sell...
TOM
Sold already...
MAYNARD
And .. ?
TOM
For less than it cost. I'm ruined,
Rob--I must give it up...
EXT RIVERSIDE TOM, MAYNARD AND ROGER
Roger plays by the drifting river--the brothers sit nearby,
throwing stones in the water.
15.
MAYNARD
Nobody's worked harder than you...
Tom shrugs.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Who is your landlord..?
TOM
His name is Colleton...
MAYNARD
And have you gone to Mr. Colleton,
shown him your crop...?
TOM
I've never met him--he has an agent
in town...
MAYNARD
Then go to the agent...
TOM
I have--he says we must leave.
We're going to Aruba. The Crown's
giving away land--I'll try my luck
with sugar...
He puts his face in his hands.
TOM (CONT'D)
I'm so afraid.
MAYNARD
Don't say that...
TOM
They treat you no better...
MAYNARD
But I don't think it--I don't let
myself...
He puts an arm around Tom.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
We will make it here. We'll dig in
like ticks. Swear it, on our
mother's head...
Tom nods.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Swear it--aloud...
TOM
Like ticks--I swear it...
16.
MAYNARD
Roger will teethe on cane instead
of weed. You will be a sugar
king...
Tom leans against his brother, tries to smile.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
We sail as well, in a week. A
convoy to Charleston...
TOM
Pirates..?
MAYNARD
If I have any luck at all...
CUT TO:
EXT ATLANTIC THE PEARL DAY
The frigate far offshore, beyond soundings, pitching in
squally weather under topsails and reefed courses.
EXT QUARTERDECK
Maynard in a greatcoat, braced against the roll at the
taffrail. This is him at his best, at sea, the wind in his
hair.
EXT MIZZEN CROSSTREES LOOKOUT
Lowering his telescope, shouting to the deck below.
LOOKOUT
Deck there--ship, fine on the
starboard bow. She's hull up...
EXT QUARTERDECK
As Fairchild, Lofton, and others look. Maynard takes a
telescope from a midshipmen, climbs the shrouds.
EXT MIZZEN TOPS
Stopping just below the lookout, Maynard aims his glass.
_ MAYNARD
You recognize her, Foster..?
17.
LOOKOUT
Can't make her out, sir. She's bad
out of trim-- her sails is all a
hoo...
POV MAYNARD (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
A merchant brig, visible only when she rises over the waves.
Her sails are indeed all a-hoo--only a few scraps of canvas
on broken masts.
EXT QUARTERDECK
As Fairchild turns to the master.
FAIRCHILD
We will haul our wind and close
her...
The master passes the orders to the bosun--the bosun pipes
the watch. Shouts echo through the ship--the braces are
hauled round.
EXT QUARTERDECK
As the Pearl comes up on her new tack, the wind brings a foul
stench over the deck. One by one, the crew smells it--it's
the odor of feces and death.
EXT MIZZEN CROSSTREES MAYNARD AND LOOKOUT
They've smelled it as well.
LOOKOUT
We're in her wind, Mr. Maynard...
MAYNARD
A slaver...
CUT TO
18.
EXT TWO SHIPS
She is a slaver, hove to, the Pearl riding broadside to her
fifty yards off. Her rails are lined with black men, some in
rags, some naked in the howling wind, staring at the frigate
with frightened eyes.
EXT DECK OF PEARL
The main battery run out, slow-matches burning, the crews
ready to fire. An old GUNNER explains to a young boy.
GUNNER
You don't twig? Them black's broke
their chains-- they've taken over
the ship...
EXT SLAVER
A gig-full of Marines has already secured the slaver--now
Fairchild's barge comes alongside. He climbs with his cane
to the deck, followed by Maynard, Lofton and Powell.
EXT SLAVER DECK GROUP
Reaching the deck, Maynard beholds a hundred black men,
staring at him, silent. They back away when Fairchild
speaks.
19.
FAIRCHILD
Captain? The captain? You compreny-vous?
(when nobody replies)
Damn niggers...
He turns at Lofton's call to him from the after cabin door.
INT AFTERCABIN FAIRCHILD AND LOFTON
A few Marines stand aside as Fairchild and Lofton enter the
main aftercabin. They behold blood-splattered walls, the
remains of the slaver's white crew. Fairchild covers his
face with a handkerchief.
EXT DECK MAYNARD AND IBRAHAIM
Maynard and a leader of the rebellion, a powerful black man
named IBRAHAIM, regard each other. When Maynard crosses
to the open main hold, he steps aside. Maynard reacts--
below, maybe two hundred more blacks, most chained to the
leaky hull with shackles, there for over a month, starving,
lying in their own shit. Some have been dead for weeks.
ANGLE DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Two teen-aged black boys, best friends--DAFE has been
pounding at MU'THINGA's chains with a rock.
ANGLE . MAYNARD AND FAIRCHILD
When Fairchild steps besides Maynard, the hammering stops.
The captain speaks though his handkerchief.
FAIRCHILD
Killed every white man aboard...
(to Powell)
Mr. Powell, we will take a cable
aboard and tow them to Jamestown...
MAYNARD
Sir, we're only a week into our
cruise...
FAIRCHILD
And a handsome one it is. These
blacks will bring thirty pounds a
head on Jamestown block...
MAYNARD
Sir, let them go...
20.
FAIRCHILD
Do I hear you, sir..?
MAYNARD
Yes, sir. I urge you to let them
go...
FAIRCHILD
On what grounds..?
MAYNARD
If they had the wit to free
themselves, let them take their
chances on the sea...
FAIRCHILD
Nonsense. And why are you
complaining--you'll get your share
and a half, and a pretty share it
will be...
He tries to go, but Maynard steps in his way.
FAIRCHILD (CONT'D)
Are you mad, sir..?
MAYNARD
What you are doing is wrong, sir...
FAIRCHILD
You're fond of niggers, aren't you,
Maynard- the fact's well known.
Perhaps you are cousins. It would not
surprise me if Africans and
Irish come from the same spawn.
MAYNARD
Perhaps so, sir, and we hate our
leashes on others as much as
ourselves...
Fairchild makes to pass him--Maynard gets in his way again.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Sir, our duty is to protect Queen's
shipping...
Whack--the Captain brings his cane down on Maynard's
shoulder.
21.
FAIRCHILD
There's duty for you, sir--don't
you ever contradict me to my face
again. That may go in Ireland,
where people eat rats and fornicate
with their sisters, but not on a
ship of mine. Now do you stand
aside, or do I flog you? I've
flogged officers before--I'm not
afraid to do it again...
They stand toe to toe, staring daggers. Behind them, the other
officers hold their breaths. Finally, Maynard steps aside,
and Fairchild brushes past him.
INT MAYNARD'S CABIN
Even a first lieutenant's cabin is small on a frigate.
Maynard enters, slams the door behind him. He could have
killed Fairchild with his bare hands--he is disgusted with
himself for not having done it. He sees, on his bed, a china
plate--on it, a turd. There's a card beside it--in flowing
script, it reads, "Irish Face Cream."
INT WARDROOM
A large room with a table, where the officers live and eat.
Maynard's cabin sits off it--he bursts through the door into
it, holding the plate with the turd on it.
MAYNARD
Who left this..?
The gunner, the purser, a few others are there--they smile to
themselves, but say nothing.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Let the coward meet me face to
face..!
Laughter behind his back. He slams the plate in the table's
center, snatches up some paper, a quill and an inkpot, and
scratches a sign. He sets it beside the plate and reenters
his cabin. The sign reads "English Chocolate."
CUT TO
EXT QUARTERDECK NIGHT
The sea's grown higher, as Maynard emerges on deck. The
watch, huddling on this raw night, greets him. He walks aft,
past them, to where the eight-inch towing cable is bent
around the after capstan. He looks out beyond it.
22.
POV MAYNARD SLAVER
Lit by a pale moon, the slave ship jerking at the end of its
tow two hundred yards behind.
EXT PEARL QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND WATCH
As Maynard turns to the quarterdeck watch, two lookouts and a
helmsman, DRISCOLL, faintly lit by the binnacle light.
MAYNARD
What's your opinion, Driscoll--are
they men..?
DRISCOLL
You mean them blacks, sir? Hard to
say, sir--I suppose there's two
schools of thought on that...
MAYNARD
Which do you hold to..?
The men aren't sure how to answer.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
What do you say, Feeny? Are
they human? Do they have souls..?
FEENY, the helmsman, considers it.
FEENY
A difficult issue, sir. Maybe they
do--but then again, maybe they
don't...
MAYNARD
Do they care for their children? Do
they cry when their loved ones
die..?
DRISCOLL
Yes sir, I suppose they do...
FEENY
And I suppose, sir, looking at it
that way, they must have souls...
MAYNARD
I am of your opinion...
He turns to the cable--in one sudden move, he draws out his
sword, raises it and slams it down. An inch-worth of strands
part. He slashes again--the cable screams like a violin
string as it stretches tighter. The watch is afraid. Maynard
raises the sword over his head.
23.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Mind your heads..!
They take cover behind the binnacle. He slams the sword deep
into the cable. It stretches thinner--and then, with a bang
like a gunshot, parts. The loose end leaps off the capstan,
whips about, parting shrouds, smashing a stern-lantern before
it finally falls limp to the deck.
CUT TO
EXT JAMESTOWN HARBOR DAY
The Eurydice, a third rate British ship-of-the-line and
Admiral Drummond's flagship, lies moored alongside the Pearl.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND BOSUN
His back is bare, his hands and feet are tied to a hatch
grating in the gundeck well. Beside him, a bosun takes his
whip out of its red baize bag.
EXT QUARTERDECK DRUMMOND, FAIRCHILD, LOFTON AND POWELL
Watching grimly from the quarterdeck, as the Marine drummers
beat a tattoo. The crew has been mustered to witness, the
Pearl's crew, alongside, as well. Drummond motions to
Fairchild.
FAIRCHILD
Bosun, you may proceed...
EXT GUN DECK MAYNARD AND BOSUN
The bosun plants his feet--with one last apologetic look for
Maynard, he slams the whip across his back. Maynard
flinches, but he makes no sound. He does not take his eyes
off Fairchild.
ANGLE DRISCOLL AND FEENY
They're weeping openly, dabbing their eyes.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Taking the lashes, one by one, his eyes on Fairchild
24.
ANGLE FAIRCHILD
Fidgeting under Maynard's stare. He clears his throat.
FAIRCHILD
Bosun.. !
(when the man looks up)
It seems to me you are getting more
of the grating than the prisoner's
back...
DRUMMOND
Make it so...
ANGLE BOSUN AND MAYNARD
It's true--the bosun's been trying to spare Maynard. His
next lash catches him full on the back. Maynard screams aloud.
ANGLE LOFTON AND POWELL
Crying as well.
ANGLE VARIOUS FACES
The crew looking on, a few indifferent but most wincing. All
are relieved when the twelfth lash is finally given. The
drummers stop.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND MEN
As Drummond calls to the bosun from the quarterdeck.
DRUMMOND
Douse him and bring him to me...
A crewman sloshes Maynard's flayed back with a bucket of sea
water--he gasps aloud. Crewmen untie him and walk him aft,
one under each shoulder.
EXT QUARTERDECK DRUMMOND AND MAYNARD
As Maynard's brought to Drummond. He motions the others
away.
25.
DRUMMOND
You seem to have a demon inside
you, Maynard, who drives you to do
things. You must renounce him, but
not in my command. I am sending
you to Woodes Rogers in Jamaica-
perhaps he will know what to do
with you...
MAYNARD
And if he does not, sir..?
DRUMMOND
Then I suppose you are on the
beach, Lieutenant ...
MAYNARD
Then damn your Navy, sir. It is a
living lie and I want no part of
it...
Drummond considers saying several things--all he says is:
DRUMMOND
You are dismissed...
Maynard manages a salute and turns. Scorning the hands of
shipmates, he hobbles away.
CUT TO
EXT INDIAN CREEK THE RANGER MAYNARD AND FANNY DAY
Maynard's gone to it for one last look. He wears his coat
loose over his flayed shoulders. Fanny watches him
FANNY
I thought what you did was fine...
MAYNARD
I did it, and it's done...
FANNY
What will happen to us..?
MAYNARD
We will always be friends...
FANNY
I love you, Robert...
The words make Maynard uncomfortable.
.FANNY
I do--grant me at least my own
mind. And I believe you love me...
He can't respond.
26.
FANNY
We could leave together...
MAYNARD
No, Fanny, it would not do. We'd
be poor and you'd be unhappy.
We'll write long letters to each
other, all our lives. You'll tell
me of your grandchildren and I'll
tell you of my travels...
She starts to cry. He sits next to her, awkwardly, takes her
hand.
CUT TO
EXT DECK THE HANNAH BARK MAYNARD TWILIGHT
Watching Jamestown slip away as this tubby little merchantman
makes its tide, heading down river.
EXT DOCK LUCY
Standing alone--beyond her, the Hannah drops its forecourse
and takes the wind. She can see Maynard on deck--he does not
wave.
INT TILDEN HOUSE FANNY'S BEDROOM FANNY
At her bedroom window. In the distance, a tiny bark in
Chesapeake Bay, standing out to sea.
CUT TO
EXT MAINDECK HANNAH MAYNARD DAY
Maynard's one of only a few passengers aboard. He leans on the
rail, unshaven, silent--he looks like he's been there for
days. Somebody clears his throat--it's CARSTAIRS, the
master's mate.
CARSTAIRS
Missed you at the table, Mr.
Maynard...
Maynard stares out to sea.
27.
.CARSTAIRS
I've whipped up some coffee in the
wardroom--it's better than the
acorn juice the cook serves...
Maynard shakes his head.
CARSTAIRS
Do you plan to starve yourself,
scientific-like, and take notes for
the benefit of future
generations..?
MAYNARD
You are the soul of kindness, Mr.
Carstairs. A day. I believe I
will be all right in a day...
Carstairs bows and leaves him there.
CUT TO
EXT QUARTERDECK HANNAH MAYNARD AND CREW DAY 80
A troubled, cross-swell sea. The merchant captain, his
mates, Carstairs and the crew, all look at a ship to
larboard. Maynard's among them--Carstairs offers him a
telescope.
CARSTAIRS
He's closing on us...
MAYNARD
I've watched him this last hour...
CAPTAIN
Perhaps he's a merchant, coming to
speak us...
MAYNARD
With everything flying, drabblers
and studdingsails? He would not
carry away a spar, just to
gossip...
CARSTAIRS
You think him a pirate, sir..?
Maynard shrugs.
CAPTAIN
We carry nothing...
MAYNARD
He does not know that...
One of the men with a telescope cries out--they look.
28.
POV (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
The approaching ship is a bark as well. It's running up its
pirate ensign--two grinning skulls.
BACK TO SHOT
The captain begins to tremble.
MAYNARD
What about your guns..?
CAPTAIN
Fight him? Oh no, never--we must
strike...
CARSTAIRS
Sir, we've women on board...
CAPTAIN
They will have to take their
chances. Fight? Not in a million
years--I could not bear it. No, he
can have everything--we will throw
ourselves on his mercy...
Motioning to Carstairs, Maynard heads off.
EXT MAIN DECK MAYNARD AND CARSTAIRS
He's gone to the nearest cannon--he undoes its lashings.
MAYNARD
Does the coward keep any powder..?
CARSTAIRS
Under his berth. I will fetch
it...
ANGLE FULLER SHOT
Having spotted what Maynard's up to, the Captain and his mate
hurry over.
CAPTAIN
Sir, what are you doing..?
Maynard's running out the second gun.
29.
MAYNARD
If we bleed him, he may not think
us worth further trouble...
CAPTAIN
Sir, I am determined to strike.
Look...
Maynard looks over the rail.
POV MAYNARD
The pirate ship's only a cable's length away now. A row of
fierce men jam the rails, waving swords and muskets, shouting
blood-curling cries. From somewhere, the eerie sound of
martial music, as though the ship's is providing its own
soundtrack.
BACK TO SHOT
As Maynard works, the captain turns to his mate.
CAPTAIN
Do something...
The mate does--he takes a brass marlinspike from a pinrail
and clobbers Maynard over the head. Maynard goes down like a
ton of bricks.
EXT AFTERDECK CARSTAIRS
Coming up on deck, a keg of powder in his arms--and seeing
Maynard lying there.
CUT TO
EXT FROLIC DAY
The pirate bark, her name, Frolic, on her counter, slices
through the Gulf Stream under plain sail and a sunny sky.
There's a clanging on deck.
EXT DECK MESS LINE
A COOK is doling out supper to the starboard watch. The
pirates are all tough, tatooed, seasonsed seamen. Each gets
a chunk of salt beef, with ships biscuit and limes heaped
around it.
30.
ANGLE STARBOARD WATCH HOOPER AND MAYNARD
One pirate feeds three, clustering on the sloping deck.
Maynard's head still aches as HOOPER sits alongside him and
another man, SMITH. Hooper divides the meat in three, offers
a piece to Maynard.
HOOPER
Supper, Mr. Maynard...
MAYNARD
I do not know you...
HOOPER
Hooper, sir--I was on the
Berwick...
MAYNARD
(remembering)
Joseph Hooper, fore-top man. I am
very sorry to find you here...
HOOPER
The war ending in '13, and me in
Port Royal with no pay after twenty
year's service, Idid what I could.
This way, I save my shares, send
for the wife, and buy me a farm in
the Carolinas...
MAYNARD
(looking around)
Where's the Hannah..?
SMITH
Burnt her--she weren't worth
nothing...
HOOPER
We put her people in boats. They
kept you because nobody aboard can
take a fix...
MAYNARD
You should know I won't stay one
minute where I don't wish to be...
He finally takes in the ship--he sees broken blocks, lines
knotted instead of spliced, filthy decks. One of the crew
calls for the salt bowl. Somebody answers--the captain had
it, last they saw it.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Who is captain..?
HOOPER
Come--you will meet him...
31.
INT MAIN CABIN DES MOULINS
The bark's main cabin is a sty, in keeping with the captain's
habits. DES MOULINS is wolfing down his supper when Hooper
and Maynard enter, without knocking. Hooper snatches the
salt kid off a table.
HOOPER
You pig, Des Moulins--when you take
the salt, have the grace to return
it...
DES MOULINS
A man forgets--I have much on my
mind. Is this the officer..?
MAYNARD
Maynard, sir, first lieutenant,
most recently HMS Pearl...
He salutes, but Des Moulins waves it away.
DES MOULINS
We don't do that here. You'll take
a sight each noon and prick the
chart. You'll get a share and a
half. Otherwise, watch and watch,
like everyone else...
MAYNARD
I hate you and everything you stand
for. I will escape at the first
opportunity, and if anyone stands
in my way, I will kill him...
DES MOULINS
La ti da. Why would you do that?
Don't you want to be free? Any man
wants to be free...
MAYNARD
I don't relish being hanged...
He starts out, dismissing himself. Des Moulins calls after.
DES MOULINS
You can be hanged for stealing a
shilling. Look what I got from
that worthless bark...
He pulls out a gold watch--he opens it, listens as it chimes.
DES MOULINS (CONT'D)
Being navigator, you'll need
this...
He tosses it to Maynard, by now halfway down the
companionway. By reflex, Maynard catches it--his impulse is
to throw it back in-Des Moulins' face, but he doesn't.
32.
INT COMPANIONWAY HOOPER AND MAYNARD
HOOPER
We chose him captain because he's
good in battle. He picks wrong or
turns yellow, we kick him out and
choose another...
EXT DECK HOOPER AND MAYNARD
Emerging on deck, they pass WILLIAM DALTON, a quiet,
intellegent man, the quartermaster.
HOOPER
Will Dalton, the quartermaster. He
keeps the peace and handles the
share-outs. We pick him too...
Maynard gets his feet tangled with those of ISRAEL HANDS, a
huge brute of a man. He growls at Maynard--Maynard turns,
ready to defend himself, but Hands' friends stand, FALCONER,
DEXTER and others. They're a murderous-looking bunch--they
wear odd, clashing clothes, strange hairstyles, cherished
weapons, jewlery and earrings. Hooper pulls Maynard on.
HOOPER (CONT'D)
Israel Hands. Best not tangle with
him or his friends--they're
fractious by nature...
He delivers the salt kid to the man who wanted it. Maynard
notices three pale and lubberly men off to the side.
HOOPER (CONT'D)
Our musicians--we took them off a
Portagee. They come in handy and
they like the life...
33.
CUT TO:
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK SUNSET
A beautiful sunset, as the ship enters the Carribean. Des
Moulins walks the quarterdeck--Dalton's at the wheel. The
musicians play a pleasant serenade.
EXT MIZZEN YARD MAYNARD
Maynard on the footrope of the mizzen topsail, unfurling it
with the other topmen. He looks out at the sunset, down at
his barefoot feet. He wiggles his toes. It's not an
entirely unpleasant feeling.
CUT TO
INSERT QUADRANT EYEPIECE DAY
As the sun's disk is brought down to the horizon with a
mirror through the eyepiece.
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK GROUP DAY
Maynard's taking the noon sight while Des Moulins, Dalton,
and Hooper watch.
MAYNARD
Twelve noon...
DES MOULINS
Make it so...
Hooper rings the ship's bell four times. Maynard takes a
chart--reading off the quadrant, he draws a latitude. With
the point of a compass, he pricks a position on the chart and
circles it.
34.
MAYNARD
I will not know the longitude until
I get a landmark...
The men seem pleased to know even roughly where they are.
There's a sudden shout forward.
EXT MAINTOPGALLANT YARD ISRAEL HANDS
A halyard block has snapped--the yard swings to the side with
three men on it. Two cling for their lives, but Hands,
furthest out, loses his grip and plunges, screaming, into the
sea.
EXT QUARTERDECK GROUP
All reacting.
MAYNARD
Back your sails...
DES MOULINS
What for--he can't swim...
HOOPER
Nobody can...
Without hesitation, Maynard leaps to the taffrail and dives
into the wake. Annoyed, Des Moulins calls for the sails
backed--Dalton yells for a boat over the side.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD
Swimming strongly, stopping, looking around for Hands. The
sea is empty. He dives.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND HANDS (UNDERWATER)
The big man is sinking. Maynard finds him, gets his arms
around his chest and kicks for the surface.
EXT SURFACE MAYNARD AND HANDS
Coughing water, Hands fights Maynard off. Maynard tries
grabbing him but Hands wants to use him as a float. Maynard
pins his arms.
35.
MAYNARD
Don't fight me, Mr. Hands, and we
both may survive...
EXT OCEAN SHIP'S CUTTER
Pulling strongly towards the two. As they come alongside,
Dalton and Smith haul them out.
INT CUTTER
Maynard is winded--Hands, in the bottom of the boat, keeps
coughing but he waves the men off.
HANDS
Which one of you fished me..?
They indicate Maynard. Hands takes Maynard's hand and presses
it against his forehead.
HANDS (CONT'D)
God bless you, sir...
SMITH
Look at that--Hands turns human...
They seem more impressed with that than the rescue.
CUT TO
INT FROLIC BELOWDECKS MAYNARD AND FALCONER DAWN
Asleep in his cramped hammock, Maynard feels a rough hand
shake him awake.
FALCONER
A chase, lieutenant. A greasy fat
tub of a merchantman...
EXT DECK MAYNARD AND CREW
When Maynard emerges on deck, he finds the crew preparing for
battle. Overhead, hands crack out sail. He looks out to sea.
POV MAYNARD
Patches of fog around the ship--but in one gap, lit by the
rising sun, a merchantman, only a mile or so away, on the
same tack. It's setting its royals, trying to run for it--it
shows only four guns to a side.
36.
BACK TO SHOT MAYNARD AND LANDES
A pirate named LANDES stands beside Maynard.
LANDES
Popped right out of the fog. Our
morning surprise...
A shout goes up.
EXT MIZZEN PEAK
As the Frolic's Jolly Roger breaks out at the top.
EXT QUARTERDECK DES MOULINS AND DALTON
Studying the chase through their telescopes.
DES MOULINS
He's crowding sail--he hopes to
hide behind Eluthera...
DALTON
We have the legs on him...
EXT MAINDECK MAYNARD, LANDES AND GUNCREWS
There's something about the ship that strikes Maynard as odd.
Around him, the gunner FREDERICKS and his crews run out the
cannon, six nine-pounders a side.
LANDES
I guess rum from the islands...
MAYNARD
British-rigged--see the stepped
foretopmqst. Silks and woolens...
LANDES
All the better, silks and woolens.
Gold on the barrel at New
Providence...
Forward, a single gun fires.
37.
LANDES (CONT'D)
He's been warned--he'll strike
now...
EXT MERCHANTMAN
The ball splashes ahead of the chase's bow, but it sails on,
without striking.
EXT RAIL
As the crew "vapors" at the rail waving their sabers and
pistols as they did with the Hannah. The musicians begins to
blare out loud, intimidating music.
ANGLE DES MOULINS AND DALTON
The whole ship now a bedlam of music and bloodthirsty shouts.
Des Moulins shakes his head.
DES MOULINS
Four guns a side--he can't want a
fight. Hoist the red one--show him
what's in store...
EXT MIZZEN PEAK
As the pirate ensign comes down, replaced bya blood-red flag.
EXT RAIL MAYNARD AND OTHERS
He's joined Falconer and Dexter at the rail, standing by
their cannon.
DEXTER
He's shitting his shoes...
FALCONER
You'll load with us...
MAYNARD
I'll do no such thing...
(on their looks)
I won't harm a soul or take a
life...
DEXTER
Perhaps you won't have to. He must
strike now. I wonder why he
don't..?
38.
EXT MAINDECK OF THE CHASE
The chase is the Bajadoz, a Spanish coast guard ship, Captain
SANCHEZ commanding. It's tricked out as a British merchant-
a canvas scrim with four painted gunports covers its battery
of twelve eighteen-pounders a side. Its crew crouches below
the rails, marksmen hide in the tops, and Sanchez himself
ducks low on his quarterdeck.
EXT RAIL FROLIC MAYNARD AND OTHERS
Maynard studies the merchantman--his eyes narrow. He's sure
there's something wrong.
MAYNARD
It's a trap...
DEXTER
So says you...
Maynard shouts up to Des Moulins on the quarterdeck.
MAYNARD
It's a trap, Des Moulins--sheer
off...
Those in earshot turn, wondering what he means.
DES MOULINS
It's meat on the table. Mind your
own business...
MAYNARD
You're overtaking her too fast...
DES MOULINS
She's a poor sailer. Boarders
prepare.. !
The men around Maynard yell louder.
EXT QUARTERDECK BAJADOZ SANCHEZ
Biding his time, watching the gap between ships narrow.
EXT BAJADOZ
Within pistol shot of the Frolic. Her gurgling wake--and on
its far, leeward side, another, thinner wake.
ANGLE MAYNARD
39.
He sees this, realizes--he hollars.
MAYNARD
She's dragging a sail..!
EXT BAJADOZ
Too late--the canvas scrim falls away, reavealing a run-out
battery. It fires a full broadside--the Bajadoz is enveloped
in smoke.
EXT FROLIC
Taking a vicious blast--rails splinter, bodies fly, and the
mizzen top with its flag crashes down to the quarterdeck.
EXT QUARTERDECK DES MOULINS AND DALTON
Fighting .to clear away the wreckage.
DALTON
It's Sanchez, with a trick
foretopmast and a sail in the water
to slow him..!
ANGLE MAYNARD DEXTER AND FALCONER
Maynard's serving his cannon--this changes everything. He
shouts over the gunblast.
MAYNARD
Who's Sanchez..?
FALCONER
Spanish cost.a garda. A real
tartar--he's killed many a
shipmate...
ANGLE FREDERICKS AND GUNCREWS
Returning his broadside--it hits the Spaniard hard, but there
are already gaps in his guncrews.
EXT FROLIC FORECASTLE
As now the top-foremast falls, bringing down all the
jibs with it. Dalton hurries forward to jury-rig a headsail.
40.
EXT QUARTERDECK
Deadly musket sniping mixes with the cannon fire. Pirates
drop everywhere--men are pierced cruelly with wood splinters
from the rail and hull. A ball shreds the quarterdeck--its
blast blows Des Moulins clean over the side.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Looking up, seeing the quarterdeck swept clean, the ship out
of control, the musicians cowering behind the binnacle. He
vaults to the wheel, grabs it, spins it.
MAYNARD
Head, oh! Dalton, I'm paying her
off. Topsail halyards, let fly!
Clew up there, forrard.
Bunt lines, bunt lines--look alive,
will somebody start that goddamn
sheet..!
The crew reacts to this new, commanding voice--and runs to do
what it says.
EXT FORECASTLE DALTON AND CREW
Quickly reeving a jury jib stay, hoisting a portion of a
sail. He's seen what Maynard's up to, shouts.
DALTON
She'll miss stays without this.
Haul..!
Israel Hands does the heavy lifting. As the prow passes
through the wind, the sail shivers and fills, just enough to
keep the ship moving.
EXT QUARTERDECK FROLIC MAYNARD
On the main deck, shambles--Dexter dead, Falconer holding a
bleeding arm, Fredricks trying to keep his guns firing. Over
his shoulder, Maynard sees the Spaniard turning downwind,
presenting her starboard battery.
MAYNARD
Everybody.down--she serves her
broadside...
He throws himself flat as the Bajadoz fires. Balls whistle
overhead, create more carnage on deck. Ahead, Maynard sees
what he's been steering for--a bank of fog.
41.
EXT FROLIC
As the wounded bark limps into the fog bank.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD
The light's dim in the fog. He whistles to get attention.
.MAYNARD
All hands--not a sound..!
With hand signals, he indicates a wear to port. Fredricks
at the waist and Dalton in the forepeak wave--Maynard puts
the helm over.
EXT MAINMAST CROSSTREES
The chains creaking as the yards cross--a pirate rips off a
shirt and stuffs it around them to muffle them.
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
His ship slipping into the fog in Frolic's wake. He yells
for quiet. He hears his own ship creaking, the
water lapping. He's unsure which way to turn.
EXT FOGBANK BAJADOZ AND FROLIC
The guardship passes through a light patch and disapppears
into thicker fog. A beat--then the prow of the Frolic
appears to port: Maynard has worn his wounded ship full
circle. It passes silently behind the Bajadoz and cuts her
wake.
EXT DECK FROLIC HOOPER AND LANDES
Landes is wounded--Hooper keeps him from crying out in pain.
He whispers.
HOOPER
Hush, we're safe--the lieutenant
cut her wake...
CUT TO
42.
EXT FROLIC NIGHT
Limping slowly through the dark, jury rigged, showing her
wounds.
EXT FROLIC MAINDECK
Forward, hands man the pumps, draining her leaking hull.
Midships, the sailmaker sews up the last of five canvas
shrouds holding a dead crewman. The corpses wear their best
clothes and finery--their friends have placed a coin or
trinket on the bodies for memory: two cannonballs rest at
their feet for weight. The pirates stand back as the bodies
are raised on planks and slipped over the side.
ANGLE MAYNARD DALTON AND HOOPER
Maynard leans against a bulwark, worn out. He sees the crew
breaking up and Dalton and Hooper approaching him. Hooper
carries a small casque.
DALTON
The men have talked it over--I
speak for them. Seeing what you
did today, they ask you to be
captain...
MAYNARD
I have no wish to be...
HOOPER
I told you that's what he'd say...
DALTON
That being the case, we'd normally
split this ourselves, but they told
me to offer it to you, as a sort of
inducement ...
HOOPER
It was Des Moulins's, but he's in
no position to care one way or
another...
Maynard opens the casque lid--inside, fine jewlery and
unmounted jewels, rubies and saphires glitter in the
moonlight.
MAYNARD
You mistake me, if you think this
is what I want...
DALTON
Some find it a consolation for the
disappointments of life...
43.
HOOPER
When else will a poor man get a
chance at something like this..?
Maynard eyes the treasure out of the corner of his eye. He
walks off, turns back to them.
MAYNARD
Tell me more about Sanchez...
DALTON
A good seaman. He guards the north
coast of Hispaniola single-handed.
None of us go there...
HOOPER
Not even Blackbeard himself ...
Maynard walks off, turns back again.
MAYNARD
I will think it through. I will
tell you my decision...
He heads forward.
EXT FOREPEAK MAYNARD
Holding a shroud. He looks at the ship, his bloody, battle
stained clothes, back at the crew, his mind reeling. Is this
what fate has in mind for him?
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN FROLIC DAWN
Southing slowly. A man climbs the mainmast shrouds.
EXT MAINTOP CROSSTREES MAYNARD AND DALTON
It's Maynard who's climbing the mainmast in the quiet morning
light. He reaches the crosstrees and settles in, forty feet
over the deck. A beat--then he notices Dalton, sitting in the
mainyard parrals a few feet away:
DALTON
Beautiful morning...
MAYNARD
Indeed...
44.
DALTON
This is my favorite place on a
ship. Also the best time to enjoy
it...
MAYNARD
Yes, this is where you feel her
best...
Both are silent for a moment.
DALTON
I come here to speak to my wife...
On Maynard's look, he takes a locket from under his shirt and
passes it to him.
DALTON (CONT'D)
Annie...
Maynard opens it--inside, a minature of a pretty, red-haired
girl.
DALTON (CONT'D)
I find it's easier to go through
life if you do it for someone
else...
MAYNARD
I'm sure you're right, Mr.
Dalton...
He returns the locket. They're silent again for a moment.
DALTON
The men--they are human beings.
You understand that...
MAYNARD
Yes, I'm sure they are, Mr.
Dalton...
Dalton nods, satisfied his point's been made.
CUT TO
INSERT THE FROLIC (TELESCOPE APERATURE) DAY
Under the sun at its zenith. Somebody is glassing it through
a telescope.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD, BONNET AND VANE
As Blackbeard and his pirate lieutenants lower their
telescopes from the distant ship.
45.
BONNET
The Frolic, all right...
VANE, a slender, snakey man, is shading his eyes.
VANE
Fished her foremast--she's
limping...
BLACKBEARD
It's only proper, decent, and the
law of the sea to speak our old
friend Des Moulins and offer him
our assistance...
EXT QUARTERDECK FROLIC GROUP
The crew there, sharing telescopes--they've seen the
Adventure a few miles off. They know her well--they're
frightened.
SMITH
It's the Adventure...
MAYNARD
And he'd attack us? No honor
among pirates..?
DALTON
He's a shark--he eats anything that
moves...
HOOPER
We give him a wide berth...
DEXTER
We can't out-run him...
Maynard raises his telescope.
POV MAYNARD BLACKBEARD {TELESCOPE APERATURE)
A close-up of Blackbeard on the Adventure's quarterdeck.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Studying Blackbeard, while the crew awaits his orders.
FREDERICKS
Mr. Maynard..?
46.
MAYNARD
We will close him. Luff and touch
her, Mr. Dalton--as close as she
will lie...
Surprised at this, Dalton repeats the command. Unsure, the
crew makes for the lines. Maynard turns to Fredericks.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Mr. Fredericks, your larboard
battery with triple-shot, if you
please...
FREDERICKS
Triple won't carry very far...
MAYNARD
They won't need to. And only
trouble yourself with one charge,
Mr. Fredericks--if it fails, we
will be in the boats, watching her
go down...
Fredericks hurries below to fetch powder.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD
Watching the Frolic converging towards him.
BLACKBEARD
That's not Des Moulins. They have
a new captain...
Bonnet looks--he can't recognize the man on the far
quarterdeck.
BONNET
He ain't afraid of you, whoever he
is...
47.
BLACKBEARD
No, he ain't, is he, Mr. Bonnet--my
impression as well. We will soon
remedy that. Quarters, Mr.
Vane...
EXT ADVENTURE MAIN DECK GUNCREWS
As a drummer rouses Blackbeard's crew and the guns are run
out. His crew is even rougher-looking than the Frolics, the
worst hard-cases of the sea, a crew of nautical bikers.
EXT FROLIC MAIN DECK FREDERICKS
Loading each portside cannon with three balls each--they fill
the barrels almost to the mouth.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
Waving, with broad smiles, as the two ships converge.
BLACKBEARD
That's it--smile and wave. Come
closer, you poxy whoreson scum, and
I will send you my billet-doux. As
your guns bear, Mr. Vane...
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND CREW
Those around Maynard tense.
MAYNARD
A bit closer, Mr. Dalton. Slowly,
not so he'd notice...
He smiles and waves back across the water to Blackbeard.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You are a great, ugly bastard,
aren't you? Hands to braces, Mr.
Dalton, only very quiet, kiss-my
hand ...
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD
His ship is one length ahead of Maynard's--the Frolic closes
up astern. Blackbeard bows, doffing his hat, shouting across
the fifty yards or so.
48.
BLACKBEARD
Captain, we have not met before! My
name is Teach, Edward--also
Blackbeard, but any name will do..!
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK
Maynard bowing, shouting back.
MAYNARD
Your servant, sir! Maynard's my
name--most delighted to make your
acquaintance .. !
(quietly)
Even closer, Mr. Dalton...
(to Blackbeard)
Is there anything I can offer
you..?
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD
Shouting back.
BLACKBEARD
Why no, sir. Highly generous. We
could not help seeing your damage,
and thought you might need
something of us..!
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK MAYNARD
Whispering to Dalton.
MAYNARD
Closer still..
DALTON
Any closer and we'll run her
aboard...
MAYNARD
That's the idea. When I say so,
cut sharp beneath her, shave her
stern close as a Dago barber...
(to Fredericks)
Every gun at her rudder and nothing
else, Mr. Fredericks. As she
bears...
Fredericks nods--he's getting the idea.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
49.
Continuing to smile and wave at Maynard, a half-length
behind.
BONNET
He's edging in on us...
BLACKBEARD
I see that. Hard and fast, Mr.
Vane. Not quite yet...
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK MAYNARD
He bellows--Dalton throws the helm hard over. The deck crew
furiously hauls sheets and braces--the sails shiver.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD
At the Frolic's first move, he's yelled "fire"--his cannons
speak, in a thundering roll.
EXT FROLIC
Blackbeard's balls hitting the water where the ship was an
instant ago. Frolic veers sharply towards the Adventure's
port quarter, its bowsprit like a spear.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK
The crew, Bonnet, Vane, even Blackbeard, throwing themselves
flat as the Frolic bowsprit drives towards them, and on the
swing, scrapes just over their heads, parting shrouds as it
passes.
EXT FROLIC MAINDECK FREDERICKS
Seeing his target--as the Frolic tacks under the Adventure's
counter, its vulnerable rudder lies only feet away. He
fires. The triple-shotted guns, in turn, blast Blackbeard's
rudder to smithereens with their eighteen balls.
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK MAYNARD
Steadying on the new tack, shouting to the men aloft, calling
for every sail. Canvas falls and fills on every mast. Behind
him, the Adventure recedes.
50.
EXT ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD
Picking himself up, hollering.
BLACKBEARD
Haul your wind--wear ship..!
VANE
No point...
He indicates over the taffrail. Blackbeard joins him, sees
for himself what's left of his rudder. His eyes narrow--a
murderous fury rises. Vane and the others know to back away,
but one pirate, a young lookout, does not, stands trembling
as Blackbeard nears him. He backhands the man with a blow
that doubles him over the rail--while he's off-balance, he
pushes him over the side.
EXT FROLIC
The crew cheering, that Blackbeard's nose has been bloodied,
but even more, cheering Maynard, from the yards, the
ratlines, from the deck.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Watching Blackbeard through his telescope as the Adventure
grows smaller behind them.
POV MAYNARD (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
What he's seeing is Blackbeard, glassing him.
CUT TO
EXT FROLIC DECK MAYYNARD AND CREW NIGHT
The crew's been mustered aft in a group--Maynard stands over
them, at the quarterdeck rail.
MAYNARD
I would not take this ship without
a purpose. I've found one. I have
one condition--accept it, and I
will give you Hispaniola...
The crew reacts to the word
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You say no-one's gone there...
51.
FALCONER
It's untouched...
LANDES
It's ripe as a peach...
DALTON
What about Sanchez..?
MAYNARD
I could give you Sanchez...
LANDES
The Bajadoz throws eight hundred
pounds of metal to our three...
MAYNARD
I could take him. His ship is
crank, slow in stays--he'd lose a
luffing match. But you're right--I
could not with this ship, the way
it is. She's filthy and ill-rigged;
as a crew, you can't sail her and
you can't fight her guns. I'm
surprised you've had any success at
all...
The crew does not take this criticism kindly.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
My first choice would be to see you
all hung in chains--failing that,
my next would be to carry you to a
point of retirement. I'm told none
of you want to do this forever-
with Haiti, you'd be rich as lords,
you could give this up and go home
wealthy. That's my condition--do
you take it..?
The men look at each other, consider the offer, unsure.
egard him--he means it. They look to Dalton for his yay or
nay.
DALTON
We would...
MAYNARD
In that case, we have much to do.
Mr. Dalton, south-south-west and a
point--we'll harbor at French Keys
and re-fit her there...
Dalton calls for hands to make sail--the crew spreads to the
lines, aware they've found themselves a new captain.
52.
INT MAIN CABIN MAYYNARD NIGHT
He's cleaned up Des Moulins' mess, now sits at the desk, the
casque in front of him. He opens the lid, looks inside. His
heart is pounding at what he's done.
CUT TO:
EXT COVE FRENCH KEYS THE FROLIC DAY
A sapphire cove on a deserted island. They've moored the
ship alongside a sheer cliff, where they can use the high
rocks to anchor tackle. The ship's been stripped down--the
mizzenmast is gone and the mainmast's being repositioned aft.
EXT DECK FROLIC CREW
Some repair the damaged hull--others plane down yards to make
new spars. Canvas covers the deck--men sew new, larger
sails, with needle and palm. The heaviest work is guiding
the four ton mainmast to its new hole.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
My Dearest Fanny. You may have
heard by now I was taken off the
Hannah by a pirate. She is the
Frolic, a Danish-built bark of
ninety tons. What may amuse you is
that I am temporarily her
captain...
INT BELOWDECKS ORLOP
In the darkness and wet of the bowels of the ship. Maynard
and a crew seat the mast into its socket on the keel.
Tackles and purchases move it, plus brute force, with Israel
Hands working the hardest. Maynard's filthy but satisfied.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
It is, of course, none of my doing-
! have been forced--but in fact, I
may have arrived at an original way
to end a pirate ship. By letting
the crew plunder Haiti, it swears
it will disband, once its greed is
satisfied ...
INT CAPTAIN'S CABIN MAYNARD AND CREW NIGHT
Maynard at his table, looking on while his crew, in line,
signs a contract, putting down their name and a specific
amount in pounds against it. Those who can't write make an
53.
X.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...and has signed articles to that
that affect. The key is taking the
Bajadoz, a Spaniard who watches the
coast, and we are therefore
currently rebuilding in French
Keys...
EXT FORETOP SWIVEL GUN DAY
Maynard's had a short cannon on a swivel mounted on the
foretop crosstrees--he swings it, testing its mount while
Hooper watches.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
The crew is a raffish lot, whose
motives range from simple mischief
to anger towards a world that has
misused them. Their spokesman is
Dalton, the quartermaster...
EXT MAINDECK DALTON AND PIRATES DAY
A dispute has brought Smith and Falconer almost to blows, but
Dalton intervenes, spreading them apart. Falconer backs down
to the Dalton.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...a quiet man who spends much of
his time keeping the peace, since,
as you may imagine, these men are
desperate and no strangers to
violence...
EXT FROLIC DAY
As two pirates jump over the side into the lagoon, holding
their noses, gunny sacks in their hands.
EXT BOTTOM PIRATES (UNDERWATER)
The ship is moored only feet over a reef--the pirates dive to
the bottom. Lobsters cover the reef--they grab and stuff
them into the bags before their breath runs out.
54.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
As for me, I am quite well and in
good spirits, all things
considered. The island is paradise
itself...
EXT ISLAND MAYNARD AND CREW DAY
A work party fills water casks from a mountain spring. Others
return to the ship, bearing sacks of plums and bananas.
Maynard and others hunt with muskets--a wild boar breaks from
cover, Maynard chases it and brings it down with one ball.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...clear skies, a sea full of life,
the land rich with fruit and game.
Despite all this, my thoughts still
fly back to you and the pleasures
of your friendship...
EXT MAINDECK CREW NIGHT
A feast in progress--the crew gorges on fruits and rum,
lobster turtle and boar. The musicians serenade them with
songs from home.
INT CAPTAIN'S CABIN MAYNARD
He finishes the letter by candlelight.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
I trust you are well, and most of
all, happy, as I have no greater
wish in life. I must pause now,
but as I may not post this, I will
try and continue it later...
55.
CUT TO
EXT FRENCH KEYS THE FROLIC DAY
Rerigged, freshly painted, totally ship-shape, the Frolic
stands out from the island. Her foremast is still square
rigged, but aft she carries a new gaff-rigged driver. Her
new, beautiful sails drive her on--she heels in the offshore
wind.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND CREW
The crew looking aloft at the sails, proud of their hard
work. Maynard and Dalton check the trim.
MAYNARD
A trifle more, Mr. Dalton. Thus,
very well thus--not a hair less...
The ship heels as she points even higher, and her speed
increases. Dalton checks the binnacle.
DALTON
Four points closer the wind than
she ever did...
CUT TO
INT CAPTAIN'S CABIN GROUP NIGHT
Dalton, Fredericks, Hooper, and Landes with Maynard at his
table in a council of war. Landes finishes a pencil chart of
the harbor of Port Francis and its surroundings. Prominent
are a line of islands, like pearls on a string, to the east
of the harbormouth.
LANDES
Port Francis, as best I recollect
her. This is her bottom, but that
was winter--it may be different
now...
MAYNARD
When does the wind shift in the
morning ?
LANDES
Around four bells, when the hills
warm up--then it's a sea breeze the
rest of the day...
56.
MAYNARD
So we will have to take him before
a.m., and drive him here, between
these islands and the headland,
where he'll be least happy...
He nods--that's what they'll do.
CUT TO
INT TAVERN BEDROOM PORT FRANCIS SANCHEZ MORNING
A pounding on his door wakes Captain Sanchez from a pleasant
sleep--somebody shouting about a pirate. Eyes gummy, he
stands in his nightshirt and cap, crosses to the balcony.
EXT TAVERN ROOM BALCONY SANCHEZ
Emerging on the hillside balcony, he shades his eyes and
looks out over the town of Port Francis, beyond his moored
Bajadoz, and out to sea. The harbor's like a funnel, the
town at its bottom. Standing a mile beyond its mouth, the
Frolic, flying its red flag, a clear and unavoidable
challenge.
ANGLE SANCHEZ
Snorting. Some of his officers wait in the street below--he
shouts at them to prepare for sea. The men race down the
hill towards their ship.
EXT QUARTERDECK FROLIC MAYNARD AND GROUP
The men are at their guns, the slow-match is burning. On
the quarterdeck, a tense group scans the harbor with
telescopes. Maynard glances at his watch, now the rising
sun.
MAYNARD
Going on seven-twenty. He's taking
too long...
HOOPER
Maybe he won't come out...
MAYNARD
He's. a Spaniard--he must...
57.
EXT MAINTOPSAIL CROSSTREES LOOKOUT
A man with a telescope shouts down to the deck.
LOOKOUT
She's won her anchor..!
He looks--and shouts again.
LOOKOUT (CONT'D)
She sets topsails and topgallants.
She's standing out..!
EXT PORT FRANCIS THE BAJADOZ
Swinging in the wind, sails falling and filling from every
mast, gathering way, heading for the harbor mouth.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND OTHERS
Maynard's relieved--he turns to Dalton.
MAYNARD
Very well--lay her off the mouth,
Mr. Dalton, and we shall begin...
Dalton shouts--the Frolic sets her sails and begins to slide
towards the harbor.
EXT BAJADOZ
Gaining speed as it heads up-channel. On deck, the guns are
run out, muskets and sabers are passed out to the crew.
Sanchez paces his quarterdeck, excited, anticipating the
fight.
EXT HARBOR MOUTH
As the Bajadoz sails into the offing, loaded for bear. The
Frolic sails to meet her--a half-mile separates them now.
58.
MAYNARD (V.O. )
Oh Fanny, we have took the
Spaniard, and what a fine thing it
was. He came out under a brisk
topgallant breeze, the bit in his
teeth, with every intention of
thumping us hard for our
arrogance...
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK MAYNARD
Leaping upon the windward rail to get a better view. He
judges the angle and distance of his enemy, shouts orders.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...and so not to discourage him,
when he came within cannon range,
we hauled our wind and showed him
our larboard side...
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
Smiling--exactly what he hoped the pirate would do. He
shouts to his lieutenant--the officer repeats the command,
the guns open fire.
EXT FROLIC
MAYNARD (V.O.)
As I had hoped, he showed us his
starboard, and got in the first
shot with his long eighteens...
As Sanchez's first balls come aboard--some sails are holed
and the galley roof is shattered, but no real damage. Maynard
veers the ship to port.
MAYNARD {V.0.)
...which we were forced to swallow,
but that being done, we'd blocked
him from the offing and forced him
to sheet up...
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
His guncrews frantically reloading. He sees the Frolic
coming straight towards him--he steers to port to keep his
guns bearing.
59.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...into the wind, at which moment
I knew we had him, as it was his
very worst point of sail, and he
was obliged to steer west, between
the mainland and a line of
islands...
Sanchez is puzzled--the pirate ship is falling in behind him.
He looks overhead at his banners and telltales--they stream
almost dead aft.
EXT TWO SHIPS
To the right are a line of islands, as on Landes' map. As
the Bajadoz heads up channel between them and the land, the
Frolic closes in behind.
EXT FROLIC QUARTERDECK
Shouts ahead--Maynard can see sails breaking out all over the
Spaniard. But his own crew sheets in and the Frolic heels
happily--with her new rig, this is the point of sail she
likes best.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
We tucked in behind him, and it was
then, perhaps, he knew the nature
of the trap, for he hoisted
staysails, in an attempt to out-run
us and perhaps double back, but
this did not answer...
A thrill of excitement goes through the men at the guns--the
musicians begin to pound out military music.
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
Aware the pirate is outsailing him. He wants to turn but
can't, caught between the islands and the land.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...as despite all his canvas, he
did not draw half as well as our
new fore-and-aft rig, and he only
had his sternchasers to pester us
with...
EXT BAJADOZ STERN
Two twelve-pound cannon in the ship's stern galleries begin
firing.
60.
EXT FROLIC FORECASTLE
Fredericks and his men fire the new bowchasers--the crews are
reloading like oiled machines.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
Our bow guns soon put them out of
action...
EXT LONG SHOT TWO SHIPS
With the Bajadoz heading up channel, the Frolic on her heels.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...and we slowly overtook him, him
caught in a corridor, so to speak,
with no way to turn...
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
Racing from one rail to the other, looking- for room to tack.
Over his shoulder, the Frolic is now a boat-length behind,
her bowchasers doing great damage to his stern and mizzen.
EXT FROLIC
She's towing her boats close on either side--pirates, armed
to the teeth, scramble into them over the side.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND DALTON
Maynard satsified--it's all going as it should.
MAYNARD
Lay her aboard, Mr. Dalton...
EXT BAJADOZ AND FROLIC
As the Frolic's bowsprit meets, rides up and over the counter
of the Bajadoz, and lodges there, with a great rending of
wood and canvas.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Cupping his hands, shouting forward.
61.
MAYNARD
Boarders away..!
EXT FROLIC FORECASTLE
As Hooper leads twenty men rushing over the bowsprit, using
it as a bridge to board the Bajadoz from astern.
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK AND COUNTER
Sanchez responding to the threat, shouting for his Marines
aft. The Spanish crew turns to repel the boarders.
EXT FROLIC FORETOP SWIVEL GUN
They've loaded it with nails and glass--it fires.
EXT BAJADOZ COUNTER
The blast from the swivel gun cutting a swath through the
line of marines.
EXT FROLIC BOWSPRIT MAYNARD
Leading a second wave across the bowsprit, into the packed
fighting, shouting, urging them on, firing his pistol.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
Our first boarders were away before
he twigged to the plan. Though he
got his marines aft smartly...
EXT BAJADOZ STERN AND FROLIC PROW
Some of the first pirates aboard pass lines through the
Bajadoz's sterngallery windows. They run back to the boats
that trail alongside the Frolic--they haul them up, hand over
hand, to the Spaniard's stern. Twenty more pirates clamber
aboard her.
62.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...we hauled two boatloads up to
him and in a trice had forty men
aboard...
INT BELOWDECKS AFT BAJADOZ
Pirates race through the passageways, shooting, slashing.
Some fire muskets down onto the gundecks, pinning the crews
there.
EXT BAJADOZ MAINDECK
As those pirates race into the sunlight, Joining the others
who've come via the bowsprit. Fighting everywhere, a full
scale melee, confused, deafening. The Frolics use pikes,
swords, and boarding axes, toe to toe, thrusting, hacking,
pistolling.
ANGLE MAYNARD
In the midst of it, unstoppable, fierce--the Spaniards
retreat before him.
EXT MAINDECK
As pirates lock the hatches to the gun deck below, trapping
the Spanish guncrews there. Among them, Dalton, Hooper,
Fredericks, Landes, Falconer, even the musicians, giving and
taking, cut and thrust.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
There was still much work to do on
deck, as Sanchez did not take
kindly to the visitation, and there
was a deal of blood...
EXT QUARTERDECK LANDES
The body-strewn quarterdeck lies undefended--Landes cuts the
flag halliard with his sword and gathers the Spanish flag as
it falls around him.
EXT DECK
As the Spaniards see this, the starch goes out of them. They
put down their weapons and start to surrender--the shouts and
battles diminish.
63.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND SANCHEZ
They've been battling through the crowd towards each other,
but when they meet, Sanchez, looking around, realizes he's
lost. He wearily lowers his sword, salutes Maynard with it.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...but within ten minutes of the
first shot, it was over, and
Sanchez had struck...
ANGLE PIRATES
Seeing this--all over the ship, the rising sound of cheers,
furious, ear-shattering cheers.
EXT BAJADOZ MAIN DECK MAYNARD AND MEN
Happy, covered with the blood of others, as his crew crowds
around him, congratulating him, slapping his back.
DALTON
Wish you joy, Captain. Very
handsomely done...
INT BELOWDECKS PIRATES
The looting has begun. They tear through the ship. Anything
not nailed down is taken--clocks, helmets, an illuminated
Bible.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD, LANDES AND HOOPER
Landes is showing Maynard what he's found--a journal with
watercolor drawings of various Hispaniola ports.
LANDES
It's one of their pilot's books,
Captain. It's got every port on
the coast, with soundings and the
defenses. You've given us
Hispaniola, just like you said...
He hugs him, excited. Maynard's a little thrown off--but he
hugs him back.
EXT BAJADOZ QUARTERDECK SANCHEZ
64.
As a final ceremony, Sanchez presents his sword to Maynard,
with the pirate crew looking on. Maynard take it, bows
formally, and returns it to him. Sanchez bows in turn.
MAYNARD (V. O.)
Sanchez offered me his sword, which
I accepted but immediately
returned, as I could find no fault
in his conduct of the battle...
CUT TO
EXT BAJADOZ AND BARGE SANCHEZ NIGHT
Sanchez's upper lip is stiff--he sits in the sternsheets as a
pirate crew casts off and starts the long row back to Port
Francis.
EXT BAJADOZ MAINDECK MAYNARD
The dead and wounded pirates on the deck--the sailmaker and
others tend them as best they can. Maynard has a comforting
word as he passes among them.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
There was a butcher's bill to be
paid, of course-- three dead, a
score wounded--but not high at all,
for so sharp an action...
INT CAPTAIN'S CABIN MAYNARD
By candlelight, he finishes the letter to Fanny.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
Of course, I owe my greatest thanks
to the Creator, whose power was
greater than mine today, and while
three dead's not much, it's more
than my conscience will comfortably
bear, and I trust the rest of my
time here will go quickly...
EXT TILDEN HOUSE DAY
On a bright Virginia day.
65.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...and that I will soon return to
the civilized world, the one in
which you dwell...
INT FANNY'S BEDROOM FANNY
She's reading the letter's last page.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
...and the one to whose reward and
approval I will always aspire.
Until then, I remain, your humble
and devoted servant, Robert
Maynard...
She's crying--a few drops splash onto the paper. She
crumples it into a ball on top of her reading table.
CUT TO
EXT HAITIAN PORT FORTRESS NIGHT
A Spanish battery in a hillside fort on the Haiti coast,
overlooking a harbor. The masthead and stern lights of a ship
pass below, sailing into the harbor. The Spanish officer
shouts--the cannons belch flame.
EXT HARBOR DECOY
It's no ship--it's a lash-up of ship's boats and planks,
rafted together to hold two poles with lanterns on them.
Cannonballs splash around it.
EXT FORT TROOPS AND PIRATES
Fooled by the decoy, the soldiers haven't seen the fifty
pirates slinking through the shadows behind them, aren't
aware of them until Maynard, with a shout, leads them over
the parapet and onto their confused heads.
CUT TO
EXT HAITIAN TOWN SQUARE PIRATES DAY
They've commandeered carriages and race them around the town
square, Hooper at one set of reins, Smith at the other while
the crew cheers them and makes side bets with their new
money. Smith caroms off a wall but keeps his seat. The
Haitians look on, tentatively.
66.
EXT SIDE STREET MAYNARD
A few yards off the square. A shop window has stopped him-?
inside it, a display of fine swords, pistols with intricate
damascus work. He feels an arm thrust through his elbow--he
finds himself arm in arm with Stede Bonnet.
BONNET
A glorious day, Captain Maynard.
Shall we walk..?
MAYNARD
I don't know you, sir...
BONNET
Stede Bonnet, of the Adventure
galley. My great friend and patron,
Mr. Teach, would have a word with
you...
Maynard looks around--sitting under a grape arbor in front of
a tavern at the street's end, there's Blackbeard himself,
motioning him over. Looking around, Maynard sees some of his
crew, lounging in doorways, ready to cut him off if he tries
to escape.
EXT SQUARE DALTON AND PIRATES
The carriages have hauled up short--the crew's seen what's
happened to their captain.
FREDERICKS
He's sunk...
Dalton holds them back.
EXT STREET MAYNARD BONNET AND BLACKBEARD MEN TRACKING
As Bonnet escorts Maynard down the street, with Blackbeard's
men falling in behind. Maynard's glancing around--an iron
brace rod overhead seems his only way out. When he's below
it, he leaps for it, tries to climb. Bonnet grabs his foot-
Maynard kicks him with the other, but that slows him down.
The crewmen grab his legs and drag him back down into the
street.
ANGLE DALTON AND THE FROLICS
Seeing Maynard held, his wrists now being tied.
FALCONER
I say make for the hills...
67.
DALTON
Do what you wish--I say the ship...
FREDERICKS
We can fight the ship...
They back away.
EXT TAVERN MAYNARD, BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
Bonnet dabs a bloody nose with a lace handkerchief as he
delivers Maynard to Blackbeard.
BLACKBEARD
Ha, Bonnet--you did not keep your
guard up...
MAYNARD
A cowardly way to meet, sir...
BLACKBEARD
A cowardly thing you did to my
rudder...
MAYNARD
Then cut these and we will see who
is left standing...
BLACKBEARD
No harm here, Maynard--I only
wished to offer you the hospitality
of my ship; there's a wine aboard
you will not find unpleasant.
Captain...Lieutenant--what should
I call you..?
He rises and leads the way towards the waterfront. Maynard's
dragged after, a musket at the back of his neck.
MAYNARD
Mr. Maynard will do...
BLACKBEARD
Call me Teach. Blackbeard's a bit
operatic, like the beard itself,
but it's good for business...
(on Maynard's look)
Why fear, sir. I wear this and
they strike every time. Last thing
we want is shooting a ship to
pieces and lowering its value,
though between you and me, it
chafes the skin something awful,
especially in this tropic heat...
EXT HARBOR BLACKBEARD'S BARGE MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
68.
Sitting together in the sternsheets as the crewmen pull for
the Adventure.
BLACKBEARD
You've met Bonnet. Here's Mr.
Hornigold on the Fleece...
In the harbor, two other pirate ships, one dropping its
anchor, one just standing in.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
...Vane on the Celtic Revenge. Six
hundred men counting New
Providence, all mine, every ship
one I took and named their
captains...
EXT BARGE AND ADVENTURE
As the barge rows beneath the ship's counter, two beautiful
young women, PATSY and HELEN yoo-hoo from the rail.
BLACKBEARD
Pasty and Helen--two of my wives...
MAYNARD
I did not know you were married...
BLACKBEARD
Thirteen times. I believe in the
sanctity of marriage, so much so
that I've done it over and over.
It's so hard to find the perfect
spouse--99 out of 100 marriages
fail, but only because they're
limited by the proposition that a
man can have only one...
EXT SIDE LADDER AND DECK
As Blackbeard and Bonnet force Maynard up the Adventure's
side ladder.
BLACKBEARD
Not one's perfect--rather than
brood and turn sour, I try another.
Hope springs eternal...
EDWARDS, the ship's bosun, salutes as they reach the deck.
Maynard sees the ship is filthy, the crew as well. The wives
cover Blackbeard with kisses.
69.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Helen--Patsy here's the daughter of
a Bahamian planter: never wore
shoes before in her life. Number
five, there was a spitfire--she
died from the flux, but her sort is
over-praised, I think, and talk
about your chafing skin. Say the
word and I'll find one for you...
He leads Maynard towards a below-decks hatch.
INT BELOW DECKS TREASURE ROOM
A door unlocks to a small room, stuffed with chests and sacks
- Blackbeard leads Maynard inside.
BLACKBEARD
Don't fall for women. Well enough-
they can be your ruin...
He opens a chest--it brims with doubloons and Spanish oros.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
A small portion of what's mine. I
bring it along in case I wish to
buy something on impulse.
Take something for a sweetheart,
coins, a priceless jewel...
MAYNARD
You'd oblige me if you got to the
point of my being here...
BLACKBEARD
Why does any prince invite another
to his castle? To make an alliance,
of course. Vane and Hornigold are
all right in their place, but
neither would have shot my rudder,
and neither could have taken the
Bajadoz, no sir, not in a
lifetime...
INT COMPANIONWAY MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
Blackbeard is moving Maynard move aft.
MAYNARD
I need no partnership, sir--I am
doing well enough on my own...
70.
BLACKBEARD
Two's better than one. Better to be
my friend than my enemy...
He's opened another side door--he pushes Maynard inside.
INT ROOM OF CELLS
An airless, foul chamber, divided by iron bars into three
cells. Only one's occupied--a wretched MAN with a white
beard, blinking, who begins to beg, piteously.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
An English judge--picked him up in
Kingston. He took too many bribes-
he forgot who he owed. You greedy
dog...
He takes an iron bar and begins to poke the man viciously
through the bars. The man cries out to Maynard.
MAN
You wear a Naval coat--please, sir,
intercede on my behalf. The fiend
will not let me go...
MAYNARD
You're on your own, sir--as you
see, I am prevented...
BLACKBEARD
Good for you--don't give the scum
an inch. You will not believe how
he fucked the law for his own
purposes...
INT MASTER CABIN
As Blackbeard leads Maynard into his private cabin. It's
large, well-lit by the large stern-quarter windows--it's also
dirty, cluttered, with too much furniture, too many
candelabras and mirrors and paintings.
BLACKBEARD
Which I've also got an English
valet and a French chef. You
didn't expect me to sleep in a
dirty corner with my two shares-
you don't hold to that old
democracy, do you..?
He seats Maynard in a chair and sits at a table.
71.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
You've been a naughty pirate,
Maynard--come with me and be a real
one...
(shouts over his shoulder)
Masters, the yellow label, if it's
chilled...
MAYNARD
I'm no pirate at all...
BLACKBEARD
You take ships and burn cities and
leave widows. What else would you
call yourself ..?
MAYNARD
A captain. A privateer...
BLACKBEARD
Which country signed your
papers--Maynardshire? Come, sir,
don't be nice with me--of course
you're a pirate, you've taken
Haiti, but what is Haiti--
pigs and chickens. With me,
you'll do some real
damage. I have plans--you'd like
them...
MASTERS, Blackbeard's valet, comes in with a tray, a bottle,
and glasses. He pours the wine.
MAYNARD
Plans for what..?
BLACKBEARD
Not a word, sir, until we shake
hands. But they'd bring you wealth,
enormous wealth, land and power--
you'd be one of the great men of
the New World...
(regarding him)
However, them things don't get you,
do they? I watched your eyes--they
didn't light up with the girls and
they didn't with the gold...
(he drinks)
Your health, Maynard...
He drinks, enjoying the cool flavor. Maynard drinks his with
his wrists tied.
72.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
They lit up with the judge.
Revenge--that's what gets you,
don't it. Paying back your
enemies, the ones that scorned you,
the ones that flogged you, that put
the turd on your bed. Show me your
back, Maynard--show me where they
hurt you so bad...
He looks up--Captains HORNIGOLD and VANE have entered.
Hornigold's a violent bear of a man, Vane is slim and
snakish.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Hornigold, Vane--I was telling
Maynard here how well-known his
story is. And how come you didn't
get a ship after the Finesterre-
any other lieutenant would have.
I'll tell you why--because the New
World's for the English alone, the
Navy as well, no Irish wanted, and
that's what you are, ain't it, a
poor, dumb, heathen, savage,
mackerel-snapping Irishman...
Maynard starts to his feet but they hold him back. Blackbeard
smiles.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Of course, so am I...
MAYNARD
You are..?
BLACKBEARD
Tramore--shipped when I was twelve.
Pressed me in Riga when we run up
for spars and I fought for the
Queen in the Baltic. You know the
church in upper Saint Catherine's
..?
MAYNARD
I know it...
73.
BLACKBEARD
Born in its shadow. We're the same
man, Maynard, trying to get ours in
a nasty world. You know when you've
gone for a spell without looking in
a mirror, and then you do, and your
first thought is, that's not me-
but of course it is, you've just
forgotten what you looked like.
Well, I'm holding a mirror to you.
This is what you look like, Maynard
-here's where you belong. This
infatuation with the English, this
masquerading about in a ieutenant's
uniform--fantasy. Come to New
Providence with me...
Maynard says nothing.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
What are you thinking..?
MAYNARD
How to cut these ropes, kill you,
and escape out the stern-gallery
windows...
Blackbeard stands, picks up a knife--and cuts Maynard's rope.
Maynard rubs his wrists.
BLACKBEARD
I force no man I respect...
MAYNARD
Then I thank you for the wine, sir.
May I trouble you for your barge to
row me back to my ship..?
Blackbeard waves--of course. Maynard rises to go.
BLACKBEARD
Did I lie, Maynard--did I say
anything that wasn't true? Show me
where I'm wrong--point out my
error. Do I lie, Stede..?
BONNET
You're the most honest man I
know...
Maynard bows his farewells and exits.
EXT HARBOR ADVENTURE AND BARGE
Maynard, in Blackbeard's barge, passes below his ship's stern
galleries.
74.
INT CABIN BLACKBEARD AND GROUP
Watching Maynard being rowed away.
VANE
I didn't know you was Irish...
BLACKBEARD
I'm not, thank God...
BONNET
Tramore..?
BLACKBEARD
I took a shit there once...
HORNIGOLD
Why didn't you kill him..?
BLACKBEARD
Where's the sport in that? He'll
come back--he's lost to the world.
Where else can he go? And he'll try
to kill me when he does...
({on their looks)
Oh, yes, he must--he is Achilles...
CUT TO
EXT QUARTERDECK FROLIC DALTON, HOOPER, FALCONER NIGHT 255
The ship sinking the land. In the background, Maynard by the
taffrail, deep in thought. In the foreground, the three
regard him.
HOOPER
He didn't lay a hand on him...
DALTON
Most unusual for Teach...
FALCONER
Maybe he didn't want to cross
swords with him...
The men consider that.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Staring at the wake. He's having a similar thought.
75.
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN FROLIC AND SHIP DAY
In the Florida Passage, two ships moored stem to stern.
EXT SHIP MAYNARD
They've just grappled a homely French pink--the pirates have
boarded her. Maynard swings over the rail--he makes for her
captain, who stands huddling with his officers.
MAYNARD
My name is Maynard. Your manifest,
Captain, if you please...
ANGLE THE PURSER
The PURSER, cowering off to one side, terrified. In his
terror, he does exactly the wrong thing--he raises a pistol
at Maynard and fires it.
ANGLE MAYNARD
The ball lodging in the mainmast inches away from Maynard's
head before he reacts. When he does, it's with a sudden fury
-he turns on the man, drawing his sword.
MAYNARD
No, sir, I cannot have that--you
must always strike to me...
ANGLE MAYNARD AND PURSER
The man drops the gun and backs away, holding up his hands,
but Maynard comes on.
MAYNARD
...and you must know that something
like this will only lead to
suffering. Therefore I must make an
example of you...
He thrusts the sword beneath the man's hands and clean
through him, pinning him to the rail. He pulls the sword
free--the man falls dead to the deck.
76.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
...so that others may live, and
trust the news will spread...
ANGLE PIRATES AND PASSENGERS
Everyone--even the pirates--stunned by its suddenness.
ANGLE PIRATES FAVORING ISRAEL HANDS
He and his rough friends nodding--they think what Maynard's
done is just fine.
CUT TO
EXT CARRIBEAN HILLSIDE MAYNARD, MEN AND FACTOR DAY
Maynard's climbing a cactus-covered hillside with another
man, a land FACTOR. Coming along is Israel Hands and his
friends--they've become Maynard's unofficial bodyguards.
Maynard's hardly dressed for hiking--he's traded in his old
coat for a new, brocaded one, wears a new hat, breeches and
shiny boots, and from one ear dangles a large gold earring.
FACTOR
A romantic might build his mansion
here, for the imperial view, but in
practical terms, I'd recommend
closer to the lagoon. Easier to
tally what comes in and out, and of
course, closer to your blacks...
(on Maynard's look)
You don't think you'd get white men
to work in this heat. And your
niggers will rob you blind if you
don't watch out, the creatures...
They reach the hilltop and stand. A glorious view is
revealed--a perfect island rimmed with coral, a mile or so
square, laid out in precise rows of sugar cane. Far off,
against the pale of a lagoon, the Frolic, at anchor.
MAYNARD
Who owns it presently ..?
FACTOR
A Mr. Colleton...
(on Maynard's look)
You know the gentleman...
MAYNARD
I've heard his name. What's he
asking..?
77.
FACTOR
5000 pounds, cash money...
MAYNARD
Would he take less..?
FACTOR
Mr. Colleton owns many properties
throughout the colonies--he's in no
hurry to sell any of them. I
believe he'd await his price. Can
you get your hands on the 5000..?
MAYNARD
Not yet. But shortly...
The bodyguards grin at each other.
CUT TO
EXT ABACO ISLAND TOWN STABLE MAYNARD DAY
Some weeks later. Maynard's rented a horse--he lays his gold
headed cane across the pommel, mounts up, and rides off
through this sleepy Carribean town.
ROAD MAYNARD TWILIGHT
Riding down a dirt road between sugarcane fields. He checks
a map--he reins up at a dirt path leading off the road, now
turns his horse down it.
EXT CANEFIELDS TOM MAYNARD'S FARM MAYNARD
Following the path, Maynard notices stunted cane plants on
either side. The road ends at a run-down ramada shack, with
smoke coming from a chimney. Tom Maynard emerges from the
canerows, his clothes tattered, a hoe in his hand. As
Maynard dismounts, Deborah, with Roger in her arms, hurries
out from the shack to greet him. She's drawn and haggard-
Roger looks pale and sickly. The two brothers embrace, but
tentatively.
MAYNARD
You don't seem so glad to see me...
TOM
I'm afraid of what I've heard...
MAYNARD
And you see it's true...
He turns to Deborah and Roger, hugs his sister in law and
kisses the baby.
78.
DEBORAH
You are welcome, Rob. Can you
stay..?
MAYNARD
If it suits you, sister--most
obliged...
(to Tom)
So, Tom..?
He steps over to a cane plant, plucks off a blossom. It
crumples in his hand--his silent question is silently
answered. Tom sighs--his shoulders sag.
EXT BEACH MAYNARD AND TOM NIGHT
Under a canopy of stars, the brothers sit on the sand where
Tom's canefields meet the beach. They stare out at the sea-
the waves crash.
MAYNARD
You should come with me...
TOM
I knew you'd say that.
([a beat)
How, Rob? You were good...
MAYNARD
Why be good, Tom? What's the
point? You're good. Your wife's
old before her time, your child is
sickly, and here you are, King of
Shit Hill...
TOM
Don't say that...
MAYNARD
You risk nothing, you have
nothing...
TOM
You've turned ugly, Rob...
MAYNARD
And you are a failure...
TOM
Don't say that...
MAYNARD
I should have said it some time ago
-it might have done you some
good...
Tom sobs--Maynard's words stab him.
79.
TOM
The land they give away is no good.
If you want something decent, you
must pay for it...
MAYNARD
Where will you go now..?
TOM
I'm not sure. The Guianas...
Maynard reaches into a pocket, comes out with a leather bag
that jingles. He offers it to Tom. Tom shakes his head.
MAYNARD
For Guiana...
TOM
I can't...
MAYNARD
Then for your family--they did not
ask for your poverty...
TOM
No...
MAYNARD
Why not..?
TOM
It's dirty...
Annoyed, Maynard tries to shove the bag down Tom's shirt. Tom
fights him off--they begin to struggle, in the sand.
Maynard's stronger--he forces the bag down Tom's shirt, but
as soon as he backs off, Torn takes it and flings it into the
darkness. Maynard slugs him in the face, hard. Tom swings
back--he's strong and big, but no match for Maynard, who
blocks him, hits him with a left and then a right, harder
than he should. When he steps away, Tom's curled into a
protective ball. When he sits up, his lip is bleeding.
Maynard reaches out, touches it.
MAYNARD
You never could fight...
TOM
You always could...
MAYNARD
It is my one talent...
He stands, goes looking for the bag.
80.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
I tried being good, Tom. They
gave me no room. It's an English
world--no Irish wanted...
TOM
Now all men hate you...
MAYNARD
No they don't. People trip over
themselves to be my friend,
wherever I go...
He finds the bag in the darkness.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Don't come at me with schoolboy
arguments you don't believe
yourself. Nothing happens and
nobody stops you. In fact, you
prosper. You're happier than you
ever were before...
He sits back down beside Tom and stuffs the bag into his
shirt. Tom pauses, and finally lets it stay there.
TOM
I suppose I should thank you...
MAYNARD
You're all I have...
(a beat)
I should be going...
INT TOM'S RAMADA GROUP NIGHT
It's late--Maynard's making his goodbyes. Deborah stands
with Tom, holding Roger.
MAYNARD
I brought you something, Deb.
Stand still...
He steps behind her--from a pocket, he takes a gold necklace
laced with large diamonds and puts it around her neck.
Deborah's eyes widen--she looks to her husband. The baby
touches the bright stones with his little finger.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
She should have something beautiful
to wear, Tom, don't you think..?
It's more the pleading look on his wife's face than anything
Maynard's done or said that makes Tom finally submit.
81.
DEBORAH
Thank you, Rob...
Maynard and Tom embrace.
MAYNARD
Take care of yourself, brother...
TOM
You as well...
Tom and Deborah watch him mount up, ride off.
CUT TO
EXT CHESAPEAKE COVE MAYNARD AND FROLIC DAY
In the distance, the ship at anchor in a secluded Virginia
cove. Maynard rides upslope on horseback in his brocade
coat, his cane across the pommel.
EXT HILLSIDE FANNY AND MAYNARD DAY
Fanny sits on a hilltop, shaded by a straw hat, intent on
painting a watercolor of the landscape. There's a table
beside her for her colors--she doesn't notice a hand place a
small box on top of it. She goes to take water on her brush,
sees it, turns--and there's Maynard. She leaps up,
overturning the table, rushing to him, embracing him,
excited. Then she steps back, taking in his cane, his
earring.
MAYNARD
If you'd prefer my old coat, the
torn one, I have it somewhere ...
FANNY
How did you get here..?
MAYNARD
By ship. I thought you'd be glad
to see me...
FANNY
Seeing you is always a pleasure...
MAYNARD
Don't you wonder what that is..?
He indicates the box. She takes it, open it--inside, a
gorgeous cut stone in a diamond ring setting.
FANNY
Whose was it..?
82.
MAYNARD
I bought it, Fanny--in Kingston.
Somebody owned it, surely, but I
paid good money for it. You got my
letters...
(on her nod)
You never wrote me back...
FANNY
I did not know what to say...
MAYNARD
I have a horse for you--my ship's
not far off...
She realizes he's asking her to go with him. She shakes her
head.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You would have a year ago...
FANNY
You weren't then what you are
now...
MAYNARD
I was poor and miserable. Is that
who you love..?
FANNY
I love you, Robert, and that will
never change. But I cannot be a
pirate's wife...
MAYNARD
What if I told you it's all pirates
out there? The whole get-rich
quick county--pirates, or people
trading with pirates or winking at
pirates...
FANNY
My brother is no pirate. His
friends--Mr. Adams, Mr. Friendly,
Mr. Colleton...
MAYNARD
He knows Colleton..?
FANNY
He does, and they are honest men,
they get what they have by working.
There he is, there's George...
She points across the fields--in the distance, George is
standing with a supervisor.
83.
FANNY (CONT'D)
Go bid him good day, see if he does
not call the sheriff. The world's
not the way you say--it's your
excuse for doing what you want...
MAYNARD
I came for you, Fanny. I can love
you the way you deserve. I will
leave the sea, if that's what you
wish...
Fanny only sobs. Maynard bows to her.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You may keep that or throw it away,
Fanny--it's yours. I wish you the
best of days...
He turns and walks off. Fanny feels tears coming but she
bites her lip and fights them down. She picks up her
watercolors, sits.
CUT TO:
EXT THE FROLIC OFF NEW PROVIDENCE DAWN
Under all plain sail, heeling as it rounds the eastern tip of
New Providence Island and opens Nassau Bay.
EXT THE ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK BLACKBEARD AND STEDE BONNET
They've been watching the Frolic stand in.
BONNET
So he comes...
BLACKBEARD
He must--where else can he go?
Watch him like a hawk, Stede--never
take your eyes off him.
(to his bos'un)
Sideboys for the lieutenant...
EXT QUARTERDECK FROLIC MAYYNARD AND DALTON
Eyes shaded, they scan the harbor.
DALTON
I still don't know why we're
here...
84.
MAYNARD
I've killed sharks before. If he
doesn't suit us, we'll take
ourselves elsewhere...
DALTON
What happened to you ashore..?
MAYNARD
Nothing happened. And I see no
other man objecting.
They look up at the sound of cannon fire.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE FROLIC MAYNARD AND CREW
Their first look at the pirate haven, as a string of salutes
from the Adventure blast across the water. There are perhaps
five ships at anchor, more hulks drawn up on shore. Along
the bay's white coral beaches, shacks of driftwood and tent
ramadas beneath the waving coconut palms, the smoke of cook
and trash fires, an overall air of shabbiness and easy money.
Along shore, pirates are coming out and waving at the ship,
women as well-- Maynard's men line the rail, waving back.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND DALTON
Maynard counts the salutes--six, seven, eight--as they make
for Blackbeard's ship.
DALTON
This is wrong. You should know
I'll use every effort to convince
the men against it...
MAYNARD
And do what--take my ship..?
DALTON
It is not yours, remember? We gave
it to you...
EXT MAINDECK ADVENTURE MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
With Hooper as coxswain, Maynard's cutter curves alongside
the Adventure and moors at the after mainchains.
As Maynard climbs aboard, he's met by a ragged honor guard,
six pirates with knuckles to their eyebrows and their tongues
in their cheeks. Blackbeard comes forward, takes Maynard in
his arms.
85.
BLACKBEARD
Good morning, Lieutenant--give you
joy with all my heart. What
decided you to come..?
MAYNARD
To do some damage, as you said...
BLACKBEARD
And we will, and make you wealthy
in the process. Is this our
handshake..?
He extends his hand--Maynard shakes it.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Stede, greet our new partner...
(Stede shakes with
Maynard)
What a day. I'm like a child--I
don't know what to do next...
He gestures over the rail at the bay.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
My world. Wonderous, ain't it?
You'll meet everyone tonight--we'll
have a ball in your honor...
MAYNARD
I did not come here for balls. You
mentioned something in Haiti...
CONT'D
BLACKBEARD
I did. Vane returns in three days
with several gentlemen--we'll have
them for dinner and you'll learn
everything then. In the meantime,
what other mischief can we get
into..?
INT BLACKBEARD'S CABIN MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
They enter. Blackbeard motions Maynard to a chair--he
splashes two glasses full from a rum bottle.
BLACKBEARD
Who should we hurt first? The
Spanish in St. Augustine? The
British..?
MAYNARD
I would not attack a ship of the
Royal Navy...
86.
BLACKBEARD
Not after what they done to you...?
MAYNARD
The Navy was my life for twenty
years--I'll do nothing to harm
it...
BLACKBEARD
Then who? With whose blood shall
we redden the sea-- whose teeth
shall we set to gnashing...?
MAYNARD
There is a man called Colleton...
BLACKBEARD
Ah--and you'd have your revenge on
him...?
MAYNARD
He has it all--! believe he could
do with less...
BLACKBEARD
Shall I tell you something? I know
this Colleton--a greedy slug who
steals the sweat of honest men...
He smiles--the smile spreads, broader.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Do you know how absolutely dead-on
perfect your choice is, Maynard?
Colleton has a ship--a fine ship,
the Duke of Yarmouth...
MAYNARD
I don't need a ship...
BLACKBEARD
Wait--it all fits. 400 tons or
more, a merchantman but armed like
a frigate, twelve pounders.
Each year he gathers his spoils and
takes them on that ship to his bank
in London. Hundreds of thousands of
pounds, all in coin. She travels
alone--she's fast, strong, nothing
can touch her, not even me, but
you, a naval genius, the man who
took the Bajadoz--you could take
her and Colleton and the fortune
she carries...
MAYNARD
It depends on her course...
Blackbeard grabs a handful of charts off a side table and
spreads them in front of Maynard.
87.
BLACKBEARD
Always the same, and the same time
of year, about now, it occurs to
me, or several weeks hence--from
his home in Bluefields, north
through the Windward Passage on the
Gulf Stream to Halifax where he
makes his easting...
MAYNARD
One ship could not catch him--but
several could...
BLACKBEARD
A squadron..?
(on Maynard's nod)
A maneuvering squadron. Of course-
what a bold idea...
MAYNARD
Only one place serves...
(pointing)
The Windward Passage. It's a
funnel--you place one ship off
Cuba, another off Heneago Key,
another to the west. He sees a
pirate ensign here, he wears. He
has two other choices--he finds
each blocked by another ship, and
he's driven here, to Caucas Bank,
where he finds himself among the
coral heads and must slow. Your
ships with their shallow draft
swarm over him. His twelve
pounders can hold off one but not
three at once...
BLACKBEARD
Excellent. How would you
prepare..?
MAYNARD
Rehearse it. Make one ship the
Yarmouth, take three of yours,
agree on our signals, let him sail
into the trap and see what he
does...
BLACKBEARD
The Duke of Yarmouth. Poetry--you
hear about it, you see it so
rarely. What a happy wind it was
that blew you to me...
He clinks Maynard's glass--they drink.
CUT TO
88.
EXT HARBOR BEACH THE BALL NIGHT
Everyone in the harbor's been invited--all have come,
including Maynard's men. Bonfires provide light, an
orchestra plays, and ramadas made of palm leaves shelter the
roasting of oxen and birds. Blackbeard's men and their women
have prettified themselves to the maximum, rouge and lipstick
and finery--the over all flavor's that of a fancy ball in
some English manor, but with the pirate sense of parody.
There's exaggerated bowing and scraping, courtly greetings-
but the aristocrats are drunk and the women whores. There are
woozy minuets, card games, arguments, and in the shadows,
the crunch of fistfights. Maynard's men appear over their
heads as they wander through it.
EXT HEAD TABLE MAYNARD AND BONNET
Maynard at a head table with Bonnet, who wags his finger to
the music. He's keeping Maynard's glass full.
BONNET
Is this not fine, Mr. Maynard..?
MAYNARD
It is unique...
BONNET
Truly. What a great man
Mr. Teach is. No place like
this in the world--a
community of free men, doing only
and exactly what their hearts
desire...
MAYNARD
Where is Teach..?
89.
BONNET
He'll be along. He likes to make
a sort of--what shall I call it--an
entrance...
EXT BALL TEACH AND CHARIOT
The revelers at the edge of the party back away--through,
from the shadows, comes Blackbeard. He's riding a two
wheeled chariot over the sand--it's drawn not by animals but
a team of eight men in harness, cringing as he cracks a
bullwhip across their backs.
FULLER ANGLE INCLUDING MAYNARD
Blackbeard steers his team through the throng and reins up
before the table. He cracks his whip, bellowing.
BLACKBEARD
You weak-livered, poxy dogs--can
you only pull me three miles an
hour..?
He mounts to the table, waving to the crowd, and plops down
beside Maynard.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Prisoners--officials, various slugs
who fleeced me. I'll show you
where I keep them. I hold them for
ransom--not that their families are
that anxious to get them back. Oh,
Maynard, you don't know how I've
longed to talk to a man of
understanding. They always make me
a clown or an ogre--they miss the
fact I'm a man, I get lonely, that
I had a mother. Tell me of yours-
when was the last you saw her? The
day you went to sea...
MAYNARD
She ran to me across a field. She
could not stand to see me go...
BLACKBEARD
She was a saint--they all are. She
told you to do good--they all do.
I had five brothers, one sister--I
have no idea where any of them
are...
90.
MAYNARD
I've one brother--he's a planter,
or tries to be. He has yet to
succeed.....
Blackbeard's distracted by another wife, PENELOPE, who climbs
from the crowd beside him. Blackbeard kisses her hotly.
BLACKBEARD
Who's this--Penelope? I misremember
their real names--I give 'em
English ones, though they ain't
English, not one...
MAYNARD
Do you care for any of them..?
BLACKBEARD
You mean love..?
(on Maynard's nod)
I don't think so. No, I wouldn't
say love enters into it. Revenge-
that's my chief passion. It stays
in the memory the way sex does not.
It does not stale with repetition,
and it does not have to be shared
with a partner--it's yours alone.
So, Stede--how goes my party..?
BONNET
Splendid, except Lord Hornigold's
fallen in the punch again...
Drunk, Hornigold's gone headfirst into the punchbowl. He
swings at his men who try to help him out.
CUT TO
INT FROLIC MAYNARD'S CABIN MAYNARD AND PATSY NIGHT
Sounds of the party in the distance. Maynard's sleeping off
his evening--but he's not so woozy he doesn't wake when his
cabin door creaks open. He takes up a pistol from a bedside
table, levels it at the figure in the doorway.
MAYNARD
There's enough light to outline
your head--I will not miss at this
range...
He strikes a match, lights a candle--the glow reveals Patsy,
standing there in a shawl.
91.
PATSY
It's me--Patsy. My husband sent
me...
Shje enters, shuts the door--she begins to unlace her bodice.
Maynard blushes.
MAYNARD
I require nothing, ma'm, I assure
you...
PATSY
He told me to see to your
comfort...
She pulls her skirt over hear head. Maynard regards her.
MAYNARD
Will things go badly if I send you
away..?
PATSY
Yes. And with you as well,
perhaps...
She stands naked, presenting herself. Maynard smiles.
MAYNARD
That being the case, you must tell
me what it is your husband prefers
most...
She comes over, pulls down the blanket, then his pants, and
begins to show him. He lays back, closes his eyes.
CUT TO
EXT CARRIBEAN THE FROLIC AND SHIPS DAY
The Frolic near at hand, the Adventure a few miles off, two
more Blackbeard ships on the horizon--the rehersal's in
progress. From a far ship, the puff and report of a cannon
shot.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE FROLIC MAYNARD AND VANE
Vane stands with Maynard on the quarterdeck.
VANE
Cannon to windward...
Both raise their telescopes.
92.
MAYNARD
"Enemy under my lee...
(to Hooper)
Royals and staystails. Stun'sails,
if she'll stand them...
Hooper repeats the orders and they're shouted around the
ship.
VANE
He likes you, the commander...
Maynard only nods.
VANE (CONT'D)
He'll turn on you in time--then
it's nothing but abuse and eating
his shit...
MAYNARD
Then why do you stand for it..?
VANE
For the treasure, of course...
(on Maynard's look)
Ain't that why you came? Why else
would anyone put up with him? To
be there when he dies, to find the
fucking flota treasure when that
happens, God speed the fucking
day...
MAYNARD
You think there is one..?
VANE
Know it. He fished the Florida
wrecks--come away with three
hundred purses. Put them in his
cutter, left a candle burning in
his powder magazine, blew his ship
and every man aboard to kingdom
come and stuck it away some place.
The trick is where, but I say this-
he feels the law on his neck, he'll
head for it, no mistake. And there
I shall be, on his heels...
There's the sound of two cannon shots--both men look.
93.
MAYNARD
Two guns to windward. "Take the
weather gage."
(to Hooper)
We will tack and cut him off...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CHASE BONNET
Conning the "Colleton" ship, doing his best to escape the
trap.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE FROLIC MAYNARD AND VANE
The four ships now in the same square mile of ocean--the
chase veers and weaves, but the three pirate ships close in.
MAYNARD
Hornigold will get in the first
shots--then Teach, us last...
VANE
I see "Colleton" has struck...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CHASE BONNET
He is salaaming Blackbeard across the water, like some
Oriental lackey.
CUT TO:
INT THE FROLIC MAYNARD'S CABIN MAYNARD NIGHT
He's dandifying himself--he wears his best coat, has put a
bit of rouge on his cheeks, a bit of blacking on his two
weeks of beard. He makes sure his pistol is secure in his
belt.
INT MAIN CABIN MAYNARD, BLACKBEARD AND GROUP
As Maynard knocks and enters. He finds a table set for
dinner--around it, Blackbeard and three men, Messers KEPFORD,
HARRISON, AND NOXON, prosperous merchants. They're being served
by Masters and black waiters. Blackbeard indicates a chair
beside him.
94.
BLACKBEARD
At last, a man of appetite--these
are picky eaters. Mr. Kepford of
Bath, Mr. Harrison and Mr. Noxon of
Edenton, Lieutenant Maynard...
(the men al1 nod)
Eat, damn you, Harrison--someone
took great pains to catch that for
you...
He points at a huge lobster on Harrison's plate.
HARRISON
I confess, sir, I am full--I could
not eat another bite...
BLACKBEARD
Do you contradict me, sir..?
HARRISON
No, sir, not for one minute...
His voice is weak compared to Blackbeard's bellow--he takes a
timid bite. All three are frightened toadies.
BLACKBEARD
Begin, Maynard and all will be
revealed...
(bending close)
Kepford, by the way, brings me news
from Jamaica--our friend has
sailed...
MAYNARD
Then we should tomorrow...
BLACKBEARD
And will...
(to the room)
Now New Providence, Lieutenant, is
all right in its way, but it's
small, distant, it lacks good soil,
and a certain civilization. No,
the future in this part of the
world lies in the Colonies, the
American mainland--that's where the
growth shall be, the money shall
be, and where, with the grace of
God, I shall be, with the help of
these gentlemen, my investors and
supporters...
The men nod happily.
MAYNARD
Investors in what...?
95.
BLACKBEARD
Where is Bath, pray? Where is
Edenton..?
MAYNARD
North Carolina...
On his incredulous look, Blackbeard grabs a chart from a side
table and spreads out a map of North Carolina.
BLACKBEARD
It's there for the taking--nobody
live there, nobody in particular
wants it. Just the spot for the
world's newest country...
MAYNARD
Yours..?
BLACKBEARD
He thinks I'm mad. Teachlandia--a
whole country, created by and run
by pirates. No laws, and therefore
no lawyers, no government and
therefore no taxes-- absolute
freedom, every man with a gun,
taking whatever he can with his own
two hands, holding onto it as best
he may and suffering if it's taken
away from him, the way Nature
intended...
The merchants applaud, clink their glasses.
MAYNARD
You'd never get away with it...
BLACKBEARD
Why not..?
MAYNARD
It's Crown Property--you'd be at
war with the British...
96.
BLACKBEARD
And if I was--who'd oppose me? A
few ships? A handful of redcoats,
some ragged militia? I'll take it
the way England takes her land--
with fire and sword. And the
Queen will reckon up the cost
of getting it back, she'll count it
up on her fingers and toesies and
say to herself, "This fellow Teach,
he's not so bad. In fact, he's
much like me. Rather than kill
him, I'll make him Governor."
She'll sign a treaty and then we'll
all turn aristocrats, with coats of
arms, mansions, carriages and
footmen. What man with any balls
would not want to live there--we
will have to put up fences to keep
them out...
He clangs a fork on a glass.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Masters, where's my champagne? I
wish to make a toast...
INT GALLEY MASTERS AND SERVANT
The servant holds a tray with four champagne flutes--Masters
nervously pisses into each glass. Blackbeard bellows again,
o.s.
MASTERS
Coming, sir--instantly...
He struggles to top off the glasses.
INT MAIN CABIN
As Masters enters in with his tray and sets it before
Blackbeard, who passes the glasses out to the guests.
NOXON
Mr. Teach, should you be revealing
all this to..?
(indicates Maynard)
97.
BLACKBEARD
Maynard? He's one of us. In fact,
as our god of war, he's the key to
our getting it. Success at arms,
gentlemen...
He's filled a glass of his own from a bottle by his side. The
six raise theirs to drink. Maynard smells what's in his
glass, realizes what it is. Harrison and Noxon likewise
pause, but Kepford happily gulps his down. He gets a
horrified look on his face.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
What's amiss, Mr. Kepford--the wine
bad? Masters, I said the red
label...
NOXON
This is not wine, sir...
BLACKBEARD
Of course it is. I know what wine
is--this is wine. Champagne wine.
Fine champagne wine. Drink it...
HARRISON
Sir...
BLACK.BEARD
Do you contradict me, sir--do you
place your judgement ahead of
mine..?
(to Maynard)
They've done well, but to do
better, they place themselves in my
hands...
(to the others)
Drink, you pus-heavy whores, or
I'll cut you up for bait...
The three force themselves to drink, swallowing hard, making
horrible faces. Maynard pushes his glass away from him.
BLACKBEARD
You don't honor me, sir..?
MAYNARD
Not with this vintage...
The two stare at each other. Blackbeard bends close.
BLACKBEARD
I have them bamboozled, sir--it's
the only way to handle them. You'd
oblige me if you behaved the same-
I pray you, as a countryman...
He looks down--he sees Maynard has his pistol out beneath the
table, pointed at his gut.
98.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Ah ...
ANGLE UNDERNEATH OF TABLE
Maynard's gun pointed at Blackbeard--and strapped beneath the
table where Blackbeard sits, a fan of pistols, one aimed at
the centerline of every chair around the table. Blackbeard's
hand caresses the trigger of the pistol pointing at Maynard.
BACK TO SHOT
Everyone at the table waits, breath held, to see what happens.
With a sudden laugh, Blackbeard takes Maynard's glass and
throws its contents against the bulkhead.
BLACKBEARD
Your trick, Lieutenant. See how I
dote on you...
(shouting off)
Masters! A clean glass for the
Lieutenant...
Masters hurries in with one---Blackbeard fills it from his
bottle.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
A glass with you alone, Maynard...
He drinks his off. Maynard drinks his, slowly, eyeing
Blackbeard over the rim.
0UT TO
EXT OCEAN THREE SHIPS DAY
The squadron--the Frolic, the Adventure, and the Celtic
Revenge, sailing south under a cloudy sky.
EXT FROLIC AND ADVENTURE MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
Blackbeard's closed his ship within hailing distance--they
shout to each other across the water.
MAYNARD
We should have seen him by now..!
99.
BLACKBEARD
He runs into a storm, he loses his
topmasts, he puts up new canvas-
these things are complicated. You
seem down lately, Maynard-
melancholy, attacked by the
blue devils. Come aboard
tonight--we're drinking
and gambling; it will cheer you up.
Bring your swag...
CUT TO
INT MAIN CABIN MAYNARD, BLACKBEARD, AND GROUP NIGHT
Blackbeard, Maynard, Bonnet, Edwards and Hornigold around a
table, bleary-eyed from cigar smoke and rum, braced against
the ship's roll. They're gambling--the wives keep the
glasses full. Each man's brought his own box of booty.
Blackbeard's the night's big winner--he rakes in another pot.
BLACKBEARD
I spoil your point of seven and
seventeen to the king, Mr. Bonnet,
and piquet you once more...
Maynard's drunk--he tosses his losing cards to Hornigold.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
This way, Maynard. The deal's
mine...
HORNIGOLD
You should turn in, Maynard...
BONNET
We've hot work tomorrow...
MAYNARD
You are quite right, sirs. I wish
you good night...
He stands--but Blackbeard grabs his arm.
BLACKBEARD
He can't go yet...
(on his look)
I mean that in all friendship,
Maynard. One more hand, for luck...
MAYNARD
I am through, sir. See for
yourself--I've nothing to play
with...
He shows his casque is empty.
100.
BLACKBEARD
Why then, your shoes...
(on his look)
Indeed--your shoes. I covet them,
I have long wanted your shoes, have
I not, Stede..?
BONNET
For as long as memory serves...
BLACKBEARD
I will cut you for them, Maynard,
high card, one hand takes all...
MAYNARD
Sir, I believe I will keep my
shoes...
But Blackbeard, grinning, his eyes narrow, won't let go--he
paws through his riches.
BLACKBEARD
Look, against them I will put up
this...
He comes up with a large, cut ruby.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
...huge ruby, of at least
comensurate value...
MAYNARD
I cannot walk in that, sir. Again,
gentlemen, goodnight ...
But Blackbeard clutches him--he comes up with an Incan gold
idol out of his pile.
BLACKBEARD
Cuzco gold--not even melted down;
still the old heathen image. This,
plus the emerald, against those
sweaty leather things on your
feet...
Maynard sees them all smiling--he knows they're making a fool
of him. He wrenches hard, but Blackbeard holds on with a
fierce strength.
BONNET
Gentlemen, it is not worth fighting
over...
BLACKBEARD
None of it is worth anything-
that's the point. Maynard torments
me, but I must have his shoes...
He rummages through his pile, comes up with a necklace.
101.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Against your shoes, my emerald, my
idol, and this fine gold and
diamond necklace. Vane took it off
an island sloop--some silly woman
had it...
Maynard stares at it--it's the one he gave Deborah.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
She didn't look worth it. Her
hubby put up a fight, apparently...
MAYNARD
What happened to them..?
BLACKBEARD
With Vane? Oh, you know Vane...
Maynard's guts heave, the room spins around him. With all his
force, he pulls free of Blackbeard, claps his hand to
his mouth and stumbles from the room. Their laughter follows
him out.
EXT ADVENTURE TAFFRAIL MAYNARD
Leaning over the rail, retching, spewing his stomach empty.
Blackbeard's crewmen nearby him smile at his predicament. He
groans from the furthest depths of his heart.
INT COMPANIONWAY MAYNARD
Outside Blackbeard's cabin. He looks up at himself in one of
the Blackbeard's mirrors lining the companionway. His eyes
are red-rimmed, his hair is wild--he has, in fact, become
Blackbeard. He kisses his pistol, turns for the door.
INT BLACKBEARD'S CABIN
The room's thick with cigar smoke as the door bangs open and
Maynard lurches inside. He aims his pistol across the table
at Blackbeard. Blackbeard regards him, cool.
BLACKBEARD
What have we here..?
MAYNARD
You killed my brother and his
family...
BLACKBEARD
Did I? I don't recall it...
102.
MAYNARD
That necklace...
BLACKBEARD
What of it..?
MAYNARD
I gave it to my brother's wife...
BLACKBEARD
That may well be--I said I don't
recall. Either put that down or
fire it, and then we'll see the
outcome...
Maynard winces, fires. The ball blows Blackbeard back out of
his chair onto the floor. The wives scream--Hornigold and
Vane grab Maynard's arms, pin him.
ANGLE TABLE
A long beat--then a hand grips the table's edge and
Blackbeard pulls himself up. He's gushing blood from a huge
wound in his shoulder--Penelope runs to help, but, his eyes
furious, his jaw set, he rips her top off to make a bandage,
tying it in place with his good hand and his teeth. He tests
his arm, clenches his fist.
BLACKBEARD
Am I not a true judge of character,
Stede..?
He winds up as he comes around the table and slugs Maynard in
the jaw with all his force. Maynard's head snaps back-
Hornigold and Bonnet let him drop. Blackbeard kicks Maynard
hard in the ribs.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
He came close--one arm's gone,
perhaps never to return, but the
other functions, and one's all I
need...
He kicks Maynard even harder. Maynard tries crawling to
safety in the companionway, but Blackbeard follows him.
INT COMPANIONWAY MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
As Blackbeard brutally pummels Maynard down the length of the
companionway. He tries covering up.
103.
BLACKBEARD
You really thought you could play
with me and come up winners? When
you shot my rudder, did you think
I'd like that, that I'd say, I must
be that man's friend, his partner,
I am drawn to that man? Did you
think I'd let some flyspeck of a
lieutenant offend me and not turn
him into an object lesson for the
rest of the nautical world? You
think you're quite the boy, don't
you, Maynard, you think you are bad
but you're not, you're just
visiting bad, you don't the first
thing about it, you don't know bad
and you don't know hate neither-
and that, Maynard, is your Achilles
heel...
He punctuates his words with kicks and blows, now leans
against the bulkhead, worn out by his effort and the pain.
BONNET
Do we throw him over the side..?
BLACKBEARD
No, not in an age. He has a battle
to watch...
CUT TO
EXT THE ADVENTURE DAY
The ship is towing something astern that sends up a plume in
its wake, a hundred yards behind.
ANGLE MAYNARD
What it's towing is Maynard, the line around his wrists,
dragging him at seven knots through the Carribean. He gasps
and heaves, fighting for air when his face breaks water.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
The maintop lookout above them points, shouting.
LOOKOUT
A ship, sir, hull up, three miles.
She tacks...
Edwards calls the crew to quarters--the pirates run to their
guns, unlash them, prepare for battle.
104.
BONNET
He's seen us...
BLACKBEARD
Ten minutes too late...
(to his signalman)
"Enemy to the south-west. General
chase." And you may bring in our
tow...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE FROLIC HOOPER AND FREDERICKS
They've been glassing what the Adventure is towing with their
telescopes.
HOOPER
I can't make it out...
FREDERICKS
Where's Mr. Maynard--that's what I
wonder...
EXT FROLIC VANE
As a cutter swerves alongside and Vane leaps for the
afterchains ladder. Six of his men follow him aboard.
EXT QUARTERDECK VANE AND CREW
As Vane reaches the quarterdeck, followed by his men.
VANE
I'm taking command--where's the
bosun...?
LANDES
We pick our captain on this ship...
Vane draws his pistol and shoots Landes dead, with that
little forethought.
105.
VANE
And I am him. Do any of you salute
here, or is it all Fiddler's
Green..?
Maynard's men are stunned--those that want a fight find
themselves staring into the muskets of Vane's men.
EXT OCEAN FOUR SHIPS
With the chase to leeward, clearly visible now, only a few
miles away. Behind it and to either side, the three pirate
ships, close in.
EXT PROW THE CHASE
A SAILOR leans over the cutwater. Coral heads pass on either
side, their black domes just below the water.
SAILOR
Coral heads, either side! No
bottom..!
EXT QUARTERDECK PEARL FAIRCHILD AND LOFTON
The chase is not the Duke of Yarmouth at all--it's the HMS
Pearl, Maynard's old frigate. As his crew beats to quarters,
Captain Fairchild's well aware of the situation he's in.
FAIRCHILD
Caucas Bank. We must take way off
her--topgallants only, but give me
fore and main staysails, Mr. Lofton.
And we will start our water...
Lofton bellows the commands.
INT GUNDECK PEARL
Crewmen take axes to the large water casks. Water pours from
them and gushes along the deck.
EXT THE PEARL
Trying to escape, water streaming out her open gunports.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
106.
Bonnet's seen this.
BONNET
He starts his water...
BLACKBEARD
It will not help him. Where's
Maynard..?
He turns and sees him being hauled up and over the after
rail. Maynard slumps to the deck, coughing, trying to clear
his lungs. Seeing Blackbeard corning towards him, he raises
his hands in reflex, but Blackbeard grabs him by the hair and
drags him forward towards the mizzen mast.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
How you cry--less a man than we
thought. Here's more to weep over,
Lieutenant ...
Crewmen lash his arms behind the mast--Blackbeard pulls his
head around, to starboard.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Here comes your Mr. Colleton...
Maynard blinks, tries to focus.
POV MAYNARD
The image of the chase corning clear. He sees the British
ensign at its mizzenpeak--now he recognizes the rig.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD AND MAYNARD
Maynard's face in horror--he sees his old ship caught in the
trap he devised. The first echoes of cannon fire across the
water as Hornigold engages. Smoke hides the Fleece.
107.
BLACKBEARD
I asked myself, who truly could
keep me from North Carolina? The
answer was, why only the Royal
Navy, the Pearl frigate that lives
at Jamestown, to be exact. I could
not think how to defeat it until
you showed me...
EXT MAINDECK THE PEARL
The Adventure has engaged now. With enemies on his either
beam, Fairchild must fight both batteries at once. He and
his officers exhort their crews, through the smoke. They're
taking heavy fire--spars snap, tackle falls, splinters fly
like shrapnel.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND MAYNARD
As Blackbeard's cannon add to the weight of metal shattering
the frigate.
BLACKBEARD
Look, Maynard, your shipmates--!
trussed you up so they could see
you. Oh lord, the look on your
face. This is revenge, Maynard.
Not just getting back--it's getting
ahead. It requires time,
deliberation--you could argue that
revenge is man's highest creation,
that no man ever stands so tall as
when he has his foot upon the face
of his fallen enemy...
EXT MAINDECK THE PEARL
Fairchild may be a fool, but he fights, in the tradition of
the Navy, to his last man. Two of three masts have fallen,
his crews have been decimated, almost every cannon is out of
commission. And now, among the guncrews, someone looks up
from his labor long enough to spot Maynard, lashed to the
mast of the ship opposite. He shouts, points. More men
steal an instant to raise their heads.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD AND MAYNARD
His face wet with tears, watching his old ship die.
108.
BLACKBEARD
And the thing is, I didn't make you
come to me. I don't make anybody
come--they always come on their
own...
Maynard barely hears him--he's staring at something aboard
the Pearl.
EXT DECK PEARL FEENY AND DRISCOLL
The two watchmen the night Maynard cut the slaver's cable.
They stand by their gun, knuckles to their eyebrows--facing
defeat and death, they're saluting him across the water.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Tears streaming down his face.
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN DAY
Silence. Timbers, wreckage, bodies, arms outstretched, some
familiar, Fairchild, Lofton--all that's left of the Pearl.
Nearby, Blackbeard's ships hove to, sails aback.
EXT MAINDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND MAYNARD
Maynard's so weak Blackbeard must carry him towards the side
ladder.
BLACKBEARD
Killing's you too simple. Instead
of keelhauling you and letting the
barnacles grind you to paste, for
only one example, I'll let the sea
have you. I'm letting you go,
Maynard, on a raft...
At the ladder, Maynard looks down. Alongside the ship, a
raft bobs, made from the bodies of dead Pearl crewmen, lashed
together with ropes.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Your last command, Lieutenant.
Yours to sail wherever you like and
however you please...
Maynard tries to dig in his heels as crewmen pull him down
the ladder and dump him onto the raft.
109.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Recoiling at the blank, dead faces. Above him, Blackbeard
laughs.
BLACKBEARD
Thank you for everything,
Lieutenant. May the wind always be
on your quarter...
He turns and shouts orders. The yards are hauled around--the
topsails fill, the ship gets under way.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD
At the taffrail, shouting back at Maynard.
BLACKBEARD
And by the way, I am no Irishman,
and if I did have a mother, I'm
sure my birth finished her off...
ANGLE MAYNARD
Watching the Adventure pull away, the other ships joining it.
He shouts back with a hoarse voice.
MAYNARD
And Colleton? What of him? I
suppose he is your sodomite
lover... -
EXT TAFFRAIL BLACKBEARD
Cupping his hands, shouting back, grinning.
BLACKBEARD
You poor fool. I thought you'd
guess--you never did. I am
Colleton..!
ANGLE MAYNARD
The words lacerate him. Laughter from the pirate ships
rolls over the water as they pull away, leaving him there.
110.
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN DAY
The vast Carribean--and in its center, a tiny dot.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD AND RAFT DAY
With aching, bruised arms, he paddles the raft. The bodies
ripple under him. Their bellies and faces swell from the
rotting gasses inside them.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD AND RAFT DAY
He's spotted a ship, a tiny scrap of sail in the distance. He
waves his shirt, screams through his partched throat. He is
not seen.
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD AND RAFT NIGHT
A storm has risen--in a driving rain, Maynard clings to the
lashings with all his strength while the sea tosses the raft
about.
EXT OCEAN DAY
The storm's passed--the ocean is table flat. Maynard kneels
on the raft, his eyes shut, hands pressed together, praying.
Finishing, he regards the dead beneath him.
MAYNARD
Watkins. Robbins. Fawcett, I
believe--newly shipped. This is
not fair to you--you have business
of your own...
He takes out his pocket knife, opens the blade--he stabs it
deeply into Fawcett's belly. There's the hiss of escaping
gasses--he stabs the others, Watkins, Robbins, in turn. As
the corpses lose their buoyancy, the raft rides lower in the
water.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
I will try and find a way without
you...
He puts the knife away and dives over the side.
111.
CUT TO
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD DAY
He's swum all day--now he stops, looks around.
POV MAYNARD
What may be, to his failing sight, a distant island, a blob
of dark touching the blue sea.
BACK TO SHOT
Heartened, swimming as strongly as he can towards it.
EXT MAYNARD AND CORAL HEAD
He reaches it before he expects to--it's not what he hoped.
No tropic island, it's simply a coral head, a few feet
square, a foot or so above water. He crawls up onto it,
looks around. There's nothing to be seen.
MAYNARD
My island, at last. Maynardshire.
Where I shall live in splendid
isolation...
But he stops--he's not alqne. There's a small sandcrab
scrambling over the coral. He bends down to watch it.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You're busy. Be glad as well
you're not a man. The job is too
hard, and not worth the effort.
(a beat)
You are saying something to me.
What..?
({thinks)
Of course--the tide...
CUT TO
EXT MAYNARD AND CORAL HEAD DUSK
The tide is rising--Maynard's standing upright upon the few
inches of coral still not covered by the ocean.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD NIGHT
112.
The coral head is submerged now. Maynard treads water,
staying close to it until the tide drops.
CUT TO
EXT MAYNARD AND CORAL HEAD DAWN
Beneath a pink dawn, the tide has lowered again, and Maynard
once more stands upon his patch of ground. He spreads his
arms wide, in a gesture of acceptance, and dives into the
sea.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD DAY
He's swimming, mindlessly, mechanically--he has been all day.
He reaches a point where he can no longer lift his arms. He
knows he has reached the end. He treads water, feeling its
coolness--and then, in a gesture of resignation, he lets
himself slip beneath the surface.
EXT OCEAN MAYNARD (UNDERWATER)
Exhaling to help himself sink Below him, fifteen feet down,
a reef--he lets himself sink towards it. There's a niche in
the reef--he drops into it and hovers there.
ANGLE MAYNARD (UNDERWATER)
Closing his eyes, making his peace, saying his farewells to
life. Eyes shut, he doesn't notice a shadow gliding by on
the surface overhead.
EXT OCEAN PIROGUE MAROONS AND MAYNARD DAY
The pirogue, a crude canoe made from a tree, holds two black
men, fishermen by their nets. One holds the boat steady
while the other hangs Maynard upside down over his shoulder,
squeezing his stomach with two strong, viselike arms. Water
gushes from Maynard's mouth and nose. Another hard squeeze,
and he coughs; air rushes into his lungs again. His arms
spasm in reflex.
113.
CUT TO
EXT ISLAND BAY PIROGUE AND MAROONS DAY 356
It's the island harbor of a maroon village, maroons being
slaves who've somehow escaped their masters and founded their
own communities. A brig lies at anchor. As the pirogue
grinds ashore, a crowd waits--they lift the unconscious
Maynard out and carry him up the beach.
CUT TO
INT CHIEF'S HOUSE MAYNARD AND IBRAHAIM NIGHT
Candles in coconut shells light the hut. Maynard opens his
eyes. The room's full of black men--they've been sitting
vigil for some time. Confused, his gaze holds on one face.
He blinks--the man looks familiar. Ibrahaim smiles.
IBRAHAIM
You know me.
Maynard's voice cracks--he motions for water. A man gives him
a cup.
MAYNARD
I'm sorry--I do not. Should I..?
IBRAHAIM
You set us free. You cut the
rope...
Maynard realizes--these are the survivors from the slave
ship, and this village is where they wound up.
MAYNARD
The ship...
IBRAHAIM
The one outside--yes, we sail it.
We carry cane to market...
MAYNARD
I'm glad you've turned it to your
advantage...
But the mere effort of talking has exhausted him. He closes
his eyes--broken, dehydrated, he falls asleep. The maroons
nod--they will sit with him as long as it takes.
114.
CUT TO
EXT ISLAND MAYNARD AND MEN NIGHT
Maynard wakes to find himself jouncing in a litter being
carried through a forest by two black men.
MAYNARD
Where are we going..?
He's said it so faintly only the closer man has heard. Not
speaking English, he alerts the OTHER MAN.
OTHER MAN
What did you say..?
MAYNARD
I asked where you were taking me...
OTHER MAN
To your own people...
The words strike him oddly. He leans back.
MAYNARD
And who might that be..?
CUT TO
EXT BRITISH OUTPOST MAYNARD DAWN
The litter has been placed at the base of a coral wall,
Maynard asleep upon it. In the wall, there's a door, a glass
window, some posted notices--beside the wall, a flagstaff,
with a British flag at its peak, hanging limp in the
breezeless dawn.
115.
CUT TO
EXT JAMESTOWN DAY
The dock, the harbor, the houses--nothing's changed much in
the intervening months.
EXT GOVERNMENT HOUSE
A crowd's camped on the doorstep, the town toughs, the
idlers. They're angry, agitated--they're calling for Maynard,
the traitor, to be brought out to them. .
INT CELL MAYNARD
A small cell at the building's back. He sits motionless on a
bed. He's gaunt, burnt, peeling--his eyes are hollow.
CUT TO
INT CELL MAYNARD NIGHT
Moonlight through the barred window. He sleeps fitfully--from
the darkness the occasional threat. He opens his eyes at the
sound of the door opening. Someone's being let in, a woman,
by the shadow of her skirt.
MAYNARD
Fanny..?
There is a scrape of a match, a candle's lit--in its glow, he
sees Fanny's face. She comes to him--he embraces her.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You've heard...
FANNY
They're sending you to England
for trial. Can you avoid it..?
MAYNARD
Do you think I should..?
FANNY
Of course--you must do anything to
live...
He sits her down on the bed. She touches his face.
MAYNARD
Do you still love me, Fanny..?
116.
FANNY
Yes...
MAYNARD
Why? I have never known why...
FANNY
Because you suffer...
Now he weeps, and seeing him weeping makes her do the same.
MAYNARD
Stay away from me, Fanny. I kill
those I love...
She takes his head in her arms.
CUT TO
INT CELL MAYNARD NIGHT
There's the occasional threat from the darkness, but his ear
has picked up something else, something in the wind.
EXT WEATHERVANE GOVERNMENT HOUSE
The copper weathervane creaking slowly around as the wind
backs from north to east.
CUT TO
EXT GOVERNMENT HOUSE MAYNARD AND PETTY OFFICERS MORNING
Wrists shackled, Maynard is being let out a back door into
the morning glare. Two petty officers wait for him, motion
him down a lane into a grove of trees. Puzzled, he heads down
it.
EXT GROVE MAYNARD AND DRUMMOND
Waiting for him in the shade of an oak is Admiral Drummond.
He does not offer his hand.
DRUMMOND
Maynard. I've been sitting off the
Chesapeake for three days, waiting
for this easterly. So--did you
ever find your demon..?
MAYNARD
Yes, sir...
117.
DRUMMOND
And what did he look like..?
MAYNARD
(slowly)
He looked like me, sir...
DRUMMOND
They always do. Good if we could
put that demon in harness, Maynard-
get him to undo some of the mess
he's made...
He motions Maynard to follow him. Maynard falls in step,
unsure what he's getting at.
EXT WOODS MAYNARD AND DRUMMOND TRACKING
Side by side through the dappled light.
DRUMMOND
Now North Carolina lies open to
Blackbeard. The Governor and the
Burgesses, all up in arms. Things
have changed since you've been
gone, Maynard-- pirates have begun
raiding the tobacco ships. Hits
them where it hurts, their
pocketbooks--suddenly pirates ain't
quite the thing...
MAYNARD
Yes, sir...
DRUMMOND
They demand action--they also wish
to see you hanged at Tyburn Dock
with the gulls pecking your eyes.
I said, let one hand wash the
other. Give me funds, let me refit
the Ranger sloop, let me give it to
Maynard...
Maynard can't believe what he's hearing--he has to hold onto
a tree to keep standing.
MAYNARD
Sir..?
DRUMMOND
Let me finish, for all love...
MAYNARD
You said the Ranger, sir..?
118.
DRUMMOND
Let Maynard get the bastard--either
he brings him in, alive or dead
don't matter, or he dies trying,
thereby saving you the cost of his
transportation. With Teach gone,
perhaps the others lose interest,
go somewhere else...
Maynard's head is spinning--he fumbles with his words.
MAYNARD
And they said what, sir..?
DRUMMOND
On, they agreed. Politics, you
know--they must do something, and
this is their cheapest solution, a
ship and a captain both they can
afford to lose. I assumed you'd
accept...
Maynard falls to his knees--he takes the Admiral's hand.
MAYNARD
Sir, I am very sensible of your
kindness towards me...
DRUMMOND
More than you deserve. Still,
you've lost your honor and your
name--at least you can have a naval
death instead of a hanging, which
is all I can give you and all I
really want to. Do you think you
can take him?
MAYNARD
If hate is any measure, sir...
DRUMMOND
Some times that's enough. Get your
crew wherever you can. Not the
Navy--this is not quite official,
of course. Well, there it is.
Cut along--spars and cordage,
fights with the dockyard; much to
be done and no time to lose...
Maynard thanks Drummond one last time. He starts off-
Drummond calls after.
DRUMMOND (CONT'D)
You do know what you did wrong,
Maynard...
MAYNARD
Sir..?
119.
DRUMMOND
You thought you was more important
than the Navy. You're not--nobody
is. I'm not either...
Maynard nods, hurries off..
ANGLE MAYNARD
Once he's out of Drummond's sight, his knees buckle and he
leans against a tree. He looks at the sky overhead. He takes
a deep breath--it feels like the force of resurrection
running through him.
CUT TO
EXT THE RANGER SLOOP DAY
At its mooring in Indian Creek. Men swarm over the ship--some
repair its rotten timbers, a crew over the side scrapes its
copper bottom, other chop away the vines that have twined in
the rigging over the years.
EXT MAINDECK MAYNARD AND HEMMINGS
Maynard stands with his first lieutenant, a pimply youth
named HEMMINGS, looking aloft. On the mainyard, a green
crewman is having trouble getting down. Maynard cups his
hands.
MAYNARD
You there, let go the gasket. Now
slide yourself down the stay. Not
the halliard--the stay, the tarry
thing to your right...
The man finds the stay, wraps his arms and legs around it,
but not tightly enough--he slides to the deck with a thump.
Maynard mutter, contiNues forward
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
What convinced these men they have
any talent for the sea..?
HEMMINGS
The treasure, sir...
(on Maynard's look))
Blackbeard's I know that's why
I'm here. I told my Emma--you
watch the post road, some day I'll
ride up it in a carriage with
presents in my lap, you wait and
see...
120.
MAYNARD
There is no treasure--what's
this..?
He's paused at the sight of the first of eight nine-pound
cannon that's just been slung aboard.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
This should be in a museum, where
children can come and see how wars
were fought in ancient times...
(continuing on)
When the battle comes, Mr.
Hemmings, it will be for the good
of your neighbors, not for money...
ANGLE TWO CREWMEN
Working nearby. One puts his finger alongside his nose, the
other winks. They don't believe him for one second.
CUT TO
EXT JAMESTOWN HARBOR THE RANGER DAY
In a light breeze, Maynard takes the sloop through its
simplest evolution, wearing it through the wind. There are
shouts all over the ship, sails rise and dip, yards cross-
it's a Chinese firedrill.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND HEMMINGS
Watching Hemmings curse the bo'sun, the bo'sun lambast the
men, and the ship falling in stays, dead in the water.
There's a shout forward--in the forepeak, young Toby Barrett
is hauling on a jib sheet, trying to get three other hands to
pull with him.
MAYNARD
That youngster for'rard, on the
larboard sheet--I distinctly
remember rejecting him...
HEMMINGS
Yes, sir--should I see him
ashore..?
Aware of Maynard's stare, Toby tries to conceal himself
behind one of the larger men.
MAYNARD
At least he can handle a line...
121.
CUT TO
EXT JAMESTOWN DOCK THE RANGER DAY
The sloop, armed, refitted, wearing a fresh suit of sails,
has won her anchor. Aft, Maynard cons the ship as it
gathers way. The crew waves to loved ones on the dock, but
outside of family, there's not much of a crowd; the normal
cast of dock loungers has s sneer for the lubberly crew and
no love for its captain.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Bowing farewell to the only two who have come to see him off-
Fanny, and to the side, Lucy. They wave back.
ANGLE FANNY AND LUCY
The women steal glances at each other as the ship passes.
Fanny finally takes the initiative, crosses to Lucy.
FANNY
We must both pray for him, each for
our own reasons.
LUCY
Yes'm. You're not mad I left the
house.
FANNY
Not at all. I'll walk you home...
She takes her arm--they walk off together as the ship
disappears around the first riverbend.
CUT TO:
EXT QUARTERDECK THE RANGER MAYNARD AND HEMMINGS DAY
Jamestown's out of sight. Maynard turns to Hemmings
MAYNARD
We'll bring the kedge aft, Mr.
Hemmings...
HEMMINGS
Aft, sir..?
MAYNARD
And let it fall on my command...
Hemmings is puzzled--but he relays the orders.
122.
EXT RIVER THE RANGER
With headsails only, slowly passing. On deck, a work party
hauls the small kedge anchor aft and secures it to the
quarterdeck capstan. The ship turns towards the wooded
shore--there's a splash aft, the kedge hitting the water; it
draws out its three-inch line as the ship drifts on.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD, HEMMINGS AND CREW
Maynard cons the ship close to shore, only ten or so yards
away. The ship creaks as the kedge line tightens and it
comes to a stop,
MAYNARD
Get your people over the side, Mr.
Hemmings...
HEMMINGS
Sir..?
MAYNARD
The bottom's no more than a fathom-
if they can't swim ashore, they can
surely walk...
HEMMINGS
All of them sir..?
MAYNARD
Yes, sir--yourself included...
EXT DECK RANGER
As the bo'sun hustles his men over the side. They clamber,
paddle towards shore. No one's sure what's going on.
EXT SHORELINE HEMMINGS AND CREW
As the first of the crew reach the bank. They help the
others out--everyone looks back at Maynard on the
quarterdeck. Hemmings is the last to reach dry ground--he
calls back to the ship.
HEMMINGS
What should we do now, sir..?
123.
ANGLE MAYNARD
He's spun the wheel alee--the headsails pull the bow away
from the bank, turning the Ranger midstream. He's loosening
the kedge line--as it lets go and falls, he looks up.
MAYNARD
Walk back to Jamestown, Mr.
Hemmings...
The crew sets up a storm of protest. Maynard shouts back.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You are not the slightest use to
me, and you will only get
yourselves hurt. You may see this
as my doing you a favor...
The men start to yell and curse him as they see their chance
for treasure drifting away. Some, giving up, start for town.
Maynard, pointing across the wind, does not look back.
CUT TO:
EXT CHESAPEAKE BAY THE RANGER DAY
Squalls and a choppy sea meet the ship as it stands out from
shore. There's no one at the wheel--its spokes are lashed.
EXTG MIDSHIPS MAYNARD
Hauling a toppsail brace around single-handed. He belays
the line--the ship heels under the press of tighter canvas.
Something makes him turn, suddenly.
POV MAYNARD
Seeing aft, the merest flash of something black, disappearing
below a hatch coaming.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND TOBY
Maynard's turned to another line, puts his back into it.
MAYNARD
You'd best come out. It's a small
ship--we'll meet sooner or later...
Toby emerges from behind the hatch, his cap in his hand.
124.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
You...
TOBY
Tobias Barrett, an' you please,
sir...
MAYNARD
Another treasure hunter...
TOBY
No, sir. Blackbeard killed my
father. We was on the Dover Prize
together.
MAYNARD
That was two years ago. You've
turned sailor since...
Toby steps forward, grabs the line and helps Maynard belay
it.
TOBY
Yes, sir--waister, but I stood for
topman. And I've been looking for
a man to avenge his death...
MAYNARD
A regular Diogenes. It's a man's
business, Mr. Barrett...
TOBY
Yes, sir. I believe I have the
right...
Maynard looks him over. He softens.
MAYNARD
Perhaps you do. Very well, Mr.
Barrett--go below and take a cork.
You'll stand watch in two hours.
Tony hurries off, pleased.
CUT TO
EXT HARBOR MAROON ISLAND THE RANGER DAY
The sloop swinging at anchor in the harbor, alongside the
bark.
125.
EXT BEACH MAYNARD TOBY IBRAHAIM AND MEN
The entire village gathered on the sand, Maynard and Ibrahaim
at the center with the men, the women, the children and Toby
at its edge. They're listening to one MAN, an elder,
addressing the group in Yourba. As the man finishes,
Ibrahaim translates for Maynard.
IBRAHAIM
He says, you gave us liberty. All
wee have comes from you. He says you
may command us and we must obey....
MAYNARD
That's not what I want. Tell them,
I did not do so to return them to
bondage. They should come because
they're free men and to rid the
world of one of its great enemies.
Ibrahaim translates Maynard's words to the group. There's
some talk--then a man in the back stands. Others stand, and
in the time it takes them to reach their feet, all of them,
volunteer, oldest to the youngest.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND IBRAHAIM
Maynard takes the black leader's hand.
MAYNARD
I am sensible of the honor,
Ibrahaim...
IBRAHAIM
They are good sailors. But they
are not fighters...
MAYNARD
I know where there are fighters...
CUT TO
POV MAYNARD NEW PROVIDENCE (TELESCOPE APERATURE) NIGHT
The lights of the ships and the settlement reflect on the
harbor surface. The distant sound of singing, the shrill
laughter of women.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYNARD, TOBY AND IBRAHAIM
Hove to, silent and dark, a mile off the harbor mouth.
Maynard lowers his night glass.
126.
MAYNARD
The Adventure ain't in--Teach is
gone. No matter--we go anyway.
Ibrahaim nods, standing with a cluster of maroon men.
EXT HARBORMOUTH PIROGUE
In the foreground, a pistol fires, but only to flash the
powder in its pan. The flash starts a fire, a bonfire set on
a platform on the prow of a native pirogue.
EXT LINE OF PIROGUES
Perhaps fifteen of them,, line abreast across the harbor
mouth--on each of them, a bonfire blazes.
ANGLE PIROGUE
A pair of maroons tread water beside it, hoisting its sail.
As it fills, they lash the tiller, give it a shove. With
the wind full aft, the canoe glides towards the harbor.
EXT LINE OF PIROGUES
The fifteen boats with their fifteen fires slowly bobbing
towards the pirate ships in the anchorage.
EXT PIRATE SHIP PIRATE AND WOMAN
A pirate and his woman have come on deck for air. He bites
her neck--she squeals. Beyond them, the fires, closer.
EXT HARBOR PIRATE SHIP AND FIRE PIROGUE
One of the pirogues nears a moored ship, almost fouls the
bowsprit, so close the fire singes the spiritstays--but it
misses and sails past. That's why there are fifteen of them.
EXT PIRATE SHIP AND FIRE PIROGUE
As a pirogue plows into a ship and spills its fire. Thick
with tar and paint, the hull bursts into flame. Flames shoot
upward into the sail canvas.
127.
EXT DECK PIRATE SHIP
Somebody's hollared a warning--the skeleton crew races
topside but the ship's already aflame. Beyond it, two more
ships burn--now another catches. Shouts and screams of
alarm all over the harbor.
EXT NEW PROVIDENCE BEACH
Woozy from sleep, tangled with their women, their booty or
their bottles, the pirates run from their huts and shanties
to see what's happening. There are fires across the width
of the harbor now. The beach explodes, suddenly, left and
right.
EXT SHADOWS MAROONS
From the bushes along the beach, they're throwing improvised
grenades, gunpowder packed into glass jars and fused.
EXT BEACH INCLUDING HORNIGOLD
Panic seizes the community--men yell, women flee. Hornigold
emerges half-dressed from a hut, ducking an explosion.
HORNIGOLD
We're under attack
PIRATE
(running by)
By who..?
HORNIGOLD
I don't know. Get your weapons,
form a line...
But nobody pays attention.
EXT BLACKBEARD'S PRISON MAYNARD AND MAROONS
Maynard, Ibrahaim and a handful of maroons wait for the
confusion to peak. They slip towards the wooden stockade
where Blackbeard keeps his prisoners. The prisoners stand on
tiptoe, straining to see. Among them is Dalton, bruised,
beaten--he beholds Maynard outside the bars. Before he can
speak, Maynard shoots the lock away.
128.
MAYNARD
I've come for you, Mr. Dalton...
He opens the door. Dalton can't believe his eyes. Around
him, the maroons are freeing other prisoners. Dalton
staggers forward, into Maynard's arms.
DALTON
Bless you. I thought you were
dead...
MAYNARD
I thought so as well. Now I'm
after Teach. You're welcome to
join me and see what happens...
(indicating maroons)
My crew--all the will in the world
but little skill. Still, you may
want to see your Annie...
Dazed, it's a moment before Dalton realizes what he means.
DALTON
I would--but I'd like a piece of
that bastard first...
They shake hands warmly.
MAYNARD
Smartly--we must hurry. Where are
the others..?
WIDER SHOT MAYNARD AND PRISONERS
The freed prisoners surround Maynard, thanking him--pushing
through them are the Frolics, Fredericks, Falconer, Hooper,
and Israel Hands. Hooper has tears in his eyes.
HOOPER
Give you great thanks for the
rescue, sir...
MAYNARD
I'm very glad to see you again, Mr.
Hooper. Fredericks, Falconer,
Israel...
FALCONER
Going after Teach, sir..?
MAYNARD
I am. Does that interest you...?
FREDERICKS
We have good reason to wipe his
eye...
129.
ANGLE SHANTIES AND MAROONS
The maroons are torching the pirate shanties and huts--they
flare like tinder.
EXT MAYNARD AND PRISONERS INCLUDING HORNIGOLD AND MAROONS
Through the confusion, a group of maroons drag Hornigold
through the crowd up to Maynard.
MAYNARD
Mr. Hornigold, where is your master
gone..?
Hornigold reacts to the sight of him.
HORNIGOLD
Are you him, or his ghost..?
Maynard slugs him hard, staggering the men holding him. He
lays his pistol against his temple.
MAYNARD
That should answer your question.
I will not ask mine again...
HORNIGOLD
North...
MAYNARD
Where north..?
HORNIGOLD
Bimini. Vane went with him--I was
to meet them there...
One of the maroons hold a knife to Hornigold's throat.
Maynard shakes his head.
MAYNARD
I will let you live, Hornigold, but
only to spread the word among your
kind what I've done here. I wish
them to know it...
Hornigold nods he will--Maynard rallies his men and heads
off. Hornigold calls after.
HORNIGOLD
Teach will have you for
breakfast...
MAYNARD
We shall see...
130.
HORNIGOLD
He'll wipe his ass with your face,
you Irish gutter scum...
Maynard turns, raises his pistol and fires. The ball goes
between Hornigold's eyes--he drops to the sand.
DALTON
He should not have called you
that...
MAYNARD
Indeed. Come, William--I will put
a ship beneath your feet...
As he helps Dalton walk away, he looks around--he sees New
Providence on fire. He's pleased.
CUT TO
EXT TILDEN HOUSE VIRGINIA DAY
The sunlit house--and George Tilden calling Fanny's name.
INT ENTRYWAY GEORGE AND PLANTERS
George stands with a group of planters--he's been trying to
read a document one has brought him, without any luck.
GEORGE
Fanny, for all love, bring my
spectacles--I can't make head nor
tails of this...
INT UYPSTAIRS HALLWAY FANNY
Hurrying along.
FANNY
I will, in a moment...
She turns into a bedroom.
INT GEORGE'S BEDROOM FANNY
The room of a busy man. She finds her brother's spectacles
on a desk--but something catches her eye. She picks up a
crumpled envelope--it's addressed to Mr. Edward Teach, care
of Samuel Kepford, Edenton, Province of North Carolina. She
rummages further--she finds a crumpled letter, a first draft,
with much crossing out. George is calling again--she stuffs
the letter in her bodice and hurries out.
131.
INT ENTRYWAY FANNY AND GEORGE
Fanny comes downstairs and hands George his glasses. He
can't help noticing the look on her face.
GEORGE
Thank you, love. Is something
wrong..?
FANNY
No--nothing at all...
GEORGE
You have an odd look...
FANNY
I'm fine, I assure you...
She exits past him.
EXT REAR OF HOUSE FANNY
She's found privacy behind the back of an outbuilding--she
reads the letter. She sees words like "Ranger", "Maynard,",
and "warning". She remembers how she defended her brother to
Maynard. Now she realizes how wrong she was.
CUT TO
EXT RANGER THE GULF STREAM, DAY
Slicing through the Gulf Stream, every sail set aloft and
alow, looking like nothing less than a huge white swan of
retribution.
EXT MAINDECK MAYNARD AND DALTON
The deck heels steeply--the leeward rail slices the sea,
waves of spray roar aft. Maynard prowls the deck, putting
his hand on every shroud and brace, feeling their tension,
the electric energy of a sailing ship at its limit. He's
haggard--he hasn't slept for days.
132.
EXT MAINDECK M AYNARD, FREDERICKS, TOGBY AND MAROONS
Reaching the quarterdeck break, Maynard turns aft. On the
windward side, Fredericks runs the maroons through a gun
drill--they sweat, hauling the heavy cannon uphill into
firing position. Maynard grabs a gun tackle when a back is
needed, helps with the quoins and the handspikes.
ANGLE MAYNARD, TOBY AND MAROONS
As Toby grabs the should of Dafe, one of the two maroon boys,
yanking him aside as the gun is dry-fired.
TOBY
Stand there and you'll lose a foot
when she recoils...
Dafe nods his thanks. Maynard turns to Fredericks.
MAYNARD
Homely, Mr. Fredericks...
FREDERICKS
Give me two more days, sir--they
shall know their drill...
MAYNARD
You have one, and I'll want three
broadsides in five minutes at the
end of it...
Fredericks reacts, whistling--that's a tall order.
CUT TO
EXT RANGER FOREPEAK MAYNARD AND HOOPER DAY
Maynard's in the bow with his telescope, braced against the
bowsprit chocks, under a cloudy sky. Hooper comes up.
HOOPER
Twelve knots, one fathom, sir. The
glass is falling--I believe it's
coming on to blow...
MAYNARD
I'm sure you're right, Mr.
Hooper...
HOOPER
A reef in the topsail, sir..?
133.
MAYNARD
Light hawsers aned preventer stays
to the maintop instead...
(on his look)
I will not lose one inch of canvas.
Vane cannot be far ahead...
HOOPER
Hawsers and preventer stays it
is...
But the idea of it bothers him.
CUT TO:
EXT RANGER MAINDECK NIGHT
The storm's upon them. The hawsers and preventer stays are
rigged, but the masts still creak dangerously under the
strain of the billowing canvas. The ship's flung by the
waves, high into the air on the crests, with a smash, down
into the troughs. Forward, maroons furiously work the pumps
in the rain.
ANGLE MAROONS
Ibrahaim, Dafe and Mu'thinga, clutching life lines as the
waves break over them, praying to their gods.
EXT MAINTOP MAYNARD AND DALTON
Both of them up high with telescopes, along with the lookout.
The mast sways through sixty degrees in the storm--they must
hold on tightly, shout to be heard.
DALTON
You've five feet in the well...
MAYNARD
That's not much...
DALTON
If the pumps don't fail. And if we
broach in this sea, we'll go down
and never rise again...
MAYNARD
Vane and Teach have the same
weather...
134.
DALTON
I believe you'd hunt them down if
all you had was a log and a
paddle...
MAYNARD
I must, William. I am the
worst of men. I cannot live
in this world with them still
in it. You must know that...
Dalton nods--before he can reply, there's a shout from the
deck below. The storm drowns out the man's words, but he's
pointing to the bow lookout, and that man points ahead,
eagerly.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
He's seen Vane...
All raise their glasses.
POV THE CELTIC REVENGE
Through a rift in the clouds, Vane's ship, only a mile ahead,
on the same reach in the confused sea.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CELTIC REVENGE VANE AND MATE
Vane at the taffrail, glassing the Ranger aft as the crew
beats to quarters, loading cannon, opening ports, passing out
sabres, pistols and boarding axes.
MATE
What colors..?
VANE
French colors. We'll see who he
is..
The French flag is snatched from the flag locker and bent to
the signal halyard.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND GROUP
A similar rush to quarters aboard the Ranger, Fredericks
rushing the maroons to their battle stations. Dalton, Hands
and Hooper hold on alongside Maynard--the mainsail's been
brailed up so they have a clear view of Vane ahead.
MAYNARD
Match him. And make a private
signal...
135.
HOOPER
Saying what..?
MAYNARD
Nonsense--the first flags that come
to hand. It will slow him down...
Hooper picks some flags at random and bends them on.
DALTON
She will not stand a tack in this
weather...
MAYNARD
We won't tack...
DALTON
You don't plan to cross his wake
and take the weather gage..?
MAYNARD
Let him have the weather gage, for
all the good it does him--I'm going
straight at him...
(to Hooper)
Strike the hoist. National
flag...
Happily, Hooper bends the British jack to the halyard.,
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CELTIC REVENGE VANE AND MATE
Seeing the British flag at their pursuer's mizzentop.
MATE
Can you tell who he is..?
POV VANE (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
The image shakes and blurs in the heavy sea--but he catches a
glimpse of the Ranger quarterdeck.
BACK TO SHOT VANE
Lowering the glass, feeling a chill at the back of his neck.
136.
VANE
It's Maynard, god damn him...
At that moment, there's a puff of smoke from the Ranger's
forecastle. A shot from her bowchasers sends up a fountain
of water alongside. Vane turns--a second shot has pierced
the mizzen over his head--the reefed sail splits and flaps
wildly. He shouts for repairs--he must fall off, to ease
the strain. We can hear cheering from the Ranger.
EXT MAINDECK RANGER
Maynard's crew celebrates the hit--but at this moment, the
ship's punished mainmast chooses to spring. A crack opens
inside its iron bands--the men shout a warning.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD, HOOPER AND DALTON
Hearing the news.
HOOPER
We must fall off..!
MAYNARD
Keep her thus--no less...
DALTON
He's wearing on you...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CELTIC REVENGE VANE AND MATE
Vane's taking the offensive, turning his ship downwind
through the plunging sea to meet his pursuer. He shouts
forward, towards the forecastle.
EXT FORECASTLE DALTON AND CREW
Vane's bowchasers come to bear. Vane's gunner coolly squints
over his cannon's muzzle, waits for the roll, fires.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYYNARD AND GROUP
The sloop shudders from a hit forward. Hooper, at the wheel,
spits to leeward.
HOOPER
Coming right at us, the bugger...
137.
HANDS
Shall we grapple and board, sir..?
MAYNARD
Not in this sea...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE CELTIC REVENGE VANE AND CREW
Vane's eyes gleam--he's seen the Ranger wounded.
VANE
The biter bit, My turn now. He
wanted a fight, he has found his
man...
He has the weather gage, the larger ship--he intends to pass
Maynard at close quarters and blast him.
EXT QUARETERDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND MEN
Watching The Celtic Revenge bow on, crashing towards them.
MAYNARD
Reload grape...
Hooper and Hands echo the command as soon as it leaves his
mouth.
EXT MAINDECK TOBY, DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Fredericks spurs his larboard gun crews--they extract the
cannonballs, load grapeshot. The three boys wrestle with
their cannon, but a shrill whistle makes them look up.
Maynard, on the quarterdeck, is motioning them aft.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND BOYS
The boys hurry up, salute--Maynard pulls them close.
MAYNARD
I'm going to bring our ship very
close alongside that one. He's
primed for battle--his main hatches
will be standing open...
He passes them each a handful of hand grenades.
138.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Go out on the mainyard--see if you
can toss one of these down into his
powder...
The boys hurry off to the ratlines.
EXT FORECASTLE THE CELTIC REVENGE
Vane's crew waving swords and pistols, vaporing as the ships
approach, only a hundred yards apart.
EXT FORECASTLE RANGER
Maynard's maroons respond, with the shrill, blood-curdling
yells of an African lion hunt.
EXT MAINYARD TOBY, DAFE AND MU'THINGA
The boys have edged out to the yard's very end. Swaying in
the foot-ropes, they watch The Celtic Revenge approaching.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD, HOOPER AND DALTON
Standing over his gun crews, arms raised.
MAYNARD
(shouting)
Don't mind his guns--mind your own,
and keep them hot...!
EXT TWO SHIPS
As they slice past each other, yardarms almost touching. A
rolling fire commences, from the bowmost cannon of each ship,
proceeding aft. Both ships are wrapped in smoke, lit by
stabbing flames and the crash of the cannonade.
EXT MAINYARD RANGER TOBY, DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Tossing their grenades as The Celtic Revenge's forward hatch
rushes past them forty feet below.
139.
EXT MAINDECK THE CELTIC REVENGE
The three grenades go wide, bounce on the deck. A pirate
grabs one, hurls it back at the Ranger--its explosion is lost
in the greater storm of shot and smoke.
EXT MAINDECK RANGER MAYNARD
Pointing a cannon in the smoke, glancing upwards.
EXT MAINYARD TOBY, DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Tossing their second grenades. They see them miss, bounce
clear of the hatch, explode harmlessly. Toby shouts to the
others--the enemy's after hatch is approaching. Dafe throws,
then Mu'thinga, Toby last of all.
EXT AFTER HATCH THE CELTIC REVENGE
As the three grenades drop through the open hatchway and out
of sight below.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Both ships have passed--his guncrews frantically reload. He
shouts to Dalton.
MAYNARD
Wear ship--up tacks and sheets...
But he's cut short by the biggest explosion in the world.
EXT THE CELTIC REVENGE
As the gunpowder in the hold goes off all at once. The huge
orange flash is followed by a lazy, vast cloud of dirty,
rolling smoke. As the wind shreds it, timbers and canvas
scraps rain down from the sky like tinsel. There's nothing
left of Vane, his crew, or the ship.
EXT MAINDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND CREW
The ship's heeled over by the force of the blast. The crew
stands silent, awed, the top men, the gun crews.
140.
EXT MAINHYARD TOBY, DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Delighted with themselves, shaking hands.
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND BONNET
Ten miles ahead, sailing in calmer water. Both look aft
through telescopes at a cloudy horizon still glowing from the
distant explosion.
BONNET
Vane..?
BLACKBEARD
It can't be...
BONNET
That's where he was...
BLACKBEARD
He's too good for that. Not Vane-
it was someone else...
He closes his glass--the discussion is over. But his mood is
sour.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND DALTON
Maynard's joined Dalton on the quarterdeck--they stare at the
boiling patch of water where once was a ship.
DALTON
Two hundred men...
HOOPER
Search for survivors, Captain..?
MAYNARD
(a beat)
No...
DALTON
You're the proper Nemesis, ain't
you..?
MAYNARD
I suppose I am...
CUT TO
141.
EXT KEPFORD PLANTATION NORTH CAROLINA BLACKBEARD DAY
Blackbeard's's mood has remained sour, is sour now, even as
he relaxes on the lawn of Kepford's plantation outside
Edenton. Kepford's a generous host--Bonnet makes small talk
with Harrison and Noxon. Patsy, Penelope, and the other
wives needlepoint. Blackbeard drums his fingers on a chair.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD AND YOUNG MAN
A YOUNG MAN exits the house, asks for directions, now
approaches Blackbeard. He offers him a letter.
YOUNG MAN
From Virginia, Mr. Teach. Mr.
Tilden's regards....
Blackbeard tears the letter open, reads it. He throws it
away, calls to Bonnet.
BLACKBEARD
Achilles lives...
BONNET
Maynard? Impossible...
Blackbeard stands, paces, Bonnet close alongside.
BLACKBEARD
I do not like it here...
BONNET
This is our rendezvous...
BLACKBEARD
And where is Vane? Where is
Hornigold..?
BONNET
Do you think..?
BLACKBEARD
I think I need sea room, that's
what I think. I need to go to
sea...
He heads off, scattering the polite gathering, knocking over
tables and chairs.
CUT TO
EXT RANGER DAY
Cruising off the Carolina coast, lookouts on every quarter.
142.
EXT MAINTOP LOOKOUT, MAYNARD AND TOBY
The maroon LOOKOUT on watch at the topmast crosstrees--and
above him, braced in the shrouds, Maynard, with his own
glass. His hair's wild, his eyes red from exhaustion. Into
shot comes Toby, climbing upwards--he settles alongside
Maynard, offers him a napkin wrapped around something.
TOBY
Compliments of Mr. Ibrahaim--he
says you have not eaten in two
days...
MAYNARD
Thank Mr. Ibrahaim--tell him I am
not hungry. You may have it...
TOBY
In the years I've sought
Blackbeard, I've found it easy to
forget yourself and ignore your
personal needs, sir...
Smiling slowly, Maynard takes the pudding from Toby's hand.
He wolfs it down.
MAYNARD
What else have you learned, Mr.
Barrett..?
TOBY
That I could be alone. That I
could get by on little. That it
was easy to get people to say brave
words about standing up to evil,
but hard to find anyone who would
do anything about it if it involved
risk of the slightest personal
loss...
MAYNARD
You have travelled far, sir.
Farther than I have...
He finishes his pudding and licks his fingers.
CUT TO
EXT RANGER MAINDECK TOBY NIGHT
Emerging on deck from his hammock below. He sees most of the
crew crowded in the forepeak forward.
143.
EXT FOREPEAK TOBY, MAYNARD AND GROUP
As Toby joins them, they peer through the darkness ahead.
TOBY
What is it..?
HOOPER
A barky...
(passing him a telescope)
You must look hard--he's the merest
flash in the darkness...
POV TOBY (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
Seeing only a vague, distant whiteness in the black night.
BACK TO SHOT
Dalton and Maynard both glass the dimly-seen ship.
DALTON
Topgallants and royals. He's
cutting along...
MAYNARD
Topgallants, royals, skysails, jib
of jibs, foremast staysail. We
should catch him by morning...
Dalton bawls the commands--the crew scatters to the lines.
CUT TO:
EXT RANGER AND NORTH CAROLINA COAST DAY
The ship coasting a mile off shore. Everybody aboard with a
telescope searches.
ANGLE DALTON
With a glass in the forepeak. He's spotted something. He
wants to shout, wants to be sure first. A beat--he yells.
DALTON
I see him...
144.
WIDER ANGLE
The crew gathers around him, looking where he points.
Maynard and Toby arrive--Dalton passes Maynard his telescope.
DALTON
You must look closely--his masts
are among the trees...
POV MAYNARD (TERLESCOPE APERATURE)
The sandy beach, the forest beyond it--but standing before
the pines, almost hidden in their clutter, the bare mast of a
ship, its sails furled.
BACK TO SHOT
DALTON
Ocracoke Inlet--I've put in there
for water. North-east by south
west, narrow mouth, bars before and
after, bars everywhere--a very
messy bottom...
MAYNARD
And he will be moored broadside
with springs on his anchors, and
you can be sure there will be the
granddaddy of all sandbars between
us and him. My cutter, if you
please, Mr. Ibrahaim...
Ibrahaim relays the order.
DALTON
What is your plan..?
MAYNARD
I will speak him...
(on Dalton's look)
I owe him one chance to surrender.
Six men in the boat, pistols and
cutlasses, a white flag in the bow.
(to Toby)
Run fetch my sextant and a lead
line, Mr. Barrett. I have need of
you.
(as Toby runs off)
The ship is yours, William.
If I'm not back in an hour, attack
or withdraw, whichever you see
fit..
CUT TO
145.
EXT RANGER AND ITS CUTTER AFTERNOON
The ship anchored off the inlet--in the foreground, the
cutter, six men at the oars, Hooper at the tiller and Maynard
beside him, proceeding through the channel into the lagoon.
At the bow, a white flag flutters.
EXT CUTTER GROUP AND TOBY
Toby's aboard, crouched behind Maynard and Hooper. He's
dropping a lead line over the stern counter and marking the
depth--he's transferring his finding to a chart on a scrap of
paper, using Maynard's back as a desk.
TOM
By the mark, two and a half. Two,
sir. Two and a half again...
HOOPER
Stay low, Mr. Barrett.--we don't
want them seeing you...
MAYNARD
A bearing on the pine tree to
larboard, the one with the scruffy
top.
Toby holds the sextant sideways--using its scale as a
protractor, he takes a bearing on the distant tree, marks it
on the chart.
CREWMAN
Bar to larboard, sir...
With a soft crunch, the boat goes aground on the sandbar.
MAYNARD
A bearing on this...
(to the oarsmen)
Boom us off. Look lubberly--let
him think we are blundering
about...
EXT THE ADVENTURE QUARTERDECK TEACH, BONNET AND EDWARDS
As Maynard predicted, moored head and stern with springs
sideways to the inlet, so it can present its full broadside.
All aboard watch the cutter two hundred yards away.
BLACKBEARD
See how they flouder--a lubberly
crew...
146.
EDWARDS
He's in range of our grape...
BLACKBEARD
No--I will honor his flag...
EXT CUTTER GROUP AND TOBY
Toby keeps up a string of soundings as they near the
Adventure. The maroons are tense, under Blackbeard's guns.
MAYNARD
We will heave to here--rest your
oars. Mr. Barrett, stay behind
me...
He stands, cupping his hands and shouting.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Ahoy the Adventure. Is Captain
Teach aboard..?
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVENTURE
Teach climbs up onto the fiferail so Maynard can see him.
BLACKBEARD
He is. Good day to you, Maynard.
Did you come in to water? The
spring's a short distance inland...
ANGLE MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD (INTERCUT AS NECESSARY)
MAYNARD
I came for you, sir. I carry a
warrant for your arrest , signed by
the governor of Virginia. Will
you surrender to it..?
BLACKBEARD
But this is not Virginia, no part
of it--this is North Carolina...
MAYNARD
It is--I intend to serve it anyway.
What is your answer..?
BLACKBEARD
A better question is, Maynard, why
are you there--why aren't you here
with me? We had a disagreement,
true--my feeling is, it cleared the
air between us...
147.
EXT MAYNARD'S CUTTER
Hooper spits to windward.
HOOPER
Cheeky bastard, he is...
ANGLE BLACKBEARD
Through cupped hands.
BLACKBEARD
Look at you, Maynard. Despised
throughout the world. The men who
sent you are the same ones who told
me you were coming. When the dust
clears, they'll do business with
whoever's left--you know that...
EXT MAYNARD'S CUTTER MAYNARD
The words sting him--Blackbeard's right, as usual. Hooper
eyes the water ahead.
HOOPER
A brute of a bar, directly ahead...
MAYNARD
Mark it, Mr. Barrett...
(to the men)
Out oars. A slow turn to
starboard...
The boat begins to turn in its own length
ANGLE BLACKBEARD
Seeing the boat departing.
BLACKBEARD
Where are you going, Maynard? Am I
wrong? If so, argue with me. You
don't love them--you're a man like
me; you don't love anything beyond
the point of your cock or the tips
of your fingers...
148.
EXT CUTTER GROUP AND TOBY
Rowing out of the inlet, the maroons staring at the mouths of
the pirate battery, expecting its fire any second. Maynard
forces Toby down as Blackbeard's voice rolls over the water.
BLACKBEARD
We're the same man, Maynard. Black
as coal, full of rage. Killing me
would be like suicide. Am I
wrong..?
ANGLE BLACKBEARD
Beyond him, the boat grows smaller--he must shout louder.
BLACKBEARD
Argue with me, Maynard. You don't
deserve to kill me--you're not
large enough. Do I lie--have I
spoken one untruth in anything I've
said? Stand up and tell me so, God
rot your fucking soul..!
No response from Maynard.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Maynard, take your niggers and
depart in an hour and I will let
you go in peace...
When Maynard doesn't answer, he snatches a musket from a
crewman, aims it and fires.
EXT CUTTER MAYNARD AND CRXEW
As the ball pocks the water a few feet away alongside.
MAYNARD
Steady. Do not respond...
EXT THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND EDWARDS
Blackbeard wheels in fury, finds his nearest target, Edwards,
and wallops him with a right hand that sends him to the deck.
He stomps off--Edwards slowly picks himself up.
EXT MAINDEACK RANGER
Dalton gives Maynard a hand as he reaches the top of the
sideladder. Toby's behind him.
149.
DALTON
We heard a shot...
MAYNARD
He will not surrender. But we have
this...
He shows him the chart Toby made. Dalton studies it,
appreciatively.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
We'll attack at first light--the
sun will be in their eyes. And
we'll lighten ship, Mr. Dalton--I
wish to raise her at least two
strakes...[
CUT TO
EXT THE RANGER NIGHT
Lights burn in her after cabin. A jumble of boxes, casks,
and spars float around her, cargo thrown over the side. She
sits higher in the water, seen by her raised waterline,
fouled with seaweed.
INT MAIN CABIN MAYNARD
He's writing a letter by candlelight
MAYNARD (V.O.)
I believed until tonight, I had the
advantage on Teach--that no matter
how evil he was, he would want to
see the sun go down tomorrow
evening, whereas it did not matter
to me if I did or not...
EXT RANGER MAINDECK FREDERICKS AND MEN
At a grindstone, sparks flying, putting a razor edge on a
stack of cutlasses and the cruel boarding axes some prefer.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
But the closer our meeting comes,
the more I reflect not on my dying,
but what I'd do if I survive...
150.
EXT RANGER GALLEY
The crew eats its last meal. They douse the cooking fire,
lick the pots, and toss them over the side. Four men hoist
the galley stove, haul it to the rail and throw it over with
a splash.
MAYNARD (V.O.)
Among my mistakes, Fanny, I regret
most what I never said to you-
would not, or could not--and would
now, were you here...
INT MAIN CABIN MAYNARD AND DALTON
Maynard reads the finished letter aloud to himself.
MAYNARD
...to your ear, to your sweet and
constant breast. I'd say how much
I want you, and have this long
time. There, now you have it on
paper, these blunt words from this
blunt, unlucky, and most devoted
servant, Robert Maynard,
Lieutenant, Royal Navy...
He's not sure it's right. There's a knock--Dalton enters.
He's holding a letter as well. Maynard folds his, puts it in
an envelope, seals it. Following the old naval custom, they
exchange letters--each puts the other's in his coat.
DALTON
A drink..?
MAYNARD
I think not, William. Not
tonight...
He motions him to sit. They prepare to wait.
EXT MAINDECK ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND BONNET NIGHT
Blackbeard has no scruples against drinking this evening-
he's had a belly-full, holds a rum bottle as he paces his
quarterdeck. His crew's armed and ready for the next day's
battle. Bonnet keeps out of his way.
BLACKBEARD
Amuse me, Bonnet. Drop your
britches, show me your bum, so I
may spit on it...
Bonnet pretends he hasn't heard.
151.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Don't spare me now--it is not
handsome of you. Drink, Bonnet-
and we'll have his blood for
breakfast, the perfect wake-me-up,
much better than coffee. Bonnet...
But Bonnet doesn't answer. Blackbeard makes a face.
CUT TO
EXT RANGER MAIN CABIN MAYNARD DAWN
He's put on his best coat and hat, strapped on a cutlass,
stuck two pistols in his belt. He takes one last look
around, blows out the last candle and exits.
EXT MAIN DECK MAYNARD, DALTON AND CREW
Maynard reaches the deck in the faint light. The crew's been
mustered aft. Climbing to the quarterdeck, he looks
overhead, at the tell-tale, flapping in the wind.
DALTON
Backing to the south. Fickle--it
does not know what to do...
MAYNARD
It will have to serve...
He steps to the rail, looks out over the crew.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
I'm no hand for speeches. This
morning, we meet Teach. His
greatest weapon is fear, and he
wins most fights before they begin.
I do not fear him. He is mortal,
like all of us, and he must pay for
his actions, as we all must.
You're a first-rate crew--your
reward lies on the deck of The
Adventure. Go take it...
(to Dalton)
Clear for action, Mr., Dalton...
Dalton calls the top men to the yards--eager, the crew runs
to their stations.
EXT RANGER
Paying off, jib and topsail filling, its gunports swinging
open on either side. It glides towards the mouth of the
inlet on the weak wind, outlined by the dawn.
152.
INT MAIN CABIN THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD
Regarding himself in a mirror. He wears two swords, a
bandolier of pistols over either shoulder. He's sticking
burning slow-match fuses into his beard--they sputter and
smoke around his face, giving him a satanic look.
BLACKBEARD
Ain't I the prodigy..?
Winking at himself, he heads aloft.
EXT MAINDECK BLACKBEARD
Marking his entrance. His gun crews squint into the sunlight
-a mile off, the Ranger, standing in. He calls for Bonnet.
EDWARDS
Ain't here, Captain...
He jerks his thumb towards the beach. There's Bonnet,
paddling through the surf, clambering ashore, making for the
trees. Blackbeard snatches up a pistol, takes a shot at him.
BLACKBEARD
Bonnet, you coward! I will catch
up with you, and then your troubles
will begin--I am more dangerous to
you than he is...
(to Edwards)
He misses all the fun. Take the
guns, Mr. Edwards...
He turns to his starboard battery, full of backslaps and
advice.
BLACKBEARD (CONT'D)
Chain and grape, boys, chain for
his rigging, grape for his men.
We'll lie athwart his hawse ten
minutes in this light air, and if
you do not send him to the bottom,
you do not deserve to call
yourselves seamen...
EXT RANGER
Passing through the mouth of the lagoon, her boats towing
astern. The first ranging shot from the Adventure splashes
ahead of her.
153.
EXT MAINDECK ADVENTURE
With Blackbeard's skull-and-crossbones snapping over their
heads, the gun captains sight--on Edwards's yell, they touch
the touch-holes with their slow-matches.
EXT FORECASTLE RANGER
Struck hard by the cannon salvo--splinters flying, wreathed
in spray by near misses. She can only fire her bowchasers-
with his best crews, Fredericks returns fire.
EXT ADVENTURE MAINDECK BLACKBEARD
A Ranger ball pierces a topsail, but no one notices-
Blackbeard's gun crews are coming up to speed now, a
deafening, rolling fire. He paces behind his crews in the
smoke, shouting encouragement.
BLACKBEARD
Smash him, chain and grape, grape
and chain. Lively boys--run out
your gun, swab your gun, prime
your gun, load your gun, ram your
gun, point your gun, fire your
gun...
He touches off a cannon with a fuse from his beard, shades
his eyes to see the fall of the shot.
EXT RANGER FOREPEAK MAYNARD AND HOOPER
Holes in the foresail, in the hull, chunks out of the rail-
but slowly coming on.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND GROUP
Maynard with Hooper at the wheel, Toby beside him. Maynard
flinches at a hit midships--a flying splinter slices his ear,
blood flows down his coat. He puts a handkerchief to his
ear as he studies the hand-drawn chart.
MAYNARD
Larboard a point, Mr. Hooper...
HOOPER
Larboard, aye, sir...
Maynard's estimating bearings on the landmarks ashore. The
ship shivers from more hard hits--the topagallant mast
cracks, begins to fold downwards. Maynard turns to Toby.
154.
MAYNARD
You may go below if you wish--no
shame in it...
TOBY
I'll stay here, sir, and help where
I can...
MAYNARD
(nodding; to Hooper)
Hard to larboard--we should have
room by now...
(shouting forward)
Mr. Fredericks, your starboard
side. Not one shot wasted...
EXT DECK FREDERICKS AND CREW
Fredericks sees that Maynard's turning the ship broadside to
bring his starboard battery to bear.
FREDERICKS
Aim for his decks, boys--we don't
want to sink him, we want to kill
him...
As the Adventure rounds into range, the guns fire.
EXT MAINDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD
Hits everywhere, well-placed and accurate. A ball blasts
through the rail, scatters a crew, dismounts a cannon, and
continues on into the lagoon behind. There are screams-
Blackbeard grabs the survivors, shoves them towards other
guns.
BLACKBEARD
A scratch. Keep it up. Where's my
chain..?
EXT RANGER FOREPEAK MAYNARD AND HOOPER DAY
A chain shot wraps itself around the mizzen cap, wrenches off
the mizzen topmast. The Ranger is slowly being shot to
pieces under the stronger fire.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND GROUP
Surrounded by falling rigging. Maynard checks his bearings,
shouts through the din.
155.
MAYNARD
Coming up on the bar--starboard
your helm...
EXT RANGER FOREPEAK ISRAEL HANDS
On lookout, seeing the sandbar approaching underwater.
HANDS
Bar ahead--steep and shallow..!
EXT RANGER QUARTERDECK
Those there waiting long, agonizing seconds.
HOOPER
We're over it, sir, I believe...
Still taking cruel hits, the ship sails on.
MAYNARD
We're in the anchorage--hard
a'starboard...
(shouting)
Mr. Fredericks, your larboard
battery...
EXT RANGER
The ship slowly turning right, to present its other battery-
but never completing the turn. With a slow crunch and a
shivering of masts, it runs aground on another sandbar.
EXT MAINDECK THE ADVENTRURE BLACKBEARD
Seeing his enemy dead in the water, all standing--he scarcely
believes his luck.
BLACKBEARD
He's aground! Pour it on him,
lads, kill him--this is the land I
promised you, this is your
inheritance. Smash him, hearty-
oh, who can't hit a sitting duck
like that..?
156.
EXT STERN OF THE RANGER
Maynard's jumped overboard into the waist-deep water--Dalton,
Hands, and Ibrahaim splash in beside him. As shots explode
around them, they examine the hull--it's clearly wedged in
the sand.
MAYNARD
We'll tow her off. Hands to the
boats! Mr. Ibrahaim, get your men
over the side to push...
Dalton's screaming orders--maroons dive from the stern, swim
to the boats towing astern, clamber aboard them, extend the
oars and start rowing. Cannonballs rain around them--men
scream, die, but the towropes tighten. More men spill over
the side.
EXT MAINDECK RANGER FREDERICKS AND CREWS
Two starboard cannons still bear on the Adventure--Fredericks
fires them, helping his sweating crews reload.
EXT HULL RANGER
The ship mauled cruelly, but all ignore the fire, struggling
to get the Ranger off. The oarsmen bend their oars in two-
along the waterline, maroons dig their feet into the sandbar
and shove, Israel Hands among them, trying to unstick the
hull with the force of their backs alone.
ANGLE MAYNARD AND MEN
Maynard shoving with them, neck veins popping, but it's no
use--the hull's stuck fast.
DALTON
A nasty bottom, to be sure.
HOOPER
The tide's dropping--we will be
here all day...
MAYNARD
We must lighten her more. Mr.
Fredericks..!
Above them, Fredericks sticks his head over the rail.
157.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Cannon and shot over the side...
Fredericks bawls for his men to reboard the ship. The
boatmen abandon their oars and swim back to the stern--the
entire crew clambers back onto the ship.
EXT MAINDECK CREW
In the midst of the pirate fire, throwing itself upon the
cannons, loosening their tackles, trundling them to the rail,
cradling their one-ton deadweight in their arms and with the
strength that comes to men in battle, heaving them over the
side. Cannonballs fall like tennis balls.
EXT MAINDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND EDWARDS
Edwards looks through a telescope.
EDWARDS
He dumps his guns...
BLACKBEARD
The tide turns--the battle is
mine...
(to his crews)
Livelier. What are you--old women?
The man opposite you has no guns..!
EXT STERN OF RANGER DALTON
In the water, with dumped cannon and shot splashing around
him. He's watching the hull intently, seeing it rise as the
weight comes off it, fraction-inch by fraction-inch. He
throws his weight against the strakes--the hull rocks
slightly.
DALTON
She swims..!
The hull starts sliding past him--he clambers up the side.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD AND DALTON
The ship is gathering way--the sails are drawing again.
Maynard yells to Falconer amidships.
158.
MAYNARD
Staysail sand trysail, Mr.
Falconer...
(to Hooper)
Does she steer..?
HOOPER
Poorly--a mort of leeway...
Maynard helps Dalton over the rail.
DALTON
Hot work. Haul your wind and I
believe you can turn here...
MAYNARD
I have no desire to, William...
DALTON
You've lost most your rigging,
you've nothing to shoot with...
MAYNARD
Then I'd best go alongside and
board him as fast as I can...
DALTON
(a beat)
Of course. I'll mind the braces...
He runs forward--Maynard follows him as far as the taffrail.
MAYNARD
Boarders prepare! Lie down,
everyone--take cover below the
bulwarks..!
ANGLE RANGER MAINDECK
The maroons scramble for their boarding weapons, crouch below
the rail. The oak hull rings from cannonballs slamming into
it, over and over.
ANGLE IBRAHAIM AND MAROONS
Ibrahaim leads them in a tribal chant. The maroons pick up
the chant, singing it with deep, resonating voices.
EXT QUARTERDECK MAYNARD, HOOPER, AND TOBY
As a pirate ball slices Hooper in two, that fast, that
cleanly. As his body falls, Maynard leaps for the loose
wheel--he only has time for a glance at Hooper's body.
159.
TOBY
Sir, I can steer her, if you
please...
MAYNARD
I believe you can, Mr. Barrett...
(handing the wheel over)
You've a little headway left. Time
your turn, bring her into the wind
and lay her nicely alongside...
EXT ADVENTURE MAINTOP MARKSMEN
The pirate ship blasting away at her mooring--but her yards
sag and blood runs from her scuppers down her sides. Above
the battle, two pirates watch the battered Ranger approaching
through the smoke, resonating with its eerie chant.
MARKSMAN ONE
That barky's about to board us...
MARKSMAN TWO
We're stuck, ain't we--nowhere else
to go...
EXT MAINDECK RANGER
Ducking musket fire, Maynard scuttles forward, Dalton on his
heels. He reaches Fredericks, Hands, Falconer, Ibrahaim and
the maroons clustered below the bulwarks.
MAYNARD
The blood runs off him--it's now or
never. Five minutes brisk and he's
ours...
EXT RANGER QUARTERDECK TOBY
At the wheel in the storm of fire, unflinching, watching the
sails, the Adventure drawing closer, the tell-tales overhead-
and now cranking the wheel over hard to starboard.
160.
EXT RANGER AND THE ADVENTURE
As the sloop with its empty deck curves through the smoke
into the wind and crunches against The Adventure's side.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Leaping to his feet, head bloody from his wound, his sword
arm raised, shouting at the top of his lungs.
MAYNARD
Ranger..!
Repeating the cry, with blood-curdling screams, the maroons
follow him over the rail onto the pirate deck.
EXT MAINDECK THE ADVENTURE BLACKBEARD AND MAYNARD
Blackbeard at the head of his men as they rise to meet them.
They collide, the most deadly collision of all, men to men,
face to face, toe to toe, barely room to swing, thrusting
with pikes, swords, axes, slicing, grunting and oaths, spurts
of blood, blood on deck, blood on bodies, alive and dying as,
cheek by jowl, they defeat or are defeated. The pirates have
skill--the maroons a savagery; there's no trend, no sway in
the battle, simply a deck of men at war.
ANGLE IBRAHAIM AND MAROONS
Ibrahaim amok with a boarding axe, driving a mass of
pirates aft. Mu'thinga and Dafe slashing with
cutlasses--a gunner drives at Dafe with a swabbing pole,
Mu'thinga slices it in two,severs the gunner's arm.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Driving a wedge through the packed pirates. A pistol goes
off in his ear, a pike slices his ribs, but the man who
thrusts it is falling, shot by Dalton just behind him. He
turns, holding his side, sees a pirate on the backswing about
to split Dalton's head--he draws a pistol, kills him. A
pirate fires a musket point-blank--Maynard's hit in the leg,
crumples, goes down. The pirate raises the musket to club
him--Falconer cuts off his leg at the hip with a cutlass.
161.
ANGLE FREDERICKS AND MAROON
Fredericks chopping the point off a pirate's pike with the
downstroke of his cutlass, driving the blade up between the
man's legs with his backhand. He takes a ball in the back,
falls, sprawling.
ANGLE TOBY AND PIRATE
His back to Toby, the pirate has his arm around a maroon's
neck. Toby raises his pistol, shuts his eyes, pulls the
trigger. The pirate's back blossoms blood.
ANGLE MAYNARD
In the midst of the melee, stumbling about on his bleeding
leg, looking for Blackbeard.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD
Standing his ground as maroons assault him, pulling out his
pistols, firing them one by one. If the balls don't stop
them, he pistols them with the butt.
BLACKBEARD
Fight like the blue-bloods you are.
You are English knights, you are
the liegemen of Arthur...
EXT MAINDECK MAYNARD
But the battle is tipping towards the Rangers. It's seen in
the maroons as they cut out from the seething mass and kill,
almost emotionlessly, one pirate, than another. It's in
Maynard, terrifying in his almost-insane slashing and
cutting. It's in the pirates themselves, a growing edginess,
a collective retreat towards the landward rail.
ANGLE MAYNARD
Sensing it--he grabs a stanchion, snatches Dalton on the fly.
MAYNARD
Strike him, William--now's the
time...
Dalton fights aft towards the quarterdeck. Maynard swings at
a pirate fleeing towards the lee rail, clobbers him with his
cutlass guard. He looks around for Blackbeard.
162.
EXT LEE RAIL PIRATES
Leaping into the shallow water one by one, swimming for
shore. The maroons leap in after them.
EXT QUARTERDECK DALTON
He's cut down Blackbeard's ensign--he wears a weary grin.
EXT SIDE OF THE ADVENTURE MAROONS AND PIRATES
The pirates abandon their weapons as they struggle through
the surf. That's a mistake--the maroons pursue them, catch
them, cut them down or drown them.
EXT MAINDECK MAYNARD
The decks almost silent where it was pandemonium moments
before. Maynard still looks for Blackbeard--he finds Dalton.
MAYNARD
Have you seen Teach..?
DALTON
Give you joy, Robert...
Maynard doesn't listen--he collars Toby.
MAYNARD
Teach--where is he..?
Toby points landward.
POV MAYNARD
Blackbeard's heading up the beach. He's in advance of his
men--he abandoned the Adventure before any of them.
EXT ADVENTURE AND LAGOON MAYNARD AND TOBY
Maynard leaps over the rail into the water. Half his limbs
don't work--he doesn't notice as he splashes his way
shoreward. Toby jumps in after him, holding a cutlass.
163.
EXT TREES BLACKBEARD
He's reached the pines along the beach--he staggers into
them, up the hilly ground dotted with rocky outcroppings.
EXT SURF MAYNARD
Reaching the beach, finding Blackbeard's tracks in the sand,
following them off into the trees.
EXT TREES MAYNARD
Winded, aching, driving himself upwards, looking for any
trail Blackbeard left. He sees crushed leaves, bent
branches, climbs onward.
EXT TREES MAYNARD AND BLACKBEARD
Scaling an outcrop with his hands, catching his breath, with
a roar, Blackbeard charges Maynard from behind, tackling him,
snarling. He flings Maynard down, pulls a knife, slashes
downward. Maynard twists sideways--the knife bites dirt.
He drives an elbow into Blackbeard's eye, rolls out from
under. Blackbeard steps in, slashing--Maynard grabs his arm,
bites his wrist. Blackbeard yells, clubs Maynard's neck--the
knife drops in the dirt and both of them dive for it. That's
what the fight becomes--the knife, who gets it, keeping it
away, turning it on the other man. Maynard can barely see
for the blood in his eyes, the knife's a blur in the dirt, but
he scrambles for it, knocking Blackbeard aside, taking blows,
giving blows, eye to eye, finally gaining the knife, muscling
Blackbeard onto his back, holding it high and without pause,
driving it deep into his heart. Blackbeard gurgles--blood
floods from his mouth. He looks bewildered--he tries speaking
but no words come.
MAYNARD
I know how to hate, sir...
With his last strength, he twists the knife one complete
revolution.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
And I am not you...
Blackbeard's eyes close as he dies. Maynard falls across
him, exhausted. He flinches as a blade flashes past his
head, but it's not meant for him.
164.
FULLER SHOT WITH TOBY
It's a cutlass in Toby's hands--in one blow, he's severed
Blackbeard's head from his body. The head, eyes still wide
open in disbelief, rolls away down the hillside. Toby wears
the same solemn look he's always had, but slowly, as Maynard
watches, something inside him melts, at long last. His eyes
water---he starts to cry. Maynard pulls him close.
ANGLE BLACKBEARD'S HEAD
Tumbling through pine needles and rocks until it stops
against a rock outcrop.
EXT TREES MAYNARD AND TOBY
Maynard staggering down hill, Toby behind him, looking for
the head. He searches, finds where it came to rest. He
sits across from it, heavily. Toby crosses to it, makes to
pick it up--but something catches his eyes. It's the
outcrop the head rests against--there seems to be a seam in
the rock, too straight to be natural. He puts his fingers
into the seam, tries to pry it back. It won't move.
ANGLE TOBY AND MAYNARD
Maynard comes over--they both put their fingers beneath the
seam and pull. The rock budges--it appears to be a sort of
door, cut into the outcrop, invisible if one didn't know where
to look. They muscle the rock aside--they discover, behind it,
an opening, a low cave. Maynard bends, peering inside.
TOBY
What do you see..?
POV MAYNARD
Scant light enters the cave--but he can see something,
something in stacks, a pattern repeated.
BACK TO SHOT MAYNARD
He reaches in, grabs something with his fingertips--he comes
out with a small canvas purse. He rips the stitches open-
from it falls a stream of gold coins, ringing on the stone.
165.
MAYNARD
That's why he came here. It's his
gold from the Florida keys.
Maynard leans back. He closes his eyes.
CUT TO
EXT THE FROLIC MAINDECK DAY
Moored side by side to the Adventure. The crew's spread out
on deck, each with several gold purses in front of them.
Ibrahaim's handling the share-out of the treasure, doling the
purses out to each maroon, each Frolic, Maynard and Toby in
turn.
ANGLE TOBY DAFE AND MU'THINGA
Receiving another gold purse each. Their eyes are wide--they
can't believe their good fortune.
CUT TO
EXT OCRACOKE INLET TWO SHIPS DAY
The Adventure, repaired and seaworthy, Ibrahaim now it's
captain, manned by the maroons, with Dalton and Hands at the
wheel, has cast loose the Ranger and stands out, filling its
sails, pointing for the inlet's mouth. All on board wave
back to Maynard and Toby on the Ranger. Dalton calls across.
DALTON
Wish you luck, Robert...
MAYNARD
Bless you, William--I was nowhere
without you...
DALTON
You'll come see Annie and me..?
MAYNARD
If I ever can...
EXT QUARTERDECK THE ADVBENTURE IBRAHAIM
Now he shouts to Maynard.
IBRAHAIM
You are always welcome with us,
Lieutenant...
166.
MAYNARD
(shouting back)
Thank you, Ibrahaim. Long may you
prosper...
Ibrahaim indicates this ship, the men--he has.
EXT MAINDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND TOBY
Alone on the ship, shading their eyes, watching them go.
Mayynard turns to Toby.
MAYNARD
Very well, Mr. Barrett--we will lay
aloft and make sail...
EXT OCRACOKE INLET RANGER
Sails snapping full, clearing the bar, Maynard at the wheel,
Toby beside him.
CUT TO
EXT JAMES RIVER RANGER DAY
The sloop slowly heading upriver under topsails alone, creamy
white water at its forepeak.
EXT JAMESTOWN HARBOR
Shouts around the town, people rushing towards the wharf,
more coming from their houses. HMS Eurydice is moored in the
harbor, her bow into the wind.
EXT QUARTERDECK EURYDICE DRUMMOND AND LIEUTENANT
Admiral Drummond has interrupted a meal to come onto his
quarterdeck--he holds a napkin.
DRUMMOND
Who is it..?
LIEUTENANT
I believe it's Ranger, sir...
DRUMMOND
Maynard...
167.
LIEUTENANT
(offering his glass)
You might take a look at his
bowsprit, sir...
POV DRUMMOND (TELESCOPE APERATURE)
The cutwater and bowsprit of the Ranger--and hanging from the
bowsprit gammoning, Blackbeard's severed head.
BACK TO SHOT
Drummond wipes his mouth.
DRUMMOND
He did it. Pass the word for my
master gunner...
ANGLE INCLUDING MASTER GUNNER
As the ship's master gunner hurries aft, up to the
quarterdeck and makes his salute.
DRUMMOND
Master Gunner, I wish to give the
Ranger thirteen good ones...
MASTER GUNNER
Begging your honor's pardon,
thirteen's for an Admiral of the
Fleet, your honor...
DRUMMOND
Then make it fourteen...
EXT EURYDICE
As her cannon speak, in salute, across the water.
EXT QUARTERDECK RANGER MAYNARD AND TOBY
Hearing them as the sloop pays off towards Jamestown dock.
EXT TILDEN HOUSE FANNY
Hearing the cannons booming, leaning out a window, seeing
crowds filling the streets and the Ranger gliding in.
168.
EXT JAMESTOWN WHARF RANGER
An exuberant crowd as the Ranger drifts in and kisses the
wharf--any number of men compete to catch the mooring lines
Toby throws over the side.
EXT WHARF MAYNARD, TOBY AND CROWD
Maynard carries a bag as he steps ashore--the happy crowd
grabs his hand, congratulating him. He looks behind--Toby
scales the rail to join him. The crowd recoils--Toby's
holding Blackbeard's head by the hair. Without a word, the
two head off--the crowd parts for them.
EXT WHARF MAYNARD, TOBY AND DRUMMOND
As they head into town, Drummond calls to Maynard across the
water. Maynard raises his hat to him, but he does not stop.
It turns into a procession, Maynard and Toby in the lead,
most of Jamestown behind them, wondering where they're going
and what they'll do when they get there.
EXT JAMESTOWN STREET INCLUDING GOVERNMENT HOUSE
Maynard and Toby turn a corner--at the end of it, the
government house where Maynard was jailed. They march up
to the front door--at Maynard's nod, Toby lays
Blackbeard's head on the doorsill. A beat--he and Maynard
turn and head off through an amazed crowd that parts for
them.
CUT TO
EXT TREES MAYNARD AND TOBY DAY
They've halted beneath some trees at the edge of town.
Maynard takes two pouches from his bag.
MAYNARD
I'm keeping one for myself, one for
another. The rest are yours...
TOM
I'd rather come with you...
169.
MAYNARD
You have a life to begin, Mr.
Barrett. It's been hard enough up
to now--at least this will set you
up.
He hands him the bag. He extends his hand--with a sob, Toby
hugs him instead.
MAYNARD (CONT'D)
Your instincts are right, as usual.
Godspeed, Mr. Barrett...
Toby steps back--one last look and he heads off.
CUT TO
EXT TILDEN HOUSE MAYNARD AND LUCY DAY
He's found her among the outbuildings. Sweating, wiping her
brow, she opens the pouch he's given her--she reacts to the
sight of the gold coins there.
MAYNARD
You must buy your freedom and be
happy, Lucy. Find some place that
appreciates you...
She throws her arms around him and they kiss. One last smile
and he turns and heads off. She calls after.
LUCY
Did you ever find out..?
MAYNARD
What, Lucy..?
LUCY
Why the pirates smiled..?
MAYNARD
They were lost men...
CUT TO
EXT OUTSKIRTS ROAD MAYNARD DAY
He's trudging up the western road--the outskirts of Jamestown
fall away behind him.
170.
EXT CREST OF ROAD FANNY AND MAYNARD
At the brow of the hill is a copse of trees. Beneath it,
Fanny waits, at the reins of a one-horse carriage. When she
sees Maynard, she clicks her tongue--the carriage rolls
forward. He looks up, surprised to find her there.
FANNY
Where are you going..?
MAYNARD
West, into the Shenandoah. I will
try my luck there...
FANNY
You will need a horse...
He regards her.
FANNY (CONT'D)
You will need a friend.
She extends a hand to him. He takes it--his eyes brim, tears
course down his cheeks.
MAYNARD
You honor me, Fanny...
He climbs up beside her.
EXT ROAD
The carriage hading off into the blue hills of the west.
Scroll the following:
The record shows that Lieutenant Robert Maynard,
of the sloop Ranger killed the pirate Edward
Teach, better known as Blackbeard, in hand-to-hand
combat at Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, on
November, 22, 1718, tied his severed head to his
bowsprit and presented it as a gift to the Governor
of Virginia. Of what happened to Lieutenant
Maynard subsequent to that, the record is silent.
FADE OUT
August, 1992--January, 1994