Avenging Angel
By David L. Phillips
OVER BLACK, CRAWL APPEARS:
In Late 189O’s, Greenbrier County, West Virginia, was still recovering from the damage of the Civil War, some of which was fought in its streets where a Union cavalry charge had once cleared the small town of its Confederate occupiers. Once viewed as being wealthy from the growing and sale of Greenbrier Beef all over Virginia, the results of the combat in the area left many families destitute. Repairs were still underway thirty years later and this story is based on actual historical figures and events that occurred in the period following that violent conflict.
FADE IN:
EXT. LEWISBURG OUTSKIRTS (LATE SUMMER, 1896) – DAY
The nearby mountains where some leaves are beginning to shift to their autumn colors descent to sunny farmland where dark forest is giving way to sunny pastures.
Stone fences divide the different properties. A scattering of Black Angus cattle graze. A few mules are nearby. An enormous ancient oak tree shades the mules.
In the foreground in front of the pastures, dispersed wooden farmhouses begin to coalesce into the beginnings of a town. Each lies adjacent to cultivated fields with tall corn and smaller vegetable gardens.
EXT. HILLTOP – APPLE TREE – DAY
A young farm boy perches on a limb and stretches upward for a green apple, dirt road and rock walls in the background. Pulls down a branch, collects an apple, removes a few leaves accompanying it, takes his first bite.
ON DIRT ROAD BELOW – SOUND OF METAL TOOLS CLANGING TOGETHER
Farm boy peers in the direction of the SOUND GROWING LOUDER.
EXT. ROAD BELOW THE APPLE TREE
TWO PEOPLE come into view, walking.
ON TROUT SCHUE – a big man, hard face, intimidates. Dark hair, scowling. Carries a bag with tool handles clanking in one hand and a wooden bucket with a coiled rope in the other.
Walking behind, his young wife follows along. A young woman wears a large sun bonnet. Carries a thin wooden yoke across her slender shoulders with wooden buckets suspended from the yoke by thin cords. One bucket is filled with splashing water as she stumbles under the load. The other bucket is filled with an open, partially used bag of dusty cement.
EXT. ROAD/ CULTIVATED FIELD
Boy drops from tree, gives friendly wave.
Woman raises her right hand slowly, tentatively.
PULL BACK – to show the man’s scowl as he makes a sweeping gesture in the direction of the boy with his right arm.
TROUT SCHUE
Beat it, kid!
EXT. DIRT ROAD/ROCK WALLS ON EACH SIDE
Barefoot boy runs down the dusty road in the direction away from the couple.
EXT. SIDE OF WHITE CLAPBOARD HOUSE, LARGE UNPAINTED ROCK CHIMNEY EXTENDING TWO STORIES UPWARD WITH A SLENDER WOODEN LADDER LEANING AGAINST IT
Woman eases heavy buckets slowly to the ground, removes the yoke, and rubs obviously tender shoulders as an eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly lands on her slender wrist. She gently raises it to the front of the bonnet that conceals her face from view.
Trout Shue scowls as he looks back at his wife
TROUT SCHUE
What kind of food did’je bring this time, woman?
He takes a large biscuit-like flat cake from her hand, bites into it, and scowls threateningly.
TROUT SCHUE
Again no meat. I’ve told ye agin and agin, ain’t I?
The woman cringes and steps backward.
ON WOMAN – To expose a pretty face with a large bruise and swollen right eye disfiguring her features. The young woman is obviously terrified of the large, clearly violent man to her front.
ON TROUT SCHUE— After taking several bites of the homemade sandwich, he moves to the ladder, climbs to the top of the second story chimney while trailing the long rope that is attached to the wooden bucket left on the ground.
ON TROUT SCHUE – From his position on top of the ladder, he looks below at the woman, points with his right hand.
TROUT SCHUE (loudly)
Fill the damn bucket with the rocks, woman. I’ll pull them up here.
ON WOMAN – She stacks a half dozen of the flat, brick-like rocks into the bucket.
ON TROUT SCHUE – He pulls the heavy bucket to the top of the ladder, unloads the rocks and stacks each on the edge of the chimney before lowering the bucket a second time.
TROUT SCHUE
Fill’er agin.
PULL BACK on entire view of Trout Schue on top of the ladder as the woman bends below to fill the bucket with additional rocks.
ON TROUT SCHUE – He leans forward, looks downward at the woman and pushes the stack of rocks from the top of the chimney.
ON WOMAN – She looks upward with a horrified expression as the small avalanche of 4-5 flat rocks fall, bounce off the of the chimney side to strike her head, neck, and shoulders and drive her to the ground where she lies without moving.
ON BUTTERFLY – Butterfly lands on the still form of the young woman.
FADE TO BLACK
Copyright © 2012 David L. Phillips (All rights reserved)
