"I have faced many enemies on horseback." "Horsemen without heads." "Even discovered my own son is the Apocalyptic Horseman of War." "Thus, how challenging must it be to guide the power of 300 horses using only one's right foot?" "Crane, you've seen me do this a thousand times." "You have an eidetic memory." "Do not tell me that you do not have this." "Also, I happen to know that you've been practicing your driving with Jenny, who's had her license suspended twice, by the way." "Firstly, I fail to see why each and every human on the planet must utilize a motor vehicle." "And secondly, if you're implying I would use this conveyance without your express permission..." "That gauge right there doesn't lie." "The odometer." "Curse you, Franklin, for inventing such a treacherous device." "Crane, if we're gonna win this war, you need to master certain skills from this era." "Ergo, you need to drive a damn car." "Now, quit stalling." "So be it." "Remember, all that power is now a part of you." "Make it your steed." "Oh." "You're referring to Jinba Ittai." "Why didn't you say so?" "Let us release our own horsemen." "All right." "Ooh..." "Slow down." "Crane?" "I need you to slow down." "We're in a parking lot!" "Crane!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "Slow down!" "Slow down!" "Slow down, Crane!" "Crane!" "Crane!" "Crane!" "Crane!" " Jinba...?" " Ittai." "It's a Japanese term." "It means "horse and rider as one."" "You've been messing with me this whole time?" "Perhaps if you install a turbo charger, this vehicle would have better acceleration." "Get out of my car." "I'd say you're well on your way to independence." "In case something happened to you." "Crane...?" "You can drop the facade, Lieutenant." "I'm all too aware of why you insist I learn these skills." "But hear me, Grace Abigail Mills." "It is not our fate for one of us to bury the other." "We shall be victorious or defeated... together." "And until then, we spend every waking moment looking for a way to defeat Moloch and the Horsemen." "We're building our army." "Our network of spies." "Katrina, Miss Jenny, even Captain Irving's predicament could be used to our advantage." "And now I can drive." "That wasn't driving." "That was unsafe operation of a vehicle without a license." "I should arrest your ass for it." "Perhaps if you could catch me." "I have received an AMBER Alert." "Everyone in the area gets it." "It's when a child's gone missing." " I know that family." " A missing child." "We must make haste." "Not so fast, Ricky Bobby." "I'm driving." "It's been hours." "Why haven't we heard anything?" "Lieutenant Mills and her people are doing everything they can." "Well, then they need to do more." "She is ten years old." "There's no sign of forced entry." "And we don't know what happened." "So, let's stay positive." "Is there any way Sara could've just wandered off and gotten lost accidentally?" "No." "She's a good kid." "She's responsible." "She would never just leave." "And your older boys, they're adopted?" "Any chance Sara felt left out?" "Maybe some friction between the kids?" "Sara was a happy accident after we got the boys, but the four of them couldn't be closer." "Her brothers are out there now looking for her." "And we should be out there looking." "I can't stay inside here anymore." "Honey, you need to forgive yourself." " Or we will not get through this." " I'm sorry." "Forgive yourself for...?" "Last night, I fell asleep in my office." "I was doing paperwork and I just... drifted off." "And I forgot to set the alarm." "And now, my little girl..." "My family's cursed." ""Sometimes people get caught in the path of a storm..." ""and there's nothing they can do" ""but wait for it to pass over them." "But know that it will pass."" "You told me that when I was nine." "And those words kept me from sliding off the edge of the world." "I didn't know if you'd remember me." "When Jenny and I became wards of the state, if you hadn't been in my life..." "I don't think I'd be wearing this badge right now." "I think that's more August Corbin's doing than mine." "I was just your caseworker." "Beth, you've been so good to me and to my family." "We are going to find Sara." "You have my word." "So, we're celebrating a scoundrel, are we?" "What are you doing?" "!" "Helping!" "I will not sit idly by when a child's life is at stake." "Help me by getting out of those bushes before somebody sees you." "Meet me in the woods and we'll see if we can pick up Sara's trail." "So, that whole display case in Beth's living room is a lie?" "Despite what his descendents believe," "Daniel Forbes Lancaster was no patriot." "In fact, General Washington despised the man." "He sided with the patriots very late in the war." "After it became clear the tide had turned against the British." "We no longer had any need for his vast holdings." "Beth's family has funded foster care programs for years." "You believe the Lancasters are trying to make amends for their ancestor's selfishness?" "I'm saying that you can't undo the past." "Just work on changing the here and now." "Lieutenant." "There was a struggle here." "Blood spatter." "The ground gave way here." "There's more blood splatter." "But whose blood?" "I see no trail anymore." "Crane!" "Ooh." "It's a bone." "And it's hollow." "On purpose." "May I?" "Jiahu Gudi." "A flute made of bone." "This is the oldest known instrument made in China." "That's odd." "Strange chord structure." "Lieutenant?" "Lieutenant!" "Okay!" "What just happened?" "Where the hell was I going?" "I believe I know what threat we're facing." "Miss Sara is not lost." "She was lured into these woods by a creature of legend." "This instrument belongs to a pied piper." "God!" "I haven't had to do this much sneaking about since the second Continental Congress." "Oh, let me guess... this was when Betsy Ross had the hots for you." "Oh, that woman was relentless." "Once, Adams found me hiding in a broom closet." "From her." "I-I'm sure it's because you were just the cutest continental courier." "An assessment your new Sheriff Reyes does not share." "Until there is a detente between us," "I shall continue to evade her." "I'm sure you'll grow on her." "I transcribed the range of the stops in it." "The holes bear a similar note composition to a piccolo flute..." "B, C," "C-sharp, etc." "But they all pitch up half a key instead of continuing a normal sustained note." "But that doesn't explain why the damn thing put me in a trance." "Also, you play the flute?" "I'd like to see you try bringing a cello onto the battlefield." "The Pied Piper's a German fairy tale, Crane." "The Piper of Hamelin, yes." "But the story I'm thinking of is much closer to home, one that is not a fairy tale." "One that could explain our mystery abductor." "I once heard, during the height of the war, when British soldiers were quartered at Sleepy Hollow, a mysterious man lured an entire garrison out of doors with beautiful, entrancing music." "Only to subject each and every soldier to a cowardly and ignoble fate." "One man, a piper with deadly skill, killed them all." "I didn't think there was anything otherworldly about it, until I saw the effect this instrument had on you," "Lieutenant." "As the modus operandi match, it stands to reason that the same assassin that lured these men to their deaths may have taken Miss Sara as well." "Why would an assassin who killed redcoats target a little girl?" "The modus operandi doesn't quite fit." "That I do not know." "But the effect this instrument had on you is undeniable." "Do you recall anything from during your enchantment?" "I remember feeling compelled to go somewhere." "A place." "A summoning spell." "This music actually pulls his victims to his lair." "I know where you're going with this." "You play the music, I get all trancey and lead us to where the Piper is holding Sara." "We have no idea what effect this may have on you." "Not to mention, we'd be using you as bait." "I know what it's like to be lost in those woods and have something evil messing around with you." "Moloch did it to me." "And now the Piper's doing it to Sara." "Play the thing." "I do have an idea how best to control the effects of the music." "This 30-second loop, as you accurately named it, should mimic the effects of the flute and prevent it from affecting anyone else in the vicinity." "Your first recording." "Maybe we'll cut an album together when this is all done." "One achievement at a time, Lieutenant." "Here." "I will be with you at every moment." "Good." "'Cause if you lose sight of me..." "A gillygaupus like me?" "I can see for miles at my height." "And I say you retire that nickname right here and now." "So beautiful." "Lieutenant." "Lieutenant, Lieutenant." "All right?" " All right?" "All right?" "Yeah?" " Mm-hmm." "We may have found our target." " The Piper?" " Quite possibly." "Where?" "I saw someone beyond those rocks." "No!" "Don't shoot." "Unbelievable." "Hawley." "Oh, hell, just shoot me." "What happened?" "The kid." "She's still alive." " You can still..." " You saw her?" "There's still time." "There's still time to save that girl." "So, this Piper... you saw it?" "Yo, Pride and Prejudice, you mind not touching anything in there?" "Some of it goes boom." "It was dark out, so I didn't really get a good look at him, but yeah, he took that kid." "I was out on a job when I saw the girl, and then he attacked me." "He's pretty fast with a knife." "Assuming money's the reason you're out here, did the Lancasters hire you to find Miss Sara?" "I'm searching for a flute." "It's made of bone." "Hollow, covered in holes." "Maybe you've seen it?" "It's a high-value artifact." "So, you know, any help would be appreciated." "Tell us what you know, and we'll take it from there." "Starting with how you knew the Piper would strike that night." "It was the kid's tenth birthday." "The curse." "Yeah?" "No?" "Well, there's been a plague on the Lancaster family since its legend began in 1778." "Yes, well, we know at that time an entire garrison of redcoats was stationed in the family estate." "Much to Daniel Lancaster's chagrin." "Right." "Apparently, they were a bit too friendly with his daughters, and Daniel decided to take matters into his own hands." "Of course." "It was Daniel who hired the Piper of legend that lured the British to their deaths." "He was most likely a mercenary." "They were far too common during the war." "Daniel hires a mercenary, yes, but not just anyone." "No." "A killer who had the speed to kill men quickly." "Let me guess." "Because he'd given his soul to a demon." "All that would remain would be for Daniel to betray that mercenary." "And because of that betrayal, every generation, the Piper supposedly lures a Lancaster girl into the woods when she turns ten, which is when her bones are the right size to make his instruments." "Each one having a different effect on its victims." "Pretty sick stuff." "Yesterday was Sara's tenth birthday." "If the demon this mercenary gave his soul to was Moloch..." "Then he would not remain dead, but rise again as the Piper." "So you fought this creature, did you?" " Crane." " Creature?" "Dude, I got blindsided by a costumed psycho." "That's about it." "Are you certain about that?" "People, the Piper is just a legend." "A sicko with a costume acting this whole thing out." " You know, taking kids." " Yet all you want is to procure his flute." "Well, that's the job, okay?" "And for the record," " I tried to save her." " Legend or not, you said that the Piper's M.O." "is to weaken the victims" " before he kills them." " Yeah, they die of exposure or starvation." "It's not really a fairy tale ending." "It's been less than 36 hours." "We still have a shot at saving Sara, but we don't know enough about what we're facing." "So we need all the help we can get." "Ooh, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey." "Just be careful with that thing, okay?" "Wrap it in a soft cloth or something." "Lieutenant, need I remind you that this man stole the Judas coin from our very grasp." "I think you mean I'm keeping it safe." "Here's the deal." "You help us bring Sara back safe, this is yours." "That means you tell us everything that you got from your research and provide full tactical support on the rescue." "Absolutely not." "Lieutenant, we cannot work with this callous brigand-for-hire." "Okay." "When do we leave?" ""The Horseman of War will gather his soldiers to rise and begin the End of Days."" "That is seriously freaky." "What's the gag?" " How's that work?" " For the love of God, will you be quiet for a single moment?" "There is no gag." "This is a rather vicious form of enchantment." "Enchantment, right." "Ooh." "Lieutenant." "Oh..." "All right?" "We may have found something." "You sure?" "You were heading directly towards it." "We do this carefully." "Hawley, it's time to earn your pay." "What are we walking into?" "Well, legend says the Piper's jam is to weaponize sound." "Make instruments that trigger different tones and frequencies." "To summon, entrance..." "And kill." "You guys really believe that cheap parlor trick's a real enchantment?" " Some type of audio hypnosis, come on." " Shh." "I've seen better magic acts in Vegas." "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." "These foundations..." "Okay." "Let's do this." "Huh." "Sara?" "She's alive." "Huh?" "We're not alone." "Oh, damn." "Lieutenant, hurry!" "Hey!" "He's fast." "He's too fast." "This isn't working!" "Hawley!" "Oh, what the hell." "Ah!" "Go!" "Shakespeare!" "Move!" "Crane." "Come on!" "Quickly, before he follows." "All right." "All right." " Lieutenant." " Mm-hmm." "Okay, sweetheart, you're going home now." "I can't remember how I got there." "We get her back home... load up on ammo, get back here and take that thing down." "Without question." "That explosion would merely have slowed him down." "Cool." "You guys can let me know how that turns out." "The flute?" "After everything we've seen?" "Unless you want to discuss a new fee structure for my services, yes, I am deeply uninterested" " in hunting that thing down." " I was right." "You are a self-serving reprobate." "We made a deal, okay?" "You don't like how this went down, guess what..." "I don't do refunds." "Kid's safe." "I call that a win." "You two want to get yourselves killed, that's where I get off." "Hawley, there isn't a choice here." "The evil we face is real." "It exists." "Does this mean nothing to you?" "It means business is booming." "End of sentence." "So the Piper's a real monster." "That's pretty messed up." "Is it gonna haunt me?" "Definitely." "That's why God created the shot glass." "Oh, you..." "This thing is a part of a bigger picture... the End of Days." "End of Days?" "Which version?" "I've heard at least 200 of them." "Each complete with their own rare and very expensive collectables." "The flute." "Forget about him, Lieutenant." "The only thing this mercenary cares for is money." "You do you profession proud, privateer." "Yeah, I was hoping you were better than this." "You gonna keep your end of the deal, or do we have a problem?" "No problem." "Oh!" "In all the excitement, looks like it was damaged." "There is no way we were giving you a weapon that powerful intact." "Guess I don't do refunds either." "Good luck in the next round." "See you around, kid." "Baby, you're all right." "You're all right." "Where did you find her?" "About three miles into the North Woods, by Havemeyer Falls." "Someone took her." "We have more units on their way." "They're setting up a perimeter." "Stay inside, you'll be safe." "And I swear this will be over soon." "Thank you both, so much." "Thank you." "It's over." "You kept your promise." "Saved the child." "Not until we finish the job." "You ready for this?" "He's an expert swordsman... perhaps the best I've seen." "He caught me off guard." "That will not happen again." "Which is why we need these." "Noise-cancelling earbuds." "Keep us from getting affected by the Piper's weapons." "What possible defense could something so small provide?" "Incredible." "We'll be able to take him." "I said, if we keep those in when he starts using that staff, we have a chance." "This may seem an odd query, but Mrs. Lancaster's reaction when we delivered Miss Sara" " safely to her arms..." " Disappointment?" "The woman's raison d'etre is protecting children, yet she showed no sign of relief." "If someone rescued my child," "I'd be overjoyed, exuberant." "Right now, our focus is to kill that thing before it comes looking for its prey." "Hawley mentioned that the Piper had been taking Lancaster girls for centuries." "Uh..." "Lieutenant?" "If you would perform the logging ceremony." "Okay." "Lancaster family, keyword "abductions."" "Okay, as far back as town records go, every generation, a Lancaster girl's gone missing." "Each on her tenth birthday, like Hawley said." "Including Beth's older sister, Lucy." "Up to a dozen girls over hundreds of years... all disappeared." "With one exception." "1936, a Lancaster daughter disappeared." "A search party quickly recovered her." "Only for the other children in the family to die suddenly of a mysterious fever." "Crane... what if those deaths are part of the Piper's curse against the Lancaster family?" "If the Piper is denied his prize..." "All the children in the family die." "Mrs. Lancaster adopted those boys, trying to avoid the plague on her family's house." "And then she had Sara." "What if Mrs. Lancaster believed there was no possible way to avoid the curse?" "She'd be left with a most horrifying dilemma." "The only way to save the other children... is to sacrifice one." "Oh, my God." "Richard, when did this start?" "Less than an hour ago." "They were perfectly fine, and then all of a sudden," " all this." " The Piper's curse." "If this continues, they won't survive the night." " Where is Beth?" " She took Sara." "She said she was gonna meet us at the hospital." "Richard, stay with your boys." "All right, son, just breathe." "It's all right." "She brings Sara to the Piper, those boys live." "But if she doesn't make the trade, they'll perish." " That's not gonna happen." " No." "Are you serious?" "I'll explain en route." "Now, in the interest of haste, may I..." "Yeah." "You drive." "I'll try to get a hold of Beth." "Come on." "Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up." "Still not picking up." "You stole the family sword." "It is no mere sword, Lieutenant." "A Fishkill Bailey cutlass would make even the lowliest servitor the envy of the entire Oxford Fencing Club." "You want a rematch?" "Honor demands it." "Oh, sorry!" "Sorry." "Sorry." "Jinba Ittai." "No!" "I don't want to go any further!" "We have to keep going." "I don't understand." "Why are we here?" "Mom!" "Tell me what's wrong!" "Beth." "Let her go." "Stop." "Whoa." "Don't come any closer." "What is your plan here?" "Take her deep into the woods, and wait for the Piper to show up?" "Try and kill him before he kills you?" "Or were you just... gonna let him take Sara?" "You don't know what it's like to feel this helpless." "We will find another way." "There is no other way!" "One way or another, that thing finds a way to take..." "When I was seven, he took my sister." "He takes one child, or the curse takes them all." "Abbie, haven't you ever prayed for something from your past to just go away?" "Refuse to believe that it's true?" "This is not who you are." "Let me help you." "My good lady, a great evil has taken control of your legacy, and for your sake and the sake of all of your children, trust us." "We can make this right." "I didn't know what to do." "Oh, my God." "Oh, Sara!" "Oh, Sara, I'm so, so sorry." "No!" "No!" "Finish it!" "No more kids privateer." "I had him." "Fired?" "Hmm." "I've never lied to you, Captain." "A lie of omission is still a lie." "You are the biblical Horseman of War." "You didn't think that was relevant?" "The signs were all there." "You chose to look the other way." "People usually do when it suits." "But if you no longer wish me to act on your behalf, I do understand." "It will mean cutting off the funding that I have secured for your wife from the Policeman's Board." "Oh, and ending the insurance payments for Macey's medical needs." "You... stay away from my family." "And I would think that your court hearing will be delayed indefinitely." "You won't be seeing them for quite a long time." "Why even do this?" "Hmm?" "What is it you want from me?" "The question is, Captain, what do you want from me?" "My only objective, since day one, has been to make things right." "For what is war but an instrument of justice?" "Let me be yours." "You are the enemy." "You serve a demon." "Your friends have rather turned you around on this subject." "Ask yourself, have they kept your family safe?" "Have they kept your child from the clutches of a demon?" "Have Abigail Mills and Ichabod Crane done anything but bring misery and suffering to your life?" "You need some time to think." "Take it." "I am but a phone call away." "Hey." "What have you done to me?" "I suggest, Captain, that you take solace in the teachings of the Bible." "You'll find Ezekiel 18:4 quite enlightening." "Here's a pen." " Ow!" " Oh, I'm so sorry." "I signed in blood and you took my soul." "Sadistic larceny." "This is typical of the Italians." "A gaudy hillock of overheated milk atop a thimble's worth of coffee." "And the cost... equal to three" "Tennessee stallions." "Well..." "Oh, my." "I can see why this might be popular." "I can't with you." "Come here." " Oh." " Yeah." "Thank you." "It does seem fitting that a creation of Moloch's would inflict such a Hobson's choice on an innocent family." "She was damned any path she chose." "Which is why what we did is a big save." "Miss Mills?" "Are you gloating?" "We saved lives, ended a curse." "We made it right." "Well, our respite is over." "Let's get back to work." "We have a war to win." "Oh, it's hot under the foam." "Crane?" "Crane?" "Nicholas Hawley?" "Only my mother and people with warrants call me that." "You have it?" "The thing is, it got a little damaged in transit." "As in broken." "Now, I know we made a deal, but this was not an easy job." "Check your account." "It's already done." "On behalf of my buyer, I thank you, Mr. Hawley." "That went well." "As requested, sir." "It's perfect."