Something Wicked This Way Comes - Mr. Halloway Flashcards
(171 cards)
1
Q
WILL. Yeah!
(More lightning. Thunder. JIM and WILL, panicked, run. Blackout. The lights come up to find MR. HALLOWAY sur-rounded by images of books as JIM and WILL run in.)
A
That you, Will? Grown an inch since break-fast. Jim? Eyes darker, cheeks paler: you burn yourself at both ends, Jim?
2
Q
JIM (ducks his head). Heck, Mr. Halloway.
A
No such place as heck. But hell’s right here. See? (Shows them a picture in a book.) Hell never looked better. Here’s souls sunk in hideous slime. There’s some-one wrongside up, inside out!
3
Q
JIM (staring). Boy howdy! What else?
A
(opens another book). Pterodactyl. Kite of De-struction! Drums of Doom: The Sage of the Thunder Liz-ards! Pep you up, Jim?
4
Q
JIM. I’m pepped!
A
Will, you need a white-hat or black-hat book?
5
Q
WILL. Hats?
A
Jim here wears a black 10-gallon Stetson, reads books to fit. Fu-Manchu now, and soon? Machiavel-li! Or Dr. Faustus—extra large black Stetson! And a white
hat for Will, right, son?
6
Q
JIM. What kinda hat would you wear, Mr. Halloway? Black or white?
A
Both! Can that be? Both! Will, tell Mom I’ll be home in an hour! Get, both of you! And take your dino-saurs and mysterious islands with! (Lightning! Thunder! JIM and WILL run off. HALLOWAY stares after them, philosophising.)
Lord, see them run. Oh, I’d love to run with them, make the pack. I know what the wind does to them, taking them to all the secret places that will never be secret again! You got to run nights like this or the sad-ness hurts. Well! Come on, old man.
7
Q
JIM. A witch born in the dust, raised in the dust, and comes back from the dust! Yah!
A
(exits, murmuring). The most beautiful woman in the world … ?
8
Q
WILL. Holy cow! Night!
(WILL spins about in flickers of light and stands in his par-lor with his parents.)
A
(reading a handbill). Hello, Will. Beat you home. (Crumples the handbill.)
9
Q
WILL. Boy, the wind really flew us home. Streets full of pa-per blowing. Crazy handbills. You see any, Dad?
A
Stone lion blew off the library steps. Prowling the town, looking for tasty Christian boys no doubt. Crazy handbills? Naw. (He stuffs the crumpled bill in his coat.)
10
Q
JIM’S MOM. Warm blood? That’s the story of all our sor-rows. And don’t ask why.
(JIM’S MOM closes the window. Crossfade to HALLO-WAY’s bedroom and WILL’s bedroom. WILL has his ear pressed to an imaginary wall, eavesdropping on HALLO-WAY, who is seated on the bed.)
A
Will makes me feel so old … a man should play baseball with his son …
11
Q
MRS. HALLOWAY. Not necessary. You’re a good man.
A
—in a bad season. Hell, I was 40 when he was
born! And you! “Who’s your daughter?” people say. Hell, my thoughts are turning to mush. (He takes the handbill from his pocket, uncrumples it and reads.) … “Most beau-tiful woman in the world … ”
12
Q
MISS FOLEY (cuts in from offstage). Something must be done! (JIM and WILL duck aside as MISS FOLEY and HALLO-WAY enter near the HALLOWAY front porch.)
A
You saw Will and Jim outside your house, saw their faces?
13
Q
MISS FOLEY. One apology’s enough. Good night. (She stops, alone to one side, in shadow.) I do wonder … where that Robert has gone? (She opens her handbag and takes out a ticket.) One free carousel ride. (Beams.) Free.
(MISS FOLEY exits into the night.)
A
Well, boys. Will, Jim. I don’t see any reason to worry your mothers at this hour. If you promise to explain this whole thing at breakfast, I’ll let you off. Can you get in without waking the ladies up?
14
Q
JIM. Heck, yes! (Points to both houses.) We nailed rungs on the side of the houses right up to our windows, hid them with ivy!
A
We? You, too, Will? How long has this gone on? No, don’t tell. I did it, too, at your age. Grand fun. Late nights, free as hell. You don’t stay out too late?
15
Q
WILL. This was the very first time after midnight.
A
Having permission would spoil everything, I suppose? It’s sneaking out to the lake, the graveyard, the rail tracks, the peach orchards late nights that counts … right?
16
Q
JIM & WILL. How did you know!?
A
Once I was a boy after hours. Don’t let the women know I told you. Up. And don’t sneak out again late nights for a month … well … a week!
17
Q
JIM. Yes, sir! (JIM scuttles up the rungs on the side of his house and vanishes.)
A
(watching JIM). You know what I hate most of all, Will? Not being able to run any more, like you.
18
Q
WILL. Yes, sir.
A
(moving off, walking with WILL). You’re lucky you turned yourself in.
19
Q
WILL. Yes, sir.
A
But, I know you. How come you’re not acting guilty? You didn’t steal anything from Miss Foley, right, or break her window?
20
Q
WILL. No, sir.
(They move to their front porch.)
A
You want to tell me all about it, Will?
21
Q
WILL. Dad, you wouldn’t believe.
A
Try me.
22
Q
WILL (blurts it out). Dad, the other night, at three in the morning—
A
(flinching). Three in the morning! (A beat.) Go on.
23
Q
WILL (stops himself). In a couple days, I’ll tell everything. I swear. Mom’s honor.
A
(smiles). Mom’s honor’s good enough for me.
(HALLOWAY and WILL look at each other for a moment.)
Must be late. (Inhales.) Air smells good.
24
Q
WILL (inhaling). Autumn leaves.
A
Smells as if the fine sands of ancient Egypt were drifting to dunes beyond the town.
25
WILL (a beat). Dad, am I a good person?
I think so. Yes.
26
WILL. Will—will that help when things get really rough?
Rough?
27
WILL. Will it save me if I need saving? If I’m around bad people and no one else good around for miles, what then?
It’ll help.
28
WILL. That’s not good enough, Dad!
Good is no guarantee for your body. It’s main-ly for peace of mind—
29
WILL (a beat). Dad, are you a good person?
No man’s a hero to himself. I’ve lived with me a lifetime.
30
WILL. And adding it all up?
I’m all right.
31
WILL. Then, Dad, why aren’t you happy?
(stands up, bothered). The front porch at … let’s see … 1:30 in the morning … is no place to philosophize …
32
WILL. I wanted to know is all. (HALLOWAY lights a cigar and examines the smoke as if his thoughts were there.)
All right. Now, since when did you think being good meant being happy?
33
WILL. Since always.
Learn otherwise! Being good is a fearful occu-pation, Will. Men strain at it and sometimes break in two. You work twice as hard to be a farmer as to be his hog. And people do love sin, Will. And how they love it! Oh, it would be grand if you could just be fine, act fine, not think of it all the time. But it’s hard. With the last piece of lemon cake waiting in the icebox, middle of the night, not yours, but you lie awake in a hot sweat for it, eh? Or, a hot spring noon, and you’re chained to your school desk and away off there’s the river, cool and fresh over the rock-fall. Boys can hear clear water like that in their sleep! So minute by min-ute, hour by hour, it never ends, you got the choice this sec-ond, now the next … Run swim, or stay hot, run eat or lie hungry. So you stay, but once stayed, Will, you know the secret? Don’t think of the river again. Or the lemon cake. Because if you do, you’ll go crazy. Add up all the rivers never swum in, cakes never eaten, and by the time your my age, Will, it’s a lot missed-out-on. Look at me: married at 39, Will, 39! But I was so busy wrestling myself two falls out of three, I figured I couldn’t marry until I had licked myself proper good and forever. Till at last I looked up from my great self-wrestling match one night when your mother came to borrow a book and got me, instead! And I saw then and there you take a man half-bad and a woman half-bad and put their two good halves together and you got one human all good to share between. That’s you, Will, for my money. I early-on saw you were wiser, sooner and better, than I will ever be …
34
WILL (quietly but firmly). No, sir.
Yes! My one wisdom is: you’re wise.
35
WILL. Funny, you’ve told me more, tonight, than I’ve told you. Maybe I’ll tell you everything at breakfast, OK? (Gets up.)
I’ll be ready if you are.
36
WILL (moves to stand by his father). Because … I want you to be happy, Dad. (Touches his father’s elbow.) Anything I could do to make you happy, I would.
Willy, William. Just tell me I’ll live forever. That would do nicely.
37
WILL. Pa, don’t sound so sad.
Me? I’m the original sad man. I read a book and it makes me sad. See a film: sad. Plays? They really
work me over.
38
WILL. Is there anything doesn’t make you sad?
One thing. Death. Death makes everything else sad. But death itself only scares. If there wasn’t death, all the other things wouldn’t get tainted.
39
WILL (almost frantic). Don’t talk death! Someone, something might hear! Dad, listen! You’ll live forever! Sure, you were sick a few years ago—but that’s over. Sure, you’re 54, but that’s young!
Sh! Your mother! (WILL covers his mouth with his hands. HALLOWAY steps to the porch trellis and nods at the rungs.)
The way you came out, the way you go in.
40
WILL (looks up). Dad you won’t pull these rungs off now, will you?
Someday, when you’re tired of them, you’ll pull them off yourself.
41
WILL. I’ll never be tired of them.
(nods). Is that how it seems? All right, son, up you go.
42
WILL. I hate to leave you. You want to come up this way, too?
(too quickly). No, no.
43
WILL. Because you’re welcome.
That’s all right, go on.
44
WILL. Dad—
Willy?
45
WILL (a beat, swallows). Don’t go near the carnival.
HALLOWAY. Strange …
(The calliope music stops. HALLOWAY looks toward the
carnival in the meadow.)
Just what I was going to tell you. (He looks at the hidden trellis rungs and tests them.) You want company?
46
WILL. Dad, you ain’t got the stuff!
(stung). Oh, no?! (He grabs hold and climbs.)
Here I come, ready or not! Gah!
47
WILL. Hold on! There! (HALLOWAY gains a foothold and exhales. WILL still has his hand, which turns into a handshake.)
Why, Willy, William, you just saved your old dad!
48
WILL. No, sir! You saved yourself!
If you say so! (Gazes up at his son.) Oh, Will, you’re the cat’s pajamas!
49
WILL. You coming up!?
(HALLOWAY looks down and then off at the countryside where the calliope music stirs on the wind.)
I think that’s the safest bet!
50
WILL. Because!
(HALLOWAY stops above the boys, sensing them. He un-wraps a cigar, dropping the paper. He leans down to pick it up and sees the boys.)
Jim! Will! What the hell’s going on?
51
JIM. Mr. Halloway—
Get up out of there!
52
WILL. Dad, we can’t! Don’t look down at us!
Boys, the police think you’ve run away, guilty! They—
53
JIM (cuts in). Mr. Halloway, we’re dead if you don’t look up! The Illustrated Man, if he—
(still leaning down). The what?
54
DARK. Sir.
(stares at the clock). 11:15. (Checks his watch.) One minute slow.
55
DARK. Sir, the Cooger-Dark combined shows have picked two local boys, two! To be our special guests during our celebratory visit!
(shakes his watch). Damn cheap watch!
56
DARK (controlling his temper). These boys will ride all rides, see each show, shake hands with every performer, go home with magic kits, baseball bats—
(still not looking at DARK). Who are these so called lucky boys?
57
WILL (whispering). Careful, Dad!
I don’t—
58
DARK. Their names, if you please. (In his eagerness, DARK’s hands twitch. HALLOWAY looks at him, curiously, and studies the tattoos.) Sir, you wouldn’t want them to lose out—
No, but—those are truly bad tattoos.
59
DARK. Bad? Bad!?
Well, I thought—
60
DARK. Bad? Bad!?
Well, I thought—
61
DARK. Thought what?
One of them looks like—
62
DARK. Thought what?
One of them looks like—
63
DARK. Like who?
Mister, why are you so jumpy about two ordi-nary kids?
64
DARK (gritting his teeth). Sir, does my enthusiasm seem jumpy?
Well, lemme see. Sure. One of those tattoos looks like—(Long pause.) Milton Blumquist. (DARK clenches one fist, and JIM writhes in agony.)
And the other, the other looks like—(Long
pause.) Avery Johnson.
65
DARK (coldly). You lie.
What? And spoil the prizewinner’s fun?
66
DARK. Fact is, we found the names of the boys 10 minutes
ago. Just wanted to double check.
And?
67
DARK (slowly). Jim. (A beat.) Will. (JIM and WILL exchange looks. Above, DARK clenches his fists again and drops of blood fall from his fists, down on the boys faces. HALLOWAY ignores this.)
Jim? Will? Lots of Jims and Wills, couple hun-dred, town like this … what about their last names? (DARK stiffens, trapped.)
Well, well. Now, I think you’re lying. Why should you, a carnival stranger, lie to me here on a street in some town on the backside of nowhere? (DARK clenches his fists harder. Drops of blood ooze from each fist. The boys are in agony as the blood falls down through the grille and onto their hands.)
(casually). Sorry I can’t be more help.
68
DUST WITCH (sensing the presence of the boys, feeling the air). Ah! Ah … wait! (The boys cower down, eyes shut. The DUST WITCH in-hales the wind, touches the breeze with her itching fingers, begins to lean toward the grate, under which lie the terri-fied boys.) Close … very close … now.
(shouts). Now, this is a fine cigar! (Strikes match.)
69
DUST WITCH (rattled). Now … I … er …
(shouts). Hold on while I light up! (Lights it and puffs.) Ah!
70
DARK. Silence … I
Boy howdy! Smell that! Ever smoke yourself? (The boys, still below, open their eyes, surprised. HALLO-WAY thrusts the cigar at the DUST WITCH’s face.)
Ain’t that rare?! Fine!? Superb!
71
DARK (raising his cane). Fool! Damn fool!
(The boys flinch as more blood strikes them.)
Sir, let me give you one! Free-gratis! Hey, wait! No offense. (DARK and the DUST WITCH are pulling back.)
Have a fine day!
72
DARK. Your name, fool!
Sir will do nicely.
73
WILL. No!
Halloway. Work in the library. Come see me! Drop by!
74
DARK. Yes, Mr. Halloway, we will! (HALLOWAY blows smoke toward the DUST WITCH, who cringes and flees as DARK backs off. HALLOWAY whispers
to the boys without looking down at them.)
Oh, boys, something is going on. We need time. Stay hid until dark, come to the library at seven. Meantime, I’ll check police records on carnivals, newspa-per files at the library, books, old folios, anything that fits. God willing, after dark, I’ll have a plan. Walk easy until then. Luck, Will. Luck, Jim. God bless.
75
WILL. Oh gosh! Why didn’t I see it before, Jim? My Dad’s … tall!
(At which a pummel of freaks runs over the sidewalk in thunders. Blackout. Slow rise of lights on the library. Night. Many shadows. Green lamp shade pools of light as the town clock sounds. HALLOWAY is seated at a table, leafing book pages. He
lifts his head and listens.)
The town clock! Seven. (Moves the books on the table.) I feel like someone learning to tell a new time. But there are no hands on this clock. I can’t tell what hour of the night of life it is for myself, the boys, or our unknowing town. There is only one thing sure. Shakespeare said it: “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
76
WILL. Dad!
Sh! Quiet! Come close. Our friends should be occupied a while. Looks like we’re going to have to talk a lot about that carnival. Where’s it come from, where’s it going, what’s it up to? We thought it never hit town before,
yet, by God, look! (Opens newspapers and points.) Green Town Meadows! October 12, 1888: “J.C. Cooger and G.M. Dark present the Pandemonium Theatre Company Com-bined Side Shows and Unnatural Museums!”
77
JIM. But—it couldn’t be the same guys … same side shows!
No? 1860. 1846. Same ad. Dark and Cooger. Cooger and Dark, came and went, but only once every 30, 40 years, so people forgot … And always in October: October 1846, October 1860, October 1910, and October now, tonight.
78
JIM. Why not? Riding that carousel, they could shave off a year or two, any time they want, right?
Is that what they do? No!
79
WILL. Live forever! And hurt people. But why, why all the hurt?
(walks around the table and peers out the win-dow at the far meadows). You need fuel, gas, something to run a carnival on, yes? The carnival gorges on fear and pain—that’s the vapor that spins the carousel. It smells boys ulcerating to be men twenty-thousand miles away. It feels the aggravation of middle-aged men like me. Need, want, desire, we burn those in our hearts, oxidize those in our souls. The carnival inhales that gas, ignites it and chugs
on its way. It makes you promises, you stick your neck out and—wham! Take the carousel—changing size doesn’t change the brain. If I made you 25 tomorrow, Jim, all your friends would still be boys. You’d be cut off from them forever because you couldn’t tell them what you’d done. You’d be separated from everyone you love. And the un-connected fools is the harvest the carnival comes smiling after with its threshing machine.
80
JIM. Can they … do they … buy souls?
Why buy when they get them free? But that Dark fellow and his friends don’t hold all the cards. Today
I was afraid of him, but I saw he was afraid of me. There’s fear on both sides. Now how can we use it to our advantage?
81
WILL. How?
(HALLOWAY paces, looking around at the books [projec-tions] in the library.)
Well. Let’s bone up on history. If men had wanted to stay bad forever, they could have, agreed? Agreed. Did we stay out in the fields with the beasts? No. Somewhere we turned in our carnivore’s teeth and start-ed chewing grass. Now we measure ourselves up the scale from the apes, but not half so high as angels. But all these years we’ve been trying to figure how it all started, when we decided to be different. I suppose one time, thousands of years ago, in a cave by night fire, one of those shaggy men wakened to gaze over the coals at his woman, his chil-dren, and thought of their being cold, dead, gone forever. He must have wept. And he put out his hand in the night to the woman who must die some day and to the children who must follow her. And for a little bit next morning, he treat-ed them somewhat better, for he saw that they, like himself, had the seed of night in them. He felt that seed like dust in his pulse. So that man, the first one, knew what we know now: our hour is short, eternity is long. So in sum what are
we? We are the creatures that know too much. That leaves us with such a burden: we must choose to laugh or cry. No animal does either. We do both, depending on the weather and our need. So the carnival watches, to see which way we jump, high noon or midnight, and moves, grabs us, when it feels we’re ripe.
82
WILL. Dad, I never knew you could talk!
You should hear me here late nights, talking to myself! (He puffs his cigar.)
83
WILL. Is … is it … Death?
The carnival? No. But it uses death as a threat. Death doesn’t exist. Never did, never will. All it is is a stopped watch, a loss, an end, a darkness. Nothing. And the carnival wisely knows we’re more afraid of nothing than we are of something. You can fight something. But... nothing? Where do you strike it?
84
WILL. Miss Foley …
What?
85
WILL. Miss Foley. Poor Miss Foley! They rode her back on the carousel! Oh, Dad, she’s a little girl, crying. They grabbed her. I wonder where she is!
(HALLOWAY opens books and newspapers, points and stares.)
Probably thrown her to the freaks. And what’re
they? Sinners who’ve traveled so long, hoping for deliver-ance, they’ve taken on the shape of their original sins? The
fortune-telling Dust Witch? What was she once? The fat man. The dwarf? The Siamese twins, good God, what!? We’ve guessed and maybe guessed wrong, on ten dozen things the last five minutes. Now what? Do we keep hid-ing? No, with Miss Foley and the whole town in danger, we can’t. How do we attack? With what weapons?
86
JIM. Movie stuff! It don’t happen that way in real life. Am I wrong, Mr. Halloway?
I wish you were, boy.
87
WILL. Look who’s talking!
(A gust of wind shakes the library. They freeze.)
Hold on!
88
WILL. Someone’s inside.
Hide!
89
WILL. We can’t leave you!
For God’s sake! Jump!
90
DARK. Where are the boys?
(DARK moves into the light, notices the open books.HAL-LOWAY closes them nonchalantly.)
Boys?
91
DARK. What a shame, they’ll miss those free rides.
(quietly). Hell, if they knew you were here with free tickets, they’d shout for joy.
92
DARK. Yes? (Softly.) I could kill you.
(HALLOWAY nods, opens more old papers with assumed nonchalance.)
Did you hear me?
Yes, but you won’t kill. You’re too smart. You’ve kept your show running a long time, being smart.
93
DARK. You read a few papers and think you know all about us?
(looking up from the books). Enough to be scared.
94
DARK. Be more scared. One of my friends outside can fix it so it seems you died of most natural failure of the heart.
(whispering to himself). The woman from the dust.
95
DARK (nodding). That one. (HALLOWAY raises one of the books almost as a threat.)
Well, what’s that? A Bible? How charmingly old fashioned.
Ever read it, sir?
96
DARK (grabs the Bible). Gah! Every page, paragraph, and read at me, sir! ......... You came to prowl this very day. How old are you? Fifty-one? Two? Like to be younger?
No!
97
DARK. Politely, please. Oh, it’s nice to be young. Wouldn’t 40 be nice, again? Thirty?
(shutting his eyes). I won’t listen!
98
JIM. Mr. Halloway! (HALLOWAY strikes out at DARK, who seizes HALLOWAY’s left fist and squeezes it, hard. We hear the bones break.)
Damn you!
99
DUST WITCH. Old man, old man, old man, 54! (HALLOWAY opens his eyes, holding up his injured hand to assess the pain. As she continues naming his age, he stares at her, blinking with pain.)
Fifty-four’s not old!!
100
DUST WITCH. Old man, hear you breathing. (She continues to weave her hands, making webs on the air.) Old man, feel your hurt!
(stares around to escape). Damn you! Get it over!
101
DUST WITCH. Yessss! Stop the heart.
(weakening). Heart?
102
DUST WITCH. Slow.
(fading). Slow …
103
DUST WITCH. Slow, very slow … much more slow, slow.
(giving in). Tired, you hear that, heart?
104
DUST WITCH. Slow, very slow … much more slow, slow.
(giving in). Tired, you hear that, heart?
105
DUST WITCH. Stop all, all cease!
Why not?
106
DUST WITCH. Stop all, all cease!
Why not?
107
DUST WITCH. Slower … slowest. (HALLOWAY, who has had his eyes clenched tight shut, opens them for one last look around. He sees the DUST WITCH in her incantation pose. He smiles, then gently snorts.)
Slow! Slow!
(starts to laugh). Why? Why do I … laugh now!? Now!
108
DUST WITCH (reacting, perturbed). Slow? Slowest? (HALLOWAY starts to laugh out loud, at which the DUST
WITCH grows more frantic, desperate and, at last, panics.)
You! Funny! You!
109
DUST WITCH (gesticulating). No!
(holding his ribs). Stop tickling! No more tick-ling. Ohmigod. No!
110
DUST WITCH (looks at her fingers, which are NOT tickling, stunned). Not! Not! Sleep! Slow! Very slow!
No, tickling is all it is! Oh, ha! Ha, stop!
111
DUST WITCH (becomes agitated, frightened). Yes, stop! Stop blood! Stop heart!
Oh, my God, get off my ribs, oh, ha, go on, my heart!
112
DUST WITCH. Your heart, yessss!
God! Toys! The key sticks out your back! Who wound you up!? (HALLOWAY gives the largest roar of laughter yet, flings it at the DUST WITCH. She hurls herself back, cries out and bolts for the exit.)
Oh God, God, please stop, stop yourself!
(The door slams. HALLOWAY finally regains control.)
She’s gone. Why? What did I do? (He snorts more laughter, fading.) What’s happened? Christ. Let’s move! First, the drug store, a half-dozen aspirin to cure this hand for an hour, then, think. In the last five min-utes you did win something, yes? What’s victory taste like? Think! Remember!
113
DARK (recoiling). Where?
(pushes through the crowd). Here! (DARK peers down and spots HALLOWAY. The crowd
clamors.) Coming!
114
MAN (in the crowd). Go get ’em, Pop!
(arriving). I will. (The DUST WITCH sees who it is, and she trembles. DARK reaches out to help HALLOWAY up.) Thanks, no.
115
DARK. But—your left hand, sir, you can’t fire a rifle if you have only the use of one hand!
I’ll do it one-handed!
116
DARK (nervous but smiling). All right! Let’s see if he can do it!
(DARK savagely throws the rifle to HALLOWAY. The crowd makes disapproving noises, but HALLOWAY catches and lifts the rifle. Applause! By this time, the DUST WITCH has writhed herself near the target as HALLOWAY tosses the rifle back.)
Boy! (DARK flinches.)
I need a boy volunteer to help me hold the rifle! Someone! Anyone! Boy! Wait! My son’s out there. He’ll volunteer, won’t you, Will?
(DARK spins to stare at HALLOWAY! The DUST WITCH raises a hand to feel, to sense, to “touch” his arrogance!) ( shouting now).Will! Come on, boy! Will!
(The crowd begins to turn, looking for WILL.)
Will, come help your old man!
117
DARK (smiling). No answer.
Will! Willy! Come here!
118
BOY (in the crowd). Come on, William!
CROWD & HALLOWAY. Will! Willy! William! (Etc.)
119
CROWD & HALLOWAY. Will! Willy! William! (Etc.)
(WILL steps forward out of the shadows, partially hypnotized.)
(in relief and astonishment). Will! You be my good left hand! Oh, Willy—William! (DARK has remained frozen. Now HALLOWAY turns and smiles at DARK and then at the DUST WITCH. She recoils as if struck.) (like a barker) In closer, everyone! Watch the bull’s-eye targeteer! The bullet, please!
(DARK stands transfixed.) If you please, the bullet? So I may sharpshoot a flea off the old Gypsy’s wart!
120
DARK. Mark it with your initials!
No, with more!
121
DARK. A crescent moon? (Inserts the bullet into the rifle.)
You might say so! Ready, Will? (WILL makes the faintest of nods. DARK hurls the rifle, and HALLOWAY catches it in one hand.)
Thanks! Now! Let’s make sure our bullet is still in there, eh?
(DARK glares at HALLOWAY.)
I’m sure Mr. Dark would never switch
bullets on us, eh?!
(The crowd laughs. HALLOWAY opens the chamber of the rifle, removes the bullet. It has been switched for a grey wax bullet, but HALLOWAY doesn’t exactly admit this.)
Same one, I think. Though this looks more like wax that will melt when I fire the rifle. Let’s cut our mark more clearly, eh, Will? There.
122
DUST WITCH (trembles and gasps). I—I—I—?
Ready!
(Crowd reacts in anticipation as HALLOWAY places the ri-fle on WILL’s shoulder.) Will, your shoulder here is my brace. Steady, Will. That’s it, son. When I say, “Hold,” hold your breath. Hear?
(Slight nod from WILL, slight blink.) Ladies! Gentlemen!
(DARK clenches one fist, WILL twists in pained reaction.) Will and I here will now, together, accomplish the one and only most dangerous, sometimes fatal, Bullet Trick!
(The crowd laughs. HALLOWAY shifts the rifle on WILL’s
shoulder.)
Hear that, Will? That’s for us!
(DARK squeezes his hand again, but this time, there is no reaction from WILL.)
We’ll hit her bull’s eye on, right, son? Show the lady your teeth, Will!
123
MAN (in the crowd). Boy, she’s great. Acts scared! Look!
Open your eyes, lady witch. Good. By the way, Mr. Dark, that’s not a crescent moon I carved on the bullet. (Turns to the DUST WITCH.) It is my smile. I have put my smile on the bullet in this rifle. (Before DARK can react.) Hold, Will. Ready! Aim! Fire!
124
DARK (leaps up to shout). All an act! Part of the show. Ev-eryone home! Show’s over. Lights! Lights! (The crowd starts to disperse as the lights of the carnival start to flicker out. Throughout the early part of the fol-lowing scene, we can sporadically hear DARK yelling, “Lights! Go home! All over! Done!” HALLOWAY slaps WILL awake!)
Jump, Will! Now! This way! Where’s Jim!? (HALLOWAY and WILL run in a great circle to the Mirror Maze.)
The Mirror Maze! Is Jim there?
125
WILL. He’s got to be!
Jim! We’re coming for you! Hold on!
126
WILL (pulling back). No, Dad! Wait! You can’t go in there!
Yes, but Jim’s there. Why … ?
127
WILL (pulling back). No, Dad! Wait! You can’t go in there!
Yes, but Jim’s there. Why … ?
128
WILL. Dad, wait!
(panicked). Will!
129
WILL. Don’t look!
That’s me! Old. Older. My God, the walking dead!
130
WILL. Dad, don’t be afraid. It’s just you. All of them my father!
No. No. Old!
131
WILL. Dad, don’t look. It’s only glass. Listen, Dad. I love you! .......... Dad, damnit, oh, damn! You ain’t got the stuff!
(That does it. With a quick look at WILL, HALLOWAY spins to let out a great shout.)
No?! Watch this! Ha! (His great roar of hilarity bangs the carnival folk as mir-
ror-metaphors. There is an explosion of glass. The mirrors fall. Blackout. We hear a ton of shards fall in the dark. Lights up. HALLOWAY, stunned, turns to WILL.)
How you like them apples?
132
WILL (hugs him). Oh, Dad, oh, Pa!
(peers into darkness). Now, where the hell is that bastard Jim?
133
WILL. The carousel! He’s there! Free rides. To make himself older!
Now, why didn’t I think of that?!
134
WILL. Gosh, if he gets too old, he’ll forget. Maybe kill me!
(pauses). He wouldn’t do that!
135
WILL (looks at his father). No?
(The calliope blares. Riven, they leap.) Damn!
Don’t swear!
136
WILL. You called Jim a bastard!
Just because he is! (They catch up with running shadows, the electric chair, COOGER, carried by carnival folk!)
Hold ’er, newt! What’s that?
137
WILL. The electric chair. And Mr.Cooger!
Looks dead!
138
WILL. He is now, yeah! But if they load him on the carousel and run him backwards, he’ll be 10 years old, all bloody murder!
You believe that?
139
WILL. No. Yes! It’s true! Oh, Dad, we got to save Jim and stop Mr. Cooger, dead or alive, from riding that carousel!
Is that all? (They arrive at the carousel. The carnival folk’s shad-ows pantomime, circle the night. The electric chair with COOGER arrives on one side of the carousel as DARK ap-
pears opposite!)
Wait! My God!
(At his shout, the carnival folk carrying the chair freeze.) (points). Look!
140
WILL. There’s the bastard now.
Bastard? Your pal! Jim!
141
WILL Jim! Get off! ........ (stifling a sob). He can’t be! He’s not—?
Don’t say it!
142
WILL. He’s d—
Shut up! He’s not anything till I say so.
143
WILL. Oh, Jim—
Shut up! You! (He points at COOGER, col-lapsed in his chair, upheld by shadows.) You won’t go any-where! (Points at DARK.) You. Yes, you!
144
DARK (smiles quietly). Do you give orders?
I do. Heel!
145
DARK. Am I a dog, then?
You’re damn tootin’. A werewolf, maybe. Heel!
146
DARK. Yes?
We got a problem here, needs fixing.
147
DARK. And … ?
You’re the solution.
148
DARK. Yes?
HALLOWAY (points). We got your pal Mr. Cooger there, mostly dead. And we got Jim here lying still. Got to stop one cold. (Points to COOGER.) Got to jump-start the other. (Points to JIM.) So …(HALLOWAY reaches out. DARK backs off. HALLOWAY reaches further. DARK flinches. HALLOWAY seizes the suit-ing on DARK’s elbow and holds on.)
OK, Will. You got to help. Sing.
149
WILL. Sing?!
Are you or are you not the boy-soprano in the First Baptist Choir?
150
WILL. Holy-magoly! Sing what?
What ever! Happy! Laughs! He hates happy. “Oh, Suzanna,” “Dixie!” My God! “Camptown Races” …
151
WILL (half-sings). “ … races hear this song … ”
Song! Yeah! Races! Song! C’mere! (DARK flinches because HALLOWAY smiles! HALLOWAY grabs him.)
Got to make a trade! Your life for Jim’s.
152
DARK (writhes). No!
Will! What? What!?
153
WILL (picking up the rhythm). “Doo-dah?”
Doo-dah, yes! (Beams.) Lookit my teeth!
154
DARK. No! Off!
No. Closer! Will?
155
WILL. “Six miles long. Oh the doo-dah … ”
“Day!” You can’t stand this, yes? Yes! Going to hold you, hug you, never let go, poison you with words …
156
WILL (looking down at JIM, who stirs. Louder). “Gonna run all night … gonna run all day!”
Listen!
157
WILL. “Somebody bet on the gray!”
Mr. Dark? I love you!
158
DARK. Gahhhh!
Love you. You hear?!
159
WILL (very loud). “Oh, Susanna! Don’t you cry for me!”
Love you. Love you! (HALLOWAY clutches DARK, who cries in despair, spun about in HALLOWAY’s embrace. When they spin back out of the shadows, DARK is just a flimsy skeleton, collapsed in HALLOWAY’s arms.) … love you.
160
JIM. I wasn’t going nowhere.
But Mr. Dark is. So long! Farewell! (HALLOWAY lets the flimsy scarecrow suit drop. As it strikes the earth, there is a vast moan from the calliope, and
a cry from the carnival folk who rush out.)
Yes. Get! Go. Nothing to keep you now. Free. Run! Free!
161
WILL. Dad, you did it!
We did it.
162
WILL. Dad, you did it!
We did it.
163
WILL. Will they ever come back?
No. Yes. No. Not them. But things like them. Other shapes, other sizes, different voices, stranger col-ors, but some sunrise, sunset, or high noon, they’ll show. They’re on the road.
164
WILL & JIM. Right now!?
(relenting). Well, not right this minute. But … (They hear the town clock striking.)
Midnight. What’ll we tell your moth-ers when we get home?
165
WILL. Lost and found! Yah!
Show me your faces. Lemme see. Did that half-ride on the carousel—
166
JIM & WILL (eagerly). Make us a year older!?
Can’t see in this light.
167
JIM & WILL. … Aw …
Half a year, mebbe.
168
JIM & WILL (pleased). Hey!
Last one to the red and white striped barber shop pole is a grizzly skunk!
169
JIM & WILL (pleased). Hey!
Last one to the red and white striped barber shop pole is a grizzly skunk!
170
WILL. Dad! You ain’t got the stuff!
(discovers he has been standing still and bolts). No??!!
(HALLOWAY pursues JIM and WILL. They circle around and into town where the dark barber pole awaits them. They arrive in tandem. All three reach out. All three touch the unlit pole at once.)
Tie?
171
WILL. Dad! You ain’t got the stuff!
(discovers he has been standing still and bolts). No??!!
(HALLOWAY pursues JIM and WILL. They circle around and into town where the dark barber pole awaits them. They arrive in tandem. All three reach out. All three touch the unlit pole at once.)
Tie?
