Episode 486.d Bubble Guppies: The Witch in Black! (Part 4)

Plot
In Bubbletucky, lawyer Gil Gordon still grieves the death of his beloved wife Molly on the delivery of their son Nonny four years ago. His employer gives him a last chance to keep his job, and he is assigned to travel to the remote village of Cryphin Gifford to examine the documentation of the Eel Marsh House that belonged to the recently deceased Mrs. Drablow. Gil befriends Mr. Langoustine on the train and the man offers a ride to him to the Gifford Arms inn. Gil has a cold reception and the owner of the inn tells that he did not receive the request of reservation and there is no available room. The next morning, Gil meets solicitor Mr. Grouper who advises him to return to London. However, Gil goes to the isolated manor and soon he finds that Eel Marsh House is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a woman dressed in black. He also learns that the woman lost her son drowned in the marsh and she seeks revenge, taking the children of the scared locals.

Cast (Characters from the real movie)

 * Gil as (Arthur Kipps)
 * Mr. Langoustine as (Mr. Daily)
 * Daisy as (Mrs. Daily)
 * Molly as (Stella Kipps)
 * The Witch as (Jennet Humfrye)
 * Frank the Tow Truck Lobster as (Mr. Bentley)
 * Mr. Gentilella as (Mr. Fisher)
 * Sandy as (Nanny)
 * Mrs. Shaskan as (Mrs. Fisher)
 * Archaeologist as (PC Collins)
 * Mr. Imani as (Gerald Hardy)
 * Mrs. Wahler as (Mrs. Hardy)
 * Mr. Grouper as (Mr. Jerome)
 * Mrs. Grouper as (Mrs. Jerome)
 * Oona, Ashlie, and Jimberly as (The Fisher's Daughters)
 * Goby as (Nicholas Daily)
 * Sir Mulligan as (Keckwick)
 * Tobias as (Nicholas's friend)
 * Deema as (Victoria Hardy)
 * Jonesy as (Tom Hardy)
 * Joshua as (Charlie Hardy)
 * Olivia as (Lucy Jerome)
 * Avi as (Nathaniel Humfrye)
 * Snail as (Alice Drablow)
 * Crabs, Lobsters, and Snails as (Other characters)

Information

 * Genres: Drama, Horror, Thriller
 * Rating: PG for a bit of violence, a little cursing, and for many scary scenes
 * Type of film: Horror

Trivia

 * This is based on the 2012 movie "The Woman in Black." You can read about it on Wikipedia or IMDb.
 * This story has some fanon characters and some main characters.

Story
Start of Part 4.

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Standing beside the wall clock, Gil checks the time on his pocket watch. He lingers a moment to look at Molly’s portrait, as if drawing strength from it, then snaps the watch shut and resets the hands on the clock. He winds it up. It begins loudly to tick. The house is coming back to life. Like a man going into battle, Gil picks up the canister of lamp oil and fills the first of the wall-mounted lamps.)

(Scene: Entrance Lobby)

(Gil fills another oil lamp and tests it. It comes on.)

(Scene: Kitchen)

(Gil fumbles inside the cooking range. It fires up with a loud whoof that startles Bubble Puppy.)

Gil: It’s alright, old boy. It’s just the range. We’ll be nice and toasty soon.

(Scene: Staircase)

(Gil marches purposefully upwards, carrying a jug of water and a handful of candles. Close to the top, he turns to see that Bubble Puppy is still waiting at the foot of the stair. He pats his thigh and reluctantly, he follows.)

(Scene: Bathroom)

(Gil places the jug of water on the wash stand and a candle in the candlestick beside it.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(Gil pulls the burnt-down candle-ends from a wall sconce and replaces them with fresh candles. That done, his eye is drawn to the locked door again. He moves to it, tries it one more time. It’s still locked. Bubble Puppy watches, head cocked, as Gil produces a bunch of keys and tries every one. None work. Fighting to keep his resolute mood, he pockets them and makes off down the hall.)

(Scene: Bedroom)

(Gil stands in the doorway to the darkened bedroom. He hesitates, then strides in, though Bubble Puppy remains outside. He pauses at the window, then grasps the drawn curtains and yanks them open... Relief as he sees: the branches of the tree by the cottage are bare. He looks over to the fireplace and sees that the baby birds in the nest are now dead. Flies buzz around them. Gil’s face falls, saddened by the this sight. But he rallies himself and gathers the papers from the bureau.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(The key is still in the lock on the hallway side of the bedroom door, as when he first visited. Papers stuffed under his arm, Gil locks the door from the outside.)

(Scene: Storehouse)

(Gil emerges from the storehouse carrying an armful of logs and an aze. Bubble Puppy follows behind. Moments later Gil is chopping the wood with considerable aggression, releasing some of his pent up nerves.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(A fire blazes in the grate. Gil sits at the writing desk, Bubble Puppy at his feet, the previously-scattered papers now in some semblance of order, in tall piles. Gil studies the first document from the pile. Then he screws it into a ball and tosses it in the wastebasket. The clock ticks. Gil studies a pair of documents. His look suggests that finally he has found something useful. He places the documents directly into his suitcase. The fire has burned low. Gil throws on another log. Gil reads a letter. The pile on the desk is lower too. Another balled-up document lands in the wastebasket. The clock hand clicks to the four o’clock mark. It chimes four times, a nasty, hollow chime. Gil takes a sandwich and a bottle of beer from the lunch sack. He opens the beer and takes a swig. As he eats, Gil continues to go through the papers. Opening a large envelope, he finds two certificates. Looking closer, we see that they are death certificates. The first belongs to Avi. Gil puts down the sandwich, his appetite lost. He places the first certificate in the bag and examines the second. It belongs to Hypletta Wahler. The clock ticks. Gil reads, files and disposes of more documents. The fire in the grate gutters and goes out. The hands of the clock click into place. Ten to six. At the now almost-clear desk, a weary Gil looks up at the clock, then back down to the remaining stack of papers.)

Gil: Shall we take a breather?

(The dog regards him quizzically.)

(Scene: Graveyard)

(Gil wanders the silent graveyard with Bubble Puppy. He looks up anxiously at the tree. Still nothing untoward. He scans the names on the headstones. Most have been worn away by time and the salty air, but soon he finds a newer one, marked Hypletta Wahler. He looks around anxiously. He is still quite alone, but he notices now a statue behind him, close by: a disquieting stone angel with a worn-away face. He bends to read the inscription. It reads: In loving memory of Avi. The rest reads: “Beloved son of the Snail and Marty Snailer. August 2nd 1863 - December 29th 1871.” Ahead, a stone path, overgrown with weeds, leads toward the ruined cottage. The roof is virtually gone, interior exposed to the elements. Gil wanders towards it...)

(Scene: Gate Keeper's Cottage)

(Try as he might to ignore it, Gil's attention is grimly drawn by the tree. He ambles towards the back of the building, where it stands. Behind the cottage, he stops in his tracks. On the crumbling back wall is a crudely daubed message, the paint worn away by the years, but still just legible: “YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!” Gil stares, chilled to the marrow. Bubble Puppy begins to bark.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh Graveyard)

(Gil walks back around the cottage, and soon sees Bubble Puppy,facing the causeway, barking furiously. As Gil nears the marshes, we hear the same distinct sound of children’s voices that he heard earlier. But this time when he looks out toward the mainland Gil sees, some distance away in the fading twilight, a group of children standing motionless on the causeway, silhouetted against the sky. He begins to sprint toward the end of the drive.)

Gil: Hey!

(Scene: Grounds)

(Where the drive meets the causeway, Gil stops. He’s still not close enough to make out detail, but the group of small figures stay in plain view. Unsettling. Incongruous.)

Gil: It's not safe! You shouldn't...

(The sound of their voices continues. But Gil notes with discomfort that the figures stay still, do not react. Their lack of movement, the absence of sound now... as Gil squints into the distance, we see him beginning to doubt his own mind. Suddenly, as if sensing - as before - that someone else is nearby, watching him, Gil turns uneasily to look back toward the cottage. No one is there. And looking out again to the causeway, the children - if indeed they were ever there - are gone too. Shaking his head defiantly, Gil turns away and starts back toward the house.)

Gil: Come, Bubble Puppy. Come.

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(The sun is low in the sky. Gil and Bubble Puppy walk towards the house, their long shadows playing across the drive.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Gil is hard at work, going through the remaining stack of papers. The fire burns in the grate, the windows are shuttered and the room is lit by the oil lamps. And yet somehow, there is nothing cosy about this room. The silence is suddenly broken when Bubble Puppy leaps up and barks at one of the shuttered windows. Gil approaches the window and slides the lock into place, closing the shutter even more tightly. But as he walks back towards the desk, he too can hear the sound that has disturbed Bubble Puppy: hooves and wheels. Trying to maintain composure, he crouches down and comforts the dog - and himself.)

Gil: It's alright.

(The dog trembles and Gil grits his teeth as they hear the awful accident play out again. The crashing. The churning. The screaming. Then there is silence once more. Gil pats Bubble Puppy, stands shakily and returns to the desk.)

Gil: You see? It’s over now.

(Defiantly, he takes a document from the top of the pile, but before he can glance at it, he realises another noise is still present: an intermittent bumping, rumbling sound. Bubble Puppy runs to the drawing-room door and stands there, hair on end, growling. Afraid now, but trying to suppress his fear, Gil rises and gingerly opens the door, realising immediately, and to his great dismay, that the sound is coming from upstairs.)

(Scene: Staircase)

(Gil mounts the stairs. The upstairs hallway is in near darkness, illuminated only by the dim light from the oil lamps in the downstairs entrance lobby. Again, Bubble Puppy remains at the foot of the staircase. Gil looks back, pats his thigh. But Bubble Puppy doesn’t move. Gil continues up the stairs alone.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(In the upstairs corridor, the sound is much louder. It is patently coming from behind the locked door. Gil strikes a match and lights the candles in the wall sconce. Their weak light makes precious little difference. The noise continues as Gil approaches the locked room. Standing outside the door now, the rhythmic, bumping sound from within is ridiculously loud, absurdly clear. A breath, and then Gil’s hand shoots out and grabs for the handle. The door is still locked fast... But, as if in response to his rattling of the handle, the sound stops.)

(Scene: Bathroom)

(Gil enters. It’s pitch black, the view from the window brighter than the room within - the tide out, the causeway and mirror-like surface of the marshes lit by the moon. Gil strikes a match and lights the candle on the washstand, the view obscured now, the window glass reflecting the interior of the bathroom instead. Pouring some of the water from the jug into the basin, Gil splashes his face.)

Gil: Come on, Gil.

(Wiping his brow dry with his sleeve, he peers at his reflection in the window behind the washstand. Then something outside catches his attention. Gil presses his face closer to the window.)

(Scene: The Marshes)

(We see the distant view of the marshes. Far away, in the previously smooth surface beneath the wooden cross, there now seems to be a tiny, irregular bump. Intercutting, we see Gil react in horror... There is definitely a bump now. And it seems to be growing, rising out of the marshes. Despite the distance, it soon becomes apparent that it is,unmistakably, a small fish figure, covered in mud. Now fully risen, it stands motionless under the moonlight for a few moments before beginning to lumber awkwardly towards the house.)

(Scene: Bathroom)

(Gil involuntarily takes a step back from the window, away from the approaching figure, but just then, the sound from the locked room begins again, shocking him. Gil spins around to look behind him. He’s still alone. Looking again through the window, the figure has vanished.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(Gil makes his way down the hall, towards the noise. He kicks at the door. It won’t open. The noise continues.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(Gil exits the house into the pitch black night, a lantern in his hand, Bubble Puppy yapping noisily at his heels. The drive is deserted. He heads for the East of the house.)

(Scene: Storehouse)

(In the storehouse, containers clatter to the ground and Bubble Puppy yaps as Gil fumbles in the clutter for the axe.)

(Scene: Entrance Lobby)

(Gil downs the lantern, bolts the front door and, with determination and axe in hand, heads for the stairs. Upstairs, the rumbling from the locked room continues.)

(Scene: Staircase)

(This time, Gil doesn’t even stop to acknowledge that Bubble Puppy has stopped following him. He marches on, shouting up the stairs as he approaches, wielding the axe.)

Gil: Enough!

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(Gil keeps going, the noise louder as he enters the hall.)

Gil: Enough of that infernal noise! I’m coming in there! And I -

(Gil's words die on his lips and he stops in his tracks. The door at the end of the corridor is now open. Gil lowers the axe in shock. Then he seizes a candle from one of the wall sconces, raises the axe again, and walks towards the open door.)

(Scene: Nursery)

(The room is in complete darkness, but the noise continues. Gil steps in and, breathing unevenly, shines the small pool of candle-light around the room with an unsteady hand. A bed. A toy-box. Toys. Dolls. Some disconcerting automata -mechanical monkeys in finery, protected under glass domes. This is a nursery. And in stark contrast to the rest of the house, it is immaculate. Finally, by the fireplace, Gil at last sees the source of the noise: a rocking chair. It's rocking. Hard, but with decreasing speed, as if very recently vacated. Gil reaches out nervously and steadies it into silence.)

Gil: (whispering) Who's there?

(Gil looks frantically behind him. No one. Spying a wardrobe big enough to conceal a person, he pulls its doors open. But there are only children’s clothes here. Gil picks up a small sailor jacket in both hands, his fear suddenly replaced by a sense of sadness. Slowly, he now moves around the room, touching the toys: the army of lead soldiers, a beautiful teddy bear. He turns the key on one of the automata, a monkey pianist. Then another, an acrobat. And another. Until the whole shelf is alive with movement and the room filled with a cacophony of different melodies. Gil sits down on the little bed, his head in his hands. Outside in the upper hallway, the candles blow out, leaving Gil in darkness, but for the candle on the nightstand. Then that gutters, too, and there is only pitch blackness. Gil stumbles out of the room.)

(Scene: Entrance Lobby)

(Breathless, Gil throws on his coat, hastily unbolts the front door and grabs his suitcase and the lantern. Bubble Puppy looks up at him expectantly.)

Gil: Enough. Enough for tonight. The tide’s out, the moon is bright enough to walk by...

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(A light rain has begun to fall. Gil sets out down the drive at quite a pace, Bubble Puppy at his heels.)

Gil: We’ll be home within the hour. Come back tomorrow morning, in daylight. Complete our work.

(Scene: Grounds)

(Gil and Bubble Puppy continue down the drive, Gil becoming increasingly out of breath. The rain is a little heavier now. East of the driveway, the graveyard, cottage and tree loom into view. He hurries past without looking over. But as Gil nears the end of the drive, he stops. Aghast, he looks at his pocket watch. It’s only half past nine. But... Ahead of him, we can clearly see: the tide is now in. An expanse of black water lies between Gil and the mainland. He is trapped at Eel Marsh House. He closes the pocket watch and clasps it tightly in his hand, tightly to his chest.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Gil drains a large glass of brandy as outside, rain falls noisily. There is a distant rumble of thunder. Gil settles back at the desk, but his earlier resolve has gone. He reads the first document in the pile. Then crushes it and throws it forcefully into the wastebasket. Next: A bundle of letters, bound with black ribbon. The signature on the topmost letter catches Gil's eye: Hypletta. He tears off the ribbon and begins to read. As Gil reads, we hear Hypletta Wahler’s voice.)

Hypletta: August 16th, 1865. My dear sister, it would seem that father’s mind cannot be changed and there is no option left to me but to give up my son.

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(A hollow-eyed Hypletta - the teacher we saw earlier in the school photograph - takes a last look back at Eel Marsh house before climbing into a waiting carriage.)

Hypletta: To see him become a part of your household, rather than have him go to strangers is, I suppose, some small comfort.

(Scene: Carriage)

(On the seat beside her, Hypletta sees a blue crocheted baby blanket. She brings it to her face and begins to sob.) Hypletta: But know this always: Avi is mine. He is mine alone and can never be yours.

(The carriage thunders down Nine Lives causeway, tiny against the lonely sky as it takes Hypletta from her son.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Gil puts the letter down, and begins to study the next.)

Hypletta: April 14th, 1866. I find it hard to express the depth of betrayal I feel at your continued refusal to allow me to visit my son.

(Scene: Spinster's Bedroom)

(A bleak little garret room. Hypletta stumbles across the room in blind anger, a letter clutched in her hand.)

Hypletta: I begin to believe that you are doing this not for the good of the boy, but to cause me pain.

(She sits heavily on the bed and tears the letter in two, screwing up the pieces and hurling them across the room.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Gil reacts in discomfort and skim-reads the next four letters in the pile with a look of equal concern. He swallows hard and pets Bubble Puppy, obviously seeking to find comfort as much as he wishes to give it. He hesitates, then reluctantly turns over the next letter.)

Hypletta: May 29th 1871. Six long years you have kept us apart, but no more.

(Scene: Crythin Gifford)

(Echoing Gil’s first ride through the town as an outsider, we see Hypletta walk slowly towards the iron gates of the village school.)

Hypletta: I don’t care what you or anyone in this hateful village would wish for me.

(Outside the school young Daisy fusses over Goby Imani, 8. A pink haired man hugs his daughter, a pink haired girl. Further sets of parents and children interact. As they notice Hypletta approaching, the adults eye her with suspicion and disapproval before returning their attention to their children. Through Hypletta’s eyes, we look from one vignette of parental affection to another. We can see in Hypletta’s face that this bitter reminder of what she has been denied is killing her. But she holds her head high, angry determination in her eyes.)

Hypletta: I have a scheme of my own, and my beloved boy shall now be in my daily company.

(Scene: Classroom)

(A smiling Hypletta stands before a chalk board. On it is written: Miss Wahler. In front of her, eleven children of varying ages sit at wooden desks. The children from the photograph.)

Children: Good morning Miss Wahler!

Hypletta: My, what a lovely welcome. I’m very much looking forward to teaching you all. Now let’s see if I can remember all your names... One at a time now.

(She nods to the pink-haired girl at the end of the front row.)

Pink-Haired Girl: Dolly Gentilella.

Hypletta: Good morning, Dolly.

(The next boy along is Goby Imani.)

Goby: Goby Imani, miss.

Hypletta: Goby.

(Beside Goby sits Avi, who we might recognise from the portraits on the staircase.)

Avi: Avi.

(Hypletta breaks into a wide smile.)

(Scene: Staircase)

(Gil climbs the stairs and studies the portraits and photographs on wall. His gaze moves from one to the other, looking for something. Over this, Hypletta’s voice continues.)

Hypletta: Give me lodging at Eel Marsh House, and I’ll give my word that he knows me only as his long-lost Aunt, returned home to teach.

(Finally, halfway up the stairs, Gil stops. He has found the photograph he was looking for. We move in close to see: The formal school photograph we saw earlier. The eleven children and the teacher we now know to be Hypletta.)

Hypletta: Refuse...

(We move in closer on Hypletta. Unlike the serious-looking children, she is smiling broadly. Her hand rests tenderly on Avi's shoulder. We continue to move in, until we see only the faces of Hypletta and Avi. Mother and son. Together.)

Hypletta: And I'll tell him the truth.

(Silence now on the stairway as Gil stands before the photograph, both touched by the image, and chilled by the knowledge of what was yet to come. Instinctively, he reaches towards the photograph... But just as his fingertips are about to make contact, the silence is shattered by a loud series of knocks at thefront door. Gil freezes. Silence. Then another knock.)

End of Part 4.

Recap
At the Eel Marsh House, Gil lights some candles. One of the rooms can't be unlocked with any of the keys, so Gil turns his attention to a heavy wooden box with Avi written on it. Gil makes a daguerotype go round, and he sees for a split second, the dark eyes of the witch in black. Scribbled photographs: a shadow passes by, and Bubble Puppy begins to bark. Gil follows Bubble Puppy, who barks close to the tombstone of Avi. When they go back to the mansion, Gil sees the Witch in Black, retreating from close to the window. When Gil goes to that room, he looks out and sees the dilapidated view. Right on his back, the Witch in Black appears and immediately disappears. He doesn't see her, but he feels something so he looks around. In a wooden box, he finds cards addressed to Avi from his birth mother, The Witch in Black, signing as "MUMMY". That woman was Hypletta, who had a tombstone alongside Avi's. Through the documents, it looks like Hypletta gave her child on adoption (as she was deemed mentally unfit to raise her child). It is also revealed that Avi is adopted by Hypletta's sister the Snail who keeps this as a secret and raises Avi as her own son. Through many letters, Gil comes to know that the Snail was very displeased as she wasn't allowed to visit her son. After the accident that took the life of Avi, his body was never found in the marshlands. Hypletta appears as a hidden figure in the photos of Avi and his family, the child in the photographs. Gil falls asleep, and the shadow of the Witch in Black gets close, but Bubble Puppy barks and scares it. Gil wakes up and walks along the dark corridor up to the locked room. He remembers the locked room when his wife died. He tries to open this door, but can't. He goes down to look for something to open it, but suddenly, it is wide open. He picks an axe and a candle. A rocking chair is moving on its own, and for a second, the Witch in Black can be seen rocking herself. Under the wallpaper, observed by the mechanic toys, he discloses ...YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM... written in blood. Going back to a window, he can see clearly the shrillingly screaming face of Hypletta.