Episode 486.b Bubble Guppies: The Witch in Black! (Part 2)

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 2.

(Scene: Gifford Arms)

(Gil stands before the closed door, speechless. The square has become busier now, village folk busying themselves with preparations for the market. Not far from the entrance, a pony and trap is waiting. Sitting atop it is Sir Mulligan, 42, a weather-beaten man in threadbare country clothes. Gil's suitcase is on the back of the trap. Fighting his anger, Gil climbs up beside Sir Mulligan.)

Gil: Mr. Sir Mulligan? Change of plans. I'm not catching the train. I need to get to Eel Marsh House.

Sir Mulligan: Mr. Grouper paid me to take you to the station.

(Gil fishes in his pocket and produces the envelope Frank gave him. He offers Sir Mulligan a coin from it. Sir Mulligan stares at it, unimpressed, and gestures to the envelope.)

Sir Mulligan: Make it six and I’ll think about it.

Gil: Six shillings?

(Sir Mulligan's face tells us that he’s serious. Gil digs resentfully into the envelope and hands over the cash.)

Gil: You’re fortunate my firm provided me with expenses.

Sir Mulligan: Think you’ll find you’re the fortunate one, Mr. Gordon. You’ll not find anyone else willing to take you to Eel Marsh House.

(Scene: Crythin Gifford)

(Gil and Sir Mulligan ride silently through the town. Villagers stop to stare at Gil as the trap passes. There are many weathered old faces here, giving Gil - and us -an uneasy sense of rural 'otherness'. We pass an empty school, its iron gates rusted and padlocked, its yard overgrown. But we don't linger on these details, nor imply any significance. In fact, Gil’s attention is taken up with a bag of rotting apples that sits between them, attracting flies.)

Gil: Not planning to eat those, are you?

Sir Mulligan: For the pony.

(They ride on in silence.)

(Scene: Marshes)

(At the end of a road, the pony trap arrives at the start of a causeway - a narrow path snaking across an incredible vista of shining marshland, with Eel Marsh House, perchedon it’s little island, lying at it’s distant end. Gil reacts in awe.)

Sir Mulligan: Nine Lives Causeway. Lucky the tide's out.

Gil: How many hours a day is it passable?

Sir Mulligan: Couple in the morning. Couple later on.

(Gil gives a low whistle.)

Gil: Well there’s something that might put off a prospective buyer.

Sir Mulligan: Fewer if a fret’s up.

Gil: You mean the sea mists?

Sir Mulligan: Come in without any warning. The tide too. One minute the road’s there, next - under water. People have drowned on that causeway. And the marshes are even worse.

Gil: Worse than drowning.

(Sir Mulligan fixes Gil with a look, then picks up one of his moldy apples and tosses it onto the apparently solid ground beside the causeway. Within seconds, it has been sucked down, swallowed. Gone without a trace. And likewise Gil’s amusement.)

Sir Mulligan: Ask them what they reckon.

(He points ahead to where a tall wooden cross is erected inthe marsh, a few feet from the causeway. Silence reigns once again as they ride on, broken only by the eerie whoops of the birds circling overhead.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh Island)

(Sir Mulligan halts the trap at the beginning of the driveway leading up to Eel Marsh house. Gil looks at him, puzzled, and nods towards the house.)

Gil: Shall we...?

(But Sir Mulligan doesn’t move. He points up toward the house.)

Sir Mulligan: Storehouse is to the East by the kitchen garden. Should still be some oil in there for the lamps.

Gil: I didn’t realise you knew the house so well Mr. Sir Mulligan. Perhaps you could show me around.

Sir Mulligan: My father worked here all his life. I’ll be back for you at five. Before the tide comes in. Plenty of time to get to the station for the late train.

(Gil stares at Sir Mulligan, realises that he really isn’t going to go any closer, and climbs off the trap, unable to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the string of obstructions he is meeting.)

Gil: Despite Mr. Grouper’s apparent keenness to run me out of town, I won’t be leaving Crythin Gifford until my work is done.

(Gil turns to walk toward Eel Marsh House but, remembering something, he turns back, waving the file that Mr. Grouper gave him earlier.)

Gil: Oh, and he forgot to put the deeds to the house in here. Collect them from him on your way to fetch me?

(Scene: Grounds)

(The sound of the pony and trap recedes further and further as Gil walks up the drive, carrying his bag. He notes that, to the East, close to the marshes, a gnarled tree stands beside the ruins of an old gate keeper's cottage. Beyond that lies a crumbling family graveyard. But his attention is drawn away again by the imposing sight of Eel Marsh House itself looming up ahead of him. Vast, grey and magnificent against the open sky and marshland.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(Silence now, but for the birds. Gil lets himself in.)

(Scene: Entrance Lobby)

(A dark entrance hall. Gil inches along the wall until he finds a lamp. He fumbles with it, but it doesn’t light. He opens the first door he finds.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Faint rectangles of daylight glow around the shuttered windows, but still we can’t make out much detail in here. Gil tries another wall lamp. Nothing. Something - it sounds like a pile of papers - falls to the floor as Gil fumbles with a desk-lamp. This too fails.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(Gil walks around the East side of the house, past abarren kitchen-garden.)

(Scene: Storehouse)

(Gil arrives at the storehouse that Sir Mulligan mentioned. He swats the cobwebs from the handle of the warped and dilapidated storehouse door and tries it. The years have wedged it tightly shut. Eventually, he shoulders it open. The daylight from outside provides just enough illumination for Gil, and us, to survey the contents of the room. A pile of logs are stacked against one wall, and against the other a plethora of gardening tools, sporting equipment for cricket, badminton and croquet and various containers. Spying what he needs, Gil grabs a canister of lamp oil.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(As Gil walks back past the kitchen garden, carrying his canister, he stops, unsettled. Carried on the wind is something that sounds unmistakably like children's voices. Gil squints towards the marshes, but can see nothing untoward. Nevertheless, the sound of voices persists. Still carrying his canister, he walks towards the marshes.)

Gil: Hello?

(Scene: Grounds)

(Uneasy, Gil walks past the graveyard, out to the end ofthe drive, following the sound. In the upper window of the ruined Gate Keeper’s cottage we may notice - though some may not - a Witch in Black looking out over the marshes. Looking out to the marshes himself, Gil doesn’t see her. The children’s voices are louder here, more distinct. But no children are to be seen. He is alone. Or is he? Suddenly, as if sensing that someone is watching him, Gil turns uneasily to look behind him. But there is no one there. In an increasing state of discomfort, Gil turns and begins to walk briskly back toward the house. As he passes the cottage, he again fails to see what we see, clearly this time, although again fleetingly: the Witch in Black at the window. She is dressed in the formal funeral garb of the mid-1800s, her bonnet and mourning veil concealing her face in a way that makes us nervous as to what might be under there.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(Gil opens the front door, the haste in his movements conveying an intangible desire to get indoors fast.)

(Scene: Entrance Lobby)

(Gil closes the door behind him, hesitates a moment, then bolts it shut.)

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Canister of oil in hand, Gil stumbles into the darkened room and makes for the closest window. He throws open the shutters and peers outside, but the grounds are still deserted. We may make out a slight tremble in Gil’s hand as he uses the canister of oil to fill the desk lamp. He lights it... And surveys the now-illuminated room, an untidy testament to Mrs. Snail's unstable mental state. The entire surface of the desk is covered with letters and documents. Nearby is a decanter of brandy and two glasses, thick with dust.)

(Scene: Kitchen)

(Dirty water chokes in noisy spurts from a faucet into along-unused sink. Somewhere distant, in the walls of thehouse, pipes thump and rattle in complaint. Gil, pumping the handle, sighs and abandons his efforts. The kitchen is bleak, under three decades of dust. On the counter is the decanter and a glass from the drawing room. Gil grabs an old dishcloth and beats it on the counter,sending thick clouds of dust dancing in the shafts of light that stream through the grimy windows. He wipes the glass, pours a large brandy and drains it.)

(Scene: Staircase)

(Gil climbs the stairs. The walls here are dotted with portraits and photographs. He glances at them as he walks. A formal portrait of Mr and Mrs. Snail and their son, 6. A formal portrait of the son, alone. A school photograph: Eleven neatly-dressed children of varying ages stand posed for the camera outside the village school. Behind them stands their teacher. She wears a paledress, and in contrast to the solemnity of the children, she is smiling.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(Gil walks the upper hallway, trying each door in turn. The first on his left reveals a completely empty room, devoid of furniture or window-dressings. The second opens into another empty room. The third door, at the very end of the hallway, is firmly locked shut. Eventually Gil gives up trying to open it. He returns down the other side of the hall. The first door reveals a bathroom, its curtains closed. Shafts of light slant in from above through exposed slats where a section of the roof has succumbed to the elements. He enters.)

(Scene: Bathroom)

(Gil opens the curtains... the window affords a clear view of the graveyard, tree, cottage and marshes beyond. Gil peers out, scanning the landscape. He sees nothing untoward, but tenses a little when he hears a scrabbling noise from somewhere nearby. He freezes. Nothing. Then the noise again. Gil presses his ear to the wall dividing this room from the not-yet-investigated room next door. A long pause, then the noise. It’s definitely in there.)

(Scene: Upper Hallway)

(Outside the closed door to the next room, Gil gathers himself and turns the handle. The door fails to open, but this time the noise from within is not so much a scrabbling as a sudden thump. Gil jumps back. Gingerly, he turns the key that is in the lock beneath the handle. Almost immediately, another thump. Gil opens the door... to discover a bedroom. The curtains drawn. Dark, but for the same shafts of light through the ruined roof. And silent. He steps in.)

(Scene: Bedroom)

(The shafts of daylight shine onto a dresser crowded with medicinal-looking bottles. Dimly, we can also see a bureau that, like the desk downstairs, is covered with papers. Gil stands very still, eyes darting around the room. The scrabbling noise is louder now, frantic, low to the ground. Gil scans the ill-lit floor. A noise - though not the same noise as the one he heard before, this time a high-pitched squealing - leads Gil deeper into the room, to the fireplace where he finds: a nest filled with baby birds. Their beaks are wide open in the hope of receiving food. Eight wide, dark, gaping holes, out of proportion with their tiny bodies. Gil exhales, relieved. Then he notices: one runtish baby bird has fallen out of the nest and is writhing on the hearthstone. It’s both pitiful and creepy in its naked vulnerability. Gil bends down and replaces it in the nest. Suddenly, an almighty flurry - this is the noise he heard before - and a bird flies past Gil, thumping into the wall behind him. It drops to the ground, stunned. Gil reacts, shocked but - again - relieved. He looks up to the gaping ceiling, where the bird must have got in, then back at the bird itself. Gil moves to the window, where he pulls open the curtains... Gil steps back in alarm.)

(Scene: Gate-keeper's Cottage)

(In the tree by the cottage, the Witch in Black hangs by a rope around her neck. Silhouetted against the sky, her dead form sways grotesquely in the wind.)

(Scene: Bedroom)

(Gil closes his eyes tightly, certain his mind is playing tricks on him again. Sure enough, when he opens them, the distant tree is bare. Gil grasps the handles of the sash window and, with some effort, wrestles it open. He looks back at the bird. Gestures to the open window.)

Gil: Go on.

(It doesn’t move. The baby birds scream for food. Gil gestures at them, addresses the bird again.)

Gil: You've got mouths to feed.

(Then he points again at the window.)

Gil: Off you go.

(Scene: Drawing Room)

(Gil is settled at the chaotic writing desk, beginning to stack the reams of scattered paperwork into piles, a large tumbler of brandy at hand. Occasionally, he pauses to take a drink, or to stoop to pick up papers that have fallen to the floor. Suddenly the silence is interrupted by the unmistakable sound, in the far distance, of a pony and trap. Gil glances up at the large wall clock mounted nearby. The hands are motionless. Stopped at eight o’ clock. Gil checks his pocket watch. It’s ten to three. The sound of the pony and trap is still distant, but growing louder. Confused, Gil moves to the window and peers out. Outside, a light mist has begun to descend. Obscuring the view of the driveway and the marshes beyond. But as Gil stands here, the steady rhythm of hooves and wheels is replaced by a clattering. Gil freezes. A horse whinnies in panic, a man shouts for help, a woman and a child scream. Gil rises and makes for the door.)

(Scene: Eel Marsh House)

(Gil bursts out into the daylight and begins to sprint through the mist. Out here, the catastrophic sounds coming from the marsh beyond are even louder.)

Gil: Sir Mulligan?

(Scene: Grounds)

(Horrified, Gil runs blindly down the driveway into the white nothingness ahead, towards the anguished cries.)

Gil: Sir Mulligan!

(Scene: Nine Lives Causeway)

(The mist seems to be getting thicker, and Gil begins to move ahead a little more gingerly. The mainland is entirely obscured from view, and the only visible landmark is the faint, indistinct outline of the wooden cross out in the marsh. Soon, this too is swallowed by the thickening mist. But now the cries abate and there is only a ghastly sucking noise. Then silence. Gil stops, chilled to the core. And looking down, he notes with dismay that he can no longer see the ground beneath him. Reluctantly he looks back... only to find that the mist is all around now: he can see nothing in any direction. Treading carefully, Gil steels himself and continues to move through the whiteness towards the mainland.)

(Scene: Mr. Grouper's Office)

(Only a trace of the sea mist hangs in the air here, as Gil arrives outside Mr. Grouper's office. The door is unlocked. Gil bursts in, but no one is here.)

Gil: Mr. Grouper?

(No response... beside a faint shuffling noise from beneath the floorboards. Gil stoops to peer through a crack in the floorboards, but before he can investigate further, Mr. Grouper enters from a back room. He is both shocked and displeased to see Gil.)

Mr. Grouper: Gil? Why are you...

Gil: I had him take me to Eel Marsh. He was coming back for me. We must fetch help! It sounded as if he had others with him, too - a child!

(Mr. Grouper sits down at his desk, starts fussing with papers.)

Mr. Grouper: He would never risk it. His own father died crossing the causeway during a fret. (beat) You shouldn’t have gone, Mr. Gordon.

(Gil stares at Mr. Grouper in mute confusion. Before he can find words to express his disbelief, there’s a knock at the door, announcing the arrival of Sir Mulligan. Gil’s eyes widen. Sir Mulligan looks equally puzzled.)

Sir Mulligan: I was on my way to fetch you. Came to collect the deeds first, like you asked.

Mr. Grouper: I thought more of you, Sir Mulligan. How much did he pay you?

Gil: Mr. Grouper, are you quite mad?! Someone - if not Sir Mulligan, someone - met with great misfortune out on the marshes not thirty minutes ago! And you -

(At this, Sir Mulligan falters and turns away.)

Mr. Grouper: No, not thirty minutes ago, Mr. Gordon. Thirty years ago.

(Mr. Grouper busies himself again. Gil stares at him agape.)

Gil: What are you talking about?

Sir Mulligan: Twenty seven. To be precise. Showed you the cross out on the marsh this morning, didn’t I?

(Gil stares from one to the other in disbelief.)

Gil: Ghost stories. Wonderful.

Mr. Grouper: Take a look at your own paperwork if you doubt it. Mrs Snail was the only survivor. Threw herself clear, onto the causeway. The others, the little fish boy, they never even made it out of the trap before it sank.

Sir Mulligan: Weren’t even able to have a proper funeral. Still out there, they are.

(The street is empty, but for the Wahler children playing quietly in their front yard. Gil strides purposefully next door to the Post Office. A sign on the door reads: “CLOSED”. Inside, we can see the Mail Carrier Snail, 50s, pottering around, clearing up for the day. Gil knocks urgently at the window. The woman waves her hands sternly, points to the sign. He shouts to be heard.)

Gil: Could you direct me to the police station?

(The woman points vaguely and returns to her chores.)

(Scene: Police Station)

(An establishing shot of a small rural police station. Gil stands across a counter from an old policeman, P.C. Archaeologist, 60, who fills in a form very, very slowly, his calm demeanor providing stark contrast to Gil's state of agitation.)

Archaeologist: No one’s used Nine Lives Causeway for years, sir. No one visits Eel Marsh House - it’s empty.

Gil: I know what I heard, Constable.

Archaeologist: At any rate, we can’t get anyone out there until this fret lifts.

Gil: But -

(The Archaeologist raises his hand, indicating for Gil to wait. He writes some more, painfully slowly, until - from somewhere in a back room - a bell rings. He downs his pen.)

Archaeologist: Excuse me one moment, sir.

(Gil can’t hide his frustration as, very slowly, the Archaeologist shuffles away into a back room. Just the sound of a clock ticking now, as Gil waits. Momentarily, the front door opens to reveal Jonesy Wahler. The boy looks to the empty desk, then at Gil.)

Gil: He’ll be back in just a moment, I think. Is everything alright?

(The boy shakes his head. With a growing sense of dread, Gil looks behind the boy to see that, hanging back a few feet behind him are the younger boy, Joshua, and their sister Deema. The girl looks horribly ill. Gil leaps to his feet.)

Gil: What happened?

(Joshua and Deema step in silently. The little girl is deathly pale and stares straight at Gil; a blank, glazed, wide-eyed stare. None of the children speak. Jonesy points at his sister. The girl’s eyes stay locked onto Gil’s as he drops to his knees and takes her gently by the arms.)

Gil: What’s the matter? (off her silence) What’s your name? Can you tell me your name?

Jonesy: Her name's Deema Wahler.

Gil: Can you tell me what’s wrong, Deema? Did something bad happen?

Jonesy: She drank some lye. Our mam was out.

Joshua: It's wash day.

Gil: Lye? Oh god... (shouting) Constable!

Jonesy: Is she going to die?

Gil: Constable!

Joshua: My cat died. He went to heaven.

Gil: We need a doctor! (softly, to Deema) It’s alright, darling. It’s going to be alright.

(Eyes still fixed on Gil, her face remaining expressionless, the little girl’s jaw falls slack, and astream of thick, bloody vomit spills from her mouth and spatters down her front and onto the floor.)

End of Part 2.

Recap
A cab driver named Sir Mulligan takes Gil to the mansion. There is a thin strip of white soil linking the town to the lonely isolated mansion which zig-zags among the marshes. Sir Mulligan leaves him right outside the plot of land which is occupied by the mansion and its land. When Gil tells him to pick him up at 3 o'clock, he says that it'll have to be at five, because of the tide. Gil enters the property. There seems to be nobody at the home, so he gets up to the second floor. He takes a look at Nonny's drawing before setting to work in front of a pile of papers. Inside one of the bedrooms, he sees a nest of ravens. A raven rushes out flying, so it startles him. Gil thinks he's heard something, so he looks out of the window. A black shadow appears on the garden, among the dangling tombstones. The raven flies around and softly lands on the bed. When Gil looks out again, there is nobody in the cemetery. Gil rushes out. The thick fog prevents him from seeing anything, or anyone for that matter. The feeling of something terrible about to happen is omminous... but it's only Sir Mulligan, who has just arrived to pick Gil up. He tells him to be careful. Gil thought that he had heard the faraway cries of children, and Sir Mulligan tells him that some boys died drowned in the marshes. Gil runs to the police station in order to denounce the person who has trespassed the property. The constable Archaeologist says that there is no villager who would go to that mansion on their own accord. The constable gets inside to look at something. At that moment, two children arrive with a very sick child, Deema Wahler, who is spitting blood. Gil screams, but he can't do anything for the child. Deema dies in his arms.