by Stephen King
STORM OF THE CENTURY 197
He just wants to be friendly, but she acts like he's trying to lure her onto one of those hard New England benches so he can do the dirty boogie with her. She hurries on without a word, nose higher than ever. At the end of the aisle are two doors marked with male and female icons. CORA pushes open the one with the woman on it and goes inside. ORV watches her, more bemused than offended.
ORV
(strictly to himself) Cora, friendly as ever, ayuh.
He heads back to the stairs leading to the area below.
135 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE NIGHT.
HATCH comes in from the market area, holding a tray carefully in front of him. Loaded on it are nine Styrofoam cups of coffee. He sets it down on MIKE'S desk, looking nervously at URSULA, who is sitting in MIKE'S chair with her hood back and her coat unzipped. She still looks stunned. At first, when MIKE offers her one of the cups, she doesn't seem to see it.
MIKE Go on, Urse. It'll warm you up.
URSULA I don't think I'll ever be warm again.
But she takes two of the cups and hands one to JOANNA, who is standing behind her. MIKE takes another. ROBBIE hands cups to JACK and KIRK; HATCH gives one to HENRY. When all have been passed out, there's one cup left. HATCH looks toward LINOGE.
HATCH Oh, what the hell. Want a cup?
No reply from LINOGE, who sits in his usual posture, watching.
ROBBIE
(with an edge) Don't they drink coffee on your planet, mister?
198 STEPHEN KING
MIKE
(to JOANNA) Tell me again.
JOANNA
162
I've told you half a dozen times already.
MIKE This'll be the last. Promise.
JOANNA
She said, "I think it was the cane with the wolfs head that made me do it. I wouldn't touch it, if I were you."
MIKE But you didn't see a cane. With or without a wolf's head.
JOANNA
No. Mike, what are we going to do?
MIKE Wait out the storm. It's all we can do.
URSULA
Molly wants to see you. She told me to tell you that. Said for you to set a guard and get back to her. Said you could have as many men as you need; none of 'em are doing much tonight, anyway.
MIKE
That's for sure, (pause) Hatch, step out here with me. Want to talk to you a minute.
They start toward the door leading into the store. MIKE hesitates and looks back at URSULA.
MIKE
You going to be all right?
URSULA
Yes.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 199 MIKE and HATCH go out. URSULA realizes LINOGE is looking at her.
URSULA What are you looking at?
LINOGE goes on looking. And smiling slightly. Then:
LINOGE
(sings) "I'm a little teapot, short and stout. . . ."
136 INTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM NIGHT.
ANGELA CARVER, in a soft and pretty nightgown, is at one of the basins, brushing her teeth.
From one of the CLOSED STALLS behind her, we hear THE RUSTLE OF CLOTH and the SNAP OF
HEAVY ELASTIC as CORA changes into her own nightwear.
CORA
(sings from the stall) ". . . Here is my handle, here is my spout!"
ANGELA looks in that direction, puzzled at first and then deciding to smile. She gives her teeth a final rinse, picks up her overnight bag, and leaves. As she does, CORA comes out of the stall she changed in, wearing woolly pink all the way down to the tips of her toes . . . and a nightcap on her head. Yes! She puts her own overnight bag on one of the sinks, unzips it, and brings out a tube of cream.
163
CORA
You can pick me up and pour me out . . .
137 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
The four men and two women watch LINOGE in surprise and perplexity. He MIMES CREAMING
HIS FACE.
LINOGE
(sings) "I'm a little teapot, short and stout!"
HENRY BRIGHT He's totally crazy. Got to be.
200 STEPHEN KING
138 INTERIOR: BY THE MEAT COUNTER OF THE STORE, WITH MIKE AND
HATCH.
It's shadowy and spooky here, with just the fluorescents in the meat counter for illumination.
MIKE
I'm going to leave you in charge here for a little while.
HATCH Oh, Mike, I wish you wouldn't do that. . .
MIKE
Just for a while. I want to take those women back to the town hall in the four-wheel drive while it'll still move. Make sure Molly's all right and let her see that I am. Give Ralphie a kiss. Then I'm going to pack every man who looks halfway useful into the truck and come back here. We'll guard him in groups of three or four until the storm's over. In fives, if that's what it takes to feel comfortable.
c~
HATCH I won't feel comfortable until he's in Derry County Jail.
MIKE I know what you mean.
HATCH
Cat Withers ... I can't believe it, Mike. Cat wouldn't hurt Billy.
MIKE I know that, too.
HATCH Who's holding who prisoner here? Can you say for sure?
MIKE considers this question very, very carefully, then shakes his head.
HATCH This is a mess.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 201
MIKE
Yeah. You going to be okay with Robbie?
HATCH
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I'll have to be ... won't I? Say hi to Melinda for me, if she's still up. Tell her I'm okay. And give Pippa a little kiss.
MIKE I will.
HATCH How long do you think you'll be gone?
MIKE
Forty-five minutes, an hour at most. And I'll be back with a truckload of wide-bodies. Meantime, you have Jack, Henry, Robbie, Kirk Freeman . . .
HATCH
Do you really think any of us'll make a difference, if that guy starts to rock and roll?
MIKE
Do you really think the town hall's any safer? Or any place on the island?
HATCH
Considering Cat and Billy . . . no.
MIKE goes back into the constable's office. HATCH follows.
139 INTERIOR: LINOGE, CLOSE-UP.
Rubbing invisible cream into his cheeks, humming "I'm a Little Teapot."
140 INTERIOR: CORA, IN THE TOWN HALL BATHROOM.
Rubbing real cream into her cheeks she's making a night mask for herself and humming "I'm a Little Teapot." She seems really happy for the first time since being dragged to the town hall by her son and daughter-in-law. Reflected in the mirror is the ladies' room, now empty.
202 STEPHEN KING
All at once THE LIGHTS GO OUT as the gennie stutters again.
CORA (voice in the dark) Oh, drat!
The lights come back on. CORA looks relieved and begins creaming her face again. All at once she stops. LINOGE'S cane leans against the tiled wall beneath the hand dryer. It wasn't there before, but it is now, reflected in the mirror. There's no blood on it. The silver head GLEAMS ENTICINGLY.
CORA looks at it, then turns and walks toward it.
141 INTERIOR: LINOGE, CLOSE-UP.
LINOGE Like Dad's!
142 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
The men are clustered near MIKE'S desk. URSULA is seated; JOANNA stands beside her. None of those in the office notice MIKE and HATCH'S return. They are fascinated by LINOGE'S new dumb show.
JOANNA
What's he doing?
URSULA shakes her head. The men are equally puzzled.
165
143 INTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM, WITH CORA.
CORA
(picks up the cane) Like Dad's!
144 INTERIOR: RESUME CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
MIKE and the others watch LINOGE. He ignores them, concentrating on his business with CORA.
He grips two invisible objects, one in each hand, and turns them. He pushes
something else down with his thumb, as you would a small plunger. Then he MIMES RUMMAGING IN SOMETHING and finding a small object, which he holds up gripped between the thumb and first two fingers of his left hand.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 203
145 INTERIOR: RESUME TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM, WITH CORA.
She has laid "Dad's cane" across two of the sinks and returned to the one where she was when she saw the cane. She grips a faucet handle in each hand and turns them, starting the water. She pushes the stopper down with her thumb and the basin begins to fill. While it does, she rummages in her overnight bag and finds a lipstick. She holds it up between the thumb and first two fingers of her left hand.
146 INTERIOR: RESUME CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
LINOGE leans back against the wall behind the cot, with the air of a man who has accomplished some difficult and tiring task. He looks at the octet across the room and smiles at them a little.
LINOGE
Go on, Mike, go on we'll be fine. Give that little guy of yours a big old smackeroo for me. Tell him his pal from the market says hi.
MIKE'S face knots. He'd like to smash LINOGE'S face.
HATCH
How do you know so much? What the hell do you want?
LINOGE places his forearms on his knees and says nothing.
MIKE
Hatch, why don't a pair of you spend the time until I get back in here with him the others can hang in the market. You can adjust the mirror out there so you can see in here.
HATCH
You don't want him to be able to get at all of us at the same time. Do you?
MIKE Well . . . it's a plan.
He turns to the women before HATCH can reply.
204 STEPHEN KING
MIKE Ladies? Let's take a ride back to the town hall.
URSULA hands him a key on a key ring.
URSULA
This goes to Lucien Fournier's snowmobile, out back. Thought you might need it. Mike?
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MIKE hands the key to HATCH, then turns back to her.
URSULA Peter will be all right out there, won't he?
MIKE
Yes. And when this is over, we'll see to him proper . . . the way we always do. Come on.
URSULA gets to her feet and zips up her coat.
147 INTERIOR: TOWN HALL AISLE NIGHT.
JILL ROBICHAUX heads down the aisle in her robe, carrying her own overnight bag. Outside, the WIND HOWLS.
148 INTERIOR: THE LADIES' ROOM, ANGLE ON THE DOOR NIGHT.
It opens, and JILL comes in. For a moment her face remains calm, the face of a woman embarked on her regular getting-ready-for-bed ritual. Then it FILLS WITH HORROR. She drops her little bag and claps her hands to her mouth to stifle a scream. She stands where she is a moment longer, frozen by whatever it is she sees. Then she WHEELS AND RUNS.
149 INTERIOR: THE SLEEPING AREA OF THE TOWN HALL BASEMENT NIGHT.
The lights have been turned low. In kid country, all of MOLLY'S day-care pupils are fast asleep; even the loathsome DON BEALS has given up. Probably half the beds meant for the adults are occupied, mostly by OLDER RESIDENTS.
MOLLY ANDERSON holds aside one of the makeshift draw curtains (perhaps they're only blankets hung up on clotheslines for this occa-STORM OF THE CENTURY 205
sion) so that ANDY ROBICHAUX can step through. ANDY has got CAT in his arms. He carries her toward one of the cots. Following ANDY comes MOLLY and MRS. KINGSBURY.
When they reach a cot fairly deep in the room and away from most of the other sleepers, MOLLY
strips back the blanket and top sheet. ANDY puts CAT down, and MOLLY pulls the bedclothes back up over her. They SPEAK LOW, so as not to disturb the other sleepers.
ANDY ROBICHAUX Whoo! She's really out!
MOLLY gives MRS. KINGSBURY a questioning look.
MRS. KINGSBURY
They're very light sleeping pills . . . any lighter, Doc Grissom said, and I could buy them right over the counter. I think it's just shock. Whatever she's done, or whatever's been done to her, she's away from it now. That's probably best.
MRS. KINGSBURY bends, and, perhaps surprising herself, puts a kiss on the sleeping girl's cheek.
MRS. KINGSBURY Sleep well, dear.
ANDY
Do you think someone ought to sit with her? Like a guard?
MOLLY and MRS. KINGSBURY exchange a bewildered glance that sums up just how out of control this has become. Put a guard on inoffensive little CAT WITHERS? It's nuts.
MOLLY She doesn't need guarding, Andy.
167
ANDY
But
MOLLY Come on.
206 STEPHEN KING
She turns to go. MRS. KINGSBURY follows. ANDY lingers by the cot for a moment, not so sure.
Then he follows.
150 INTERIOR: THE BASEMENT "LIVING ROOM" AREA OF THE TOWN HALL.
MOLLY, ANDY, and MRS. KINGSBURY come out through the draw curtains. To their left, forty or fifty people, many now in their pj's or nightgowns, are watching the fuzzy TV. To their right are the stairs. Coming down them are SANDRA BEALS, MELINDA HATCHER, and JILL ROBICHAUX. SANDRA is terrified; MELINDA is frightened and grim; JILL is on the verge of hysterics but holding it in ... at least until she sees her husband. She throws herself into his arms, CRYING.
ANDY
Jill? Honey? What's wrong?
A few of the TV watchers look around to see what's up. MOLLY looks at MELINDA'S pale face and knows something else has gone wrong . . . but this is no time to stir up the others, who are finally settling down for the night.
MOLLY Come on. Upstairs. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it there.
They go up, ANDY with his arm around his wife's waist.
151 EXTERIOR: THE INTERSECTION OF MAIN AND ATLANTIC NIGHT.
The Island Services vehicle comes along, trudging through the snow. It's making progress, but it's also crashing through drifts that are nearly hood high. It won't be making many more trips through this blizzard.
152 INTERIOR: THE ISLAND SERVICES VEHICLE, WITH MIKE, URSULA, JOANNA.
JOANNA
I'm so scared.
MIKE So am I.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 207
153 INTERIOR: OUTSIDE THE TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM.
Standing back from the door, arms around each other, are ANDY and JILL ROBICHAUX. Closest to the bathroom are MELINDA HATCHER and MOLLY. SANDRA BEALS stands between the two pairs.
SANDRA
I'm sorry ... I can't. I can't take any more.
She brushes past JILL and ANDY and hurries back down the aisle.
154 INTERIOR: THE TOWN OFFICE NIGHT.
SANDRA, weeping now, hurries into this area, meaning to go downstairs. Before she can, the front doors open and MIKE comes in, covered with snow and stamping more snow off his boots. He is followed by URSULA and JOANNA. SANDRA stops and gives the new arrivals a wild, startled glance.
168
MIKE Sandra, what is it? What's wrong?
155 INTERIOR: THE LADIES' ROOM, ANGLE ON THE DOOR.
It opens slowly . . . reluctantly. MOLLY and MELINDA come in together, huddled shoulder to shoulder for comfort. Behind them, we see ANDY and JILL ROBICHAUX. MOLLY and MELINDA look, faces filling with horror and wonder.
MELINDA
Oh, my dear God.
156 INTERIOR: THE WASHBASINS, FROM MOLLY AND MELINDA'S POINT OF VIEW.
Kneeling in front of one of them is CORA STANHOPE. The basin is full of water, and CORA'S white hair floats on its surface. She has drowned herself in the basin. Written above it in lipstick, on the line of mirrors, is the same old song: "GIVE ME WHAT I WANT AND I'LL GO AWAY." Flanking it at either end, CORA has drawn BLOODY LIPSTICK CANES. Of the real cane, the one with the wolf's head, there is no sign.
FADE TO BLACK. THIS ENDS ACT 4.
Act 5
157 EXTERIOR: THE LIGHTHOUSE NIGHT.
Waves still crash against the headland rocks hard enough to splatter the lighthouse with foam, but the tide is on the e
bb, now, and things are better than they were. Temporarily only, however, because:
158 INTERIOR: LIGHTHOUSE CONTROL ROOM NIGHT.
The lights still BLINK and FLASH, but some of them are now BEADED WITH ICE from the spray, and little drifts of snow are piling up in the corners of the room. The WIND WHISTLES, and the anemometer is still topping sixty MPH.
SOUND: A HIGH-PITCHED COMPUTER BEEP. THE CAMERA MOVES IN on a computer screen that has gone RED. White letters appear on the screen: "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURGE
WARNING FOR ALL OUTER ISLANDS, INCLUDING CRANBERRY, JERROD BLUFF, KANKAMONGUS, BIG TALL, AND LITTLE TALL. HIGH TIDE AT 7:09 AM. MAY PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT FLOODING AND
LOWLAND DAMAGE. OUTER ISLAND RESI-
208
STORM OF THE CENTURY 209
DENTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO MOVE TO INLAND AREAS OF HIGH GROUND."
As if to punctuate this, an especially powerful wave SPLASHES IN through the broken windows and splatters this computer screen with foam.
