Ghost

by Louise Welsh

  Manley comes into shot and takes his place in the queue beside David. Manley shuffles discontentedly, then looks worriedly at the length of the queue ahead.

  David observes Manley. In the ensuing dialogue, David speaks with a nonchalance which is not quite convincing.

  DAVID: Don’t worry, we’ll be alright.

  MANLEY: [Noticing him for the first time.] What?

  DAVID: The first fifty always get in.

  MANLEY: Oh. Oh yes. [A quick glance down the queue.] But when do we get in? I was given to believe the place opened at eight.

  DAVID: Supposed to. Never does these days though. Not enough people to run the place any more.

  MANLEY: Mmmm. I didn’t reckon on standing in a queue.

  DAVID: Gets longer every night. Here’s a few more.

  43. STREET.

  Point of view: Manley and David. From the direction Manley originally came, two more men are coming down the street to join the queue.

  44. PAVEMENT. NIGHT.

  Manley and David are both sitting on the ground, gazing emptily ahead of them. During the ensuing dialogue more men join the queue and Manley keeps looking anxiously at the queue in front of him.

  DAVID: Get around much, do you?

  MANLEY: What?

  DAVID: You travel around much.

  MANLEY: Oh – yes. I suppose I do. Thousands of miles each year.

  DAVID: [Nodding in weary sympathy.] Yeah. Same here. [Pause.] Just the last few weeks, I’ve been up to Manchester, come back down here, up to Scunthorpe. Get fed up after a while. [Pause.]

  You’re from London, are you?

  MANLEY: [He has not been listening.] What?

  DAVID: You were born here. In London.

  MANLEY: Oh – yes. Yes. I don’t stay here much though. [With disparagement.] A city like this has little to offer someone like me.

  DAVID: [Nodding sympathetically again.] Yeah. Hopeless. Just as bad everywhere else in the bloody country. If not worse. So what you doing back in London then?

  MANLEY: [Shrugs.] Usual reason I go anywhere. Hunger.

  DAVID: Yeah well. You got to eat.

  MANLEY: [Looking away again.] Hunger. The lengths I’ve gone to satisfy it. Yet it always returns.

  DAVID: I know what you mean. One point last week, I actually started looking in the bins. [Laughs.] Really.

  MANLEY: [A tired shrug.] It’s an old game, but always worth trying. I often recommend it.

  DAVID: Surprising what you find if you bother to look.

  MANLEY: An interesting process takes place inside a refuse bin. A kind of stewing pot of randomness. The chance factor often produces recipes far beyond the capabilities of ordinary imaginations.

  For the first time, the thought crosses David’s mind that Manley may be a little eccentric. He decides to agree anyway.

  DAVID: Yeah, I suppose so. No good being proud and starving to death. Still, you’ll get a decent supper tonight.

  Manley turns slowly and looks at David as though for the first time.

  MANLEY: How do you know that?

  DAVID: Well, that’s what you’re waiting here for, isn’t it?

  MANLEY: But how the devil did you get to hear of it?

  DAVID: [Shrugs defensively.] Known about it for ages.

  MANLEY: You’ve what?

  DAVID: Got it from an advice centre. Off Piccadilly Circus.

  MANLEY: [Outraged.] Piccadilly Circus? [Then realizing his mistake.] Ah. Ah yes. [Turning away again.] No doubt, no doubt.

  45. STREET OUTSIDE CHURCH.

  Long shot: the queue along the wall.

  46. IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH GATE.

  Sounds of the gate being unlocked from the inside. It opens.

  47. CHURCH COURTYARD.

  The men are moving in line to some point around the side of the church building. The main doors of the church remain closed.

  48. CHURCH. BACK LOBBY.

  The men are filing in from outside, crossing the small lobby and going further inside the church through another door.

  There is occasional conversation, but no more than might be expected in a bus queue. When people talk, their voices tend to be lowered self-consciously.

  Manley and David go by in the procession. David shuffles along, looking only ahead of him. Manley is looking around with careful interest.

  49. STAIRCASE DOWN TO THE CRYPT.

  The procession files down an old stone staircase. Very much a feeling of going underground.

  50. CHURCH CRYPT.

  A catering trolley is being wheeled along. On the trolley are a large soup canister, a bakery tray loaded with an assortment of rolls, two ladles, a few “towers” of polyester beakers.

  We do not see clearly the surroundings through which the trolley is being pushed, but from the dim artificial light, we get an impression we are down near the basement of the building. The trolley stops momentarily. Widening, we see this is due to some double doors which are presently closed. Volunteer 1, a young woman in shirt and jeans, comes into shot to hold open one of the doors. As we follow the trolley through the doorway, Volunteer 2, a young man, comes into view. It is he who is pushing the trolley. We follow the volunteers and the trolley into the church crypt.

  The crypt is the same large basement room we saw in scene two. If space alone were the criterion, this room would be adequate shelter for the fifty or so men now present. However, there is a comfortless, airless feeling about the place. There are now mattresses spread on the floor beside the walls, but otherwise there has been little visible change since 1904. Lighting is by spotlights, which create heavy shadows.

  The men have been sitting on the mattresses conversing much more than they did in the queue outside. As the trolley comes in, there is an oddly quiet, but immediate response; the men rise and move towards the centre of the room where the trolley is expected to halt. No one pushes or comes rushing; there is, nevertheless, an urgency in their manner.

  51. CRYPT. A CORNER.

  Over the shoulder: a sketch plan of the church, which we glimpsed in the attaché case.

  Another angle: Manley is seated on a mattress, back to the wall, studying the sketch plan. He is ignoring the arrival of the trolley.

  Beside him, David is crouching on his heels. He looks anxiously in the direction of the food, then hesitantly at Manley. Shadows moving around them suggest they are among the last to get up.

  DAVID: I thought you were hungry.

  MANLEY: What? Oh… No, no. I’m going to dine later.

  DAVID: There won’t be any left later.

  But Manley is absorbed in his sketch plan. He looks at it intently, frowns, then cranes his neck trying to see something on the other side of the room.

  David shrugs, gets to his feet and goes out of shot.

  52. CRYPT. A CORNER.

  Manley is still sitting by the wall, studying his plan.

  53. CRYPT.

  At the trolley, the two volunteers are as busy as ever.

  Then – a series of shots around the room of the men eating.

  Some of the men, not far from the trolley, are eating standing up. Others eat sitting on their mattresses, backs against a wall. Not only the environment, but the means by which they are obliged to eat makes the whole procedure appear rather disgusting. The men “drink” the beans from the beaker, then chew, taking an occasional bite from a roll. Some eat hungrily. Others appear to be eating only because they know they should, without really caring if they do or not. Many look mentally and physically exhausted. Meanwhile, the buzz of conversation continues. Above which we hear:

  VOLUNTEER 1: [Off: calling in background.] Don’t bung your cups on the ground, please. We’ll come round with a bag in a minute. Don’t bung them on the ground, you’ve got to sleep here, remember.

  One young man stares into his beaker, not eating.

  An older man is making a particular mess of his supper. The beans are running down his chin, but he chews on regardless.

  54. CRYPT.
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br />   The lights have been turned off, but there is still light coming in from somewhere, enabling us to make out the shapes of the fifty or so men huddled or lying asleep.

  A grotesque chorus of snores.

  55. CRYPT. IN FRONT OF THE DOUBLE DOORS.

  The snores continue.

  One of the double doors opens. Manley enters. He comes in backwards, preoccupied with something outside the doors. His duffle bag is on his shoulder.

  He closes the door quietly and turns. He is holding his sketch-plan. He brings this close to his face in the bad light, lowers it again, then looks about him with a perturbed air.

  56. CRYPT.

  A slow pan across sleeping, snoring shapes.

  57. CRYPT. A CORNER. NIGHT.

  Close shot: David, asleep on his side. A hand comes into shot and shakes David’s shoulder. David starts awake – the reflex of someone used to sleeping in places where he fears discovery. He looks up.

  Point of view: David. Manley’s face is looking down at him. There is something alarming about Manley’s face seen in these circumstances.

  MANLEY: [Whispering; he is now more animated than we have yet seen him.] I need your assistance.

  DAVID: What’s the matter?

  MANLEY: [Holding up the sketch-plan.] My information has not proved to be as accurate as I had a right to expect. Do you know the geography of this building?

  DAVID: [Props himself up on to his elbows and looks past Manley as though for some explanation.] What? What you up to?

  MANLEY: I wish to reach the vestry. I need first to get up to the main church.

  DAVID: [Pointing.] Well, you can go up through… [He breaks off.] Look, what you up to?

  MANLEY: I am hungry. I wish to dine. Perhaps you’d be so good as to indicate to me how to get to the main church.

  DAVID: Well, no wonder you’re hungry. You should have ate when you had the chance. What’s all this about the vestry anyhow?

  MANLEY: [Becoming impatient.] I expect to find my dinner there.

  DAVID: You reckon?

  MANLEY: To that extent, my information should prove reliable. Now, if you’d be so good as to assist me. I’m very hungry.

  DAVID: Should have eaten when I told you to.

  David turns over to go back to sleep. But he remembers the times he has been hungry. Almost immediately, he looks up again at Manley, sighs and begins to get up.

  DAVID: There won’t be anything left anyway.

  58. STAIRCASE.

  David and Manley are climbing the staircase we came down earlier. We cannot see much in the darkness, but we hear Manley’s heavy breathing. This may well be due to physical effort, but it also sounds like mounting excitement.

  59. TOP OF STAIRCASE.

  The better light shows us that Manley is still carrying his duffle bag.

  DAVID: [Low voice.] You’ll know better next time. Stomach’s always going to catch up with you.

  Manley, breathing heavily, consults his sketch map.

  MANLEY: Mmmm.

  Manley starts to go in one direction. David touches his arm and leads in the opposite direction.

  DAVID: This way.

  60. CHURCH.

  Viewed from the pulpit. Many shadows. We see the pews, etc., by the moonlight coming through the windows.

  In a shot strongly reminiscent of scene three, we first hear Manley’s breathing, then gradually make out the figures of Manley and David. We hear, in lowered voices:

  DAVID: [Voice-over.] They catch us doing this, we’ll get banned from this place. [Then a new thought.] Anyway, it’ll all be locked up.

  MANLEY: [Voice-over.] I have all the appropriate keys.

  DAVID: [Voice-over.] God. How d’you get those?

  61. IN FRONT OF THE VESTRY DOOR.

  Close up: Manley’s hands sorting through a bunch of mortis keys. These keys all have large tags – these are the same we glimpsed in scene ten.

  Wider angle: Manley selects a key and fits it to the vestry door. Meanwhile, David stands beside him, casting nervous glances all around the church.

  MANLEY: [As key turns.] Ah.

  Manley opens the door. David looks quickly at the doorway, then throws more furtive glances around the church.

  DAVID: Well, enjoy yourself.

  David begins to move off. Manley grasps his arm – but not aggressively. It could almost be an insistent hospitality.

  MANLEY: You’re very welcome to join me. In fact, I suspect I’ll need further assistance. Please.

  Manley ushers a reluctant David into the vestry.

  62. VESTRY.

  David looks about him. Manley comes in behind him. He shuts and locks the door. David does not see this. Manley also surveys the vestry.

  Point of view: Manley and David: A small bare room as in scene four. Light from outside illuminates the doorway through to the back room. Now, as in 1904, the doorway has no door. It is black and ominous, like the gateway to another world.

  DAVID: [Trying to hide nervousness.] Well, I can’t see any food. Anyway, I’ve had my supper.

  David turns and goes to the vestry door, and finds it locked. He tries a few more times to open it. His manner reveals how desperate he is to get out of the vestry. He turns and looks back at Manley.

  Manley, all the while, has been looking around the room with interest, not bothering with David’s efforts to get out.

  DAVID: You’ve locked it.

  Manley puts down his duffle bag, then takes off his coat, revealing his safari costume with dangling pans, spoons, etc. He drops the coat on the floor.

  David watches for a beat, then looks towards the doorway to the back room.

  DAVID: [Sounding casual.] Er – I’ll take a look what’s in here.

  David sneaks past Manley towards the black doorway. Manley is too preoccupied with his unpacking to look up at David.

  On black doorway: David hesitates at the threshold, trying to see into the blackness. He gives a quick glance towards Manley, then vanishes through the doorway.

  On Manley: who looks up and watches the doorway as though for confirmation of something he knows will happen.

  On black doorway: hold on the doorway for an ominously long time – long enough so that we expect a scream or something from within.

  Then David appears in the doorway. He looks utterly drained.

  MANLEY: [Smiling.] Well? What did you find in there?

  DAVID: [Shocked.] There’s nothing there. Completely black. [He manages a nervous laugh.] I thought for a minute I wouldn’t get back out.

  MANLEY: Now, my friend, why don’t you help me instead of wandering around like that. There’s a good fellow.

  Manley is holding out his hand invitingly towards the floor.

  Another angle: in the half-light, we make out an array of objects Manley has laid out on the floor. These are basically the objects we saw in scene twenty-two: the stove, the various metallic utensils, the net, jars and containers – and Dr Grosvenor’s box.

  On David: the experience in the back room has shaken him. He seems to have lost the will to offer any resistance. He looks meekly at the equipment. Then, as though suddenly remembering, he looks nervously back to the black doorway and takes a step away from it. Dissolve to:

  63. VESTRY.

  Close shot: a candle burning on a saucer on the floor.

  Another angle: Manley is shifting about studying something on the floor around the black doorway. We cannot yet see what it is he is studying. He crouches, moves around to get another perspective, like a golfer assessing a crucial putt.

  David is standing behind him, leaning against a wall. He is clutching his jacket protectively to himself.

  MANLEY: Mmm.

  Manley crouches again to scrutinize the unseen objects on the floor. Clearly, he is unhappy about something.

  Manley straightens, then without taking his eyes from the floor, gestures towards David.

  MANLEY: Your jacket. That will do.

  DAVID: What?

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p; MANLEY: [Gesturing more impatiently; eyes still fixed on the floor.] Give me your jacket.

  David is still clutching his jacket to himself.

  DAVID: Rather not, if it’s all right with you. I need this jacket.

  MANLEY: [Impatient.] You’ll get it back, man. Now this is important. Your jacket.

  Manley goes on studying the floor, a hand held out in full expectation of being handed the jacket.

  David looks about him, then reluctantly begins to take off his jacket. At one point, he hesitates, then continues. The reason for his hesitation is that there is a big hole in his shirt, previously hidden by the jacket. He tries to make the hole less conspicuous by hiding it under an arm.

  Manley takes the jacket from David without looking at him and continues to shift and assess, holding the jacket open before him.

  DAVID: Look – er – I need that jacket. It’s not going to get…

  MANLEY: [Cutting in.] You’ll get it back. Now, kindly allow me a few moments of silence. The most precise calculations are essential here.

  David looks on, worried for his jacket.

  64. VESTRY. LATER.

  Close shot: the rip on David’s shirt. David is fingering it self-consciously, as though somehow it can be folded away.

  Widen to find Manley and David sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, facing the black doorway. The candle is on the floor in front of them. Manley is not expecting the ghost to appear quite yet. Nevertheless, his eyes are fixed on the doorway. He wears a brooding look. David is also looking at the doorway. His posture suggests he is trying to maximize the distance between himself and the doorway.

  On the black doorway: hold on the doorway for a beat. Then moving down, we see something has happened to the floor in front of the threshold. A line of what appears to be pieces of bread forms a semi-circle around the doorway. Within the semi-circle, the floor is covered with white powder, dotted with what looks like olives. In a central position, David’s jacket is laid out, arms outstretched.

  On Manley and David: David gives a start at Manley’s voice, though it is not loud.

  MANLEY: Very well. I will tell you.

  DAVID: What’s that?

  MANLEY: One night in nineteen hundred and four, a pauper was murdered. In there.

  David follows Manley’s gaze.