Fairy Tale: A True Story
aka
One Golden Afternoon
(based on a true story)
Screenplay by
Ernie Contreras
FADE IN:
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND - SUMMER (1919) - DAY 2
Under a canopy of mature trees a breeze creates shifting patterns
of dappled sunlight. The O.S. sound of a gurgling stream is music
for a chorus of leaves slow dancing their way down into a musty,
moss-draped glen. Blankets of wild flowers sway in time.
A spindly stream furrows along the bottom of the glen, under an
old fallen tree bridge, then down the rocky terrace of a small
waterfall. Leaves spin in the agitation below. A YOUNG HAND
reaches in and plucks one out.
A thicket of blazing purple heather parts like theater curtains,
revealing a perfectly miniature dining room set -- eight chairs
and a table expertly crafted of tiny twigs and dried flower petals.
The table is elegantly set for tea, with acorn tea cups and
eucalyptus plates.
The young "giant" hand reaches down with the leaf, now a water-
filled urn, and carefully fills each acorn cup with a drop of
water.
Slowly pan up over folds of black material to the pale, too serious
face of ten-year old ELSIE WRIGHT. Her sad eyes desperately search
the glen for her absent "guests".
WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
(distant, calling)
Elsie!
Elsie looks up, a deer sensing danger. She quickly closes the
heather and moves off.
EXT. CARETAKER'S COTTAGE - DAY 3
A charming two story thatch roof English cottage set back in a
large clearing off the glen. POLLY WRIGHT, early thirties, dressed
in black, paces the porch, searching for...
POLLY
Elsie!
Elsie approaches from the glen, sees her mother on the porch,
then sneaks around to the other side of the house.
ELSIE
(innocent)
Yes, Mum?
2.
Polly turns. Up close we see that her face is drawn. Her sad
eyes register a full tragic compliment -- anguish, remorse,
yearning -- an ugly mask covering an obvious beauty underneath.
POLLY
Elsie, where have you been?
Elsie points in the opposite direction from which she came.
ELSIE
(lying)
In the garden...
We hear the sound of dogs barking in the distance...
EXT. WIGGINS MANOR - DAY 4
Two classic AIREDALE dogs bark and howl as their master, the stuffy
aristocrat, LORD WIGGINS, keeps them on a short leash. They're
posing for photographs in front of the manor house, a castle-size
brick and ivy fortress, complete with sculptured gardens, classic
statuary, Rolls Royce and endless vistas.
Taking the photographs is ARTIE WRIGHT, amateur photographer and
caretaker to Wiggins Manor. Artie's what they call a real
"Yorkshire man" -- hard working, honest, forthright and genuine.
WIGGINS
Get on with it, Mr. Wright, I haven't
got all day!
Artie fumbles with an old box camera, slides in a glass plate
negative.
ARTIE
Right, Sir...just one more...that's
it...
(snaps)
Done, Sir.
Wiggins releases the dogs who gallop off past the Rolls Royce.
Wiggins starts off, then turns back. As Artie packs...
WIGGINS
Make sure my guns are cleaned and
oiled for the hunt, Mr. Wright.
ARTIE
I'll do that, Sir.
Moving past, he taps the Rolls' fairie-like hood ornament.
3.
WIGGINS
And give her a look under the hood.
She seems a bit winded lately.
ARTIE
Right, Sir.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - DAY 5
Shards of dusty light slice into the room through half drawn
curtains. The air hangs thick and joyless.
Elsie sits across from her mother, loops of crimson yarn extend
between her small hands. Polly is knitting -- a big, half finished
sweater nestled in her lap.
The spindle of yarn stretches between mother and daughter like an
umbilical cord. They sit in silence. Tears well up in Polly's
eyes. Elsie looks down, as if she were the cause.
The FRONT DOOR creaks open. Elsie turns adoring eyes on her
father, Artie Wright, whose thick, blue collar frame fills the
doorway. He enters carrying his camera equipment. He looks in
on the scene, frowns momentarily, then forces a smile.
ELSIE
(pleased)
Dad...
ARTIE
(upbeat)
Ah, it's good to see m'girls workin'
together.
Artie opens a cupboard door under the stairs, puts the camera
equipment inside.
POLLY
How did it go?
ARTIE
Well enough, I hope. It's a nice
change from cleanin' the kennels.
Artie kisses Elsie on the head. He turns to Polly, thinks twice
and pulls back. He reaches for Elsie's yarn.
ARTIE
(continuing; to Elsie)
C'mon now, give me a chance.
Elsie hesitates, then transfers the yarn to Artie's thick,
calloused hands, allowing her gaze to linger in the blackness of
his fingernails.
4.
ARTIE
(continuing, to Elsie)
Aren't y'suppose to be playin' or
somethin'? Go on.
Elsie smiles and moves off up the stairs.
ARTIE
(continuing, to Elsie)
And don't forget to make up the extra
bed. Your cousin'll be in t'morrow.
ELSIE
I won't forget.
Artie sits across from Polly with the yarn. It's awkward.
ARTIE
(after a beat)
Did Elsie tell ye?
POLLY
Tell me what?
ARTIE
About her exams. She passed.
POLLY
Really...I didn't know.
Artie stares at Polly's face for a considerable time. She doesn't
return his gaze.
ARTIE
(means it)
Damn it, Polly...you're still the
prettiest woman in Yorkshire.
A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.
INT. COTTAGE - ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 6
Honest and charming, as attic rooms are -- a vaulted ceiling,
exposed beams and rafters, unfinished walls, a wood plank floor,
deep set dormer windows, a small closet. Romantic and tragic at
the same time. The open space is sparsely furnished with two
beds (one unmade,) and a mirrored dresser.
In a corner is a charming, fairy tale doll house, hand crafted of
twigs, moss and dried flower petals. It's very much a work in
progress -- pieces of it remain unfinished.
Flashes of pink color reflect in the beveled edges of the dresser
mirror.
5.
Then, lightly stepping full figure into the reflection, we see
Elsie, dancing tippy-toe like a ballerina, wearing a shiny pink
dress. Unfastened in back, the dress is loosely draped over her
mourning black. As she reaches out to her reflection...
ELSIE
(play acting)
Why, I would love to teach you to
dance, Princess Mary...
Elsie dizzily waltzes her imaginary partner around and around the
room. A knock at the door shatters her reverie. She scrambles
for cover behind the doll house.
Up over the folds of the pink dress, across the open back of the
doll house we see that its tiny rooms are scattered with miniature
twig furniture of the same design as the pieces in the glen.
There's something lonely about it all -- a feeling of abandonment.
From outside, giant eyes peer curiously in through the windows.
ARTIE
Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood
of an Englishman... Be he alive, or
be he dead...
Artie rises over the roof of the house like the giant he is.
ARTIE
(continuing)
I'll grind his bones to make my bread!
ELSIE
(can't help but giggle)
You're a silly one.
ARTIE
How was your mum today?
ELSIE
The same.
Artie notices Elsie's dress. She becomes self conscious, pulls
it over her head.
ARTIE
That's a pretty dress, Elsie.
Elsie smiles a soft reply. Artie takes the dress, fingers in its
material.
ARTIE
(continuing)
A young girl should wear pretty
things.
6.
ELSIE
I don't mind.
Artie stares at her lovingly for more than a beat.
ARTIE
(softens)
Y've got a good heart, Elsie.
(gestures)
Give your dad some room.
Elsie scoots over. Artie folds in next to her behind the doll
house. Quiet as he studies its interior, then rearranges some of
the furniture.
ARTIE
(continuing)
Aye, this'll be a fine home someday.
Elsie's thoughts wander the rooms of the doll house.
ARTIE
(continuing)
M'be your cousin Frances could help
y'finish it?
ELSIE
Will she be staying long?
ARTIE
(heaves a sigh)
Unless there's a miracle.
INT. COTTAGE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT 7
The Wrights are sitting to dinner. Polly and Elsie, both in black,
sit across from each other like stilted ravens. Artie's in the
middle devouring his food. He's talking, perhaps too animated,
for this table. Polly is only half interested, her eyes keep
returning to an empty chair.
ARTIE
(animated, mid
conversation)
...so now the score is tied and the
Cottingley boys are charging down
with only seconds left.
(continuing)
Shane Conners passes the ball to
Johnny Smythe, the Rector's boy,
who's standing square in front of
the goal with nothin' but the net in
front of him; a gift from God.
7.
ARTIE
Little Johnny swings back his leg
and kicks with all his soul...
Artie whistles, tracing the trajectory of the ball with his finger.
ARTIE
(continuing; whistling)
...over the net it went.
(good natured laugh)
The rector just about broke his beads.
Elsie giggles. Polly offers a half smile. Artie catches her
eyes in his.
ARTIE
(continuing)
Y'should've been there, Polly.
POLLY
Maybe next time.
ARTIE
Mrs. Harrison, was askin' about ye.
She said they missed y'voice in the
choir.
(mimicking)
"Polly Wright's got a voice like an
angel," she said.
Polly's eyes turn to the empty chair. She's momentarily lost...
POLLY
Mrs. Harrison was Joseph's art
teacher.
Polly looks up, tries to rejoin the conversation...
POLLY
(continuing, trying)
Well, I'm sorry for the lads. Though
Joseph would have a thing or two to
say to Johnny Smythe, I think.
ARTIE
Aye, he liked to win, all right.
Polly's eyes cloud over, she pushes back from the table.
POLLY
Excuse me.
Artie and Elsie watch her hurry off up the stairs. There's silence
between them.
8.
ELSIE
(matter of fact)
Joseph hated soccer.
ARTIE
(agreeing)
Right. He was a cricket man.
ELSIE
Is she ever going to get better?
ARTIE
'Course she is.
ELSIE
When?
ARTIE
(after a beat)
Y'see, Elsie. It's like your
brother's death left this big hole
in her heart.
Artie grabs a slice of bread, tears a hole out from its middle.
ARTIE
(continuing)
An' she's searchin' for somethin' to
fill the hole, she just don't know
with what...Unfortunately, neither
do I.
Artie tenderly strokes Elsie's cheek.
ARTIE
(continuing)
M'be you'll be the one t'find it.
Elsie gazes up at her father with hopeful eyes.
ARTIE
(continuing)
Say, how'd y'like t'come with me to
Bradford tomorrow to pick up your
cousin Frances?
Elsie nods enthusiastically, then contemplatively...
ELSIE
I couldn't imagine traveling all the
way from South Africa by myself.
She must be terribly frightened.
9.
EXT. YORKSHIRE COUNTRYSIDE - DAY 8
The jarring clatter of a powerful steam locomotive bullying it's
way past camera. Fat billows of white smoke trail in its wake.
INT. TRAIN - OLD PASSENGER CAR - DAY 9
Rattling and pitching from side to side. The bare bones car is
filled with YOUNG SOLDIERS returning from the "great war." Worn,
maimed and numb, they sit in terrified silence. A silence broken
by the pleading VOICE of a young girl.
VOICE (FRANCES) (O.S.)
(English accent)
Please, Sir?
We move up the aisle in search of the voice, partially revealing
a spasm of wild curls in front of a BANDAGED SOLDIER.
VOICE (O.S.)
(continuing)
Won't you help me?
Swing around to reveal eight year-old FRANCES GRIFFITHS sitting
across from the bandaged soldier. She's holding up a "string
game" webbed between her fingers. Her innocent smile belies the
mischief in her eyes.
FRANCES
Just put your finger through the
middle there...it won't hurt, I
promise.
The soldier shifts uncomfortably. Puts his finger in.
FRANCES
(continuing, excited)
Ready?
Frances suddenly yanks her hands apart and the web disappears,
releasing the soldier's finger. The soldier offers a small smile.
It's all he's got.
Frances' joyous LAUGHTER cuts through the car. SOLDIERS look
back, searching out the unfamiliar sound -- all except one, the
CORPORAL, whom we see from the back only.
CORPORAL
(growling)
Keep it down! This ain't no circus
train!
10.
Reverse angle and we see that the corporal's face is horribly
disfigured --half of it melted like candle wax.
Unawares, Frances slowly walks up the aisle behind him.
FRANCES
Sir...?
Intending to frighten her, the corporal spins around, offering
the full grotesqueness of his disfigurement. Frances doesn't
flinch. She steps up to him proffering her string game.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Would you like to try?
Disarmed, shamed by his anger.
CORPORAL
My God. What are you doing on this
train, little girl?
FRANCES
I'm going to visit my uncle in
Cottingley.
CORPORAL
(disdainful)
Holidays...
FRANCES
Oh, no. My daddy's a soldier like
you. He's stationed in France...
though they say he's missing.
The corporal knows what "missing" means. His insides twist.
FRANCES
(continuing; excited)
But guess what? He promised to bring
me back French perfume.
(matter of fact)
So I'll be staying in Cottingley
until he returns. Which shouldn't
be too long.
The corporal scoots over, gestures for Frances to sit. She
snuggles in beside him.
FRANCES
(continuing; after a
beat)
I bet you're happy to be going home.
11.
CORPORAL
(almost to himself)
That's a bet you'd lose.
The corporal tilts away the injured side of his face.
FRANCES
(after a beat)
It doesn't look so bad, really.
CORPORAL
I look like a monster.
FRANCES
No you don't. I'm afraid of monsters.
I'm not afraid of you.
The corporal's face softens as he stares out the window at the
passing countryside. Frances nudges him. He turns back, she's
holding up the string game.
EXT. TRAIN STATION PLATFORM - DAY 10
Elsie navigates through the crowded platform along side the train,
which shivers and releases its last breath of steam. All around
her, worn and tired SOLDIERS reunite with their FAMILIES. Slowed
by his girth, Artie falls behind.
Elsie stops dead in her tracks. She's looking up at something
with a curious countenance. From her POV up, we see Frances
sitting atop a throne-like luggage cart, playing the string game
with the corporal (his good side to Elsie.) The corporal releases
the web, tangling his hands. They laugh together like old friends.
ELSIE
(more amazed than unsure)
Frances?
FRANCES
(blaring)
Cousin Elsie!
Frances flies off the trunk and nearly bowls Elsie over with a
hug. Elsie's surprised and warmed by the attack. Artie steps
up. Frances hugs him too. The corporal watches the exchange.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Elsie, Uncle Artie, I want you to
meet my friend Corporal...
Frances turns back, the corporal is gone.
12.
INT. BRADFORD TRAIN STATION - DAY 11
Cavernous, plastered with anti-Kaiser WWI propaganda posters.
Benches are crowded with the silent and weary... "waiting".
Elsie curiously watches Frances shuffle and hop through, as if
mere walking was out of the question. Frances points down to
Elsie's foot.
FRANCES
Step on a crack, break your mother's
back.
Elsie looks down at her foot, directly over a crack. The
repercussion sinks in. She quickly jumps off.
EXT. BRADFORD STATION - DAY 12
The girls run out onto the street and up to an old horse drawn
lorry -- a low open-back wagon. Frances pats the horse's nose.
FRANCES
Elsie, your horse is beautiful.
ELSIE
She's not ours. She belongs to Lord
Wiggins.
FRANCES
Who's that?
ELSIE
You ever hear of Wiggins Manor?
(Frances shakes her head,
"no")
Dad's the caretaker.
FRANCES
Well, it must be a very grand manor
if Uncle Artie takes care of it.
ELSIE
It is the largest in the county.
A HAGGARD-LOOKING MAN wearing a black arm band meanders down the
street passing out flyers. He hands one to Frances as...
Artie arrives and heaves Frances' steamer trunk onto the lorry.
ARTIE
C'mon girls. It's a long drive back
to Cottingley. Up you go.
13.
Artie lifts Elsie onto the back of the lorry then turns for
Frances, who's already climbing up the spokes of the back wheel.
As the lorry clears out, light reflects off its lantern,
illuminating a face watching from the shadows...it's the corporal.
EXT. BRADFORD TO COTTINGLEY ROAD - DAY 13
A vast rolling green carpet dissected by an odd crochet of ancient
stone walls. The lorry moves across a hillside road. Down in
the near distance is quaint Cottingley village.
The girls are huddled over the flyer.
FRANCES
What's it say, Elsie?
ELSIE
Something about a lecture.
FRANCES
What about?
ELSIE
Angels...
The girls exchange amazed looks, then giggle.
EXT. COTTAGE - DAY 14
As the lorry approaches.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - DAY 15
Elsie enters followed by Frances.
FRANCES
(curiously surveying)
It's so dark in here.
ELSIE
We're back, Mum.
Polly is sitting in the parlor with her knitting ready.
FRANCES
Aunt Polly!
Rushing to Polly, Frances inadvertently drops the flyer on the
floor. She hugs her aunt, who hugs back less intensely.
14.
POLLY
Frances, let me have a look at you.
(arms length)
What a big girl you are.
FRANCES
(proudly)
Almost nine.
Polly strokes Frances' hair. Elsie watches, a twinge of jealousy
disturbs her.
POLLY
Poor dear girl. You must have had a
ghastly trip.
FRANCES
Not at all. On the boat the captain
let me watch for pirates.
POLLY
How exciting!
Feeling left out, Elsie takes up the yarn, holds it out to her
mother.
ELSIE
(needy)
Would you like to knit now, Mum?
Frances feels the sweater.
FRANCES
Oh, it's beautiful. Who's the lucky
one?
Polly shifts uncomfortably. Artie enters and moves quickly, taking
the yarn from Elsie.
ARTIE
(to Elsie)
Take Frances up to the room. She
must be exhausted.
FRANCES
I'm not really.
Artie shoots her a look which says it isn't an option.
ELSIE
C'mon, Frances.
The girls move off toward the stairs. Artie tries to comfort
Polly -- it's awkward.
15.
ARTIE
Can I get y'anything, Polly?
POLLY
(shaking her head)
No, I'm fine, really.
ARTIE
(fumbling)
I'll go...get Frances' trunk.
Artie exits. Polly notices the flyer on the floor. She picks it
up, reads: "Do Angels Exist? A Lecture on Theosophy by E.L.
Gardner."
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - SAME TIME 16
Frances rushes up the stairs ahead of Elsie, who's still looking
into the parlor.
FRANCES
Which room, Elsie?
ELSIE
(distracted)
Top of the stairs.
On the landing Frances opens the first door she comes to. It's a
young man's room, thick with dust. Cricket sticks hang on the
wall. Books are strewn about in haphazard piles. A tarnished
trumpet sits on a desk. Credible drawings are taped to the walls.
Elsie reaches in past Frances and quickly closes the door. Elsie
points to another set of stairs leading up to an attic room.
ELSIE
(continuing)
Those stairs, Frances.
FRANCES
(amazed, off door)
Whose room is this?
ELSIE
Joseph's. C'mom.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 17
Elsie pushes into the room followed by Frances, who's immediately
drawn to the doll house.
16.
FRANCES
Oh, Elsie, what a wonderful doll
house.
Frances looks into the open back. Examines a twig rocking chair.
FRANCES
(continuing)
How perfect. Did you make it
yourself?
ELSIE
Me and Joseph...
(the truth)
Mostly Joseph.
FRANCES
(searching)
But where are the dollies?
ELSIE
It's not for dolls, Frances.
Artie kicks open the door and enters lugging Frances' steamer
trunk. He drops it, groans as he comically straightens his back
on his way out. The girls can't help but giggle.
Frances begins unlatching the heavy brass locks of her trunk.
Elsie points back to the high dresser.
ELSIE
(continuing)
You can have the two bottom drawers.
FRANCES
Thank you, but I'll keep my things
in here. I want to be ready when my
daddy comes for me.
Frances cracks open her steamer trunk, which parts vertically,
like a mini-closet. Elsie's eyes flare at the burst of color --
dresses, shoes, beads -- the brightness lights up the room. Elsie
pulls out a colorful print dress.
ELSIE
(almost to herself)
Look at the colors...
FRANCES
Mummy made that for me. But I picked
the fabric.
17.
ELSIE
(saddened)
I'm terribly sorry about your mum,
Frances.
FRANCES
Don't be, Elsie. She's with the
angels now.
Frances touches a small snapshot edged into a corner of the
steamer's vanity mirror. It's of a fancy lady. Elsie looks in
over her shoulder.
ELSIE
She's beautiful.
FRANCES
Isn't she? Daddy says I have her
hair.
Elsie nods in agreement. She hands the colorful dress back to
Frances.
FRANCES
(continuing)
How long have you and Aunt Polly
been wearing black?
ELSIE
Joseph died a year and four months
ago.
FRANCES
That's long enough isn't it?
ELSIE
Usually...but, you see...Joseph was
my mum's favorite.
FRANCES
(case solved)
Well, I guess that's you now.
As Elsie considers the irony, Frances points out the window.
FRANCES
(continuing)
What's that out there?
ELSIE
Cottingley glen.
FRANCES
Let's go!
18.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - DAY 18
Frances gallops down the grassy descent into the glen. Elsie
follows, watching her cousin with curious interest.
Frances suddenly stops, causing Elsie to bump her from behind.
FRANCES
(awed)
Look, Elsie.
On the ground before them is a mysterious circle of crimson capped
toadstools (Fly Agarie.) So perfectly round is the circle that
it appears otherworldly, as if constructed with a purpose beyond
our logic, a kind of fungus Stonehenge.
FRANCES
(continuing)
A fairie ring.
Frances looks back at Elsie. Elsie steps up to the ring, staring
at it as if it were the strangest thing.
ELSIE
(confused)
How did that get there?
FRANCES
They appear overnight.
It's where they dance.
ELSIE
I know that.
FRANCES
Well, c'mon then, let's find them!
Frances rushes off.
ELSIE
Frances, stop.
FRANCES
(turns back)
Elsie, what's the matter?
ELSIE
They're gone.
FRANCES
Gone? Gone where?
19.
ELSIE
(shrugs)
They went away when Joseph died.
FRANCES
(pointing down)
But that's their ring. Elsie, they
have to be here.
(thinking)
Have you tried cake?
ELSIE
(insulted)
Don't you think I would have thought
of that? I know more about the
fairies than anyone.
FRANCES
(challenged)
Do you really?
The following is a staccato volley of fairie knowledge one
upsmanship.
FRANCES
(continuing; fast)
What do you call fairie magic?
ELSIE
Glamour. What's a fairie's favorite
thing to do?
FRANCES
Dance. What's their favorite drink?
ELSIE
Honeysuckle dew.
FRANCES
What are fairie clothes made of?
ELSIE
Spider silk.
Frances looks around the glen for something really good, then
down at the fairie ring.
FRANCES
(serious)
What happens if you stand inside a
fairie ring?
20.
ELSIE
(forboding)
They can capture you and take you
away forever. Or worse...
(pause)
They can put a curse on you.
The girls shudder, then howl, as they jump around, excited by
their shared interest.
FRANCES
(excited)
Let's call them, Elsie.
ELSIE
Frances, I've tried so often sometimes
I'm not sure if they were real at
all.
FRANCES
Maybe if we tried together. If we
believed with all our might...
Frances reaches out to Elsie across the ring. Elsie hesitates,
then takes her cousin's hands.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Do you know the chant?
ELSIE
Of course.
Frances starts circling the ring, performing a twisting, high
stepping dance, pulling Elsie along. Frances starts to CHANT,
slowly at first...
FRANCES
(soft to loud)
Come out from your fairie bower...Come
upon this golden hour...
Frances shoots a "get with it" look to Elsie, who joins in,
cautiously at first.
FRANCES/ELSIE
Come to us we beg you please...
fairies dancing on the breeze...
(repeat)
A breeze tousles Elsie's hair. A tiny twister stirs up the flowers
inside the fairie ring.
21.
Magic begins to happen... Shots of the glen under the continuing
CHANT. Wind gusts whistle through the trees, tiny novas of light
glimmer off the stream, something stirs the grass...
The girls suddenly freeze. The glen is eerily silent, except for
the tinkling of the stream -- or is it tiny laughter?
FRANCES
Look Elsie! Over by the waterfall!
A funnel of heavenly light strikes the cascade of the fall,
creating a diaphanous image in the spray. Elsie gasps.
The girls run over to the stream. On their reflections in the
water -- their mesmerized expressions illuminated by something
"glowing" before them. Something we cannot see...
INT. COTTAGE - DINING ROOM - EVENING 19
Dinner. Elsie and Frances sit next to each other across from
Polly. Artie is at the head of the table, inhaling his food as
usual. The girls stare at him with amazement. He notices he's
being watched. Stops mid fork.
ARTIE
(through mouthful)
What?
The girls exchange giggle and smiles with Polly.
POLLY
So... How have you girls been getting
along?
FRANCES
Just splendidly, Aunt Polly.
ELSIE
Frances has been telling me all about
South Africa.
FRANCES
And Elsie showed me the glen.
Polly shoots a glance toward Elsie, then back to Frances.
FRANCES
(continuing)
It's so beautiful. And we met the
most precious little...
ELSIE
(intercepting)
Butterflies. Tiny yellow ones.
22.
ELSIE
Right, Frances?
FRANCES
No, Elsie, I meant the fairies.
Artie stops chewing. Polly looks at Elsie, who averts her eyes.
ARTIE
(tempered)
Well it's been a while since we've
heard about them, now, hasn't it.
Frances, we all want y'to have fun
while y'here, but no one in this
house believes in fairies.
Artie turns to Polly for support, but her focus is turned on
Frances, who in turn looks to Elsie for support, who continues to
stare at her plate.
FRANCES
Excuse me, Uncle Artie, but Elsie
believes in fairies. We were playing
with them. And she said Joseph used
to...
ELSIE
Frances, please...
POLLY
(patient, polite, maternal)
What do they look like, Frances?
FRANCES
(gestures)
Oh, they're all different sorts,
Aunt Polly. But usually, they're
about so high, with pretty wings and
handsome faces. Except for Mr.
Bandylegs.
ARTIE
Mr. Bandylegs.
Frances shakes her head and makes an ugly impish face -- a gnome
face.
ARTIE
(continuing)
M'be your eyes was playin' tricks on
ye.
FRANCES
I know what I saw.
23.
POLLY
(calm, but challenging)
So, did you see them, Elsie?
Elsie looks from face to face as though she'll choke.
FRANCES
Elsie? Tell them about the water
sprite we saw in the beck. Elsie?!
Elsie looks at Polly and back at her plate. Artie tries to end
the discussion.
ARTIE
Easy now, Frances. It's likely y'saw
a perch flashin' in t'sun.
FRANCES
(matter of fact)
I bloody well know the difference
between a fairie and a fish!
ELSIE
(shocked, had enough)
Frances!!
Polly stares at Frances with a bemused expression. Artie and
Elsie stare at Frances in disbelief.
INT. DINING ROOM - A SHORT TIME LATER - NIGHT 20
Frances is helping Polly clear the table.
FRANCES
I'm sorry about dinner, Aunt Polly.
I didn't mean to upset anyone.
POLLY
Tell me Frances, do you really believe
in fairies?
FRANCES
Oh yes. I couldn't see them if I
didn't. I believe in a great many
things -- fairies, angels...
Angle into dining room from the foyer where we see Elsie sitting
at the bottom of the steps, eavesdropping.
POLLY
(gently chiding)
Ahh, so you saw angels in the glen
as well?
24.
FRANCES
Of course not. You can't see angels.
You just sort of...feel them. You
know, like my mum and Joseph...
(gestures)
Watching over us.
Faced with Frances' belief about her mother, Polly can say nothing.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Isn't that what you believe, Aunt
Polly?
Polly looks intently at Frances.
POLLY
In many ways you remind me of Joseph.
On the stairs, Elsie reacts, that hurt.
POLLY
(continuing)
You're both so stubborn. So certain
of everything. How he would argue...
ELSIE
Over what?
Polly gently holds Frances' chin and looks into her eyes.
POLLY
You're still young, Frances. But
there'll come a time when you'll
have to put away childish notions.
FRANCES
I'll never stop believing in fairies,
if that's what you mean.
POLLY
Frances, I've been in the glen
hundreds of times. Why have I never
seen them?
FRANCES
Grown ups don't know how to believe.
Polly is moved by the simple truth.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY 21
KIDS of various ages sit obediently before the sour faced, MRS.
PEABODY, who painfully scratches Frances' name on the blackboard.
25.
Kids snicker and glance back at Frances, whose colorful attire
contrasts their own muted world.
From across the room Elsie glances over at Frances, waves with
her fingers. Mrs. Peabody raps her pointer, calling attention.
MRS PEABODY
Children, today we have a new member
of our class. Frances Griffiths
would you please come up front and
tell us about yourself.
Elsie winces as she watches Frances swagger up to the front of
the class like she owned the place.
FRANCES
My name is Frances Griffiths and I
hail from South Africa.
Whispered GIGGLES go up throughout the room. POTSY WHITCOMB, the
class know-it-all, quickly raises her hand.
MRS PEABODY
Yes, Potsy.
POTSY
I'm curious, Miss Griffiths. If
you're from South Africa, why do you
sound so, "English?"
FRANCES
Actually, I was born in England. We
moved to South Africa when I was
five. My daddy's a gold miner.
(sincere)
And just for your information, Potsy,
South Africa is a British dominion.
Lots of people there sound English.
Potsy's nostrils flare at being corrected. LIZZY HAVERSHAM
politely raises her hand. Elsie glances across the aisle at Lizzy
and her friend, MORGANA PLUM, the snottiest girls in school.
MRS PEABODY
Yes, Lizzy Haversham.
LIZZY
Miss Griffiths, about Africa...
Lizzy exchanges a mischievous "watch this" look with Morgana.
LIZZY
(continuing)
Is it true that most Africans are
cannibals?
26.
Snickers from the class.
FRANCES
(matter of fact)
I never met any.
Morgana raises her hand, stifles a giggle. Mrs. Peabody gives
her the "nod."
MRS PEABODY
Morgana...
MORGANA
(to Frances)
Um... Did you have to wear a ring
through your nose?
A bigger round of snickers. Frances' smile morphs to anger as
she realizes she's being made fun of. Mrs. Peabody bangs her
pointer on the desk, restoring order.
FRANCES
(with intent)
I didn't, though some Africans do,
Morgana. It's the same as wearing
pierced earrings. Just like the
ones you have on.
Morgana self consciously touches her earrings.
FRANCES
(continuing, defiantly)
Any more bloody stupid questions?
Gasps go up. Elsie thunks her head down on her desk.
MRS PEABODY
(banging her pointer)
Miss Griffiths!
EXT. MEADOW PATH - DAY 22
The meadow path is a rural short cut from Cottingley Village to
the glen. Elsie and Frances stomp through, neither looks happy.
FRANCES
Well they started it!
ELSIE
I know they did, Frances, but you
must try to be nicer or you'll never
make any friends.
27.
FRANCES
I don't care. I have you...you like
me, don't you Elsie?
ELSIE
Very much.
FRANCES
And I have the fairies.
ELSIE
(nods, baiting)
And my mum. She adores you.
Elsie waits for a reply, none comes.
ELSIE
(continuing)
In fact you two seem to be getting
along splendidly.
Frances senses what Elsie's getting at.
FRANCES
She just likes to hear about the
fairies.
MR. TELLER, the kindly postman, rings his bell as he rides his
bike past the girls.
MR. TELLER
Afternoon, ladies...
ELSIE
Afternoon, Mr. Teller!
Frances gets a look in her eye then bolts after Teller.
FRANCES
(calling)
Mr. Teller!
Teller stops his bike as Frances runs up.
FRANCES
(continuing)
I'm expecting a very important letter
from France. From my daddy. For
Frances Griffiths...that's me.
Frances fidgets as Teller riffles through his inventory.
MR. TELLER
Nothing today, Miss Griffiths. But
I'll be sure to keep an eye out.
28.
Frances offers a disappointed wave as Teller rides off. Elsie
tries to cheer her up.
ELSIE
(excited)
I know what we can do... Let's take
some cake to the fairies.
FRANCES
(brightens to the idea)
Yes! We'll have a tea!
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY 23
Artie is sitting at the table cleaning his camera. Frances is
standing next to him, watching. Through the kitchen door we see
Elsie helping Polly prepare dinner. Occasionally, Elsie glances
out to Frances.
FRANCES
(about camera)
It all seems terribly complicated,
Uncle Artie.
ARTIE
Not really. See here...
Artie demonstrates the use of the camera to Frances, who secretly
signals to Elsie in the kitchen.
ARTIE
(continuing)
All y'do is slip one of these
negatives in this slot... Look
through here like this...
INT. KITCHEN - SAME TIME 24
Elsie sneaks behind Polly's back and steals some cake out of a
cabinet. She signals back "okay" to Frances.
Through the door we see Artie lower the camera, Frances is gone.
Polly turns, Elsie is gone too. Polly and Artie share a bewildered
look.
Tossing scraps into the trash, Polly notices the crumpled flyer.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - SHORT TIME LATER 25
Polly stealthily moves down into the glen. She pulls back some
brush, watches in stunned silence.
29.
Elsie and Frances are sitting inside a patch of tall heather. A
subtle glow illuminates their faces from below, the source of
which is hidden to us and Polly by the heather.
FRANCES
(serving)
More cake anyone?
ELSIE
(looking down, giggling)
That was a delightful story, Rosamund.
FRANCES
Sir Henry wants to hear it again.
(aside to Elsie)
He's got a crush on her.
(downward to Sir Henry)
You do so.
We hear an odd noise, sort of a cat yowl.
ELSIE
(gasps, then giggles)
Oh, no...Mr. Bandylegs spilled again.
FRANCES
(looking down)
I quite agree, gnomes are not a tidy
lot.
On Polly, who watches, fascinated. She doesn't notice Artie's
head rising up behind her, trying to see whatever it is she's
trying to see.
ARTIE
What're we lookin' for?
Polly jumps, startled by Artie's presence. Indignantly, she pushes
out past Artie, exiting the glen. Artie's left with a confused
look.
INT. COTTAGE - SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - LATE AFTERNOON 26
Continue Artie's confused look as he stares down at the wrinkled
theosophy flyer. Polly is walking away from him pinning a hat to
her head.
ARTIE
Polly, why're y'doin' this?
Polly stops in front of Joseph's door, turns back to Artie.
POLLY
I don't know.
30.
ARTIE
Angels? Be reasonable, Polly, it's
rubbish. You've said it y'self.
You'd be better off spendin' more
time with the livin'.
POLLY
Meaning?
ARTIE
You know perfectly well what I mean.
Your daughter needs you. Instead
you sit around holdin' on t'...
Joseph's name catches in Artie's throat. Polly lets it hang,
then...
POLLY
You can't even say his name.
Polly turns and moves downstairs. Artie follows.
ARTIE
Let me come with y'then. It'll be
dark soon.
POLLY
Thank you, I can manage.
Artie steps in front of the door, blocking her passage. Polly's
stare sweeps him aside, and she's gone. Artie presses his head
against the door.
INT. COTTINGLEY TOWN HALL - NIGHT 27
High windows and rough hewn beams loom over the hall packed to
capacity with VILLAGERS, many of whom, Polly included, are either
wearing black clothing or black arm bands.
E.L. GARDNER, a thin, impeccably dressed man, with a childlike
passion for his subject, lectures from a podium in the front of
the hall. He owns this audience.
GARDNER
(very expressive)
Do theosophists believe in angels?
(continuing)
The answer is an emphatic "yes." I
believe angels are here now, watching
over us.
Through the crowd, eyes search the hall for angels.
31.
GARDNER
(continuing)
Theosophists believe that all things
are possessed of a guiding spirit.
Humans have angels; forests have
gnomes; and just ask any child who
it is that tends our gardens --
they'll answer quite correctly...
fairies. What a pity that we as
adults all too often discourage the
natural perceptions of our young.
The comment strikes Polly in the heart.
A SOUR FACED MAN gets up and heads for the door shaking his head.
SOUR FACED MAN
(loud to himself)
Fairies... Poppycock!
JOHN FERRET, a short, gangly reporter notes the departure with an
interested smirk. As he scribbles in his note pad...
FERRET
(to himself)
Poppycock...
INT. COTTINGLEY TOWN HALL - LATER 28
As people file out, Gardner is at the door handing out literature.
As Polly passes, Gardner offers a pamphlet. Polly smiles politely.
POLLY
No, thank you.
GARDNER
Still a doubter, I think.
POLLY
My son believed in fairies.
Gardner notes Polly's black dress and sad eyes.
GARDNER
I'm sure he's a wonderful boy.
POLLY
Yes, he was.
GARDNER
Madam, he still is.
The remark upsets and effects Polly as she moves off.
32.
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - LATER THAT NIGHT 29
Elsie, in her nightclothes, knocks on the door of the loo.
ELSIE
Frances, are you still in there?
Across the hall she notices a stripe of light escaping from under
Joseph's door. She gasps.
INT. JOSEPH'S BEDROOM - SAME TIME 30
Elsie pushes the door. It swings open revealing Frances at
Joseph's desk, leafing through a folder with "glen drawings"
written across it.
ELSIE
(terrified whisper)
Frances, what're you doing in here?!
FRANCES
Shhhhhh!
Elsie cautiously enters, closes the door behind her.
ELSIE
If mum catches us...
The room suddenly closes in on Elsie, flooding her with emotion.
It's like a Joseph museum. On a shelf, a toy soldier stands guard
before a miniature twig house. Elsie picks it up, twirls it in
her hand.
FRANCES
(looking into folder)
He did know the fairies, didn't he?
Frances shows Elsie the folder (we do not see its contents.)
ELSIE
Oh yes, better than anyone.
Elsie closes the folder and puts it back into the drawer.
FRANCES
I think Aunt Polly wants to know
them, too.
ELSIE
She never wanted to before.
(continuing)
She wouldn't even let us talk about
them.
33.
FRANCE
Why not?
Elsie stares down at the toy soldier. Hunches her shoulders.
ELSIE
She said Joseph had a "future." She
didn't want him wasting his time in
make believe.
FRANCES
Make believe?
The girls look at each other then break out laughing. They're
jolted to attention by the muffled sound of the front door
slamming. They quickly sneak out.
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT 31
Elsie and Frances look downstairs through the stair railing.
Polly has just entered. She's falls into Artie's arms, crying.
The girls exchange nervous glances.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT 32
Elsie and Frances are in bed -- wide eyed, silent and frightened
as they listen to Artie and Polly arguing downstairs.
POLLY (O.S.)
And what if Joseph was right?!
ARTIE (O.S.)
Listen to y'self, Polly.
POLLY (O.S.)
All those times he tried to tell me
about the fairies. I should have
believed him... What if he was
right...?
ARTIE (O.S.)
Yeah, what then, Polly?
(continuing)
You think he's down there with 'em
in the glen? Is that what y'think?
POLLY (O.S.)
I don't know, I can't think!
Elsie anxiously clasps her hands over her chest...
34.
ELSIE
(wishing out loud)
Oh, I wish she could see them...
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - MORNING 33
The glen is washed in golden light. A playful breeze is operating,
stirring things to life. There's an urgency to the stream not
seen before. On Elsie stooped by the fall, a faint glow
illuminates her face.
ELSIE
(toward the light)
Oh please, pretty Rosamund. Won't
you ask your queen if she'll allow
it? For my mum. I give my word no
one else will ever know.
Frances rushes in wearing a heavy coat. Elsie spins around.
From under the coat, Frances pulls out Artie's camera.
ELSIE
(continuing)
Dad's camera? Are you mad!
FRANCES
Here, help me.
Frances hands Elsie the camera, then takes out two glass plate
negatives.
ELSIE
What're we doing?
FRANCES
We're going to show your mum the
fairies.
Frances takes back the camera, fumbles as she slides in a negative.
ELSIE
Frances, they'd never allow it.
FRANCES
I have a way.
ELSIE
We musn't betray them. They could
put a curse on us. Frances, they
trust us.
Frances holds up the loaded camera to Elsie.
35.
FRANCES
Oh, Elsie, please let's try...for
your mum.
Elsie hesitates, takes the camera.
INT. CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS - ARTIE'S DARKROOM - NIGHT 34
A bare bulb lights the tiny space. Artie is preparing trays of
photographic solution. On a shelf by the door, a stack of exposed
glass plate negatives await developing. Artie searches a shelf
for solution, mumbles to himself as he can't find it. He opens
the door and steps out.
Mysteriously, a small hand reaches in and adds two more glass
plate negatives to the stack.
Artie returns with the solution. He sets a piece of red glass
over the bulb, turning the room crimson. He reaches for the
negatives...
Artie sloshes a print in the solution, then close on the print as
an image comes to life... It's of Frances posed before a band of
dancing fairies.
ARTIE
What in the...
INT. OUTSIDE CUPBOARD DOOR - NIGHT 35
Elsie and Frances shuffle about, all nerves and giggles. The
door suddenly blasts open, Artie steps out...
ARTIE
(top of lungs)
Elsie!!!
All are startled.
INT. KITCHEN - A SHORT TIME LATER 36
CLOSE ON the fully developed B&W PHOTO of Frances posed in front
of a band of dancing fairies. Artie is flanked by Elsie and
Frances who are itching with excitement. Frances casts a sparkling
glance over to Elsie. Artie drops another photo on the table --
this one of Elsie and a miniature man-like "thing."
ARTIE
That another fairie?
FRANCES
Oh no, that's Mr. Bandylegs.
36.
ARTIE
(dryly)
The gnome.
Frances, nods. Artie runs his hand over his face then casts a
serious glance down on the girls.
ARTIE
(continuing)
All right, now, the game's over.
How'd you do it?
FRANCES
Do what, Uncle?
ARTIE
Elsie...?
Elsie locks eyes with Frances, for an eternity it seems.
ELSIE
We just snapped the photos, Dad.
They're for mum.
FRANCES
(excited)
Wait 'till she sees them.
ARTIE
Oh no. She'll never set eyes on
these. I guarantee y'that.
Frances gives Elsie a crestfallen look.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - LATE NIGHT 37
Frances sneaks out of bed, careful not to wake Elsie.
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - LATE NIGHT 38
Frances sneaks up to a door, knocks, then hurries up the attic
stairs. The door opens, it's Polly in night clothes. She looks
down the hall, perplexed.
INT. KITCHEN - SAME TIME 39
Artie in bed clothes, is sitting at the table examining the photos
with a magnifying glass. It's obvious he's clueless. Polly
enters, surprising him.
POLLY
Artie, did you knock...?
37.
Artie leans forward over the table, desperately trying to cover
up the photos.
POLLY
(continuing; notices)
What have you got there?
ARTIE
Nothin'...
Polly gestures for Artie to "get up." He does. Polly examines
the photos.
INT. ATTIC STAIRS - LATE NIGHT 40
Polly is climbing the stairs. Artie follows, close on her heals.
ARTIE
Now, Polly, it's not what y'think.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - LATE NIGHT 41
The light jumps on. Polly enters, photos in hand. Artie's
silhouette remains outside the door. The girls sit up, Elsie
rubbing her eyes, Frances faking grogginess.
POLLY
(off photos)
They're real, aren't they?
In unison, the girls nod "yes."
POLLY
(continuing; confirmed)
My God, Joseph was right.
EXT. BRADFORD TRAIN STATION - PLATFORM - MORNING 42
The train is spewing STEAM, ready for departure. Gardner rushes
over the platform, frantically searching for his car.
POLLY (O.S.)
Mr. Gardner!
Gardner glances back, but doesn't slow down as Polly hurries up
beside him, trying to keep pace.
GARDNER
(huffing and puffing)
Forgive me, Madam, my train.
38.
POLLY
I was at your lecture...
TRAIN WHISTLE! The CONDUCTOR leans out from a car.
CONDUCTOR
All aboard!
The train jerks, then slowly lunges forward. At the last moment,
Gardner finds his car and steps up, away from Polly. She sidesteps
along with the train.
GARDNER
(winded)
Perhaps when I'm in Bradford again...
POLLY
(urgent, over noise)
Please have a look at these. I must
know what you think!
Polly thrust the envelope into Gardner's hand as the train picks
up speed and noise, leaving Polly behind in the steam's mist.
POLLY
(continuing, softer)
Could they be real...?
INT. FIRST CLASS TRAIN CAR - DAY 43
Gardner nods politely as he stumbles into the ritzy club car with
its silver and velvet appointments and HIGHBROW PASSENGERS. He
collapses into a chair, heaves a relieved breath.
A beat later, he looks down into his lap at the envelope. He
pulls out the photos and negatives. Close on his reaction of
total annihilation.
GARDNER
(loud)
Good heavens!!
Snooty heads turn toward him.
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY 44
Frances walks alone through the hall past Lizzy, Morgana and a
few other snickering girls.
LIZZY
(teasing Frances)
Well if it isn't Little Miss Africa.
39.
FRANCES
(standing her ground)
You don't know anything about Africa.
You don't know anything about
anything!
LIZZY
I know you don't have any friends.
FRANCES
I do so have friends.
LIZZY
Really? Where are they?
FRANCES
(first thing out)
In the glen...behind Elsie's house.
MORGANA
Liar. No one lives there.
FRANCES
They're not people.
LIZZY
What are they? Frogs?
FRANCES
No...they're fairies.
MORGANA
Liar.
FRANCES
I have photos.
MORGANA
Liar.
FRANCES
I am not a liar! Ask Elsie.
Up the hall Elsie spots the commotion. Instinctively, she knows
it's Frances. She pushes into the fray.
ELSIE
Frances, what's the matter?
LIZZY
Your cousin says you have photos of
fairies.
40.
ELSIE
(glaring at Frances)
Of course we don't.
FRANCES
Yes, we do.
ELSIE
Come along, Frances.
Elsie leads Frances off down the hall.
ELSIE
(continuing)
How could you. Those photos were
for my mum, not those silly girls.
No one else must see those photos,
do you hear?!
INT. SNELLING'S STUDIO LAB - NIGHT 45
The photo of Frances and the fairies is magnified. We are viewing
it through a photographic loop in the studio of the mole-like, H.
SNELLING, the district's foremost expert on photographic fakery.
Light tables, machines, back drops, cameras -- it's an impressive,
completely photographic world. Gardner anxiously peers over
Snelling's shoulder as he carefully examines the fairie negatives.
GARDNER
(biting at the bit)
Well...? Mr. Snelling!
SNELLING
Amateurs. Whomever shot these snaps
didn't know the first thing about
photography.
GARDNER
Are they fake, then?
SNELLING
Photographic fakery is an art, Mr.
Gardner. No, what you have here are
untouched, open air, single exposure
shots.
GARDNER
And the fairies?
SNELLING
Personally, I don't know fairies
from fireflies, but look 'ere at the
wings...
41.
At Snelling's prompting Gardner examines the photos through the
loop. CUT into magnification where we see that the fairie wings
are blurred, partially double exposed.
SNELLING (O.S.)
(continuing)
At the time of exposure...the wings
were moving.
Gardner rises from the loop with growing exhilaration.
GARDNER
The photos...they're genuine, then?
SNELLING
As the King's beard.
GARDNER
(ready to burst)
If you'll excuse me...
Gardner grabs his hat and hurries to the door.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY - DESK - DAY 46
Gardner hurries up to the front desk carrying a large envelope.
Handing it to the YOUNG CLERK.
GARDNER
Young man, please have this parcel
delivered to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
at his Windlesham estate in Sussex.
YOUNG CLERK
(impressed, too familiar)
Sherlock Holmes' Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle?
GARDNER
(putting clerk in his
place)
With particular urgency if you don't
mind.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - NIGHT 47
Darkness, as a wooden match strikes, illuminating Elsie's serious
face. She draws the match down and lights a thick candle set on
the floor between her and Frances, both in nightclothes.
Sitting across from each other, their expectant faces are washed
in the yellow light of the candle -- a deep, rich, emotional
yellow. In their quiet stillness, a perfect Vermeer study.
42.
FRANCES
This is wonderfully mysterious, Elsie.
What are we going to do?
ELSIE
(hushed)
We're going to make a promise,
Frances.
FRANCES
(excited)
Are we? What kind?
ELSIE
The kind that lasts forever. Now,
hold out your thumb.
Frances does. Elsie tilts the candle and pours a drip of wax
onto Frances' thumb. Frances winces from the momentary burn.
Elsie then pours a drip onto her own thumb, then presses hers
against Frances', scattering the tail of smoke rising up from the
candle.
FRANCES
(bubbling)
This is so exciting!
ELSIE
Shhhhh... Quiet.
(closing her eyes)
Repeat after me... I Elsie Wright...
FRANCES
(joking)
I Elsie Wright...
ELSIE
(scolding)
Be serious, Frances.
FRANCES
Sorry. I Frances Griffiths...
ELSIE
Hereby on this day swear never again
to break the code of fairie secrecy.
(squinting at Frances)
Say it.
FRANCES
(reluctant)
...swear never to break the code of
fairie secrecy.
43.
Their thumbs part. Frances gets a playful glint in her eye. She
sits straight up and waves her hands over the candle, imitating a
medium.
FRANCES
(continuing, with accent)
Spirits of the dead...
We call to youuuuuuuuuu....
The candle unexpectedly blows out. The girls scream and scramble
into their beds, giggling in goose bump terror. After a beat...
FRANCES
(continuing)
Elsie... What happens if we break
our promise?
ELSIE
(after a beat)
We won't. Go to sleep.
INT. SIR ARTHUR'S WINDLESHAM ESTATE, SUSSEX - DRAWING ROOM - 48
NIGHT
A dark room, a round table, a half dozen well heeled guests, and
a deathly pale old woman, MADAME POZLENSKA, in the throes of a
convulsion. The formally dressed guests, four men and two women,
look on in terror. Pozlenska screams, then saucer-eyed, points
toward a corner of the room. Heads turn. One of the ladies,
CAMILLE, is jolted out of her chair. In a dark corner of the
room, a smokey, spectral image of a YOUNG SOLDIER in uniform,
appears. He's reaching out...
CAMILLE
(recognizing the image)
Michael!
MICHAEL
(distant)
Mother... I miss you mother...
CAMILLE
(excited, crying)
Here, my baby... Mother's here...
Camille reaches out to Michael, but is held back by a huge bear
of a man with droopy eyes and a walrus moustache, SIR ARTHUR CONAN
DOYLE.
SIR ARTHUR
(a true believer)
Madam don't! You'll break the
connection.
44.
MADAME POZLENSKA
(Eastern European accent,
to Emily)
Mama is here, dear Michael...
Surprising everyone, the most timid-looking of the guests, a MAN
wearing a Van Dyke beard and thick spectacles, stands and brings
his walking stick down on the table with a resounding WHACK!
TIMID GUEST
Enough! Enough of this!
MADAME POZLENSKA
And who are you?!
All eyes turn toward the timid guest, who peels off a fake beard
and removes the spectacles.
TIMID GUEST
(loud, American accent)
I am the great Harry Houdini, and
you Madame, are a fraud!
Houdini reaches over with his walking stick and yanks back a small
curtain, revealing a hidden projector. He whacks the projector,
which sends the image of the Michael spinning wildly around the
room. Camille faints.
POZLENSKA
(busted)
Oh, shit.
INT. DRAWING ROOM - A SHORT TIME LATER 49
Sir Arthur and Houdini examine the projector. Though Sir Arthur
stands nearly a head taller than Houdini, the great magician's
strong physical presence is just as intimidating.
SIR ARTHUR
(off projector)
Amazing. They had scarcely thirty
minutes to prepare the room.
HOUDINI
I've seen it done in fifteen.
Other guests crowd around Houdini, including Sir Oliver Lodge,
and the clairvoyant, Geoffrey Hodson.
HODSON
Mr. Houdini, being a clairvoyant
myself, am I to assume that you
believe all seances are fake?
45.
HOUDINI
Only the successful ones.
SIR ARTHUR
Unlike us, Mr. Hodson, where
spiritualism is concerned, Mr. Houdini
is an unabashed skeptic.
HOUDINI
If there was a way to contact the
other side... I'd have found it.
SIR OLIVER
Sir Arthur, I'm curious... How would
your venerable Detective Holmes
contemplate tonight's phenomena?
SIR ARTHUR
At the end of a good pipe, Sir Oliver.
If you'll excuse us.
Everyone laughs as Sir Arthur draws Houdini off toward a set of
double oak doors.
INT. SIR ARTHUR'S STUDY - LATER 50
Close on the photos of Frances and Elsie surrounded by fairies.
A trail of smoke mysteriously clouds over them.
Houdini hands the photos to Sir Arthur who is puffing on a
Holmesian calabash pipe.
HOUDINI
Where'd you come up with these?
SIR ARTHUR
My good friend, E.L. Gardner.
HOUDINI
Theosophists. Figures. Will you
never learn, Sir Arthur?
SIR ARTHUR
My friend, there is a point where
learning teaches you nothing.
Sir Arthur props the two photos on the mantle, giving the girls a
clear view into the room, which by the way is very "male" --dark
woods, animal trophies, guns, leather bound editions of Sherlock
Holmes novels...
HOUDINI
Banana oil.
46.
Houdini moves around the room looking behind paintings.
SIR ARTHUR
I assure you, Harry, the photos have
been proven genuine.
HOUDINI
Anything can be faked.
SIR ARTHUR
By two little girls?
HOUDINI
By anyone.
One painting swings out, revealing a safe. Houdini smiles, starts
working the tumblers.
SIR ARTHUR
I intend to use the photos in a piece
I'm writing for the Strand Magazine.
HOUDINI
You should be writing more Sherlock
Holmes. I love the guy.
SIR ARTHUR
I'm afraid Holmes is retired. My
only interest now is in furthering
the cause of spiritualism.
(turns to photos)
These photos are the answer to a
dream.
(infused)
Spiritualism lives, Harry!
HOUDINI
Well it ain't gonna live long if all
you've got are those.
(points to photos)
I suggest you get some back up; sworn
statements, more pictures, whatever.
You're going to need it.
SIR ARTHUR
Point well taken.
(stares at the photos)
Ah, Harry, someday you'll understand.
HOUDINI
Ah, Sir Arthur, someday you're gonna
wake up from that dream.
Houdini pops open the safe, smiles. Sir Arthur reaches in and
snaps it shut.
47.
EXT. COTTAGE - A FEW DAYS LATER 51
Elsie and Frances arriving home from school are surprised to see
a car parked in front of the cottage.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - DAY 52
The girls enter. Polly is having tea with Mr. Gardner, who stands,
almost reverently, upon seeing the girls.
POLLY
Frances, Elsie, this is Mr. Gardner.
GARDNER
How do you do.
The girls glance at each other and force smiled replies.
POLLY
Mr. Gardner had your fairie photos
tested...
The girl's faces blanch.
GARDNER
Merely as a precaution, of course.
POLLY
I must say I had my doubts...
Polly reaches for the photos on the table. Smiles down at them.
GARDNER
Oh, they're quite real.
(excited, to girls)
How did you do it?
Elsie's knees shake. Frances leans in to steady her.
POLLY
I assured Mr. Gardner you wouldn't
mind taking more photos.
ELSIE
I don't think it's such a good idea.
Polly glances at Elsie, then to Mr. Gardner, embarrassed. Frances
watches the exchange.
FRANCES
(to the rescue)
It would be our pleasure, Mr. Gardner.
48.
Gardner smiles. Polly brightens and strokes Frances' hair. Elsie
is furious at being upstaged in front of her mother. She glares
at Frances, grabs her by the arm and pulls her off toward the
stairs.
ELSIE
(feigning politeness)
It'll just take us a moment to change,
Mr. Gardner...
The girls move up the stairs, out of earshot.
ELSIE
(continuing; angry
whisper, to Frances)
Are you mad?!
FRANCES
What was I suppose to say...?
INT. PARLOR - SHORT TIME LATER 53
Polly pours steaming tea from her silver service into Gardner's
cup.
GARDNER
What a handsome server, Mrs. Wright.
POLLY
Why thank you, Mr. Gardner. It's
been in my family for generations.
I'm originally from Leeds, you know.
The girls come down the stairs in new clothes.
GARDNER
Ah, here they are.
Frances reaches into the cupboard and pulls out Artie's old camera.
GARDNER
(continuing)
Just a minute...
Gardner holds up a new, expensive-looking camera.
GARDNER
(continuing, magnanimous)
Try this.
Gardner hands the camera to Elsie, who perfunctorily examines it
while darting looks over to Frances, who subtly hunches her
shoulders.
49.
GARDNER
(continuing)
Consider it a gift.
ELSIE
But we don't know how to work it...
GARDNER
The operation is the same. I made
certain of it.
The girls exchange a significant worried look.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - DAY 54
Elsie and Frances run with abandon down the slope into the woodsy
glen. Gardner, dressed in tweed and carrying the camera, tries
to keep up.
In the heart of the glen, streaks of sunlight reach down through
the breezing trees, stirring up color in patches of wild flowers.
Gardner stumbles in and stops by the stream to catch his breath.
For the first time he has a chance to take in the beauty
surrounding him.
GARDNER
(awed, to himself)
Good heavens...
ELSIE (O.S.)
Look out, Mr. Gardner!
Gardner looks around then, down. He's standing inside the fairie
ring. Instinctively, he jumps out.
GARDNER
(flustered)
Thank you...thank you, dear girl.
ELSIE
Never ever step inside a fairie ring.
GARDNER
Quite true. I was foolish. Not
paying attention.
ELSIE
You could've been captured.
50.
EXT. COTTAGE - DAY 55
Long shot of Polly standing on the porch looking toward the glen
entrance. Artie approaches, they talk, he's not happy. She points
toward the glen. He moves toward it.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - DAY 56
Frances parts the thicket of heather like curtains, revealing the
miniature twig dining furniture. The table is upset and the
remnants of fresh dew are clearly visible, spilled over from the
tiny acorn cups. A chair, decorated with vine tendrils and
hydrangea petals, is fallen over, as if kicked back in haste.
Elsie and Gardner fill in behind Frances. Gardner gasps.
FRANCES
(points at chair)
Queen Tatiana's chair.
ELSIE
(groans)
Frances, we've disturbed her tea.
GARDNER
Queen Tatiana?
FRANCES
The Queen Mother. She rules over
the Cottingley troop.
ELSIE
(nervous)
She'll be furious.
Gardner reaches in to touch the furniture. Both girls grab his
arm and topple him back on his rear end.
FRANCES
(scolding)
Never disturb a fairie bower without
being invited, Mr. Gardner.
GARDNER
Yes, quite so.
(continuing)
But if I may, Frances, I believe a
"bower" is where fairies bathe.
FRANCES
(prideful)
Right... I was just testing you.
51.
An eerie wind whips through the trees. Elsie glances around
nervously.
ELSIE
We should leave now, Frances.
GARDNER
Oh, no, please. I'll be more careful.
I give you my word.
Frances whispers in Elsie's ear. Elsie reluctantly nods.
FRANCES
This way, Mr. Gardner.
Frances takes the camera from Gardner, hands it to Elsie, then
leads him behind some brush.
FRANCES
(continuing)
You wait here. Don't move. We're
going to try to chase them back this
way so you can have a look. Remember,
don't move.
GARDNER
I'm glued to the spot.
Elsie and Frances run off, disappearing into the glen with the
camera. Gardner is hyperalert, watching through the brush.
Artie strides into the glen toward Gardner, whose attention is
fixed.
ARTIE
Mr. Gardner?
GARDNER
(a bit annoyed)
Yes, that's me.
ARTIE
I'm Artie Wright.
Gardner changes his tone.
GARDNER
Oh, Mr. Wright... A pleasure.
Gardner extends his hand, they shake, though Gardner's attention
is clearly focused in the glen.
ARTIE
What's all this business 'bout you
givin' m'girls a camera.
52.
ARTIE
People don't give expensive gifts
f'nothin', Mr. Gardner.
GARDNER
(turns to Artie)
I assure you, Mr. Wright. My only
hope was that the girls might try
for more photos. Beyond that, the
gift is theirs without encumbrance.
We hear the girls voices in the distance. Gardner spins back
toward the glen.
ARTIE
What're ye...?
GARDNER
Sssh. The girls are herding the
fairies back this way.
ARTIE
Fairies...? I can't believe you're
falling for this rubbish.
Without taking his eyes off the glen.
GARDNER
(eyes in glen)
I'm quite certain both girls are
clairvoyants and perhaps mediums as
well. Together they create an etheric
field which allows the fairies to
metabolize subtle amounts of ectoplasm
into their bodies... that's how the
girls are able to capture them on
film.
Gardner glances back at Artie, who wears an incredulous look.
GARDNER
(continuing; pulling
class)
I don't expect you to understand.
Artie's had enough. He moves into the glen, calling...
ARTIE
Elsie! Frances! Come 'ere!
Gardner desperately tries to coax him back.
GARDNER
Mr. Wright, we mustn't interfere...
53.
ARTIE
Mr. Gardner, the girls took a couple
of snaps in the glen, of what or how
they did it, I don't know.
(continuing)
But I guarantee ye, it in't gonna
happen again.
FRANCES (O.S.)
Mr. Gardner! We've got them!
Frances runs up and presents Gardner with three newly exposed
glass plate negatives. Elsie pulls up behind with the camera.
Artie stares at them both with total confusion.
EXT. KODAK INTERNATIONAL BUILDING - LONDON - DAY 57
Modern for the time, an equal distribution of glass and concrete.
Very "American" in contrast to the surrounding structures.
INT. KODAK STUDIO - LATER 58
Inside a dark cavernous studio, giant ten foot images of three
new fairie exposures are projected onto the face of an entire
wall. The first is of Frances and a leaping fairie; next, a fairie
offers a posy to Elsie; and the last is of fairies gathered around
a cocoon bath, referred to as the "fairy bower."
The BLACK SILHOUETTE of a Kodak technician is perched on a rolling
ladder, moving back and forth over the images like a fly on glass.
Pull back from the images through a glass wall into...
INT. KODAK CONFERENCE ROOM - SAME TIME 59
Sir Arthur and Gardner sit at one end of a long table. At the
other end, the Kodak contingent, consisting of their American
solicitor general, MR. BINLEY; Chief technician, MR. WEST; and a
FEMALE STENOGRAPHER. The giant images are visible through the
glass wall.
Binley opens a file set before him.
BINLEY
(clears his throat)
Gentlemen, our preliminary findings
suggest that the negatives may indeed
be untouched single exposures.
Gardner subtlety nudges Sir Arthur.
54.
BINLEY
(continuing)
However...these findings cannot be
taken as conclusive.
Gardner absorbs the slap in the face. He stirs uneasily. Sir
Arthur is stoic, unmoved.
SIR ARTHUR
How is that, Sir?
BINLEY
Well, the possibility still exists
that a clever operator of consummate
skill might have made them
artificially. Therefore, I regret
that Kodak must deny your request
for a certificate of authenticity.
GARDNER
Clever operator?
(gestures toward the
photos)
My word, gentlemen, the girls are
eight and ten years old. Of the
artisan class no less. What
cleverness would you afford them?
Sir Arthur places a calming hand on Gardner's arm.
BINLEY
(closes folder)
I'm sorry.
Mr. West flicks his folder closed with an incredulous shake of
his head. Gardner takes offense.
GARDNER
(irked, to West)
You have something to add, Sir?
WEST
(dismissing)
Really now, gentlemen. You are asking
of Kodak nothing less than to verify
the existence of fairies. Who next,
Father Christmas?
Sir Arthur rises to his full intimidating height.
SIR ARTHUR
Gentlemen, I accept your decision,
though not your findings.
If these photographs are true, and I
believe they are, then we are faced
55.
SIR ARTHUR
with a discovery far more important
than Columbus' discovery of the new
world. More important than King
Arthur's Holy Grail. For such a
discovery will change the very fabric
of human life for all time. In this
regard I accept Kodak's unwillingness
to bear the burden of proof. None-
the-less, the photos speak for
themselves.
And what is, gentlemen, simply, "is."
Sir Arthur collects his hat and umbrella.
SIR ARTHUR
(continuing)
Come, Mr. Gardner. Duty demands
that we act.
With great dignity, Sir Arthur and Gardner exit the room. Through
the glass their silhouettes move across the projected photos.
INT. WINDLESHAM - STUDY - NIGHT 60
Sir Arthur is seated at his desk writing, occasionally glancing
up at the fairie photos pinned to the wall in front of him.
EXT. LONDON NEWSSTAND - DAY 61
Photo on the cover of The Strand Magazine. The edition is snapped
up by an assortment of greedy hands. A WOMAN with a feathered
hat holds up the magazine, a smile spreads across her face. A
WELL DRESSED man leans in over the feather for a look.
WELL DRESSED MAN
(skeptical)
Fairies, really now.
WOMAN
I take it you know more than the
likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?
INT. ARMY HOSPITAL - DAY 62
An ARMY SOLDIER in a wheelchair opens the Strand. He lets out a
howl, then quickly wheels himself over to a heavily bandaged
bedridden friend.
WHEELCHAIR SOLDIER
O'Neill! Have a look at this!
56.
O'NEILL
(smiles)
A sight f'sore eyes, they are...
EXT. GARDEN - DAY 63
As LITTLE GIRLS play.
LITTLE GIRL #1
I want to be Elsie.
LITTLE GIRL #2
No, I'm Elsie. You're Frances.
LITTLE GIRL #3
Hey! I'm Frances!
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - BY WIGGINS MANOR - DAY 64
A CHAUFFEUR driven Rolls Royce speeds along. Wiggins' airedale
dogs stretch their heads out the windows, biting the air.
Inside the Rolls, Lord Wiggins reacts to the Strand article.
LORD WIGGINS
(surprised)
Good heavens. On my property?!
Outside, as the car moves off the magazine flies out the window.
INT. SMILEY'S PUB - DAY 65
The reporter John Ferret sits at a back table pecking on a bad
typewriter, a cheap cigar stuck to his lip. The bartender, SMILEY,
is reading the Strand.
SMILEY
(to Ferret)
Well, what do y'know. They've
discovered fairies in Yorkshire.
FERRET
Poppycock.
SMILEY
Not accordin' to Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle?
Interested, Ferret moves to the bar, grabs the magazine. As he
stares at the photos a cynical smile grows on his face.
57.
FERRET
(under his breath)
Hello...
SMILEY
What is it, John?
FERRET
A first class ticket outta here.
Ferret slams the magazine down on the bar and moves out. Smiley
smiles a five-tooth smile down at the girl's pictures.
INT. COTTINGLEY SCHOOL - HALLWAY - DAY 66
Elsie and Frances are walking up the hall. They pass Lizzy,
Morgana and their snooty clique.
LIZZY
Seen any fairies lately, Frances?
Frances exaggerates a look at the group.
FRANCES
No, just a bunch of toads!
Elsie grabs Frances' arm and pulls her away.
EXT. COTTINGLEY SCHOOL - DAY 67
KIDS, including Elsie and Frances, scramble down the steps at the
end of the day.
ARTIE (O.S.)
(loud, urgent)
Elsie! Frances!
The girls are surprised by his appearance. He's frantically
motioning them over to the lorry.
ELSIE
What is it, Dad?
ARTIE
(rushing)
In you go.
He lifts them both into the back of the lorry at the same time,
jumps up on his seat and snaps the reins with a loud "yah!"
ELSIE
Dad, what's going on? What's the
matter?
58.
The Strand magazine comes flying back into Elsie's lap. The girls
react to their own photos.
ELSIE
(continuing, devastated)
This is terrible!
FRANCES
(excited, to Artie)
Do they get this magazine in France?
ARTIE
France? They get the damn thing in
the North Pole!
The girls look at each other, one near tears, the other bursting
with excitement.
EXT. COTTAGE - DAY 68
The lorry rolls up. A small crowd of CURIOUS NEIGHBORS mill around
trying to look unobtrusive. Artie waves them off. TOMMY McGILL,
a slight man with a good suit steps up.
TOMMY
So, what's this all about, Artie?
ARTIE
Nothin', Tommy. It's all rubbish.
Go home, please. All of ye!
( to girls)
Get inside, you two.
(not fast enough)
Now!
The girls run into the house as John Ferret, steps up to the door.
FERRET
Girls! I'd like to ask you a few
questions!
ARTIE
(blocking the door)
Get back you!
FERRET
(persistent, to girls)
Did Sir Arthur put y'up to it?!
Artie shoves Ferret off. He stumbles back on his rear.
ARTIE
(to Ferret)
Stay outta my house.
59.
FERRET
(brushing himself off)
Your house? Since when does the
caretaker's cottage belong to the
caretaker?
Artie steps inside and slams the door shut.
INT. PARLOR - DAY 69
Polly stares out the window. Behind her Artie is moving through
the room snapping curtains closed. The girls are on the settle
chair reading the article. Artie reaches in and snaps the curtains
shut in front of Polly.
ARTIE
(grumbling)
They've even got Sir Arthur believin'
in fairies.
Polly moves in behind the couch where the girls are reading the
magazine.
FRANCES
(reading out loud)
"Elsie claimed that she and her cousin
continually saw fairies in the glen
and had come to be on familiar and
friendly terms with them...."
Elsie glances back at Polly, fishing for approval. None coming
as Polly leans in over Frances' shoulder.
POLLY
(disappointed)
Not even a mention of Joseph...
Elsie's face falls.
Artie sneaks a pained peek out the window.
ARTIE
(commenting on crowd)
A damn circus is what it is.
Elsie's eyes flare as she realizes... She rushes to the door.
ARTIE
(continuing, to Elsie)
And where do y'think you're goin'?
ELSIE
(urgent)
I have to warn the fairies.
60.
Artie rubs his face in frustration.
ARTIE
Enough with the bloody fairies! Now
get up to your room!
ELSIE
But, Dad...
ARTIE
Don't "but dad" me. It's your fault,
all this. Go on!
Elsie's eyes cloud up as she runs up the stairs past Frances.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - NIGHT 70
The girls are getting ready for bed in silence.
FRANCES
Don't be mad at me, Elsie.
ELSIE
Did you see the way my dad looked at
me? He's never looked at me like
that before.
FRANCES
Don't worry. We'll go out to the
glen in the morning. We'll talk to
the fairies. They'll understand.
It'll be all right. I promise.
Elsie looks away in frustration. Frances hopes she's right.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - EARLY NEXT MORNING 71
The girls are awakened by the sound of clamoring VOICES. They
scramble to the window. Outside, an unruly crowd of PEOPLE are
descending into the glen.
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - SAME TIME 72
Artie steps out of the loo brushing his teeth as Elsie and Frances
fly down the stairs in their nightclothes.
ARTIE
(garbled)
What in the... Aye! Come back here!
61.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - EARLY MORNING 73
The crowd descends the slope like locusts.
THRONGS OF PEOPLE tramp through the glen in search of fairies.
Couples, families, kids from school, cripples, the infirm, the
elderly, soldiers...
Elsie moves through the crowd waving her arms frantically.
ELSIE
Go away! You don't understand!
You're hurting them!
An ELDERLY LADY shambles through tossing breadcrumbs.
ELDERLY LADY
Here fairies...good little fairies...
Elsie tries to stop her.
ELSIE
(to Elderly Lady)
Stop it! Fairies hate bread! You're
sending them away!
The lady ignores Elsie, who's inadvertently knocked back into a
puddle of mud. Frances shields her from being trampled.
A MAN IN ROBES walks through hooting and beating a drum.
INTO THE HEATHER, where the miniature twig dining set is still in
place. A large boot steps down and crushes it to dust.
The WATERFALL, as paper wrappers, assorted trash, spill over.
A KID reaches under a stream rock.
KID
I caught one!
A crowd wedges in around the kid, who slowly pulls out his hand.
In it is a croaking TOAD.
KID
(continuing)
Is this a fairie?
Leaning against a nearby tree, Ferret takes wicked delight in the
spectacle as he scribbles notes in his pad.
62.
EXT. WOODEN MEADOW NEAR THE GLEN - SAME TIME 74
Wiggins and his Airedales are hunting pheasant in the high grass.
The dogs start barking and take off.
WIGGINS
Come back here! Come back, I say!
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - SAME TIME 75
The Airedales gallop into the crowd, splashing and frolicking in
the stream.
A loud gun blast rings out. Everyone freezes as Lord Wiggins
shambles down into the glen poised with his shotgun.
WIGGINS
Off my property! Get out! The lot
of you! Off! Go on!
He empties another barrel into the air. People panic and scatter
in every direction.
Artie scrambles down into the glen in his nightshirt. From behind
he sees a man with a shotgun. Valiantly, Artie tackles him and
wrestles the gun away. It takes a beat for him to recognize who
it is.
ARTIE
(shocked)
Lord Wiggins!
Artie apologizes profusely as he helps Wiggins up, brushing off
his clothes.
ARTIE
(continuing)
I'm so sorry, Sir... I thought...
Wiggins indignantly wrests his gun back from Artie. Elsie and
Frances awkwardly witness the exchange.
WIGGINS
(pushing Artie away)
Stop that you fool!
ARTIE
(servile)
Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.
Elsie turns away, pained by her father's humiliation.
63.
WIGGINS
(outraged)
I'm holding you personally
responsible, Mr. Wright!
ARTIE
Yes, Sir. Absolutely, Sir.
WIGGINS
Consider this your last warning.
ARTIE
Yes, Sir.
Wiggins storms off up the slope, the dogs sloppily following.
Artie, angry and humiliated, glares at the girls.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - DAY 76
Polly is sitting across from a kind faced, nicely dressed young
reporter, MR. SEWELL.
SEWELL
(taking notes)
You say it was your son Joseph who
first discovered the fairies?
POLLY
Yes, he believed in them all along...
SEWELL
It must have been difficult. I mean,
most people are fairly closed minded
about that sort of thing.
Polly heaves a breath of regret, then is startled as Artie kicks
open the door, pushing the girls in ahead of himself. His
nightshirt muddied, his neck red with anger. Sewell stands.
ARTIE
Who's he?
POLLY
Artie, I'd like you to meet Mr.
Sewell. He's a reporter from Leeds.
Sewell reaches out to shake hands.
SEWELL
Nice to meet you, Sir...
Artie grabs Sewell's hand and brusquely ushers him out the door.
Elsie and Frances head for the stairs.
64.
ARTIE
(to girls)
Stay put, you two.
Polly looks out the window after Mr. Sewell.
POLLY
Really, Arthur! You couldn't have
been more rude.
ARTIE
(angry)
So what is it now? You're givin'
interviews?
POLLY
Mr. Sewell was interested in Joseph's
side of the story.
ARTIE
(at the end of his fuse)
Joseph doesn't have a side of the
story. He's dead. Dead, Polly.
The war took 'im.
POLLY
(breaking down)
The war took him? Why? Why did the
war take my Joseph?
ARTIE
Polly...war is duty.
POLLY
(lashing out)
To hell with duty! I want my son
back!
The girls melt into each other's arms. Tears stream down Elsie's
cheeks.
POLLY
(continuing, crying)
He was your son, too. Damn you,
Artie, you never even cried.
ARTIE
(snapping)
I never cried...
Artie punches his hand hard into the wall.
65.
ARTIE
(continuing)
You don't think I cry every time I
pass his room? Every time there's a
cricket match in town or I hear a
trumpet play...? Some don't need
tears to cry, Polly.
Artie grabs the unfinished sweater out of the knitting basket.
Shakes it at Polly.
ARTIE
(continuing)
Yours wasn't the only dream that
died.
Losing it, Artie frantically starts to unravel the sweater.
ELSIE
(crying)
Dad, don't...
Elsie grabs the sweater away from him.
ARTIE
(shaking with anger, to
Elsie)
Get up to y'room! Now, damn it!
Elsie runs up the stairs crying. Frances follows. Artie falls
back into a chair, exhausted. He rubs his face in frustration.
ARTIE
(continuing)
I nearly lost m'job... I ain't goin'
back to the coal mines.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 77
Elsie bursts into the room, upset. Frances runs in after her.
FRANCES
Elsie!
Elsie tries to avoid Frances, but there's nowhere to hide.
ELSIE
Just leave me alone!
Elsie storms out.
66.
INT. JOSEPH'S ROOM - DAY 78
Elsie pushes in, shuts the door behind her. She stands in the
middle of the room, a lost soul.
ELSIE
(deeply remorseful)
I'm sorry, Joseph. It's all my fault.
I didn't mean for any of this to
happen...
The door swings open. Polly's still stunned from her fight with
Artie. Her eyes are red from crying.
POLLY
(stunned)
What are you doing in here?
She grabs Elsie by the shoulders.
POLLY
(continuing, growing
hysterical)
This is Joseph's room! My Joseph's
room!
ELSIE
(crying)
Mummy, you're hurting me!
Polly stops. For a sobering moment, for the first time in a long
time, she's feeling pain that's not her own. She crumbles to the
floor crying. Elsie stares at her, then runs out.
POLLY
(sobbing)
I'm sorry...
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - SAME TIME 79
Frances looks out the window. She sees Elsie running wildly toward
the glen.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - DAY 80
Frances runs through the glen frantically searching for Elsie.
FRANCES
(calling)
Elsie! Where are you!
Frances suddenly stops, overwhelmed by a horrible sight.
67.
FRANCES
(continuing, screams)
Elsie, nooooooo!
Elsie is standing in the middle of a fairie ring. Her arms are
raised above her head in total surrender...
ELSIE
(crying, screaming)
Take me! Please take me! I'm so
sorry!
Wind swirls at her feet, her nightgown flutters, it's as if she's
about to be swept away, when...
Frances tackles her out of the ring. They tumble over and come
to a stop next to the heather. Frances holds Elsie tight.
FRANCES
Don't ever do that again, Elsie. I
couldn't bear losing you, too.
Elsie cries in Frances' arms.
INT. SIR ARTHUR'S WINDLESHAM ESTATE - STUDY - DAY 81
Stacks of mail and newspapers litter the room. Gardner is reading
through a letter. Houdini holds open a newspaper. Sir Arthur
paces around the room.
SIR ARTHUR
(stewing)
The press is making me out to be a
fool.
GARDNER
Critics... Oddly enough, the photos
seem to be giving England a shot in
the arm.
HOUDINI
A shot of what?
GARDNER
Why, "hope." Look here...
(off letters)
Patients at the Naval hospital in
Brighton have adopted the Cottingley
fairies as their official mascots.
And here...a contingent of war widows
calling themselves, "The Daughters
of the Glen," are petitioning
parliament to construct a war
memorial.
68.
GARDNER
The French have even named a pastry
after them, "l'eclaire des fees."
HOUDINI
(taps a newspaper)
Here's your problem, Sir Arthur.
SIR ARTHUR
And what may I ask is my problem?
HOUDINI
Credibility. You go and write a
definitive article about fairies
being real, yet you admit to never
having seen one yourself. You've
never even met those girls.
GARDNER
I quite disagree.
On Sir Arthur as he lights his pipe -- gazing through the smoke.
GARDNER (O.S.)
(continuing)
I've met the girls and they are above
reproach. As for seeing the fairies,
haven't the photos been proven genuine
by conclusive scientific evidence?
Credibility indeed...
INT. ATTIC ROOM - NIGHT 82
Elsie is sitting on her bed poking her finger through a hole in
her favorite pink dress. She looks worried.
ELSIE
(worried)
Look Frances.
Frances examines the hole from both sides.
FRANCES
You probably snagged it on a bramble.
ELSIE
No. I would've remembered that.
FRANCES
(amused)
What, you think the fairies did it?
ELSIE
Yes, Frances, I do.
69.
FRANCES
They wouldn't...
The window suddenly rattles. The girls jump.
FRANCES
(continuing, nervous
giggle)
Windy tonight, isn't it?
ELSIE
That wasn't the wind, Frances.
FRANCES
Of course it was.
(to the room)
Fairies, if that was you rattling
the window...do it again.
The girls freeze and listen. Nothing. Frances smiles, "see"
just as the window rattles again, louder. Frances screams and
jumps into Elsie's arms. They pull the bed covers over their
heads.
Darkness under the covers as the girls whisper...
FRANCES
(continuing; spooked
whisper)
What're we going to do?
ELSIE
We need to make them an offering.
FRANCES
Like what?
ELSIE
Something to let them know that we're
sorry.
FRANCES
How about cake? They love cake.
ELSIE
That's not big enough.
The girls peek out from under the blanket. At the same time they
set their eyes on the doll house. They look at each other.
FRANCES
The doll house!
The girls, joined at the hip, shuffle over to the doll house.
70.
ELSIE
It's not really a doll house. Joseph
and I were making it for the fairies.
FRANCES
Why didn't you give it to them?
ELSIE
Joseph went away before it was
finished.
FRANCES
So let's give it to them now.
ELSIE
We can't. Not like this.
FRANCES
I bet we can finish it.
ELSIE
(enthused)
I bet we can.
The windows rattle again. The girls snap to work.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - LATE NIGHT 83
MONTAGE of the girls finishing the doll house.
Gathering materials -- pulling laces from shoes... feathers from
hats... cutting shoe boxes... cookie tins...
Construction -- tying, glueing and twisting... using heels from
their shoes like hammers... breaking nails... squirting glue on
each other... sharing giggles and glances through the night...
EXT. FIELD BEHIND COTTAGE - DAWN 84
The girls, tired and scraggly, lug the doll house, patched together
with tin and string and cardboard -- a doll house Frankenstein --
toward the glen under an overcast, early morning sky.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - MORNING 85
The grayness of the sky casts a mute dreariness over the glen.
The girls, groaning and out of breath, set the doll house down in
the heather clearing. Elsie places a morsel of cake on the tiny
dining room table and fills a porcelain thimble with cool water.
Frances creates a garden around the house with flowers.
At the fairie ring, the girls join hands and begin their dance.
71.
FRANCES/ELSIE
(chanting soft to loud)
Come out from your fairie bower...
Come upon this golden hour... Come
to us we beg you please... Fairies
dancing on the breeze...
(repeating)
We spin around with them, the effect is dizzying. Gradually they
slow, then stop. The glen seems even darker now. Their eyes
search the shadows for...
ELSIE
(calling, hopeful)
Rosamund...?
Nothing.
FRANCES
Queen Tatiana... Come see what we've
brought you...a glorious palace...
The girls move through the glen in search of the fairies.
ELSIE/FRANCES
(calling, searching)
Sir Henry, where are you? Syd-ney,
we have cake. Hannah, Little Tora,
you can come out now... Princess
Rebecca... William Travis...
(Elsie's shoulders slump)
Captain James? Mr. Bandylegs?
Dorothy?
Elsie plops down on the ground. Bites her lip. She's exhausted
and deeply disappointed.
ELSIE
(rubbing her tired eyes)
They're gone for good this time.
FRANCES
Don't worry, Elsie, we'll get them
back.
Elsie turns on Frances.
ELSIE
(tired, annoyed)
Why are you always so sure about
everything? Don't you ever think
you could be wrong?
FRANCES
I don't know. Sometimes. Maybe.
72.
ELSIE
I'm so stupid. We never should have
taken those photos. Why did I listen
to you?
FRANCES
Aunt Polly's better...isn't she?
ELSIE
Is she? She hasn't stopped crying
since yesterday.
FRANCES
(hurt)
I'm sorry, Elsie. I didn't mean for
anything bad to happen... My daddy
will be coming for me soon.
ELSIE
(mean spirited)
Are you sure about that, too?
FRANCES
(hackles up)
Yes, I am sure! My daddy is coming
and he's bringing me French perfume
and we're going back home and we're
going to be together forever!
Upset, Frances runs off.
ELSIE
(regretting)
Frances??
EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE GLEN - SAME TIME 86
Deeper into the glen, the shadows grow larger. Frances runs in,
slows as she's overcome with the willies. Leaves crunch behind
her. She spins around.
FRANCES
(tentative)
Elsie? Is that you?
No answer. Growing panic sets her heart pounding. She walks
faster, then starts to run. With jarring suddenness a DARK FIGURE
steps out in front of her! It's Ferret.
FERRET
Mornin' little Frances.
73.
FRANCES
(frightened)
W-Who're you?
FERRET
Someone in search of the truth.
FRANCES
Truth?
FERRET
I'm not in the mood f'little girl
games. Now he put you up to it,
didn't he?
FRANCES
Who?
FERRET
Sir Arthur, that's who.
FRANCES
I don't know Sir Arthur.
Ferret grabs Frances by the shoulders.
FERRET
Don't lie t'me.
ELSIE (O.S.)
Leave her alone!
Elsie runs up, bravely steps in front of Frances.
ELSIE
(continuing, defiant)
If you don't go away right now, the
fairies are going to come out
and...box your ears!
Ferret snickers, but looks around anyway...quiet.
FERRET
Sure they are...
A sudden sound of leaves crunching rises from the shadows. Ferret
quiets. Looks around, less sure.
FERRET
(continuing, to Elsie)
I'm on t'yer tricks, girl...
Another sound. Elsie's eyes dart behind Ferret where she catches
a glimpse of the ghostly figure in military uniform.
74.
ELSIE
(gasps)
Joseph?
Ferret looks around, there's nothing there. He leans close enough
for Elsie to smell his foul breath.
FERRET
The truth now...
With shocking surprise a hand falls on Ferret's shoulder from
behind. Ferret spins around, sees what to him is a hideous
monster. He screams a womanly scream and runs off through the
glen babbling to himself.
Elsie reels back from the monster with half a face.
FRANCES
(suddenly overjoyed)
Corporal!
Frances runs up to the corporal and hugs him. He gently strokes
the back of her hair, looks up at Elsie. Elsie's warmed and
confused by the ravaged face, made soft with emotion.
CORPORAL
Forgive me. The photographs... I
had to come. I don't want to disturb
them, I just need to know... Are
they real?
The corporal looks at Frances who looks at Elsie. On the spot
again, Elsie nods, "yes." The corporal grins tearfully.
CORPORAL
(continuing, with joy)
I knew it.
The corporal draws Elsie into the hug. Elsie gazes out into the
glen, weighing the risk of her latest betrayal.
INT. COTTAGE - ATTIC BEDROOM - NIGHT 87
Artie tenderly tucks the girls in bed.
ARTIE
Get some sleep now girls. Y've had
a long day.
(kisses Elsie)
No one's ever gonna harm y'again.
Artie pauses at the door, turns off the light, then exits. In
the darkness...
75.
ELSIE
Frances...?
FRANCES
Yes, Elsie?
ELSIE
I didn't mean what I said about your
father. I'm sure he's all right.
FRANCES
(a tweak less sure)
I know... Goodnight, Elsie.
ELSIE
Goodnight, Frances.
INT. PARLOR AT BOTTOM OF STAIRS - SAME TIME 88
Polly squeezes the rail, unsure about going up. Artie charges
down, stares at her for a beat, then moves past.
POLLY
Where are you going?
ARTIE
(exiting)
T'find that reporter.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - LATER 89
The door opens, spilling light into the room. Polly's shadow
enters first. Silently she watches her daughter sleep.
INT. SMILEY'S PUB - NIGHT 90
Half empty with drunks. Ferret's at a back table poking away at
a typewriter, a cigar sloshing back and forth across his mouth.
Artie enters the pub, engages Smiley, who points back at Ferret.
On Ferret as a shadow grows over him.
FERRET
(irritated)
Aye, you're blocking m'light...
Ferret has just enough time to recognize Artie, who lifts him by
the lapels and throws him back against the bar.
ARTIE
I told y'ta stay away from m'girls!
76.
A hard right to the jaw, followed by a left to the midsection
sends Ferret to the floor. A kick to the behind as Ferret scurries
across the floor on hands and knees under his table. Artie flings
the table off, sending the typewriter crashing against the wall.
Artie grabs Ferret by the tie, sending every vein in his head
bulging to the surface.
FERRET
(straining)
Don't you want to know the truth?
ARTIE
Truth? I'll give you the truth,
plain and simple. Y'ever come near
my girls again...I'll kill ye.
Artie storms out. Smiley tries to help Ferret to his feet, but
is shrugged off. Nose bleeding, Ferret searches the floor for
his cigar, steals a shot of rye from a drunk at the bar, then
sets his typewriter back on a table. He wheels in a wrinkled
piece of paper.
SMILEY
Call it a night, John.
FERRET
(starts typing)
Go away, Smiley. I've got a score
t'settle.
INT. SIR ARTHUR'S WINDLESHAM ESTATE - STUDY - NIGHT 91
Sir Arthur is writing a letter which we hear in VOICE OVER.
SIR ARTHUR (V.O.)
"Dear Mr. Wright...
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 92
Frances is sitting in the well of the dormer window thoughtfully
staring out. Elsie sits on the bed mending the hole in her pink
dress. In VO we continue Sir Arthur's letter...
SIR ARTHUR (V.O.)
(continuing)
By now I am sure you are aware of my
acute interest in the fairie
photographs taken by your daughter
and niece.
We hear the faint ring of a bell. Outside the window Frances
sees Artie take a letter from Mr. Teller. She bolts for the door.
77.
INT. COTTAGE - FOYER AT BOTTOM OF STAIRS - DAY 93
Frances comes flying down the stairs just as Artie closes the
front door. He's opening a letter. Elsie moves down the steps.
Polly is drawn in from the parlor.
FRANCES
Is it for me?!
SIR ARTHUR (V.O.)
...I would be personally grateful to
you if I were allowed to meet with
the girls and visit the glen where
the encounters took place.
ARTIE
It's from Sir Arthur!
(gulp)
He wants t'come visit...
Polly gasps. The girls exchange looks of trepidation.
INT. COTTAGE - DAY 94
SERIES OF SHOTS of the family getting the house ready for Sir
Arthur's arrival -- washing floors...windows...dusting...setting
out ash trays...laying out volumes of Sherlock Holmes...all under
the continued VO of Sir Arthur's letter --
SIR ARTHUR (V.O.)
(over preparations)
...Not for purposes of confirmation,
you understand, but to gladden my
longing for a more direct contact.
If convenient to your schedule, I
shall arrive on the 12th of the month
in the early afternoon. Yours
sincerely, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 95
The girls are anxiously getting dressed. As Frances helps Elsie
into her pink dress...
ELSIE
(fretting)
Oh, Frances, what're we going to do?
FRANCES
(doesn't have an answer)
Pray for rain?
78.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - AFTERNOON 96
Rain. The girls, adorable in their best dresses, their hair in
ribbons and curls, stare out the window at the rain and breath
sighs of relief. In the gray distance, car headlights meander up
the road toward the cottage.
ELSIE
They're here!
Everyone rushes around with last minute preparations. Artie stokes
the fire. Headlights fan across the window. The girls, attacked
by the willies, scrunch up close to one another.
A firm knock at the door. A beat, then Polly and Artie race for
the door. They compose themselves, then Artie magnanimously opens
the door to...Lord Wiggins, who strides in out of the rain.
Dumping his wet things onto Artie...
WIGGINS
Do you always take so long to answer
the door?
ARTIE
(deflated)
No, Sir.
Polly elbows Artie, who remembers his manners. The girls shrink
back into the recesses.
ARTIE
(continuing)
You've met my wife Polly...
(gestures to girls)
and my...
WIGGINS
Yes, yes...this isn't a social call.
Wiggins pulls out a newspaper from under his coat. It's folded
open to Ferret's article.
WIGGINS
(continuing)
This fairie business reeks of scandal,
Mr. Wright. The reporter you so
publicly thrashed has gone so far as
to imply that I am at the core of
your childish hoax. To gain entrance
into parliament no less. I'm sorry,
I cannot allow it...
Elsie, understanding what's coming, covers her mouth, and moves
out the back unnoticed.
79.
EXT. BEHIND COTTAGE - SAME TIME 97
Elsie runs out into the pouring rain. Frances chases her down,
spins her around.
FRANCES
(loud over rain)
Elsie, what's wrong?!
ELSIE
(crying)
The fairie curse! Don't you see,
dad's being let go. I've ruined
everything.
FRANCES
It'll be all right, Elsie. We'll
make it all right...
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - SAME TIME 98
Wiggins slaps the newspaper into Artie's hand in finality.
WIGGINS
You were given fair warning, Mr.
Wright. Regrettably, I must...
A loud knock at the door stops Wiggins. Artie's breath hangs on
his next sentence. Another loud knock.
WIGGINS
(continuing)
When will you people learn to properly
answer the door?!
Wiggins reaches back and opens the door himself. Filling the
doorway is the considerable frame of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He
strides in, sheds his wet cape onto Wiggins.
ARTIE
(star struck)
Sir Arthur!
Wiggins is caught completely by surprise.
WIGGINS
(jaw dropping, finishing)
...Conan Doyle?!
Others enter and follow suit, piling their wet things onto Wiggins --
Houdini, Gardner, SIR OLIVER LODGE, CAMILLE FLAMMARION and GEOFFREY
HODSON.
80.
Gardner introduces Sir Arthur to Artie.
GARDNER
Sir Arthur, may I introduce Mr. Artie
Wright.
SIR ARTHUR
(to Artie)
I can't tell you how much I've been
looking forward to this day, Mr.
Wright.
Artie drops Wiggins' things, wipes his hand on his pants, and
vigorously shakes Sir Arthur's like a star-struck rube.
ARTIE
(frozen, then)
I'm your greatest admirer, Sir Arthur.
EXT. BACK OF COTTAGE - SAME TIME 99
Elsie and Frances standing in the middle of the rain.
FRANCES
We can't very well stand out here
forever.
Elsie shakes her head. As Frances ushers her back toward the
house...
FRANCES
(continuing)
Whatever happens, Elsie, we'll face
it together.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - SAME TIME 100
At the door, Artie apologetically takes the wet things from
Wiggins.
ARTIE
Terribly sorry, Sir.
Wiggins is staring into the parlor, too awed to care. Sir Arthur
gestures over his entourage.
SIR ARTHUR
(announcing)
If I may, I'd like to introduce the
distinguished members of my party...
From America, the genius of escape,
Mr. Harry Houdini.
81.
Houdini bows theatrically. Other guests nod and gesture as they're
introduced.
SIR ARTHUR
(continuing)
Cambridge physicist, Sir Oliver
Lodge...astronomer, Camille
Flammarion...clairvoyant, Geoffrey
Hodson, and of course, noted
theosophist, E.L. Gardner.
Wiggins slides up next to Sir Arthur.
WIGGINS
Well, well, Sir Arthur... I believe
we share more than a few acquaintances
in Parliament.
SIR ARTHUR
Pardon me, Sir, but what is your
interest here?
WIGGINS
(boastful)
I am Lord of the manor. The fairies
in question are my tenants.
SIR ARTHUR
My apologies, Sir. Won't you join
us?
WIGGINS
Thank you, I shall.
Sir Arthur turns into the room.
SIR ARTHUR
(searching)
The girls. Where are the girls?
Polly gasps. All heads turn toward the back entrance where the
girls are standing side by side, looking like a couple of drowned
rats.
SIR ARTHUR
(continuing; stepping up
to the girls)
What a pleasure to meet you at last.
Sir Arthur takes Elsie's hand. She curtesies, inadvertently
dripping water onto his sleave.
82.
INT. PARLOR - A SHORT TIME LATER 101
Gardner peers out the window. It's raining hard. He turns back
into the crowded room, minus the girls.
GARDNER
We certainly can't visit the glen in
this rain. Perhaps with some luck
it'll stop.
SIR ARTHUR
The fire's warm, the company
excellent. I say we sit tight and
wait it out.
POLLY
Well then, I'll make tea.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 102
The girls are changed into regular clothes. Frances is helping
Elsie dry her hair with a towel as Polly enters.
ELSIE
(hopeful, to Polly)
Are they gone?
POLLY
On the contrary. They've asked to
hear about the fairies.
Frances lets the towel drop over Elsie's head.
INT. PARLOR - SHORT TIME LATER 103
Rain patters against the windows. The air is thick and musky.
Artie stokes the fire into a crackling rage. The flames reflect
orange off the faces of the guests, who are now sitting semi circle
around it. A steamy mist rises up from their coats, creating a
magical proscenium.
Elsie and Frances step onto the hearth stage. They assess the
eager eyes set upon them, then each other.
ELSIE
Well, um...what happened was...um...
(continuing, help)
Frances?
Frances chucks Elsie a sideways glance, then takes center stage.
She pauses, drawing her audience in. The fire flutters behind
her like angel wings. Her movements are slight and graceful.
83.
FRANCES
(beat, then mysterious)
It happened one golden afternoon.
Elsie and I were playing in the glen
when we discovered a circle of
toadstools...a fairie ring.
Guests nod to themselves, acknowledging. Houdini stands in the
b.g., arms skeptically folded.
FRANCES
(continuing)
We knew the fairies were around
because Elsie and her brother Joseph
had known them before.
Polly's eyes cloud over.
FRANCES
(continuing)
All we had to do was to believe with
all our might, and call to them in
that special way...
GARDNER
(overcome)
Call to them, girls...
SIR ARTHUR
Yes, yes, please do.
FRANCES
(reaching out)
Elsie...?
Elsie hesitates, then joins hands with her cousin. They begin
their delicate, circular dance.
FRANCES/ELSIE
(chanting, slow at first)
Come out from your fairie bower...
Come upon this golden hour...
Backlit by the fiery aura, the girl's dancing shadows are projected
around the room like from a child's fantasy lamp.
FRANCES/ELSIE
(continuing chant)
Come to us we beg you please...
Fairies dancing on the breeze...
(repeating)
Sir Arthur, then Gardner, then others succumb. The lull of the
chant, the patter of the rain, the heat of the fire, the passion
of belief, all mix to create a communal magic.
84.
Move slowly into the eyes of the guests which are getting bigger
and bigger. CUT to their POV... The girls are dancing around a
real fairie ring. As the walls of the room melt away, everyone --
Sir Arthur, Gardner, Polly, Artie, Camille, Hodson, Lodge, Wiggins,
all except for Houdini -- find themselves standing in the middle
of the magnificent glen.
As the girls end their chant, Sir Arthur's eyes flare, he's the
first to see her teasingly peeking out from inside a cluster of
pink roses. About five inches tall, sheathed in a translucent
gown of the finest spider silk. Delicate but not fragile. Pretty
beyond rendering. And wings, soft gossamer wings, seemingly more
for adornment than the toil of flying.
FRANCES
(continuing the story)
That's when we first saw the playful
Rosamund...
A collective gasp as others see her. Rosamund runs (though her
little feet never touch ground) up to the fairie ring twirling a
rosebud over her head, opening and closing it like an umbrella.
She tosses it inside the ring, looks back, vibrates her wings
which glow bright, casting florescent streaks of fantasy colors
into the air surrounding her.
Tiny laughter from the perimeter. Then other fairies appear, in
all shapes and sexes, each distinctly different from the other.
(Introductions as they appear...)
FRANCES
(continuing)
Then came the others... Hannah,
Lady Dorothy: Princess Rebecca and
her handsome beau, William Travis;
Sir Henry and Capt'n James; Sweet
Sydney, the twins Petal and Trick;
little Tora...
The fairies emerge, each carrying a different flower which they
toss into the ring. They circle around the ring and hold hands.
SOFT PIPE MUSIC begins, a variation of an Irish melody skillfully
played. From out of the grass marches a quite different creature;
taller, stouter, without wings. He's playing the tune on a little
bagpipe-type instrument.
FRANCES
(continuing)
And of course our musical friend,
the gnome, Mr. Bandylegs...
The fairies start to twist and hop around the ring, similar to
the dance the girls performed. Then singularly, and in pairs
they enter the ring and revel uncontrollably in the flowers.
85.
Polly's hand is shaking. Artie takes it in his.
Houdini sees none of this. His POV as a non-believer is void of
fantasy. What amazes him are the joyous, childlike looks on the
faces of the other adults. Something is happening, something he
is not privy to. He searches, but it's not a party for skeptics.
Everyone's startled by a sudden high pitch sound -- an alarm of
sorts. Behind a bed of wildfire, a glowing aurora of light glows
brighter and brighter.
FRANCES
(continuing)
That's when she called her children
home.
The dancing fairies respond and quickly head for the light, each
disappearing into the glen in singular style. The intense light
rises over the flowers revealing the most angelic fairie of all.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Queen Tatiana was the most beautiful
of all.
QUEEN TATIANA casts her gaze over the guests, a gaze not without
warning, "do not tread lightly into my world" her eyes say. The
light grows brighter and brighter...too bright for human eyes.
Then just as quickly, the light goes out.
Eyes adjust. The glen is gone. Everyone is silent, lost in their
own thoughts.
SIR ARTHUR
(muttering, glancing at
girls)
...astonishing, quite
astonishing...thank you...
EXT. COTTAGE - SAME TIME 104
Black clouds race across the sky. Rain beats down on the row of
expensive, CHAUFFEUR attended cars parked out front.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - SAME TIME 105
Guests begin to stir from their numbed silence. Sir Arthur stands
for a moment, as if to say something, then quietly sits back down.
Sir Oliver lights a pipe. Camille, takes down her hair, running
her fingers through it. The clairvoyant Hodson whispers to a
confused Wiggins. Polly and Artie hold hands. Houdini strolls
the perimeter of the room observing the after effects.
86.
Elsie and Frances sit by the fire. Frances seems particularly
exhausted by the ordeal.
Sir Arthur stands again. Expectant eyes shift up on this huge
bear of a man. Sir Arthur strokes his moustache, then...
SIR ARTHUR
War is a beast that consumes our
young without remorse, prompting us
to search for answers in places only
our hearts can understand.
(crossing room)
Many of us here lost loved ones. My
dear son, Kingsley; Sir Oliver, your
youngest, Sean...
Sir Arthur reaches down and touches Polly's hand.
SIR ARTHUR
(continuing, to Polly)
Your Joseph...
(continuing, turns to
Elsie and Frances)
But what I now know, what I've learned
here this day by the grace of these
two extraordinary children, is that
our sons are at peace in a world far
more benevolent than our own. And
until that time when we are reunited,
we must honor them, not with the
pain of loss...but with the joy of
memory.
Polly raises her handkerchief to her lips. Artie comforts her.
Sir Arthur melts his massive bulk before Elsie and Frances.
SIR ARTHUR
(continuing, tenderly,
to girls)
Thank you.
EXT. COTTAGE - INSIDE CAR - DAY 106
Sir Arthur and Houdini climb into the rear seat. Settle in.
SIR ARTHUR
(renewed)
Tell me, Harry, were you witness to
the magic?
Houdini glances out the side window at Elsie, Frances, Polly and
Artie waving goodbye from the cottage door. Pats his friends
knee.
87.
HOUDINI
Indeed I was, my friend. Indeed I
was.
The caravan of cars move off.
INT. COTTAGE - PARLOR - SAME TIME 107
Artie closes the door, turns back into the parlor, surprised to
see Lord Wiggins sitting in a chair, eyes transfixed by the fire.
Artie motions for the girls to go upstairs.
ARTIE
(clearing his throat)
Eh... Lord Wiggins...?
WIGGINS
(snapping out of it)
What...? Oh, yes... Quite right.
Polly hands Wiggins his hat and coat.
EXT. COTTAGE - SAME TIME 108
Rain soaks Artie as he helps Wiggins into his car. Wiggins taps
Artie on the shoulder with his stick...
WIGGINS
See you in the morning, Mr. Wright.
ARTIE
(restrained relief)
Yes, Sir.
INT. JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 109
Polly moves through the room -- touching his chair, smelling his
pillow -- remembering.
ARTIE (O.S.)
(concern)
Polly?
Artie, exhausted, still damp from the rain, pushes in through the
door. Polly offers him a small smile; pained, but resigned, which
relaxes Artie a bit.
The room closes in on Artie as a rush of memories envelope him.
He sits back on the bed, drinking in the room and the events of
the day.
88.
ARTIE
(continuing)
Quite a day...quite-a-day...
Artie looks at Polly, who returns his gaze, perhaps for the first
time since Joseph died.
ARTIE
(continuing; still being
the rock)
You holdin' up all right?
Polly nods, looks down into her lap. Her hand opens like a flower,
revealing a small, blurry snapshot of a skinny little boy in the
glen.
Artie chokes on a breath. His face pinches, his eyes cloud over
as the damn that been holding back his grief, breaks, and he starts
to sob. Polly, for the moment the strong one, draws him near.
Someone stirs in the darkness outside the door.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 110
Frances is a silent witness.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - MORNING 111
Frances, with an unfamiliar sadness, is sitting in front of her
opened steamer trunk. Her dresses and things are noticeably
missing. She's removing her family photos from around the mirror
and tossing them into the bottom drawer of Elsie's dresser.
Elsie enters the room. Curiously watches Frances.
ELSIE
Frances, what are you doing...?
Please don't do that.
FRANCES
(near tears)
I'm tired of photographs.
The faint sound of a ringing bell seeps into the room. The girls
hear it at the same time. Frances has been fooled before. Elsie
moves to the window.
ELSIE
Frances...
MR. TELLER (O.S.)
(distant, calling)
Frances! Frances Griffiths!
89.
Frances rushes to the window, sees Mr. Teller approaching on his
bike, then bolts for the door.
EXT. COTTAGE - MORNING 112
Frances scrambles out, nearly knocking Mr. Teller off his bike.
He hands her a small package that looks like it's gone through
hell.
MR. TELLER
Hope it's what y've been expectin'.
Frances gazes over the worn, beaten package. Elsie steps up behind
her. Artie and Polly appear at the door.
In a blaze, Frances rips open the package, removes a small, fancy
box. Inside, is a tiny, porcelain Limoges bottle. Stunned, she
drops the empty package.
ELSIE
What is it?
FRANCES
(choking up)
French perfume...
The girls run inside. Artie picks up the package, looks it over.
Addresses are crossed out, postal stamps, stickers, stains...
It's a mess.
MR. TELLER
God only knows how long it's been in
the post.
POLLY
(to Artie)
You think he might be...?
A foreboding look passes between Artie and Polly. Artie casts a
pained glance up toward the girl's attic bedroom window.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - DAY 113
Close on the opened perfume box, and a handwritten note wedged in
its top: "I always keep my promises, Happy Christmas, Daddy."
FRANCES (O.S.)
It was supposed to be for Christmas.
Frances is staring down into the box. She and Elsie are sitting
scrunched up in the well of the dormer window. Elsie reads the
uncertainty on Frances' face.
90.
ELSIE
(supportive)
That seems a long time ago -- good
thing it didn't break.
Frances opens the perfume, dabs some on her wrist, then
smells...heavenly. She glances up at Elsie whose eyes are
transfixed on the glen. Frances gently reaches over and dabs
perfume behind Elsie's ears.
FRANCES
(soothing, as she dabs)
They'll come back someday.
ELSIE
(regretful sigh)
After what we did to them, I'm not
so sure.
FRANCES
We weren't so bad, really. The photos
made people happy.
ELSIE
I'm just glad it's over.
INT. SIR ARTHUR'S PUBLISHER'S OFFICE - SOME WEEKS LATER 114
A loud SLAP! as a manuscript is slammed down on an old wood desk.
MAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
(outraged)
Fairies again!
Sir Arthur's editor, SIMON HANDLEY looks up at Sir Arthur over
his reading glasses. We see the title of the manuscript, "The
Coming of the Fairies, by Arthur Conan Doyle."
HANDLEY
(continuing)
Doyle, you can't be serious!
SIR ARTHUR
I am indeed.
HANDLEY
Be reasonable, now, a book?!
SIR ARTHUR
I should like to see it published as
soon as possible, Mr. Handley.
Sir Arthur lights a pipe.
91.
HANDLEY
You're resolved, then.
SIR ARTHUR
(puffing)
To the core.
Handley scratches his chin, thinking of angles...
HANDLEY
(onto something)
Actually, the public did rally behind
those little girls. Can we count on
them to cooperate?
SIR ARTHUR
(nods)
I give you my word.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - DAY 115
Autumn. The glen is bathed in a golden hue. Leaves cover the
ground. Elsie is sitting alone on the tree bridge, swinging her
legs and watching leaves float past in the stream.
POLLY (O.S.)
It is beautiful, isn't it.
Elsie turns, surprised to see her mother entering the glen.
ELSIE
Mum...
Polly breathes deeply, drinks in the surroundings.
POLLY
I can see why you children love it
so.
(points next to Elsie)
May I?
Elsie smiles, scoots over half a cheek. Polly balances out on
the bridge, sits next to Elsie on a well worn spot. She notices
splatters of paint on the log. She touches each one individually.
POLLY
(continuing)
Joseph?
Elsie nods contemplatively.
POLLY
(continuing)
He was quite the artist, your brother.
92.
POLLY
(taking in the glen)
He must have missed coming down here.
Elsie flings a piece of bark into the stream.
ELSIE
Why'd you make him stop?
Pondering the question, Polly peels a scab of bark off the tree
and flings into the stream.
POLLY
It was his time. Other boys his age
were showing interest in girls and
the war. Joseph refused to let go
of the fairies. We couldn't allow
it any more. It was his time to
grow up.
Polly touches a red paint splatter as a pang of regret shoots
through her.
POLLY
(continuing; deep regret)
It's a painful thing to be
disappointed in one's children.
Elsie mistakenly thinks this is meant for her. She looks away.
ARTIE (O.S.)
(distant)
Polly! Elsie!
Artie and Frances race down the slope into the glen. Frances
grabs the back of Artie's shirt to keep up. Artie is waving a
piece of paper over his head.
ARTIE
(continuing, out of breath)
Polly! London!
Artie and Frances splash into the stream before Polly and Elsie.
They take a second to catch their breath.
POLLY
Artie, what are you talking about?
ARTIE
London, Polly, we're goin' t'London!
FRANCES
Sir Arthur invited us!
93.
ELSIE
Why?
Artie hands the telegram to Polly.
ARTIE
He's written a book about t'fairies.
He wants us there for its debut.
Elsie covers her face with in frustration.
INT. FIRST CLASS TRAIN CAR - MOVING - DAY 116
Elsie lifts her face from her hands and stares out the window at
the passing countryside. Frances is sitting beside her. Both
girls are wearing their best, Elsie in her pink dress.
ELSIE
(angry)
It's supposed to be over, Frances.
FRANCES
Elsie... London! Big Ben!
Buckingham Palace!
ELSIE
How can you be so selfish. We made
a promise, remember?
FRANCES
Of course I remember. But your mum
is better. And that's all we were
trying to do.
Frances glances back to Polly, who has shed her black dress for a
beautiful yellow one. She looks radiant sitting next to the proud
Artie.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Whatever else happened wasn't our
fault.
ELSIE
Then whose fault was it?
FRANCES
I don't know what you want, Elsie.
ELSIE
I want it to end. I don't want to
be a part of it anymore.
94.
FRANCES
(had enough)
Fine.
Frances sits back, arms folded. After a beat.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Then let's tell her. Let's tell her
the truth.
(turns back, calling)
Aunt Polly!
ELSIE
(hushed)
Frances don't.
Polly steps up in the aisle before the girls. She's stunning in
her yellow dress. She smiles.
POLLY
Yes, Frances?
FRANCES
Elsie has something to tell you.
The moment of truth. Elsie stares up at her mother, as beautiful
as she's ever seen her.
ELSIE
(can't do it)
Nothing...
POLLY
(excited)
Well... London. Isn't it marvelous!
Polly moves off. Elsie glares at Frances.
ELSIE
You don't know everything, Frances
Griffiths. You don't know for certain
when a fairie curse will strike.
Elsie turns to look out the window. Frances stares down at the
skirt of Elsie's dress, her gaze lingering on the mended hole.
EXT. VICTORIA STATION - AT STREET - DAY 117
Elsie, Frances, Polly and Artie emerge onto the bustling streets
of fabulous London -- Sir Arthur, Gardner, and a small press corp
usher them into a very long, very expensive car.
95.
INT. SMILEY'S PUB - NIGHT 118
Smiley's behind the bar reading the paper. The lead story: "Local
Girls Storm London!" Ferret enters in a foul mood.
SMILEY
(teasing, off newspaper)
Aye, John Ferret, I see your girls
are the toast of London.
Ferret sits at the bar, steaming.
SMILEY
(continuing)
All England's believin' in fairies
now. Says 'ere the fairies are
"bringin' 'ope back to t'Empire."
FERRET
Fakes, the snaps, all of 'em.
SMILEY
Well, y'know, John, them snaps ain't
been disproven.
ROLLO, a rummy sitting at the bar, starts moving his shaking hand
toward a shot of rye set up on the bar in front of him. It's no
small effort.
Ferret grabs the newspaper from Smiley and looks over the article.
FERRET
(gets idea)
T'family's in London, eh?
As Rollo just about grabs his shot, Ferret reaches in and swipes
it away. Aghast, Rollo watches Ferret down his shot and head for
the door.
ROLLO
Y'er a dirty thief, John Ferret!
FERRET
All in the name of truth...
EXT./INT. LONDON MONTAGE - DAY 119
Begin MONTAGE as the girls, Artie, Polly, Sir Arthur and Gardner
hit the town. MUSIC SCORED over following:
...DOUBLE DECKER TROLLY - LONDON STREETS - MOVING - DAY
96.
The party is on the open air top deck. The press corp crowds
around the demonstrative Frances, while Elsie avoids the lime
light. Frances gawks -- at Westminster Cathedral, Big Ben, Tower
Bridge, Trafalgar Square...
...CHARRING CROSS BOOKSHOP - DAY 120
In the window a display of Sir Arthur's book, "Coming of the
Fairies." including photos of Elsie and Frances.
Inside, a Highbrow party atmosphere. Frances is the darling of
the press. Elsie watches from behind a bookcase, purposely
avoiding the attention.
INT. ST. THOMAS HOSPITAL - CHILDREN'S WARD - DAY 121
Elsie and Frances are escorted up the aisle of the ward by a team
of doctors and dignitaries, including Sir Arthur and Gardner.
CHILDREN, in wheelchairs, on crutches, bedridden -- reach out to
them. The press corp continues to favor Frances.
END MONTAGE as a YOUNG BOY in traction reaches out to Frances,
who takes his hand. His name, TOBY, is taped to the pocket of
his hospital gown. The press crowds around. Elsie looks on.
TOBY
Miss...? Could you please ask your
fairies to help me get well?
FRANCES
I'll sure try.
TOBY
You will? Thank you ever so much.
The press eats this up. Frances moves off, carrying the press in
her wake. Elsie looks back at Toby with sympathetic eyes. She
moves up to him.
ELSIE
(not easy)
Actually, Toby...fairies can't help
you get well.
Toby is crestfallen. Polly notices Elsie talking to him.
ELSIE
(continuing)
For that you need to ask your guardian
angel.
97.
TOBY
(suddenly excited)
I have an angel?
ELSIE
Well, I believe you do. We all do.
They help us get through the worst
times.
Toby beams. Elsie turns, surprised to find Polly standing behind
her.
ELSIE
(continuing)
Mum...
POLLY
That was nice. I think you did some
good there. I'm so proud of you.
Their eyes lock. The connection is electric.
POLLY
(continuing; whispers)
And thank you.
ELSIE
For what?
Polly takes Elsie's arm and leads her off.
POLLY
The photos.
We see Elsie's step briefly falter.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - NIGHT 122
A lantern approaches in the darkness. It's Ferret. He finds the
twig doll house in the heather. Kicks it with disdain.
INT. HIPPODROME THEATER - LONDON - NIGHT 123
Houdini is on stage in the process of swallowing a ball of string
and a handful of straight pins. The packed audience is prim and
formally attired. The girls, Artie, Polly, Sir Arthur and Mr.
Gardner are front row center, guests of honor.
Elsie and Frances squirm in their seats as Houdini reaches into
his mouth and begins tugging out the line of string. One by one,
the straight pins emerge, neatly tied to the string. Houdini
finishes with a flourish and takes his bow. The girls lead the
enthusiastic applause.
98.
Houdini claps his hands twice and two leggy FEMALE ASSISTANTS
wheel out his famous Chinese Water tank.
FAST CUT TO:
EXT. WRIGHT'S COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - SAME TIME - NIGHT 124
Ferret snakes up to the back of the house. Tries the door. It's
locked. He looks around to see if the coast is clear, then jimmies
open a window and crawls in.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. LONDON THEATER - SAME TIME - NIGHT 125
Houdini is being strapped into a straight jacket by his assistants.
Buckle after buckle, tightened, strapped...
FAST CUT TO:
INT. COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - PARLOR - SAME TIME 126
Inside, Ferret fans the lantern across the parlor, illuminating
Joseph's photograph on the wall.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. LONDON THEATER - SAME TIME 127
Houdini is hoisted upside down into the air and positioned over
the water tank. The audience holds their breath as he's slowly
lowered into the water. The assistants bolt the top shut.
Houdini, his eyes like bubbles, struggles to free himself.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - ATTIC BEDROOM - SAME TIME 128
Ferret searches the girls' room, careful not to upset anything.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. LONDON THEATRE - SAME TIME 129
Houdini's struggle continues. We see him worm a finger, then a
hand out from the jacket. The girls, the audience, everyone is
ready to burst.
FAST CUT TO:
99.
INT. COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 130
Ferret's eyes flare greedily as he scans the interior of Joseph's
room. He begins a frantic search.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. LONDON THEATER - SAME TIME 131
Houdini sheds the straight jacket, frantically he reaches for the
lock around his feet. In a close shot we discover Houdini's
secret, shielded from the audience, he cleverly removes a small
piece of wire from his mouth and starts working the lock.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 132
Ferret opens Joseph's desk drawer. Pulls out the folder marked
"drawings" written on the cover.
INT. LONDON THEATER - SAME TIME 133
The lock releases. Houdini shoots up to the surface of the tank.
The audience goes crazy with applause. Elsie suddenly grabs her
stomach with a pained expression.
FAST CUT TO:
INT. COTTINGLEY COTTAGE - JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 134
APPLAUSE CARRIES OVER as Ferret opens the folder. We don't see
what he's found, but from his look of triumph, we know it's what
he's been looking for.
INT. LONDON THEATER - HOUDINI'S DRESSING ROOM - LATER 135
Plush accommodations overflowing with flowers and WELL WISHERS.
REPORTERS and PHOTOGRAPHERS crowd around Houdini and the girls.
Elsie's holding her aching stomach. Polly steps up.
POLLY
(concerned)
Elsie, are you feeling all right?
A PUSHY PHOTOGRAPHER waves Polly back.
PUSHY PHOTOGRAPHER
Please lady, y'er blockin' m'shot.
100.
ELSIE
I'm all right, Mum.
Polly moves back. Houdini gathers the girls on either side of
him. Flashes go off.
HOUDINI
So, you girls like the show?
FRANCES
Oh yes, Mr. Houdini, very much.
REPORTER #1
Mr. Houdini, any chance you'd tell
us how you escaped from the tank?
HOUDINI
(glancing at the girls)
Masters of illusion never reveal
their secrets.
REPORTER #2
Hey girls...how does it feel being
invited to tea with the King?
Elsie turns green. She looks at Frances, who hunches her
shoulders, then up at Artie, who excitedly waves a royal
invitation.
REPORTER #2
(continuing)
So how does it feel?
Elsie's eyes go wide. She turns away and vomits.
INT. LONDON'S ST. JAMES HOTEL - ROYAL SUITE - ELSIE'S BEDROOM - 136
NIGHT
The "Royal Suite" and all that implies -- antiques, fine art,
endless gold leaf. Elsie looks like a lonely doll sitting up in
the middle of a huge canopy bed, a thermometer sticking out of
her mouth. Polly reaches in and pulls it out. Frowns.
POLLY
You do have a fever. No more sweets
for you, young lady.
Frances pokes her head in.
FRANCES
May I see her, Aunt Polly?
101.
POLLY
Yes, but only for a short while.
She needs her rest.
Polly exits.
Frances climbs up on the bed next to Elsie, who remains silent.
FRANCES
You're not having the least bit of
fun, are you?
ELSIE
We don't deserve any of this.
Frances scans the surrounding opulence.
FRANCES
Someone thinks we do.
ELSIE
We're not heros, Frances.
(grabs her stomach tighter)
Oh, I just want to go back home. I
just want everything to be the way
it was before...
FRANCES
(enough self pity)
Before when, Elsie? Before the
photos? Before I came? When?
ELSIE
(barks it out)
Before Joseph died.
Elsie moans and pulls the covers over her head.
INT. ROYAL SUITE - ELSIE'S BEDROOM - LATE NIGHT 137
Elsie's sleeping fitfully, mumbling.
The bedroom window is suddenly blown open by a gust of wind. The
curtains ripple and lift, revealing an eerie blue light steadily
approaching.
Elsie sits up, grasping for breath. She turns to the window.
The blue light floods into the room, depositing the ghostly vision
of her brother JOSEPH, in military uniform, at her bedside.
Elsie screams, but without sound. Joseph takes her hand, and as
he does, the fear washes from her face. He stares at her lovingly,
then...
102.
JOSEPH
Never stop believing, Elsie...
Joseph moves back to the window where he's absorbed by the intense
blue light. Elsie bounds out of bed, leans out the window.
Elsie's POV out the window is of the glen bathed in a powerful
white back light. Joseph is being led to the light by the fairies.
Elsie's eyes open with a start. Someone stirs in the shadows.
ELSIE
(frightened)
Joseph?!
Polly steps out from the darkness, sits on the bed beside Elsie.
Feels her forehead.
POLLY
Shhh, Joseph's not here...
Polly climbs in under the covers next to Elsie, who's still
shivering from her dream. Elsie melts under her mother's warm
embrace.
POLLY
(continuing)
It's going to be all right, Elsie.
We have each other...we still have
each other...
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - QUEEN VICTORIA MEMORIAL - DAY 138
A CROWD is gathered around memorial circle waiting to catch a
glimpse of the girls. A ROAR goes up as a diplomatic motor car
makes its way through the gates.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - ROYAL MEETING ROOM - DAY 139
The girls and their party are escorted into a cavernous room with
a roaring fire and big, fancy furniture. The girls crawl up onto
a massive settee. Their little feet dangle over the edge,
wiggling. Their eyes are searchlights fanning the coffered
ceiling, the marble statuary, the wall size tapestries... Elsie
reaches for Frances' hand.
Then behind them, footsteps. Sure and crisp. Sir Arthur stands.
SIR ARTHUR
Your Majesty...
103.
The girls turn and find themselves staring face level into the
sovereign's dress coat, decorated with medals, ribbons and shiny
brass buttons. Above all this, KING GEORGE V's bearded face.
KING GEORGE
So good to see you, Sir Arthur.
The girls heads fall back as they look up at the two giant men
exchanging greetings.
SIR ARTHUR
Your Majesty... May I introduce Mr.
And Mrs. Arthur Wright.
KING GEORGE
A pleasure indeed.
POLLY/ARTIE
(curtesy/bow)
Your Majesty.
Then the King looks down at the girls. Elsie squeezes Frances'
hand harder.
KING GEORGE
Ah, the fairie girls. That is what
my daughter calls you.
Footsteps again, no less sure, only this time lighter, delicate,
profoundly graceful.
KING GEORGE
(continuing)
Here's my Goldilocks now. Princess
Mary...
PRINCESS MARY, adorable at twelve, swarms over the girls.
PRINCESS MARY
(thrilled, to girls)
You simply must tell me all about
them! Come, I'll show you my garden.
Princess Mary leads the girls out, followed by a contingent of
guards. Elsie glances back at her mother, who smiles and offers
a small wave of her fingers. King George sits, Sir Arthur and
the Wright's follow.
KING GEORGE
Of course, the crown cannot endorse
a belief in fairies, but one cannot
deny that the very notion has captured
the imagination of the people.
104.
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - ROYAL GARDEN - DAY 140
Princess Mary leads the girls through a meticulously attended
garden of roses and all sorts of beautiful flowers.
PRINCESS MARY
(intensely curious)
What kind of shoes did they wear?
Were their dresses made of chiffon
or silk? Do they speak English or
French...?
Frances and Elsie exchange sideways glances and giggle.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - PRESS ROOM - LATER 141
The din of REPORTERS and PHOTOGRAPHERS clamoring for position.
Gardner stands smugly in the wings.
A ROYAL AIDE announces.
ROYAL AIDE
His Royal Highness, King George V,
Princess Mary and honored guest...
King George, followed by Princess Mary and the girls, Sir Arthur,
Polly and Artie. The press goes wild. Flashes explode.
Elsie absorbs it all -- Princess Mary, Sir Arthur, Gardner, her
mother's smile, Buckingham Palace, then dear Frances. A joy is
building inside of her...
FERRET (O.S.)
(shouting)
Your Majesty! I know the truth about
those fairie photographs!
The voice echoes through the room. The girls see Ferret. Frances
grabs Elsie's hand. They look at each other.
ELSIE/FRANCES
(frightened whispers)
The fairie's curse!
The room quiets, shocked by Ferret's accusation.
ROYAL AIDE
(to Ferret)
Sir, the King is not taking questions
today.
Ferret pushes his way up to the front of the crowd. GUARDS
surround him.
105.
FERRET
The King must know the truth.
KING GEORGE
And you, Sir, are its bearer.
Ferret waves Joseph's folder over his head.
FERRET
I am, Your Majesty.
The King gestures to his aide, who takes the folder from Ferret --
"glen drawings" written on its cover. He hands it to the King
who examines its contents without emotion.
Polly steps protectively in front of Elsie and Frances, whose
eyes are glued to their shoes.
The King looks sternly down at Ferret.
KING GEORGE
Sir, there is no truth here for me.
The King turns back to the girls, who are terrified, melded into
each other like siamese twins.
KING GEORGE
(continuing)
These girls have given the people
something to believe in again. And
by God, no country needs that more
today than England!
King George gestures. On cue, a guard flings open a window.
Outside, the adoring crowd CHEERS.
KING GEORGE
(continuing, off cheers)
The people have spoken!
Ferret is carried off like a blathering idiot.
King George casts a stern look at the girls, then hands the folder
over to Polly. Elsie pleads forgiveness with her eyes.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CORRIDOR - LATER 142
The entourage is being escorted through the massive corridor lined
with priceless art.
Elsie and Frances stumble behind Polly, who stops in front of a
wall size fireplace. The others continue on, it's just Polly and
the girls.
106.
Polly opens the folder, takes in its contents (which we do not
yet see.)
ELSIE
I'm so sorry, Mum. We had to do it
this way so you could see them.
(pleading)
But they are real...they are.
Polly turns to Elsie, a beat, then she takes her in her arms.
POLLY
I believe you.
Holding on to Elsie, Polly tosses the folder into the fire.
Close on the folder as it burns and curls open, revealing the
girl's artifice...we see sheets of Joseph's drawings, fairie
drawings, some of which have been cut out and used in the photos.
Frances watches, unhugged, a hollow feeling of loss spreading
through her small body...
EXT. VICTORIA STATION - DAY 143
The North train stands ready for departure. The girls wave goodbyes
to Sir Arthur, Gardner and Houdini.
INT. TRAIN - FIRST CLASS CAR - MOVING - DAY 144
Exhausted, Elsie is asleep between Polly and Artie. Frances sits
alone across the aisle, staring longingly out the window.
INT. COTTAGE - JOSEPH'S ROOM - NIGHT 145
Polly, not in black, is packing Joseph's things into a box,
lingering over each piece before placing it in. Elsie stops
outside the door.
ELSIE
Mum?
POLLY
Elsie, come in.
Elsie curiously watches Polly pack.
ELSIE
What are you doing?
107.
POLLY
I don't think Joseph would mind it
terribly if you moved in.
ELSIE
Really??
Elsie hugs her mum. A bright flash of light explodes into the
room. Artie is at the door, with his camera and a smoking flash.
He's wearing the knitted red sweater.
ARTIE
Ah, it's good t'see m'girls together.
Artie moves in on the hug -- a family reunited.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE JOSEPH'S ROOM - SAME TIME 146
Cloaked by the shadows of the hall, little Frances watches the
scene through large, sad eyes.
INT. ATTIC BEDROOM - NIGHT 147
Elsie is in a happy half sleep. She turns to look at Frances,
who's not in her bed.
ELSIE
Frances...?
Crossing to the door Elsie looks out the window and sees Frances
running toward the glen, her nightgown luminous in the moonlight.
EXT. COTTINGLEY GLEN - NIGHT 148
Under the light of the moon, a barefoot Elsie searches for Frances.
She finds her kneeling inside the shriveled fairie ring. Pieces
of the shattered fairie palace are scattered around.
ELSIE
Frances, what's the matter?
FRANCES
You were right, Elsie, this is all
my fault, they're not coming back...
And neither is my daddy.
ELSIE
Frances, don't say that.
FRANCES
I know what missing means.
108.
Frances takes in the stillness of the glen.
FRANCES
(continuing)
Maybe we just imagined the fairies
after all. Maybe they were just
photographs.
ELSIE
You know that's not true.
(pointing at fairie ring)
You wouldn't be here now if you didn't
still believe.
Elsie reaches out her hands to Frances.
ELSIE
(continuing)
C'mon, let's call them back.
FRANCES
I can't...
ELSIE
Together we can. They'll come back
if we believe with all our might.
FRANCES
(defiant)
What makes you so sure?
Elsie stares down at Frances for a beat, the smiles.
ELSIE
You.
(extends her hands)
Please...
Slowly Frances takes her hands. The girls begin the delicate
circular dance around the wilted fairie ring.
ELSIE/FRANCES
Come out from your fairie bower...
Come upon this golden hour... Come
to us we beg you please... Fairies
dancing on the breeze...
(repeat)
As they pick up speed and volume... We see the circle of
toadstools magically come back to life. Throughout the glen,
glimmers of light emerge -- from flowers, from the stream, up
from the ground... Soon the glen is filled with light, like a
great aurora.
109.
The fairies are back! Rosamund, Princess Rebecca, William Travis,
Sir Henry, Capt'n James, Sweet Sydney, Little Tora, Lady Dorothy,
Hannah, Trick, Petal -- all of them. They fly around the girls
showering them with flower petals and fairie glitter. Elsie and
Frances, through tears of joy, laugh and howl and dance.
ELSIE/FRANCES
(continuing)
...come to us we beg you please...
fairies dancing on the breeze...
Camera rises up above the glen and the countryside. Below, in
the distance, a lone SOLDIER wearily walks up a road lugging a
large duffel bag. He looks across a pasture toward a strange
glow lighting up the horizon. As if drawn, he leaves the road,
walking faster and faster toward it, until he breaks out into a
run toward the light.
As we slowly FADE OUT, we hear a joyous howl...
FRANCES (O.S.)
Daddy!
FADE OUT:
| FairyTale: A True Story
Writers : Ernie Contreras
Genres : Drama Family Fantasy
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