Crampton Read Online Free PDF Page B

old.
    He shows the merchant's copy of the receipt to the agents.
    SHOPKEEP
    Looks like they bought a gag gun. You know, the kind where you pull the trigger and a little flag pops out, "Bang!"
    Brady takes the receipt. On it, above the words "Gag Gun, one," in the same oddly ancient handwriting as the map, is an address--222 Main Street, Crampton, Ohio.
    HELEN
    Why didn't this address show up on our receipt?
    SHOPKEEP
    Did you try this?
    He takes the original receipt from Helen. Producing a lighter from his shirt pocket, the shopkeep places its flame near the paper. Brown lettering fades into view: the address ... the words "Gag Gun, one" ... and, at the bottom, "If you really want to know."
    SHOPKEEP
    Invisible ink. Hokey as it gets.
    HELEN
    That doesn't make sense. Forensics tested the paper for chemicals. They would have found traces of the ink.
    The shopkeep lights another cigarette.
    SHOPKEEP
    That's why they call it magic, toots.
    The shopkeep starts to hand the original receipt back to the agents, then notices the map on the back, with the words "Yellow House." A cunning smile splits his face.
    SHOPKEEP
    Yellow house, huh?
    BRADY
    Does this mean something to you?
    SHOPKEEP
    It's probably nothing, but there's this saying among magicians ... not all of them, just certain magicians, the ones that are a little kooky, if you know what I mean.
    HELEN
    What kind of saying?
    SHOPKEEP
    "I never want to live in a yellow house."
    BRADY
    What does it mean?
    He takes a long drag off his cigarette, blowing the smoke out his nose.
    SHOPKEEP
    Dunno. I'm not that kind of magician.
    Brady and Helen take back the receipt and head for the exit. As they pass the wall of dummies--
    DUMMY'S POV - in the FISH-EYE, we see Brady turn to Helen.
    BRADY
    I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to think this might be more than a loose thread after all.
    HELEN
    (pulling out a cell phone)
    I'll call Washington and see if we can get on a redeye flight to Ohio.
    SHOP
    As he turns back to the door, Brady is nearly knocked over by a CLOWN, its face made up into a smile of torturous proportions. For a moment, they are practically nose-to-nose.
    The clown mimes brushing itself off before heading into the shop. Brady and Helen step outside. Brady is visibly shaken.
    HELEN
    You're not one of those people who's scared of clowns, are you?
    Inside the shop, we see the clown turn towards the closing door. Slowly and very deliberately, it jams a finger way up into one of its clown nostrils. It is almost an obscene gesture. The door closes.
    BRADY
    I am now.
    CUT TO:
    INT. AIRPLANE - NIGHT
    Most of the passengers are trying to sleep, including--
    BRADY
    --sleeping between two overweight passengers. His face twitches, his eyelids quiver.
    DREAM SEQUENCE - a HAND-HELD CAMERA stalks the halls of an old, dark house. It looks into rooms empty but for tipped-over furniture or moldering cardboard boxes.
    AIRPLANE - CU ON BRADY'S FACE
    Beads of sweat have formed on his brow.
    DREAM
    The HAND-HELD climbs a flight of rickety stairs and explores a few more abandoned rooms. We begin to hear that ROARING SOUND, starting low but rising.
    AIRPLANE - CU CLOSED EYES
    Beneath their lids the eyes are rolling like crazy.
    DREAM
    Through a door into what might have been a master bedroom, empty now. One wall is covered floor-to-celling by a tattered curtain. The ROARING GETS LOUDER as we approach the curtain, close enough to touch it now. It is NEAR DEAFENING as the curtain is drawn aside--
    AIRPLANE - CU CLOSED EYES
    The eyes open wide and the sleeper jumps. It is Helen, not Brady . She looks shaken, pale. The ROARING sound becomes the WHINE of airplane engines.
    PILOT (OVER INTERCOM)
    Uh, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we've got some rough air underneath us. We'd appreciate it if you'd just sit tight, make sure any loose items are stowed in the space under the seat in front of you. We should be on the ground in Cincinnati in about twenty minutes.
    Gradually, the plane's