STONES

by Eric Pettifor

Act II

[Tableau as at the end of Act I. Characters all in the same positions. JOHN proceeds to eat the sandwich. DEBBIE is shocked. ALEX is surprised and intrigued. There is an uncomfortable silence as JOHN sits on a rock and finishes the sandwich. Finally DEBBIE speaks.]
DEBBIE	My name is Debra Danylo and this is my friend Alexandra Schlemmer.
[JOHN looks up and nods.]
	We're from Canada.
JOHN	Wondered why you weren't in church.
ALEX	Today is our last day on the island.
JOHN	Pity.
ALEX	We wanted to see the stones.
DEBBIE	We are, we are going to church, though, we were just going.
ALEX	To see the local customs and such. You know, colour.
DEBBIE	And to, to...
JOHN	To take his photograph?
DEBBIE	No, no, I don't think so.
JOHN	Just as well. They're not so fond o'tourists taking snaps, you know, colour. Nice set up you got though. Very professional.
DEBBIE	I'm a professional, I am... photographer, you know.
JOHN	I know.
ALEX	This 'pro' here forgot the film. I can't get any of this now, not unless we spend another day, which would mean...
JOHN	No, she didn't.
ALEX	What?
JOHN	She didn't forget the film.
DEBBIE	Yes, uh, yes, actually, I did.
JOHN	Deb, a professional doesn't forget the film. Either you're not, or y'haven't.
DEBBIE	Are you, uh, calling me a liar? I don't even know you.
JOHN	Been on the island long?
ALEX	Arrived yesterday.
JOHN	And you like these old stones.
DEBBIE	No.
ALEX	I have a serious interest in ancient monuments. And Scotland in general. I'm a journalist.
JOHN	Oh. I'm still a bit hungry. Do you have any more food?
DEBBIE	None.
ALEX	That was the last of it.
JOHN	Never mind. I have a sandwich in my bag. It's just over there. Shall I fetch it, then?
ALEX	Yes, actually, that would be very...
DEBBIE	We're just leaving just now. So we've got to go. Nice meeting you. Good-bye.
[DEBBIE starts towards her bike.]
ALEX	Yes. Debbie was thinking of leaving. But I've come a very long way to see these stones.
JOHN	Turusachan.
ALEX	What?
DEBBIE	Alex, aren't you coming?
JOHN	Turusachan. It's a name for these places. It means 'place of pilgrimage'.
DEBBIE	Alex?
ALEX	Place of pilgrimage.
JOHN	Shall I fetch the sandwich, then?
ALEX	Yes, please. That would be nice.
[JOHN smiles and goes to fetch his bag from behind the stone. DEBBIE comes back to ALEX who is smiling curiously after JOHN.]
ALEX	Uh, I thought we were about to, um, to leave.
ALEX	No. Maybe he can tell me something worth putting into the article. You go though. I'll meet you back at the bed and breakfast.
DEBBIE	I can't, I shouldn't leave without you.
ALEX	Why not?
DEBBIE	It might not be safe. What do we know about, about this guy? He could be some sort of a Scottish rapist or something.
ALEX	I'll take my chances.
DEBBIE	No, it's okay, I'll stay.
ALEX	(not very thankfully) Thanks, Deb.
[JOHN returns with his satchel and his flute.]
	Hey, you play the flute.
[JOHN nods]
	I play the tin whistle. Well, actually, I play the piano, but I couldn't bring it with me, obviously, so there was this music store in Orkney that sold tin whistles so... I bought one.
JOHN	The flageolet.
ALEX	What's that?
JOHN	Another name for it.
[JOHN looks in his satchel for the sandwich.]
ALEX	Is it?
JOHN	(affirmative) Mm.
[JOHN takes the sandwich from his satchel and begins to unwrap it.]
DEBBIE	Hey, where did you get that?
JOHN	I stole it.
DEBBIE	You what?
JOHN	(naturally) I stole it. I'm a thief.
DEBBIE	You're a what?
[JOHN looks at her trying to determine if she is stupid or just deaf.]
ALEX	I think he said he is a thief.
JOHN	That's right. I steal things.
ALEX	You're a kleptomaniac?
JOHN	No.
[They look at him. He looks at them.]
	It's my occupation.
[ALEX and DEBBIE look at each other.]
ALEX	Maybe you're right, Debbie, maybe we should be getting on our way.
DEBBIE	No, I want, I have a question. From whom did you steal that sandwich?
JOHN	You.
DEBBIE	I knew it! That's my sandwich!
JOHN	When you were praying.
DEBBIE	What?!
JOHN	Is that a Canadian expression?
DEBBIE	That was private!
JOHN	I thought it very nice. These stones don't get much worship these days.
DEBBIE	I was praying to God!
JOHN	So I heard. Would you share this sandwich with me now, Debra Danylo?
DEBBIE	No. No, I don't want to share my sandwich with you. I want it back! It's my sandwich!
[JOHN looks at the sandwich a moment, then slowly hands it to DEBBIE who grabs it from him.]
	You hungry?
[JOHN nods.]
	Good. Alex, you want half? You gave me half of yours so you can have half of mine if you like.
ALEX	Maybe we should just go?
DEBBIE	This, this, this 'thief' stole my sandwich and he can watch me eat it if he's so hungry.
[DEBBIE begins unwrapping the sandwich.]
JOHN	Begging your pardon, Debbie.
[She ignores him.]
	Debra.
[DEBBIE stops and looks at him.]
	I ask you to move from these stones before you eat. You can eat in front of me, I've endured worse, but please move from those stones.
DEBBIE	Why should I?
JOHN	Well, you don't have to, of course, it's up to you. I was just thinking of a day in the future, a day when Christian churches are like this, silent, mute, stone ~ listening, remembering choirs and sermons, remembering a god forgotten, a son who never returned, a mighty holy ghost reduced to just another haunt in a country full of haunts.
ALEX	And forgotten gods.
JOHN	Aye. And were once the altar stood there'll be just a stone, once sacred, reduced by time and elements to a lunching ground for tourists.
[DEBBIE looks at him a moment. He has gotten to her. Without saying anything, as if it were her own idea, she takes a few steps down stage. ALEX and JOHN go with her. She sits. They sit. She begins to eat her sandwich. JOHN watches her. ALEX watches the both of them. It is uncomfortable. DEBBIE is not even enjoying her revenge.]
ALEX	Debbie, he's really hungry.
[DEBBIE gives JOHN a piece of the sandwich. The two munch in silence. JOHN finishes before DEBBIE. ALEX picks up her whistle. She looks at it. She smiles. She raises it to her lips and plays the opening bit of 'Dueling Banjos', the signature tune of the movie Deliverance. JOHN smiles, grabs his flute and plays the other part. How far they go into it depends on the skill of the actors. One of them eventually stops, perhaps after a fumble, and they all laugh, including DEBBIE.]
ALEX	So why are you a thief?
JOHN	Pays the bills.
DEBBIE	Any job would do that.
JOHN	Aye, but it's not so easy for me to get a job here. I'm not too popular.
DEBBIE	Maybe if you stopped stealing people's stuff they'd like you better.
JOHN	Maybe.
ALEX	That's grand. A thief who admits he's a thief, sort of fits into the whole scheme of a complete community where everybody knows their lot and contributes, uh,... Well, you know, it's sort of like the cosmic dance, a holistic...
JOHN	Only five days a week. I take my weekends off.
DEBBIE	You stole my sandwich.
JOHN	Yes, but that was on my own time.
DEBBIE	What's, um, what is your name?
JOHN	John.
ALEX	John the weekday thief?
JOHN	No, I've a last name.
[Pause]
	I'm not going to tell it.
ALEX	Because you're a thief?
JOHN	Because I don't know you well enough. (As an afterthought, looking at ALEX) Yet.
DEBBIE	Why aren't you in church?
JOHN	Me? In church?
ALEX	You're not a regular there I take it.
JOHN	Not everybody is a church-going Christian on Lewis.
ALEX	Seems like it. (Laughs) You should have seen this one old woman, a part of that morning parade to church. She looked so sour I thought I would shout a cheery hello to her as I rode by.
JOHN	You didn't.
DEBBIE	She did.
ALEX	I did. I shouted, "Hello!"
DEBBIE	You should have seen the look she got.
ALEX	I felt like Malchus looking into the eyes of Simon Peter as he came at him with a sword to defend Jesus.
JOHN	That from the Bible?
ALEX	Uh, the Gospel according to Saint So-And-So, chapter such and such, verse four.
JOHN	(to ALEX) You a Christian too?
ALEX	Just because I happen to know a bit about the Bible... I also happen to know the physiology of the male erection. That doesn't make me a male.
JOHN	I don't know the physiology, but I know what to do with it when it happens.
ALEX	I'm sure you do.
DEBBIE	You still haven't answered the question.
[JOHN looks at her as if to say "What question?"]
	Why aren't you in church?
JOHN	(suddenly slightly vicious) To go to church when you know you don't really believe, isn't that a little bit hypocritical?
DEBBIE	I... see. I'm, I'm sorry.
JOHN	Though today, they say, is a good day to be in church if you've any doubts.
ALEX	Why today?
JOHN	If you've been up here as long as you say, then you know that the Scottish, especially the small town and country Scots, are very devout. And very superstitious. The word is out, or so I hear, that something evil is going to happen today.
DEBBIE	Something... evil?
JOHN	Something evil.
ALEX	How exciting. Do you think it will happen here?
JOHN	As like as not. So maybe the look that woman gave you was not so much dislike, as... warning?
DEBBIE	Alex, maybe we should go.
ALEX	No! This could be a great hook for the article! That is, if anything happens.
DEBBIE	Which it won't, right? It's just superstitious... just superstition.
ALEX	Probably. Unfortunately.
[JOHN suddenly blows a note on his flute.]
JOHN	But when, my lovely ladies, does superstition become religion, or religion superstition? What did they worship?
DEBBIE	Who, who worship?
JOHN	The ancient folk who built this circle.
DEBBIE	Alex, uh, you told me, you said that these stones were some sort of arrangement to tell seasons?
JOHN	Aye, certainly, a calendar, and, yes, a symbol of the power of the tribe that built it, and a navigational marker, and certainly at one time a crematorium, and most certainly, without doubt... A temple.
DEBBIE	(almost reverently) A temple.
ALEX	(skeptically) To what?
JOHN	Do you know the physiology of stone? Say, this one?
[JOHN gently, sensuously strokes the tall central stone.]
	This stone is the Callanish Phallus by name, so called for obvious reasons. They worshipped fertility, their own and the crops and all nature. The weather today is strange for here, but four thousand years ago it was like this often. (Seductively) Look around, imagine it, can you see the naked bodies twisted together in ecstasy, rolling about on this lovely day amidst a garden of the greatest hard-ons you've ever seen in your life?
[DEBBIE is looking around and imagining it. She is not as disgusted as one might expect a devout Christian to be. ALEX too is tickled. JOHN goes to her and gently massages her neck. She is a little surprised at first, but relaxes under his touch. DEBBIE watches this uncomfortably.]
	It is said that the Goddess of the Moon dances here every 19 years or so. And tis true. I've seen it.
ALEX	Come on.
[JOHN stands up. ALEX happens to glance over at DEBBIE. They make uncomfortable eye contact for a moment.]
JOHN	The astronomers will tell you that it's an astronomical phenomenon to do with orbits and our location so far north, but I think the ancient astronomers were probably a tad more poetic. They worshipped a dozen and one things; the moon, phalluses... And old long forgotten gods that have not died, for gods do not die, but sigh and remember an Isle of Lewis when they were worshipped and there were a lot more trees.
ALEX	There used to be trees here?
JOHN	So they say.
ALEX	Sure aren't any now.
JOHN	No.
[JOHN is lost in remembrance of a time long before he was born when there were trees on the island. ALEX is quiet and trying to think what she should think. DEBBIE finds her camera and quietly snaps a photo of JOHN. The shutter clicks. JOHN looks up at her. She clicks off two more shots.]
JOHN	So, you're a pro after all.
ALEX	Debbie, you have no film.
DEBBIE	Oh... that's right. Oh well. So much for that I guess.
JOHN	Speak the truth and shame the devil, Deb.
ALEX	You do have film, don't you. You lied when you told me you didn't have any film.
[DEBBIE doesn't say anything.]
	You lied to me on the Sabbath. Admit it!
DEBBIE	Okay, I admit it. I lied to you, I admit it, okay? I didn't want to take pictures of your stones anymore, I have rolls and rolls of Stonehenge, of Avebury, of the Ring of Brogar, of, of all, all of those others. But I want... I want to take pictures of these now, okay?
ALEX	Hey, easy Deb, it doesn't matter.
DEBBIE	No, I want to. I WANT TO!
[She goes around snapping pictures of the stones.]
	(points camera, clicks) There, there's one. And here, here's another, and another, and another huge stone...
[DEBBIE ends the picture taking rampage by doing a quick circuit of the circle, power winder engaged.]
	And click and click and click and click and click and click and click and click!
ALEX	You didn't have to do that.
DEBBIE	I wanted to.
ALEX	I was just a little miffed because, you know, you did give me the distinct impression that you were out of film.
DEBBIE	I wanted to go to church this morning. We should have gone to church. I just know, we should have gone.
JOHN	I have a camera. I have three in fact. One is a Leica.
DEBBIE	(lifting her head) You have a Leica?
JOHN	They tell me it's a very good camera.
DEBBIE	It is.
JOHN	You can have it if you like.
DEBBIE	Seriously?
JOHN	If you want it. I'll give it to you. A gift.
DEBBIE	It's stolen, isn't it.
ALEX	Still a nice offer.
JOHN	Well, I've not much use for it. I'm no pro. I just take pictures. Records of the past. Bits and pieces, odds and ends of once upon a time. Beautiful, yet a bit sad too.
DEBBIE	I, I know, I think I know what you mean. Some old photographs and a mirror show you the years.
JOHN	That's a bit like poetry.
DEBBIE	Thank-you.
[ALEX goes over to JOHN and, taking him by the arm, leads him away while talking to him.]
ALEX	You're a poet, aren't you. You're not really a thief at all. You're too literate.
JOHN	(a bit haltingly, making it up as he goes along) The literate lady has touched on my grief, That I'm only a poet on my own time. Five days a week I'm an illiterate thief Condemned to a cruel life of crime.
ALEX	Not bad. Have I read any of your stuff?
JOHN	I doubt it. It's not been published.
[They begin to caress subtly, ALEX guiding JOHN's hand. He is amused and somewhat aroused.]
ALEX	You could, you know. Publish. I really think you could.
DEBBIE	(voice in wilderness) I think so, too. I think you could.
JOHN	But I don't want to.
ALEX	You could make money at it. Make a living.
JOHN	I make a good enough living stealing things.
ALEX	You wouldn't have to.
JOHN	But I like it.
ALEX	You just finished saying it was your grief.
JOHN	I needed a rhyme for thief.
DEBBIE	Have you ever used the Leica?
[JOHN breaks from ALEX and makes his way over to DEBBIE.]
JOHN	A bit. But I've a pocket instamatic I like a lot better. It does the lot. I don't even have to focus.
DEBBIE	You know, as a photographer, as a professional photographer, I think, I think I should think that was horrible, but, really, well, if you don't need a Leica, why use a Leica?
JOHN	You want it then?
DEBBIE	Is your place far?
ALEX	Debbie! It's stolen! It could be traced. If it's as shit hot as you seem to think, whoever lost it wants it back.
DEBBIE	But Alex...
ALEX	No 'buts'. I don't want any hassles coming through customs. "Anything to declare?" Just this expensive camera, but it's stolen, so it doesn't count."
DEBBIE	You're right. Thanks anyway. Thank-you.
[JOHN shrugs his shoulders.]
JOHN	Have you any pictures from your trip so far?
DEBBIE	(nervous) No. No, I don't. I send the film back to the, to the magazine. They have a darkroom, they process it for free. So, I don't know how they'll turn out until I get back, when I get back to Canada. There's probably some problem or something, you know, with the camera and none of them will turn out or something (laughs nervously).
ALEX	There's no problem with the camera. I have some photographs.
DEBBIE	Alex, no...
ALEX	They're of Debbie. And a man.
JOHN	Are they dirty?
DEBBIE	Please, Alex...
ALEX	And several children.
JOHN	Really.
ALEX	They're not so much obscene as a documentary photographic record of what could amount to a political incident between our two countries.
DEBBIE	Oh, god...
JOHN	Can I see them?
[ALEX hands him the pictures. He looks through them, amused.]
	What is all this?
[DEBBIE grabs the pictures from him and tears them up.]
	Ah, now that's a shame.
ALEX	It's okay. The negatives are safe.
JOHN	But what was all that going on?
ALEX	We were at Caernarvon Castle in Wales...
DEBBIE	I am so embarrassed...
ALEX	...when we came across a group of school children and their teacher in the courtyard. Now, this teacher was scolding them mildly for some minor...
DEBBIE	Scolding them mildly! He was screaming, screaming at them, I mean really screaming like people who, who, who aren't school teachers get locked up for! And he was threatening them, saying that the police, that they would come and get them and take them all to jail, and he also, he also lied, this school teacher was lying, saying that this was the property of the Queen, and that they were just guests, for god's sake. It was gross, so gross they were just huddled there taking all this from that, that maniac like he was some sort of god, like he had some sort of real authority or something.
ALEX	Debbie let them know the score.
DEBBIE	Damn right I did. Caernarvon Castle is the property of the people, it belongs to all, all the people of Britain, not just the Queen, and it is their birthright and they have every right to enjoy it, and no reason to be afraid.
ALEX	Such choice words she bestowed upon the teacher. And then she became quite the revolutionary calling down the system, and telling the children they didn't have to put up with that kind of authoritarian bullshit. What was it that you said? I think it was something like, "You, you, you have nothing to lose but your chains!"
DEBBIE	Fuck off, Alex.
ALEX	Something like that. Finally she incited a revolt. Several of the little monsters physically assaulted the teacher, and last we saw him, he was being chased by a mob of his most enthusiastic students. Needless to say, we left quickly.
DEBBIE	It got out of hand. I hope that poor guy is okay.
JOHN	I'd have done the same thing.
ALEX	Taken pictures?
JOHN	No. Spoken out.
DEBBIE	You would?
JOHN	Aye.
DEBBIE	So you think I did the right thing?
JOHN	I think you have great courage.
[DEBBIE looks pleased. ALEX isn't sure what to think, for a moment. Then she quietly places DEBBIE's camera just out of sight behind a small stone.]
ALEX	Debbie, where is your camera?
[DEBBIE looks around but can't see it.]
DEBBIE	Where is my camera?
[They both look at JOHN.]
	Did, did you steal my camera?
JOHN	No. I didn't.
ALEX	That's a terrible accusation to make.
DEBBIE	Well, he said, he admitted he is a thief. I... Look, John, I need that camera. I've sweated and bled, and wept for that camera. So give it back!!
JOHN	I didn't take it.
ALEX	I'd believe him. I trust him. Just talking this short time I don't think I would ever doubt him for a second.
DEBBIE	Then where is it? (To JOHN) You... you stole it. And I, I want it back. This isn't some stupid sandwich we're talking about, you know, it's not.
JOHN	Deb, I offered you a Leica. Why would I want your camera?
DEBBIE	Because you're a thief! You steal things! It's your job, remember? You get some sort of kick out of it, only I don't think it's so funny and I'm getting a little tired, just a little tired of it and I want my camera back!
[ALEX 'finds' the camera behind the rock.]
ALEX	Oh, look, here it is, it must have fallen behind the rock. It seems to be alright.
[DEBBIE, still standing accusingly before JOHN, looks, and feels, pretty stupid.]
DEBBIE	Hmmm... I, I guess I owe you an apology, eh.
[JOHN smiles and nods.]
	I'm sorry?
JOHN	Apology accepted. I am a thief, after all. (Looking at ALEX) Strange how that camera could have fallen and us not heard it.
ALEX	Yes, it must have been when we were talking about Caernarvon Castle.
JOHN	(still looking at ALEX) Aye... Who wants to hear a story?
ALEX	I would.
DEBBIE	I think... I think I'll just sort of crawl beneath one of these stones.
JOHN	You may find that space already taken.
ALEX	There are people buried under them?
JOHN	If you believe the legends. But the tale I'll tell is not about burials.
DEBBIE	I'd like to hear it.
[JOHN uses ALEX and DEBBIE as his models for the story, speaking directly to each of them as their parts come up.]
JOHN	There was a bachelor living in Callanish a hundred years ago, who was much desired by the available women, and, truth be told, by some of the not so available women. But none desired the man so much as two young, and lovely, maidens, competitors for his attentions. The more wicked of the two went to a witch, for, yes, there were witches then as there are witches now. She exchanged thirteen drops of her virgin blood for a magical belt. Said the witch, "Take ye this belt and girdle it round the waist of your rival, and the infernal lord whom I do serve shall fetch her away unto his domain and trouble ye no more." Now, despite her fierceness and love for the man, and despite the blood she had paid, the girl could not find it in her heart to so dispose of her rival, and instead conceived of a plan to dispose of the belt. One still summer evening she took the belt to the stones and there wrapped it round one.
[He mimes wrapping a belt around a near by standing stone.]
	No sooner had she fastened the buckle than the stone was engulfed in flame! There were horrible sounds of great leathery wings beating the air, and screams and howls, and the clanking of great chains no mortal man could move! She ran home and fainted in her father's arms. The next day the villagers visited the stones. The one she had wrapped with the belt lay broken in half. Twas scorched and blackened where the belt had been.
[Pause]
ALEX	So we're to believe that the witch was in league with Satan?
JOHN	Believe what you will. I just report the events.
ALEX	The legend.
JOHN	The events of the legend, or the legend of the events.
ALEX	Is that supposed to be true?
JOHN	Can you say it's not?
ALEX	Where is the stone that was broken?
JOHN	Up the double avenue, the short one with the rough edges. Looks as though its been broken, doesn't it.
ALEX	A farmer looking for stones for a stone fence.
JOHN	Not here, not this place. The farm folk have always thought of this place with respect, reverence, or dread, but never, never as a quarry.
ALEX	So how did it get broken?
JOHN	Yes.
ALEX	Oh come on.
DEBBIE	Which of the maidens got the man?
JOHN	I don't know. The legend doesn't tell.
DEBBIE	I thought that was the point of the legend.
ALEX	I don't believe in... in any force of evil. I don't believe in a devil, I don't believe in a god.
JOHN	So your interest in these stones is purely academic, then?
ALEX	Purely. Just because a primitive bunch of people had some fears or don't know how the universe works they build a bunch of stones and then pretend it's a protection or some sort of temple to some rustic deity... It isn't real. No gods, no devils, just old ghost stories. I'm present tense, I don't carry those prehistoric notions of malevolent forces hiding in every shadow just waiting pounce, so you're wasting your time trying to scare me with it. You know, Deb, I think I'm actually getting bored of all the stones we've seen. I've worked it out of my system, we don't need to see any more.
DEBBIE	No! I mean, no, I'd like to see more, you know, I think I would. I didn't know they were so... What? So... I thought they were... well... just a bunch of old stones.
ALEX	When you get right down to it, that's all they really are.
JOHN	I wouldn't dismiss the gods of old so quickly.
[Very faintly from this point the sound of wind begins to grow.]
DEBBIE	They're even in the Bible you said.
ALEX	There's a lot of stuff in the Bible. And the oldest surviving Biblical texts are just bad copies. After all that time, all those scribes fucking up and getting their two cents in, if there ever was any truth in them, which there wasn't,...
JOHN	Old gods don't just die, Alexandra.
ALEX	Once a god's been forgotten, it may as well have never been.
JOHN	I haven't forgotten.
DEBBIE	John, do you really believe...
JOHN	There is still power in these stones.
ALEX	Bullshit.
JOHN	Great power.
ALEX	Double bullshit.
JOHN	Blasphemer! Just what do you believe, Alexandra? You don't believe in anything. Who are you, what are you, and where did you come from? Do you think you are your own god?
ALEX	Yah, something like that.
JOHN	You think you determine your own destiny, that the stars and the sun and moon and seasons are mere coincidences that only affect the way you dress, that everything beyond your grasping little paws is incidental or somehow just doesn't exist. It is time you were taught a lesson.
[The wind is quite audible now. JOHN may have had to fight a little against it during his last lines. JOHN takes strong central position elevated upon some stones. He raises his arms and commands in a strong clear voice.]
	Gods of millenniums past, who have always been, who are, who will always be, it is I, John, High-Priest of the Circle that do summon thee. The world is full of unbelievers, and those who do believe pay worship to a single false god they say is mightier than all of you. It is time to arise and restore the old order! By the power of the Circle and the Seasons I command you to arise and swallow the sun, render the earth dark and void and without light!
[Slowly, but not too slowly, the stage fades to black. The wind is howling.]
	Alex, Debbie, if you would ever have the world see the light of day again, kiss me! Kiss me!
ALEX	Jesus! Jesus!
[Slowly, but not too slowly, the light returns. It reveals ALEX on her knees with her eyes turned to heaven. DEBBIE is kissing JOHN.]
JOHN	This wind'll die down soon.
[DEBBIE is in awe of JOHN. He is her high-priest.]
DEBBIE	Command it to!
JOHN	How?
DEBBIE	By the power of the Circle and the Old Gods!
JOHN	That wasn't really the doing of the Old Gods, Debbie.
DEBBIE	What do you mean?
JOHN	The Old Gods live in our minds, they're memories from an older time, a better time. Shadows.
DEBBIE	But the sun!
JOHN	An eclipse. A marvelous eclipse. For a moment, the shadows stirred.
DEBBIE	But... How did you know?
JOHN	The stones can predict eclipses. But, truth be told, I heard it on the radio.
DEBBIE	The wind?...
JOHN	Weather report. A bit of a squall. It's dying down now.
DEBBIE	Why the act?
JOHN	Twas more than an act. It was a little piece of another place, another time, that was once right here, a little reality that could not last.
DEBBIE	(short laugh) Huh. Quite a ceremony. Quite the show. I was taken in, oh, I was, I was, I am, I'm just, I'm just ultimately a silly, silly little person.
JOHN	You were a part of it, Debbie.
DEBBIE	A part of what? A reality that could not last? That's nothing to be a part of. I can't even pretend now, can I. Sold out, betrayed, betrayed by a kiss. Oh, that's good, that's really, really good.
[DEBBIE breaks down and cries. Both ALEX and JOHN watch her a moment. JOHN walks upstage, his back to DEBBIE. ALEX goes to her.]
ALEX	Deb? You want to go to church?
DEBBIE	(angry) No!
[Long pause]
ALEX	I... I wanted to believe in Santa too... but...
DEBBIE	But what.
ALEX	(looking around circle) Cold stone. Just stones, Deb.
DEBBIE	Leave me alone.
ALEX	Okay. I'm going. I'd like it if you came with me. Come with me?
[No response from DEBBIE. ALEX sighs and walks over to the bikes. She looks at JOHN. He looks at her. She looks quickly away. She picks up her bike and looks at DEBBIE. Pause.]
	Meet you at the bed and breakfast?
[DEBBIE looks at her but gives no indication. ALEX maintains the eye contact a moment and then, mounting her bicycle, crosses the stage and exits. DEBBIE and JOHN watch her go. DEBBIE has forgotten JOHN's presence. She shakes her head and looks up to an empty sky. She looks around at the stones and notices JOHN watching her.]
JOHN	I'm going for a little walk up the double avenue, and over the hill, to my cottage. Would you walk with me, then?
[DEBBIE smiles and shakes her head.]
DEBBIE	Good-bye, John. It was nice meeting you.
[JOHN smiles sadly, then turns and goes. DEBBIE sits for a moment. Flute music begins, much the same tune as at the top of the play. DEBBIE picks up her camera and puts it in her pack. ALEX's whistle is lying on a stone. DEBBIE picks it up, looks at it. The lights fade around her and to black.]

END OF PLAY

� 1989 Eric Pettifor

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