surprise and perplexity. He MIMES CREAMING
HIS FACE.
LINOGE
(sings) 'I'm a little teapot, short and stout!'
HENRY BRIGHT He's totally crazy. Got to be.
200 STEPHEN KING
138 INTERIOR: BY THE MEAT COUNTER OF THE STORE, WITH MIKE AND
HATCH.
It's shadowy and spooky here, with just the fluorescents in the meat counter for illumination.
MIKE
I'm going to leave you in charge here for a little while.
HATCH Oh, Mike, I wish you wouldn't do that. . .
MIKE
Just for a while. I want to take those women back to the town hall in the four-wheel drive while it'll still move. Make sure Molly's all right and let her see that I am. Give Ralphie a kiss. Then I'm going to pack every man who looks halfway useful into the truck and come back here. We'll guard him in groups of three or four until the storm's over. In fives, if that's what it takes to feel comfortable.
c~
HATCH I won't feel comfortable until he's in Derry County Jail.
MIKE I know what you mean.
HATCH
Cat Withers ... I can't believe it, Mike. Cat wouldn't hurt Billy.
MIKE I know that, too.
HATCH Who's holding who prisoner here? Can you say for sure?
MIKE considers this question very, very carefully, then shakes his head.
HATCH This is a mess.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 201
MIKE
Yeah. You going to be okay with Robbie?
HATCH
164
I'll have to be ... won't I? Say hi to Melinda for me, if she's still up. Tell her I'm okay. And give Pippa a little kiss.
MIKE I will.
HATCH How long do you think you'll be gone?
MIKE
Forty-five minutes, an hour at most. And I'll be back with a truckload of wide-bodies. Meantime, you have Jack, Henry, Robbie, Kirk Freeman . . .
HATCH
Do you really think any of us'll make a difference, if that guy starts to rock and roll?
MIKE
Do you really think the town hall's any safer? Or any place on the island?
HATCH
Considering Cat and Billy . . . no.
MIKE goes back into the constable's office. HATCH follows.
139 INTERIOR: LINOGE, CLOSE- UP.
Rubbing invisible cream into his cheeks, humming 'I'm a Little Teapot.'
140 INTERIOR: CORA, IN THE TOWN HALL BATHROOM.
Rubbing real cream into her cheeks she's making a night mask for herself and humming 'I'm a Little Teapot.' She seems really happy for the first time since being dragged to the town hall by her son and daughter-in-law. Reflected in the mirror is the ladies' room, now empty.
202 STEPHEN KING
All at once THE LIGHTS GO OUT as the gennie stutters again.
CORA (voice in the dark) Oh, drat!
The lights come back on. CORA looks relieved and begins creaming her face again. All at once she stops. LINOGE'S cane leans against the tiled wall beneath the hand dryer. It wasn't there before, but it is now, reflected in the mirror. There's no blood on it. The silver head GLEAMS ENTICINGLY.
CORA looks at it, then turns and walks toward it.
141 INTERIOR: LINOGE, CLOSE-UP.
LINOGE Like Dad's!
142 INTERIOR: THE CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
The men are clustered near MIKE'S desk. URSULA is seated; JOANNA stands beside her. None of those in the office notice MIKE and HATCH'S return. They are fascinated by LINOGE'S new dumb show.
JOANNA
What's he doing?
URSULA shakes her head. The men are equally puzzled.
165
143 INTERIOR: THE TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM, WITH CORA.
CORA
(picks up the cane) Like Dad's!
144 INTERIOR: RESUME CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
MIKE and the others watch LINOGE. He ignores them, concentrating on his business with CORA.
He grips two invisible objects, one in each hand, and turns them. He pushes something else down with his thumb, as you would a small plunger. Then he MIMES RUMMAGING IN SOMETHING and finding a small object, which he holds up gripped between the thumb and first two fingers of his left hand.
STORM OF THE CENTURY 203
145 INTERIOR: RESUME TOWN HALL LADIES' ROOM, WITH CORA.
She has laid 'Dad's cane' across two of the sinks and returned to the one where she was when she saw the cane. She grips a faucet handle in each hand and turns them, starting the water. She pushes the stopper down with her thumb and the basin begins to fill. While it does, she rummages in her overnight bag and finds a lipstick. She holds it up between the thumb and first two fingers of her left hand.
146 INTERIOR: RESUME CONSTABLE'S OFFICE.
LINOGE leans back against the wall behind the cot, with the air of a man who has accomplished some difficult and tiring task. He looks at the octet across the room and smiles at them a little.
LINOGE
Go on, Mike, go on we'll be fine.
