 Fed up with the shoveling snow Can't shake that cold of yours Wonder what the world's coming to we offer you escape You are alone in a remote village on the Welsh border Surrounded by silent townspeople who are watching and waiting for you to decide to lose your soul Escape produced and directed by William N. Robeson and carefully contrived to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure Tonight we escaped to a remote section of Wales and a strange village between two worlds As Algernon Blackwood described it in his eerie story ancient sorceries I had spent a week's vacation in Wales and was returning to London by train when it all began It was late afternoon We'd left the Welsh mountains and crossed the border into Western England passing through a countryside which appeared singularly empty deserted of life over the soft hills and the valleys between hung a faintly perceptible haze given to the whole landscape of feeling of Enchantment and unreality The train at length slowed down to a stop at a tiny wayside station as it did so a sudden thought occurred to me Why not leave the crowded train with its irritating noises and spend the night in this peaceful spot Then take a slower and emptier train in the morning On the impulse I rose from my seat and the man sitting opposite to me said why says sir We only stopped here for a minute or two if you're thinking of walking about a bit No, I as a matter of fact, I'm getting off here. I thought you were going to London I'll go on in the morning. I'm going to stay here for the night. I strongly advise you not to I beg your pardon. This is the village of Malton Malton, I've never heard of it few people have outside But if you place any value on your soul, you'll not spend the night here My dear sir, what are you talking about? Why not because of the sleep and Because of the cats. That's all I can tell you You're insane I'll take my bag if you don't mind. You're making a terrible mistake You may not even have the chance to regret it. Don't leave this train. I know what I'm talking about No, we're not an nonsense. Don't don't I tell you goodbye. I Stood there on the embankment as the train pulled away What in the world was the matter with the man anyway cats sleep his words made no sense I Picked up my bag and started walking up the long hill toward the village and Suddenly for no reason at all. I Shivered Hello Hello, is anybody here? Oh All right, I didn't see you at first Something I can do for you, sir Why yes, I saw your sign outside the Inn of the Golden Bar. I should like to get a room, please You're planning to stay here Why yes, I very well You may sign the register Yeah, thank you I'm going to catch another train and go on in the morning. Yes, of course There Arthur Lou Ellen Lou Ellen. Yes from London. Oh The Lou Ellen You've been a long time coming back What but now that you're here you'll find there are some things that never change Madam, I'm afraid. I don't know what you're talking about Where did you come from done really the gentleman would like a room for the night His name is Arthur Lou Ellen. I so it is Welcome back to Morton, sir Huh Why I I knew I'd never been here before What was it all about first the man on the train and now these people? Were they crazy or was I? I Left the Inn and walked along narrow cobbled streets beneath quaint gables leaning out from the silent shuttered houses To dappled pools of light and shadow It gradually dawned upon me that the village of Malton was centuries old Older than any town in England ought to be And the people the people I passed now and then were were dressed in the fashion of another day They paid no attention to me when silently about their own business Yes, that was it. That's what I'd been noticing Silently They came and went with only Soft padding sounds to mark their passing Though they walked in shoes with souls of velvet when I stopped there was no sound The silence was unbroken. I hurried on through the streets and came at last to the far side of the village To a place where the hill broke away sharply from a low flat wall of stone perhaps a rampart once I Sat down upon it in the dreamy lazy sondolence of the place stole over me Presently I don't know how much later. I became aware of the sound of weird music Rising out of the veil below me. I Looked down from the rampart The sunken plane at the bottom melted away into a sea of gathering shadow Blurred in a swirl of thickening mist I Thought of dead trees swept by the night wind of animals with half human voices singing to a white moon Of the wailing of cats on the roof tiles at night Of unearthly creatures far off in the sky calling to one another in chorus I felt my heart beat faster and faster felt the vague stirrings of some urge inside of me trying to answer the awful call of that music I fought against the feeling fought against myself and even as I did I found I was staring down into that valley Peering desperately into the dark mist trying to see I Don't know what and then suddenly I stood on the rampart alone dusk fallen around me and the early night wind moaned with a chill breath Quick terror rose up in me. I Turned and ran through the darkened streets ran with my heart pounding dodging its shadows through one demally after another And arrived at last panting and almost breathless at the door of the golden bar Returning mr. Luellen. It's past seven. Oh, yes. Yes. I I guess I walked farther than I meant to I didn't realize was so late You heard the music didn't you? Yes Strangest music I've ever heard How did you know? Who plays it anyway, then you didn't remember it? No Why should I? The thing was becoming irritating this quiet insistence that I was someone else I Went into my lonely dinner and ate as quickly as possible Then taking the candle dandere gave me I crossed the lobby climbed the stairs behind the desk and walked past Silent doors down the long empty hall that led to my room at the end. I was halfway to my door when suddenly the flame of my candle went out I Stood stuck still in the pitch blackness fumbling from edge At that moment I knew that someone or Something was there with me in the darkness held my breath and listened. There was no sound no movement I reached out and felt the wall and moved along it feeling my way in the inky blackness It was then I touched it near my face another soft warm yielding and Life who? What is it? It is I Ilsa Who? Ilsa Don't you remember me? But wouldn't you like to remember me? Don't you want to see me again? to look at me No, I I don't know But not tonight Perhaps tomorrow I stumbled blindly through the door of my room and shut it behind me I let the candle and flung myself across the bed the room was small with One shot at window the light of the flame flickered on the walls and ceiling I Stared at the hand that had touched her out there in the dark hall I lifted it up to my face and Smell of the barbaric scent that still clung to my fingers It was evil maddening The candle spotted and burned and the melted minutes dripped away Who was I? Who were these people? Who was Ilsa? I fell asleep finally and dreamed of soft moving creatures and the silence of life in a dim muffled world devoid of all feeling but Ecstasy and I dreamed who of cats Late this morning, Mr. Llewellyn. Oh morning Dundry Ray. I I felt as if I'd been drugged the night air here in Moulton is very conducive to sleep I I'd meant to catch the morning train for London Now it's too late. What a terrible shame. Oh By the way, Dundry Ray. Yes, Mr. Llewellyn Do you I mean well, I was wondering if if you'd know anyone by the name of Ilsa Happens to be my daughter, Mr. Llewellyn. Oh, I I didn't hear you come in I hope you were able to sleep well without any unpleasant dreams. I guess so I'm so happy to hear Perhaps then you may decide to stay with us for a long time That's that's very kind of you. No It isn't kindness, Mr. Llewellyn But all of us are hoping that you may decide soon Decide decide what? It was no use none of them would answer my questions. They seem to think I should know already I left the inn as soon as I'd eaten walked around the streets of the village And I began to notice that I was never completely alone If I turned down an empty street Someone always stepped from a doorway or entered from the opposite end Wherever I went within five minutes a dozen people were strolling near me And I realized these people were watching me tensely as a cat watches a mouse But another cat It's quite fortunate you came back early, Mr. Llewellyn Your dinner this evening is a rather special one special. What do you mean by that? You ought to have a guest Huh? Oh An old friend She's coming now the girl who came toward Taught us across the room was Lied and slim and she moved with the sinuous grace of a young panther She was lovely exotic and Terrifyingly beautiful. I present mr. Arthur Llewellyn. Miss Ilsa. He's been with us for two days Yes, I know My mother told me May I sit down mr. Llewellyn? Mm-hmm. Oh Oh, yes, please do. Yeah permit me Thank you Yes, sir. Thank you, Miss Ilsa Then you're Ilsa Yes Don't you remember me from last night It was you what last night wasn't it? Yes and other nights Can't you remember all the other nights? No No Then we shall have to try that much harder. It's been such a very long time Please Ilsa What is it all of you talk about? I I don't understand any of it. You will Unless you leave of course Weren't you planning to take a train to London in the morning? Yes, it No No, I've changed my mind I'm glad you did We'll try to make you happy here my mother and I And then perhaps you'll stay a long Long time. No, I must leave for sure in a day or two Suppose we wait and see and meanwhile If there's anything you want All you have to do is ask me All right Why don't you tell me about about? Yes, I About what? No No, I don't want to know I I don't want you to tell me Suddenly I realized I was afraid to know afraid I Should leave now, but I couldn't leave It was Ilsa She attracted repelled Fascinated and and horrified me all in single flashes of blasting emotion I felt the presence of a great gray curtain ready to roll back at any moment and leave me on the brink of an awful adventure I Knew the village held its breath Watched and waited and then on the evening of the fifth day the whole ghastly secret exploded into hideous life After dinner Ilsa had asked me to walk with her it was the first time I'd been outside the in after dark We walked through the village in the moonlight Saying little and came finally to the stone rampart above the sunken plane We were quite alone Look, it's a full moon tonight. Do you know what that means? Yes It means I can see more clearly how beautiful you are. Do you really believe that? Do you think I'm beautiful? Like a soft sleek leopard in a warm jungle of shadows But wait, I'll I'll see you even better in a moment What are you doing these dry leaves by the wall? They'll make an excellent bonfire There you see no No, the fire. No, I'll put it out. All right. Yes, sir Don't worry. Yeah, it's all right. I'd had a chance to get started there. You see it's all out Yes, I see You sir, why did it bother you so much? Don't you remember? Don't you remember the fire? No, what fire? Oh No Don't talk of it. Look at me instead. Look at me Arthur Yes, Ilsa Do you love me? Yes Yes, Ilsa, I love you I Love you and I want you I'm glad That means you'll come back to us then I Don't know what you mean Ilsa. You can know everything Tonight if you want to yes, I do I do you must know a part of it already Down inside you must remember some of it. Don't you yes It's like something buried for centuries inside of me and Now it's beginning to come alive. Let it come alive. Don't fight against it You belong to us once long ago, and you still belong. Yes. I seem to know that that's why you came back You heard them calling you heard me calling and you came seeking the old life again. Yes, but it'll sir You'll sound afraid. Are you afraid of me? Look at me Ilsa kiss me Will you live the whole life again with me tonight? Yes. Yes, I've known that you would because I own you Arthur You belong to me, and I want you and I shall never let you escape from me again. Yes Go back to the inn then Wait for me Arthur. I Shall come for you tonight Back at the inn I paced the floor of my room a tense uncontrollable excitement driving me along in a nervous frenzy The dry crypt of memory broke open and all the things I'd hidden away for centuries poured into my consciousness I knew now why I'd come here. I knew what I was going to do And I knew that I was lost I Sent the rising stir of movement throughout the inn and outside in the courtyard below my window. I Knew what to expect when I threw open the shutter From every window of the inn and from those of the houses about the court were leaping great monstrous beasts With soft dark fur and eyes that gleamed with eerie phosphorescence cats cats of human size This then was the secret of molten Lecanthropy the witchcraft of centuries long dead and buried The half-human Christ floated up to me and mooncast so dark shadows on the ground as they padded across the courtyard and vanished Through the narrow streets of the village heading for a hideous rendezvous. This is what I'd been. This is what I wanted to be now. I Scarecely heard the door of my room open behind me Shall we join them? Yes, sir Here are there the sacred bomb made of a vein and mistletoe and Blind things out of the sea Remember Yes Yes, I remember take it use it We'll change now transform leap from the window and join them lead us again Arthur Yes, but not here Ilson not yet wait until we get there then we'll change if you wish Come then Arthur to the stone wall above the grove. That's where we'll change on the stone rampart In the grove on the sunken plane beneath the wall Insane shadows writhed in the moonlight and postured in the luminous mist A thousand of the devil's own were dancing at the unearthly music born from the harmony of the black sacrifice Crying out in delirious abandon calling to the thing that now lived inside of me and Struggled screaming in my skull trying to answer them back I fought against them fought against Ilson pleading and clinging with her soft arms about my neck Now now Arthur come with me now if you love me. I love you, but I can't do it I can't do it not again. Yes, my love only an instant change and then we'll live forever Is it living without a soul? Does it matter when I'm here? No once before I escaped, but I can never escape again This time there'd be no turning back. Am I not worth it? Look at me. Look at me my love I clung to the very edge of my sanity fought that I would not be lost and damned forever and at this moment At this moment. I knew knew what I could do Arthur wait What are you doing? I found a match in my pocket struck it dropped it into the dry leaves that lay banked across the whole length of the Stonewall No No, I can't come to you through the fire. You're driving me away. Yes Go go and sit go into the valley Goodbye I turned from the wall of flame that for a few minutes would shut me off from the valley ran through the moonlight streets Not back toward the inn of the golden bar, but down the long road that led away from that cursed village of Malton There mr. Lou Ellen I find this one of the most interesting cases of hallucination I've encountered since I began the practice of psychiatry I tell you it really happened doctor and having investigated your story a bit during the past week I'm in a position now to answer most of the questions that have been worrying you since you came back to London What do you mean? Investigated I went up to her foot and looked over some of the old records there Then I motored over to Malton for a couple of hours. Well, then you know, it's all true. You saw it You know, I was there. Oh, there's no question But what you were there mr. Lou Ellen the lady who runs the inn showed me your name in the register Said you left suddenly without taking your luggage or paying your bill. She was really quite put out I see well Well, what of the records doctor the ones you spoke of I think they really explained the whole thing mr. Lou Ellen It seems that during the 14th century the village of Malton became a kind of headquarters in that part of the country for the practice of witchcraft Yes, yes, go on numerous trials were held there in the late 1300s and the great many men and women were convicted of sorcery and burned to death Yes, in the records of a trial in 1372 I found the name of an Arthur Lou Ellen and of Ilsa and her mother That proves it then it proves a clear case of hallucination You knew that story before you went there not consciously but somewhere deep in your latent memory I knew nothing about it before that man was an ancestor of yours The story must be known in your family when you arrived in Malton accidentally the association of the name Pulled the trigger and your imagination did the rest. Yes, but doctor my parents died when I was four I've never been around any of my family ever no matter you'll see a Childhood memory is amazingly persistent at times Yes, yes I suppose it is I Knew then what I had to do The only thing I could do There'd be no use in talking further with the doctor He'd find some phrase of science to cover everything He'd even try to Explain away the mark I still carried across my shoulder where Ilsa had thrown her arm about me in those last mad minutes on the rampart a Mark that was covered with soft gray fur like the fur of a cat. I Knew now what had to be done And what must be done while I still retain my sanity one last act final and irrevocable an act that begins by Walking into the railway station and chairing cross Good evening, sir. May I help you? Hmm. Yes. Yes. I I'd like to take it to Malton, please Malton, I don't believe I a little village on the Swansy line near the border of Wales Yes, yes, here it is. I don't believe I've ever sold a ticket to Malton before I Don't doubt it. Let's see four and six single fare first class Did you wish a return trip sir or one way? What did you say? Oh, oh, I'm sorry Make it one way Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson and tonight brought you ancient sorceries by Algernon Blackwood adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield with Paul Freese as Arthur Llewellyn Kay Brinker is Ilsa and Morrison as madam and William Conrad is the doctor music is conceived and conducted by Psi Führer Next week After you've had a hard day at the office or bending over a hot stove Next week at this time when your problems seem too much for you. We offer you escape Next week we bring you another exciting story of high adventure Good night, then until the same time next week when once again we offer you Escape this is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system