Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice Read online

(continuing): ...or somethin'...

  Jake sits down in the sand next to the chaise.

  JAKE: How are you feeling?

  HARRY (lopsided grin): Top of the heap!

  JAKE: Were you serious last night?

  HARRY (mock horrified): I didn't ask ya to marry me, did I?

  JAKE: Stop joking... you said you couldn't do magic, while they held you.

  HARRY: Yeah, I don't perform well under pressure.

  JAKE: But it didn't seem to affect me.

  HARRY: You're gonna be a wizard to reckon with, Jake. I'm proud of ya.

  Jake doodles in the sand for a few seconds.

  JAKE: I visited the scene of the crime... those three bandits are gone.

  HARRY (worried): You sure ya looked in the right spot?

  Jake holds up a small white card.

  JAKE: A Magic Castle card fell out of your wallet last night.

  Harry stands up, and starts pacing nervously.

  HARRY: We gotta be on the lookout. Looks like Uri joined our little squabble.

  JAKE: Uri is the wizard you don't trust?

  HARRY: He's a loose cannon. Ya never know which way he'll go off.

  JAKE: What harm can he do?

  Harry whirls on Jake.

  HARRY: If he gets word about us to Laszlo, we're shit outta luck.

  Jake slumps, then waves toward the cabin.

  JAKE: Another exploding house?

  HARRY: Or worse.

  A shadow drifts over the scene, and a FLAPPING of wings on the top of the cabin heralds the arrival of a large bird. A deep, familiar voice calls down:

  SOCRATES: This is quite the dismal homecoming. Are you two going to mope around all day?

  HARRY: Socrates! Yer a sight for sore eyes!

  SOCRATES: Your alliteration is touching... however, all I want to know is: how did your eyes become sore?

  JAKE: It's just his way of saying we're awfully glad to see you, Socrates!

  SOCRATES: Nice area you picked out. I sampled a few of those delicious hopping rats on my flight out... their necks break with such a satisfying "snap"...

  Jake rubs his neck and eyes Harry.

  JAKE (gingerly): Socrates, could you possibly hunt some other animals for awhile?

  HARRY: Jake, I'm not gonna change ya into anything Socrates might chow down on. (pause) Socrates, tell me... how did ya get out of the house back in Hollywood?

  SOCRATES: When I heard you were teaching Jake a survival skill, I concluded it might be informative to observe...

  HARRY: ...so ya flew out the door behind us.

  SOCRATES: Precisely.

  JAKE (hopefully): Did Connie follow you?

  SOCRATES: I'm afraid not. She was engrossed in a book when I left.

  JAKE: So she's really gone...

  Jake wanders away, disconsolate. Harry glances up at Socrates and shrugs his shoulders.

  EXT. LOST HORSE MINE - LATER THAT DAY

  Jake climbs a slight hill to the mine entrance... there are some dilapidated, rickety buildings on the hill, housing old, rusted mining machinery. Socrates glides over and alights on the corner of the building nearest the tunnel mouth.

  SOCRATES: I wouldn't go in, if I were you.

  JAKE: Harry said his uncle mined for gold down there. Maybe a few nuggets are still lying around.

  Jake walks in the mine.

  SOCRATES (sighing, to himself): Kids these days... (to Jake) Wait for me!

  Socrates flies in the tunnel and lands on Jake's shoulder.

  JAKE: Why are you coming?

  SOCRATES: I can't let you go in here by yourself. Besides, my hearing is better than yours. I can tell if any of the timbers are giving way.

  Jake takes a flashlight out of his pocket, and turns it on. The mine has seen better days... minor dirt slides partially block the tunnel every ten feet or so.

  JAKE: This is a great old place!

  SOCRATES: If you're looking for the latest in a tomb...

  Socrates flies on ahead, and perches on a shoring timber.

  JAKE: Your night vision is better than mine... do you see anything shiny?

  SOCRATES: As long as you persist in flashing that light in my eyes, everything looks shiny.

  Socrates' eyes bug out slightly, and seem to spin. His timber CREAKS... Socrates FLAPS over to Jake's shoulder, and shivers.

  JAKE: I wonder how far down this goes?

  SOCRATES (sarcastic): Since you have to know, shall I go and find out for you?

  JAKE: That's a thought! You could fly down and not disturb anything!

  The timber CREAKS again.

  SOCRATES: All right. Two things you must promise me.

  JAKE: What are they?

  SOCRATES: First, if I do your errand, we'll leave this deathtrap...

  Jake hesitates for a second, then nods.

  SOCRATES (continuing): ...and second, do not touch that timber while I'm gone.

  JAKE: You've got a deal.

  ANGLE TOWARD THE MOUTH OF THE TUNNEL

  The silhouettes of Jake and Socrates are outlined against the bright sunlight at the tunnel's entrance. Socrates flies toward, and past, the CAMERA, down into the mine.

  As we ZOOM IN to Jake's face, a huge spider drops on a thin filament from the tunnel ceiling. Jake's flashlight flickers and dies; he shakes it a couple of times as the spider lands on his head.

  JAKE (continuing): What the heck...?

  Jake swats at his face, and instinctively dodges away from the intruder... BANGING right into the shoring timber. Small clumps of dirt THUD onto the floor, and the timber CREAKS ominously.

  JAKE (continuing): Oh, no...

  The timber SPLINTERS, and more dirt falls to the floor.

  JAKE (continuing, yelling): Socrates, get back up here!

  A full-fledged CAVE IN obscures Jake's silhouette.

  ANGLE ON JAKE

  He tries to quickly decide... what can he do? He runs for the mine entrance, just as the whole shaft collapses in an EXPLOSION of dirt and debris. Jake watches in dismay, from a safe distance. As soon as the RUMBLING quiets down, he runs over to the pile of dirt, and tries to clear away what must be tons of material. He's distraught... at one point, he paces, babbling:

  JAKE (continuing, frantic): I really need Harry's help... Socrates...

  Stopping the decapitated-chicken routine with an obvious effort of will, Jake takes time to think it through.

  JAKE (continuing): Harry's too far away... Socrates might run out of air...

  Another RUMBLING, deep in the ground, focuses Jake's thoughts:

  JAKE (continuing): ...and he might be crushed by another cave in. I've got to get down there and find him.

  Jake futzes with his flashlight until it starts working again, then CHANTS and POPS out of existence.

  INT. MINE SHAFT - CONTINUOUS

  Jake POPS into an open portion of the tunnel. CREAKING timbers surround him.

  JAKE (continuing): Socrates?

  The roof gives way with a ROAR. Jake CHANTS and POPS out of that section.

  INT. MINE SHAFT, FURTHER DOWN - CONTINUOUS

  Jake POPS into the top of a huge pile of dirt, and starts sliding down it.

  JAKE (continuing): Socrates?

  As Jake and the pile of dirt slide, a timber SNAPS, and another CAVE IN starts. Jake CHANTS and POPS out again.

  INT. MINE SHAFT, WAY DOWN - CONTINUOUS

  Jake POPS into a large chamber, where old pulleys are attached to a set of decrepit wood braces. Socrates sits calmly on one of the pieces of wood.

  JAKE (continuing): I've been looking for you!

  SOCRATES (drily): I could hear your progress all the way down. Is there any portion of the shaft you've left unravaged?

  JAKE: Well... here?

  Wood braces SNAP... Socrates picks up something in his beak, and flies over to Jake's shoulder. Jake CHANTS, and they POP out of sight, just as the roof COLLAPSES.

  EXT. MINE ENTRANCE - CONTINUOUS

  Jake and Socrates POP into the
area in front of the mine.

  SOCRATES (garbled): Hold out your hand.

  JAKE: What?

  Socrates bends his head and drops a shiny object from his beak down into Jake's shirt pocket.

  SOCRATES: I picked you up a souvenir.

  Jake fishes through the pocket, and pulls out... a small gold nugget!

  EXT. CACTUS PATCH - MORNING

  Jake POPS into the middle of a garden of cholla cacti... desert plants growing two or three feet tall, consisting of two-inch-long, egg-shaped segments and covered in half-inch spines. The plants glow bright yellow in the morning sunshine... the effect is positively electric. A few seconds later, Harry POPS in.

  JAKE: Last one's a rotten egg!

  Harry promptly changes into a huge egg, much to Jake's surprise. The egg immediately transforms back into Harry, whose expression swings between admiration and disgust.

  HARRY: Yer gettin' good at this, pardner... but what's that stink?

  JAKE: I guess I did say rotten egg...

  HARRY: Phew! Let's get upwind... watch out for those cholla grenades.

  Some of the small segments making up the cacti lie piecemeal on the ground. Jake accidentally kicks one, and lets out a HOWL.

  JAKE: It went right through my sneaker!

  HARRY: Pick it off, and watch where yer goin'. (pause) Didja bring the book?

  Bending over to remove the cactus spines with one hand, Jake holds up an old, heavy text with the other.

  JAKE: Right here...

  HARRY (solemn): Jake, it stands to reason that you can probably do things I can't.

  JAKE: Like performing magic while someone's got ahold of me?

  HARRY: Right. I never could learn to use the spells in that book... mebbe you can.

  Jake examines the book more closely... it's entitled "Time Travel". He opens the book, and walks through the cactus field as he reads. Abruptly, another JAKE (#2) silently materializes in the spot Jake #1 just vacated, and looks at the wandering, reading Jake #1 in wonder. Harry does a double-take (of course).

  Jake #2 looks quizzically at Harry, who motions for silence by putting a finger to his lips. Jake #1 walks back to the spot he's just left, still reading. He doesn't see Jake #2, and Jake #2 has to scurry to get out of his way. Jake #1 looks up from