♪ Ring around the rosy
♪ A pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes, we all tumble down ♪
♪ Ring around the rosy, a pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ash, ash, ash, ash ♪
We've all tumbled down.
This place is so... nowhere.
This place, Jan, is Wales.
It's one of the oldest principalities in Europe,
going back to the Norman conquest.
The Norman conquest was in 1066.
Want to know when the Magna Carta
was signed? I can tell you.
There'll be another Brain Brawl in the fall, Ellie.
All you got to do is get through the summer.
I know, three months in Britain
means the next 30 years at Adams College.
That's my kind of math, Kate.
- I do not sound like that. - Oh?
Well, it is my kind of math.
In ten years' time,
this summer will seem like the blink of an eye.
Let's see if that works.
Nope, it's still there.
We're gonna make the best of this, Jan, right?
Make like we're in Cleveland?
Okay, whatever.
Wow, this place already feels like fun.
Jan, have some respect.
Sorry.
Nope, still there.
Ah, it's so pretty.
Okay, here we are.
Wow, those bells sure are ringing a long time.
It's tradition.
The bell rings once for every year of the man's life.
It will see him safely to the other side.
You must be the Carstairs.
I'm Mrs. Thayer, your real estate agent.
- Pleased to meet you. - You as well.
If you want to grab your things, I'll meet you in the office.
Well, the place is quaint. I'll give it that.
Yeah, if by quaint you mean old.
Remember our deal, Jan.
It's like out of Brothers Grimm.
They collected over 200 fairy tales.
- Did they? - Yeah, they missed one.
Northrop is more than quaint. It's dripping with history.
Yeah, you could drown in it.
Look, can't we just live somewhere else?
Dad's college is in Middleton.
It's, like, three times the size of this.
We talked about this.
If we're gonna live in Wales for the summer,
we're gonna have the real Welsh experience,
and your father needs all the quiet he can get.
And an office with enough wall space
for my long-form equations.
We'll find something.
And you'll need a great kitchen.
You know you will.
Now, this one has a big kitchen,
but the roof is in need of repair.
We're only here for the summer.
I hope that was clear in my message.
Very clear. It doesn't limit your choices,
but you will want to find a place within the week.
After that, any nearby hotel rooms
will be booked up for the festival in five days.
What's the Northrop Miracle?
That's what the festival celebrates.
In June of 1348,
the Black Plague swept across the countryside
surrounding Northrop and killed 100,000 people
but not a soul in this village.
- Not one person? - Not one.
The plague passed around the village and surrounding woods.
What are the odds of that happening?
It's a miracle.
- Well, why June 21st? - That's the date of midsummer.
It's the longest day of the year,
when the sun is highest in the sky.
So you will want to find somewhere
before this place turns into a fairground.
What was that first listing, Mrs. Thayer?
I think we skipped it.
Ah, Aylwood House.
Well, that place is far too large for your needs
and only has electricity in a few rooms.
Well, the electric can be fixed, right?
Why, yes.
- A ghost would rent it. - It does look haunted.
- When was it built? - 1348.
The year of the Black Plague.
Uh, why, yes.
What month?
It doesn't say. Why?
Well, I was just wondering if it was built
after the plague swept here
or before.
I mean, I wouldn't want to be living in a house
where skeletons marched through carrying sickles, killing...
Jan, you're gonna scare Ellie.
I'm okay.
I'm not scared of that house.
Well, neither am I,
and it seems like the real Welsh experience.
I just need a few minutes to shut up the office,
and then we can go see Aylwood House.
Sounds great. We'll meet you at the car.
You okay, Ellie?
Look at that doll.
Can I have it?
Aren't you a little old for dolls?
You're always saying I'm growing up too fast.
You're right as usual,
and you're making the best of Northrop.
Come on.
- You coming, Jan? - No, thanks.
Suit yourself. Don't wander off too far.
You're going to Aylwood House?
Uh, yeah, I am.
The last one like you
had a pocketful of posies.
But she didn't fall down.
She disappeared.
Who disappeared? Where?
There.
What are you talking about?
And how did you know where I was going?
Don't let that daft Helen Taylor spook you too much.
She just heard Mrs. Thayer say it to your family.
Oh, yeah. Thanks.
But if you are visiting Aylwood House,
I suggest sticking to its grounds.
Why?
You just should.
- Look, Jan. - She's pretty.
What's her name?
I have to think about it.
It has to be just right.
The rent is half what you'd normally pay
for a place this size.
You can fix the electric?
I've already spoken to Jack Fleming,
a local farmer who doubles as a handyman for Mrs. Aylwood.
So somebody's living there right now?
Not for much longer.
Aylwood House is yours to rent if you wish.
And there's the road there.
Turn left. I said turn left.
Turn left, turn left, turn left!
Sorry, sorry.
Why aren't we taking the road through the woods?
The road around them suits me better.
Jan, roll up your window.
Sorry, sorry.
Here we go.
Welcome to Aylwood House.
That's mine to say, and I do not welcome you.
Meet Mrs. Aylwood.
Who are you? What do you want?
I warned you, Mrs. Aylwood.
If you refused to install a telephone,
I would be making surprise visits.
This house is not for rent.
Mrs. Aylwood, you know as well as I
that you must rent out this house
and take up residency in the cottage.
Ellie.
Ellie, Ellie!
- What? - Didn't you hear me?
Where were you going?
I don't know.
Come on.
What's going on, you two?
Jan's trying to scare me again.
No, I wasn't. She wandered off.
It was like she was sleepwalking.
I was not sleepwalking.
Right, that settles it.
Let's go take a look, shall we?
Sure, sure.
Excuse me.
Hide.
- Hide. - Is someone there?
What did you say to her?
Were you singing your rhymes?
What sort of person are you?
Do you sense things?
I'm sorry.
I don't know what you mean.
I think I shall have to take a chance on you.
Mom, Dad.
Mom says only two rooms got electricity,
so we have to sleep together.
No. Where's Mom?
I don't know, but Dad's in his new office.
27 feet and then some, big enough for two blackboards.
- Where's Mom? - Off to look for the kitchen.
These appliances are so old.
Too bad, huh?
Sorry, Mom.
The view from the office window
is nothing but woods for miles.
If Einstein had this view,
he never would've gone to Princeton.
Oh, well.
I guess I can cook here.
You look so happy in that photo.
Excuse me?
Your wedding, was it in the spring?
- The summer. - Your anniversary must be soon.
What's the date?
I don't believe in keeping track of dates
of things that are dead.
I'm sorry.
He passed away?
You ask a lot of questions for a child of 15.
I'm 16. Today's my birthday.
Oh, well, then happy birthday.
I thought you didn't believe in anniversaries.
But you're alive, aren't you?
Yeah.
How did your husband die?
He died from me.
Whoo!
What did you wish for?
I want to make Northrop my home, at least for the summer.
I'll drink to that.
Thought you were gonna ask for a car.
To a wonderful summer.
Ellie.
You were lying at the table.
What are you talking about?
You don't want Northrop to be your home.
- How do you know what I want? - I just know.
Well, you're wrong.
I want Mom and Dad to be happy.
I want you to be happy.
- Then stop scaring me. - I'm not scaring you.
You did when you grabbed me yesterday.
Ellie what was I supposed to do?
You were sleepwalking into the woods.
There she goes again, Nerak.
Nerak? What's that?
Her name. What do you think?
How did you come up with that?
I kind of just heard it.
Well, when did you hear it?
I don't know, just now.
Just now. Then who said it to you?
- I don't know. - Ellie, what did it sound like?
Was it a whisper?
Did it sound like it was coming from the woods?
Stop asking me all these questions.
You're freaking me out. It's just a name.
Yeah, you're right.
I'm sorry, Ell.
Nerak's a great name.
Will you be my new sister, Nerak?
Sure. I won't try and scare you.
♪ Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes ♪
What's wrong?
Don't you see her?
No.
I still can't believe
you scared Ellie like that, Jan.
The lengths you went to.
Cracking the mirror?
All this after you made us believe
you were actually gonna give this a shot.
She was lying. I knew it.
We said we weren't gonna talk about this anymore.
Look, I know it sounds crazy,
but there was a girl in the mirror.
- She was holding flowers. - I don't remember any girl.
I just remember you saying I was sleepwalking.
You've never sleptwalked in your life.
Sleepwalked.
- Forget the grammar. - I don't want to answer
any more questions about the woods whispering to me.
Whispering? What's this about someone whispering to you?
I only asked you once.
The mirror cracked in a perfect X.
What are the chances of me doing that?
Pretty good when you're determined
to scare us out of this town.
You're lucky Ellie wasn't cut.
You're not coming in the store?
I thought you wanted to buy some supplies to fix up your room.
Oh, no, my room is just perfect.
The house is perfect. Northrop is just perfect.
Leave her alone.
You made Dad really mad.
There was a girl in the mirror.
I didn't see any girl.
What is wrong with you?
Maybe something is wrong with me.
I'll tell you what's wrong with you.
You've taken the Aylwood place.
Yeah, we have.
And where's Mrs. Aylwood to live?
With you, I suppose.
She lives in the cottage.
That's good.
Good for you, I mean.
Mrs. Aylwood is a devil dodger.
A devil dodger? What's that?
A devil dodger is... Mark Fleming.
Mark Fleming?
Tell your father I have
dug up some real treasures this week.
Sure, Mrs. Taylor. He'll be happy to take a look.
Your father is a good man,
but I drive a hard bargain.
He respects you for it.
Hi.
I'm off.
Well, she's not weird at all.
Helen Taylor?
She's harmless.
I'm Mark, in case you didn't catch her
yelling at you a second ago.
I'm Jan.
I just moved here from Cleveland, Ohio.
Ohio. It sounds far.
- You have no idea. - Well, I just live at
the other side of the woods.
My family has a farm.
And your dad buys Helen's junk?
- Is it worth anything? - No.
Helen lives in a caravan near us,
and whatever she digs up my dad buys,
so she can get food and stuff.
- Has she always been like that? - As long as I can remember.
But they say she wasn't like that when she was a girl.
Why, did something happen to her?
I think it's what happened to her best friend,
or at least that's what my mother says.
What happened to her friend?
Mrs. Thayer said something about a Yank girl
in town who liked to ask a lot of questions.
Girl Yank?
Yank, Yankee.
Oh, a Yankee. That's a first.
Asking a lot of questions, I get that all the time.
- Hello. - Hello. I'm Mark Fleming.
My father takes care of Aylwood House.
Ah, your father is the farmer Mrs. Thayer mentioned.
I can come by now and do the wiring if you'd like.
- That would be great. - I'll just need to run home
and get my tools.
You could come if you want.
I could use some help carrying it all.
- I don't know. - I think that would be okay.
Ellie's always wanted to see a real farm.
Haven't you, Ellie?
Yes.
So what do you think of Northrop now?
I think it's a good place for you to be quiet.
Say hi to Lucy.
So why doesn't anyone drive through the woods around here?
The old folks in town say there's something in there.
- Like what? - A spirit.
They call it The Watcher.
The Watcher?
It's weird. I'm not sure if it's the stories,
but I remember walking through the woods
as a boy and feeling it.
So you don't walk through the woods anymore?
- No one around here does. - Really? So...
You should save some questions for my mom.
She knows a lot more about this town than I do.
Okay.
Here we go.
It was 36 years ago this Friday that she disappeared.
Helen Taylor's best friend?
Many kids would've called Karen their best friend.
She was pretty and pretty puckish to boot.
- Puckish? - She was a starter.
Karen liked to play tricks.
Her face was her alibi.
You okay?
Yeah. Sorry.
I just feel like I've seen her before, somewhere.
There was only one Karen. Everyone adored her.
Her disappearance was the biggest shock
this village has ever had.
They don't talk about it much anymore,
but when I was younger, you'd hear about the girl
who walked into the woods one night and never walked out.
Never to be seen again.
No body, no evidence of foul play,
no crime scene,
not a trace of Karen Aylwood.
Aylwood?
Is she related to Mrs. Aylwood?
Karen was her daughter.
I'm sorry, I thought Mark told you already.
I didn't say anything
because I wanted you to hear it from my mother.
And you wanted an excuse to drive me.
Can you blame me?
I also didn't want to say anything in front of Ellie.
Thanks for that.
Nerak.
Do you think Karen's disappearance
has anything to do with The Watcher?
I don't know.
Karen.
Thanks, Mark.
Hey, can you not
tell my parents about Ellie writing on the window?
You have to.
They'll think I've been scaring her again,
that I caused it so that we can leave this place.
Are you scaring her?
No.
I just feel like you're not telling me everything.
Fine.
You want to hear everything?
Then, I'll tell you everything.
Come on.
The woods whispered, "Hide,"
and then the mirror cracked like this.
- It's a clean break. - Yeah, too clean.
But it could happen.
And the woods whispering to me?
Maybe it was just the wind.
The girl I saw in the mirror,
she looked just like the picture of Karen Aylwood.
Your mind's just playing tricks on you.
Is that why you won't walk through the woods anymore
or even drive through them? You said it yourself.
There's something in there.
The Watcher.
The Watcher in the Woods is a local legend,
and it scares me, too, but it is just a legend.
Yeah, well, that legend is talking to me.
I mean, what am I supposed to do,
sit around and act like I don't hear it?
What if it wants to take me like it did Karen Aylwood?
I'm not gonna let that happen.
So what do you want to do?
Travel back in time.
It's all yours, binders of paper and boxes of microfilm.
Microfilm?
It's from the '80s.
You put it in that machine.
You said you wanted to go back in time.
You said she disappeared 36 years ago,
the same date of the midsummer festival this week.
My mother said it happened at the midsummer festival.
Karen just disappeared into the woods.
Wait. Slow it down there.
"Local girl goes missing."
"Pond dragged."
"Karen Aylwood missing for a week."
"Constance Aylwood brought into Middleton police station
for questioning."
"Braden Aylwood hospitalized and put under suicide watch."
Helen Taylor said to me that Mrs. Aylwood is a devil dodger.
- What is that? - Never heard of it.
But there is a rumor that she put a spell on the woods.
No animals will go in there, not even birds.
Do you think it's true?
When my dad was a kid,
he hunted rabbits and squirrels there,
but ever since Karen disappeared,
he hasn't seen either.
When I asked Mrs. Aylwood what her husband died of,
she said, "Of me."
What if the rumors are true, and Mrs. Aylwood is a witch?
What if she killed her own daughter in a blood ritual,
and her husband knew it?
- Maybe we should take a break. - Take a break?
But we just started.
Jan, I like you, but you're sounding a bit crazy.
Witches, blood rituals.
She's just an old lady.
What's wrong?
You're the one who brought up her casting spells.
I know.
I just thought all of this was a bit of fun at first.
I never knew Mrs. Aylwood
was a suspect in her own daughter's disappearance.
My mother never told me that.
Yeah, well, she's just protecting the village.
No one wants to think one of their neighbors is a killer.
I guess that's true.
What if something happens to me?
- It won't. - You don't know that.
Ever since you got here, I don't know what I know.
Things have gotten really serious.
The investigation, maybe you could put it down for a day.
The midsummer festival is this weekend.
We could go together, have some fun.
Fun at a Black Plague fair?
You Americans celebrate Halloween,
which is monsters and dead people.
Mexicans have Day of the Dead.
Well, you make a good case for someone from a little...
Someone from a little what?
Someone from a little village.
Look, I didn't mean it like that.
- I didn't mean... - Of course you did.
You think this place for farmers
and simpletons, and you may be right,
but I'll tell you something you don't know,
Jan from Cleveland.
This little village has lived through centuries of invasion,
floods, a plague that wiped out 1,000 people
and didn't kill a single person here.
Why didn't it kill a single person here?
- It was a miracle. - It was a miracle.
Back in Puritan times, they called miracles witchcraft.
We're not in Puritan times.
Look, I... I'm really sorry.
I respect you and everything this village has been through.
It's okay. Let's just forget about it and move on.
So do you want to come to the festival with me?
I know my parents. I'll have to be home by midnight.
The Eclipse is at midnight.
It's the high point of the fair,
and your parents will want to come too.
So will you?
Okay.
I'll ask my mom.
Ask me what?
- What are you guys doing here? - We live here.
Can we give you a ride home?
Yeah.
So this weekend then.
Sounds good.
- What's going on this weekend? - I'll tell you later.
- You like Northrop now. - Shut up.
I mean, you really like Northrop now.
- I said shut up. - Okay.
I'll shut up.
I don't care.
She's a harmless old woman.
Mark was right.
I heard that.
You like Mark.
Mark is pretty cool, right?
He's okay.
Go to sleep.
Okay, I'll admit he's pretty cute.
Hey, you can't be asleep already.
Hey.
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
Mom. Mom, Dad!
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
- Get her inhaler. - Nerak, Nerak!
It's okay.
- Nerak, Nerak! - Breathe in deep.
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
- Quickly. - Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
Nerak, Nerak,
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak,
Nerak, Nerak, Nerak, Nerak!
This is the end of you scaring Ellie and scaring all of us.
Jan didn't scare me.
We were joking about Mark when... when I went to sleep.
Or I thought I did.
Kate, you haven't said a word. You want to chime in?
The mirror.
The mirror from the bedroom? I thought we settled that.
Not that mirror.
This mirror.
You dropped it, and it hit the floor in the right place.
Cracked in a perfect X.
Paul, it cracked before I dropped it.
So you gripped it too tight.
Ellie was wheezing,
and you got caught up in the heat of the moment.
It's time to go back to bed.
Come on, Ellie.
Who do you think is doing this?
Mrs. Aylwood, a spirit in the woods.
I don't know exactly, Mom.
But I know whatever it is,
it's watching us.
Watching us?
That's crazy. Your father is right.
I gripped the mirror too tight, and you've been scaring Ellie.
- But I didn't say... - Whether you know it or not.
Just, this talk right here has me scared.
- Yeah, because it should. - That's enough, Jan.
I'm serious.
I don't want to hear any more about this.
Good night.
Hey, Daisy!
Come on, come on.
I thought you said you were gonna
forget about this till after the festival.
I can't.
Ellie started chanting the name again last night.
Nerak.
Right, Karen spelled backwards.
Are you taking me seriously?
Hey, watch your step.
You're not taking me seriously,
and you haven't been this whole time.
Jan, Jan. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- You don't believe me. - I don't know what to believe.
I've never met a girl like you before.
I really like you,
but I sure as hell don't understand
your mystery.
I'll help you with the first mystery
if you help me with the second.
I need to find out what happened to Karen.
It's the key to knowing what's happening now.
All right, you've got a deal.
You can't have a look at this file.
Karen Aylwood's disappearance has been a closed case
for over 20 years.
Yeah, the public has a right to read it.
I'll let you have 15 minutes, no more.
Mrs. Aylwood was questioned three times in three weeks.
She wasn't the only one questioned.
Her husband?
A friend of the family.
The Aylwoods?
No.
Yours.
The band had three friends. Let's start there.
The last one like you had a pocketful of posies,
but she didn't fall down.
Yeah, she disappeared.
You told me.
She disappeared just like that.
You saw Karen Aylwood disappear?
Why she started that terrible dare I'll never know.
Wait. What dare?
It was the afternoon of the festival.
There were four of us...
me, Tom Colley,
and John Keller
and of course, Karen.
Guys, the eclipse is tonight,
and I dare the three of you to come with me to the pond.
- To go skinny-dipping? I'm in. - No.
That part of the woods is haunted.
No way I'm going down there.
Neither am I.
Fine.
But you're going to miss out on the best view of the eclipse.
There's too many lights here.
Are you both afraid? I'm not.
I'm not afraid.
Then neither am I.
Good.
We'll meet here just before midnight
and then go into the woods.
And so we did.
Is it making you look taller?
At least the three of us did.
Guys, I can't find Karen.
Where did she go?
She probably got scared or something.
Come on, let's go home.
No. She said for us to meet her there.
I'm not backing out so she can call me a chicken later.
It's not here.
Karen!
Karen?
It's strange.
I know. Where is she?
I told you, she got scared.
Karen's not afraid of anything.
No, it's strange that's the only tree that's charred.
Only you would notice something like that, Helen.
No, she's right, Tom.
♪ Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes, we all fall down ♪
It's coming from the tree.
- She's right. - Impossible.
♪ Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes, we all fall down ♪
How do you like this costume I found in my mom's attic?
Pretty freaky, right?
Karen, that is not funny.
Yeah, why would you do that to us?
I think it's great.
♪ Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes, we all fall down ♪
Karen? Karen, Karen.
Karen.
Karen, what's going on? Karen.
Help.
- Karen. - Karen!
- Karen. - ♪ We all tumble down ♪
Karen!
Thank you.
See you soon, Helen.
That's all she could remember.
All she'd let herself remember.
Yeah, well,
if that's even partially what happened to Karen Aylwood,
I'd go a little crazy too.
All three of them couldn't have gone crazy, could they?
That was all put to rest 36 years ago.
The girl ran off to London, probably took another name.
She was always up to tricks.
Yeah, but she was 15.
She wouldn't have just left her ma.
Wouldn't she? When was the last time
you talked to sweet old Mrs. Aylwood?
The day before yesterday.
I live in her house now.
Oh.
Well, they'll be looking for you soon.
Well, that was super helpful.
Lucy. Lucy.
Lucy, come here.
Can I help you?
That night has haunted me my whole life.
I really loved her, you know.
I didn't know.
You don't talk to anyone in the village, never have.
I'm the rich nose in the air, I know, but I did love Karen.
It's like Helen said it was.
Don't tell anyone in Northrop I said that.
I don't want anyone knowing that that nutter
and I have anything in common.
But you do.
You both saw Karen Aylwood disappear into thin air.
Yeah.
Helen and Tom and I saw Karen disappear.
Neither of them would come on the search party,
but I did, both my parents telling me
to keep my mouth shut about the game.
They'd arranged it with the local police
to keep my name out of it.
Family reputation and all that.
And they did the same for Helen and Tom.
Mm-hmm. Neat and clean.
Karen really haunts you.
Yeah.
She haunts me.
Do you think Mrs. Aylwood killed her daughter?
I know what I saw.
Mrs. Aylwood loved her daughter.
She had nothing to do with it.
I'll see you soon, my lovely girl.
What are you doing here?
I saw you get up. I followed you.
You have to go home.
Not without you.
Fine, but stay close
and don't make a sound.
Where is she going?
Into the woods.
Shh.
Ellie.
- Are you okay? - Jan, where are you?
Ellie!
Run!
- Jan! - Jan!
Ellie!
Where's Jan?
Now, just what were you doing out there so late?
And why would Mrs. Aylwood want to drown you?
- Because she's a witch. - Get up to bed.
Run along now, honey. I'll be up soon.
We were taking a walk, and I guess
we just wandered into the woods.
Wandered into the woods.
Nobody in Northrop just wanders into the woods.
Mrs. Aylwood, there you are.
Seems like history has reared its ugly head,
and here we are again,
but this time, the girl lived.
- That's not true. - I saw her hold you
under the water with a tree branch.
I saw it too.
Why else would she have followed you?
There's no other explanation.
There is another explanation.
She didn't follow me.
I followed her.
I'd heard rumors about Mrs. Aylwood being a witch
and putting a curse on the woods,
so I followed her into the forest.
I wanted to prove it.
Turns out she was just taking a walk.
Then I got too close to the pond, and I fell in.
Mrs. Aylwood wasn't trying to drown me.
She was trying to save me,
just like she would've done for her own daughter
if she could have.
Why did the woods tell me to hide?
I know you didn't kill Karen.
- How dare you. - I know you want her back.
I saw you kiss her picture.
You love her.
I know you didn't kill Karen.
It's not the woods whispering to you.
It's The Watcher.
So The Watcher is real?
Oh, yes.
He's telling you where he's trapped.
Hide?
"Hide" is Gaelic for "a wooded land."
Why is he trapped, and why is he telling me?
Why indeed.
That's why I allowed you to stay in my house.
I thought you were conjuring the voices,
that you were a witch.
Helen Taylor calls you a devil dodger.
Devil dodger. I suppose I am.
Or at least I was when I was a young girl.
I used to go to church just to listen to the music
and then slip away during prayers.
A devil dodger.
So if you're not a witch who killed her daughter,
where is Karen?
I don't know.
Who took her?
Was it The Watcher?
I wish I'd thrown away that robe and mask.
What are you talking about? What robe and mask?
Karen found them.
When we first moved to this house,
she found them up in the attic.
At first, I thought it was some kind of masked ball costume.
But then she found the book.
It was the symbol of the Hippocratic oath, 1348.
The man was a doctor,
and the costume was not a costume.
It was his surgical garb.
He was the village doctor
when the plague swept through the British countryside
and killed thousands
but not a single death in Northrop.
It wasn't a miracle.
The doctor had been way ahead of his time
in telling the villagers to boil their water,
to bathe regularly,
and wash their hands after coming in from the fields,
and when the plague arrived in Wales,
he warned them to keep to their houses
and to travel nowhere
outside the surrounding woods.
The good doctor should have followed his own advice.
He traveled to Middleton to treat a child
who might be saved.
He thought the robe and mask would save him from the plague.
But he was wrong.
So upon his return,
when the disease appeared on him,
he was murdered.
What a horrible way to die.
And The Watcher hasn't forgotten.
This is the nursery rhyme Helen said
Karen was singing when she disappeared.
"Ring Around the Rosy."
Yeah, it's a children's song.
It's about the Black Plague.
Rosy was the red sore it left on your skin,
and a pocketful of posy
was what you carried to mask the smell of death.
That's why The Watcher took my Karen.
She was wearing his doctor's outfit
and singing about the plague.
He thought she was making fun of his death.
And now he's got her with him in some terrible place.
I saw you talk to Karen's picture.
You said you'd see her soon.
The Watcher said he's not angry anymore with Karen.
But he must have his peeling.
What's a peeling?
I don't know,
but he knows I'm not going to be around forever,
and he needs somebody to care about the child
he keeps until he gets it.
That's why I made a bargain with The Watcher.
What kind of bargain?
I'm getting old.
I'd do... I'd do anything to see Karen again.
What kind of bargain, Mrs. Aylwood?
I promised him
a young girl in Karen's place,
and The Watcher has agreed.
You offered him me.
No.
I offered him Ellie.
Forgive me.
Ellie's in danger.
Not again.
We said no more of this.
I thought you weren't scaring me anymore. Stop it.
I'm sorry, but you have to know.
Mrs. Aylwood's daughter was taken by the woods in 1981.
The woods took her.
The spirit who lives in the woods
who lives inside a burned tree.
Right, so first it was a witch, and now it's a ghost.
Please, just listen to me.
It's the spirit of a doctor who died during the plague.
He was murdered by the villagers
because he brought the disease here.
He's called The Watcher.
He's willing to give back Karen Aylwood if...
if he can have Ellie.
- The woods want me? - Right, go to your room.
- But, Dad... - Enough is enough!
Enough is enough.
I'm sorry.
This is all my fault.
What's your fault?
I filled the young girl's head with superstition.
It wasn't Jan who wanted to scare you away from this place.
It was me.
Wait, you've been scaring us?
No, she's lying.
I'm not lying,
but you won't have to worry about my mischief anymore.
I've made an arrangement
to go to a home for the aged in Middleton.
Movers are coming for me tomorrow.
Will we have to vacate?
Oh, no.
That won't be necessary.
Again, I'm sorry.
I'm telling you, she's lying.
Hide.
Mrs. Aylwood?
You can't leave.
Ellie isn't safe from The Watcher.
Last night I made a bargain with The Watcher.
When you went into the woods?
Yes. Ellie is safe.
You can go back to your life now
with no worries for your little sister.
All is put right.
But what about Karen?
Karen will have to stay where she is.
It's the price I have to pay
for putting another mother's daughter in danger.
How dare I.
How do you know Elli's safe?
Did The Watcher tell you?
No, but I reminded him of his Hippocratic oath,
that even if he was wronged,
he's still a doctor,
and taking another child in Karen's place
would go against everything he believed in and died for.
But keeping Karen goes against everything he died for.
Karen keeps him company.
It's my punishment for putting Ellie in danger.
I think The Watcher will leave you alone now.
Hide.
Ellie.
Ah, good, you're dressed.
We leave in ten minutes.
- Okay, I'm ready. - Let me help you with that.
Could you do me a favor and say
as little as possible to your father tonight?
Maybe for the rest of the summer.
Okay, I can do that.
Listen, I know it seems like
a lifetime from now,
but we'll be back in Cleveland
and back to normal before you know it.
- Ok? - Okay.
I hope so.
Hey, what are you doing, girl?
I know how you can get Karen back.
- It's madness. - It's the only way.
The woods are gonna take Ellie.
I'm sorry I couldn't undo the bargain.
You should get your family away from here.
They won't listen to me.
We have to reenact the events of 36 years ago.
That way The Watcher will take me.
But you could be trapped for all eternity,
and there's no guarantee he'll give Karen back.
Maybe if I could figure out
what this peeling is The Watcher wants.
Is it the peeling of the burned bark or some kind of skin?
What if he won't tell you?
Then he'll have me,
and I'll have saved Ellie.
I can live with that.
But you could also die with it.
Looking for Mark?
Yeah, we're hanging out tonight.
- Oh, no, you aren't. - It's okay, Paul.
She's been a victim of that old lady just like the rest of us.
Now, can we just forget any of this ever happened
and have us some fun?
We meet back at the car at midnight, after the eclipse.
- Okay? - Okay.
Look, just promise me you stay close to Mom and Dad tonight.
Okay.
You want to go in here?
Why don't you get on, honey.
Pick a horse, come on.
Hi.
I got your message. Are these okay?
Yeah, they're perfect. Where'd you get them so quickly?
The mask was on sale over there,
and this robe is my grandfather's old Mason's gown.
Are Helen, John, and Tom here?
Just back there,
together for the first time in 36 years.
This is outrageous.
I won't have any part of it.
Oh, yes, he will.
That is, unless he wants the last ten years
of his tax dealings scrutinized to the nines.
I'm scared.
Don't be scared.
I'm the one The Watcher's gonna want.
You sure you know what you're doing?
I don't, but I know that if I don't do this,
my little sister, by midnight, will be gone,
and I'll spend the rest of my life regretting it.
I have to at least try to save her.
I'll take my chances with The Watcher.
You're a brave one.
I hope so.
Let's go find out.
Mommy, Daddy, Jan and Mark went into the woods.
What? Where?
Over there somewhere.
I don't want those two alone in the woods.
They weren't alone. They were with some people, grown-ups.
Paul?
Perhaps they were just taking a shortcut home.
With strangers?
Let's go home and find out. We can go from there.
Come on, we have to hurry.
Come on.
- Jan? - Jan?
Jan!
Jan, baby, where are you?
Jan's not here.
- Where is she? - What the hell is going on?
Is this more of your scare tactics?
Maybe my daughter was right when she called you a witch.
If I was a witch, I would've stopped her
doing what she's about to do.
Jan is a headstrong girl.
What is she about to do?
It's getting close to midnight.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Yeah.
The only thing I'm afraid of more than it working
is that it doesn't work.
First thing tomorrow, she's on a plane back to Ohio.
She can stay with my mother.
- Let's just find her. - Out in the woods at midnight?
What kind of game is she playing?
It is a game, isn't it?
Answer me honestly.
Jan believes she's saving Ellie.
- And what do you believe? - I believe this is no game.
♪ Ring around the rosy ♪
♪ A pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes, we all fall down ♪
♪ Ring around the rosy, a pocketful of posies ♪
♪ A tissue, a tissue, we all fall down ♪
♪ Pocketful of posies ♪
♪ Ashes, ashes ♪
♪ We all fall down ♪
I didn't think it would work.
- She's gone. - Gone?
What are you talking about?
Where's Jan? Where's my daughter?
Hide.
She's with Karen now.
Jan saved Ellie.
Karen!
Karen Aylwood!
Karen!
Karen.
Karen Aylwood.
Karen.
Karen Aylwood.
Karen?
Karen Aylwood.
Karen, Karen.
Karen.
Karen, Karen.
Karen, I'm here to take you home.
- Home? - Home.
Home to Aylwood House, home to your mother.
My mother? Who are you?
I'm a friend of your mother's.
I'm a friend of yours, Karen Aylwood.
I don't know how long you've known me, but I want to go home.
I've been lost all day.
- You've only been here a day. - Well, maybe it's only been
a few hours or so, but it feels long.
I bet to your mother, it feels even longer.
Come on.
You'll not find her anywhere, Mr. Carstairs.
She's with The Watcher.
Jan was telling me the truth the whole time,
and I didn't listen.
Hopefully The Watcher will.
We want to go home now!
You were burned alive here for following your medical oath.
You were killed for helping another person!
You want your peeling. We can help you.
Please, just tell us what it is!
You admitted you tried to scare us away,
and now your games have led to my daughter's disappearance.
This isn't helping.
What does this Watcher want?
He wants his peeling.
- What is that? - I don't know.
That's what Jan is trying to find out.
I can't believe I didn't think of this before.
He doesn't want a peeling. He was murdered.
He never got a proper burial.
He wants his pealing.
Please. Please, tell us what you want.
- What do you want? - You want justice?
Just tell me how.
What is the peeling that you want?
What is that kid doing?
Of course.
The Watcher wants his pealing,
the pealing of the bells.
Like the funeral.
One ring for each year of the man's life.
The sound that sees him safely to the other side.
What?
What do you want? Please, just... please don't.
What? She was telling the truth.
Mom!
- My baby! - Mom!
Don't you ever do anything like that again.
I don't think I could if I wanted to.
- Ellie. - Jan!
Oh.
Karen.
Oh, Mom.
I thought I'd never see you again.
- How long was I gone? - It doesn't matter.
You're home now.
Here, you should have her.
Thank you.
I think I'm gonna have to take a chance on you.
Whatever do you mean?
What about we take you home?
Ready to go home?
Yeah.
All right, let's all go.
Come on.