Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama

Drama for the dinner table

The Ritual – Episode 3 – Beneath Musgrave Hall

By Philip RobothamPosted on Posted in Blog, Script, The RitualTagged , , No Comments on The Ritual – Episode 3 – Beneath Musgrave Hall
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Below we present the complete text of ‘A Girl, A Ghost, and a Guide’; episode 2 of The Ritual.

Gaslamp Mystery - GM002 - The Ritual
Gaslamp Mystery – GM002 – The Ritual
Parental Guidance Recommended: May contain content some parents may feel is inappropriate for younger children
Parental Guidance Recommended: May contain content some parents may feel is inappropriate for younger children

THE RITUAL

EPISODE #3 – Beneath Musgrave Hall

by Philip Craig Robotham

Cover Illustration by Miyukiko

Edited by Margaret Wilkins

Copyright 2013 Philip Craig Robotham

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Edition.

CC by-nc-nd 4.0
CC by-nc-nd 4.0

This play is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) International license. This play may not be commercially reproduced, performed, or sold.   Non-commercial production, performance, and reproduction are allowed under this license so long as attribution is maintained.  No derivative content or use is allowed.  It can be freely shared in its current form (without change) under this license.  If you would like to purchase one or more copies of this work (for your own personal non-commercial use, or to help financially support the author) then please return to https://www.weirdworlstudios.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Other works by this author can be found at the author’s website: https://weirdworldstudios.com or through select, online book retailers.

Episode 3: Beneath Musgrave Hall

In this episode:

“The game’s afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’”

— William Shakespeare

Sherlock Holmes has just left university and is seeking to make a name for himself as an investigator of the unusual when Reginald Musgrave, an acquaintance from the university, arrives requesting Holmes look into the disappearance of two of his domestic staff. Holmes immediately asks Martha Hudson to go undercover at Musgrave’s stately home while he himself is visiting to ascertain what has taken place. The investigation enters them in a race to find a hidden local treasure but ultimately pits them against the treasure’s ghostly guardian and Musgrave’s rivals. Can Holmes’ uncanny deductive abilities and understanding of folklore help him to win the treasure before others with more sinister motives do the same?

Episodes in the Host Your Own “Old Time Radio Drama” series are designed to provide a fun dinner party experience for 6–8 participants. Read along, taking on the role of one or more of the characters in the story, and listen as the exciting drama unfolds. This is the theater of the mind, where the special effects are only limited by your imagination, and your participation will build a memory that you’ll treasure for years to come.

CAST LIST

NARRATOR: General narrator.

ELDER SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Narrator

YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES: The famous Detective

MARTHA HUDSON: Holmes’ Companion on his investigation

REGINALD MUSGRAVE: Owner of Musgrave Hall and client to Sherlock Holmes

BRUNTON: Formerly, Reginald Musgrave’s Manservant.

GHOST: The Ghost of a soldier in the army of Charles I.

SFX : SFX operator (1 required)

Below we present the complete text of ‘Beneath Musgrave Hall’, episode 3 of The Ritual.

SCENE 9: INT. — A MAN-MADE CAVE — MOMENTS LATER (MARTHA, YOUNG HOLMES, REGINALD)

  1. MUSIC: OPENING THEME – LET IT FINISH.
  2. NARRATOR: The investigation by Holmes and Martha into the strange goings on at Musgrave Hall has revealed a surprising amount of interest in an old poem recorded in the Musgrave Family Bible.  Deducing that it is a map, Holmes, Martha, and Lord Musgrave have followed it into a cave.
  3. SOUND: [13] (WALLA) SLIGHT ECHO ADDED TO VOICES TO GIVE SENSE OF BEING IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE — CONTINUE UNTIL 466.
  4. MARTHA: It’s not a very large space, is it?
  5. YOUNG HOLMES: No. But it’s definitely the right place. It’s not a natural cave, the walls have been bricked… I just can’t see…
  6. REGINALD: (INTERRUPTING WEARILY) I’ll just help myself up then, shall I? (GRUNTS AS HE RISES).
  7. YOUNG HOLMES: Ah, thank you, Reginald. Now I see it?
  8. REGINALD: See what?
  9. YOUNG HOLMES: The last part of the pacing instructions: “and then under.” Reginald tumbled in on top of a trap door.
  10. REGINALD: (WRYLY) Well I’m glad I was able to be of some use.
  11. YOUNG HOLMES: Come on then, man. Grab hold of that iron ring with me and let’s see if we can’t get this open.
  12. SOUND: [39] GRINDING SOUND OF STONE AGAINST STONE FOLLOWED BY CREAK OF TRAP DOOR OPENING AND HEAVY THUMP OF DOOR FALLING OPEN — LET IT FINISH.
  13. YOUNG HOLMES: There we are. Ladies first?
  14. MARTHA: Very amusing, Mr ’olmes.
  15. YOUNG HOLMES: Alright then, follow me. “Once more into the breach.”
  16. MUSIC: [5] (BRIDGE) OMINOUS SCENE ENDER. LET IT FINISH

SCENE 10: INT. — A NATURAL CAVE — MOMENTS LATER (MARTHA, YOUNG HOLMES, REGINALD, BRUNTON)

  1. SOUND: [14] (WALLA) OCCASIONAL DRIPS, SLIGHT ECHO — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
  2. MARTHA: Well, that was unpleasant.
  3. YOUNG HOLMES: How so?
  4. MARTHA: Climbing down an ’undred feet o’ rickety, two-’undred-year-old ladder? What’s not unpleasant about that?
  5. YOUNG HOLMES: Where’s your sense of adventure?
  6. MARTHA: About an ’undred feet above us, if you must know! Anything ’appens down ’ere and they won’t find us for a century or more (BEAT) (TO HERSELF) …if they ever do at all.
  7. YOUNG HOLMES: Don’t be so fatalistic. What could possibly go wrong?
  8. SOUND: [40] HEAVY CRASH OF TRAP DOOR BEING SEALED — LET IT FINISH.
  9. REGINALD: Well, for one thing the trap door could slam shut sealing us in the dark.
  10. YOUNG HOLMES: You worry too much, Reginald. I asked you to bring the lantern for just this contingency.
  11. SOUND: [41] SOUND OF LANTERN BEING LIT — LET IT FINISH.
  12. REGINALD: Nothing takes you by surprise, does it, Sherlock?
  13. YOUNG HOLMES: Very little.
  14. MARTHA: Ahem.
  15. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh, you’re not going to bring that up again, are you?
  16. MARTHA: A little ’umiliation now and then is good for your soul… makes you seem a little more like the rest of us mere mortals.
  17. YOUNG HOLMES: No! I forbid you to tell the story.
  18. MARTHA: Do you now? Lord Musgrave, would it interest you to know that the talented Mr ’olmes, ’oo prides ’imself on ’is ability to notice everything, was recently invited to the wedding of Miss Lacey Aldershott?
  19. REGINALD: Why, Miss Hudson, I do believe it would.
  20. YOUNG HOLMES: (LOUDLY) My but aren’t those stalactites interesting.
  21. MARTHA: ’e was standing up the front, waitin’ for the ceremony to begin, when Mr Aldershott Snr, the bride’s father, asks ’im if ’e’s remembered the rings.
  22. YOUNG HOLMES: (LOUDLY) You know, the chances of a formation like this occurring in just that configuration are quite remarkable.
  23. MARTHA: Even then, ’e didn’t put two and two together. It seems the young lady had mistaken Mr ’olmes acceptance of a financial engagement for something a little more permanent.
  24. YOUNG HOLMES: (MUTTERING SULKILY) It could have happened to anyone.
  25. REGINALD: (ROARS WITH LAUGHTER) Ah, yes. But it did happen to you. Oh my.
  26. YOUNG HOLMES: (GRUFFLY) Come on, we need to follow this tunnel… but have a care, I think it may contain…
  27. SOUND: [42] CLICK FOLLOWED BY THE WHOOSH-THUNK OF A SPEAR STRIKING THE WALL — LET IT FINISH.
  28. YOUNG HOLMES: (WRYLY) traps.
  29. REGINALD: (SHOCKED) That spear missed by the merest of inches, Holmes.
  30. YOUNG HOLMES: You don’t say? There are pressure plates beneath the dirt. Someone has gone to significant trouble to keep something very safe. Keep to the tunnel’s edges and we should be fine.
  31. BRUNTON: (ADMIRING) Very good, sir. I can see that you are quite a formidable adversary.
  32. YOUNG HOLMES: As you clearly are not! Mr Brunton, I presume, formerly butler at Musgrave Hall.
  33. BRUNTON: Now, now. There’s no need to be so insulting. Especially since I have a musket pointed at your heart. Besides, I was smart enough to follow you down here.
  34. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh yes. And what of Miss Howell? I don’t see her with you.
  35. BRUNTON: I’m afraid she won’t be making an appearance today… or ever again!
  36. MARTHA: You villain!
  37. YOUNG HOLMES: (COLDLY) I take it she is dead?
  38. BRUNTON: It was a mercy really! All that sniveling and crying. And getting caught in the house. I couldn’t have that now, could I?
  39. YOUNG HOLMES: You drowned her in the mere, then?
  40. BRUNTON: Indisputably. And if you don’t wish to end up sharing her fate, I suggest you lead on.
  41. MARTHA: You ’eartless brute.
  42. BRUNTON: Sticks and stones, my dear miss. (VOICE HARDENING) Now forward!
  43. MUSIC: [5] (BRIDGE) OMINOUS SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.

ACT 3

SCENE 11: INT. — DEEPER IN THE CAVE — A LITTLE LATER (BRUNTON, YOUNG HOLMES, MARTHA, REGINALD, GHOST)

  1. SOUND: [14] (WALLA) OCCASIONAL DRIPS, SLIGHT ECHO — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
  2. SOUND: [43] FOOTSTEPS MOVE FORWARD AND STOP — UNDER.
  3. BRUNTON: Don’t stop now. Have you forgotten the musket I have pointed at you?
  4. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh, I haven’t forgotten, sir. We have merely reached our destination.
  5. SOUND: [15] (WALLA) FADE IN SLOW BUBBLING SOUND — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
  6. MARTHA: What is that foul smell?
  7. YOUNG HOLMES: You mean aside from Brunton? I believe we’re approaching a mud pool. This area is famed for them.
  8. BRUNTON: Be warned, sir, I will not be trifled with. I’ll be sure to shoot the woman first if you attempt anything untoward.
  9. YOUNG HOLMES: Yes, yes. You’re very frightening. (BEAT) Ah, here we are (BEAT) and there is the treasure.
  10. MUSIC: [7] (STING) MUSICAL REVEAL, CHIMES PERHAPS — LET IT FINISH.
  11. REGINALD: It’s hanging in a net over the mud.
  12. YOUNG HOLMES: And the mud is superheated.
  13. MARTHA: What’s that against the wall over there? Armor?
  14. YOUNG HOLMES: Yes. The armor of a King’s man. And within it I suspect you’ll find the bones of the ghostly visitor who attended me last night.
  15. BRUNTON: Be quiet! All of you! I need to understand this.
  16. YOUNG HOLMES: (AMUSED) Be my guest.
  17. BRUNTON: You don’t think I can? I’ll show you. The treasure is suspended over the pool. On the near side is a weighted contrivance of some kind; a final trap designed to tip the treasure into the mud. I need only use some of these rocks to balance the weight and the treasure will be safely within my grasp.
  18. YOUNG HOLMES: Then I suggest you show us how it is done.
  19. BRUNTON: I will.
  20. SOUND: [44] SOUND OF ROCKS BEING LOADED ONTO SOMETHING — LET IT FINISH.
  21. BRUNTON: There! See!
  22. YOUNG HOLMES: I do.
  23. SOUND: [45] SLIDING OF TREASURE FOLLOWED BY SPLASH AND RETURN TO BUBBLING — UNDER.
  24. BRUNTON: (WAILING) No!!
  25. YOUNG HOLMES: (FALSE SYMPATHY) Bad luck, old man. I guess you didn’t have it worked out after all.
  26. BRUNTON: You’d dare laugh at me. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you all.
  27. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh stop it, Brunton. The treasure is now out of your reach. In fact, I believe it is now out of everybody’s reach. But in a moment I think you’ll have other things to concern yourself with.
  28. GHOST: (MOANING) You have… failed!… Pay… the price!… Not… worthy!
  29. BRUNTON: (HORRIFIED) No! No! (WAILING AS IT TRAILS OFF IN A GARGLING DEATH CROAK) Noooo!
  30. YOUNG HOLMES: Quickly, Martha, he’s dead. Use the salt to create a barrier.
  31. GHOST: Failed!… So long… waited… all for… nothing!
  32. REGINALD: What’s it saying, man. This is insane.
  33. YOUNG HOLMES: (SHARPLY) No distractions! (TO THE GHOST) Here, you, spirit of the long dead… I have a solution for you.
  34. GHOST: No solution… failed my trust!
  35. YOUNG HOLMES: No! No, you succeeded. You protected the treasure.
  36. GHOST: Failed my trust!
  37. SOUND: [46] FADE IN EARTHQUAKE LIKE RUMBLING — UNDER AND FINISH.
  38. YOUNG HOLMES: (NERVOUSLY) Martha?
  39. SOUND: [47] SINGLE RINGING CHIME — LET IT FINISH.
  40. GHOST: (WAILING) Nooo!
  41. MARTHA: Got it! The circle’s complete around ’im. That should ’old ’im, possibly indefinitely since no sunlight’s ever likely to make its way down ’ere and break its power, dawn or no.
  42. YOUNG HOLMES: Good work! Help me put a second circle around Brunton. There’ll be another ghost along in a moment.
  43. REGINALD: What is this nonsense? Salt circles? Ghosts? I want none of this!
  44. YOUNG HOLMES: Wait, Reginald, we’re almost done! (TO THE GHOST) You were a King’s man once. You gave up all to protect this treasure. It was intended for the King’s heirs.
  45. GHOST: Yes!… For… the heirs!
  46. YOUNG HOLMES: Reginald, what was the final part of The Ritual?
  47. REGINALD: The Ritual? Why… er…
    ‘What shall we give for it?’
    ‘All that is ours.’
    ‘Why should we give it?’
    ‘For the sake of the trust.’
  48. YOUNG HOLMES: You gave your life to protect this treasure, didn’t you? And what else was yours to give? I believe your armor is the key.
  49. GHOST: Yes… Yes…
  50. YOUNG HOLMES: Get those stones off the mechanism and place the armor upon it.
  51. REGINALD: Alright.
  52. SOUND: [48] SOUND OF ROCKS BEING CLEARED AND REPLACED WITH CLANKING ARMOR — LET IT FINISH.
  53. REGINALD: There!
  54. YOUNG HOLMES: Spirit, you are free! The Ritual has been fulfilled.
  55. GHOST: But who… will guard…?
  56. YOUNG HOLMES: Look behind you. In the other circle.
  57. REGINALD: Good grief! It’s Brunton… or I should say his ghost!
  58. YOUNG HOLMES: You are free, King’s man. Go to your reward. The task now falls to one who coveted the treasure for his own gain.
  59. GHOST: Yes… Yes… Farewell!
  60. SOUND: [49] WIND BLOWS THROUGH AND FADES TO NOTHING — LET IT FINISH.
  61. MARTHA: Is he at rest?
  62. YOUNG HOLMES: We’ll salt and burn the bones to be sure, but yes, I think so.
  63. MARTHA: And what of that one?
  64. BRUNTON: (GHOSTLY MOANING) What? Where… am I?
  65. YOUNG HOLMES: You, sir, are dead. A victim of your own greed.
  66. BRUNTON: (PLEADING) Free… me…
  67. YOUNG HOLMES: You are a murderer and an abuser of women. I have no inclination whatsoever to free you. So long as it’s not disturbed, that salt circle should keep you from bothering anyone ever again.
  68. BRUNTON: (ANGRY) Free… me…
  69. YOUNG HOLMES: (STERNLY) No.
  70. MUSIC: [3] (BRIDGE) NEUTRAL SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.

SCENE 12: INT. — TRAIN CARRIAGE RETURNING TO LONDON — THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON (MARTHA, YOUNG HOLMES)

  1. SOUND: [16] (WALLA) CLICKETY CLACK AND CHUFFING OF TRAIN TRAVELLING DOWN TRACKS, OCCASIONAL TOOTS — ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
  2. MARTHA: Well, that was an adventure, Mr ’olmes.
  3. YOUNG HOLMES: Hmmm? Yes, I suppose it was.
  4. MARTHA: ’ave you thought about what you’ll do when you get back to London?
  5. YOUNG HOLMES: Not as yet.
  6. MARTHA: I think you need to get out of that little room in Soho.
  7. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh?
  8. MARTHA: Why don’t you consider taking a room at 221B (TWO TWO ONE B)?
  9. YOUNG HOLMES: I can’t afford it. Lord Musgrave was generous enough, but half the payment is yours and the remainder will not go far enough.
  10. MARTHA: You could find someone to share.
  11. YOUNG HOLMES: Martha, do you mind?
  12. MARTHA: You seem a little distracted, if’n I might say so.
  13. YOUNG HOLMES: Yes. As it happens I’m thinking about something.
  14. MARTHA: Well, there’s something you don’t see every day.
  15. YOUNG HOLMES: I’ll thank you to keep the sarcasm to yourself.
  16. MARTHA: Well, out with it?
  17. YOUNG HOLMES: Oh alright, if you refuse to give me any peace. It’s this. Brunton wasn’t smart enough for that business at Musgrave Hall.
  18. MARTHA: Sure, ’e was.
  19. YOUNG HOLMES: (WITH EMPHASIS) No. He wasn’t.
  20. MARTHA: What is it you suspect?
  21. YOUNG HOLMES: I believe he was a contracted agent for someone else.
  22. MARTHA: And what gives you that notion?
  23. YOUNG HOLMES: This does. It’s a card I found on Brunton’s body before we handed it over to the police.
  24. MARTHA: Let me see… Typed!
    “Buried treasure.
    Locate Ritual, decode, and pursue.”
    And on the other side… “M.”
    What does it mean, Mr ’olmes?
  25. YOUNG HOLMES: I’m not sure, Miss Hudson. Possibly nothing. Anyway if you’ll cease that idle prattling I’ll return to my thoughts.
  26. MARTHA: Hmpf. Just why was it you asked me to accompany you on this little jaunt, Mr ’olmes?
  27. YOUNG HOLMES: I beg your pardon?
  28. MARTHA: I used to think you simply liked ’aving someone around to impress. On this occasion, you ’ad Lord Musgrave an’ I would ’ave thought that was plenty. So, why did you ask me along?
  29. YOUNG HOLMES: My dear Miss Hudson, I would have thought that was obvious.
  30. MARTHA: Not to me.
  31. YOUNG HOLMES: You are by far the most intelligent person of my acquaintance and someone engaging in my profession can hardly afford to lay aside the best tools he has at hand for solving a mystery.
  32. MARTHA: Is that it? Am I a tool in your chest to be used when the time is right?
  33. YOUNG HOLMES: Of course.
  34. MARTHA: (COLDLY) Mr ’olmes?
  35. YOUNG HOLMES: Yes, Miss Hudson?
  36. MARTHA: You can keep your thoughts fer yourself.
  37. YOUNG HOLMES: (CONFUSED) Why… thank you.
  38. MUSIC: [6] (BRIDGE) IRONIC SCENE ENDER — LET IT FINISH.

CONCLUSION (ELDER HOLMES)

  1. ELDER HOLMES: [CUE] And so ended the mysterious affair of The Ritual. By my count we had two dead, one ghost put to rest, and another damned to guard an irretrievable treasure for all time. Martha was right of course. There was more to my need for her company than even I was aware of at that time. But I was also right about Brunton. He did have an employer. One whose path I would cross more and more as I pursued my chosen career. But that, of course, is a story for another day.
  2. MUSIC: [2] CLOSING THEME AND CREDITS — LET IT FINISH.

CASTING SHEETS — MAJOR CHARACTERS

ELDER SHERLOCK HOLMES: I am an older and wiser Sherlock Holmes — one who looks back on his life with the clear sight of age. These are my reminiscences, both of the events themselves and also of their meaning.

YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES: I am the famous Sherlock Holmes, though early in my career and not yet consumed by the monomania with which I was later afflicted. I am the smartest man in any room in which I am found. I am egotistical, somewhat uncaring of the feelings of others, obsessive when it comes to unraveling a riddle, and about to prove myself the greatest of unsung ghost hunters in all of England.

MARTHA HUDSON: I was a farm girl with a no-nonsense attitude. Now I’m a landlord in London. I’ve seen the ’ard side of life and I’ve got no illusions. I’m smart and determined, and I’ve made my way well to date. I know about the old ways — the folk stories and the things that go bump in the night. I’m not afraid of ’em and I’m not afraid of you neither.

REGINALD MUSGRAVE: I am an acquaintance of Holmes’ from university. I am easily impressed by the latest intellectual fad and just as easily captured by the sight of a pretty face. Some call me flighty, but I am merely enthusiastic. That my enthusiasm tends to be intense but short-lived should come as no surprise to anyone.

CASTING SHEETS — MINOR CHARACTERS

BRUNTON: I am a con-man and a swindler. I took work with Lord Musgrave because he was stupid and easy to rob. Sadly, he is not so well off as I had first thought, but I have a plan to steal a great treasure out from under him. One he isn’t even aware is there.

GHOST: I served my King. I was given a charge to guard the crown until it could be handed back to my King’s heirs. This I do. I will guard this treasure for eternity if I must.

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Philip Craig Robotham grew up in a house full of books and has held numerous jobs as a teacher, computer programmer, graphic and web designer, an e-learning consultant and, most recently, writer. He currently lives in Victoria, Australia with his wife and two sons. When he was younger and fitter he enjoyed martial arts, but in recent years his hobbies have tended towards more sedate fare (board games, movies, books, and role-playing games).

He is extremely grateful for the encouragement he receives from his biggest fans — his wife and two boys — all of whom read and enjoy his scripts and, in general, make his life worth living.

You can contact the author regarding performance rights (or simply to say hello) through his website: http://www.weirdworldstudios.com.

THE END

###

Don’t forget to check out the free sample portions of our titles at https://weirdworldstudios.com/product-category/our-products/.

This post and all its content is copyright © 2013 Philip Craig Robotham and has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. This play cannot be reproduced, shared, or performed commercially without the written permission of the author.  The production of derivative content, merchandise, or creative works and materials is expressly forbidden under this agreement. However you may share, reproduce, and perform this play freely so long as authorship is acknowledged, no money changes hands, and the play is not modified in any way.

The Ritual

Please follow and like us:
RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
The Ritual – Episode 3 – Beneath Musgrave Hall

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to top