The Firework-Maker's Daughter (4 page)

HAMLET preens as CHULAK tears off the posters.

GODDESS:
I know your wish. You want magic water?

CHULAK:
Our friend didn't know she needed it to protect her in the Fire-Fiend's Grotto. All she wants is to get the Royal Sulphur so she can be a Firework-Maker. We don't want her to get hurt.

GODDESS:
You should have thought about that before you opened your mouth then, shouldn't you?

CHULAK:
I wasn't to know...

GODDESS:
It's your fault your friend's in danger.

CHULAK:
No, it's not.

GODDESS:
It certainly is.

The GODDESS points at CHULAK.

GODDESS:
You're an arrogant and thoughtless boy. Your wish is...

CHULAK closes his eyes and braces himself ready to be cast into the lake.

GODDESS:
Granted.

The GODDESS throws a beam of light across the lake. A silver flask lands in CHULAK's hand. The GODDESS sinks quickly into the water. CHULAK opens his eyes and sees the flask.

HAMLET:
Bravely done, Chulak. Quickly - on my back.

CHULAK:
Can we get there in time?

HAMLET:
I don't know, but we'll go so fast you'll believe an elephant can fly. Almost literally.

LILA's fall ends as she lands in the grotto of RAZVANI the Fire-Fiend. She's stunned for a moment. Standing over her is the terrifying figure of RAZVANI the Fire-Fiend, the God of Fire. LILA's startled and scared by him.

LILA:
(
Recovering
.) Is this the Grotto? Are you the Fire-Fiend?

RAZVANI:
I am Razvani! The God of Fire!

LILA:
I'm Lila, daughter of Lalchand
RAZVANI:
Why have you come to this place of flames?

LILA:
I want to be a Firework-Maker.

RAZVANI:
You!

LILA:
Yes... I've come for Royal Sulphur.

RAZVANI:
Where are the Three Gifts?

LILA:
What Three Gifts? I don't know anything about them.

RAZVANI:
What are you going to exchange for the Royal Sulphur?

LILA:
I didn't know I was supposed to bring gifts. I'm sorry. I have come quite a long way.

RAZVANI claps his hands. A burning, smoking crevice rents the stage in two. LILA screams as she recoils from the heat.

LILA:
I won't leave without the Royal Sulphur. Please, Razvani. I deserve it. I'll do anything. Show me what you want.

RAZVANI moves to the other end of the crevice from LILA.

RAZVANI:
You want Royal Sulphur, walk through my fire!

LILA:
Through there? But how? That's impossible.

RAMBASHI:
Every true Firework-Maker's passed this test. Are you a true Firework-Maker?

LILA walks towards the flames.

LILA:
It's too hot. I'll burn to cinders.

RAZVANI:
Where's your magic water?

LILA:
My what?

RAZVANI:
No Three Gifts and no magic water?

LILA:
I don't know about magic water or the Three Gifts. I will be a Firework-Maker. A good one. I invented self-igniting Crackle Dragons and Shimmering Coins. I've learned nearly everything my father could teach me.

RAZVANI:
You haven't learned enough! Ghosts!

GHOST 1 appears.

GHOST 1: I too came without the Three Gifts. I burned so badly...

LILA backs away in fear. GHOST 2 surprises LILA.

GHOST 2: Take heed. I hadn't worked at the craft. I wasn't ready. The fire licked my limbs... The pain... Help me...

GHOST 3 appears.

GHOST 3: Maiden, turn back! You're like me. Headstrong. I had no water from the Goddess. I died... In flames. Don't join me... Turn back!

LILA's terrified.

LILA:
I'm not like them. I don't care what anyone says. I am ready. Give me the Royal Sulphur.

RAZVANI:
Receive it from my hands. Submit yourself as they did.

LILA's hesitating. She holds her hands in front of her face as the heat scorches her.

RAZVANI:
Your father did it. Why are you waiting? I thought you wanted to be a Firework-Maker?

LILA:
That's all I want.

RAZVANI:
Then you must prove yourself.

LILA girds herself.

RAZVANI:
You want to be a Firework-Maker? Walk into my flames!

LILA screws up her courage and walks into the flames. She immediately screams out in pain. She's starting to burn.

LILA:
Help. Help me. Razvani? I'm burning.

She's surely dead.

HAMLET and CHULAK fly into the Grotto. The heat is too much for them. CHULAK runs as close as he can.

CHULAK:
Lila! The water! Catch it!

CHULAK throws the flask of magic water. LILA catches it, but it's too late. She sinks into the flames. RAZVANI disappears. HAMLET and CHULAK stand back from the roaring heat.

CHULAK:
Lila!

There's no sign of her.

CHULAK:
Lila!

CHULAK goes to the pit but the heat forces him back. HAMLET grabs him and pulls him away.

HAMLET:
Come back. You'll die too.

CHULAK sinks to the ground.

CHULAK:
She's dead.

HAMLET puts a friendly trunk around CHULAK.

HAMLET:
We came as fast as we could.

CHULAK:
I've killed my friend. What a horrible death. What have I done?

HAMLET:
You couldn't have known...

CHULAK:
It's my fault! It's me that's done this... Lila! I'm so sorry!

HAMLET:
Come away. She wouldn't want you to perish too.

Slowly, LILA rises from the burning crevice. She's unhurt and appears to be bathing in the flames.

CHULAK:
Lila?

LILA looks at them and smiles. There's an explosion. The fire goes out. LILA steps out.

CHULAK:
Are you all right?

LILA's stunned.

LILA:
I'm fine, I think.

CHULAK:
We thought you'd been killed.

LILA:
Where's Razvani?

CHULAK:
Who?

LILA:
The Fire-Fiend? He was here.

HAMLET:
We didn't see anyone.

LILA:
But... He's got my Royal Sulphur. Razvani! I walked into the flames! Give me my Royal Sulphur!

CHULAK nudges HAMLET.

CHULAK:
Tell her.

LILA:
You've cheated me!

HAMLET:
Lila, we've brought bad news. We've had a message from the city...

CHULAK:
Lalchand was seen helping Hamlet escape.

HAMLET:
The King's placed him under arrest.

CHULAK:
He's going to be executed.

CHULAK and LILA are lying on the floor in the King's palace with HAMLET behind them. The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD has his foot on CHULAK's neck.

LILA:
Will the King be long?

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Why? Is he keeping you waiting? Have you got another appointment?

LILA:
No...

CHULAK:
It's just the old... Argh. Foot on the neck thing. Beginning to hurt.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Good.

LILA:
We've come on a long and dangerous journey at great speed.

CHULAK:
By elephant. Not a comfortable way to travel. Sorry Hamlet. Couldn't we have some water? Or some food even?

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Shut up, boy! I hope the King's in an imaginative mood when it comes to punishing you. I'll look forward to that.

Trumpets announce the KING's imminent arrival.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Silence for the King!

The KING enters. LILA can't contain herself.

LILA:
Have you killed my father?

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Speak to the King only when he speaks to you!

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD cracks a whip by LILA's head.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Faces to the ground! Especially you, boy.

CHULAK:
Lower than this? Ahh...

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD applies more pressure to CHULAK's neck.

KING:
Your father will die tomorrow morning. There is only one penalty for what he has done.

LILA:
Please spare him! It was my fault! I ran away without telling him...

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
The King has spoken.

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD cracks the whip again.

KING:
Who's that?

CHULAK:
Chulak, your Majesty... Ahhh!

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD applies pressure.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
He's the Royal White Elephant's Special and Particular Groom, your Majesty.

KING:
Let him speak.

CHULAK:
Can I look up? It's not easy to talk with a foot on your neck.

The KING waves a hand. CHULAK climbs to his feet.

CHULAK:
Your Majesty, as soon as I found out he'd escaped I swam across the river and I climbed mountains and fought my way through the jungle and, ow...

HAMLET whacks CHULAK out of the way with his trunk.

CHULAK:
Stop that Hamlet...

Suddenly, HAMLET rushes forward, picks the SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD up and throws him out of the window.

HAMLET:
Your Majesty, could I possibly have a private word?

The KING is astonished.

KING:
It's talking!

HAMLET:
I appreciate it might be a shock, but not many people know. For a talking elephant I'm far from loquacious.

KING:
And it's using big words!

The KING recovers his composure. HAMLET bows low.

HAMLET:
Your Majesty... Forgive me. I humbly request a private audience.

KING:
The White Elephant is a rare and wondrous beast. The request is granted...

The KING and HAMLET have a private talk. LILA climbs to her feet.

LILA:
The King will never spare my father.

CHULAK:
Hamlet's working on something...

LILA:
He's an elephant! Why would the King listen to him?

CHULAK:
He's a very persuasive elephant.

The battered SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD comes back in.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Where's the beast?

CHULAK:
He's chatting to the King.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
I've had as much insolence as I'm going to take off you boy.

CHULAK:
No really, he is. And the King's talking back too.

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD tries to draw his sword but it's too bent to leave the scabbard. The KING and HAMLET return from their conference. HAMLET's looking very stern.

SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD:
Your majesty. This boy has defamed you. He says you've been talking to the elephant.

KING:
(
Instantly angry
.) On your knees!

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD falls to his knees.

KING:
I decide who gets punished. Fetch the Special and Particular Royal Town Crier. I have a proclamation to make.

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD starts to crawl out of the room.

KING:
Quickly!

The SPECIAL AND PARTICULAR BODYGUARD jumps out of the window to please the KING.

KING:
After careful consideration, I've made a wise and just decision. Firstly, elephants, do not talk.

LILA and CHULAK look to HAMLET. He stares ahead.

KING:
(
To CHULAK
.) For allowing the White Elephant to escape, you are dismissed.

CHULAK sinks.

KING:
Next week, is the New Year Festival firework competition. I have invited the greatest artists in fireworks from all over the world to show their displays. This year there will be a new entrant - you. The prize will go to the artist whose display receives the longest applause. That is all the other competitors will know. You will know something more. If your display wins, Lalchand will go free. Lose... and Lalchand dies!

A fuse burns across the floor of the workshop. It reaches a large firework. There's a tiny bang.

CHULAK:
Very disappointing. Come on, Lila, you've got to do better than that.

LILA:
I wasn't testing the firework. I was testing the fuse.

CHULAK:
(
Covering ignorance
.) Ah, I knew that actually... Did it work?

LILA:
No. I need new fuses. Fuses that burn at different speeds so I can set off fireworks in stages. I think I can do it. In the jungle, creepers twisted round trees. Something like that might work...

CHULAK:
(
Bemused
.) Yeah, it might... Nice.

LILA:
I need new fireworks too. Things people have never seen before. More spectacle, louder explosions, brighter colours, higher rockets.

CHULAK:
Sounds good. You seem to have everything in hand. I'm very impressed.

LILA sinks, depressed.

CHULAK:
What's the matter?

LILA:
I've no idea what I'm doing.

CHULAK:
You've gone to a lot of trouble if you don't know what you're doing. Why did you climb Mount Merapi?

LILA:
To be a Firework-Maker.

CHULAK:
You're making fireworks.

LILA:
There's too much to learn.

CHULAK:
Well you'd better learn quickly. For Lalchand's sake.

LILA:
I'm up against the greatest Firework-Makers in the world, in a competition that my father, who has thirty
years of experience and taught me everything I know, has never won. If I don't win, he dies. I'm allowed to panic.

CHULAK:
When you put it like that.

LILA turns over the cart of fireworks, scattering them across the stage.

CHULAK:
Don't do that!

CHULAK hurries to pick up the fireworks.

LILA:
I don't stand a chance.

CHULAK:
You'll have the best... fuses.

LILA:
I need my Royal Sulphur! If I had that...

CHULAK:
You don't need it, I'll help you.

LILA:
You? What every Firework-Maker needs - an unemployed elephant keeper.

CHULAK:
I'm trying... I could make some of the simpler fireworks?

LILA:
How do you make a Java light? That's simple.

CHULAK:
I'm quick. You tell me what to do, I'll do it.

LILA:
Teaching you will hold me up. You're completely useless.

CHULAK:
Useless...

LILA:
Leave me alone.

CHULAK:
I could help. I could cook. Stay up late, keep you company. Tell you how well you're doing, but I'm useless... I'll go...

CHULAK leaves, hurt. LILA follows.

LILA:
(
Calling
.) Chulak? Sorry. Come back... What's the use? My father is as good as dead.

High above the stage, LALCHAND lies in a suspended cage. CHULAK sneaks into a courtyard and checks no one is around. He whistles. HAMLET follows wearing the tarpaulin with the eyeholes cut out.

CHULAK:
Why aren't you speaking to me? I've got the right elephant, haven't I? You are Hamlet.

HAMLET nods.

CHULAK:
I've gone to a lot of trouble to get you here. You could be a bit pleased to see me?

HAMLET turns away, clearly not playing.

CHULAK:
Have I done something to offend you?

HAMLET shakes his head.

CHULAK:
Is it something to do with the King?

HAMLET nods vigorously.

CHULAK:
Can you write it down?

HAMLET:
You want me to write as well? I'm already very gifted for an elephant, you know?

CHULAK:
I knew I could make you speak.

HAMLET:
It's nothing to do with you. The King agreed to give Lalchand another chance in exchange for my silence.

CHULAK:
So why are you speaking?

HAMLET:
I'm in disguise.

CHULAK:
Good point. Let's get into position.

CHULAK leaps onto HAMLET's shoulders and stretches to LALCHAND's cage. He can't reach.

CHULAK:
Higher Hamlet.

HAMLET:
This is as high as I go. Unless I stand on a ball like a circus freak?

CHULAK:
Shush... Did you hear that?

HAMLET:
What?

Four pairs of eyes are surrounding them.

CHULAK:
Hello?

HUNGRY PIRATE:
(
Singing barber shop style
.) Hello...

CHANG:
(
Singing barber shop style
.) Hello...

LITTLE PIRATE:
(
Singing barber shop style
.) Hello.

RAMBASHI leaps out of the dark.

RAMBASHI:
Chulak! My dear boy!

(
Sings
.)

Hello...

CHULAK:
Uncle Rambashi? What are you doing here?

RAMBASHI:
We've come to the city to make our fortune.

CHULAK:
Why were you singing?

RAMBASHI:
My new idea. It came to me in a flash. We're entertainers. What do you think? A million rupee idea for sure?

CHULAK:
Do you only do singing?

RAMBASHI:
Only singing? Didn't you hear? We're entertainers! We do everything.

CHULAK:
Do you do tumbling?

RAMBASHI:
Tumbling?

CHULAK:
You know, acrobatics?

RAMBASHI:
Acrobatics? Yes, yes, yes! My brave lads will do anything for their audience.

The brave lads don't look too sure.

CHANG:
Acrobatics? We don't do that, do we? Sounds dangerous?

LITTLE PIRATE:
I thought we were singers?

HUNGRY PIRATE:
I don't care as long as there's a hot juicy bite at the end. Or even a cold dry bite.

CHULAK takes RAMBASHI to one side.

CHULAK:
Uncle? Do you think you could do me an acrobatic favour?

RAMBASHI:
An acrobatic favour? You're sure you don't want a singing favour?

CHULAK:
I need to get up there.

CHULAK points to LALCHAND's cage. RAMBASHI hardly hesitates at all.

RAMBASHI:
Boys! Form a pointed thingy!

LITTLE PIRATE:
A what?

RAMBASHI:
Step to it!

CHANG:
Step to what?

RAMBASHI:
Three at the bottom, two on top. That's right. Come on. Use this excellent disguised elephant as a base.

HAMLET, RAMBASHI and the boys form a very dodgy and unstable pyramid.

RAMBASHI:
Hold still boys! That's it!

CHULAK tries to climb to the summit but the pyramid keeps moving. When he makes it to the top, the pyramid becomes particularly unstable. CHULAK is now high enough to reach LALCHAND's cage but the pyramid keeps moving.

CHULAK:
Hold it steady! Forward a little... Nearly there.

The pyramid suddenly flies forward. CHULAK grabs the cage and is left swinging in mid-air from the bars as HAMLET and the boys crash noisily off stage.

CHULAK:
Esteemed-father-of-wayward-friend?

LALCHAND wakes.