Elgin's Enigma ✔

Part 6

EXT. "CURIO SHOP" RUN DOWN STORE-DAY

MIN, BELINDA and LUCY walk in silence as they hold the letter. Min looks at the river before turning their head to see an old building. The sign is broken as all the vowels have disappeared. It says, "C R SH P". Min is carrying a cage with a crow inside and it squawks noisily. Lucy glances at the animal every so often, uncomfortable with the animal. Belinda skips alongside the two and hums to herself.

LUCY: I've never been here before.

MIN: I've been here once. The place looked abandoned and I never bothered to check.

LUCY: You did a lot of exploring in Elgin?

MIN: Yeah, but I eventually got bored. I never fully investigated everything.

LUCY: Oh.

BELINDA: What's the bird for?

MIN: It's a message crow.

BELINDA: Is it happy?

MIN: What do you think?

BELINDA: Will it attack us?

MIN: It won't if you aren't annoying.

BELINDA: How come there isn't other people coming?

MIN: They have work and chores too. We aren't living freely here.

BELINDA: Why don't they skip?

MIN: Because they have lives.

BELINDA: How come you're here then?

MIN: Why are you here?

LUCY (awkwardly interrupts): We were sent to buy ingredients. The people who took us in knew we might take all day to buy the things.

MIN: Ah. Their way of letting you get used to the city.

BELINDA: I'm going to be here for every second of this mystery! I don't want to miss a thing.

MIN: We'll see about that.

LUCY: You really think this is the place though?

MIN: The river is there. I don't know what "ancient powers" is but there's almost nothing over on this side of the bridge. My best bet is that building.

BELINDA: The sign looks like letters that would spell Curio Shop too.

MIN: You're right.

LUCY: Only one way to find out.

CUT TO:

INT. "CURIO SHOP" RUN DOWN STORE-DAY

MIN, BELINDA and LUCY walk into the small shop. There is a shelf of orbs, metal boxes and collars with bells. The rest of the store is filled with tattered, old furniture and other gothic style décor. The floors creak with each step the group takes and a layer of dust can be seen on the items. The room is poorly lit and the shadows of the room seem to take up the same amount of space as the items. JORDANIA is already there talking nonchalantly with the old SHOP KEEPER. The crow has quieted down at this point leaving the others to glance at it in nervousness.

JORDANIA: So have you got any maps?

SHOP KEEPER: Maps? Been a long time since we sold a map. Usually, people follow them and end up here. That's what it means to be curious, right? (Chuckles) But I'm afraid we don't have any we could sell.