The Seal Book Once again the keeper of the book has opened the ponderous door to the secret vault, wherein is kept the great sealed book, which records all the secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages. Here are tales of every kind, tales of murder, of madness, of dark deeds, strange and terrible beyond all belief. Keeper of the book, I would know what tale we tell this time. Open the great book and let us read. Slowly the great book opens. One by one the keeper of the book turns the pages and stops. Ah, the strange story of a woman who was born with the soul of a cat, a tale titled Queen of the Cats. The story of a woman who was born with the soul of a cat, a tale titled Queen of the Cats. Here is the tale, Queen of the Cats, as it is written in the pages of the sealed book. It is early evening and at a large old fashioned living room filled with gloomy shadows. Young Chris Arnold, his face haggard, sits glowering at his fiance, Jane Elliot, and the serious face doctor whom she has brought to see him. Chris's hand trembles as he tries to light a cigarette while he speaks. I'm sorry Jane made you come all the way out here to see me, Dr. Smith. There's nothing wrong with me. Nothing, I tell you. Oh, Chris, there is. I know it. Yes, Chris, Jane's right. I've known you all my life and I can see at a glance there's something wrong. Now why not tell me and let me see whether I can help you or not. I... All right, I'll tell you. I've got to tell someone. Jane knows part of the story already. She was in it. But I'll tell it to you from the very beginning, which was two years ago at a party to which Jane and I were invited. Oh, Chris, isn't this a wonderful party? The only thing wonderful about it is you. Chris, don't. People are watching. Oh, fine thing when a man can't kiss his best girl in public. What's this generation coming to? At Miss Tindall's school we were taught a young lady never kisses a man in public. Miss Tindall is setting romance back fifty years. Who are you looking for, anyway? Ronna Farouk, my roommate at Miss Tindall's. Oh, she's the Egyptian girl you were telling me about. Yes, I want you to meet her. Only you'd better not fall in love with her as every other man does. Hmm. Sounds as though she's a second Cleopatra. Men don't seem to be able to resist her. Really? I'm curious to see this siren of the Nile. There she is, Chris. Come on. So that... that's Ronna. No wonder men can't resist her. Hello, Jane. I've missed you. Ronna, this is Chris Arnold. Chris, this is Ronna Farouk. Hello, Chris. Hello, Ronna. Oh, look, there's Miss Tindall waving to me. Excuse me, won't you? Of course, Jane. I'll be back in a minute. You know, Chris, at Miss Tindall's, the first thing I'd see in the morning when I got up and the last thing before I went to bed was your picture. And I always knew that someday we would meet. Now we have. Why are you staring at me like that? Aren't you going to say anything? I'd prefer just to look. Even now, Doctor, two years after our first meeting, I find it difficult to describe how beautiful Ronna was. I was her slave from the moment I saw her. The month after we'd met, we were married. I see. Please go on, Chris. After Ronna and I were married, we took an apartment in town. In the months that followed, I began to see Ronna not as the image I'd been infatuated with, but as she really was. Vain, selfish, and possessive. There was a possessiveness verging on madness. She couldn't bear to have me out of her sight. And when I was, upon my return, there'd be questions, countless questions. I began to dread seeing her. And then, then there were the cats. The cats? Yes. The apartment was always full of cats. She'd sit for hours stroking them, whispering to them, until I felt like going mad. And that was when I got the strange idea that Ronna wasn't really human at all, but a great cat herself, wearing human form. She and the cat seemed to talk together as if they understood each other perfectly. Life became a nightmare for me. Nightmare full of cats and Ronna asking questions, endless questions. One day I realized I couldn't go on living with her any longer, that our marriage had been a mistake. I decided to tell her about it that very evening, without waiting any longer. May I come in, Ronna? Of course, dear. Ronna, there's something important I want to talk to you about. Please, Chris, there's so little time just now. We can talk after the party. But Ronna, this is important. I think that... Darling, whatever you have to say can wait. Now, please hurry. But... Please. Well, all right. We'll discuss what I have to say later. Chris, when I called you at the office this afternoon, why didn't you tell me that you'd had lunch with Mary Walker? How did you know I had lunch with her? Oh, a friend told me. A friend? Who was it? What is it, my beauty? What are you trying to tell me? Ronna, put that cat down and answer me. Who was the friend that told you I had lunch with Mary Walker? Someone you've never met, darling. How is it you always know what I've been doing? Whom I've been seeing? This is as though you have people spying on me. Chris, what a thing to say. Now, please hurry or we'll be late. There's something strange about the way you always know what I've been doing. Sometimes I suspect you... Chris, look out! You stepped on Sabina's tail! If there weren't so many cats underfoot, I wouldn't have stepped on it. Why must you keep five cats around? Because I love cats. They're beautiful, sacred. Thousands of years ago, my ancestors worshipped cats and the great cat goddess Sakonet. On the River Nile, close by the ancient city of Hamadi where I was born, are the graves of a hundred thousand sacred cats who have been mummified and buried with reverence. Rana, I can't go on like this anymore. Why, darling, what do you mean? Our marriage was a mistake. I want a divorce. Chris, you can't be serious. But I am. No, Chris. I love you and I won't give you up. You're mine, darling. You always will be. Nothing shall ever separate us. Would you care for a cocktail, sir? No, thank you. Well, even if you won't have one, Mr. Arnold, I will. Jane! Jane, it's good to see you again. Can't we go someplace and talk? What about the terrace? All right, Chris. You hear, this door opens onto it. This is much better. It's been quite some time since we've seen each other, hasn't it? Yes, the last time we saw each other was the night that... The night that I met Rana. Yes. How is Rana, Chris? Oh, she's fine. We... Jane, I've made such a mess out of everything. I was a fool to have married her. Please, Chris, you mustn't talk like that. I was a fool, Jane, mistaking infatuation for love. Can you ever forgive me for the way I behaved towards you? There's nothing to forgive, Chris. Oh, Jane. This is a surprise. Rana. Hello, Rana. Really, Jane, the way you've avoided calling on us, I half suspect you're still in love with Chris. Rana, you have no right to talk to her like that. Please, Chris, I'm afraid I'll have to be leaving. I'm quite late. Good night. Good night, Jane. I hope I didn't interrupt anything by coming out here so unexpectedly, Chris. Yes, Rana, you did. I was about to tell Jane that I love her and that I always will. Rana, you've got to give me a divorce. I'll never give you a divorce, never, do you hear? You're mine and you always will be. If I can't have you, no one else will. And now my story continues as it is written here in the pages of the sealed book. There is horror on Chris Arnold's features as he tells the doctor of his efforts to get his wife to the hospital and to the hospital. And I'm sure you'll find it in the book. I'm sure you'll find it in the book. I'm sure you'll find it in the book. I'm sure you'll find it in the book. I'm sure you'll find it in the book. I'm sure you'll find it in the book. Yes, as he tells the doctor of his efforts to get his wife, Rana, to divorce him and of her refusal to let him go. I can still see her, Doctor. She stood there glaring at me. She looked like a cat, a great angry cat. Her green eyes were cold and murderous, her long nails dug into my arm and her body was tense. And she turned and stalked away. Hmm. What happened after that night, Chris? I ceased speaking to Ronna. We lived in the same apartment, but that was all. Ronna waited for me to come around with all the patience of a cat playing with a mouse. But when a month had passed and I still refused to talk to her, she made an attempt to win me back. It happened one night as we were driving to this house. Why are you slowing down, Ronna? I want to talk to you, Chris, and I can't talk to you while I'm driving. There's no point in your stopping. We have nothing to say to each other. But we do, darling. Chris. We could be so happy together if you wanted to. You know how much I love you. I'd do anything to make you happy. Anything. Anything? Then you can give me a divorce. Chris, you haven't any right to treat me like this. I'm your wife. Only in the eyes of the law. Not in my eyes. I hate you. I hate you! Oh, you cat! You almost took my eyes out with those claws of yours. I will scratch your eyes out before I let any other woman have you. Your mind and yours will be. Perhaps this will bring you to your senses. Slide over. I'll drive. Very well, Chris. You think you've beaten me, Chris. But you haven't. In the end, you'll come crawling to me. It may take a year, two years, five years. But I can wait. You have everything planned perfectly, Rana. Don't you? But I have one way of escape from you that you never thought of. Really? And what way is that? I can escape through you. I can escape through you. I can escape through you. I can escape through you. I can escape through you. Yes, Rana. If I should fail to take the curve a hundred yards ahead, we'd plunge off the side of this mountain. Chris, you wouldn't. Why not, Rana? You've showed me there's nothing to live for. This at least is a clean way out. Chris, don't! No! No! When I drove the car over the side of the mountain, Doctor, I thought Rana and I were going to our deaths. But fate decreed otherwise. When I recovered consciousness 48 hours later in a hospital, I learned it was only Rana who had died. I only had a few bones broken. I was out of the hospital in a month. It was just a week later that I ran into Jane. Jane! Chris, it's you. Jane, you always seem to pop up just when I need you most. These past weeks must have been so difficult for you. I don't want to look back at the past, Jane, but only to the future. The future I once hoped we'd share, and still do. Two months ago, Doctor, Jane and I became engaged. It was just about that time that I first began to notice that everywhere I went, there always seemed to be a cat following me. Are you sure you weren't imagining it, Chris? At first I thought it was my imagination, but a week after Jane and I became engaged, I was certain I was being followed. Tell me, Chris, was it always the same cat that followed you? No, no. One day it would be one cat, and another day a different one. Then one night I saw her. It happened in this very room six weeks ago. I had great difficulty in falling asleep that night. Suddenly the silence was broken by the faint crying of a cat. The crying grew louder and louder. I lay in the darkness listening, realizing that the cat crying was real, living, and in my room. I could feel my heart pounding as I sat up in bed and looked about my darkened room. And suddenly I saw her. Two burning green eyes in the darkness. There was no mistaking those eyes. They were Rana's. I stared into those eyes for what seemed like hours. Then as though listening to a stranger's voice, I heard myself speak. Rana! It is you, Rana, isn't it? Yes, I recognize those green eyes anywhere. So you've come back in the form I've always thought of you as. A cat. I know why you've come back. Because of Jane. You always said that if you couldn't have me, no one else would. That I was yours and always would be. Well, you're wrong, dear, here. Jane and I are going to be married. You came between us once, but you aren't going to this time. I will marry her, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. You fiend! Try to scratch my eyes out, would you? Well, we'll see about that. That's how I'll show you. Nothing you can do will stop me from marrying her. I know that the cats that were following me and spying on me were doing so under your orders. You... you are the queen of the cats. Yes, I should have known. No wonder you always knew where I'd been, who I'd seen. You had cats spying on me even then. Well, even if you are the queen of the cats, you can't stop me from marrying Jane. Perhaps a bullet between those green eyes of yours is what's needed. And now to continue the story as it is written in the sealed book. His voice shaking, Chris Arnold is telling how he shot at the great black cat, which came to him in the night and missed. I emptied the gun out of Dr. Atrana in her true form of a great cat. And I turned on the light. There was no sign of her. She had vanished. All that I found were six bullet holes in the wall opposite my bed. Chris, isn't it possible that you only dreamed all that, that actually you fired the gun in your sleep and the shots themselves waken you? I tried to tell myself that. But during the nights that followed, I knew it hadn't been a dream. But night after night, the great black cat appeared in my house. I'd lie awake, waiting to hear a voice. And when she'd appear, I'd plead with her to leave me alone, but she'd only stare at me with those burning green eyes, waiting, waiting. I knew she'd never leave me alone as long as I intended to marry Jane. Finally, I went to see Jane. Chris, this is a surprise. Come in, darling. Thank you. Jane, there's something I want to ask you. Yes, Chris. Of course. What is it? I know we set our wedding for next week, but couldn't we put it off for a while? Just a little while. Darling, what is it? There's something wrong. I know there is. Please tell me. I wish I could, but I can't. Please, Jane, just have faith in me. You know I wouldn't postpone our marriage if I could possibly help it. All right, Chris. I... I do have faith in you. We'll consider our marriage postponed for the time being. The night I put off my marriage to Jane, Doctor, was the first night that Ronna didn't appear, and the first night in a week that I was able to sleep. You think, Chris, that she didn't appear again because you had postponed your marriage to Jane? I know it. Weeks went by, weeks in which I was able to sleep soundly without being awakened by her. I came to thank you for that. I'm glad you're happy. I'm glad you're happy. Weeks in which I was able to sleep soundly without being awakened by her. I came to thank that perhaps it had all been part of a horrible nightmare and that I was over it at last. A week ago, I asked Jane to set the date for our wedding. She did so. That same day, we took out our marriage license. But that night, Ronna appeared again, her eyes shining in the dark, cold and murderous. And I've seen her every night since. I tell myself that I mustn't be afraid, but I keep hearing her voice over and over. If I can't have you, no one else will. You're mine and you always will be. Chris, darling, I wish I'd known all this before. You feel, Chris, that somehow she'll prevent you from marrying Jane? You know I sound mad, but I do. I have a feeling something horrible will happen if I attempt to marry her. Do you still have the marriage license? Yes, why do you ask? Chris, you've reached a crisis in your life. You're faced with fears that are threatening to overwhelm your sanity. Now, the best way for you to challenge your fears is to go through with your marriage to Jane now, tonight. Tonight? Yes. It's quite late, but I'm sure a friend of mine who's a judge will marry you. All right, Doctor. Jane, will you marry me tonight? Oh, yes, Chris. Yes. Sorry to get you up in the middle of the night, Judge, but for reasons I can't explain, it's important that these two be married tonight. That's quite all right, Doc. I was glad to oblige a friend. Have you got the license and ring, young man? Yes, sir. Here's the license and here's the ring. Thank you. I'm glad you're here, Doctor. I'm glad you're here, too. I'm glad you're here, too. I'm glad you're here, too. I'm glad you're here, too. Here's the license and here's the ring. Good. Now, young man, if you'll take her right hand, that's it. Now, shall I give the long sermon or the short one? The short one, please. Just as you say, young lady. This is the shortest one I've got. Do you, Jane Elliot, take this man to be your lawful wedded husband and love, honor and obey as long as you both shall live? I do. Do you, Christopher Arnold, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife and love, honor and obey as long as you both shall live? I... It's she. It's Ronna. Oh, Chris, please. It's only a black cat. You mustn't pay any attention to it. Of course not. Now, now... It's Ronna, I tell you. Look at her eyes. I told you she'd try to prevent my marrying Jane. Well, I'll get rid of her for once and for all. Chris, what are you doing with that gun? Put it down. Oh, she got away. Well, wherever she's gone, I'll find her. Chris, Chris, come back. Oh, Dr. Weck, I mean, B. Oh, Jane, he can't be far off. We'll find him. Listen. Doctor, that must be Chris firing that gun. Come on. Those shots came from close by. Oh, hurry. Hurry. You'd better take it easy now, Doc. It's pretty dark out here. Wait a moment. I'll light my lighter. Doc, look. A dead cat. Yes. It was shot through the head. Look, there's another one that's been shot to death. Neither one of them is the black cat. Say, Doc, isn't... isn't anybody over there? Chris. Jane, you stay with the judge while I look. All right, Doctor. There, there, listen. You mustn't cry. But this would never have happened if I hadn't agreed to marry him. He was afraid, so afraid. Doc, is it Arnold? Yes, it is. He's dead, isn't he? I can see it in your face. Yes, Jane, he's dead. But Doc, how could such a thing have happened to him in such a short time? He's been clawed to bits, as if by the claws of hundreds of cats. And most horrible of all, his eyes have been scratched out. Two days later, at Chris Arnold's funeral, a great black cat appeared as if from nowhere, sitting close by the edge of the grave and licking its paws as it watched the coffin lowered into the earth. When they tried to catch it, it leaped away and seemed to vanish and was never seen again. Was it truly Ronna, Chris's wife, reborn in the shape of the cat she had been at heart? The answer is not written here. The tale has been told, just as it is recorded in the sealed book. And now, keeper of the book, before you close the great volume, show us the tale we tell next time. This one, yes, an amazing tale. It's the story of a brother and sister who found a cat in the grave. And who remedied that unfortunate situation by a clever scheme, a scheme which proved to be just a little too clever. It's a tale titled Death Rings Down the Curtain. Be sure to be with us again next time. When the sound of the great gong heralds another strange and exciting tale from the sealed book. The sealed book, written by Bob Arthur and David Cogan, is produced and directed by Jock McGregor.
