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[0:00] Jonathan Cook: Alright, welcome back to Gathered by the Ghost Lights. I'm Jonathan Cook, your host, producer, and sometimes voice actor on this thing.

[0:14] Marion Thibodeau: And I'm Marion Thibodeau, Devin McSherry's doppelganger.

[0:19] Jonathan Cook: Whoa, that's crazy. Look at that. Alright, now before we begin with today's story, if you follow us on social media, you may have seen the news about our upcoming audio drama series called Romeo and Her Sister. It's a historical drama based on the life of Charlotte Cushman and written by Gillian Blevins. And that is set to release in January.

[0:40] Marion Thibodeau: That's right, and it has an all-star cast with Anna D'Amitio, Charlotte McBurney, Debra Wilde, Keziah Burrows, among others. And if you would like to be a part of that production or give us some support, we do have a Kickstarter campaign currently going where you can get some cool perks and you can also become a co-producer of that series.

[1:00] Jonathan Cook: Yes, and that campaign is set to end December 17th, so go check it out when you have a chance. You can find the link to that in our show notes. Alright, and now we have a story for you. Today's audio play is called Full Circle. It was written by L.D. Potter. It's a stormy night in 1909 and William Hamish, a wealthy older gentleman, is about to receive an unexpected visit from a young man determined to win the hand of Hamish's granddaughter. What begins as a tense conversation over whiskey turns into a dark confessional as Hamish recounts the astonishing monstrous path that elevated him from being a beaten stable boy to the man of wealth and power that he is today. Now, gather round the ghost light, sit back and enjoy. This is Full Circle.

[1:42] William Hamish: Samuel! Samuel, is that you? I thought you took the night off to go into town to have dinner with your daughter's family.

[1:57] William Hamish: Oh, the hell? The floor is all wet. Ah, the roof must be leaking. No need to knock the doors open!

[2:07] William Hamish: Well, Mr. Radcliffe, I had a feeling you'd be showing up again. Don't like taking no for an answer, I see. Care for a drink? Twenty-year-old bottle of overhauled rye. Just the thing to warm you up after your long, cold trek.

[2:31] Radcliffe: Ew, you must really hate me to come all this way on a night like this.

[2:47] William Hamish: My granddaughter really mean that much to you?

[2:56] Radcliffe: You know she does. Not that it matters. The answer's still no.

[3:02] William Hamish: You always have a second glass set out with your evening whiskey? Never know when someone might stop by to talk business. Or to threaten your life.

[3:11] Radcliffe: No friends?

[3:22] William Hamish: Never saw the need. You know, you may find this hard to believe, but I do sympathize with your situation. I too was once a young man in love with a woman above station. Care to hear about it?

[3:29] Radcliffe: If it'll ease your conscience.

[3:39] William Hamish: My dear boy, I haven't had to deal with one of those in a long time. I just thought it would be beneficial for you to hear from someone who had dealt with the same dilemma you're currently facing.

[3:45] Radcliffe: Most gracious of you. By all means, proceed.

[3:52] William Hamish: Her name was Natasha. She was the daughter of my employer, Cedric Ulrich. A real bastard of a man. Enjoyed whipping men and beasts alike. Now Natasha, on the other hand, to compare her to an angel would not have done her justice. First laid my eyes on her in 1839. Every day for five years I watched as she came down to the stables for her morning rides. I had never wanted anything more in my life. I knew if I ever hoped to win her hand, I needed to improve my situation. Not an easy thing for an uneducated stable boy to do. Undeterred, I set out to make my fortune.

[4:44] William Hamish: But alas, every new venture I attempted, be it honest or otherwise, failed miserably. Five years, breaking my back, and I was just as poor as when I started. I'm sure you can well understand the frustration of wanting something with every single fiber of your being, and constantly coming up short in the pursuit of it. Eventually something snaps, and a horrible day arrives when you realize it was not meant to be.

[5:18] Radcliffe: I see by the look in your eyes you have had such a day. So what did you do? Give up on her, just as you would have me do?

[5:26] William Hamish: Oh, if you would give up, that would make this all so much simpler. But that's not going to happen, is it?

[5:34] Radcliffe: That's what I thought. Would you care to hear the rest of the story, or shall we proceed on to business?

[5:48] William Hamish: Our business can wait for a while. Please, continue.

[5:53] William Hamish: As you wish. Like you, I am not a man who gives up easily. But at that moment in time, I was a broken man. A deep depression had set in, and I saw no way out. I took what little money I had managed to save and treated myself to a fine meal, and a room at the most extravagant hotel in town. Around midnight, I pulled out the revolver I had purchased earlier that morning at a pawn shop, and loaded it with one brand new shiny bullet. I was just about to pull the trigger when there came a knock on my door.

[6:27] William Hamish: Go away. I don't need an audience. I feared if I waited much longer, I would lose my nerve. So I re-cocked the gun.

[6:43] Apothecary: Put down the gun, Mr. Hamish, and invite me in.

[6:52] William Hamish: Being in the less than stable frame of mind, I thought I had just imagined the voice, a sort of subconscious self-defense against what I was attempting. I put the gun back to my head, preparing to put an end to it.

[7:06] Apothecary: Do as I say, and I can give you Natasha.

[7:14] William Hamish: I froze. Was the voice real? Could it be trusted if it was? Could it truly give me what I so desperately wanted? I needed to know. I set the gun down, and opened the door. There, standing before me, was a most average looking man. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this fellow in the black suit. Short, gray-haired, and wearing spectacles, he was hardly the person I had envisioned to be the owner of that dark, cold voice. But then I looked into his eyes. Black they were, not a speck of white to be seen. My blood ran cold.

[8:01] Apothecary: Invite me in.

[8:10] William Hamish: I had the briefest instance of hesitation, but the promise of Natasha was too great a temptation to ignore. I told him he may enter.

[8:19] Apothecary: I'll come straight to the point, Mr. Hamish, so as not to waste your time. I am the Apothecary. For a modest fee, I promise you a prescription that will guarantee Natasha's hand in marriage, and anything else your greedy little heart can conjure up.

[8:31] William Hamish: And what was the price for such a great treasure?

[8:42] Apothecary: High. Some might say too high, and too terrible. But what did I care? If he could really give me Natasha, I would gladly pay whatever he asked. If you find these terms acceptable, I promise a delivery of the prescription in the morning.

[8:49] William Hamish: Okay. Feeling I had nothing left to lose, I shook his hand, and the bargain was struck. As our hands touched, a most searing pain raced down my arm. It was so intense I blacked out.

[9:03] William Hamish: I awoke the next morning feeling quite refreshed. I was a little surprised to see a sizable gash on the palm of my right hand, but the wound didn't hurt. As I climbed out of bed, I noticed there was a piece of parchment laying on the table.

[9:29] William Hamish: I unrolled the parchment to see what I had gotten myself into. There, laid out in great detail, my pathway to Natasha. Step one, move to California and dig.

[9:40] William Hamish: For two weeks in the sweltering heat, I dug where the prescription had led me. For two weeks, I found nothing but dirt and tree roots. In utter frustration, I jammed my spade into the ground and sat down cursing the day I had invited the Apothecary into my room.

[10:06] William Hamish: It was then I noticed something by the spade glittering. It was a solid gold nugget. Turned out there was a vein of gold that ran throughout the surrounding area. I had hit the motherlode, and unlike those fools who discovered gold four years later at Sutter's Mill, the parchment advised me to keep the discovery to myself, thus avoiding any unnecessary competition.

[10:34] William Hamish: Three years I toiled away in the heat and the dust to extract every last ounce of it. Picture, if you can, me as a young man in my 20s, far from home, and a small fortune in my pocket for the first time ever. Naturally, I picked up a few bad habits. Drinking, gambling, ladies of the evening.

[11:00] William Hamish: Well, good evening, Mr. Hamish. You look like you need to relax a little bit.

[11:08] William Hamish: In the course of three years, I had developed quite an appetite for the various deadly sins. Nearly forgot about poor Natasha. Until one night, upon returning home from a very classy brothel, I noticed the parchment laying open upon my dining room table.

[11:31] William Hamish: It was like a light suddenly illuminated a dormant part of my brain. Natasha. How could I have forgotten about Natasha? She was the reason I was out there toiling away in California wilderness. With blurry, bloodshot eyes, I read the next part.

[11:50] William Hamish: Step two. Go to New York and invest.

[11:55] William Hamish: Once again, there were detailed instructions concerning which stocks and businesses I should support, which tycoons I should befriend, and which politicians I should buy. Not wanting to waste another moment, I boarded the early morning train to New York.

[12:16] William Hamish: Gentlemen, if I may have your attention, please. I would like to propose a toast to our newest member of the Knickerbocker Club, a man who in just two short years has become the king of Wall Street.

[12:32] William Hamish: Everything he touches turns to gold. Gentlemen, I give you William Hamish.

[12:43] William Hamish: I had built a small empire. Every single investment listed in the prescription paid off tenfold. During those profitable years, I had fully intended to be faithful to my Natasha by abstaining from conduct unbecoming of a gentleman.

[13:02] William Hamish: But it wasn't long before my bad habits resurfaced. Once again, I became lost in the pleasures that gambling dens and houses of ill repute offered.

[13:14] William Hamish: Why, if it isn't Mr. William Hamish. So good to see you again.

[13:19] William Hamish: Luckily, my investments were paying off at a much higher rate than the ladies were charging, or I would have bankrupted myself in no time.

[13:29] William Hamish: For two years, I lived a lifestyle I never would have deemed.

[13:33] Valentin Angel Fernandez: Captains of industry asking me, ME, for financial advice. A far cry from a no-name stable boy, shoveling shit. Wine, women, and song, I had it all. Almost. There was still one thing missing, and the time had finally come to claim it. One morning, I came down for breakfast, and noticed the parchment, and an envelope addressed to me, lying next to my morning coffee. I couldn't believe it. Once again, I had newly forgotten her. Not that it mattered, it had been ten years since I had left, she was now in her mid-twenties. I know the strange little man had promised me her hand, but there was no way she'd still be unwed. Not an angel such as her. The envelope by the parchment, however, told a very different story.

Inside, I found clippings from the society page of the New York Times. Natasha had had several suitors during the years I was away, but all of them had come to a, shall we say, tragic end. Extra, extra! Read all about it! Richard Stratton, fiancé of Natasha Ulrich, shot in a bizarre hunting accident. Read all about it! Errol Cooper, dead after falling through the ice while skating with new fiancé, Natasha Ulrich. Duncan Murray, still missing a month after proposing to Natasha Ulrich, feared to be the latest victim of the Ulrich curse. Eventually, the suitors quit coming, afraid they too would be felled by the curse that seemed to surround Natasha. I couldn't believe my good fortune. With no competition for her hand, there was no way her father could refuse me. I was wrong.

[15:36] Rick Davis: Would you care for a bit more whiskey? If you don't mind wasting it on one so unworthy. Just because I won't allow you to marry my granddaughter doesn't mean I don't respect your talents. Something Natasha's father never did. Oh, he was pleasant enough at first. Happy that someone had finally taken an interest in his daughter again. But he had recognized me. Somehow, he had remembered that I was that scabby little stable boy that he liked to beat when the mood moved him to do so. For six months he led me on, letting me believe I stood a chance. Then, on a night much like this one, he played his trump card. He threw Natasha and me a banquet. We were to announce our engagement to all of society, no expense was spared.

The food was exquisite, the wine delectable, and Natasha had a glow about her that was breathtaking. When the time for the announcement arrived, Ulrich stood up to make his proclamation. Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please. As you know, my lovely daughter, Natasha, well, she's had a run of bad luck when it comes to suitors. Some have even suggested that she was cursed. Now, that's something I never personally believed. That is, until this pathetic excuse for a stable boy showed up, pretending to be a gentleman. Can you imagine the gall of this peasant? Attempting to pass himself off as a man of breeding. Ha ha, I should take the whip to him. What do you think? Jenkins, fetch me my riding crop.

I had become a laughing stock, chased out of his house like a snot-nosed gutter snipe. I was livid, never had I been so insulted. I walked through the storm, much like you did tonight, in a blind rage. My hatred for Natasha's father was stronger than anything nature could throw at me. By the time I reached my home, I was in such a state that I nearly knocked the door of my study off its hinges as I entered. Stupid, pompous man! You're gonna regret this. All of them! It was then I noticed the parchment laying open upon the table. Number four, kill Cedric Ulrich. I admit, this particular item caused me some hesitation. I had done much that was morally questionable in my quest to acquire Natasha, but taking someone's life... that took things to a whole new level.

It was then I remembered the humiliation I had just suffered at Ulrich's hands. And the directions were so simple. They told me when and where to strike and to not worry about being caught. An escaped convict from the local mental institute would be blamed and punished for the crime. I just had to make sure I made the killing... messy. Which I did.

[19:15] MuJaahid Johnson: Hamish, what are you doing? You listen to me now. Are you sure you want to be confessing this to me? Murder is still a hangable offense. What does it matter? We both know only one of us will be leaving this room alive. Then by all means, continue. As promised, an escaped convict received the blame and the noose, while I received Natasha. And were you finally happy? No. Why not? Like many things in life, the wanting was better than the having. You see, once you've acquired the object of your obsession, the mystery disappears and is replaced by a reality which rarely ever lives up to one's expectations. It wasn't long after our marriage that I was back to my nighttime activities. However, instead of chasing ladies of ill repute, I decided to set my sights on the wives of all those rich fat cats who had dared to look down their noses at me and laugh during Cedric's fateful party.

Like taking candy from a baby. Naturally, their husbands were not amused, and for a while, dueling became almost a weekly event for me. Blades or pistols? Thinking of challenging me? Just curious. Pistols. Always aimed for the gut. It didn't matter then if they lived or died. Either way, it was a long, painful journey. Did Natasha ever learn of your infidelities? If she did, she kept it to herself. Besides, what did it matter? The apothecary had promised that you would be mine. And he was as good as his word. I could have performed the most depraved acts in the history of man, and she still wouldn't have left me. Was she happy? At first, I believed she was. But at the end, who knows? I had quit caring by then. I had my business and personal harem to occupy my time.

[22:20] Rick Davis: Did you ever really love her? Or was it just a fascination with a shiny object that had been, for a while, unattainable? Hmm. Interesting question. Fascination, I suppose. Pity. Pity? To do all that for a woman you never really loved. I thought I had. And even though, in the end, I didn't. My desire to possess her didn't make me into the man I am today. And what sort of man would that be? A man who can do, say, take, and deny anything to anyone he wishes, knowing full well there isn't a damn thing they can do to stop him. You seem awfully confident of that. What makes you sure? Let's just say the strange little man gave me an insurance policy.

[23:37] MuJaahid Johnson: You mean that bullet you keep in a pouch around your neck? Is there something wrong, Hamish? You look positively piqued. Perhaps a little more whiskey will put a bit of color back in your cheeks. What did you say? I asked if your bullet was the insurance policy you spoke of. The one you conveniently left out of your gripping little narrative. The one you had intended to use on yourself all those years ago. How could you possibly- I believe there was a stipulation in the contract you signed with the apothecary that stated you were to make absolutely sure that you never, ever lost sight of it. And that if you did, you would lose everything, and the apothecary would come to collect his fee with interest. Am I correct? I see by the fear in your eyes that I am.

[24:41] MuJaahid Johnson: I believe it's my turn to share a story with you. You are right about one thing, Mr. Hamish. We are very much alike. I too was born to a low station. A shoeshine boy who watched you every day for three years drive by in your golden carriage in the company of your lovely granddaughter Lily. I too sought to improve my financial standing by any means possible. But to no avail. Just like you, I eventually came to the end of my rope. A hangman's rope to be precise. And just like you, there came a knock on the door just as I was about to take that final step off the chair. A short, gray-haired man wearing spectacles and a black suit with the blackest eyes I'd ever seen. An apothecary who claimed to have a prescription for my happiness. Told me where to drill for oil. Which businesses to invest in. When you'd be alone. It was the water. It was you. You sneaked in here and stole my-

[25:00] Valentin Angel Fernandez: Your bullet? Yes. The prescription instructed me how to lift it without waking you. And most importantly, it told me when to give it back.

[25:18] Rick Davis: This has been a Gathered by the Ghostlight production produced by Jonathan Cooke and Devin McSherry. Today's play, Full Circle, was written by L.D. Potter. And it was performed by Rick Davis, Lucas LeBlanc, Mujahid Johnson, Valentin Angel Fernandez, Rob Smith, Reed Hawn, Alice Cossett, Devin McSherry, and Jonathan Cooke.

[25:44] Jonathan Cook: Alright, directed and edited by, you guessed it, Jonathan Cooke. Oh, it's How to Music by JK47, what a nice guy. Yeah, Cover Art by JC Grande. Oh, heck yeah, this program is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Heck yeah, and if you want to applaud the cast of today's show for their marvelous work, please rate, review, and follow the show in all the places that you can, every single one. That's right, in all those places. And also check out our current Kickstarter campaign, it's got two more weeks to go. Look for Romeo and Her Sister, you can also find a link for that in the show notes. As always, stay safe, and we'll see you next time. We gather by the ghostlight.

[26:26] Devon McSherry: I was like, not even in sync. I was trying to match you. There's a ghost in the radio that keeps it on the peak. There's a demon in the bottle trying to drag me to my knees. And I can't afford to fall apart every time we meet. Oh, there's a ghost after me. I mean, it literally like, it literally just played the whole thing like a minute ago.