I'm sorry, you can't leave your car there.
Where's my wife?
Uh, Mr. Eng... They called me at work.
You'll have to move your car.
Mrs. Eng was admitted at 3:05 P.M.
Her contractions were ten minutes apart.
W-Well, well, where is she?
I promised I'd be there.
(woman panting)
Michael.
(panting)
Michael.
(panting)
Michael.
Wait. Are there any complications?
NURSE: No.
Hello, Mr. Eng.
Your wife is doing bravely.
Uh... can I see her?
She's asked that you don't,
not till she's through the transition.
But, but she wanted me to be there.
There is plenty of time yet.
You know, where I come from, we have a saying.
"Lan beeyan or beesh gear no go die.
Chieda tallan go bar."
Dr. Oakwood...
There is a charm
for the easing of a laboring woman.
And that is for the husband
to place a candle at the foot of a mighty oak.
Nurse Dana will show you the path.
Look, I've put up with this mumbo jumbo
up to now, but...
No, you look.
You came to me sterile.
If it were not for me,
you'd not be having this baby at all.
Now, you have trusted me this far.
You must trust me now... to the last step.
After you.
(thunder cracks)
Follow the path to the clearing.
You'll see it.
¶ ¶
(bird squawking, wings flapping)
Superstitious garbage.
(wind whistling)
(gasps)
(choking)
(screaming)
(screaming continues)
(baby crying)
(sighs)
OAKWOOD: Hello, love.
(chuckles)
Here he is.
He's a perfect wee boy.
(fussing)
Where's the other one?
I-I know I had twins.
W-Where's my other baby?
I am sorry, love.
The little girl never breathed at all.
No.
No, I heard her.
No, no, please.
I-I want my baby girl.
No... no.
No, please, I heard her.
I, I, I heard her.
(humming)
Oh, what will you call her?
Shelagh.
It means "Out of sacrifice comes joy."
A little sister.
A priestess for the King of the Wood.
Oh, no, more than that.
She will be a prophetess and a magician.
She's our first...
but soon this room will fill up with her sisters,
and through them, the secrets of the Druids
will spread once more throughout the world.
(crying)
(thunder crashing)
(phonograph powers up)
(slow ragtime jazz playing)
(mechanical creaking)
(chimes tinkling)
(thunder crashes)
MICKI: So are you hoping for a boy or a girl?
Oh, it doesn't really matter so long as it's healthy.
From her size,
I think there's a whole softball team in there.
Matthew.
Why don't you get it?
You can use it to decorate the nursery.
I think we can splurge a bit.
When's the big day?
Could be any day now.
They say the first one takes its time.
Really?
This is your first one?
13 years we've been trying to have a family.
We'd almost given up.
But then Dr. Oakwood said you're never too old.
Or too rich.
(chuckles) Matthew,
the woman's a saint.
She's a torturer.
I haven't had a cigarette in nine months.
Then, all that carrot juice
and oat bran.
The treatment is just a health diet?
Well, we had to do our bit, too.
(laughter) Matthew.
Thanks. Thank you.
I'll have Johnny deliver these this afternoon.
(bell rings)
Dr. Oakwood will be with you in a moment.
Thanks.
Your tests show the baby's doing fine.
I'm so happy.
To be a good sister is
to be a friend to all the forest creatures.
Let's name some.
I know. ALL: Me, me, me, me, me.
Yes? Birds.
Right.
Squirrels.
Right.
So we have birds and animals.
What else?
Badgers.
That's an animal, too, silly.
(girls laughing)
I know,
I know.
Shelagh,
can you name some of the forest creatures?
Trees.
Oh, good, Shelagh,
very good.
Yes, all the forest is alive--
the trees, the rocks, everything--
but only those
who know the magic of the Sisterhood can speak to them.
That's why we learn our spells and chants.
Let's sing our song
that calls the crow to our window.
¶ Arise saw caw ¶
¶ Ven caw-venaw ¶
¶ Ta gay ma gaas ¶
¶ Fow mo pay naw ¶
¶ Sca vaw may undoo... ¶
Thanks a lot.
WOMAN: Please, let me have it.
I'll call the cops! No... she stole my baby.
And you stole the magazine! Give it to me!
Now give it back!
No! Hey, lighten up, okay?
I'll buy it for her.
All right.
She's a witch, a witch.
Nobody believes me.
She stole my baby.
She told me that she died, but I know she stole her.
"Dr. Sybil Oakwood-- Bringer of Life."
It was a spell, not a treatment.
It had to be; it happened too fast.
Well, is there anybody I can call,
have them pick you up?
Your husband maybe?
Gone, left without a word.
Why would he leave when he,
when he wanted a child as much as I did?
Gee, I don't know.
(crying): And now I've lost Scotty, too.
Scotty?
My son.
He died last summer.
He was only five years old.
She... she lied to me, I know she did.
She kept her for something.
Maybe you should talk to somebody about this.
I can't go there; she'd kill me.
If his sister were there,
you-you'd recognize her from this, wouldn't you?
I don't know, I, I...
Listen,
I think you should try to get some help.
I am; I'm asking you.
"Founded in 1984,
"the Oakwood Clinic enjoys a 98% success rate
"with its couples, who have exhausted all other forms
of treatment."
Yes, but it doesn't say what the treatment is.
Health food, apparently.
Hey, maybe we should do some checking, huh?
Well, Sybil Oakwood's name does not appear in the manifest.
Well, the Sandersons did say
that she'd worked miracles for them.
Did she look like she was carrying twins?
Johnny, look,
Mrs. Eng may just be having a breakdown, you know,
a sad case of somebody who wants to believe
that they have another child,
but it's just not so.
Maybe not.
But I promised.
Micki, you're going, too?
I'm just going to make sure that the Sandersons
are positive they don't need a second cradle.
SYBIL: Fahlche... Fahlche,
jree her no racht.
Fahlche va naw no drachta.
Fahlche, Cernunnos.
Seed of Cernunnos,
green when all else is dead,
be fruitful in bleak midwinter.
Bloom and bear...
as the tree is fed.
Drink deeply
the lifeblood of our forest king.
Schlomfra jree hor.
Schlomfra bannan na Jrachta.
Soon, his sacred oak will bear fruit,
and we will sow her offspring far and wide.
Each priestess here
with her own seed to nurture.
And each with her own coven of young ones to feed it
as our numbers grow,
until the forests can hear once again
the prayers of their Druid sisters.
¶ ¶
Mr. Forbes, you'll soon have your baby,
but... there's something
you have to do first.
You must take this candle to the forest clearing.
There, you'll find a ring of stones
by an old oak tree.
Place the candle on the rock altar.
By the time you return,
you'll be able to see your new child.
(children murmuring)
Sybil says, if you put mistletoe under your pillow,
you'll dream something true.
(door opening, children laughing)
Sybil says, if you
put mistletoe under your pillow,
you'll dream something true. NURSE DANA: When I say go to bed,
I mean go to bed.
Strangle, strangle,
strangle.
Come on.
(wind howling)
(creaking)
(screaming)
Hello?
Okay, give me one good reason
why those children should be there.
They belong to the nurses.
(sighs)
What about the screaming?
It sounded like someone was being tortured.
I don't know, maybe some animal or something.
What about the ring of stones?
Johnny, you're reading things into this.
That little girl was a dead ringer for those photos.
I'm almost positive.
JACK: Almost isn't good enough.
Look, can't you see how cruel it would be
to raise that woman's hopes if you're wrong?
MICKI: Johnny...
Jack's right.
If you're not sure...
Okay, okay.
I'll wait till dark to find out.
Look, Micki, I know she's strung out,
but I believe her.
All the lights are out.
Maybe they weren't expecting us.
Come on, it's around the back.
SYBIL: We have gathered in this forest under the magic of starlight,
and as we prepare for the coming of a new child,
we must thank our God, Cernunnos,
so that he may grant the Sandersons a healthy baby,
for it is his powers which have given us this child.
So, where are they?
I don't know.
This place was crawling with kids the other night.
Maybe they went home for the weekend.
Johnny! Shh... come on.
SYBIL: We come to you, Cernunnos,
in the presence of the children you have blessed us with.
With the moon
as our witness, accept this unborn child
as one of yours.
Satisfied?
No. Why not?
How come nobody's here?
What if somebody goes into labor tonight?
Oakwood's office.
Come on.
ALL: Tu ross arese, ta geen ta llan.
Fahlche, Cernunnos.
SYBIL: The wreath of life shall unite us all
on this holy night as Cernunnos grants
this couple before us a child.
The Eng file isn't here.
Look again.
Johnny.
There's a fire out there in the woods.
Come on.
(nurses and children chanting indistinctly)
Shenall Fahlche.
Tu ross arese ta geen ta llan.
As each of you drink
from the sacred cup,
you shall ensure the child
of a safe and gentle birth.
(sighs)
And they were chanting in this...
singsongy kind of a language.
It reminded me of something.
Fen fie a pogue, grin greg go garich.
Rin grobal clandi silly oak.
Sound anything like that?
Yeah.
It's probably ancient Gaelic.
Gaelic?
Yes, a language spoken by the Celts.
Their priests were called Druids,
and it seems as though that's the sort of thing
we may be dealing with here.
Druids... you mean like Stonehenge
and sacrifice.
Yes, often performed in a sacred grove
in front of an oak tree.
Well, there was no sacrifice this evening.
Yeah, but it was like that tree
was part of the ceremony.
Well, the Celts knew that oaks
could survive most lightning strikes,
so the Druids believed that they...
they stored a kind of sacred energy.
They became symbols for rebirth and fertility.
(sighs)
I hate to think it may be true, but, uh, I'm almost positive
that there's a cursed object behind all this.
MICKI: According to the records
of a Mrs. Emerson, she also gave
birth to a son whose twin sister died at birth.
This is strange.
Every one of these women have had a boy like Mrs. Eng.
Now, what are the odds of that happening?
(sighs)
This is the third file stating that the father
abandoned mother and child at birth.
JACK: Aha, I knew it.
"A fertility statue of black Irish oak.
Figurine of Cernunnos, horned god of the Celts."
The Druids believed that he gave birth
to twins-- a boy and a girl--
and they sprang fully grown right out of his forehead.
But where is it?
We didn't see her with one.
According to this, Lewis sold it
to a Dr. Fredrick Cornwall.
All right, then, love.
Easy up... easy.
There you go.
Well, then...
you are in the fullest bloom of health.
(water running, splashing)
Then, why does it feel like there's
two sets of feet when it's kicking?
(laughs) They all say that...
when they've got a few days left to go.
But don't you go trying to second-guess Mother Nature.
She has never let us down yet.
You can get yourself dressed now, darling.
She knows, doesn't she?
With what we'll give her, she won't remember
if she's had one baby or 100.
The tree is blooming,
but the fruit hasn't ripened at all.
Oh, dear.
Every 12th husband
is enough to feed the tree for a year,
but to reproduce...
we need another sacrifice.
Mr. Sanderson.
Yes.
And then, we'll celebrate the Cnoch-nan-ainneal,
the Sacrifice of Fire.
Miss Foster, I told you,
I donated the statue to one of the charity sales.
Is there any way that it could have ended up
with a Dr. Oakwood?
Sybil Oakwood? Yeah.
I could ask if you like.
We share a number of patients.
Share?
I'm a pediatrician.
Dr. Oakwood sometimes refers clients for postnatal care.
Oh, one more thing, Doctor.
Um, all of the babies from The Oakwood have been boys.
How can that be?
Husbands determine a baby's sex.
Her treatment may stimulate his production
of Y chromosomes, and that means you get boys.
She didn't stimulate their sense of responsibility.
Are you aware that a number of the husbands she's treated
have abandoned their families at the time of birth?
Infertility can undermine a marriage
long before a child is born.
The birth convinces some husbands
they're no longer needed.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
JOHNNY: I'm glad you called.
I checked out the clinic like I promised.
Now I don't want you to get your hopes up, Mrs. Eng,
but there's a chance your daughter might be there.
Oh, thank you.
Now I can't be certain, but...
Thank God.
...if you give me a little bit more time, I'll...
Mrs. Eng?
Hello?
(door bells tinkle)
Dr. Cornwall said
that anyone could have bought it.
Did he know about Dr. Oakwood?
Oh, yes.
He thinks she's a fine doctor.
Cursed object or not,
I bet you all those little girls belong to women like Mrs. Eng.
Why's she doing it?
For her religion.
According to this,
Julius Caesar all but wiped out the Druids.
So those that survived blended in
with other Pagan sects.
But they all held onto one tenet of their faith.
What's that?
All their priests were women.
And every nurse, every doctor
in these Oakwood files is listed
as being female.
MICKI: What you're saying is
that the couples at the clinic are breeding her followers?
So the Druids can rise again.
Then Mr. Eng and the other missing husbands
are the sacrifices!
Yeah, but why some of the men and not the others?
Don't you think
that the sacrifices might be tied
to seasonal cycles and phases of the moon?
Yes.
It's a full moon this week, and the winter solstice.
Oh, my God.
Oh!
The Sandersons.
(giggling) Now did you all have a nice nap?
GIRLS: Yeah.
Oh, good.
(girls chattering)
Well, Shelagh,
did you have a good dream
with the mistletoe under your pillow last night?
I dreamt of a nice man.
He said he was my... daddy.
But...
then he told me that he was dead.
Well, that's not true.
You all have mommies and daddies.
They live in a faraway country.
SHELAGH: Waiting to teach us magic
when we go there with you or Nurse Morgan.
That's right.
MRS. ENG: No, it's not!
I'm your real mommy,
and I'm right here.
(gasps)
DANA: Morgan!
I'm taking her, and you can't stop me!
No! No!
Stop you?
Oh, no, love.
We only want to celebrate your return.
You'll be the guest of honor
at the Sacrifice of Fire.
No! No!
(Mrs. Eng crying)
(muffled groaning)
I want that finished by nightfall.
It will be.
Is there something not to your liking, Morgan?
The wicker man.
It's not right that it's a woman.
This is not a normal sacrifice.
The burning ripens the fruit of the tree.
Any sacrifice is acceptable.
We've never...
SYBIL: We have no choice.
The tree is ready.
Oh, Morgan, love,
tomorrow, you will take a seed
and some of the young ones
and form your own coven,
spreading our religion to another land.
The Druids are going to live again.
Surely that's worth one female life?
The Sandersons are here.
She's in labor.
Oh, marvelous.
It's going to be a joyous night all around.
(thunder rumbling)
Where could she go?
Oh, maybe the clinic.
No, she was terrified of that place.
She swore she'd never go back.
That was before she knew
she had a child that may still be alive.
The Sandersons aren't answering.
This time we all go and take a look.
CAROL: Aah, Matthew!
(panting)
Matthew!
I'm right here.
Breath deep. (groans)
Come on. (whimpers)
Mr. Sanderson,
would you mind waiting outside, please?
Is something wrong?
Oh, on the contrary, sir.
(Carol gasps)
Everything is going exactly as it should.
(Carol panting)
(Carol gasps)
Johnny, make sure
that the little girl is still in the nursery.
We'll see if we can sneak inside.
By the time you get back,
she'll be through the worst.
But I thought
that Dr. Oakwood wanted me involved.
Oh, she does.
This way.
Follow the path to the forest clearing.
Go on. You know the place.
Do as I've told you.
(groaning)
This will make the contractions stronger.
I don't... I don't want any drugs!
You'll thank me for this.
(whimpering)
We call it
the Cloth of Dreams.
(loud breathing)
(clattering)
(footsteps passing)
Jack?
This is the chest from the ceremony.
Maybe the figurine's in here.
That's Druidic, all right.
They believed that drinking
from the skull of their victim guaranteed lush harvests.
Did they sacrifice women as well as men?
Oh, yeah.
Let's look around and see if we can find out
where they've got Mrs. Eng and the Sandersons.
(wind howling)
(screaming)
Matthew!
Hold on, Matthew..
Matthew, give me your hand.
Give me your hand.
Matthew!
Don't let go!
Matthew!
(yelling)
Matthew!
(grunting)
(yelling)
(speeded-up, overlapping voices)
SYBIL: Come on. Come on.
Here comes the first one.
(baby crying)
Oh.
¶ ¶
(quiet voices of children)
(gasping)
Shh, shh.
(whispering): I'm looking for someone.
Do you think you can help me?
I'm looking for a lady
who isn't a nurse.
And I need help
because I don't know what she looks like.
Do you remember seeing a stranger like me?
The one who said she was my mommy?
Yes.
That's right.
I don't know where he came from or who he is.
It doesn't matter.
Prepare the wooden suit.
The others will be so pleased.
Indeed.
A double male sacrifice will guarantee the tree's strength.
She will bear fruit tonight.
(grunting)
(Jennifer moaning)
(machine beeping)
Your death shall be gentle...
and slow.
You are, after all, a mother.
You have given life.
So we will do this very slowly.
You'll feel like you're falling asleep
in a tub of warm water.
Where did they take her?
I don't know.
I was too scared to look.
Why?
What scared you?
She was crying and saying she was my mommy.
Why don't we see if we can find her?
Just you and me, huh? Why?
Because she is your mommy.
Okay? (baby crying)
(crying continues, girls oohing)
ALL (chanting): Bannan na Jrachta.
Jrehooran u crann.
Un intacch nomad ta taqim.
U seecul man luchaira.
(screams, grunts)
(chanting): Tu ross arese ta geen ta llan.
Fahlche Cernunnos, shiv tagame.
(whispers): Jack?
Oh, my God!
The chest is gone, too.
That means they went to the tree.
What?
That's where they send all the daddies.
Come on. We've got to find your mommy.
Form a circle.
It is time.
(grunts)
(crunching)
MATTHEW: Help me!
Matthew?
(coughs)
Ah, look. Look.
Watch the flowers, my sisters,
as from the core of each bursts
a perfect image of Cernunnos.
MATTHEW: Somebody, please!
Help me!
Matthew.
Raise him high.
The fire from his burning soul will ripen the fruit.
(machine beeping, moaning)
Oh, my God.
Matthew! Help me.
I can't breathe.
Okay. Hold on. Hold on.
(grunting) Hurry!
My baby.
Mommy?
Get her out of here as quick as possible.
(chanting): Boonan na Jrachta.
Jrehooran u crann.
(grunting)
Ah...
You okay? What happened?
I don't know.
We've got to get out of here, okay?
(chanting): Bannan na Jrachta.
Bannan na crann.
Hear us, Cernunnos.
As the flesh shall burn, the fruit shall ripen.
And with each seed a new coven shall be born.
Bannan na Jrachta.
Bannan na crann.
Come on. Come on.
All flesh, all flame, be one.
Rash ta la feel ya.
(Jack grunting)
MATTHEW: What's that?
JOHNNY: Cernunnos.
Come on, give me a hand.
(screeching)
(wind whistling)
(screeching)
The Tree, it's dying. No.
(creaking)
DANA: We're losing everything!
(nurses screaming)
MATTHEW: What's happening?
JOHNNY: We've got to get out of here.
Come on.
(women screaming)
JOHNNY: This way, follow me!
(nurses screaming)
SYBIL: No, Cernunnos. No!
Wait! Please.
No, please, wait!
Help me! Jack!
Help me save the seedlings.
Please, the seedlings are dying.
(muffled protests)
Jack! Jack!
(Johnny and Matthew grunting)
JOHNNY: Take my hand! Come on!
Matthew, come on!
(grunting)
Oh...
Bannan na...
(screaming)
Johnny, come on hurry!
Get him out. Matthew!
Get away from here!
(moaning)
I'll take that, Johnny.
And I'll need you both to gather up all the seedlings.
And make sure you don't leave a single one behind.
Matthew, come on.
One more day and Dr. Oakwood would have succeeded
in spreading her evil throughout the world.
I've got an apology to make to you, Johnny.
If I had listened to you earlier,
we might have got there before the object succeeded
in reproducing itself, I'm sorry.
Oh, that's okay.
At least Mrs. Eng got her daughter back.
Mm-hmm. And the Sandersons got the twins.
Well, I better get these three back with the rest.
Yeah, and while you're down there,
um, maybe we should start a lead
on a second cradle for the Sandersons.
A twin?