FADE IN

Inside Lila and Sarah's house, where the main room now looks very festive, decorated with ivy, holly, wreaths and ribbons. Virgil and Eve, assisted by Darion, are finishing putting up the decorations; they are fixing up a string of glass and metal beads around the window. There is a fire burning in the fireplace. Outside, it's already getting dark.

VIRGIL:
     Almost done.

DARION (enthusiastic):
     I love decorating for Solstice. (steps back and looks around) Now we just need the tree.

EVE:
     Don't worry, that's coming soon. (chuckles) You know how Mother is when she puts her mind to something.

VIRGIL (chuckles):
     Yeah, Xena always gets her bad guy. Or her Solstice tree.

Lila and Sarah come in, followed by Kara and Theon.

SARAH:
     How are you doing here? We're all finished decorating the rest of the house.

EVE:
     So are we.

LILA:
     I'm just going to light these candles here.

She goes up to the fireplace where some small candles are lined up and starts to light them.

SARAH (looks out the window):
     I don't know what's taking them so long... The grove isn't that far away. They should have been back at least an hour ago.

LILA:
     I hope they didn't run into trouble.

EVE (chuckles):
     If they did, Trouble had better watch out.

CUT TO

Telemos' wagon is rolling down the road, accompanied by five men while the sixth is driving the wagon. It has started snowing lightly again.

CUT TO

Xena, Gabrielle and Haimon galloping down the road in hot pursuit. Telemos' wagon and its escort are visible in the distance.

CUT TO

Xena, Gabrielle and Haimon catch up with the wagon and slow down.

XENA:
     All right, boys. We need to see some ID.

MAN #1 (glares at her):
     Huh?

MAN #2:
     What are you talking about? What ID?

XENA:
     The one on the soles of your boss's boots.

MAN #1 (to the driver of the wagon):
     Never mind her. She's crazy.

XENA (suavely):
     You know, people who say that usually regret it...

She yanks on the reins of the horse pulling the wagon, bringing it to an abrupt half. Man #1 draws his sword and is about to attack her when she elbows him in the chest with her left arm; as he doubles over gasping, she punches him in the face with a backward blow, knocking him off his horse.

XENA:
     --if they live long enough.

MAN #2:
     Hey! What do you think you're doing? (reaches for his sword)

XENA:
     Let me show you.

She grabs him, head-butts him and throws him off his horse at another one of the riders. Both of the men go tumbling down. Haimon points his sword at one of the two remaining men and Gabrielle draws her sais.

Taking advantage of the fact that Xena has let go of the reins, the driver of the wagon flicks the reins to get the horse to move again. Xena grabs the reins from him and, with a warning gesture, lifts her fist clutching the reins to the driver's face.

XENA:
     Anyone else need more explaining? (looks around, smiling brightly) Good. Now, where were we?

TELEMOS (sticks his head out the wagon):
     What's going on?

XENA:
     Oh yeah--now I remember. (she releases the reins, shooting a warning look at the driver, and rides up to Telemos with a nasty smile) Listen, Telemos, back at the market last night, I couldn't help noticing what nice boots you had. Mind if I take a look?

TELEMOS (gapes at her):
     Are you insane?

GABRIELLE:
     Maybe you could save yourself a lot of trouble and answer a simple question. Did you and your friends chop down the trees in the Grove of the Nymphs?

TELEMOS (his eyes shifting):
     I don't know what you're talking about.

XENA:
     Well, then you don't have any cause to worry.

She grabs Telemos by the collar, shoves him back so that his feet are in the air, and yanks off one of his boots. She examines the sole, grins broadly and shows the boot to Gabrielle.

GABRIELLE:
     Yeah, that's the one. (sighs and shakes her head as she looks at Telemos, who sits up with an indignant look on his face) Aren't you ashamed of yourself?

XENA:
     So you burned down the tree farm, chopped down the grove and sold the trees to the villagers. (shakes her head) And you were stupid enough to do it in fancy boots.

CUT TO

The house. The main room is fully decorated now and Lila is lighting a row of candles lined up on the fireplace.

LILA (steps back):
     All right, that's it.

SARAH:
     Everything looks great.

DARION (points to the window):
     Hey, look! It's snowing again!

While everyone looks in the window, a strange breeze blows through the room. The candles flicker and go out, and so do the flames in the fireplace, leaving the room half-dark. A faint sound that vaguely resembles cackling is heard. The children cry out in fright.

KARA:
     What was that?

LILA:
     I have no idea. Maybe a gust of wind--

SARAH:
     From where? All the doors and windows are closed.

LILA:
     Not to worry, I'll just light it again.

She lights the candles, then uses one of them to restart the fire in the fireplace. The same cackling sound is heard again, this time louder.

DARION (uneasily):
     I'm scared.

SARAH:
     Don't worry, it's probably just the wind.

EVE:
     It sounded like it was someone--or something--in the house.

CUT TO

Xena, Gabrielle and Haimon riding through Potidaea, past the marketplace. The sun is setting and the winter sky has an almost silver hue. Large snowflakes are falling, swirling in the air.

HAIMON (to Xena, somewhat awed):
     I can't believe you remembered what Telemos' boot-print looked like, just from seeing it once in the fresh snow.

Xena looks pleased.

GABRIELLE (teasing):
     She's about to tell you she has many skills.

XENA:
     There's nothing to it. It's just a matter of knowing how to focus.

As they ride past a house, the lights go out in the windows and exclamations of surprise and annoyance are heard from inside.

GABRIELLE (sighs):
     Well, we've delivered Telemos and his gang to the magistrate, but we still don't have a Solstice tree. (jokingly to Xena) Maybe if you focus really hard, you can scare one up for us.

XENA (not amused):
     Very funny.

Once again, the lights in the window in a house they are riding past go out, and shouts are heard from inside the house. A woman's voice is heard saying, "What's going on?"

A faint shadow, only slightly darker than the smoke, floats out of the chimney of the house and down to the ground, then glides away as Xena looks on in amazement. A second shadow floats off the wall of another house ahead of them, in which the windows have also gone dark.

XENA:
     Look--what's that? (points to the shadows, which have already melted away into the snow)

GABRIELLE (peers into the near-darkness):
     I don't see anything.

HAIMON:
     Neither do I.

XENA:
     What did I say about learning how to focus?

CUT TO

Inside Lila and Sarah's house. Everyone seems to be having a good time: Virgil and Eve are sitting on two chairs near the fireplace talking quietly, while the children are sitting on the rug on the floor eating nuts from a large plate.

LILA (comes in carrying a tray with clay mugs on it):
     Hot cider for everyone!

Suddenly, a strange breeze seems to blow through the room again. Virgil and Eve look up. The children stop eating and look around, alarmed.

Two barely visible bluish-gray shadows materialize in the room and glide through it so quickly that they are barely visible. They sweep over the candles on the mantelpiece, extinguishing them, and then through the fireplace where the fire instantly goes out. They melt into the near-darkness, and once again a faint cackling sound is heard. Lila cries out and drops the tray, which falls with a loud clatter. The children scream. Eve runs over to hug Darion and Virgil hugs Kara and Theon.

EVE:
     Don't worry, Darion--everything will be all right.

SARAH (runs in):
     What happened?

KARA:
     The candles and the fire went out again!

DARION:
     Did you see them?

SARAH:
      Them?

THEON:
     Those--things!

LILA (in a trembling voice):
     I think we have ghosts in the house!

VIRGIL:
     Just keep calm, everyone. Let's light the candles.

THEON (fretfully):
     They'll just put them out again!

As Eve starts lighting the candles, a door is heard slamming and everyone turns around, startled.

XENA (off-camera):
     We're back!

LILA (sighs):
     Oh...thank the Gods!

DARION:
     Gabrielle!

He races toward Gabrielle just as she comes into the room with Haimon. Darion grabs her hands, frightened.

GABRIELLE (concerned, squats down and puts her hands on his shoulders):
     What's the matter, sweetie? Did somebody scare you?

DARION (scrunches up his face, trying not to cry):
     The ghosts.

GABRIELLE (frowns):
     Ghosts?

SARAH:
     We've had the candles and the fire go out a couple of times.

EVE:
     We definitely saw something here. A couple of shadows or something, moving around the room. They passed through the fireplace and the fire went out that instant.

XENA (comes in):
     I saw them too--out in the street. If it's ghosts, then the whole village has got them. There've been lights going out in a lot of houses.

VIRGIL:
     What sorts of ghosts would go around putting out candles and fires?

Gabrielle stands up, patting Darion on the head, and gives Virgil a thoughtful look. Then, her eyes light up suddenly.

GABRIELLE:
     I've got it! Xena, remember how all the horses' manes and tails were braided this morning?

XENA (rolls her eyes):
     You're telling me these ghosts did that too?

GABRIELLE:
     Wait, wait...I'm trying to remember...something else happened today that was odd...

EVE (teasing):
     You and Mother spent a whole day without chasing any bad guys?

XENA:
     Wrong. (off Eve's surprised look) I'll tell you later.

LILA:
     How about the milk turning sour this morning?

GABRIELLE:
     Yes! That's it! They're not ghosts at all--they're Kallikantzaroi.

XENA (frowns):
     Kallika-what?

GABRIELLE:
     Kallikantzaroi--spirits that come out only during Solstice time. They're mischievous creatures--they like to cause trouble and play pranks. Like putting out fires, braiding horses' tails, souring milk...

SARAH (curious):
     How do you know that?

GABRIELLE (a little smugly):
     Sometimes, book-learning pays off. (smiles) There was this scroll I read once about ghosts and spirits. I didn't even know if the Kallikantzaroi really existed--I thought they could just be a folk tale. Well, apparently, they do.

DARION:
     Are they scary?

GABRIELLE:
     Not really. They don't hurt people--they just like to play pranks. They like a good laugh.

EVE:
     How do we get rid of them?

GABRIELLE:
     There's no way to really get rid of them. Not until the Solstice is over, anyway. That's when they go back underground and stay there until next year. But there's a way to keep them out of our home... (she scrunches up her forehead, remembering) You have to burn salt outside the front door and next to the fireplace. Then the Kallikantzaroi can't get in--they're repelled by the scent of burning salt.

VIRGIL:
     Then that's what we have to do.

LILA:
     We need to tell the other people in the village, too.

CUT TO

Lila is on the front porch of the house, setting a pot of burning salt by the door. In the background, Xena, Gabrielle, Haimon, Eve and Virgil can be seen walking down the street knocking on doors.

DISSOLVE TO

The front porch later. It is night now. The snow has stopped falling but the branches of trees, the roofs, and the ground are blanketed in white. The moon is bright and the strings with beads of glass and metal that decorate the house are sparkling in the moonlight. There are lights in the windows of Lila's house. Lights can be seen in other windows down the street too. The pot of salt stands by the door, wisps of smoke still rising from it.

The camera pans around the house to one of the windows. From the outside, we see Xena standing by the window, looking pensively outside.

CUT TO

Inside the room. Xena is looking out the window at the white snow that blankets the ground and the trees, and at the lights burning in the windows. Gabrielle comes up to her.

GABRIELLE:
     What are you doing?

XENA:
     It looks like your remedy worked. We've taken care of the Ka...the spirits.

GABRIELLE (stands next to Xena, looking out the window with her):
     Yeah.

XENA (pensively):
     I haven't seen snow like this in many years.

GABRIELLE:
     It's beautiful, isn't it?

XENA (smiles):
     You're asking me? I'm not the one who likes to get all poetic about the beauty of nature.

GABRIELLE (smiles):
     I think you appreciate it more than you admit.

XENA (after a brief pause):
     You know something funny? Remember that story I told you, about how the old man stayed at our house in Amphipolis on Solstice Eve and then our Solstice gifts disappeared the next morning?

GABRIELLE:
     Sure.

XENA:
     Well, I just remembered that the candles in our house kept going out that evening--and when Mother and I went to the barn in the morning, the cow's tail was tied in a knot.

GABRIELLE:
     You had Kallikantzaroi in the house.

XENA:
     Do you suppose they might have--

GABRIELLE:
     That's right! That's another thing they do sometimes--steal Solstice gifts.

XENA (chuckles):
     So maybe that old man didn't steal our Solstice after all.

GABRIELLE (smiles):
     Are you saying that you just got your faith in the spirit of Solstice back?

XENA (smiles at her warmly):
     Yeah, thanks to you. After all this time, you're still helping me see the good in everything.

They hug, then break their embrace, looking tenderly at each other.

GABRIELLE (obviously moved):
     I told you this was going to be the best Solstice ever.

XENA (smiles, trying to control her emotions):
     Maybe.

Darion pokes his head in.

DARION:
     Hey, Gabrielle--what happened to that tree you were going to bring?

XENA (her smile fades):
     Or maybe not.

A close-up on the worried look on Gabrielle's face as we:

FADE OUT

END OF ACT THREE