book vs. movie

I read the book a few years ago. Here are some differnces between book and film:

In the book:
1. Tia & Tony were older teens.
2. Jason O' Day was a Catholic Priest.
3. Deraien was a french agent assigned by the french Goverment to bing Tony and Tia to France so they could use them for thier ends.
4. There was no Mr. Bolt.

This is what I remember about the book.

Jay

Actually, make that corrections. The previous posts are full of errors, sorry to say. I have read the book dozens of times, and just finished a reread yesterday, so it's pretty fresh in my mind:

The book begins with Tony and Tia being taken to Hacket House -an orphanage-slash-detention home ("...for orphans in good standing were never sent there.") after the death of Granny Malone, the old woman they'd been living with. Tony and Tia lived in the South Water Street neighborhood, near the docks of a big, unnamed city (presumably Boston). Granny Malone was hit by a taxi and killed, and the children are sent to Hacket House because they both have bad reputations: Tony for fighting, and Tia for stealing. Of course, Tony had only been defending himself against street gangs, and Tia only entered the back of a grocery store to let a kitten out of a trap, but they are so different-looking (pale hair, olive skin, and eyes that are a blue so dark as to almost be black) that adults seem to always be suspicious.

Tony is the leader of the pair. He sees the world as a tough, sometimes dangerous place. Tia is more innocent. She loves animals and books, and is constantly amazed at the ugliness and cruelty of the world. The children speak to each other in a sort of ultrasonic speech that can't be heard by ordinary ears. Tony can speak normally, but Tia can't. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Tia is mute. The children learned very early to keep this to themselves -Even Granny Malone had been frightened by their abilities (which include telekenesis, visualizing distant places, opening locks, super hearing, and "feelings" about the future).

Things begin to happen when a bully named Truck steals Tia's star box (which in the book is made from a strange, finely-tooled black leather with a double-star emblem done in gold leaf). Tony fights truck to get it back, and we see his ability to make objects move for the first time. Truck is defeated, but Tony is cut by truck's homemade knife. Later, Tia discovers that the scuffle has made the bottom of the star box come loose. When she tries to repair it she discovers that it is a false bottom. Hidden inside is a folder with a large amount of money. Tony urges Tia to try to remember about it -Tia's memory is perfect back to the time they arrived at Granny Malone's (little more than toddlers). Whenever Tia tries to remember that far back, though, she feels sick to her stomach. They think something terrible must have happened to cause her to block her memories.

Next, the children are sent to Heron Lake Camp for a week. It's their first time out of the big city, but the trip is uneventful until the very end. Just as they are boarding the bus back to Hacket House they meet a frail, old nun named Sister Amelia. She asks Tia about her star box, and tells the children that she taught design, and that the double-star in gold leaf is one that she only recalled seeing once before. It was on a letter, and the double-star in gold leaf was printed at the top. Tony and Tia are excited and ask her about the letter. The nun tells them it was from a man named Garroway, or Hathaway, or something like that, who lived in the Blue Ridge Mountain area. He was doing some research, he said, and asked if she had any pupils with "unusual aptitudes" in her school. Tony and Tia have to board the bus, but Sister Amelia takes their names and address, and promises to look for the letter and write to them with more information.

Back at Hacket House, the children begin to worry when time goes by and they don't hear from the old nun. One afternoon, while talking privately on the edge of the playground, they see a sharp-looking man getting out of a taxi and going up the steps to the entrance of Hacket House. Tia remembers that he is the man who left them with Granny Malone ten years ago, and that his name is Lucas Deranian (an Armenian). Soon, another student brings them the message that they are wanted in the office. Lucas Deranian has told the matron, Mrs. Grindley, that he is Tony and Tia's uncle, and that he has been searching for them for years. He says that he has been promised full legal custody of them by tomorrow, and plans to take them to live in his villa in the south of France. Tony is willing to go along at first, but Tia tells him that they can't go with him -that he is a bad man and she would rather die than go along. Warily, Tony tells Mrs. Grindley that they recognize Mr. Deranian as the man who left them with Mrs. Malone, and that he's not their uncle. Tia also recalls that they were on a ship, possibly a Spanish ship, and that Mr. Deranian came and took them from the ship and left them with Mrs. Malone. Instead of believing them, Mrs. Grindley takes this as a sign that he does have a legitimate connection.

In frustration, Tony asks if he can telephone Father O'Day. He and Tia have never met Father O'Day, but they have heard he is a good man, and they had wanted to enlist his help in locating Sister Amelia. They only know her name, and that she taught at St. Agnes School -but they have no idea what city or town it is in. Mrs. Grindley refuses to let Tony make the call, but she does call the school herself. It turns out the Sister Amelia died shortly after meeting the children.

Later that night they decide to run away and avoid being taken by Deranian. They have a vague idea about heading south, toward the Blue Ridge Mountains, to search for the writer of the letter. But they need help, and plan to go to St. Paul's Mission and talk to Father O'Day first. They sneak out of Hacket House carrying their things in paper shopping bags. Tia's bag has a strange bulge in it. In spite of Tony's warning, she has brought along Winkie, a stray black cat she has adopted. Shortly after leaving the orphanage they are stopped by a policeman, but Winkie jumps out of the bag and startles him, helping the children escape.

They make their way across the city to the mission, and Tia uses her power to open locks so they can get inside just before they are spotted by a police car. Inside, they finally meet Father O'Day, who looks more like an athlete than a priest. They tell him their story and are amazed when he believes them. When they show him the money from Tia's star box, he notices that the folder the money is wrapped in is actually an old road map. The map shows part of the Blue Ridge area, witha route marked leading to a small town called Stony Creek. Looking at the route, they realize that whoever put the map and money there planned to travel by bus. Father O'Day tells the children that a good friend of his, Augie Kozak, lives near Stony Creek, in a little town called Red Bank. He says he will call Augie in the morning and have him check up on Stony Creek, and see if anyone there knows the doubel-star emblem.

The next morning Tony is awakened by Tia -Mr. Deranian is at the door with the police. When the children were found to be missing, he clearly remembered their request to speak with Father O'Day. The priest hustles them out the back and there is a car chase across the city. Father O'Day manages to shake the bad guys off long enough to let Tony and Tia out, telling them to get a bus down to Red Bank. Augie Kozak will meet them there. Tony decides it would be wise to cover their tracks a bit, so he buys tickets to New York and Washington DC. Tony continues to tell Tia that it's impractical to try to travel with Winkie, but Tia insists that he is not an ordinary cat, any more than they are ordinary people. In Washington, Tony buys tickets for Fairview, the first town east of Red Bank, planning to call Mr. Kozak from there. Later that night they change buses in Winston-Salem, and are again stopped by a policeman. He asks for their names and to see their tickets. Without thinking, Tony gives their name as Castaway. But since they have valid tickets, the officer leaves them alone. He notices Winkie, and tells them to keep him hidden from the bus driver.

On the bus that morning, Tony has a recollection of the past - He remembers that before being on the ship, he and Tia were with a man they called Uncle Bené. He asks Tia about him, but she begins to cry. The only thing she can say is that he died. As the bus gets closer to Fairview, both children begin to have misgivings -wishing they had gotten off the bus at a previous stop. The minute they get off the bus, they are arrested by Sheriff Purdy, and taken to the town jail. In their cells, they overhear Purdy telling the mayor how he received a call from a treasury agent in Washington, a man called Werner Karmen, telling him the children are wanted by the government and that there is a very large reward for their capture. All of Tia's attention, however, is on a pair of black bears kept in a cage outside the police station. It's a hot, summer day, and the bears have no water. Purdy decides to question Tony. Tony tells the truth, but Purdy doesn't believe him. Instead, he gets out a rubber hose and threatens him. Tony calls to Tia to leave her cell and instructs her to get their things and go. He holds Purdy back by animating an old broom and raincoat, making them whirl around in a threatening manner. Purdy is terrified, and shouts that the children cannot be human -they must be witches. Leaving the police station, Tony sees that Tia has freed the bears from their cage instead of heading out of town as he instructed.

The whole town is now in an uproar as Sheriff Purdy tells what happened. The bears insist on following Tony and Tia as they climb through fields to make their escape. After some time, it begins to rain and they take refuge in an old hay barn. Again, Tony remembers Uncle Bené, and that they hid together in an old stone barn the night before they went to get on the Spanish ship. They recall that they had been imprisoned, and seen people tortured and killed. Men with guns were chasing after them. Uncle Bené led them to a foggy beach and a small boat which he rowed out to the Spanish ship, which was heading for America. The children hadn't realized it, but Uncle Bené had been shot by the men who were pursuing them, and he died on the ship. Before dying, he game them important instructions -but neither can remember them now. The shock of losing him was too much. When the ship arrived in America the captain didn't bother to follow Uncle Bené's instructions. Instead, he called his friend Lucas Deranian to get rid of the children. Tony hopes that Tia will remember the instructions eventually, and they leave the barn to continue their escape. They plan to hike to the Kozaks' apple orchard, but the terrain is difficult, and the roads are full of men with guns in cars, searching for them. Once, they are shot at and the bullets narrowly miss them.

Finally, Tony and Tia arrive at the Kozaks -only to find that the family has been away from home for some time. Clearly Father O'Day was never able to get in touch with them. Just as they are about to go inside to borrow food and supplies they hear a car coming and hide behind some apple crates. A car pulls up and two men get out. One is Lucas Deranian; the other must be Werner Karmen. The children listen to the two men's conversation and learn that Karmen works for Deranian, and that they questioned people in the area and learned that the Kozaks are friends of Father O'Day. Deranian realizes that the children are exhausted and haven't eaten in days, and must use the Kozaks' house as a stopping point. He plans to wait nearby and capture them when they are inside the house. A pair of reporters come up and ask Werner Karmen questions about the children. He puts them off and he and Deranian leave. Before the reporters leave, they spot the bears, who have followed Tony and Tia, and go off after Karmen to let him know.

Just at that moment Tony and Tia hear Father O'Day calling to them -whispering, really, so that only Tony and Tia can hear him. He followed them down in his car, discovering that the Kozaks were not home, and he has been on the lookout for them ever since. Father O'Day hides the children in the back of his car and heads out for the open country. On the way, they are stopped at a roadblock in front of a bridge. Father O'Day chats with the men, and we learn that the men think the children are headed to Witch Mountain. Witch Mountain is an isolated mountain where strange lights and music have been noted off-and-on for many years. One man says that the witches first came there in his grandfather's day, but then they left. They came back about ten or twelve years ago. He also says that the only people that live around there now are "dumb" city folks who wanted to get back to nature.

===SPOILERS===

Later, the children camp with Father O'Day and share all that they have remembered. They wonder if there really is a connection between the witches on Witch Mountain and their own people. Tia remembers that they were in a lifeboat. Their ship had burned, and their people had tried to continue their journey in lifeboats. A lifeboat to Witch Mountain?? Finally, Tia remembers the whole story: They came from another planet. Their old world was drifting closer to one of their two suns, and the few survivors built space ships to search for a new home. Earth was the only planet close enough that could support life. The first explorers landed on Witch Mountain. They were shocked at the cruelty and greed of the Earth people, but had no choice but to try and establish themselves. They stripped their scout ship of everything they could sell to raise money to buy land, then sent most of the party back to their planet to bring the rest of their people. The one who stayed adopted the name Castaway for their entire group. He bought up all the land around the mountain, which began to get a bad reputation with the locals due to the strange lights and music. When the main ship burned while approaching Earth, their people escaped in two lifeboats. The larger one, with about fifty people on it, arrived safely at Witch Mountain. The smaller one, with ten people, was piloted by Tony and Tia's father. The ship was shot down by soldiers over Europe (Hungary -it was during the 1956 rebellion). Most aboard were killed in the crash. Tia, Tony, and Uncle Bené (who was a friend, not a family member) were the only survivors who weren't seriously injured. The communist soldiers imprisoned them and forced the survivors to tell them about their strange abilities. Uncle Bené escaped and wrote to America for money and instructions. Later, he rescued Tony and Tia -all the others died or were killed. Fleeing to the coast to reach the Spanish ship, Uncle Bené was shot... and Tony and Tia ended up with Granny Malone. Before he died, Uncle Bené told them to go to Stony Creek and call a man named Castaway. The children remembered it all at last, but did they remember ten years too late?

The next morning they drive with Father O'Day to Stony Creek. Tony goes with Father O'Day to make enquiries at the post office, leaving Tia and Winkie in the car to keep watch for Mr. Deranian and the other witch hunters. In the post office they find an old mail carrier who remembers a man named Castaway who lived in Misty Valley -an even smaller town closer to Witch Mountain. He tells them that Castaway had a large family who lived with him, but that they all died off. Castway himself had died a few years before. All of their land was bought up by the Misty Valley Cooperative, a group of city people, mostly mutes, who wanted to live in the country.

Heartbroken, Tony and Father O'Day return to the car to tell Tia. Finally, Tia remembers the last clue: She is not odd because she can't speak. Tony is odd, because he can! It seems that their people had no trouble learning English, but only a very few could manage to speak it so that humans could actually hear it. Both children recall that they have never once been sick a day in their lives, and they realize that their people must have been covering their tracks. Tony races to a nearby telephone booth and calls the Misty Valley Cooperative and asks to speak to Mr. Castaway. The man who answers says he'll have to check and see if there is such a person and asks who is calling. Tony gives his name as Tony Castaway, and the man switches to the same ultrasonic speech the Tony and Tia use. He has found their people at last -But Mr. Deranian has just pulled into the parking lot. Tony realizes that he has led Deranian right to his people. He starts to hang up and run, but the man on the phone convinces him that they have a plan to throw Deranian off their track permanently.

Following instructions, Tony runs back to Father O'Day's car, and a chase through the mountain roads begins. Father O'Day's car stops and the children run out and stand on top of a large outcropping of rock. Just as Deranian and his men arrive, a silvery space ship -a flying saucer- swoops down and picks the children up and zooms up to the sky, disappearing in the distance. Deranian and Father O'Day nearly have a fistfight, but Deranian and his men drive off, leaving Father O'Day alone on the mountain. He decides to wait awhile, and then join the children on Witch Mountain.

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The book is much more suspenseful and grown up than the Disney film. The world view is darker, and there is much more death and violence. The book deals with faith, and has a typical late-fifties-early-sixties anti-communist slant. Many people consider Alexander Key's book to be a rip-off of the stories by Zenna Henderson -Pilgrimage: The Book of the People, and The People: No Different Flesh. There are certainly similarities of both story and theme. I read them all as a kid, though Henderson's books are written for adults. All of these books are out of print, but you can find them pretty easily online at places like www.alibris.com and other used booksellers.

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