Subj: Crossing Over Time, Chapter 4
Date: 3/8/99 7:33:19 PM Central Standard Time
From: MsAnn

Chapter 4
Introductions

The walk back to Collinwood was spent mostly in silence. David and Professor Stokes spent their time wondering just what would happen to them once they returned to Collinwood, while Barnabas, Joshua and Bathia were looking around the estate noting the changes that had occurred over the past 172 years while Elizabeth just wished that the entire night hadn't happened. Elizabeth was elated at the opportunity to meet her ancestors, but she would have wished for the circumstances to be much different than what they were. Elizabeth's only solace was that her brother Roger was away on a business trip to Japan and wouldn't be back for another week. Otherwise, the already bad situation would be even worse. Roger had always been unnerved by Stokes' involvement and belief in the supernatural, and if Roger were witness to tonight's events, he would once again criticize Stokes for working with things that "were best left alone." As they approached the front door, Elizabeth stopped and tuned to face her guests. "I think you will find that not much has changed at Collinwood since your time, and that will be of some comfort to you. I believe everyone is still out for the evening so we can get you changed into some modern clothing without embarrassing questions. Then I think all of us should have a talk about what we are going to do next."

"We must act quickly. The witch is searching for us. It will not take her long to find us. We must prepare," said Bathia.

"Will we never be free of her evil!? What will it take to be free of her wretched power?" asked a worried Joshua.

"We will prepare for the witch, Mr. Collins. I have some things that will be of some help to us. I have studied the occult for several years. I know of some ways to deal with witches, although I must admit that I have not ever tried any of them on an actual witch," replied Stokes.

"Let us go inside. I don't think we should be discussing these things here," said Elizabeth as she opened the door and ushered everyone inside.

"The first thing I want to introduce you to is electricity. In the 20th century, you will find that things like candles and lamps have largely been replaced by electric lights of various sizes. This was done for convenience and practicality. Light bulbs lasted for a much longer amount of time than candles or lamps and had the added convenience of being less of a fire hazard," explained Stokes.

Liking this new way of lighting rooms, Joshua commented "I notice that this room is much brighter with the electric lights than with the candles. It makes it much easier for one to read papers from business contacts in the evening."

"Father, is business the only thing you think of?" asked Barnabas.

"If you had been thinking of something other than romance we wouldn't be here in this mess."

"All you ever cared about was the business and family appearances!"

"Those were the sort of things you should have concerned yourself with instead of marrying that woman and disgracing the family," roared Joshua.

In the back of the room Willie whispered to David, "I'm glad they started fightin'. I was startin' ta feel like I was back in school again."

David replied, "Wait until he starts on American history. That's when the true torture starts."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was desperately thinking of a way to make both of her new cousins stop arguing without offending them.

"Father!" yelled a clearly angry Barnabas.

"Calm down, both of you. Whatever happened is in the past," yelled Elizabeth. "This is not the time or the place to bring up old grievances. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't dwell on events of the past because it robs you of the future. Do you want to do that? If you do, then I must ask you to leave my house at once. Do you understand?"

Stunned to silence by Elizabeth's speech, (and the fact that a woman was the one giving such a speech) both men nodded, sat down and let Stokes continue with his lecture.

The next morning Willie and Barnabas (who was dressed in one of Roger's suits) went into town to purchase clothes for everyone. Elizabeth felt it best that they begin their exposure to other items such as cars as soon as possible so that they would become familiar with things that people commonly spoke of. Joshua's gout was bothering him so he did not join Willie and Barnabas in their expedition.

Upon reaching Willie's car in the driveway Barnabas asked, "Is this the automobile that Stokes spoke of?"

"Yeah. That's an automobile. But most people call 'em cars."

"It looks like some great metal chariot. It still seems so unbelievable that people travel without horses here."

"The only horses most people are interested in nowadays are under the hood."

" 'Under the hood?' "

"Oh, I forgot. I guess you wouldn't know about that. Well, let me explain it this way: Stokes told ya that engines power cars."

"Right."

"The number of horses just tells ya how much power your engine's got," answered Willie.

"But there are no horses here. Besides, how can a horse tell you anything?"

"Well, they don't. It's some weird way of measurin' power that some dead guy invented a long time ago," explained Willie. "You know, it's a good thing I came here. If you had been just taught by Stokes, you couldn't have ever learned about the stuff normal people worry about."

"And that is?"

"Get into the car, and I'll tell you about on the way into town." The ride into town served to be uneventful, although Willie had to stop the car once to assure Barnabas that no one was trying to kill them when the car backfired along the road. Once they arrived in town, they went to the local Ohrbach's store to choose some outfits. Barnabas was quite impressed with the number of clothing items that were on display at the store. Willie and Barnabas went through the racks of clothing selecting three suits apiece for Barnabas and Joshua and three dresses for Bathia before returning to Collinwood.

While they were still on the road, Barnabas turned to Willie and asked, "How did you come to be such an expert at fashion? It was almost as though you had training to be a tailor."

Embarrassed at Barnabas' comment, Willie replied, "Well, I have three older sisters who were fashion experts. I guess I sort of learned from them. Say, do you think your father will be feelin' better when we get back? I was going to show you around town so you get to know where everything is."

"Well, he usually is better after a few hours. So long as he doesn't have to walk too much he should be alright."

Forty-five minutes later, Willie and Barnabas led a semi-reluctant Bathia and Joshua to Willie's car. Willie had promised to take them all to a classical music recital in Bangor in exchange for letting him take him to the places where "ordinary people went to eat and have fun at." Their first stop was lunch at McDonald's.

Willie seated the group in a booth and ordered cheeseburgers, fries and cokes for all of them. He felt that things should start slowly and there would be time later to introduce them to delicacies such as the Big Mac.

"So, what do you think of it?" Willie asked nervously.

Barnabas took a bite of his cheeseburger and slowly chewed it before replying, "Not bad. It isn't one of the cook's meals but it is definitely better than ship's rations."

"This is the 20th century idea of food?" asked Bathia with a frown on her face.

Joshua had been noticing the ever-increasing line of people ordering food at the counter. "Is this place like this every day?"

"What do you mean?" asked Willie.

"Do all these people come here every day to eat?"

"Yeah. Most of the people are regulars. This place gets really good business. I heard that the owner is thinkin' about opening up another one across town soon."

Joshua's eyes lit up at that comment. "You said earlier these types of restaurants are all over the country. Are they prosperous as well?"

Barnabas looked up from his meal, disturbed at the way the conversation was going. He knew the look in his father's eyes. It meant that he had stumbled onto a new way of making money and he knew from experience that it was in ones best interest not to cross his father when that look appeared.

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And onward to chapter 5....