Subj: Crossing Over Time, Chapter 5
Date: 3/10/99 7:13:07 AM Central Standard Time
From: DSRules

Always having been a solitary man, Barnabas took the first opportunity to explore the grounds that presented itself. As he walked, he could almost forget that he was lost in a time nearly two centuries after his own era. The trees, naturally, were much larger than they had been in the 18th century, but he could hear the pounding of the ocean on the rocks below Widows' Hill, and it almost felt like home to him.

As he emerged from the trees into the shadow of The Old House, he beheld a most startling sight. The sapling that he and Sarah had planted on his most recent birthday had become a full-grown tree. Someone had hung a swing from the lowest branch on the tree, and sitting on that swing, reading a book, was Vicki Winters, David's governess.

"Good afternoon, Miss Winters."

She jumped at the sound of his voice, startled. "Oh! Good afternoon, Barnabas."

At first, he was taken aback by her use of his first name, but then he reminded himself that he was in a different era, one in which, apparently, the use of one's personal name was a sign of friendliness, not of disrespect.

"What are you reading?" Barnabas asked.

Vicki flipped the book over so that he could see the title.

"'Gone With the Wind . . .'? What is it about?"

"You don't know what 'Gone With the Wind' is about? Haven't you ever seen the movie?"

Barnabas shook his head, perplexed. He'd never heard of a 'movie' before in his life.

She smiled. "It's about the Civil War." She still didn't see any recognition in his eyes, so she tried again. "The American Civil War? In the 1800s?"

He had at least heard of this war. Professor Stokes had touched briefly on it during his American history lesson. "Ah!" He responded, making a mental note to ask Professor Stokes for more detail.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm just taking a tour of the property. There are so many old family legends about Collinwood, the Old House, Widows' Hill . . . . I just couldn't wait to become as acquainted with these places as my ancestors were."

"It is a beautiful estate," Vicki responded with a smile. "That's why I'm out here. Today's my day off; Carolyn has taken David into Bangor to go shopping with her. I just can't get enough of the grounds, though -- except for January and February, when it's just too cold out here."

He remembered that Liz had mentioned her daughter, Carolyn, the previous night, but he had not yet met her.

"Would you care to join me for a walk?" He asked.

"I would love to," Vicki responded with a smile as she put her bookmark in her book and closed it.

They stood on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was low tide, and the receding ocean had left a wide strip of sand bare. "I've always wished that there was a safe way to get down there," Vicki said, wistfully.

Before he could stop himself, Barnabas responded, "There is. It's a stairway leading from the basement in the Old House. Come with me, I'll show you."

He walked her back to the Old House, then through the basement, where he opened a door in one of the external walls of the house. "After you," he said gallantly.

"Those stairs look awfully dangerous, Barnabas," Vicki looked up at him with fear in her brown eyes.

"Don't worry. There's a trick to getting down them safely. I'll show you what it is as we go down."

Propping the door open, he offered his arm to Vicki and they made their way down the stairs into the cave below.

Vicki's breath caught in her throat. "I've lived here for more than a year, and I never knew that anything like this existed."

Barnabas smiled at her. "There are many hidden places like this on the estate. If you like, we can discover them all together." He wanted to kiss her, but, remembering the scandal caused the last time he acted on his feelings, thought better of it.

"I'd like that very much."

The pair spent time on the beach, enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the smell of the sea in the air. Vicki picked up a couple of perfect shells while she was there. "For some of the children back home," she explained to him.

By the time they became aware of how much time had passed, the sun already hung low in the sky, and Vicki realized that they should be returning to Collinwood to prepare for dinner.

* * * * *

When Barnabas and Vicki returned to the house, he found Professor Stokes had come for dinner, as well. "Professor Stokes, I must speak to you about something."

"Yes, my dear boy?"

"What can you tell me about a book called 'Gone With the Wind'?"

"Where ever did you hear that name?"

"Vicki was reading it when I found her in the woods."

"Ah! I can do better than that. The movie theater in town is running a revival of the film adaptation of that book. Perhaps you should go and see it -- it will give you a familiarity with movie theaters, as well as with the story."

"What is a movie, exactly, Professor Stokes?"

Professor Stokes took the time to demonstrate by quickly creating a small flip-book, and then explained how celluloid replaced the paper, and actors replaced the stick figure, and then the whole thing was projected onto a screen. In the process, he thoroughly confused the other man. "Never mind," he finally said. "Why don't you take Liz or Bathia or your father with you when you go into town to see the movie?"

Barnabas simply nodded as if he agreed with the scholar's suggestion. Privately, on the other hand, another idea had seized his heart -- he would take Vicki to the movie with him.

* * * * *

Vicki hadn't been able to stop talking about the movie during their walk home. She talked about how, in the book, Tara had been an ugly cinderblock house, not the stately mansion they made it in the movie, but that Margaret Mitchell had been overruled by the people who made the film. "Of course, there is a lot more detail to the book than there is in the movie."

"I gathered." He smiled at her. "It must be quite some book."

"It is." She smiled. "It's one of my favorites. You have to read it some time. Bonnie is not her only child in the book."

"Mm-hmmm. . ."

"She had a son named Wade, then a daughter named Ella, for her mother, Ellen, then Bonnie and then -- the child that she lost."

Barnabas noticed a catch in her voice as she said this, but didn't dare ask her about it. By then, they had reached Collinwood. "Thank you for a lovely evening." He said.

"Thank you, Barnabas."

"Vicki -- May I call on you?"

"Call on me? Barnabas, your room is just down the hallway from mine." Then she realized what he was asking her. "You mean you want to date me?"

"Date?" This was a new term for him, but he sensed that that was the correct 20th century word for the relationship he would like to establish with Vicki. "Yes. I would like to date you."

She smiled happily. "That would be fine with me, Barnabas."

He opened the door for her, and once they were in the foyer, he then helped her take her jacket off.

"Vicki? Barnabas?" Liz called from the drawing room. "Is that you?"

"Yes it is, Mrs. Stoddard." Vicki responded.

"There's . . . someone here to see you, Vicki."

"Oh? Who -- " Her voice stopped abruptly as she saw who her visitor was. "Oh, my God! Burke!"