Subj: Crossing over Time, Chapter 8
Date: 8/6/99 10:21:20 PM Central Daylight Time
From: MsAnn

The following morning, Bathia Mapes found herself standing in front of the large structure known as Rose Cottage. 'There is a lot more going on here than we have all been led to believe. It is time the truth be known!'

Bathia approached the door and knocked gently. "Mrs. Collins?"

"Who's there?" answered a voice from inside.

"I am Bathia Mapes, a neighbor and a friend. I have come to help you in your time of need."

The door opened, and a young red-haired woman appeared. "We appreciate your concern, Mrs. Mapes, but Sabrina isn't really up to visitors right now."

"No, it's all right, Roxanne," said a new voice entering the area. "Mrs. Mapes, you may come in."

"Sabrina, are you sure you're up to see a visitor?" asked a concerned Roxanne.

"Yes, I'll be fine."

Roxanne stood aside and allowed Bathia to enter the foyer. She looked around cautiously, as if looking for something."

"Is something wrong, Mrs. Mapes?" asked a curious Sabrina.

"Your husband did not cause your accident. The one who caused your accident is here in this house now, hiding from us in a hidden place. It is up to us to discover the truth."

Roxanne and Sabrina exchanged looks of skepticism at Bathia's words. Their expression changed to shock and surprise as Bathia moved to a wall on the far side of the room and suddenly opened a secret panel unknown to both of them, exposing an equally shocked man behind it.

"Stephen!" was all the stunned Sabrina was able to utter.

*************************

That afternoon, Barnabas, Willie, and Joshua found themselves in the basement of Collinwood looking through some old family records.

"Mr. Collins, I don't see anything down here that could be of help. The best thing I've found are some of Flora Collins' novels."

"I haven't seen anything either, Father. Although I have found an interesting account of a fight between you, Aunt Abigail, Eppie Green and Noah Scott."

"Who won?" asked Willie with a devilish grin.

"Never mind! We have more important things to do than to dig up the past!"

"But I thought..." began Barnabas.

"Just look for the recipe!" yelled Joshua, clearly frustrated with the direction of the conversation. When he caught Barnabas about to give the answer to Willie, he quickly intervened. "And you two don't need to be discussing that either. We have more important things to do here than to amuse the both of you."

"I found some love letters from you to your wife," chimed in Willie with a slight grin on his face. "I didn't think you had it in ya', Mr. Collins."

"What?!" said Joshua in horror.

"Yeah," said Willie as he showed the paper to Joshua and Barnabas. "You were declaring your love for your beloved--"

"I don't think we need to go into that," said Joshua. "Besides, I think I've found something we can use."

"What's that, Father?"

"I have found two journals which contained recipes. One is from Daphne Harridge. She apparently copied a recipe sent to her from her sister Joanna for an apple pie. The second is from a journal of a Jenny Collins. This one is less coherent than the other one in many sections. Apparently she went mad as time progressed, but some of the early entries could be of use."

"But everyone has pies and homemade stuff at home. How are ya goin' to attract everyone's attention to yours?" asked Willie.

"These are homemade recipes. I have observed that a lot of your food comes from boxes made elsewhere. The people of Collinsport will welcome change. During the opening week, we shall give away samples. This will show the customers what our products taste like and they will want more."

"So long as Mrs. Johnson doesn't come within a mile of the kitchen," said Willie. "Remember last night's dinner?"

"Don't remind me," said Barnabas with a sour expression on his face. The 'meatloaf' they'd had encouraged everyone to eat small portions and then sneak out of the house and go out for dinner at the Lobster Shack.

"Which brings me to my next point," interrupted Joshua. "What progress have you two made with preparing the advertisement for Collinburger?"

"We finished the draft of the TV commercial this afternoon. We talked to Mrs. Mapes and David already, and they agreed to help out. We're having a dress rehearsal this evening to get out of dinner. Elliot's cousin will be over tomorrow afternoon to begin shooting."

"Where is this 'commercial?' I would like to see it."

"Well, if you'll come upstairs, we'll show it to ya, Mr. Collins," said Willie as the trio left to view the all-important commercial.

*********************************************************
And because you demanded it, here's the commercial! *********************************************************

The Commercial!
Actors:
NARRATOR : Barnabas Collins
WILLIE: William H. Loomis
EMPLOYEE #1: Harry Johnson
BATHIA: Bathia Mapes
DAVID: David Collins
BARNABAS: Barnabas Collins
Producer: Joshua Collins
Director: D.H. Stokes, II
Writers: Barnabas Collins and William H. Loomis

NARRATOR : Are you tired of all those restaurants which give you second class treatment?

DAVID and BATHIA walk up to a counter of a typical fast food restaurant. EMPLOYEE #1 looks less than pleased

EMPLOYEE#1: (rudely) What d'ya want!?

BATHIA: I would like a hamburger for myself and a children's meal for my grandson here.

DAVID: (excited) And the toy, please!

EMPLOYEE#1 shoves at BATHIA and DAVID a small, burnt burger on a stale bun, (from the kitchen of Sarah Johnson) and a toy which is broken.

DAVID: This is broken!

EMPLOYEE #1: So what! You got your toy!

BATHIA: And this food is not fresh. It's terrible!

EMPLOYEE #1: You got something to eat, didn't ya! It 's edible. Quit complaining.

NARRATOR: If this has ever happened to you, you owe it to yourself to stop by Collinburger, where you will receive fast friendly service and food fit for royalty!

(BATHIA and DAVID enter Collinburger where they are greeted by the BARNABAS before heading to WILLIE at the counter)

WILLIE: (politely) How may I help you today ma'am?

BATHIA: I would like two hamburgers and a tub of chowder.

DAVID: And the toy soldier!

BARNABAS escorts BATHIA and DAVID to a clean, tidy booth. WILLIE arrives a moment later with fresh, delicious looking food, and a toy soldier in excellent condition for DAVID. DAVID and BATHIA look pleased.

BARNABAS: So come to Collinburger where you'll be treated like royalty! Grand Opening next Tuesday! Free samples of our famous Apple Pie and Chowder all day. We hope to see you there!