Collinsport -- Part 3
From: DSRules

After a short, pleasant drive up a hill that Sally was glad she didn't have to climb on foot, Alexis's car pulled into the driveway in front of one of the largest houses Sally had ever seen.

The two women walked to the front door, and Alexis put the key in the lock. "No one has lived in this house for nearly fifteen years. I guess that you could say that it's a bit of a 'fixer-upper.' The owners will be willing to lower the rent accordingly. They want someone who will fix this house up like it was in its prime. If you take it, anything you spend on repairs you can take off of the rent. Frankly, I kind of expect that most of the time they'll end up owing the tenant money," Alexis smiled and pushed the door of the house open.

The house was in an advanced state of disrepair. Some of the colored pieces had fallen out of the huge stained-glass window over the staircase, the entry to the drawing room had double-doors, one of which had fallen off the hinges, and there were cracks (some of them could better be classified as holes) in the plaster of walls of the foyer.

Alexis flipped the chandelier on, which promptly sputtered and flickered to indicate that it had a short-circuit. "Well? What do you think?"

Sally replied, "You said that it's a 'fixer-upper.' If the rest of the house is like this, I think that it might almost add new meaning to the term."

Sally crossed over to examine the bannister of the staircase. "I would love to get all of this old varnish off of this wood and see what's underneath. Well, Alexis, let's continue the tour. I think you might just have a deal."

As Alexis led the way into the drawing room, the two women stepped around the missing drawing room door, which lay in the middle of the floor. A large number of the panes were missing from the windows, and, consequently, there was water damage to the floorboards. When Sally found herself hoping that she wasn't going to have to replace too many of them, and that she'd be able to find wood that was a reasonable match, she realized that she'd made her decision, but she decided to refrain from telling Alexis quite yet -- who knew what other damage she'd find in the house that might change her mind.

As Alexis led Sally through the doorway that led from the foyer to the kitchen, Sally asked, "I can see why you want to show this house, but why did you say that it would be a perfect house for me? It is a little big for one person during the week and two on weekends."

"Oh! Didn't you know? Victoria Winters was governess here. This is Collinwood."

LATER:

After they finished the tour, Alexis said, "Before you make any final decisions, I think you should meet your landlady."

Sally headed for the car after they exited the house, but Alexis motioned for her to follow her down a path that ran along the west side of the house, which led to a small cottage with a sporty- looking late-model car parked next to it.

Alexis walked up to the front door and knocked. "Carolyn is especially busy on the weekends, so she closes the antique store on Mondays and Tuesdays."

After a minute, a young blonde woman came to the door. "Alexis! Hi!"

The two women hugged, and then Alexis introduced Sally, "Carolyn Hawkes, this is Sally Bradford. She's interested in renting Collinwood from you."

"Come in, won't you?" Carolyn stepped back from the door to admit Alexis and Sally into the cottage.

Once Sally had looked at Carolyn for a few minutes, she realized that Carolyn wasn't as young as she had at first thought. She was probably middle-aged, but there was something about her body language that spoke of a much younger woman.

The three women discussed business and after Carolyn and Sally agreed on a rental amount for Collinwood, Carolyn said, "You're welcome to stay for lunch, Sally. You, too, Alexis."

At this point, Alexis looked at her watch. "It's nearly noon. I'd better be getting back to the office. You're welcome to stay if you want, though, Sally."

"How will I get back to the Collinsport Inn?"

"I can give you a lift into town," Carolyn said.

This settled, Alexis left and Carolyn and Sally went into the kitchen.

"So, you're last name is Bradford. Any relation to Peter Bradford?"

Carolyn asked this question merely to begin some small talk and she was dumbfounded when Sally responded, "Yes, actually, he's my some number of greats grandfather."

"And so you're descended from Victoria Winters, too?"

"Why does everyone seem so fascinated by her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was when I mentioned her to Alexis, that Alexis thought of showing me Collinwood."

"Really? I guess it's because we all knew her so well."

"How could you have known her? She died in the 18th century."

"Well, I won't tell you the year that she was born. Let's just say that she was two years younger than I am."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. It's a long story . . . ."

As Carolyn related the tale of the young foundling governess who found true love 200 years in the past, Carolyn was amazed that, although she couldn't find any trace of Vicki in Sally's face, Vicki was present in nearly all of Sally's mannerisms.

As the two women washed up the dishes, a middle-aged man came into the kitchen. "Carolyn, didn't you hear me? I've been knocking on the front door for something like five minutes."

"Didn't you ever think to ring the doorbell?" Carolyn snapped in a jovial tone.

When Carolyn noticed the man looking at Sally, she said, "Sally, this is Chris Jennings. I guess you could say that he's my next door neighbor."

"If you consider a cottage half a mile through the forest to be next door, I guess I am," Chris said with a smile so infectious that Sally found herself smiling back.

As Chris shook Sally's hand, she said, "Sally Bradford."

"She's going to be leasing Collinwood from me."

"Ah! So you finally got someone to agree to fix up that white elephant?"

"Chris! That's no way to talk about the ancestral seat of the Clan Collins."

"I just came over to make sure that we're still on for dinner tonight."

"Of course, Chris. It wouldn't be Monday night without the weekly Jennings/Hawkes family dinner."

Chris addressed Sally, "and since you're going to be part of the family now, you're invited, too."

Sally, uncertain what to say, glanced over at Carolyn. Carolyn nodded her head to indicate that she should accept, and Sally said, "I'd be delighted."

"Great! I've got to get going and tell Sabrina that there'll be one more for dinner." He addressed Carolyn, "Has anyone taken her to Wyndcliffe to meet David yet?" Chris asked.

"No. Actually, I was about to ask if she'd be available to go with me when I go up there this afternoon."

After a deceptively short drive, "It's nearly 100 miles," Carolyn explained, "but somehow, it always seems shorter than that. In fact, David once walked back from Wyndcliffe when he was a kid," they drove past a sign that said {Wyndcliffe Sanitarium}.

Carolyn parked her car in the lot just behind the sign, and the two women walked down the driveway toward what looked like a residential neighborhood of about five modest houses. They walked up to the nearest of the five and Carolyn opened the door and walked in.

It was obvious that this building had been someone's house at some point in its history. They walked into what had previously been the foyer, but which now had a white laminate desk with a the word {REGISTRATION} written in large black letters on the front.

The nurse behind the desk greeted them, "Hi, Carolyn! Here to see your mom?"

Carolyn nodded. "But first, I want to introduce our new tenant to David. Do you know where he is right now?"

"So, you've found someone to lease Collinwood?"

"Mmm-hmm. This is Sally Bradford."

"I think David's in his office."

"OK, thanks, Mabel." Carolyn led Sally down a hallway. Stopping at a door that read, {David Collins, M.D.}, Carolyn knocked.

The two women waited a minute, and then Carolyn knocked again.

Another minute or so later, Sally said, "Maybe he's been called away."

"No. When Mabel says that he's in his office, he's in his office. It's just taking him a while to get to the door."

Just as she said this, the door opened and a handsome man with sandy brown hair answered the door.

His expression, which had been dour at first, brightened when he saw them. "Carolyn!" he exclaimed, hugging the blonde woman. "Are you here to visit Aunt Elizabeth?"

"Yep. Time for my weekly visit with Mother. Also, I've brought our new tenant to meet you."

"You've finally found someone to rent Collinwood?" he paused and said, "Tenant? Only one of them? I think a whole army would be more appropriate."

"I think you'll see why I chose to rent to her when once you've gotten to know her."

Just then, Sally stepped into the doorway, and Carolyn introduced them. "Sally Bradford, this is my cousin, David Collins."

"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Collins," Sally said, extending her hand.

"Please, call me David." Something about Sally was so familiar to David. It may have been something in her face, or possibly something in her body language. And then there was her name, {Bradford} he thought. {I wonder. . . Is she any relation to . . .}

David was interrupted in his thoughts by Sally answering the very question he had been about to ask. "I'm descended from Vicki Winters and Peter Bradford."

Just then, David noticed that they were still standing in the hallway. "Please, Miss Bradford. . ."

"If I'm to call you David, then you must call me Sally."

"Very well. Sally. It seems that we have a lot to talk about." David looked to Carolyn. "Will you be coming in with us, or do you want to look in on Aunt Elizabeth?"

"I think I'd better check on Mother. You know, it is my day to visit her. How's she doing?"

David shook his head. "No change, I'm afraid."

As Carolyn walked back up the hallway, David watched his cousin. He turned to Sally, a disheartened expression on his face. Then an obviously forced cheerfulness crossed his face. "So, let's sit down and talk for a few minutes while Carolyn visits her mother."

"David?"

"What?"

"Carolyn's mother is never going to get better, is she?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"I could see it on your face."

David sighed. "They taught me in med school to avoid saying that a patient will 'never' get better, but she's been in a catatonic state for 10 years now, and with every day it becomes less likely she'll ever recover. I hate seeing her like this. All of my life, even in her weakest moment, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard had a strength that I've never seen in any other person, but all of the tragedy that's happened just wore her away, and one day she gave out."

David closed his eyes to stifle the tears that were building up in them. "It won't be any good for Carolyn to find out that we've been talking about this, so let's talk about something else, shall we?"

Sally got her first good look around David's office. She could see that the Gothic environment he had been raised in had left its mark on him. His office was done in dark woods and there were various stone and brass objets d'art interspersed among the psychiatry publications on his bookshelves. One thing that caught Sally's attention was a large white candle -- the type used in the 1970s as a dinner table centerpiece surrounded by a wreath of silk flowers -- on his lateral file cabinet.

"So, you're related to Vicki, huh? Did anyone tell you that she used to be my governess?"

Sally nodded. "I'm not sure I understand all of it, but Carolyn tried to explain it to me while we were at her house."

David smiled, "It's OK if you don't understand how the time-travel worked. I don't think I understand it myself, and I've lived in Collinwood my whole life."

"You think that Collinwood. . ."

"Caused Vicki's time travel? I couldn't possibly doubt it, especially since everything else that has happened there."

"I was wondering, since I'm going to be renovating Collinwood while I'm living there, do you have any pictures or anything of what the house looked like at its peak?"

David shook his head. "Not that into family history, I'm afraid. If you want to know Collins family history, you should probably call my cousin, Barnabas. He lives in Bangor." He riffled through his Rolodex momentarily. Once he pulled out the card he was looking for, he looked around his desk for a pad of paper. Finally, he pulled the prescription pad out of his coat pocket and hastily scribbled his cousin's name and phone number down.

When he handed the sheet of paper to Sally, she glanced at it and asked, "It says here that I should take this three times a day on an empty stomach."

David glanced at the slip of paper. "Does it really?"

Sally laughed, "Of course it doesn't. It plainly says 'Barnabas Collins, 555-1357.' It's just a good thing I had a lot of practice reading prescriptions when I was a kid."

"Really? Why?"

"I was sick a lot when I was a child. In fact, one of my earliest memories is recovering from what I was later told was pneumonia." She never got to tell him the rest of her story, because she was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

"David Collins," David said in a professional tone as he picked up the receiver.

There was a pause, and then he said, "yes, Hallie, I'll be there. Have I ever missed his birthday?"

Another pause, "and I won't miss it this year either. I'm his father, for God's sake."

"I know."

"Yes." This was said on a sigh.

"Good-bye." David hung up the phone. "I'm sorry about that," he said to Sally. "That was my soon- to-be ex-wife. Tomorrow is our son's birthday, and she wants to make sure I'll be there." He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair.

Just then Carolyn returned, her eyes puffy and her nose red, as if she'd been crying. "I haven't been crying," she lied, "it's these darned allergies."

"I know," David sympathized, "they really are bad this year, aren't they?"

"Sally?" Carolyn asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure. It was nice to meet you, David."

"You, too, Sally."

As Carolyn and Sally left the hospital, Sally asked, "will you be able to drive me back to the hotel after dinner?"

"Oh! I completely forgot you were staying there! Why don't you check out of your room there and you can spend the night with Beth and me at our house?"