Collinsport -- 26
From: DSRules

SATURDAY

Wrapped in a sweater that her favorite aunt had knitted for her, Azura stepped down from the front porch of the house. As she walked around to the rear of the house, she heard footsteps behind her.

She spun around to face her pursuer and saw that it was Adam.

"Dad!" she yelled as she ran to hug her father. "What brings you out this far from town?"

"Just wanted to visit my favorite daughter," she smiled at her. "Isn't that one of the sweaters that Adele knitted for you?"

"Yeah," she nodded as they continued walking farther onto the peninsula. "Rodney sent a box of my stuff to me. He sent me this, and your and Mom's wedding picture, and a bunch of other things. He knew that I'd want them."

"Sounds like he's trying to get back into your good graces. Will you forgive him?"

She made a face. "Catching him in bed with Brooke was only an excuse. I'd been wanting to leave him for a while before I finally did it." She got the feeling that she was being watched. She looked back at the house, but didn't see anyone there.

"Really? Why didn't you?" They'd reached the end of the promontory by then and Azura's brown hair whipped around in the wind.

She shrugged. "Afraid that you and Mom would be disappointed, I guess."

"You know that your mother and I could never be disappointed in you," Adam reassured her, but it was obvious that she didn't believe him. "Well, that's not what I came here to discuss. I actually wanted to know if you could get away from here for a few hours."

"Zoe is actually out visiting a neighbor right now. I could call her and see if she can keep an eye on her until we get back. Unless we can bring her with us."

"I don't know if she'd want to come with us," Adam said, "but if she wants to, she's welcome to."

"Why?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?"

"I want to take you to meet . . .," he paused, trying to find the courage to finish the thought, "my parents."

* * * * *

"Have any big plans for this weekend?" Carolyn asked.

Sally had come into the antique shop to see if there was anything she liked for the drawing room. Carolyn had the glazier and chimney sweep over to make the second story of the main house habitable on Tuesday, and so Sally had cleaned up and moved her mattress into the bedroom next to the library.

"Not really. I've got a friend coming over tomorrow to help strip the varnish in the drawing room, but that's about it."

"A {friend,} huh? Well, tell your {friend} hi for me." Carolyn turned away to help a customer who had approached her, and Sally went back to examining the antiques.

* * * * *

"Your parents?" Azura asked. "I didn't even know that you had parents. I mean, of course you had parents. You know what I mean!"

Adam did know what she meant. "You're just surprised that you have grandparents on my side."

She nodded. "What happened? Did you have a falling out or something?"

"You could say that. At any rate, it's time you met them. It's past time for me to patch things up with them. So. Are you interested?"

"In meeting my grandparents? Just try to stop me!"

"What about . . . What did you say her name was?"

"Zoe. Well, if you want to take a walk with me, we can go down to Margaret's and see if she's up for a trip."

* * * * *

David relaxed on his associate's couch. Being a psychiatrist himself, David was well aware that he was under no obligation to lie down while speaking with his therapist, but Hank had spared no expense on his furniture, and David just loved this couch.

"And so you broke things off with this Sally, then?"

David nodded. "And it's the strangest thing. When Hallie and I split up, I missed the kids, but I didn't really miss *her*. But even though we'd only gone out to eat a couple of times and been to a movie, I really miss Sally. Several times this week, I've been just about to call her to ask her to dinner, or tell her a funny story that I just heard, or tell her about Burke getting an A on his math test, and then I remember that I'm supposed to stay away from her."

"For her own good," Hank reminded him.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't have broken up with her if I didn't think it was for her own good," he snapped, which he instantly regretted. "See what I mean? I don't know what it is, but there's something about her that keeps her in my thoughts."

* * * * *

Sally had been browsing for several minutes, not finding anything that she was looking for, when the bell above the door jingled.

"Howdy, stranger! Long time no see!" Carolyn greeted the caller.

"Carolyn! I was hoping you'd be here!"

Recognizing the voice, Sally spun around and, with a big smile, said, "Hi, Maggie!"

Maggie just looked at her blankly.

"Don't you recognize me, Maggie?

"It's me.

"Sarah."

Collinsport -- 27
From: DSRules

Maggie's gaze grew distant, and she said in a little-girl voice. "Sarah? I don't know anyone named Sarah."

Carolyn came over. "What happened?"

Sally replied, truly confused. "I don't know. I just said hello to her, and she got like this."

"You just said hello?" As Sally nodded, Carolyn waved a hand in front of Maggie's face, but she didn't respond.

Carolyn sighed. "We need to speak about this later. Right now, see if you can help me snap her out of this." When Sally hesitated, Carolyn said, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm just afraid that if I get too close to her, it'll make her worse."

"Well, go and get a glass of water then. Hurry!" Carolyn guided her old friend to a chair and helped her sit down. Sally returned with the glass and handed it to Carolyn. Carolyn coaxed Maggie into taking a sip of the water, making her sputter.

"Carolyn?" Sally asked.

"Mm-hmm?"

"I think I'm just . . . gonna go. Is that OK?"

Carolyn nodded. "Maggie'll be fine. I hope."

Sally left the shop as quickly as she could and headed back toward Collinwood.

* * * * *

Adam and Azura were returning up the road with Zoe in tow, when she dashed ahead of them. "I'll go and tell Dad where we're going, 'K?"

"All right, Zoe! Just be careful!"

After she was out of earshot, Adam asked his daughter, "She's going to ask her father? I thought that you'd be the one to do that."

"Well, it's kinda complicated. You see, he's . . . . He sort of keeps to himself."

"Keeps to himself? Meaning?"

"Meaning I've never spoken to him."

"But you have met him, right?"

Azura shook her head. "Nope."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm not the first governess they've had, the other one survived the experience, and just in case it turns out that he's psycho or something, if there's one thing you taught me, it's how to take care of myself."

* * * * *

Sally rattled around in the drawing room like she was the last Junior Mint in the box. She had wanted to get some research on Federal style architecture done on the Internet, or at least get started stripping the varnish from the walls of the drawing room, but she just couldn't sit still. Finally, she pulled Julia Hoffman's business card from her purse and called her cell phone number.

"Hello? Dr. Hoffman? This is Sally Bradford. I'm . . . . That's right, I'm the one who's restoring Collinwood, and who came to visit your husband."

She sighed. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. "Look, I just had a kind of upsetting experience, and I was wondering if I could come in and talk to you about it."

Sally paused while Julia responded in the affirmative. "Thank you, Dr. Hoffman. I'll be there within the hour."

She hung up the phone, grabbed her purse, threw on a jacket, and headed out the front door of the house.

* * * * *

Maggie had just started responding to Carolyn's ministrations when Joe arrived. "Maggie, what's been keeping you? You know that we have to hit the road soon!" Then he noticed how pale his wife was. "What's the matter, honey?"

"Hmmm?" Maggie asked. "What do you mean?"

Carolyn took Joe aside and said in a soft voice, "I think that Maggie just had a dizzy spell. I sat her down and gave her some water. I'm sure that she'll be fine, soon."

When they turned back around, they saw that Maggie was back on her feet. "Well, come on, Joe! We've got to go if we're going to make it to Bangor in time for the party!"

Joe was stunned by his wife's sudden recuperation, but he chose not to argue with good fortune. The pair gave Carolyn farewell hugs and left the store.

* * * * *

Barnabas had always made a point of looking through the peep-hole before he opened the door. The one time that he failed to do so turned out to be the best mistake he ever made, for he never would have opened the door, had he known who was standing on his doorstep.

"Adam!" was all he managed to choke out before he slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

Adam wrapped his arms around Barnabas and helped him into the living room. He set him gently in a chair and waited for Barnabas to catch his breath.

"What are you doing here?" Barnabas asked, once he finally had enough breath to do so.

"I thought that it was time that my daughter met her grandparents."

* * * * *

Julia took her keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked the door of her office. No sooner had she turned on the lights and taken off her coat than Sally walked in the door.

"Dr. Hoffman?" she asked.

"Please, call me Julia. You are, after all, practically family, now that you're living at Collinwood."

"Thank you."

"And take off your coat. There's a coat rack over there," Julia indicated the corner next to her desk with a nod of her head. "I just have to make a few notes and then I'll be right with you."

Sally looked around the office while Julia made her notes. The walls were painted in an odd shade of what Sally could only describe as a mint green. It wasn't an unpleasant color, just an unusual one.

Sally was looking at the bookshelves when Julia looked up and said, "are you ready to begin?"

She nodded. "Just playing {Name That Psychologist} with your bookshelves. You don't have any Freud."

Julia shook her head. "Can't stand the man. I know that I owe my entire profession to him, but I can't help feeling that if Sigmund Freud hadn't invented psychiatry, someone else would have."

Sally smiled at this, and walked over to join the psychiatrist.

"Would you feel more comfortable in the chair or on the couch?" Julia asked.

Sally weighed her options and decided on the chair. She would have opted for the couch, but she noticed that the chair was a reclining model, and so she adjusted it to make herself a little more comfortable once she sat down.

"You said on the phone that you had an upsetting experience today?" Julia asked by way of an opening.

Sally nodded. "It's hard to explain, really. When I was visiting Carolyn at the antique shop, I met a woman today. I just realized that I don't even know her name. Carolyn seemed to know her. Wait!" she paused for a moment, thinking. "Carolyn called her Maggie."

"Maggie Haskell?"

"Maybe," Sally shrugged. "Anyway, her voice sounded familiar to me, somehow, and so I said hello to her, and she got this really spaced-out kinda look in her eyes and her voice got real . . . I don't know how to describe it. It sounded like a little girl's voice."

Julia recognized these symptoms from the time when Barnabas tried to make Maggie his bride. She knew, of course, that Barnabas couldn't have triggered this episode, but this development concerned her deeply. "You said that she spoke to you. What did she say?"

"It was really weird. She said something like, {I don't know anyone named Sarah}?"

Julia kept reassuring herself that this situation could not possibly be as bad as it seemed. "Can you remember *exactly* what it was that you said to her?"

Sally thought for a minute. "No. I just think I said hello."

"But you're not sure."

"No."

Julia reached into her purse and pulled out a medallion covered in little diamond-shaped mirrors. "May I hypnotize you? I usually have good luck in getting my patients to remember things that they've forgotten under hypnosis. If I hypnotize you, maybe some detail of the incident will come out."

"Well, if you think it's a good idea."

Sally made herself more comfortable, and Julia began the monologue that she used to put her patients under. "Watch the way the light bounces off of the mirrors. . . ."

After she was certain that Sally was under, Julia asked, "When you first saw Maggie Haskell in the antique shop, what did you say to her?"

Sally said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "I said {Don't you recognize me, Maggie? It's me. Sarah.}"

* * * * *

"Your daughter?" Barnabas looked behind Adam and saw Azura and Zoe. He addressed Azura. "You're Adam's wife?"

Adam laughed, a sound that Barnabas didn't think he'd ever heard before. "No, Barnabas. That's my daughter, Azura."

"Oh. I'm very pleased to meet you." Barnabas' first instinct was to kiss her hand, then in middle of lifting her hand to his lips, he decided to shake it instead. Then he made his final decision, and gave her a hug. He indicated Zoe, who was standing behind Azura. "So this is *your* daughter?" he asked her.

Azura smiled and pulled Zoe in front of her. "No. This is Zoe Chance. I'm her governess. Zoe, this is Barnabas Collins. He's my grandfather."

Barnabas got a warm feeling in his heart hearing the young woman call him her grandfather.

"Where's Julia?" Adam asked.

"Oh. She had an emergency and had to go in to her office at the hospital. She said that she'd be home as early as she could make it. Meanwhile, why don't I show you some family pictures?" Barnabas decided to go out on a limb, and said to Adam, "You've been gone so long. I'll bet you don't even know that you have a brother and sister."

Adam's eyes grew wide at this pronouncement. "No. I didn't know that."

"I have an aunt and an uncle?" Azura was very pleasantly surprised by this. "Any cousins?"

Barnabas shook his head. "None yet, I'm afraid. But Ben, that's your uncle, is 26 and Tori, that's your aunt, is 24. There's plenty of time for cousins yet, I'm sure. Now, if you'll follow me into my study, I'll show you pictures of Ben and Tori, and of the Old House in Collinsport. That's where we were living when Adam was . . . born."