Collinsport -- 32
From: DSRules

TUESDAY

Succumbing to the odd feeling of presentiment that had been dogging him all morning, David walked to the shelf where he kept the various divination tools he'd acquired through his life. He looked at his first acquisition, the crystal ball that Burke Devlin had given him when he was a child. Then he contemplated an old tarot deck that he'd found at Collinwood. He suspected it had belonged to Natalie DuPres, but he'd never been able to find anyone who could confirm that suspicion. Finally deciding, he picked up a New International Version Bible. He'd bought this Bible because it didn't have any pictures to bias the results of his attempts.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of anticipation.

He let the book fall open in his hand.

He stabbed his right index finger down onto the page, and opened his eyes.

{Acts 9:18,} he thought. He read the verse. {What in the world could that mean?}

He paced around for another few minutes, anxious to leave for Collinsport. Finally, he decided to leave, but he called Mabel one last time.

"You won't be in today. I know that. Dr. Silvestri knows that. Your patients know that." Mabel's tone was playfully scolding. They went through this every December 10. "Have a nice visit to Collinsport, and say hello to your ancestors for me."

* * * * *

Javier knocked on Sally's bedroom door. "You ready to leave for work?" he asked as he poked his head in. "You look like hell. Have you gotten *any* sleep?"

Leaning back against the pillows on her bed, Sally licked her finger and turned the page of the journal. She was still wearing the clothes she'd worn to dinner the previous night. She didn't look up from the book in her hands as she said, "I think I'm going to call in. I don't think I'd be much use today."

Javier sat on the edge of the bed. "Have you been reading that all night?"

Sally nodded. "Twice. I'm just about to start a third read-through." Her eyes never lifted from Joshua's impeccable penmanship.

"You need to get out and do something besides sitting in here reading this book," her friend urged her.

"I know. It's just that there's . . ." she was at a loss to describe it, "something about it. I don't know what it is, but I know that I need to figure it out. I'll be fine. Just as soon as I figure it out."

"Well, as long as you're going to be OK. We still on for dinner?"

Sally nodded absently. "Sure. Yeah. See you tonight."

"Bye." Javier left the room, bumping into Beth in the process.

"Where's Sally?"

"She's not going to work today." When Beth went to walk into Sally's room, Javier placed a restraining hand on her arm. "You don't want to go in there. Something's going on with her, and I think we just need to leave her alone for now."

* * * * *

David lightly touched the long-stemmed rose that sat in the passenger's side seat of his car. No one knew the real reason he went to visit his 'ancestors'' graves every December 10. Not even his therapist, Hank, knew the real reason. David was slightly afraid that his old friend and associate would have him locked up if he knew that he was commemorating the last day he ever saw Sarah.

He shifted into third as he began the ascent of Eagle Hill.

* * * * *

"Carolyn?" Sally called out as she opened the door of the carriage house.

Carolyn came down the stairs. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I called in. I spent the whole night reading Joshua Collins' journal, and, well, I'm familiar with most of the places in it, of course. Collinwood, the Old House, he even mentions the Collinsport Inn," she chuckled but didn't smile. "But there's one place he mentions here that I'm not familiar with. He says that there's a family mausoleum somewhere. Where is it?"

Carolyn looked at Sally oddly, then said. "It's at the Eagle Hill Cemetery. You go in towards town, then when the road forks, take the right-hand one, instead of the left-hand one. That'll take you right to it."

The first smile Carolyn had seen since they had found Joshua's journal crossed Sally's face, and Carolyn noticed how tired Sally looked. "Thanks."

She stood up and left the house, with Carolyn calling, "Do you want to stay for lunch?" ineffectually after her.

* * * * *

Carrying the rose in his hand, David opened the gate and walked into the mausoleum. Nothing had changed since his visit in 1997.

He walked to Sarah's sarcophagus and picked up the rose from the previous year, now darkened and dried with age. He carefully placed it on the stack of 20 or so roses from previous visits and put the fresh rose on the sarcophagus.

He stood there for a while, thinking about the beautiful girl who had so charmed him during his childhood, and for the first time ever, he wondered if she would mind if he pursued a relationship with someone else. But there was time to think of Sally later. Now was his time with Sarah. He updated his lost love on the growth of his children and of the growth of his practice. He ended with the prayer he'd always said for God, or whatever force looked out for him and his loved ones, to keep an eye on her, wherever she was.

He closed the gate behind him and walked away from the mausoleum. He had one more place to visit before he could go home.

* * * * *

Sally's emotions wavered between anticipation and trepidation as she walked beneath the wrought-iron sign that said 'Eagle Hill Cemetery.' She didn't know what she'd find in this cemetery, but she was certain that this was where Roger had intended her to go.

She headed directly for the mausoleum, which was exactly where she expected it to be. Taking a deep breath, she opened the gate and, as if she knew that her life would never be the same again once she was inside, stepped into the darkness.

She glanced at each marker in turn.

{Valerie Collins}

{Joshua Collins}

{Naomi Collins}

It was the leftmost marker that hit her hardest. She sat down on the sarcophagus to steady herself.

{Sarah Collins Born: 1786 Died: 1797}

"That's impossible! I'm right here!" she whispered, staring at the dates.

She walked to what she now knew was her mother's grave marker and ran her fingers over the words. {Naomi Collins.} Her eyes traveled upwards to the lion's head above the sign. She knew what would happen if she pulled the ring in his mouth. When she looked at the floor, she could see the outline of the trap door that led down into the hidden room.

She remembered bringing David here when they were children. There was another place she used to take David. The swing in the woods. Where they first met. She knew where it was, and she knew she had to get there immediately.

* * * * *

David sat on the swing. In part he was surprised that the swing held his weight, but in another way he wasn't surprised at all. The things he associated with Sarah were often like this, preserved, as if they were waiting for something. {Waiting. Why do I feel like I'm *waiting* for something?}

As he thought these words, she stepped into the clearing and the words of the Bible verse from that morning came into his head:

<<Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.>>

David got up from the swing and walked to her. He didn't know why he hadn't seen it months ago. The slightly crooked smile. The spray of freckles across her nose. The tear he wiped off of her cheek as it fell from her eye.

Uncertain if his voice would even work, David said one word, the only word possible:

"Sarah."

Collinsport -- Part 34
From: DSRules

David wiped another tear from Sarah's eye. "How . . .?"

"Shhhh," she whispered, kissing him. Partly she kissed him because, frankly, she wanted to kiss him. Partly it was because she wasn't sure how to explain how she got to the 20th century.

David didn't question her motivation for kissing him. And after a while, she didn't question her motives, either. Eventually, though, they came up for air.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"That I'm Sarah?" when he nodded, she continued, "I didn't remember until just now." When he looked at her skeptically, she said, "I didn't. It all sort of . . . Well, do you know the Celine Dion song {It's All Coming Back to Me Now}?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"It's sort of like that, I guess." She shrugged. "I didn't remember anything before 1986 until today, but when I saw my parents' names on the wall in the mausoleum, and then my own name, well, it all just sort of washed over me."

Abruptly, David realized that it had been well over 30 seconds since he last kissed her. "Well, there's plenty of time for explanations later," David assured her. "There's something else I'd much rather be doing right now," he said as he kissed her.

Sarah closed her eyes, simply enjoying the feel of David's lips on hers. Eventually, he backed up against the tree and slid to the ground, pulling her with him. They sat there, cradled in the roots of the old tree, kissing.

After several minutes, David lifted his head up. "Sarah," he whispered, savoring her name on his lips. "I never thought I'd see you again. I love you."

* * * * *

Javier was in his cubicle, working on a procedure that was giving him trouble, when suddenly Notepad popped to the front.

The words {Where's Sally?} appeared on the screen.

Javier started to laugh, looking into her cubicle for his housemate. "Cute, Sally. I thought you were going to stay home to -- . . . ." His voice faded when he saw that she wasn't there.

He looked back at his computer. {She's not here, Javier. I've already looked for her. She's not at home, either.}

This news startled Javier right out of his skepticism. "She isn't? Where is she?"

{I was hoping that you'd know.}

Javier grabbed his jacket and stuck his head into his supervisor's office. "Is it OK if I take an early lunch today? I sort of have an emergency at home."

After his supervisor nodded his assent, Javier bolted out the door and headed for home.

* * * * *

Sarah and David sat leaning up against the tree, their arms wrapped around each other. Sarah closed her eyes and remembered her last day in the 18th century.

~~~~~

"Sarah," a soft, feminine voice called.

Sarah opened her eyes and saw her sister-in-law sitting near her bed. Angelique reached a pale, slender hand out and rested it on her feverish forehead. "Oh, my dear! You're just burning up with fever! Now, don't worry. I'm going to take you someplace where they can make you feel better."

"Where are you going to take me?" she asked, though her throat was so dry, she barely made a sound.

Angelique understood, though. "I'm going to take you to be with Barnabas."

~~~~~

And Angelique had been true to her word. She had returned her to --

"Barnabas!" Sarah cried, leaning forward.

Her movement startled David out of his half-sleeping state. "What?"

"David! I've got to go to Barnabas! Right away!"

* * * * *

Javier opened the door of Collinwood. "Beth!" he called desperately.

The young woman stuck her head out into the second floor of the foyer. "What is it, Javier?"

"Where's Sally?"

"I don't know. I went in to take a shower, and when I came out, she was gone."

"Why didn't you tell me that she was missing?"

"She's an adult. She can take care of herself. Why are you so worried?"

Javier wasn't so sure how to explain this. Finally, he just decided to go for it. "Jeb told me he was worried about her."

"Dad's worried about her?!?"

Just then, Carolyn arrived. Beth ran down the stairs to her mother. "Mom! Sally's disappeared. Javier says that Dad can't find her."

"Calm down, Beth," Carolyn said in a soothing tone of voice. "She can't have gone far. In fact, I think I know where she is."

"Really? Where?" Javier and Beth asked simultaneously.

"She came over asking about the family mausoleum in the Eagle Hill Cemetery. I'm sure that's where she is."

* * * * *

"Barnabas? Why?"

{How do I tell you that he's my brother?} she wondered. Finally, she decided to avoid the question completely. "He had a question about . . . the first Barnabas Collins . . . "

"Your brother," David interrupted.

"Right. He had a question, and, well, I can answer it now." She smiled a little, shrugging.

"Why don't you just call him on the phone?"

Not wanting to lie to him, yet knowing that the fact that Barnabas was her brother wasn't her secret to tell, she just said, "this isn't the sort of thing you can just tell someone on the phone. Trust me."

David sighed as he levered himself to his feet. "Well, I guess we're going to Bangor."

Sarah leapt up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, David!"

Hand in hand, they walked off toward David's car.

* * * * *

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in ages," Javier sighed when the trio arrived at the Eagle Hill Cemetery.

Carolyn laughed. "It always looks like this. Even when there was a full-time caretaker here." She shrugged. "Maybe that's why they fired him."

Carolyn led the way to the mausoleum. "This is the mausoleum that Sally asked about." She opened the gate and saw the rose on the right-hand sarcophagus. "Hmmm, that's odd."

"What's odd?" Javier asked.

"This rose is still fresh. You know what? I think that David has been here."

Beth looked at her mother, her eyes bright with inspiration. "That's right! It's the 8th of December! David always comes here then!"

"Well that settles it then. David must have taken Sally to Winter Harbor with him."*

==============================
* In my universe, Collinsport is located where Seal Harbor is in our universe. Seal Harbor fits the description we're given, 50 miles from Bangor, in Hancock county, near Frenchman's Bay, and since I'm a Sunset Beach fan, and the outdoor shooting for Sunset Beach is done in Seal Beach, California, I thought that using Seal Harbor, Maine, would be appropriate.

The reason we're told that it's 100 miles to Windcliff and yet Maggie and David could walk from Windcliff back to Collinsport is because in my universe, there's a fortuitously convenient ferry running from Bar Harbor to Winter Harbor, where Windcliff is located. It's a 91 minute drive between the two, which was how Julia Hoffman preferred to travel, but it's only about 16 miles if you take the ferry, which is how David and Maggie traveled between the two.