Subj: FFL:Burning Embers:Chapter 10
Date: 3/14/99 2:16:55 PM Central Standard Time
From: msann

Chapter 10

Roxanne guided Maggie into Josette's room and managed to give her a mild sedative in an attempt to calm her down. The impressions Roxanne got from Maggie and Cassandra indicated to her that someone was deliberately trying to do something to undermine Cassandra's plans at Collinwood. This was exactly what Roxanne did not need right now.

Fortunately for Maggie, the agitation and aggression she had displayed only moments before seemed to fade as fast as it had initially appeared. Roxanne decided to risk asking a few questions to get a confirmation of her suspicions.

"Maggie, do you know why you said all of those things a few minutes ago when you saw Cassandra?"

Maggie shook her head slowly, replying "I really don't know. I just got near her and all of a sudden all of these memories just started appearing to me. Things that I used to know, but somehow I forgot. It was just like a floodgate opened and I just couldn't control it. I don't know why it happened but it did. And what I said was true. I know she's a witch. She is out to destroy us all if she can. We have to stop her!"

"Maggie, you're tired and you've been through a lot today. I want you to rest for a while and let me worry about the witch."

"We can't rest! Don't you see! That's what she wants! That way she can get us all!"

Sensing that the subtle approach wasn't going to work, Roxanne placed her arms on Maggie's shoulders pushing her down onto Josette's bed and planted the psychic command of "sleep" into Maggie. Within a few minutes, Maggie had drifted off to sleep. Roxanne went down into the drawing room of the Old House to read her calendar to plan for the events of the upcoming week. Hopefully, she hadn't planned anything that required a lot of her attention. She was still trying to figure out a way to return Barnabas to his right mind so they could all be together as a family. Now she had the added responsibility of trying to play peacemaker between Maggie and Cassandra should they see one another. That was the one problem that was easy to solve. Maggie had agreed that it would be in her best interests to stay at the Old House until "the witch was destroyed." Now she just had to plan for the bigger problem Barnabas represented. Roxanne's hopes for a quiet week to think were dashed as she read the calendar entry for that upcoming Tuesday. Willie's grandmother, Siobhan Hollingshead was coming to visit from Lost City, West Virginia. The woman had written to Willie several months before and planned the visit. Mrs. Hollingshead hadn't seen her grandson in several years and Roxanne doubted that any excuse that they could come up with would stop her from coming. Roxanne frowned at the thought of having to somehow try to get Shane to playact the role of Willie to please Mrs. Hollingshead. Roxanne's thoughts were interrupted as Barnabas walked into the front door. She saw the look of contempt on his face and fervently hoped that somehow she could get him to release the tenacious hold he had on his grief for Laura.

Barnabas had come back to the Old House with the intention of picking up Jamie and taking him into town to watch some Disney movies that were being shown at the Collinsport Movie Theater. However, what he saw when he looked into the drawing room caused all of his plans to change. He couldn't believe it. His beloved Laura was standing in the drawing room starting at him uncertainly.

"Beloved, is that you? Have you really come back to me?" asked Barnabas as he stepped closer to Roxanne.

Stunned by Barnabas' declaration and the way he was staring at her, Roxanne took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying, "Yes, darling. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, how I've missed you!" exclaimed Barnabas as he gathered the still stunned Roxanne into his arms.

Roxanne's eyes widened as the reason for Barnabas' change in behavior began to dawn on her. For once, his sudden change in behavior was undoubtedly in her favor. This was the first time that he didn't seem to want to kill her or ship her off to some other part of the world. She felt the thoughts and emotions coming from her husband and all of them pointed to two undeniable facts: Barnabas thought she was his beloved Laura and someone else was responsible for this sudden change in Barnabas. That someone else was likely Cassandra, but Roxanne couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was also involved. Roxanne decided to play along to test the waters of her new "relationship" with her husband. After all, it wasn't often that she had the opportunity to be with Barnabas and she wasn't going to let it get away from her. "Barnabas," she whispered into his ear, "let's go upstairs." Simultaneously at the Bangor bus station, a woman in her early 60s was waiting patiently for her bus to arrive. It was her first trip in a long time and she was looking forward to a long overdue vacation. She only hoped her hosts wouldn't be too upset at her arriving a little earlier than expected.

A bus pulled into the station and a moment later a bus station employee approached her saying, "This is the bus to Collinsport, ma'am. Just give the driver your ticket while I put your baggage underneath and you'll be all set for your trip."

"Thank you sir. You don't know how much I am looking forward to seeing my grandson," replied the woman with a broad smile.

A while later, Maggie awoke from her sedative induced sleep. She knew that Roxanne would probably keep her promise to keep the witch away, but she wouldn't destroy her. Maggie knew that she would have to destroy the witch, but for that she needed an ally. Maggie's mind raced. Who could be her ally? Nicholas was "busy" with Elizabeth, and Quentin, Julia, Roxanne and Barnabas were too entangled with their own affairs to offer much help to her. Shane didn't appreciate the complexity of the situation, but Willie did. Peaking out into the hallway, Maggie saw no one and decided to sneak out of the house and find Shane. It was time for Willie to return!