Chapter 3

“All right, all right, I’m coming”, grumbled Mrs. Johnson, setting down her dust rag. “A body can only do so much. I only have two hands.” She walked to the door and pulled it open. Standing there was the strangest looking person she had ever seen; and she had seen a lot of strange things at Collinwood. “Can I help you?”, Mrs. Johnson asked, suspiciously.

The young woman took a deep breath and said, “Yes, is Elizabeth Stoddard at home? My name is Kate Collins. I am sure she will see me.”

Mrs. Johnson looked a bit taken aback. ‘Kate Collins?’, she said to herself. ‘Who in the world is this crazy looking person?’ Aloud she replied, “Come on in, Miss Collins. I will see if Mrs. Stoddard will see you. Now you just wait right here and don’t move from this room. I don’t want to be responsible for any breakage that you do.” With that, she flounced off to find Elizabeth.

Kate stood there a bit bemused. ‘What an old sourpuss’, she thought. ‘As if I would break anything in this house. From what I can see from here, it is beautiful.’ Kate wandered around the room, looking at the contents of the foyer. She stopped at Barnabas’ portrait. “What a vain looking man,” she said aloud. “You must have been very proud, the way you are looking down your nose at us ordinary mortals. The perfect 18th century man.” Kate chuckled to herself.

A voice interrupted her thoughts. “I’m Elizabeth Stoddard. Mrs. Johnson told me your name was Kate Collins. I don’t recall any relatives with that name. How may I help you?”

Kate turned and saw before her an elegantly dressed middle-aged woman with dark hair with a startled look on her face. Elizabeth gasped, “You have to be a Collins, you look so much like the portrait of great-great-great-great-grandmother Sarah! Come into the drawing room and I will show you.”

Kate followed her into the drawing room. The walls were lined with portraits of ancient ancestors of the Collins family. At last, Kate would be able to see what Joseph’s relatives looked like. Elizabeth drew her to a portrait of a young woman with blond hair, dressed in a beautiful green dress to match her eyes. Kate stared at the portrait for a minute or two.

“My goodness, that could be me!” she exclaimed, turning to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled, “Yes, it could be you. This is Sarah Collins. She was the mother to Jeremiah, Joshua and Abigail Collins and the grandmother to the Barnabas Collins in the portrait in the foyer,” she explained.

Kate said, “And Joseph Collins, too.”

Elizabeth looked at her puzzled. “I am not sure who you mean. As far as I know, there was not another brother; and no Joseph Collins.”

Kate smiled. “I am not surprised you don’t know about him. According to Joseph’s letters to Joshua Collins, he had been erased from the family records. As far as Joshua and the rest of the family were concerned, Joseph no longer existed. I have the letters with me to show you. I come from Joseph’s line. I am the last one.”

Elizabeth looked shocked. A family member erased from the records! Even Quentin, the black sheep of the family, didn’t have that happen to him. “I would like to see the letters, if I could,” she replied. “I do believe you are part of the family, I am just puzzled by this turn of events.”

“Let me get the letters from my van and you can read them at your leisure. I have to go back to Collinsport to find a room to stay in, but I will be back tomorrow, if that is okay?” Kate said.

Elizabeth looked at her and said, “You will stay here as long as you like. We have plenty of room and we always welcome family.” She walked to the door before Kate could protest and called to Mrs. Johnson, who was just coming in to the foyer. “Please have a room prepared for Miss Collins. She will be staying with us indefinitely.” Elizabeth turned to Kate. “I am sure you will be more comfortable here than at the Collinsport Inn, Kate. This way we can get to know you and you can get to know us.” she said before Kate could open her mouth.

“Thank you, Elizabeth, this is very kind of you. I promise I won’t be any bother.” Kate was surprised that her family claim had been accepted so easily. ‘I guess the portrait resemblance didn’t hurt!’ she thought.

Elizabeth sat down on the sofa and indicated to Kate that she should sit down as well. “The rest of the family will be home soon. In the meantime, tell me about yourself. You have a van? How unusual. Where do you live? What about your parents? You said you were the last one. No borthers or sister, then?” Elizabeth stopped when she saw the laughter in Kate’s face. “I suppose I am asking too many questions, aren’t I?” she laughed. “I am sure my brother Roger will have more questions than I can even think of. He is rather a suspicious person when it comes to strangers. Once he gets to
know you, he is really quite a nice person. Do tell me about yourself, please.”

Kate took a deep breath and said, “I grew up in Eugene, Oregon. My father was a professor at the University. He taught art. Artistic talent runs in the family, but it only seems to be in the male side. My brother was a wonderful artist like my dad. My mom was a lawyer, one of the few in the city. My parents were killed in a plane crash when I was 17. My father flew his own plane. They were on their way to Las Vegas for a second honeymoon when my father suffered a heart attack. My mother knew enough to call on the radio, but that was all. The plane crashed outside of Reno. It was very hard for me, especially since my brother Mark had been killed in Vietnam 4 years earlier. The only one I have left in my family is my grandmother, Nonnie. She’s my mom’s mom. While Nonnie and I were going through things in the attic of my parents’ home, I came across an old trunk with letters and other memorabilia in it. That’s how I discovered Joshua Collins and the rest of the family. Since my major was history, I was doubly intrigued. I just graduated from the University of Oregon with a master’s degree in American History. I decided that I would come to Collinsport and find out about Joshua’s family. And that brings us to the present.” Kate stopped and looked at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth put her hand on Kate’s hand and said, “ How tragic to lose your parents and brother at such a young age. You are not alone anymore; you have us as well as your Nonnie to be your family.”

Kate’s eyes filled with tears as she spontaneously hugged Elizabeth. “thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me. I appreciate your warmth and generous....” Kate was interrupted by a loud, stern voice shouting, “Who’s ridiculous van is parked out front? It looks like gypsies have descended upon us! We can’t have that here at Collinwood. We have a reputation to uphold!”.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.