Subj: Chapter 11 Kate
Date: 5/2/00 2:56:09 AM Central Daylight Time
From: Karen

"Does this look like a good spot to put our tent?", David asked. He looked a bit weary from carrying his pack. He sat down on a rock. "It looks flat to me", he said.

Kate looked around the site. "Looks like a grand spot. Let’s pull out the tent and get things set up for the night."

They started setting up the tent. David was glad he had practiced putting it up earlier. He didn’t want Kate to think he didn’t know what he was doing. She sang ‘John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt’ as they worked. David had never heard such a crazy song! Soon he had joined in. He loved the fact the song got real quiet, then very loud. Kate taught him other songs from her childhood; ‘Three Little Fishies’, ‘Marsie Doats’, ‘Kumbaya’, ‘Oh Susannah’, ‘Sweet Betsy From Pike’, and others. They sang as they gathered wood and set up the fire ring. David found rocks and placed them in a circle. Kate added a bit of paper, kindling, a couple pieces of wood and lit a match to start it. As the fire got going, David made points on long sticks for the hot-dogs with his knife.

"How do these look, Kate?" David asked, showing her his handiwork.

"Terrific, David!", she answered.

David stuck his chest out, proudly and said, "Let’s sing that John Jacob song again, Kate. It’s fun!". He laughed at Kate as she stuck out her tongue at him. "Don’t you like it?" he asked.

Kate grimaced. "That’s the only song you will want to sing from now on, I just know it." she sighed. Seeing David’s laughing face, she said, "You start, okay?"

In the deepening darkness, Barnabas heard shouting in the distance. It seemed to get louder, then stop. As he got closer to the sound, he could make out only a few words. "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" was all he could make out. Barnabas wondered who had such a strange name. After awhile, he could identify David’s voice as the one doing the shouting. As he approached the campers, he could see David standing near the fire, yelling his lungs out; while Kate sat, laughing hysterically. Barnabas watched them for about a minute and then stepped into the campsite.

"Well, it sounds like you are having fun, David." he said. David stopped yelling and turned to Barnabas with a welcoming grin.

Kate was trying to stop laughing, but couldn’t. She was holding onto her sides and her eyes were streaming. She thought she was going to wet her pants, she was laughing so hard. Barnabas and David stood there looking at her as if she was the village idiot. They waited quietly while she got control of herself, exchanging knowing glances. Finally, her laughter subsided and she looked up at them. "Okay, okay, you can stop looking like that at me. I am finished." she said.

David looked at Barnabas and said, "Were we looking at her strangely, Barnabas?", winking at him.

Barnabas turned to David, gave a wink of his own, saying, "No, I don’t think so. Why do you think we were even looking at you at all, Kate? David and I were admiring the view."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get the message. I am finished laughing like a hyena. Welcome, Barnabas, to the funny farm." She held out her hand to him and he helped her to stand. "This guy was torturing me," she said, pointing to David, "with that crazy song. I begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t. Hence the hysterical laughter." Barnabas looked dubiously at Kate. She raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to challenge her story.

Barnabas looked at her and changed the subject. "You have built a cheerful fire. When is dinner, I am ravenous!" he said.

David yelled, "Now! I am starving, too!" He picked up the sticks and handed one each to Kate and Barnabas, keeping one for himself. Kate opened the package of ‘dogs’ and passed the package around. David watched her carefully to see how she put her hot-dog on the stick, then did the same.

Barnabas put his dog on the stick and stuck it in the fire. They all sat quietly roasting their meal. David requested more songs and Kate complied. As she sang, Barnabas watched her. Kate had a beautiful voice. She sang the old songs of her youth, with David coming in on the chorus. Their two voices rang through the night air like nothing Barnabas had ever heard before. He was enchanted.

Hot-dogs done, they ate and talked about anything and everything. Barnabas was surprised by David’s quick wit and mind. He had many things to say about the topics of the day. When Barnabas asked where he had heard these things, David told him Kate encouraged him to read the newspaper every day. She had him pick a story and follow it for a week. After the week was over, he wrote a summary of the newspaper articles. Barnabas looked at Kate, wonder in his eyes. David was a new kid. He said as much to Kate when David went to answer the call of nature.

"David is a wonderful guy," she said. "His mind has always been there, just untapped. He is very intelligent. He seems interested in everything we talk about or study. It has been a pleasure working with him." she finished.

"Yes, I believe you are right, Kate. You have helped him tremendously. He cares for you a great deal; as do I." Barnabas said in a low voice. He took her hand and kissed it, gazing deeply into her eyes.

At that moment, David returned. Kate took her hand away and greeted David with a smile. "How about looking for shooting stars, Dave? This time of the year is always good for them," she asked. David answered her by laying on the ground and looking up at the sky. Kate got up and lay next to him, motioning to Barnabas to follow. He got up and lay down as well. He felt a bit strange laying down on the ground like this, ‘but when in Rome’, he thought.

David spotted the first shooting star. After that, they all saw many. A satellite went by going very slowly, so David decided it was a spaceship. Kate began a story of how the spaceship had traveled from a distant galaxy, looking for intelligent life. David continued the story, telling how the spacemen came to Collinwood and scared everyone with their strange spacesuits.

Both David and Kate waited for Barnabas to continue the story. When he asked, "What happened next, David?" David told him it was his turn. Barnabas cleared his throat and told them the spacemen found out that David was the only intelligent life at Collinwood. He stopped and Kate took up the story. By the time the story about the spaceship was finished, David had been transported to the far end of the galaxy and lived happily ever after amongst the space people.

Stifling a yawn, David said, "I think I am going to bed. I am pooped!" Saying his goodnights, he unzipped the tent and crawled in his sleeping bag, zipping the tent after him.

Kate fed another piece of wood into the fire. "Where’s the wine you promised me, Barnabas?", breaking the silence.

Barnabas pulled out the bottle he had brought and opened it. He poured the clear liquid into glasses. Setting down the bottle and handing a glass to Kate, he announced, "A toast! To the most fun I have had in years! Thank you, Kate."

Kate nodded and said, "I’ll drink to that." She tipped the glass to her mouth and swallowed. "This is wonderful, Barnabas. Just like ambrosia."

Barnabas smiled at the compliment and nodding his head, concurred. "It is delicious, isn’t it?, he asked. "How is your writing coming along? Have you enough material to start?"

"I have plenty of material, thanks to you. I don’t know if I could have done all that research without your help. Thank you so much, Barnabas," Kate said.

"It was my pleasure. I enjoyed the work. More wine?" he asked, seeing her glass was empty. She held it out for a refill.

Barnabas and Kate sat together, sipping wine, watching the fire and talking. Kate felt so comfortable with him. She wondered what it would be like to touch his face, to feel his lips on hers. ‘Knock it off, Katie!’ she thought to herself, ‘it will not happen so stop thinking about it.’ As if to belie her thought, Barnabas reached over and stroked her cheek. She brought her hand up to his and tilting her head, kissed his hand. He set his glass down and moved closer to her. Kate’s breath quickened as Barnabas got closer to her. She thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest. As he kissed her gently, she melted into him. His kisses began more insistent and she gave into all the desires that had been building up since the day she met him.

After what seemed like forever, Barnabas pulled away from her. Looking into her eyes with naked desire, he whispered, "I have wanted to do that from the first day I saw you at Collinwood. I fell in love with you. Each day my love has deepened until I thought I would burst. Say you feel the same, Kate," he said hoarsely. "I could not bear it if you do not."

Kate looked at him with the same intensity as he was looking at her. She touched his face, tracing the curve of his brows and nose, stopping at his mouth. She moved her finger over his mouth, gently outlining his lips. Kate kissed him softly, whispering, "I have never felt this way about any man, Barnabas. I didn’t know until this moment that I felt this way. I can hardly believe I traveled so far to find love."

Barnabas laughed triumphantly, but quietly so as to not wake David. He drew Kate in his arms and kissed her again and again. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She never wanted to come down. Unfortunately, reality hit. She pulled her head away from Barnabas.

"I could stay like this forever, but I think you need to go home. I don’t want to risk waking David. Somehow I don’t think Roger would approve of his son being a witness to what we have been doing, " Kate said reluctantly.

Barnabas nodded. "You are right, Kate. I don’t want to leave, but I must." He stood up and helped her to her feet. He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Goodnight, my love, sleep well. I will see you tomorrow. Come to the Old House as soon as you can." he said.

"Until tomorrow, then, Barnabas," she answered. "Sleep well."

"Until tomorrow, Kate," he said. Barnabas turned and walked towards the Old House. Kate watched him until she could see him no longer. She put out the fire and got in the tent as quietly as she could. As she lay there, listening to David’s even breathing, she smiled to herself. She had wondered earlier what the night would bring and now she knew. Sighing, she turned over and went to sleep.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.