Subj: Charade: Chapter 8
Date: 11/1/01 5:54:02 PM Central Standard Time
From: Nicole

December 4, 2008, Collinwood, 12:05 PM-PT

Gwynneth felt guilty. She and William sat plundering through Daniel’s office and she knew that they were wrong for it. Yet she had a mission that she knew had to be completed. She had tried numerous times to go back to the room to see if Angelique had anything else to show her, but each time she went either Angelique would not be there or one of her parents would catch her before she entered the east wing. But the night before she had a dream. She was led to the study by a man’s voice. The voice calmly told her to go inside and find something for him. Gwynneth did as she was told and she found a letter. When she awoke the next morning, she knew what she had to do. She did not want to go in alone, however, so she enlisted William. For some reason, he more than willingly went along.

“Are you finding anything?” she asked.

William looked up at her from behind the desk. He was partially obscured by the piles of paper. “Not yet,” he mumbled before angrily flicking a piece of paper from his face.

Gwynneth smiled. She was glad to see William back to his grouchy yet loveable self. She had not been able to spend much time with her twin since he came to Collinwood. This seemed the perfect opportunity for them to spend some “quality time” together. “Well, keep looking. He said it would be here.”

“I don’t see how he could know,” snorted William. “How can anyone find anything in this room? How can anything find anything in the house?”

“I don’t know, Will. Everything’s a bit jumbled.”

“It’s a stupid dumb house. Why did we have to come here? Weren’t you happy in the loft?”

“I was happy. And I don’t know why we came here.”

William seemed to accept her answer and continued to look through the desk. Gwynneth knew exactly why they had to leave the apartment. She had been feigning sleep when their father received the call from his patron. She had listened carefully as he argued with the man, begging for an explanation as to why he was withdrawing funds. When the call had ended, her father had slung the phone across the room. Since she knew that David Blake was never a man who gave in to his anger, she knew that the call had not ended as he had wanted. When her mother came back hours later, Gwynneth had listened as her father told her about how the money had been cut off. In three months, they would be completely broke if he could not find another patron. They talked it over and decided that if he could not find someone new to finance his latest work in two months, she would call home and beg to stay there until he finished, at which point they would leave.

At the end of two months, her father had yet to find another patron. That night, Gwynneth sat by and watched her mother pen an impassioned letter to someone who lived in Collinsport, Maine. A few days after she sent off the letter, another came and Constance announced to the family that they would be moving. Gwynneth had not dared to moan. She knew what had happened. She had no urge to add to anyone’s pain.

Gwynneth had never let on that she knew what had happened. What good would it do? Her parents would feel that it was their responsibility to try to assuage whatever pain they felt that she might feel. She did her best to keep spirits up in the family. She continued to perform her sillly skits and tell the ridiculously odd jokes that children her age tended to know. She was not sure if they made anyone feel better, but it seemed to prove to her parents that she had not been affected by the move.

Yet Gwynneth felt destroyed by the move. Although she had not had many friends in school, she had looked forward to seeing those familiar faces each day. The move had ruined her sense of equilibrium. The move had wretched her from a place she had grown to love and taken her to a place that seemed spooky and filled with hatred. The move had proven to Gwynneth that nothing in life was permanent and it would be a lesson that would probably stay with her for the rest of her life.

“Are you sure you can’t find anything?” she asked.

“Are you sure we’re looking in the right place?”

“That’s what the man said.”

William slowly moved away from the desk. In his wake, a pile of papers slipped from a pile and fell to the floor. He shrugged and moved on. “Are you sure you didn’t make this up? Why do you feel it’s important to do this?”

“He really wanted me to. I don’t want to let him down.”

“Do you even know this guy?” asked William cautiously.

“Not now...but I feel like I do. He felt familiar to me. I feel like I have to do what he says.”

William groaned and turned back to the piles of paper on Daniel’s desk. Gwynneth knew that he could not understand what she felt. He had not heard the man talk. He did not know how sad and insistent he had been. She wanted to help; she did the best she could.

Gwynneth looked over to the desk and saw the pile that had fallen over. On top of this pile was an envelope that had their names scrawled on the front. The penmanship on the envelope was careful, precise. It made Gwynneth think that the author had practiced his writing just to look nice. It made her think of the voice for some reason. She swiped up the envelope and said, “Will, come here. I’ve found something.”

William went to her and peaked over her shoulder. “You found this here?”

“Yeah.”

“Could it be what the man wanted you to find?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

Gwynneth slipped her finger inside the envelope and moved it to tear the delicate flap. She began to take the letter out when she heard a voice. “What are you two doing in here?” Gwynneth and William turned to see their father standing in the doorway. “Come on kids, answer me.”

“Um...nothing dad,” lied William.

Gwynneth could have slapped him. William was a very bad liar. She had hoped that he would have waited for her to answer, but he had ruined everything. Their father had already taken a good look at the room and probably assumed that they had caused most of the destruction. He had no way of knowing that the room had looked just as bad when they had entered. “Honestly, we we’re just curious,” she said calmly. “I hope we didn’t hurt anything.”

“Well, I hope you didn’t hurt anything that can’t be fixed.” He walked up to them and noticed the letter. He held out his hand and said, “Give it to me, Gwyn.”

“But it’s addressed to us.”

“Give it to me.” Gwynneth sighed and handed her father the letter. “Good girl. Now come on! We need to get out of here before Daniel Collins walks in and notices that his study looks like hell.” He put his hands on the backs of both children and ushered them out of the room.

Gwynneth was surprised to see her mother walk through the front doors the moment they walked out. She looked at her family and then at the door. “What were you guys doing in there, David?”

“I found them in there.” He took the letter out and handed it to Constance. “They were messing with this.”

It shocked Gwynneth by how quickly her mother’s eyes glassed over. She crumpled the letter in her hand and fell to the floor. Her father dropped next to her and took her into his arms. “What’s wrong?” She shook her head violently, letting the sobs come out a broken mewls. He kissed the top of her head and turned to the children. “Can you two play somewhere else...and please, don’t go anywhere you’re not supposed to go. I don’t want to catch you where you’re not supposed to be .”

The twins nodded and ran into the drawing room. William turned to Gwynneth and asked, “What just happened? Why would mom freak out over a note?”

“I don’t know,” lied Gwynneth. She believed that she knew what had happened. It was just like Amy and Angelique had said: he was trying to get in touch with her mother. The difference from the last time was that she was listening.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.