Subj: Out of the Past
Date: 10/30/01 11:02:05 PM Central Standard Time
From: R J Jamison

Barnabas stared up at the portrait of Josette one last time. He contemplated his next move. He had thought of this for months, since he had returned from 1840 with Julia and Eliot and most especially since his return from Brazil.

“Willie!” Barnabas bellowed down the hallway. His manservant quickly responded.

“Yea, Barnabas, what can I do for ya?” Willie appeared wiping his hands of some kitchen grime. His duty as cook continued to be difficult for him to accomplish and equally difficult for Barnabas to stomach.

“Willie, I would like you to take down Josette’s portrait tomorrow and take it to Collinwood. It should hang there now. Tell Elizabeth to place it wherever she likes.” Barnabas left the room without noting Willie’s surprised expression.

The next morning Willie stood in the foyer of Collinwood discussing the artwork Barnabas had recently donated to Collinwood.

“Willie, are you certain this is what Barnabas intended?” Elizabeth’s questioned Willie for the third time.

“I’m tellin’ ya Mrs. Stoddard, he said last night to take it down and bring it here. You can put it ‘where you like’ to quote 'im.”

“This is most surprising.” Elizabeth gazed at the portrait in Willie’s outstretched arms. Elizabeth frowned. She hoped that her withdrawn cousin would indeed join the 20th century and stop lingering in the past. Elizabeth with Willie’s assistance carried it into the Study. She motioned for him to set it down. “Thank you Willie, I am not certain where we will hang it yet.” Willie nodded, said his typical farewell and left. Elizabeth continued to gaze at the portrait. So many things had changed in the last five months since Julia had left. Barnabas held great hopes for her return but Elizabeth was more than troubled. Julia had left to finalize her divorce from Taylor Blaylock. Other things had delayed the divorce but even after it was finalized, Julia did not return to Collinwood. Instead she wrote a long letter with instructions to Roger on the rebuilding of Wyndcliffe. She accepted the family’s offer of property on the other side of Collinsport for the reconstruction. She then indicated that she needed some time to study the latest advances in mental health treatment and as such, she had accepted an invitation to study in at a prestigious facility in Lucerne, Switzerland. She had now been gone for five months. She wrote the family regularly every two weeks and had called on a few occasions. Julia’s mood was altering a great deal as was evident in the infrequent calls. Elizabeth surmised she was finding some peace and balance in herself. While Roger had scoffed at the whole ‘Althia and Braden’ story (for his own mental stability Elizabeth knew), Elizabeth knew that Barnabas and Julia believed the story. She also knew much more about it than Barnabas would’ve been comfortable with, Julia had confided a great deal of the history prior to leaving. So now, Julia was gone and seemingly enjoying herself and Barnabas was giving away treasured pieces of himself. Elizabeth’s eyes welled with a few unshedable tears. The path to true love was never without pain.

Five Months Earlier

In Collinsport, Julia exited the small travel agency office, tickets in hand. It was a blustery Autumn day. The sun had just set on the horizon. She glanced around at the changing foliage and reflected how this was always her favorite season. The cool almost icy breeze brushed her cheeks. Julia’s mind had dwelled on Elizabeth’s amazingly frank, for her, comment earlier in the day. Elizabeth was never forward nor was she usually one to insinuate. But today her words were almost a clarion calling across the entire state. ‘Barnabas and Julia need to get on with it!’

“Julia!” Carolyn and David called from across the small street. Caught unawares, Julia awkwardly raised her hand to waive. A gust of wind pulled her tickets from her hand and they floated down the sidewalk.

“Damn!” Julia muttered. She began chasing after them. She caught up to them in the hands of a tall, gray-eyed man. “Oh, thank you.” She muttered breathlessly.

The man gazed at her in amazement. He shook his head.

Julia smiled. “They are mine, I lost them over there as I waived to my friends.”

The man nodded without a word. He muttered something in a heavily accented voice.

“I’m sorry, I can’t quite understand you.”

“I said you look very familiar to me.”

Julia knew she did not recognize the man and she knew she was not in the mood to deal with some strange pass by a foreigner. ‘Why was it is always the foreigners who flirt with me?’ She sighed internally. “I’m certain we have not met, may I please have my papers?”

“Julia!” David and Carolyn now stood behind her both breathing heavily.

The foreign man nodded. “I apologize but you are correct. We have not met.” He handed her the papers, tipped his hat and walked away.

“Who was that debonair gentleman?” Carolyn asked as she watched the man cross the street and disappear into the Travel Agency.

“I don’t know nor do I care to.” Julia stuffed the papers into her pocketbook.

“Julia we’re going to get dinner at the Café, game?” David asked.

“I’m game.” Julia laughed.

“Yes, may I help you?” A young woman in thick spectacles asked the tall gray-eyed stranger. She had just turned the ‘closed’ sign outward to the public.

“Hmm, yes.” He responded with a charming smile and thick accent. He pushed his way into the room and smiled directly at her. “That is a most lovely scarf you are wearing.” The young woman blushed. “I haven’t seen anything that nice in the States.”

“I purchased it in Paris last year.” She fingered the colorful scarf.

“Yes, exquisite coloring.” He continued to gaze at her directly. He worked the charms that he’d been too unnerved to exercise just five minutes before. “The woman who left her a few minutes ago, the red haired woman.”

“Dr Hoffman?” The woman volunteered.

“Dr. Hoffman? Her first name is Julia?” He leaned closer to the shy young woman.

“Yes.”

“I picked up something she dropped on the sidewalk, where could I return it to her?”

“She might still be out front, I thought I saw her family running to catch her.”

“Her family?”

“Well, they aren’t really but she lives with them and I believe they consider her family.” The young woman stood and gazed out the storefront window. She did not see any evidence of the Collins clan nor Julia Hoffman. “No, they went off quickly.” She turned her most fabulous smile on the intriguing stranger. “You can reach her at a number of places, she has an office at the Collinsport Hospital, an office at her own hospital, Wyndcliffe, oh but no that burned down. You may deliver it to Collinwood.” The stranger’s eyes immediately expressed recognition of the name. “You know of Collinwood?”

“Yes, my wife has told me of it.”

“Your wife?” The magnificent smile fell.

“Yes, she had occasion to stay here in Collinsport many years ago. She had the opportunity to visit Collinwood.” The stranger stood and made for the door. “Thank you for your assistance.” He tipped his hat and left. Behind him the bored travel agent pouted.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.