Subj: Out of the Past, Part 13
Date: 11/29/01 12:56:34 AM Central Standard Time
From: R J Jamison

Willie set down the phone receiver before Barnabas returned from his afternoon walk. He had gotten used to these later afternoon calls from Julia. He didn’t know why Barnabas had left the house. He knew she would call today and the approximate time. She was several hours ahead in Switzerland. He had enjoyed her several postcards of the beautiful lake, Vierwaldstätter; the exquisite wooden bridge, the Kapellbrücke; and Wasserturm, the 13th century octagonal water tower. Willie had decided after seeing the postcards that he needed a vacation. Europe was not his style but he had been stuck in Collinsport for many years. A trip up to Mexico for weeks of fishing would good to arrange once Julia returned. While Barnabas was cured now, he dare not leave him alone.

“Who was on the telephone?” Barnabas closed the front door behind him.

“That was Julia.”

Barnabas nodded. He walked into the Drawing Room without further comment.

“She saw Quentin last week.” Again Barnabas nodded. “He took her to some swanky joint. I think they drank too much and Quentin got into some trouble.”

Finally Barnabas turned with a changed expression. “Julia is not the type of woman to drink too much in public and get into ‘trouble’ as you call it.”

Willie shrugged. “I didn’t mean anything. She said, they got into a ‘bit of a tussle’ and that we are not to believe a word Quentin says, he would blow it way out of proportion. She laughed, it seemed funny.”

With a gesture of dismissal, Barnabas moved past Willie and began climbing the stairs. “Was anything else of import noted between the two of you?”

“She’s pretty surprised about the Countess still being alive.” Willie’s casual expression changed immediately to alarm as he observed his employer’s menacing look.

“Why did you tell her about Natalie Du Pres?”

“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed ta .. you tell her everything—“

“Willie!” Barnabas ran down the stairs and grabbed Willie’s arm. “I did not want Julia to know about Natalie! What did you tell her!”

Willie cowered at the expression he observed. He had not been afraid of Barnabas in years. “I, uh. . just told her that the Roussin woman turned out to be Josette’s aunt like you said. And that she hates you awful bad.” Barnabas released Willie and stomped away in disgust. “I’m, I’m sorry Barnabas. She asked and I didn’t know—“

“What did she say after you shared this with her?”

“She said, ‘how interesting’”.

“That is all?”

“After that she said Quentin should be back here tonight or tomorrow. She didna say anythin’ else.”

Consternation clouded Barnabas’s features. “She didn’t say anything about returning to Collinsport?”

“No. I asked her how much longer she would be gone.” Willie recalled how Julia had sighed at the question and he had waited nearly a minute for her to respond. “She said she would be back in about a month. Her ‘visiting scholar’ appointment was almost finished and she wants to travel around a bit more.”

Barnabas nodded. It was unlike Julia to stay away when he was threatened. But he did not want her here to deal with Natalie’s rage. He did not want her to be reminded of what he had done in the past. He was determined, the next time Julia saw him, he would embrace her and a new life. They were not to be haunted by mistakes. He would find a way to make up to Natalie, some way. As he stood lost in preparations for his next meeting with Natalie and Jeannot, a sharp ring interrupted his train of thought.

“You wan me to get it?” Willie moved toward the telephone.

Barnabas shook his head. Perhaps it was Julia. He pulled the receiver to his ear. While the tenor of the voice was similar the strong accent alerted him to his callers identity. “I want you to come into Collinsport. I am at the Inn.”

“Perhaps it would be more private to meet here Natalie—“

“No! I do not trust you nor anyone associated with you. You come here.” The imperial tones of her voice had never faded. She still too easily ordered people about. But there was no need or reason to challenge her. There was a huge debt to be paid.

“What time shall I arrive?”

Natalie slammed the telephone down. She walked to the door separating the sitting area from the bedroom. Within it Jeannot still slept. It was time he was awoken. But weariness pulled at Natalie’s energy. She leaned against the door, her hands on the brass handles. Within was her greatest friend. She would save him. She must. She could not endure living a completely human life now without him. ‘How could God have cursed me so?’ Natalie pushed on the door handles and entered the darkened room. She stepped to the window and opened the drapes.

“Already?” Jeannot called from the bed. “I feel as if I just laid down.”

Natalie observed his outline in the darkness. His powerful frame. He had always been large and strangely strong. She had laughingly nicknamed him Jean Valjean nearly a century ago. “I’ve decided to tell Barnabas about us.”

Jeannot’s sleepy expression changed to alarm. His smoky gray eyes widened. “I do not think that is wise. Not until we have made some security provisions.”

Natalie shook her head. “I told you he was always provincial and pious. He may have been otherwise while living as a nosferatu but he is again the same boring human male I knew in 1795. He will not harm us, especially since he has such guilt.” Natalie stood before her husband. She wrapped her arms around him. “Can you not feel the guilt? It seeped out of his every pore last night.” Jeannot nodded. He pulled Natalie closer and rested his chin on the top of her head. “That guilt will protect me. But he has no compassion for you and he must.”

“I am not certain this is where we should be concentrating our time—“

“You remember the other times when the curse was lifted? Those times before? He has to tell us about them. He only alluded to Angelique curing him in ‘his’ recent past. Those other occasions, how were those effected and why did they fail? We can not waste time trying things that he and his clever little doctor friend have already discounted.”

Jeannot chuckled. “You haven’t even met this woman yet and you hate her intently.”

Natalie smiled. “I once told that twit Victoria Winters that I hated to be told I looked like other people.” She shook her head in amusement. “Why I should remember that moment of any in the last two hundred years I never knew.” Natalie turned a warm smile toward his husband. “I do not hate her, pity would be more like it.”

Jeannot ran his fingers through her thick hair. “Pity? Would I deserve pity if I stood by and served you? Do you deserve pity now?”

“I do not think our relationship is in any way to be compared to Barnabas and Julia Hoffman.”

“Are you angry because he’s in love with someone other than Josette? Are you disturbed that she looks like you?”

Natalie pulled away. “I feel many things, too much to express, too much to understand.”

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.