809 - Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to provide you with the detailed synopsis that you've come to expect from Robservations. The explanation is long and I feel like a total fool, but promise all will be back to normal by tomorrow.
Since I had no tape to work from, I ended up having to turn to an ancient loose-leaf book in which, 32 years ago, I wrote a daily journal of the happenings on DARK SHADOWS. This one is dated July 31, 1968, which means I was 14 years old when I began keeping it--so if the language is less sophisticated than you're used to, my apologies. I figure it's better than nothing, or at least I hope so.
Quentin comes back to consciousness and drops his head in his arms in despair when he sees what he's done to the woman lying nearby, and realizes that Charity has guessed the truth about him. Through clenched teeth, he warns her, "If you tell anyone my connection with this, I'll kill you!"
He assures her, I will take care of this woman. Terrified, Charity races away. Suddenly, Jamison appears and suggests, "Perhaps we can use this unfortunate occurrence to our advantage."
Charity returns to Collinwood to be told by her father that the Trasks have been sent to save the Collins family; thus, you must marry Quentin by the end of the week. She cries, "No! I won't! I won't ever marry Quentin Collins
--y-you don't know him!" Jamison bursts in and tells Trask he found a woman dying in the woods. Although Trask is skeptical, Charity reminds her father about Dorcas and the beast in the woods, and he is convinced. After Trask leaves, Jamison joins Quentin in the drawing room and sarcastically says, "Uncle Quentin, let's play treasure. Find the important paper--you'll need it soon
--here are some clues: Twice burned, once torn, but still intact and fear is born--the secret of the Reverend Trask reveals a face behind the mask--he's hidden it for none to see, but the paper's where IT wants to be." Quentin searches through the desk and, finding the confession, smirks and says, "So, they made Tim Shaw murder Mrs. Trask..." Trask enters, carrying the dead girl. Quentin slips the paper into his coat pocket. Call a doctor and the police, orders Trask. While Trask and Charity are sitting by the girl, she comes to and asks for Quentin. Before Charity brings him upstairs to see the woman, Quentin explains that Tessie is just a casual friend of his (although not in Charity's dream!)
When Trask questions him, Quentin tells Trask he knows Tessie, a New Bedford girl, only as a frequent patron of the Blue Whale. He also admits he'd forgotten to call the police, as Trask had ordered him to do. When Trask leaves to do so, Tessie wakes up and sees Quentin. When he tries to go to her, she shrinks away and gasps in fright. Plasae don't look at me like that, he begs.
She cries out and lies still.
Drawing room - Quentin stops Charity from calling the police and reveals that the girl has died. Pounding on his chest, Charity cries, "You killed her! I'm going to tell father everything--EVERYTHING!"
NOTES: Sorry again for the lack of detail, my friends. I couldn't find my homemade tape that followed the last one, and have no idea where it disappeared to, so beginning tomorrow, I'll have to tape the episodes daily and use those to write Robservations until I reach the next tape I recorded from the Sci Fi channel. Oh, yes, and I must remember that the channel for Sci Fi has changed here, and tape the correct one.
Lots to come over the next several days, gang, and before long, a visitor from the future makes a visit to the past. I don't want to spoil anything, but she has red hair...
810 - Charity is on the phone, calling the police, but when she actually reaches them, Quentin slips out of the secret panel, takes the phone from her, and hangs it up. Why call them? he asks. My father told me to, she says. You're going to tell them nothing now, says Q, she's dead. Charity grows hysterical, accusing him of killing her. She begins to bang on his chest, threatening to tell her father everything. Quentin prevents her from leaving and locks the double doors, turning with his back against them. Why, Charity? he asks, are you afraid to be locked in with a beast, a murderer, a creature of the supernatural? He comes at her; she backs away, terrified.
"Don't you come near me," she pants--I'm not afraid of you. Lying's a sin, says Quentin. Murder is a far worse sin, she counters, and you've murdered!--not only the girl upstairs, but Dorcas, too. You don't have to remind me, says Quentin. "Then why do you go on?" she demands. I can't help myself, confesses Quentin. Then you should be locked away, she wails. "And you're the one that's going to do it," he says.
Father will see that you're turned over to the police, she says. No, says Q, not your father. He comes toward her again. I'll scream! she threatens. I won't hurt you, he promises, and you won't scream--sit down, we're going to talk. When she objects, he pushes her down in the "lover's chair." You've been working hard enough for this moment, he says, and now we're close enough so I can put his arm around you, kiss you (he's caressing her shoulder, but she doesn't look happy about it). "Now you've been wanting that for a long time, haven't you?" he asks (and he's VERY sexy). "How dare you say that?" she squeals. You know the truth now, everything is different, he says--I couldn't help what I did. No excuse, she says, you did it. OK, if there's no excuse for murder when you know what you're doing (and he removes the confession from his pocket to show to her), what excuse is there when a man coldly plots with someone else to murder his wife. Where did you get this? she asks. Never mind, what's important is that I have it, says Q. She rises. It's impossible, she insists--Father burned it and when it reappeared, he tore it up. Quentin remarks, if I had any doubts about the authenticity of this confession, I have none now--so Trask has had his encounter with the truth. Charity insists it isn't true--he didn't sign it knowingly, he was tricked into it by an enemy. Quentin says he'd like to meet the enemy capable of tricking Trask. "I hope you never do," says Charity, "it's Satan!"--Satan is determined to take over Collinwood, and only my father can prevent that. Because FATHER wants Collinwood all for himself! cries Quentin. Father wants only to help you, all of you, says Charity tearfully--please allow my father to help you! How, by letting him cart me off to jail? asks Q. You must give me the confession, insists Charity. No, no, says Q, not a chance. If you don't, you'll be doing the devil's work, she warns him. "Then it's the devil's work I'll do," says Q, if it means keeping you quiet. What do you mean? she asks. You know what I mean, he retorts. "If I tell Father about you. . ." begins Charity. "Then I'll tell the police about Father," says Q, grinning--sweet and simple--I may hang for murder, but your father will be dancing at the end of a rope, too. He's innocent! cries Charity--Tim Shaw murdered my mother, I know it! Try telling it to the police when they have this (he brandishes the confession) in their hands--"Now, Charity, what are we going to do--keep quiet or both tell our stories?" Miserable, Charity says, if I keep quiet, I will be guilty of murder, too--when the next full moon rises, and you become what you are, you'll kill again, won't you? I don't know that I will, he replies. But you don't know you won't, she says, and if there's a poor girl in the woods, or another Dorcas Trilling, I will have helped you murder by keeping quiet. Quentin says, if you talk, your father, Evan Hanley and I myself will die. If you keep quiet, there's a small chance that I might be cured by the time the next full moon rolls around, and this nightmare will be over. I don't know what to do, laments Charity. There will be no more victims, presses Q. I want to go, she says, and pray, for guidance. He lets her out--go pray, he urges--but if you feel "guided" to your father, remember the paper I have in my pocket. She leaves the drawing room.
Aristede admires himself in the mirror, fiddling with his hair. Magda sarcastically asks, did you send for me so there would be two of us to admire you? Be quiet, he orders--tonight, when Barnabas rises from his resting place, you are to do nothing--make sure you are the perfect servant, loyal friend and trusty confidant--he must suspect nothing has changed since he left last night. Of course I will say nothing, says Magda, but Barnabas isn't easy to fool. Use every ounce of your gypsy cunning, he advises, if you want to stay alive. "What will YOU use?" she asks--I've got my gypsy cunning, what do you have to protect you from Barnabas? He holds up the medallion he wears around his neck--this can protect me from "Mr. Barnabas," he says--it's beauty is in it's strength, it can do anything.
All right, we both have something to protect us, I will leave now. One more thing, says Aristede--I want the hand! Tim Shaw has it, she reminds him. Find Tim Shaw, warns Aristede--he hasn't just vanished from the earth. Maybe he's got a different face now, suggests Magda, getting right in Aristede's face--maybe something worse has happened to him, the hand has done more evil by now. If you think you know anything about this hand, you flatter yourself, says Aristede. If you understand it so well, you should go find it, she retorts. Right now, he says, "WE. . .I cannot, that's why I have to rely on PEOPLE like you!" Why? asks Magda. None of your business, he says, you must find the hand before time runs out. Before time runs out for who? she asks--Quentin?--me?--for who? She gasps--you mean when Petofi comes back!--when will that be? Don't ask questions, says Aristede, find Tim Shaw! She leaves the lair.
Quentin answers a frantic knock at the door--it's Mrs. Fillmore. What are you doing here? he asks. You must come, says Mrs. Fillmore, it's Lenore--this morning she was fine, but she developed a high fever, similar to when your little boy fell sick. What did the doctor say? asks Quentin He's with her now, says Mrs. Fillmore.
Go back, says Quentin, I'm going to try and find someone who can help--hurry, he says. She leaves.
In the drawing room, Charity takes a swig of brandy straight out of the snifter. She grimaces at the taste and goes to answer the door. It's Magda. What are you doing here, my father doesn't like you here, says Charity. But I'm here, points out Magda. Charity lets her in. Magda thinks Charity is entertaining someone, but the young woman says I'm quite alone. Magda observes the smell of brandy. Charity claims she was having some brandy filled chocolates, sent to Judith for Christmas. (HOLIDAY MENTION!) Chocolate? questions Magda, looking at her sharply. "Then I had a small glass of brandy," confesses Charity--a very small glass--why do you ask? "I ain't asking, you're telling me," points out Magda. What am I telling you? asks Charity. That a man has made you unhappy, guesses Magda. That's not it, says Charity. Then why would a lady like you open a bottle of brandy? asks Magda. It's being in this house, moans Charity--if only Mama hadn't died, I wouldn't be here--I hate it!--when I was little, I dreamed of the day I'd be married and move into a house like this--now I wish I had never seen Collinwood! Some changes are very strange, says Magda--you wanted to be in a big house and now you don't--you wanted a man, and now he's far away. What man? asks Charity. Tim Shaw, says Magda, you were supposed to marry him. This excites Charity, who asks--could you bring Tim Shaw back here, if I wanted him?--could you find out from the cards? I can try, agrees Magda, but you must answer some questions--does he have a family? No, he was an orphan, says Charity, my parents are the only family he ever had (poor guy). Was there a place he mentioned wanting to visit? Asks Magda. Yes, San Francisco, says Charity--he and Steve Simmons discussed going there--Steve was Tim's best friend, and he's working in a bank in Worcester--I received a Christmas card from him, I'll go get it. She stops, asking Magda, why do you need the address to read the cards? If you want him back, says Magda, go get the address, and leave the gypsy magic to me. If Tim does come back, asks Charity, he'll have to tell the truth, won't he? Magda nods. Charity goes to get the address, meeting Quentin coming downstairs. "How did you hear?" he asks the gypsy. Hear what? asks Magda. "The news about my daughter," says Q. Magda gasps, "She's dead?" She's dying, says Quentin, of the same thing as my boy. (oh, that's so heartbreaking!) It's because she's got gypsy blood, says Magda--because Magda Rakosi loves her--she cannot die, because if she does, Barnabas says the future is dead, too. I don't care about the future, insists Quentin, just my daughter--the doctor is with her now. The doctor can't do anything, says Magda, but maybe there is something...she describes Aristede's powerful, protective medallion--it protects him from Barnabas and Angelique--perhaps it could protect the baby from Julianka! I don't know where Aristede is, says Quentin. I do, says Magda--the old abandoned building at the end of North Road. The pendant may work, it must, says Q. Be careful with Aristede, warns Magda, he's very dangerous. Quentin vows to get it. Magda picks up Charity's glass of brandy and finishes it off.
Quentin finds Aristede asleep at the switch, but the latter immediately awakens and says, "No, Mr. Collins, you can't surprise me, even when I'm sleeping." Give me the pendant, demands Quentin. No way, says Aristede--it protects me from witches, warlocks, and unnatural spirits. How does it do against flesh and blood? asks Q. For that, says Aristede, I have the dancing lady--and he pulls it out. "Then let 'er dance, Aristede, let 'er dance," says Quentin. They grapple, knocking things over. Quentin pushes Aristede against a chair, rendering him unconscious, and pulls the medallion from around his throat. "Pray there's still time," says Quentin, holding the medallion in his hands.
Fillmore home - Magda and Mrs. Fillmore stand vigil over Lenore. Quentin enters--how is she? he asks. No change, says Magda. He anxiously goes to the cradle. The doctor has come and gone, says Mrs. Fillmore--he says there is nothing more he or anyone can do. She observes his disheveled state and asks, are you all right? I am, he says, please go. She leaves the room. Quentin is about to place the medallion on the baby, but Magda stops him--perhaps it will hurt her, maybe it's evil. We have no choice, says Quentin, we must do it no matter what happens. DO it, she says, go on. He places the medallion on the child's chest. Nothing happens.
No change in color or breathing says Quentin. "She will die because of Julianka's curse," moans Magda, "and there's no way of stopping it, if only..." Wait, says Q, I have an idea--if Julianka put on the curse, she might be able to take it off. Summon her again? asks Magda. Do you think you can? he asks. I don't know, she says. Try, urges Quentin. But if she does come, asks Magda, how do we know Julianka won't make the curse even worse? "Magda," says Quentin, "you have nothing to lose--except your life." I would gladly give up my life for this child, if it would do any good, says Magda, but Julianka is so angry because she died before her time." Call her, demands Quentin, we have very little time. She agrees--I will pray nothing gets worse. Magda takes the three-candle candelabra in her hands and calls to Julianka of the Romana tribe, beseeching her to come, not asking for myself, I accept my own punishment, but for this little baby, Lenore, who is too young and tender to walk down death's path alone--let her live Julianka, let her know life! Thunder booms. Quentin demands, what's happening? The cradle begins rocking by itself. "Julianka has come," says Quentin, exultant. We must pray she's come with pity for the child, says Magda. Jenny's spirit appears before them and says, "No, not with pity, Magda!" Quentin and Magda stare at Lenore's beautiful mother.
NOTES: Magda? Who expected THAT? Not I! Will she be able to help her ill daughter and ensure that the Jennings line comes into existence?
Enjoyed Quentin's fight with Aristede--isn't it wonderful to see him caring so much about another person? Learning of his kids might have changed Quentin even sooner, if Judith and Edward hadn't kept them from him.
Love, Robin
