SCENE 5
Julia stepped over the broken stones in the old pool house. She looked around at the fallen branches and debris, and immediately regretted coming here. It was certainly a far cry from the sterile laboratory enviroment she was used to. But she was always curious, and she supposed mysteries were not always solved in a test tube. "David, where did you see this woman?"
"Over there." He pointed to a shadowy corner of the building. Julia could understand his fear. Just looking into the unnatural darkness made her uneasy, though she wasn't about to let the child know that. Cautiously, she made her way toward the corner. The closer she got, the more the shadows parted. She soon realized no one was there.
"Well, there is nobody here now." She observed the dead leaves that littered the corner. None of them were crushed, or even looked disturbed in any way. "David, are you sure you saw someone here?"
"Yes, I'm sure. There was someone there. You've got to believe me!"
Julia was skeptical, but didn't want to upset David. And, of course, he had seen Sarah before anyone else, and she was certainly real. "I believe you. But whoever it was, they aren't here now." Julia suddenly realized the time. "What were you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you have been with Miss Winters?"
The boy kicked a stone into the empty pool. The power of the kick betrayed his anger to the doctor. "Yes, I should have been. Vicki was supposed to take me riding today."
"So why didn't she?"
"She wasn't feeling well, so Aunt Elizabeth made her go back to bed. She did seem pretty out of it this morning. Real tired and distracted. She was awfully pale, too."
Julia frowned. Those symptoms sounded very familiar. And she wasn't happy about it. Unfortunately, David picked up on her change of mood. "Is something wrong, Dr. Hoffman? You don't think there's anything seriously wrong with Vicki, do you?"
She had to smile. Ah, the fickleness of youth, she thought. One minute he is angry at her, the next he is concerned about her. Miss Winters seems to have a curious effect on the men around her. "I doubt it. She probably just needs some rest." Though I better check on her myself, later. "I'll tell you what. There are still a few hours of daylight left. Why don't you go to the stables and pick out a horse you want. I'll meet you there, and we'll go riding together."
David's eyes lit up. "Really? That would be great, Dr. Hoffman. Thanks." He started to run out, but stopped and turned when the doctor called his name.
"And David? If we're going to be friends, please call me Julia. Dr. Hoffman sounds much too formal."
He smiled at her. "Thanks, Dr. - I mean, Julia. I'll see you at the stables!" He broke into a sprint away from the pool house.
Julia sighed at his exuberance, then headed for the door. A strange glint of light coming from the darkened corner caught her eye, however. Puzzled, she went back to the shadowy area. At first, she didn't see anything, and was about to give up when she saw it again. On the ground among the leaves was a small gold locket catching the light. Julia picked it up. It was engraved in the front with an intricate, Egyptian-looking pattern. She opened it, but the inside was empty.
More confused than ever, Julia wondered where it came from. It certainly wasn't David's, and who else would come here? She began to take his story more seriously. She put the locket in her pocket, and headed off to meet her young friend at the stables.
SCENE 6
The sun had set just minutes before Julia came back to Collinwood. It was funny how attuned she had become to dusk since meeting Barnabas. She had never considered the exact time of sunset before then. As Julia headed upstairs toward her room, she met Vicki coming down. "Hello, Vicki. I hope you are feeling better."
Vicki looked at Julia, startled. Though she recovered quickly, Julia noticed. She also took note of the scarf around Vicki's neck. "Yes, I'm feeling much better, thank you." She tried to continue down the stairs, but Julia stopped her.
"I was meaning to talk to you, Vicki. I wanted to know when we could schedule another hypnosis session. I thought we could do it tomorrow morning, if that would be all right."
Vicki got a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was listening to another voice. "I'll be very busy tomorrow - with David. We've lost a lot of time in the past few days, and we really need to catch up." Again she tried to get around Dr. Hoffman, but Julia blocked her way.
"Tomorrow evening, then. We don't want to leave it too long, it may impede our progress."
"No, evening is bad," Vicki replied quickly. "Actually, doctor, I'm not sure I want to have another session."
Julia's expression grew grim. "Why not? It seemed so important to you to find out what happened in 1790."
"Well, I know it was. But for some reason, today it just doesn't seem to matter. What happened was over 200 years ago. I need to get on with my life." Julia started to say something, but Vicki interrupted her. "Excuse me, Dr. Hoffman, but I really must be going. I have a dinner engagement." She pushed past the doctor and continued down the stairs.
Julia called after the governess. "Your 'dinner engagement' wouldn't be with Barnabas, would it?"
Vicki stopped, but didn't even turn around. "No. I'm meeting Maggie at the Blue Whale." She headed to the front door.
Julia watched her from the stairs, frowning. She knew something was wrong, and she was afraid she knew what. When she heard the front door close, she headed downstairs, intent on following Victoria Winters.
"Julia." Elizabeth's voice at the top of the stairs stopped her in her tracks. "Have you seen David?"
She looked up at Liz. "Yes. We just got finished riding. He should be along any minute."
Elizabeth came down and smiled at Julia. "You took him riding? You don't know how much I appreciate that, Julia. He was quite upset this morning when Vicki couldn't take him."
"It was my pleasure, Elizabeth. I haven't been riding in a long time, and it felt good to get back to it. And I like spending time with David. He's a very intelligent young man."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself as well. Will you be joining us for dinner tonight, Julia?"
"Actually, I hadn't planned on it." She glanced toward the front door. Victoria would be long gone by now, and her chance of finding out the truth with her. But maybe Elizabeth could clear up another mystery. "But I think I will come to dinner after all. Thank you." She started to reach into her pocket. "Elizabeth, while I was out with David, I found something, and I wondered if you recognized it." She stopped short when she realized her pocket was empty. "Oh, dear. It seems I must be as careless as the owner. I appear to have lost what I found." She felt her other pockets, but was unable to find the gold locket she had discovered at the pool house. "Well, it wasn't important. What time will dinner be?"
"Eight o'clock. I'm sorry it's so late, but I have a meeting with my lawyer in a few minutes." Elizabeth went down the stairs and into the drawing room.
Julia grew puzzled. She knew she had put the locket in her pocket. Where could it have gone? It was a mystery on top of a mystery. But with her only clue gone, she had nothing to go on. She finally shook her head and went up to get changed for dinner.
