The not-so-surprising conclusion to
Cagney and Lacey: Restitution--- Dark Shadows in the Land of Dreams
by Lorraine A. Balint
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

EPILOGUE # 1 ---- MONDAY, MAY 30, 2000

". . . Home. . . Wanna go home. . ." Tears squeezed from the comatose woman's eyes, which were shielded by taped-on plastic goggles to keep them moist when they wouldn't close. The goggles were steamy, but the tear trickles were clearly to be seen.

The nurse on duty was quite used to this--- many people in comas blinked, wept quietly, babbled incoherent sentences, and even moved, all usually involuntarily. The patient here had done and said as much for the whole seven weeks she had been in the nursing home--- where she had been sent
because the neurologists at Columbia had done all they could, and it was necessary for the family to
find her a good place before all the insurance ran out. It would have been difficult to give her the kind of care she needed in a home setting, and there was nobody available who could even try.

The woman in the bed stirred. Again, nothing to fret over--- what was more, she was under restraint. Gentle restraint, but there was little danger that she'd fall out of bed or otherwise injure herself.

However, upon this midnight, the nurse noticed a difference in the movement. The "unconscious" woman didn't appear to be quite so unconscious--- she was thrusting her head up, weak and wobbly as her neck was by now, her arms moved smoothly and with purpose, and her hands made graceful motions. Her speech, too, cleared a bit--- though the tracheal tube made it difficult for her to say much.
"Harv--- Harv--- where are you? Where'm I?"

The nurse bent over the woman, took one of her hands, no longer flaccid. The grip was firm, if shaky.
"Mrs. Lacey? This is Nurse Lewis. Hannah. Can you hear me, can you understand me?"

"Yesss. . . Nurse. Hannah-- Louise." Mary Beth opened her eyes wide, and studied the middle-aged nurse. "Hannah? You're s'posed to be 'leven years. . ."

The nurse smiled sweetly. "Oh, well, quite some time ago, but I thank you--- or was that part of a dream you had while you were--were resting?"

'No dream. . . Don't THINK was a dream, but maybe. . . This Seamen's 'Morial Hosp'l? Collinsport. . ."

"Collinsport? Good heavens!. . . No, Mrs. Lacey, that's a place on an old TV show. 'Dark Shadows'. You remember it, perhaps? I hear they show reruns on some cable station these days. I think a couple of the nurses and aides watch it on lunch-break--- maybe they did so in here, when they were supposed to be watching YOU, and you heard some of it in your 'sleep.' I'll have to speak to them about that. Still, I suppose there's cause to be grateful--- obviously, your mind was kept busy when we thought otherwise. . . But THIS is the Esterbrook Gardens Long-Term Healthcare Center in Islip, Long Island. You've been here for 7 weeks."

Mary Beth's eyes flew wide open, and she fumbled at the tape around the goggles. The nurse stopped her, put on some gloves, and did it herself. The patient moaned, "Seven weeks! Wha' happened,
what? Oh, I remember, now. There was an--an axe'dent. We were in the car. . . Me, Harvey, Alice,
Christine. . . Harvey was drivin'. . . We were goin' to this nice place in Tarrytown for Alice's 16th birthday, we were gonna meet Mike and Iris. . . Harvey Junior was comin' with his wife from Cali--- what's her name again?"

"Also 'Chris', I believe? I know I've head it."

Mary Beth rasped, "No, 'Krystal', that's it. They're nice girls, Krystal and Iris, I got nice daughters-in-law, even if we don't always. . . always. . . Someone cut us off on 287, headin' to the Tappan tolls. . . There was a loud noise! I don' remember--- I DON'T remember!" Now the newly-revived patient
was getting hysterical.

The nurse, horrified at what she had inadvertantly started, immediately summoned assistance to calm the patient. When Mary Beth was sedated, Nurse Benjamin was shaking in her sensible shoes as she apologized to the doctor. "I told her where she was, how long she's been here. . . She's a police detective and still very sharp, she just started putting 2 and 2 together like that---" She snapped her fingers.

The doctor, Heard, said irritably, "Well, it was still irresponsible of you, Lewis. You should have called me as soon as it appeared she was coming to, and we could have handled this gently. But it doesn't change the fact that we'll have to tell her a lot of rather unpleasant news, very soon. All I can say is, thank God nobody's actually DEAD. . . But it's still going to be a shock." He shook his head. "I think there's only one person who can help us explain events without agitating her further."

At 9:00 A.M., Mary Beth woke again. This time, there was someone, a woman, not a nurse or an aide, at her side. Heavy-set, but clad in the best blouse and slacks Lane Bryant had to offer. Dyed ash-blonde hair. She had been watching TV, but flicked it off and turned toward the woman in the bed immediately when she heard her stirring. "Thank God you're back with us, Mary Beth," Christine said, her own eyes welling up. "I could hardly believe it when they called me early this A.M., and told me to be here
A.S.A.P., so I'd be on hand when you woke up." She lowered her face to the pillow, next to Mary Beth's. The latter stroked her hair and held her as SHE started to sniffle again. "Oh, God, Mary Beth, don't cry, it must be a pain in the neck--- literally--- with that trake." Christine smiled gently, and the woman on the bed smiled back, through her tears. "But don't worry about it. They told me they'd take it out very soon, and I even hear they're going to try you on some liquid food as soon as it heals a bit. We've got to get you back to fighting weight, girlfriend."

"Am I gonna get better?" Mary Beth mouthed.

"Yes, and that's the truth. Your other injuries were minor, save for the knock on your head and the problem with your breathing. They wondered why it took so long for you to come out of the coma, but there was a lot--- a lot of trauma, and not physical, either." Now, Christine's face darkened.

"Chris--- what happened that day? You have to tell me. Is my Harvey--- my baby girl--- are they dead?" Mary Beth's mind went cloudy--- didn't she just go through anxiety like this, not so very long ago? In Collinsport?

"NO!" Christine barked. "But it WAS bad, Mary Beth--- the reason for the accident. . . Harvey had chest pains all that morning. You were mad at him because he had gone out fishing with his brother at the crack of dawn, and he came home feeling unwell, when he knew you had plans for Alice's birthday that evening. But he took some pills, and SAID he was okay. Then, you got a certified letter from some place where you'd applied for a job--- I KNOW you and Geoff Coombs didn't get along as well as you did with Feldberg, but nobody even suspected you were looking for another job!"

"I---I don't remember that. . . But it musta been, 'cause it was in my dream. . . Anyway, go on."

"Well, it seems you were arguing about THAT, because it would have involved moving, and Alice was already having some problems adjusting to some new classes in school, and Harvey wanted to stay close to Mike and Iris. That's where I came in. . . on the tail end. I'm sorry to say, I took HIS side, but Hell, you KNOW I'd miss you guys like MAD. . . But that didn't make a difference, really. So we got in your car, and Harvey insisted on driving. I was in back with Alice, trying to convince her to belt up, but she'd just broken with some boy and was in a pissy mood. While we were heading toward the tolls, Harvey just--- went out like a light. The car veered sharply, it hit another. Hard. Then THAT car hit another, like dominoes--- but it was all so fast--- You jumped at the steering wheel, but you were suddenly pitched the opposite way--- even though you had a belt, it didn't stop your head from whacking the door. Also hard. Alice was thrown, but Harvey was in her way, yet, somehow, her leg went up and smashed into the glass. It wasn't jagged, but it ripped into her leg anyway. A chunk hit her in the neck. She almost bled to death, Mary Beth."

Mary Beth sniffled anew. "And you?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but my service revolver knocked into your seat--- and damn near shot me right in my own heart. It missed, and hit my right arm, instead. I had surgery, but it did some nerve damage. I can move the arm well enough to survive and drive, but my shooting days are over. Well, just one more good reason to retire a couple of years ahead of my intention---"

"What about the other people Harvey--- Harvey---"

"The FIRST one he hit--- directly into the driver's side. The man was killed instantly. He was a chauffeur, driving his boss home to Tarrytown. Quite near where my mother's family lived. His name was William Lomax, and his boss, who was not injured, and actually quite helpful, once he recovered from the shock of losing his longtime driver, poor man. . . They were together for years. . .
He called the cops and ambulance on his cell-phone. . . His name was--IS Bernard S. Cullen. Mary Beth--- Mary Beth, why are you staring at me like that?"

"OH, oh--- nothing serious, I think I heard those names in my dream, too."

"Really? You'll have to tell me as much as you remember, sometime, when your throat is healed. Amazing, though, I thought people in comas didn't really dream or anything. But then, you've always been exceptional, in the best possible way. But, getting back--- The people in the second car were fortunate--- they were just shaken, and their car looked like it was reparable. But Harvey. . . He's VERY alive, Mary Beth, and he's going to get recover, in fact, he's been declared ready to leave the hospital, and chomping at the bit to see you--- He's jealous of Alice, who comes every day after school.
You'll be relieved to see, she got rid of most of her piercings, and her grades came up--- she's got a new boyfriend who's been helping her out, instead of MAKING out. His name is Jason Elliot--- Good LORD, Mary Beth, if you could see the look on your face NOW---

"Well, to make a long story short, there's a couple of things you need to know about Harvey--- obviously, he won't be driving for quite a while, so I'll be helping out, schlepping him around, along with Mike, until Alice has recovered from all those transfusions and is able to get her license. But the most important thing--- the reason Harvey passed out was because he had such a bad heart attack, he really WOULD have died--- all that could save him was a transplant! Well, it turned out, this poor Lomax fellow he ran into. . . Perfect match, as though they were brothers. . . Mr. Cullen said he'd been an orphan, and he supposed he could give the consent, and he did, though he wept when he signed the papers. He said, sometimes things happen for a reason, even though we don't understand. . ."

Mary Beth muttered, "Like brothers. . . like brothers. . . Christ, we deprive the guy of his companion, and he gives us Harvey's life in return. . ."

Christine said, "Well, it WAS touch-and-go for a while. Harvey was in and out of a comatose state, too, but he's tough, and so was that Lomax fellow, apparently, or his heart wouldn't have lasted the course."

"Tell me, Chris. . . Did--did this William Lomax LOOK anything like Harvey?"

"What a funny qustion, but--- well, no. Mr. Lomax was, from what I could see, tall, muscular, with a long nose, and inky-black hair. A good-looking man in his own way, but nothing like Harvey. Bern---Mr. Cullen said he understood that his late driver was part Native-American." Christine paused. "Mr. Cullen will be relieved to hear that you, too, as well as Harvey, are going to get better now. He's a most remarkable man, and in spite of the circumstances, he's become a friend." She blushed.

Oh, brother, Mary Beth mused. Somehow, Christine had become involved with the surviving accident victim! Well, it was kind of reassuring to know that some things would never change. And maybe the man wouldn't sue on that account--- Well, not beyond reason, hopefully. This fellow sounded like he had an independent fortune; for once, someone in Christine's league. And it WAS better than a
vampire. . . "What's he like?"

"Very attractive. Tall, slim, blue-eyed, just my age. He lives with his father, Quincy, and he has a sister named Amelia--- Mary Beth, you're STARING at me again! Honey, I know it's been a horrible couple of months, and it isn't completely over just yet, but we'll get through it fine, now that you're on the mend, finally."

"It's--- it's just that I've had a HELL of a dream, put together, prob'bly, by overhearin' people talkin' while I was out, and mixin' it up with this 'Dark Shadows' program the nurses flip on in here---"

"Oh." Christine blushed again. "I've done that, too. I mean, I love yah, Mary Beth, and I didn't mind sitting with you for hours, sometimes, but you WERE unconscious, or so I thought! I used to watch the show years ago, and Amelia got me hooked again, for all she's a NUN! So you had a secret adventure going on in your head, all these weeks, eh?"

"Yeah, kind of. It was scary---"

"Oh, now I'm REALLY sorry--- I forgot how you took-- TAKE things so literally!"

"Well, it was scary, but it was also--- how can I put it--- 'lightening. I learned a lot about myself, you, Harvey. . ."

Christine suddenly looked like she discovered America. "You know, I wonder if Harvey wasn't having the same kind of dreams--- he said he had a lot of bizarre thoughts, was delirious, worried about YOU, of course. . . Sometimes he said, he could see you, sometimes you did things together, sometimes it was like that morning, but he knew somehow, you'd get back together. And me, too, I was mixed up in it.
I admit, I had a LOT of wacky dreams--- would you believe I dreamed that JONAH NEWMAN had come back to life? And that Mansfield had an evil NIECE?--- but some of them may have been inspired not only by that show, and all our troubles, but also by visiting the Cullen house. I can't WAIT for you to see it--- a bit of a stone fortress, but really, quite cozy. My Olmstead grandfather would have approved. And as for Alice. . . She really weirded out, lack of blood will do that to you. Like Lewis Carroll, all over again, she was in Wonderland, through the looking-glass, you name it. .'He was part of my dream, but I was part of HIS, too!' "

Mary Beth whispered, "Before I take another catnap, Chris. . . there's just a couple things. . . I need to know if this was a dream or not. . . Christine, have you ever--- have you ever thought Charlie wasn't really your Dad?"

Christine's face darkened. "God above, Mary Beth, just what kind of dream DID you have? Oh, I'm sorry. It WAS just a dream, and I'm sure the help around here turned on other soaps and talk shows besides just 'Dark Shadows'--- real stories about people who have kids with everyone, it seems, but
their SPOUSES!"

"Sorry, sorry. . ."

Christine had calmed, sounded sadly contrite. "No, please, it's my fault I jumped off the handle. I'll tell you the truth, Mary Beth, Charlie and Mother were often in such intense conflict, there WERE times I WISHED one, or the other, wasn't my parent. Most often, my mother. . . mainly because one day, when I was about, oh, 6 or 7. I caught her smacking my father in the face with a belt. . . But she cried a lot about it, I KNOW she was sorry. . . Charlie could be unpleasant when he was drunk Part of it was Grandfather Olmstead's fault, I'm pretty sure of that now. He ragged on Mother because Charlie was a Catholic, Irish--- he made "Dark Irish" sound like a demon from the Dark Side--- and a COP. He ragged on my father because HIS mother didn't have the decency to drown on the Titanic, in place of some Olmstead cousin, who DID. He ragged on both my parents, because neither I nor Brian resembled those Aryan ancestors of his. At least, I didn't until much, much later, after the braces and the weight came off, and the Clairol went on---"

Mary Beth suddenly became alert. She rasped, "That brings me to th' other thing--- I tol' you what happen' to me in Portah Rico, 35 years ago, di'nt I?"

"Yes. It was very brief, and unemotional as possible, though I recall you needed 3 stiff drinks before you dashed through it."

"Were you, or were you not there? Were you 'Lisa Lun'ny'?"

Without hesitation. . ."Yes, 'Jennifer'. And I am surprised it took you all this time to figure it out. I hope you're not pissed off that I didn't own up to it then, or ever, until now. I think I might have been saving it for when we were very old, to clear the air just in time, before we went to that big precinct in the sky."

"Well, maybe we sen' messages to each other, in all these dreams. . . I just wan'ned t' say, thank you for everythin'.. You saved me, I saved you, Harvey was saved, an' Alice. . . There WAS a death, an' that's sad--- Willie deserved more outta life. . ."

"Willie? You mean Mr. Lomax? Why, apparently, he enjoyed a pretty good salary for his position,
and Bernard remarked that his CHAUFFEUR sometimes had more dates than HE did. Still, they had known each other for decades, Mr. Lomax was almost indispensible, and it's sad when there's such an untimely death, whether it's an accident, sudden illness, or murder. But a little good came out of it. Harvey's transplant, meeting the Cullens. . . Plus, there's one more thing--- I'd wait for Mike or young Harvey to come around and tell you, but I want you to put the crash and the big bad dream out of your mind for a while. It seems, Mrs. Lacey, you are finally going to be a grandmother! It's a two-fer. Both Iris and Krystal are almost two months along, and young Harvey has just snagged a job right in Islip, so you'll get to see both your grandkids on a regular basis. I guess our united brush with mortality, which, for once, had NOTHING to do with police work, finally inspired your boys to add branches to your family tree."

Mary Beth smiled. "Gonna need a big house for them to visit. Like the one in my dream. I'm gonna doze, now, but wake me when that crazy show is on. I wanna see what I lived for so long. One more thing, Chris--- the letter I got? The job's gone t'someone else by now, huh?"

"Well, yes, Mary Beth, I should think so. It sounded like such a hoot I almost called them myself. I can't believe any town needs a SHERIFF anymore, but imagine such a backwater place, they've made
a big deal of finally having women in the city government! 'Please accept this invitation to visit our fine city, and talk with our new Mayor and City Council. We think you'll like the changes we've made lately, from our new Girls' Academy, to our revived Women's Club. We're looking for a few good women--- here in STEPFORD. . .' "

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

EPILOGUE # 2 ---- MONDAY, MAY 30, 2000

"Steb-ford. . . Where's thah. . .?" Willie stirred in his bed at the Seamen's Memorial Convalescent Annex, and tried to move tubes that were hooked to his nose and arms. A young, red-haired physician bent over him, and gently restrained him. After a minute of feeble fighting, the older man opened his faded blue eyes and stared up at the doctor, who thought he saw a glint of recognition in them.

"Father, I think he's finally going to come out of it," Dr. Jeremy Collins said to Barnabas Collins. The latter had been holding a daily vigil for his long-time servant and companion since the day Willie had tripped and hit his head on a rock at the lake in the State Forest during an early morning fishing trip with Jeremy, who was also his son-in-law.

Willie had apparently suffered a major concussion, and until today, seven weeks after that fateful morning, nobody had any idea of the true extent of whatever brain damage had occurred. He had made disjointed sounds and motions before, but this WAS different. The fact that he was coherent, if somewhat addled, as he gradually came back to consciousness, that he could move both arms, and was even rustling the blanket with his legs, seemed like more than just a hopeful sign. "Jerrremy," he slurred. "Barnn'basss. . . Where's Tessy?" That was the name of his daughter, born of his brief marriage to Maggie Evans years ago, named after his mother, Teresa, and VictoriaWinters.

"Home with her mother, stepfather, and baby Sam," Jeremy replied, pleased beyond anything that his father-in-law seemed able to remember things without prompting. "God, it's great to have you back, Willie. And MOTHER will be so pleased."

"Yes, I'll have to give Julia a call at WindCliff," Barnabas said. His wife had to return to her position as Chief of Staff at the asylum, after weeks taking turns at Willie's bedside. He now moved closer, and put his hand upon his houseman's arm. "We were SO worried, my old friend. And poor Jeremy felt so guilty---"

"Not his fault," Willie muttered. " 'Twas dark and foggy, I was lookin' for a private spot to--- you know," he said with a faint blush. "Damn tree root reached up and shoved me, I tell yah." Now, he grinned, though briefly. "Had a whale of a dream, anyway."

"Really?" Jeremy said. "Well, that's interesting. Shows your mind was functioning, anyway. When you're better, you'll have to tell us about it."

"So real, so REAL," Willie insisted. "So far out, too, like bein' in Par'lel Time. . . Thought I WAS in Par'lel Time. Everyone was there, but differen', some with differen' names, like Tessy. She was 'Vicki', her MIDDLE name, and Maggie was already married to S'bastian" (his own marriage to Maggie took place during a time when she was on the rebound after an estrangement from Sebastian Shaw, and she married the latter soon after the divorce--- a scant 16 months!), "But he DIED, and your MOM. . ." Tears welled in Willie's eyes.

Barnabas said soothingly, "Now, now, Willie, Julia's alive and quite well. Thank God she's been in remission from that cancer for so long. What would we all do without her?"

Willie sniffled, "You found a nice woman, almos' as nice as Julia, but she was a COP. An' her lady friend was the Sheriff. And instead of having a look-like Collins cousin come from England, HER ol' man was MY cousin--- from BROOKLYN! Turned out, WE were Collinses, too. You 'member Carl Collins, Quentin's brother? And you were. . . THAT way. . . YOU know. . . and AMY, too, and it was JASON'S fault, 'cause he came back from the dead, and Nicholas Blair had a hand---"

Barnabas shushed Willie, who, in his agitation, was becoming indiscreet. Ah well, he thought in mild exasperation, SOME things never change. Still, he was grateful. He and Willie had been together for 33 years, and after the early years of abusing his manservant, Barnabas came more to treat Willie as a junior partner in an obscure business, and sometimes, even a nephew. (Willie, a descendant of the whinging, probably impotent Carl Collins? Not bloody likely, though it might have been fitting!)
The houseman's duties at home were light--- he now had a small staff of two other assistants, plus supervising caretakers and gardeners provided by the family at the Great House. Barnabas entrusted him with ever more family business since Jeremy's and Tess's hurried wedding 18 months before, and the support Willie gave his employers during the anxious days while they waited to find out if little Sammy had somehow inherited the vampire taint. To top it off, Barnabas and Julia both intended to leave Willie a legacy if he survived them. Which, apparently, WAS possible, given his near-miraculous recovery from his coma.

"So," Barnabas said, shifting the focus of Willie's rambling, "I became enamored of a lady police officer, eh? And a woman sheriff. Imagine if George Patterson heard about this! How interesting."

"You don' know the HALF of it---"

Barnabas put just a TOUCH of his old threatening growl into his voice, though the days of ACTING on any such impulses had long since vanished. "Well, Willie, I'd advise you to save that 'half' for when we are all in the privacy of our home."

Just that touch of a growl was sufficient. All Willie added was, "The cops were from New York. Your friend--- she was blonde like Angelique, but it wasn't HER, 'cause SHE was in the dream, too, and this lady was, well, kinda broad in the beam. But you really liked her--- she was 'Chris'. And the Sheriff, she was tough-looking too, and darkish, her name was 'Mary Beth', and her husband, my cousin, was---"

"Harvey." This from Jeremy. "Oh, boy, what a mix-up, Willie. Someone, a nurse or aide or janitor, must have been coming in here and turning on 'Cagney and Lacey' on a cable channel. It's an old TV show about two policewomen. For that matter, maybe Tess watched it while she sat with you. She likes that kind of thing, and it's a break from watching 'Teletubbies' with Sammy."

Willie made a sour face. "Thank God she di'n't watch THAT in here. My dream was scary ENOUGH, thank you very much. I love my li'l' grandbaby, but there's some stuff even I shou'n't have to put up with."

"I agree," Barnabas said. "I don't care much for this custom of turning toddlers into telelvision addicts. When I was just a little fellow like that, Mother read to me, wonderful, classic stories, and my father and Aunt Abigail read the Bible aloud. Well, THAT was scary as well--- that Abraham and Isaac story" (he shuddered) "but there were SOME wonderful things there."

"When Sammy's a bit older, Father," Jeremy replied amiably. "He's only a year--- anyway, shall YOU make your calls first, or shall I?"

"You go first, and be sure to tell the family at the Great House. Vicki, especially, will rejoice--- I'm totally amazed, Willie, since we brought her back 20 years ago, and she held off from any other marriage while she raised young Geoffrey Peter---" (her son by the late Peter Bradford who had also been Jeff Clark) "---that she's taken such a strong liking to you lately, and you to her. She's been moping badly, Carolyn was so concerned about her sister." (Elizabeth's deathbed confession about Vicki's true parentage had been the impetus for one more trip to the late 18th century, to rescue the former orphan governess and her unborn child from the Leviathans. Peter had given his life to ensure their safety.)

Willie grinned again. "I miss her already, and I'm only awake for 20 minutes. Boy, it's great to be back in the land of the livin', and like the song says, 'I got a lot of livin' to do'."

Barnabas commented, "We've been very lucky in the last 20 years, haven't we, old friend? No worries about all the ghouls of the past. They only exist in our dreams now."

"Unless we're a part of someone else's dream," Willie said, "or God, forbid, someone else's NIGHTMARE."

"Don't worry about it right now, Willie," the older man replied. "It's been a beautiful spring day, and the weather service has predicted several more days like it. Hopefully, they'll judge you fit to face the sunshine before the rain comes again."

"That'll be nice. I kinda remember the last time I snapped out of a coma, years ago, and got my marbles back at WindCliff, and this nice grandma-like nurse opened the curtains for me. For some reason, at first I was scared that the light would hurt my eyes, but she held my hand and led me to the window, and it was so beautiful, like the blue sky and the flowers and grass had been special-made, just for me." Willie had touch of fresh weariness in his voice as he concluded the brief declamation. It was obvious that he'd need to get more used to being awake, and would certainly require some physical therapy to tone the limbs that had not carried his weight for almost 2 months, which, in itself, would be exhausting at first.

Jeremy said, his own voice quivering with emotion, "It'll be like that again, Willie, and this time, we'll even give you rides to the solarium in a wheelchair, until you're able to get about on your own two feet."

"Just as long as I can hold hands with my Tessy and my Vicki," the older man sighed. "Vicki. . . Barnabas, when she was back in the old times---"

"Not now, Willie," Barnabas warned, but this time, without heat. Willie's account of his long-ago time at WindCliff and of seeing the sun for the first time in weeks, had evoked memories both poignant and horrible for the former vampire, who'd had his own epiphany upon seeing the sun after over 170 years.

"No, please, Barnabas, just wanna tell you one more thing before I take a li'l' nap again. When Vicki went--went back to 1795. . . She took someone else's place, right? Some poor little governess, name of Phyllis something-or-other, right?"

"Phyllis Wicke, that is correct."

"Then somehow, when Vicki went back AGAIN, this Phyllis kinda got lost, right?"

"Yes, in a way. We never figured out how she was made to vanish when it was she who was really excecuted--- for another's crimes."

"Well, in my dream, we found out. It was all about an Indian curse and stuff---"

"Yes, well, I recall telling you about that, some years ago."

"In the dream, we found out that Phyllis was in Limbo, 'til she was born into that Chris person. She couldn't come back 'til then, because, turns out, she had to be born into a Catholic lady. That Phyllis was Catholic, too."

Barnabas was silent for about 3 full minutes, until even his son became concerned. "Father," Jeremy asked, "What's the matter? Is it so, or not?"

"Yes, it's quite true. . . But as God is my witness, I have NEVER mentioned that fact to ANYONE, until NOW. Partly because it seemed like just a tiny, trivial detail, but it was also a pact I made with the original Phyllis when I caught her telling her Rosary beads, just after she came to us. I, and my mother, and Uncle Jeremiah, certainly would have been tolerant, but it all depended on what Father and Aunt Abigail decided, so I thought it best that the secret should be between just the two of us, at least until Josette arrived. Then all the troubles started, and it would have made matters WORSE, especially if TRASK got wind of it. It didn't help in the end, but I kept THAT promise. And Phyllis was discreet about it. She DID teach my sister and cousin a little Latin, so there were some advantages."

Jeremy said, "So you think this dream might have been a message to let us know that this Phyllis is okay, even if she's been born into another dimension?"

Barnabas shrugged. "Via a character in an old television program? If I tell you 'yes', don't let THAT be an excuse for letting mine and Willie's grandson become 'glued to the tube', as they say, in hope of catching OTHER revelations." He watched Willie's eyes close, and soon heard him snore. "We should call Hallie in, and give her a run-down on what's just transpired." Hallie Stokes Woodard was the nurse supervisor on duty. "And we have other calls to make--- to your mother, to Tess and Vicki, and to David, Amy, Carolyn, and the rest. And Quentin, if he hasn't flown to Germany--- he'll no doubt find the concept of Willie's dream relationship to his late--er--Uncle, fascinating. "

THE END!!!! (Well, maybe NOT. . .)

"For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins. . . .
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909)

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