Chapter 4

Megan Graham should be the fist to be tackled. She was always suspicious, and she could find things that others missed... Megan did not trust her, while Barnabas believed in her good intentions, and Angelique tended to follow Megan's lead.

If she attacked Angelique or Barnabas first, Megan would come after her.

So she had to go after Megan first...

She thought of putting a stone in her. But no, she might find a way to make use of that source of power.

But she could capture her, and ... and what if she replace her? A lot of people trusted Megan., including the sheriff. She could be at the center of all the commotion and not be suspected...

Now, how to bring it about?

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Maggie said in pain. Not physical pain. Just shock at learning about the latest scandal in Capitol Hill. "Pretty soon we will have reporters all over tithe place wanting to know my opinion."

Sabrina looked up from her magazine. "Luckily, they will all be the local variety, not the Washington kind, so they won't be one tenth as bloodthirsty. And you can always get sick."

"True. And then those involved were all male, so that leaves me clear of suspicion."

"Of course, you had suspicions that it was going on."

Maggie made a face. "It is very difficult to keep this kind of thing secret. Oh, yes, it was known who they were and are. It made them easy to control. If you needed a few votes, you went to those you had something on and traded votes for silence."

"You don't need to explain it to me. I've done it for you a few times. And others, Gladys handled..."

"But to come out this close to elections. And keeping people guessing which congressmen were involved, that's a nasty trick. Throw the guilty ones to the wolves and let the innocent ones run for reelection in peace. This is a dirty trick, worthy of Tricky Dicky himself."

"As you said, being a woman you'd not be suspected."

"Drugs. And underage children entrusted to our care. How can they have been so stupid? So foolhardy? Even Barnabas has more sense than that. Don't they know what kind of town Washington is? They'd have better chances swimming with sharks."

"Republicans or Democrats?' Sabrina asked with curiosity.

"A true bipartisan effort from what I understand. Even if the pattern is that Republicans get caught for sex and Democrats for graft... Well, I'd better have some answers ready when I meet the local press."

Buffy stretched as far as she could.

"Are you sure that this is what we are supposed to do?" Julia was becoming skeptical of her Lamaze class. "I don't think that this is doing me any good."

"It does." Buffy reassured her. "You just have to work at it."

Julia snorted. A highly developed professional snort. She'd love to check the credentials of the quack in charge. And also review all the documentation on the Lamaze method to see if it was as good as they said it was.

"You haven't done much exercise lately, have you?"

Julia gave her a scathing look.

"Come on, tell the truth. You spend the day sitting behind your desk. How much exercise can you get? And I don't see you jogging o anything like that. Face it, you are out of shape." Buffy laughed without meanness. "You better catch up now."

Julia still looked severely at Buffy, but her frown would not hold.

She laughed and admitted defeat.

"You are right. I am frightfully out of shape. I have to do something about it."

"Do I really want to see my old man again?" Willie asked bleakly. "I know that I should. But still..."

Louella put her hand in his. "He's just an old man." she said softly "and you are not a kid anymore. You don't need his approval. As for his love, you don't need it either. I know how it was between him and you. But you many want to see him again, if only to stop seeing him as big and powerful. You need to see him pitiful and stop being afraid of him."

"I know, baby. I have to put him behind me. And facing him is the way to do it. But I don't want to remember him at all. And all that about putting it behind me would be OK if it did not mean having him under the same roof as Pearl. I don't want her to meet that kind of a grandfather."

"Let him come and if he steps out of line we can tell him to go away. But you need to see him."

"I know, baby." he pulled her up to him and kissed her. "If only I could put myself in cold storage when he came... if I was more sure of myself. I keep playing the scene in my head, what it will be when he gets here... what will we find to talk about? How long before we come to blows?"

"It won't be like you imagine it."

"So Adam assaulted you" Megan said to Martha.

"He just grabbed me and shook me."

"Which is assault in the criminal code.."

"I.. I do not want it to go to court."

"No. You do not want to sue them. But you need to look as if you do. Always negotiate from a position of strength. If you do not look strong, the Collinses will run all over you. Now. what do you want? Do you want to keep as you are doing, with a strong apology from Carolyn and a promise from Adam to behave better? Do you want to end your position, but get a glowing recommendation for you next job? Or do you want to continue teaching Edmund, but have him come to your place? I would recommend the third. This way you keep your job, your income, and don't have to set foot it Collinwood."

"I think that I'd like the third option best."

"Yes. Nothing wrong in doing business with the Collinses. As long as you make them respect your boundaries. They tend to overrun you if you don't. "

"At least these are not the times of Jamison Collins...the stories they tell.."

"More than stories. My aunt went through that. She liked her job at the cannery, but had to leave it and take cleaning jobs because of him...And yet she still thought of the Collinses as special."

"We all do, I am afraid."

"Yes. It has to do with their being the employers. We depend on them, and they know it, and abuse their power. The Davenport Center is changing things, but not enough yet."

"I hope to get out of Collinsport one day."

"You will. Just get a nice nest egg now, with tutoring and keep applying for teachings jobs. "

"And you? You left Collinsport once."

"The conditions were not ideal when I left... but I had to come back. Maybe I am too stubborn. Maybe I do not like being run out of town, but I thought that I could come and make things different. Let's say that I was angry and the Collinses, and still I am. "

"Are you angry with Barnabas Collins?"

"Used to be a lot angrier."

"You forgave him?"

"It is not a question of forgiving. It was a question of letting him know that people who were not Collinses were human beings and that he did not have an automatic right to trample on us, or to use us in his projects. Sure, he needs blood. So do I. But there are ways and ways. And he had to be taught to feed properly, and to respect his sources. And not to manipulate us, either... You know, he never apologized for turning my life upside down with the Leviathan box. Sure, it was not willingly, but still to acknowledge the damage done to me and Phillip... You see, he could forgive Jeb Hawkes because Carolyn loved him. And he could overlook Rumsen until he killed Hawkes. But helping get Phillip out of jail? What for? He was only a villager. And me? He has an accident with me? Well, I am only a villager. Just drive a stake through my heart. It is not as if I belong to the royal family... I told you, I was very angry with him and the whole family."

"What do you... you think about this business with Liz?"

"Unforgivable. Liz knew what she was getting into. She had people she could ask for guidance. I would have told her what she needed to know, and led her around until she learned to manage. But that was not what she chose. She instead let Roger and Carolyn lure maids so that she could attack them. And they were violent attacks. She did not even try to calm them down. Just had Roger hold them and put his hand over their mouths... And then she attacked a pregnant woman, Typical Collins. All that matters are members of the family. The rest does not count."

"But didn't you at one time attack people?"

"Not violently. And there is a difference between being all alone, with no recognized existence, with no idea of what to do, and being part of a community where you can take care of yourself while keeping good relations with everybody else. I have met those who are desperate, and they are glad when they are shown there is a better way. But her? She was having her due as a Collins."

They talked more, and Martha agreed to let Megan arrange for Edmund to come to her place for lessons. This way, she could take more students, and might even have Edmund share lessons with others.

Megan smiled as she saw her leave. Another step in making the Collinses full fledged human beings...

It was then that the telephone rang.

She picked it up. "Hello?" she said.

"Megan" Phillip's voice said. "Megan, I need help."