Chapter 9
Zoya was ready to use her knife. She hoped that she did not have to, but if she did, she was quite willing for it to happen.
The Old House seemed empty. She could not detect anybody in there. Of course, Barnabas Collins would be in his coffin by now, unable to do anything about her.
But there was also the boy who had let her in..
She decided to gamble it. She had a set of skeleton keys, a gift from a cousin who did some housebreaking every now and then.. She had little trouble letting herself in with them. It was an old-fashioned lock, none of the electronic stuff that could be such a pain.
She got in. No one inside. She could not look all over the place. It was an awfully large house, but she knew where to look. In the library, behind some books.
Easier, yes, but not too easy. There were lots of book there.
She pulled down a whole shelf of books. Nothing in there. There had been other things behind the books, but no hand. Evidently Barnabas Collins was not the neatest of persons, and the kid with him was not a stellar housekeeper, either.
She pulled down more books. She opened several of them, even if it was clear that nothing of the hand's dimensions could fit inside any of them.
She touched something in pulling down another shelf, and the bookcase moved.
It was a secret passage, leading to some room. Maybe the hand was in there.
She went in. It was dark, but she could see the long shape inside it. Too large for the hand.
She lifted the lid. Of course, Barnabas Collins. This was his coffin.
The hand was not in the coffin with him. Nor anywhere else in this room. Wasted time. Back to the bookcase until all the books were out and the shelves bare.
As she left the secret room she heard this small noise, like a key turning.
The kid was coming back.
She wanted to hide... no time to put the books back.. the secret room was not a good idea... she could end up trapped there...
She better face him
"What are you doing here?" Urien asked, angrily
"I am... I am.." she cringed, pretending fear, while reaching for her knife.
"No! You don't!" he caught her arm and bent it back until she let the knife fall down.
He rushed her to the telephone "I am going to call the cops on you."
She looked at the secret room where Barnabas lay "Will you call the cops with him in there?"
"They know about him already."
He dialed and she closed her eyes, calling for the hand in her mind, sending all her power to it..
"I don't know what you may be looking for, but you can tell it to the cops."
Something was moving behind the books. Slowly climbing them. The hand reached to the top and stretched its fingers. Urien had his head turned, as he dialed the phone and did not see it float in the air.
The fingers closed on the back of his neck.
He screamed and fought for a few seconds, then suddenly he let go and collapsed on the floor.
The hand held him a bit longer, then let him go.
Zoya was afraid to touch the hand. Yet she knew that she had to. She threw a cloth over it, as if it could protect her from its power, then put it under her arm, and raced out.
"Such a beautiful baby." Richard said to Julia "You called her Gretchen, didn't you?"
"Gretchen Alberta, for both of them."
Richard agreed. It was fitting.
"I thought I would never see the day." he said "when I would hold another Hoffman in my hands. Yet it has come. Things do happen, after all."
'Yes. They do."
Richard caressed Gretchen's soft, silky tuft of hair. "I remember when you were like this. Gretchen gave you to me to hold and I felt awkward. You were such a tiny thing, and my hands were so big and clumsy. You were so beautiful. So was your mother. I had a crush on her. I wonder if Albrecht knew. There was something ethereal about her. They had culture, refinement, and somehow it seemed as if nothing could touch them. But they were wrong about that. We felt so secure... It was a warm day, with the sun streaking through the windows, just like today. And again I have a baby in my hands...
Julia kissed him on the cheek. She had never seen him so shaken before, and this vulnerability of his shook her too.
"Too bad that Barnabas cannot be here, to. I owe him for this moment. If it wasn't for him I would not be holding Gretchen now."
"It is daytime. You know how it is with him."
"Yes. Same as it used to be with me." He looked up at the sunlight as it came through, making patterns on the floor "I used to say that I did not miss the sun. But now I have it again, and I realize that I did miss sit, after all. I have a second chance in life. And I am not sure of what to make of it. You loved him because he reminded you of me."
"Yes."
"Just as I loved you because you remained me of Gretchen. And he loved Maggie because she reminded him of Josette. Love among the mirrors."
"That's a good description."
"And I got the sunlight back and he did not. I wonder if he resents me for that."
"I don't think so. He's more likely to agonize whether it was right to use Nunez as he did."
"I would have no scruples myself about Nunez... But it has been a long time since I had scruples about anything."
Gretchen woke up and began to cry. Richard cuddled her and fussed over her, but Gretchen did not calm down.
"Either she is hungry or she needs her diapers changed." Julia said.
Richard handed her back to Julia who offered her the bottle. Gretchen sucked at it until she calmed down.
"We have to make plans for you. Where you will go after you leave Wyncliffe. One thing that you could do is take over Chris Jennings' farm. There is money to be made out of those chickens, if you are willing to work at it."
"That would be a good way to start. Would Chris be selling it to me or will I just be a tenant?"
"I guess that you better stay a tenant. You may want to move on later."
"Yes, that would make sense."
"And you have to come up with a name for you. You can't go on calling yourself John Doe as we signed Nunez in. We need a better name than that."
"What about Hoffman?"
"Don't be silly. Something that sounds right. Say, why not take the phone directory and look at the first name you find?"
Richard did so.
"Xerox"
"Xerox?"
"I guess I opened it at the yellow pages."
"Well, I am not sure. How does Vinnie Xerox sound?"
"Awful."
"Awful, yes. I am going to try again. What about Nelson?"
"Nelson is a good name."
"And for first name Howard?"
"Yes. that sounds right."
"Howard Nelson... It has a certain right to it."
