997 ~ Tue. Apr. 21, 1970
A night of violence in the village of Collinsport... As Quentin Collins waits at the Blue Whale for Angelique Rumson, he is unaware that she is not returning... For Angelique has been attacked by a violent man... A man who returns to the Blue Whale for his reward…
Buffie Harrington walked around the bar, wiping the tables while there was a lull in customers. She felt nervous, waiting for any news that Steve would bring back with him. She paused and spoke to Quentin. "Still waiting for your girlfriend?" she asked.
Quentin blushed. "We're actually very old, dear friends. It's strange she isn't back yet. Brewster's must have closed an hour ago."
"Why don't you call and see if she went home?" Buffie suggested.
"She doesn't have a phone... yet." Quentin explained.
Buffie nodded, and turned towards the door when someone burst into the bar. It was the man named Steve, whom she had spoken to earlier. "Excuse me," she told Quentin, her smile turning into a frown as she went to talk to Steve, who was waiting impatiently at the bar.
"What are you doing back so soon?" Buffie hissed. "You can't be done already!"
Steve looked flushed, one of his cheeks was redder than the other, as though he had been slapped. "We were interrupted!" he said.
Buffie glanced over at Quentin and hushed Steve. "You mean you didn't finish the job?" she demanded.
"I managed to rough her up a bit, but that's it," Steve said in a much lower tone.
"Well, that wasn't our deal!" Buffie whispered loudly. "You were supposed to do a lot more than just rough her up!"
"Are you going to pay me, or not?" Steve demanded. "I need to get out of here in case that guy shows up!"
Buffie shook her head. "No, that wasn't good enough. I'm not giving you fifty dollars!" Buffie glanced across the room and saw that Quentin was staring at them.
"I'm telling you, the lady is scared!" Steve growled back. "I had her lying on the ground in an alley—I was all set to finish the job when this guy comes rushing in to play hero!
Buffie frowned and shook her head again. "Well, scared isn't good enough! You know what I wanted you to do to her, and you failed!" She started to walk away, but Steve reached across the bar and grabbed her arm, squeezing it roughly. "Let go of me, you're hurting me!" she exclaimed, trying to pry his fingers off of her arm.
"Listen, you slut! I'm going to hurt you a lot more if you don't pay the money you promised me!" Steve threatened...
Buffie struggled against Steve's grip on her arm. "No!"
"Let the lady go!" a man's voice bellowed.
Steve turned and had to look up at the tall, imposing Quentin standing there, a glowering expression on his face…
Act One:
Steve let go, and Buffie rubbed her arm. "Quentin, it's okay!" she exclaimed. "You don't have to rescue me..."
Steve smirked. "You heard the lady-get lost!" He poked Quentin in the chest.
Calmly, Quentin reached over and grabbed Steve by the collar. "Listen here, you dirt-bag! You have ten seconds to get out of here, or I'll throw you out!"
Steve held up his hands. "All right, all right! I'm going!" Quentin let go of Steve's collar and stood back. Steve smiled and straightened out his shirt. He turned around, but instead of heading towards the door, he grabbed the nearest empty beer bottle and smashed it on the counter.
Buffie screamed. "Quentin, look out!" She started to reach for the bar phone, ready to call the police.
"Come on, let's go!" Steve motioned, holding up the broken bottle threateningly. Quentin came towards Steve, and the fiend swiped at him with the broken bottle. The edge of the broken glass managed to graze Quentin's face, but Quentin knew his portrait would take care of the scar. He punched Steve in the stomach, making him drop the bottle as he groaned and clutched at his mid-section.
Quentin grinned and turned to Buffie. "I don't think we'll need the police."
Buffie only had the receiver halfway up at this point, and started to put the phone down again. "Okay, Quentin-that's enough..."
Quentin shook his head. "Not quite." He grabbed Steve by the collar with one hand, and the hair with the other, forcing him to his feet. Dragging him across the room, he let go of Steve's hair to open the front door and forcibly push him out into the street.
Quentin shut the door behind him. "I think that takes care of things," he said, brushing his hands.
Buffie just stared at him. "I can't believe you just did that, especially for me! Thank you," Buffie said, honestly grateful to him. If he only knew what she was responsible for!
Quentin smirked and grabbed a napkin, dabbing at his bleeding cheek. He knew that it would not continue to bleed for long. "I would have done that for anyone in distress!"
Quentin turned and looked out the window. "I don't think he'll be back..." he told her. "I'm going to go use the restroom, then I have to go and find Angelique. I can't think what's happened to her..."
Buffie looked down, feeling a little guilty. "Thanks again!" she told him. He nodded and went back to the restroom. Just then, the phone rang.
"Hello, Blue Whale... Oh, hello... Yes, he did come back... He said he managed to 'rough her up', as he put it... Yes, that's all... He said someone helped her get away..." Buffie paused. "Quentin just kicked him out. When I wouldn't pay him for an unfinished job, he started to get rough, so Quentin beat him up..." She turned towards the back to where Quentin had gone. "I have to say, he doesn't seem to be at all like how you described..."
Act Two:
John drove Angelique home to the Old House after the ordeal in the alley. He helped her up the stair and sat in a chair next to Angelique's bed all night, watching her until he dozed off.
By the time morning came, John decided that he was going to take Angelique up on her offer of running the shop, whatever kind of shop it might turn out to be. He knew after she was attacked that she meant too much to him to leave town like he had told her in the abandoned shop last night.
Since Angelique still had the key, and Mrs. Minnie Duval needed to be notified that they were taking the building, John and Angelique decided that he would be the one to tell the landlady in person.
Minnie Duval lived in an old Victorian-style house at the edge of Collinsport. When John reached the address, he noticed that the yard was in a sorry state. John knocked on the front door, looking at the overgrown flower beds filled with weeds and wildflowers. The bushes were so high that they covered the first floor windows. He wondered who or what would be on the other side of the door...
After a little while of no one answering, John knocked again, looking to see if he perhaps had missed a doorbell. He heard a woman's voice yell out "Just a minute! Hold your horses out there!" The door flung open, and there stood Mrs. Minnie Duval. She was a middle-aged woman with gray hair and pale eyes. She was wearing a purple dressing gown. "Yes? What do you want?" she demanded.
John gulped. "The name's John Jaeger." He held up the store building key. "I'm here to return this, and to let you know that Angelique Rumson and I want to buy your building." He stood and waited.
Minnie stared at him. "Is that so? Well... come in, come in!" she turned around and went towards the parlor. "Shut the door!" she called behind her. "I don't want the cats to get out!"
John quickly shut the door behind him and looked around. The house was incredibly dusty and full of cat hair. It looked like there was a cat on every surface. "What am I getting myself into!" he muttered to himself.
"Have a seat!" Minnie motioned to a chair. She was opening a bottle of champagne.
John looked, but there was a cat sleeping in the middle of the armchair. He found a place on the couch and moved a cat-furry blanket aside to sit.
"Would you like a drink?" Minnie asked. She was pouring the champagne into juice glasses.
"Uh… no thanks!" John said. It seemed a little early in the day to already be drinking.
"Young man, I insist that you have a drink with me!" Minnie exclaimed, waving the bottle in the air. "We have to celebrate the sale!"
"The sale?" John was confused. She thrust a glass of champagne in his face, and he took it from her.
"Yes, to the new owners of my building!" Minnie toasted. She held up her juice glass and clinked it to his as she sat down.
Dumbfounded, John brought the glass of champagne up to his lips and gulped…
Act Three:
When Sabrina Stuart got up this morning, she realized the day was finally here—the day of the full moon. She also realized she had not seen Chris in an entire week. Deciding she still had plenty of time before work, she hurried to drive over to Collinwood to see Chris before her day at the library.
However, once she arrived at the caretaker's cottage, it was just as dark and empty as it had been the day before when she brought the moon poppy over and set it on the table. The moon poppy still sat there, ready to fully bloom that evening. Sabrina caressed the plant, and then looked around the cottage for any sign of a note. Finding none, she decided to pay a visit to Collinwood…
Quentin was ready to head out the front doors of Collinwood to go to the cannery, when he heard the doorbell ring. Opening the doors, he was surprised to see Sabrina Stuart standing there. "Sabrina!" he exclaimed. "Good morning!"
Sabrina looked worried. "Quentin, have you seen Chris? I just went to the caretaker's cottage and he wasn't there! I haven't seen him at all this week!"
Quentin shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sabrina, but I haven't. There's been a lot going on around here, lately." He looked towards the upstairs, where Dameon was no doubt still sleeping.
Sabrina stepped into the Great Hall and wrung her hands. "It's a full moon tonight, Quentin! I left him another moon poppy that someone gave to me. I just checked—the moon poppy is still sitting in the cottage, but I don't know where Chris is..."
Quentin thought for a moment. "Maybe he decided to go to his cabin up in the mountains, in preparation for the full moon?"
Sabrina looked frantic. "Oh no, Quentin! If he already left without seeing the poppy, he'll turn into that creature tonight! He needs that moon poppy, Quentin! We've got to get it to him before it's too late!"
Quentin put his hands up on her shoulders. "Don't worry, Sabrina! I'll get off work early at the cannery, and I'll come and get the moon poppy to bring to Chris… All before nightfall!"
"Are you sure, Quentin?" worried Sabrina. "I'll try to leave the library early, myself… I'll try to come up with some excuse for Mr. Gladstone!"
Quentin shook his head. "No, no I don't think that's a good idea! I think it had better be me—just in case… Well, you know…"
Sabrina sighed and nodded. "All right, whatever you say." She stared up at Quentin with her big brown eyes. "Please, Quentin—be careful! And good-luck!" She kissed him on the cheek and went out the front doors, leaving Quentin in the dim light of the morning foyer.
Quentin stood and thought of all that had been happening lately. He felt guilty that for all his own problems, he had been ignoring Chris and his predicament. Quentin was sure that Chris had gone up to the cabin to stay away from other people during the full moon. "Chris probably thought he had no choice, but to leave!" Quentin said out loud. "Don't worry, Sabrina! I won't let Chris down—I'll get that moon poppy to him—before moonrise!"
Cast:
Sabrina Stuart… LISA RICHARDS
Quentin Collins… DAVID SELBY
John Jaeger… CHRISTOPHER PENNOCK
Buffie Harrington… ELIZABETH EIS
Minnie Duval… CAMILA ASHLAND
Steve the Bar Patron… GEORGE STRUS