Wed. Apr. 29, 1970
It is a time of Great Tragedy on the Great Estate of Collinwood... For Sabrina Stuart and Chris Jennings are dead, and Amy Jennings now lies catatonic, unresponsive to those around her... Quentin Collins wonders how he can help Amy, when he does not know how to deal with the tragedy himself...
Amy lay on the sofa in the Drawing Room. Quentin knelt behind the sofa, trying to get her to respond to him, but Amy just stared off into space.
"Please Amy," Quentin begged. "Chris and Sabrina's funeral is tomorrow. I need you to be by my side. It's gonna break my heart to see them buried..." Quentin held her hand. "Chris named me your guardian Amy, but I want you to know that I don't see it as an obligation. I love you and I want you to be happy…"
Amy still did not speak. Quentin sighed and got up from behind the sofa. He walked out into the Great Hall and turned back to look at Amy one more time. Shutting the Drawing Room doors behind him, he lifted up the receiver on the phone on the hall table. Pausing for a moment, he decided he had no choice but to call Windcliff…
"Hello, Dr. Julia Hoffman, please," he spoke into the phone after someone answered. "Quentin Collins..." Quentin stared at Barnabas' portrait, wishing he were there to help him. "Julia! Yes, I know... I can hardly believe it myself... Yes, I understand... No, I know how hard it would be... I don't blame you... Actually, the reason I'm really calling is because of Amy... Yeah, she's not dealing too well, poor thing... No, she hasn't been speaking, nor eating..."
Quentin listened and gulped as he stared at the Grandfather clock. "I don't even think she's slept since she trashed her room yesterday... Yes, she trashed her room, then she stopped, just stopped doing anything... Once in a while she'll sing to herself... A Doctor Kassem? This afternoon? All right, Julia, we'll be expecting him... Thanks Julia... And Julia, I know Chris would understand… Trust me, I know how hard it is… Good-bye Julia…"
Quentin hung up the phone, and shook his head at Barnabas' portrait. "Oh, Barnabas, if only you were here! So much has happened lately…" But of course, Quentin knew that THAT was not possible.
David came out onto the balcony above him and started down the stairs. "David!" Quentin said to the boy as he came down, "Maybe you could sit and talk to Amy… I've tried, but maybe she'll respond to you…"
David stepped off the last step and looked nervously toward the Drawing Room. "Um… I don't think so Quentin, I wouldn't know what to say!"
"Anything, David," Quentin told him. "The funeral is tomorrow—we've got to help her through this—I need help to get through this!"
David anxiously looked toward the Drawing Room, then the front doors. "I was going out Quentin—I'll try to talk to Amy later!" David rushed towards the foyer.
"David, please!" Quentin called after him.
"Later!" David answered, hurriedly opening the front doors and closing them behind him. Quentin sighed and looked over at Barnabas' portrait for help that would not come…
Act One:
Hannah du Noir returned to the Old House to work on Josette's, or Angelique's, new bedroom again. Angelique ushered her in the front door. Hannah carried a large, square-shaped parcel under her arm. She looked around nervously, but also amazed at the changes that had happened in the past couple of weeks.
"I see the moving men brought in the new furniture I—well, we—picked out," she said, side-eyeing Angelique. She set the parcel down against the nearest chair.
Angelique eyes widened when she saw it. "Is that what I think it is, Hannah?" she asked eagerly.
Hannah smiled and nodded. "Dominic had finished re-framing it and getting rid of the um… inscription you wanted removed."
Angelique eagerly tore off the paper and removed a large painting. Turning it around, she showed it to Hannah. It was a portrait of Angelique herself, dressed in an elegant blue evening gown, done last year as a Christmas present from Sky. "To Angelique ~ Love Sky," was what it used to say," Angelique told the older woman. "What a joke that was…" Angelique carried the painting over to the mantelpiece above the fireplace and propped it up where Barnabas' modern portrait had hung. "I think I'll like it, right here," she told Hannah.
"Very nice, Angelique," Hannah said admiringly. But, began to look nervous when she looked up at the ceiling. "I suppose you'll want to work on your new bedroom some more," she said with just a little apprehension.
Angelique's eyes narrowed as she turned away from admiring her painting. "Of course, Hannah, that's what I'm paying you for!" She walked over to the black-haired woman. "Stop worrying, Hannah, I assure you there is nothing to be afraid of up there in that room!" Hannah nodded, and went back to her car to retrieve assorted pictures and curtains for Angelique's room.
While Hannah was outside, Angelique took down the painting and looked at it some more. She propped it up against a chair. "I'll just have John hang this up later," she told herself. Angelique felt a presence in the room, and hugged herself. "Is that you, Barnabas?" she asked out loud, looking at the bookcase. "Are you unhappy with all the changes I've made?" she asked, smiling. But then, her eyes narrowed. "Jasmine?" she whispered. Why would she smell jasmine from Barnabas? Angelique looked around angrily.
Hannah came in carrying a box to bring upstairs. "Angelique, I'm going to get started now!" she called into the drawing room.
"All right, Hannah, I'll be right up!" Angelique answered, still sniffing the air. The smell of jasmine seemed to have disappeared.
Upstairs, in Josette's old room, Hannah set the box down and began to unpack. She got the distinct impression that there was someone behind her. Hannah reached behind her neck and felt the goosebumps.
"Who's there?" she demanded. She looked around the room, but of course, it was empty. Hannah sniffed—she could have sworn she smelled JASMINE. Behind Hannah, the eyes on Josette's painting began to glow…
Act Two:
David left Collinwood, mostly because of how uncomfortable he felt around Amy, but also to avoid the solemness that had overtaken the Great House since he had returned from Boston.
Walking down the path to go visit the Old House, David realized that when he had left for Boston, the trees were still barren, but now, many of them had grown leaves now at the end of April. This sudden outburst of life was a stark contrast to the mood at Collinwood nowadays.
Upon exiting the path to the Old House, David was startled to see a black '57 Chevy with pink interior parked in front of the Old House. Not only that, but the road to the house looked much more used that it used to when only Julia Hoffman was the only person who occasionally parked there. He also noticed the electrical wires and telephone poll outside the home. His eyes narrowed.
He ran into an older woman with black hair in an updo carrying a large box into the Old House. A vase and some orange fabric poked out of the top. "Who're you?" David demanded. If there was one thing David Collins did not like and that was change. He did not like to see too many strangers hanging about what he perceived to be his territory. It had taken him three years to get used to Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman.
Hannah paused and raised her eyebrows at the forthright young man with the light brown shaggy hair. "Hannah du Noir!" she exclaimed. "I'm helping Angelique redecorate… Is that all right with you?" she asked sarcastically.
"Angelique?" David asked incredulously. A lot HAD changed since he had left for Boston. The last he heard, Barnabas had a houseguest named Angelique before he left for England—at least, that's what the adults told him—but he did not think that Barnabas would give someone permission to change the Old House! "Yeah, sure…" David said, deep in thought. He did not think Barnabas was going to be too happy when he returned! Hannah stared at him a moment, then hurried inside.
Her arms full, Hannah left the door open behind her. David followed and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that there was a new paint job downstairs. The second thing he noticed was the telephone sitting on the foyer table.
David walked into the drawing room, staring at the new furniture, rugs and curtains. But, the most fascinating thing in the room was that Barnabas' portrait was no longer hanging over the fireplace. Next to the fireplace, propped up against an arm chair, was the painting of a beautiful blonde woman in a blue evening dress. Even though he had only briefly seen Angelique once before he left for Boston, David did not doubt that THAT was the woman in the portrait.
David reached over and lightly touched the face of the woman in the portrait. She seemed very familiar to him, as though he had met her before and had known her before she came to stay at the Old House with Barnabas. David racked his brain, trying to remember how and where he had known her…
"What are you doing here?" A high woman's voice demanded behind him. David whirled around and saw Angelique in the flesh.
"I-I was just visiting!" David stammered. "Barnabas used to let me come here all the time." David thought back, he remembered staying here for quite some time, but it was like a dream to him—as though he had only half-lived here… Angelique scowled, eyeing him, then bookcase beside the fireplace.
Act Three:
Dr. Alfred Kassem was sent by Julia to see Amy at Collinwood. Alfred was an early middle-aged man with jet black hair, and thick glasses with rims the same color. After meeting with Quentin in the Great Hall for a few minutes, he asked to be alone with Amy. Quentin stared after him as he closed the Drawing Room doors, concerned. He sighed and told himself that if Julia trusted Dr. Kassem with Amy, then he would have to as well.
Alfred studied Amy laying propped up on the sofa for a moment, then strode calmly over to the young girl. He sat down in the chair directly across from her. He looked at her, but she stared blankly at something—maybe it was the fireplace, or a curtain, or maybe even a spot on the floor—Alfred could not tell. Finally, he spoke aloud.
"Hello, Amy. My name is Dr. Alfred Kassem, but you can call me Al for short," he told her, but not unkindly. No answer.
"I understand two people that you love very much just died… I'm very sorry for your loss…" No answer.
"If you'd like to talk to me about it, I'm all ears. If you don't want to talk to me about it, that's fine too…" No answer.
Alfred studied Amy for a few minutes, but she did not even seem to look at him. Alfred picked up a satchel he brought in with him and took something out. It was a doll. "I brought a friend with me today," he told her. "She lost her family too. Do you want to be her family, Amy?" Dr. Kassem placed the doll on her lap and sat back in his chair to watch her.
After a few minutes, Amy felt the doll on her lap and began to grasp it. She slowly pulled it up into her arms and rocked it like a baby. Amy began to sing, still staring off into space. "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…"
Later, Quentin and David were waiting out in the Great Hall, when Drawing Room doors opened, and Dr. Kassem came out with Amy. She was holding a doll in her arms and staring blankly ahead. Quentin looked at her, then at Alfred. "Well?"
Alfred shook his head. "I think it would be best if Amy stayed with us at Windcliff for awhile," he told him. Alfred looked down at Amy.
"Are you sure there's nothing we can do for her here?" Quentin asked.
Alfred shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I'll call Dr. Hoffman and have her prepare a room for her. Do you think you could pack a suitcase for Amy?" Quentin nodded, then went to find Mrs. Johnson.
Alfred looked down at Amy again. "Amy, do you want to say good-bye to anyone?" Amy just stared straight ahead.
David glanced up at Dr. Kassem, then at Amy. "Good-bye Amy! I'll miss you!"
Amy did not look at David. She began to rock her doll in her arms and started singing. "Take the key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up…" David just stared at her, his mouth slightly open…
Cast:
David Collins… DAVID HENESY
Angelique Rumson… LARA PARKER
Amy Jennings… DENISE NICKERSON
Quentin Collins… DAVID SELBY
Hannah du Noir… PAULA LAURENCE
Dr. Alfred Kassem… EDMUND HASHIM