Chapter 22
Josette's Room Old House
"Aunt Natalie?" She pushed back blinked and frowned. "You are not my Aunt Natalie but you look so much like her. How is this possible?" Vicki looked from Daphne to Julia. Josette had stepped back and frowned looked to Vicki and then to Joshua. "What is happening?" Joshua stepped forward and placed his arm around Josette's shoulders, she felt so frail. Julia smiled and stepped forward.
"I believe it is easy enough to explain. You see I am Victoria's and Daphne's Aunt Julia. I think and you may wish to check me on this, but I am fairly sure that at one time or another it was either my grandmother or my grandfather was a duPres and married and I was a second generation of that marriage. So it could be we are cousins." Julia held out her hand to Josette. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"It is incredible, you look so much like my Aunt Natalie and I know she is in Paris or was when last we corresponded over a month ago." Josette looked at the woman before her and could not get over how much like her Aunt Natalie this woman did look. She walked around her and then sighed, realizing how much she missed her Aunt Natalie. "I must contact poppa and let him know we have met and that ironically you are related to us in some way my dearest Victoria and Daphne!" She seemed to have lost some of her grief discovering this new relationship between them.
Vicki stood and walked to Josette and looked into the loved features of Josette who had been her guiding spirit for over three years since her arrival to Collinwood. "Aunt Julia is very unique my dear Josette. She is a lady doctor, she did her studies over seas in England and well we were very surprised to see her arrive here to check on us for our father." Vicki was not sure how this would affect the timeline but she was sure with the discovery of Julia it would not bode well if she really was able to contact her Father Andre and discover that Julia was not telling the truth.
Joshua stepped up next to Josette and put his arm around her shoulders. "Do you still wish to see Barnabas?" He spoke softly into her ear. Josette's face looked stricken at the thought and nodded her head.
"I do." Her lashes fluttered and then dropped as her eyes filled with tears, turning she gave one short look back over her shoulder and nodded to them. "Please excuse me." She walked with Joshua from the room. Julia sighed after they had left.
"That was close. I am going to stay around for a little while longer to make sure that you and Quentin are fine then will return to my body. Until then Daphne, you my dear must keep yourself rested and eat healthy and drink some juices if they have it here." She looked to Vicki who nodded slowly.
"They had some oranges and banana's brought in from Martinique. Joshua likes fresh squeezed each morning so they manage to find them somewhere." Vicki had folded her arms over her chest. "My concerns are that Barnabas when he arises will use this house as his while he prowls. I am concerned that he may try to harm one of us. Unless it is our Barnabas in his body, then we might need to just stay close to this room and arm ourselves with crosses at night and then during the day we should be able to move about freely. I personally was given an assignment to try and right the wrongs."
Daphne sighed deeply, looked to her Aunt Julia and nodded slowly. "Oh what is it?" Julia's naturally curious mind wanted to know. She had turned to face Vicki and saw her tuck her chin and drop her eyes to the floor.
"I can't tell you what it is. I would violate my trust with the one that gave me the assignment. He said I could not tell anyone. Just know this Julia, when I was first told what I would have to do, I was not sure I could do it until three hours ago. I found out that what was entrusted to me is horrendous but if it means the lives of those that I love are at risk, I can do anything." Vicki had turned to walk to the windows that overlooked the front lawn, paused for a moment. Thought about all that had happened and wondered if when she completed this task, would they all be transported back to her time. "There is one problem," she had stood for so long Daphne and Julia had exchanged anxious glances to one another.
"What problem Vicki?" Julia stepped to her side, turned her to per into her gaze and looked with concern at the serious nature of her look. She glanced over Julia's shoulder catching Daphne's look.
"Henri, he remembers my agreeing to marrying him and he plans to use it and he wants to meet my father and offer up his pledge for my hand. I told Henri that I was from the 20th century. He well, I had to sedate him with a syringe I found Julia." She had tucked it in the pocket of her skirt, took it out and handed the syringe to Julia. "When he went unconscious, Quentin was able to come back into his body. I am really not sure how long Quentin will be able to hold onto his body. He has such a strong will that Quentin has trouble assuming him."
Julia looked at the syringe smiled, turned to place the used syringe in her bag. Pivoting back she folded her arms and sighed and the frowned as she thought about what Vicki said; she looked down lost in thought. She had not anticipated this twist in this part of the past. It would seem the past was already changed because of something that had been done and she was not sure how they would correct it. It would only take a slight turn to wrack up the problem they had and that included apparently a pregnancy she had and now was now longer pregnant.
"Well we deal with one crisis at a time. Is Josette's father in Martinique and do we know Natalie is in Paris?" She looked up and to see Vicki nod slowly.
"We are close to the time for Peter to attack Josette, and in two more days Josette will jump from Widows Hill." Vicki slumped in the nearest chair, hearing the door open they all turned to look up to see Quentin and Elliott in the bodies they had assumed. It was odd seeing Quentin as Henri and odder still to hear Professor's Stokes coming out of Ben's mouth.
Daphne looked expectantly at the man in the doorway, seeing the familiar look in his eyes for her she brightened as he advanced to the bed and sat on the edge. "Henri is sleeping pretty soundly so I have control, Elliott is trying to figure out how we can keep him under control while I am using his body. I just am not sure how well I can pull this off with Petofi, he knows Henri better than any of us." He leaned over cupping Daphne's face in his palms, pulling her face close to his, he leaned in and kissed her deeply.
Julia turned, she was not wishing to interrupt or feel she was a part of this tender moment being exchanged between Daphne and Quentin. "I was so worried when I knew he had attacked you and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I thought Henri was going to die." Vicki stepped passed Julia and Ben standing near the door and walked into the hallway. She could hear the soft sobs of Josette down the hallway.
Hallway outside Josette's Bedroom
Pressing her back to the wall, she lifted her chin, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It all is happening the way it should now, all I need to do is . . . " She had muttered softly when she heard his voice in the hallway.
"To do what my dear Miss Winters?" Andréas Petofi stood at the end of the hallway and she had no idea he was there. He watched her body stiffen, her eyes open, and her breath catch. Pushing from the wall she turned to face Petofi.
"Sorry?" She tried to play it off as if she misunderstood him. He walked towards her with a smile edging his lips. "You said 'It all is happening the way it should now, all I need to do is,' and you never finished your sentence. That my dear is very annoying when someone starts a sentence they should finish it. You should finish your sentence."
He watched the color suffuse her face. "I meant to say I needed to get out of my engagement to the one man before I could become engaged to another. I was rehearsing my speech for my father." She looked down, to hide the uncertainty in her eyes. She was a terrible liar and an adept liar like Petofi would recognize a lie. She just needed to hide it all.
"Why is it, I get the feeling you are not being completely truthful to me my dear?" His smile was slick and contrived to unnerve her. If this had been Vicki the first trip back she would easily have succumbed to his trap. This Vicki had lived and died and had grown wiser. So instead of peering into his eyes she shifted turned to peer down the hallway. Still hearing the mournful wails of Josette.
"I don't know what you are referencing Count Petofi, I am beside my self with grief, I am sure you heard that Barnabas died, Jeremiah died and the whole of Collinwood is very distressed by this whole horrible affair. So, if you will excuse me." She stepped past him and felt his hand snake out and grab her wrist.
"No, be not so quick to run away my dear, where is Henri?" He squeezed his hand tightly and drew her next to his body. His smile was contrived to be charming but came across cynical. He pressed his face close to her face. Vicki's fear permeated the very air around them. From inside Josette's bedroom, Quentin had felt her fear.
Rising quickly, he rushed to the door and flung it open. Daphne had seen how quickly he had moved from her bedside to the door. Elliott and Julia stepped aside, when he passed them he had said, "Vicki is in trouble." Stepping into the hallway, he saw Vicki being held by a man who had his back to him. Vicki seeing Quentin advance on Petofi spoke quickly.
"Henri! It is so good you have come to put Andréas' fears to rest. I suppose he thought we might have you locked in the cellar by how upset he seems." She had tried to send him a message that this man was Petofi. She watched him catch on quickly and slowed his advance on her.
"Andréas?" He stepped up to them, looked darkly at the way the man was clutching to Vicki's arm. With deliberate ease he put his hand over Petofi's hand gently prying his fingers from her wrist. "My dear you were going to check on Josette and Joshua?" Taking her arm far more gently than Petofi had, he directed her down the hallway. "I am sorry to have worried you Andréas. Now forgive me, I really must speak with my fiancé' it seems she has agreed to my marriage proposal."
Quentin led her down the hallway to Jeremiah's old room, shoved her into the room and closed the door. "That was close, they are so close that I am sure he would have noticed that I was not Henri. We need to let Henri come back and let Julia do her thing." He paced the floor then stopped looked at Vicki. "Where were you going?"
Vicki sighed and looked down, "To Josette and Joshua, they were with Barnabas, and I just could not stand hearing her cry for him so I wanted to be there and hold her and offer comfort." She was fighting back her own tears as she spoken of being with Barnabas. Quentin quit pacing walked to her and drug her into a warm embrace.
"Go to him Vicki, and go to Josette, let me try to bluff Petofi to keep him off of both our backs. I just have to try and be pompous and overly self-assured. I am sure I can pull that off, I just don't know any personal facts about him. I hate to ask this Vicki, but for me to take over Henri, you will need to get me information on him. Are you up for that?"
Vicki shuddered, "He is so hands on Quentin. He is a creep. He thinks he is every woman's gift and we all should bow down to him and his ways." She stepped out of his hold, folded her arms over her chest and rubbed her arms. "I am not sure how I want to handle this. I do know that I did tell him I was from the 20th century. I am just not sure if he will remember that. In order to get you back I did give him a shot with valium. So, when you go to sleep I am sure he will be back. I can only try but I do have another assignment and from how it was explained, I will find that I will be in the position to do what I need to do to protect our people." What she could not tell him was she was going to have to plunge a special knife into the heart of the very man she had just been rescued from and was waiting for Henri to join him in the hallway.
"Listen, Vicki, you do what you came to do. I will figure this out. Go on and go to Josette, and don't worry about Henri or the rest of us. With Julia here, and once Barnabas arises, we will be back on trying to set the future right." He gently guided her to the door. "Now, you avoid Petofi, let me handle him and allow Daphne to regain her strength. Elliott says we all must stay in these rooms tonight to avoid Bradford coming back to finish what he started." He kissed he forehead, then pushed her out the door.
Stepping into the hallway she turned to head to Barnabas' room, when she felt a hand come down over her mouth and her body physically pulled down the hallway. Vicki's reactions were instant and without thought, the person that had grabbed her was suddenly air born by the super human strength she just used. The body sailed over her head and landed at her feet in a heap. She was relieved to see it was not Bradford but distressed to see it was Elliott in Ben's body. "Oh my goodness Professor Stokes!" she gasped softly, dropped to her knees to make sure she had not hurt him
He lifted his head and sighed deeply. "So much for my attempt to be subtle. My dear you must come with me right away. We must get you back to Collinwood now. Josette is about to be attacked by Bradford, and you are needed to frighten him off. That was one deviation. We have found so far. Come." He stood grabbed her wrist and began to hurry her down the stairs.
"I thought she was still with Barnabas?" She was kicking her skirts with each hurried step she took. Elliott tugged her along the stairs and to the top of the stairs and he stopped to catch his breath.
"I am not as young as I was once before, I am going to send you on over to Collinwood. You will need to be there. Whatever you do, do not allow him to finish what he starts. To do that you must be there to bang on the door and call for help!" He bent over the bannister and felt his heart racing. "Go Vicki, run!"
Vicki saw how pale he was and remembered she had been here to help him with his heart attack, pausing for one moment she screamed out. "JULIA! QUENTIN! HELP!" Hearing the footsteps hitting the wooden floors, she turned and darted down the steps calling over her shoulder, "Tell them you may be having a heart attack Elliott!" She was out the door and hitting the pathway knowing that someone was sure to have come to help Elliott with his pain he was obviously hiding from her.
Collinwood
Vicki ran through the well-worn pathway from the old house toward Collinwood. She saw the outline of the huge manor house and knew it was just a matter of time when she would be inside that huge house. She had carefully thought out what she would do and she reached the porte conchere threw her hands out to push the door open. She did not have time to stop, she rushed towards the stairs with Joshua following behind her. "Miss Winters?"
Once again she was calling over her shoulder as she rushed up the stairs. "I saw Josette struggling with someone in her room when I approached the house, we need help!" Joshua began to summon all the servants as he reached the top of the stairs. Vicki had already entered the hallway rushing to Josette's door she was in de ja vu mode again. Pounding on the door, she began to call, "Josette! Josette!" She could hear the sounds of a struggle. "Damn you Bradford, I am going to see you dead!" She shouted through the door.
Inside the room, Peter Bradford stopped hearing Vicki's voice and frowned. "How could she know its me!" He threw Josette's body down on the bed started for the door and heard more people arriving. This was not the time for a confrontation with that woman, there was something definitely different about her and before it was all said and done he was going to find out exactly what it was about her that made her so different. He had a debt to settle with her and before this was said and done he would see it paid in full. Shifting to mist he floated from the room as the door was breached.
Josette laid half on the bed and half off, her throat was bleeding and her beautiful gown had been soaked with blood. Carefully, Vicki helped her up on the bed, pulling a pillow to place behind her head. "Hang in there Josette just one more day, come on my dear. I am here." She was afraid by the trauma she had suffered and the bleeding had to be from the termination of her pregnancy. Vicki placed pressure against her throat until she saw the blood flow stopping from the wounds. Turning to her maid, Vicki ordered her to bring water and soap to clean her wound and a new gown to have her changed out of the blood soaked gown.
A part of Vicki was relieved that she had kept the future on course; her problem was a part of her was heartbroken for her because she knew she had lost her baby. Vicki stepped back and watched them strip her and her bed and redress her. She laid near death but Vicki knew she would make it to widow's hill tomorrow night and throw herself from the hill. Walking to the chair by Josette's bed, she collapsed on the chair and cradled her face in her hands. "Victoria, you should go and lie down my dear. You have been through quiet a lot today. I will sit with Josette."
Vicki had looked up to see Joshua standing by her side; Josette was now clean and dressed in a refreshed bed. "She lost the baby Joshua. She lost Jeremiah and she lost Barnabas, she really will feel she has nothing to live for from this day forward." Vicki had sounded defeated and saddened by the situation. She felt a hand on her shoulder and a slight squeeze. She looked up to see the stoic Joshua look distant, his eyes were filled with tears and he turned away and coughed.
"Must be something in the air that is affecting my eyes. We all must have faith my dear and hope. As much as I hoped that she would deliver Jeremiah's child, deep down I knew it would be Barnabas' child. I had hoped that it would be accepted as Jeremiah's and I would have raised it as Jeremiah's but kept in my heart secretly that it was my grandson." He sighed and looked to the window and saw in the horizon another storm was slowly making its way to the shore. "I should close the windows we have a storm coming. Will you be staying tonight?" He walked to the window to close it.
Turning he looked at Victoria hoping she would stay. Vicki stood and walked to the window and stood next to Joshua. "I really should be going back to the Old House. My sister suffered a slight malaise and I should be there. However, it seems since Aunt Julia arrived, I could stay until dawn and then go back." Joshua smiled then impulsively turned to hug Vicki.
Resting his chin on her shoulder he spoke in her ear. "I do not know what I would have done if it had not been for your stable influence. I fear I would have been to withdrawn and cold for Naomi, little Sarah, and Daniel. I am going to take Daniel as my son from this day forward." He released his hold on Vicki bowed to her and stepped back. "I will be in the drawing room if you need me." Turning smartly he walked stiffly to the door paused and spoke without looking back. "Watch over her Victoria and do what ever you can to help her. She deserves more than this." Walking out he quietly closed the door.
Vicki turned and walked to the bed and sat on its edge. She looked down on the features of a woman that was so like her best friend in her time. With gentling fingers she stroked her hair back and smiled when she opened her eyes and looked at her blankly. "Victoria?" She curled her cold hand around Vicki's and held it to her cheek. "I fear I am not much longer for this world and will soar with the angles soon. Should I die, promise me you will watch out for Barnabas. Take care of him and love him with all your heart."
Vicki felt her heart skip a beat; did she not realize that Barnabas was dead? "Josette? Why would you think I should love Barnabas?" Vicki had to lean down to hear what she said. Her voice had grown so weak that Vicki felt she had become delusional. "Josette? You do realize that Barnabas." She felt her clutch her hand tightly and look at her with feverish eyes.
"He loves you Cheri, I have seen it and I have felt it since you came. He has grown distant from me and now I feel he is has grown deep affections for you. I accept it. I am pregnant with Jeremiah's child." She rubbed her hand over her flat stomach not aware she had lost the child during her attack. "Do not worry. As much as I love him, and he will always be my heart. I know I must allow him to love that he wants. I will be Jeremiah's wife and we will have our child." She closed her eyes and drifted off into thankfully blissful sleep.
Vicki stood her heart was filled with so much sadness she walked to the window and looked to the grounds below and there she saw him standing in the middle of the lawn. His gaze was fixed to the window and on her. When the lightening flashed she saw in his eyes pure hatred directed at her. Vicki knew he could see her and she did the most unexpected thing, she smiled. She lifted her finger and aimed it in pistol fashion at him and in her way pulled a trigger. This seemed to inflame Bradford and he shifted to mist and drifted to the woods. Vicki smiled. "He got what he deserved."