9
Angelique slid her baked chicken into the oven and switched it on as she prepared for tonight's dinner. Her family would be coming home altogether within a few minutes of each other unless one of her teenagers trailed off to be with one of their friends. She stood chopping carrots at the counter as she turned and dumped them in the boiling hot water. A figure moved out of the corner of her eye.
"William!" She jumped straight back three feet. "You nearly scared the life out of me."
"I'm sorry." He grinned oddly as Angelique's mystical senses jumped. "I didn't mean to..."
"Would you like mashed potatoes tonight or whole potatoes?"
"Does it matter?" He glanced at the knife on the cutting board and cocked his head oddly in a devious manner.
"Darling," Angelique could not over-ride her clairvoyance for warning her of danger. "Are you alright? You're not feeling sick again, are you?"
"No," Her son grinned oddly as he glared to her. She stared at him equally odd as well. This was her son and she was suddenly scared to death of him! The phone on the wall by the back door rang as she looked up to it. William rolled his eyes to it and turned for the hall down to the foyer.
"I'll be in the parlor." He replied sinisterly.
"Yes, " Angelique picked up the phone as for the first time in her life she was scared to death of her son. "You do that. Hello?"
"Angelique," Quentin was calling from Rose Cottage. "Just answer yes or no. Is William there?"
"Yes."
"Get out of the house!" He was oddly alarmed. "It's Petofi! William is here in Petofi's body!"
Angelique clutched the phone harder as she tried not to drop it. Her eyes rounded as her heart started beating faster.
"What was that, Carolyn?" Angelique remembered her years as an actress in the 1920s and 1950s.
"Good girl." Quentin grinned as Petofi's body sat in his chair by the fireplace stunned into shock. "Get out and find Barnabas, fast!"
"You have those mushrooms." Angelique chuckled on the phone. "Good, I hope they're the right ones. I'll run up and get them." She carefully hung up the phone as she looked up and saw William in the back hallway listening. She grinned sweetly to him as she removed her apron.
"Sweetheart," she started. "I need to run up to the Main House. Watch the oven, will you?"
"I can run up for you."
"No," She insisted. "I can do it."
"But I'm already there." William grinned oddly again. "Back in a second," He paused. "Mother…" He grinned with malevolent intent and turned on his way. Angelique froze as she watched her son head out the front door. Her heart was pumping a mile a minute, her pulse was racing as she remembered the evil of the man known as Count Petofi and how he controlled the estate in 1897. How in the world did he survive all these years!
She grabbed the phone and tried to recall Quentin, but the line was busy. She tried again and again as she heard Barnabas arrive home from his car pool. She turned off her oven and stove and raced out to him.
"Barnabas…" She sounded contently despite her alarm.
"My wife at the door." He beamed with his briefcase in one hand and his cane in the other. "I could get used to this."
"Barnabas," Angelique took his case and set it in the door as she pushed against him. "Petofi's back, and in the body of our son!"
"What!" Barnabas was incredulous. "But he couldn't be. He's dead."
"William must have changed something in the past." Angelique slipped into her cherry red convertible Jaguar automobile. "Quentin has William at Rose Cottage."
At Rose Cottage, Quentin knelt down to eye level as William stared out from the body of this dying old man. He wasn't very optimistic or aware of what was happening as he lost his bearings with the world.
"William," Quentin looked at him. "Don't panic. I can help you through this. Don't give up." He had flashbacks of when it was him in this decrepit failing body.
"I'm scared, Uncle Quentin." Petofi's voice replied with more emotion now than ever before. "I want my mom. I don't want to die without her."
"You're not going to die..." Quentin heard Maggie calling out.
"Anyone home?"
"William, don't say anything." He straightened up. "Trust me and go along with what I say."
"Quentin," Maggie grinned, dropped two grocery bags in the kitchen as she came around the kitchen talking the whole way and kissed her husband. "Jamison is with a girl and Amanda is shopping with Sara, and... who's this?"
"Andreas Petofi." Quentin grinned harmlessly. "A very old friend of my father. He's passing through on his way to Florida and I said he could rest here a while."
"Oh," Maggie's eyes came to life. "Good to meet you Mr. Petofi. Quentin never tells me much about his past."
"Enchanted." Petofi tilted his head to her as his eyes darted nervously to Quentin.
"Maggie," Quentin kissed her and grabbed his coat. "I know this sounds odd, but something else came up and I need to see Barnabas. Can you make sure he's comfortable until I can hurry back?"
"Sure, but..."
"I'll be back before you miss me." He kissed her again and hurried out. Maggie grinned confusingly at the odd man she married and looked down to the old man in her home looking up at her like a scared young boy.
"Would you like something to drink?" Her doe-like eyes widened in the way that made all men fall in love with her. "Tea perhaps?"
"Please," Petofi looked around from the chair in a very lonely way. "With a piece of lemon?"
"My nephew William drinks it the same way." Maggie turned to the kitchen. "I hope we can be very good friends as you tell me more about my husband's past."