Chapter 13

"You area looking better today" Barnabas to Vicky, from the door of her room.

"Thank you." She continued to brush her hair. "I feel that my mind has been cleared out of a lot of garbage."

"There is still some." Barnabas sighed "but you'll be able to handle it."

"Why don't you come in? I am properly dressed. And after all you did undress me when you took off Josette's gown from me."

"You understand why I had to take it off."

"Too many bad memories."

"That, and the fact that I did not want you to see it when you woke up."

"Come, sit down. After all, this is your house."

Barnabas did so. "I understand that you and Phillip are in good terms, now."

"Yes. he even suggested that I take a job as a waitress as the place where he plays his sax. It isn't much, but it is a start."

"That's good" Barnabas agreed "Just remember, don't push yourself."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Take it easy. You have made much progress, but still you have a lot to adjust to. There will be times when it will seem too much, when it won't seem worth it. And there will be times when you'll be tempted to put on that dress again.

"Never" Vicky said emphatically.

"It will happen. I got discouraged many times myself. And so will you. Just remember that it is normal, and that it isn't the end of the world if you backslide once in a while. Take it easy. Take your time. Eventually you'll adjust."

Vicky continued brushing her hair. "Are you... going to the shopping center tonight?"

"Why, are you going to lecture to me on that, too?"

"I wonder if it would do any good if I did."

"It is something that I have to do. And you know why."

Vicky nodded "I would want you to stay today... if you need it, I could... I mean, I am here, and willing, and..."

He looked at her quizzically "What year is this?" he asked.

"1980"

"Good. As long as you remember what year this is, and that I am not madly in love with you. I don't see any harm in it."

He moved closer to her and she closed her eyes, throwing her head back, dramatically.

"Let's not make a Federal Case out of it." he laughed.

"I am sorry." she opened her eyes.

"It is all right." he patted her on the cheek "just take it easy."

He held her in his arms, caressing he shoulders and the back of her neck until she began to relax.

"We are just friends, aren't we?" she said.

"I don't like the way it sounds. 'Just friends' As if friendship was some kind of second class relationship. And it isn't. Friendship is too wonderful for that."

His lips were now pressing against her throat, and his hands kept the reassuring pressure on her shoulders. It had never occurred to her how much could be transmitted by hands. His spoke of gentleness and concern... she was aware of the irritation at her throat, of the greedy movements of his tongue, but that was not what occupied her attention. Just his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.

"There" he pulled back. "it is done. As you see, nothing to write home about."

When Barnabas was done, Phillip came into the room.

"Tonight he won't go to the shopping center." She said to him, her hand on her throat.

"Good. At least he's got one more day. We got one more day."

"We cannot do this again tomorrow."

"I talked with George earlier. He also believes that the problem is Oriana. If we remove her, Barnabas might listen to reason."

"So what do we do?"

"He suggested framing her for shoplifting. If you are willing to help."

"What do I have to do?


George inspected his gun once more.

He had a bad taste in his mouth. It was best for everybody, Barnabas included, he tried to tell himself. But that didn't make it right.

Yet Sabrina had a point. Barnabas was openly courting disaster and each day it became more and more likely that somebody would protect his (or her) secrets/job/position by removing permanently.

Yet there should be a better way to protect him than to send you over Parallel Time.

And then, Parallel Time was not precisely Siberia. He had managed nicely there once. He could do it again.

He looked at the plastic bags where he had put the soil. At least he could give that to Barnabas so that he didn't have to start looking for it when he got there.

But that was all he could do.

"That's a nice mess, isn't it?" he said bitterly aloud.

"Yes, quite a mess." Dave agreed.

"Well, in the end you managed to get even with him."

Dave shook his head "You know better than that, Georgie."

"You could have stopped him, talked him out of it."

"No one could."

"Still..."

"He new what he was risking. He wanted something like this to happen to him. In a way, you are right, he may be doing it because of me."

"And you let him."

"You were right about something else. We are very much alike. I was as much a predator as he is. A sexual predator. You know how I went about it. And, like him, I found a way of not only not hurting my victims too much, but also of helping them when I could. I don't know how much he is conscious of it, but he is living out my life himself. To the bitter end. That's why he wants to get deep-sixed as I was."

"But that's... that's... no one has the right to ask that of anyone..."

"I didn't ask for it. He insisted. Do your remember that hideous purple sweater that I had?"

"Hideous was the word for it. But what has it to do with this?"

"It was a gift of a patient. I didn't charge her since she couldn't afford it. But she didn't want charity, either. So she knitted it and gave it to me. There was no way I could make her understand that there was no need. She was too proud not to give me something for my trouble. I could have done without that monstrosity, but she touched me. Her pride was not to be despised, even if her knittings were. You could say that I admired he for it. And now Barnabas is presenting me with another purple sweater, and I can't despise his pride, even if I wish he had better judgment."

"You always were a sententious bastard." George muttered.

"I know, Georgie, I know."


Vicky and Phillip were still talking late in the night.

"I recognized you from the first." she said "I knew that you had been in a bottle. But I didn't want to speak of it."

"It is not the kind of thing you want to talk about. Myself, I wiped the whole thing out of my mind and refused to remember any of it. We would all have been spared a lot of trouble if I had".

"I still dream about it."

"You still will, for a time. Eventually they will go away."

"When?"

"It does not good to be impatient about it. Just be thankful that you can wake up and find yourself here. As I said, try to keep as busy as possible. You should try applying for that waitress job I told you about. I know it is not the same as my playing the sax..."

"Maybe I will."

"It is better than you trying to take my job here away from me."

"Does this job mean so much to you?"

"In a way. At first I took it because I had nowhere else to go. Now I just can't desert him. Specially in the trouble he's in."

Both their faces became grave. "Do you think that what we are doing will help?"

"I hope it does. I don't want to think what would happen if it doesn't work... there are so many people going after him. The Chamber of Commerce, Davenport, the people who work at the Davenport center, Frank Torrance, the Indian tribe, Maggie Evans and Sabrina Jennings... the list is just too large." he sighed "At least we can trust George Brant."