"I got the whole series now." Danny Watts told Heather Mattox "We can watch it and decide how true it is, and how come it came before none of it had happened here."

"Well, you know my theory" Heather shrugged "It was probably Baron Orczy's doing. He likes to make trouble for us. His revenge for us having bested him in the past"

"You sure?"

"It fits with his sense of humor. Make us uncomfortable, give us something to worry about. But nothing too hard, or Professor Romney would lower the boom on him. Practical jokes he can get away with, but no more."

"Until Orczy finds a way to slip out of Professor Romney's power."

"There is always that possibility"

They put in the tape "I wonder if we can share it with everyone. After all, they keep hearing about it from the tourists. And we never seen it. In fact, we never knew it existed. Do you have any theory as to why we never knew it existed? We had TVs back then, but we never seem to have watched it."

"A couple of theories. One that the local channels preferred to show game shows. There were channels that did that. After all, it was not primetime, so they got to choose what to show, and a weird soap opera was not what they thought their audience wanted."

"Makes sense. And your other theory?"

"Baron Orczy made sure we never knew. He did not want any time paradoxes. If we knew what would happen, when Amos dealt with with Orczy, he would have been better prepared. He might even change events so that Orczy never regained his hand. No, better not to change the past and play havoc with memories. I know. I can tell you what happens to memories when you go back in time and change things. Amos and I, when we came back from the past, had no idea of what was going on, because all of our memories were of events that we prevented from happening."

"So this weird soap opera is just a practical joke."

"Well, we might preview the episodes, so we have a better idea of what is going on, before we invite everyone else."

…

"Well, what do you think?" Heather asked.

"They kept Amos out of the story for a long time. He was there all the time when all this other stuff happened…"

"I can see why. I know something about telling stories, and one thing I know is that once a vampire shows up, all the other stories go by the wayside. But the stories had to be told. So, Amos spent a few more months locked in."

"It was no fun for him. I do not know how he kept his sanity… Actually he didn't. He was a mess. Fortunately for the people here he was more frightened and confused than anything else. He was too scared to be near people…. There is reason why he went after cattle in the beginning. He wanted to hide."

"And you still were the one who let him out."

"Yes. But I was not looking for treasure… That was just a story, and I wanted something more solid. I was thinking of a career in what I do now. Just because I was an ex-con did not mean that I did not dream big. "

…..

I had to listen to Chester Simms telling me again and again that I must be grateful to Mrs. Grady, for giving me a second chance. I was not grateful enough for him… Meaning I did not kiss Mrs. Grady's ass as he did.

Simms should have been a medieval serf, the way he worshipped Mrs. Grady. I didn't. I appreciated what she did, and did my work promptly and with no fuss. But I saw also what was wrong with her. Locked herself in, for whatever reason she had, and ruling the people around her with an iron rod. There was a reason why she did not have live-in maids, and why Charlie was so screwed up. I would be too if I had her as an aunt. As for Dinah, and her brother Louis… they were prisoners there too.

She was getting a governess for Charlie, a kid just out of teacher's college. Her first job, which meant that she would be dependent on Mrs. Grady's recommendation for any other job she wanted. The poor kid.

I meant to escape, and the old ruin of the house – the old Benchley Mansion, now a wreck -, was my way out. I knew something about restoring antiques, and even fixing old homes. That old Benchley Mansion was a fixe-upper. I had tried my hand at some of the antiques there, and while the firsts efforts left a lot to be desired, I was getting better at it. I could see a way to make myself a career there.

Of course, that meant a lot of time going there and digging through junk. And I knew that if I got something good I should better tell Mrs. Grady of it, and let her display it, or sell it. I just wanted the credit for the restoration. That credit would be my ticket out of there.

So it began. Digging for antiques in need of restoration. And coming across this old painting. It was covered by cobwebs. But through the cobwebs I could see eyes.

I wiped the cobwebs and tried to determine its value. Did I recognize the signature? It was colonial style, but I did not know of any name, except Peale. And that was signed there was NOT Peale. Valuable or not?

Still, the eyes fixed on me. I could swear that it was following me… that It was talking to me….

….Come, find me….

Nope, my imagination was running loose. It was just a painting….

…Come find me…

…..

I do not remember how I got to the basement of the Old Benchley Mansion, nor how I got the pickaxe. I only remember that there was a wall in the basement, and that at that moment I realized that the measurements inside did not correspond to the ones outside…

I broke the wall, and came upon this walled up room. And inside there was a coffin, covered in chains.

…Come find me… get me out…

I broke the chains… I was not thinking then. I was just reacting…. The lid opened and a hand grabbed me..

…

"And then?"

"I lost consciousness. I was vaguely aware of somebody. There was pain at my throat, and then… I just do not recall much of the rest of the night. Let's say that I woke up hours later, and I saw this man… Amos lying in the coffin I somehow knew that I had to protect him, but it was no words, no commands, just a feeling."

"And Amos? What does he say?"

"He made himself forget that time. Remember he had been locked up in that coffin for so many years. It had been years of desperation and hallucinations. His mind was not working, to put it mildly. He is afraid that if he remembers anything, it will pull him back to that madness. I have a better memory of the days that followed than he does."

"And what happened with him?"

"For a while there were reports of cattle that were killed, and little blood found around them. Of course, they had also been munched on…. The wildlife around here can get quite hungry, and cattle is tempting…"

"I wonder why Amos just attacked cattle."

"I think that he was afraid of people. He somehow sensed that they were dangerous for him. At least that's the impression I got. He was more going on instinct then than anything else. And if there is one thing that predators know is that people are dangerous…. Poor Amos had enough wit to keep himself from sight. That's why no one except me knew that he was there."

"And the story went on without him. Well, we better have the others explain how this show got things right, and when it didn't"