The Reunion---Chapter 2 Date: 12/29/01 1:13:32 PM Central Standard Time From: Peggy Boone The next morning, the sky was clear. After breakfast, Willie, David and Amy started out for the cave that Amy had seen in her dream. They went into two or three caves until they found the one that Amy had seen. They went inside and looked around, but it was empty. They were starting to go out when David shouted. "Hey! Look at this!" Amy and Willie looked where he was pointing. They saw an extra set of footprints on the floor of the cave. "Do you think Barnabas could have been here?" "I don't know. He could have been." The three of them went back to Collinwood. Julia met them at the door with a look of hope on her face. Before she could open her mouth to ask what they found, Willie spoke the words that Julia dreaded asking. "We didn't find him, Julia. We found a set of footprints in the cave, but we didn't know if they were his." "If he wasn't there, then where is he?" "I don't know. They'll find him." Willie said good-bye to Julia, David and Amy and went back to the Old House. At Collinwood, Amy was upset to see Julia so unhappy. The little girl wondered how long it would be before Barnabas would come home. She wished she could do something to make Julia feel better. After Willie went back to the Old House, Julia went into the drawing room and closed the door. Amy sat on the stairs and watched the door. Several times, she got up from her seat on the stairs, went over to the closed door of the drawing room and reached out her hand toward the doorknob. She opened the door and stood in the doorway and watched Julia. She would stand for several minutes before she would go back into the hall and close the door. She would then go back over to the stairs and sit down. When anyone came inside, there she would be. People at Collinwood thought that maybe she was afraid to leave Julia, That afternoon, after she ate lunch, Amy put on her coat and went outside. She was on her way to the Old House. When she knocked on the door, Willie answered. "Willie, why did Barnabas go away?" "He blames himself for Chris falling from Widow's Hill." "That wasn't his fault." "We know that, but he doesn't."
