The Reunion--Chapter 5 Date: 1/12/02 12:42:41 PM Central Standard Time From: Peggy Boone After Julia woke up, Barnabas made Willie take her back to the Old House. Barnabas insisted that he was not ready to go home to the Old House yet. Adam told him that he could stay with him as long as he wanted. After Willie and Julia went back to the Old House, Barnabas asked Adam if he had a phone. Adam told him it was in the kitchen. Barnabas dialed the number for Collinwood. (at Collinwood) Amy and David were playing a game in the drawing room when the telephone rang. Amy ran to answer it. David saw her pick up the receiver and smile. Amy asked Barnabas when he was going to go back to the Old House and he told her he didn't know. When she asked him where he was staying, he told her he was staying with a friend. When Amy hung up the phone, she ran into the kitchen where Elizabeth Stoddard was talking to Mrs. Johnson. "Mrs. Stoddard." ""Yes, Amy." "Barnabas is all right. I talked to him." "Where is he?" "He's staying with a friend." "Amy, could you tell me something?" "What, Mrs. Stoddard?" "Do you know why he went away?" "Yes. He was blaming Chris' accident on himself." "Do you blame him?" "No." Amy put on her coat and walked to the Old House. When she knocked on the door, Julia answered it. "Amy, what are you doing here?" "Barnabas called Collinwood and I talked to him." "I saw him. He has been ill." "Is he feeling better?" "He was when I left him." (the house by the sea) When Adam went into the living room, Barnabas was sitting in a chair deep in thought. At the sudden noise in the room, he turned to see where it had come from. He saw Adam. "Is something wrong?" "No, I was just thinking." "Barnabas." "What, Adam?" "Why did you leave the Old House?" "You don't know Chris Jennings do you?" "No." "He and his family were visiting at the Old House and he had an accident." "It wasn't your fault." "I feel it was." "It was as much your fault as it was mine or all of the things that happened after I met Nicholas." "Adam, that wasn't your fault." "Yes it was. I never should have believed anything he said." "Barnabas." "What?" "If I ask you something, will you answer it?" "Yes." "Where did Nicholas go?" "I don't know." "Do you think we could be friends again like we used to?" "I didn't think we ever stopped." (the Old House) Willie and Julia were talking. He asked her if she thought that Barnabas would ever return to the Old House and she told him that he would return home when he was ready. They both knew that the Old House was not the same without him. Neither of them knew that Barnabas and Adam had made up. (Collinwood) After Amy had hung up the phone, David asked him who had been on the phone. She told him that Barnabas had called to talk to her. When he asked her if he told her when he was going back to the Old House, Amy shook her head. David was worried about Amy. The day of the storm, when Willie had taken Amy to Collinwood and went back to the Old House, he and Amy had talked up in his room. She told him how much she hated living at her Uncle Ned's house, but she wouldn't tell him why. He wondered if she had run away, but he had promised not to tell anyone. (the house by the sea) Barnabas was worried about Amy. When he talked to her on the phone, the little girl hadn't seemed the same. He wondered if something had happened to her since she had been at Collinwood. He borrowed the keys to Adam's car, got in it and drove to Collinwood. He parked the car where no one would see it and walked around the back of Collinwood. When he arrived at the terrace, he found Amy sitting by herself. He looked around, but he didn't see any sign of David. He walked to the gate of the terrace and walked in. Amy was seated on a bench reading a book. She didn't know anyone was on the terrace with her. Suddenly, she heard someone talk to her. "Hello, Amy." When she turned toward the sound, she saw Barnabas standing in front of her. With a squeal, she jumped up from the seat, her book falling from her lap. "Barnabas! You came back!" She ran up to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "Amy, I didn't come back. I just came to see you." "You're leaving again, aren't you?" "For a little while. How have you been, Amy?" "All right, I guess." Barnabas didn't quite believe her, but he told her good-bye, walked back to the car and went back to Adam's. When David went outside to find Amy, he found her on the terrace with her book in her hand. He didn't know that Barnabas had been there talking to Amy. He still wondered what she had not told him. (house by the sea) When Barnabas returned the car keys to Adam, he asked him how his visit went and he told him all right. "Did you see the little girl?" "We talked." "How was she?" "She was disappointed because I decided to come back here."
