Part One

by Nancybe

"The arrangements are all made," Julia Hoffman said matter-of-factly, trying to ignore Elizabeth’s look of disapproval.

"I wish you wouldn’t go, Julia. The weather is frightful, and it is only going to get worse."

"I have to go, Elizabeth. My cousin wouldn’t have called me unless she really felt that I needed to come. I’ve lived here for over four years now, Elizabeth," she said in a sardonic tone, "and you know how often my family has called me."

Elizabeth knew better than to continue to argue with Julia Hoffman once she had made up her mind. Honestly, the woman was so stubborn that Liz sometimes wondered if she weren’t a Collins herself. And she had a point about her family calling her. Julia had always been fairly reticent about her family so Liz had been more than a little surprised when a cousin had called to ask Julia to come to see an aunt who was very ill but refused to seek medical help.

A burst of frigid air announced the arrival of Barnabas Collins. Julia had called to tell him that she would be leaving immediately to tend to her aunt, and despite her protestations, he had insisted on driving her to the airport in Bangor where she could catch a small plane to Boston and from there to Upstate New York.

"Barnabas," Elizabeth began hopefully, "maybe you can talk some sense into Julia. She should not be traveling in this storm. Can you convince her to wait until the snow stops?"

The tall, debonair Collins turned his attention from his cousin to his friend, and the expression on the latter’s face told him all that he needed to know. Her exotic eyes had narrowed into slits, and her lower lip was thrust out in determination. How often had he seen that look, hundreds of times, thousands? He remembered it so well from 1840 when she had proclaimed that Gerard would have had to have killed her before he could have gotten to Barnabas. Once Julia had made up her mind, there was no hope of changing it, and he knew that this was definitely one of those times.

"I’m afraid our Julia is determined to make this trip, Elizabeth. Believe me, I used all of my best arguments on the phone, but you know how she is when someone needs her." His eyes regarded Julia with great tenderness. "There is no stopping her even if it means putting herself in danger."

Julia looked at him in surprise. He rarely spoke so personally about her, and she fought the blush that was creeping up her neck. She wasn’t sure how to react to his words, and they were especially embarrassing in front of Elizabeth.

"Thank you for not trying to change my mind, Barnabas," she said crisply in an effort to diffuse a situation that was making her uncomfortable. "I’ve already packed what I need so we can leave right away. I don’t want to take the chance of missing the plane because of the weather slowing us down. But I really wish that you would let me drive myself, Barnabas. There really is no need for you to - "

"We’ve been through all of this on the telephone, Julia. I am taking you to the plane, and that’s that." I can be just as stubborn as you are, he thought silently to himself.

Julia sighed knowing when she was beaten. "I’ll only be a few days, Elizabeth. I’ll see you then."

"Please be careful, Julia," her friend said with concern evident in her eyes. "And I hope that your aunt is going to be all right."

"I didn’t know you had any aunts in New York State, Julia. You’ve never told me very much about your family," Barnabas said as he carefully maneuvered the car through the snowstorm. He wondered if he would ever truly be comfortable driving an automobile. He involuntarily shuddered when he recalled his first exposure to cars and his first driving lesson.

You never asked, Julia wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. He was asking now, and that’s all that mattered. "I don’t see them much anymore. These are my father’s aunts so they are really my great aunts. They’re still on the family farm way up in Northern New York in the Adirondacks. I used to go stay with them in the summers sometimes. It is really beautiful there in the summer, and there’s so much for a kid to do."

"You - on a farm?" Barnabas chuckled. "I’m sorry, Julia, but I really can’t picture that."

"Well, you might be surprised, Barnabas. After all, I think I have the ability to adapt to any time or place rather well, wouldn’t you say?" she asked sarcastically.

He turned his attention from the road to grin at her. "You have a point, Julia. Tell me more about these great aunts."

"In some ways, they are truly remarkable people, Barnabas. Really from a different era when people did what was necessary for the good of their families. These women gave up their own lives because they were needed on the family farm. Someone had to come home to help run things when their father had died and their mother was getting older. Aunt Margaret and Aunt Ida sacrificed their own hopes and dreams to help out their family." She shook her head at what this must have cost them. "Can you image how hard that must have been for them?"

Barnabas’ face turned very somber as he answered her without taking his eyes from the road. "Yes, I think I can, Julia, " he said in a low voice.

"Oh, Barnabas, I’m sorry," she said quickly, reaching out to touch his arm. "Of course you understand. You understand better than anyone I have ever known," she continued, feeling foolish that she had said such a thing to him.

He smiled at her again, making the lump in her throat disappear. "But I still don’t understand why you have to travel all this way, Julia. Can’t your aunt see a local physician?"

Julia sighed as she thought of how she could explain this to him. "These are country people, Barnabas. They have a culture all their own, and unfortunately, most outsiders don’t understand that. They are good, honest, hard-working people, but they’re also very stubborn. They don’t want to leave their home, their community. Certainly, Aunt Margaret could go to the closest city for medical care but to her that is unthinkable. The city only has 75,000 people, but it is still the big city to her. It’s frightening for them, and I think it threatens their independence. Anyway, I learned from spending time with my relatives to respect their opinions and their ways. That’s why I am going. She needs me and that’s that."

It felt a little odd for her to be telling him all of this. She had never shared this kind of personal information with him before, and she knew that was part of it. But she had also never really articulated her feelings about her family before. They had different ways, yes, but she was proud of them too. She just had never explained it to anyone before, and now here she was telling Barnabas all about them.

"But how do you feel about going, Julia?" he asked curiously.

For a moment, Julia was totally dumbfounded. How did she feel about going? The question had not occurred to her before. "Well, uh, I’m not sure. I hadn’t really thought about it."

"That’s what I thought," he said in a tender voice. So like Julia, to not even think about her own feelings.

"It’s just that I haven’t been there in so long. I guess I feel a little guilty about not visiting. And of course, I have always dreaded their comments," she finished with a note of chagrin in her voice.

"Their comments?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, well, they are rather – blunt I guess is the word. They tell you exactly what they are thinking."

"It sounds rather refreshing to me having been brought up in a very proper household where honesty is sometimes sacrificed to politeness and etiquette."

"Barnabas, there is a difference between honesty and tactlessness. These women make your cousin Roger look like the epitome of couth."

"Oh, I see," he said with a chuckle.

"You would really have to experience it to believe it, Barnabas. God forbid you should put on a few pounds in between visits or you might hear ‘You sure got fat.’ Now, nobody wants to hear that."

"No, I suppose not," he allowed.

"In fact, if I had brought you around a year ago, they would have looked you up and down and then probably would have asked you if you were a vampire."

He looked at her in alarm. "Not really, Julia!"

"Yes, really. That’s the way they are. I’ve never really gotten used to it either. I always feel a little off-balance when I’m there, even now when I’m all grown up," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"I find THAT very hard to believe, Julia."

"It’s true, believe it." The small airport finally appeared in front of them. "Now, Barnabas, I will be back in two days. I’ve written all the information down," she said handing him a slip of paper. "But if the weather is still bad, don’t drive all the way here to pick me up. I’ll find another way home or stay overnight. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Julia, I understand. And I’ll be waiting for you," he answered, in the same no-nonsense tone she had just used with him.

TO BE CONTINUED.

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