Episode 41:
Slideshow
It's thundering and lightening on the Island as Dan enters the
mansion. In the Great Hall Tim and Matt are standing together near the entrance
to the crypt. Vangie sits in a chair. Matt walks over to Vangie. Dan joins
them. "What are you planning,
another séance Vangie? Or a prayer meeting Reverend to save us all by
communicating with the infinite."
"You look as though you could use a little saving. Where have you been?"
Matt asks. "Looking for a way of
escape from this Island of no escape." Dan says brushing his cloths off with his
hands. Tim walks up to them. "Like
Holly?" he says. "Where is
she?" "Down in the crypt and Jean
Paul Desmond followed her there in a rage." Matt says. Elizabeth walks over to them. "She had
no right to disobey his orders."
"Well what are you all waiting for? Are you afraid Raxl will impale you
on her mystic pin like some conjure doll." Dan says to them. "No Doctor Carr went down there. She has
more influence with Jean Paul especially in his present state." says
Vangie. "I told you Vangie I don't
think anybody here has any influence with him." Matt says bending over Vangie's
chair to speak to her. "Except
perhaps the devil." Jean Paul
rushes up from the crypt. He sees Dan and stops, turning from him he takes a few
steps and again stops with his back to everybody. Everyone watches him
silently. Dan walks over to him.
"Jean Paul?" Jean Paul turns
towards him. "Have you been on a journey Dan? Here on Maljardin they all meet
the same end." "And some end in
death." Matt says as he walks over to Matt and Jean Paul. Alison and Holly walk
up from the crypt. "Is that a
prediction or a predilection or perhaps a threat Reverend?" Jean Paul says to
him. "A fact Mr. Desmond." Jean Paul walks away towards Jacques
portrait. Matt turns around and
walks over to Holly and Alison. "Are you alright Holly?" "So far, thanks to Doctor Carr." "How did you manage to calm him down
Alison?" "I didn't have to, Holly
wasn't in any danger as far as I could see." "It's the notes you showed him, that's
what did it. If it hadn't been for that who knows." Holly tells them. "Not quite the Master here are you Jean
Paul." Jacques tells him. Jean Paul glances back at the others. "What Jacques
Eloi Des Mondes can do Jean Paul Desmond may not remember. Who is the Master,
you or the devil as Raxl calls me."
Jean Paul looks at the portrait in anger, he turns and looks at the
others. "Yes, be discreet if I make
you seem mad they will betray you and your sleeping Erica in her vulnerable
cryonics capsule." Jean Paul gets
angrier standing in front of Jacques portrait. Everybody across the room watches Jean
Paul. "Look at him, it's like he's in another world. Just like he seemed to be
another man down there in that creepy crypt." Holly tells Alison and Matt. Jean Paul walks away from Jacques
portrait. "I have decided that I will do no more about this for now. All of you
and Holly, no one unauthorized by me will ever enter that crypt. Erica will not
be disturbed again." Jean Paul walks past everyone glancing back at Jacques
portrait. "Poor man he's suffering
so." Elizabeth says as she walks over to him. "Jean Paul?" "Excuse me Mrs. Marshal." Jean Paul says
to her before entering the crypt.
Elizabeth is upset as she walks away from everyone. She stops by the
staircase. Holly walks up to her. "His moods do get to you sometimes!" "Frightening." Elizabeth says looking at
Holly.
"You know Dan, five minutes ago down there he was all excited
about these." Alison says showing Dan the notes. "What are they?" "Doctor Menkin’s notes on his
experiments on cellular reconstruction."
"The missing ones?" "Except
they aren't. They were laying right there on the lab table." "But we searched high and low." says
Dan. "I know and they weren't there
then." "Does this mean you can
continue his experiments on cellular reconstruction? " Tim asks walking over to
them. "Well possibly, but these
aren't all the records. These only represents only about a week of the
experiments." Alison tells him. "So
five weeks of notes are still missing." Dan says. "Unless they mysteriously turn up." Matt
says turning towards Alison. He then looks at Vangie. She's sitting at the table
with the tarot deck. Vangie looks
up as she crushes the card she has in her hand. She is staring straight
ahead. "Look at Vangie. Another
trance?" Matt asks the others. "Oh
I can't stand what goes on around here!" Holly cries out then rushes up the
staircase. "She's in such danger
slipping in and out of trances like this and there's nothing I ca do." Alison
says looking at Vangie. She walks over to her. "Vangie are you all right?" Vangie blinks and looks at Alison. "Why
what was I doing?" "Crushing your
tarot cards, like they were the very devil." Vangie opens her hand and glances at the
card, then she throws it down. "Perhaps there are evil forces gathering to wage
a deadly struggle." "Through you?"
Matt asks standing behind Vangie’s chair.
"Perhaps through all of us." Vangie tells them. Holly is laying across her bed when
there is a knock at her door. It's thundering and lightening outside as Holly
walks slowly towards the door. She reaches for the knob and opens it. "Excuse me Holly, I have something very
important to ask you." Alison says as she enters Holly's room. "I don't think I can tell you anything
about anybody or anything around here." Holly tells her as she turns away and
sits on her bed. "You might."
Alison says shutting the door. "Like the difference between fact and
fantasy." "Meaning?" "Jean Paul Desmond." "Your Mr. Desmond's sister in-law and
your asking me about him? What is it I'm supposed to know?" Alison walks around the room as she
talks. "Perhaps Holly you don't know anything. Perhaps it just seems so." "I wish just once around here people
would come out and say what they are talking about." Holly says as she stands
and walks over to Alison. Alison
turns to her. "When you were down in the crypt before I came in was he going to
harm you?" Holly turns away. "He
changed so much I couldn't tell."
"Holly these are scientific notes that were stolen from Doctor Menkin’s
laboratory." Alison says showing Holly the folder. "The one that was murdered?" "We don't know that Holly." "Dan Forrest said so." "Well he could be wrong. Now these
experiments were leading to cellular reconstruction or recreation of a human
body." "You're trying to do that?
You mean to bring Mr. Desmond's wife back to life?" Holly asks. "No, but these notes even though they're
incomplete would be the basis for a medical breakthrough. Now if we can just
find the rest of the missing notes." Alison says sitting down. "You'd be that much closer." says
Holly. "That's correct." "Well I still don't see what this has to
do with Mr. Desmond? Or me for that matter." Holly says walking over to
Alison. "Well I believe that he has
found those records." "So why don't
you ask him?" "I did but he doesn't
recall." Holly looks away. "Just
like he didn't remember looking for the secret door in the crypt with me." "Secret door, where?" Alison asks. Holly shakes her head. "I don't know.
Maybe a way out of here." "There's
so much that none of us knows." Alison says.
Dan is in the Great Hall talking to Matt, Elizabeth and Tim. "I
say there is no question that can't be answered, no matter how you muddle it up
with witchcraft. And there's no problem that can't be solved including getting
off this blasted Island." "You've
been scrambling all over it Mr. Forrest and the only problem you've apparently
solved is how to ruin your cloths." Elizabeth tells him. She is sitting in a
chair. Matt, Tim and Dan are standing near her. Vangie walks over to them. Is it going to happen again Miss
Abbott?" Elizabeth asks. "Who can
tell, there was a powerful presence in here." "You are convincing you know." says
Elizabeth. Vangie walks away.
"You can't get across the treacherous channel. No one knows how to
navigate it except Quito and Jean Paul." Matt tells Dan as he walks over to the
staircase leaning against the post.
Dan walks over to him followed by Tim. "There must be charts." says
Dan. "I understand that it's kind
of a heritage thing handed down but not in writing." Tim tells then. "Wrong, I saw something that could be
the charts in a huge bound volume in Jean Paul's room." Dan tells them. Matt looks at Dan. "You went into his
room?" "When?" Tim asks. "When I was looking for the missing
cyanide." Dan says with a smile after seeing Matt and Tim’s expression. Tim follows him. "He'll have your
life." Dan turns. "He does anyway
doesn't he Tim?" "Dan even if there
are charts to the channel which is improbable, knowing the history of Jacques
Eloi Des Mondes it's probably false and intended to lure sailors to a watery
grave." As Matt is speaking Jean Paul comes up from the crypt and listens to
him. "Wisdom is the essence of a
cautious man who is dealing with actions and words will know a long life." Jean
Paul says. Dan walks over to Jean
Paul. "I don't intend to grow old on Maljardin. I make no secret of that Jean
Paul, take it or leave it." "The
Reverend knows the requiem." says Jean Paul. Dan glances at Matt then looks back at
Jean Paul. "Is that a threat?"
"Dan, Dan always challenging." Jean Paul says then walks away. Dan shakes
his head. Jean Paul walks into the
Dining Room where Vangie and Elizabeth are sitting. "Vangie, must I wait any
longer to contact my Erica? Will you soon be feeling well enough for another
séance?" Jean Paul asks. "She
almost collapsed again just a short while ago." Elizabeth tells Jean Paul. Jean Paul looks at Elizabeth. "I am
asking the only one who can tell me truthfully. The medium herself." "The strength has been restored." Vangie
says. Elizabeth stands. "If there
are strange spirits wondering about she's at the mercy of their whims." "What do you say Vangie?" Jean Paul
asks. "Vibrations, impulses,
emanations. I feel them all around."
Jean Paul bends down next to Vangie’s chair. "Tomorrow Vangie,
tomorrow." "Can't you see that you
can drive her insane, along with the rest of us." Matt says to Jean Paul. "Reverend Dawson is a true believer
isn't he?" Elizabeth asks. "Vangie
may I have your answer. The last time we almost made contact but that was broken
by an alien impulse. We must try again tomorrow." Jean Paul says to her. "Evil forces contend Jean Paul. For
whom, against whom I can not tell." says Angie. "I will help you to fight them, but I
must hear Erica's voice again."
Vangie glances at him. "Fight them alone Jean Paul I can only give them
their will and their will may well be your life." Jean Paul stands. "When you are able
there will be another séance."
Holly is talking to Alison. "Just think what if you are able to
bring Mrs. Desmond back to life."
Alison stands and walks over to Holly. "That's a big if Holly. Don't be
deceived about research. It's a long and arduous task. More often than not a
very frustrating one." "But say
that it happens, then there won't be any reason for Mr. Desmond to keep any
secrets from us. If his wife is alive then we can all go free. Oh I wish there
was someway I could help. Oh not just for us but for him." Holly says to
Alison. Alison takes a couple of
steps away from Holly. "There is a way Holly you know sometimes there's just a
hairline between science and religion and witchcraft. "If there is any line
between them." "How can you say
that, you're a doctor. A scientist." Holly says. "And a woman with normal needs and
fears. How do I know Holly, after what I have seen? How do any of us know? What
did you think when you were down in the crypt?" "Of what?" asks Holly. "Of Jean Paul Desmond?" Alison asks.
Holly glances at Alison.
Jean Paul is in the crypt speaking to Erica. "There will be no
further disturbances here darling. My Erica sleep without fear until we are in
contact, and until you are free from this precious machine. I call it precious
because it preserves your loveliness, your precious loveliness. My love, until
we can touch hands, touch lips, oh Erica." Jean Paul says as he kneels next to
the cryonics capsule. "Oh Erica can your spirit hear my voice? Tomorrow my love
, tomorrow we will speak together. Only this time it will be I Jean Paul Desmond
whose call you will hear. There will be no devil, no evil of Jacques Eloi Des
Mondes. Only I the man who loves you."
Vangie sits at the table reading the tarot cards. Elizabeth sits next to
her. "These tarot cards Miss Abbott
what are they telling you?" "The
cards tell many things Mrs. Marshal."
"Only to you of course." Elizabeth says to her. "To me, to you to anyone. The cards do
not differentiate." "But I can't
read them. What do they say, good things, bad things?" "They say nothing, the cards reflect
good and bad." Vangie says. "Right
now what do you see?" "That a woman
who seeks love will receive what she gives." Elizabeth smiles and tells Vangie. "I
love that anything else?" "Nothing
else." "It's a very pleasant
prediction. You know I admire this gift of yours Miss Abbott, I feel I have a
rapport." Elizabeth stands. "Perhaps I could be useful at the séance
tomorrow." "The spirits will answer
that. I'm not even sure that there will be a séance." Vangie says to her. "Oh well keep me in mind. I'm not afraid
of storms or crashing chandeliers."
Matt walks in and walks up to the two of them. "Perhaps the Reverend has a love life
Miss Abbott. Why don't you look." Elizabeth says. "I have already expressed anything those
tarot cards can say." "About
Holly?" asks Elizabeth. "To Holly."
says Matt. Elizabeth walks away.
"Vangie I gather you don't want to go through with this?" Matt asks
walking up to Vangie's chair. "My
wishes don't matter. When I inherited the mantle of my father the Conjure Man I
accepted a responsibility, like you."
"Which I have put aside for personal reasons as you can do." "Responsibility lightly taken bear the
seed of death." "I felt that many
times since coming to Maljardin." Matt says taking a seat. "But isn't that what
Jean Paul Desmond is doing? Doesn't he owe you at least responsibility,
responsibility for you?" "Jean Paul
wants contact with the wife he loves. No more no less." Vangie says to him. "But he can't expect you to risk it
again." "It goes beyond Jean Paul’s
choice or mine. The struggle has already begun." Vangie says laying down tarot
cards. "If I can't convince you I
can promise that this time I will fight against it. And I certainly will not
consent to take part in the circle this time." "What we say is one thing, what takes
place is another." Vangie shows Matt a card. "The fool. The cards say you will,
they can not change neither can you. The cards do not lie. Forces join battle,
which is good which is evil . Who Knows. You can't change it in spite of
yourself." Vangie tells him. Matt stares straight ahead. Alison asks Holly. "And you thought Jean
Paul was angry because he found you in the crypt near the cryo capsule." "Thought it? I knew it." Holly says. She
is still sitting on her bed. "And
you were afraid of him?" "He's
someone to be afraid of when he gets mad."
"Is that all you thought?"
"That's all I was able to think." says Holly. "You see when he went down there after
you everyone thought it was to inflict some sort of punishment on you. Yet when
I got down there he had forgotten all about it. What did you say or do to make
him change his mind?" Holly stands
up. "I just told him the truth. That I was afraid and looking for a way out."
Holly says as she walks across the bedroom floor. "I suspected something else. Another of
the strange things we find ourselves facing and thinking and imagining in this
garden of evil." "You know what
really confuses me though, was the first time he found me down there as he put
it. Well he took me down there himself." Alison looks at Holly. "He took
you down there himself?" she asks Holly.
"Yes, and then later he didn't even remember it." Alison looks away in puzzlement.
Vangie is laying the tarot cards upon the table staring straight
ahead as Alison who has come down the staircase sees her. Alison rushes over to
her. "Vangie, are you all right?"
Vangie stands, cries out and turns away. "Vangie, for heavens sake this must
stop." Alison says putting her arms around her. Vangie cries out as she turns towards
Alison. "How can I do it? The séance, warring spirits are gathering here! Which
is good, which is evil. I can't tell for all is savage, filled with war and
anger!" Vangie lowers her hands after raising them to her face. Calmly she turns
to Alison. "You can't stand for
much more of this Vangie." Alison says. Vangie stars straight ahead.
Jean Paul is in the crypt when he hears someone on the stairs. He
turns quickly and heads for the stairs. "Who is it?" Alison walks up to him. "What are you doing down here? Have you
forgotten my orders so soon?" "Do
you forget Jean Paul! I love my lost sister. We both love Erica." Jean Paul turns towards the capsule.
"Very well, I'm aware of that. But I like to be here alone." "You also forget Jean Paul that it was
you yourself who brought Holly down here and you forgot some other things. You
forgot that you were the only one in the lab when these missing records were
found. These medical records that could help bring Erica back to life. How is it
that you who love her so could forget?"
"Well I don't want you to forget that I will get the rest of these
records if I have to drag them burning out of the devil's hand! I promise you
that! I promise Erica!"
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Summaries written by Debby
Graham . The slide
presentation is the work of Ron Janick.
~Ron/Bella~
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