306 - August 28, 1967

[bunniefuu]

[Victoria narrating] - It is the night that holds

the innermost secrets of Collinwood,

and now another night has fallen.

And before it is over,

we shall be one step closer to the dark secret

behind the evil we have lived with.

[door sliding open]

- Wow!

What's in there?

- You'll see.

Come on, David!

- Okay, I'm coming.

- Hey, there's a coffin!

- I know.

- We shouldn't be in here.

- It's all right.

Isn't this a good secret?

- I'll say it is.

But you mean you come in here with that coffin?

- Yes.

- Who...

What's in there?

- You'll see.

- What do you mean, "I'll see"?

- I want you to open it.

- Oh, no.

Wait a minute, Sarah.

Coming in here is one thing,

but opening up a coffin is another.

- I'm telling you, it's all right.

- Wait a minute, Sarah.

- No! I want you to see it.

- Leave it alone, Sarah.

- You've got to see it. You've got to!

- Okay... I'll help.

[creaking]

♪♪

♪♪

- It's empty!

- I know.

- Well, why would somebody put an empty coffin in here?

- Oh, it hasn't always been empty.

Someone was in it once, but he went away.

- Come on, Sarah.

If somebody was buried in this coffin,

he'd still be there.

I mean, dead people don't just walk away.

- Sometimes they do.

- I don't think I want to stay in this place.

It's too cold.

And it's too creepy.

- There's no reason to be afraid, David.

- Who says I'm afraid?

- Well, then why don't you want to stay and play with me?

- It's just that

I'd rather go someplace else.

- Well, if you have to go.

- I-- I said I'd play with you here.

I know, but...

maybe we could come back and play during the day sometime.

But it's dark now,

and I shouldn't even be out of the house.

- You mean you have to go?

- Yes.

Vicki's probably worried about me.

- But you said...

if I showed you a good place to play

that you would play with me in it.

- I know.

But I promise that I won't tell anybody about this.

- You've gotta promise that you won't tell--

not single soul about the secret room.

- I won't.

Come on.

Let's go.

♪♪

- Barnabas, where are you going?

- To Collinwood.

- What for?

- To see Miss Winters.

- What do you want to see her about?

- Dr. Hoffman, you do have an unfortunate tendency

to ignore certain fundamental things, don't you?

- What kind of things?

- We have an arrangement, you and I,

but you don't own me, you don't issue orders,

and you don't impose restrictions on my personal behavior.

- I'm not trying to impose restrictions on you--

- You are a meddlesome and domineering woman.

If the modern man is willing to tolerate your kind of woman,

that's his problem.

But I will have none of it.

Is that understood?

- I believe you've made your point, yes.

- Splendid.

And I don't mind telling you that part of my reason

for going to Collinwood this evening

is to show you how a crisis should be properly handled.

- What do you mean?

- We've encountered several crises

since our arrangement began.

You've managed to mishandle each and every one of them.

- I beg your pardon!

- Don't bother to deny it, Doctor.

As an example, I cite Maggie Evans.

Under lock and key, she was.

Safe and sound miles away, or so you said.

- But I gave you the report on how she escaped,

how the nurse went to her room

and found a strange little girl sitting on her bed,

a little girl that could have been Sarah.

- Yes.

She escaped.

But that's not the point.

Then she went to Doctor Woodard

and began to tell him everything.

- Yes, but I stopped her from remembering.

- Yes, just in the nick of time.

Five more seconds and Woodard would have known all about me.

That was too close, Doctor,

much too close.

And now we have a new crisis.

Mr. Devlin

and his private little investigation of me.

But this time I will take matters into my own hands.

- What are you going to do to Devlin?

- I am going to put an end to his curiosity.

- Barnabas, if you harm him,

you will be making a fatal mistake.

- Doctor, problems are solved

not only through violence.

Sometimes all that is required is a little finesse.

That which is something

that few in your world know anything about.

I assure you, before the evening is over,

Mr. Devlin and his private investigation

will be a thing of the past.

Good evening, Doctor.

♪♪

[clock chiming]

- David! - Hi, Vicki.

- Come down here.

- Well, I can't right now.

I have to go up and change.

- Come down here, I want to talk to you.

- What about?

- Do you know what time it is?

- No. - It's way after :.

Now, where were you?

- I was outside. - I know that.

You know you're not supposed to be outside after dark.

When your father finds out,

he's going to be very angry with both of us.

- Do you have to tell him?

- Well, that depends on where you were

and what you were doing.

- I was playing with someone.

- Who?

- If I tell you, you won't even believe me.

- How do you know I won't?

- Because the last time I told you,

you didn't believe me.

- Told me what?

- That I was playing with Sarah.

- Oh, yes, your shy little friend.

- You said that I was just making her up.

Well, I wasn't.

She's as real as anyone else.

- She's the one that told you that Maggie Evans was still alive.

- And she was right, wasn't she?

- I wonder how she knew about Maggie.

- I don't know.

- Didn't you ever ask her?

- I asked Sarah quite a lot of questions,

but usually the answers don't make much sense.

- Do you know where she lives?

- Well, around here someplace,

but I don't know exactly where.

- She sounds like a very strange little girl.

- She is quite strange, but she's nice, too.

- David, where were you and Sarah playing at this hour?

- I can't tell you.

- Why not?

- Because...

Sarah showed me this secret place

and she may be promise that I wouldn't tell anybody about it.

- Well, what kind of a place is it?

- I can't tell you.

You don't want me to go back on my promise, do you?

- David, what about your promise to me

that you wouldn't go outside after dark?

I was very worried something terrible might have happened to you.

- Well, from now on, I'll be in before dark,

I promise.

Now can I go upstairs?

- All right.

Oh, David. - Mm-hmm?

- I'd like to meet Sarah sometime.

- Well, I don't know if you could.

- Why not?

- Because Sarah once told me

that she was afraid of meeting other people.

- Why should she be afraid?

- I don't know.

Why do you want to meet her?

- I'd like to know if she really knew

that Maggie Evans was still alive

or if it was something she just said.

- You know, some of the things that Sarah says

are just as strange as the dress she wears.

You know, she always wears the same dress,

every single time I've seen her.

- What's the dress like?

- I can't really describe it.

- Well, try.

- Well...

well, you know that party that everyone went to,

the costume party,

down at the old house a couple of weeks ago?

Well, you went dressed as Josette

and my father went dressed as-- - Yes, what about it, David?

- Well, Sarah always dresses

like she is going to one of those parties.

- The little girl at the top of the stairs!

- What?

- Nothing.

Oh, thank you, David. You can go upstairs now.

- Okay.

♪♪

♪♪

[knocking]

- Good evening, Vicki.

- Barnabas, what a nice surprise.

- If you have a few minutes, I'd like to talk to you.

- Yes, of course, but I have to go into town

in about an hour to meet Burke.

- Oh, well, it won't take long.

May we go in the drawing room?

- Certainly.

Well, what was it you want to talk to me about?

- Well, two things.

First, I feel I owe you an apology.

- For what?

- The way I behaved

at the announcement of your engagement.

I'm afraid I displayed the wrong spirit.

I'm terribly sorry.

- Well, I must admit that your reaction was a bit unexpected.

- I'm sure you realize by this time

that I'm extremely fond of you

and I was a struck by the fact

that the engagement had taken place.

And my first thought was

whether you had made the right decision,

the one that would bring you the most happiness.

- I think I have.

- Well, that brings me to my second point.

Mr. Devlin.

- What about him?

- Well, Vicki, something has come to my attention

which I really fail to understand

and which distresses me a great deal nonetheless.

- What is it?

- I'm led to believe

that Mr. Devlin is having me investigated.

- Investigated?

Why?

- Well, if I knew that, my dear,

I wouldn't have had to come to you now, but I don't know.

- Are you sure about this?

- Yes, I'm certain.

I've learned that he's questioned

various people about my background,

about my current daily activities.

And I've been told that

he's even had me followed the past few days.

- I don't know what to say.

I-- I'm very shocked.

And I'm very sorry that this happened.

- Well, needless to say, I am shocked, too.

My character has never been questioned before by anyone.

- Oh, I'm sure it hasn't.

- Well, I'm-- I'm certain that Mr. Devlin

thinks that he has reason to be doing all of this,

but I can assure you that his reasoning is misguided.

- You don't have to assure me about anything.

Frankly, I'm not surprised that Burke is conducting

one of his private investigations.

He's done it before.

And in the case of Jason McGuire, it was justified.

But this time, it's so wrong!

- Well, I'm really very sorry.

I-- I didn't mean to make you angry

by telling you all of this.

But it's just...

well, I'm not accustomed to such clandestine tactics

on the part of others.

- I can understand that perfectly.

And I think you're showing remarkable restraint.

I know if it were happening to me, I'd be furious!

- Vicki, what do you think I should do?

- I think you should let me handle this.

I guarantee you, I'll put an end to it.

- Oh, please, I didn't come here to involve you in this.

I-- I wouldn't want to jeopardize

your own relationship with Mr. Devlin.

- I wish that Burke were as thoughtful of your welfare

as you are of his.

- Vicki, if there's anything

you can do to rectify this unfortunate situation,

I will be eternally grateful.

♪♪

- Barnabas, I don't want you to worry about anything.

I'm going to meet Burke in about a half an hour

and I'll talk to him.

- I don't know how to thank you enough.

- That's quite all right.

[door opening]

- Good evening.

- Good evening, Miss Hoffman. - Hello, Julia.

- Tell me, Vicki, did David finally get home all right?

- Oh, yes, he breezed in here about a half an hour ago,

just as calm as he could be.

- Where'd he been?

- He had been out playing with his little friend.

Sarah, you remember.

- Oh, yes, of course.

- Sarah?

Yes, it seems David has a little friend named Sarah.

- But the question is,

who is she and where did she come from?

No one seems to know.

- Well, if you'll forgive me,

I'll be on my way and leave you and Miss Hoffman

to solve the mystery of David's little playmate.

Good evening, Miss Hoffman.

Good evening, Vicki, and thank you again.

- Good night. - Good night.

Well, I think I'll go up to bed, too.

- All right, good night. - Good night.

- Vicki, I'm hungry.

- I should think you would be.

- Well, can I go in the kitchen and fix something to eat?

- No, you cannot.

I'll go in and get Mrs. Johnson to fix something for you.

You wait there.

- Vicki tells me you were playing with your friend Sarah again.

- Yeah, that's right.

- Where did the two of you go?

- I can't tell you that.

Sarah made me promise I'd keep it a secret.

- Ooh, it sounds very mysterious.

You mean, you two have a secret place you can go to?

- Uh-huh.

- I see.

I'd like to meet Sarah sometime.

- I know, you told me.

But why?

- Oh, no special reason.

She just sounds like a fascinating little girl, that's all.

- Well, you must have a reason for asking so many questions.

- Do I ask too many questions? I'm sorry.

- Well, it's okay with me, I don't mind.

And if you meet Sarah, she won't mind either.

But the trouble is, is if you ask Sarah too many questions,

sometimes the answers don't make too much sense.

I just thought I'd warn you.

- Thank you, David.

If I ever do meet Sarah, that's nice to know.

[dog barking, howling]

["London Bridge Is Falling Down"]

♪♪

- Sarah?

No, Sarah, don't stop.

It's your brother Barnabas, come to take you home again.

[dog barking, howling]

[gate squeaking]

Sarah, come back.

Please, come back.

I need you, Sarah.

I love you and I need you.

♪♪

♪♪

- "Dark Shadows" is a Dan Curtis production.