Episode 1319

Aired: Thursday July 15, 1971

After a replay of Wednesday's close and the titles, Sarah stands before David in the woods. "Hello, David!" she says. "Sarah! It's really you!" says David. "Of course it is! Who else would I be?" she giggles. David asks her where she's been all this time, and she says how she "went away, but now I'm back." David asks her where she went, and she answers "You've gotten so big, David! You're very tall now." David says that he's a lot older since the last time she saw him, and that he's "also grown up a lot." "When will I get to grow up?" Sarah asks, and David gets very sad and simply answers "I don't know." Sarah shrugs, and says "it doesn't matter. I'm still glad to see you." David tells her he's glad to see her too, and asks her why she came back now. "I can't tell you," she answers. "Someone might need me, that's all." David thinks a moment, and says "I think I might need you, Sarah." She asks him what he means, and he says "No one ever believes me when I tell them I see you. But I can prove it to them now!" Sarah asks how, and David takes her picture. "What is that?" Sarah says, a little scared. "Don't be afraid," David says. "I just took your picture." Sarah laughs and says "I don't have a picture! You're very silly! How could you take something I don't have?" David says "No, I didn't mean it that way." He turns away from her, thinking out loud "How can I explain it to you...." but when he turns back, she is gone. He looks around for her and shouts "Sarah! Sarah!"

Roger is reading in the drawing room as Alan enters. As Alan pours himself a drink, Roger comments that Alan "has certainly made himself at home." Alan smiles and tells Roger that the reason he's there is to watch Liz' progress since her operation, not "only enjoy the hospitalities Collinwood has to offer" before taking his drink. Roger insists that Liz is "just fine" and "doesn't need the constant attention of a doctor." Alan counters that "perhaps she prefers my attention." Roger frowns. Alan continues "Actually, I was also recommending running some tests on Carolyn. The condition that caused Liz her problem can sometimes be hereditary." Roger says "Really? Am I at any risk?" Alan says probably not, since "the condition usually affects women much more than men. I can run the same tests for you, if you like." Roger mulls this over, but then David runs in, excited. Roger asks him why he is so out of breath, and David tells Roger that he's seen Sarah again. "Sarah? Who is Sarah?" Roger asks. "Don't you remember?" says David. "She was the ghost I saw when I was younger! The little girl in the old dress! A lot of people saw her too!" Roger angrily says that he doesn't want to hear "any of this nonsense," but David insists he saw her, and then adds "And I have proof! I took her picture! You'll see! You'll see I'm telling the truth!" David runs out of the room, and Roger glares at Alan, who wonders why.

Alan asks Roger why he is so angry, and Roger tells Alan how "David had finally outgrown his childish imagination until you had to insist on discussing ghosts and goblins with him. Now look what's happened! A boy of his age, still talking to an imaginary friend!" Alan asks "How do you know she's imaginary? He says he snapped her picture." Roger looks at Alan and says "I must be blunt with you, Slater. I don't like the effect you're having on my son." Alan says "Oh?" as Liz and Carolyn enter the room, which immediately stops the arguing. Liz says hello to Alan, and he asks her how she's been feeling. She says fine, but then Roger snaps "Well Liz, what I was worried about has happened." Liz asks Roger what he's talking about, and Roger answers "David just came in here insisting that he saw his imaginary friend again, that little girl, Sarah!" Liz answers "Sarah?" "Yes," says Roger. "I knew that Alan would have a bad effect on him from the moment he arrived." "Roger, please," Liz says. Carolyn remarks how she remembers how David used to insist on seeing Sarah, and Liz answers "Yes, and he wasn't the only one who claimed to see her." Roger scoffs that it's all "nonsense" as Carolyn hears a knock at the front door and goes off to answer it. Alan asks Liz about Sarah, and Liz tells him she'll explain it later when Carolyn returns. "Who was it?" asks Liz. "It's a telegram for you, mother," she says. "It's from New York." She hands it to Liz, who starts to read it. "Who is it from?" Carolyn asks. Liz, reading, answers "It's from a Harrison Collins, of the New York branch of the family." Roger wonders "Harrison Collins? I've never heard the name." Liz looks at Roger and says "Well, you'll get to ask him whatever you want. He'll be arriving in Collinsport in just a few days for a visit."

Roger is intrigued by his "formerly unknown New York cousin," and wonders what he'll be like. Carolyn is deep in thought, and Liz asks her why. "I remember before you got sick," she says. "You said a relative was going to arrive. I can't remember what else you said." Liz answers that she doesn't see how that could be true, since she had "never heard of Harrison Collins before opening this telegram." Carolyn insists that she remembers her mother saying something about it, and then asks "Uncle Roger, please don't accuse me of having David's imagination!" Roger smiles and says "I would never do that, kitten. Liz, did the telegram say why he is visiting?" Liz answers that it only said he wanted to meet "this branch of the family before traveling on to Europe." Roger, impressed, says "Perhaps he is a world traveler, a cosmopolitan citizen of the world." Carolyn says "I wonder what he does do. Or what he's like." Liz says "Yes, it is a little strange suddenly meeting a previously unknown relative, but then again, Barnabas and Quentin have certainly paved the way." Alan adds "I guess you won't know for sure until you meet him." They all think about this for a moment.