Episode 1437

Aired: Tuesday December 28, 1971

After a replay of Monday's close, Harrison sits in Tate's studio with Petofi (Thayer David) standing over him. "I'm so sorry my friend Charles had to resort to violence to bring you here, but as you can see, we had no other choice," Petofi says. "Your friend Charles may be a talented artist, but his hearing is poor. I have no idea what he's talking about," Harrison says. Petofi smiles and says "Oh, dear boy, it will do you no good to lie to me. I am quite familiar with some of the theories involving the possible existence of other timebands... if I had stumbled upon one using the I Ching, I may just have taken refuge there already. You see, my boy, I must leave this place, and leave no trace of myself behind. And if there is a portal to another timeband, one so conveniently identical to this one except for the absence of my pursuers, I must find it." Harrison still denies its existence, and Petofi tells him he's a "fool" since "if you are indeed from there, you will have to return yourself. Isn't that what you were attempting when interrupted by Aristede?" Harrison says he can't remember, and "maybe that has to do with being hit on the head from behind." Petofi laughs and tells him "you'll have plenty of time to recover from that, my boy. You're not leaving here unless you tell me what I want to know." Harrison sees Tate guarding the door with a gun. Petofi adds "You seemed to be in quite a hurry to get back to your own world. I suppose one can assume the people there need you for some reason." We hear Harrison think "The will! I still have the will in my pocket! Without it, Quentin has no weapon against Trask!" Petofi sees Harrison thinking and says "Yes....it seems I have discovered your Achilles' heel. As long as you stay here, your own world needs you." Harrison thinks "I must get out of here or Trask may harm Valery!" We cut to the PT Trask smiling and entering Collinwood. He is carrying a small bag. He takes a look into the drawing room and finds no one in there. He closes the doors and brings the bag to the desk. He examines the contents, which look like several different vials of drugs. "Poor sweet Valery...." we hear him think. "If only you knew how these vials contained the seeds of your destruction...."

Valery enters the drawing room as Trask sits and reads. She is about to turn and leave, when he calls after her. He tells her how sorry he is that "things have happened the way they have. I don't know what the future holds, Valery. I don't know where Harrison has disappeared to with this will that Quentin describes. But I only know that once we were friends." Valery is about to leave again, and Trask says "Please, can't we simply try to talk as friends? I mean no harm to this family, I only wanted to relieve you of the burdens of running the family business. If you prefer, we can return those duties to you." Valery asks him why the sudden change of behavior, and Trask smiles and says he only sees "pain and suffering" in any other approach. He asks her if she wants tea. She says okay, and he walks to the teapot and cups conveniently sitting there. Valery doesn't watch him as she talks about the family's need to reconcile, and he pours the contents of a vial into her teacup before handing it to her. She drinks it and hands the cup back to him. She wonders where Harrison could have gone "so suddenly" and how "Quentin won't say anything about it." Trask says "Harrison says he has no claims on any of the property. I see no reason for him to steal any other will." Suddenly, Valery feels a bit woozy and nearly falls. Trask asks her what is wrong, and she says she suddenly feels lightheaded. He says he'll help her to her room. We cut to upstairs, where Trask helps her into her room where she lays down. In a moment, she is out. Trask smiles and says "That was to make you sleep, my dear....the next dose will have a much more....interesting effect...." He picks her up and takes her out of the room.

We are close on Valery as she begins to wake up, but when she does, she's in the abandoned farmhouse we saw Trask checking out earlier. There is a pitcher of water by the bed she is on along with a glass. She is startled by her location, and says "Where am I? What is this place?" She gets up and tries the door, but it is jammed shut. She goes to the window, but it's been darkened and is also jammed shut. She panics a little and begins to pound on the door screaming for help. We hear her think "There's no one out there....where is this place?" She sees there is a note sitting on top of a nightstand near the bed. She picks it up, and it says "You will die here, and Collinwood will be mine!" It is signed only "H." She looks at it and says "H? Harrison? No... it cannot be..." She throws the note down and bangs on the door again, but no help comes. She sees the water pitcher and thinks "If they left me water....they may be back to leave more...perhaps they only want a ransom...." She takes a drink of water, and thinks "I'm trapped.....trapped here!" After a moment, she gets woozy again and passes out, dropping her water glass. We cut to Petofi telling Harrison "You are trapped here until you cooperate...you may as well tell me what I want to know. Perhaps you have a price of your own....perhaps I could help you in what you wish to accomplish back in your world. I helped my friend Charles to become the fine artist he is today. Think what I could do for you." Petofi tells Harrison that what he's "most interested in" is why he wound up in "this world. Was it on purpose, or an accident? I would assume an accident from your desire to get back, but I must wonder why you left this mysterious room in the upstairs on Collinwood to come to the main hall downstairs." Harrison lies that he was "disoriented." Petofi says "An even more interesting thing is how you immediately understood what had happened to you. How do you know all about parallel time, my boy? What are you in that other world?" Harrison sighs and tells Petofi he is a scientist, and had been "experimenting with what you describe. When I found myself here, I went downstairs because I had to be sure. But I knew that if I interacted with anyone here, I'd alter this world, and after Miss Pansy found me, I knew I had to return before I affected anyone else." Petofi thinks a moment, and then nods. "I can only wonder who your counterpart in this world is....the Collins family of this time has no one who resembles you, Mr. Harrison." Harrison says "In my world, I'm originally from New York. Perhaps the Collins family here has a New York cousin who is my counterpart." Petofi laughs and says "It would certainly be interesting if you were to meet him!" Harrison says "Yes, it would. Aren't you worried about meeting your counterpart in my world, Count Petofi?" Petofi smiles and says "No, I don't think that would be possible, Mr. Harrison. I have led a rather, shall we say, unique life in this world." Harrison says he still "cannot risk taking you there." Petofi answers "Your larger risk not doing what I ask, Mr. Harrison. Trust me." Harrison thinks that one over.

Valery wakes up woozy and wonders where she is. She only remembers drinking some of the water, but can't remember anything else. She stumbles over to the note again and thinks "Have I seen this before, it looks familiar....I don't remember.....I just can't remember....." She nudges the nightstand, and the drawer pops open. Inside is a gun. Valery looks at it curiously. Meanwhile, Trask meets with Alice in the woods and tells her that "Valery is completely under my control now." Alice asks how much "longer it will be," and Trask says "She will find the water I left her a tad impure....the chemical will lead to a deepening dementia... she will only be able to seek one way out." Alice smiles. "How fortunate that annoying Harrison has run away," she says. "I suspected he would try to interfere with our plans." Trask nods and says "Yes, it's fortunate he left, though I must admit I wonder where he has gone." We cut to Harrison back at Tate's studio. Harrison asks where Tate has gone to, and Petofi says "He is standing guard outside...unless of course he went on that errand I told him to, while you thought he was outside." Harrison stands and starts to move towards the door, but Tate comes back in. Petofi tells him there's no use trying to escape, and adds "especially when Charles has brought a friend for you to talk things over with." Tate drags Pansy into the room, who runs to Harrison and says "Don't do anything he says! That man is....pure evil, I tell you! Pure evil!" Petofi laughs.