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Some days later, Margaret's funeral is taking place.
Present are Heather O'Brien, Gordon, Barbara,
Wayne, Stephen, Amanda, John, Angela, Patricia and David. David thinks back:
He and Patricia are in
the flat. He removes the engagement ring from a plastic bag and tells Patricia
they're Margaret's things -
the hospital gave them to him. He walks off and Patricia looks sad. Back at
the funeral, the minister
carries on reading.
Gordon and Barbara think back: They are sitting in the living room at Dural.
Gordon says that Patricia was
right - Margaret would never have been on the plane if it wasn't for him.
Barbara tells him Margaret didn't
die of the burns - she had a weak heart, and tells Gordon he's being silly.
She asks him whether they
should go to the funeral - with Patricia just out of a home, Margaret's death
might send her up in arms
again. Gordon tells her they owe it to her as a sign of respect. Back at the
funeral, Barbara looks at David
and Patricia, then at Wayne. Wayne looks at Amanda, who is hugged by Stephen.
Amanda and Wayne think back: They are sitting arguing at the dinner table
at Dural. Amanda tells Wayne
he's being callous - when dad told him about the funeral, all he could say
was that at least it would get
her down to Melbourne. Wayne says he didn't mean it like it sounded. Amanda
shouts that he's selfish.
Wayne says she's the one who's been ignoring him. Amanda tells him to grow
up. Andy comes in and asks
Amanda about an idea that he was given. Wayne gets up and tells Amanda their
talk can wait until later -
they wouldn't want Andy running back to his religious nut mates. He storms
off. Andy apologies, but
Amanda tells him it's time Wayne stopped being so selfish.
Stephen thinks back: He is coming down the stairs
at Dural with Barbara. She says she knows how he
feels about Patricia, but tells him not to let her make him do anything stupid
that afternoon. Stephen says
it's not going to be easy - a few months ago he'd be the one helping her through
it all. He tells Barbara
he still loves Patricia, despite everything. Barbara tells him that's why
she's worried. Stephen tells her
he's actually learning by his mistakes these days. The pair hug. Back at the
funeral, the minister carries
on reading. John walks over to Patricia and puts his hand on her shoulder.
Patricia thinks back: She is in the flat with David, John and Angela. Patricia
sobs that it's so unfair -
Margaret was so happy. She says "All that time.......I loved her so much."
She cries and John holds her,
telling her he knows.
Back at the funeral, the minister finishes reading his prayers. David picks
up a handful of earth and
throws it onto the coffin. He motions for Patricia to do the same, but she
shakes her head. David looks
at Gordon, so he comes forward and throws some earth on the coffin. Patricia
stares at Gordon then
looks straight ahead, looking shocked and upset.
Later, a solicitor is at the flat with Patricia
and David. He gives Patricia a copy of Margaret's will and tells
her she's a very wealthy woman now. He gives David a letter from Margaret.
The man tells Patricia not to
hesitate to call if she needs any financial advice. He offers his sympathy
and sees himself out. David opens
the letter and asks Patricia if she minds if he reads it alone. Patricia leaves
the room, and David starts
reading the letter. In it, Margaret says the doctors warned her about her
heart, but she's sure nothing's
going to happen. She adds that it's all going to seem so silly when she wakes
up in the recovery room.
Margaret continues that the doctors warned her against the operation, but
she wants to get rid of her
scars and become the woman she wants to be for him. She says there are two
things - she hasn't amended
her will, as she knows about his pride, and secondly she asks him to look
after Patricia in case anything
happens to her - there's so much good in her. Margaret continues that she
doubts he'll ever read the
letter, but if he does, he's made her happier in the last few months than
she's ever been in her life and
she loves him so much. David starts crying.
Later, Patricia tells David there's some things she has to do, and she couldn't
sleep. David asks where
she's going, but she says it's not important. David tells her Margaret loved
them both. Patricia looks
unmoved and tells him she'll be back for dinner. She goes to leave, but the
phone rings. David answers it
and tells Patricia it's for him. She leaves.
At Toorak, Wayne and Amanda walk into the living room and Wayne gets himself
a whiskey. He says he
wonders if Jill's in. He calls out her name, but there's no answer. He remarks
that it's a good thing Fiona's
back in Sydney - he couldn't have handled her. Amanda asks him not to be like
that. She says she hates
them arguing, and he sounds so nasty. Wayne says he's sorry - it's getting
on top of him and he feels like
he's getting shoved out. Amanda tells him he's not, and she loves him. They
hug, and Wayne tells her he
loves her too. He suggests they treat it like a honeymoon - they never really
had one. He adds that they'll
get things like renting the house out of the way, and spend all their time
together. Wayne says they'll
forget about everyone else and asks her what she says. Amanda agrees and hugs
him again. She asks him
if they'll be able to sort things out and Wayne says yes - they just have
to be left alone to do it. The
pair start kissing.
Later, Patricia approaches the Toorak house cautiously.
A short time after, she's in the living room with
Stephen, Amanda, Wayne, Gordon and Barbara. She tells them she'll have to
deal with them because of
Margaret's business holding, but there won't be any unpleasantness. Patricia
tells Gordon she's sorry what
she put him through with the photographs. She also apologies to Amanda for
the way she treated her after
the miscarriage. Patricia says that's all she came to say - she didn't think
it was the right time that morning.
She asks Stephen to see her to the door, and the pair leave the room. Wayne
remarks that she kept it short
and sweet, and Amanda says it must have taken a lot of nerve. Wayne asks her
if she swallowed it, and
Amanda says she seemed genuine enough to her. Barbara asks Gordon what he
thinks. Gordon says they'll
have to wait and see. He says the one thing they can't ignore is that they're
back in business with her
again and, if she's still neurotic, that could be big trouble.
In the hall, Patricia tells Stephen that, after watching David and Margaret
being so happy, she thought
about him a lot. She tells Stephen that she misses him and he replies that
he's missed her too. Patricia
tells Stephen he never deliberately set out to hurt her, which is why she
could never lash out at him. She
asks him if he thinks there's a chance for them. Stephen says no. Patricia
makes light of it, and says she
had to ask. Stephen goes to hug her, but she tells him not to, and leaves.
Stephen closes the door, looking sad.
Later, Patricia is kneeling in front of Margaret's grave. A worker tells her
they'll be closing in about
five minutes, then walks off. Patricia picks up a card from one of the flower
bunches. It is from Gordon
and Barbara. She rips it up and then throws the flowers away. She picks up
another card from Beryl and
rips the bunch of flowers up, spreading them everywhere. She starts ripping
more flowers up and tossing
them all over the place. Patricia picks up a card from Stephen, and carefully
puts it down again. She says
to herself "They'll pay - all of them!" She stands up and looks
round at the mess she's made.....
RONA
COLEMAN (as Heather O'Brien), CORNELIA FRANCES (Barbara Hamilton),
BRIAN BLAIN (Gordon Hamilton), IAN RAWLINGS (Wayne Morrell), ALYCE PLATT (Amanda
Morrell),
MICHAEL LONG (Stephen Morrell), ALLY FOWLER (Angela Keegan), PETER PHELPS
(John Palmer),
ROWENA WALLACE (Patricia Morrell), THOMAS RICHARDS (David Palmer)
Written
by BEVAN LEE
Directed by MARK PIPER
Channel
Five broadcast: Saturday 25th January 2003