Judith Collins Trask

Judith Collins Trask (1853-1900s) was the daughter of Geoffrey Collins and Anna Collins and the sister to Carl Collins, Quentin Collins, and Edward Collins. She was aunt to Jamison Collins and Nora Collins. Judith was also the sole caretaker to Edith Collins, her grandmother, before she died (704-705).
== Biography ==
===Childhood===
Judith Collins was born in 1853, to the next-in-line patriarch to the Collins family estate, Geoffrey Collins and Anna Collins.
When she was a child, Judith wandered away from Collinwood, and got lost on a deserted area on the beach. She almost died from exposure but a fisherman rescued her. Shortly before she was rescued, the ghost of Josette appeared to her and told her not to be afraid (127). She had a governess, Angela Stone, who mistreated her (861).
=== The Ballroom and the Mirrors ===
In 1874, while tending to Edith Collins, a young and rebellious Judith uncovers a walled-up ballroom with mirrored walls and becomes entangled (and nearly ensnared) in a terrifying secret from Edith's past concerning a man named Redmond Van Buren.
=== Relationship with family member ===
Judith's parents died at the same time. She didn't cry during their funeral but, afterwards, she went to her room and cried. Her brother, Quentin, discovered her (861).
Several times Edward makes reference to Judith's "efficiency" in taking care of household/family matters (705, 707). It is clear he is not only referring to her care taking of "Grandmama", but of any other family matters he does not want to deal with (714).
In 1896, Judith offers Quentin $1500 to leave Collinwood and never return (703). She makes no secret that she neither likes not trusts him. She says his only reasons for returning to Collinwood are to get into Edith's will and to corrupt Jamison Collins. Quentin points out that is why it is a silly offer, since he could spend that money and then come right back. He does manage to plant the suggestion that "someone" should find out what the Family secret is before Edith dies (705).
Judith does not like Carl's practical jokes, nor does she take him seriously (707).
His gift to Edith of a family heirloom which had belonged to Naomi Collins may have had something to do with this. She offered him the use of The Old House even though there were currently two gypsies living there (702.
When Edith died, it was Judith who inherited Collinwood, making her brothers dependent on her goodwill. However; Quentin was guaranteed to always have a home in Collinwood (714). Because of this, Judith renewed her offer to pay Quentin to leave again (719). Quentin assumed Judith's offer was based solely on her dislike for him, but Judith was also concealing Quentin's wife, Jenny in the Tower room of the West Wing (715-717). Jenny escaped and attacked Judith (717) with a knife, prompting her to move Jenny to the basement (719).
=== Involvement with Gregory Trask ===
While trying to deal with the zombie of Quentin, Gregory Trask arrived at the behest of Edward. Judith tried to delay Gregory from seeing Jamison, but Trask insisted on talking to the boy and declared him possessed (725). It was he who exorcised Quentin from Jamison's body, restoring both to normal. Shortly after the death of his first wife, Minerva Trask, Gregory Trask proposes to Judith. She accepts, and they marry. (784)
Shortly after their marriage, Trask -- in conjunction with Evan Hanley -- caused the ghost of Minerva to haunt Judith, causing her to lose her sanity. His intentions were to take over the entire Collins family fortune.
Judith was confined to the Rushmore Sanitarium for over four months, during which time her husband never visited her. This fact greatly surprised her family, as Trask had left town at least once a week on the pretense of seeing her. (861)
Judith eventually seals Gregory up in Quentin's room in the West Wing; he commits suicide with the revolver Judith left there for him.
== Appearances ==
702, 703, 704, 705, 707, 709, 713, 714, 716, 717, 719, 722, 723, 725, 726, 733, 737, 739, 744, 746, 747, 750, 752, 758, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 771, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 784, 785, 788, 789, 790, 791, 860, 861, 862, 863, 870, 878, 879, 880, 884
Collins, Judith
Collins, Judith
Category:Trask family