Eternal Love

Chapter 6: The whispering

John didn't believe all the hoopla of hauntings. Ophelia and madam Gabriela tried to convince him, but John was a rational man and thought such things were impossible. Sheila didn't care for his attitude towards it, therefore she decided not to adress it towards him. She wished her mother and madam Gabriela would do the same; John would get irritated with their constant nagging about it. Sheila thought it's better to let people be whom they desire to be; if he didn't want to believe, then so be it.

Sheila grew tired of all the arguing at breakfast and decided to finish her breakfast at the guest house. John went with her, gladly. They enjoyed the peace and quiet of the morning. Besides a few twitters from some swallows in the oak tree; it was like a sound paradise. John was in a bit of a hurry; all the arguing caused him to be late in meeting with new tenants. He kissed her good bye and left.

Sheila worked in the little garden she made for herself directly behind the guest house. She loved it there; no one knew of the area, so no one could bother her. At first she thought the wind blowing was what she heard; but she noticed none of the leaves in the trees before her were moving. She stood up and dusted the dirt of her dress. She called out to see if anyone answered back.

She felt a cold whoosh of wind and heard a soft masculine voice say her name. She turned and saw Thomas standing behind her. She jumped back, not expecting him. However she grasped her senses quickly and blew him a kiss. He reciprocated with a soft ghostly kiss to her cheek.

She told his apparition she wished he could be flesh once again. She desired to truly feel his touch. She suddenly heard John's voice calling out; then a sudden loud wail and then nothing. She turned back to the guest house and walked towards John's voice. She found John sitting on the wicker chair on the porch.

He asked her where she had been, she told him directly behind the guest house. He laughed at himself for being ridiculous enough not to look back there first. She laughed with him, it was pretty foolish. They both went inside and got ready to go to dinner at the mansion. They grabbed umbrellas this time, considering it had begun storming by the time they got ready; then went to the mansion.

When they got to the foyer, Sheila heard the whispering again. She asked John if he heard anything, but he said he had not. She shook it off as her nerves and followed John into the kitchen. Cook had made a Italian dish this night, that was rare for cook. It was chicken Marsala; a delicious dish made with white wine and mushroom sauce poured over fried chicken.

Sheila relished Italian food and helped herself eagerly. John waited for her, then did the same. Ophelia refused the dish; she believed Irish people should eat Irish food. A bitter old fashioned woman is what Ophelia truly was. They finished up dinner and John and Sheila went for a evening walk.

As they were walking, a cold whoosh of wind came upon them. John took off his jacket and placed it over Sheila's shoulders. Suddenly he heard someone whispering in the night. He looked quizzically at Sheila; she just shook her head in ignorance. He told her to stay at the fountain, where they had walked to, and he went off to investigate.

A hour later, John had come back, looking both terrified and confused. Sheila asked him what was wrong, but he just shook his head and grabbed her hand. He lifted her up and hugged her tightly. Sheila could feel him shaking; which did unsettle her. He asked if they could go inside the mansion and she helped him back.

Sheila helped John to bed and then went to her mother's room. Her mother was already sleeping, so she just tucked her in and decided to go to bed herself. Sheila could talk to her mother after breakfast, when John left for the day. Sheila got in next to John, holding him with her arm draped over his shoulder. She faded off to sleep, hoping for a better morning.

Sheila woke up and saw John was gone. She noticed the sun was just barely beginning to come up; so it couldn't have been that late in the morning. She went downstairs and saw it was still empty. She grabbed the candelabra and went outside. It was still dark enough to need the candelabra.

She kept walking until she got to the front gate; where she found John's hat on the ground. She hoped nothing bad happened to scare him away from the estate; she did have feelings of love for him, just not feeling of being in love with him. She looked around the road and saw carriage tracks heading east. She thought that was odd, considering town was west. Then it dawned on her; madam Gabriela lived two miles east of them.

Sheila knew what that meant. Madam busy body was probably going to show up, hounding her. She was not looking forward to that. John had already been trying to convince her that madam Gabriela was a fraud and the haunting was nonsense. Which was why she was wondering why would John go there of all places?

Something had obviously spooked him out of his rational mind. Sheila decided to turn back and go back to the mansion. As she arrived, she saw her mother just rolling out of the front door in her wheelchair. She presumed that meant cook was getting breakfast ready. She went up to the porch and joined her mother.

A few minutes later, breakfast was ready and they went to town afterwards. John met up with them for lunch. He seemed like his usual debonair self, right along with the arrogant attitude. Sheila knew that would be short lived; he liked himself far too much to forget himself. They all went back to the estate together after lunch, in John's carriage.

John seemed okay, so Sheila retired to the bell gardens when they arrived at the estate. Little did she know, John would follow a little way behind her. She sat on the fountain, running her hand across the surface of the water. She hummed the song silent night to herself; she was trying to get herself in a moreso festive mood. Suddenly she felt a huge whoosh of freezing wind and heard a mournful moan.

She knew it was Thomas, crying for her. She ran towards the moaning and ended up running right into a tree. She knocked herself out and everything just went black. Some time later, she awoke in the bed in the guest house. At first she was confused, until she saw John standing over her.

She rose up, rubbed her eyes and asked him what happened. He said he didn't rightly know, but he had found her in the middle of the woods behind the guest house; knocked out cold. He said he picked her up and carried her back to the guest house. Sheila asked if her mother knew. Unfortunately, John had told her and she summoned for a doctor.

The doctor showed up a half hour later and checked Sheila out. He concluded she had a mild concussion and probably shouldn't get out of bed for at least 48 hours. This was terrible news to Sheila; she had planned on meeting Thomas that afternoon. The doctor left and John tucked Sheila in. Sheila sent him to the mansion to get her journal and Bible.