Eternal Love

Chapter 8: The banishing

The exorcist rose up out of his chair as John and Sheila walked in to the kitchen. He bid them good morning and invited them to sit with him and Ophelia at the kitchen table. They humbly accepted his invitation and sat down to breakfast. Sheila may not have liked the presence of the exorcist, but she was impressed with the breakfast laid out before them. She thought cook had really outdone herself this time.

Cook cooked up a hickory ham with the bone in, cranberry sauce and Indian fried bread. Fresh squeezed orange juice to top it off. It was the perfect breakfast; if only the exorcist wasn't there, then it would be a perfect morning to Sheila. They all began to eat the delictable meal. Afterwards, they took their cup of coffee and went altogether to the front porch.

Ophelia began breaking the silence by asking the exorcist to explain to Sheila why he was there. The exorcist responded, slowly so Sheila could understand. He informed her he was there to banish the spirits that were present on the estate. Sheila was not happy about banishing Thomas, but whichever the dark shadow was that had been bothering them as of late, she could do without. This left Sheila perplexed; she wasn't sure if she should agree or not.

Ophelia sternly told her it didn't matter what she felt; it was going to get done anyway. John agreed, he was tired of having to share her with a ghost. He thought it was ludicrous. Her mother called it abominable. Sheila, however was so in love with Thomas; she refused to believe it was a abomination or ludicrous like her mother and husband thought.

How could love of anything be those things?; thought Sheila, sadly. She finished her coffee and said she was going to go back to bed; considering her husband and mother wouldn't let her go anywhere by herself anymore. She politely bid them good bye and went to her room. She layed there thinking of what life would be like without Thomas; she could barely bare the thought. She drifted off to sleep, hoping they would change their minds by the time she woke up.

She awoke to her husband lightly shaking her shoulder. She smiled and said good afternoon, or so she thought it was afternoon. Turned out, she had slept the whole day away and it was a hour past dinnertime. She was stunned, how could she have slept for so long?; it wasn't like her. She rubbed her eyes and got up; after getting dressed, John and her went to the parlor to meet with her mother and priest Matthew.

The priest began by sprinkling holy water everywhere; Sheila was thinking that's going to bring gnats. She hated bugs. Yet another reason for her to not like him much. He continued with repeating the Lord's prayer over and over. By the fifth time, Sheila felt like she had gone deaf.

The ordeal continued and Sheila kept finding herself trying to keep herself awake. Everytime he would finish the prayer; she would start to drift off and then she would catch herself. She suddenly began feeling short of breath. She whispered to her mother what was wrong; but her mother simply told her to be silent during the Lord's prayer. Sheila closed her eyes and took three deep breaths and then she managed to catch her breath once again.

For what seemed like days, although it was only a few hours; Sheila groggily left and went straight to her room. She felt extremely exhausted as though she had been working all day. She had never felt so tired in all her life. Sheila didn't even bother to do her nightly routine. She just fell into bed; she was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, she awoke feeling like she had slept for centuries. She didn't even know if she had dreamt or not. She went downstairs and realized no one was there. Breakfast wasn't on the table and cook was nowhere to be found. She realized this was her chance to go see Thomas; she grabbed a apple and set off to the wood cabin.

Sheila got to the wood cabin and was surprised to see how cold and dreary the cabin was. She filled up the fireplace and lit it. She sat down in the rocking chair and waited for Thomas. The fire generally would summon him. She waited for a couple hours and decided to go to the mansion before John or her mother came.

She got to the mansion and to her relief, no one was home yet. She went upstairs and got dressed. By the time she was done; her mother and John were just coming up the road in his carriage. They didn't use their own carriage much, ever since her and John were married. She ran downstairs to meet them at the foyer.

They came in and John kissed her on the cheek. Her mother rolled by her in her wheelchair and went into the kitchen. John leaned into her and said she was craving cook's breakfast. She had refused to eat at the diner. Ophelia was rather picky when it came to her breakfast.

Sheila informed her that cook was not there and there was no breakfast made. Ophelia got upset and declared loudly how ludicrous it was. Sheila hid a giggle and went out the back door to the servants quarters. She approached cook's shed and knocked. No answer came and she turned and went back to the mansion.

Her mother huffed and puffed for a little while, then decided to go back to bed for a while. Sheila was relieved and went for a walk with John. They were quiet until they got to the guest house. Sheila was shocked to see a gazebo built up in the front yard. She was pleased with the surprise, but wondered what the occasion was.

Apparently it was the one year anniversary of their marriage. Sheila had been so busy over the year, she hadn't realized a whole year had gone by. She now realized what John and her mother were talking about. She had completely shut them out for the last year. All due to her love for Thomas; whom she wasn't sure was even around anymore.

Sheila decided to put Thomas in the back of her mind; thinking about him was obviously too distraction for her. She put all her attention into John. He was her husband after all and she really should be acting like it. They finished their walk and got to the mansion by lunchtime. They enjoyed their lunch and decided to spend the afternoon in town.

Sheila couldn't help but wonder if the banishing they did banished Thomas as well as the dark spirit that was there. John went with her to all the antique stores and on to the Taylor to get Sheila a new dress. As they were going on about their day, Sheila's mind kept wandering to Thomas. She wondered where he could possibly be. Why hadn't he shown up at the cabin.

By dusk, John and Sheila had went back to the mansion. Dinner had just gotten started, so they decided to go bath and get dressed for dinner. Sheila put on her best Sunday dress; white and Pink with roses lining the hemming. John liked that one the best. John wore his groomsmen suit.

They got downstairs and cook was just bringing out the meal. Tonight was fried chicken and mashed potatoes with cornbread. This was John's favorite meal; Sheila's second favorite meal. They sat down across from each other. The table had two lit candles in the middle. It was beautifully romantic.