CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Early 1800s |Town of Oakwood

 

Abel arrived just in time; his older half-brother Oliver died just days after he had settled into the house. Sophia, ever the faithful wife, spent countless hours crying into a handkerchief surrounded by neighbors, villagers, and members of the local government that worked with Oliver over the years. Newspapers told of how the mayor had died after an extended illness, and there was little known about what to expect next. Abel took care of all the arrangements, he settled debts, and arranged the burial of his brother on the property near where his children were laid to rest.

Sophia spent her time between crying, caring for Timothy, and pretending not to even know that Olivette was there. In fact, it wasn’t until Abel questioned why Sophia was sending soup to the attic that anyone even knew the girl was there at all. Livid that his niece was in fact alive and kept in the attic like a piece of old furniture, Abel ordered the attic stairs be reopened and Olivette be brought down. She had not seen her father before his death and had missed his burial. Abel accused Sophia of being hateful to the girl, but Sophia insisted that the young girl was in the attic at her own bequest. She had been sealed there when she grew ill, and the house was sealed off from the attic to keep the other patrons of the house healthy.

Supporting this, Olivette refused to leave the attic, even when her uncle tried to force her. She was a young woman now and had chosen her own path in life. She wished to sit alone in the attic with no company. She refused to allow the attic to be reopened to the other areas of the house, and begged Abel to leave her alone.

Abel, seeking to know what his niece was sick with, called countless doctors to the house. Each one, having already seen the same illness in the other children of the home, told Abel there was no known cause to the illness. Olivette, too sick to fight for herself, resigned to her attic prison.

Abel insisted that a cook be hired to prepare a heartier soup for the children. Sophia was angry that she was being kicked from her own kitchen, but she rescinded, nonetheless. Timothy was far too young for such a change. His body was too weak to handle a new food. He stopped eating all together and weeks after Oliver passed, Timothy died as well. Abel was not surprised when Sophia simply went numb. She had lost so many children already, and her husband died so recently. He doted on her, pampering her with new dresses, and the towns people again flooded the house to offer their condolences, bringing gifts and sympathy meals.

Once the child was buried, Abel took notice that Olivette was making more and more trips down the stairs in order to visit the gardens at night. It appeared that whatever sickness she had was leaving her. Sophia, rejoicing for the health of Olivette returning, if even a small amount, celebrated by baking a small tart to accompany dinner. She was putting on quite a show for Abel.

The evening was filled with small pockets of joy here and there as Olivette shared pieces of their lives in Oakley with her Uncle. Olivette shared their story, from when her and her papa had arrived in Oakley to the present day.

She spoke of the days when Sophia was newly there, and the sorrow they all felt as the first baby went to heaven. Abel listened with great care, sipping rum while staring lovingly around the room, landing specifically on Sophia. As grim as the past weeks had been, things were looking up and Sophia was still a beautiful woman. Abel could hardly stop watching her floating around the house in her new dresses.

Once the household was healthy again, Abel dismissed the cook, informing her that she would cook only on holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. Sophia was ecstatic, as she was back where she loved to be, the kitchen.

Abel had the cook stay one more day to prepare a lovely dinner for him and Sophia. Though she was quite a bit older than him, he proposed to Sophia that evening. Together they shared the news with Olivette, but only after they had set a date for the wedding.

Olivette was horrified. Her uncle marrying her stepmother was not something she had foreseen.

The two were married within weeks, and Sophia changed her name from Oakley to Monet. As Abel and Oliver were half-brothers, they shared different fathers and therefore had different surnames. Olivette retreated to her attic room, secluding herself from the newlywed couple for as long as possible. She began to only leave at night again. Sophia began sending food up through the dumbwaiter and Olivette was seen less and less.

Things were returning to how they once had been. Sophia was happy. Abel was happy. Olivette was forgotten, even if it was by her own doing.

To Abel’s dismay, Olivette began to take ill again. Fearing it was the attic that was the cause, he once again walled the attic staircase up, sealing it tight this time. Olivette received her meals from the dumbwaiter and once a week someone was sent up through the basement to clean the room, and change linens. It was on one of these cleaning times that Olivette learned from a maid that Sophia was pregnant once again. Sadness seeped into her heart at the idea of more children being brought into what she called the house of death.

One night, Olivette sneaked out in the middle of the night on a mission. She wondered, sick and dirty into town where she sought the priest. She knew she would die soon, and after her father’s death she could hear the townspeople talking about the priest not being allowed to perform his last rights. She was going to get hers one way or another. Abel was off on a business trip, much like her father used to go on, and Sophia was caught up in preparing for a new baby, which included Sophia telling Olivette that her old dolls would go to the new baby if it was a girl.

“Over my dead body,” Olivette had replied and went back to her attic room. Olivette felt like that statement would come true faster than she would like. That sparked this escapade to the church for the sole purpose of telling her story and finding peace.

The priest was horrified at the state of Olivette. He had known her since she was a small child, and he loved her dearly. He had seen so many children enter the Oakley house, never to come out again and Olivette’s condition made him wonder if there was anything to be done.

When Abel returned, Sophia was close to giving birth. Olivette lay dying in the attic and the priest, sensing that death was soon coming to Oakley house again, came for a visit.

Sophia tried to turn him away, but Abel refused and insisted he stay for dinner. They spoke about the illness’s and all the death surrounding Oakley. The priest suggested they perform a blessing throughout the house, or move the family to a new house closer in town where others could help with the care of Olivette, and any new children that would come from the union of Abel and Sophia.

Abel was prepared to allow the blessing to occur but moving the family to a new house so close to Sophia having the baby was not an option. Sophia was angry that the priest had suggested her home was what was causing the illness. She insisted that it would get better and held off allowing the priest to bless the house.

This again sparked talk in the town. No one dare deny the church’s blessing. People began to call Sophia a witch. The house was bombarded with school children sneaking over to peek through windows, and other townspeople coming to bring food in order to catch a glimpse of the Oakley witch and the sick family.

Abel dispelled as many rumors as he could, but in the end, Sophia shut herself up in the house with her new baby, Ophelia, a little girl.

The rumors only grew worse when Olivette passed away. Her body was carried from the attic to the woods where she was laid to rest next to her father. The town began talking about the girl who was locked away in the attic, left to die afraid and alone.

Abel was horrified when he looked upon his young niece’s body, seeing the red that pooled from her eyes as though she were crying tears of blood. He had never seen anything so horrific. To his dismay, the priest confided that all the children that were carried from the house over the years, showed the same signs, some worse than others; with the exception of those born sleeping.

Abel was worried for his wife in her weakened state after having a baby. He hired a wet nurse and sent Sophia away to convalesce in a hospital at the behest of the priest, while the house was cleaned, and the sickness washed away through prayer. The attic stairs were forever sealed away, as Abel believed that the attic was the place the illness originated. Sophia had believed the same.

Ophelia was healthy and thriving and keeping his wife healthy became his top priority. She had taken care of so many sick children and his sick brother for so many years that it was time for her to get fresh air away from Oakley. Sophia fought being sent away especially without her baby girl, but in the end, Abel had the staff of the home she was going to, come and pick her up. The screams coming from the carriage riding away from Oakley could be heard all the way to the center of the Village.

Sophia vowed Abel would pay for sending her away, though how, no one knew.