Love & Misunderstanding

Chapter Six - Helene's POV

In all my life, I had never found a single family that I dreaded visiting more than the Caldwell's. Although, I was fond of Mr. Joseph Caldwell as a reverend, I dreaded visits such as these because of the very presence of his two sons. The rest of his family was wonderful, in fact I had actually played with his daughter on the rare occasion, but his sons were nothing but trouble. Despite the fact that I had visited the Caldwell manor many times over the years, I could not help but feel nervous when entering the house of horrors.

You may think it strange that the house of a reverend would be considered in such a way, but I assure you that I had a good reason. There were so many painful memories linked to the house, which I could not seem to forget about no matter how hard I tried. I recalled one memory in particular that had resulted in a lot of pain on my part. We had been playing a game of blind man's bluff, when James suddenly decided to surprise me by throwing a rock at my head. I started bleeding, and at the sight of blood I began to cry. My parents came running out and took me home immediately. I believe that was when I first began to consider it a house of horrors.

Stepping into the dining room, I was greeted by the sound of everyone's joyful laughter, and the sight of their smiles. For a moment, I made the mistake of thinking that perhaps everything would be all right after all. Everyone seemed to be relatively happy, and Matthew and his friend were seated at the complete opposite end of the table. Unfortunately, the seating arrangement took a turn for the worse when I found myself seated between Louise and Vincent Gilmore. "Surely it could not be any worse than that day at the Abbott's house," I thought. I did not yet realize just how wrong I was.

Dinner was carried out as usual. Once again there was an outrageous amount of food set out on the table. It was peculiar but the Caldwell's always seemed to had twice as much food served to them as the rest of us, yet it was always empty by the time the rest of us were finished. What was truly bizarre was how they managed to eat that much without growing to be the size of an elephant. The reverend and his sons were big, strapping men, but I would not consider them to be over weight. I could only assume that they needed that much food to remain big and strong.

During dinner, Louise whispered suggestions to me in one of her many attempts to find a suitable match for me. "Mr. Butler would be a fine choice. His father does own a rather large industry."

"I would prefer someone a bit less hairy," I replied, taking a sip of my soup.

"What about Mr. Black? He happens to be very wealthy," she suggested.

"He also happens to be forty-five years old and a widower," I retorted.

"What about Mr. Jenkins?"

"He may be desirable in appearance, but when it comes to personality, I must say that he is almost as rude as Jonathan Gilmore," I whispered in Louise's ear, to ensure that the elder Gilmore brother would not hear me.

"You are quite right in that aspect," she agreed with a slight giggle. "How about Mr. Connell? He is handsome, polite, and only twenty-one years old. That is only two years past your own age."

"Louise, can we please continue this discussion later?" I requested. "I would prefer to finish my soup."