Meet me in the woods ~ Billy Andrews

Chapter 6

Grief. Heartache. Sorrow.

It was a difficult time in Avonlea, all the town was mourning the loss of Mr. Blythe, Gilberts father.

Gilbert hadn't been at school for the last little while, sometimes Ruth's mother would send her over with stews and pastries to bring to him and his father. She knew his father had been ill, but she had no idea that he would pass away soon. 

Now the whole town was at the Blythe house, attending mr. Blythe's funeral and service. People around Ruth made small talk to each other about Mr. Blythe's life and how they would miss him. The children stood listening to the adults chat, while they stared awkwardly at each other, Gilbert wasn't at the house so they didn't know what to do.

The snow fell down softly today, Ruth found herself staring out the window of the Blythe' kitchen watching the snowflakes dance down to the ground, neither her family nor her were that close to the Blythes, but Ruth still was hoping to say a few words to Gilbert and so she waited at the window watching for when Gilbert came back.  His figure became apparent and he approached the house, and when he was close enough Ruth left her position to meet him at the front door.

A burst of cold air fell over her, and the wind bit at her nose when she opened the front door, just as Gilbert reached the steps to the house. She left the house and shut the door behind her, Gilbert noticed her standing there on his front step and looked at her confused.

"Ruth what are you doing out here? You'll catch your death." Gilbert tried to urge her back inside, but she didn't budge.

"Gilbert, I just wanted to apologize for your loss. Your father was a great man and you must be proud of everything he's accomplished in his lifetime. If you need anything my mother and I would be happy to help you in any way we can just like we've been doing the past few weeks."

Gilbert smiled at Ruth and gave her a little nod, "Thank you I appreciate that. I will let you know if I do need anything." Ruth smiled back at Gilbert, she turned to open the door and looked back at Gilbert.

"Are you coming in?" She asks, after thinking for a moment he shakes his head and Ruth enters the house. Anne runs past her and out the door, Ruth silently groans at how annoying Anne can be and she ventures into the house to find Jane.

On her way in she bumps into someone and looks up to see Billy. "Oh, hello. Have you seen your sister?"

Billy looks down at her, a smile tugs at the corner of his lips, "I might have. I'll tell you, if you tell me what you were talking to Gilbert Blythe about outside."

Ruth frowned at him, she should have figured he'd act like this. "I offered him support in case he needed any. My mother and I have been sending him baked goods for the past little bit."

"Why haven't you sent me any baked treats?" Billy pouted at Ruth, an bit of an odd sight to say the least.

"Because your father hasn't died." Ruth rolled her eyes and moved past Billy, she could find Jane without him.

The rest of the afternoon continued on, Ruth talked to the adults with Jane till her mother approached her with Ruths dad and brother to head back home. As the three approached their house, they noticed a light coming from inside.

"Stay here, I'm going to checkout it out." Ruth's dad said, Ruth, her mother and brother stayed outside and watched as their father quickly jogged up to the house. He picked up a stick on his way and swung open the door. All three of them watched as he dropped the wood and ran into thew house, looking at each other confused. Soon their returned to the doorway and waved for them to come inside.

They took hesitant steps towards the door, when they entered the house Ruth's heart dropped. There she saw her brother standing in the kitchen with open arms and a smile on his face. Ruth and Will ran towards their brother and he engulfed them into a tight hug.  Ruth soon felt her m other join in the hug as well, followed by their father, all 5 of them were standing in the middle of the kitchen in an embrace that felt like it lasted forever. 

When they did part Ruth got to finally take a good look at James, he had only been gone a few months but he'd grown another few inches, making him tower over her, and his hair had noticeably been combed neatly to the side, but a few hairs had found their way out and sprawled across his forehead.  She missed her brother, it fought tears to her eyes to finally see him again and she soon burst out sobbing in front of everyone. 

At the dinner table James told them all about Charlottetown and university as there enjoyed stew and biscuits for supper, he told them about how he had finished up his classes and booked the first train ride back to Avonlea so he could be home for the holidays.  Later in the evening they found themselves in the living room surrounding the fireplace, setting up their Christmas tree and other decorations around the house, and Ruth took a moment to take in the atmosphere and it felt like James hadn't left at all.

Ruth was quite content with where she was, and she felt herself feeling excited about what this Christmas will bring.

962 words

this was honestly just a bit of a filler, next chapter will be longer!