Charlotte groaned, her eyes fixing on a carriage exiting the stables. She passed the man the reins to her horse, running towards it. "Excuse me!"
The man at the reins looked down at her, pulling the horses to a halt. "What's got you all twisted up, Little Lady?"
"Are you going to the vessel?" Charlotte panted.
"We're riding to the port overngiht, be there by daybreak."
"Can I get a ride?" she asked. "I'm trying to get to Charlottetown."
"Very well."
Charlotte jumped in the back of the carrige before they could stop her. She rested her head back on the boxes behind her. Dark chesnut strants of hair stuck to her forehead, drenched with rainwater and sweat. Her clothes stuck to her skin. She wasn't even halfway to finding Anne, and already she was drained.
—
As sunlight stretched across the market, the small girl at the back of the carriage jumped off, wandering through the streets. In those moments, Charlotte ralised she had no idea what she was doing, what she had gotten herself into.
Her hair was unbrushed, hanging over her shoulders, her face tinted from sun-burn. She knew what time the ferry left, and that Marilla had given her just enough money for train fares and ferry tickets there and back.
As soon as she got a ticket, she sprinted towards the ferry, narrowly making it before it set sail towards the mainland. The longer it took, the slimmer the chances of finding Anne were. And she had made up her mind, if she didn't come back to Green Gables with Anne, she didn't want to come back at all.
Two nights days had passed as she eventually made it to the orphanage, walking towards the door and slamming her fist on the wood. As much as she tried to yank the doors open, forcefully banging her fists against it, yelling at the people inside, nobody came.
Charlotte was exhausted, her face smeared with dirt, blood dried on her lip from the amount of times she had anxiously bitten it. She was where Anne would be, she had found her.
The sight of her would have been strange to see. A girl wearing pants and a shirt instead of a poofy, frilly dress, her face caked with dry dirt as her skin glistened with sweat.
As she sat down on the steps, she ran a frustrated hand through her hair, squinting her eyes closed. During that time, her body couldn't take it, crashing out all at once and putting her into a deep sleep. The exhaustion hitting her all at once as she finally sat still for a moment.
The moment was gone when the door behind her was opened right on her. The girl squinted against the sunlight of the morning brightness as she stood up quickly, coming to stand in front of a woman in a maids outfit.
"Did someone leave you here?" the woman asked quickly. "We are overpacked we can't take anymore-"
"No, I'm looking for someone," Charlotte informed her. "I want to speak with the Matron."
"The Matron? She's not even awake yet."
"Well, it's the morning why isn't she?" Charlotte scoffed. "Go on, I bet she wouldn't want to waste this beautiful day away being lazy."
The woman widened her eyes in shock at the unexpected attitude. "Come inside, I'll see if I can rouse the Matron."
"Thank you?" Charlotte smiled sarcastically, stepping inside the orphanage behind the woman.
YOU ARE READING
𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 ᵍⁱˡᵇᵉʳᵗ ᵇˡʸᵗʰᵉ
Random"I was enchanted to meet you." She finds him insufferable, he enjoys winding her up. She's quick-tempered, he's calm. She's impulsive, he's cautious. He smiles, she glares back. She was freefall, he caught her before she hit the ground. Opposites a...
