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"first impressions are important and the barry's are known to be a very... esteemed family," father mumbled whilst he was sorting marcels shirt and collar.
mother had been invited by mrs. barry to a church picnic at the barry's pond. they had met at the shop and they talked about our arrival. the barry's thought it would be great if we came, giving us the perfect chance to introduce ourselves to everyone in avonlea. my mind thought of diana, their eldest daughter who anne had previously talked about.
oh, anne. she had been sent away by the cuthberts, back to the orphanage, although people were starting to say it was a complete misunderstanding. all i could do was hope and pray that she was fine, she deserves the whole world and more.
i had already put on my dress and my hat, i was just waiting for the others at that point. i hoped that anne would be there and that the barry's would be very welcoming.
"are you two ready?" asked mother. she was wearing her best dress which she usually wore on sunday's. her dress was a subtle yellow whereas mine was a pale pink. pink wasn't my favourite but mother insisted that i'd wear it for the occasion.
father had finished helping marcel, who without a surprise, looked very bored. he liked looking good and feeling confident, as anybody would but he hated the idea of impressing rich folk just to feel accepted. it was unnatural to him. why would people think any less of him if he wore clothing that didn't cost a ridiculous amount of money? we began to walk out, the pond wasn't too far away so there was no need for a carriage. it hadn't rained in avonlea so far. the grass was a fatigued green, curled and curved as we were walking across it.
we carefully made our way there, making sure none of us stepped in mud by mistake and spoiled our shoes. marcel looked really elegant, he'd often get complemented on his appearance back in dawsbury rather than his divine intelligence. he never grumbled about it.
his dark green eyes avoided me, a sign to show he was nervous. we walked down the path a while longer just before we saw everyone gathered around. there were children everywhere, they were all well dressed, including older kids and parents.
mother had reminded us of our manners as we made our way towards a man and a woman, presumably the barry's who were sat down, eyeing us distantly.
we stopped once we were there and mother began to speak, "good day, mrs. barry, mr. barry, diana." i noticed a girl with dark hair who was wearing a blue frilly dress. she smiled brightly.
"good day, mr. and mrs. barry," i say, "it's a pleasure to be here."
they smiled vaguely and started conversing with mother and father about botany. diana stood up from her seat and proceeded towards us.
