The Three of Us

15. Absences

Billy hasn't left town yet, but Gilbert is about to prompt that into happening.

--

Gilbert watched as they walked to their buggy and started off on the stretch of road.

He went back into the church. He wandered back to the Sunday School classroom. Standing in the doorway, he saw that the teacher was packing up some boxes.

"Do you need help carrying anything?" he asked.

She turned and looked at him. "Thank you, no. But it's kind of you to offer."

Gilbert came in anyway.

"I couldn't help being surprised to have gotten this," Gilbert commented, taking the Sunday School pin out of his pocket. "I've missed so much this year."

The teacher just gave him a smile and put her record book into a box.

But Gilbert didn't want a smile, he wanted an answer. Gesturing to her record book, he said, "I thought I remembered that you could only be absent twice?"

"Yes," she answered. "It's always been two absences only. But I hardly felt I could penalize you for missing, considering the circumstances. With your father doing poorly, and having no mother to-" she broke off, not wanting to make him sad. "I'm happy you have your housekeeper back to help you. Perhaps you'll be able to attend more regularly now. I'm sure you hated to miss."

"Yes..." Gilbert began. "So...so if someone had to miss more than twice- but they had a good reason for it..."

Seeing something was on his mind, she stopped working and sat down. "Are you thinking of anyone in particular?"

"Anne Shirley," he said, sinking into a chair.

The Sunday School teacher was surprised. "Why, she's missed quite a few times. But she couldn't have been ill; she's still been coming to church."

"No," he said slowly. "She hasn't been ill..." He sighed. "She can come to church. ...She just can't come to Sunday School."

"Well, Gilbert, I do feel for her- it saddens me when a child wants to come to Sunday School but has parents unwilling to drive here early to attend. ...I know! Why don't I ask around and see if someone could pick her up and bring her? I know the Barry's live very close to Green Gables, perhaps they wouldn't mind swinging round on their way to church in the mornings?"

Gilbert, biting his lip, shook his head. "No, thank you."

He did not know what to say, so he slowly stood up to go.

"What is it?" she asked, concerned.

He hesitated. Could he share anything with her? Finally he sat down again. "Anne wants to come. And the Cuthberts are willing to bring her. But...there are other reasons she can't go. And...and the reasons aren't her fault."

The teacher just waited.

"It's Billy Andrews," Gilbert began slowly.

He could see the sudden realization in her eyes. "I had heard some things. I don't pay any mind to gossip, you understand. I thought there was no truth to it."

"There are some false rumors going around," Gilbert acknowledged. "But something did happen. Just not...not what people want you to think. Billy's done something bad- something violent."

That was the extent of what Gilbert was willing to share, and he stopped talking.

"Gilbert, it sounds as if you want to protect Anne's privacy, and I think that's very honorable. But I also have a duty to the children in my class. If you truly witnessed something that makes Billy a danger, then I need to know."

Gilbert nodded slowly.

"Now, do you know he committed some act of violence, or is this something you heard about from someone else? Because you must remember the ninth commandment-"

"Thou shalt not bear false witness," he supplied. He took a deep breath and said, "I know what he did, and I know that it's true, because I was there." Gilbert hesitated before saying, "He...he did something with Anne- no, to Anne- that you're not supposed to do until marriage. And...it wasn't...it wasn't wanted."

His teacher looked at his earnest, troubled face, and knew that he was telling her the truth.

"Anne can only come to church because her family stays right by her side, and she can only go to school because the Andrews agreed to take Billy out of school to avoid a legal trial."

He saw her eyes widen. A legal trial- and the Andrews pulling him out of school to avoid it- put the whole situation on a new level.

Gilbert said, "But when it comes to Sunday School, Anne can't come because she isn't safe with him here, and it isn't fair for her to have to be around him, anyway."

He sighed and finished, "So she just stays home."

A heavy silence hung in the air. "I don't expect you to believe it," he dared to say. "The Andrews are..." he trailed off, unsure of how to say anything bad about them in church.

"No," she told him. "No, unfortunately I can believe it. I don't want to believe it, but I can."

"Have to say I'm surprised," Gilbert admitted. "Most people can't."

"Well...teaching Sunday School gives me some insight into the children's characters, I think." She shook her head. "Perhaps I should speak to the reverend..."

"No!" Gilbert said. "Um, excuse me, ma'am. I just don't think that'll help. The reverend knows about it already."

"Does he?" the teacher replied, eyebrows up. "This is news to me! Are you sure he knows?"

Gilbert nodded. "He just...keeps it quiet. He believes Anne's at fault. Just because she was an orphan. But nothing could be further from the truth. Anne's a nice girl. Really."

Gilbert took a breath, ready to be over with the conversation. "Yeah, so there's really nothing to be done. I just wanted to ask about absences because Anne got so upset when she saw some of us with our Sunday School pins. That's all."

"There's more to this than Sunday School pins," she said briskly, clearly disturbed. "If there is truth to the story- Gilbert- I do believe you- I don't think Billy ought to be in my class any longer. I don't feel comfortable with any of this. The girls..."

Gilbert wished he hadn't said anything, because he didn't want anything to become more public than it already was.

When she saw his worried face, she said, "I'm glad you told me about this. Apparently the reverend did not feel the need to share this with me, despite it involving the children in my class! ...I'm not sure what we'll do, but since we have a break from Sunday School, I'll have some time to think. In the meantime, let's work out some sort of plan for Anne so she won't feel left out of things."

Gilbert felt relieved.

The Sunday School teacher rummaged through her box of supplies and found Anne's Sunday School program. "Take this to Anne, please. She never came back in to pick it up. I assumed she simply wasn't interested anymore. I would have tracked her down to give it to her and ask her to come back, but lately she and the Cuthberts seem to zip right out of church the moment it's over. ...So she'll have her book now. And does she have a Bible at home, do you know? How silly- of course she has a Bible at home, she's with Marilla Cuthbert, isn't she."

She hovered over the Sunday School program a moment before handing it to Gilbert.

"Don't let her feel badly about the Sunday School pin. We'll get it all worked out. Now that I know she can't come- and with good reason- I'll come to her.