Anne with an E The Next Chapter

The Long Way Home

A full day out at the Charlottetown market was the remedy that Anne Shirley Cuthbert and Diana Barry needed after a series of exams for the spring semester. They spent much of the morning chatting with vendors and enjoying the local buskers who played music to amuse patrons. Anne didn't have much spending money but found herself using what was left of her birthday funds to buy few small things for her loved ones. She chose a small pot of local honey for Marilla & a new tin of tea for Matthew, imported from Scotland. For Gilbert,  she chose a leather bound journal she knew would come in handy. Finally, she found a gently used tweed vest for Jerry that she knew he would appreciate as he liked to be a bit more dapper for dances and church.

At lunch, Diana and Anne ate sandwiches on a bench and watched as Charlottetown buzzed by. In a few days, the two would board a train back to Avonlea and to start looking for teaching jobs. Anne felt the butterflies in her stomach thinking about being home and seeing Gilbert again after 9 months of being apart. He had not come home at Christmas break and since their last very brief encounter, they had written many letters, opening up about so many hidden feelings. They discussed how it all came together last year, the near misses, the letters that were written but were never read. She told him how she admired him all these years for how he handled the loss of his father and Mary and for his courage and resilience.  They talked about Anne's effort to find her birth parents and how this pain shaped her and at times made her guarded with her feelings. They talked about new acquaintances and things they were learning. They talked often about how they missed each other. Never was there a mention about what would happen when they returned. Would he still have feelings for her now after his time at U of T. In one letter he had said, looking forward to seeing you again soon. She hoped that with everything they had shared over the last few months, that the spark would still be there.

Anne had replayed that amazing day over and over in her head. All the gaps in her life had been refilled that day...Gilbert had come to her with his true feelings. Diana had arrived to join her for a year at Queens, and within minutes, the Cuthbert's had found a book belonging to her parents that explained much of her beginning. She'd almost wished it had dragged itself out. That the beautiful moments had been given to her over a longer period of time. Still, she could not be ungrateful for them and enjoyed replaying  those moments in her mind, when the low points of life away from home had crept in.

She had missed Marilla and Matthew terribly this year. They had been the only real parents she had ever really known and although she knew where she came from, it was undeniable that being away from them was worse than not knowing her parents. She wrote often and enjoyed hearing about how they were getting on with Jerry.

The worst pain of all was that of her distance with him. Her Gilbert. She could not have imagined it could have been this difficult. She had denied her feelings for him for all these years, for Ruby's sake, but they were there all along- just ruminating below the surface, waiting to be released. She had been too proud and she wished she had not wasted so many moments. She felt more deeply connected to him in their absence from each other than she did even with her bosom friend Diana... suddenly she understood this concept of soul mates. It was more than words- it was a vibration or an energy. She simply hoped her imagination was not getting the best of her. She knew herself, and she often let herself get swept away in her thoughts...all these hopes she'd had in the past and the blazing disappointments. She worried that she was setting herself up. The months prior to leaving for Queens had felt like a mad dash, an urgent need to protect and solidify anything left in Avonlea. Had it all been a childish dream? She didn't know but she could just keep staring off in the distance and get lost in her thoughts.

"Anne... Anne... we need to go get ready, it's getting late" Diana said, shaking her out of her thoughts.

They headed back to the Queen's dorm to prepare for the Charlottetown Spring Dance. They had prepared their dresses and shoes ahead of time and had selected the right jewelry for the evening. Neither of them had dates, though Diana had been asked by a few gentlemen, but had refused, stating that she was Anne's date. Some of the boys asked Anne in the hopes that they could unlock this mystery pair, but Anne always said no, secretly vowing never to forsake Gilbert. Diana could have gone with any of the boys and Anne could not understand why she wouldn't, but never questioned her friend about why she kept refusing.

As they entered the dorm laughing about something they were recalling from the day, they were met by a serious looking headmistress.

"What could be the matter on such a glorious day?" Anne said with a laugh.

"Anne, you have a telegram here from Avonlea...it's urgent."