Doctor ~ G.Blythe [1]

eighty-eight.

+ books and stew +

"What do we do now?" I asked, my eyes fixated on the rubble in front of me as Anne let out an angered breath. "I have someone to see" she snapped as her nostrils flared, her ears turning as bright as her braids as she turned on her heel, marching back down the path she came as Miss Stacy watched her go, not bothering to object. We all stood silently, Miss Stacy face serious as she tried to think of the best possible action to work around this.

"My house, I have enough chairs for everyone to have a seat" she said finally, clapping her hands in front of her as she nodded her head. She set her hands on her hips as she looked around, Moody lifting his shaking hand as he pointing at the burnt wood. "Our books are gone" he said as I wiped the tears that had escaped from my eye, letting out a small sigh as I gripped onto my basket as tightly as possible.

"We have a library at home, I'll bring everything I can carry" I said quickly, looking up at Miss Stacy as she nodded her head appreciately. "I'll go right now" I said as I went to turn, Gilbert teaching out and grabbing my wrist as he stopped me. "I'll come help, I have a few good books at my house too, we can swing by on our way" he told me as he looked back at Miss Stacy, who nodded her head to dismiss the pair of us as Gilbert let go of my arm. "We will see you there" I said to Miss Stacy as I made my way down the hill once again, Gilbert following behind me.

"Right everyone, follow me" Miss Stacy shouted as she grabbed her bike, leading the rest of the class in the direction of her very own house, Gilbert walking silently by my side.

!

"Be careful, now, ride slowly" my mother said to me as she ensured that the reigns attached to the small wooden carriage were tight as I nodded my head at her. I had told her what had happened, and before I could tell her anything else she had gone into the small library room and pulled almost every book from the shelf. There was books on everything in there, mostly ones of my fathers but Tom has always been well read, meaning there was a bit of everything.

Gilbert and I had hauled them out onto Jasper's small cargo carriage that was only really made for carrying light loads, the stacks and stacks of books maybe being a bit too much for it to handle. Hopefully it didn't break as soon as we got into a field. "I will, Jasper can handle it, can't you Jasp" I said to the horse as I bet his nose gently, Gilbert thanking my mother as she waved it off, being more than happy to help.

"We best be going now, I'll see you later" I said to my mother as I kissed her cheek quickly, grabbing onto the saddle as I turned to look at Gilbert quickly. "Do you want to ride on the carriage?" I asked him as I pointed at it, the boy looking at it as he swallowed quickly. "Will it be to heavy on Jasper?" he asked me as I thought about it for a moment, knowing that the only other chose was for him to ride along with me. "That's right" I said as I set my foot on the stirrup, holding onto the horn as I pulled myself onto the saddle in one swift swoop. I pulled my foot from the stirrup, looking down at Gilbert as I held my arm out for him.

"Come on, then" I said to him as he held onto my arm tightly, mounting the horse a bit tougher than I had, sitting directly behind me on the saddle as he cleared his throat. I held onto the reigns as I smiled down at my mother quickly before clicking my teeth, Jasper starting to walk down the drive as Gilbert awkwardly held onto the side of the saddle to avoid falling off.

!

I stared at the Blythe house, my throat unbelievably dry as Gilbert quickly hopped down onto the gravel, letting out w sigh as he turned towards his house. I hadn't been here in months now, the last time having been when I last saw Mary, lying next to her in her bed as I sung softly. She was dead the next morning. I had been avoiding this house as much as possible, which was horrible considering I hadn't seen Delphi in so long now, the guilt of promising Mary I would visit her clouding my brain at all times.