{6590 words}
[Recap]
I look at the small white flower that is now sitting on my nightstand and not my dresser, maybe I should give Gilbert another chance, I miss him.. I think as I drift off to sleep slowly.
___________________________________
[At Gilbert's farm, Morning]
[Gilbert's POV]
I smoke the bee house and remove the top. I grab the honeycomb trays inside that the bees collect honey on then, I store my honey in a jar. "Good morning to you too, ladies. Hard at work as always, I see. Give my regards to the queen. Such a bountiful harvest last year. Thank you." I say as I put the honeycomb trays back on, and attach the lid.
[Outside Y/n's house]
[Y/n's POV]
I'm walking to school with Louis, since it's his first day, and on his first day we are going on a field trip I guess.
"So are you excited?" I ask Louis as we keep walking.
"Yeah, it'll be good for me to get a fresh start" he responds before turning at me and smiling before looking ahead of us again. I nod my head and continue our walk.
[At Avonlea School]
As me and Louis walk in, everyone looks at us until I realize their not looking at me, they're looking at Louis. Mostly the girls. I see Billy looking our way and mumbling something to his friends and then laughing. I wave off to Louis and tell him to just pick a seat since he already met with Miss Stacey before so theirs no introduction between them.
I walk over to the girls and they all crowd me.
"Who is he?" Tillie asks.
"Is he your new boyfriend? I thought you were with Gilbert?" Josie Pye asks.
"He's dreamy, but not dreamier than Gilbert" Ruby says.
"He's quite handsome, what's his name?" Diana asks.
"Okay slow down people. His name is Louis Partridge, Yes I am still dating Gilbert, but Louis is an old friend who I knew a couple years back. Now calm down!" I say. I sit down and all the girls sit around my desk and start talking but I don't listen to much of it.
[In the forest, for Miss Stacey's field trip]
Miss Stacey is walking us through the forest. But as usual nobody is taking it serious.
"...bud, bloom, branch and bough is part of a greater whole. In fact, everything you see around you is entangled in a kind of symbiotic dance, and the uniqueness of each participant enables the forest to thrive. But if you wish to see the true genius and efficiency of Mother Nature, just look up at the trees above you. See the channels of space
between the canopy? This mysterious phenomenon is known as "crown shyness."
"Oh!" I hear Tillie shout as she trips. "Thank you."
"Each tree is aware of its boundaries. Which in tree-speak, means..." Miss Stacey pauses before looking at Tillie locking arms between 2 boys, "No touching!" She says as students around start laughing.
"This kind of intelligence is not just limited to trees. We see it across all of nature, even with the birds and the bees."
"Finally!" I hear Josie Pye say excitedly as I roll my eyes.
"Birds and bees?" Tillie asks smiling.
Miss Stacey rolls her eyes too as she continues, "The bee collects pollen and nectar to feed the hive and create honey. The flower receives pollen, which it needs to bear fruit."
"I thought we were gonna learn about the real birds and bees." I hear Jane Andrews sigh.
"I assure you, the lesson will be illuminating all the same. And then we have the birds. Take the red-breasted nuthatch." Miss Stacey says before everyone starts laughing, I look at Louis is walking on my left and we both make a face at each other, "Its main source of food is the spruce budworm, which is a conifer pest. So while the Red-breast... The bird gets its food, the tree gets some much-needed pest relief. Which leads me to the purpose of this outing...
- "Mating season?"
- "Disgusting!"
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm even supposed to be in this class, nothing is ever taken seriously" I sigh turning to my right looking at Gilbert who just smiles. That is until I hear someone fall and his face goes serious, I turn around to see it was Moody who fell. He starts screaming in pain as everyone runs toward him.
"Oh, my goodness." I hear Miss Stacey say as she heads his way.
- "Oh!
- "Moody! Oh, goodness me."
Just as Ruby screams, we hear another scream, but someone younger. I turn to see a small boy.
- "Indians!
- "We are surrounded by savages!"
- "Everyone, calm down!"
Everyone starts mumbling around everywhere. I mean seriously, what is their deal.
"Can we focus on Moody?" I hear Anne say. "Ruby, you alright?"
"How is he?" Miss Stacey asks Gilbert who's checking out the cut.
"It's deep. There's nothing I can do here. He needs stitches." Gilbert says as he takes a cloth and puts it on the wound.
"The Mi'kmaq village. It's nearby, they can bring help. I know the way. I'll be right back." Anne says as she heads toward the direction of the Village, I went there before.
"I'll come to!" I say running before Gilbert grabs my wrist.
"Just stay, it'll only take a minute." Gilbert says looking at me, I nod and just stand by him.
"Ruby. Ruby." Diana says slightly shaking Ruby who went unconscious after seeing the "Indians".
"Is she going to be alright?" Diana asks Gilbert.
"She's in shock." Gilbert answers back before reaching into his bag and grabbing a jar, "Give her some honey. It'll bring her energy up."
"You're gonna be alright. This will help." Miss Stacey says feeding Ruby a spoon full of honey. "It's alright." Ruby sits up a little bit before making a noise and going back to being unconscious, I was confused until I turned around and saw Ka'Kwet's father and a elderly lady who I haven't met.
"This is the Mi'kmaq medicine woman. She's here to help." Anne says as everyone looks scared. Me and Louis got up and walked a little bit away standing by a tree since it was getting crowded.
"Who is dead? My son, he said someone died." Ka'Kwet's father says, I believe his name is Aluk if I remember clearly.
"Uh... no one's dead. One of our girls has fainted and a boy is hurt." Miss Stacey responds.
The woman talks in Mi'kmaq which is the language their tribe speaks. I don't speak it so I don't understand what she's saying.
"Alright, everyone, let's move out of the way now. Thank you so much for your help."
"Hello. The girl will be alright, but the boy needs help." Gilbert says kneeling towards Moody.
"No." Moody says as the woman puts something near his mouth to eat.
"It is from the weeping tree. It grows by the water." Aluk says.
"It's for pain?" Gilbert asks Aluk, Aluk nods so Gilbert nods at Moody letting him know it's okay. I see Moody eat it but look away when they uncover his wound.
"She needs that. Honey cleanses the wound. No sickness can enter." I hear Aluk say.
"Oh, wow." Gilbert says as he watches, fascinated, I can't help but smile.
"Oh, God." Moody says as he sees the stitching needle in the woman's hand.
"It's alright, it's alright. Just breathe."
"Oh, God."
"It's alright." After Gilbert says this, Moody starts screaming from the pain so I turn around and face the other way.
"Oh, my goodness!"
"Breathe, breathe, Moody. It's alright, Moody. Just breathe."
"You're alright."
"She's almost done. Look at me. You're doing great. There. See?" Gilbert says as the woman finishes.
The woman talks in Mi'kmaq and then Aluk turns to Moody. "She says you must be gentle. You will be well soon."
The woman hands the honey back to Gilbert to which he responds, "Oh, thank you. Keep it. I have so much of it."
"I went to visit Ka'kwet a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't allowed to see her. I hope she is doing well." I hear Anne tell Aluk.
"We know nothing. They said that we will see her in summer. We can only hope that she is well and happy." He responds.
[Back at the school, later]
"Alright Gilbert, you ready to go? Louis already got a head start since I told him I was walking with you today." I tell Gilbert as we both stand outside the school.
"Actually.. um Y/n, I've been meaning to talk to you.." Gilbert tells me nervously.
"Well, what is it? You can tell me anything" I say looking at him confused as he puts his hands in his pockets looking at the floor then back at me.
[Gilbert's POV]
I'm gonna do it. I have to, it's for the best.
"Y/n.. I want to break up" I tell her. I watch as her happy expression changes and the color in her face slowly fades and her eyes fill up with tears. Her happy expression she greeted me with before is now replaced with a hurt one.
"Why, is- is it me? Is there something wrong with me? I'll change, I- was this because I got upset because of Anne? I swear I'm over that. I-" Y/n says going on.
"No, No! There's nothing wrong with you, it's just. I think it would be better if we spent time apart." I tell her. She still has tears in her eyes except now they have dripped down to the floor.
"I-I'll uh see you later then, Y/n." I tell her before walking away.
[Y/n's POV]
I can't believe.. Gilbert walked away but I still stood here for some time. Trying to comprehend what just happened. I stand there until there's nobody left except Miss Stacey who walks outside and sees me. I see her out of the corner of my eye and quickly wipe my tears and smile and look at her.
"Have a good day, Miss Stacey!" I say turning around into the direction home.
"Are you okay, Y/n? I'm here if you need to talk." I hear her ask, I turn around and smile.
"I'm okay Miss Stacey, I am really! See you tomorrow!" I say before she waves bye and I turn around to continue walking.
When I get home I don't even bother to go inside, I throw my stuff on the porch and go to the garden through the side entrance. As I enter the Garden, I don't see anyone, Usually Tyler is in here but he's at his friends house. That sucks. I sit down on the bench inside my garden. I remember I used to write songs when I was younger so I go inside, my mother isn't home, she went into town so I head upstairs and get my notebook and run back to the Garden to write.
[A couple hours later]
It's barley starting to get Dark and mother and Tyler already got home but I haven't gone inside yet. I eventually go inside when it gets completely dark but I eat and go to my room without a word.
That is until Tyler comes into my room. He closes the door behind him and looks at me. He looks at my hand and I look too and I didn't realize I was holding the white flower from my dresser. He looks at me and grabs the flower and puts it back on the dresser and smiles.
"Mom said Louis and his parents are coming over right now, would you like to talk before they come?" Tyler asks politely.
"Gilbert broke up with me." I tell Tyler and he just hugs me.
"You'll be okay, plus if anything, I can handle him for you, I'm strong. We can fight." Tyler says seriously but I can't help but laugh and he joins in too. Then he sits in the sofa in my room and reads one of my books that's on my shelf and I sit on my bed also reading, that is until we hear a knock at the door.
I get up and so does Tyler, he looks and me and smiles as he nods his head and we both head downstairs.
When Louis, his sister, and his parents come in they all head to the kitchen and start talking about boring stuff. So I look at Tyler and nod my head towards the back door and he nods his head yes so we both walk away when my mom turns around and head to the garden. It's like our own safe place.
We both sit on the sofa in the garden and drink some tea that we brought outside.
"So, are you going to be okay, Y/n?" Tyler asks me as I put the tea down on the table.
"Yeah I'll be okay, don't worry about me." I tell Tyler, "it's just hard but I'm okay". My eyes were starting to get teary but I blinked quickly to shake them away.
"Well if you need someone to fight Gilbert for you, I got you." Tyler says then I see him look to the left and say, "Louis can fight him too, see we got this"
I turn my head confused and see Louis standing there smiling. "Hmmm Stalker vibes" I say as Louis steps forward towards us.
"You wish, I noticed you guys left so I went to see where you went." Louis says as he sits in the armchair next to the table.
"Yeah we got bored so we came out here to.. talk" I respond before grabbing my tea and making a face at Tyler to tell him not to say anything.
"Talk.. about what?" Louis asks curious looking between me and Tyler.
"Uhh Nothing, you know, just... what color butterflies we should.. I mean what color butterflies we have seen before." I say stuttering. Louis doesn't look convinced so he raises his eyebrow at Tyler.
"Gilbert broke up with Y/n, and now Y/n has been on edge all the time and crying and that's what we were talking about." Tyler says in less than 3 seconds. Before grabbing his tea and drinking it.
Louis looks at me confused, "Gilbert? The guy you were dating.. he dumped you?" Louis asks as I nod my head yes. "Are you okay? I heard something about this from Ruby but I assumed it was just false."
"Nope haha it's true.." I say looking at Louis.
"Forget him, ugh boys are dumb" he says jokingly which makes me and Tyler laugh. He joins in and we end up switching from that topic and talk about random stuff until they go home and I go to my room to go to sleep.
What am I gonna do.. I can't show up to school tomorrow.. Gilbert will be there. I can barely think of him without crying. I end up falling asleep while crying.
[Gilbert and Bash's house]
[Gilbert's POV]
As I get home Bash is at the Table so to distract me I start going on about what I learned today, about how honey heals wounds and willow bark for pain but I could tell Bash knew something was up, I can tell that I wasn't convincing enough.
"It's... incredible! There's so much out there. Why can't we use nature to be on the winning side of medicine? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? What else there is that we don't know." I tell Bash.
"I... don't know." Bash answers back before opening his mouth, "but what I also don't know is what got you acting like a nervous fool. What happened Blythe?"
I sigh, "I-.. I broke up with Y/n.." I tell Bash.
"Oh. Now what? Are you regretting that decision?" Bash asks me while he's still holding Delphine.
"No, it was for the best. But I kind of broke up with her and then kind of just left her at school, now I feel bad." I say putting my head down.
"Hey, Y/n's strong, she'll get through this, your strong too, and if you really did it for good then you'll be fine." Bash says, " I don't know much but I can tell you one thing, you're dripping stew"
I look at him and see the stew fall on my shoes as I move it out the way.I nod my head
After we finish eating, we both clear the kitchen and head to our rooms to sleep.
[The Next Day, At School]
[Y/n's POV]
I arrive at school nervous because you can tell by the bags under my eyes and how puffy they are that I've been crying. I walk inside and go to my seat, I notice Gilbert's expression change when he sees me. How could he be perfectly fine while I'm barely here.
"What happened to you?" Diana asks worried.
"Are you okay?" Anne asks.
"What happened, you look horrid" Ruby asks me. I look at her and she says "Sorry"
"I'm fine." I answer back.
"You don't look fine.." Diana says.
"Well.. How fine can you be when your boyfriend of almost 3 years, dumps you." I say.
"What! Oh dear, Y/n, are you alright? Do you need anything?" Diana asks. I shake my head no. I look at Ruby and see her slightly smiling.
"So does this mean Gilbert is single? Meaning free?" Ruby says smiling.
I roll my eyes and turn back around.
"Ruby! Why would you say that!" I hear Diana ask Ruby.
"What? If he dumped her, then it's fair game" I hear Ruby tell Diana, I decide to just pay attention in class to distract me.
[After school]
"It's odd that there aren't more posts about me." I hear Ruby say as I walk with Diana and Anne, we were looking at the take notice board but Anne walked off.
"Another day of glorious obscurity. How many notices today for you? I think I saw at least three." Anne tells Diana.
"I think you may get a post from Charlie soon." I yell Anne to which Diana nods her head in agreement.
"What? Charlie, Charlie?" Anne asks.
"Yes. The Charlie who couldn't stop looking at you earlier." Diana adds.
"Fiddlesticks!" Anne says. As they start to head for the other direction.
"Okay well I'll talk to you guys later!!" I say as they both turn around to face me.
"Bye Y/n" they both say smiling before turning around. I go down the same path as them up to a point but I feel bad that Louis walks alone so I decided to walk with him today.
"Hey Pal" I say walking up to Louis, I guess what I didn't notice was he was talking to.. Gilbert. "Gilbert- um Louis, I'll get a head start, continue your conversation." I say before walking away. Awkward.
I guess when I went to walk home I went too quick and made it home without seeing anyone. I was going to walk with Louis today but guess not..
[At School, next day]
"Tillie, the Pauls are quite ardent!" Anne says as everyone laughs before I see Anne walk away.
"I can't choose one." Tillie says. I walk past the take notice board and walk inside, I see Gilbert sitting in one chair and Miss Stacey headed for the other, there's a third chair so I take a seat and turn to Miss Stacey.
"I was hoping you could help me, I kind of zoned out during class and don't quite understand this part" I ask Miss Stacey looking at my paper.
"You zoned out? You okay" Miss Stacey asks me as she takes a seat. I look a Gilbert and he looks at me before I turn away.
"Yeah I'm good, just a lot on my mind, haha" I answer back forcing a smile.
"I can help you, first try to solve the equation yourself and then I'll help you, I wanna see what part is getting you confused" Miss Stacey explains, I nod my head and pay attention to the equation.
"Hello again, dear world." I hear Miss Stacey say as she sniffs the newspaper.
"Medical research at The Sorbonne in Paris. Funny, Dr. Ward mentioned antitoxins last month." I hear Gilbert say, he's also looking at the Newspaper.
"What's an antitoxin?" Anne says walking in behind Gilbert smiling while grabbing a newspaper.
"It's a new kind of preventative medicine. Seems to actually be working, from the look of it, even though Dr. Ward called it 'nonsense.'" Gilbert tells Anne.
"Most people have a hard time trusting new ideas. The Sorbonne is an excellent university." Miss Stacey says.
"And thousands of miles and dollars away." Gilbert says sighing.
"I know a doctor named Emily Oak who's doing similar work at the University of Toronto." Miss Stacey says.
"A female doctor?" Anne asks, Gilbert turns to look at her before noticing me looking between him and Anne and he turns back around.
"Perhaps you could write to her, Gilbert. I expect she could guide you toward Canadian universities specializing in medical research." Miss Stacey says.
"Thank you. I'll take you up on that." Gilbert says nodding.
"Oh, just look at these obituaries. So many incredible lives." Anne says as Gilbert gets up and stands next to her. "Reading these makes me wish my own parents had been remembered the same way so I might've known something about them. Perhaps we should write an obituary for Mary in the Avonlea Gazette. For Delphine."
"That's a lovely idea." Miss Stacey says.
"It is. I'll ask Bash, see what he thinks about it." Gilbert says as him and Anne look at each other before Diana runs in.
"Y/n! Anne! You're both on the board! Anne, Charlie "noticed you"! Y/n, I don't know who put your note on there but your on there too!" Gilbert walks away as Anne grabs Diana's hand and walks towards the desks as everyone comes into class. I head outside quickly to see why I'm there. I find it.
"I've seen Y/n becoming really close to the new kid, Louis Partridge and becoming less friendly with Gilbert" it says, who wrote this? I grab the paper and rip it before returning inside.
I walk up to the girls, I see Ruby, Josie, Jane, Diana, and Anne.
"So, Anne, are you gonna dance with Charlie tomorrow?" Josie Pye asks Anne.
"Am I what?" Anne asks appalled.
"Miss Stacy scheduled practice for the county-fair barn dance. For all of us." Ruby says as Tillie walks up.
"Boys and girls." Tillie says chuckling before walking up to Jane and starting conversation.
"That means... touching." Ruby says.
"I'm going to hate practicing with these silly boys. I'll only be dancing with my intended at the fair." Josie Pye says furrowing her eyebrows.
"Enjoy. Billy has two left feet and they both smell awful." Jane Andrews says as everyone starts laughing. We've all taken our seats now.
"What about that Louis boy? He's quite charming?" I hear Tillie ask.
"The only girl I've seen him really talk to.." Josie says pausing before whispering but I can still hear her, "is y/n.. do you think she cheated on Gilbert with Louis? And maybe that's why Gilbert broke up with her?"
"Maybe" I hear Ruby say slightly laughing.
"No I did not!" I yell standing up and turning around to face them, "I wouldn't do that. Gosh! Sometimes I wish you all would shut up. Especially you Ruby! We get it, your in love with Gilbert but he doesn't love you so give it a rest." I say before walking over to the cloakroom and grabbing my stuff, I hear gasps and the class goes quiet but I just walk out and head home.
$/$::
[At Gilbert and Bash's house]
[Gilbert's POV]
I was returning from school until I saw Bash standing in what used to be Mary's garden.
"So many months of snow and frost, I almost forgot what the very earth below me looks like." Bash says as he keeps shoveling.
"Mary sure brought this garden to life." I tell Bash watching from a distance.
"Don't get your hopes up. I don't think I have her green thumb. Mary brought everything to life." Bash says.
"I was thinking... it'd be nice if people knew more about her. I'd like to write an obituary for Mary in the Gazette." I tell Bash as he stops shoveling and stands up to look at me, She should have her legacy honoured. I was talking with Anne and she felt... it would be something for Delly to hold onto." Bash smiles at me and nods so I turn around and head inside as Bash keeps shoveling.
[Later, at the Kitchen Table]
"I dunno. I doubt my mum will come." Bash says. He's writing a letter to his mother telling her to come stay with us.
"Want me to take a look? And, uh... you should see how you feel about this." I ask Bash as I hand him what I have written about Mary so far. I see as Bash smiles at what I wrote and he puts his hand on mine as I set the letter down and he continues reading it.
[The next day, Avonlea School]
"As promised, today we'll be practicing for the county-fair barn dance. Mr. and Mrs. Lynde have kindly consented to help us in this endeavour." Miss Stacey explains as we all stand with our backs to the board standing in a long column.
"Since The Dashing White Sergeant needs a set of six, I thought we'd better do so. Oh, you remember my son." Miss Lynde says as a boy comes in, he's a bit.. awkward.
"Yes, of course." Miss Stacey says.
"It's very nice to see you again." Miss Lynde's son says.
"Thank you... all for coming to help. Shall we?" Miss Stacey asks.
"We shall!" Miss Lynde says. "Pay particular attention to the patterns. Ready?"
"Ready when you are, Mrs. Lynde." Mr. Lynde says.
"Please clap out the rhythm." Mrs. Lynde says as we all start clapping. "And eight steps round. Five, six, seven and eight, and back to other way! Centre dancers, get ready to set, and set and set, and turn with both hands. And set and set, and one, two, three. Reels of three! One, two, three. Give your left shoulder to the partner facing you! One, two, three, and all tree lines reform. And one, two, three, four. And back, two, three, four. And... sweep under raised arms to form another set. Ah! And stop. Oh! That's the basic pattern."
"I think I got it? I don't know. This is confusing." I whisper to Diana. She nods her head in agreement.
"Why don't we have you give it a try? Please form your sets of six: boy-girl, boy and girl, boy-girl, boys and girls... Come along." Miss Stacey says as she groups us all. I'm in a group with Moody, Anne, Charlie, in front of us and then in my row, Me, then Gilbert, then Diana. Louis got placed in the other group so I turn around to wave at him and he just shrugs looking around him. At least he's as confused as I am.
"Can we just get this over with?" I hear Anne ask.
"Ready? Here we go. One, two, three, four. And one and two and three and four and five and six and... Out of the way, out of the way. ...and four. Get ready. Two, set, set! And fetch. Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn. Set to the dancer on your right! Right!" Miss Lynde says yelling, eventually we all kind of gave up, some people started jumping around and I just walked.
"Stop, stop, stop! That was... a start. Yeah, that's... Take a little break. Catch my breath. Catch your breath." Miss Lynde says as everyones groups break apart.
But as the groups break apart, I notice Ruby run off angry. I follow after her to see what's wrong and the other girls come too.
"What's the matter, Ruby?" Diana asks.
"Are you feeling faint again?" Anne asks.
"She's shaking." Jane says looking at Tillie.
"You can tell us." Josie says with her hands crossed. I just kind of stand there.
"I... What if I'm pregnant?! My mother said if I so much as go near a boy, I might get pregnant, and if a boy touches me, then I'll certainly get pregnant! So I must be. You all could be!" Ruby says as everyone starts freaking out. They don't seriously believe this, do they?
"How could this be?" Anne asks looking at her hands.
"But who's the father?" Tillie yells also looking at her hands. I turn around and see Miss Stacey so I just shrug at her. I guess I'm the only one who isn't freaking out.
"How could you let this happen?!" Josie says yelling at Miss Stacey. Oh boy.
"Girls, girls, please, calm yourselves. I can assure you, no one will become pregnant from dancing." Miss Stacey says.
"But there was so much touching!" Ruby exclaims still upset.
"That's not how it works. It's not... uh... topical." When Miss Stacey says this I put my hand over my mouth to not laugh. "There are... many steps to conceiving. First, courtship. Then, of course, marriage. Then you and your husband... m-m-m-may... will... with your consent, go down... that cherished path to parenthood. Together. Is that clear?" Miss Stacey explains and everyone nods. "Good."
"I'm afraid to dance." Ruby says.
"You don't have to. You may sit this out if you wish." Miss Stacey says as she walks away. I walk away too and walk towards Louis and start laughing.
"What's so funny?" Louis asks confused.
"Nothing, I was over there and let me tell you, funniest thing ever." I say. He still looks confused but he smiles back.
"Alright. Let's try this once again." Miss Lynde says so I wave bye to Louis and get back to my group. I notice Ruby walk towards Moody.
"Shall I play?" Moody asks.
"Yes." Ruby says smiling at Moody. Does she- omg
"Yes, thank you." Miss Stacey says at the same time as Ruby. She looks at them and then just looks away smiling.
"Caleb, why don't you and Muriel step in? Here we go! Go!" Miss Lynde says as we all listen to what she says. "One, two, three, four and five, six, seven, eight! Other way! (I'm gonna save you time and not type out every single command she says). As we're dancing I notice Anne and Gilbert's eyes never leaving each other.. During everything he smiles at her. "And sweep through raised arms to form another set." When Miss Lynde says this, Gilbert grabs Anne's hand and swoops her under. Now I'm on the opposite side, facing them. They continue smiling at each other as they dance. Their eyes still never leave each other.
"Well done, well done!" Miss Lynde says clapping as Anne and Gilbert both rush to pack their stuff. When they walk out they both pause in front of each other. Anne leaves and then Gilbert. And they go their separate ways and I am left standing on the steps watching as they both walk away.
[In Charlotte Town]
"So we need milk, eggs, flour, vanilla extract, sugar.." My mother says reading a list she has in her hand. We came to get groceries and important stuff since mother doesn't like to come to Charlotte town too often. This will be fun..
[At Blythe's house]
[Gilbert's POV]
"Dashing... White... Sergeant!" I say as I cut carrots.
"This White Sergeant, what did he do to offend you so?" Bash asks as he feeds Delphine.
"Dancing isn't my preferred way to spend an afternoon, that's all. I don't... I don't understand it." I say confused:
"Even those bees of yours dance. What was so confusing?" Bash asks looking at me.
"If I... If I feel something... for... a girl... does that mean that... she's the one that I should marry?" I ask Bash as Bash smiles at me.
"Uh... not necessarily, Blythe." Bash says scratching his head and chuckling, "Attraction - yes, it's important. But love... that's what truly matters. And love is bigger than those... feelings you're talking about. Does that makes sense?"
"I think so." I say as I continue chopping carrots.
"Mind telling me who this girl is?" Bash asks.
"I mind." I say smiling.
"You sure?" Bash asks again
"Yep."
"How about now?"
"Nope."
"You can tell her. She won't talk." Bash says pointing to Delphine.
[Outside of church]
"I'm sure she wasn't herself at all. And for the first time ever, I was completely confounded by what Miss Stacy was saying." Anne says. They're still going on about the being pregnant thing but apparently Charlie said that an overly active mind causes women to be barren.
"What did she mean by 'steps to consent'?" Ruby asks as we pass out newspaper.
"Perhaps it has to do with being escorted home." Tillie says.
"Walking home? But there's no touching." Diana says frantically. Are they okay?
"Unless there's rough ground." Jane says looking at Josie.
"So it's like... animal husbandry?" Tillie says unsure.
"That's disgusting! We're not filthy animals." Josie says in disagreement.
"But... animals don't have to think. Perhaps that's why they bear offspring so easily. Oh, no... that means..." Diana says as her and Anne look at each other.
"Perhaps Charlie is right. Maybe intelligent and emotional females can't bear children!" Anne says.
"Emotional?" Ruby asks.
"You definitely aren't pregnant, Ruby." Jane says laughing.
"But I don't want to be barren!" Ruby says.
"Surely there must be someone who can answer all this." Diana says as soon as Gilbert walks out the door. Oh no. Suddenly they all look at me.
"No." I say as they nod their head. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" They start pushing me forward.
-"You have to do it."
-"In you go."
"Uh... hello?" Gilbert says confused as I just stand there.
"Y/n has a question." Josie says.
"But I don't even believe in this non sense you guys are talking about!" I say as I turn around.
"Just do it." Josie says.
"Fine. Is it true that women of intelligence and passio... uh... emotion are... doomed to be infertile? Basically they wanna know if that's how reproduction works." I ask Gilbert as his face goes red.
"Um... There's nothing I've seen in my medical experience that would lead me to believe that. So, uh... no." Gilbert says shaking his head, I hear Anne let out a relieved breath.
"Is that all?" Gilbert asks.
"The steps." Tillie whispers in my ear, "Ask him." I shake my head no.
"Well, good day, then." Gilbert says tipping down his hat and heading right past us.
"He said seen! What. has. he. seen?" Ruby asks.
"Enough!" Anne says covering her ears. "We need to purge ourselves of all of these nonsensical lies! And I know a cure. And it's in your book on Scotland, Diana."
"What is it?" Diana asks.
"It's called Beltane. We'll all meet tonight, in the meadow, just past the Lake of Shining Waters, as soon as it's dark. Be there." Anne says as she smiles at the girls, then she turns to me, "uh you can come too Y/n, if you would like." I nod my head as a thank you and walk away.
As I walk away I look at the newspaper I grabbed and read the section they did on Mary.
[Bash's room, Blythe's house]
[Third person POV]
"Mary LaCroix was born on a winter's day in 1865. As those who knew her well can attest, her presence was felt like an endless summer. Her smile could lighten a room where no candles were lit. Her laugh could warm a home with an empty hearth. Fierce yet kind, she could cut a man down with her sharpness of tongue, but would bandage the broken wing of a sparrow, such was her sense of justice. For she was as generous in spirit as she was with her cinnamon-sugar glaze constantly rebutting the lack of sweetness in this world. Her life was not short on challenges. And still, she held no grudges, believing instead that grace is perennial, like the green, green grass. Whatever Mary did, she did fully, unwaveringly, with open arms. Whether it be raising her beloved son Elijah, or welcoming her precious daughter, Delphine, into this world, she lived life with both her hands. And when she left this world on April 6, 1899, her hands were held tightly by Sebastian, the love of her life. She was laid to rest in the place she called home. Avonlea." Bash reads out loud, as she looks at Delphine, sitting in her lap. "Hmm? That's your mama. That's your mama."
[In the meadow past Shining waters]
[Y/n's POV]
I decided to go to the meadow with the rest of the girls. We all brought lanterns for lights as we all walked. We grabbed leaves, sticks, and rocks. We made a fire and we all stood around it. Kinda reminded me of a cult, I was quite scared.
"Goddess of Beltane, Sacred Mother, Queen of May, Wild Lady of the Woods, Guardian of Love and Life, welcome to our circle." Anne says.
Then everyone starts saying the same thing so I just mouth it instead of actually saying it. "We women, powerful and sacred, declare upon this Hallowed Night..."
"Our heavenly bodies belong solely to us." Tillie says.
"We shall choose whom to love and with whom to share trust." Diana says.
"We shall walk upon this earth with grace and respect." Josie says.
"We'll always take pride in our great intellect." I say kind of quiet but loud enough for them to hear me.
"We'll honor our emotions so our spirits may soar!" Ruby says.
"And should any man belittle us..." Tillie says.
"...we'll show him the door!" Everyone responds.
"Our spirits are unbreakable, our imaginations free!" Anne says.
"Walk with us, Goddess, so blessed are we!" We all say as we hold out sticks up and throw rocks into the fire. We all dance around in a circle around the fire, this is fun. Until Ruby falls on her knees.
"Ruby? Ruby? Wh-what's wrong? What is it?" Anne asks her as we all crowd her.
"How I love being a woman!" Ruby responds.
Anne yells and soon the rest of us follow. Maybe they aren't so bad.
[Back at Y/n's house, later that night]
I told my Mom before hand where I was going so when I got home she said goodnight and then went to her room, she waited up for me but I could tell she was tired.
I went up to my room and took off my leaf crown and set it on my desk by the window. I look at the window since I have a perfect view of the moon.
I think about today's dance experience in class. Gilbert didn't look at me once, but he looked at Anne.
Maybe we aren't meant for each other after all..