'Isn't it wonderful that every day is new with no mistakes in it yet?'

Upon seeing the familiar, beloved scenery and locations of Avonlea, Anne had found her dread and concerns fade away slowly. Anne instead felt the same sweet relief as she had returning to Avonlea after being rescued from Wolfsden Prison. It was that familiar sensation of safety as she passed through the White Way of Delight and went over the Barry Lake bridge. These well-known and comforting places were so special to Anne, despite any bad memories which Joseph had tainted them with. They were bearable somehow and Anne focused on recalling the good memories... She thought of the first time she came to Avonlea with Matthew, riding through the blossom tree avenue and the pure joy she had experienced.

Anne was relieved to be temporarily free of the dread she'd had hanging over her for a long time. Perhaps her trip had provided perspective. She could travel far away from home and safety without bad things happening, without catastrophe and without incident. Her fears and worries still rested skin deep but she could handle them, face them as they came. Anne was excited to go home to her friends, her family, to Gilbert.

It had been good to get away but it was better to return. Distance had blown the dispirited cobwebs from Anne's heart and cleared her mind for happiness to come out. The sun shining and the promise of happy Summer days with her loved ones ahead uplifted Anne's spirits.

The Barry family dropped Anne off at the white double gates of Green Gables. Anne hugged Diana tightly and they arranged to walk to school together next week. Anne waved to them, a small smile on her face. She watched the carriage go, disappearing up the red roads towards Barry Manor across the fields behind the woods. Anne turned and gazed up at her treasured home. She took a deep, slow breath in, her heart beating soft and content. The fresh breeze blew her long red hair over her shoulders, her grey eyes gazing wide up at the blue sky. Birds sung and the lush beauty of nature in full-force Spring surrounded her.

"Home." Anne whispered to herself and smiled.

Anne passed through the gate and set off up the yard to her front door.

...

Marilla hadn't been sure about telling Matthew the news Rachel had brought, as he was painfully shy about such topics and had been known to be biased when it came to Anne's shortcomings, but she had nobody else to turn to. She had to air her thoughts with somebody. That was how Matthew ended up sat at the kitchen table, face red and words trapped in his throat.

"Oh, come now Matthew. Give me a piece of your mind on this. I know we said raising her was my department but I'm out of my depth, I need somebody to speak with. If I wanted to speak to a brick wall I would have gone out back." Marilla sighed impatiently.

"Well, uh... It doesn't seem right, no it doesn't at all." Matthew said slowly. "I believe that when folks talk about Anne we shouldn't listen, we should ask our girl the truth."

"You mean we should question Anne about this? Why, she's sure to deny it. It's not something people discuss openly, Matthew." Marilla was aghast.

"Maybe that's the problem..." Matthew sighed. "If we had, she wouldn't be in this mess. Poor girl."

Marilla knew on some level that her brother was right. If she'd explained everything to Anne, told her what was what, what was good and expected and what should be waited for then perhaps Anne would have known to hold back.

There was a small part of Marilla that didn't believe the rumours of course but it was small... She knew the temptation and genuine, overwhelming adoration for the men of the Blythe family, she had felt it herself when she was Anne's age. John Blythe, Gilbert's father had been Marilla's temptation. She had only resisted because of unfortunate circumstances that arose. At the time she had known as little as Anne, had been as ignorant. It wasn't hard to believe for Marilla that Anne had finally  given into the love she had harboured for Gilbert for so long.

Lord knows, Marilla had seen it coming from the pair's first meeting... That day Anne had stormed home, full of indignant rage and flushed with fire, Marilla had recognised it. That particular irritation drawn from the tease of a Blythe... A handsome, sweet, clever Blythe who knew far better than to stoop low enough to tease.

It would drive anyone mad.

"When she comes home, just talk to her." Matthew said softly.

Marilla stood there, an unpleasant sensation of guilt and maternal failure washing over her. Had she caused this? Was Matthew right? This idea was hard to overlook when it seemed so accurate. It made her angry. The anger was channeled from the feeling of inadequacy and inefficiency. It wasn't directed at Anne, yet Marilla had poorly-trained handling methods when it came to strong emotions.

Just then they heard a movement by the front door and they knew it was Anne. Marilla stiffened, dreading the inevitable conversation. Matthew on the other hand merely stood, to greet his beloved Anne.

Anne entered the room, windswept and pink-cheeked with her dear wide eyes and well-known red hair tumbling over her shoulders. She still held that joy and awe in her gaze, which was so cherished from her youth but it was clear to anyone she was not the same girl who'd been sent to Green Gables. She had grown up so quickly and so thoroughly and Marilla had barely noticed it. She was startled by this.

Anne beamed at them. "Oh, how good it is to see you both. I've only been gone near two days, of course but there's nothing which makes the heart fonder than distance - I read that somewhere. It has such a tragical truth to it, don't you think? My heart has certainly grown fonder when I was sure it never could."

Matthew's eyes twinkled as he smiled at the girl. "It's good to have you back." If he had it his way they wouldn't even discuss the rumours spreading about Anne, they wouldn't have to. Anne would live her entire life free of troubles, slander or lies. He hadn't seen her this happy in a long time. He wanted it to last forever.

"Why, you look as though you've seen a ghost, Marilla." Anne chuckled, taking off her scarf and entering the kitchen fully.

"I... There's something I need to tell you." Marilla cleared her throat, steeling herself.

Anne's face fell. "Is everything alright?"

"No. You'll want to sit down for this, Anne." Marilla said.

...

If there was a hundred fierce dragons guarding the path, preventing Anne from running they still couldn't have stopped her.

She ran faster than she'd run in so long, her hair streaming in the wind like a flame, burning up the red road through the silent dusk. Her side ached where she still felt the ghost of her wound, her chest heaved and her feet thundered beneath her skirts. The trees seemed to bend apart to let her pass, the stream running slow to allow her to leap over, the road remained clear of travellers to allow her passage. The world seemed to feel her storm of emotions and stayed clear.

When Anne saw the building up ahead her heart leapt like a lion in a cage. Anne tore up the hill, panting as she scaled the fence and climbed the porch steps to batter on his door.

She lasted several minutes of banging hard on the door before it all finally overcame her and Anne collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath between tears. Then the door opened to a groggy-looking Sebastian. Anne scrambled to her feet, desperate to question Gilbert's housemate.

"What's all this now?" Bash demanded in surprise. He knew Anne to be a passionate individual but this was a new level.

"Is he here?" Anne wiped at her tear-stained face. "Gilbert?"

"Blythe has gone." Bash said. "He's travelled out of town, up the main road. Secret business, he wouldn't share nothing about it with me. I daresay it's to do with you, though. Any grand notion he gets in his head tends to be about you."

Anne's heart sank all over again. "I need to see him." She said, barely audible.

"I can't help you there, lass but did you want to take a chance I could help with your problem?" Bash offered kindly. "What's got you so emotional?"

Anne felt like crying again at just the thought of it. The only person she wanted to talk to about this was Gilbert... But he was gone. She wondered if he'd heard the news, if that was why he'd gone... To escape the embarrassment and shame.

It was a sinful thing to have said about you, to forge those notes had been an absolutely wicked thing to do. Anne didn't know who was cruel enough to have done it. Anne hadn't believed it at first... It had felt like a sick joke. Anne could tell Marilla was full of shame and anger, which made Anne feel beyond wretched. It was as though the world was closing in on her, going dark and quiet as Marilla had spoken.

The worst thing was that Marilla had believed it. Her furious words had torn Anne's heart out: 'You can't see the boy from now on. You must find a way to put this right, but in the meantime under no circumstances may you collude with him, write to each other or even interact at school. This has gone too far. Your fondness for each other as corrupted you both to sin. You cannot see him any longer, I forbid it.'

To never see Gilbert? That was enough to send Anne reeling.

"I'm afraid there is nothing you can do for me when I'm trapped in such unfathomably deep despair..." Anne sobbed. A moment later she had taken off through the early evening darkness.

...

It was a long night for the Cuthberts.

Anne had not come home. After what Marilla had said, the poor girl had wordlessly stormed out, uncharacteristically unable to express her enormity of emotion. Matthew had been forbidden to ride out to search for her as he was still in recovery but Marilla sent Jerry out on Anne's horse Belle. They couldn't sleep without her home. Marilla felt guilty for being so harsh but she was out of her comfort zone and hadn't known what else to do. Anne's silence had been worse than any screaming argument they could have engaged in. The look in her eyes stayed with Marilla the whole night... it was complete heartbreak.

Anne had not know where exactly she was going after leaving the Blythe farm. She just needed to be alone. She had run all the way to the main road, carelessly trekking through the forest and crying. Not even the beautiful silver stream in the moonlight made her smile, not the drooping willows or towering pines, not the parting owls across the canopy. By the time she reached the wide red-gravel track her chest heaved and she was breathless. Anne looked up into the darkening sky. Bats flew across the milky-moon and the clouds twisted blue around the stars. Anne felt sick. Where was he? Where had he gone? She needed him.

You make it so hard to love you. Gilbert's words echoed back to Anne and she bit her lip, wondering if she'd driven him away somehow. Had he thought the notes were passed around by her? Is that why he'd left? Why would he think that? She understood his words though, loving people was hard. It hurt, it tore your heart to pieces.

Anne sat down on the grass beside the road, trying to take some deep breaths as too many thoughts swirled around her mind.

"Where are you?" Anne whispered, looking up at the stars through the canopy of pine trees.

...

Gilbert was looking up at the stars too.

Anne would have arrived home today, he thought. I should have been there to greet her. I wonder what she's doing. How her trip was. I hope she had a good time, she deserves it.

He missed her already. Her radiant eyes and wide smile, her freckle-peppered complexion and long, wavy hair. He missed her laugh which always seemed to eclipse anything and anyone else to Gilbert and the way she spoke with so much passion and expression and that heart-melting look she saved for only him.

Gilbert sighed and turned his gaze back to the road. He wouldn't reach Avonlea until the early hours of the morning. He was trekking back from the travelling market which had set up shop on the outskirts of Karleton over the past week. He'd heard word of it and gone all that way to find Anne a birthday present. He wanted something special for her. The market was a collection of peculiar, fantastical and rare items procured from the owner's travels. It had made Gilbert miss his time travelling the seas, exploring exotic locations.

The gift he'd picked, purchased and stowed in the back of his cart was not exactly exotic but it was special and he had a feeling Anne would love it. He had known it was what he was looking for as soon as he saw it. He pictured the look on her face when she saw it and smiled to himself.

After travelling further down the main road it began to rain. Gilbert glanced up at the black clouds which merged across the sky, blotting out the stars like water on inked paper. It would be hours before he arrived home, he was set to endure this weather for a while yet unless he stopped to shelter in a barn... There was a farm up ahead, he saw a light through the window. Gilbert knew waiting till the rain stopped would prolong his journey but he couldn't face the torrential downpour after such a long day of riding. He was too tired.

Gilbert veered off to the side track and headed for the farm. It was small and secluded, with large trees surrounding it. It was only the light flickering out from the front window which lead Gilbert to the front porch. It was quiet, as it was late evening and most folks were sound asleep in bed. Gilbert hoped it would be a friendly, moral family who wouldn't begrudge him a place to stop for a while. He dismounted and tied his horse up before stepping onto the porch and rapping on the door.

The young lady who answered the door was small and pale with mousy hair thrown up in a bun and large eyes. Despite her small frame she held herself with confidence and fixed a disheveled Gilbert with a penetrating stare.

"Who are you?" She demanded instantly.

"My name is Blythe, Miss. Gilbert Blythe. I'd be much obliged to shelter from the rain, just until it eases. I'm grateful to just wait in the barn or porch, whatever pleases you." Gilbert blinked at her through his dripping, rain-soaked hair.

The shrewd woman analysed him for a moment more, before beckoning him in. "You can wait in here. I'm not afraid of young travelers with no more evil in their eyes than there is scruff on their faces." She laughed slightly and let Gilbert pass into the warm passage.

"Thank you." Gilbert said sincerely, shedding his sopping hat and coat as he pooled water onto the wooden floor. "I'm sorry, I'm making a mess--"

"Don't worry yourself. Come in for a glass of whiskey, won't you? It'll warm your bones."

Gilbert obliged her, leaving his wet garments on the boot bench in the pass. The kitchen was cosy, dimly-lit by several candle-lamps and laid out with a stove, table and more chairs than one lone woman could ever sit in by herself. "Do you have family, Miss?"

The woman was busying herself making drinks, not leaving Gilbert un-watched for more than a minute. "Of a kind, yes. My sister will be down shortly for water so mind you don't scare her. She ain't brash like me. She's sensitive, that's for sure."

Gilbert said nothing. He wondered if they had parents. It was almost unheard of for two sisters to live alone, but there was something about this woman, although she seemed only twenty she had the air of somebody older, wiser, more mature. Somebody who had to make all the decisions, decide what was what - the man of the house, as some would say.

"My name is Rosalie, by the way." The woman told Gilbert, turning to face him. "Here, bottoms up."

She slid him a small glass with deep orange-brown liquid inside. They both downed their drinks, Gilbert wincing after and Rosalie laughed at his expression of disgust. Just then a small, wide-eyed girl in a grey dress appeared at the foot of the stairs. She had long mousy-brown hair tied back in a large bow. Upon seeing Gilbert she froze, clearly very shy.

"It's okay, he's nothing to fear. This is Gilbert Blythe. He's just sheltering from the rain." Joan smiled reassuringly at what he assumed to be her sister.

The younger girl stared at Gilbert, seeming to see right into his soul. She had a look in her eyes as though she knew everything, from watching and hearing. Gilbert smiled at her, trying to be friendly.

"This is my sister, Peggy." Rosalie said.

Suddenly two figures charged downstairs brandishing sticks and yelling. They ran at Gilbert who was so shocked that he dropped his glass. Rosalie instantly held out her hands to them saying, "It's alright! He's not here for you."

The two figures froze and Gilbert looked at them. One was a tall girl with almond-shaped eyes and short dark hair and the other was a younger boy with red curls and a freckled, ruddy face. They were watching him warily, still holding up their sticks. There was a hint of fear beneath the fierce mistrust.

"Who are you?" The tall girl demanded in much the same tone as Rosalie had used.

"I mean no harm. I swear, I'm just sheltering. I'm Gilbert Blythe." Gil explained. "I'm just making my way back from Karleton, the travelling market to be exact - I was getting a gift, my-- a girl from back home, it's her-- I was getting her a birthday present."

Rosalie nodded. "See? Friendly, innocent, harmless."

"Where's home? Where ya from?" Asked the redhead boy in a lilted English accent.

"Avonlea. I'm going home to Avonlea."

"This girl... What's her name?" The tall girl asked, lowering her stick.

"Anne Shirley-Cuthbert." Gilbert said.

Their faces suddenly lit up in recognition and excitement. The girl said, "You know Anne? Anne Shirley?"

"Our Red? She made it out?" The boy gaped. He grinned proudly at the tall girl. "January, she did it!"

"I knew it, Kes. I had a feeling." January grinned. The shy girl, Peggy stepped out of the shadowed stairs.

"Anne saved our lives. She's a hero." Peggy spoke quietly.

"We're going to Avonlea with you. Take us to see her." January said.

...

Jerry hadn't heard any of the rumours but he had been told to ride out and find Anne. She was like his sister, so he search everywhere he could think of. The woods, the meadows, he even asked at Gilbert's house but Sebastian had told him she'd left a while ago. Jerry was running out of ideas and hope of finding her until he took the main road home and saw her ahead on the grassy verge, lying gazing up at the stars. He rode to her and dismounted, looking down at the sad girl.

"Anne, are you alright?" He asked.

She didn't answer at first, just continued to stare up at the sky. It was dark but Jerry could make out tear-stains streaking her pale face. She looked very thoughtful and tired as though her sadness had petered out and drained her.

"No, and I'm just going to wait here for Gilbert so you may as well give up now if you're going to try and persuade me to come home."

"I'm not. I know there's no point, you're far too stubborn." Jerry teased.

Anne's grey eyes flickered to Jerry for a moment. "Then why did you come?"

"I was worried about you." Jerry admitted. Years ago he never would have said anything like that but now he was changed, too much had happened to Anne for him to care enough to hide his fondness for her.

Anne softened. After a while she decided to confide in him. "I am heartbroken." Her voice cracked.

"Why? Gilbert is yours." Jerry frowned.

Anne exhaled, her eyes shining again as she held his gaze. "I'm forbidden from seeing him."

Jerry understood then. He had never seen anyone so crazy about another person like Anne and Gilbert were. This explained why she was so sad and had run away.

"I am frightened. He's gone and I think it's my fault. I think I drove him away." Tears edged into her voice and she reached up, wiping her eyes.

"You don't know that. I think he will always love you." Jerry said kindly. "Perhaps he only wanted to be alone for a time."

Anne swallowed hard, gazing up at the sky again. "Perhaps."

Jerry sat down on the dew-wet grass and lay beside the redhead. He settled down and looked up at the night stars too. It was beautiful. He never usually paused to admire nature's beauty usually, he was too busy working. He never would have if it weren't for Anne.

"I want to be alone sometimes too. I have big family, it is so crazy some days." He told Anne quietly. "It makes me want to run and hide somewhere peaceful."

Anne laughed slightly. She looked over at Jerry, who took in the beautiful starry sky slowly, his words thoughtful. He never normally spoke about his family. Speaking like this, comforting Anne made him sound like an older brother. Anne thought he must be.

"No use worrying. You can't wish him home now, you must wait. It will be okay." Jerry said.

"People have said horrible things about me." Anne told him.

"Oh. Well you have handled that." Jerry said simply. "You have been through much worse than rumours and came out braver than before."

Anne knew it was true. It didn't lessen the pain or the worry but it made Anne feel better to know somebody believed in her and was on her side. She had fought bad people, saved her friends and family and come out wounded and scarred but bolder and wiser.

"I'm glad you're here, Jerry." Anne told him, finding his hand to squeeze. She was lucky to have somebody to be a brother for her.

"What will you do now?" Jerry asked her.

"Handle it and come out braver than before." Anne said.