It felt like everything was going in slow motion.

The world had gone silent. It was a long time before Anne realised she was kneeling in the gravel road, the rain pouring down on her. Her friends were talking to each other and trying to speak to her. Anne blinked and looked up at them through her tears. Their voices slowly came into focus as did her senses and she realised she was freezing cold, shivering and drenched to the skin from the rain, even despite Jerry's borrowed jacket.

"Anne, it's going to be okay--" January was saying.

"Something must have happened, we travelled here with Gilbert and he was excited to see Anne." Kes said. "I don't believe what he said."

"Yes, he must be lying." Peggy agreed softly.

"Come on girl, up you get. Don't wallow in the dirt. We're taking you home." Jan grabbed Anne's arms gently and pulled her to her feet. Anne's legs wobbled.

"I can't go home." Anne bit her lip as the tears enveloped her again. Her body heaved as she sobbed.

"Hey, why not? Talk to us." Jan held Anne's shoulders and looked her calmly in the eyes.

Anne spoke through gasping breaths, feeling weak. "They're so angry and disappointed with me. They forbade me from seeing G- G--" She couldn't say his name.

"Why?" Kes was confused.

Anne looked up into the dark sky, raindrops falling like shimmering jewels catching rays of sunlight. She gathered her strength to explain the painful story.

"There's terrible rumours g-going around town. People have s-said things about us, lies. My Cuthberts, they-- they believe it. They think I'm some-- some sinful girl. I've brought shame. I can't go back there."

"Okay, breathe. It's okay." January spoke calmly, thinking quickly. "Is there anywhere else we can go? If you don't want to go back there right now?"

Anne's mind was in ruins but she came up with an idea. "My best-friend, Diana Barry... She lives not far. But if her family has heard the rumours then there's no way we'll still be allowed to be friends--" Anne sobbed again, the thought of being separated from Diana and Gilbert was too much to comprehend.

"Is the chance of them hearing the rumour high?" Jan asked.

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I don't know." Anne trembled and grasped onto January's arms. January gave the poor girl a hug, holding her tightly.

When she'd recovered slightly, Anne broke away. "We can try. It's up the main road, then a left over the bridge to cross Barry Lake. You have to go through the woods to the big house. I could sneak up to her room by the tree. Even if we can't stay there, I need to see her. She will help."

"Alright," January said. "Everything will be alright. I promise it will all work out. At least you have us, Anne. We are glad to see you, we came here for you. We will take care of you."

"Thank you.  All of you, so much." Anne murmured under her breath, grateful to all of them.

Just then there was the sound of footsteps on the path. Anne looked up hopefully in spite of herself. It wasn't the boy she had expected, but it was a welcome face nonetheless. A tall, tanned boy with a worried expression appeared around the corner.

"Anne!" Jerry called upon spotting her.

He had been searching the woods and just decided to circle back and meet Gilbert when he'd seen them. He was relieved to see Anne, but when he reached the group he saw how upset she was.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" Kes asked him.

"I'm Jerry, I'm Anne's friend. Who are you?" Jerry said defensively, looking at the rag bunch.

"We are Anne's friends too."

"Well what happened to her?" Jerry's focus turned back to the bedraggled redhead.

Anne shook her head, wordlessly. She had no energy left. January took Jerry to one side and explained for her, understanding it was too painful to go through it again so soon.

"Gilbert Blythe told her he didn't want to see her anymore, he said he didn't love her. She's heartbroken."

"He did what?!" Jerry blanched. "That scut!"

"We were shocked too," January said.

"i just saw him, not long ago. We were looking for Anne. He was worried for her." Jerry found it hard to believe Gilbert had said those things.

"Anne doesn't feel comfortable going home right now so don't even try persuading her. She wants to go to Diana's house, to talk to her."

"I wasn't," Jerry held up his hands. "I know Anne is too -- obstinate. Believe me. I want to help, I care that she is safe."

January analysed Jerry, her skeptical eyes taking in his sincere face and worn clothes. If he was Anne's friend, he'd have to be trustworthy, surely?

"Alright, you can help us. I suppose you know this Diana too? And where she lives?"

"Oh yes," Jerry nodded. "I know Diana Barry."

...

It was late afternoon by the time they reached Diana's house. Diana was in her room sewing when she heard knocking on the window. Looking up she saw it was Anne, having scaled the tree. Diana let her in, embracing her dear friend eagerly before stepping back and noticing the look on Anne's face. Grey, broken and lifeless.

"Oh, whatever has happened? Anne, do tell me."

Anne's lip wobbled. "He said it's over, Di... It's all over. He crushed my heart into a thousand pieces, worse than-- than any tragical romance I ever read in my life. It hurts worse than you c-can imagine. I don't know what to d-do anymore--"

"Slow down, Anne. Tell me from the start." Diana took Anne's hand and they both sat on her bed.

"Somebody has made up a rumour, an awful rumour about me and G-G-- him... Things that we didn't do. Marilla heard the rumour and she forbade me from seeing him, from being with him... I ran all the way to see him but he was gone and I thought he'd heard the rumours too and left town because of it -- I was so afraid so I waited on the highway for him... Then I met some friends on the road, people I met at Wolfsden, but oh they're kind and good, Diana and I know they're innocent, we escaped together but they'd been in hiding ever since and I didn't know if they were safe or had been recaptured ever since that night but they said they met G-G--him and came all this way to see me. Then I saw G-him and he told me-- he told me it's o-over and that he-- he didn't l-love me and didn't want to ever s-see me. I thought it was a n-nightmare but it's real, it has to be because now my heart is broken and I can't breathe and I've never felt pain like this before--" Anne fell into a fit of silent, shaking sobs.

Diana held Anne, cradling her as she cried. "It's going to be alright." She said.

What Diana really thought was that it was the opposite of alright... If Gilbert had really said those things then something was in fact very wrong indeed. Diana knew Gilbert very well and she knew that he loved Anne more than anything, she was the love of his life, his joy, his purpose, his home. Somebody had made him say that...

It was her job to find out who.

...

Riding home, Gilbert was in a daze. He felt numb.

The sun was low, the rain still unrelenting through the forest canopy. He pushed on, following the path from pure instinct. He parked up his horse and cart in the yard, possessing no energy to take it into the barn. He glanced at the cart, which held Anne's surprise birthday present concealed beneath a sheet. He swallowed hard and tore himself away. Gilbert stumbled up the path and up the porch steps, swinging open the door. A very concerned Bash appeared from the kitchen and tried to catch him before he went upstairs. Gilbert froze, gripping the banister so tightly his knuckles went white.

"Blythe! Where you been?" Bash chastised the boy. "I've been so worried. You were due home this morning. Did Anne find you? She came here in an awful state and ran off in search of you. I'm afraid it was somethin' bad to get her in such a state."

At the mention of Anne, tears rose up with a lump in Gilbert's throat. "Yeah, she found me." He choked out, struggling to hold his composure. It was all too fresh, too painful.

Bash frowned. He could tell something was wrong with Gilbert. "Well, was she alright?"

Gilbert nodded, biting his lip, praying the conversation would end so he could hide in his room and be alone.

"That's good news." Bash wondered why Gilbert was behaving so strangely. He decided to ignore it. "She's a good girl, you gotta take care of her you know." Bash added absentmindedly.

Gilbert felt sick. Resentment riled inside him, all of the awful things he'd told her replaying in his mind, taunting him. You broke her heart. You monster.

"No that's not my job anymore. She's better off without me. She's better off alone."

Sebastian was shocked. "Am I mad, or did you really just say that?"

"No, I really did." Gilbert snapped.

"Well, are you mad?"

"I must be." Gilbert muttered.

Then he fled upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him, breath coming in quick bouts. His heart was beating so fast he could barely breathe. Panic and regret were choking him. Gilbert's vision swam. The morning's events flooded his brain, triggering the trauma he'd long-since pushed down into the darkest part of himself. The red woman, her menacing laugh, her gleaming dagger. It was all a trigger. Gilbert shook his head, closing his eyes, trying to rid himself of the memory. He slid down to his knees, his back against his door. He gasped for oxygen as panic itched through his veins in an attack. Gilbert blinked but the dark bedroom span, so he covered his eyes to block it out.

"What have I done?" Gilbert whispered to himself over and over.

His legs wobbled and he knocked into his bedside cabinet, causing his books and papers to tumble down and sprawl across the wooden floor. Gilbert was jolted from his panic attack by the shock and opened his eyes. He saw a page falling out of his journal. It was an old sketch, stained with coal-fingerprints and drawn in dim candle-light. It was a freckled, smiling girl surrounded by flowers. He'd drawn it one lonely night on the voyage Trinidad. It was Anne.

That's when the tears finally came, breaking through the dam, smashing down the walls he'd built after the death of his father. Gilbert curled up in a ball in the dark and cried until no more tears could come. He'd broken her heart. Just picturing her face when he'd told her, what she'd said, all of it broke his own heart too. He felt wretched and cruel.

Oh how he wished there'd been another way.

...

"What shall we do, January?" Kes asked softly as they waited in the trees outside Barry estate.

They were parked slightly to the side of the road, shaded by the forest but still enjoying the afternoon sun which glittered through the golden-green leaves. Somewhat fatigued, Peggy and January were sat up on Rosalie's cart, with Kes leaning against it, looking glum. Jerry was restlessly pacing the road, at intervals glancing up at Diana's window that stood just visible over the high wall.

January watched Kes as he spoke. His voice was quiet, but his eyes were thoughtful. Anne hadn't been inside for long, they didn't mind waiting but it had given them time to mull over their thoughts.

"We wait for Anne. We came all this way for her, we must help her." Jan said.

"I mean in general..." Kes dropped his voice, glancing at Jerry. "We are still on the run. Anne was pardoned, maybe she knows people, maybe she can help us? When we help her of course."

January turned to look at Jerry, who didn't appear to be listening. She looked back to Kes. He looked unusually young then. She often forgot how young he really was because he acted so much older. He was just a boy. The cherubic head of ginger curls framing an innocent-eyed face, freckled and weather-worn. Peggy looked young too. After their time hiding in Rosalie's farm they had bonded beyond that of being thrown together by fate in a prison cell... January didn't know what their future held but she didn't want one without them in it.

"I'm sure Anne will be able to help." January nodded, encouraging him.

Jan felt the need to protect Kes and Peggy, as their older sister of sorts... No matter how tough they both were or behaved, they were still so young.

"We'll sort out everything with Gilbert first and find out who it was who ambushed us and why, and when everything has calmed we can discuss a plan with her."

Peggy listened intently, looking around the rainy, lush green forest. "Avonlea is pretty... it would make a nice home. Anne is so lucky."

"We can have a nice home one day too, don't give up." January comforted her. "There's just a few hurdles along the way. But we can do it, we can do anything together."

"Anne didn't always have this, you know?" Jerry suddenly spoke up, yards away. He had been listening after all.

The others looked at him, surprised.

Jerry stood there, staring at them. "She wasn't always lucky... The Cuthberts adopted her from an orphanage. She had a terrible childhood. They saved her."

"Adopted?" Peggy repeated.

They didn't know she was an orphan, they didn't know she'd been adopted by her current family. January and Kes hadn't known their parents, they'd grown up orphans. Peggy and Rosalie had known their parents but they'd both died when they were young. To know that Anne had a similar childhood and had been adopted to this beautiful town lit a spark of hope in them. Even if she had some problems in her life and her family at the time, to them she was a symbol of things getting better.

"What are they like?" January asked. "The Cuthberts?"

"They're good people... this tension, it's just a misunderstanding. That's all. They will forgive Anne and it will be smoothed over, I have faith. In time." Jerry said.

"How did you meet Anne?" Peggy asked quietly.

"I work for the Cuthberts, on their farm."

"You work? You're the same age as Anne, aren't you?" Kes was surprised.

"I bring money to my family." Jerry told him. "I have many siblings. We need to work to live, I am not the youngest in my family who works."

The girls weren't surprised. While Kes roughed it on the streets picking pockets, Peggy and January worked real jobs as maids from when they were little and they understood Jerry's struggle to bring money in. January never had a family but she had herself to look out for so she knew it was life or death for them.

"Do you know Gilbert well?" Kes asked.

Jerry shrugged. "A little. Well enough."

"Why'd ya think Gilbert said those things to Anne?" Kes asked. "He can't mean it. He doesn't seem..."

Kes trailed off. The word he was probably looking for, January thought, was cold.

January pondered this too. "There's no way he meant it. I don't know him well but, it's just... I think he's the boy Anne spoke of. Remember? When she was at Wolfsden with us, she was completely heartbroken at the thought of never seeing a certain boy again, when we were escaping she even went back for a dress that she'd borrowed from his family... It must be him. The way she looked at Gilbert, it was the same heartbreak."

"Gilbert is the boy, I know." Jerry nodded knowingly. "They were -- éperdument amoureux -- sorry, uhh-- in love... it made me sick." He half-laughed.

"They were really in love?" Peggy asked.

"If he said this to Anne, he's gone mad. Or -- it is not Gilbert that said this... Somebody told him to. If you understand."

"I'm starting to think that's exactly what's happened." January said.

"Oh, poor Anne." Peggy murmured, leaning her head on January's shoulder.

...

Sebastian left Gilbert alone for a while to calm down, busying himself in the porch until he came in an hour later and listened intently at the bottom of the stairs. He couldn't hear any commotion or noise from the boy's room so he crept up to his door. Knocking gently, he called through the wood.

"Gilbert? Can I come in?"

There was no reply.

"Blythe? Are you alright?"

Bash waited for a few more minutes but it became apparent he could expect no answer. He turned the handle and pushed open the door slowly, blinking into the dark room. It was late afternoon now and the weak, setting sun was blackened out by Gilbert's curtains. The incessant rain beat down endlessly on the roof, sounding louder up there than it had in the kitchen below. It was like the low and broken beat of poorly-timed drumming, or the thrum of a broken heart.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Bash spotted Gilbert. The poor boy was sat on the floor by his bed, hunched over and covering his head with his hands. Papers and books were strewn across the floorboards surrounding him. Bash had never seen Gilbert so distressed. Gilbert had stopped crying at this point, instead sunken into a heavy, silent sadness that clung to him, dragging him down into paralysis. The sadness hung thickly in the air itself.

"Oh Blythe..." Bash sighed sympathetically.

"Go." Came Gilbert's voice, muffled and hoarse from crying. "Leave me, I don't want to see anyone right now. I'm fine."

Bash surveyed the scene. This had to be about Anne. He knew Gilbert was head over heels for the passionate young redhead, she was one of the only things that inspired him and excited him besides his medical studies and travelling. She was the light of his life. Something bad must have happened to her if he was this broken.

"You're not fine. Be honest with me now, boy." Bash said sternly.

"I'm fine." Gilbert repeated, attempting a harsher tone but still sounding undeniably fragile.

"What happened? This is about her, ain't it?" Bash persisted. "Anne--"

"Don't say her name." Gilbert blurted, looking up finally.

Gilbert's face was pale and streaked with tears and dirt. His long, overgrown curls were crumpled and damp from the rain. His usually shining hazel eyes were red from crying.

"Come... Tell me what happened." Sebastian tried to be gentler.

"You don't need to know. It's none of your business." Gilbert said defensively.

Then almost instantly he seemed to weaken, in both resolve and tone. There was resentment behind his words but it was purely directed at himself.

"What difference does it make? It's done now anyway, it can't be undone. There's nothing you can do."

"What can't be undone?"

"There's nothing anyone can do." Gilbert paused. He looked away, seeming to be hit by another wave of emotions. "It was for the best."

"What was?" Bash was getting impatient now.

What had been so bad to get Gilbert this upset? What had happened?

"Blythe, you got to talk straight to me. I don't know what you're saying."

"I don't have to do anything! You can't make me do anything." Gilbert was sensitive to this. "Nobody can make me do anything, ever again."

Nobody can make me do anything, ever again... What did that mean? Bash thought. Who had made Gilbert do something?

Bash decided that Gilbert was clearly too upset to talk at that time. Something terrible had happened, to make him so upset and angry and defensive. He'd find out what. Bash resolved to go and see Anne for himself, to get to the bottom of this...

...

"I can't go home, Diana." Anne mourned. "I'm so ashamed..."

Diana frowned. "Why would Marilla believe the rumour?"

"I don't know. I don't think Matthew does, which I'm thankful for. I'm also thankful you hadn't yet heard it so I could get to you first and you wouldn't believe it either."

"I dread when my parents hear it. They'll surely forbid us from being friends but I won't let it stop us." Diana said fiercely. "Oh I cannot bare to think of school tomorrow... Oh Anne."

"They'll be wicked." Anne grieved, thinking of Billy Andrews and Josie Pye in particular.

"Who would do such a thing?" Diana pondered.

"This is not the first time somebody has attempted to tarnish my name and reputation, don't forget." Anne said bitterly.

"How could I..." Diana said. "But he's gone, Anne..."

"He's not the last... There are others now. A-- a gang." Anne explained. "I saw them in the woods. I don't know if they knew Joseph, but they-- they came out of nowhere and they took my friends."

"They took your friends? Why would they do that?"

"It was just a distraction." Anne said. "So they could--"

She stopped suddenly, a realisation dawning. Originally they'd thought Gilbert would be in trouble, or hurt when they found him, but what he'd said had shocked and distracted her so much she'd forgotten it completely... They hadn't hurt him, they hadn't even gotten to him. Or so she'd thought. What if they had gotten to him? In a different way.

"So they could get to Gilbert." Anne finished, her words deathly quiet.

"Anne?" Diana leant forward, looking at her friend who seemed to be lost in thought.

"What if..." Anne felt lightheaded at the mere thought... If she got her hopes up and they were crushed she wasn't sure she'd recover.

Suddenly she got to her feet, imbued with a fragile hope. Diana was surprised.

"I have to go." Anne said.

"Why? Where are you going?"

But Anne was already climbing out of Diana's bedroom window, her mind a run with thoughts and ideas.

"Anne! Are you going to be alright?" Diana called.

"Oh, Diana." Anne looked up through her tangled red hair. "If this means what I think it means, I'm going to be just fine."

As Anne disappeared out the window Diana looked down at the sheet of paper lying crumpled on the bed. It was her acceptance letter to Pierrepoint Finishing Academy in Paris. She had planned to tell Anne about it when she next saw her but Anne had not even stopped for a moment for Diana to share her problems too. She had been gone in the blink of an eye. Diana sighed deeply, trying to push down that sick feeling of pressure which had been building in her chest ever since she'd heard her parents discuss finishing school.

...

"Tell us again." January insisted, lost in Anne's rambling.

The girl had climbed down from Diana's window and scrambled back up the road to her friends who remained waiting patiently in the trees. They'd been shocked to see her so uplifted after just half an hour talking to her friend. When they'd last seen her she'd been a complete emotional wreck. With Anne it was always all or nothing, her highs were indescribably intense and her lows were crippling in their pain.

Gathered around the excited girl, the friends listened. She took a deep breath, trying to formulate her words

"What if... they-- the gang really did get to him... what if they made him say those things? What if what he said -- what if it wasn't true?" Anne panted.

The group exchanged contemplating glances. They'd discussed the same theory but now that Anne had come to the same conclusion it seemed more of a risky theory to dig into. If it turned out to be untrue then Anne would be heartbroken all over again...

"Either way he lied to you." Jerry said. He was angry with Gilbert for upsetting Anne.

"I want to go and see him. I want to talk to him about it." Anne admitted quietly, as if the words embarrassed her.

"Anne, I don't know if that's a good idea. After what he said--" January began hesitantly.

"Please." Anne whispered. Her big grey eyes were so full of hope January didn't have the heart to say no.

...

"Anne. Maybe he's gone out." January said when Anne knocked for the second time on the Blythe's front door.

"He probably just didn't hear." Anne spoke softly.

Anne felt as though she were holding her breath, waiting on the edge of a cliff not knowing whether she'd fall to the depths if she jumped or if she'd fly...

"We should go." Jerry said. He didn't think this meeting was a good idea at all. After how upset Anne had been, it was bound to end in more tears and he didn't like Anne to be sad.

"Jerry." Anne snapped. Their doubts were making her even more nervous. She knocked for the third time and the door swung open.

Gilbert Blythe stood there, pale with red, bloodshot eyes and his dark hair unkempt. Despite having travelled a long way he hadn't changed clothes or washed since he'd returned home. It was obvious to everyone but Anne that he'd been crying... Anne was so afraid of what he might say that she could barely process anything at all, including how to breathe. She felt dizzy.

"What are you doing here?" Gilbert spoke harshly but his voice sounded choked. He was shocked to see her. It hit him like a speeding wagon.

"I-- I--" Anne stammered. She blinked rapidly, nerves swarming in her chest like bees. She took a deep breath. "Can w-we t-talk?"

"That's not a good idea." Gilbert said firmly, his hazel eyes flickering to Jerry and the others who stood further off behind Anne.

"Please?" Anne murmured, her damaged heart leaping painfully in her chest in a mixture of hope and panic.

"What is there to talk about?" Gilbert reproached, struggling to meet her gaze. "It's over, Anne. Move on."

Anne felt the stab in her heart again, as though it was tearing all over. The breath in her lungs heaved shallow and the scene before her seemed to tilt and sway slightly as she gazed up at the beautiful boy she'd fallen madly in love with. It hurt to be this close to him and to be so far apart.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

"Did they--" Anne felt tears in her eyes again. She wasn't used to Gilbert being so cold to her. She forced herself to continue. "Did t-they make you s-say this? The-- the bad p-people in the woods?"

A shadow ran across Gilbert's eyes. He hesitated. How did she know? There was a split-second pause, lasting a lifetime. Could he confess? Tell her the truth? No. It was too dangerous. Then,

"What bad people? You sound absolutely crazy, Anne. You have to leave."

Jerry bristled. "Don't talk to her like that." He moved forward defensively. "Come, Anne. We have to get you home."

"What home?" Anne spoke hopelessly, the wind taken from her wings.

She was plummeting down the cliff irreversibly, falling, falling but no cries could leave her mouth.  Tears swam in her big grey eyes before trickling down her blotchy cheeks.

"Let's go." January decided, seeing how close to breaking Anne was. She walked to her friend and grabbed her arm, tugging her away. Anne let out a sob and gave into her friend who walked her down the path.

Gilbert watched her go, his mouth open as though words were screaming to come out but he was holding them back. So much he wanted to say waited glued to the tip of his tongue. He wanted to tell her the truth, tell her everything. Tell her it had been the only way. Instead he watched her go, broken again. It was worse because she had known and he had called her crazy. After last year when he'd made her promise to tell him when she was in trouble, to be honest and they'd work through it all together. But here he was keeping something from her.

He'd broken her heart and their promises.

...

Anne was in a daze, her mind lost in a sea of thoughts of Gilbert.

Riding back to Green Gables, Anne felt defeated and hopeless. Resigned, she was going to face Marilla. She had nowhere else to go and it didn't matter any longer if she was forbidden from seeing Gilbert. He had all but forbidden her himself... She couldn't see him even if she wanted to because he didn't want to see her.

The pain in her chest was still there, pounding with every heartbeat. It was a sickness, shooting through her veins with every breath. Her friends were with her, wondering where they'd go by the end of the night.

As the sun set they rode over the hill and saw Green Gables in the distance. The rain had finally stopped, providing a much welcome relent. Anne felt no dread or fear for the recompense she'd surely face from Marilla for running away. The Wolfsden gang thought Green Gables was truly beautiful and how lucky Anne was despite everything. They drove up the path and Jerry dismounted and opened the gate, looking up at Anne.

"Good luck with them. I see you tomorrow." He said gently. Anne managed a small smile of gratitude before he headed home to his family.

They rode into the yard and before they'd even parked up the cart Marilla was out of the door.

"Anne!" She charged at the girl, her face white. "Goodness knows what you were thinking running away, you scared me half to death. If anything had happened-- I would-- I would have-- Well thank the Lord that it didn't."

Anne clambered down and Marilla hugged her. Any anger and injustice Anne had felt about Marilla's choices and the things she'd said had been buried beneath grief for Gilbert's love. Anne felt that it didn't matter any longer. She needed to be home, with somebody she knew would never forsake her. Marilla had been ashamed and furious with her and still hugged her, still worried about her, still loved her.

Gilbert's words rattled around her head like a bullet in a barrel...

'I'm ashamed of us. You ruin me.'

Anne was too exhausted to cry but she held on tight to the older woman, afraid she'd crumble into pieces if she let go.

"Oh child, there now. I know. I know." Marilla stroked Anne's hair.

She was relieved Anne seemed to have forgiven her. Lord knows by then Marilla had recovered from the initial shock of hearing the rumour from Rachel. Losing Anne, watching her run away and not knowing where she was or if she was coming back had been more terrifying than any future shame or humiliation. She still wanted to talk to Anne about everything, to discuss things and get it all cleared up. She was dreading Anne's return to school in the morning and the inevitable prejudice and bullying Anne would face. It would be like when Anne first began school all over again.

"Who are your friends?" Marilla asked, looking at the peculiar bunch from over her shoulder.

"They're people I met at Diana's party." Anne hastily lied. She knew it was awful to lie but she was afraid Marilla would be angry again if she explained that they were convicted criminals, escaped and in hiding from the police. "They came a long way to see me."

The Wolfsden friends instantly picked up the lie. They got the message that Marilla mustn't know they were criminals. It was understandable... They were used to hiding their identity, to reveal it would bring more trouble to Anne and her family.

"How kind," Marilla said. She knew Anne would need friends in the chaos to ensue the following day. "They can stay with us for the night. We have the spare rooms."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." January said politely, walking forward. "I am January, this is Kes and Peggy."

"Very pleased to meet you, I'm Marilla Cuthbert. Thank you for helping return Anne home to us. We are forever grateful."

Just then Matthew appeared from out of the barn and saw Anne. He ran to her and Anne slipped from Marilla and embraced him. Marilla watched them. She knew that Matthew hadn't believed the rumours from the start. Anne knew it too. Marilla wished she could so easily forget the rumours and ignore the consequences of such a damaging rumour, to resist her anger. Anne would love her more, Marilla was sure. She wished Anne knew that she never loved her less than Matthew.

"Come now, I will show you the rooms." Marilla said to Anne's friends, feeling uncomfortable in Anne's presence. January, Peggy and Kes followed Marilla into Green Gables as Anne and Matthew hugged.

The sun was low between the tree branches of the woods, birds singing goodnight as the sky turned dark purple and gold. Anne saw a single crow land on the fence post. One for sorrow, just as there had been before Anne left for the recital.

"My sweet girl, I was so worried." Matthew spoke softly.

"I didn't do it," Anne whispered. "We would never..."

"I believe you." Matthew replied under his breath. "She will understand one day."

"Oh Matthew, Gil--Gil-- he said he d-doesn't want to see or t-talk to me anymore... He s-said he's ashamed of me." Anne bit her trembling lip.

Matthew listened patiently, but he was surprised. He had always been shy and socially inept but even he had managed to pick up the signs that Gilbert Blythe was very fond of Anne... Indeed Matthew had always presumed the pair would court when the time came and eventually marry. It was a shock to hear this from Anne, even despite the awful rumours circulating... Surely Gilbert was not one to be influenced by popular opinion? Matthew had thought higher of him... This made no sense.

"I never thought he'd say anything like that... I thought I could trust him. I feel so alone." Anne felt the lump in her throat again. "School will be hateful tomorrow."

To see Anne so heartbroken was upsetting for Matthew. He found it hard to deal with people getting emotional but Anne was his daughter, it was different. He had to be the grown up, to comfort her and help somehow.

"Well now, things are sure to be -- tough for you, for a little while... What with everything." Matthew began, speaking slowly. "Some people get frightened when things like this happen, like Marilla... But no matter what happens, you will never be alone."

"I'm so grateful to have you, my kindred spirit." Anne murmured.

"You know Anne, you have taught me something so important. To be brave. You are the bravest person I ever knew. I'm proud of your bravery and I envy you for it. There's no use worrying yourself about school, or the future. Whatever comes at us in life we will face together bravely. As a family."