THE NEXT DAY MISS STACY TOLD
her students about the new rules they got about the school papers.

"We'd best stick to the instructions for now. Maybe they'll take them back at some point," she said.

"No one's forcing them to read the paper," Gilbert said. Amybella stood up.

"Mrs. Stacy. I'm sorry, but I'm against that plan. I say we fight back. They don't get to tell us what we should write or not. It's our articles."

"You have no say in this matter. Do you want to destroy what's left for us of the paper, in her place?!" Moody took the floor against Bella.

"Again, I had nothing to do with that article!" Amybella bit back.

"But you're no better!" he shouted over the noise that had arisen.

„What?!" Amybella yelled back in shock.

"Hold on. Let's not forget where all this started! It started with Billy Andrews disrespecting Josie Pye!" Gilbert intervened.

"He wasn't just disrespectful he was-" Bella was interrupted.

"YOU GAVE HIM A BLUE EYE!" shouted Tillie. Gilbert grabbed Bella's arm before the girl could snap again. He shoved her a few steps back, stepping in front of Tillie.

"Anne stood up for a person who suffered a cruelty. That person could've easily been you." It got quiet in the room. Gilbert looked at Bella behind him as the blonde crossed her arms defiantly. Tillie was silent, as were the others. The Blythe boy then picked up Anne's article.

"Women matter on their own. Not in relation to a man. Whom here disagrees?" No one said anything and Bella visibly calmed down.

"We all have the right to bodily autonomy! And to be treated with respect and dignity. To say 'stop' and to be heard. Instead of being pushed, derided, and told that a man knows more about our basic rights and desires than we do." He read and then looked up.

"What do you think Moody? Do you know more about the contents of Ruby's mind than she does?" Moody shook his head.

"I.. barely know one thing." He replied, looking at the blonde girl.

"I certainly know more than that," Ruby said and caused Bella to smile slightly.

"Women are not made whole by men. WOMEN are made whole, the moment they enter this world." Bella had taken the article away from Gilbert.

"You say all these things, but yet you know she would stand up for you. I, would stand up for you. So listen to me now, because we don't have much time." They fell silent and Bella walked towards the door. She opened it and Anne stepped in with a stack of wood in her hand.

"I know you don't want to see me right now, but I have a plan!" She said, visibly uncomfortable.
The girls ran up to Anne and hugged her.

"No, Anne, not at all!"

"We're so sorry," said Diana.
Bella clapped her hands together in joy.

"Let's get to work!"

Amybella knocked on the door of the Pye house and a woman opened it.

"Hello. May I talk to Josie?" She asked politely. The woman, who must have been something like the housemaid, turned around and left. Shortly afterwards, Josie appeared at the door and gave Bella a disparaging look.

"What do you want McCurthy?" her voice was defiant, her look icy cold. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"The article wasn't against you. Hitting Anne won't help you. You know she only wanted to help," Bella said calmly. Josie stepped out the door and stood dangerously close to Bella now.

"You and her, you destroyed my reputation! My whole life. You couldn't get up to my level so you dragged me down to yours." she hissed.

Bella stepped up one step, so there were almost no space left between them. She looked deep into Josie's eyes, which caused the girl's expression to become uncertain.

"You really believe that? Who told you that, huh? Your parents?" She bared her teeth.

"My parents.. know.. what is good for me! You have no idea-.." Josie said through gritted teeth and Bella interrupted her.

"Did your parents defend you? Or did they say it was your own fault?" Josie looked down.

"Do you realize that? It's called manipulation Josie. You're telling me your reputation was destroyed." She remained silent, but didn't look away.

"But tomorrow Josie.. tomorrow, we'll start something." Bella took a step away.

"Tomorrow at the town hall. Either you come and stop pretending or letting them tell you what your worth is. Or you stay here, hide away and continue to listen to everything your folks say." Josie was silent for a while.
As she opened her mouth to say something, her father appeared behind her.

"Get off my property, you brat." He took Josie by the shoulders, who looked at Bella sadly. The blonde girl nodded and then looked at her father.

"Have a nice day Mr. Pye." She nodded and turned around.

"Don't let yourself be seen here again!" He yelled after her. The door closed and Bella grinned to herself, knowing Gilbert was waiting for her at home.

"What happened, rebel?" Bella grinned and put her arms around Gilbert's neck.

„Rebel?" she asked and Gilbert nodded smiling.

"Thank you. For standing up for us. Defending Anne." she then said.

"Maybe you will become a 'feminist' after all!" Bella then said and grinned. She felt Gilbert's arm around her waist.

"Feminist? That's a word?" He asked and Amybella laughed.

"What, you don't know feminism?" She asked and Gilbert shook his head.

"I learned it from Anne. She uses many big words." Bella said and the boy laughed.
He then lowered his head and placed his lips tenderly on hers.

•

"Ready?" Amybella asked the boy with the brown curls.

"Ready." Gilbert grinned and took her hand. They waved their white scarves and set off. On the way to the town hall, they picked up many people who joined the march. Perhaps out of curiosity or confusion.

"Come with us to the town hall!"
They arrived and grabbed all the boards. Bella pushed open the doors to the hall and saw Rachel's shocked face.

"Good afternoon gentlemen!" She shouted as they all entered. The students ran across the room towards the stage.

"What is going on now?!" cursed the Minister.

"Excuse me, we're in a meeting!" Rachel had also stood up.

„AMYBELLA!" she gasped in horror when she saw the girl she took care of. Bella walked past her.

"Well.." she exclaimed indignantly and stepped next to Gilbert, who gave Moody a sign.

"Go!" Bella said and followed them backstage. She took Anne's hand as they stepped out from behind the curtain.

"Good morning! What you are about to witness is an organized action!" Anne said loudly.

"This is an outrage! That's what it is. How dare you-" one of the councillors stood up and shouted, but was interrupted.

"They have a right to their saying!" said Marilla. No one would have expected it from her specifically.

"We are not here to provoke!" shouted Anne, then Bella caught sight of Josie. Anne noticed her too.
Indeed, she had come.

"We are here.. to be heard." Josie ran up to them and they took her into their midst.

"Even though you tried to silence our voices!" Bella shouted before they opened the curtains. The crowd was astonished by what they saw.
The other students stood in a row. Mouths gagged and signs in their hands.

'Freedom of speech is a human right.'

The crowd was silent. They were speechless.

"Well.. we have a message for you."

"Now come along now, that's quite, quite enough!" the minister stood up. He tried to take the signs away from them, but he didn't succeed.

Gilbert came up to him with a piece of paper in his hand. It was the list of topics to write about in the future.

"Thanks for the suggestions." He took the sheet, tore it in half and dropped it carelessly on the floor. Bella smiled.
Gilbert stood in front of the pastor with his chin up, showing no fear.

"Mrs. Stacy. Control your children!" the pastor then called out. And pointed his finger at the blonde teacher. Bella walked up to him while picking up the torn halves of the note.

"Dear pastor. We are.. not children." She said.

"And they are NOT out of control!" Shouted Mrs. Stacy. Bella crumpled up the papers, took the pastor's hand and put it inside of his palm. She squeezed his hand tightly and looked him stubbornly in the eye.

"And my job is going great, your concern is completely unfounded." She strode away from him to Gilbert. The crowd clapped as they grinned proudly.

Later on, they celebrated at Mrs. Stacy's house over their victory and Gilbert sat outside the door.

"We changed something today." he said, while Bella sat down with him. She looked at his sparkling eyes then she stared up at the starry sky.

„Indeed we did."

"You didn't know anything. So how could you be responsible?" Anne and Amybella sat with Mrs. Lindt on her sofa.
Someone had burned down the school. Out of cowardice. Fear.
The effect their actions had caused. Someone wanted to threaten them and force them down.

"Because I'm a member of this council. And I'm convinced it was them. I can feel it in my bones. Yes, they were angry, but I would never have thought of that," Rachel said.

"Yes, because it's unimaginable," said Marilla, holding Delphine.

"It's more than that. The way they talked about women. Including myself," Rachel said again.

"The Minister told me I should get married and not go to work," Bella snorted disgustedly. Rachel looked at her and Bella knew she had a critically opinion on Bella's activities the last months. The woman of course didn't hold back her opinion about it.

"And especially after your debacle." Marilla said, looking at Bella as if she still had to decide whether the Minister was right or wrong.

"Was it really a.. Debacle?" asked Anne. Rachel sniffled and took her hand.

"Not any more. It's good that you brought everything to light. People have shown their true colors. Nothing is like it was before. But don't worry, I'm a very good companion for you. Leave it to me." Bella smiled and Rachel's eyes turned back to the girl.

"In earlier days, I would have said the pastor was right, but.. you made a choice and you.. well you worked your way through. yes. It was your will, your decision and although I had my doubts! I left it to you, to do what seems necessary to you. As long as you are happy, it should be fine." She smiled tentatively.
Bella, on the other hand, grinned widely. Even though Rachel didn't hold back her undertone, these were the nicest words, the woman had ever said to her.

"Thank you Rachel."

After her working shift, she walked through the market with Abraxas, along the harbor.

"Shh!" Bella turned around when she thought she heard something.

"Shh!" The blonde looked next to her and spotted a girl with short black hair.

But it wasn't just any girl.

"Ka'kwet?!" Bella asked, shocked at the girl's appearance.

Where were her braids? Her red hat and the accessories in her hair?

The little girl stood up and ran the few steps towards Amybella. She fell into the blonde's arms and sobs started to flash through her body. Her shoulders were shaking and she was trembling terribly. Amybella wrapped her arms around her when she noticed how thin the girl was. She looked starved, like she hadn't eaten in days.

"What happened to you?!" Ka'kwet shook her head when she didn't want to give an answer. Bella looked around.

"You don't look well at all. Are you hungry?" The little girl nodded hastily. Bella searched in her saddlebag and gave her the breakfast, which she hadn't eaten.

"Come on. I'll take you home." Ka'kwet ran her small hands over her face and Bella noticed scars on them. She gently took the wrist of the girl into her hand to see the wounds that came from a teacher's baton.

„My goodness what did they do to you?!" Bella asked terrified. Ka'kwet again wrapped her arms around Bella as if she was afraid she would lose her.
Amybella returned the gesture immediately. Then she helped her onto Abraxas and they walked towards Dr. Walt's office.
On the way, they walked past the café and Bella saw Gilbert and Mrs. Rose again. Winnifred or whatever her name was, but this time there was another man and a woman who sat with them at the table. Anger rose up inside Bella.
He was hiding something from her.

She got on Abraxas, behind Ka'kwet and took the reins into her hands as they rode off.

They arrived at Ka'kwet's tribe and Amybella could feel the many eyes on her as people were running out of their tents, leaving everything they had done before standing.

Bella got off Abraxas and helped Ka'kwet down. As soon as the girl was on the ground, she ran towards Oquatnuk, who also ran towards her, and fell into her arms. Aluk, the head of the tribe and also their father, came running from the forest. He looked at the two of them sitting on the ground before his eyes met Bella's.

"What happened? Did you do this to her?" he asked. The people from the tribe around them started talking and shouting things, Bella didn't understand. They were upset. Aluk walked towards the blonde girl.

"I-I-.." her words caught in her throat as she backed away.

"Sir-.. I didn't-.." She shook her head nervously, not being able to give the man a proper answer. Ka'kwet's father was angry, he didn't try to hide it like he often did. Bella understood his fury. She knew exactly how he felt.

So much had already been taken from them. They could hardly trade, hunt, were excluded from society. They entrusted their child to the church and it comes back in this state. Completely traumatized and distraught. Bell wouldn't have been surprised if they had snapped. But they didn't do that.

Ka'kwet called out to Aluk. She sobbed when she seemed to explain her father what had happened, because his gaze suddenly softened. Amybella's heart was racing, she was nervous because of all the stares that got shot into her.

"You brought my daughter back home?" Bella's eyes met Aluk's brown ones. Rachel had told her his eyes were black and terrifying. Like the eyes of a murderer, but they were the opposite. They were a soft brown and full of emotion that it was beautiful.

Aluk looked at Bella before running to his wife and child. He embraced them so lovely that it made the Bella's heart ache to see them kneeling there on the floor. A family that does everything for each other and protects each other.

Oquatnuk looked up at the girl. She then held out her arm and gestured for Bella to come towards her. Amybelma saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She wrapped the girl in a hug. She said something in their language, Bella didn't understand.

"She says thank you," said Aluk, who had his arm around Ka'kwet. Amybella nodded with a tear running down her cheek. What was going on in this world, right in front of her. It swept her away.

That school Ka'kwet had gone to hadn't treated her well at all and Bella had to stop it with all the power she had inside her flesh.

To see this family, reunited as it was, a family that Bella also wished for, tore her heart into many pieces.

Author's note:
Anne Shirley Cuttbert the woman you are!
I will never forget how this show shaped me into the woman I am today.

On my post board I put on a few words about the history of indigenous people. For those who asked themselves what happened to ka'kwet after season 3 just search on google „residential schools" and you'll find her ending.

Read my board to inform yourself because this topic is still important today!

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