Hi, this chapter is an introduction to Joyce's character and is set during Rainbow Valley. The following chapters will be glimpses into Joy's life and then they real story will taken place when she goes to Redmond and it will continue until after World War One. I hope you all enjoy it as it is my second attempt at writing a story about Joyce and I believe this is much better than my first
Lily :)
Rainbow Valley was magical in winter, in summer it was colourful and fun and had places to play in the sun or the shade, but when it was covered in snow it looked quite different. A three year old Rilla Blythe once described it as 'the north pole' and her siblings agreed with her because Father Christmas wouldn't have seemed out of place skating along the river.
However, while it was a lovely place in winter it was unusual for anyone to venture out in the cold to spend time in the valley. There was only one exception. In one of the barren trees a boot could be seen hanging off a branch. The boot belonged to one of the Blythe girls. One of the red haired girls. Anyone who saw her would have known it couldn't have been Di, because of that unfortunate incident with the burrs only a few months previously. So the long red braids had to belong to the eldest child - Joyce.
She sat on a high up branch with a tin of biscuits resting against her stomach and she held a book in front of her face. The book? One of her father's medical books. One of the less gory ones. For a young girl of fourteen she was certain about what she wanted to do in the future. And that was nursing.
" Joy." Her solitude had ended as her father walked towards the tree. With ease she jumped out of the tree, and smiled.
" That's where the biscuits got to. Susan was blaming Jem," Gilbert Blythe said, taking said tin from his daughter's arms.
" It is usually Jem," she said, putting her mittened hand in her father's much larger one.
" Between the two of you there is no food left for the rest of us," he said. " I had to stop off at the Robinson house this morning. Miss Robinson only has good things to say about you. She wants you to sit the Queens exam next year."
" But I won't be old enough. You have to be sixteen and I won't be sixteen until the end of June," Joy said.
" She is going to ask them to let you sit it anyway," Gilbert said.
" I'll have to study harder then. Everyone else will be a bit older than me."
" I'm sure you'll manage. Are you coming with me this afternoon?" Gilbert asked. On a Friday afternoon he visited the people who had no one else to check on them, and the newborn babies. Joyce loved going with him, she was a ray of sunshine for everyone she met.
" Yes please. Is Mrs Carr's little baby alright? You said last week she was awful ill," she said.
" She's much better now. You have to be careful when a baby is so small, they have a very weak immune system."
" Is it going to snow again Daddy? I feel sorry for people who have never seen snow. It's so magical. It's like living in a different world. A world where dwarves and fauns and fairies and pixies exist. I think in that world Rainbow Valley would be home to hundreds of creatures, it's such a wonderful place. They would just be drawn to it," Joy said, opening the back door and stepping into the warm kitchen. She kicked the snow off her boots and then took her outside clothes off.
Gilbert watched her with a smile. That was Joy. She was so changeable, one minute she was sensible and spoke with a tone belonging to someone twice her age and the next minute she was in the world of her imagination where Di and Walter lived as well.