Chapter 1

Ms. Rachel is Surprised

Marilla Cuthbert was 55. She was born in 1958 to her parents John and Ariel Cuthbert. She had two siblings. One whom she lived with her family home, her older brother, Matthew who was 65. And a sister, Mae, who was younger. Much younger. Mae was born in 1973. She ran away when she was 18. Marilla's family didn't talk about her. Which Marilla had no problem since Mae hadn't even contacted the family when their parents died in a sudden car accident in 2000.

Marilla, a librarian at the local Lutheran elementary School, grew up in the small twon of Beecher Illinois. Marilla had a sharp sense of wit. And something that someone might call humor under certain circumstances. She was the state champion every year in 4-H for her Foods project, quite a triumph for a small town girl. People said that when she smiled, there was no one more beautiful. However it had been a long time since anyone had seen her smile. Many people claimed it had to do with one of the only scandals that the Cuthberts had been involved.

Once, Marilla was wildly and passionately in love with a man. They had been dating each other since they were freshmen in high school. High School Sweethearts, they decided to get married after graduation. But it never happened. A huge argument broke out between them. Some claimed it was because Marilla decided to go to a small church college to become a librarian and her bo wanted her to settle down. Others claim that there was another woman. But no one actually knew what happened. And Marilla never said anything about it, other than to say that she wasn't remotely upset over this. She claimed that it would have never worked any way. They argued far too often. But from that day on, Marilla kept her hair in a tight bun. And she hadn't smiled in a very long time. In fact she kept her face in a tight frown. A frown that made her face sharp and hard. So, her beauty could only be seen when she was alone in her bed asleep where there was no one to see it.

Her brother, Matthew, farmed the family property. A quiet man who minded his own business and his own affairs, had always been seen as a bit peculiar, though never in a negative light. For it quite obvious that Matthew was just a shy man. He rarely spoke. And when he did, it was always quiet and brief. He went to church regularly, sat in the back pew with his sister, and never sang a word. But followed along in the hymnal.

The town knew the brother and sister to be rather aloof. But there was a sense of respect for the two, whose family had been there since the town was founded. In fact the Cuthberts founded the town. A statue of their great grandfather stood in the town square of Beecher. Marilla had always hated the statue, because it looked like her father when he was cross. Matthew too did not like the statue. He had been afraid of the statue ever since he was a small boy.

Their house, Green Gables had been built during a time when people named houses. An old Victorian house, had been declared a historical landmark. It had a bronze plaque and everything. It was very close to the town's public library. This made Green Gables very near the center of town. The entire house complete with wrap-around porch was white, except for the roof, which was green, and seemed frozen in time. There was no air-conditioning or cable, only public stations. The appliances were all from the 1970's. The phones, of which there were only two, had cords. The stairs still creaked. The furniture was even older than either Marilla or Matthew, as it was the original furniture. There was a library filled with old hardback books. There were no showers, only baths, two with claw feet. The only exception to this freeze in time was that the house did have the internet. But it was rarely used. It was something that Marilla's father had gotten. He had been a professor in Chicago. And when he retired, he wanted to keep in contact with his colleagues. And the easiest way to do so was through email. Marilla only kept it because she enjoyed playing online Euchre and Hearts. Matthew would not come near the computer. It was almost as though he thought it would bite him.

The entire house was immaculate. It smelled of lemons, because Marilla scrubbed and cleaned it clean daily. She loved the house dearly, and she took care of it as if it were her child. She polished the ornate wood carvings in the staircase and fireplace. She swept the floor everyday. The house's oriental rugs were vacuumed weekly. Every surface in the house was dusted regularly. The windows cleaned monthly. Special attention was given to Marilla's favorite window in the front hall. A stain glass panel covered in roses that were bright red that her great grandfather had sent in from New York. Marilla also had Matthew paint the house at least every five years or so. Just to keep the appearance up. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was chipping paint.

The Cuthberts also owned farmland, which was worth a very pretty penny. But Matthew refused to sell it. He loved farming and it was the only thing that he was very good at doing. So neither Marilla nor Matthew even dreamed about selling even a small section of the land.

Aside from the school and her home, Marilla spent a great deal of time with her best friend since childhood, Rachel Lynde.

Ms. Rachel was known through out the entire area as the Mayor's sister. Many people would joke with one another that Ms. Rachel was the one who actually ran the town. And in truth, Ms. Rachel was the reason her baby brother won the election. In fact most people referred to her brother as Ms. Rachel's brother, who also happens to be Mayor. Though people joked about, everyone was glad that Ms. Rachel was secretly in charge so to speak. Because everyone knew that Ms. Rachel got things done. She was an expert on just about everything. She ran prayer meetings at church, was the head of the LWML(Lutheran Women's Missionary League), and won the best pie at the local county fair every year. Not to mention that she knitted, she cooked, had bonfires for local high schoolers, went "bird watching", hosted the Advent Tea every year, had tickets to the local community theater(of which she was a patron), AND was the president of the book of the month club. In addition to all of that Ms. Rachel was the principal to the very same school that Marilla was librarian at.

So, it came as quite a shock when Ms. Rachel looked at her stack of registration papers only to discover that the Cuthberts were applying for registration for a little boy, A. Shirley.

"Marilla Cuthbert! What is this?" clamored Ms. Rachel busting into the library.

"Rachel, I must ask you to lower your volume. You are, in fact, in a library."

"What is the meaning of this Marilla?" replied Ms. Rachel adjusting her volume accordingly and waving the admissions paper in Marilla's face.

"Oh that," said Marilla as she scanned the paper in front of her.

"Yes this!"

"Well, since you asked. Our sister Mae passed away apparently. Years ago, as a matter of fact. Anyway they just found out about next of kin. Apparently the Chicago foster care has been backed up for ages. And they only just discovered that her son was left to me."

"Marilla Cuthbert! How could you keep this from me? Foster care of all things!"

"Keep this from you, Rachel. I couldn't hide the fact that our dog died from you for even five minutes before you had posted a picture of the damn thing on that infernal facebook sending your love and regrets."

"Yes, well, I like to be informed."

"And it's one of the things that I admire you for."

"But Marilla, you haven't met the child! And he's been bopping about in foster care! You'll have your hands full! Foster care children are always the worst behaved. You would know this if you were an educator."

"Well, what would you have Matthew and I do? Kick the boy to the curb?"

"Of course you couldn't do that. But Marilla, what will you do?"

"I suppose just take him in and treat as best we can. Give him a home. Though I doubt I will be able to help him much, if he has a constitution like his mother."

"Well just thank your stars he is a boy! Imagine if he was a girl. Then he would be exactly like Mae! And with foster care! Lord!"

"Thankfully he is a boy. So we will have nothing to worry about. Now will we?" replied Marilla facetiously. As if the child's gender would have anything to do with their behavior.