forevermorelife's
Our Avonlea
A revival of Sullivan Entertainment's Road to Avonlea
Starring:
Jackie Burroughs as Hetty King
Cedric Smith as Alec King
Lally Cadeau as Janet King
Gema Zamprogna as Felicity King-Pike
Zachary Bennett as Felix King
Joel Blake as Andrew King
Molly Atkinson as Cecily King
and Sarah Polley as Sara Stanley
The First Chapter:
The Journey Begins Again
Sara Stanley looked down at the floor of Rose Cottage, and realized she had forgotten to tie her dress boot. She pulled up the long black gown that covered her boot, and tied it. She could hear Hetty puttering around in the kitchen, something she did when she was stressed. Sara stood up quietly and maneuvered around the tea table in front of the sofa. She slowly entered, she didn't want to surprise Hetty and give her something more to concern herself with.
Hetty was forcefully cleaning Aunt Elizabeth's plates, Sara slowly huffed inside, remembering she had broke Great Aunt Elizabeth's platter many years ago. She walked over, and put her hand on Hetty's frail shoulder.
"Aunt Hetty, it's nearly time for the service." she said in a concerned voice. Hetty wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"I'm almost ready. Go warn your Aunt Olivia that we will be leaving shortly." Hetty responded. You could hear the sob in her voice, and the sadness from her heart. Sara opened the front door of Rose Cottage to see Aunt Olivia sitting in Hetty's favorite wicker chair, humming a sad tune.
"Aunt Olivia, we'll be leaving shortly." Sara warned her as well. Olivia shot up, and brushed her dark gown off. "It was very kind of you to return from Halifax for this."
"Oh, Sara, what kind of a human being would I have been if I hadn't." Olivia touched Sara's face. "How is Hetty?"
"She's not dealing with it, I am rather worried that she will break down at this service." Sara said tucking a bit of her golden blonde hair that had fallen out of her perfectly tied bun. With that, Hetty stepped outside, dressed a simple black gown.
"We must go." Hetty whispered. You could plainly see that she had been sobbing when Sara left the kitchen. She wasn't ready to deal with this. Sara took Hetty's arm in hers, and held onto it tightly. They entered the carriage that was waiting for them, and off they went to the tiny little church, that stood in the very spot perpetually.
When they arrived, the church had never been so filled with people as it had been that early spring morning. Sara had never seen as much black and tears as she did that day. She had yet to see any of her family since she had returned from Paris, and what a terrible event to travel home for.
Everyone stared at them as they arrived. Hetty bumped Sara, and reminded her to place her veil over her head. Sara did not like to hide herself from the world, she always believed people deserved to see what she was feeling, and that she deserved to show the world what she was feeling. She didn't want to be hidden from her family, who were most definitely feeling more grief about this then she was. When she had decided to leave Avonlea after five years there, she had missed so much.
Hetty stepped down from the carriage last, with the help of Olivia. No one came to her assistance. Being helpful would've been to painful for most of the folks here in Avonlea. Sara waited for her aunts, and they started to walk through the dewey grass towards the small white church. Under the clouded skies, the church looked almost fluorescent. Sara, through her mesh veil, searched for her family, even though it had been two years since she had returned for Felicity's wedding, she hoped they hadn't changed too much.
"Sara Stanley…?" she heard a deep, yet soft voice call her name. She turned around to see a face she hadn't seen in nearly seven years.
"Andrew?" She had to raise her veil for just a moment, to take in his face. This young man was her rock when she arrived in Avonlea all those years ago, when she was just ten years old. If you remember Andrew King, he was a very handsome boy, a boy positioned to do great things some day. Today he was not much different, he still had the same entrancing complexion, just with more chiseled features, and a far deeper voice then he had seven years ago. His hair color had darkened to a relatively dark brown, and he had gained a lot of muscle mass. If it had been anyone other than Sara, he might've been unrecognizable.
"It's been far too long, Sara." He smiled, even if the circumstances at which they were seeing each other were not the happiest.
"Andrew, I am in shock, I have been yearning to see you for so long. We were only children…" she put her hand to her heart, and decided to lean in for a hug. "Does Hetty know you're here? She will be so ha…. well, I don't know if she can be happy given the circumstances." Sara frowned. Andrew nodded.
"Well, at least I will be around for a little while…" he give a small smile. Sara smiled, and took his hand in hers and lead him to the church where Hetty was already seated with Olivia, Sara whispered a quick "see you soon" to Andrew. Sara got a glance of her King cousins. She saw Cecily sitting with Janet's hands in hers, both holding handkerchiefs to their eyes. Felix and Daniel were sitting close to each other. Felix had his arm around Daniel's shoulder, trying to comfort the weeping child. Daniel looked much older now as well. She hadn't seen him since he was just a toddler. Felix had grown into quite the young man, he had lost the weight that made him look like a child, and grown chiseled features. Sara teared up when she saw Felix. Her partner in crime in everything she did in Avonlea. Felicity sat there weeping into her father's chest. Sara could not get a good look as to what she had become in those two years she had been gone. But what can you expect, when you've just lost your husband.
Gus Pike had died a terrible, and tragic death, and he left Felicity alone in the world, barely married two years. Felicity King-Pike was widowed. Influenza ran rampant through Avonlea the past winter, and struck Gus with a blow. It had also hit Daniel, but he recovered slowly. Gus was not so fortunate. The disease had a firm grasp on his life, that would never let go. Gus Pike was a man that filled the lives of all who surrounded him with happiness, and joy. A gaping hole was left when he departed, in not only the King's lives, but in the whole village of Avonlea. Avonlea would never be the same without Gus Pike in it's midst. That is why the entire population of the tiny village gathered in a mass to give a celebration of the life of Gus Pike. People who had left Avonlea in a very distant past even returned to say goodbye, even people who never knew him, like Andrew, due to all he had heard about him from Hetty's letters.
This was going to be a hard goodbye.
Everyone turned and stared when she entered the room. She was dressed in the simplest gown that Felicity King could possibly wear. Everyone else was wearing the same color, but her gown was as dark as the midnight sky. Her face was hidden under a thick veil, that hid her grief, her mourning. She walked very slowly past the masses of people sitting in the benches that lay across the small church. She held a single white rose. When she reached the closed casket, she put the rose on top and kissed the mahogany casket. She stepped down, and made eye contact with Sara, although Sara would never know it. It did in fact comfort Felicity to know that her cousin was there.
When the Reverend Kane finished his service, he asked if anyone would like to speak. No one stood up, no one spoke up. To Sara's surprise. She would've spoke, but she did not want to be the only one.
"Beautiful service, wasn't it?" Olivia asked Sara.
"It was, Reverend Kane is an amazing speaker." Sara smiled. "But I was saddened when not a single person stood up and spoke on Gus' behalf."
"I think folks were too sad, Sara." Olivia sighed. They walked toward the carriage, not expecting to speak to anyone. Sara saw Andrew exit the service, she had forgotten that he was here. She trotted over to him.
"When you said you'd be here a while, did that mean a few days, or a few months... do tell." Sara smiled. They were interrupted by a soft, "Sara". It was Felicity.
"Felicity..." Sara said surprised.
"I want to thank you for traveling all this way. I would've meant more to Gus than you know. But it also means so much to me to have you here." she sobbed slightly. She didn't recognize Andrew obviously. He knew now was not a good time to reintroduce himself. Felicity hugged Sara, and waved. She trotted back over to her family, and they departed in their carriage.
Sara hoped she'd be able to see the rest of them soon.
"Andrew, please tell me you'll come by Rose Cottage, now." she said. "Where are you staying?"
"Well, I am hoping Rose Cottage." he chuckled. Sara laughed.
"So our journey begins again!" she said, followed by slight laughter.
