Chapter I

"Are we almost there, mother?" Gilbert, commonly known as Gilly or Gil, asked his mother as he looked outside the train window with an annoyed but yet excited look in his gray eyes.

Rilla looked away from the window and turned her head to her oldest child with a grin crossing her face "We're definitely near, dear." she said to him sweetly and she looked outside the window again "I can't believe that we haven't visited Glen in almost six months time!" she shook her head with disbelief.

Gilly raised his eyebrows and brushed his hands through his black curls, a soft smile appearing on his pink lips "I can't wait to go fishing with Marshall again." he added with an impish look in his eyes.

"And tease all the girls again, isn't that right, Gilly?" Rilla asked her son and chuckled when she saw how a smirk appeared on his frecled face "You are just like your father, that's all I can tell you darling."

"I know." Gilly replied as a boy who heard that statement millions of times before and knew he would hear it again and again later as well.

"You could sometimes stop teasing the girls, Gil." a quiet Selwyn Ford spoke up from the corner as he lifted up his head full of auburn curls from the book called "Midsummer Night's Dream" which he was reading during the journey.

Gilly laughed softly and hit his younger brother playfully in the arm "But it's fun, Wyn!" he said "I know that you think it's not appropriate but I don't care." he smiled again and his mother laughed quietly.

"At least Selwyn can act like a real gentleman." she said as she squeezed her youngest son's hand while looking kindly into his gray eyes.

"Besides," Gilly continued as he sat down next to a twelve year old girl and put his arm around her shoulders "-I never did and I never will tease my little sister." he grinned at the black-haired girl who was studying the family picture she held in her hand.

Hester looked up from the black-and-white piece of paper she held and smiled back at her big brother "I know you won't." she replied gently "Every boy, however mean he is, has a part of is heart that belongs to a gentleman."

Rilla smiled at her only daughter who reminded her very much of her own bosom friend named Una Meredith "And I think that you're right, sweetheart." she said to her lovingly "Selwyn?" she suddenly turned to her middle child again "Didn't you read this book three times already?" she asked him.

Selwyn smiled lightly at his mother and looked at the cover of his precious book "Yes, but the book is never too old, nor too young to be read once again." he answered.

"A poet and a lady-musician as my siblings." Gilly concluded with a sigh "What will I do with my life while having siblings so accomplished and so… intelligent like those two?" he asked and made his family chuckle together.

"Don't call me a musician, Gil." Hester said modestly "Just because I can play the cello, and a violin and a little bit of piano doesn't make me a real musician." she said and looked at the picture she held in her hands again.

Gilly sighed and so did his mother and his brother "If this doesn't make a musician, I don't know what does, Hes." he said while shaking his head full of black curls.

"I can't wait to hear your own composed pieces being played by an orchestra." Selwyn touched his sister's hand tenderly, a small very Selwyn-like smile appeared in the corner of his lips.

Hester smiled back at him, her cheeks flushing with red but a little bit of pride and hope filling her hazel eyes "If it will ever become true, I can't wait either." she said.

"And I'm sure it will, darling." Rilla squeezed her daughter's small hand and then looked out of the window again "Oh, children!" she exclaimed and put her hands on her cheeks "We are almost there!"

Gilly whooped and put his arms around Sewlyn's and Hester's shoulders "Finally!" he sighed contentedly "I can't wait to go fishing." he repeated his thought.

Selwyn smiled to himelf as he looked out of the window "I can't wait to go to the Rainbow Valley and read poetry while listening to the birdsong." his eyes turning dreamy.

Only Hester Ford sat silent, leaning her head against her oldest brother's shoulder and feeling the soft touch of her mother's hand covering her own. She wasn't very excited for this trip, she wanted to stay at their home in Toronto, at Golden Bells. How much she would rather prefer her father to have a different job to this one! Why did his boss at "Times" have to suggest to him the idea of a business trip to Eurpoe, all the way across the ocean to a different world and away from his home and his family? She felt her eyes getting teary and then blinked them off.

Hester loved the House of Dreams, how could she not love it? All the history built within those few walls, the beautiful garden, the lighthouse, the red roads… It was all wonderful and Hester and her brothers knew Four Winds and Glen very well, they were visitors many times in the past. But this was different.

This time, they were going to move there for at least a year, they had to go to school there, make new friends… Hester gulped. She wasn't very good in making new friends. At her school in Toronto, she had a few girl-friends, but they were never those kind of friends she always dreamed about, the bosom friends of which her grandmother Anne was always referring to while talking about friendship. Hester knew her cousins but she didn't know them exactly. She always felt a little like an 'outsider' while staying in the House of Dreams for a few weeks during summer or during Christmas.

Rilla squeezed Hester's hand and when the girl turned her head and looked into her mother's eyes, the same shade as her own, some of those doubts and fears vanished from her soul. Oh, mother always knew what to say, even through the eyes, without saying a single word.

The train arrived at the old Glen St Mary's station and when Hester, her siblings and their mother took their suitcases (one of which was the enormous cello and a smaller violin cases) in their hands, they all stepped on the station, not knowing that that was one of those steps of their life which would change the course of their lives forever. But they wouldn't realise it until several years to come afterwards.

The station was steamed up, Hester coughed and tried her hardest to see her grandparents, her aunts, uncles or cousins but she didn't see them and it was as if she was trying to look through the clouds in order to find angels playing on their puffy shapes.

But then… "We're over here, Fords!" at least a dozen voices filled the air around them and magically Hester spotted the waving crowd of Blythes and Merediths, looking at them with smiling eyes and laughing lips.

Hester didn't even realise when she was kissed by her grandfather Gilbert on the cheek, how her grandmother Anne hugged her and whispered into her ear that she looked exactly like she always wanted to look like as a little girl, or how her mother squeezed her hand reassuringly, causing Hester to smile just a little bit.

Then she looked around at each of her cousin's faces whom she hadn't seen since Christmas last year. There were children of her aunt Faith and uncle Jem: Walter, the tall boy of fourteen years of age with a personality and looks of his father; his younger sister who was just a year older than Hester, Cecilia, whom everyone called Lily instead and who had indeed a perfect copy of her mother's gentle and beautiful face but had her father's red hair. She was smiling at Hester as Lily was always the one who wanted to take care of everyone and when she saw her cousin almost shaking from all the emotions inside her, all she was waiting for was to give her a tight hug as soon as possible.

Then there was Lily's younger sister, in the same age as Hester, called Anne but who was commonly known as Marion because she had a hint of bravery in her timid hazel eyes. Marion's face was round, nothing like her parents's faces, and John Meredith was always eager to say that she had a face of his first wife, Cecilia. Marion had a dryad's beauty about her face, such round and plump little face with just a few tiny perfect frecles which Hester always envied each of her cousins of possessing. Marion was holding her older brother's hand but watched her newly arrived cousins with interest in her eyes and she gave Hester the most welcoming tiny smile that only kindred spirits recognise. Somehow, Hester felt a little bit better because of it.

Then there was the brood of aunt Nan and uncle Jerry: the oldest of the whole group Josephine, simply called Jo, who was certainly the most beautiful girl in Glen St Mary with her brown curls, brown matching eyes and this glamorous small mole resting on her rosy cheek. But Jo was proud and that was something that was giving her some of the unvisible wrinkles on her face. Jo looked rather bored but he eyebrows raised when she saw Gilly's handsome face and his winking eye blinking at her.

Jo's younger brother, John, already came up to Selwyn to give him a brotherly hug. They were always very close friends whether they were seeing each other in person or just writing letters. John was a perfect image of his father and his personality too. He also loved reading and that was why he and Selwyn were always so close.

Eventually there was Shirley, his blonde-haired sweet wife Emma and their children. A ten year old funny boy Will who was actually called Matthew but preferred his nickname instead, was winking at Hester with a silly smile on his face. Will looked just like his grandfather Gilbert when he was his age, and he inherited his cheekiness too. Hester managed to smile back at him.

Behind Will was a darling little girl of just seven years of age, with looks of an elf. Susan was a perfect image of her mother as she had blue eyes, blonde hair and fine tiny frecles on her nose. Then in the arms of Shirley was the youngest of the clan, little two year old Delia with bright brown eyes and sweet blonde curls on her head. She was smiling from ear to ear while watching the Fords hugging and kissing everyone else from their family, along with Delia's tiny chubby hands.

Next to Emma stood her bosom friend Una Meredith, looking as beautiful as she always had been. Una lived with her parents at the Manse but worked in her own orphanage she opened eight years earlier, in the Upper Glen. Hester always loved her "auntie" Una as she visited the Ford family in Toronto most often, having no children of her own and therefore having a lot more opportunities to visit her friends. Una squeezed Hester and whispered into her ear tenderly: "My darling girl, I can't wait to hear the sound of your cello again." and Hester smiled at her softly and kissed Una's cheek in return.

"Oh, I'm so glad to have you here, my darlings!" Grandmother Anne exclaimed as she put her gentle hand on Hester's and Selwyn's shoulders "Glen missed you incredibly." she looked at Rilla with a joyful smile covering her face.

Rilla kissed her mother's cheek gently "Oh, Mother, and I missed it too." she said and then took Hester's hand in hers "Hester, darling, are you alright?" she asked her worriedly, seeing Hester's pale cheeks.

The girl looked in her mother's eyes with a frightful look in her own but she grinned at her bravely "Yes, Mummy, I am." she said quietly but Rilla knew her daughter too well not to see and know that it was clearly a lie.

"Come along then, dears." Faith said eagerly as she put her arm around Rilla's shoulders "Let's all talk while having a few cups of tea and much more cookies at the old Ingleside." she said cheerfully but Rilla smiled at her and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, everyone." she said "But I think we should first get unpacked and get a little time to refresh ourselves first of all." Rilla squeezed Hester's hand and looked apologetically at the others around her.

Everyone gave a small sigh of disappointment but that was when Gilbert came at the front and placed his arms around his namesake and Selwyn "Of course you do." he said merrily "Now that you are here and you will stay for longer than usual, we can spare another two hours or more until we see each other for a cup od tea."

Rilla kissed her father's cheeks and took her children and all of their suitcases, and eventually they all came into Jem's car who offered them a lift to the old House of Dreams. Hester sat at the back seat with her siblings and looked outside the window with a dreamy look on her face. Once the shyness of hers disappeared with the crowd consisting of her family members, she came back to her old self within moments.

Oh, how beautiful Four Winds was! She almost forgot… There were trees everywhere, so green and bright, the red sandy roads… There it was, the famous Lighthouse! And the ocean… Hester always wanted to learn how to swim, and when she saw those vast and azure waves spreading in front of her eyes, she thought that she didn't want to do anything else on that day but to learn how to swim.

Suddenly… "We're here everyone!" Rilla and Jem said in unison, both siblings equally excited.

Gilly clasped his hands together and whooped again, Selwyn smiled with joy and put his arm around Hester's shoulders and Hester's eyes started to laugh too. Even though Hester considered her home to be Golden Bells in Toronto, she could never not call the House of Dreams her home too, after all both she and her siblings were all born there. Although the House of Dreams was a bit smaller and definitely much older than Golden Bells, and Hester lived there only the first two years of her life, there was something about that house which made Hester to think that after all she was in front of her home.

"Thank you, Jem." Rilla kissed her older brother on the cheek as he helped her with the suitcases.

"No problem, sister." he winked at her and then patted Selwyn's hair "I'll see you all in the evening, right?"

"If not my mother and siblings, I will certainly come uncle Jem." Gilly said and smiled at his uncle slyly.

Jem chuckled seeing his own self in Gilly's young face "Sure you will, Gilly." he said and came back to his car and after waving for a while, the Fords couldn't see his car anymore and turned to each other.

"Are we going inside then?" Selwyn asked excitedly.

"Yes, let's go, children o'mine." Rilla said just as eagerly and crossed the doorstep of the House of Dreams, the very doorstep she once crossed as a new bride.

Rilla came inside first, Gilly followed her, Selwyn slipped right after and Hester after drawing a deep breath stepped inside as well. "It's so…" she whispered, looking around as if it was her first time at the House of Dreams "-unchanged." she said and a small grin grew at the corner of her lip.

Rilla huged her daughter tightly and sighed with happiness of her own "It never does." she agreed "I can't believe that my own mother and father lived here so long ago, and your father's grandparents too." she looked around as if she could see the laughing young people in the room they were all standing in.

Hester looked around the room. Nothing changed, and it seemed to her as if all the furniture, even though it was now modern was always standing in that very room from the beginning of time. She smiled at Rilla "I can." she said briskly.

Rilla gave a sigh of relief, seeing that the familiar sparkle appeared in her daughter's eyes once more. She didn't say a word and the mother and daughter shared their knowing glances. Rilla then clasped her hands together and looked at Hester's brothers "Boys and Hester, should I prepare something small to eat then? Before we go off to your grandparents' house of course." she asked them all cheerfully.

Gilly and Selwyn nodded in unision and Rilla chuckled when she disappeared into the kitchen. Hester sat down on the sofa next to Selwyn and put a strand of her coal-black hair behind her ear. She sighed softly, thinking about what shall await her in this new adventure called moving back to the House of Dreams. Selwyn put his protective arm around her shoulders as he could hear and he could see how deep in her thoughts his little sister was. "Hester," he said "-you musn't be so pessimistic about all this."

Before Hester looked into his eyes, Gilly hopped on the sofa, next to Hester, and put his arm around her shoulders too "Come on there, sis." he said "You're strong and I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Hester grinned at them both lightly "I hope so." she whispered.

Gilly pinched her delicately on her arm "Don't hope, believe in it, Hes." he said again, a smile crossing his lips "Besides you'll always have us." he pointed at himself and Selwyn.

Selwyn smiled at Gil and then back at Hester. The two of them could converse without saying a word and so Hester smiled knowingly back at him and then at Gil "Thank you, brothers o'mine." she said more merrily.

"And if anyone will ever tease you or hurt you in any way…" Gil started and then shook his fist in the air and Hester gasped, her eyes horrified.

"Oh, Gil, no!" she exclaimed "You musn't get into any fight because of me." she said seriously.

Gil waved his hand carelessly and winked at her "Sure I will, if it will be necessary." he said cheekily.

Selwyn hid a shadow of a smile appearing in the corner of his lips and looked at his brother "And so would I. Even if it's so hard to believe." he said proudly.

Hester chuckled quietly and her brothers followed her actions "Only when it's necessary though." she added quickly "Promise me."

"We promise." Gil and Selwyn vowed.

"Good." she replied, satisfied and grateful for her brothers "And thank you, my friends." she snuggled against them "I don't think anyone in the world has as good brothers as I do."

"Probably not." Gil whispered into her ear "We're the best, aren't we, Wyn?" he asked his younger sibling and Selwyn eagerly nodded.

"And it's all because you are our sister." Selwyn added with a smile reserved only for Hester and she gave each of her brothers a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I suppose that this new life won't be as scary as I imagined it would be." she said to them and in that moment she truly believed it, although what she didn't know was that there was still a lot more, good and bad, awaiting her at the bend of the road.

So here it is, the first chapter of my new story. What did you think about it? Was it any good? All I can say is that this story is just starting so I know that this first chapter was not exactly exciting but I hope I got you interested, only a little bit perhaps ;)

New chapter will be posted soon (I hope) and all I can ask of you is to let me know what you think about this very first chapter! Until the next time then - Bathsheba Blythe