Chapter 3

Marilla is Surprised

Anne walked into Green Gables. Her mouth fell open. Never had she been in a place that she instinctively new that this was her home. It was perfect. If the outside couldn't have been fixed with her imagination, then the inside would have been ruined had Anne even thought to imagine something other than what it was.

"Matthew! Is that you?" hollered Marilla from the kitchen.

"Yes."

"Well, bring him in here. I am baking a pie for the church Pitch-In on Sunday. I would make it on Saturday but I'd rather get it ready now."

Matthew came in with Anne following closely behind.

"Whose that? Where is he?" exclaimed Marilla.

"There wasn't no boy. Just her. I thought I might have heard wrong."

"Really now Matthew! We've been talking about a "him" for a week now."

Suddenly everything clicked together for Anne. "Him? I'm not going to live here? It was wrong? I don't belong here?"

"Well now. We don't know that for certain!" said Matthew.

"We were just told that you were a boy."

"Oh! I should have known not to get my hopes up. That I wouldn't ever belong any one place. I never have. Why should I know?"

And with that Anne burst into tears.

Marrilla didn't quite know how to respond. She rarely dealt with crying children. If a child cried in the library a teacher or volunteering parent usually handled it. She hadn't comforted a crying child since her sister was small.

"Well, there now. We don't know for certain that you don't belong here. We'll go to Chicago tomorrow and straighten this out."

Anne seemed to compose herself. So Marilla asked her what her name was.

"Oh, it's Anne. Plain boring Anne."

"Anne is a very good name." replied Marilla trying to cheer the girl up. "I rather like it myself."

"Oh it's fine enough. It's just average is all. I'd much prefer something like Elizabeth. Or Cordelia."

"Anne is a very fine name. You don't need anything other than Anne."

"I suppose so. It's a lot better when it's spelled with an "e" at the end."

Marilla looked at the child blankly. "An "e" at the end? What kind of difference does that make?"

"Well it gives it a proper ending. Everything should have a happy ending. And if not a happy one, a complete one. Ann with out an "e" at the end, doesn't end at all. It just sits there on the page. Incomplete. BUT Anne with an "e" at the end. Well it speaks volumes. It finishes the name properly."

"Names are not books," replied Marilla. But she complied with the red-head's request. "Now Anne with an "e" at the end, what is your full name?"

"Anne Shirley. Shirley was my father's last name."

"I see. And what was his first name?"

"I don't know. I never met him." Anne quickly looked away.

Marilla lowered her eyes, "I see. And what about your mother's name?"

Anne kept her gaze off of Marilla.

"I never met her either. Well, I met her when I was a baby. But she left me when I was only 6 months old."

"Well, we'll just figure it out tomorrow at the orphanage. Okay?"

Anne nodded.

"I suppose you're tired?" said Marilla getting up without waiting for a reply.

She led Anne up the stairs. She had prepared a room for her. Just a plain room. It didn't have much to it. Marilla figured that the child would know best how to prepare it. She had painted the walls white recently. And Matthew went and got a new mattress.

Marilla just did not know what to think of this situation. Never would she have guessed that something like this could happen. Not that she knew anything about her sister. For all she knew Mae had more than one kid. They would of course keep Anne if she was in fact her sister's girl. It would be wrong not to. But how could they keep a child if they had no claim to her? It would be wrong. She did feel badly for this little girl though. Part of her wanted to keep her no matter what. But it just couldn't be done. Neither she nor Matthew knew a thing about raising children. And one would be hard enough.

"Well here we are." Marilla didn't want to say that this was Anne's room, because she didn't want to give the poor girl false hope. "You have pajamas?"

"Yes!" replied Anne. She pulled out a big t-shirt. "It glows in the dark. I was in girl scouts for a little bit. And we went to the field museum to spend the night. And we got this," Anne was holding up a navy blue shirt with a dinosaur skeleton on it. "But then I had to go to a new house. And I wasn't in girl scouts anymore."

Marilla just looked at the old t shirt.

"I see. Well the bathroom is just down the hall. It's all your own. And we have a tooth brush and tooth paste for you."

"Oh thank you."

"Yes, well. Goodnight."

"Um, Marilla?"

Marilla stopped and turned around.

"I just wanted to thank you," said Anne. "I mean, I know I might not stay here. But I mean it's very nice of you to have all of this ready for me anyway. I mean the tooth brush and everything."

"Yes, well, it was for family. Matthew and I were raised to love and help our family," and with that Marilla walked out of the room and went downstairs.

She found Matthew sitting at the kitchen table with two cups of tea.

"Well, this is a fine situation," started Marilla, "I don't know how this could have happened."

"I feel awfully bad about it."

"Well why should you? You weren't at fault. And you couldn't just leave the child at the station."

"Still. Not knownin' her mom or dad, not even havin' a home. That isn't anyway for a child to live."

"I know. But what are we to do. What if she isn't our niece. Are we just to leave our nephew on the street?"

"Well, I suppose not. But still."

"Matthew, we can't. It just isn't possible. I wish it was different. But it isn't. If that girl isn't our relative, we can not keep her."