Every Friday, Carmody Station had a bloom of visitors; in part due to a large group of Queen's students. Many enjoyed coming home for the weekend, especially before the onslaught of exam preparation. The quiet nature of Carmody, Avonlea, and the nearby villages provided a soothing respite from the hustle and bustle of Charlottetown.

And then there was Josie Pye. For Josie, it was less about travel and more about social life. Of course, she wouldn't miss an opportunity to travel with friends but it was far more important to make an entrance at the still-new Carmody Station. She had bought a new hat for this occasion.

When the train pulled into Carmody, Josie paused to check her hair before carefully placing her new hat high on top. She loosened a few golden curls to fall just so, knowing this was her finest feature. She was in no rush to wrestle with the other passengers. Her cousin Joshua was to collect her and Josie knew he would be with his friends at the station. How she disembarked was important.

As she stepped down off the train, Josie gracefully raised her head and glanced around the platform. It was much smaller than what she was accustomed to in Charlottetown but it would do. A smaller platform would make it easier to spot Joshua and his friends.

Except, he wasn't there. A group of young men were off to the side, chatting to some girls but a lady like Josie would never simply walk up and introduce herself. That's why Joshua was supposed to be here!

Instead, a young girl of about five or six years of age was waving at Josie with a desperate ferocity as if her life depended on Josie seeing her. Looking closer, Josie saw it was Amelia, Joshua's little sister.

"Josie! Josie! I'm here for you! It's me! Amelia!" The small sweet voice sounded like it had to battle to escape her bundle of blonde curls, let alone travel across the platform. Josie cringed with embarrassment, completely oblivious to the adoration held by her young cousin.

"Yes, hello Amelia. I was expecting Joshua to collect me but I assume you're the substitute." A poor substitute, Josie thought to herself. I can't attract the young menfolk with you around.

"Well, yes. Joshua was just finishing up with Miss Shirley. He said we could wait here or meet him at the school."

For a moment, Josie's cool demeanour flared up with shock and anger. Miss Shirley?! How could Anne Shirley interfere with her plans again! How dare she!

"Come, Amelia. Let's go see what the dear Miss Shirley is doing to hold up sweet Joshua."


At Carmody School, Anne was elbow-deep in the garden beds by the front door. The school day had ended early since many students had been eager to greet family and friends at the station.

Anne, too, was grateful for the early finish. She then had the opportunity to rush to the store and pick-up the flower bulbs she had ordered. After finally reading Alexandre Dumas' The Black Tulip, Anne felt compelled to explore the classic beauty of the flower. Fortunately, she had found bulbs for sale in the catalogue and showed no delay in ordering some for the side garden at Green Gables. However, Mr Lawson had accidentally ordered 100 instead of 10. Rather than let them go to waste, Mr Lawson had offered them as a donation to the school, along with the other flowers Anne had ordered.

"There's enough here for both Carmody AND Avonlea! Would you mind if I shared them with Gilbert Blythe?"

Mr Lawson had laughed with enthusiasm. "Of course! You're on the Avonlea Improvement Society or whatever it's called, aren't you? I'm glad to share them with you, even if you are competition!"

Anne had replied with flushed indignation. "The true winners, Mr Lawson, are the children. Come Spring, the flowers will be for them. They will be perfect for greeting after the cold of Winter."

Anne being Anne had felt the flower bulbs sitting in her hands were far too magical to leave for the weekend. Since she was already waiting for Marilla to travel home with today (a change to her usual company with Gilbert), Anne figured a little gardening wouldn't hurt.

And that was why Anne was elbow-deep in the garden beds at the front of Carmody School when Joshua came along to greet her.

Joshua had seen Anne running out of Lawson's and was immediately intrigued by what adventures she was up to now. At the time, he had turned to Amelia and said, "Amelia, can you head over to the train station and pick-up Josie? I promised to take her home but I just want to ask Miss Shirley something."

Amelia looked up at her brother with surprise. "You want me to wait at the station with Josie?" Inside, Amelia was thrilled to be given such grand responsibility to attend her beautiful cousin, Miss Josie Pye.

"Your choice. You can wait or you can meet me at the school. Here's a dollar for sweets at the store too."

Amelia's eyes grew so big with surprise, she didn't even think to ask Joshua why. She had already run off before Joshua started to follow Anne back to Carmody School.

He wasn't sure how to greet her and was thus relieved when Anne looked up and noticed him first. "Well, good afternoon, Mr Pye. And for what reason am I graced with your presence?"

"Let's call it morbid curiousity. You look like you have a secret and I have merely stumbled across it. Despite the high chance you could kill me to protect your anonymity, I am still compelled to know what it is you are up to."

Anne laughed. "And to think I once believed you were a quiet fellow who didn't talk much. Now, listen to you! A positive Bard!"

Joshua merely shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I was just waiting for the right conversation?" His words gave Anne a reason to pause. She mumbled, "I knew another man who thought like you…" Joshua saw a small sad smile but it passed before he could ask further.

Anne recovered well. "If you're going to stand there, Joshua, why don't you help me plant these daffodils and tulips? If we work together, we can finish before Marilla arrives and before you have to pick-up Josie. Oh yes, I heard all about it from Amelia. Your sister is a bright young student but I will never gain her admiration in the same way as the beautiful Josie Pye."

Joshua laughed as he started to roll up his sleeves. "Anne, you have no fear of comparison to Josie. A girl can always dress-up to look pretty but the smarts are something you have deep inside from the beginning. That's why being smart is always better than being pretty."

On those words, Anne's head shot up with surprise. She had never thought of that reasoning before. Suddenly, Anne's face flooded with shame as she realised yet another reason to apologise to Gilbert.

Anne watched as her new friend helped plant bulbs in the garden and smiled. She couldn't wait to sneak the other bulbs around Avonlea school. It would be the best surprise for Gilbert, along with the new book.

Across the road, Josie and Amelia stood by and watched the interaction between Anne and Joshua. Josie did not want to disturb the simply romantic scene before her. It was too delicious to spoil. Instead, Josie knew she just had to share it with the girls in Avonlea. And maybe a particularly interested Mr Gilbert Blythe.


"Fine, Josie. I now declare this meeting of AVIS opened, with special guest Miss Josie Pye."

The next day, the various members of AVIS had agreed to meet at Diana Barry's house for their regular meeting. Josie Pye had invited herself as long, declaring how her invaluable experience from Charlottetown would benefit the future planning of this sweet little group. "Thank you, Gilbert. It is an honour to be here with others, so dedicated to the improvement of Avonlea. Especially those loyal to Avonlea above all other villages and town because really, Avonlea is the best and deserves our full commitment to the cause." Josie closed with a knowing smile to her sister, Gertie.

Diana saw this exchange and looked questioningly to Anne. Anne merely shrugged in reply. It was clear Josie was up to something but Anne had no idea what.

Gilbert was also perturbed by Josie's behaviour; it seemed a little more Pye-ish than usual. "Yes, thank you, Josie. I'd like to start with…"

"Actually, Gilbert, may I make a suggestion?", Josie interrupted.

Gilbert gave a short nod. "Sure, Josie. You are our guest…"

Josie didn't even wait for Gilbert to finish his sentence.

"During my quality time in Charlottetown, where I have gained extensive insight into more refined institutions, I have seen many quaint gatherings start small like this here, only to fail because their members were not loyal. I would hate to see this group fail because one of its members was too busy fraternising with those in another town to remember those who took her in first."

Josie was not known for her subtlety. Even though she had not named Anne directly, she had been looking directly at Anne during her little speech. She hadn't even the grace to delay her great announcement. It was simply too juicy to hold back.

Anne looked directly at Josie and asked, "What are you talking about, Josie? If you are accusing me of something, come out and say it."

Josie smiled back in her sickly sweet way. "I saw you gardening with Joshua Pye at Carmody school. Now, I thought Anne was sooooo loyal to AVIS, she would spend all of her valuable free time gardening for the benefit of Avonlea, not Carmody. But clearly, Joshua has shown her a better offer in Carmody. I can absolutely understand why she would want to invest her 'improvement skills' there. Joshua is a Pye, so I can't fault her tastes." Josie fluttered a quick glance at Gilbert, who was too focused on Anne to notice.

"Is this true, Anne?"

Anne's face quickly dropped from exasperation with Josie to shock with Gilbert. "What? Gil, you're not seriously believing her… I mean, yes, I was gardening at Carmody yesterday. I had ordered some flowers and Mr Lawson said I could have some for the school…"

Anne gasped as she saw the hurt on Gilbert's face. "Yesterday? Is that why you said you didn't need a lift home? You were waiting for Joshua instead?"

"No!" Anne quickly looked around the room. All of her friends were looking at her with questions; Josie was the only one smiling at the chaos. "No, I wasn't waiting for Joshua at all! He is just a friend who stopped by and offered to help plant the flowers I had…"

"But Anne, we had talked at the last meeting about adding flowers on the side of the roads in Avonlea. It was your idea! Why would you give the flowers to the Carmody school first?", asked Julia.

"Clearly, Anne was told to do so by Joshua. That's why he was there. To convince her to put Carmody first." Charlie was desperate to be heard in the discussion.

"Now, wait here. I'm sure Anne was just thinking of her students…" Diana tried to be the voice of reason, with Anne giving her a grateful look for the effort.

"Well, that's fine, Diana. But maybe Josie is right? What should be more important to AVIS members: a school or their vision for the village?" This was Gertie, ever certain to defend her sister.

This is was the final blow. The room went silent and everyone turned to look at Anne. By this stage, she was too upset to speak up, unsure of what to say or which accusation to defend first. Instinctively, she looked at Gilbert.

"I was not waiting or expecting for Joshua to join me. I was waiting for Marilla to finish with the Ophthalmologist." Anne's voice was so quiet, she wasn't sure if Gilbert had heard her until he gave her a curt nod and looked away.

Diana was the first to break the awkward silence. "I don't think there should be anything wrong with Anne planting flowers at her school. She is employed as their teacher. She should take pride in the school. Miss Stacy would have done the same thing."

"But Diana. The question remains: Should the flowers be prioritised to Avonlea or Carmody? You have to admit, Anne has a conflict of interest in this matter." For the first time, Fred spoke up. He soon wished he hadn't. As much as he would always aim to be reasonable in situations like this, today was Fred's first lesson in never coming between Anne and Diana. Gilbert rested his hand on Fred's arm and gently shook his head. At first, Fred was unsure about Gilbert's message. Then he looked up at Diana and flinched. Her face was filled with protective fury.

Anne did not want to come between friends. "Is that what this is about? Do you question my loyalty? I, who suggested this group. I, who love this village more than life itself. I, Anne Shirley, who had the option of leaving and chose to stay because I wanted just a bit more time with the people I love and who I thought had finally learned to love me? And now, you no longer think I am worthy of being in this group because I planted flowers at my school for my students?"

"No, Anne, we don't want you to leave," Moody answered first. "But maybe… maybe you should step down from a position of office?"

Anne turned to look at Moody. She then looked around the room.

"No. I will leave AVIS. I love this group too much to sully it with my unwanted presence. And I will be happy to return. Just let me know when you are ready to have me back." Anne turned to Diana, tears welling in her eyes. "Farewell, my beloved Diana. I entrust this group to your hands; your faithful and loving hands that never questioned. I shall see you tomorrow."

With that, Anne walked out of the Barry's sitting room, determined to make it to the cloakroom before anyone could see the tears fall. Out of sight of the others, she quickly laced up her boots and grabbed her coat before wrapping her scarf around her now wet face. As she reached for the doorknob, Gilbert's hand closed around hers.

"Anne. Don't leave."

Anne looked up to Gilbert's face. He looked as miserable as she felt.

"Gil. I'm not wanted here. I've been 'not wanted' often enough in my life to recognise it straight away, and believe me when I say it is easier to just walk away than to fight for someone's love."

Gilbert looked directly at Anne and said, "You have nothing to fight for."

Anne's breath caught. "Gil, I… I love my students. I just wanted to give them something to look forward to. To let them know… someone cared about them." Anne sniffed back a last tear and then forced the door open, running away from it all.

Gilbert watched as Anne ran across the Barry's fields. He had the distinct feeling this was not how things were supposed to work out but he had no idea how to fix it.

Instead, he returned to close the AVIS meeting. Funnily enough, no-one was really motivated to do anything further today.

No-one except Josie Pye. She had a very satisfied look on her face.