A/N: Here I am again. Two chapters at a time. Now if only the characters
in my 'Pat' fic would be this cooperative. Come to think of it, none of
the characters in my other fics are this cooperative. Does that mean
anything? Oh, well. Never mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~April 22, 1940
The day began beautifully for Chris, who was under strict orders from her mother to 'do nothing but have fun'. Tom had left a week ago without saying goodbye and Chris still felt the sting of it, despite the fact that he had sent her a letter explaining his decision. She moped a bit during breakfast but, when Will appeared with a bouquet of early wildflowers, her mood brightened considerably. They took a short walk down Lover's Lane before he left to help on his grandfather's farm.
Lorelei appeared just a short while later and the two girls indulged in a good, long gabfest. Just as Chris had suspected, Lorelei and Eric Daniels were rapidly becoming an 'item'. She was glad. Eric was a nice boy and he seemed to care for Lorelei very much. Chris was extremely protective of her best friend and the fact that Eric met with her approval said a lot for him.
Chris and Lorelei decided that three was company and so headed over to Orchard Slope and collected Emily before having a picnic at the Lake of Shining Waters. Cecily wasn't able to come. She was in bed with the remnants of a cold and her mother wouldn't let her go outside. Chris thought this was rather extreme, but she didn't know that Felicity Pike feared her youngest daughter would take after her namesake in more ways than one.
They ended up the day in the Haunted Wood, safe from prying eyes and ears. Emily, whose family had just returned from a visit to Ingleside, was full of information about the folks in Glen St. Mary. It seemed Cupid was busy with Emily as well because every other sentence she spoke contained the name Bradley Douglas. Bradley was the only son of Miller and Mary Douglas and, from the things Emily said, it looked as if he liked her just as much as she liked him.
Of course, thought Chris, no boy really stood a chance against Emily. She was developing into quite a beautiful girl. Over the winter, she had taken a growth spurt and now stood only a couple of inches shorter than Chris. Due to her sudden stature, Emily had also slimmed down considerably and was no longer as roly-poly as she had once been. But she still had the same playful spirit that endeared her to her friends.
"I wish you two could meet Bradley. He's just so wonderful."
"I've met him several times and I never saw anything so wonderful about him. Neither did you," Chris said, her eyes dancing. She found it very funny that the same boy Emily had declared a violent hatred for only two years ago could suddenly be Prince Charming.
"That was before," sniffed Emily, as if those three words explained everything. Chris and Lorelei exchanged glances.
"Before what?" Lorelei inquired.
"Before last week, silly. Oh, girls, it was so romantic. He told me my hair was like the setting sun and my eyes were like emeralds."
It seemed to Chris that Bradley didn't have any more imagination now than he had possessed when she had seen him last. Emily's eyes were like emeralds and her hair was just red as Aunt Di's. Any of Chris's aunts and uncles or her parents could've clarified that Bradley, being the child of Miller Douglas and Mary Vance, would not be given to wild flights of poetry and that, if he had tried to be poetic, he would've failed miserably.
"So I suppose you two will be getting married someday?" Chris asked before she could stop herself. Emily simply smiled.
"Of course. And we'll live in Glen St. Mary. Oh, I do hate to leave Avonlea, but Bradley insists. Besides, as the only son, he says it's his duty to keep up the store. We've decided to take our honeymoon at Niagara Falls and the wedding will be here in Avonlea. I'm to wear Grandmother Wright's wedding dress and veil. You two and Cecily will be bridesmaids and you'll be dressed in pink satin. I'll carry white roses and the three of you will carry pink and white bouquets and have pink and white wreaths in your hair. I'm not sure about a flower girl, though. Do you have any ideas?"
Chris and Lorelei stared at Emily, dumbfounded. Clearly, she had given this a lot of thought and, even more disturbing, she and Bradley had discussed it. Lorelei was the first to recover her power of speech.
"Emily, you're not engaged are you? Why, you're only fifteen years old!"
"Well, it's not exactly official yet, but we did talk about it a lot. We'll be married after Bradley turns eighteen. That's when his father will give him an equal share in the store."
Chris did some quick math in her head and looked at her cousin in astonishment.
"But he's seventeen now! He'll be eighteen next January. You won't even be sixteen until March."
"Oh, I know. That's why we'll wait until May."
"Do Aunt Di and Uncle Jack know about this?" Chris asked. Emily faltered a bit.
"Well, not exactly. But we plan to tell them."
"Tell them? Emily, be serious. Your parents will never allow this. You're far too young to think of marriage. Uncle Jack would keep you under lock and key if he knew how serious you are about all this. And I don't even want to know what he might do to Bradley for putting these ideas in your head."
"Don't be so high and mighty, Miss Ford," Emily said icily. She hated being told what to do and Chris, it seemed to her, was always bossing her around. "You're only a year older than I am and you and Will are practically engaged."
"That's not true. We haven't even talked about getting engaged. Will is far too smart to think that my parents or his would approve of it. We're too young."
"Are you saying Bradley is dumb?"
"Unless he has gained some intelligence since I saw him last. He never was very bright."
Emily, her eyes flashing, stepped closer to Chris, prompting Lorelei, the peacemaker, to step between her two friends.
"Now girls, I think that's enough. Why don't we all go home before one of us says something we'll regret."
But both her friends, having inherited their grandmother's legendary temper, were too far gone to listen to reason.
"I'm tempted to tell Aunt Di and Uncle Jack about this whole thing, Emily Rose Wright. Maybe they'd be able to talk some sense into you."
"Oh, so you're the only one in the family allowed to have secret romances. Is that it, Chris? Well, at least I'm not running around at night, sneaking out to meet Bradley. Alone."
Lorelei gasped and Chris's face flushed with anger at the implications of Emily's remark. Even Emily knew she had crossed a line and was already regretting her words. Especially when she saw the look of pain that had briefly shown itself in Chris's eyes.
"How dare you," whispered Chris in a trembling voice. Emily was shocked to see that her cousin was on the verge of tears.
"How dare you," Chris repeated, louder this time. "I never want to speak to you again, Emily. From here on out, you stay away from me."
She turned and fled through the trees, leaving Emily and Lorelei alone. Neither of them bothered to call after her. Both knew it would be useless. They also knew that she meant what she had said.
"Oh, Emily, how could you? How could you say such a thing about Chris? How could you say such a thing about my brother?"
Lorelei walked away without another word and Emily was left by herself.
**************************************
Chris ran all the way to Green Gables and managed to sneak in and up to her room. Thankfully, Leslie wasn't home and so Chris didn't have to worry about her walking in any second. She didn't want to talk to any one right now.
How had this happened? The day had started so beautifully and now it was all ruined. How could two people who loved each other as much as she and Emily say such awful things? They had never said such hurtful things to one another before. Chris buried her head in her pillow, trying to stifle her sobs so that Mother wouldn't hear. She wished the tears would stop coming.
But the tears didn't stop. In fact, they were coming faster by the minute. Chris lay there for nearly half an hour, crying, until she heard a knock.
"Please go away," Chris said softly. But the visitor didn't listen. The door opened and Chris heard footsteps coming into the room, then felt someone sit down on her bed. A hand touched the top of her head and Chris instantly flew into her mother's arms.
"Oh, Mother, it was so awful," she sobbed. Mother simply held her and stroked her head for a while before speaking.
"Your Aunt Di just called. Emily is very upset over some of the things she said to you."
"Well she should be."
"Chris, darling, why don't we go over to Orchard Slope? You and Emily can talk."
"I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Didn't Aunt Di tell you what she said?"
"Yes, she did," Rilla replied, recalling her conversation with her sister. Di had been furious with her daughter. Not only for the remarks she made towards Chris, but also for conducting such a serious romance at her age. Still, Rilla had to admire Emily for going and confessing everything on her own.
"Are people talking about Will and I meeting at night, Mother?"
"I won't lie to you, Chris. They did talk about it at first. Idle, evil gossip of course. No one really believed it. And no one talks about it now. It's all forgotten."
"I'll never speak to Emily again."
"Don't say that, darling. I know it hurts that she would say such a thing about you, but don't say that."
"That's just it, Mother. It does hurt that she said that about me. But it's the strangest thing. Somehow, it hurts more that she said it about Will. Does that make any sense?"
There didn't seem to be any way to answer this without opening up a whole new conversation and so Rilla changed the subject.
"Wash your face, dear, and get ready for supper. Your little brother is downstairs right now cooking a fine meal. It should be ready in just a few minutes."
Chris sat for a while after Mother left, perplexed by her sudden exit. She had a few tears left to cry, it seemed, and she didn't deny them. When they were spent, she washed her face and changed into a nicer dress before heading downstairs.
Everyone was down there waiting, except for Walter. He had gone into Charlottetown on an errand for Gus Pike and wasn't expected back until after supper, so no one was really worried. Chris's spirits rose some as the meal progressed. Father was full of jokes that evening and Chris loved Father's jokes. Just as he finished telling one particularly funny one, the kitchen door opened and Walter entered. The room grew deathly quiet.
Walter was wearing a very blue uniform. Chris looked at him in disbelief and then looked at her family. Matthew's eyes shone with hero worship and Chris quickly looked away from him. Father looked accepting, Mother and Leslie had both grown rather pale, but were trying hard to look proud. Chris grew angry. Well, maybe they were all ready to accept this and pretend to support him, but she certainly wasn't. She flung an angry look towards her brother before leaving the table and heading back upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: All for now! Next chapter: Will Emily and Chris reconcile? Will Chris accept Walter's enlisting? You'll have to review if you want to find out. I won't write another chapter unless I get at least eight reviews. Why eight? I don't know. Why not?
Seriously, please review. That little button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen is a wonderful little gadget.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~April 22, 1940
The day began beautifully for Chris, who was under strict orders from her mother to 'do nothing but have fun'. Tom had left a week ago without saying goodbye and Chris still felt the sting of it, despite the fact that he had sent her a letter explaining his decision. She moped a bit during breakfast but, when Will appeared with a bouquet of early wildflowers, her mood brightened considerably. They took a short walk down Lover's Lane before he left to help on his grandfather's farm.
Lorelei appeared just a short while later and the two girls indulged in a good, long gabfest. Just as Chris had suspected, Lorelei and Eric Daniels were rapidly becoming an 'item'. She was glad. Eric was a nice boy and he seemed to care for Lorelei very much. Chris was extremely protective of her best friend and the fact that Eric met with her approval said a lot for him.
Chris and Lorelei decided that three was company and so headed over to Orchard Slope and collected Emily before having a picnic at the Lake of Shining Waters. Cecily wasn't able to come. She was in bed with the remnants of a cold and her mother wouldn't let her go outside. Chris thought this was rather extreme, but she didn't know that Felicity Pike feared her youngest daughter would take after her namesake in more ways than one.
They ended up the day in the Haunted Wood, safe from prying eyes and ears. Emily, whose family had just returned from a visit to Ingleside, was full of information about the folks in Glen St. Mary. It seemed Cupid was busy with Emily as well because every other sentence she spoke contained the name Bradley Douglas. Bradley was the only son of Miller and Mary Douglas and, from the things Emily said, it looked as if he liked her just as much as she liked him.
Of course, thought Chris, no boy really stood a chance against Emily. She was developing into quite a beautiful girl. Over the winter, she had taken a growth spurt and now stood only a couple of inches shorter than Chris. Due to her sudden stature, Emily had also slimmed down considerably and was no longer as roly-poly as she had once been. But she still had the same playful spirit that endeared her to her friends.
"I wish you two could meet Bradley. He's just so wonderful."
"I've met him several times and I never saw anything so wonderful about him. Neither did you," Chris said, her eyes dancing. She found it very funny that the same boy Emily had declared a violent hatred for only two years ago could suddenly be Prince Charming.
"That was before," sniffed Emily, as if those three words explained everything. Chris and Lorelei exchanged glances.
"Before what?" Lorelei inquired.
"Before last week, silly. Oh, girls, it was so romantic. He told me my hair was like the setting sun and my eyes were like emeralds."
It seemed to Chris that Bradley didn't have any more imagination now than he had possessed when she had seen him last. Emily's eyes were like emeralds and her hair was just red as Aunt Di's. Any of Chris's aunts and uncles or her parents could've clarified that Bradley, being the child of Miller Douglas and Mary Vance, would not be given to wild flights of poetry and that, if he had tried to be poetic, he would've failed miserably.
"So I suppose you two will be getting married someday?" Chris asked before she could stop herself. Emily simply smiled.
"Of course. And we'll live in Glen St. Mary. Oh, I do hate to leave Avonlea, but Bradley insists. Besides, as the only son, he says it's his duty to keep up the store. We've decided to take our honeymoon at Niagara Falls and the wedding will be here in Avonlea. I'm to wear Grandmother Wright's wedding dress and veil. You two and Cecily will be bridesmaids and you'll be dressed in pink satin. I'll carry white roses and the three of you will carry pink and white bouquets and have pink and white wreaths in your hair. I'm not sure about a flower girl, though. Do you have any ideas?"
Chris and Lorelei stared at Emily, dumbfounded. Clearly, she had given this a lot of thought and, even more disturbing, she and Bradley had discussed it. Lorelei was the first to recover her power of speech.
"Emily, you're not engaged are you? Why, you're only fifteen years old!"
"Well, it's not exactly official yet, but we did talk about it a lot. We'll be married after Bradley turns eighteen. That's when his father will give him an equal share in the store."
Chris did some quick math in her head and looked at her cousin in astonishment.
"But he's seventeen now! He'll be eighteen next January. You won't even be sixteen until March."
"Oh, I know. That's why we'll wait until May."
"Do Aunt Di and Uncle Jack know about this?" Chris asked. Emily faltered a bit.
"Well, not exactly. But we plan to tell them."
"Tell them? Emily, be serious. Your parents will never allow this. You're far too young to think of marriage. Uncle Jack would keep you under lock and key if he knew how serious you are about all this. And I don't even want to know what he might do to Bradley for putting these ideas in your head."
"Don't be so high and mighty, Miss Ford," Emily said icily. She hated being told what to do and Chris, it seemed to her, was always bossing her around. "You're only a year older than I am and you and Will are practically engaged."
"That's not true. We haven't even talked about getting engaged. Will is far too smart to think that my parents or his would approve of it. We're too young."
"Are you saying Bradley is dumb?"
"Unless he has gained some intelligence since I saw him last. He never was very bright."
Emily, her eyes flashing, stepped closer to Chris, prompting Lorelei, the peacemaker, to step between her two friends.
"Now girls, I think that's enough. Why don't we all go home before one of us says something we'll regret."
But both her friends, having inherited their grandmother's legendary temper, were too far gone to listen to reason.
"I'm tempted to tell Aunt Di and Uncle Jack about this whole thing, Emily Rose Wright. Maybe they'd be able to talk some sense into you."
"Oh, so you're the only one in the family allowed to have secret romances. Is that it, Chris? Well, at least I'm not running around at night, sneaking out to meet Bradley. Alone."
Lorelei gasped and Chris's face flushed with anger at the implications of Emily's remark. Even Emily knew she had crossed a line and was already regretting her words. Especially when she saw the look of pain that had briefly shown itself in Chris's eyes.
"How dare you," whispered Chris in a trembling voice. Emily was shocked to see that her cousin was on the verge of tears.
"How dare you," Chris repeated, louder this time. "I never want to speak to you again, Emily. From here on out, you stay away from me."
She turned and fled through the trees, leaving Emily and Lorelei alone. Neither of them bothered to call after her. Both knew it would be useless. They also knew that she meant what she had said.
"Oh, Emily, how could you? How could you say such a thing about Chris? How could you say such a thing about my brother?"
Lorelei walked away without another word and Emily was left by herself.
**************************************
Chris ran all the way to Green Gables and managed to sneak in and up to her room. Thankfully, Leslie wasn't home and so Chris didn't have to worry about her walking in any second. She didn't want to talk to any one right now.
How had this happened? The day had started so beautifully and now it was all ruined. How could two people who loved each other as much as she and Emily say such awful things? They had never said such hurtful things to one another before. Chris buried her head in her pillow, trying to stifle her sobs so that Mother wouldn't hear. She wished the tears would stop coming.
But the tears didn't stop. In fact, they were coming faster by the minute. Chris lay there for nearly half an hour, crying, until she heard a knock.
"Please go away," Chris said softly. But the visitor didn't listen. The door opened and Chris heard footsteps coming into the room, then felt someone sit down on her bed. A hand touched the top of her head and Chris instantly flew into her mother's arms.
"Oh, Mother, it was so awful," she sobbed. Mother simply held her and stroked her head for a while before speaking.
"Your Aunt Di just called. Emily is very upset over some of the things she said to you."
"Well she should be."
"Chris, darling, why don't we go over to Orchard Slope? You and Emily can talk."
"I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Didn't Aunt Di tell you what she said?"
"Yes, she did," Rilla replied, recalling her conversation with her sister. Di had been furious with her daughter. Not only for the remarks she made towards Chris, but also for conducting such a serious romance at her age. Still, Rilla had to admire Emily for going and confessing everything on her own.
"Are people talking about Will and I meeting at night, Mother?"
"I won't lie to you, Chris. They did talk about it at first. Idle, evil gossip of course. No one really believed it. And no one talks about it now. It's all forgotten."
"I'll never speak to Emily again."
"Don't say that, darling. I know it hurts that she would say such a thing about you, but don't say that."
"That's just it, Mother. It does hurt that she said that about me. But it's the strangest thing. Somehow, it hurts more that she said it about Will. Does that make any sense?"
There didn't seem to be any way to answer this without opening up a whole new conversation and so Rilla changed the subject.
"Wash your face, dear, and get ready for supper. Your little brother is downstairs right now cooking a fine meal. It should be ready in just a few minutes."
Chris sat for a while after Mother left, perplexed by her sudden exit. She had a few tears left to cry, it seemed, and she didn't deny them. When they were spent, she washed her face and changed into a nicer dress before heading downstairs.
Everyone was down there waiting, except for Walter. He had gone into Charlottetown on an errand for Gus Pike and wasn't expected back until after supper, so no one was really worried. Chris's spirits rose some as the meal progressed. Father was full of jokes that evening and Chris loved Father's jokes. Just as he finished telling one particularly funny one, the kitchen door opened and Walter entered. The room grew deathly quiet.
Walter was wearing a very blue uniform. Chris looked at him in disbelief and then looked at her family. Matthew's eyes shone with hero worship and Chris quickly looked away from him. Father looked accepting, Mother and Leslie had both grown rather pale, but were trying hard to look proud. Chris grew angry. Well, maybe they were all ready to accept this and pretend to support him, but she certainly wasn't. She flung an angry look towards her brother before leaving the table and heading back upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: All for now! Next chapter: Will Emily and Chris reconcile? Will Chris accept Walter's enlisting? You'll have to review if you want to find out. I won't write another chapter unless I get at least eight reviews. Why eight? I don't know. Why not?
Seriously, please review. That little button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen is a wonderful little gadget.