So sorry that I have not updated in a long long time. I try to update once a month and sometimes i forget to. ;)
Thoughts swirled around, swirling into a dark, deep abyss. Everything that had happened flashed back into her face. In her mind Anne was the main priority. Anne couldn't come to harm, Marilla wouldn't let her—and yet, didn't she already expose the poor child? After all, if Anne hadn't spoken up Marilla feared that the child wouldve seen many more dirty things happen.
He had touched her, and had taken advantage of her; what angered Marilla most was that he did it in front of Anne. No child should have to be exposed to such things, and Anne had already been exposed to far more things than she should have been. The weight of guilt entered her heart, she had added to Anne's troubled past. In her eyes, she was no better than the other people Anne had lived with.
"Marilla, are you okay," Anne shyly asked, coming back from Matthews room. She saw Marilla staring off into space, her eyes roaming around at nothing in the air; since the Hammonds Marilla had been acting strange, and it scared Anne more than she would've liked to admit.
Marilla jumped slightly at the sound of Anne's voice, "oh, I'm fine, Anne."
"Um well, Matthew said that he wanted to rest some more but he told me to leave the tray on his nightstand."
"Thank you Anne, you're a big help. Today I need to run into town to get some things. Would you like to come?"
"Yes please!"
Chuckling at her excitement Marilla stood up, "We'll go after lunch."
Anne loved town, all the different people and things to look at; it gave her so much scope for her imagination.
"Right, the General Store first I think, come along Anne," Marilla said as she tied the buggy to the hitching post and then walked off in the direction of the store. Anne patted Belle and then hurriedly trotted off to follow Marilla.
Anne loved to browse through the shelves of miscellaneous things, especially the candy counter. Licorice, lemon drops, butterscotch, and various other bright coloured candies. She liked to imagine the taste of each candy on her tongue.
An Italian man walked up to the counter and starting talking to her in his thick accent, " what's your favorite kind?"
"The chocolate caramels but they're dreadfully expensive."
"You know, ive never seen a redhead before, your hair is remarkable."
Anne grinned from ear to ear at the man, "thank you sir I-"
"Anne! You, get away from her!" Marilla angrily walked up and put her arms around the girl protectively.
"Sorry, ma'am, I meant no trouble," the man apologised profusely and with a short bow he backed out of the store.
Anne writhed under Marilla tight grip, "Marilla! He was a nice man!"
"You can't go around just talking to strangers! What if he wanted to take you?!"
Anne spoke quietly and cautiously, "You were a stranger to me before. He was just complimenting me on my hair."
Marilla realised that she was overreacting but her adrenaline had kicked in. When she saw a strange, foreign looking man, talking to her baby flashes of the Hammonds house went back in her mind. It didn't help that the Italian had dark features, similar to what Nathan Hammond had.
"Nevermind now, lets go home, Anne."
On the way home Anne was strangely quiet and Marilla decided to let the girl be with her thoughts, so the ride was eerily silent. Anne just sat thinking that Marilla needed help but she didn't know how to help her.
Finally Anne broke the silence, "Marilla, I can ask you anything, right?"
Marilla looked out of the corner of her eye at Anne, "Of course you can. Ask away, although I may not be able to answer."
Anne bit her lip for a second and then blurted, "you're not well."
Marilla's eyebrows raised, "is that your question?"
"No, no, let me rephrase that. Are you well?"
"I'm fine, perfectly fine," Marilla quickly looked away from Anne in case her face gave away her true answer.
The girl searched the older woman's face, not believing Marilla's facade. She'd let this conversation rest—for now anyway. "My bottom is no longer sore. And I'd say that things are looking up!" Anne declared cheerily, carefully watching Marilla's reaction.
Marilla just gave Anne a warm smile, not wanting to flat out lie, but very much wanting this conversation to end.
Later that day Anne sat next to Matthew and told him her concerns.
"-and she pretended like nothing was wrong but I know that she's worried about something," Anne finished, looking at Matthew with sorrowful eyes.
He hated to see her like this and patted her hand reassuringly, "she was mighty worried about you, I'm sure that she just needs some time to rest."
Anne thought about this for a moment. "Yes, I suppose so. I just-" she trailed off her and shook her head.
"You just-what?" He prodded.
"Never mind, I forgot what I was going to say. Marilla asked if I could fold laundry for her; I'll be back soon," Annd leaned down and kissed his cheek, then shut the door quietly behind her.
Marilla had reassured her that she shan't feel guilty—and yet, the guilt seemed to engulf her. She folded the clothes diligently and even re-folded ones that she thought weren't folded good enough.
"I'm done, Marilla," Anne called, running down the stairs, the smell of stew hitting her nose making her mouth water.
"Thank you, Anne. You're a great help to me; would you like a taste?" Marilla asked her as she stirred the pot over the stove.
Anne swallowed down the meat and gravy and licked her lips, "Thank you, that's delicious!"
Smiling, Marilla put the pot lid back on and set it on the back of the stove to keep it warm,
"I'm going to go over Rachel's now, you may play outside until I get back, if you're done with your chores."
"Thank you, Marilla!" Anne called as she ran out the door.
With a short breath Marilla put her coat on and headed over to Rachel's house, needing to vent.