Timeline - Anne of Windy Poplars, The First Year. This chapter occurs before chapter 8.

Chapter 10: I Think Your Bun is too Tight

Mrs. Rachel Lynde returned from holiday to the shock of her life! She learned from Dora that Gilbert and Anne had bundled together Christmas Eve. It took all of Marilla's cunning to explain herself, but Mrs. Lynde wouldn't be persuaded. Rachel had made her thoughts known that she never approved of co-educational institutions when Anne went off to college. The idea that Marilla Cuthbert had allowed such a thing as a co-educational bed, which was, unfortunately, located one door down from hers, was unthinkable!

"Marilla…? Marilla Cuthbert! You've thrown the fat into the fire, that's what! You've just made their engagement a million times harder and if you could have seen how closely they were dancing together at that gala, you would have never allowed it. You mark my words, Marilla, there will be red-headed babies crawling around here at Green Gables if you continue to allow this!"

"Bundling is a Cuthbert tradition and it will continue if they want to," Marilla put her foot down. "Sometimes the old ways are the best ways! And it's not all the time Rachel. Gilbert is far too needed at his home, but I think, this summer, once a fortnight, would be a healthy start. I've already talked to John and Geraldine about it, and they are supportive. Of course, I knew they would be, seeing as I know a thing or two about their short-lived separation."

Those comments lit a fire under Rachel that took a half an hour to burn out. Marilla held her tongue and let Rachel spew. Mrs. Lynde paced in and out of the kitchen, removing her hat, gloves, and purse, all the while giving haughty comments of a similar vein. Marilla simply continued to sip her tea and waited for the steam to exit her longtime friend.

Finally, Rachel sat down at the table next to Marilla.

"I think your bun is too tight. That's what! It's pulling all the good sense out of your head and warpin' your thinkin'!" Mrs. Lynde said exasperatedly. "There's a reason why bundling fell out of fashion. It didn't work like folks thought it ought. Too many babies!"

"Well honestly Rachel, I need to persuade you on this, as I need your help," Marilla stopped, realizing that if she started down this road with her, there would be no return. There would be no way to take it back or bamboozle her understanding. As old as they were, Rachel's mind remained sharp as a tack. Marilla felt uneasy as she knew she was breaking a forty-two-year-old confidence. She was going to do it, she had to. Ultimately, it was for Anne.

"Well, what is it that caused such a tremendous lapse in judgment?"

"Rachel, before I answer that question, I want you to recall a conversation you overheard me have with Gilbert's grandmother, Elizabeth, over forty years ago. Do you remember? I think that you do, you asked me about it shortly after."

"You must be talking about the one at church."

"Yes. What did you overhear again?"

"Marilla Cuthbert, I don't know what your driving at, that conversation has nothing to do with bundling."

"Not directly but it will. I need you to humor me first, please! What did John's mother tell me? Tell me word for word, if you can."

"Oh, I can!" Rachel pounced. "That conversation was so peculiar it impressed in my mind most firmly. Let's see. You had just refused John's proposal. And Elizabeth was very cross with you and said, 'But I see so many great-grandchildren, and one of them so powerful too,' and then you said..." Rachel stopped and stared back at Marilla and frowned. Marilla pursed her lips together to help her succeed in staying calm and unmoved. "You said," Rachel shook her head. "Marilla you said something beyond crazy."

"What was it exactly? Do you really think it's going to shock me? I was the one that said it."

Sighing hard, Rachel continued. "You said, 'There's no way I can raise a child with magical powers. I don't have it in me.'"

"I did say that, but when you asked me about it the next day, what did I tell you?"

"You asked me to forget about it and not repeat it to anyone."

"And you haven't!"

Rachel shook her head. "No, but, I've always wondered about the Blythes ever since then."

"I know Rachel. Thank you for sharing your end of things once more. Let me get you some tea."

Marilla wiped her hands off on a kitchen towel before pouring heated water out of the kettle and into the teapot. Fetching tea was an excuse to keep herself calm and slow down her own thinking. Marilla had never gone through the inner dialogue of telling anyone about the Blythes. But it had to be done now after she overheard Josie and Gertie Pye talking at the Christmas Eve prayer service about Helen's abilities and then their conjecture on Gilbert. She brought over Rachel a slice of apple pie along with her beverage.

"I'm going to tell you the rest of the story because you have kept quiet about what you overheard so long ago. No one has ever approached me with any correct gossip about why I refused John."

Rachel was so intrigued now she wasn't interested in food. She waited impatiently for Marilla to sit down and explain.

"Elizabeth and her husband, Raymond, were cousins, maybe you didn't know that, and the two of them were descended from a long line of English witches. Oh, yes! That's right. Your ears heard correctly. Now, what does that have to do with today? I am willing to bet you have heard of Helen's abilities. She's pretty open about them. She inherited 'the legacy', as they call it. But she wasn't the only one bearing the name Blythe to do so. As far as powers go, clairvoyance is only one of many. Helen's father, John's oldest brother can bi-locate. He can be in two places at the same time. That's what John had told me. And Dr. David Blythe is more than just a mere physician, he can also heal supernaturally."

"Oh, Lawful Heart!" Rachel said shocked to her core. Her jaw was so loose that Marilla could see her molars. "Well, if what you say is true, then..." Rachel looked down at her stomach and felt across her belly. "Anyone bearing the name Blythe has these outlandish powers?"

"No, only a few of them actually. In John's case."

Interrupting very rudely, "What could John Blythe do?"

"Actually, nothing. He wasn't born with the legacy, neither was his sister. But, John's mother saw promise in our match, and she was convinced that the legacy would pass through us. She never foresaw anyone else but me in that pattern. So, the child John and Geraldine had was at first, ignored, but it turned out that Gilbert.."

"No, don't tell me! You're saying that Gilbert… Gilbert Blythe was born with all these magic-y powers."

"Yes!"

"Humpf! Well, who would have thought it? Blythe constitution, my derriere!"

Marilla watched Rachel feel her stomach again and guessed her thoughts. "Marilla, you don't think that Gilbert fixed my stomach, do you? I don't have to eat a quarter cup of red cabbage a day per Dr. Dave's orders."

"I certainly do know that Gilbert healed you when you were out," Marilla sighed. "Healing is what he does with his abilities, although, Elizabeth told me once that Gilbert was so exceptional, she thought he could maintain several ways to practice. I guess there's a tendency to specialize."

"Marilla, while this news is extremely fascinating, and actually goes a very, very, long way in explaining some weird things I've noticed throughout my life here in Avonlea, it doesn't have anything to do with bundling. And I still don't approve of it, especially next to my room. So, where's the connection?"

"Your bed and the bundling bed share the same wall."

"A paper thin wall at that."

"I know," Marilla drummed her fingers on the table. "I need your help to keep tabs on them. Gilbert seems to have more on his plate than what he can handle and he's going to need help, except, have you ever known a Blythe to ask for help?"

Rachel rolled her expressive eyes. "Well, if they can just wave a wand and fix it, that's all very well explained."

"Except they can't do that," Marilla answered. "They're real people called to do exceptional things. They don't have the answers for everything, and quietly watching them for so long, they've made some huge mistakes. It's no wonder, really. Helen told me when I was in her shoppe that she couldn't be bothered with lying to others when she could read anything she wanted about them. She, like all the other Blythes, have an over-developed sense of fairness. If they didn't have real lives with pains and sufferings, how could the compassionately use their abilities? No, we need to help them. What do you think would happen if the wrong sort found out?"

"I don't know, but I suppose it would be bad." Rachel went back to feeling her stomach and Marilla could see Rachel's face change to express gratitude for what Gilbert tried to hide from her. "Again, how does all this relate to bundling?"

"I think when you see the bundling bed, you'll feel a little bit better that it was built with conversation in mind. When Anne and Gilbert are bundling, I want you in your bedroom listening to what they say. Like you said, that wall is paper thin, and your ears pick up more things than a cat's. Perhaps they will say something useful and we can help unofficially."

"Oh, Marilla, you want me to spy on them? I would have never thought you'd ask me to do something so invasive."

"Oh, stuffin' nonsense," Marilla exclaimed. "You are a natural spy to the core, that's how you found out about why I refused John in the first place."

Rachel furrowed her brow and pointed her brown eyes to the table, begrudgingly admitting Marilla's summation.

"And what will you do, Marilla?"

"Well, I own thumb screws and I'm not afraid to use them."

to be continued