Juliet managed to pull her head out of the clouds in time to catch the magnificent descent of the plane into the Toronto airport. She was only a little nervous. Suppose--anything happened? Suddenly the idea of a two-ton piece of machinery surging through the air seemed too, too ridiculous! Of course they would crash! How could they not? Juliet bit her nails and tried enjoy the lovely colors of the afternoon sun that blazed through the window.
"Is this your first time in a plane, dearie?" said the wizened old woman next to her, looking utterly relaxed. "Have a peppermint, there's a good girl."
Juliet balled the offending peppermint up in her first and thanked the old woman politely, all the while seething inside. She must be brave! She was almost a grown woman--how embarrassing to be caught acting like a small frightened child.
The plane landed gracefully, without even a bump, like a bird alighting on a branch. And Juliet was pushed along with the rest of the crowd into the teeming airport. How busy it was! How could there be this many people in Toronto coming and going all at once?
She found her bags almost immediately and stood to the side, looking around. The sight of so many face--and not one of them familiar--filled her with slight panic. Juliet knew what she had to do next: get a taxi and ride out to Doug and Bella's. But where would she get a taxi? Who should she ask? "Excuse me," she called out to a woman in a fantastic fur stole who was passing by, but the woman kept on without even a backward glance. "Sir!" Juliet tried again, trying to catch the attention of a man in a business suit. He stopped and looked at her questioningly.
"Do you know where I can get a taxi?"
The man shrugged his shoulders apologetically and hurried on. Juliet sat down on the top of her trunk and hid her face in her hands. How hard would it be to get back on a plane and turn around and go home? She had been mad to think of going away to school. Why hadn't she simply gone to Redmond to do a course in Home Management? She could have been near to home and seen Allan on the weekends
Something Father had said about Grandmother Aileen crept back into her consciousness: She would have given everything she loved in the world to be where you are now. "I don't believe that," Juliet murmured. "She may have thought she wanted to go away to school but she never actually had to leave home!" Still, the thought of long-dead Grandmother Aileen gave Juliet the strength to stand up and gather her bags and make her way toward the entrance of the terminal.
Something she saw there made her stop and drop her bags in surprise and delight. A familiar slender form in a familiar blue jacket--how the other girls in Four Winds envied that blue velvet jacket--a head of sandy brown curls--a sweet, unassuming face--!
"Trudy!" Juliet cried, waving her arms to get her friend's attention. "Trudy Ford--what are you doing here?"
The two girls from the Island flew toward each other and met in an embrace. The girls hadn't been the best of friends at home--Juliet was much closer to Trudy's cousin Joy--but here in the Toronto airport she was more glad to see Trudy than she'd been to see anyone else on earth, ever before. Except maybe Allan, on that sweet day he'd come home from the war. Juliet and Trudy clung to each other like drowning sailors, both of them talking at once.
"Oh Juliet," Trudy said, nearly sobbing in relief. "I'm so glad to see you! My plane got in two hours ago and since then I've been sitting by the baggage pick-up crying and trying to think of what to do next. I only just made my way outside. I was sure I was going to get lost or trampled fighting my way through these crowds!"
"I heard your father say you were going to university but I had no idea it was Guelph!" Juliet clasped the other girl's hands in excitement. "Trudy, where are you headed now?"
"Oh, Juliet!" Trudy's eyes looked big and wide and scared. "I have to get a taxi into Guelph--and spend the night at a boarding house. I'm so nervous--my heart is going like a freight train--I don't want to spend the night among strangers. I've never spent a night anywhere other than Ingleside--or the House of Dreams--or Green Gables!"
"Get your bag," Juliet said decidedly. "And follow me. You aren't going to spend the night in a boarding house, Trudy--you're coming with me to Bella and Doug's. In the morning we'll go together to the university and get our room assignments."
"Oh, Juliet!" Again, tears of assuagement sprang up Trudy's eyes. "I'd love that! But--do you think Bella and Doug would mind?"
"Not at all," Juliet said. "They'll be glad to see a face from home and Bella will love the chance to show off her home-making skills. Now, Trudy, stop that almost-crying you're doing and don't worry about that boarding house anymore. We've got more important things to worry about--we need to hail a taxi. How do we do that, I wonder? Should we wave our arms and jump up and down or shout, too, to make sure the driver sees us?"
* * *
"You're here!" A hugely pregnant Bella flew with surprising grace down the footpath to meet the taxi when it pulled up. "Here!" she handed money to the driver and pulled Juliet from the car and up into an easy hug.
"Father gave me money to pay--" Juliet began but was silenced by another hug from Bella.
"Nonsense!" she laughed. "Keep it--Doug and I have enough and you're a poor college student. You can buy one of those college scarves with it. Oh, Juliet, I've missed you!" There was another almost smothing hug.
Trudy got their bags from the car and stood shyly aside, waiting for Bella to acknowledge her.
"And you've brought a friend!" Bella laughed. "Trudy Ford--how good it is to see a face from home! Of course you're welcome here--always! Don't start with protestations and don't thank me. Come inside, you poor lambs--wasn't the trip here tiring? You must be ready for a nap--you can snooze while I finish dinner. Come and see the house! You'll love it--I know I do."
The girls did love the house--a little stone cottage with a gently sloping red roof and two little towers on either side that jutted up like flags. It was the perfect home for Bella and Doug--it seemed like it was built just for them. There were lots of bright, airy windows and hidden nooks in which one could sit and read. Juliet felt that she knew now why Hilary Gordon, who had designed it, was considered on of Canada's top architects. Bella had them stow their suitcases and trunks in one of the tower rooms and led them down to the kitchen--and there was Doug, sitting at the table. Juliet gave a small cry and flew into her brother's arms. The twins stood like that for a long moment, and the sense of loss that each had been feeling at being apart for so long was cancelled out. The feeling of unity and wholeness was restored.
"Doug!" Juliet cried, with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I've missed you more than I can say! How good--good--it is to be with you again. I know now why people say that twins should never be separated."
How old Doug looked, in his suit and tie! As if he were years older than Juliet when in fact he was almost four minutes younger! He looked every bit the distinguished professor of agriculture he was. Juliet felt daunted for a moment--she would start at Guelph tomorrow as a student--but Doug was already a teacher. She felt young and awkward, the way she'd felt the whole year she was twelve and hadn't stopped growing and was all arms and legs. But then he smiled and ruffled her hair and Juliet relaxed. Yes, he was still the same warm, loving brother she'd always had--the same old Doug.
Trudy and Juliet wanted to help Bella with supper but she wouldn't hear of it. The girls napped on a sofa in the parlor and woke up feeling marvelously refreshed. They had a lovely, gay supper in the elegant dining room. Bella was certainly a gracious hostess!
"Tell me about everything that's going on, Trudy," she said. "Priest Pond is closer to Four Winds than it is to Shrewsbury, and I want to know what's going on at home--somehow that still seems like home to me. Although I'd rather be here with Doug than anyplace else on earth. Did Mary Douglas's mums win first prize at Exhibition again this year? And how is your family? No news from home would be complete without the detailed goings-on of the Blythe and Meredith and Ford clans!"
Trudy talked easily about her family. It seemed that Jem Blythe would be coming home to take over her Grandfather's practice. Everyone was still getting over the elder Dr. Blythe's death and it was hard--especially since they were still grieving about Owen. Trudy's lip trembled when she talked about her brother who had died in the war, but she quickly changed the subject to happier tidings. Joy's own baby was due in the spring. And Trudy's younger sister was engaged to be married!
"Hannah engaged!" Bella breathed. "To whom? Isn't she only just sixteen?"
An uncomfortable silence fell around the table. Bella had been too busy planning her own wedding when Hannah Ford's romance had been much-talked about at home. Doug looked over at Juliet, who was concentrating intently on the piece of roast she was cutting into impossibly small bits. Trudy flushed red and looked embarrassed.
"Hannah's engaged to Blair King," she said hastily. "Only she's not really engaged. Mother won't let her until she's done with high school. She doesn't even have a ring. I guess she and Blair have just talked a bit about it."
"How's my old pal Allan?" Doug interjected, seeing a red haze of embarrassment come up over Juliet's cheeks. "Has he changed any since last I saw him? He's promised to come over for a visit as soon as he gets a break from his own classes--he sounds subdued, Juliet, which I guess the war has done to him. How is he, really?"
Juliet shot her brother a grateful look. "He's fine--really," she said, feeling her hot cheeks start to cool. "A bit weary and war-torn around the edges--but I guess we all expected that. He has a scar over his left eye, but it's small--no bigger than my little finger. But Doug--he does--look so old. Not that he's wrinkled or hairless or anything," Juliet laughed. "But--there's something in his face that makes me feel that he's aged double the years that I have during the war."
She gave a pretty little sigh and Bella patted her hand.
"It does seem like sometimes the entire world getting older but that I'm staying the same," she mused. "I saw Father last month, Juliet--and he looked so old. I mean, he's always been old--he was over fifty when I was born. But he never seemed old to me. Now he looks like such an old, old man!"
Juliet nodded. It was just the other day that she'd noticed silver in the dark hair around her own father's temples and her heart had been shaken to the core. Mother still looked like a girl. What was it Uncle Dean had said to her the other day?
"Star, you seem to have found the elixir that Ponce de Leon spent his whole life looking for. If you've found the Fountain of Eternal Youth, won't you please be a dear and let the rest of us in on the secret?"
Yes, Mother still looked young. But there were lines around Aunt Ilse's eyes--just the tiniest, finest spiderweb of lines--and Uncle Perry was going bald! He was very sensitive about it. Juliet felt a chill as she looked into the flame of the flickering candle on the table. When she was younger it had seemed that the years passed impossibly slowly. Now, how they flew by! She gazed around the table and saw how each one of them would look when they were old.
"Juliet--Juliet!" Trudy laughed. "Where are you wandering? Come back to us!"
As an old woman Trudy Ford would have silvery hair and kind, deep eyes. Juliet shook her head to clear the picture, and remembered a funny anecdote that had happened on the plane. An old men dropped his ticket, and bent down to pick it up, and there was a tremendous ripping sound as he split the seat of his pants! He'd grabbed onto his rear end with both hands and high-tailed it to his seat. She told the story now and lightness and humor were restored to the happy group around the table.
* * *
"Juliet," Trudy whispered when they were tucked into the double bed in the tower room. Bella had puttered around them for what seemed like hours--putting on such maternal airs that it was hard for the girls not to laugh. But it would have been a tender, loving laugh. Bella was a married lady with a baby on the way--she had a right to put on airs.
"Hmm?" Juliet stretched and snuggled more deeply into the covers. The night had turned chilly. Still, she had the window open a crack. Juliet could not sleep without the sound of the wind and such nice little winds swirled around the tower.
"I'm sorry I mentioned Blair King, at dinner. Are you mad at me, dear? I was in love with Jake Penhallow for a year--a whole year!--when I was ten, and it still rankled when Joy married him this summer. But you don't care a whit about Blair anymore, do you? You've got Allan."
"Trudy, darlingest of all Fords, I couldn't care any less," Juliet laughed. "I'm happy as a clam with my Allan--and I only hope Hannah will be as happy with Blair--though I don't think anyone could be quite as happy as Allan and I. I don't mind at all--and I'm not mad. Now get some sleep!"
She waited until the sound of Trudy's breathing slowed and her eyes closed, and then Juliet crept out of bed and to the window that overlooked the dark, sleeping city.
For once in her life Juliet wished her gift of second sight would come at will. She wished right now that she could see into her college years to all the adventures that awaited her. What a useless talent that was! She wanted to know now.
"But I suppose it's for the best," Juliet whispered. "I do like surprises. And it's not like I have long to wait before I start! Oh, I can't wait for tomorrow!"
* * *
Thanks for the reviews, all of you! They really make my day.
Faerie5: I definitely plan on spending more time talking about Doug and Bella--and perhaps Blair King will pop up somewhere? *winks*
Miri: No, Allan doesn't resemble either of his parents much, but not all children do. I think we've seen that he's slightly argumentative, which he could get from either Ilse or Perry! Bea does take a lot after Ilse though. I think that maybe Allan is a lot like his parents in certain ways, but a bot more subdued because of the war. More about that, later, though
Gufa: You're right. I do like weddings--probably because I was married myself earlier this year and I have them on the brain. Also, there seem to be weddings in most LMM books, especially the Anne books, and I love how she writes them! I guess I wanted to try my hand at that, too.
Terreis: I don't like it when Allan and Juliet fight, either, but they are always surprising me and doing it anyway. I can't promise that there won't be any more fights. But I promise that when there are, they will always make them up beautifully. All of LMM's couples are so sweet and get along purrr-fectly and never fightI suppose I wanted Allan and Juliet to be as sweet as Gilbert and Anne or Pat and Hilary--but a little more realistic. I mean, people do fight.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Sorry for not updating in so long, but I had a paper to write (last of the semester) and it's done now! Yay! So more on both of my stories.