Chapter V

Vexes and Hexes

Thanksgiving was near, and school for Anne was as hard as ever. Trying to have fun was hard work, thought Anne. While her pupils worked hard on their studies, Anne soaked her feet in a tub with a special soap she bought from Carmody. While her pupils ate plain dinners and dinnertime, she ate extravagant dinners ordered specially from the White Sands hotel. During exam time, she read funny stories on children who had no shoes. Still, when winter vacation came, she thought it was well deserved. On the last day of school, she walked home with Diana Barry. "Diana," she started as they walked down Lover's Lane, "I think I'm know okay with you and Jane. Before, I couldn't stand either of you like this, but since my long talks with Mrs. Lydne and Mrs. Allan, I think all of us should be part of this world, even if we are truly diverse. I think thats what makes the world an interesting place, because if everyone were the same, it would be really mundane." Diana shifted uneasily next to her. "I'm not sure you should get used to Jane and I though, Anne," Diana said timidly. "Shes been vexing me, and she calls it taunting. She starts arguing with me constantly for no reason, and after a lot of fighting, she tells me she was just angry and that a lot of girls act this way when they grow." Diana sighed unhappily. "Besides, I think I like someone, and its not a girl. I think Jane will be very unhappy when she finds out that I like someone and its someone of the other gender." Anne looked positively excited at first, and then contained herself. She couldn't show Diana she was happy that she would be spending time with her again, and not Jane. Her conversation about talking to Mrs. Lydne and Mrs. Allan would be showing Diana that her true feelings weren't what they thought they were. "There, there Diana," said Anne comfortingly. "I'm sure Jane didn't mean to vex you, but its still rather unladylike to be a hypocrite." Diana gave another sigh. "You're always so right Anne," said Diana unhappily. Just then, a ugly black dressed being appeared at the end of the road. "Eeew! How could anyone dress like that?" said Diana in disgust. She was always rather infatuated with fashion and clothing. Suddenly, the figure turned and started running towards them. They both screamed and clung on to each other. The figure stopped in front of them and took off it's hat. "JANE?!" they both shrieked. Jane was dressed in an old tattery, black dress, her hair was pulled back with an ugly black kerchief, and she was wearing raggedy black tights. In her hand, she held her black hat which was topped with a huge black crow feather. "Jane! Why are you dressed.....dressed...so bat-cave like?" gasped Anne. "Eeee youuuuu moooomaaaaa fuggggggg chaaa laaaaaaaaa.....LA!" Jane screeched. Both girls looked at her other in horror. "Shes...shes..hexing us, Anne!" sputtered Diana in terror. When Anne was younger, her imagination occasionally ran away with her. Once she imagined that a wood near Green Gables was really a haunted wood, and she could have sworn that she had seen a witch there once. She had fell down in dead faint of course, only to wake up romantically in a pile of rabbit droppings. She had told Diana, and they were scared of witches and the wood, which they christened the Haunted Wood ever since. Before Anne could think, Jane jumped right next to them and started pulling their shoes off. Anne and Diana, losing their minds completely, pulled away from her and ran down the road, past Rachel Lynde's house, and right into Green Gables. Anne nearly flattened Davy like a pancake while she ran up to her room. When they got to her room, they jumped ontop of her bed and trembled. "Diana! Shes a witch and I think she tried to hex us!" stuttered Anne. Suddenly, a small whimper came from underneath the tiny bump on her bed they were sitting on. They both shrieked, losing their minds completely, and ran downstairs and flew out the door to Diana's home. "They're chasing us, Diana! The spirits have seen the vex placed upon us and are now after us!" yelled Anne. When they got there, no one was home because the rest of the Barrys were at White Sands, and Anne, who was not about to leave, locked the doors while Diana locked the windows. "Oh Anne, please do not leave. I cannot let my bossom friend go to the spirits!" Diana said tearfully. Even in all her terror, Anne turned to Diana and gave her a strange look. "Diana, you know I like Gilbert, and I'm not exactly about to start liking girls." Diana shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it that way, Anne." Anne relaxed and gave her a smile. Then they heard thunder. Both girls screamed. "Theres no leaving, Diana, we can't leave the house," said Anne closing her eyes in horror. Indeed, there was no leaving the house. It poured for hours, and Anne ended up spending the day at Diana's home. "Anne, my parents are probably stuck at White Sands because it won't stop raining. Oh, but we must be brave. We have no food left for we ate everything, and we must return to Green Gables." Suddenly, they heard a bang on the door. "THE SPIRITS!!!!!!!" both girls screamed. They ran behind the couch. They heard the door's lock turning, and then the door fly open. Two very soggy figures walked in holding two small dripping figures. "Anne?" Marilla's voice called through the house. "MARILLA!" both girls ran from behind the couch and threw themselves onto Marilla. The smaller figure who Marilla had been holding fell to the floor with a thudd. "Girls, girls, Dora..." Marilla tried to remain stern, but had to laugh. The second figure picked up Dora, who was crying but was so wet, you couldn't tell which was tears and which one was rain. "Girls, girls! You should be ashamed! Two grownup girls, first almost flattening poor Dora, then being so frightened at such silly things!" said Mrs. Lydne's voice. She dropped both Davy and Dora on a couch, and turned towards the girls who had finally let go of Marilla. "We've been looking for you for so long! You were here?" asked Mrs. Lydne. Both girls nodded, too relieved to speak. "I see, I see. Good thing Marilla has a key to the Barry's home, or we would have never found you!" said Mrs. Lynde again, this time a little disapprovingly. "I saw the whole witch incident from my window. That Jane, she should be awfully ashamed. Diana, I hope you don't mind that I heard that you are not going to be different anymore. Thats good dear, thats good. Now, look at poor Dora, you girls gave her such a fright. Poor child was sick this morning, and the only warm room in the house was Anne's room. Marilla let her sleep in there, and took Davy to Carmody so he wouldn't bother her. But she was awoken anyway by the most unlikely people indeed. Girls, really shouldn't be afraid of nonsense make believe characters. Its unladylike." She paused for breath. "I guess we better start explaining, Diana," said Anne a little shamefully. For the rest of the night, they talked and partied in the Barry home with no food, until Dora's little face red with fever and Mr. and Mrs. Barry came home and screamed for them to get out rather politely when they refused to. As Anne waved her free hand to Diana in which she was not holding a sleeping Davy, she told herself, what a first day of winter vacation.

Chapter VI

Cracks in Friendship

The first snow had fallen over Avonlea, transforming the island into a peaceful winter wonderland. The Haunted Wood was as silent as ever, close to resembling a snow queen's tomb. Lover's Lane was delightfully sparkling with snow, and Barry's pond, the Lake of Shining Waters, was frozen over and the young adults of Avonlea were having a splendid time skating on it. Anne was walking home with Diana from Carmody and were taking a shortcut by the Lake of Shining Waters to Green Gables, and was having trouble managing all her packages. "Diana," she said in a muffled voice from behind all her packages. "Do you think Marilla will like the foot scratcher I got her?" Diana, who was carrying her packages along with some of Anne's, for Anne was carrying too many for just her to hold, had a little trouble answering. "Anne, listen.....help! Aunt Josephine's present, its about to fall!" And indeed, the package ontop of all the piled packages in Diana's arms, slipped right off and fell over the railing and right into the Lake of Shining Waters! "Oh!" Anne and Diana both dropped their presents and ran over to see the fate of Aunt Josephine's present. Instead of seeing it sink it beneath the pond's icy waters, they saw it land on someone's head with an "ouch!" and then being skated over and tripping a person who was skating by. "Oh, oh! Anne, what do we do?" asked Diana, mortified. Anne, who had not even time to think, grabbed Diana's hand and flew down and around to the pond. It appeared it and the small package had caused a lot of commotion. Seven people had tripped and flipped over, and were now all painfully lying on top of each other. The package had hit someone on the head when it had fallen, and it left its mark ontop of his head to not let him forget too soon where it had fallen. And a couple of people were now complaining that their day was now ruined because of the tiny package. Anne ran forward and grabbed the package before anyone could see. "Lets go Diana....." she said in a low voice to her friend. Right after they stepped off the pond, they heard a loud crack! "Its breaking!" they heard someone shout. In a gust of wind and snow, everyone had run or skated off the pond, which now had several cracks rushing with water forming. Anne and Diana, rooted to the spot with fear, had now got their senses back. They yelled, and started running. They didn't stop until they got to Green Gables. "Anne," Diana panted. "Is the package okay?" Anne checked the box. It was dented in several spots, and the pretty paper wrapping on it was peeling off. "Diana, I wouldn't say it was nice in front of Mrs. Allan," she started breathlessly. "Its not nice to lie in front of a minister's wife, you know. You can't send this now, its too ruined and I bet the music box inside is even more ruined." Diana shook her head. "We can't go all the way back to Carmody now," she said tiredly. "Its snowing too hard, and I don't have enough allowance to afford it." Anne hesitated, thinking. After several seconds, she said in a defeated voice, "You're right. I spent all my allowance too. We're just going to have to send it to Aunt Josephine." Feeling very discouraged, both girls picked themselves up and went back to the Lake of Shining waters, and collected the rest of their gifts. When they got back, they sent out Mrs. Josephine Barry's present to Charlottetown and went home. Almost a fortnight later, after they had forgot all about the incident, a letter arrived for Diana and Anne, both who had bought the present together for Mrs. Barry. It was a very insulted, rude, and short letter claiming that she had thrown it away and it was awful of them to send such a gift, and that she wanted to give them both a slap in the face. She ended the letter saying that her friendship with them had ended, and she thought no more of them as family. Anne, who was feeling sick in the head after reading the letter, sent a letter asking why she had opened the gift before Christmas. That tended to make Mrs. Barry even more offended. She answered back telling them she wanted to see who would send such a shabby package, and an even more shabbier music box to her lovely home. Diana was over at Green Gables, and both girls were now feeling as lost as ever before Christmas. Anne was especially feeling blue now. "There, there Anne, cheer up," said Diana gently. "That moldy prune is just too spoiled and thinks that everyone in the world is as rich as her." Anne whose pillow was now as soggy as a wet noodle, blew her nose on the hem of Diana's dress. "Diana, I feel like I've just lost someone I really love," sobbed Anne. "Aunt Josephine is a kindred spirit, and I've never lost a kindred spirit before, and now I know just how horrible it is when you lose a kindred spirit." Diana had no reply to this sad comment, but just patted Anne's hand and looked out the frosty window. Diana's sad face seemed to melt away as a smile started to bloom on her lips. "Look, Anne, theres hope," she said smilingly.