Chapter 5 - At the Miller House
Guided by the pale moonlight and the light shining from the front window of the small house, Anne and Gilbert neared the Miller abode. Simultaneously, they spotted a buggy hitched to the post out front and they turned to eye each other in alarm. The buggy was familiar to them both, as it was to most residents of the small community. It belonged to the doctor, and its presence was never a welcome sight, especially so late at night when the purpose of the doctor's visit wasn't likely to be a social one. At this point it might have been logical to affect a discreet turning away, a supposition that whatever had brought the doctor out to the desolate house so late at night was a private matter and not anyone else's business. Surely in big cities like Charlottetown it was said the neighbours pretty much left each other alone, even in situations of sickness or crisis. But this was Avonlea. No such suppositions applied here. Without even a remote thought to questioning it, just knowing that a neighbour in trouble was their business, Anne and Gilbert approached the porch, both of them oblivious to the fact they still were still joined hand-to-hand from their evening's trek.
Suddenly the door opened and out spilled a stream of light and Hannah Bedoe, a neighbour of sorts since she worked as a hired girl at the Thompson place next to the Miller homestead. She let out a little gasp and a jerk of surprise to see two shadowy figures on the doorstep, and the water inside the basin she was carrying sloshed over the sides and onto her apron. She quickly recovered her composure and stilled the bowl, though, upon recognizing the figures.
"Gilbert Blythe! Anne Shirley!" she exclaimed, even though her voice, timbered to match the circumstances, was hardly above a whisper. "Whatever are you two doing here?"
"Evening Hannah," Gilbert began. "We were just on our way home from the White Sands party. We saw the light on and wondered if anything was wrong," Gilbert explained their impromptu visit.
Hannah let out a long sigh. "Yeah, there sure is. Mrs. Miller has had one of her spells again, and the doctor is real worried. I can tell he is," she offered knowingly in proud perception, then sidled out past the pair towards the porch railing, dumping the contents of the pan of water over the side onto some bushes.
Anne and Gilbert eyed each other worriedly at the piece of information Hannah had relayed. Mrs. Miller was known to be in poor health, had been in poor health for quite some time now, ever since the death of her husband over a year ago and the resulting impoverished state he'd left them in. The people of Avonlea were helping out as much as they could, why Anne had brought some food and clothes from Marilla just the week before. Poverty was one thing, but deteriorating health was another more worrisome thing.
"I come up earlier today," Hannah continued, turning to the pair and hugging the empty basin flat to her stomach. "Mrs. Miller sent little Lizzy down to the Thompsons to fetch me. I've come up before, when I can, helping out and such around the place, them being so poor off like they is," she explained her particular connection. "So I weren't suprised to see little Lizzy, but I knew something was wrong right off. When I got here I could see Mrs. Miller was in bad shape so I sent young Jerry Monaghan for the doctor. I been here all this time and I'm powerful wore out," she sighed heavily with that truth. It had been hard working for the Thompson's all day and then spending the rest of the day helping out at a sick neighbours.
"It was good of you to come help out," Anne said, bringing a small smile of pleasure to Hannah's face for the appreciation shown to her here-to-fore unacknowledged helpfulness. She was a kind soul, Hannah was. A kind soul housed in a fairly short but oversized frame, her rounded cheeks stained a noticeable pink from exertion. "Is there anything we can do?" Anne asked, unaware she had unconsciously offered Gilbert's services along with her own.
"I'll say!" Hannah jumped eagerly at the offer. "If you can get those two little ones of hers off to bed that would surely help. I haven't had time, what with helping the doctor," she said, her voice tinged with pride at such a prestigious responsibility. "They been running underfoot all night and they won't listen to nothing I tell them, that's what." Hannah rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Anne smiled at the description and the request. If it's one thing she was good at it was minding wayward children. Seems like she had spent the better part of her life doing that, both before her years at Avonlea, when she had minded the children of the families she'd stayed with as an orphan, and now as a teacher minding a roomful of students at the Avonlea school.
"Of course we can do that," Anne replied, taking a step towards Hannah to reinforce her offer. It was only then she realized herself still attached to Gilbert Blythe, her arm automatically extended to bridge the greater distance between them. Her hand had been resting comfortably in his all this while, Anne realized. She blushed profusely at the knowledge. What must Hannah think of the spectacle? Slowly, Anne reclaimed her hand while Gilbert, eyeing her blush with interest, released his hold.
"Of course we can help out with the children," Anne rushed to say, trying to cover the awkward moment, then realizing she had inadvertantly created another. "That is, er, I mean...we can help, can't we Gil?" she turned to him and asked, only now realizing she had offered his services without consultation.
Gilbert smiled, for some reason inordinately pleased at Anne's presumption of their togetherness on the matter. "Of course we can help," he affirmed, more than rewarded for his words when Anne threw him a look of gratitude. "Where are they?"
"In the kitchen," Hannah replied on another sigh. "And they ain't one lick tired, even it being so late and all. Come on, follow me," she instructed, leading the trio into the house, the main floor of which was an open room with a kitchen off one end and two bedrooms on the other. Once inside the warm room, Gilbert tapped Anne on the shoulder as she made to follow Hannah to the kitchen. Anne paused to meet his eyes inquiringly.
"You might want to take your co....er....my coat off," he suggested on a whisper, as Anne blushed at the reminder that she was also still wearing the coat he'd put around her shoulders back outside when they'd begun their trek here.
"Y-yes," Anne stammered, still in high colour, as she removed the coat and handed it to Gilbert, then turned quickly to follow on Hannah's heals. Gilbert tossed the coat on a nearby chair and followed the women.
"The doc's in there with Mrs. Miller," Hannah whispered, pausing to incline her head towards one of the nearby closed doors. "And here the littles ones be," she said, stopping on the kitchen threshold, surveying the sight before her with a jaded eye. With the light from an oil lamp illuminating the room, it wasn't hard to pick out seven-year-old Lizzy Miller and four-year old Henry Miller under the kitchen table stacking pans and enamel dishes and even a small log or two around themselves into something vaguely resembling a ...a...well none of the adults was quite sure what it resembled.
"Hello Lizzy, hello Henry," Anne approached and drew up her skirts a little before crouching low. She peered over the edge of the children's fabricated structure. "What you are doing?" she asked in polite inquisition.
"We're building a fort," Lizzy supplied happily, oblivious in the way only children sometimes are of a serious situation around them.
"Yeah, a 'ort," Henry chimed in, nodding vigorously at Anne Shirley, the nice lady he'd seen many times before when she'd visited, always bearing a basket of goodies. If the children appeared to show no outward distress by the doctor's visit, by the possible calamity of illness, it was only because their mother had been sick for what would seem to a child a very long time, and because the doctor was already a frequent visitor to their home. For them, nothing much was out of the ordinary.
"Hannah tells me it's way past your bedtime," Anne tactfully broached the bedtime issue. "Aren't you even a little bit tired?" she asked persuasively.
"Not me!" Lizzy giggled.
"Me 'either!" Henry chimed.
"Hmm," Anne intoned, seeing she was going to have a more difficult task than she'd thought. Suddenly an idea came to her. "You know," she began thoughtfully, rubbing the side of her face in mock contemplation. "You know, I know quite a lot about forts and castles and the like. Only these are magical castles. Castles from a long, long time ago. Ones with moats, and dragons, and princesses....," she trailed off, pleased to note she had piqued the children's interest and they stilled their activity to regard her solemnly. "Maybe....maybe I could tell you more about it. Maybe I could tell you more about it after I help you get ready for bed. How does sound?" she bargained.
"Okay," Lizzy quickly acquiesced to the enticing offer, scrambling from under the table, while her brother mimicked her move.
Anne stood, turning to flash Gilbert and Hannah a triumphant grin. She was even more pleased when Lizzy came round to her side and slipped her hand into her own. When Henry was within arms reach, Anne nudged him over towards Gilbert. "You're with him," she informed the child, her tone just this side of teasing as she watched Gilbert's surprised look with amusement.
Henry obligingly did as he was told and stood before Gilbert, peering up at him expectantly. Gilbert cleared his throat, unused to interacting with children so young as this, so small as this, not quite sure what to do.
Anne picked up the oil lamp to light their way as she and Lizzy moved to exit the room. Seeing Gilbert's inaction, she paused at the threshold. "Take his hand and follow us," she said, meeting Gilbert's eyes with the instruction, her voice and eyes sparkling with amusement. For once she was in her element, the more experienced capable one, and it gave her a smug satisfaction. Gilbert noted the smug expression, the amusement, and whispered back in mock obedience, "Yes, ma'am," his brow raised in askance at her order. But Anne only smiled and turned away, leading Lizzy to the small bedroom on the far side of the house.
Gilbert looked down at the small boy below him. "Well Henry, let's go, shall we?" he asked, and offered his hand. Trustingly, the small boy reached his own hand up to take the offered one, before they both turned to follow the others out of the room.
Author's Note: the next chapter picks up right where this scene leaves off. Sorry to be breaking up the chapters this way, but it took me the whole day to write this bit and I wante to post something after all that! lol! Anyway, if you are following along and enjoying the story, please leave me comments, I really appreciate the motivation to keep going.