Young Walter did hurry. He ran faster than his little five-year-old
legs had ever carried him. He rounded back to the garden where everyone
else was, and was suddenly overcome with an inability to know whom to tell
first. Family members were all over the place, but many would probably
figure that he was making things up. Thankfully, he saw his father and
grandfather both off in the corner of the garden conversing with old Dr.
Parker from Lowbridge.
Walter ran to his father, and pulled his arm in the direction of the barn. "Dad, come on, hurry up!"
Jem turned his arm to where he could gather Young Walter close without taking his attention from the conversation he was having. "I've got to apologize for Walt's behavior. He sometimes gets over excited at things like this."
Dr. Parker laughed it off and commented on how his own sons were once the same way. Walter wriggled his way free from his father and decided to make his plea to his grandfather instead.
"Granddad, it's important! I'm not being over excited; I have to tell you something if you'll listen to me!"
Gilbert wasn't sure whether Walt really had anything important to say to him or not, but after thirty some-odd years of parenthood, he knew that it was better to let the child have his say before a scene was created. "What is it, Walt?"
"It's Grandmother!" was all the little boy had to say.
Gilbert's heart almost stopped. In a choked voice he said, "Anne?" He looked all around, and she was missing.
Jem stooped down to eye level with his son. "Son, now tell what happened and where your Grandmother is."
Frank hazel eyes to frank hazel eyes, he told his father, "She fell at the barn and some strange man it with her."
Jem had already left the garden, on his way to aid his mother, who least of all needed his medical attention. Gilbert wasn't far behind him, and as the family and guests noticed the exodus in the direction of the barn, all in attendance were soon headed in that general direction.
Jem arrived at the barn to find a man standing over his mother's seemingly lifeless body. He knelt down to check her vitals. She was alive, and her pulse was fine. Realizing that she must have fainted from a shock, he suddenly became angry. Momentarily, the doctor in him vanished and the protective son came out in full force.
Gilbert Blythe arrived on the scene just in time to witness Jem grab the man by the shirt collar and slam his back into the barn wall. He allowed his son to handle that situation though and focused solely on his wife.
"Anne, Anne, can you hear me? Anne, please wake up." He cradled her in his arms, pleading for her to return to him. Everyone else began arriving. Rilla, Nan, and Di all three fell to their knees to try to help their mother as everyone else looked to the scene unfolding between Jem and the stranger.
"What did you do to my mother?" he demanded.
The man was too scared to speak. "I asked: what did you do to my mother?" Jem once again demanded.
Jerry and Shirley found their way to where Jem, blinded by anger held the stranger, waiting for him to answer. Jerry put a firm hold on the stranger as Jem's brother pulled him away.
Jerry, trying to be the fair minister that he was told the stranger, "I think that you owe us some sort of explanation, sir, as to why we have found my mother-in-law unconscious, and why you are here."
Blind with a rage that hadn't overcome him since he came home from The Great War, Jem tried to break free from his brother's grip, "Shirley, let go of me! Jerry, I swear if he hurt my mother I will kill him with my bare hands."
The stranger then spoke, "I didn't do anything to her. I just told her that I was home. I didn't want it to happen this way. I never wanted her to be hurt."
Rilla heard the voice of the stranger, looked up from her mother, and without thinking, without doubting, simply said, "Walter?"
Di and Nan looked to the stranger then, thinking the same thought as their younger sister. Jem stopped trying to break away from Shirley's hold, now leaning heavily on it for support though it suddenly grew weaker. They all looked at the stranger with awe and disbelief. This man wore a beard, trimmed neatly; his hair was peppered here and there with traces of gray and cut a great deal shorter than they had remembered Walter's. This man was considerably more tan than they had seem their brother
Jem walked to the man, and looked him straight in his eyes. He studied the man earnestly, as he would a specimen under the microscope. He studied him a long time as did Shirley and well, everyone else. They all saw the same unmistakable gray eyes that always seemed to have come from somewhere other than Earth. "Walter, is that you? It can't be, but it is, isn't it?"
" Yes, it is me, Walter. I have come home to Ingleside at last, if I am welcome home," Walter answered.
Walter ran to his father, and pulled his arm in the direction of the barn. "Dad, come on, hurry up!"
Jem turned his arm to where he could gather Young Walter close without taking his attention from the conversation he was having. "I've got to apologize for Walt's behavior. He sometimes gets over excited at things like this."
Dr. Parker laughed it off and commented on how his own sons were once the same way. Walter wriggled his way free from his father and decided to make his plea to his grandfather instead.
"Granddad, it's important! I'm not being over excited; I have to tell you something if you'll listen to me!"
Gilbert wasn't sure whether Walt really had anything important to say to him or not, but after thirty some-odd years of parenthood, he knew that it was better to let the child have his say before a scene was created. "What is it, Walt?"
"It's Grandmother!" was all the little boy had to say.
Gilbert's heart almost stopped. In a choked voice he said, "Anne?" He looked all around, and she was missing.
Jem stooped down to eye level with his son. "Son, now tell what happened and where your Grandmother is."
Frank hazel eyes to frank hazel eyes, he told his father, "She fell at the barn and some strange man it with her."
Jem had already left the garden, on his way to aid his mother, who least of all needed his medical attention. Gilbert wasn't far behind him, and as the family and guests noticed the exodus in the direction of the barn, all in attendance were soon headed in that general direction.
Jem arrived at the barn to find a man standing over his mother's seemingly lifeless body. He knelt down to check her vitals. She was alive, and her pulse was fine. Realizing that she must have fainted from a shock, he suddenly became angry. Momentarily, the doctor in him vanished and the protective son came out in full force.
Gilbert Blythe arrived on the scene just in time to witness Jem grab the man by the shirt collar and slam his back into the barn wall. He allowed his son to handle that situation though and focused solely on his wife.
"Anne, Anne, can you hear me? Anne, please wake up." He cradled her in his arms, pleading for her to return to him. Everyone else began arriving. Rilla, Nan, and Di all three fell to their knees to try to help their mother as everyone else looked to the scene unfolding between Jem and the stranger.
"What did you do to my mother?" he demanded.
The man was too scared to speak. "I asked: what did you do to my mother?" Jem once again demanded.
Jerry and Shirley found their way to where Jem, blinded by anger held the stranger, waiting for him to answer. Jerry put a firm hold on the stranger as Jem's brother pulled him away.
Jerry, trying to be the fair minister that he was told the stranger, "I think that you owe us some sort of explanation, sir, as to why we have found my mother-in-law unconscious, and why you are here."
Blind with a rage that hadn't overcome him since he came home from The Great War, Jem tried to break free from his brother's grip, "Shirley, let go of me! Jerry, I swear if he hurt my mother I will kill him with my bare hands."
The stranger then spoke, "I didn't do anything to her. I just told her that I was home. I didn't want it to happen this way. I never wanted her to be hurt."
Rilla heard the voice of the stranger, looked up from her mother, and without thinking, without doubting, simply said, "Walter?"
Di and Nan looked to the stranger then, thinking the same thought as their younger sister. Jem stopped trying to break away from Shirley's hold, now leaning heavily on it for support though it suddenly grew weaker. They all looked at the stranger with awe and disbelief. This man wore a beard, trimmed neatly; his hair was peppered here and there with traces of gray and cut a great deal shorter than they had remembered Walter's. This man was considerably more tan than they had seem their brother
Jem walked to the man, and looked him straight in his eyes. He studied the man earnestly, as he would a specimen under the microscope. He studied him a long time as did Shirley and well, everyone else. They all saw the same unmistakable gray eyes that always seemed to have come from somewhere other than Earth. "Walter, is that you? It can't be, but it is, isn't it?"
" Yes, it is me, Walter. I have come home to Ingleside at last, if I am welcome home," Walter answered.