"So, you really are alive, aren't you" Persis asked as she and Walter sat down on a nearby bench.
Walter laughed. "Yes, I really am alive. Is it that difficult to believe?"
Persis shook her head, allowing the sun to flash into her sea-blue eyes. "Yes. No. I don't know. I've never had anything like this happen before. My parents and Ken and Rilla have told me about it. Nan and Di have certainly written to me about it, but I guess that I didn't really believe it until I saw you."
"Do I sense we have a Doubting Thomas?" Walter asked, teasingly as in days of yore.
Persis didn't go along with the teasing, though. She had more on her mind at that moment. "I suppose I may be considered that, but…" she stopped short.
"But what? Don't worry I've heard just about everything a man can," he assured her.
"After such a long time, I had become reconciled to the fact that I wouldn't see you again until the hereafter. It took quite a while for me to reconcile to it too, Walter. I have to say, I had always thought quite a bit about you."
Walter wasn't expecting such an admission. "Really? I had no idea."
Persis laughed. "Of course you didn't. You had all the girls' admiration, Walter, with your dreamy eyes and poetic soul."
"Hmm. I never knew. "
Persis pushed him on the shoulder, "Of course you didn't. That was part of what made you so appealing. "
"The erroneous announcement of my demise didn't shatter too many hearts, did it?" he asked half jokingly.
"I-I don't know, Walter. I know that it was a very difficult time for your family, but I don't think that I visited the Glen at all during the war."
"Of course not. You were busy with you Red Cross work in Toronto. It wasn't the carefree time of lengthy visits and vacations that we knew of children. That gilded age ended when Gavrilo Princip fired the first shot."
He wanted to change the subject. Heaven knew that he had spent enough time dwelling on the war and its aftermath. "You have managed to not tell me what you are up to yet."
Persis smiled, somewhat proud of herself, "I have, haven't I? Maybe that is for me to know, and you to find out."
"Persis," Walter persisted.
"Oh, okay. I am going to the Island for an extended vacation," she announced rather proudly.
"Are you now?" he asked. "It seems to me that most people tend to travel the globe for a vacation."
"Yes, well I do that on a regular basis. For me, a few months in the relative quiet of Glen St. Mary surrounded by family and friends sounds like the most pleasant thing in the world. Besides, it has been far too long since I have seen our niece and nephew. Why Little Anne was just an infant when I last saw her and Rilla was just getting Gilly out of diapers."
With a laugh, Walter said, "That has been a while, hasn't it? Little Anne is now four years old and follows Hope around life a little shadow."
"Hope?" Persis asked. "She is your daughter, isn't she?"
"Yes. She and her brother are their father's pride and joy. They're the same age as Gilly, Walt, and Cecilia. All of whom have just recently begun school."
"Really? That makes me feel old, Walter. Here we have the children, whom yesterday, it was just yesterday, were mere dream-children in the girls' castles in the sky, starting school! I feel that I am missing out on something spectacular."
"It is a fantastic experience, Persis, having and raising children. It is miraculous to watch such little beings, pieces of yourself and everyone you've ever loved, coming together into their own interesting personalities. Do you ever plan to have a family, Persis? Or do you find your life's satisfaction in the pictures you take of the happenings of the world?"
She was quiet a moment, then answered, "Oh, I don't know. I live a pretty exciting life, though sometimes I think that I would trade it all to have what Rilla and Kenneth share and what you apparently have had."
"Do you wish to fall in love?" Walter asked quite curious.
"Who is to say that I haven't already?" she asked, her blue-blue eyes sparking with fire. "I do feel a little left out of things. That is why I intend to make Little Anne and if you'll permit, Hope, my special pets."
Now, to change the subject lest Walter ask more than she was willing to share, she exclaimed, "Little Anne! Doesn't it get very confusing at Ingleside with so many people named for others?"
"I guess to those who aren't in our circle, it is, but for us, it isn't. Jem's Walter is just Walt. Gilbert Ford is, Gilly. I guess the only names that really cause confusion are just Little Anne and Little John. They haven't seemed to have found a diminutive or nickname that fits them yet."
With a tone of purpose in her voice, Persis decided, "Then that sounds like a job for Persis Ford, Aunt-extraordinaire."
Both old friends busted out laughing, enjoying each other's company immensely. "Recent news is that another niece or nephew is soon to come," Persis prodded.
"Yes. Baby Ford is due around January, I believe," Walter answered.
"A few birds have managed to speculate that it may be twins. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Walter agreed. He couldn't help but agree because he loved his own two so. "It is possible. Rilla's slim frame has gotten quite round. They say she is far bigger than with either Gilly or Anne."
Persis wrinkled her brow in cantankerous thought. "I think I may have to extend my vacation until after the birth, then."
"Won't you feel a little crowded in the House of Dreams for that long a period?" Walter asked, actually wondering how Rilla would handle having company for so long and at such a precarious time.
"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you!" She laughed with the same baby-sweet laugh that graced her mother. "Mother and Father have bought the house on the hill that Rosemary Meredith and Ellen Douglas owned. I'm going to help make it ready for them before they arrive in October!"
"That is pleasant news. So they've decided to take another summer house here?" Walter asked.
"No. They've sold the house in Toronto and plan to retire there."
"Really? Aren't you sad that your childhood home has been sold?"
"Not really. We were always traveling for Father's books. We only really came home occasionally, and in the summer if we weren't abroad, we were in the House of Dreams. The longest period of time we spent in Toronto was during the war because travel was so unnecessary at the time anyway. The memories there aren't that wonderful. The best times always were spent on the Island. I actually think that we shall all be glad to see it go. Besides, my parents want to spend more time with the grandchildren that they do have. And Mother's health hasn't been the same since she had pneumonia last winter. The city air hasn't helped her, and Father would give anything to keep her healthy."
Walter laid his hand on hers. "I didn't know your mother's health was so fragile."
"Most people don't. I don't think Ken even really knows. Mother doesn't want to worry him. I'm sure that after just looking at her, Uncle Gil and Jem will know. Anyway, she doesn't like to talk about it. She believes that the Island air and being around her grandchildren will be all the medicine she needs."
"I pray that she is correct. She was one of the first people to make me feel welcome when I returned."
"She is correct. She always is about these things. Her faith has only increased since she found out the Dick Moore was really George Moore. She never doubted that Ken would come home safely from France, basically unhurt," she stopped short and murmured, "I only wish she had been so prophetic about others."
Walter had no idea just what Persis had meant by that last statement so he changed the subject this time. "It seems that we have a lot in common. I have had a part in the acquisition of Elder Clow's farm. I imagine we both have our work cut out for us as neither have been lived in for a while."
Persis started to ask Walter what his plans were. However, they realized that the ferry had docked and it was time to go.
"Would you like to share a seat on the train and finish our conversation, Miss Ford?" Walter asked extending his arm to the pretty young lady. Of course, the pretty young lady couldn't help but accept, and they looked like quite the handsome pair, walking down the platform together with the sun's soft rays shining down on them, and the cerulean waters, sparkling in the background.