"Wind, Sand, and Stars" 2

By Rita Widmer

Anne looked at herself in the mirror as she fixed her hair. She was all Blythe when it came to her looks.

She was on her last part of her trip, and soon would be in her parents' hometown. The excitement was growing deep within her at seeing her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and of course cousins. Most of all she looked forward to seeing her Uncle Shirley.

They were total opposites in many ways, but they were kindred spirits from the first day they met. It was from him that she grew to love flying, and she had a very important question to ask him.

Deciding she had stood before the mirror long enough she left the women's room to head back to coach. Once again the young man in the Canadian uniform sat across from her seat. He was quite a handsome young man.

Stepping carefully around him, she sat down in her seat. After settling herself, she noticed the man watching her with a smile on his face. It was a dreamy sort of smile, she decided.

"Hi," he said loud enough for her to hear over all the noise.

"Aww, hi," Anne replied nervously.

He held out his hand for her. "I'm Raymond Sandburn."

She gently took his proffered hand, "I'm Anne Blythe."

"Blythe, I recognize that name, but you can't be from around here with your American accent. Do you have family on the island?"

"Many actually. I'm visiting them before I go off to join the war effort. My grandfather was the local doctor for many years in Two Harbors."

"Now I know why I recognize the name. My father practices further north of Two Harbors, and I remember him talking about a Dr. Gilbert Blythe and his work there. He has great admiration for him. So tell me are you going to be a nurse?"

"A nurse! Certainly not, I'm going to be a pilot."

She could see mirth in the man's eyes, and she decided she didn't like it one bit being laughed at by him. Leaning back, she closed her eyes as sign of ending the conversation. She could still feel his eyes on her, but she went on ignoring him.

As the train came to a stop at her station, she looked across at the man at Mr. Sandburn with slight disdain for him.

"It was nice meeting you, Ace," he said with laughter in his voice.

With a huff she turned, and made sure her bag hit him slightly. Outside the train station she looked through the crowd for any sign of her family. Finally she saw them; it was Aunt Nan and Uncle Carl. She rushed to them with open arms. It had been so long since she'd seen them. Hugs and greetings followed as they brought her to the car.

"How is everyone? I've missed you guys so much. I can't believe how many years it's been since I've been here. I hope so little has changed. Oh I know everyone will look older, but I want Ingleside to have stayed just the same. Am I going straight to Ingleside?"

"Of course, Mom has set up enough food to eat for a week, and used up so much of her rations. The whole family is waiting for you there."

"I can't wait. I'm so glad Mom and Dad let me go on this trip. I'm going to make so many memories that I can carry with me when I go flying. I'm going to have to hold on to them, because I probably won't be back until after the war is over. Here I am talking too much once again. People need to learn to tell me to be quiet."

"Don't worry about talking too much. Your grandmother they say used to talk constantly as a child," said Carl. "Now what's this about flying?"

"I'm going to be a WASP, Uncle Carl."

"What's a WASP?"

"Women's Air force Service Pilots. I'm going to fly all the same airplanes that the men do. On my way home, I'm going to do all the paperwork and physical testing, and then I will be in. Uncle Shirley is going to be so proud of me." Anne looked to her aunt and uncle. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, dear," said Nan.

"He will be proud, right?"

"Of course, he will. Don't worry about it."

Anne sat back and watched as the countryside whizzed past them as they drove down the country rounds. Something was wrong, and she knew it. She decided to leave it alone for now, and she will get Grandma to tell her when she got to Ingleside.

As they finally approached Ingleside, Anne didn't wait for the car to fully stop before she jumped out. She had to get inside to see everyone. As she ran up the porch steps, she saw her grandmother there waiting with open arms.

Both Annes hugged each other for a long time. They each felt a little foolish for getting teary-eyed.

"Oh Grandmother, it's so good to see you. You don't look a day older."

"My hair is still just as red as carrots, but with a few grey streaks in there now."

"But it looks so wonderful on you."

"Now stop it. Let's go inside and greet everyone else shall we?"

"Yes, grandmother."

The two Annes walked in, and were met by a large crowd. Young Anne looked around at all the faces. All but one of her male cousins was missing as they were off fighting with the Canadians, but one was still at home. Young Walter stood before her. His health she knew was never very strong, and it had kept him out of the military.

She went around and hugged and talked with each of her family. Making little comments about what she wanted to do with them before she left. As she was talking to Aunt Di, she looked across the room at the one person she hadn't greeted yet. She gasped at the sight of him.

'It couldn't be him,' she thought as she walked up to him almost afraid that if she ran she would crush the man before her. Her eyes welled up at the sight.

"Uncle Shirley!" she cried.

To Be Continued…

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