A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've been editing and re-editing this chapter, to say nothing of some headachy projects that have been taking up way too much time! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6 – Answering The Call

"It can't mean anything much to us," said Nan Blythe.

It was the day after the lighthouse dance and the Blythe twins had arrived at the manse early that morning, intent on seeking Faith and Una out to talk over the news of the war. Rilla had been invited to come along, but the young girl's soul was harrowed up with blisters and Mary Vance's unromantic treatment with goose-grease. Her sisters had decided that staying in bed and being patted by Miss Oliver was the best they could do for her.

"Jem's been on the phone to Charlottetown since he woke up," said Di gloomily. "His friend, Jerry Thornton, promised to phone him as soon as volunteers are called for."

"Jerry…our Jerry, I mean…and Ken were talking about it all the way back yesterday night," Nan added, just as gloomily. "Ken thinks that if Jem and Jerry sign up at the first opportunity, they'll have the chance to see some action. And oh, Faith, they're so excited about it!"

"You can't blame them…it's something different," said Faith, but her voice was as doleful as theirs.

Nan plopped down on some plump cushions and Una tried to restrain a cry of horror, for those cushions had been lovingly and carefully embroidered with her best patterns. Fortunately Nan remembered in time that cushions in the manse were very precious affairs and hurriedly fished them out from under her. "Anyhow, it can't mean anything to us," she repeated. "Father says the war will be over in a few months, and why, they will still be in the training camps then. I can't imagine year-long wars happening these days – can you?"

Una shook her head. "Oh no, I can't imagine it. It seems so…wrong. Such things shouldn't – couldn't – be happening today."

"Susan thinks so, too," said Nan. "She was talking about it when we left, saying that such uncivilized things did not happen these days and the war will be over before you know it, and that you may tie to."

"Where are Jerry and Carl?" Di asked abruptly.

"He and Carl went off to meet Ken before you came," said Faith. "They've been talking nothing else but war. As we are," she added as an afterthought.

"Mary Vance thinks it's all nonsense," said Nan. "When she brought Rilla over this morning, she laughed off Walter's premonitions and said we'd be better off worrying about the rising price of eggs in Carter Flagg's store than about some rubbishy things happening in those Balkan states. Faith, sometimes I feel that I really cannot endure Mary a minute longer."

"Where did Mary bring Rilla back from?" Una asked, curiosity overpowering her shyness at shifting the topic from war.

Di and Nan exchanged half-amused smiles. "Rilla wasn't on our boat last night," Di said. "We searched for her before going, but couldn't find her, so we thought she'd gone with you. It was our fault for not being thorough enough, I suppose – but it was such a mess last night! Anyway, she had to hike with Mary back to Miss Cornelia's house and blistered her feet because she'd left her shoes in the boat. Mary rubbed goose-grease over her heels but Rilla wasn't supremely grateful."

"Oh!" Una exclaimed. "Poor Rilla. She wasn't too upset?"

"She'll get over it in time," said Nan rather nonchalantly. "Goose-grease sounds terrible to a girl like Rilla with all her romantic flights of fancy, but it does help, and she doesn't feel much pain. Miss Oliver and Susan have been making a pet out of her since she arrived. But back to the war – Lord Kitchener says the war will last three years, and I hardly know whether to believe him or not."

"Three years!" Di said. "The war can't possibly last that long. Why, at most it can only be a few months. The British won't allow Germany to walk over them for three years!"

"Are we so much in the habit of overestimating the British that we overlook the 'foreigners'?" Faith asked with an odd smile.

Nan and Di looked at her. "Why, you can't believe the war will last very long," said Di. "It's just one of those skirmishes that man must go through, or die of the monotony. We're in the 20th century and long-drawn out wars of attrition belong to the past. I'm sure nobody is foolish enough to waste their lives."

"Maybe it isn't attrition," said Faith. "Maybe it's something else altogether; something we must fight against to keep our world in balance."

"Oh, Faith," said Nan a little impatiently, "you sound like Gertrude Oliver!"

Faith laughed, but made no comment.

"I wonder when volunteers will be called for," said Una softly.

She was answered that evening. The Merediths were sitting around the dinner table, eating Rosemary's dessert and listening to Bruce's account of his day in school when the telephone rang. Almost everyone jumped; the result, most possibly, of nerves overwrought with suspense. By then Jem had succeeded in infecting everyone with anticipation of the night's call for volunteers and the entire Glen was waiting with bated breath for the one call that might change their lives.

As Jerry got up to answer it, Una wondered how none of the great philosophers had ever commented on the spirit of a phone's ringing. When joyful news was at hand, the phone rang happily; when tragedies were to be announced, the ring seemed ominous; and now, the phone was ringing loudly, urgently, as though demanding to be answered.

She saw the sudden whitening of her stepmother's face as Jerry picked up the phone. Faith's knuckles were white as she held her fork in a deadly grip. Carl was leaning forward in anticipation, his eyes bright. For a moment, nothing seemed to make sense to her; then her head cleared and she began to take in what Jerry was saying. "Thornton, yes, I remember him…so soon? Well, I'm in on this, of course I am!...when? Seven? I'll be there. So long."

Una pressed her cold hands together in agony. It couldn't be real…things like that didn't happen in real life!

"That was Jem on the phone," said Jerry. "They're calling for volunteers in Charlottetown. I'm going in tonight to enlist…if you don't mind, father."

"Oh!" Carl exclaimed. "You lucky chap!"

Mr. Meredith was pale as he struggled valiantly to steady his voice. "No, Jerry…by all means, go."

Rosemary Meredith rose. Her duty was clear, and she was going to do it regardless of how she felt. "You may be detained there for a few days," she said, her eyes resting lovingly on the boy she loved as much as her own son. "I'll pack up a bag for you." With that, she left the room. Jerry followed her out. The rest were left staring at each other dazedly.

Una's throat felt thick. "Father," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "you can't…be letting him go to war…"

Mr. Meredith got up slowly and heavily. "It is the right thing," he said gently, "and we must not stop him."

His daughters watched as he went into his study and closed the door softly behind him.

Bruce tugged at Faith's hand. "What does this mean?" he asked, looking up at her in bewilderment. "Where is Jerry going? Why does everyone look so sad?"

Faith looked at Una. Her eyes were wide with an expression Una couldn't understand; was it anger, fear, shock, or something else altogether? Faith fled the room before Una could say anything.

"To think…Jerry will be going overseas to battle!" Carl shook his head enviously. "And I can't go…talk about tough luck!"

"Oh Carl, don't say that," Una cried. "I wish none of you had to go. I can't understand why you'd want to."

"I can't understand why you'd not want to," Carl rejoined. "It's the most exciting thing in our lives so far, and I want to be a part of it."

"A part of what?" Bruce was sorely puzzled.

"A part of the war, Bruce," Carl explained. "All of us boys aged over eighteen can go."

Una suddenly caught her breath. All boys aged over eighteen…why, that included Walter! Was he going too? But Jerry hadn't mentioned Walter at all. Perhaps he wouldn't go – he wasn't fully recovered from the typhoid yet – Dr. Blythe wouldn't let him. But oh, what if he was going? Una slipped out of the dinning room, her heart full of dread. Jem and Jerry were heart-wrenching enough, but the handsome dreamy-eyed boy's going would be unbearable.

She found Jerry and Faith in the living room, Jerry evidently waiting for his baggage before rushing off to meet the seven o' clock train. Faith's cheeks were flushed an unnatural hectic pink and her eyes were shinning queerly. "Did Thornton say how many have joined up already?" she was asking.

"No specific number, just that crowds were enlisting," said Jerry. "What frolic! Nobody's going to miss it for the world."

"I would go, too, if I could," said Faith soberly. "Is Walter going?"

Jerry shook his head. "I don't think he's fit enough to go yet…he and Ken. Poor fellows! They must be kicking themselves in the shins."

Una realised that her heart was, after all, beating. She drew in a quick breath and a faint colour tinged her cheeks, but nobody noticed.

Mrs. Meredith came in with Jerry's bag, and after a few very hazy minutes during which quick hugs and kisses were exchanged, the three women soon found themselves standing at the door watching Jerry striding away. His back was straight, his head upright, his bag slung carelessly over his shoulder. Una turned to look at her sister.

Faith caught the look and returned it. Her eyes were blank. Then, after a moment, she burst out in a low, tremulous voice, "Don't talk to me, Una, I can't bear it!"

Una watched her sister run up the stairs to her room and breathed a silent prayer for the days to come. "Oh Lord, guide us and watch over us. Give us strength when we lack. Amen."