I know I've frustrated my readers by not bringing Anne and Gilbert together before and of course lately they've been even further apart. I hope I can start to remedy that here.

I will try to catch up on all my stories over the next few weeks. I've been studying this year and we are on school vacation until February. But I got myself a job somewhat out of the blue, so I won't have as much time as I expected. Still, at least my nights and weekends will be my own without papers to write.

The Prairies. I behold them for the first,
And my heart swells, while the dilated sight
Takes in the encircling vastness. Lo! they stretch,
In airy undulations, far away,
As if the ocean, in his gentlest swell,
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed,
And motionless forever.
William Cullen Bryant

The familiar red shores of Prince Edward Island hove into sight and Matthew heaved a sigh of relief. He'd never really thought about what his sister had taken on when she went away to sea, but now that he knew he felt even prouder of her than before. One thing was for sure, he was a land lubber as they dubbed folk who did not sail. He'd could say he'd been away, but he hoped that was the only time. He'd missed Green Gables, his family and the barn, though not necessarily in that order.

The men on that ride home had their misgivings. Despite his uncle's reassurances Johnny was unsure of his reception after his terrible behaviour; Matthew was unsure how Marilla would take to Hugh and Hugh was unsure what he was getting into, though he hoped it would be an improvement. Only Anne and Goliath were untroubled. As the wagon crested the last hill Matthew spied Marilla standing in the yard her hand over her eyes looking for them and as they approached her expression going from searching to hawkish.

Marilla stood in the front yard the new baby balanced on her hip and Susanna by her side. She'd had to give birth with Rachel's help and send word to John that he had another baby girl. Lilly was her name after poor Isaiah's lost wife. The man had been such a comfort to Marilla during her insufficiency as she had taken to calling it in her mind and she had long ago decided to honour him in this fashion.

The travellers had sent word that their search had a happy ending and that they were on their way home. Marilla had been expecting them any day now. But something was off, Marilla could see the wagon approaching but there seemed to be an extra figure.

"Matthew Cuthbert, who's that?"

"This here's Hugh, Marilla," Matthew explained. "Met him on our way home."

For her part Marilla was shocked with many mixed emotions swirling around, relief and happiness naturally that at least part of the family were reunited but dismay that they seemed to have picked up yet another waif along the way. They were struggling as it was and hardly needed another mouth to feed. Johnny intervened when saw his mother's reaction. He explained as they walked inside, "we rescued him."

Hugh clung to Matthew's leg worried that this imposing woman might be anything other than welcoming. Had he made a terrible mistake coming to this small town? They'd reassured him on the ride home, but he had been so worried he hardly had a moment to notice his surroundings. He noted absentmindedly when Johnny pointed out the pond where they swam and all the local sights, but he felt the age-old anxiety rise and rise the longer the journey lasted. He had no idea how long it would be, but at the end he knew he would meet Mr Cuthbert's sister and he worried that he might not be welcomed. If this did not work out, he believed he'd be frog marched back to the docks and sold to some uncharitable master once again. He could barely stand the pressure and he shook as he leant into Matthew's side.

Feeling the lad shake Matthew bent over and picked him up, holding him close to his chest he reassured Marilla. "He's had quite a trip, Marilla. We knew we had to bring him with us."

Anne was greeted warmly, and Marilla handed her a swathe of letters. Asking to be excused Anne made her way up to her room. Flicking through they all appeared to be from Gilbert. Sitting cross-legged on her bed she slit the first envelop open and pulled out the crisp paper within.

Medicine Hat
Alberta

Dearest Anne

You know some people compare these endless prairies to the ocean, I don't know why? They're nothing alike. Sure, the prairie is endless enough I guess and if you glance at it right the swaying grass can kinda resemble waves on a still day but whereas the ocean is constantly moving and always thrilling the prairie never changes.

They told you me you and Uncle Matthew have gone to fetch Johnny and I know the timing is not precisely perfect and it's maybe the last thing Uncle Matthew would ever want to do, but I am positively green with envy, Anne.

Course I have no choice. I had to come out here with Pa. I can almost pretend I'm superfluous during the day, he's not so bad then. But I hear him wheezing and coughing at night and sometimes I go into him to rub his back or read him a story to get his mind off his lack of air. As I calm him down, I'm reminded how much he needs me.

The doctor visits often and I don't know if he thinks Pa is improving but at least he doesn't seem to be getting worse and that's a relief.

I don't suppose you'll get a chance to tell me about your journey. If I close my eyes, I can picture you anyways. You're standing at the bow your hair blowing about in the breeze and maybe little Goliath is up in the spars above you. Never thought I'd say it, but I even miss your little pet, I bet he could liven up my days. You don't have a spare one you could send me, do you?

You know I'll never forget the first time I met you. You were such a tiny wee thing; you'll barely remember I suppose. Ma had fetched you from the asylum and had told us boys that we had to mind you. I admit I was scornful, Anne. I felt I was halfway to being a man already and hardly needed to obey an orphaned waif. I only tell you this to say how very wrong I was. Despite being on board a ship half my life, in a way I'd lead a very sheltered life, with both parents to care for me. You on the other hand have had to grow up fast haven't you, yet you always see the beauty in the world. You probably don't know but I was always listening to you when you were with the boys even when I was up in the rigging. I wished I could shed a few years if it meant I could spend more time with you, but I'd made my bed and had no choice but to stay up there with the crew.

You were so brave when Ma collapsed, I was terrified that we'd lose her. You looked pretty pale too as I recall but you kept your cool and I know Dad really appreciated your help as Ma would have done if she'd been conscious. When we made it back to PEI, I'd listen rapt as you read the book to the family and Ma told me how you'd rewritten the story of the time we'd escaped the pirates before we met you. I hope you get a chance to do something with your writing Anne, for you I reckon you have a real gift.

Unlike me, I'm sitting sneezing in the sodding grass writing this pathetic letter to you wishing you weren't so far away and that we could maybe get to know each other a little bit better. Write me when you get home Anne, for I'd love to at least correspond even if we can't see each other just yet.

Best regards

Gilbert

"You always were too soft Matthew," Marilla chided him later when the boys had gone out to show Hugh around.

"You'd have felt the same way, Marilla if you'd seen the way they were treating him. In fact," Matthew added, "it was Johnny who took pity on him."

"Johnny?" Marilla's voice was low.

"Aye. Says he felt sorry because he was treated the same way before we rescued him. Made him realise how lucky he was."

Marilla's heart softened at the knowledge that her boy had learnt compassion along the way. "It was quite an achievement tracking one little cabin boy down in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, brother. I suppose I can forgive you one additional child."

"Hoped you'd say that Marilla, for I mean to adopt him. Bring him up with the others, give him a life. He's a nice little lad, rather traumatised as you'd expect. Perhaps with some love and care we can bring him out of himself. Right now, he's probably petrified that we'll send him back." Marilla chastised herself, getting to her feet she fetched the plate of cookies and went out the door.

Matthew grinned when he heard the door slam behind her. Despite the image she presented to the world, she had a big heart that sister of his. Dunking one of her delicious cookies in his tea he sat back and looked around the kitchen. He had never been away from home for so long in his life. Marilla's sampler sat above the mantlepiece, and he regarded it as he chewed. He'd never really understood quite what it represented but after his voyage he looked at it with fresh eyes appreciating it once more for the masterpiece it was.

A peal of laughter rang out and Marilla found the boys swinging on the rope. She noted with a lurch of her heart that little Hugh had quite a different tone than her two. She sat the plate down on a pile of hay and watched the children play. She knew Jacob had been rather worried about Johnny's return, no wonder he had nearly died. Still, it looked as though the break had done the boys good. Johnny was recounting how they had found Hugh, "and your hands get real sore don't they Hugh." Hugh nodded, his mouth being full of cookie. Its sweet, buttery goodness nearly choking him. He coughed a couple of times while Johnny, his new protector, ran to fetch a glass of water from the pump. "Went down the wrong way," Hugh gasped after he'd taken a gulp of water finally noticing Marilla. "Sorry ma'am," he said, not wanting to upset her in any way. He knew instinctively that his fate probably lay with her, regardless of what Mr Cuthbert might say.

"That's alright, Hugh. It's nice when my baking is appreciated."

Hugh grinned, "never et anything so yummy afore," he mumbled through the crumbs. Marilla smiled and handed him another. "Just take it slower this time. There's plenty more where that came from, and you look like you could do with some fattening up. Did they not feed you on the ship?" She knew as soon as she said it what the answer would be. Hugh looked up at with his round eyes looking too big for his thin face and shook his head slowly, still too involved with his cookie to talk. Marilla's patted the boy's arm turning to Johnny who was standing somewhat shyly nearby. "Will you look after Hugh, Jacob? Johnny and I need to take a little walk."

Johnny stood a little taller by her side she noticed as they walked along the potato rows they'd painstakingly planted a few weeks earlier. The leaves were just beginning to sprout and underneath, Marilla hoped the tubers would be forming. Absentmindedly she plucked a ladybird from one leaf and watched as it crawled over her hand looking for cover. "I'm sorry Mama".

While the family had been away on their quest Marilla had endlessly rehearsed how this conversation might go if they were lucky. She had been going to chastise him for his past actions while at the same time reminding him how much he was loved. Of course, Rachel had opinions. "You'll be whipping him something fierce I should imagine, Marilla," she'd said. "Just shocking behaviour, he should have known better. Nearly drowning his brother and disappearing like that, I can't imagine you'd let him believe that you could sweep it under the carpet." Somehow all those ideas were lost as at last they were reunited. Instead, she found herself saying something completely different. "Do you recall being in the ocean that time?" she felt Johnny stiffen beside her as the import of her words hit him.

He walked along his mind reeling, no one had ever asked him this question before though he counted it as the defining moment of his life. He was silent for a while as he thought how best to answer it. Inspiration hit when he thought of his mother's sampler perched above his uncle's fireplace. "You know that thing you sewed for Uncle Matthew?" he started reaching out to hold his mother's hand.

Marilla held his lightly though her heart was close to breaking with his sweet gesture. "Mm," she said as gently as she could muster.

"When I look at it, I think maybe you've been down there too. You caught the greenness of the undersea perfectly Mama." He thought back to that moment trying to capture it. "It had been so noisy, the crew, the gulls, the wind in the sails, the creak of the ship, you know all the usual sounds and then when I dropped into the water all that stopped suddenly. It was so quiet down there, as though I were in another realm."

"Was it cold?" Marilla interrupted.

"I don't recall the cold," he hadn't. He barely had any time to notice the shock of the water temperature. "It was cold when I was hauled out, but I don't remember being cold down there. It was." He stopped, considering it. "It was peaceful, peaceful. That was it Mama it was peaceful. And…" he paused again looking up at her. "I thought for a while that it was the last time I was truly content."

Marilla's heart really did break then. She had failed her boy. "Oh Johnny."

"But that don't make what I did right, Mama. I'm awful sorry for what I did to Jacob. How I felt wasn't his fault. I know I did wrong by him. I'm sorry. I never did understand how lucky I was to have a family until I left it." He sobbed then, the enormity of it all hitting him and Marilla knelt in the dirt beside him and gathered him into her arms and together they wailed and wailed.

Matthew found them in the potato field somewhat worse for wear, red eyed with dust-tinged snot drying on their cheeks. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped them both down ineffectually before he led them home. Anne had already drawn a bath and he held the baby for Marilla while she disrobed and had a quick soak even though they all wanted one. Afterwards they all sat around the kitchen table. The boys cooing over their new sister and Susanna toddling around reacquainting herself with her family while Marilla cooked dinner.

Late that night when everyone was asleep two candles burned in two windows. Marilla wrote.

Green Gables
Avonlea

My dear husband,

I have good news to impart. Our family is torn less asunder today as Matthew brought our boy home and more besides. In a gesture that should surprise no one he took pity on a poor cabin boy and means to adopt him. Young Hugh is a tiny wee lad sold to an indifferent captain to work on the ships much as Johnny had done. His poor fingers are all cut up from the oakum picking and he's on strict orders to rest until they heal. It breaks my heart to think that that would have been Johnny's fate if he had not been lucky enough to be found.

Johnny apologised most pitifully to his brother, and to me. We hugged and I pray that henceforth he will continue to improve. I find it quite encouraging that he pointed out Hugh's fate to Matthew and petitioned for him to be brought home.

It was marvellous to see them all again. Matthew so tanned and healthy; he declares quite adamantly that he never wants to go to sea again. Anne is also the picture of health, and I was pleased to see the monkey survived unscathed. He clings quite tightly to Anne, but I hope in time he will remember me.

Please send Gilbert my love. I miss both my men so desperately. All that we need is for you and Gilbert to return as soon as you are recovered my dear husband. I long to introduce you to your new daughter and to hold you in my arms once again.

I remain your ever-loving wife,

Marilla

And in the glass of the gabled window a small yellow light wavered as within a young red-headed figure bent over her desk writing furiously.