Florence - (G.B.)/(B.A.)

Chapter 08

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Anne The Hero

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One cold night, Florence was awoken by her grandfather about how they must put on a coat and leave for the town immediately. It was only when Florence stood up from her bed ⸺ all dazed and confused ⸺ that she heard the alarming sound of bells ringing. She stopped at her window and peered into the dark night where she saw smoke fogging up the sky.

Florence gasped, moving quickly. Her grandmother was already awake and prepared, holding buckets filled with water. Florence slipped on her coat and boots and picked up a few extra buckets that were by the door.

Her breathing was rather heavy when the family reached the source of the fire. Flames and smoke rose into the night as she witnessed a bunch of the townspeople attempting to help out and put out the misery that had taken the beautiful home of the Gillis'. She looked around herself until she spotted Anne with her family. She placed the buckets down and ran over to the girl, and they exchanged a brief hug.

"Did they reveal yet what caused the fire?" Florence said and Anne shook her head.

"I'm not sure," she explained, "But I know that those doors up there are open, and if we close them then⸺"

"It can limit the oxygen to the fire," Florence finished, having remembered reading that in a book once long ago. She grinned. "That's brilliant! We must get going!"

As the two friends rushed into the house, they began to shut all the open doors, but they didn't think through their plan clearly. Sure, they would stop the fire and save everyone the hassle ⸺ but they could also potentially die in that fire from all that carbon monoxide being emitted inside the house. Florence and Anne did not care about themselves at that moment; all they cared about was putting their knowledge to good use and saving the home.

Billy Andrews had been on top of the roof, one of the helping hands who were throwing buckets filled with water through the windows. Past all the smoke, he recognized a familiar face inside; Florence was coughing terribly as she struggled to shut the doors inside the house.

He shouted at the girl, "What are you doing in there?"

But she didn't hear him; too preoccupied with her tasks. Not soon after, and although they were so close to passing out from the fumes, Anne and Florence held each other's hands and took one last push, evacuating the house together, and then falling to the floor in heaps. Elizabeth Robinson and Marilla Cuthbert were the first to see the girls safely evacuating the home. They both hurried up to their girls and took them towards where they were previously standing.

A few minutes later, Billy saw Florence wrapped in a blanket now safely out of the house, and he disregarded his duties for a moment. He approached the girl who was sitting in a coughing mess, and he crouched down to her level. "Are you okay, Florence?"

She coughed into her elbow and nodded. "I'm better."

"What were you even doing in there?" He crossed his arms. "You could've gotten seriously injured."

"The doors were open," she explained, "If Anne and I hadn't shut them in time, then the oxygen would've caused the fire to increase."

Billy looked less furious at Florence and more annoyed at how she was still willing to risk her life despite the dangerous circumstances that they'd found themselves in. He shook his head at her and flicked her nose teasingly. "You'll never change, will you?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "I don't plan on it."

He stood up tall again and before taking his leave, he said, "I have to get back to work. Keep warm."

Gilbert Blythe was wearing a red jacket while he was one of the boys assigned to pour water inside the house. He glanced back to see how everyone was doing when his eyes spotted Florence sitting among the crowd with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. His eyes widened and he quickly climbed down the ladder, going up to her.

"Anne helped too," Florence explained as soon as Gilbert sat down in front of her. She assumed that Billy was the one who told her about Florence's state. "You should see how she's doing."

"I already did," he lied easily, staring into her eyes with so much concern that it made her heart skip a beat. Truth be told, he didn't know that Anne was inside with her too ⸺ if that's where they were ⸺ and took a mental note to visit the Cuthbert girl after seeing Florence. "I didn't ⸺ I didn't know you were in there."

Florence sighed, glad that her coughing had gotten slightly better. "I had to be, I needed to help. It's the least I can do for everyone."

"Well, Florence," he said, smiling cheekily. "You're really foolish for risking your life like that."

She shrugged and Gilbert smiled at her once more. He was about to take his leave when he heard the voice of an older woman approach them. He stood up at once, assuming that the elderly woman before him was Florence's grandmother.

"Florence ⸺ are you doing well now, dear?" Elizabeth hadn't noticed the young boy's presence, and only did she see him when she realized that her granddaughter was staring at him. "Oh . . ."

"Mrs. Robinson," Gilbert greeted with a smile, hoping that his assumption was correct. His ears turned a deep shade of red as the older woman gave him a knowing look. "Um, I'm Gilbert Blythe. Florence and I study together in school."

"That's nice to hear," Elizabeth said and Florence mustered up the strength to stand up too, making sure to hold onto her blanket tightly. Elizabeth gave her granddaughter an approving look before averting her attention back to a less-flustered Gilbert. "Are you two together?"

"Grandmother," Florence warned and addressed the flustered boy in front of her, "Gilbert was just leaving to tend back to his duties. Weren't you, Gilbert?"

"Um, yes, I was. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Robinson." The boy bid the two women a quick farewell and made his way back to the house, climbing up the ladder with another bucket full of water.

Elizabeth glanced down at the younger girl wearing a small smirk and Florence rolled her eyes playfully. The woman would never let her live this one down. And she was definitely going to tell Edgar about this entire meeting whenever she got the time.

"That Gilbert boy," Elizabeth started a few moments later and Florence met her eyes where there was an unusual twinkle. "Do you think he's handsome?"

Trust me, all the girls at school have at least some sort of crush on him, Florence wanted to confess but decided against it. Everyone except for her, of course. Instead, she sighed as if silently arguing that she could care less, and enveloped the warmth that her blanket was giving her. On the other side of the land, she picked out Anne who was looking much better now as she shared a cheerful conversation with Diana Barry. Florence remained standing, yawning as she witnessed the fire slowly decreasing a little at a time. It was early hours, but progress was being made.