Baker - G. BLYTHE

|16|

-ˋˏ *.·:·. [TWO WEEKS LATER] .·:·.* ˎˊ-

THE PROSPECT OF GOLD CHANGED AVONLEA, MANY HOPEFULS SCROUNGED MONEY TO BE ABLE TO PAY THE FEE. On multiple occasions, Diana's father came into the bakery offering to pay for the Rayhill's share. They both politely declined, sticking to the decision they made together, the decision her brother also agreed to in a letter. All anyone seemed to be able to talk about in the bakery was the Gold so it would be an understatement to say that Charlotte was looking forward to returning to the schoolhouse. 

She walked to school alone, looking above to the sky to admire the colours swirling in the sky. The blues of the sky mixed with the different coloured birds and green leafy trees, it created the perfect distraction which caused her to miss her footing and fall onto her knees in the grass (luckily there was no one around to see.) She continued to the schoolhouse as if nothing had occurred, catching a very unrepeatable insult directed towards Cole from Billy Andrews. 

"Watch your mouth, Billy Andrews!" Charlotte called earning chuckles from the three boys that stood next to him, she smiled sarcastically yet politely then headed through the schoolhouse door not bothering to care about his reply. 

Getting back into the swing of lessons was not difficult for Charlotte and she soon found herself back to loving the environment of the school house, even if she did have a terrible teacher. The only thing that bought her from her focused studies was Billy Andrews forcing Cole to spill a glass of ink onto his very detailed artwork, something which earned him lines on the board.

The girls built and sat in their usual place for lunch and began the typical beginnings of a conversation, asking how people were and if anything interesting had happened over harvest. Anne told a particularly interesting tale about an adventure she had in the woods and Diana talked about her Aunt Josephine coming for a short visit. "You should have stopped him from getting on that steamship Charlotte, if Gilbert falls overboard and dies it will all be your fault!" Ruby exclaimed directly to Charlotte taking her longing for Gilbert out on her, in fact it was a common thing. Ruby would get mad at Charlotte for not talking him out of it, for not telling him it was a bad idea, for not giving him any reason to stay and for not knowing where he was. All these reasons were things that were completely out of her control, but Charlotte never lashed out at Ruby. She simply smiled and nodded her head as if she was listening, she never listened but sat twirling Gilbert's shoelace around her wrist as a way to distract her mind. 

"He'd come home soon enough if he knew there was gold on his farm," Josie Pye added with a tone which pushed Charlotte to the point of annoyance that she simply couldn't be in either of their presence any longer. 

"No he wouldn't, but you would know that if you knew anything about him," Charlotte snapped feeling anger coursing through her veins, she was far from vexed. She hated being piled with the burden of his disappearance, she hated that something which pained her greatly was seen as her own fault. "Now, excuse me." Charlotte picked up her unopened basket and jar of milk then clambered over the sea of crossed legs and skirts, walking straight out of the sort of fort where the girls usually ate lunch. She noticed Cole sat alone underneath a blackboard looking ever so lonely so she decided to walk over to him.

"May I join you, Cole?" she asked bringing him out of a sort of daze, Cole looked up and smiled upon realising who currently stood in front of him. 

"Sure," he nodded with a smile, shifting over slightly to make room for her on the floor next to him. Charlotte did so with a smile and sat gently smoothing the creases in her sage green dress as she began to pull out things from her lunch basket. 

"I'm sorry Billy ruined your drawing, it really was exquisite," Charlotte said enthusiastically causing a small smile to form on his face, he had never heard a compliment on his drawings from anyone before and it truly meant the world. "Billy Andrews is a barbarian," she sighed and Cole nodded in agreement, Billy truly was someone who just liked to tease other people. "Would you like some of this cinnamon bun?" she offered, handing him half of the pastry which she had just broken off. He nodded and took the piece gratefully.

"Thank you, for the compliment and this," he let out a slight chuckle as he gestured to the pastry. The two turned to chatter for a few minutes before thudding footsteps crossed the classroom, Anne and Diana now towered over the two sitting on the floor.  

"May we join you?" Anne asked looking hopefully at those who currently sat at her booted feet, Charlotte looked to Cole awaiting his verdict since he had been the one here first. Cole nodded letting the two join, they engaged in conversation as they shared food from their lunches. Soon enough the other girls, apart from Josie, had joined the four on the other side of the room. Charlotte kept sneaking glances at Cole, loving that he currently looked so happy just because some people had decided to come and talk to him. When she looked at Ruby, all those happy feelings got sucked away. She felt terrible for snapping at her, even if Ruby had been the one to force her into it. Taking all the blame just got to be too much. She could feel her own tears brewing behind her eyes, the mention of Gilbert had pushed her into missing him even more and being given the blame certainly didn't help the situation. 

"Are you alright Charlotte?" Tillie whispered having noticed all the colour drain from her closest friend's face, Tillie placed a single hand over Charlotte and was shocked to find it currently shaking on the top of her knee. 

"I'm fine Tillie, I just need some fresh air is all," Charlotte replied with a fake smile as she stood to leave the building, to get out of this environment, so she could distract her mind to stop the tears. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Tillie offered, growing in concern for her friend. Charlotte wasn't easy to read most of the time but now it was very easy. She was on the verge of tears and Tillie knew it but she didn't want to be pressuring. 

"No that's okay, I'll be around the back if I'm needed," Charlotte said, leaving before Tillie could get another protesting word in. She walked straight to the back of the schoolhouse, hidden behind the shed and let the tears stream down her face. She hadn't cried because of missing Gilbert since he left and now, having snapped at Ruby, it all just became too much and the sobs escaped her body without a way of stopping them. Tillie gave it a few minutes then once she didn't return, she went out looking for her. She quickly wrapped an arm around her crying friend offering her a handkerchief as she did. Tillie and Charlotte both stayed outside until the tears stopped flowing and returned to the group both acting as if nothing had happened, something which Charlotte greatly appreciated. The missing Gilbert hung over her head that entire day, creating a very saddening feeling when she had to walk home alone.