Anne with an E - A Winter Journey

7 - What is going on?

Gilbert got to work lighting the fire while the girls shook the dust off the blankets.

"There are only three" noted Ruby as she passed one to Diana to shake.

The girls each held up the blanket they were holding and saw that they were different sizes.

"Well this one is quite small," Diana pointed out, "So perhaps you should have this one, Ruby? And then Gilbert should have the medium one to himself and Anne and I can share."

"Perfect!" Anne said with a smile. She'd be more than happy to share with her best friend.

Gilbert got the fire lit just in time as the last of the winter sun disappeared from the small window next to the door. The group sat down in a circle while Diana raked around in her basket.

"Aunt Josephine gave me a small parcel to give to my parents," she explained, "I'm sure it will be food. She always brings us sweet pastries from the French-style bakery in town when she visits."

Sure enough, Diana unwrapped the parcel to find six cakes, each decorated with a different colour and pattern. They decided to share to share two cakes between them and save the rest for morning. As they nibbled on the tasty treats, the mood lifted and happy chatter filled the little hut. Only when the sugar wore off did the chatter fade away and an infectious yawn spread around the group.

Anne smiled to herself as she looked at her friends. She couldn't have picked a better group to enjoy this adventure with. Even Ruby had stopped complaining. In fact, she had been rather quiet since they sat down. Anne looked carefully at her friend sitting across the circle and noticed that she appeared to be shivering. "Oh, Ruby! You look frozen!" exclaimed Anne as she realised Ruby was sitting furthest away from the fire. "Come and move over here!"

Ruby smiled gratefully at Anne and picked herself up to move seats.

"Actually, don't you think we should try to get some sleep now?" asked Diana. "It's been a long day and we have much ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yes, you are probably right," agreed Anne. "Let's get the blankets. And Ruby you make sure you sleep closest to the fire"

The small nature of the cabin didn't leave many options for sleeping. The four friends would have to lie on the floor side by side. Ruby took the spot nearest the fire as Anne suggested and then Diana went next. She offered Anne the spot first but Anne knew she could handle the cold better than her friend and insisted she took it. Gilbert, being a true gentleman, took the space nearest the door, and therefore nearest the cold draft. That left Anne in the space between Gilbert and Diana, where she curled up close to her friend, partly so they could share the blanket and partly to leave a sizeable gap between her and the boy. She knew Gilbert must be feeling a little awkward about sharing a room with the girls and she didn't want to make it any worse by lying too close. That being said, there was less than a foot between them and not much they could do about it.

"Good night!" said Diana as she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

"Good night" replied Anne and Gilbert almost in unison.

There was silence from Ruby who was already asleep, exhausted from the day's adventures.

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An hour later, Gilbert found himself lying wide-awake and he could not figure out why. His body was tired after all their trekking in the snow and sleeping on the floor shouldn't have been a problem – he'd slept in much less comfort when he worked on the steamer. He sat up and looked over at the girls. Ruby and Diana had both rolled on to their right sides, facing the warmth of the fire. Anne, had rolled the other way and was now facing him. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically, signalling deep sleep.

Gilbert sighed heavily and lay back down. He rolled onto his side so that he was face to face with Anne. He was aware of how close they were, closer than they'd ever been before and close enough that he could see her eyes moving ever so slightly behind her eyelids. He wondered what she was dreaming about. As he studied her, a wisp of hair slid down Anne's face, stopping in the gap between her nose and lips. It fluttered gently as it caught in her soft breaths. As Gilbert watched, Anne's nose began to twitch, the hair clearly tickling her. Before he even had time to think about it, Gilbert reached up and gently pushed the hair back towards Anne's ear, relieving her of the itch. Anne let out a small sigh of contentment causing Gilbert to freeze with his hand just inches from her face. He was worried that he had woken her and even more anxious that she would know he had touched her hair. The last time he did that, Anne had hit him across the face with a slate and not spoken to him for months.

After the longest minute of Gilbert's life, it was clear that Anne was still asleep and it was safe for him to move. He rolled back over so that he was flat on his back, looking at the ceiling. A small smile played on his lips as he remembered how angry Anne had been that day he'd tugged on her beautiful red locks and how he'd known then and there that he wanted to know her more. The thought had crossed his mind more than once since that day that he could picture himself married to this girl.

Gilbert was startled from his dreamy thoughts as Anne began to move next to him. As she adjusted her sleeping position, her delicate arm fell across Gilbert's torso, her hand gently clutching his waist. Again frozen in fear, Gilbert strained his eyes to the side to look at Anne without waking her. She had rolled almost onto her front, one arm draped across him and her chin barely an inch from his shoulder. This time it was Gilbert that let out the sigh of contentment. The feeling in his chest surpassed any emotion he'd ever felt towards Anne before. This was more than he had ever dreamt. As he lay perfectly still so as not to wake Anne and ruin the moment, he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.

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As the winter sun poured through the little window the next morning, shining directly onto Anne's face, she refused to open her eyes for she was blissfully comfortable. She had forgotten entirely where she was and could think of nothing except how she never wanted to leave the warm embrace of her bed covers. As she tried to drift back to sleep, a dark figure loomed over her, blocking out the warm sunlight. Anne immediately opened her eyes in fear, only to find Diana and Ruby standing directly over her. She was about to say "good morning" when she noticed the scowls on both their faces. What were they so annoyed about? She wondered.

At that moment Anne felt something move below her and she jumped up in fright. She panicked even further when she struggled to get away, only fully registering what was happening when she realised she couldn't move. Somehow, one of Gilbert's arms was beneath her and the other was on top. Likewise, Anne's arms were wrapped around Gilbert in a tight embrace.

"What is going on?" demanded Ruby in the most intimidating voice Anne had ever heard her use.

At that moment Gilbert's eyes shot open.