Part 2 of "In The Woods When First We Met"

221. Grace

I was going to have Billy go away angry, but I decided to have him go away sad instead.

Gilbert will be the instrument of change.

The title of this chapter is Grace because grace is when someone is nice to you even though you don't deserve it.

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Gilbert and Billy looked equally surprised to see each other.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked in unison.

"I can be wherever I want," Billy said defensively, standing up. He tried to look intimidating, but that was hard to do when he had to sniffle. He wiped his nose across his sleeve, still glaring at Gilbert.

His eyes were red and puffy.

"Why were you crying?" Gilbert asked.

Billy's face took on a disgusted look. "I wasn't."

Gilbert looked at him. His face seemed too white, except for his eyes, and his hands were chapped. His hair- always perfectly in place- looked like it had been slept on without being combed. His coat had dry leaves stuck to it.

"Have you been out here all night?" Gilbert asked with sudden realization.

Billy did not answer.

Gilbert came closer. "This shed is Anne's, you shouldn't be here."

"She didn't build it, did she?" Billy asked defiantly.

"Of course not. But she found it, and she's made it her own and you have no business being in it."

"It's not hers," Billy insisted. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"None of your business," Gilbert said coldly, stepping in and starting to look for what Anne had asked him to bring her.

"What are you looking for?"

"If you must know: a bag. I wouldn't tell you, except I may as well, since you might've found it and destroyed it, and then there'd be no sense in me continuing to look for it," Gilbert responded, his eyes searching the shed.

"Oh, the bag with the stories in it? It's over there," Billy pointed. Maybe now that Gilbert had what he came for, he'd leave. Billy just wanted to be alone.

Gilbert gave him a sideways glance. "How do you know what's in the bag?"

Billy shrugged. "Had to have something to do out here."

"So you really were here all night," Gilbert said, looking at him.

Billy made a face, and stopped talking.

Gilbert took the bag out from between the boards Billy had directed him to. He pulled the papers out to take to Anne and dropped the bag on the ground; it was moldy anyway, so he wouldn't bring that back to her.

He was happy to just walk away and leave Billy, but then he stopped. "How much did you read?"

"All of them," Billy answered honestly.

Gilbert looked down at the stories. There were three. The last one caught his eye, because he instantly recognized the long name in the title: Annabelle Carlotta Sherman Cuyler was clearly meant to stand in for Anne Cordelia Shirley Cuthbert.

Glancing through the pages, he realized it ended with Anne spilling her thoughts onto paper- herself, Anne, not Annabelle Carlotta.

He looked up at Billy. Then he sat down on the boards in the shed and started reading.