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

237. The Andrews Family, Later

Billy would come home at Christmastime, but he stayed home with them and did not go into town or see any of his old friends. Four days after Christmas, they took him back on the train, and he was off again. His mother grieved over the loss of her son, because things were never the same between him and his family- starting a new life, separate from them- had changed him in ways they could not understand. He was still himself, and he always would be- but there were new things beginning to grow, too, and it marked a separation between his new life in Nova Scotia and the life in Avonlea he'd always known.

Anne and Jane remained friendly at school, but, besides a timid apology to Anne, they never spoke of the past or what had happened. Anne knew that Jane received letters from Billy, and that she often went to visit him in Nova Scotia with her family, but Jane never talked about that when Anne was around, and Anne never talked to Jane about her feelings toward Billy. It was better this way. It hurt Jane to think of what her brother had done, and it hurt Anne to think of sweet, innocent Jane having to listen the details of the terrible pain her brother had caused, so she spared her of that. Anne felt that, after herself, Jane was the one who had been hurt the most by this. She knew Jane felt guilt for what her brother had done to her friend- and she had risked everything, to the point of the love of her very own family- to do what was right. And she would be dealing with the fallout from that for the rest of her life. They were suffering alongside each other, each in their own way.

When Jane's birthday came, Jane brought a cake in to school and the girls enjoyed it at lunch time. Anne knew that Jane had brought the cake to school because she would not be invited to the birthday party that Jane's parents held for her. The other girls, who had gone, were sensitive to this and did not mention the party in front of Anne. Anne chose not to be upset by this; she knew that it was not Jane's fault and she was comforted by the fact that she had brought in a cake to her, because it meant that Jane had truly wanted Anne to share in her birthday.

She would not be welcome at Jane's house, and she was not sure that Jane's parents would allowed Jane to come to Green Gables. There had been so much damage done between the Cuthberts and the Andrews, and what happened between two families could not be mended. There was a hedge there, one that couldn't be crossed. But she and Jane would still be school-day friends, and perhaps someday things would be different. Perhaps someday they would be as close as two sisters. Anne hoped so with all her heart, and by Jane's kindness toward her, she knew that Jane was hoping, too.