OSTRACIZE | GILBERT BLYTHE

10

Ellis had been staring at the same spot on her wall for the past ten minutes.

The stupid fire bells had woke her up.

"Ellis!" Carter shouted running in. He had already gathered all the buckets to take down to the Gillis'. "Ellis come on."

She sighed at his need for her but didn't get up, instead she rolled away from him annoyed.

"Get up you useless girl!" Pops shouted, he had gathered enough strength to get out of bed and to Ellis' room.

He slammed Carter into the doorframe as he moved past him and grabbed Ellis' arm, dragging her out of the bed.

"Do you really think this would have been acceptable in the army Ellis?" He chuckled psychotically pulling her as quickly as he strode. "Ah, yes, don't you think John Blythe told me about your little adventure that day?" He paused. "Come on soldier, no man left behind!" Pops shouted angrily but it was licked with sarcasm.

Pops turned to Carter slapping the back of his head to get his attention,

"Go make yourself useful boy!" He ordered.

~

Carter rushed off to help as soon as they arrived at the Gillis' house. Ellis looked up, and on the roof was Gilbert Blythe in his red plaid jacket. Ellis was sure Ruby would have something to say about Gilbert saving her house and maybe even her possessions.

The fire was spreading quickly. Pops watched from a far, holding onto Toffee for support.

"What are you going to do about it girl?" He asked almost daringly.

Ellis looked up to her Pops with a smirk. She grabbed the bucket off of Carter and ran into the house without a second thought.

She ran up the stairs and into the first room.

"Ellis!" She looked to the window and saw Gilbert Blythe with a bucket of water in his hand. Ellis just stared at him. "Get out of there!" Ellis just threw the water onto the fire and swung the door shut before heading to another room.

The room appeared to be Ruby's. She's never been in Ruby's room before but that's because admittedly Ruby hated Ellis.

Ellis looked around at Ruby's room. It was a typical girls room, light pink walls with dark wooden furniture but unfortunately for Ruby, most of the room was up in flames.

Ellis was about to leave when the flat cap on Ruby's bed caught her eye.

That wasn't Ruby's.

Ellis grabbed the flat cap and stared at it, it was recognisable but not instantly. It took her a few seconds before the realisation hit her.

That was Gilbert Blythe's flat cap.

"Ellis! We need to leave!" Without thinking Ellis shoved the flat cap into her coat pocket.

Anne?

"Wh-what?"

"Come on Ellis!" Anne grabbed Ellis hand and pulled her the down stairs. Anne look at the exits, the wooden beams from the stairs had collapsed onto the door. "We're trapped." Anne panicked. "We're going to die. We're going to die!" Tears formed in Anne's eyes.

Ellis grabbed Anne's arm and pulled her to the floor.

"C-Crawl ou-out now." Ellis instructed, with a cough. Ellis watched as Anne crawled out of the small space. Ellis was too big to fit through the small gap.

"Anne! Where's Ellis?" Gilbert questioned as Anne crawled out, alone.

"Still in there." Anne coughed.

"God damn it." Gilbert ran to the front of the building and started kicking down the door. The fire was going out, but it could start up again any minute. "Ellis! Can you hear me!" Gilbert shouted.

"Yes!" She shouted back. Gilbert felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Just knowing that she was still alive brought him some peace.

"You're gonna need to grab my hand okay?" Gilbert questioned. Ellis saw his hand peak through a small gap. "I'm going to pull you through."

"Okay!" Ellis grabbed Gilbert's hand. The beam was so close to falling and Gilbert just pulled her out in time.

"She's such a hero." Ellis rolled her eyes as people applauded Anne. Ellis was in the burning building too and nobody other than Gilbert seemed to care.

"Well you can be my hero." Gilbert smiled as the fire went out.

"I'm not a hero Gilbert." Ellis stated as she walked off into the woods.

"Ellis!" Gilbert ran after the girl confused. "Ellis wait up!" He grabbed Ellis' arm, and turned her to face him. "Are you okay?"

Ellis pulled Gilbert's flat cap out of her pocket.

"I told you Ruby fancied you." She raised her brow and threw the cap onto the floor.