Lady March - (L.L.)

Chapter 32

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The Greatest of Surrender

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Approximately 5 Years Ago, Concord:

The atmosphere inside the March home was chaotic. Following a letter received by Marmee stating that her husband, Mr March, had been wounded on the field, none of the family was taking the sudden news lightly. With Marmee rushing around the house packing away some of her belongings and the rest of the girls helping her, everyone was frightened.

The average train ticket wasn't exactly very cheap either, so while her daughters (Annie included) were scurrying around the house to make sure that Marmee didn't forget anything, Jo had stepped into town for a while in order to make some quick money for the ticket.

"Oh, dear . . ." Marmee sighed as she folded some of her dresses into a travelling bag. "I hope Jo's home soon. The train leaves at 6 tonight."

As if suddenly summoned, the front door of the house pushed open and Jo came rushing through. She had on the same attire as when she initially left, but this time she had a winter hat on her head which wasn't there before.

"Did you get the money, Jo?" Meg asked as the said girl approached the rest of them. Laurie and John Brookes had visited for a while as well, wanting to console the rest of the family.

"Oh, I didn't go to Aunt March's . . . I couldn't bear to," she explained quickly, a nervous tint visible in her voice.

"Where did you get the money then?" Marmee wondered and Jo sighed.

"I only sold what was my own." Jo reached up and tore the hat off her head causing gasps to come from everyone. She had cut her hair only so she could purchase a train ticket.

Despite the circumstances that Jo had found herself in, Annie, for one, couldn't have felt more proud of her sisterly-friend. So, while the other girls were purely shocked by Jo's decision, when Laurie snickered teasingly in the background, she nudged the boy's shoulder for him to quit being so rude. He had quieted down immediately.

The next moment passed by like a blurb. Marmee had hugged all her daughters farewell including Annie. There were tears prickling in the woman's eyes as she reached for the door handle and made a quick exit, promising to look after Mr March for the time she would be gone.

That night while Annie had woken up in the middle of the night for a drink of water, she had stopped mid-way in her tracks down the stairs when she heard hushed sobbing noises coming from one of the bedrooms. Forsaking her initial reason for going downstairs in the first place, she followed the sound to only have it track to Jo and Beth's shared bedroom. Believing that Beth was probably still asleep, she didn't knock and instead opened the door straight. Perched in her study desk was Jo, her hands covering her muffled cries.

"Jo?" Annie called quietly and Jo looked up suddenly with tearful eyes. The site of someone watching her while she cried had only triggered more tears and her weeping grew. Annie slowly approached the girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Does it look like I'm alright?" Jo bellowed and Annie's eyes widened at the sudden but not surprising outburst. Realizing her mistake, Jo muttered out a small apology before adding, "I'm just upset."

"Oh, don't you worry, Jo," Annie soothed calmly, figuring that her reasons for crying were because of the events of today. "Mr March will be okay, I'm sure. Marmee's over there to take care of him, so⸺"