Anne with an E The Next Chapter

Settling In

Tuesday- Anne was into her second day of work and was looking forward to having Diana with her for the remainder of the week. Her students needed to do a lot of catching up and she worried she was failing them somehow. The year had been such a crazy blur and she couldn't recall a school year ever zooming by so fast, but with everything that has happened this year; an engagement, a teaching role, Bash and Muriel's wedding, Diana going missing and Ruby getting sick...now pregnant and engaged to be married, Anne was surprised she had managed to get them through any of the lessons. She sometimes wished she'd gone into a different career... perhaps an investigator, reporter or a lawyer defending people in a court of law, but alas, Anne had to settle with the immense role of educating the next generation. She looked longingly at the window while her students finished their formative testing. It was April and the warmth of the spring was already upon them.

"Miss....? Miss Shirley-Cuthbert?"

"Ohh.. yes what is it?" she asked staring at the classroom of students looking at her questioningly.

"I believe we've run out of time... it's 10 past 3" John Wilkins said looking rather annoyed.

"Oh heaven's... yes, hand me your papers and off you go home. Tomorrow we begin our rotations with my teaching partner Ms. Barry, so please come prepared with your thinking caps on and your collaborative spirits in tact! Have a wonderful evening"

"Bye Miss!!"

Anne quickly assembled the papers and laid them out gingerly to properly dry while she completed her closing duties. Jerry would be by to pick her up soon and they were in for a nice evening of planning a surprise gift for Ruby and Moody.

Diana had thouroughly enjoyed her day alone. She had spent her whole life in her parents care and then off to school for a year. Soon after that she had been at the boarding home and then to Aunt Josephines. She'd never had an entire  house to herslef and didn't know how she would like it. The quiet and solitude of the cottage had been a welcome gift. Diana had gotten up early with Anne and prepared a breakfast of eggs, rashers, potatoes and coffee. After Anne left for school, she'd dressed and then taken a walk around the lake, admiring the thaw and the greening of the forest. She knew there was a lot to prepare tonight for Moody and Ruby so she got right to work.

She came back to clean up the breakfast dishes and tidied the cottage. Next she sat down to finish her cross stitch of Moody and Ruby's monogram on a white cotton tablecloth she had purchased in town. She needed to go to the village in the early part of the afternoon to explore an option she'd secretly been thinking about for the last 2 days.

Diana had been part of a lady's society club, the PSMC, and had known about a cupboard of community resources for people in need. Mrs. O'Leary was one of Avonlea's founding residents and had been part of PSMC from the start. At the age of 86, she still sat on the Society council, where she had been a member for 52 years. She was now nearly blind and not very agile, but still, she would not step down. The Society's more affluent member humoured her participation but didn't give her much time but Diana had always loved seeing her and appreciated her devotion after all these years. While the Society hosted fundraisers and events, Mrs. O'Leary held the role of community cupboard keeper. When people were moving on or had things to give away to charity, the things were taken to Mrs. Oleary's who filled her days with restoring, cleaning or mending items that were to be donated to families in need. She had enough space in her large victorian home and kept most donated items in a back room she called her workshop. While most families were comfortable in Avonlea, there were some families who were just making ends meet and needed whatever support they could get. A second hand coat, a blanket, a set of dishes, anything could be a great help. Diana thought this was one of the most important roles of all the society functions.