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

211. What to Do

"It isn't enough," Jane said in a whisper as she and Diana sat hidden away together in the corner of the cloakroom with their lunches.

"What isn't enough?" Gilbert asked, joining the girls.

Jane looked up at him. "I thought when we told her Prissy stopped coming to school, that it would be enough to get her to come back. Because she felt awkward around Prissy after all this."

"She knows Prissy isn't coming back?" Gilbert asked, confused.

Diana explained, "We went to see her on Saturday."

Gilbert was surprised. "I went Saturday, too," he told them. "In the afternoon."

"We went in the evening," Diana said. "...How did it go for you?"

Gilbert was honest: "It didn't go well."

"It didn't for us, either. She was acting really strange."

"Even for her," Jane put in.

Gilbert and Diana looked at her.

"...Sorry," she said.

Diana sighed. "She wasn't making sense...it was like she wasn't even there."

Gilbert said, "She said something, though? I didn't get things that didn't make sense...I didn't get anything. She wouldn't even talk! She just ignored me, and after a while she pulled the covers up and told me to go away."

"You went up to her room?" Diana asked, surprised.

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, that just goes to show how desperate Miss Cuthbert is to wake her up. ...But, about Prissy...Anne didn't even care?"

"Well, I think that was the only time she was actually paying attention to what we were saying, at least," Diana explained. "But no, it didn't help a bit. Once we told her, she just started talking about all the reasons it wouldn't help..."

"Why wouldn't it?" Gilbert asked. "What did she say?"

Jane explained. "They're still everywhere else...at church, in town."

The three were silent for a moment.

"And that's not all," Jane said sadly. "What about all the people who've heard the rumors; Anne still has to face all of them in town! They don't know the truth...we're the only ones who do."

"Well, your parents know. It isn't as if they're denying it any longer. So that's something," Gilbert reminded her.

"Yeah- but that's only in private, Gilbert! My parents aren't going to go around telling everyone in town what the truth is. They're just going to wait for the whole thing to go away!"

Jane's face was angry; Diana and Gilbert's sympathetic.

"I still have the buttons I found on the Cuthbert's floor," Gilbert offered up. "And...I don't feel right about showing people Anne's petticoat and stockings, but...we really need something more than just Billy's shirt as proof, don't we? ...Maybe if I can explain it to Anne in just the right way, she'll let us have them." But then Gilbert shook his head. "Never mind, I'm sure she won't; we'll have to do without them."

Diana bit her lip. "But even if we had them...what would we do with them? Just show them to people? That isn't much of a plan."

"So we're going to have to add more," Jane said, feeling more practical and ready to start making decisions. "This whole thing started with rumors. Maybe if we spread rumors..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "I don't think I know how to spread rumors."