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

222. The Whistle of the Train

"What did you do?" she asked quietly once they were alone.

Gilbert told her, "I went to that shed in the woods. Anne goes there sometimes. I was looking for her stories, but I found Billy."

Jane's face paled. "Oh no, he didn't destroy it..."

Gilbert shook his head. "He didn't even know it was Anne's."  Then he told her, "My first thought was that he was in the woods just to re-live some of his finer moments, but...he wasn't. He was hiding because he was afraid to come home. He'd been crying."

Jane was surprised by this.

Gilbert went on: "We talked. And..I think we got to some sort of breakthrough. Maybe just a small one, but one nonetheless."

"And you convinced him to come home," Jane said softly. "Thank you, Gilbert."

Gilbert gave her a hollow smile.

Jane asked, "But how did you convince him not to tell our parents about the way I tricked him? I was sure he would."

Gilbert shook his head. "I didn't. That came from him."

Jane didn't say anything to him, but when she smiled, there were tears in her eyes.

---

That night was tense in the Andrews home.

Billy was treated by his parents in much the same way that Jane had been, and finally went up to bed just to get away from them.

He knew they would be angry with him, but he'd chosen not to out Jane's plot anyway. He decided his sister had been through enough, and it was time for him to take over the burden of what he'd done.

---

The next day was worse for all of them because Mr. and Mrs. Andrews went into town to mail a package and pick up items at the general store. Everywhere they went, a hush fell as people realized they had come in to the shop. And whenever they left a shop, they could feel stares and hear whispers as they walked away.

It was embarrassing.

The Andrews believed that the condition on Billy returning to school had been that he apologized to Anne, but how could he go to school now that everyone knew what he'd done?

In the post office Mrs. Pye told them loudly that she intended to write a letter to the school board urging them to expel Billy from Avonlea school as it was unsafe for the female students to be in close proximity to a boy with such tendencies.

And when Mrs. Pye heard that the school board was sending a lady teacher after Mr. Phillips left, then her welfare ought to be considered too. If Billy had reacted this way in anger, what might happen to her if she kept him after school?

The Andrews began to question the kind of future their son could have in this town.

Mr. Andrews wondered who would provide references for Billy, let alone grant him interviews. Could he ever find gainful employment?

And Mrs. Andrews' mind was on courtship prospects. There was no family in this town who wouldn't object to him pursuing their daughter.

---

Billy could hear his parents speaking in quiet, angry tones throughout most of the night.

It was three days before they'd come to a conclusion.

Not knowing what to do but knowing there was no way for him to recover his reputation, his parents decided to send him to stay with an aunt and uncle on his mother's side, in Nova Scotia, where he would help on their farm and- they hoped- begin his own path of healing. They would not call it temporary, and they would not call it permanent. They intended him to stay until he was finished with schooling and could go to a university. They would not send him to school in his new town, but intended to employ a tutor, as they had done here in Avonlea.