Hi everybody. I'm sorry for going two months with no new chapter. Really. I can't believe I stopped writing for two months. I just got to where I couldn't do anything because I was depressed. I'm better now. Part of what got me to wake up a little was realizing that in a few days it will be a whole year since I started writing my story, and I want to finish it. I left Anne in depression and now it's time to write her out of it.
Also, I am going to update a lot within the next day or so, because even though I said there were only 10 chapters left, I literally just wrote 30 pages and there's no way I am putting up 30 pages as ONE chapter lol so these 30 pages will be split up. But I will still post them all today and tomorrow.
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Originally, saving the bloody shirt had only one purpose. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews would have preferred to think that Anne was corrupt and had brought this upon herself. Jane keeping the shirt was an attempt to prove that it couldn't be Anne's fault, because the bloody shirt meant Anne had been trying to fight back.
But the plan had been deemed no longer necessary since Mr. and Mrs. Andrews had agreed to pull Billy out of school. Everyone thought that would make it all better. ...Only now it seemed that wasn't enough. Their original plan, made long ago and never used, would have to be re-purposed now.
"The thing is-" Jane said. "The thing is, it's not just about what my parents believe. It's about what everyone believes. The whole town's heard the rumor that Anne tried to pin a baby on my brother so she'd be able to finagle money out of our parents. That's what Josie told everyone! Ugh, Josie- I'm so angry with her!"
"Me too...and Josie even dragged Gilbert into it," Diana said with a shake of her head. "Telling everyone the baby was his! It's awful."
"I'm sad for him, too, of course," Jane agreed, "But the rumors have done nothing to him- did you notice that?"
Diana nodded. "All anyone cares about is if Anne's wicked. No one seems to mind so very much if a boy has..."
Diana trailed off, and Jane asked, "What?"
"...Escapades," Diana finished, blushing pink.
"Your mother would be furious if she knew you came up with a word for that! Be careful what you say at home, Diana, or she might never let you speak to Anne again!"
But Diana looked sad. She wasn't thinking about her mother; she was thinking about what it would be like to have all those judging eyes on her: "No wonder Anne's hiding in her bedroom! Wouldn't you just hate to go into town- ever- if people were thinking those things about you? I would; I'd die of shame!"
But then, seeing Jane's face, Diana quickly said, "You know, let's not think anymore about it now. Let's hold off till Gilbert's with us. We're all on Anne's team; we should wait until we're all together- then we'll figure out what to do."
"Okay," Jane agreed with Diana, breathing out slowly. She was relieved to feel she was 'allowed' to forget about it for a little while. It was all becoming such a burden.
Looking over at her, Diana suddenly squeezed Jane to her. "We'll get it all worked out, Jane. For now, let's go to my house and bake cookies! ...My mother doesn't have to know we'll bring some to Anne."
Jane smiled, and Diana thought it finally seemed genuine. She hurried Jane along faster to the Barry's, and before long she and Jane were covered in flour, laughing.
----
Gilbert arrived to school late, and Jane and Diana did not have time to speak to him before class.
"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."
"There's someone who could spread rumors for us," Diana said. "But in her case, we really would need Anne's stockings." Then she sighed, a depressing thought forming. "Even if we get the whole town to believe us, what if it only gets worse? I wouldn't put it past people to think Anne deserved what happened to her!"
Jane was quiet, staring ahead, unfocused. Then she said quietly: "Maybe once everyone in town knows what Billy did, then Mother and Father would send him away somewhere. ...I don't know where, but...I don't see any other way for this to get better for Anne..."
No one said anything.
Gilbert was thinking. "You got Billy to leave school, but, Jane, that's a lot different than trying to get him out of town."
"Well, what else will help Anne?" Jane asked louder, upset. "Trying to fix her reputation might not do it. Even if the whole town decides to be on her side, she's still going to have to see Billy!"
There was no way for Anne and Billy to coexist.
Jane continued, on the verge of tears. "All of it matters- her reputation, everyone seeing her, her seeing Billy...I have to fix everything!"
"You mean we," Diana said gently, her hand on Jane's shoulder.
Jane shook her head, wiping her eyes. "No, I mean I do. I feel like this is all my fault..."
Gilbert's eyes melted. "Jane, how could any of this possibly be your fault?"
"I don't know...because he's my brother, I guess," Jane whispered. "I just feel so bad."
Diana hugged her. "I'm so sorry, Jane. This is just awful for you."
Jane tried to hold back the tears she felt coming, very aware of being at school and not wanting anyone to hear her crying. "Well, it's more awful for Anne than it is for me. But still-"
Diana hugged her tighter when Jane could not continue. "It's awful for you, too. It feels like you're losing your big brother, doesn't it?"
"I feel like I'm not supposed to love him anymore or something," she cried. "But I do! I hate what he did, but he's still my brother and I still love him!"
"Jane," Diana said comfortingly, "It's all right. You don't have to stop loving him."
"Well, trying to make him leave town doesn't seem much like I love him, does it?" Jane broke off, crying. "I knew it might come to this. But- " Sobs that had been building for a long time came pouring out as she sputtered, "But he's my brother...I want to help Anne, but I don't want Billy to go anywhere..."
Diana just sat quietly, Jane huddled against her.
Finally Diana spoke up, saying, "He doesn't have to go anywhere. Maybe with more time, Anne will be better."
"Yeah," Gilbert said gently. "She's strong. She'll figure out how to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. We all love her and we'll keep doing whatever we can to make it easier for her. We can make it work out. There's no reason for you to have to be the sacrificial lamb here."
"No," Jane said, shaking her head emphatically. "This is the only way. Anne needs this."
But she looked miserable.
Diana looked like she did not want to bring this up, but finally said: "Jane...your parents are already unhappy with you. If they know you're trying to get the townsfolk to know what Billy actually did..."
Before Jane could react, Gilbert stated: "We can do this without you."
Jane choked on a sob and looked up at him.
Gilbert explained quietly: "You don't have to be a part of it. I know this whole thing has been your idea all along, but that doesn't mean you have to be the one to take the fall for it. Tell your parents I betrayed you."
"What do you mean?" Jane asked in a whisper.
"Tell them you took Billy's bloody shirt from the laundry because you didn't want your mother to be upset by it. You couldn't leave it soaking at home because she'd see it, so I offered to take it home and wash it for you. But then I kept it and betrayed your family with it. ...They'll never have to know you were involved in this plan. They'll be angry with me, not with you."
Jane looked like she was thinking. Finally, she shuddered, wiping her tears away, and sitting up straighter, "No. I'm in this now and I'm in it all the way. There's no backing out."
"Are you sure, Jane?" Diana asked kindly.
"I hate what I'm about to do," she said. "But I don't think I'm wrong for doing it."
Gilbert didn't say anything. He and Jane's eyes were locked together. Gilbert squeezed her hand.
They were interrupted by two pairs of boots. They looked up into the faces of Ruby and Tillie.
"We overheard you," Tillie began nervously.
"And we want to help," Ruby said.
--
That afternoon, Jane got the shirt from where she'd hidden it in her closet. It was now stiff with dried blood. She folded it carefully and placed it inside a shawl. She left on her own to walk into town and talk to Dr. Carter.
Gilbert stopped at Green Gables before heading home. He asked Marilla if he could see Anne just for a moment, and with a sigh, she waved him up.
The same afternoon, Diana walked into town all by herself, nervously knocked on a door and asked if Morgan Ryland was at home.