In an instant, it seemed that time had turned back, and the ghosts of the children they had once been haunted the lighthouse. Felix felt that if he turned quickly enough, he might hear their laughter mingled with Gus's fiddle, see Sara's hair streaming out behind her as she ran across the fields, hear Felicity lecturing them all.
Soon, soon, all this would be behind him and sea would be his master. Avonlea, mother and father, the hotel, Izzy - his childhood would be no more. The deed was done; he had signed up for the navy in Charlottetown that morning. His uniform was carefully pressed and hanging in his closet. He would wear it for the first time tomorrow, as he stood to watch Gus and Felicity get married.
That thought started him out of his reverie, reminding him that this sojourn to the lighthouse was not just an excuse to tryst with the past. He hastened up the steps into the darkness of the building, placing the wood on the small pile in the wood box. He carefully climbed the cramped steps to the living quarters above to survey his handiwork. Felix smiled in satisfaction, the faintest quirk of mischieviousness turning up the corner of his mouth. It felt good to know that he was helping to surprise Felicity--that had been so hard to do when they were children.
The room was snug. A fire lay in the hearth, ready for lighting. The lamps were full, prepared to be lit. The table was set for a romantic dinner for two, with candles, china, silverware, and fine linens "borrowed" from the White Sands. The wood box below was full, ensuring that the future occupants would be able to ward off the chill that now wrapped itself around these September nights.
When Gus had asked Felix for his help, the young man had hesitated. "Gus, now, I'm not too sure how proper it is for a man to help set up his sister's um, honeymoon, ah, suite," Felix had protested, squirming a bit.
"Felix," Gus had replied, "I don't got anyone else to ask, and I can't quite manage it myself yet. Felicity and me don't leave for Halifax until Sunday, and I don't much want to spend our first night together at the White Sands." He laughed, a sound that made Felix glad. Since his return, Gus didn't laugh very much, and when he did, it had a sad undertone. "I think I would feel as if I should be servin' tables, checkin' in visitors and the like. Don't think Felicity would like that too much, me workin' on our weddin' night."
Gus had looked over at Felix with smiling yet serious eyes behind his new glasses. Felix started to protest, but Gus interrupted. "And just who is keepin' this little secret about the Navy from all Avonlea, including his future wife?" he said, attempting to look severely at the younger man, and failing miserably. Felix looked sheepishly at his empty coffee cup, knowing he was beaten.
"Well, if you put it that way," he started. Gus clapped his hand on Felix's shoulder.
"That's my boy. Now, here's my plan." Two dark heads bent together, their words swept away by the wind that blew never-ending over the cliffs behind the lighthouse.
* * * * *
After wedding and reception "Well, for better or worse, it's over! I'm a married woman!" Felicity laughed, looking across the bed at Cecily, who sat curled up in the wicker chair in the corner of their room. Cecily smiled, twirling her tulle-trimmed hat in her hands."Well, you know that's a wedding that Avonlea won't be done talking about for quite a while," she smiled at her older sister, still clad in her silken finery. "I don't think I'll forget the look on Aunt Hetty's face as you dragged her down that aisle until the day I die!" She started to giggle.
Felicity joined in, her laugh growing rueful as she looked at the hem of her wedding dress. One doesn't take running sojourns through the woods between Avonlea Presbyterian and Rose Cottage in a silk dress without the bottom of it becoming a bit of a disgrace. Felicity held the hem in her hands, carefully looking at the grass stains and mud.
"Child, I know that you are Avonlea's resident stain remover, but you are not to worry your head about those marks right now." Janet bustled into the room, carrying a small suitcase. "Are you not out of that dress by now? Gus is downstairs waiting for you, and here you are not changed yet!"
Felicity dropped the offending hem, smiling in remembrance of her childhood pride in removing stains. Janet carefully unbuttoned the back of her dress, while Cecily laid Felicity's going away dress on the bed, next to the silken filminess of her wedding veil. The younger girl looked up, her bottom lip trembling. "Gosh, I'm going to miss you," she said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
Felicity looked at her. "We're only going to be away for a week. I was gone to the Carolinas for longer than that, and I've spent more nights at the Foundling Home than here over the last year or so! But, I guess, it's not the same. . ." her voice trailed off.
Janet turned her around, her own eyes suspiciously wet. "No I should say not. I am pretty confident that you will return in one piece from Halifax, whereas when you left for the Carolinas. But thank God you did go, or providence knows how things would have turned out. I do hate it when Hetty is right, but on this account, she certainly was."
For a brief moment, Felicity felt an icy chill pass over her. What if she hadn't tried to find Gus? What if she had married Stuart? Her heart still ached at the thought of how hurt Stuart had been. But she knew that what she had done was right. She belonged to Gus, and if she had not tried to find him, she never would have been able to live with herself. And to be perfectly blunt, if that telephone call had come a week later, all Avonlea would have been scandalized. Because she would have gone anyway, married to Stuart or not.
Realizing that she was now standing in her undergarments, she picked up her going-away dress off the bed. "Now, all of you, out," she said firmly. "I am perfectly capable of dressing myself and finishing packing. We will be back here tomorrow for dinner before we get the boat train for Halifax, so I'll leave my bigger case for then." Felicity began to pull the dress over her head, as Cecily reluctantly uncurled herself from the chair and left the room. Janet hesitated briefly, but slowly turned and left.
* * * * *
The afternoon sun was basking over the porch of the King Farm. Digger lay contentedly, occasionally taking a swipe at the tail of a wayward kitten, which balanced precariously on the railing. Jasper and Alec were enjoying their pipes, while Gus sat rather stiffly on the porch swing, gazing off towards the sea. His nervousness and discomfort in his dress clothes was palpable. Jasper glanced at Alec and they shared a brief smile; they both remembered their conversation before Jasper's wedding to Olivia, all those years ago.
Their reverie was broken by the sound of wheels crunching in the driveway. Gus's head jerked towards the sound; since his blinding, his sense of hearing was extremely acute, and despite the operation's restoration of much of his eyesight, his ears were still very sensitive. Anticipating his question, Alec said, "It's Sara," and stepped off the porch to help his niece from the buggy. Sara bounded up the porch steps, hatless, her bright eyes alight with happiness. Alec was once again struck with her uncanny resemblance to Ruth, his long dead sister.
"Well, Sara, I'm really g-g-g-g-glad you were able to m-m-m-m-make it," Jasper said, damping his pipe and moving aside as Alec retraced his steps. "How long do you p-p-p-p-plan to stay?"
Sara surveyed the porch quickly, as Gus carefully stood up, a wide grin splitting his handsome face. Her silken skirts rustled as she sat down on the porch swing, guiding Gus to retake his seat. "At least a month, Uncle Jasper," Sara stated firmly. "It's an awfully long passage, and I haven't been back in over a year. Aunt Hetty would kill me if I left again too soon," she laughed. "And I'm not the least bit interested in that." The gentlemen chuckled in complete agreement. Sara turned to Gus, then looked over her shoulder at her uncles. "Now, if you gentlemen don't mind, I'd like to visit with Gus, since he is leaving so soon."
Alec and Jasper smiled, and entered the kitchen. Janet sat at the table, clutching her handkerchief as if her life depended on it. At the sight of her tear-stained face, Jasper stared uncomfortably at the floor and, mumbling something about, "Olivia, ah, ah, the children must be in the parlor," was gone.
Alec smiled, and standing behind Janet's chair, wrapped his arms around his wife.
"Janet, now are you crying about Felicity leaving, Felix joining the Navy, Sara being home, Olivia leaving, or just for the sake of it?" he teased. Janet whirled around, her shoulder shaking with indignation.
"Alec King, if I didn't know better, I'd think you had no heart at all," she cried. "Why, my babies are all grown up and leaving home, and I, I, I." Her voice was lost in a sob. Alec sat down beside her, his own face becoming more sober.
"It is hard to lose them all at the same time," he agreed, "but we still have Cecily and Daniel and each other," he looked at her mischievously. He placed his hand under her chin, lifting her eyes to his. His tone softened.
"You don't want to send Felicity away with tears in your eyes, now do you?" he said. Janet sniffed and wiped her cheeks with her now bedraggled handkerchief.
"You're right, Alec," she replied. "I'll be brave."
"That's my girl," Alec smiled at her, his head bending to kiss her gently.
* * * * *
Sara turned to face Gus on the swing. "Gus, I haven't had a minute to talk to you since I arrived!" she burst out. "You made an awfully handsome groom today." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Gus smiled, his hand reaching out to touch her forehead, before carefully kissing her there. He smiled apologetically. "I don't see so great up close, and I don't want to miss!" he explained.
Sara searched his face. "How is your sight? Oh, you must be getting sick of questions about your eyes." She looked down at her lap.
Truth be told, Gus was mighty tired of questions about his eyes. His vision was improving, but it was far from perfect, and the prognosis was a bit of an unknown, both distant and very close objects being the hardest to see. He was pleased that it had come back enough that he was able to navigate the aisle of the church without help. Seeing Felicity walk down the aisle had been like watching her walk out of a fog and come into focus. He had seen her as a bride so many times in his dreams; it was hard to believe that it had really come true. "Well, Sara, I am not sick of questions from you, and my eyes are doing very well. Not good enough to drive a buggy yet, or navigate in the dark, but I sure can see you! And that's a nice sight." He paused. "Felicity and I were real pleased you were able to make the weddin'. Meant a lot to both of us. Without some of yer meddling, might never have come off!" He turned to face the sea again, his mind captured by the memories of his teenage years. Sara slipped her small hand into his, and his eyes turned back to her again.
"Are you happy Gus?" she said softly. "You have what you said you always wanted. A family." Her voice broke slightly.
Gus squeezed her hand tightly. "Yup, I'm very happy. And a finer family I could not have hoped for. You were the one who always understood that old wish," he said gruffly.
"Probably because I knew what it was like not to have parents," she said soberly. "Although I was always lucky enough to have a family, even if I didn't always appreciate them." Her face brightened up. "Enough sad chat about the past. What are you and Felicity going for your honeymoon?"
"Halifax," replied Gus. "We leave tomorrow in the afternoon. We'll be back here to the King Farm around noon tomorrow for dinner, so we'll see you then."
"So where are you staying this evening?" Sara inquired slyly, looking up at him with an innocent expression.
"Oh, you'll not be wheedlin' that information out of me, young lady!" Gus retorted. "I'm grateful for the loan of your Aunt Hetty's carriage for the night, but I don't have to tell no one where we are goin'."
Sara laughed and Gus smiled broadly, looking over his shoulder into the house. Sara was once again reminded of how much older Gus looked. He had tiny lines around his eyes, and scars on his hands that had not been there the last time she had seen him. His smile and laughter held a note of sadness that would never be gone. No doubt the accident had been very hard on the rest of his body, not just his eyes. She remembered how horrified she had been when she received Felicity's letter of the account of the sinking of the Maid of Calais. But her horror was quickly replaced with pride when she realized that Gus's bravery had saved five lives, as well as his own.
"Where is Felicity anyway?" he said, standing up abruptly. "She's been up in that room of hers for hours, it seems!" Sara took his arm and they slowly walked across the porch and into the house. Alec and Janet looked up from the kitchen table quickly. Sara giggled.
"Gee Aunt Janet, Uncle Alec, I didn't realize that I needed to knock before I entered the room," she teased. Janet bounded up, her cheeks red and a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. But before she could reply, the sound of rustling silk was heard in the stair well, and Cecily entered the room.
"She says she's coming, but so is Christmas!" she sighed, falling into a chair.
Felicity finished tucking the loose wisps of hair up into the curls on the top of her head, and placed her hat on top, surveying the results. She looked wonderful, if she did say so herself. Placing the small suitcase on the bed, she carefully pushed aside the contents, and turned to her closet. Rooting down in the bottom, she withdrew a long cardboard box. Gingerly, she opened the lid, and removed the contents, which she laid in her suitcase. Looking up, she caught her reflection in the mirror. A small wrinkle was knotting itself in her forehead, and not for the first or last time, she was surprised at how much she looked like her Aunt Hetty, especially in the last year. Quickly she closed the lid on the suitcase, picked it up, and looked around the room. With a contented sigh, she left, quietly closing the door on her girlhood forever.
* * * * *
"I thought we'd never get out of there," Felicity whispered, her arm tucked firmly under Gus arm as the buggy jostled out of the King Farm lane way. Gus looked down into his wife's face, still wet with tears.
"Well, your ma and pa are going to miss you, you know that," he replied, repressing a smile and reaching into his pocket for his handkerchief. Felicity took it unconsciously, wiping her face delicately. She took a deep breath and looked forward at Felix's back. Leaning forward, she tapped her brother's shoulder.
"Felix, spill the beans--where are you taking us?" she implored, a grin starting at the corner of her mouth. Gus gently pulled her back.
"Oh no, Mrs. Pike, you'll not be badgering the driver," he said. The pride in his voice as he uttered the words "Mrs. Pike" was palpable. Felicity looked up at him, her face shining. Gus leaned down to kiss her.
"Enough of that," came Felix's voice from the front seat. "I agreed to drive you, but I didn't agree to put up with you two mooning at each other the whole way!" He grinned over his shoulder, and the three of them burst out laughing.
It was a beautiful evening. The sun was a fireball in the late day sky, its beams casting long fingers of gold over the sea and land. As they emerged from the woods, the red cliffs seem to be alight themselves. Stark against the flaming sky, the lighthouse stood off to the right. Felicity looked expectantly down the road towards the White Sands hotel, but was surprised when the buggy slowed and stopped. She looked quizzically at Gus and then at Felix, who was already climbing down.
"Why are we stopping?" she began to ask her brother, but Felix was gone, traipsing behind the buggy and picking up her case.
"Taxi service stops here, Mrs. Pike," he grinned at her. "Boss's orders," jerking a thumb in Gus's direction. Felicity looked quickly at her husband, who was now climbing carefully down from the carriage. Holding out his hand, he smiled up at her.
"Trust me," was all he said.
"Always," she replied, taking his hand, and alighting from the carriage.
Close this window to return to the index