Chapter 5. More Adventures
One day, Matthew saw Anne with her classmates. There was something different about Anne. She was different from the other girls. Anne had a plain, dark dress. The other girls had red, and blue, and pink dresses. Matthew decided to buy a nice dress for Anne, but he couldn't go to the shop. He was too shy. So, he asked Rachel for some advice.
‘I can buy the dress,' said Rachel. ‘It must be a beautiful dress.'
Just before Christmas, Rachel brought the dress to Green Gables. Marilla didn't like it. She liked plain, dark dresses. This dress was a golden brown. On Christmas day, Matthew gave the dress to Anne.
‘It's beautiful,' said Anne. She was very excited. Later, Diana arrived with another present for Anne - a pair of shoes.
‘Diana, this is too much,' said Anne. ‘I'm a very lucky girl.'
Everything was perfect. Time passed, with no
surprises. Soon, Anne was thirteen years old. And then, there was another surprise.
One day, in spring, Marilla came home late. There was nothing ready for dinner. What's Anne doing? thought Marilla. I asked her to make the dinner. Marilla went into Anne's bedroom. Anne was in her bed.
‘Are you sleeping?' asked Marilla.
‘No,' said Anne.
‘Aren't you well?'
‘I'm well,' replied Anne.
‘Get up then!' said Marilla. Marilla was angry. ‘What's the problem?'
Anne got up. ‘Look Marilla! Look at my hair!'
‘What?... Oh, no!' said Marilla. ‘It's green!'
‘Yes, I know, Marilla. I didn't want my hair to be green … but a man came to Green Gables. I bought a bottle from him.'
‘What are you talking about?' asked Marilla.
‘I bought some medicine from this man. I put the medicine on my hair. I wanted to change the colour of my hair. I wanted my hair to be a beautiful dark colour, but it's not dark, it's horrible … and it's green. I finished the bottle, but it's no good. Oh Marilla! What can I do?'
‘Never buy things from strange men!' said Marilla.
Anne washed her hair, but it stayed green.
Anne stayed at home for a week. She washed her hair every day, but after a week, her hair was still green. ‘Oh well,' said Anne. ‘I can't go to school with green hair. It's better to have no hair at all.' So Anne went to school on Monday, with no hair. Some of the children laughed at her, but she didn't get angry. This was her punishment.
Anne was also worried about Marilla. ‘I'm having bad headaches,' said Marilla to Anne. ‘I must see a doctor.'
Anne also had time to play with her friends. One day, Anne and her friends played a game. They sat by the Lake of Shining Waters. A good imagination was very important for this game, so Anne used her imagination.
‘I'm a princess and I'm dead. Put me in this boat. I'll cross the lake. Run to the other side of the lake. Wait for me there.'
Anne's friends put Anne into the boat. Then they ran.
At first, Anne enjoyed herself. It was romantic. It was fun, but then she noticed that something was wrong. ‘Help, Help! My boat is sinking!' cried Anne. But her friends couldn't hear her.
At that moment the boat went under a bridge. It hit something. It was a post. Anne put her hands on the post, and got out of the boat, but Anne's friends could only see the boat.
‘Oh, no!' cried Diana. ‘The boat is sinking, and Anne is in it.'
They didn't know that Anne wasn't in the boat. Anne was cold and wet, but she was safe. She didn't know what to do.
Then she saw Gilbert. He was in another boat. He saw Anne and said, ‘Anne, what happened? Give me your hand.'
Anne got into Gilbert's boat. ‘Thank you,' she said.
‘Anne, look, can we be friends now? I'm sorry I said “carrots” to you. I want to be your friend,' said Gilbert.
Anne thought for a moment. No, it's not possible, thought Anne.
‘No, I'm sorry, but we can't be friends,' she said.
‘I'll never ask you to be my friend again,' said Gilbert. He was very angry.
Then Diana arrived. She was so happy to see Anne. ‘I was so frightened,' said Diana.
‘Me too,' replied Anne.
One day, Diana visited Anne at Green Gables. ‘Anne, there's some good news. Aunt Josephine wants us to come to her house in town.'
‘That's very exciting,' said Anne. ‘There are lots of interesting things to do in town.'
The next Tuesday, the two girls went to town. They went to the park, and to a concert. They had a wonderful time. But after two days, Anne was happy to go home.
There's no place like Green Gables, she thought. Marilla was also happy to see Anne again. But she didn't tell Anne this. She gave Anne some important news. ‘Anne, your teacher, Miss Stacey, visited me the other day. She wants to organise a class for advanced students. She wants to prepare this class to go to Queen's Academy. You're in the class!'
This was Anne's dream. At Queen's Academy you could learn to be a teacher, but Anne worried that it was expensive.
‘Marilla, how can you pay for Queen's?' she asked.
‘We have the money,' said Marilla. ‘And we want you to have a good education.'
Anne had to stay at school for an extra hour every day. She had to pass an exam to go to Queen's. There were seven students in the advanced class. Gilbert was in the class but Diana wasn't. I want to go to Queen's, thought Anne. Then Marilla and Matthew will be so proud of me.
The advanced course began. Time passed quickly. Summer arrived, then autumn, then winter, and then spring. Anne studied a lot at school. She had no time for mistakes, or surprises. Soon Anne was fifteen years old. She thought about the exam. I must pass the exam, thought Anne. I must pass the exam for Marilla and Matthew! Then I can go to Queen's.
At the end of June, Anne's lessons finished. Anne and Diana walked home from school.
‘It's the end of everything,' said Diana. ‘You'll pass the exam, and then you won't go to school here again. It'll be very sad without you.'
‘Don't worry, I won't pass,' replied Anne.
But Anne wanted to pass. She wanted to see Matthew's happy face.
