As the young man rode in his new automobile across the dirt roads of Avonlea, he remembered when he first came there. It was years before, and he was just a boy. It seemed as though he had never left, because Avonlea was like a dream that he often re-lived.
As he approached King Farm, he decided to park his car and walk the rest of the way. He knew that it would be different. Now he was attending university, he was top of his class, and had traveled to places some of which the Avonlea townsfolk could never imagine. He just had a longing in his heart for more. He wanted to be part of the large family once again, especially now that his father had died.
As he walked up, half the family was already there. Hetty was sitting with Janet, dicussing the Ladies' Aid society. Cecily was playing with Daniel, and everyone else was busy working on something or other that seemed to them very important until they realised who was approacing.
"Andrew King!!" exclaimed a delighted Alec, followed by joyful
outbursts by all.
"We heard about your father, Andrew, and we're all very sorry.
He was still a young man." said Alec.
"Yes, Uncle Alec. His last wish was for me to come home to
Avonlea for a few months before school starts again, and become
respectable once more. I have been sadly deprived of good home-cooked
meals...."
"Not one more word Andrew King, you must be famished! We'll fix
you up a nice big plate in a jiffy!" said Janet as she hurried off to
begin preparing food.
"Well. It's nice to see you haven't forgotten your relatives."
said Hetty.
"Oh, I could never forget my family, Aunt Hetty." said Andrew.
After a good meal and pleasant talk all around, Andrew retired to Felix's and his old room. There were a lot of memories there. He remembered how Felix hated him because he read too much and then he laughed about it. He could almost see all of them as they were.
Sarah was now very modern and stylish, but he could tell her personality still hadn't changed a bit. He liked Jonathan (J.R.), and even though he had eloped with Sarah, Andrew remembered that she told him a story once and said how romantic it would be if that happened to her some day. That little girl was far different in appearance, but the childishness was still there.
Felicity was now very sweet and kind. Married life with Gus had agreed with her. He received big letters from Hetty about the whole matter with Stuart and he was glad for her sake Felicity married Gus after all.
Cecily was a charming personality now, and was a bit more opinionated, but still polite and quiet. He noticed her "making eyes" at Elbert quite a bit throughout the evening.
Gus was.....well....Gus. He was as friendly and good natured as ever, but his outward appearance and manners were much better since Andrew saw him last.
Alec and Janet and Hetty were all the same as when he last saw them.
He was sorry that he missed seeing Felix and Olivia and Jasper, but it was impossible for him to leave earlier because of his Father.
Roger King would surely be missed by all of them. The younger cousins had only met him a very few times, but to Alec and Hetty, Roger could never die in their memories. He had died from influenza in Africa, while working as a geologist on an important expedition. He would always be a role model for Andrew, hoping to follow in his great footsteps.
Andrew floated off to sleep with memories of the youthful adventures they had had on the farm long ago on his mind. He was happy to be home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ end episode 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~