FOUR

                                    

                                          
4|FRIENDS
The girls laughed with joy as they ran down the snowy hill, their scarves dancing in the wind behind them. Anne and Diana both gripped at the corners of a blanket, it floated in the wind like a magic carpet. Amaryllis ran next to Diana, giggling to herself with joy. Jane and Ruby were behind them, chasing the navy-blue blanket.
"Doesn't it just feed your heart when the air's so crisp?" Anne gasped with delight, breathing in the fresh winters air. "Every breath feels so alive!"
"It's the perfect day for a tragical romance!" Amaryllis laughed, trying to catch her breath while spinning around in a circle. She felt free.
"Lord Tennyson would approve!" Diana stated causing them all to burst into a fit of laughter. Once they had all caught their breaths, they continued running down to the lake, the birds were long gone and leaves floated on the surface.
"Whomever plays Elaine must lie in the flat and float to Camelot while the others mourn her death most sorrowfully." Anne announced as the five of them stood around an old row boat. "I find it helpful to think of something that makes you sad in your own life."
"Of course, you must be Elaine, Anne." Diana stated. Amaryllis nodded her head in agreement, knowing Anne's bubbly and loud personality would allow her to act the most enthusiastically. Even if the role was to play dead.
"Oh, it would ridiculous to have a red-headed Elaine." Anne laughed at the idea. "It ought to be Ruby. She has lovely, golden hair. And Elaine had, "all her bright hair streaming down.""
"Oh, I couldn't." Ruby declined. "To lie and pretend I was dead - I'd die of fright! This was your idea, Anne."
"You're obsessed with Elaine." Jane added, urging her to take the part.
"Oh, it's true. And each time I read the poem; I'm devoured by a secret regret that I was not born in Camelot. Those days were much more romantic than the present." Anne hummed dreamily. "I will be Elaine, then."
"Ruby, you must be King Arthur. Jane, Guinevere and Diana must be Lancelot." She appointed the roles. "Marie, you have to be Sir Torre or Sir Lavaine."
"I shall mourn you greatly, my sister." Amaryllis held her hand over her heart, nose scrunching as she smiled widely, ready to play the part of a grieving brother. "But first, you need a lily."
Anne lay peacefully in the boat with a dead bouquet of flowers resting in her hands, the other four girls standing around her. The scene was almost straight from an art piece, their faces painted with sadness, mourning their "Elaine".
"She does really look dead." Ruby mumbled to Diana. Amaryllis giggled as she heard the statement. "My mother says that all playacting is abominably wicked."
"Ruby, you shouldn't mention your mother." Anne said, keeping her eyes shut. "It spoils the effect because this was hundreds of years before your mother was born."
"We must kiss her quiet brows." Jane leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Anne's forehead. 
"Sister... farewell forever." Diana knelt down next to Anne and kissed her forehead.
"Now she's ready. Farewell, Elaine the lovable." Amaryllis sighed peacefully and the four girls got ready to push Anne away.
"Diana!" Mrs. Barry yelled, running down the hill and over to her daughter.
"Mother." Diana gasped in fright, trying to hide Anne playfully dead in the old row boat. Amaryllis remained quiet, hands linked behind her back and eyes darting between mother and daughter.
"Child, come out of there at once." Anne sat up in the boat and climbed out as Diana grabbed the blanket while the older woman lectured them.
"I've been call. You were to be practicing lessons, and here I find you engaged in perilous, senseless... whatever this is!" Mrs. Barry rushed out.
"We were practicing lessons, in a way." Anne smiled at the woman but instead only angered her more.
"We're studying the poem 'Lancelot and Elaine' at school, and we decided to re-enact it-" Diana added, trying to defend their actions to her mother.
"Diana, home. Now." Her mother commanded. "The rest as well, before you catch your death."
"The girls just got here and we were simply-" She tried to argue but her mother cut her off. 
"Now! I will be heard!" Mrs. Barry raised her voice. Amaryllis furrowed her brows in confusion, not recognising this furious woman as the one she met at the train station. "Anne, be on your way please. And Amaryllis, dear, please come for tea anytime you would like. You're always welcome here. Come along now, Diana. Come along, girls."
"So much for romance." Anne sighed to herself. 
"Do not worry, Anne. We can re-enact it another time." Amaryllis reassured the redhead, grabbing her hand and giving it a simple squeeze.
"We better go before we "catch our deaths"." Anne said dramatically with a forced smile, upset their play was cut short. She let go of Amaryllis's hand and wandered back up the snowy hill.
"Yes, we better." She whispered to herself, her eyes watching the little ripples on the lake before she followed Anne back up the hill and walked back to the Blythe residence, no one knowing that she was currently living there by herself. Although the constant feeling of being alone crept in while in the house, Amaryllis was happy to finally have friends.