' Baby, who turned the temperature hotter?
'Cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up
For you baby'
--
Gilbert was sleeping peacefully for once when Bash shook him awake.
"Blythe! We need to go!"
Gilbert had his hand on his heart from being startled, "Bash, what-"
"There's a fire."
He jumped up and his heart was racing, "Where?"
"Town hall."
Despite now having to run to town hall, Gilbert felt a small sense of relief. A public building burning was awful, but it wasn't anyone's home.
Anne also ran to town hall after she woke up to a blaring alarm. She went ahead of Marilla because waiting would only have slowed Anne down.
The flames were terrifyingly high. Anne thought it looked like her hair blowing around on a windy day. Fierce, red, and completely out of control.
When Gilbert arrived, he immediately joined the other men of the town who were passing buckets of water. Each inch of the building looked like it was burning. There was no salvaging town hall after this. They would have to rebuild the entire structure.
Anne looked on in horror. She wanted to do something to help, but she knew she would be pushed out of the way if she even thought about going near the men who were shoveling water.
People were running in and out of the building, and, much to Anne's surprise, the only person she was searching for among the flames disappeared through the hall's doors.
Gilbert.
She took a few steps forward, preparing to call after him or even run in to make sure he was okay, but stopped when something crunched under her foot.
A box of cigars.
Anne tried to read it against the firelight, but the print was difficult to make out. Smoking wasn't too common among the people of Avonlea, so a box of cigars was beyond rare.
"Anne?"
Anne jumped and turned to see Marilla behind her. She hid the box of cigars behind her back, knowing Marilla would crucify her for having them.
Marilla sighed in relief, "Oh thank the good Lord, I thought you ran into the flames again."
She looked suspiciously at Anne, "What's behind your back?"
"Nothing." Anne looked away from Marilla, as she often did when she was lying.
"Anne Shirley-Cuthbert!" Marilla was too tired to deal with Anne being a 16-year-old who lies, "What do you have?"
Anne took a deep breath and showed her the cigars, "They aren't mine, I just found them and thought it might be a clue. Fires don't start themselves."
"I won't have you doing this sleuthing nonsense." Marilla snatched the box out of her hands and put it in her coat pocket, "I'm throwing this away and you are not to pick up anything like this again."
Anne bit her lip and her mind started running. Whoever started the fire had a tie to these cigars.
But who would want to burn down town hall? Especially so close to the ball?
It had to be someone who didn't want the ball to happen. Someone who thought this action was necessary to stop the event.
Anne's mind started reeling until she heard someone yell, "Gilbert!"
Gilbert stumbled out of the building coughing. The air in his chest felt thick and like it was burning his throat. All he could smell was burning. He fell onto his knees and tried to find his breath again. His brain knew he would be fine, but his body was suffering.
Anne sprinted over to him, threw off her coat, and hung it around his shoulders. He had soot all over his face and his chest was heaving.
She put her arm around his waist and slung his arm around her shoulder for leverage, "We need to get you away from the building."
Anne and Gilbert stumbled away from the building until Anne was able to help him sit down and breathe.
Breathing in so much smoke made Gilbert unbelievably tired. He was fading in and out of consciousness until he felt a cold hand against his face.
"Hey," Anne shook him to keep him awake, "you need to stay with me."
She scooped up snow and placed it in his hand, "Eat this. I don't have water, but it'll help your throat."
Gilbert continued shoveling snow into his mouth until his throat didn't burn as much. He was slowly coming into consciousness.
Anne's face was lit up by the fire, making her eyes shine. She looked attentive and concerned, but calm. Gilbert looked pained and exhausted. Anne had no idea what was running through his head as he ran in there, but she was dying to know. She knew, however, now was not the time to ask.
Gilbert's breathing returned to normal and he stopped coughing. Anne knew he'd be okay but it was still nerve-wracking to watch him feeling so much pain.
The fire began dying down and people started walking sleepily home. This was more than enough excitement for any night and no one wanted to think about the consequences that came with town hall burning.
"I don't think this was an accident." Anne muttered so only Gilbert could hear. She didn't need anyone accusing her of stirring up unnecessary trouble, "I think someone did this to shut down the ball. Maybe I'm crazy and just trying to find a reason but this doesn't feel innocent."
Gilbert couldn't bear to say anything with his lungs burning, but he believed Anne so he nodded silently. A fire happening to start in the middle of the night didn't make sense. Gilbert had run into the building to see if he could find the source of the flame, but there wasn't anything there. This wasn't natural. It was planned.
Anne's expression changed, "I was worried about you."
They stared at each other for one long moment.
"There you are!" Bash ran up to where Gilbert and Anne were sitting, "I thought the fire burnt ya up."
Marilla came from behind him, "Anne, you're far too practiced at escaping me." She huffed tiredly.
"He's fine." Anne looked up at Bash, "He only has some smoke in his lungs, but it'll pass."
"Thank you, Anne." Bash gave her a grateful smile and stuck out his hand to help her stand up.
"Let's go home." Marilla guided Anne away from Gilbert and Bash. Gilbert watched Anne leave longingly. He wanted to thank her or hug her or do something to tell her he was thankful.
Bash helped him stand and chuckled, "You two are ridiculous. Just tell her how you feel."
Gilbert rolled his eyes and whispered out a scratchy, "Shut up."