𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 (𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞)

ii.

"Eleanor! Eleanor wake up!" Alvin shook his sister awake as she groaned and opened her eyes. 

"What do you want?" she grumbled and rubbed her eyes, the smell of smoke almost instantly hitting her nose. 

"There's a fire, we need to go help." he stated as he tossed Eleanor's shoes at her. 

She quickly got up and grabbed her coat before wrapping it around herself, slipping on her shoes she ran downstairs to see her mother holding a crying Harvey.

"You go to the house, I'll meet you there." Alvin hurried as he grabbed all of the buckets and large bowls the family had before running out of the house. 

Eleanor glanced back at her mother, who nodded, she quickly ran to the stables and saddled up her horse, Maple. She hopped on and grabbed the reigns, giving it a hard snap. 

"On! On Maple On!" Eleanor yelled, her horse gave a loud neigh before taking off into the night. 

Her hair flung wildly behind her as she tried to keep in a rythm of bouncing with the horses gallops. She swung around corners and as she neared the fire, she seen people running back and forth, filling buckets of water and throwing them into the house.

"Eleanor!" Anne cried out as Eleanor jumped off of Maple and tied her around a tree. 

Anne threw her arms around the girl and Eleanor quickly hugged her back before hugging Diana. Over the past few days the three had grown close, after Diana apologized for her rude questions about Eleanor's corset. Eleanor glanced up to the burning house and realized it was Ruby's house, she gasped and quickly covered her mouth as her heart hurt for the girl. 

"Wait...why are the doors open?" Eleanor asked as she peered into a smokey window. 

Anne glanced up to the house and gasped, the two girls glanced at each other and nodded before taking off into the burning house. Diana yelled for the two to stop but they were already making their way in, Eleanor coughed and wheezed as she climbed the stairs. 

"You go that way! I'll get this side!" she yelled as she pointed Anne to the right. She nodded and ran off, the sounds of slamming doors was heard through the crackling fire. 

Eleanor ran down the hallways and shut the doors and windows, making sure to pull them tightly shut. She hissed in pain as she touched a doorhandle, the fire had reached the room and made the handle hot. But as the pain throbbed in her hand, she made her way over to the next door then to the next and so on. 

"Eleanor?" a frantical voice yelled out. Eleanor glanced up and met the worried eyes of Gilbert, he looked confused and worried as she slammed the door shut. Her coughs became hard wheezes as she fell to her knees, she could fill her lungs struggling to get a deep breath.

"The fire's slowing down!" a boy yelled from outside. 

Eleanor heard Anne calling out for her, but as her vision faded all she heard was Gilbert's voice once more. 

"Stay with me Ellie." 

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Eleanor woke up with a gasp and a hard cough as cold ran over her face and neck, her eyes shot open to see Gilbert, Anne, Diana, and Alvin all staring down at her. 

She sat up and bumped heads with Gilbert, making them both groan out in pain. Anne tackled Eleanor into a hug that made her head spin, but she held her friend in a tight hug. 

"I'm so sorry I couldn't find you! I looked all around the house but had to run out at the last second. Luckily Gilbert saw you before you shut the door, and he did the heroic deed of saving you!" Anne wailed.