Maud Read online
PENGUIN TEEN CANADA
an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers,
a Penguin Random House Company
First published 2017
Copyright © Melanie J. Fishbane, 2017
This young adult novel based on the teenage years of L.M. Montgomery is authorized by Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc.
“L.M. Montgomery” is a trademark of Heirs of L.M. Montgomery Inc.
“Anne of Green Gables” and other indicia of “Anne” are trademarks and Canadian official marks of the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority Inc.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design by Lisa Jager
Cover image © Pawaris Pattan009 / Shutterstock.com
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Fishbane, Melanie, author
Maud : a novel inspired by the life of L.M. Montgomery / Melanie Fishbane.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 9780143191254 (hardback). —ISBN 9780143196907 (epub)
1. Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942—Juvenile fiction.
I. Title.
PS8611.I835M38 2017 jC813’.6 C2016-905204-4
C2016-905205-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948322
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
v4.1
a
In memory of
Zaida Myer Shaw
I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day. I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream.
—Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
But from childhood my one wish and ambition was to write. I never had any other or wished to have.
—L.M. Montgomery
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Cast of Characters
Book One Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Book Two Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Book Three Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
References
More About Maud and Her Times
What Happened to Maud’s Friends
Further Reading
In Gratitude
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Characters listed here appear in the novel and are not reflective of the real L.M. Montgomery’s complete family tree.
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY writer and passionate dreamer; daughter of Hugh John Montgomery and Clara Woolner Macneill
HER PARENTS
HUGH JOHN MONTGOMERY Maud’s father, politician, auctioneer; also husband to Mary Ann McRae and son of Senator “Big Donald” Montgomery
CLARA WOOLNER MACNEILL MONTGOMERY (DECEASED) (1853–1876) Maud’s much-loved mother; daughter of Lucy and Alexander Macneill; died of tuberculosis when Maud was twenty-one months old
MAUD’S FATHER’S FAMILY: THE MONTGOMERYS
(in order of appearance)
SENATOR “BIG DONALD” MONTGOMERY Maud’s grandfather; appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1873 when Prince Edward Island joined Confederation
HUGH JOHN MONTGOMERY Maud’s father
MARY ANN MCRAE MONTGOMERY Maud’s stepmother
KATIE MONTGOMERY Maud’s half-sister
BRUCE MONTGOMERY Maud’s half-brother; born while she was in Prince Albert
MAUD’S MOTHER’S FAMILY: THE MACNEILLS
(in order of appearance)
LUCY WOOLNER MACNEILL Maud’s maternal grandmother; postmistress
ALEXANDER MACNEILL Maud’s maternal grandfather; farmer and postmaster
UNCLE JOHN FRANKLIN MACNEILL Maud’s uncle; Clara’s oldest brother; farmer
LUCY (LU) MACNEILL Uncle John Franklin’s oldest daughter; Maud’s cousin and friend
MRS. MARY BUNTAIN MACNEILL Maud’s cousin and Pensie’s mother
MAUD’S BOSOM FRIENDS
(in order of appearance)
MOLLIE (AMANDA) MACNEILL Maud’s third cousin and best friend; one of the Four Musketeers
PENSIE MACNEILL Maud’s second cousin and best friend
LAURA PRITCHARD Will Pritchard’s younger sister; Maud’s best friend in Prince Albert
MAUD’S SUITORS
(in order of appearance)
NATE (SNIP) SPURR LOCKHART son of Mrs. Nancy Lockhart Spurr and stepson to the Baptist minister, Reverend John Church Spurr; one of the Four Musketeers
WILL PRITCHARD older brother to Laura
JOHN MUSTARD Prince Albert’s high school teacher; friend of Maud’s stepmother, Mary Ann McRae from Ontario
OF THE ISLAND
THE CAMPBELLS (PARK CORNER)
AUNT ANNIE LAURA MACNEILL CAMPBELL Maud’s favorite aunt; Clara’s older sister
UNCLE JOHN CAMPBELL Maud’s other favorite uncle; farmer
ANNIE AND JOHN CAMPBELL’S CHILDREN AND MAUD’S FIRST COUSINS Clara, Stella, George, Fredericka (Frede)
THE MACNEILL MONTGOMERYS (MALPEQUE)
AUNT (MARY) EMILY MACNEILL MONTGOMERY Maud’s aunt; Clara’s youngest sister; took care of Maud when Clara died
UNCLE JOHN MALCOLM MONTGOMERY Maud’s uncle and her father’s cousin
CAVENDISH SCHOOL
(in order of appearance)
MISS HATTIE GORDON new school teacher; Maud’s first advocate
MISS “IZZIE” ROBINSON Maud’s old school teacher
JACK (SNAP) LAIRD Nate Lockhart’s best friend; one of the Four Musketeers
CLEMMIE MACNEILL Maud’s archnemesis and fair-weather friend
ANNIE MACNEILL Clemmie’s some
times best friend; Maud’s nemesis
NELLIE CLARK, MAMIE SIMPSON followers of Clemmie and Annie (respectively)
AUSTIN LAIRD Jack’s energetic, exuberant younger brother
CAVENDISH VILLAGERS
(in order of appearance)
REVEREND W.P. ARCHIBALD minister of the Cavendish Presbyterian Church
MRS. ELVIRA SIMPSON member of the Presbyterian Church
MRS. MATILDA CLARK member of the Presbyterian Church
MRS. NANCY LOCKHART SPURR Nate Lockhart’s mother; Maud’s organ teacher; wife of Baptist minister, Reverend John Church Spurr
OF PRINCE ALBERT
THE MCTAGGARTS
(in order of appearance)
MR. JOHN MCTAGGART Mary Ann McRae Montgomery’s stepfather; Hugh John Montgomery’s father-in-law; land agent for Prince Albert
MRS. MARY MCTAGGART Mary Ann McRae Montgomery’s mother
ANNIE MCTAGGART Mary Ann McRae Montgomery’s younger stepsister
THE PRITCHARDS/KENNEDYS
(in order of appearance)
AUNT KENNEDY Laura and Will’s aunt; lives next door to the Montgomery’s
RICHARD PRITCHARD Will and Laura’s father; rancher and businessman
MRS. CHRISTINE GUNN PRITCHARD Will and Laura’s mother
THE STOVELS
(in order of appearance)
MRS. MARY MACKENZIE STOVEL Mary Ann McTaggart’s niece; director of the Prince Albert Presbyterian Church’s Christmas concert
DR. STOVEL Prince Albert dentist; just married to Mrs. Stovel and interested in Maud’s writing
PRINCE ALBERT HIGH SCHOOL
(in order of appearance)
TROUBLEMAKERS Tom Clark, Arthur Jardine, Bertie Jardine, Willie MacBeath, Joe MacDonald, Douglas Maveety
FRANK ROBERTSON Will Pritchard’s friend
PRINCE ALBERT TOWN MEMBERS
(in order of appearance)
EDITH (EDIE) SKELTON Montgomery family’s maid and Maud’s friend; from Battleford, Saskatchewan
LOTTIE STEWART Maud’s friend from church
ALEXENA MACGREGOR Maud’s friend from church
ANDREW AGNEW one of Laura Pritchard’s suitors; helps his father manage the local store
J.D. MAVEETY editor and publisher of the Prince Albert Times
REVEREND ROCHESTER takes over the Presbyterian Church after Reverend Jardine leaves; organizes the weekly Bible Study
MRS. ROCHESTER wife of the Presbyterian minister; organizes the Sunday School
BOOK ONE
Maud of Cavendish
CAVENDISH, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, 1889–1890
For lands have personalities just as well as human beings; and to know that personality you must live in the land and companion it, and draw sustenance of body and spirit from it; so only can you really know a land and be known of it.
—L.M. Montgomery, “The Alpine Path”
CHAPTER ONE
She couldn’t breathe. Sweat pooled under the weight of her long hair, soaking her lace collar. The thin gold ring she always wore on her right hand strangled her swelling index finger. She tried twisting it, but it was stuck.
“Stop fidgeting, Maud,” her grandmother whispered as she discreetly nudged Maud’s grandfather, who was dozing through Reverend Archibald’s sermon on the prodigal son. Grandfather grunted awake. “Honestly, I’m surprised at the both of you. This is no way for a Macneill to behave in church.” Grandfather sat straighter, and Maud cleared her throat so she wouldn’t laugh.
Of course the heat did not fuss Grandma Macneill. Just like the black net that hid her graying hair, she was able to hide her emotions: an ability Grandma was always reminding Maud she sorely lacked. Grandma said Maud was too sensitive, wearing her feelings on the surface like the red sand on the Island shore. And Grandma was most likely right. She was right about everything.
Maud muttered an apology, taking a quick look back at the rest of the congregation at Cavendish’s Presbyterian Church from their pew, always second from the front on the left-hand side. The Clarks, Simpsons, and Macneills were all present, as they were every Sunday, to give thanks—and also to take note of who was present, who was absent, and who was caught sleeping during the reverend’s sermon. Maud loved to think about how she might describe them if she put them in one of her stories.
They were most definitely watching her—particularly the clan matriarchs, Mrs. Elvira Simpson and Mrs. Matilda Clark. Maud had seen them stare at her when she had followed her grandparents into church that morning.
Maud knew what they were thinking. Hadn’t she left Cavendish rather suddenly over some business with that schoolteacher Miss “Izzie” Robinson six months ago? It was certainly no surprise the flighty, overly sensitive (and frankly queer) child of the dearly departed Clara Macneill and her irresponsible husband, Hugh John Montgomery, would act that way. There was no escaping it; it was in her blood.
It was true that Maud had left six months ago to live with her Aunt Emily and Uncle John Malcolm Montgomery in Malpeque and then with her Aunt Annie and Uncle John Campbell in Park Corner. What wasn’t true were the particular circumstances people believed—and there was nothing she could do about it.
Now Maud was back with her Grandma and Grandfather Macneill, her mother’s parents, on their farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, a small village of about forty families, on the North Shore, where everyone knew everyone’s business. She had spent the summer with her merry Campbell cousins, but now was back to Grandma’s lectures, uncomfortable dresses, and a new school year with a new teacher.
Maud stared ahead at a straw hat of lush summer flowers sitting on top of a mound of curly blond hair. Underneath it was her best friend, Mollie, who had the privilege of sitting in her parents’ pew in the front row with the new teacher. Miss Gordon appeared to be listening attentively to the reverend’s sermon. She had just arrived in Cavendish that week, after the last teacher, Miss Robinson, had finally left during the summer. Maud hoped she would get a chance to prove herself to the new teacher. Even though her grandfather had strong feelings about women teachers (“another confounded female teacher,” Maud had heard him mutter as they passed Miss Gordon on the way into the church that morning), a teacher still held an important place in the community: people respected your opinion—something Maud had learned the hard way earlier that year.
Mollie turned her head discreetly to catch Maud’s eye and, in her typical overdramatic fashion, mimed fanning herself. Maud returned the action with an overly dramatic grin, earning a firm tsk from her grandmother. Maud stifled a giggle and gazed out the window, which overlooked the slope of the western hill, and tried to imagine a cool breeze blowing through the chapel, clearing away the judgment. She longed to run down to the red sandy shore, strip off her stockings—she didn’t even want to think about what was happening to her poor black stockings—and jump into the Gulf. The air was as stifling as what awaited her when she got home: an afternoon of reading the Bible in quiet contemplation and the arrival of her mother’s brother, Uncle John Franklin, and his family for supper—although at least her cousin Lu would be there.
Maud turned her attention to the front. She had no idea what Reverend Archibald was talking about; her thoughts drifted back to what Mollie had said before church—that she had news. Mollie always had the best news.
Resisting the urge to tap her best friend on the shoulder, Maud quickly looked over at her cousin Pensie, sitting in the pew across the aisle. At sixteen, Pensie could wear her wavy auburn hair in the latest fashion on top of her head, and she sported fringe bangs that accentuated her long chin and big brown eyes. Alas, being only fourteen, Maud wasn’t allowed to put her hair up, and she was forced to live under the weight of it. Thankfully, Grandma had allowed her to tie it in two little ribbons clipped behind her head so it was off her face.
At long last, the service came to an end. Had her grandmother not been there, Maud would have pushed through the congregation and raced down the stairs, where there w
as space to breathe. As it was Sunday—and Grandma was there—Maud walked with what she hoped was graceful civility, as befitted a child of the Macneill clan, to the cemetery in front of the church, managing to find the welcome shade of a tree while she waited for her friends…and Mollie’s news.
Maud leaned her head against the coarse bark and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the murmurs of people filing their way out of the church, but she couldn’t help but overhear the talk around her.
“I heard she had hysterics in the schoolyard,” Mrs. Simpson said. “That’s what my daughter Mamie told me.”
Of course Mamie would tell her mother some falsehood. She was one of the girls that followed Maud’s nemesis, Clemmie Macneill.
“I’m not surprised, given…everything,” Mrs. Clark said. “I hope that new school teacher knows how to handle an emotional child like Maud Montgomery.”
“It’s the Montgomery side, I’m sure,” Mrs. Simpson said.
Maud scraped at the tree. How dare they speak about Father when he wasn’t here to defend himself! She was both a Montgomery and a Macneill, which was why she would not lower herself by marching over to those women and telling them to mind their own business. No. She would pretend to ignore them.
“You certainly got out quickly,” a familiar voice said.
Maud opened her eyes and sighed. “That heat was unbearable, Pensie. I couldn’t stand it any longer.”
“That’s not a dignified way to behave,” Pensie said, in a perfect imitation of Maud’s grandmother, right down to the very stern look, but they couldn’t keep straight faces for very long and started giggling.
Close cousins who lived only a few minutes’ walk from each other, Maud and Pensie had been friends their whole lives, sometimes writing letters more than twice a day, which Maud kept in the small trunk at the foot of her bed. But since Maud had been away, and Pensie was no longer attending school, the letters were becoming less frequent. They rarely quarreled, but Maud wondered if anything was wrong. Just now, though, Pensie was behaving the same as she always had. Everything would go back to normal now that she was back, Maud reassured herself.
Maud