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SCENE: Avonlea fields, a winter day
Gilbert Blythe: Wohow, we’ll cream you!
Anne Shirley: With that monstrosity, I hardly think so!
Diana Barry: [giggles] Not against our fortress!
Anne: Like King Arthur’s castle, our sturdy walls will repel their ill-crafted artillery.
Perry: They’ll never get a single snowflake through our windows.
Anne: Prepare to don thine armour.
Diana: I’m ready to do battle, oh fair and noble knight.
Anne: A surprise attack! Heathens! [screeches]
Gilbert: Uh. Uh.
Diana: Uh.
Anne: Our castle cannot withstand the savage attack of these barbarians.
Diana: We must redouble our efforts! Uh!
Anne: Uh.
Perry:: It’s working. They can’t hit us.
Gilbert: We’ve won! Uh.
Perry: Uh.
Gilbert and Perry: Huh. [both laughing]
Anne: Yay!
Diana: We did it!
Anne and Diana: Uh. [both laughing]
Gilbert: Oh, why you–
Anne: [screams] Gilbert!
Gilbert: Uh.
Anne and Diana: [laughing]
Anne and Diana: [gasp]
Gilbert: Uh-oh.
Peg Bowen: Blasted thing! Drag it high and low. Cursed back's killing me.
Anne: [gulps] It’s Peg Bowen.
Peg: [mumbles] Ugh, oh, those darn kids! Throwing their snowballs in their snow forts! Why don't they go home and read a good book?
Anne: Did you see that?
Gilbert: What’s Peg Bowen up to now?
SCENE: Road to Avonlea, later
Gilbert: Oh, that snow was freezing.
Anne: That’s nothing compared to the shiver I felt down my spine when Peg Bowen cast her eye my way.
Diana: It’s enough to turn me to stone.
Perry: She has turned kids to stone.
Anne: Don’t talk of such silly things.
Perry: She’s a witch! Why else would she drag that huge cauldron?
Gilbert: And live alone in the forest.
Diana: And have that horrid pet crow!
Anne: She does dress strangely.
Diana: In trousers, like a man! Must be for casting spells.
Perry: And making magic potions.
Anne: One thing’s for sure. Peg Bowen is a deep dark mystery.
SCENE: Green Gables porch, evening
Matthew Cuthbert: Isn’t this one a beaut? Or this one?
Anne: Matthew, I declare these your best drawings of the whole winter!
Matthew: Well now, that’s ‘cause the last snowfalls of the season make the nicest snowflakes.
Anne: [laughs] No two are alike. Isn’t that right?
Matthew: Just like people.
Anne: [grunts]
Marilla Cuthbert: Hats are for your head, Anne. Not for beating a poor defenceless railing.
Anne: We had the most thrilling snow fight today.
Matthew: Speaking of hats…
Anne: Oh, Marilla, did you finish it?!
Marilla: Hmm…
Matthew: [laughs]
SCENE: Green Gables parlour, later
Anne: Oh, it’s splendid! It makes supper seem like a royal feast.
Marilla: So long as you display the manners of a princess as well.
Anne: Marilla, my conduct will be worthy of a king’s table.
Marilla: [sighs] You are a strange one, Anne.
Anne: If you want strange, you should’ve set eyes on Peg Bowen today.
Marilla: Did she come to town for provisions?
Anne: No, she had a huge cauldron which she dragged through the street on her sled. I’ve never seen such a chilling sight.
Matthew: Well now, with no horse and sleigh, how else can she move her things?
Anne: Hm, I guess it is rather ingenious.
Matthew: Ever since she was a child, Peg knew how to look after herself.
Anne: You knew Peg Bowen that long ago?!
Marilla: No need to cease chewing. She is an eccentric. Always has been.
FLASHBACK: Avonlea, c. 40 years earlier
Marilla: [voice-over] Peg Bowen’s father was a woodsman. He built their shack in the forest where she lives to this day.
Matthew: [voice-over] Peg knew all the bird calls. She would feed them and even tame them.
Marilla: [voice-over] Peg knew everything about plants. And which ones were good for cures.
Matthew: [voice-over] One time, I took old Rex to her. She knew just how to make him better.
Marilla: [voice-over] She liked birds and trees and dogs, but Peg Bowen never had much time for other people.
SCENE: Green Gables parlour, present day
Anne: I can’t believe it.
Matthew: What? That Peg Bowen never liked people?
Anne: No. That she was ever actually a girl!
Marilla: We were all children once, Anne.
Anne: I suppose to get as strange as Peg Bowen, you need to start young.
Matthew: We all have our special differences.
Anne: I don’t. There is nothing different about me whatsoever. In fact, if it weren’t for my red hair, I’d be the most utterly normal person I know. Whoa!
Marilla: [sighs]
Anne: [gasps] What a deliriously exciting close call.
Marilla: [sighs]
SCENE: Avonlea street, next day
Gilbert: Dogs?
Diana: Birds?
Perry: Plants?
Anne: Marilla and Matthew said Peg Bowen’s an eccentric. And eccentrics do strange things.
Children: Whoa!
Peg: Here, crow!
Diana: Did you see that?
Perry: What has she got there now?
Gilbert: They might be to bury things in.
Perry: I say they’re for potions.
Diana: Actually, Anne, they look a bit like your new princess hat.
Anne: They are nothing like my hat!
Diana: Well, they’re the same… shape.
Anne: That’s it! We must get to the bottom of this!
Gilbert: You mean… follow her?
Anne: Yes!
Diana: Into the forest?
Anne: It’s time we learn the truth!
SCENE: The woods, later
Diana: What was that?
Perry: Are you sure this was a good idea?
Anne: We’ll see her, but she won’t see us.
Gilbert: Besides, there’s strength in numbers.
Diana: [gasps] Then let’s stick together!
Perry: Uf.
Anne: Shhh! [gasps]
Diana: What was that?
Perry: Uh oh.
Gilbert: What’s she doing with those scissors?
Anne: She’s cutting her own hair?
Diana: What is she gathering it for?
Perry: A potion, a potion, I told you, it’s a potion.
Children: [scream]
Gilbert: We’re far from her now.
Anne: I hope so. I’m starting to think she’s a witch after all.
Diana: Really?
Anne: The facts all add up. Her hair, her magic stuff, her witchy walk. [mimicking Peg’s voice] Here, crow. Here, crow. Let’s go scare some kids and then we’ll go make a magic po– [swallows]
Diana: [gasps]
Peg: Not bad. Except, you forgot my earring.
Children: [scream]
Peg: Here, crow. [laughs] They won’t be bothering us now.
SCENE: Green Gables parlour, night
Anne: And then she leapt right out of the bushes to scare the wits out of us!
Marilla: You should be scared. Caught in such undignified and rude mockery of another person.
Anne: But we were only playing to keep ourselves brave in the face of Peg Bowen’s witchy strangeness.
Marilla: Nonsense.
Anne: She was cutting her own hair!
Marilla: What else is she to do, living alone? Her hair grows, like yours.
Anne: Well if that’s eccentric then I’m glad I’m not. [gasps]
Oh, they’re marvellous!
Matthew: I thought you might like some to decorate your snow fort.
Anne: Oh, Matthew, these will inspire us in our repairs. We’ll make the best fort ever.
SCENE: Snow fort, next morning
Gilbert: He does drawings of snowflakes?
Perry: What’s the point?
Anne: To capture nature’s individual and glorious beauty before it perishes.
Perry: I’d say he’s mighty strange.
Anne: [gasps] What would you know about these masterpieces?
Gilbert: What would you know? You look pretty weird yourself! Done up like that.
Anne: Who are you calling weird, you weirdo?
Diana: Yeah!
Gilbert: Run, Perry, the weird sisters are after us!
Gilbert and Perry: [laughing]
Gilbert: Weird sisters.
SCENE: The woods, later
Diana: Hm… that got rid of them.
Anne: How dare they insult Matthew?
Diana: Well, you have to admit, Anne, there isn’t anybody else in Avonlea who draws snowflakes.
Anne: So what? It’s a wonderful interest.
Diana: What’s that sound?
She’s… '[chuckles]' she’s talking to trees.
Anne: Sending messages to the roots. Waking them up for spring!
Diana: Anne, let’s go home.
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: What?! Her again.
What's she got now? Huh, a drill? Oh, my goodness, Diana– Diana? Diana. Oh, no, I’m lost!
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: Now I mustn’t panic. I’ve found my way out of the forest before, I can do it again. [gasps] What’s that? This is too much. Peg’s everywhere. Ugh.
I’ll rest a moment. Gather my strength. Oh, how I wish I were somewhere warm, far away from that strange Peg Bowen. Perhaps in King Arthur’s forest…
SCENE: Anne's imagination, King Arthur's forest
Anne: Now this is better! [laughs] Ugh!
Robin: Ugh! [screams]
Anne: Sir, can you tell me where… Sir!
Robin: It’s chasing us! Get on the horseth! I mean, the horses. Whoa!
Anne: Sir, are you alright?
Robin: [screams] Oh, why, ‘tis only a fair maiden.
Anne: And you must be a knight and his band of merry men.
Robin: Robin Goodfellow, at your service.
Anne: Anne Shirley, at yours.
Robin: What might a damsel like you be doing in a forest like this?
Anne: I’m imagining I’m far from danger.
Robin: In this forest?
Anne: Why yes, it looks to be perfectly lovely.
Robin: Do not be deceived. This forest is fraught with peril. We brave certain death to reach the village of Avon to pay tribute to the new wizard.
Anne: What’s in the forest?
Robin: Dragons.
Anne: Well, in order to calm my frazzled nerves, I choose not to believe in dragons today.
Robin: You’re not afraid?
Anne: No! I’ll lead if you like.
Robin: You heard her. Give her your horse!
Forgive him, my lady. We’re not accustomed to such bravery, especially among fair lasses.
My lady!
Anne: What’s wrong?
Robin: Shouldst thou not ride side-saddle?
Anne: This way is much more comfortable.
Robin: Men, we hath found a strange one.
SCENE: Anne's imagination, The village of Avonlet
Anne: Why is everyone clamoring around?
Robin: They’ve never seen such wondrous attire.
Anne: No, I suppose they haven’t.
Robin: Wilt thou help prepare the feast?
Anne: With pleasure!
SCENE: Anne's imagination, The village of Avon, later
Anne and Robin: [grunt]
Anne: Perfect! We don’t have food like this where I come from.
Robin: We’ve gone to the Ends of the Earth to find delicacies for our celebration.
Anne: The ends of the Earth is a fine and quaint phrase, Robin, but I never use it myself. It’s so dreadfully old-fashioned.
Robin: Why is that?
Anne: Because, as everybody knows, there are no ends to the Earth.
Robin: Huh!
Anne: Well… [chuckles] everybody knows the Earth is uh… round.
Robin: [gasps]
Robin: [gasp]
Old lady: Did she say round?
Robin: [laughs]
Anne: Whoa!
Robin: Fair Anne, everybody knows Earth is flat. Where did you hear such folly?
Anne: I read it in a book, of course!
Robin: [gasps]
People: [gasp]
Man: A girl who can read?!
Robin: That’s impossible, girls don’t read.
Anne: I think you’re all overreacting, really.
Robin: True. It’s only a young girl’s flights of fancy.
Anne: But it’s not fancy at all!
Robin: [whispers] Anne!
Anne: Uh, perhaps I’ll just keep quiet.
Lady: She’s a witch! It’s plain as day.
Anne: Robin! Do something!
Robin: What?
Anne: Convince them I’m not a witch just because I’m different.
Robin: Um… wait! Everybody, let’s take her to the wizard. She will pass judgement.
Anne: Yes, the wizard! The wizard…
Who is this wizard anyway?
Robin: The wise and wonderful Pegina Bowenda.
Anne: [gasps] What did you say her name was?
SCENE: Anne's imagination, The castle
Anne: It’s Peg. My goose is cooked.
Peg: I have heard your crimes. False notions on the shape of our world, a mysterious ability to read, strange clothes the likes of which we have never seen, and… And…
Guard: [whispers] And she's got an insufficient fear of dragons.
Peg: Ah, yes! And an insufficient fear of dragons.
Robin: Sorry, Anne. They forced it out of me.
Old man: Name her punishment!
Peg: These are indeed strange qualities for a young girl to possess. They may frighten and confound us.
Anne: Oh, how did I ever get so strange?
Peg: And yet there is no reason to punish her.
People: [gasp]
Anne: Phew.
Peg: The girl’s eccentric. Merely ahead of her time. We must tolerate her beliefs and habits, not be cruel.
Anne: Oh, merciful Pegina Bowenda, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Peg: I admit, child, your fashion sense leaves a great deal to be desired.
Robin: [laughs] Let us begin festivities for our wise and wondrous wizard!
People: [cheer]
Anne: Hooray! Yay!
Robin: [laughs] Hurrah!
SCENE: The woods, present day
Anne: Wise and wondrous… wise and wondrous… [screams] Pegina Bowenda!
Peg: What are you going on about?
Anne: You… you saved me.
Peg: Just my luck. Finding a damsel in distress in my busiest time of year.
Anne: I’m… I’m frozen in fear.
Peg: No, child, you’re just frozen. Get on the sled and we’ll go warm you up. Don’t forget that silly hat.
SCENE: Peg's house, later
Peg: Now, you get this inside you.
Anne: Uh, thank you. Wait. Is this some… some potion from your cauldron?
Peg: [laughs] It’s only tea.
Anne: [sniffs] It does smell like Marilla’s.
Mmm. What’s that sweet taste?
Peg: Secret ingredient. I’ll show you on our way back. Which should be soon, storm’s clearing, we better be off, I’ve got work to do.
Anne: But my clothes are soaked.
Peg: No matter. I have an idea.
Anne: [swallows]
SCENE: Peg's house, later
Anne: I feel silly.
Peg: You’d rather wear your wet clothes?
Anne: No. It’s just… I’ve never worn trousers before.
Peg: First time for everything.
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: I admit they are exceedingly warm.
Peg: I made them. A secret ingredient in the felt keeps them cosy.
Anne: What’s that?
Peg: Oh, I’ll never tell. [laughs]
Anne: [swallows]
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: Is this your potion?
Peg: Haven’t you ever seen maple syrup get made before?
Anne: Maple syrup?!
Peg: Kids these days don’t know anything. End of winter I make maple syrup from these here maple trees when the sap starts raising.
Anne: So the drill…
Peg: ...makes tiny holes into the maple trees.
Anne: And the little buckets…
Peg: Catch the sap!
Anne: Mmm, delicious! If the kids could see me now, tasting a potion from your cauldron.
Peg: [laughs] Oh, what a strange one you are.
Anne: [giggles]
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: [gasps] But… why do you like living alone in the forest?
Peg: We aren’t all chatty little red-heads, you know.
Anne: Yes. Like Matthew’s snowflakes, we’re all different. But you must admit, you are more different than most.
Peg: You think so?
Anne: No other women wear trousers.
Peg: Mark my words. There’ll come a time when we’ll see more girls in trousers than girls dressed like princesses.
Anne: What, do you think I’m eccentric too?
Peg: I’d say you are.
Anne: You… you mean I’ll turn out like you?
Peg: Only if you’re lucky.
Matthew: [off-screen] Anne!
Anne: Matthew!
Diana: Are we ever glad to see… uh!
Matthew: Uh!
Gilbert: What the...
Anne: What’s wrong?
Diana: [giggles] What on Earth are you wearing?
Anne and Peg: [laugh]
SCENE: Green Gables porch, later
Anne: She was only making maple syrup.
Perry: So that’s how she earns a living.
Diana: That seems all is explained now.
Gilbert: Uh, she still gives me the willies.
Peg: Here’s your clothes. All dried.
Anne: Thanks.
Peg: Still catching snowflakes?
Matthew: When the idea strikes me.
Peg: You always were an odd one, Matthew Cuthbert.
Well, I’ve got a gopher waiting for a dip in the stew pot, then I’m off to fix Mrs. McGillycuddy’s knees.
Perry: With the potion?
Peg: You might say so.
Gilbert: I doubt Peg Bowen will ever be completely understood.
Anne: And Gilbert, that’s just the way she likes it.