A "what if" story based on the premise Rhett was wrong and beginning on the way back to Tara, after Rhett has left them but before they reach Tara. WARNING! Contains rape of a major character!
Disclaimer: not mine, never been mine and never will be... sadly
The first few hours after Rhett left, Scarlett was fueled by anger, but soon the despair and fear crept forward and the past few days she had alternated between the hope of finding Tara and her family and the fear they were all dead and Tara was burnt to the ground as many of the neighbors plantations had been. Traveling with the nag that barely lived, a sick woman, an infant they had no food for, a complaining servant and a fear stricken small boy was tearing on her psyche. Not to mention the havoc it was wrecking on her body as she struggled to keep them all moving and safely hidden from Yankees. She knew it was only a matter of time before things would get critical. They needed food and water. Seeing a familiar road up ahead, she breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the well would still be working and the orchard would hold a few apples still so they could quench their thirst and hunger a little. She stopped the carriage and jumped down.
"Melly, I'm just going up the road to see if I can find us some water and food. Prissy stay with them and watch over them." Scarlett said swiftly then hurried off before they could say a word to stop her. This might take a while, but it was also necessary, and she would do whatever she had to in order to get them all back to Tara safely. That idea was burned into her spirit already.
She walked gingerly around the ruins of what had once been a great house, then moved toward the garden where the once well tended orchard lay. Relief flooded her as she saw the ground that held a dozen or more old apples. They were rotting, but they were food. The first food she had seen in a while. Quickly she pulled off her underskirt to have something to carry them in and began picking them up. Once she had them all she wondered about how to get water back to her family. She looked around the property and noticed the slave quarters were untouched. Perhaps they had left the wells there untouched as well, which would mean she could finally get some fresh water to drink. She was just beginning the process of pulling up the water when she heard a sound that chilled her to the bone- one that would be a part of her nightmares for years to come. Someone was moving in one of the cottages.
"Well, well, hello there little lady." A male voice leered at her and she turned around to where it had come from. A man in pants and a half open shirt was leaning against the door frame of one of the slave cottages, a blue jacket in his hand. A Yankee. She swallowed and pulled back, wishing she had brought her gun with her. She had been so focused on the idea of food and water that she had forgotten it in the wagon with the others. Determined not to let him see her fear, she straightened her back.
"My apologies sir. I was only getting some water, then I will be on my way", she turned back around and began pulling the water again. With her back to the man, she never noticed that he came closer. Not until he grabbed her.
"No need to leave on my account. I'm due for a bit of fun." His eyes traveling along her body like she was a slave at market made his intent perfectly clear, but there was little she could do as he caught her arm and kissed her roughly.
The next hour was a blur to Scarlett, a blur that would live on in her worst nightmares. She fought, but she was weak compared to his larger and more well-fed frame and in the end he overpowered her. She tried to shut her mind off to the horror, but there was nothing she could do. Tears streamed down into her hair as she suffered his attention until he was content and left, laughing at what he'd done. Once he was gone, she somehow got her broken body off the ground and gathered her apples and water and limped her way back to the wagon. Behind her, she left the last shred of self-respect and sense of security she had.