The Texas Manhandle

Will Benteen's words rang true in Scarlett's head as she was greeted by a cloud of dust while taking her first step out of the train and into a building, in what seemed to be in the middle of a desert. She held her hand up in a poor attempt to shield her porcelain face from the stinging breeze that swirled around her, all the while keeping her eyes on the look-out for a dark haired man. Most likely, the only man wearing a panama hat amidst a sea of dingy cowboy hats. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her left shoulder. She immediately turned with her eyes pinned upward to meet Rhett's gaze, but there was no one there. She felt contact again. Only this time it was a tug—prompting her to look downward.

A very petite man, almost the same height as Wade, had taken his hat off, and uttered in a British accent, "You must be Mrs. Butler. There must be no mistake. Mr. Butler said you'd arrive in the finest frock that is sure to catch notice. Oh, I beg your pardon. I'm Hugh Mckay, at your service."

Reluctantly she shook his hand while asking, "Where's Rhett?"

"He'll be coming soon. On horseback. I was sent to make sure you get settled in properly."

He ushered her out of the station, and they both rode into a small developing town. On the ride over, he began to tell her all about the famous Beach Hotel, where she was to reside during her stay in Galveston Bay.

"You may want to freshen up before I take you to meet Mr. Butler. If everything is on schedule, then he will be arriving in two hours, but it will take us about a half hour to get there."

With a suspicious arching eyebrow, Scarlett asked, "How do you know my husband Mr. McKay?"

"From London, Mrs. Butler. He attended one of my lectures at the university. It was at his sister's behest. I'm an archeologist," he replied.

"Rosemary? A archy-o…?"

"Oh no Rosemary is not an archeologist. She majored in literature, I am the archeologist."

Scarlett had no clue what that was, but pressed on. Her curiosity about Rhett's new associate was peaked.

"Why would he need an ar-chy-o-go….your expertise?"

With his British wit, he simply and successfully distracted her, "According to Mr. Butler, I was sent to entertain you, not to bore you with other matters."

She definitely didn't want to worry about anything else but to look absolutely beautiful for Rhett. She settled in at the plush resort, and waited for Mr. Mckay who took longer to freshen up than she did. Immediately after, they rode off again, for the outskirts of town. Within an hour, they both arrived at a small settlement. The smell of cattle was strong, yet no animal was in sight. Mckay quickly took Scarlett into a saloon where he grabbed her the most delicious mimosa she had ever tasted. She was so tempted to get something stronger to calm her racing heart which seemed to beat faster as the hour seemed to drag on. It didn't help that the men in the saloon were boisterous, having liquor for breakfast, and pausing only to wink at her as she glared at them. She quickly made an excuse to get some fresh air. Once outside, she leaned on one of the posts and quickly found herself lost in thought. It was like being sixteen all over again, having the familiar yet welcomed anxiety of awaiting a beau. However, the bleak reality was too strong for her girlish fantasy, yet she fought to keep it out. She just didn't know anymore what to expect from him. Try as she did, she couldn't escape the fact that he had become a stranger to her.

Pondering on her dilemma never sat well with her as it caused her head, the hub of all her appealing attributes, to experience unpleasant spasms. She felt a rumbling deep within her and wondered if her stomach was going to give out on her. Then it got deeper. Soon the post started to vibrate. She held on as the sound grew stronger and as the earth started to rattle. A dust cloud appeared before it fully engulfed the street before her. Inside the mist, she could make out a herd of cattle stampeding down the street. She could hear the cowboys making their noises and cows mooing. It almost seemed like forever before the cows were rustled into fences, but the cowboys tirelessly rode back and forth keeping the traffic moving along. For some reason, Scarlett stayed out there watching, not concerned a bit about how her face was now covered in soot. She was captivated by the large number of cows that were rustled. Her business mind came into play immediately. She was convinced the owner of these cows would get a hefty sum. It also reminded her of Rhett's shrewdness. Then an overwhelming sense of longing filled her. She truly wanted to see Rhett. While lost in her thoughts a cowboy dismounted and approached her. It took her a few seconds to climb out of her deep thoughts before she noticed him right in front of her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Butler."

She recognized his voice immediately.

She looked up and uttered, "Rhett!"

He tipped his hat, and Scarlett eyed him, completely mesmerized. He had never looked so filthy yet his full, but neatly trimmed beard, his disheveled hair, sunburnt face, slimmer waistline accentuating his robust upper- body physique, weathered suede boots, leather vest, and his sweat-stained shirt somehow all together created an amalgamation of ultimate masculinity. He exuded musk and a virility that had been only a blur in her mind, listening to stories of men of the wild, wild west—until now. His Stetson hat was like the proverbial icing melting on a decadent, velvet cake which Scarlett never had problems devouring, especially at Mammy's indignation.

Rhett saw it in her face, and decided to use his horse as a shield from Scarlett's intense gaze. While creating an elaborate knot on the horse post, he politely asked, "How are the children?"

"They were sad to see me go, but I promised to bring home a gift for them."

She wanted to say he was the gift she wanted to bring to them, but it just might dampen the moment worst than if a flash flood would flow right through them in the parched desert where they both stood together in what felt like ages to her.

Suddenly, a buggy approached, and it was Mr. McKay at the reins.

"Care for a ride?" Mckay asked.

Before Rhett climbed up, his team of cowboys, passed by initially headed for the saloon. They stopped on their tracks wondering if the beautiful unusually overdressed woman was the woman Captain Rhett Butler had run away from. News got around quickly, and it all started when Mr. McKay had accidentally intoxicated himself one night, sipping on some moonshine one of the cowboys had smuggled for the trip. Of course Rhett was fast asleep, as he was every night out on the range. As soon as all the men fell asleep, he'd awaken and stare out into the violet horizon. He was always deep in thought, one of the older cowboys called Jeb, could tell. It was often just the two of them up on Jeb's watch. Even as they rode for days, he'd catch Mr. Butler gazing towards the horizon as if he longed to grab hold of it.

Jeb would always think back to what Mr. Mckay had said about him that night, "I've never met his wife myself, but I've never seen a man more afraid to love a woman than Mr. Butler. Once he's had more than enough to drink, there wasn't a sentence he'd utter without her name in it. And he'd always end it with, "That's why I'm here."—London, he means—He's been to London twice to get away from her, but he always returns to her, against his will, but not his heart."

"You men go clean up yourselves and grab some grub. I'd introduce you to my lovely wife, but all your faces are caked with dirt, even I couldn't tell you all apart. Now go on, and I'll be back, after I have taken this lovely lady for a nice stroll out in the prairie." Rhett chided, and arched his brow upward, signaling the men to bid their adieus. They tipped their hats in response to his gesture to tip his, and walked straight for the saloon.

Scarlett would often turn to Rhett as he conversed with Mr. McKay, but he never looked her way. As the town disappeared behind them, Rhett quickly leaned forward as Mr. McKay gave him a rolled up piece of paper. The stroll in the prairie abruptly ended as it turned into a bumpy race towards the middle of nowhere.

Having to shout over the thundering gallops, Rhett began to explain to an excited Scarlett, "Scarlett, listen carefully because what you're about to see is your future and Wade's future! One filled with unimaginable riches!"

"Being a cattle rancher, Rhett! You want Wade to rustle cows? That's how we're going to be rich! We'd be neck high in bull manure before we ever get rich, Rhett!"

"Enjoy the ride, Scarlett. You might miss what you're really supposed to see."

He sat back and laughed loudly watching Scarlet's irritation grow as the buggy jostled her around her seat. In no time they reached their destination.

Mr. Mckay pulled out some equipment from the back, and pulled from a sack a few rocks. He handed them to Rhett, and walked off towards stakes sticking up from the cracked dirt. He yelled, "This is where I found them!"

Rhett held them close to his eyes studying them.

"Just like the other sites?"

"Yes. They're all over this region!"

An intrigued Scarlett asked, "What is it? Diamonds?"

"No, it's too close to the surface. It's older." Rhett answered. "They're bones."

Scarlett gasped. "Rhett! How…?

"Fossils, dinosaur bone fragments."

Scarlett's head started to ache. An overwhelming sense of concern began to creep into her mind. Was Rhett losing it? Searching for bones all this time? He really did go out of his mind. She sighed, then Rhett turned to face her and moved closer to figure out her mood.

"Scarlett. What did I say I would set out to do?"

"You said you were looking for gold, Rhett. That's not gold, I'll tell you. You've been out in the sun too long, you can't tell the difference anymore. Rhett come home, you're getting too old to be playing cowboy in the hot sun of the desert that you can't tell gold from a piece of bone that could have very well come from a cow or a buffalo for that matter."

Rhett arched his neck back and laughed as loud and hard and long for the first time in years. It annoyed her as it always did in those days. Mr. Mckay was taken aback himself and stood where he was, mystified.

"Would you mind telling me what's so amusing? Have you really gone mad?"

"No, Scarlett. But yes. I'm here to look for bones. Because bones tell our helpful scientist here where more remains will be found. After all, what is oil? It comes from the remains of creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago. This, my dear wife, is black gold, and it's all over here."

He had never seen Scarlett's eyes flash so brightly as it certainly danced from the vision of a life filled with extreme luxury. Then it was back to being puzzled again.

"So are we still going to raise cattle?"

He laughed again.

Scarlett listened to Rhett run on about his ingenious plan to use the cattle business as a diversion from his real pursuit. He gained insight on this lucrative opportunity during his travels to upstate New York, hearing of this Rockefeller character being the richest man in America. Rhett felt he was smarter than he, but also felt time was working against him especially with his advancing age. He left it alone until his trip to London gave him a sense as if fate was letting all things fall into place. Of all people to meet, he met Mr. McKay, an admirer of his sister Rosemary. Being the evermore overprotective brother, of which is one tragic reason for his sister's spinsterhood, he decided to hear this young professor, and assert for himself if he was just a pretentious, smoke-blowing Brit. He was glad to be mistaken, and found himself actually taken by his teachings of archaeological findings. He would return home with a mission.

"I am going to purchase those thousands of acres for cattle grazing, but I don't own the cattle, my investors do. They'll become rich as a result of this growing industry. I just want to own the real estate. And when the time is right, several years from now, I'm going to send a team of experienced men to start drilling the ground for oil. Now you must keep this to yourself. I know you will. The rich have all kinds of secrets to amassing their huge fortunes."

As enthralled as Scarlett was, her old self began to resurface. Whenever a conversation veered away from her interests—herself, she'd steer it back to the topic, but this time her heart ached too much to make the effort. Instead, she internalized her disappointment, not wanting to ruin this reunion of sorts with Rhett. He had a new passion that was going to keep him away. That is, unless, she could do something about it.

"Does this mean you will be spending most of your time out here?" she asked.

"If you're asking, will I be returning to Atlanta any time soon, the answer is, no. So you'll have your freedom, Scarlett. The way you have always wanted it."

He wasn't going to ruin her determination to win him back. She wasn't going to fold her cards, she was going to put everything on the table for it. She was finally this close to him and nothing seemed to matter.

"I'd be glad to leave Atlanta and move here to be closer to you, Rhett," she replied almost shakily.

His eyes darkened, as if a storm of emotions were raging inside them. Then he laughed again, turning away from her, but towards the horizon as he said, "Galveston is no place for a lady with your charms."

"I'm no lady. You often reminded me of that. But I want to be one, as genuine as my mother, and this is where we both can start anew."

"We better head back. Looks like it's finally going to rain." Rhett replied gazing at the thickening clouds over his ever-elusive horizon.

Once they reached the hotel, Scarlett walked in noticing that her luggage was stationed at front of the lobby.

Rhett grabbed it, and carried it towards the exit, but Scarlett called for him.

Rhett! Our room is this way."

"On the contrary my dear. You will not be spending the night in this neck of the woods. It's not safe. I will have Mr. Mckay take you to the train station at once. I have to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. So you see. There is no reason to stay."

"Why, it's not enough time, Rhett. Can't I stay and take a later train?" She pleaded.

"There's only one train heading for the East and you must get on it, Scarlett. Mr. Mckay will accompany you, and see to your safety."

"I don't need him. I need you, Rhett."

Yet what she really wanted to say was, 'Don't you need me?' although her thoughts aimed to say, 'body.' All she could ask was, "Is this all why I was sent?

"This is no small matter, Scarlett. You and your children will receive an inheritance that will last for generations. I need you to go home now. I brought you here to ensure that if I die before my time, you will know why I purchased a huge lot in a dust bowl, and you will instruct Wade, at that time, and only that time, to follow through with my instructions. He'll be a man in a few years. He was raised well, by Melly. I have complete confidence, the honor he learned from her, will prepare him to take on this legacy."

He continued out the door and placed her luggage bag into the buggy where both he and Mckay waited for her to follow.

Scarlett sat in a first class car, staring out the window as Mr. Mckay was preoccupied with straightening the luggages, and his equipment. His determination to straighten his equipment for the third time drove her to distraction. He still hadn't stowed her luggage. It was practically keeping the door from shutting. Scarlett quickly stood and grabbed her luggage about to say a few words. Just then, the whistle blew, and she turned to look at the usher who stood by the train door awaiting the second whistle to signal for the doors to be closed.

"There we go. All secure and fastened. You can be sure nothing will be rattling to disturb your sleep all the way back to Atlanta, Mrs. Butler…..Mrs. Butler?"

Her luggage was gone and so was she, as the train chugged out of Galveston.

To be continued…..

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