Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the many reviews and the feedback.
To my guest reviewer who gave the idea for a story line involving Rhett's pirate grandfather. Great minds think alike. I have one in the works involving Rhett's pirate grandfather.
Chapter Three
Jasmine took them to a sandwich shop. Rhett helped Scarlett out of the car, and she said, "I now understand why you said 'crawl,' that is practically what I am having to do."
After they found a table and were seated, Jasmine said, "I will get some food for y'all. The food is different in this time so you will just have to trust me. Do you want roast beef or fried shrimp?"
Scarlett moved closer to Rhett and looked up to him. Rhett said, "Get us one of each?"
Rhett reached in his pocket and got out his wallet. He handed Jasmine a dollar bill. Jasmine smiled. She said, "It will be a lot more than that but hold on to your money. We will visit a numismatist and see how much money we can get for your bills and your coins. I'm sure they are worth more than their face value. Sit down. I will be right back."
The couple sat in a booth and Rhett said, "A rare coin collector."
"Thanks."
Scarlett was sitting extremely close to Rhett. Probably too close but neither person was going to move away. Rhett was holding Scarlett's hand under the table. Finally, Scarlett said, "Can we trust her?"
"I don't know. At this point I think we have to trust her."
"Why?"
"Because neither one of us has a clue as to what is going on in this time and day. Just like how we didn't know how to get in the coach."
"Car. She called it a car."
"That's right."
"She knows all about us."
"I know."
"Why?"
"I am infamous."
Scarlett smiled and said, "She knows about me too."
"You are my wife."
"I'm scared."
Rhett squeezed her hand, but he didn't answer her. He didn't have anything to say. He didn't know how they had been transported a hundred years into the future. He certainly didn't know how he was going to get them back to eighteen sixty-eight. He knew that they could probably find out what happened to them. What if it was horrible? What if it was as bad as that fortune teller had predicted. Twenty-four hours earlier he had been adamant that nobody could see into the future. He would have also been adamant that nobody could travel into the future but here they were. Could they prevent their lives from becoming horrible? Rhett decided they had to find out what happened to them so they could prevent it from happening again. Rhett too had noticed Miss Wilson's uncomfortableness when Scarlett had mentioned her children. Rhett decided they had to know so they could fix anything that went wrong in their previous lives. They had to find out quickly for he wanted to return to their time as quickly as they could. That's if they could return to their time at all. He had no idea how to return them in time. Maybe they would just return to eighteen sixty-eight without any action on his or Scarlett's part.
"Rhett, I can't start over again. I gave all I had to building those mills and making money. To creating a stable life for me and my family."
"Scarlett, we both started with nothing and built ourselves a fortune and security. This time we will be doing it together. Therefore, we will be twice as successful."
"I can't leave Wade and Ella alone in eighteen sixty-eight."
"Mrs. Wilkes will take care of them."
In a quiet voice Scarlett said, "They need me. It would traumatize them too much to lose me also."
Teasingly Rhett said, "What about you? Would it traumatize you also?"
Quietly Scarlett said, "Yes, it would. They are my children."
Jasmine came back to the table. She set the tray down on the table. She said, "I didn't know what you wanted to drink so I got you both tea. It is unsweetened but there is the sugar." She pointed at the sugar on the table. Jasmine had gotten a shrimp poor boy also.
The couple split the two sandwiches and drank their tea. They both drank it unsweetened. They enjoyed both sandwiches but they both like the shrimp the best.
After lunch they went to the rare coin collector and sold him some of Rhett's money. Jasmine had been right the bills and coins were worth a lot more than their face value. The dealer was excited to get the items because they were in mint condition. Rhett had not cashed in all his bills, but he did leave the shop with a hundred dollars in cash which he had thought would be more than enough.
They next went to Sears to buy them some modern clothes. Rhett's clothing and underwear were pretty muchly the same as they had been in the 19th century. There was not a lot to explain. The only real difference was the use of zippers instead of buttons in the fly. Rhett eyed the zipper with leeriness.
Jasmine picked up a package of briefs then a package of boxers. They were both in a size large. She said, "You are about the same size as Marshall, and he wears a size large. You can try both styles on at home and decide which style you prefer," When Rhett started to speak, she said, "I don't know. I know Marshall prefers the briefs, but you might like the boxers more. You will have to wear them and decide."
When Rhett saw the undershirts, he picked up a package of those in a size large.
The grouped walked over to the rack that had the men's pants. Jasmine grabbed a pair of pants that were 34/34 and another that were a 32/34. She offered them to Rhett and said, "The changing room is right over there."
Rhett did not take the pants. He snottily said, "I will not wear those. That color is far too bright for me."
Jasmine resisted the urge to laugh and said, "Just try them on so we know what size you are."
Jasmine said, "Be careful with that zipper. I don't want to have to take you to the emergency room on your first day in the twentieth century."
"I will. Believe me."
As Rhett left the ladies to go to the changing room, Jasmine said, "What is Rhett's favorite color?"
"Judging by what he wears black, gray and white are his favorite colors," The ladies giggled. Scarlett continued, "Let's get the dullest shirts we can find."
The ladies laughed again. They searched through the size large shirts. They found four that they thought would be acceptable to Rhett. The ladies did giggle when they noticed that the shirts were in black, gray, white, and blue.
Rhett came out of the changing room and said, "This one fits the best in the waist, but they are too short."
"Then you need a 34/36. Let's go find you some pants."
Scarlett said, "What is your favorite color?"
Rhett didn't understand why his response of black had made both ladies laugh. He looked at them but when neither woman gave him an explanation, he had gone back to looking at the pants.
After five minutes, he had chosen three pairs of pants that were all black.
Rhett had looked at the shirts Scarlett and Jasmine had chosen for him. After looking through the clothing rack at his other choices he had accepted their selections.
Rhett asked, "What is an emergency room?"
"It is where you go for medical care in an emergency," After looking at Scarlett and Rhett's puzzled faces, Jasmine added, "Doctors don't make house calls anymore. The patient must go to them now. Too much to explain now. We have to buy Scarlett some clothes and that is going to take a whole lot of explaining."
The first thing Jasmine had to explain was what a bra was, then she explained about panties then what a slip was. Scarlett was appalled that was all she needed to wear under her clothes. Rhett was equally appalled. The conversation to convince the two time-travelers that this was all Scarlett needed was a tedious one. Finally, Rhett threw up his hands and said, "Just buy her some clothes. We can't spend all day here."
The next thirty minutes was spent finding the right size panties, right size bra and the right size dress. Next, they had trouble choosing Scarlett's dresses. Scarlett liked all the bright colors and styles. She even liked the short skirts for she knew she had very shapely legs. When Scarlett had come out of the changing room in a mini skirt, she saw shock on Rhett's face then outrage. He said in a tight voice, "When hell freezes over. Get back in the changing room."
Rhett had even stepped forward to push her back to the changing room.
She even tried on a pair of pants and when she showed Rhett, he said, "There will only be one of us wearing pants in this marriage and it will be me. No!"
Rhett suggested she try on the shift dress to which Scarlett said, "Hell no."
Scarlett tried on several more dresses, but Rhett found something wrong with all of them. The fabric was either too bright or the dress itself was indecent. At last, Scarlett said, "Go over to the dress rack and find something for me to wear."
Five minutes later, Rhett brought back three dresses that he deemed acceptable. Scarlett saw that they were all three made from dull fabric but was so tired and worn out she agreed without even trying them on. If she disliked them, she would buy more later. She did insist on buying some brightly colored tights though.
They next found a pair of shoes for Scarlett. Rhett was fine with his current boots.
They went to the counter and the saleslady asked, "Would you like to put this purchase on your Sears credit card?"
Rhett said, "No, I don't have a Sears credit card."
"Would you like to apply for one? It will only take a few minutes."
Jasmine said, "Not today. He will just pay cash."
The saleswoman rang up the purchases and said, "It will be forty-seven fifty-three."
Rhett handed the woman three twenties. When she handed him his change he thought, 'I need to find a way to make some money.'
On the way to Jasmine's house, Rhett said, "I will need to find a saloon. I need to make some money. The easiest way for me to make money is playing poker."
"We will talk about that over dinner. Remember you can sell some of Scarlett's jewelry. She has a small fortune on her body. Her tiara alone must be worth a couple of thousand dollars.
"You aren't selling any of my jewelry."
The other two occupants of the car did not reply. Rhett knew he could talk Scarlett around. Jasmine was still trying to get a handle on the events of the day.
Rhett changed the subject and said, "What is a credit card? Everyone in this time keeps asking me for one."
Jasmine said, "Let me think of a simple explanation."
They were quiet for a few minutes and Jasmine finally said, "It is like a check. It allows you to pay for things but unlike a check the money is not taken out of your bank account. Once a month the bank that issued the credit card sends you a bill then you pay the bill with a check."
"It is like I have an account with the tobacconist and when I want more cigars, he just adds it to my account. Then he sends me a bill at the end of the month."
"There is a lot more to it than that but for right now that is enough of an explanation."
Scarlett said, "What happens if you don't have the money at the end of the month?"
"The bank only requires that you pay what is called the minimum. They will then charge you interest on the balance until you pay it off."
Rhett said, "It seems to me that people could get into financial debt with that system. It is better to pay as one goes."
"That is what Marshall says too."
"So, you don't have a credit card?"
"We have a couple of gas cards and a Visa. Marshall lets me carry the gas cards around, but the Visa must stay at the house except when we travel. We only carry it then for emergencies."
"What is a Visa?"
"Emergencies?"
"Visa is a credit card that is accepted everywhere. An emergency would be if we had car trouble while traveling and had to pay for the repairs or a hotel."
"Couldn't you write a check?"
"Yes, but some places don't accept checks from out of town."
"Why?"
"Because it is easier to pass a hot check when it is drawn on an out-of-town bank."
"Hot check?"
"A check that there are insufficient funds to cover."
Jasmine pulled into the driveway of a little house that looked like all the other houses on the block. She said, "Get out. This is my home."
When they looked at Jasmine's house, Rhett and Scarlett found it a curious sight. Rhett said, "Your home is one story?"
"Almost all homes are one story now. Many generations no longer live together. It is just Marshall and me who live in the house."