Author's note : A huge thank you to my readers who took the time to leave me a review. Please know that your reviews help me immensely and are always motivating to any writer. Many of you following the story have indicated some confusion towards how the story is evolving. I want to assure you that this is deliberate. I imagine this story to be a story within several. Chapter 1 was meant to be a prologue of sorts and the story is meant to be followed as it evolves into its layers and as I clarify the events in the chapters to follow. However, I feel it I owe it you, my reader, to give you some further insight at this time and if you are still interested... follow along. In the first chapter, Scarlett is indeed tracking Rhett, the fact that he is with Belle was inadvertent (and here he is much older). However, that was a different time and different place ( remember she is time travelling). The Scarlett who lands up under Raydon's carriage wheels has travelled again to an entirely different time and place (and to a much younger version of Rhett). She has no memory of her previous time travelling gist ( and yes, all this will be connected...hopefully at some point soon!). Would we see more of such versions of Rhett and Scarlett before the pieces fall in place? Is there some significance to her travels to each of these time zones? Well, she is searching and he is not. Will they find each other and will both want each other... and here's the catch..at the same time? Was that not what Margaret Mitchell's stalwarts struggled with anyways? we shall see...


Thick streams of tobacco smoke drifted like cloud banks above the heads of the two men seated across a makeshift box table. No lamp or candle threw its redeeming light across the frayed wooden walls and the mud floor of the abandoned shed lay bare, its dust grayed in places with dried tobacco juice. A dank smell enveloped the place, and in the darkness, the run-down shed held its secrets tonight.

Rhett had chosen wisely.

The warehouse was located on the edge of the town, close enough to the flowing waters of the Cooper River to harbor a decent trade but set discreetly on the outer edges of the shoreline and flanked by rickety wooden lumber sheds and storehouses to sufficiently screen it from otherwise prying eyes and twitching ears.

It was but one among many of his such whereabouts. They were scattered around the sleeping city of Charleston, each of them a seemingly random choice to the wayward eye, bereft of pattern or structure and devoid of purpose or intent. Carriage houses, factories, delivery sheds, storehouses and bars, hotels, and homes, they presented an innocuous front by light of day and in the dark of night, morphed into silent dens of peril.

It would have been hard for anyone who knew the first born of the Butler household to pick him out from the stealthy shadows that melded like wraiths in the blackness. For days and nights, he had stalked these byways and alleys where the uninitiated courted death and lawless rogues and perfidious cutthroats traded news of danger and gore as the city slept. These men were the ears and eyes of Rhett Butler, and they circled the towns like hawks hearing everything and seeing everything. A band of ruthless mercenaries and experts in the deadly art of survival, they had never known failure.

Until tonight.

Mance shifted uneasily on the hard wooden bench and ignored the rivulet of cold sweat along the back of his neck. Crossing his arms over his chest, he sat up a little straighter and tried to meet Rhett's even gaze.

"And"?

"Nothing, not a trace. We searched everywhere. The lads were thorough, I can assure you that. We went right up north and traced all the way southwards, coast to coast. Sifted through every lane and combed the streets. Sent Bill and Todson up country to New York even", replied Mance, trying to keep his voice steady.

In the three years he had known Rhett, this was the first time he couldn't deliver.

He sucked in his breath and dropped his gaze, suddenly feeling acutely aware of the spreading damp spots under his armpits, steadily blotting out the white of his shirt.

The silence stretched between them like a yawning abyss. In the distance, a steamboat rolled into the harbor and fog horns blared.

And then Rhett's voice, low and deep, cut through the night.

"They keep looking. We don't stop until I say so. I want them to spread out. Go into Savannah and Clayton County again. There must be someone who knows her. We have a name for God's sake" he spat. "I don't care if you have to get a pack of hounds and scourge all of Ireland if it comes to that. I want answers and I need them fast."

Mance came quickly to his feet.

He had a busy night ahead of him. His curly head bobbed once as he melted quietly into the shadows. A dozen waiting eyes blazed white in the darkness ahead as he headed back towards the pier and to the men waiting in the boat that had been moored slightly off the northwest side of the harbor.


It was close to daybreak when Rhett gently eased the broken latch on the back door of the servant's quarters and made his way softly up the short flight of stairs that would take him into the connecting corridor to the main house. Threading his way noiselessly across the kitchen, he walked past the massive dining room and paused as he entered the arched hallway leading into the sprawling living room dotted with its high-backed chairs and overstuffed sofas; its brightly colored cushions and richly embroidered tapestries muted and pale in the darkness of the night.

In the inky blackness, the gleaming white rails of the burnished stairway that led up to the bedrooms on the second floor, arose like a beacon, its polished tops glinting dully in the moonlight streaming in from the bay windows.

Rhett's eyes gleamed in the darkness and the fading moonlight fell on his swarthy features, as he stood, lost in thought. If he went up those stairs and turning left, followed the lushly carpeted hallway all the way to the end, he would find himself in his old bedroom. But if he cut to the right instead and walked past Raydon's room….

For a few seconds more, he hesitated debating. And then his head snapped up, his muscles tensing at the sound.

It was very low at first and if not for his training and his astute presence of mind, he might have missed it. Still as a statue, his eyes scanned the darkness, probing and searching.

The whole house lay swathed in a blanket of reposeful silence, the servants and its masters alike, dead to the night and nothing stirred in the quietness of the great hall. The antique rosewood clock that had stood watch for generations, ticked softly in the corner next to the massive couch, onerously marking the glorious lineage of Butler history through the years.

He held his breath, trusting his instincts and waited and his lips stretched in a grim smile as he heard it clearly this time.

The soft sound of a doorknob turning in the hall upstairs!

Quickly retreating further back in the shadows and seeking the shelter of the tall hanging tapestries, Rhett cloaked himself in the darkness and waited, his eyes fixed on the stairway.

She came softly down the stairs, the hem of her lace edged wrapper trailing gently behind her like a floating cloud. Her movements were stealthy but graceful; the soft padding of her slippered feet landing dully on the polished wood as she measured each step carefully and with purpose.

Silent as a stalking panther, he watched as she stopped on the bottom stair to take in her bearings. Casting a quick look around the great hall and finally spotting the passageway leading to the main door, she began to move towards it with a purposeful stride.

He caught a flash of white as her arm snaked out of the billowing sleeve of her wrapper and heard the muted rattling of metal against wood.

Swiftly, moving with the ease of a cat, he was at her side, his large brown hand closing in on her frail pale one as his fingers gently gripped her wrist.

"Going somewhere, are we"?

He felt her jump before she turned to him, her eyes wide with fear.

Placing one hand across her mouth, he bent low and said softly, "Don't be afraid and don't scream, it's just me. You don't want to wake the household,".

Scarlett looked up into his dark eyes, her heart thudding. Of all the people in the world! Him again! She struggled against his light grasp, writhing and twisting and felt his hand tighten on her wrist.

"Let go of me," she whispered fiercely struggling harder and pulling away from him felt her back press against the hard wooden surface of the closed door behind her.

"I will if you promise to hush and let the sleeping folks lie. No screaming tonight, Scarlett. Let's give the servants and the old folks a break for one goddamn night.", he whispered roughly, his mouth close to her ear.

Leaning against her, he penned her to the door with his body.

"Now, listen up", he said, his voice low. She could feel his cool breath against her skin as he brought his face closer, his lips grazing her ear.

"If you behave and promise to be a good girl, we can walk back up those stairs to your room like civilized people. If you, otherwise, intend on bringing the roof down with your shrill fishwife shrieks, you'll find that I am no gentleman. Carrying you in my arms would be a welcome diversion".

She had been pushing and shoving against his chest, trying to wrench free of his grasp, batting at him with her balled fists. At his whispered words, she froze with shock, her eyes wide with fear.

"That's much better. Now if you will do me the courtesy of taking my arm, we can spare the town yet another scandal", he said dryly, his teeth flashing in the dark, "I have to hand it to you Scarlett, never a dull moment with you around".

He grasped her firmly around the wrist and tugging her against him, offered his arm. Up close, he could smell the faint fragrance on her; delicate rose and the fresh scent of lemon and something else. Something heady and intoxicating.

Scarlett glared at him and then realizing the futility of the situation, nodded curtly. He turned her loose even as she wrenched herself from his grasp angrily.

Of of all the rotten luck in the world! It HAD to be him", she thought furiously as she rubbed her wrists. What was he doing, padding around the house at this unearthly hour anyway? She'd certainly not expected to have to run into him again!

Memories of their recent unpleasant encounter flooded her mind and she turned her burning green eyes on the tall, towering figure looming over her. Thoughts raced through her mind as she appraised the situation. He was no fool. There would be questions.

He had been watching her too. Watching the flitting expressions on her face with studied interest.

"We don't have much time", he said brusquely, glancing pointedly in the direction of the faint pinkish hue that was already frosting the glass panes of the unshuttered windows.

"Charmed as I am to find you in my arms, and as much as it breaks my heart to tear myself from you, I fear we need to make a quick exit," he quipped, grinning at the wrathful look she threw at him. "But I wouldn't cry yet Scarlett. We have all the time up in your room. I must say I am starting to look forward to these little tete-a tetes we err seem to be having in your bedroom". She could hear the laughter in his voice.

And before she could think or react, she felt his firm grasp on her upper arm as he propelled her in the direction of the hallway and up the stairs toward her rooms.

When he finally closed the door and turned to her, she was already seated in one of the cushioned chairs by her bedside.

He leaned back against the door, careful to keep a proprietary distance between them. Her startled look of alarm when he'd shut the door was warning enough and he didn't think he could trust his wretched family to not entrap him into matrimony if she'd decide to fling any vacuous accusations of misconduct on his part.

Rhett glanced briefly at the tense figure and wondered again how he'd gotten himself into this mess.

It had been six days since his return to the Butler fold and he'd hardly slept a wink.

The days had been peppered with meaningless meetings between the county officials and his father. And then there was the matter of sorting things out for Raydon. There would be no hanging of course, now that the girl lived but there was still the grave matter of the accident. The nights on the other hand, had been his to command. He had worked tirelessly and adroitly, tapping into his contacts, spreading his men far and wide, reconnoitering and digging endlessly beyond the boundaries of the five counties. Anything that could help unearth the enigma that was this mysterious girl. A girl who claimed him by name and had thrown the entire city of Charleston into a frenzy of surmise and gossip.

It was nothing of course compared to what he'd heard from her when he had walked into this very same room a few hours earlier. He closed his eyes for a moment as her words came back to him. Just before she had fainted, she'd said enough to make his hair stand on end.

He dove his fists into his pocket, and leaning back further onto the door, took his time to speak, scrutinizing the girl before him.

He was taking a huge risk, being alone with her this way in the dead of night. In her bedroom again! It wouldn't be long now before the house awoke. He shrugged inwardly and dismissed the thought. Yet another black mark to his already darkened reputation would not have him weeping into his pillow.

"If I, were you Scarlett, I'd start talking fast", he said at last and with feigned gravity. "Not that I care if the servants find us closeted in your bedroom, but you see, it's just that I am not a marrying man", he grinned evilly. "And trust me, that's exactly the kind of thing the stiff-necked old goat would demand if this ever reached his whiskered ears."

"It wouldn't come to that if you would leave this room this instant!" she cried, scandalized. In all her recent excitement and the tension of the night, she had forgotten about propriety and now, her cheeks flushing with shame, she realized that she was in her night dress and to add to her woes, cloistered with this incorrigible man, who for the second time that night, was back in her bedroom!

Mother of God! What if the servants heard them! Or worse, Catherine? She would never be able to live this down.

Rhett reading her correctly said in a calm voice, "Keep your voice low and no one will hear us. And don't worry, the servants won't be up for a few hours more. Now Scarlett, what's with the midnight romp? Don't tell me you are tired already of the infamous Butler hospitality? Or was it the book reading that did it"? he chuckled, unable to help himself.

She bridled silently and for a moment, contemplated throwing caution to the wind and ordering him out of her room at the top of her voice. But the picture of Rufus and his stodgy disapproving face loomed large in front of her blazing eyes, and she choked back her words, pressing her lips in a thin line of dislike.

" I ..I just needed a drink of water..", she began but he cut her off roughly.

"Don't give me that twaddle and stop playing me for a fool. You and I both know what you were up to. You were high tailing it out of here mighty fast and if it weren't for me, you'd be halfway out of town by now. I want to know why you were planning on running away like a thief in the middle of the night. I want to know where you were planning on going?" and then as an afterthought, added gently, "Did someone say something to you? After I left before..? Was it mother? Or Rufus maybe? Did he.."

But she shook her head and said, "No, no..it was..I had to go somewhere, be somewhere. Oh, you don't understand!", she cried despairingly. "I have to leave, don't you see? I don't belong here. I must go back. I have to go back", she said in a strangled voice. The color drained from her cheeks and her hands trembled and suddenly she felt exhausted and drained. The weight of the night's events wrapped around her like a heavy burden and her shoulders drooped tiredly.

"What do you want to know", she asked in a flat voice. "I don't care, I will tell you. I don't know why but from the moment I saw you, I just knew it would come to this. I just don't know how or why I knew it. You asked me before, this evening, and I told you. I was not running away. I am telling the truth. I have to go back", she said quietly.

She was telling the truth, he decided; he was sure of it.

He took in her tired face and the weary stoop of her shoulders, and his heart gave a lurch. There was something about this girl. He needed to tread carefully, he thought, even as he felt disgusted at himself for pressing her on. She was clearly tired and hurt but she was hiding something and after that last encounter with her, she'd left him no choice.

He had to know.

"You can tell me Scarlett. I told you before, you can trust me. May I sit across on that chair? I promise I won't hurt you".

"I am not afraid of you or any man in shoe leather", she said gruffly with a flicker of spirit, raising to his bait and forgetting her anguish in her annoyance.

He laughed softly as he dropped into the chair opposite her and looked at her wearily.

"Let's start afresh, shall we? Follow my lead and I'll ease you into it" he said grimly and began.

"You know who I am, the firstborn renegade outcast son of Rufus Butler with the same name that has purportedly been on your lips every night since you got here. I came here because of you, Scarlett. Because they said you called for me. And because my father decided you are going to die and I was expendable and they could hang me instead of his gentleman son", he said with a hard glint to his eyes.

"The old tyrant believes you to be my paramour or lover", he said, his voice flat and devoid of the emotion that had burned through his cool undertones a few moments ago, "And he is convinced I have been trifling with you. And then some. The old man himself has a none too savory past with women and he credits me with the fouler share of his blood. I'll wager he thinks you are with child, my child of course and that you came here looking for me, seeking retribution, the day my brother decided to do you in," he said with a bitter smile.

She turned a bright shade of pink. It was not enough that he had to be so outspoken on such matters but to be off-hand and flippant about it and even insinuate that his own father.. she blushed again, and ducking her head to hide her face, she fiddled nervously with the lace of her nightgown.

Rhett studied her bowed head doubtfully.

Other than Belle, he had rarely met a girl who would not fancy a faint or two when faced with the palpable facts of life, especially when it revolved around the proverbial birds and bees. He paused, wondering if he was in for some fitful spectacle involving smelling salts and offended shrieks and breathed a little easier when he saw that she'd handled the conversation like a trooper. No, she was not going to scream or turn him out. In any case, not yet. A corner of his mouth went up in a derisive smile.

She must have been observing him covertly from under her thickly hooded lashes for upon catching his smile, her head snapped up suddenly and pride and defiant anger flashed across her face.

'Don't worry about me, Rhett Butler. I am not one of your pansy faced girls who faint at a little straight talk. I am made of much sterner stuff than that", she scoffed, stiffening her spine, and pulled herself upright in her chair.

His eyes flickered with interest. This was something else all right. Cornered and caught red handed and she still flared like a live flame. Something stirred in his chest, and he felt a new respect for this strange girl, clothed in nothing but her pantalets and a flimsy wrapper.

When he'd first laid eyes on her in this very room this evening, he had admitted to himself, rather matter of factly that she was beautiful. But beautiful women were ubiquitous and ever present in his life. Certainly, this one didn't leave him gasping for breath and before he'd even taken his first step out her door, he'd dismissed her and her riveting green eyes from his mind, focusing only on her involvement in the matter at hand.

But now, he was uneasy. Yes,something about her, he admitted reluctantly to himself. He realized what it was too. Without admitting it to himself, he knew, deep down in the recesses of his heart that he had always been searching for it. Searched and failed to find in the scores and dozens of women he'd met and bedded. Common sense and courage.

Even now, cornered as she was, she cut a pretty picture, he mused, as his eyes marked the delicate flush of scarlet in her cheeks, making her alabaster skin glow from within and bringing out the sparkle in her green eyes. He could imagine their effect on a poor fool like Raydon. His mind wandered idly to the moment when he'd held her close; could breathe the faint scent of her perfume surrounding him..

Abruptly he stood up and covering the room in long strides, he crossed over to her bedside window and opening the hatch, flung it open. The cool night breeze rushing in was a welcome relief as it fanned his face and teased his hair. He couldn't say why but the air in the room felt suddenly thick and heavy, laced with her heady scent. He could sense it seeping into his pores, intoxicating him like a deadly toxin.

Taking a deep breath and struggling to clear his head, he turned to her again. Leaning against the side wall and assuming a nonchalant manner, he continued blandly, "Well, they expected you'd die first, of course. The old man and his moralistic brood", he jeered. "I was called in to take the fall for brother dearest. The patriarch carrying the Butler name has ruffled many feathers across the years and I'd wager that quite a few even among his own closest circle would pay dearly to watch him bite the dust. Raydon's little gist with the carriage and your own unfortunate part in it would have given them the perfect opportunity. When I arrived, they'd already set the wheels in motion, gunning for him and his offspring virtuoso." His eyes flashed with suppressed anger, "I wouldn't have lifted a finger to help either of them, stuffy fools that they are. But I knew Mother wouldn't have borne it. She is a strong woman, but Raydon is weak, and her heart bleeds for him. And there's Rose..", he stopped and caught himself. "I knew I could handle it; I have handled worse before and lived. Unlike these idiots, I like to stay alive, and I find I always do. I have my ways", he added wryly.

"So, you took the blame? For the accident"?

He said nothing but his teeth flashed in the lamplight.

"Now you know."

She said nothing and waited, listening with rapt attention. She had suspected he was different. There was an unmistakable air of intrigue and danger around him, and her breath caught in her throat as she stared into his flashing black eyes.

The silence stretched between them. She lifted her head high and waited for what was coming.

When he finally spoke, his voice was soft as velvet.

"It's time to play ball. Level with me Scarlett."

And there it was! It came at her fast and furious.

"Who are you? he asked in low growl. "And don't waste your breath lying to me. I know you are not from here. In fact, it appears you are from nowhere at all. I have more than thirty men combing the counties and the nearby states for news of you, and they haven't been able to find as much as a trace. No family, no address, not even a birthdate. Hell, Raydon himself swears there was no one on that road that day,on their way to the city when he looked but suddenly there you were then. Like you came out of thin air. And here you are now. Who are you, Scarlett?", he repeated, his eyes boring into her. "Where did you come from? How in hell's name do you know me?

And then his voice roughened with an unnamed emotion as he spat, " And who the heck is Bonnie and why in God's name is she going to die"?