Chapter 17 – I Got Trouble
After her conversation with Carreen, Ella had begun to feel somewhat better. The sting of rejection still snuck up on her every once in awhile when her mind wasn't occupied but she was able to brush it away without as much trouble as before. She felt badly for her aunt and in doing so she had sat down and wrote a long letter to her mother asking her to come to Charleston and convince Carreen to come home with them. She had thought it the right thing to do at the time but now she was harboring a small twinge of guilt over it as Carreen had come to her two days after their discussion and asked her not to mention it to Scarlett.
"I'll worry about it tomorrow," she said to herself as she shook away the feeling that she had somehow betrayed her aunt. For now she had enough to do with working on her history assignment. Sister Mary Patrick had told them to write a paper on a historical figure of their choosing. Ella had chosen to write about Dolley Madison and had spent the last few days reading books about her and organizing her notes to write the paper, which now only needed a few finishing touches. She was proud of her work, feeling as if it was one of her finest efforts. She had made plans with Sarah and Alice to meet in the library to work on the assignment that afternoon as soon as classes were over.
The three girls took a large table in the center of the library and spread their books and papers across it and sat down to work.
"I don't know what possessed me to choose Marie Antoinette," Sarah complained. "The French revolution is so complicated!"
Ella smiled, "It's too late to change your mind now, it's due tomorrow."
"I know," she answered. "It would've been easier if all of the books about her here in the library had been in English, I hate trying to translate French."
Alice laughed, "You should've said something sooner; I'm actually pretty good at French."
"Now you tell me," Sarah muttered.
"Don't worry, Sarah; your paper will be fine," Ella told her.
"The real problem is Thomas Jefferson," Alice stated as she flipped through a book.
"What's so hard about Thomas Jefferson?" Ella asked with puzzlement. "You'd think he'd be a pretty easy topic."
"That's what I thought," she replied; "But it seems like none of these books agree on certain things and some of them have different dates."
Ella wrote the final sentence of her paper and the pushed it toward Alice. "Well you can read my paper and take your mind off of yours for a minute," she told her.
As Alice read her paper and Sarah continued to write, Ella allowed her eyes to roam around the room. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched and sure enough her gaze soon landed on Margo Sinclair and her followers Bessie and Caroline. They hurriedly turned their attention to the row of books in front of them when they realized that she had seen them. Ella sighed disgustedly, why did Margo have to keep turning up like a bad penny?
"Your paper is great, Ella," Alice stated pulling her from her musings.
"It doesn't need anything?" she asked.
"No, I think its fine the way it is. I wish my paper was going as well as yours has."
"I'll help you," Ella told her. "What are you having trouble with?"
"I'm having trouble with his role in writing the Declaration of Independence."
Ella placed the pages of her report inside one of her books and then slid one of Alice's books toward her and skimmed through it. Frowning she closed it and turned to Alice.
"Lets go see if we can find you a better book."
"I'll go too," Sarah added picking up a thin volume that she had been using. "I've had enough of this book."
The girls rose from the table and made their way to the rows of shelves that held the libraries extensive collection. They searched through the books until Alice found a more acceptable biography of Thomas Jefferson and Sarah pushed the book about Marie Antoinette back into its slot.
"History just isn't my subject," she muttered.
"We'll get through it," Ella replied.
"Did you see Margo and the gang?" Alice whispered.
"Who could miss them?" Ella asked. "They make it so obvious that they are watching."
"They were laughing about something and looking at you," she replied.
"So much for the reprieve we thought we had," Sarah murmured.
"She's probably thought up a new dirty trick to play on me," Ella replied with a sigh.
"I hate her," Alice stated as she ran her fingers along the bindings of the books.
"So do I," Ella and Sarah replied in unison causing them all to laugh lightly.
They moved back to the table and sat down to work for a few more minutes before the dinner hour. Ella reached for the book she had tucked her paper inside and opened it. The essay was gone.
"My report is gone!" she cried as she flipped through the pages frantically.
"It can't be, you just had it," Alice answered.
"I know! I put it in this book and now it's gone."
"Are you sure it was that book?" Sarah asked as she and Alice began searching through the other books on the table as Ella went through her belongings.
"I'm sure," she exclaimed glancing up in time to see Margo quickly slipping out the door but paid no attention as she and the girls kept searching.
"Is something wrong?" Sister Mary Joseph asked as she approached there table.
"Someone took my report!" Ella exclaimed.
"Are you sure you didn't leave it in your room?" the nun asked.
Ella shook her head, "I had it here, I just finished it and Alice read it for me and I put it in my book when she gave it back."
"Perhaps you put it in Miss Callahan's book," she suggested.
"We've already went through all of our books," Sarah answered.
"It was here when we left the table to look for a book," Ella stated.
Sister Mary Joseph gave her a sympathetic look, "Retrace your steps and see if it's lying on a shelf or on the floor somewhere while Miss Callahan and Miss Wills search the other tables."
Minutes later they all returned empty handed.
"I'm sorry, Miss Kennedy," Sister Mary Joseph stated sincerely.
Ella felt like crying, "It's due tomorrow."
"Sister, did you see anyone near our table?" Alice asked as she remembered Margo and her friends.
The older woman thought for a moment. "The only person I saw near the table besides you girls was Miss Sinclair."
Ella clenched her fist in frustration, "I guess we know now what they were laughing about."
"I'm sorry, Ella," Alice replied.
"It isn't your fault."
"You could go to the Mother Superior," the nun told her.
Ella swallowed the lump in her throat. "That won't do any good, she never believes me, especially when Margo is involved."
The sister nodded knowingly, "If you took notes I'm sure you'll be able to rewrite your report, Miss Kennedy."
Ella gathered her books and writing tablets. "Most of my notes are upstairs thankfully."
"Then I'm sure if you work hard you should be able to finish it on time," the older woman assured.
"I guess I don't have much choice in the matter," she replied as her friends gathered up their belongings.
With a goodbye to Sister Mary Joseph they left the library and headed for the dining hall.
"Should we look in the trash cans?" Sarah asked.
"No, I'm sure she'd tear it up before throwing it away so it wouldn't do me any good if it was there."
Dinner was a solemn affair for Ella as she worried about rewriting a paper that had already taken three days to write the first time. Margo and her cronies were absent from the table which only cemented her guilt in Ella's mind but what could she do? She felt backed into a corner with no way to turn. Margo would only deny her involvement if confronted and the Mother Superior would probably accuse Ella of being irresponsible and misplacing her paper.
That evening after she had completed her work for her other classes, Ella sat down with her notes and began to rewrite her essay. Every sentence she had to rewrite infuriated her. It wasn't right that someone as hateful as Margo was allowed to walk around freely. She should be locked up in a cage somewhere like a rabid dog. By the time she finished her work, which she felt wasn't nearly as good as the first paper, her hand was cramped and it was nearly 2:00 in the morning. She laid the pages aside as she got ready for bed and then tucked them inside her trunk for safekeeping until the morning.
The next morning as she sat in class, Ella forced herself not to slouch tiredly in her seat. Her head ached from lack of sleep and she knew that it signaled the long day ahead that she had to face. Sister Mary Patrick began calling on students to recite their essays and she listened half heartedly until Margo Sinclair took the floor.
"My essay is about Dolley Madison," she announced snobbishly.
Ella's eyes widened and she was suddenly wide awake as Alice turned to look at her with a surprised expression on her own face.
"Dolley Madison was not only a First Lady but a model of courage and strength during the war of 1812," Margo continued.
"That's my report!" Ella exclaimed loudly.
"Miss Kennedy! What is the cause of this outburst?" Sister Mary Patrick demanded to know.
"That's my report! It was stolen from the library yesterday afternoon!"
"Miss Sinclair?" the nun questioned.
"I don't know what she's talking about," she answered with an innocent expression on her face.
"That's a lie!" Ella yelled in outrage. "That's the paper I wrote!"
"It's true!" Alice called out. "I read Ella's paper and I was there when it was taken."
"So was I," Sarah exclaimed; "And Margo was seen lurking around our table!"
"Of course they are going to say that," Margo said to Sister Mary Patrick; "They're her friends."
"You can go ask Sister Mary Joseph, she helped us look for it and she was the one who told us that she had seen you near our table when we were away from it."
Margo pressed a hand to her chest and forced her expression to look dismayed. "I never took anything of yours, Ella Kennedy! You just want to cause trouble! Look at this paper it's in my handwriting."
Sister Mary Patrick took the paper and examined it. "It's Miss Sinclair's handwriting."
"Of course it is!" Ella yelled. "Do you think she'd hand in a paper that had my name and writing on it? She copied it over thinking I'd be too stupid to recognize my own work or too spineless to call her on it."
"Miss Kennedy, there is no need for dramatics," the nun admonished.
Tears welled in Ella's eyes but she didn't allow them to fall. "I'm telling the truth! I was up half the night re-writing it! Here's my paper, compare them and you'll be able to see that the paper she's claiming is hers is really mine. She is the one who stole it!"
"Can you prove it?" Margo asked with a satisfied smirk.
"Are you going to let her get away with this?" Ella asked.
"I have no proof that Miss Sinclair took your paper, Miss Kennedy. I allowed all of you to chose who you wrote about. I can't prove that you and Miss Sinclair were to write about different topics."
Ella clenched her fist at her sides and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment trying to control her emotions. She opened her eyes and looked at all the faces staring at her, some in pity and some with amusement and then there was Margo with her smirk and she couldn't bear it anymore. She grabbed her books and headed for the door.
"Miss Kennedy, where do you think you are going?" Sister Mary Patrick asked.
"I'm going to get your proof, Sister!" Ella exclaimed as she fled the room.
Ella ran up the stairs to her room. Once inside she threw down her books and moved to her desk where she snatched up her notes and folded them up and shoved them in her pocket. She them snatched a hair pin from the top of her night table and moved down the hallway to Margo's room. She tested the door knob and found it to be locked as she had figured, well that was fine. Johnny had taught her how to pick a lock with a hair pin and she quickly had the door open.
Once inside she went to the desk and rooted through the papers lying on top and inside the tore apart the wardrobe, tossing clothes and shoes on the floor as she searched. She dumped out the waste paper basket and uncrumbled all of the papers it held but didn't find hers. Finally she lifted the side of the mattress and beneath it found her paper.
Ella hurried down the stairs, stopping at the library she explained her dilemma to Sister Mary Joseph and the nun agreed to follow her back to class. Ella marched through the door interrupting Bessie's recitation.
"Here's your proof, Sister!" she exclaimed. "I found my paper in Margo's room."
"That's impossible! My door is locked!" Margo cried.
Ella turned on her, her green eyes flashing, "It isn't anymore."
"How do we know you got this from Miss Sinclair's room?" the nun asked.
"For starters you can go up to her room and look at the mess I made while looking for it," Ella replied. "I found it under the mattress and if you look at the bottom of the last page you'll see where she scribbled her name and there's no way she can deny that it's her handwriting."
When Ella finished, Sister Mary Joseph recounted the scene in the library. Before Sister Mary Patrick could speak Ella pulled her notes from her pocket and accepted her rewritten paper from Alice, as she had left it on her desk when she left the class.
"Here are my notes, Sister; along with the rewritten paper that you can compare to the paper I've brought to you. All of this should prove that the work is mine, if you don't want to take my handwriting as the only proof."
"Miss Sinclair, you've just failed this assignment and I will be speaking to the Mother Superior about this. Sister Mary Joseph, thank you for your time." Sister Mary Patrick stated before turning to Ella. "Miss Kennedy, I apologize for doubting you and will grade your original paper; however I will have to report that you broke into Miss Sinclair's room."
Outrage flowed through Ella, "I didn't have any other choice."
"You always have a choice, Miss Kennedy; there were other ways to solve this matter," the nun stated.
Ella shook with anger, "Then tell the Mother Superior, tell her she can starve me all she wants but I don't regret what I've done. I won't be sorry for standing up for myself when no one else would!" she cried before she turned and exited the room.
Abandoning the rest of her classes for the day, Ella sat in her room for the rest of the day awaiting the inevitable appearance of the Mother Superior. Shortly before the dinner hour the ominous knock sounded on the door. Ella steeled her spine and threw open the door.
The Mother Superior stood before her, her features looking as though they had been set in stone.
"Miss Kennedy," she stated with disdain.
"Mother Superior," she replied, her tone mocking that of the older woman.
"It's been reported to me that you entered Miss Sinclair's room without permission. Is that true?"
Ella raised her chin and met the woman's steely eyes. "Yes it is."
"Why?" she demanded to know.
"Because my report was stolen from the library and Margo came to class with it claiming it as her own. Sister Mary Patrick said I needed proof so I went to Margo's room and found my paper."
"And you thought that taking this matter into your own hands was the appropriate thing to do?" Mother Superior asked.
"Yes, I had no other choice," Ella stated.
"As head of this school you should have reported the incident to me."
"Why bother?" Ella asked. "You wouldn't have done anything about it. Margo's been tormenting me all semester and you've allowed it to go on. So why should I come to you? Everyone knows that Margo is free to do as she pleases where you are concerned."
"You should have come to me because that would've been the appropriate response, Miss Kennedy, not taking it upon yourself to break into a fellow student's room."
"But by doing so I proved her guilty."
"I don't care!" the nun thundered.
"Neither do I! I don't care if it was wrong; I did what I had to do!" Ella yelled.
"You won't raise your voice at me, Miss Kennedy!"
"I already have, Mother Superior!"
"Don't do it again," she stated sternly. "I was also told by your teachers that you skipped the rest of your classes today, I assume that is true also."
"Yes it is, you see I didn't feel up to sitting in class after I stayed up all night rewriting my report and then having to deal with proving that Margo had stolen it."
"You are going to be punished, Miss Kennedy."
"If you think that surprises me, you're wrong," Ella replied.
"Obviously your mother has been remiss in discipline with you, she should've washed that smart mouth of yours out with soap long ago," the Mother Superior told her.
Ella smirked, "She would have been a hypocrite to do that, Mother Superior, after all no one has ever washed her mouth out and I'm told I inherit most of my traits from her."
"Then someone should've taken a strap to both of you."
"We don't do that in our family," Ella answered.
"Perhaps that is the problem with your family, Miss Kennedy."
"That's not for you to decide, now is it?"
The anger on Mother Superior's face reflected the anger Ella felt inside. "Come with me," the nun stated, fury in her tone.
"What for?"
"Your punishment, you will be working in the kitchen to pay for the damage to Miss Sinclair's room."
"There was no damage to her room!" Ella protested. "I didn't break or destroy anything."
"That room was in shambles!" the nun exclaimed.
"Yes, but it wasn't damaged. Let Margo clean it up, it's her fault it's that way."
"You will work in the kitchen during the dinner hour for a week, and as punishment for missing your classes you won't be eating the evening meal this week either."
"I don't care if I eat or not," Ella replied.
"Good, then you won't care that you have now lost your lunch privileges this week for all of your back talk. Now come with me."
Ella slammed her door shut and followed the Mother Superior down the hall. She saw Carreen standing off to the side of the hallway and for the first time since she had known her she could see the resemblance between her and her sisters. Carreen's jaw was clenched and her eyes blazing with anger as she watched the Mother Superior lead her away.
When they reached the open door way of the kitchen, the Mother Superior gave Ella a small shove into the room. The nuns who were preparing that evenings meal turned to see what the disturbance was.
"Miss Kennedy has too much time on her hands and it leads to delinquent behavior. Please put her to work any way you see fit during the dinner hour all of this week. Make her wash dishes, cook, serve, scrub, or sweep, whatever needs to be done."
With that said she swept from the room leaving Ella in the company of the sour faced nuns who didn't look pleased to have her in their area. One of them came towards her a shoved a dish rag in her hands.
"There's the sink, start washing those pots and pans, and I don't want to hear any fuss about getting your precious privileged hands dirty."
Ella bit back a scathing retort as she looked at the nuns who were watching her as if they expected her to rebel at the notion of soiling her hands. They'd have a long wait for that, she thought to herself. That would be something Margo would do, not her. If her mother hadn't been afraid to pick cotton and ruin her hands, then she could damn well stick hers into a sink full of dish water. With that thought in mind she straightened her back and moved toward the sink and began her task.
Carreen waited until the Mother Superior had installed Ella in the kitchen and then followed her back to her office.
"Mother Superior, I wish to speak with you," Carreen spoke.
"What is it, Sister Mary Frances?" she asked as they entered the office.
"Mother Superior, I feel you are being completely unfair in this matter regarding Miss Sinclair and Miss Kennedy," she stated firmly.
"And why is that Sister Mary Frances? Because Miss Kennedy is your niece and she is being punished accordingly due to her actions?"
No, it doesn't have anything to do with Ella being my niece. It has to do with the fact that Miss Sinclair wasn't punished for stealing the paper and trying to pass it off as her own."
"She failed the assignment, that's punishment enough in my opinion," Mother Superior answered.
"Anybody else would've suffered a more severe punishment and it isn't fair! Ella's working in the kitchen because she went into Margo's room to prove what Margo had done and yet she's being let off with a simple failing grade on one assignment," Carreen exclaimed.
"Miss Kennedy is working in the kitchen to pay for the damage to the room."
"There was no damage to that room!" Carreen thundered. "I saw it, nothing was broken. It was a mess but that is Miss Sinclair's fault for starting all of this."
"Miss O'Hara!" the nun yelled, causing Carreen to flinch slightly at the sound of her name that was so foreign to her ears. "I believe having your niece at this school has colored your judgment!"
"And I believe your attachment to the Sinclair checkbook has colored yours!"
"You are being insolent, Miss O'Hara! I should have never allowed a member of your family to enroll here. I don't want anyone's family here!"
"And why is that Mother Superior?" Carreen asked her hands clenched at her sides.
"Because Miss O'Hara, having relatives here only brings interference from the outside world. When you enter the convent and take the veil the sisters here become your family, you have no need of the one you left behind."
"You're wrong," she answered. "We all need our families and I for one will never stop having contact with mine. You have no right to deny us the support of our loved ones, Mother Superior."
"I haven't denied you your family. I've allowed your sister to traipse in here every summer to visit you and I enrolled your niece in my school against my better judgment. I allowed your brother-in-law to buy your share of the family home that you gave the church upon your entrance into the convent."
"Don't act as though you did him a favor, you sold my share to him for three times what its worth."
"That's none of your business!" she hissed.
"I'm making it my business. I don't know what kind of schemes your running around here, Mother Superior, but I believe it's time for someone to contact the Archbishop of South Carolina and find out," Carreen stated.
"And I think it's time for you to be transferred to another convent Sister Mary Frances, or better yet maybe some missionary work in South America."
Carreen shook her head, "I'm not going anywhere."
The Mother Superior laughed bitterly, "Oh you'll go where I send you and your niece will be leaving too, perhaps with failing grades for the semester and then we'll see how smart the two of you think you are."
"The only place I'll be going if I leave here is back to Georgia with my niece," Carreen stated, her tone full of venom and her eyes glittering with undisclosed hatred.
"You aren't leaving the convent, I won't allow it."
"You can't stop me if I chose to go," she replied before she left the room and slammed the door behind her.
Ella finally made it back to her room around eight that evening, her feet and back aching from standing so long in front of the sink washing every dish, glass, bowl and piece of silver ware that had been used at dinner. Alice had slid a note under her door telling her the assignments she had missed but she made no move to open her books. She laid on her bed and dwelled on the anger that continued to boil within her. It seemed that no matter what she did she came out on the losing end. Margo had been in the wrong and yet she was the one being punished once again.
She could still see the snarky look on the Mother Superior's face as she left her in the kitchen. She could imagine Margo's satisfied smile as if she had won some kind of victory. All of the feelings of hurt and resentment that she had been working to push aside surged back to the surface. This was all Johnny's fault for making a fool out of her, and Rhett's for sending her here, and her mother's for ever even telling him about the school in the first place. Now she was trapped here with a nasty nun as her jailer and a snotty blonde who had chosen her as her target of choice.
She couldn't take it anymore, she had to get away before she exploded and did something awful. Ella pushed herself off the bed and went to her trunk. Opening the lid she reached inside and took out her reticule. She quickly counted the money she had. The night they had arrived in Charleston, Scarlett had given her fifty dollars in case of emergencies and Eleanor always gave her five dollars each weekend so that she would have spending money. Counting the fifty from her mother and the money she had left over from her weekends she had a total of sixty-one dollars and fifty cents. More than enough for a train ticket she told herself. Shoving the money back into the green velvet reticule she reached beneath the bed and pulled out two carpet bags. She crossed the room to the wardrobe and took out the cream colored dress that she had worn the day she arrived at school and then took two of the ugly school dresses and folded them and shoved them into one of the bags. Opening the drawers she removed underclothes, stockings, and nightgowns and packed them into the bag as well as a pair of slippers. She began gathering up her hairbrush and hair ribbons when a knock sounded on the door.
"Leave me alone," Ella called as she threw the items in her bag and moved to gather up her handkerchiefs and toiletries.
"Ella," Carreen said as she ignored her niece's command and pushed open the door.
"I wish to be alone," she replied her voice taking on an edge as Carreen stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her.
"What are you doing?" she asked her tone serious and her gaze probing as she caught sight of the bags being packed.
"Leaving," Ella answered as she tossed in the diary Joy had given her and her book of poetry.
"Where do you think your going?"
She shrugged, "I figure I have enough money to get to Boston. I'll go stay with Wade."
Carreen shook her head and began unpacking the bag of clothing, "No you're not."
"Yes I am," she replied angrily. "I've had it with this god forsaken place!"
"That may be but I can't allow you to do this, Ella" Carreen said as she pulled the items from the bag.
"You don't have a choice so stop unpacking my bag."
"No, I won't stop!" Carreen stated sharply. "You think running away is going to solve your problems? Do you think it's going to make things better? You should know that it doesn't, you've already tried to do it before. Running isn't going to make you feel better, Ella. I know that first hand."
"You could leave too if you really wanted, but you won't. You'd rather stay here and let them control you and walk on you, well I'm not! I'm through being Mother Superior's door mat and I'm through allowing Margo to wipe her feet on my back too."
Carreen's face hardened, "I understand your anger, Ella; but this isn't going to solve anything and you know that. All it's going to do is cause you more trouble. I thought you were better than this, I didn't think you'd allow some stuck up snobby little brat like Margo Sinclair run you off. Don't you see this is what they're hoping for? If you run they win, is that what you want?"
"I don't care anymore," she cried.
"You care more than you'd like, Ella; that's why you behave the way you do. When you throw fits like this and threaten to run away you're no better than Margo."
"Then you should be glad to see me go," Ella stated as she grabbed the items of clothing and began shoving them back into the bag.
"I'd hate to have to wire your mother," Carreen threatened.
A bitter laugh spilled from Ella's lips, "Et tu Brutus? You're going to betray me too?"
"I'm not betraying you, Ella."
"Aren't you? You said you wouldn't involve mother in matters I didn't want her to know about but you're ready to send for her, well go ahead and do it, you may as well. Everyone betrays me eventually so you may as well do it and get it over with."
"The only one betraying you is yourself!" Carreen said sharply.
"So what am I supposed to do, Carreen? Stay here and let them do what they want to me?"
"You could confide in your parents and let them take control of the situation."
"No!" she shouted. "I refuse to let them come in here and fight my battle! If I allowed that it would only prove that I can't take care of myself. They left me here and I'll deal with my problems as I see fit."
"By running away?" Carreen asked. "All that is going to do is make you look like a coward to Margo and the Mother Superior and a child to your parents."
"I'm not a coward and I'm not a child."
"Then stop acting as if you're both. Show them that they can't break you, Ella."
"I'm already broken!" she exclaimed.
"No you're not, you've allowed that letter from Johnny to bring you down and ruin your self confidence. He isn't worth your tears and he isn't worth destroying yourself over and neither is anybody at this school so stop acting like a victim of the world and do something about it."
At the mention of Johnny's letter tears sprang to Ella's eyes and she sank down into the desk chair and sobbed out all of her frustrations. Carreen made no move to comfort her and she figured that meant that she had exhausted her aunt's well of sympathy for her. She could hear her placing the clothes back into the wardrobe and removing the other things from the second bag and putting them back into there proper place.
"Are you through?" Carreen asked when the sobbing had eased.
Ella nodded and swiped at her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
"You'll be staying?" her aunt questioned.
"I don't seem to have much choice but to stay," she answered.
"I'm glad you see it that way but just to be sure, I'll be taking your reticule and bags with me. I figure if you have no money and nothing light to pack your belongings in I won't have to worry about you slipping away in the night."
"If I really wanted to go I wouldn't let that stop me," Ella replied.
"In that case don't lock your door tonight. I'll be coming by every so often to make sure you're still here," Carreen stated firmly.
"No wires to Mother," Ella demanded.
"If you're still here in the morning, and you go to your classes like your supposed to I won't wire her."
"Fine," she answered.
"Go to bed, Ella; perhaps a good night's sleep will improve your disposition."
"You think I shouldn't be upset?" Ella asked as Carreen gathered up her reticule and the now empty carpet bags.
"I'm not saying that."
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying instead of getting mad, get even."
"Nun's aren't supposed to say things like that," Ella told her.
"I never claimed to be a good nun," Carreen remarked as she moved to the door. "Don't forget to leave the door unlocked."
"I won't," Ella said as she watched her aunt leave the room.
Carreen made the trip to Ella's room several times that night. Each time she opened the door she saw her niece in her white cotton nightgown laying in her bed. Her eyes were always closed but Carreen wasn't fooled, she knew the girl was awake. She said nothing to her, allowing her to believe that she thought her asleep as she merely peeked in for a moment and then closed the door softly and made her way back to her own quarters in the nun's wing of the building, where she waited to complete the process once more.
As she waited for her next trek she wondered if she had done the right thing. She thought of Ella's reticule with its stash of money that she had shoved beneath her mattress and the words of the Mother Superior. Perhaps it would've been better to support Ella's idea of leaving. She could have gone with her and they could've taken a train to Atlanta where they could've laid their problems on Scarlett's doorstep. That would've been wrong and it would've only made things worse like she had told Ella.
She sighed heavily as she wondered what she was to do with a temperamental seventeen year old who seemed bent on doing things her own way. She head threatened to wire Scarlett but knew all the while that she wouldn't unless Ella turned up missing. She had already written to her sister subtly hinting that she should come to Charleston and soothe Ella's heart which had been wounded by Jonathan Reid. If she took the hint hopefully she wouldn't arrive until after this newest crisis had blown over.
The night seemed endless as she quietly crept down the darkened hallway to make her next visit to Ella's room. She took extra care while passing the Mother Superior's room, her troubles with the woman weighing heavily on her mind. She knew that she would have to make a decision regarding her future soon. She would either have to go to another convent or go home as she longed to do, but she couldn't think about that now, it would have to wait until tomorrow or the next day. For now she had to watch over Ella and make sure that she stayed put. She'd never forgive herself if Scarlett's daughter slipped away while in her care.
She opened the door quietly and saw Ella looking back at her.
"I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
"Go to sleep," Carreen whispered. "Morning will be here soon enough."
"I'm sorry, Aunt Carreen."
"I know and I forgive you," she stated quietly before closing the door gently.
Going to sleep was easier said than done but she found a comfortable spot and made her body relax and the feeling of fatigue to settle over her. She needed to rest; she had to be at her best while thinking up her plans for Margo, Bessie and Caroline. She would need help to take all three of them down a peg but she knew that Sarah and Alice would come to her aid when asked. Carreen was right; no damn Yankee was going to run her off, especially when the Yankee in question was Margo Sinclair. With that thought in mind she drifted off to sleep.
When Carreen check on her a final time that evening she was pleased that her niece had finally fallen to sleep, and from the small smile that played on her lips as she dreamed she felt sure in assuming that Ella had made up her mind to strike back once more.