Chapter 20 – What Goes Around, Comes Around
"Scarlett, there is no sense in all of us going to Charleston for the sole purpose of bringing Ella home," Rhett told her firmly after the children had been dismissed from the dinner table that evening.
"But, Rhett…"
"No buts, Scarlett. It's ridiculous for you and the children to tag along and you know it. I've wired Wade and told him to meet me in Charleston and he has agreed. I'm sure between the two of us we will be more than capable of escorting Mother and Ella to Atlanta."
"I was hoping to speak to my sister and see if she is ready to come home," she stated forcefully.
"I will speak with Carreen. If she's ready I'll tell her to pack her bags and get into the carriage, if not I'll tell her to wire us when she is and we'll be back to fetch her."
"I planned on being a little more convincing than that," she replied with a wrinkle of her nose.
"You can't force her, Scarlett."
"I know that!" she exclaimed.
"Then be patient with her, it's her decision to make and you may as well accept that there is a very good possibility that she may choose to stay put and that she may never be ready to leave the convent."
Scarlett rolled her eyes, "If she has the proper encouragement she'll be ready."
A lazy smile crossed his lips, "I promise you, my dear, that I will be my most charming persuasive self when I speak to your sister. I will assure her that she is welcome here and that she is wanted here. The rest is up to her."
"I'd feel better if I did it myself," she stated.
"Well that's just too bad because you are staying put. You have enough to do without running to Charleston with me. I'm sure you have last minute shopping to do and preparations for Suellen's arrival with her brood. We'll do just fine in your absence, my pet."
Scarlett huffed in annoyance, "Fine, have it your way, but if Carreen isn't on that train when you come back, I will be making a trip to Charleston in the spring to bring her back myself!"
He bowed his head to her, "It's been duly noted."
"Don't make fun of me," she fumed.
He chuckled, "But Scarlett, you're my favorite source of entertainment."
She smiled coyly, "You keep pushing your luck and you'll be entertaining yourself tonight and for many nights in the future."
He grinned at her, "Now what kind of Christmas spirit is that? Are you trying to be like Scrooge from Mr. Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol' ? Do I have to tell Saint Nicholas on you?" he teased.
"You go right ahead," she told him. "I've already sent him a long letter about you and your less than stellar behavior."
"I'm not worried," he answered with a laugh. "Ole Saint Nick and I are on good terms, you see I once saved his life during the war."
Scarlett laughed, "Is that the story you've telling the children?"
His dark eyes sparkled with mischief, "I may have dropped it in here and there to remind them that Saint Nick considers me a friend and that it would be easy for me to report their bad behavior."
A smile curved her lips, "Perhaps you should write books, Rhett; god knows you tell enough tales."
"Perhaps that's what I'll do in my retirement," he replied. "You can help me."
She giggled once more, "Can you image the stories we could tell?"
His laughter joined hers, "We wouldn't have to make it up; our own lives are story enough, although we'd have to change the names to protect the guilty."
"Don't you mean the innocent?" she asked.
"My dear, no one in our story is innocent."
She thought about it for a moment, "That's true, when do we start writing?"
He sighed and looked thoughtful, "I figure the day after James goes to University would be a good time to begin."
"By then we'll have enough material for two books."
"Two!" he exclaimed; "We'll probably have enough for four."
"I can't wait," she answered, her argument of going to Charleston forgotten.
After Thanksgiving and the departure of Scarlett and Rhett, Ella once again settled into her routine. December arrived with a bitter chill filling the sea side air and with it came the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel in Ella's mind. At the Sisters of Mercy Convent School, everyone's thoughts were centered on the end of the semester and the coming of the holidays. Margo had ceased her harassment but once again she was smirking and making comments from behind her hand to her friends whenever Ella was near. She did her best to not pay any attention to her but a part of her couldn't help but wonder if there was going to be one last sneak attack before the end of the semester. She shook her head as if to dislodge the ominous thoughts and decided to focus on her end of the semester exams. She wanted to do well so that she wouldn't be behind when she returned to school in Atlanta. With Johnny banished from her thoughts she was once again focused on her goals. She would finish her studies in June and she then hoped to take the teachers exam and get a certificate. Hopefully a teaching job would become available for her at the new school that had been built. She had a goal in mind and she didn't need distractions like Margo and that dragon of a Mother Superior getting her off course.
The days passed in quick succession until finally the last few days of classes were upon them. Relief and excitement filled the air and shown on the faces of each girl. The afternoon before the last day of classes was spent packing. In the students wing of the building all of the room doors were open as they completed their tasks and mingled in the hallways and doorways. Alice and Sarah slipped into Ella's room, as they took a break from their own packing to share last minute gossip and test scores.
"I got an 80 in history, can you believe it?" Sarah asked
"And you thought you were going to fail," Ella teased.
"I got a 90," Alice replied. "What about you Ella?"
"I got a 92," she answered.
"Show offs," Sarah teased. "I knew I should've looked off your paper."
They chattered merrily while Ella packed her trunk and then began filling a box with her mementos. None of them had anticipated the appearance of Margo in the doorway and when they noticed her they all fell silent and eyed her with suspicion.
"What are you doing here?" Ella asked as she stepped out from behind her desk.
"Just visiting," Margo replied as she stepped into the room.
"I don't believe I invited you," Ella told her.
Margo shrugged, "I don't wait on invitations."
"What are you up to Margo?" Sarah asked with an edge in her tone.
"Nothing," the girl stated coyly as she picked up the framed family photo from Ella's bookcase.
Ella jerked the frame from her fingers and placed it in the box she had been packing.
"Touchy today?" Margo asked with a laugh.
"Get out of my room, Margo."
"It won't be your room after tomorrow."
But until then it is mine and I don't want you in it."
"I hear you're going back to Atlanta."
"Yes I am," she replied.
"Home to your uncouth family."
"Watch it, Margo" Sarah warned. "Your family isn't anything to brag about."
Margo glared at Sarah but continued to address Ella. "I've been told that your older brother that you speak of has a different last name than you," she stated.
"And that's your business because?" Ella asked.
"I'm merely making an observation," Margo stated. "It's just unusual for siblings to have different last names."
"My brother's father died before he was born and my mother remarried a few years later. It's not unusual at all and like I said it's none of your business anyway."
"I've heard all about it," Margo replied. "I even heard about how your mother is responsible for the death of your father."
"That's a lie!" Ella yelled.
"Is it?" Margo asked. "I heard he was shot while defending her honor because she wasn't acting as a proper lady should, but of course word has it that your Mother rarely acts as a lady should."
"Whoever you're getting your facts from is wrong," Ella stated through clenched teeth.
"Your mother married for a third time, isn't that right?"
"You tell me, you seem to think you know it all."
"Margo smiled cruelly, "You're right, I already know. I know about your sister dying and how your mother chased a married man for years and how your step-father left her and then was stupid enough to go back to her, and I know about your younger siblings, who once again don't share your name."
"Get out!" Ella yelled as she stepped closer to Margo, her hands clenched at her sides.
"Let's see," Margo said her face taking on an exaggerated expression of deep thought. "Your mother has been married three times and has had five children by three different men. If you ask me that makes her no better than a whore."
She heard Alice and Sarah gasp but it barely registered in her mind as her blood boiled. She turned away trying to hold herself together but Margo continued on.
"Your mother is a whore and your step-father is nothing but a womanizing worthless opportunist. Whatever will you be, Ella? A whore or an opportunist? I figure you'll be a mixture of both."
The rage that overtook her couldn't be described and she felt as though she were someone else entirely when she swung around and slammed her fist into Margo's face. Before she knew it Margo returned the blow and in moments they were both on the floor, pulling hair and hitting each other. The voices of the other girls sounded far away as she spent her energy and anger fighting with Margo.
Suddenly Ella felt a hand grabbing her by the roots of her hair and pulling her away from Margo. The Mother Superior's livid face glared at her before the back of the woman's hand cracked against her cheek bone causing Ella to fall backwards from its force. She approached Ella again but was stopped by Carreen's forceful push as she stepped in front of Ella.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my niece again," Carreen threatened.
"Stay out of this!" Mother Superior snapped.
"No, I won't stay out of it!" Carreen replied. "You've gone too far."
"You're the one who's crossed the line," Mother Superior stated. "I've had it with you and your niece, and it's time I do away with the both of you."
She then turned towards the girls and said, "Both of you in my office now!"
"I want my father!" Margo cried as she wiped her bloody nose and lip on her sleeve.
"We'll send for him," Mother Superior promised as she helped Margo to her feet.
"Come along, Miss Kennedy," she ordered.
Ella caught Carreen's eye and her aunt whispered, "I'll be along in a minute". Ella nodded and solemnly followed Margo and the Mother Superior out the door, the fight gone from her and worry in her eyes.
Spotting a sheet of paper and a pencil on the desk, Carreen quickly wrote a note and then added an address at the bottom of it and thrust it into Sarah's hands.
"That address is Ella's grandmother, take this note to her and hurry," she instructed as she raced out the door.
Sarah looked to Alice and stated, "Let's go."
The girls hurried into their coats and rushed from the school to deliver the urgent message.
"What on earth is all of that?" Rhett asked as he entered the room and saw the pile of papers scattered across his mother's writing desk.
"I'm making sure I have everything in order before my meeting with the Archbishop tomorrow," she replied as she shifted the papers into neat stacks.
"The Archbishop?" he said puzzlement flickering across his face. "Aren't you a little old to be converting to Catholicism?"
She peered over the rim of her glasses at him, "I am meeting with the Archbishop so that I can clue him in on the investigation I conducted of the Mother Superior at that dreadful school you sent Ella to."
"What are you talking about, Mother? The school can't be that bad, I've seen marked improvement in Ella and she seems to being doing well."
"That's what you think," Eleanor stated.
Her tone made him take notice and he leaned forward in the chair he sat in across from the desk. Before she could speak a maid hurried into the room with a piece of paper fluttering in her hand.
"A message from Miss Ella's school," the maid said. "The messenger said it was urgent."
Rhett took the paper from her hand with a murmured thank you and hurriedly read the lines.
"What is it, Rhett?" Eleanor asked worriedly.
"It's from Carreen, Ella's in some sort of trouble and I need to get there right away."
"I'm coming with you," she replied as she pushed away from the desk.
"So am I," Wade stated as he appeared in the doorway.
"Let's hurry," Rhett answered as he strode from the room. Something about this situation didn't sit right with him. It didn't make sense for Ella to get herself in trouble now, when she had only one day of classes left and then there were his mother's vague comments that something had been occurring without his knowledge that had led her to investigate the head nun.
As the carriage rolled toward the Sister's of Mercy Convent School, Rhett turned to Eleanor and asked her what she and Ella had been hiding. She quickly explained the hardships Ella had endured during the semester, the troubles with Margo and the Mother Superior's refusal to do anything about the girl. She told him of her own confrontation with the woman and her subsequent investigation that Samuel had carried out for her, and finally as the carriage came upon the imposing building she told him Agnes Sheffield's secrets.
"Why weren't Scarlett and I, informed of this situation?" he demanded to know.
"Ella asked me not to say anything. She wanted to handle it on her own and I figured it was her right to do so as long as Carreen and I were able to keep an eye on her."
He said nothing but exited the carriage with haste, leaving Wade to assist Eleanor.
"Where is my daughter?" his voice thundered as her approached the nun at the front desk of the school.
"In the Mother Superior's office," she replied meekly as she pointed in the direction of the office.
Wade and Eleanor followed behind him as he swung open the office door, allowing it to crash into the wall. His face was filled with fury and Ella, who had been struggling to maintain her composure while clutching Carreen's hand, burst into tears.
"Uncle Rhett," she cried.
Rhett strode towards her taking note of her disheveled clothes and hair and the marks upon her face. She lowered her face as the tears spilled down her cheeks. He tilted her chin up so that she was looking him in the eye once more.
"It's going to be alright, Ella. All of this is going to end here today, I promise you that."
He then turned towards the Mother Superior and with venom in his voice asked, "What the hell is going on here?"
"I'll tell you what is going on here, Mr. Butler" she snarled. "Your daughter is a delinquent of the worst degree. She has been nothing but trouble from the day she arrived here. It is obvious that she has never been disciplined nor has she been taught the manners and respect befitting of a lady, but as I've told your mother that is no surprise seeing as whom she was raised by."
"I'll thank you to keep your opinions of my family to yourself madam and get to the point. My daughter may not be a perfect angel but I doubt any other child is either; in fact I'm positive your past is littered with sins that you should repent for. Now tell me what has occurred here today and we will go from there," he warned.
"Your daughter has viciously attacked Miss Sinclair for no apparent reason," she spat as she gestured to the weeping and battered Margo who was holding a handkerchief to her bloody nose and being comforted by her father.
"Is that true, Ella?" he asked.
"I attacked her but I had plenty of reasons to," she answered honestly.
"Tell me what she did to you."
She told him of Margo's constant torment and her voice broke as she began recounting the conversation that had taken place in her room that afternoon.
"She said that you were nothing but a womanizing worthless opportunist and then she said that Mother had killed my father and that with all her marriages and children she was no better than a whore."
"You little bitch," Wade stated angrily as he glared at Margo.
"I'll handle this Wade," Rhett stated as he turned back to Ella. "Then what happened?"
"That was when I lost control and hit her. I know it was wrong but I couldn't stop it from happening. I couldn't let her say those things about you and Mama. I just couldn't allow that to go by without doing something," she cried.
"I don't care what you say about me, Miss Sinclair, but I deeply care about what is said about my wife and children. Now I'm going to ask you if you did indeed call my wife a whore, because I can't imagine Ella making up a story like that."
Margo sniffed, "I may have."
"Then you got what you deserved, Miss Sinclair. If you were a man I would shoot you for disrespecting my wife's good name in that manner. It looks as if you are the one who hasn't been taught respect," he told her anger apparent in his voice.
"How dare you, Butler!" Joseph Sinclair shouted. "How dare you say my daughter deserved to be attacked by that ill bred ruffian of yours! Margo only spoke the truth; everyone knows what you and your wife are."
Before Rhett could respond, Eleanor interrupted the conversation.
"And I will be more than glad to tell the world what you are Mr. Sinclair," she stated her voice deadly serious.
"I beg your pardon!" Joseph Sinclair replied in outrage.
"No begging necessary Mr. Sinclair, it will be my pleasure. You see I know all about you and your secrets…or should I say yours and Mother Superior's secrets."
"You know nothing," the Mother Superior spat.
"Oh you're so very wrong, Agnes," she replied, a satisfied smile on her lips as the other woman's face paled slightly.
"You will address me as Mother Superior."
"No, I don't think I will, Agnes. In fact you should probably let go of your attachment to that title, for I don't believe you'll be holding it much longer."
"How dare you disrespect me!" the nun raged.
"How dare you, Miss Sheffield! How dare you put on that habit every day and preach at these girls, how dare you tell them about morals and lady like behavior when you are guilty of having an affair with a married man and then giving birth to an illegitimate child. How dare you tell my granddaughter that she was on the path to hell when you have sinned far more than she and in the worst ways possible? You walk these halls acting as though you are a woman of god, knowing the sins you carry on your soul and there is more than just the affair and the child isn't there, Agnes? Let's not forget all the years you spent blackmailing Randolph Sinclair. Do you think the church will approve of that? I don't think they will, and they are going to know all of your dirty little secrets."
Ella's eyes had grown wide with shock at each revelation and Carreen had gasped softly. Ella looked to Rhett, who had taken a place next to Wade. She thought that he would intervene but he seemed content allowing his mother to enact her vengeance. It didn't appear to be over however as the Mother Superior's face twitched and she opened her mouth to speak.
"You are a liar!" she shouted at Eleanor.
"No, the liar is you. I told you I was going to shake the skeletons out of your closet and I have done so with my little investigation. It appears that you weren't a very well liked person, Agnes; in fact the traits I've heard described about you are much the same as those used to describe Margo. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it? Julia Sinclair Phillips is one person who still despises you and she took great pleasure in providing me with all the evidence I need to prove your affair with Randolph Sinclair and that Joseph Sinclair is your son. I have all the letters and documents detailing the trip to England you took with the Sinclair's where you gave birth to your son and handed him over to Malinda Sinclair. I have the proof of Randolph paying for you to enter the convent and I have all the letters you wrote him telling him if he didn't fund your projects you would tell the world that his eldest child didn't belong to his wife. You used his checks to help you move up the ladder and claim the top spot of Mother Superior. I also know that Malinda confessed the truth to Joseph on her deathbed."
With each fact that Eleanor dropped the Mother Superior shook with rage and yet she remained silent, her lips pressed into a thin line as Eleanor took a breath and began to tell the rest of the tale.
"I've learned how your precious Margo has been expelled from every school she's ever attended due to her behavior and attitude problem. Julia wrote me a long letter telling me about Joseph's plan to turn the tables on you, so to speak. He figured that since this school was built with Sinclair money that Margo's place would be secured. It's quite a deal the two of you struck. You have access to the Sinclair money and access to your granddaughter and in return Mr. Sinclair has your silence about the truth of his parentage and the burden of his unruly daughter taken off his hands."
"I don't believe for a moment that my aunt has given you anything! She wouldn't do that!" Joseph Sinclair bellowed.
Eleanor smiled, "Apparently you've overestimated your aunt's loyalty and fondness of you…or perhaps she just hates your real mother so much that family loyalty doesn't come into play."
"I refuse to believe you!" the Mother Superior seethed."You have nothing!"
"We'll see if you still believe that after I speak to the Archbishop tomorrow and show him my proof. Your days here are numbered, Agnes."
The nun trembled slightly before she straightened her spine but it did her no good for her eyes shone with a measure of defeat. Her internal struggle of how to proceed flicked across her face.
"You have no one to blame but yourself, Agnes; when you attacked my family you gave me all the ammunition I needed to expose you for the fraud you are. If only you had had the sense to play the game right. You set yourself up for this, you told me to do my best and now I have and you're going to be humiliated just like all of these girls you've humiliated in one way or another. I hope it was worth it," Eleanor spoke, her tone softening but still laced with seriousness.
"You just try making this public knowledge," Joseph Sinclair threatened; "And I'll have you in court for slander and that delinquent granddaughter of yours arrested for the assault of my daughter."
Rhett stepped towards him menacingly, "You just try coming after my mother and daughter, Sinclair, make sure it's worth it because when you do I will ruin you. I will own everything you have within the week, from your precious publishing company right down to your dog and you know I'm capable of it. I'll make sure everyone in this country and abroad knows you are a bastard and a blackmailer of your own mother. And Margo, when I own everything that belongs to your family I'll allow Ella the pleasure of destroying anything of yours."
"Are you threatening me, Butler?"
"No, Sinclair, I'm making you a promise."
Margo whimpered, "Daddy, you can't let him do that."
Joseph Sinclair clamped his mouth shut and said no more. Rhett smirked at him before turning his attention back to the nun but before he could speak Carreen's voice rang out from behind him.
"I'd like to attend the meeting you having with the Archbishop, Mrs. Butler," she stated.
"You'll do no such thing," the Mother Superior said through clenched teeth.
"You're more than welcome to join me, Carreen," Eleanor replied.
"Good because I have a lot to tell him. I want him to know how she punishes these girls by making them go hungry. I want him to know how she stated that she wants no ones family around here and that once you become a nun you're supposed to turn your back on your real family. I want him to know how she plays favorites and most of all I want him to know how she struck Ella needlessly and how she has threatened me for questioning her judgment."
Fury flickered across Rhett's face. "She hit my daughter?"
"I had no choice," the Mother Superior defended. "She was attacking Margo."
"You hit her after you separated them," Carreen stated.
"Where did she hit you, Ella?" Rhett asked as he moved to her side.
Ella's fingers brushed across the angry red welt on her cheek.
He turned toward the nun, "When you are down on your knees praying tonight, because I'm sure you'll be praying for divine intervention from your problems, you should be sure to thank god for making me a man who isn't inclined towards striking women, because if he hadn't you'd be lying on the floor right now."
"She had it coming," the nun spoke. "I've wanted to slap her from the first day she walked in here."
"My only consolation is knowing that you're going to get whats coming to you," Rhett told her.
"And I suppose I'll have to content myself with the knowledge that I've already arranged for Sister Mary Frances' transfer to South America."
"I'm not going to South America," Carreen stated firmly.
"Oh but you are, Sister; they may succeed in having me tossed out of here but they won't undo a transfer I've already arranged. You'll be on a ship within weeks."
"The only place I'm going is home to my family. I've had enough of this life and I'm walking away from it and you can't stop me."
"We'll see about that," the Mother Superior stated.
"My sister-in-law has made her decision," Rhett replied coolly. "She's leaving with us and there's nothing you can do about it."
"She gave her life to the church!" The nun protested.
"She's given you almost eighteen years; she's ready to live for herself now. You have no legal way of keeping her here, and if the church wants to try and fight that angle, which I doubt, I'm sure my lawyers can make a case of my being the head of my wife's family which would make her unmarried sister, who is without a way of supporting herself, my responsibility."
Anger flared on the Mother Superior's face, "Take her then! Take her and your brat and get out of my school!"
"Gladly," Rhett told her with a smile. "Wade, go with your sister and help her gather her belongings. Carreen, go pack yours, we'll all meet out front," he stated as he took his mother's arm.
Ella couldn't resist one last dig at Margo and she turned to face her. "Well Margo, I guess now I know where you get all your facts about what makes a whore."
With that said she smiled and moved towards the door where Wade waited for her.
"May god have mercy on the man who ends up shackled to her," he stated loud enough for Margo to hear.
She could hear Margo's frustrated cry and felt a sense of relief was over her. It was over now and she had won the war.
Returning to her room, she hurried packed her last remaining belongings. Her cream colored dress hung on the door waiting for her to slip into it but she decided not to and simply clutched it in her hands.
"That's everything, Wade," she told him as he began carrying her boxes out into the hallway.
"I can take care of hauling this stuff out if you want to go say goodbye to your friends," he told her.
She nodded her thanks and hurried out the room with the dress still in hand. She found Sarah and Alice together and she quickly filled them in on what happened and said her goodbyes. She embraced her friends tightly, thanked them for their help and support and made them each promise to keep in contact with her. It was sad to leave them behind but she knew that their experiences that semester would always be a bond between them and she promised to visit whenever she came to Charleston.
Carreen entered her small drab room at the convent for the final time feeling a mixture of relief and fear. The weight had lifted from her shoulders the moment she had made her declaration of leaving and yet doubts lingered in the back of her mind. The fear of what her life would become now, but then she heard Scarlett's voice in the back of her head telling her to think of it tomorrow and she smiled and pulled the nun's veil from her head. She then opened her closet and took out the small carpet bag that she owned and began to pack her meager possessions. Underclothes, nightgowns, hairbrush and toothbrush were carefully tucked into the bag along with her mother's bible. Reaching back into the closet she pulled out the dress she had worn the day she arrived at the convent nearly eighteen years before. It was horribly out of fashion and faded and she was slightly dismayed as she fingered the rough material.
Someone knocked on the door and she called for them to come in.
"You can't wear that," Ella said softly from behind her.
"It's all I have," Carreen replied quietly as she turned to face her.
"You can wear mine," Ella told her as she held out the cream colored dress.
"I can't take your dress, you'll want to wear it," she replied.
"I have a trunk of clothes at grandmother's, I'll change when we get there and besides the blue trimmings on this dress with look nice with your eyes," she stated.
Carreen smiled and took the dress from Ella. "Thank you."
Ella nodded, "I'll wait for you in the hallway."
When the door closed, Carreen stripped away the nun's habit that had been her only wardrobe choice for years. She pulled her corset strings a little tighter to ensure that she would fit into Ella's dress and then she carefully slipped it on. Her fingers shook slightly as she slipped the blue buttons through their holes. Reaching into her bag she quickly grabbed her hair brush unpinned her light brown hair and ran the brush through it before repining it in a more becoming fashion. She placed the brush back into the bag and closed it and then looked around the room one last time. The habit and veil were crumpled on the floor and her spirit felt free. Picking up her bag she opened the door and stepped out without a look back.
Ella smiled at her, "You're much prettier in that dress than the nun's habit."
Carreen laughed lightly, "Feels better too."
"Do you have all of your belongings?" Ella asked.
"Yes, did you get yours?"
"Yes, Wade has already loaded them onto the carriage; they're waiting for us in front of the school."
"Then lets not waste another moment here," Carreen stated as she linked her arm with Ella's and they hurried down the hallway.
That evening after every one had settled in at Eleanor Butler's home, the emotions of the day's events began to catch up with Ella and she quietly slipped from the room and made her way upstairs. Throwing herself down on the bed she felt not only weary but also on the verge of a crying jag. She tried to fight it, tried to keep the sobs from racking her body and the hot tears from escaping her eyes but she eventually gave in and allowed her feelings to roll over her. All of the hurt, anger and humiliation poured out and onto the colorful quilt that she laid upon.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway and then came towards her open door. The steps paused briefly and then crossed the threshold. A moment later the lamp flickered to life and brought light into the room. She kept her eyes shut; hoping that maybe which ever concerned relative that was there would go away and leave her to the cleansing of her soul.
"Ella," Rhett's voice stated quietly.
"Yes?" she asked her voice muffled.
"Sit up and look at me," he told her.
A sigh escaped her but she did as he asked. He took her tearstained face and reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief. She accepted it and wiped away her tears before looking at him.
"It's been a hard day for you," he spoke quietly.
She nodded lightly, "You could say that."
"I just don't understand why you didn't send for us, Ella. We would've never allowed you to remain here if we had known the torment you were going through."
"I had my reasons," she answered and when he looked at her expectantly she continued on. "I was afraid that the next place you'd send me would be worse and at least here I had grandmother. Then there was the part of me that felt like you'd think I deserved it or that I was making it up so I could come home."
"Ella, there is nothing that you have done that would make me feel as though you deserved to be treated the way you have been at that school. I would have never brought you here if I had known what kind of woman was running it or that her granddaughter was going to terrorize you," Rhett replied.
"I just figured I could handle it on my own. You told me that if I was grown up enough to think I was ready for marriage that I should be grown up enough to deal with my punishment."
"Being grown up doesn't mean you can't rely on your parents when your in trouble," he told her.
"I was angry, I didn't want to come to you and have you fix everything and take it as a sign that I was still a child and unable to take care of myself."
"We know that you are not a child, Ella; although sometimes you act like one, but that seems to be a family trait. The point is that no matter how angry you were with us or how angry we were with you, you could have told us what was going on and we would've been here for you."
"I'm sorry, Uncle Rhett," she whispered.
"It's alright; I understand your desire to prove yourself."
"Not about that," she stated.
"Then what?" he asked.
"For everything," she said quietly. "For everything with Johnny and all the things I did and the things I said. I don't hate you….I just feel things I can't help sometimes."
He sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry for acting as though your feelings were petty," he replied. "It's just hard for me to imagine that you'd feel the way you do. If I've ever made you feel different or that you weren't loved as much as the others, I apologize. It was never my intent. I've always loved you, even when your father was alive. I've always thought of you as mine, I always wanted you to be mine," he told her.
"I don't feel that way all of the time," she replied. "Just sometimes. I don't like feeling that way. I guess it's just that I always wished you were my father."
"I am your father, Ella," he stated.
"My step-father," she answered. "Not my father like you are to Bonnie and Joy and James."
"It doesn't matter," he replied. "You are my daughter."
She didn't want to have that argument again so she merely nodded and fell silent. He sighed deeply and then reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a packet of papers.
"Maybe this will make you feel better," he told her as he handed her the thick envelope.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It was supposed to be a Christmas gift but I think you should go ahead and open it."
She slid her finger under the flap of the envelope and pulled out the sheets of paper inside. Unfolding them she saw the words Record of Adoption in the matter of Ella Lorena Kennedy.
She looked up at him in surprise, "You adopted me?"
He smiled at her "Yes, I remembered you saying that maybe you would've liked a piece of paper stating you were my child. Those words have run through my head several times and I figured you were right and that you deserved a document making it all legal for you. I only hope that you aren't offended that I didn't change your name. I figure at your age it's too late for that and besides you should have something of your birth father."
"I'm not offended," she whispered as a fresh batch of tears welled in her eyes.
"I hope this shows you the true depth of my feelings towards you, Ella."
She nodded, "I love you, Uncle Rhett."
He smiled and embraced her once more, "I love you too, I hope that things will be better between us now that we can't put all of this behind us."
She nodded in agreement, "I'll do my best."
"So will I, now get some rest, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."
She said goodnight and watched him walk out of the room. Turning her attention back to the papers she held her heart swelled. It didn't wipe away all of the bad feelings but it was a start. She finally felt like she belonged. Now all that she needed was to go home to the rest of her family.