Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Thirteen

When Scarlett and Melly got to Tara, Scarlett left the buggy in the clearing after she fixed the reins so the horse wouldn't run off. The ladies went in search of Ellen. They found her in the kitchen. Scarlett said, "Mother, good news. Melly is now living at Twelve Oaks, but she doesn't know how to manage a plantation. Will you help her?"

"Of course. Melly, shall we go into the parlor where we will be more comfortable."

"Mother, where is Wade?"

"Mammy has him."

"I'm going to call on Cathy to offer my sympathies about Rafe. I'll be back for dinner. You must stay for dinner, Melly."

"Of course."

"Scarlett, you aren't going to stay and listen to my instructions on how to run a plantation."

"As much as I love Tara, I know I will never live here again."

"What do you mean?"

"I just know I will never live here again."

"Go on then. You and your feelings."

Scarlett smiled and said, "I have never been wrong yet."

When Scarlett got over to Pine Bloom, she was flooded with memories. Memories of her extremely happy life before the war. Admittedly after she had filled out a lot of women didn't like her just because she was so popular with the men, but Cathy and Melly always had. Cathy was always her friend. Maybe because Cathy was almost as popular as Scarlett was. No matter how unkind the other girls were to her Scarlett remained polite. Melly had taught her that. Melly had said, "Don't ever lower yourself to their level."

Scarlett never tried to steal someone's beau away from another woman even when the men gave her appreciative looks. She knew that would not be kind to the young men to give them encouragement when they had no future. If they came to call on her, she never turned them away, though. In the end most of the other girls had a begrudging admiration for her even if they didn't want to stand next to her at a social event. That was alright. She had Cathy and Melly to stand next to her.

As Scarlett got out of the buggy, she called out to Cathy. Cathy came out of the barn. She smiled at Scarlett and said, "Are you visiting your parents for Christmas?"

"Yes, Wade and I are."

"Come on with me back to the barn. I haven't got time to sit in the parlor and talk. I have too much to do. You heard my father died a couple of years ago, didn't you?"

"Yes. And now Rafe. I'm so sorry for you Cathy."

"Thank you, Scarlett. We all lost someone in the war. Hopefully, Cade will make it home. I don't know what I will do if he doesn't."

"You will think of something."

"I'm out here all by myself. Thankfully, Mr. Hilton is down at the overseer's cabin. He has been very nice to me since my stepmother moved back up to Ohio."

"She left you alone."

"Not two weeks after Father died but what can you expect. She is a Yankee."

The ladies smiled at each other.

Scarlett said, "I guess you heard Tom Tarleton died."

"Yes. That hurt almost as much as learning Rafe was dead. You know he started to call on me before the war started. We had been corresponding since he went off to war. We were going to get married after the war was over. At least, I will have his letters," Cathy smiled when she said, "He would write me two letters. One was what we were going to do in the future and the other was about how much he loved me."

"I didn't know it was that serious."

"Maybe it was because of the war but Tom declared his feelings to me before he went to join his troops."

"I didn't know. By that time, I was already a widow and in seclusion."

"Yes, you were. I don't think I will ever marry now. I don't want to marry anyone but Tom."

I don't know if I could have lived with that red hair."

Cathy laughed. She said, "I thought he was handsome even with his red hair. You let Brent call on you."

"That was for Careen's sake. She had a crush on him."

"Is she devastated by his death?"

"No, she was beginning to find him stupid and immature."

"Both he and Stuart were. Tom wasn't like that. Boyd was going to be a lawyer and Tom was going to take over the running of Fair Hill."

"Our lives are never going to be the same."

"No because our world will never be the same. Stupid men."

"Rhett is always saying that it was the politicians fault we went to war. They should have figured a way to resolve our differences with the North over slavery."

"Rhett?"

"My gentleman caller."

Cathy burst out laughing. She said, "Scarlett, you are amazing. There probably is only one man between the ages of sixteen and sixty in the South and you captured him. How old is he?"

"I think he is in his late thirties. He was a grown man when I was eight. You met him at that barbecue at Twelve Oaks the day the war started. His name is Rhett Butler. He ate dinner with us. He is doing his part for the South. He is a blockade runner."

"I remember him. He is quite handsome and quite rich and quite socially prominent. Well done, Scarlett."

"Thank you. I have to get back to Tara for dinner."

"Come by again if you get a chance."

"I almost forgot to tell you. Ashley is back from the war. He is not going back. He says the war was over after we lost at Gettysburg and Vicksburg fell."

"Mr. Hilton says the same thing. I have written Cade and urged him to come home. I have told him that I desperately need him to return. I doubt he will return though."

"I will pray for him to return. Melly is living at Twelve Oaks now and India has moved to Atlanta to live with her Aunt PittyPat."

"Hopefully forever."

"You never have liked her."

"You don't like her any better than I do."

"You are right but I feel sorry for her. Her mother died when she was fifteen and she had to start running the plantation. Instead of continuing to be a carefree belle she had to become a mature woman. You know she got a lot better once Stuart started courting her."

"That idiot. How could two men be as stupid as Brent and Stuart?

Scarlett laughed and said, "I don't know. All I know is that they wouldn't be able to pour water out of a boot even if the instructions were written on the sole of the boot."

Cathy laughed also. She said, "I know India got better after Stuart started courting her despite the fact, he was younger than her. Needless to say, she has always irritated me for some reason."

"I just think she felt like life wasn't fair to her. Honey got to continue being a carefree belle and Ashley got to go on a grand tour. What did she get? Nothing but a lot of work and, of course, the loss of her mother."

"That was so strange. One day Mrs. Wilkes was fine and the next day she was dead. Young Doctor Fontaine said he thought it was a heart attack despite the fact she was only thirty-six at the time."

"I know. I guess one never knows when one is going to die."

"True but Ashley's chances of living are much greater here in Clayton County than they are in the Confederate Army."

"True. Now, I really have to go, or my family will have eaten all the good vegetables before I get home."

Cathy laughed and said, "Please do try to come by again before you return to Atlanta. It gets so lonely out here."

"I will."

"Goodbye Scarlett."

"Goodbye Cathy."

All the way back to Tara Scarlett felt an air of sadness shroud her. When she was almost back at Tara, she knew why she was sad. She knew now that April fifteenth in sixty-one was the last day of all of their childhoods. Not just hers and Cathy's but every young person at that barbecue. Maybe every young person in the South. When Scarlett saw Wade with his grandfather, she resolved she would do whatever she had to do to ensure he had a happy childhood.

The conversation over dinner was happy. Scarlett updated everyone on what was going on with Cathy although everyone at the table already knew the information. Everyone was happy that Ashley was back from the war in one piece. Although none of the ladies voiced this opinion, they just wanted the men to come home. They just wanted to start rebuilding their lives. Everyone at the table knew nothing was going to get better until the war was over. They also all knew that the South couldn't win the war at this point. Yet nobody voiced that statement.

Scarlett smiled as she saw her sisters look wistfully at Wade. She was sure they were wondering if they would ever be able to have a child of their own. For some strange reason, a thought popped into Scarlett's head. It was 'Thank goodness Mother and Pa have this time with Wade now.'

Scarlett wondered why she had thought that. She wondered what the future held for them. She knew it wasn't good, yet she knew deep in her heart that Rhett would get her and Wade through it all. She wondered why she had so much faith in him. After all he was just a mocking, irritating man, yet when he wasn't mocking her, he was quite funny. He was quite generous with his money and practical too. He was always bringing her hairpins. She blushed when she thought, 'He is such a good kisser, also.'

After dinner was over, Scarlett took Melly home. On the way back to Twelve Oaks, Scarlett said, "Was Mother able to help you get started?"

"Yes, although I am a little bit overwhelmed by everything, I am now responsible for. I think India is getting the better end of the deal by staying in Atlanta and working at the hospital."

"Maybe but working at the hospital is not easy. And then there is the emotional toll."

"Are you going to continue living in Atlanta even though I am not there?"

"I am going to miss you, but I have to stay available for Rhett to call on me. I know he would never ride down to Tara to call on me."

"I don't know why not. He is willing to travel over three hundred miles to see you."

Scarlett laughed and said, "He can pretend that he wasn't traveling all that distance to see me but to sell his goods."

Melly smiled and said, "The same goods he could have sold in Charleston?"

"I didn't say it made sense. I just said why he would travel to Atlanta but not to Tara."

Both ladies laughed. They talked of other things. When they got to Twelve Oaks as Melly got out of the buggy, she said, "Do you want to come in?"

"No, I need to get back to Tara."

"I don't know how much time I will have to visit but do come by before you go back to Atlanta. I know I am not going to have the time to bring you India's clothes. I will just get Ashley to bring them to you."

"No, I will come get them, so I can see you before I go back to Atlanta."

"I will have Honey pack them up. I am not looking forward to having to listen to Honey make snide comments about you."

"Get Ashley to shut her down."

"Good idea."

"You will have to make the time to come to Wade's birthday party though."

"Of course. Goodbye now."

"Goodbye, love you."

"Love you, too."

With that Scarlett turned her buggy around and headed back to Tara. As she looked at the fields of cotton, she hoped Pa was able to keep most of the field hands working.

Scarlett did go visit with both Melly and Cathy during her stay at Tara. She soon found out that it was a lot harder to run a plantation than she had ever known. Her mother had always done it so seamlessly. Neither Cathy nor Melly ever had the time to sit and visit. When Scarlett visited them, the ladies were always on the go.