Chapter Five -

Rhett did not hesitate when he swept into Aunt Pitty Pat's parlor with a now limp Scarlett in his arms. "Run and get Miss Melly." he commanded to Prissy who stared at him in fright. "And then run and get the doctor. I don't care which doctor, but she's injured, and she fainted on the ride from the woods out by Shanty town." He gently laid her on the sofa, worried about how slight she had felt in her arms. She moaned as he set her down as gently as he could. In the brighter light from the warm glow of the lamps, he could see the bruises that were blooming on her face and neck. There were distinct fingers of bruises forming around her neck, and he knew that it was a miracle that she had survived. He left his cloak wrapped around her to protect her modesty, for the front of her dress has been destroyed.

He turned to look for something to lay over her, for her body felt like ice, only to see Prissy slowly meandering towards the door. "Prissy!" he roared, " She needs a doctor now! Get going before I beat you." He commanded with more intensity than he usually cared to show.

He heard another faint moan, and turned his attention back to Scarlett. Her eyes, wide and terrified, were staring back at him. "Good! I don't need Aunt Pitty's smelling salts after all." He grinned genially at her, trying to offer light hearted banter.

"Rhett?" She stammered out. She seemed dazed, and her voice seemed hazy. She flinched away from the light, closing her eyes to the brightness.

He was instantly on his knees beside her, "I'm here, Scarlett. No one is going to hurt you." He brushed away at a tear that was sliding down her face, as she continued to cower into the cushion. "Where does it hurt the most? I've sent for a doctor and someone to come and take care of you." He soothed quietly, for loud sounds he worried would also cause her to shy away from him. She was like a scared kitten, and he would do all he could to protect her now. Bearing guilt that was not his to bear for letting her ride into those woods unescorted.

She squinted at him, her eyes open no more than slits. And she simply stared at him for a moment, hiding in a cloud of confusion and pain, before attempting to sit up, and immediately howling in pain. "My ribs," she wheezed. "And my wrist" which she clutched to her chest. Using her her good hand she gingerly felt the goose egg on the back of her head. The hair felt sticky with congealing blood.

Rhett nodded, "I'm fairly certain that your wrist is broken. And I know that you have bruises all over. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to ride with you. I'm worried that you also have some broken ribs by your reaction right now. Can you tell me what happened out there? I need to know what happened to you."

She shrugged feebly. "Two men were waiting for me when I came across that section of road: one black and one white. It was getting dark, and Big Sam was supposed to meet me. I was a little worried about how dark it was getting, but things didn't go smoothly at the mills today, so it took longer than it should have. I thought it was Big Sam when I heard them coming. And I tried to fight them off. I shot at one of them, and I was close enough I had to have hit him. The other had hold of the horse , And I didn't want to rush shooting the horse when it was my only means of escape. But it only made him angrier. And he ripped my dress open trying to find money, and I kept fighting, but they over powered me. They pulled me from the carriage likeI was a rag doll! But I kept trying to fight back, I know I needed to get away. The black ones hands were around my neck and I could feel the the edges of my vision growing black until I fainted. I don't know much of what happened after that. When I came to, I was in a tent in the woods, and they were gone. Everything hurt. I tried to crawl away, and I couldn't get away. I think my ankles were bound. I tried to untie them, but this arm was useless, I didn't think I was going to survive the night. It was so cold, that's what I remember most at the end. I thought I was going to go to sleep and never wake up." She paused, staring at him with haunted eyes. "How did you find me?"

"Ashley and Frank along with several other men went looking for you, before I even knew you were missing. They found the men that they believed to be your abductors, one of the men did have a gunshot wound on his shoulder. Can you describe them to me?"

Scarlette described them as well as she could, shuddering at the thought of how they had treated her, how her entire body was wracked with pain from their attack. "Where is Frank, Rhett? He must have been worried. It was already late enough that I had to have been missed before everything happened. I shouldn't have been out there so late. I just didn't think anyone would really harm me like they did." She mused softly.

But Rhett ignored the question as Melanie rushed into the sitting room, "Scarlett. Darling." She cooed. "I was so worried for you." She took in the sight of Scarlett wrapped in Rhett's jacket and cloak with Rhett kneeling before her. "Oh, my darling. Captain Butler, you must leave us, so that I can attend to her." She began to brush him off. "On second hand, Captain Butler, can you please carry her upstairs? I know that it isn't fitting, but I believe that she will be more comfortable in the safety of her bedroom for the doctor to examine her." She turned back to Scarlett, "Wouldn't you rather be in your own bedroom for this?" she quizzed.

Scarlett returned a watery nod, and Rhett slid his arms under her as gently as he could to avoid jostling her any more than necessary. Even with his careful handling, her lips went white with pain as she bit down on them- her face contouring into a grimace.

"It is just fine to cry out or scream if you need to, you don't need to suffer in silence," Rhett encouraged. But she only pressed her lips more tightly together, yet still unable to contain the groans of pain. Melanie held the lamp and led Rhett into Scarlett's bedroom, grimacing as she took in Frank's things still scattered through the room. She swiftly shook her head, looking at Rhett to discourage him from sharing about Frank's demise at this point. They locked eyes for a moment and came to the unspoken agreement to withhold the information from Scarlett until they were more certain of her own health.

Rhett set her carefully upon the bed, and stepped towards the door. "Captain Butler," Melanie called out. "You must wait down stairs for your jacket. It is too cold for you to go out without one." She reasoned.

"Rhett," Scarlett's voice came out in not much more than a whisper, "Please don't leave." she pleaded.

Melanie informed them, "Dr. Dean is coming as soon as he is finished with Ashley. I was with him when Prissy came for me.."

"I'll wait for the doctor downstairs." He promised.

"What's wrong with Ashley?" Scarlett asked in confusion.

Don't worry, darling," Melanie returned, realizing her mistake.

"Wait, Rhett. Where's Frank?" Scarlett peered at him in the near darkness of the room, beginning to question why her husband had yet to appear in the room fussing over her for defying him and going to the mills, let alone staying out so late.

He brushed her question aside. "You need medical attention Scarlett. I'll answer questions later." He finished and slipped out the door on his silent feet.

Melanie turned her full attention on Scarlett. "Let me unwrap you from Captain Butler's cloak. You need to be under soft blankets."

Scarlett cried out as she tried to move her wrist. "My wrist must be broken." She shivered as the layers of fabric were removed.

"My poor Scarlett," Melanie cooed as she helped Scarlett undress, her dress was torn down the front and soiled and ripped in other places. Moving was agony, and by the time scarlett was neatly dressed in her nightgown, she was on the verge of passing out again from the pain. "Scarlett, I must ask you about your injuries' ' Melanie hesitated. "I hate to ask you, but you know we need to know… Did they violate you?" She rushed out quickly.

"I don't know, but I don't think so. I passed out after they pulled me from my carriage." Melanie pulled the covers closer to her, and soon Prissy arrived with a warmed brick to help warm her. "When I came to, my clothes weren't any more disheveled than they were in the carriage. "

"I'm sure that you would know, Scarlett." Melanie offered. "I'm so thankful that you weren't. I don't know what stopped them." Melanie gently cleaned the worst of the dirt streaks from Scarlett's face and put ointment on his scrapes.

"Maybe they were interrupted before they could. They were looking for money, but thankfully I didn't have any on me." Scarlett returned.

"We were all so worried!" Melanie exclaimed.

As they waited for the doctor, Scarlett studied Melanie's face, "What happened to Ashley? And what happened to Frank? He should be here fussing over me and scolding me, and I haven't heard so much as a peep from him. What is it that you are hiding from me, Melanie Wilkes?" Scarlett prodded, through lips thinned in a taut line over her teeth, as the pain continued to radiate through her. She watched Melanie's face as she quizzed her, and almost instantly she could see Melanie falter and then immediately turn from her.

"Ashley and Frank went out to try and find you, and Ashley was shot. The doctor is with him now, but he lost quite a bit of blo0d." She explained.

Scarlett jerked up and immediately regretted her quick movement. At her moan of pain, Melanie turned back to her. "Oh darling, I didn't want you to worry about Ashley. You've been friends for so long, and you are already injured." Scarlett closed her eyes and composed herself, trying to brush off the pain for a moment, to allow her head to clear, for the pain was white hot when she moved quickly, and burned away concerns about anything else.

"Dr. Dean is with him. He will get him stitched up." Melanie took a handkerchief and wiped away some of the dirt from Scarlett's face. "Rhett saved them too. I don't know what we would have done without Captain Butler", Melanie gushed.

"Men never can stand to see a woman truly in pain," Scarlett scoffed, once she could again breathe. "I suppose that Frank stayed with Ashley so that you could come and help me?" She continued.

Melanie didn't agree, and the silence hung around them. Rain began hitting the glass softly, and the sound seemed far too loud for it to be just rain. But as the silence lengthened, it began nagging at Scarlett that something more was wrong, and she was puzzled, and more than a little bewildered. She tried to make sense of Melanie's reticence to talk to her. The secret hung suspended in the air between them. It wasn't that she loved her husband, but she did appreciate him. He had made it possible for her to save Tara, and she would be grateful to him for the rest of her life for that. She continued to study Melanie's face, because she was tense and guarded. "Melly, did something happen to Frank?" She queried. "Was he shot too? Is that what is taking the doctor so long?"

Melanie rushed to the door, "I need to go see if Dr. Dean is almost done with Ashley. I'll be right back." and she rushed out the door without giving Scarlett another chance to quiz her.

The longer she lay silent waiting for Melanie to return, the tighter her nerves stretched. She felt that at any moment she would actually hear them break with the same pinging sound a banjo string makes when it snaps. Finally the door squeaked open, but instead of Melanie, Rhett was silhouetted against the door frame, the bulk of his frame blocking most of the light from behind him. His face was hidden in shadows, and she could only see the outline of him. "Melanie said that you are asking about your husband?"

Was there anything the matter, Scarlett wondered? Had she been too absorbed with her own fears to notice? Yes, despite Melanie's attempts to soothe her, there was a difference due to their alarm and shock at what had happened that afternoon. "Yes," Scarlett responded, annoyance lacing her voice. "Why doesn't Melanie just tell me? I have a right to know, he is my husband after all. And it doesn't make sense that he isn't over here scolding me for my driving to the mills and fussing over my injuries."

"Scarlett," Rhett offered softly, "I need you to be calm. I need you to lay still." He was seemingly unruffled by the day, and his calmness helped steady her nerves.

"It isn't as though I were going to sprint out of the room. It hurts to even sit up." Scarlett returned in a huff. "So all right, are you going to tell me where he is? Did Melanie go to fetch him?" A look of abject horror crossed her face, "Did the Yankees capture him? Are they going to seize our assets?" Her heart was hammering in her chest at the thought of beating the wolf from the door. She had two small children now, and not just one.

Instead of bothering to soothe her, he instead went straight to the point, "Scarlett, he was shot in the head in the raid. Frank is dead." Rhett said softly, with a resounding finality.

Scarlett just stared at Rhett, the words were not making sense. She watched his face, as much as she could in the darkness. The heaviness of the night fell upon her, like a too thick blanket in the heat of summer, smothering her with the weight. The room closed in around them, and the only sound was her increasing breaths.

He likewise studied her. Her mouth was gaping open as she tried to process what he told her. He didn't bother elaborating, just waiting, giving her time to process the information after an extremely traumatic day before adding to it. Finally she spoke, softly, not much above a whisper, "Frank…. Is dead?"

Rhett stepped into the room, heedless of the propriety, and he sat in the chair beside her bed. "Yes, Scarlett. He and many of the men from the Old Guard went out to clear the woods and look for you after you didn't come home. I tried to save them as soon as I got word, but I was too late. Frank had already been killed. He wasn't the only one. Tommy Wellburn was also killed. They were fools, and it only distracted the authorities from finding you sooner."

A solitary tear slipped down Scarlett's face, the light from the window highlighting it as it slid down, silver in the faint light, "they're all going to blame me. They're going to say it is my fault that Frank and Tommy are dead." Her voice was raspy, and her breathing was growing rapid. "I was a horrible wife to him. I tried to be kind. I tried to do things to show him that I appreciated him, but I was so shrewish and mean sometimes. I bullied him into letting me have my way. I just can't let my people go hungry again. I can't watch Wade waste away into nothingness. I can't let it happen. I couldn't let it happen." She paused, twisting the quilt that covered her between her hands. "And now I'm a widow again." And she couldn't stop the worries that his death would make the Yankees seize their properties and freeze their assets. "Rhett, are they going to try and take the store and the mill?"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, "No," he soothed, his thumb gently rubbing the back of her hand in a circle, "at least I don't think so. I had Archie take their bodies to an empty lot beside Belle's and make it look like they dueled."

She stared at him dully, overwhelmed by the many events of the evening. And so he continued. "I didn't have much time to come up with a plan, and I needed someone to be an alibi for them. So the rest of the group was taken to Belle's, and Belle and her girls are supporting our story. And as much as the Yankees wouldn't accept the alibis from Atlanta's good citizens, they can't imagine that a house full of whores would lie."

She just stared at him. "Rhett," her voice squeaked and rasped at the same time. "What am I going to do?"

He leaned forward, brushing her face gently with his thumb, wiping tears off her cheek, " I promise you that I will not let anything happen to you. I'll be with you and protect you." He leaned forward a little more and rose, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "I will make sure that you are safe."