Ch. 4- Scarlett

If Scarlett could have, she would have framed the look on Jenny's face when she informed her that she was taking the baby to Tara with them for the next month. It was sure to bring her amusement for a long time coming. She didn't fully understand her urge, but she knew she couldn't leave the baby there when she saw all the little baby cots.

In the meantime, she'd taken to calling him Junior. At least until his future home was decided, she didn't feel right naming him. He'd been given a name, and she was sad that she didn't know what it was so that she could call him by it. Cat was intrigued by the tiny thing, pressing small kisses to the baby's forehead whenever she could.

Scarlett, meanwhile, was finding it exhausting to mother two small children. She didn't know how Suellen had done it with all of her brood being so close in ages. Jenny was an excellent help with diaper changes and entertaining Cat when Scarlett was feeding Junior. Once they had arrived at Tara, she'd had to become creative in her feeding schedule and had purchased infant formula for the first time at the general store on her way in from town.

Cat seemed unimpressed with the formula, preferring to be fed by Scarlett or with regular cow's milk, but Junior accepted the formula. It took Scarlett and Jenny several hours to figure out how to properly prepare the formula and bottle she'd purchased, but they eventually succeeded.

Scarlett couldn't help but marvel at the invention, however tedious it was to assemble. A rubber-shaped teat was attached to one end of a long rubber tube, which was threaded through the neck of the bottle. Junior drew up the formula in the bottle when given the rubber teat to suck. He woke every few hours at night, and thankfully, this allowed her to rest as Jenny could assist with feedings now.

Suellen had greeted her with open arms when she had arrived at Tara a few days prior. Scarlett had half expected a snide comment about something, but it never came. She was surprised that Scarlett had added a second ward to her charge. She only said that she'd heard orphanages were terrible places to grow up, and she was glad Scarlett had not left the baby to live there.

Suellen watched with intrigue as the creature she called her sister moved about the house. She was different than before. Scarlett seemed at peace in a way she hadn't ever been, even before the war and certainly not after with any of her three husbands. When Scarlett had left for Ireland, giving her share of Tara to Suellen and Will, she wondered if she'd been dreaming.

The Scarlett she'd known from recent years past would always keep pursuing something that was turning a profit, and despite everything, Tara was turning a profit. Then, months later, she received a letter from the Catholic Church. Scarlett had convinced them to also sign over their interest in Tara, making Suellen the complete owner. She had no idea how she managed it, but she knew that money must have exchanged hands, and if Scarlett was willing to spend her husband's money, then who was Suellen to stop her.

She'd written to Scarlett in Ireland to thank her and Rhett and received word back that the pair were officially, and finally, divorced. They never spoke about the marriage again. As they wrote back and forth, Suellen found that she loved and respected Scarlett in a way she didn't think possible. Now, seeing her in person was unsettling. Scarlett had not done or said anything wrong, but she seemed almost a completely different person, and Suellen felt like she needed to get to know her sister again.

Scarlett smiled and laughed with the children. She helped Suellen in the kitchen and in the garden. Suellen had never gotten the chance to meet Scarlett and Rhett's daughter, Bonnie, but when Mammy had returned home to Tara for the last few months of her life, Suellen had gotten the idea that parenting had not come easy to either of the spouses. She wondered if the loss of Bonnie was what was allowing Scarlett to be such a good stand-in mother to her two wards.

On the third evening, after the children were asleep and under the care of Jenny and Will was already in bed, Scarlett finally sat Suellen down to talk.

"Alright, so why did you need me here? The place is running better than ever; I can credit you and Will for that."

Suellen smiled. "Thank you, Scarlett. It's not about Tara, well, not directly."

"Go on." Scarlett had briefly wondered if Suellen would ask to borrow money to expand, but she didn't know why that couldn't have been done through their letters. She also knew that Will would be present for that conversation as Suellen found no interest in understanding the business side of farming.

"It's Careen. I think she might be in trouble."

Their youngest sister, Careen, entered a convent after the war, depressed that her childhood beau had been killed in action. She was in a cloistered convent now and sent only yearly updates to each of her sisters.

"What kind of trouble? You said it wasn't urgent, or I would have come sooner..."

Suellen shook her head. "I don't know if it's urgent or not. I've tried to go there and speak with her, but they wouldn't let me in. I thought maybe you might have a connection."

"Go back and explain why you think she's in trouble."

"Almost a year ago, Will was approached when he was getting supplies in Atlanta. A nun from another convent- where she used to be- came to him and asked him if he was Will Benteen from Tara. When he said he was, she told him that she had a message for him from Careen. She said Careen wanted to leave and come back home."

"Alright..."

"When Will tried to ask more questions, the nun said she had already said too much and ran off."

That piqued Scarlett's interest more. "How strange. You said you were turned away from visiting her?"

"I've written letters, and I went to the new order. They won't let me speak to Careen. My letters are returned open but unanswered."

"The nun from Atlanta, have you seen her again?"

"No, but right before I sent the letter to you requesting you come, I received a letter in the mail. It was written on stationary from that same convent."

"What did it say?"

Suellen stood and walked over to the mantle. She opened a metal tin and withdrew a folded-up piece of paper before handing it to Scarlett to read.

"Careen is in danger. She needs to go home before anything worse happens. Bring her home."

Scarlett flipped over the page, looking for anything else, but it was blank. The note was unsigned and looked to be hastily written.

"Well, that settles it. Tomorrow, we'll bring Careen home- if she wants, of course."

A/N: While researching the history of formula and bottles, I discovered something rather grim. The bottle described in this chapter was later nicknamed the Victorian Baby Murder Bottle. The glass bottle had a long rubber tube that was attached to the bottle, with the teat attached to the other end. It was a "self" feeder, basically working like a straw. The problem came with the fact that the tube and teat would be left on for weeks at a time until a new one was required, causing bacteria to form. All of a sudden, infant mortality spiked and it's thought to be because babies were getting dysentery and even typhoid.