Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Fifteen
Scarlett ignored Rhett's response and said, "If you aren't going to leave, help me figure out how I can get five hundred dollars out of all these people who owe Frank money."
Scarlett turned and gave Rhett an appraising look. He said, "What?"
"I suppose since you made so much money off the war, you could afford to lend me the money to buy a sawmill."
"I could, but why should I?"
"To atone for your actions at Rough and Ready."
"I have nothing to atone for, yet because of our long friendship I will loan you the money, but I have a few questions first and you will answer the questions."
"Why should I?"
"Because if you don't, I won't lend you the money."
"Alright."
"Where is Mr. Wilkes?"
"At Tara with his wife and child."
"If I lend you the money you will never give Mr. Wilkes a job."
"Why not? Ashley needs a job?"
"I refuse for my money to help Mr. Wilkes."
"I just want to point out that not only are you punishing Ashley but Melanie and Beau also."
"If Mr. Wilkes is any kind of a man, he will find a way to support his family."
"I guess you have a flexible standard on what it means to be a man considering it wasn't very manly of you to abandon me and Melly at Rough and Ready."
"You survived; that is all that matters."
With a sad voice Scarlett said, "No thanks to you and your half-baked manliness. Yes, I survived and dragged all of my family with me." She shook her head like she was shaking off unwanted thoughts. She continued, "I will abide by your wishes as long as I owe you money. Once I have paid off my loan you don't get a say in how I run my business."
"You don't hire Mr. Wilkes ever or no loan."
With a mutinous expression, Scarlett said, "Alright."
Right now, Scarlett had to get the money no matter what she had to promise. If she didn't like the conditions, she would just renege on the deal just like she did last time.
"If you hire Mr. Wilkes, you will have to pay me the balance of the loan right then or fire Mr. Wilkes. Agreed?"
"No, I am not going to have you tell me how to run my business."
"Fine. No loan unless you agree to the terms."
"Fine."
"Are you agreeing with the terms of the loan, or are you just acknowledging that I said something? I am going to need you to say agreed. I don't want you claiming later that you hadn't agreed to this latest condition."
"Agreed. Although I am going to state one more time that this edict to not hire Ashley is going to hurt Melly and Beau also."
"And as I said before, if he is any kind of a man, he will find a job in order to support Miss Melly and his son."
"Sometimes everyone needs a helping hand."
"You can help Mr. Wilkes all you want just not with my money."
"Alright. Alright. Let's stop talking about it. What kind of interest are you going to charge me?
"Once again because of our long friendship I will do you a favor. I will not charge you interest."
"Thank you."
"You can thank me by bestowing a sexual favor upon me."
Scarlett looked at Rhett with disgust. She said, "I think not."
"You must really need the loan. You are not yelling at me for that comment."
Angrily Scarlett said, "Of course I need the loan. I wouldn't ask for a loan if I didn't really need it."
"I just wanted to make sure you are grateful."
Scarlett didn't answer. She just scowled at Rhett.
Scarlett wasn't going to hire Ashley but there was a flaw in Rhett's penalty. If she had already paid off her loan, there would be no balance she would need to pay right then and there. Nonetheless, she would let him believe he had forced her not to hire Ashley. Although she was wondering why he was being so much more demanding than last time.
The clerk who had been on his dinner break came into the store. Scarlett stood up and said, "Come along. We are going to buy a sawmill."
Rhett just followed Scarlett out of the store.
On the way out to the mill, Rhett asked Scarlett, "Why did you marry Mr. Kennedy?"
Scarlett was not going to play games with Rhett. He had never believed anything positive about her. She said, "I needed three hundred dollars to save Tara. He had three hundred dollars. Easy Peasy."
"Did you get the money out of him?"
"Of course, it has already been delivered to Clayton County."
"Just out of curiosity, how did you know Mr. Kennedy had that kind of money."
"I didn't until I went by to see him at his store. I was going to ask him if he knew of anyone who would loan me three hundred dollars. While we were talking, he bragged to me about how much money he had. After that it was just a matter of time before I got my hands on the money I needed."
"Wasn't he involved with your sister?"
Scarlett looked sharply at Rhett. She said, "How did you know that? I know I never told you that. I never speak about Suellen. Or Frank Kennedy for that matter."
Rhett had to think fast. He thought of something. He said, "Mr. Kennedy told me he was calling on a Miss O'Hara and I knew it wasn't you."
"That was a safe bet." With a mischievous smile she said, "Then I married him."
"How did you steal Mr. Kennedy's heart away from your sister?"
"Frank has never learned that one shouldn't believe everything that someone tells him. I may have led him to believe that Suellen had thrown him over for another."
"What are you going to do once he finds out the truth?"
"Nothing. He was just a means to an end. We are legally married, and the marriage has been consummated, therefore there is nothing he can do about it now. You cannot imagine my surprise when that old, fat, ugly man actually thought I had fallen in love with him. In less than two weeks no less."
"I hope you have a happy marriage."
"We won't but that is not your concern."
"Why did you not come see me instead? Surely, having a carnal relationship with Old Frank is not more desirable than having one with me."
Scarlett ignored Rhett's comment about a carnal relationship and smiled. She said, "You could not access your money. It wasn't like the Yankees were going to let you take a day trip to the bank to withdraw your money."
Scarlett's statement stunned Rhett. She usually wasn't that forward thinking. All he could say was, "That is true."
While they were driving through Shantytown to the sawmill, she had been looking for Big Sam. She believed she saw him on the east side. She would make Rhett stop on their way back.
As Scarlett looked at all the people, she said, "Rhett, where did they come from?"
"The plantations."
"They are starving. Why don't they go back?"
"Two reasons. They would never return to the place of their enslavement and the plantation owners can't feed them so they wouldn't be welcomed back."
"We have welcomed back our slaves that have returned."
"If you can feed them, you are doing much better than most."
"We aren't doing good at all."
"You are doing better than they are."
"Just barely. I am going to have nightmares about this for years to come."
Rhett looked sharply at Scarlett. He decided there was no significance to her statement.
Later that afternoon, Scarlett Kennedy was the proud owner of a small sawmill on Peachtree Road, just past Shantytown. Rhett had done all the negotiating. He had actually gotten the sawmill for two hundred and eighty dollars instead of the three hundred dollars.
Rhett absolutely refused to stop. He said, "Scarlett, look at all these people. Any one of them could be desperate enough to charge the buggy. Everything we have is more than they have. They would be happy to take everything we have including your virtue. No, we are not stopping."
Scarlett just started screaming out, "Big Sam. Big Sam. Big Sam."
Scarlett hoped Big Sam could hear her and would come to the road. She agreed with Rhett. They shouldn't stop. This was all reminding her too much of when she was actually attacked.
Finally, Scarlett saw him walking towards them. He looked ten years older because he had a full beard. There was a lot of gray in Big Sam's beard.
At that point, Rhett stopped the buggy long enough for Big Sam to climb in the back. He then took her and Big Sam back to Hamilton House.
On the way back to Hamilton House, Scarlett had worked out the details with Big Sam. He would be her bodyguard for room and board until she could afford to pay him. She would be incredibly careful that nobody offended Big Sam. She remembered how Uncle Peter had gotten his feelings hurt by one of those Northern ladies. Then the woman had made it worse by making fun of Uncle Peter for being hurt by her words. She didn't care if it cost her a sale, she would not let anyone make fun of Big Sam. She needed him too much. She needed him to keep bad men and Rhett away, which as she thought about it, Rhett fit in the first category also.
Rhett thought about Scarlett hiring a bodyguard. This was different than the first time. The first time she would have scoffed at the idea of wasting money on a bodyguard. She would have thought she could take care of herself.
Rhett parked the buggy in front of Hamilton House. Scarlett, Big Sam, and Rhett all got out of the buggy. After they were out of the buggy, she turned to Rhett and said, "Goodbye. Thanks for the loan and your help purchasing the sawmill."
Scarlett turned back to Big Sam and said, "Go around back. I will be there in a minute to tell everyone what is going on."
On Rhett's way back to the hotel, he reflected on his and Scarlett's conversation. It was certainly not what he was expecting. She had been more honest than he had ever known her to be. She didn't even pretend for a minute that she had married Old Frank for any other reason than for his money. He had expected a lot of denial of what she had actually done in regard to Mr. Kennedy. He had also expected a lot of defending of Mr. Wilkes. About how good and wonderful he was. How noble, honorable, and decent the man was. How Mr. Wilkes was a paragon of virtue. In fact, now that Rhett thought about it, Scarlett hadn't defended Mr. Wilkes at all. She had just taken shots at Rhett's masculinity.
As Scarlett walked into Hamilton House, she was humming a tune under her breath. She saw that Frank was sitting up in the parlor. She said, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I should be able to go to the store tomorrow."
"You should stop giving out credit."
"I can't say no to people who need a helping hand."
"You will never get that money back."
"Maybe, but I don't want people to say I am tightfisted."
Scarlett remembered that Frank was always so concerned about what other people were saying about him. Just like Suellen. Scarlett said, "I bought the sawmill out on Peachtree Road. You know the one past Shantytown."
"How did you get the money?"
"Rhett loaned me three hundred dollars. He took my earbobs as collateral."
"Your earbobs aren't worth three hundred dollars."
Scarlett giggled and said, "I know, but if Rhett wanted to give me three hundred dollars for them who was I to object?"
"I don't want you spending time with Rhett Butler. He has the most awful reputation."
"True."
"He stole the Confederate gold."
"That is what I hear also."
"He inflated his prices during the war."
"I heard that also."
"So, you are not to spend time with him."
"The only time I will spend with him is when I make a loan payment or when you are around."
"Very well."
"But if you don't want to let him in our home you will have to tell him, not me."
"I will do it."
"I have also hired a bodyguard. I will take care of his salary, so you don't need to worry about him. His name is Big Sam, and he was once a former slave at Tara. I will need to go assign him a room and introduce him to everyone."
After Scarlett was finished dealing with Big Sam, she walked up the back stairs. It appeared everyone was comfortable around Big Sam. Peter had volunteered to show him the servants' quarters and where Big Sam's room would be.
When Rhett called at the Hamilton House, Uncle Peter would not admit him to the house.
Peter said, "You are not welcome here."
"I'm sure Mrs. Kennedy will be happy to see me."
"No, she will not. I have already been told not to receive you in the house."
Peter was quite happy to deny Rhett access to the house. Peter had always thought the man was white trash despite the fact he came from one of the best families in the South. In addition to that, Mr. Butler's presence in the home always upset Miss PittyPat.
Rhett said, "I would like to hear it from Mrs. Kennedy herself."
"Very well. I will let Mr. Kennedy tell you."
"I want to hear it from Mrs. Kennedy."
"Follow me to the parlor."
