Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The train trip took forty hours. Luckily Rhett was able to get a private car in Mobile. Nonetheless, it was a rough trip. Rhett had sent Scarlett a telegram from Mobile also. He decided that was expected of a person in a loving relationship. Sadly, he had no idea what was expected of a person in a relationship, much less a loving one. He, in fact, had no idea what was expected of a husband in regard to his wife. He knew one thing. Coming and going without explanation was certainly a failure on his part.
All Rhett knew in that moment was he was accountable to her and she to him. Although he didn't know if she was there yet. He wouldn't worry about that right now. He also decided that by letting her know what was going on he was not appearing weak but was in fact appearing strong.
After Rhett had gotten into the private car, Clarence had explained how the mechanics of implanting negative thoughts in a person's brain worked. The demon had to find a path into the human's brain. For example, resentment or jealousy. The demon then whispered suggestions to the human. Every person was assigned a demon. The demon's goal was to make the human's life miserable. Some humans were just more easily manipulated than other people. One never knew who could be manipulated and who couldn't. Sister Beatrice, the mother superior at Careen's convent, should not have been easily manipulated, but she was. Not by making her less devoted, but by making her supposedly more devoted. The best part of turning Beatrice was her actions would turn a lot of women away from the Lord.
Implanting positive thoughts was much the same as negative thoughts, the only main difference was the path. Love was the easiest path to use.
When Rhett arrived in Houston, it was seven o'clock in the morning. He took a cab to the Republic Hotel. He stopped along the way at a Western Union and sent Scarlett a telegram telling her that he had arrived and where he would be staying.
When Rhett checked in the desk clerk at the Republic told him his suite would not be ready for several hours. After money had changed hands, Rhett's suite was ready within the hour. At the same time, his bath was ready. By eleven o'clock he was cleaned up and ready to find Frank Kennedy. He stopped at the hotel restaurant and had dinner. He then stopped by the front desk to inform them they could get the bathtub out of his room. When he did, he found out he had a telegram. It was from Scarlett. He was surprised that she had put forth so much effort. The telegram read: Forty hours on the train just to get there STOP Thank you so much for going STOP I would not have had the time STOP Or the know how to find Frank STOP
Rhett was smiling as he walked out of the hotel. Scarlett appreciated all his efforts and verbalized that appreciation. How wonderful that made him feel. What a difference. Yes siree, Bob.
That evening Rhett had several of the answers. The most important answer to Rhett was that the telegram was not sent by a man, but by a thickset, red-headed woman. Suellen was much rounder than she had been when she left Georgia, but that was because she no longer cared about her shape. She no longer wanted to attract a man that way. Although she did enjoy flirting with some of the customers, they couldn't give her a better life than she had right then and there.
The telegraph operator remembered the woman quite well. She had left a lasting impression and not in a good way. She had not had enough money to pay for the telegram. She had to reword her message to get it almost down to the amount of money the woman had. In the end the operator had just agreed to send the telegram for the amount of money the woman had on her. By that time, he had just wanted to get her out of the store. She had caused quite the scene. On top of it all, the woman had not been grateful for everything he had done for her. The man quite clearly remembered the woman's last comment. She said, "Now I don't have any money to buy my dinner. I will have to starve all the way back to Galveston."
After Rhett left the store he said to Clarence, "I guess Suellen didn't think anyone would investigate the telegram."
"Or not as quickly as you have. Memories fade with time."
"True, but I think she is going to be talked about by those men for weeks if not months to come."
"True. When are you going to Galveston?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"What is your plan?"
"I'll bet money that Frank opened another general store, therefore we will go by every general store in Galveston until we find her."
"Don't you mean them?"
"No. I am beginning to believe that Frank is either dead or he has run off again. Hopefully, it is the first one. Can you find out if Frank is dead?"
"No, that is confidential information."
"All right. I'm going to go have supper after I send Scarlett another telegram."
"What are you going to tell her?"
"Not much. Just that I have a lead."
Clarence didn't tell Rhett that Scarlett was not going to be happy with such little information. He didn't tell the former Charlestonian because Clarence was pretty sure the man already knew that. Clarence was happy the man was sharing at all.
The telegram to Scarlett simply said: I have a lead STOP Will know more tomorrow STOP.
Clarence had been right Scarlett had not been happy with the scant amount of information Rhett had shared with her, but she was extremely happy he had shared any information with her at all. She sent Uncle Peter to the telegraph office with the message to be sent to Rhett that said: Thank you Stop.
Scarlett told Cookie that they would not be having her birthday supper that Saturday. They would not have it until Rhett returned. PittyPat was aghast that Scarlett was changing her plans on Rhett's account. Scarlett laughed and said, "Aunt PittyPat, you know Rhett is my best friend."
Rhett took the train down to Galveston. At the stables next to the station he rented a horse for the day. He rode along a road that bordered the Gulf of Mexico. He casually wondered if he could ever get Scarlett to live by the ocean or even a body of water. Rhett smiled. He needed to worry about getting her to marry him much more than where they lived. Actually, he needed to worry about her trusting him more than anything else.
By midmorning, Rhett was exhausted. He never knew how tiring it was to speak to so many people. He had to ask them all the same questions. Where they the owner? Who was the owner? Was the owner available? Finally, he got desperate and said, "Do you know of a general store owned by a red-headed woman?"
Rhett was immensely pleased when a man said, "Yes, Suellen Carter. She has a shop on Avenue O. It used to be Mr. Jacobs', but he died last summer during the yellow fever epidemic. She has an apartment over her store. She and her husband, Frank, moved her in right after Enoch died. Unfortunately, Frank died during the epidemic also."
Frank being dead certainly pleased Rhett, but who was the other man?
Rhett said, "Enoch?"
"Enoch Jacobs. His widow sold out immediately and moved to Houston with her daughter. They were fleeing the yellow fever epidemic. I hear it didn't do them any good. They are all dead from yellow fever."
Although Rhett didn't care about Mrs. Jacobs and her daughter, he knew what his response was supposed to be. He said, "That is awful. Where is Mrs. Carter's shop exactly?"
"1551 Avenue O. Tell her I will see her at church Sunday."
As Rhett walked out of the store, he was smiling a mean smile. Scarlett was a widow and Will would soon be a divorced man before Rhett left Galveston.
Rhett stopped to have dinner before he went to Suellen's store. He already knew it was going to be a long afternoon. They would have to find a shady lawyer at the very least.
Rhett had eggs benedict with crab for his dinner at The Sunflower Cafe. He thought about how much he enjoyed eating seafood. He once again thought about living by the water. He once again squashed those thoughts. Get her to trust you and marry you then worry about where you are going to live. Or just get her to marry you then you can prove that she can trust you. Just concentrate on Scarlett's wants and desires not yours.
When Rhett walked into Carter's General Store, he saw a red headed woman he assumed was Suellen. She looked old. Much older than Scarlett despite the hard life Scarlett had lived. The woman was fat, and he was quite sure judging by her face that she had been hitting the bottle. As incredible as it was, he had never met his sister-in-law in their first timeline because of that whole never visiting Tara thing. He said, "You made a big mistake sending that telegram."
Suellen didn't know who the tall, mean looking man was, but she was afraid he was her worst nightmare. She was afraid he was right. Sending that telegram had been a big mistake. She said, "What telegram?"
"The one you sent trying to keep Scarlett tied to a dead man."
With a quick look at Edgar and the customers, Suellen said, "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Shall we go outside? Or do you want to continue airing your dirty secrets in front of everyone?"
"I have nothing to hide, but since I don't want to disturb the customers let's go outside."
Judging by the way everyone in the store was paying rapt attention to Suellen and Rhett, they would not be the least bit disturbed for the show to go on.
Once Rhett and Suellen were outside, he said, "You made a big mistake sending that telegram."
"Who are you?"
"I am your worst nightmare. I am Scarlett's fiancé, Rhett Butler."
"That is just like Scarlett. She didn't wait long to get another husband lined up."
"True enough, but I now know Frank is dead. Thanks for sending that telegram. It is going to save us the time and trouble to divorce the sack of shit."
It spoke to Suellen's lack of feelings for Frank that she didn't defend him instead she said, "What telegram?"
"The telegram you sent from a Western Union in Houston. They described you perfectly. Old, fat, with red and gray hair."
"You don't have to be nasty."
"I kind of do. It is just something inside me that makes me be nasty to stupid people."
"What do you want?"
"First for you to sign a document that states that Frank Kennedy is dead. Then swear that his friend Suellen Benteen is dead also. You can pretend to be Suellen's sister… I need a name."
"Joan Rivers. That is my employee, Edgar's late wife's name."
"We will tell the lawyer that Frank left the store to you and Suellen, but now that your sister is dead the store is entirely yours."
"All right."
"The lawyer will make you swear on a bible that what you are saying is true. Can you do that?"
"Yes, yes. I can do that."
Suellen had questioned the existence of God. In her opinion – If there was a God, she would not have had such a lousy life. Furthermore, what was important right now was getting out of this situation. Right now, she had to do whatever it took to get this man out of her life and off the island of Galveston.
Rhett said, "Don't worry the lawyer won't say anything. He is bound by client/attorney confidentiality."
"Perfect."
"Do you know of an attorney?"
"Yes, one I have heard isn't completely proper."
"Sounds like our kind of man. What is his name?"
"Oliver Holmes."
"Where is his office?"
"On Avenue F. I don't know exactly."
"Let's go. We don't have all day. I want to be out of this area by tomorrow morning."
"Let me tell Edgar I am going to be gone for a few hours."
Suellen and Rhett walked back into the store. She said, "Edgar, I will be out all afternoon."
"Yes ma'am."
Edgar was thinking, 'If I had known I was going to end up working for such an ill-tempered woman, I would have bought the store from Mrs. Jacobs. Especially, now that my wife has passed away. I could have lived in the apartment upstairs. I didn't buy the store last summer when Mr. Jacobs died because Joan would not have been able to climb up and down the stairs on a regular basis. Oh well, you live and learn.'