Here is new story. I'm working on the others too, but let me know what you think, what you want to see from this story. This story just occurred to me to while I was reading, and I thought it was a good jumping off point.
On Decatur Road
Author's Note: Yes, the beginning is very much mostly all MM's original, but it does have some alterations and will change as the piece goes. There will continue to be MM's original text scattered in as needed to keep authenticity. I wanted to make sure and set the scene appropriately to jump off into my story. These characters do not belong to me and no copyright infringement is intended, nor do I make any profit from it.
As she drove off down the path to the Decatur road from the mills her conscience battled with her desire for money. Johnny Gallagher was infuriating, and she knew she had no business exposing human lives to the hard little man's mercies. She blanched to imagine what would happen to her if he should cause the death of one of them, why she would be as guilty as he was, for she had kept him in charge after learning of his brutalities. But the part of her that was terrified of hunger and starvation and want with her better nature, fear taunting her thoughts. The face of the convicts haunting her as she traveled towards home.
"Oh, I'll think of them later," she decided, and pushed the thought into the lumber room of her mind and shut the door upon it.
The sun had completely gone when she reached the bend in the road above Shantytown and the woods about her were dark. With the disappearance of the sun, a bitter chill had fallen on the twilight world and a cold wind blew through the dark woods, making the bare boughs crack and the dead leaves rustle. She had never been out this late by herself and she was uneasy and wished herself home.
She hopefully looked for Big Sam, but he was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to wait for him, hoping to send him to Tara, or somewhere else to escape. She had always seen him as a member of the family. As she waited, the darkness and thickness of the woods seemed to grow around her. The darkness began creeping closer, and she wished for Rhett to be at her side, reminiscing on their many rides along this stretch of road. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she heard footsteps coming up the path from the settlement and a sigh of relief went through her lips. She'd certainly dress Sam down for keeping her waiting.
But it wasn't Sam who came round the bend.
It was a big ragged white man and a squat black man with a thick barrel chest and corded thickened shoulders. Swiftly she flapped the reins on the horse's back and clutched the pistol. The horse started to trot and then suddenly shied as the white man threw up his hand.
"Lady," he said, "can you give me a quarter? I'm sure hungry."
"Get out of the way," she answered, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "I haven't got any money. Giddap."
With a sudden swift movement the man's hand was on the horse's bridle.
"Grab her!" he shouted to the other. "She's probably got her money in her bosom!"
What happened next was like a nightmare to Scarlett, and it all happened so quickly. She brought up her pistol swiftly and some instinct told her not to fire at the white man for fear of shooting the horse. As the black man came running to the buggy, his face twisted in a leering grin, she fired point-blank at him. Whether or not she hit him, she never knew, but if she did the injury did not stop him. And the pistol was wrenched from her hand by a grasp that almost broke her wrist. He was beside her, so close that she could smell the rank odor of him as he drug her over the buggy side. With her one free hand she fought madly, clawing at his face, and then she felt his big hand at her throat and, with a ripping noise, her basque was torn open from neck to waist. Then his hand fumbled between her breasts, and terror and revulsion such as she had never known came over her and she screamed like an insane woman.
"Shut her up! Drag her out!" cried the white man, and then other man's hand fumbled across Scarlett's face to her mouth. She bit as savagely as she could and then screamed again, and through her screaming she heard the white man swearing. Blackness surrounded her as he restricted her airflow until pin pricks of blackness swarmed her vision, and she could see no more, slumping against the man as he pulled her from the carriage and dragged her away.
