[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

By August, the cotton warehouse Scarlett wanted was finally built.This was finally a bright spot in the restless days, so Scarlett rarely asked the black slave to go back to take a breath, and her mood became a little brighter.

I have been uneasy for so long, maybe those nightmares will not come true?At least, according to the news she got from several visits, Karin's physical condition is improving, and Ellen is not sick.Maybe everything is really different?

With these thoughts Scarlett returned to Tara, where dinner was being prepared.Scarlett glanced at it and suddenly realized something was wrong, walked to Dilsey and asked, "Where's Mrs. Wilkes?"

Dilsey's thick lips parted, and a hint of worry appeared on her bronze-colored face: "Miss Meili received a letter from Miss Pete this morning, and she hasn't come down since then."

Scarlett frowned.She was in no mood to eat, so she quickly went upstairs after a few quick bites, knocked on the door of Meili's room, and said softly, "Honey, can I come in?"

"Scarlett?" Mei Li's voice was hoarse because she had not spoken for a long time, and she was obviously a little surprised, "Come in, dear."

The door opened, and Scarlett walked in slowly.Mellie was turning around. She was sitting on the bed, her dark eyes were wide open, their sockets dark and sunken, and she was smiling.Letters and envelopes were strewn about the bed.She held out her hand to Scarlett:

"I'm sorry, dear, to worry you again."

"Could you show me the letter, Merry?" Scarlett sat down beside her and put her arm around her shoulders. "It's so much easier to tell, my dear. What happened?"

"It's nothing." Mellie let out a breath, and showed the letter to Scarlett. "Aunt Pete told me that Atlanta is getting more and more chaotic, and she has fled to Macon. I'm so sad. You said that Atlanta will Is there really something wrong?"

"Don't be sad, Merry." Scarlett comforted her, her heart was at ease, "No accident will happen to Atlanta, it is a great city." Even if it is destroyed, it will tenaciously stand up again.She added silently in her heart.

"I know." Melanie forced a smile, still looking a little unhappy.She hesitated for a moment, and finally revealed the truth: "Yes... well, I don't know what to say! Scarlett, you know, I was just staying with you for a few days because I found out that—" She felt a little Ashamed, "I stayed here because I was not feeling well, and I didn't pack everything that should be packed. I found out from Aunt Pete's letter that she——she left in a hurry, and she didn't bring a lot of things with her. Alas, I really Worried about the family..."

"Okay, don't worry about it," Scarlett said softly. "Is there anything important missing? I'll write to Mrs. Merriwether or Mrs. Elsing and ask them to send Tara. You You can’t skip eating just because of this, can you?”

"It's...something from Charles. His portrait and the saber—my dear brother." Under Scarlett's questioning, Melanie finally revealed the truth, "I'm really worried. My aunt was too careless to escape. It's too hasty. My dear brother, he only left us with a little miss! But what if..." She opened her eyes wide in horror, as if she was about to cry in the next second, "Scarlett Is it wrong for you to say that I should not doubt the great cause of the Confederacy, nor should I doubt that the Yankees will invade Atlanta and ruin it all!"

"Oh, Merry, it's certainly not a fault!" Scarlett hastened to reassure her, trying to ignore the bad memories caused by her words, "Don't worry, I'll write and ask Mrs. Merriwether to send Charlie's belongings Come here—of course I know that this is important to you and should be taken with you."

Jesus, that's what Merry is!She will always regard those emotions and morality as more precious than life!Scarlett clearly remembered that on the day Meili gave birth in her previous life, the day the city of Atlanta was broken, she was in a hurry to escape, but Meili repeated Charles' name over and over again in a weak voice, urging her to take Charles with her. The relics are in the not-so-capable carriage.God!

Scarlett comforted her a few more words, remembering that there were still things to deal with, she hurried out again.

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Only when she is busy, Scarlett can control herself, don't think about the burning war, don't think about her mother who is in danger.Only when she was busy, Scarlett could convince herself not to miss that man who didn't know where he was, Rhett Butler.

Yes, even though the days are so busy, so exhausting and hopeless, Scarlett still thinks of Rhett from time to time.Thinking of the bit by bit between them, remembering how she returned to the origin of everything because of her guilt and desperate love for him.Where would he be now?France, England or Italy?Will he think of her too?In the busy time, miss also becomes a kind of luxury.But as long as she is free for a while, his image will naturally appear in Scarlett's mind, which makes her feel a little comforted and gain more strength to cope with all kinds of hardships in life.

But the busy day will eventually come to an end. When the busy day was over, Scarlett tidied up her mood tiredly, took the place of her former mother in the study, and began to write a letter to Atlanta, asking Mrs. Meriwether to send Charles When the relic arrives.A commotion from the living room interrupted her.

"What's the matter?" Scarlett just opened the door when she saw Mammy's red eye circles, and a burst of panic came from the bottom of her heart.Gerald's face was filled with distress, Sue Allen was flustered, and Polk was silent and solemn.No, it won't be like that.She won't go through those pains again!She walked up quickly, grabbed Mammy's arm and asked eagerly, "Mammy, why are you back? Are you here to get food? I'll take you there, and it's already ready. Is Karin okay? Mommy isn’t tired, right?” She said as she pulled Mammy’s arm to go, “Let’s go, Mammy, let’s go. Let’s get food, we…” She choked up and couldn’t continue, She couldn't pull Mammy.

Mammy silently withdrew her arm from Scarlett's hand, pursed her lips, tried several times, and finally said that sentence:

"No, Miss Scarlett. I came back just to look for Pork, and I drove the carriage to pick up Miss Karin. Miss Karin's condition has improved and she can go back to rest. But Miss Ellen...Miss Ellen..." She I can't go on.

"What's the matter, Mom, you should tell me quickly!" Scarlett was so anxious that she almost wanted to yell.

"—Miss Ellen has typhoid fever."

Scarlett's eyes went dark, and she collapsed to the ground.

The worst case happened after all.

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Under Ellen's careful treatment, Karin's condition has improved greatly, and now she only needs to rest to recover.Unfortunately, the overworked Ellen contracted typhoid.In order not to spread the typhoid fever to her little daughter who had just recovered, she insisted that the nanny take Karin back to Tara immediately.In order not to infect her family, Ellen asked to be left alone at Twelve Oaks.Mammy obeyed her first half of the sentence, but after she brought Karin back to Tara, Mammy stubbornly returned to Twelve Oaks and insisted on leaving Miss Ellen to take care of her.

The anxious Scarlett also rushed over with Mammy, but when she wanted to see her mother, she was stopped by the joint efforts of her father, Mammy and Polk.Scarlett cried and fussed, fearing that this would be the last time, but in the end she only managed to win a glimpse through the door frame.The mother's face was gray but serene, she clasped her hands on her lower abdomen, lying flat, like a statue of a martyred Madonna.Scarlett just took one look and couldn't hold back the tears. She pushed away the nanny and Pork who were holding her tightly, turned around and walked away, crying and announcing the decision she had just made. Thoughts that came to mind at that moment:

"I—I'm going back to Atlanta, right now!"

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For Scarlett, the decision to return to Atlanta seemed to be a matter of course.So as soon as she said this sentence, she realized that it was her real inner voice.

Yes.Back to Atlanta, back to the city that cared about her.

In fact, fate has already written footnotes in every corner that no one pays attention to.Whether it's the longing for Rhett, or Meryl's worry about Charles' relics, or those belongings that will be destroyed by the Yankees before Aunt Pete can take them away, all are buried in Scarlett's heart bit by bit. Seeds of resentment and longing.Her desire to go back to Atlanta was so urgent that she made the decision without hesitation at the beginning of Ellen's illness.Most importantly, of course, Atlanta was the best place she knew where the typhoid medicine was likely to be found.

Ellen needs more typhoid medicine, and even if she has all she has on hand, it may not be enough.

Before, Scarlett would look forward and backward, hesitate, and embrace the fluke mentality that her mother might not get sick in this life.But when her mother was really sick, her thinking became very clear—Ellen died of typhoid fever and exhaustion in her previous life. The Yankee doctor who saw her said that if she had been treated earlier, Ellen would not have died.The current situation will definitely not be worse than her previous life, at least she still has medicine on hand.Not many, but there are!In theory, Ellen could last as long as she brought the medicine back from Atlanta.

And the reason why Scarlett has the confidence to return to Atlanta at this time when the war is raging and everyone is fleeing is naturally relying on the insights she brought from her previous life!Scarlett would not be so arrogant as to think that her rebirth could change the course of the war.So if this is the case, she clearly remembers the time when Atlanta fell, so why can't she avoid this disaster? On the one hand, the "prophet" caused her pain and worry and she couldn't change it, but on the other hand, it did let her know when those dangers happened, so she could have the opportunity to avoid all of them!

"I will do it." Scarlett murmured looking out of the window, her eyes gradually became firm.The train stopped, she picked it up and saluted and got off the car.alone.