[Gone with the Wind] Back to the beginning

Sally Fontaine's shouts were still coming from outside, and the residents of Tara looked at each other, their pale complexions could not be concealed under their forced composure.

"Mr. O'Hara, Mrs. O'Hara!" Sally's voice was very anxious. "I see them! High road! They're coming this way! The Yankees..."

The woman on the horse, with loose hair and a hat hanging behind her head, came galloping all the way.But she had no time to stop her horse, she just waved her arms desperately to warn everyone.Scarlett walked back to the door and said to her loudly: "Sally, thank you!" The other party nodded, pulled the rein to turn the horse's head, jumped over the four-foot-high hedge, and headed towards the Mimosa Manor.

"Holy Mother!" Karin turned pale with fright, and hugged Su Ailun tightly, "Didn't the Yankees come already?"

Scarlett was barely calm. Seeing that her family members stayed where they were, she quickly started to clear the tableware on the table, and said quickly: "Leave a few sets of tableware and the rest sink into the well. Keep food for four days in the kitchen. Others Take it now, quick! The Yankees will be coming soon!"

"Keep two sets of cutlery." Ellen also reacted, "Scarlett, you take everyone and the rest of the food out to escape now-you know where you are going!" Her eyes were firm.

"Two!" cried Scarlett. "No, three! Parents, I have to go with you!"

Ellen insisted: "Scarlett, your dad and I can handle it. We won't let the Yankees burn Tara. You have to go, and you have to watch them make mistakes." She softened her tone, " My daughter, I know you can do it."

Scarlett and Ellen looked at each other for a while, and finally compromised: "I will come back as soon as I bring people and food to a safe place." Seeing that Ellen still wanted to dissuade her, Scarlett said loudly, "I can't rest assured that You leave it to the Yankees!"

Ellen didn't say anything more, Scarlett nervously looked around everyone's faces, and began to give orders quickly:

"Pork! Drive the old sow back yesterday to the new pigsty in the swamp. Sue Ellen and Karin used baskets to pack as much food and valuables as possible and took them away to the swamp. Go to the pigsty! Mammy, sink the silver in the water, and-"

"I'm with Miss Ellen," interrupted Mammy. "I'll never leave Miss Ellen. I can't let the Yankees touch her."

"Alright." Scarlett murmured to herself, and continued the arrangement, "George, pack up the cotton that is going to be made at home and carry it away! Maria, hold your and Miss Meili's child! Prissy, outside Let the wind go, yell when you see the Yankees, and help Sue Ellen and Miss Karin carry things away later! Dilsey, go and tidy up the room, make sure the Yankees think Tara doesn't have many people! Ryan, take grandma The portrait of Mr. Wilkes, and Mr. Wilkes’ saber were put on the cart to help set them up! Merry, help Pork drive the pigs on horseback..." She spoke faster and faster, and her voice trembled at the end, but she was still clear.Scarlett encouraged everyone, "Hurry up! We have to keep everything we have earned!"

Ellen nodded to Scarlett, evidently approving of her arrangement.Then she added a few points, and Tara was thrown into a frenzy.During the chaotic moments, Lyskali ran around and shouted loudly.Sue Ellen was yelling anxiously, "Karin, go! We've got enough!", while Scarlett was still doing the last bit of searching—she even tore down the velvet curtain to wrap small things like brooches, thimbles, and photo frames. Objects, and then piled up on the cart, and beat the horse hard to drag the cart forward.

"I'll be back!" she thought through gritted teeth. "I'll never leave Tara and Mom and Dad behind!"

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Next to the pigsty in the swamp.

Crowds of people huddled together, panicked when they heard the sound of carriages and horses, black and white people all turned pale, and they didn't heave a sigh of relief until they found that it was Scarlett who was driving.Everyone was terrified, looking at her as if they were looking for a backbone.

"Scarlett!" Sue Ellen's high-pitched voice was full of panic. "Thank God! But what about Mom and Dad? What will the Yankees do to them!"

Scarlett jumped out of the carriage and threw the reins to Pork, and said loudly, "Hold on tight! You stay here with the carriage, and if any Yankees come this way, go—" She pointed to the opposite side of the cabin. Direction, "Go over there and hide! I'll come back to you when I'm all right!"

"What about you? Miss!" The howling autumn wind made people unable to hear the words clearly, and Pok could only ask loudly.

"I've got to go back—" Scarlett cried, "Miss Mellie is in charge of everything here." She exchanged a look with Melanie. together."

Scarlett could not explain the reason for this stubborn emotion—everything was different in this life, she was no longer alone and had more to rely on.But Scarlett will not feel that she can bear less responsibility because of this—she is eager to rush back to Tara as if she is rushing to her own destiny, and she must face the enemy she hates so much with her parents.Maybe Scarlett couldn't help stepping on Tara's ground at a time like this, maybe she was worried—she was too worried—

The catastrophe that happened in the kitchen in the previous life!

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Scarlett didn't know she could run so fast, her chest almost exploded.The soles of her feet hurt like hell, but she still ran in the direction of Tara.her home!Hope all is well!

Dozens of horses were scattered and tied in front of Tara's gate. If it weren't for the quarrels coming from the house, Scarlett almost thought it was the rich Tara Manor before the war!But it didn't work, those horses belonged to the invaders and belonged to the Yankees.Scarlett wanted to cut the ropes with a knife and let the Yankee horses go, but she was running out of time.She looked up and rushed into the house in one go.

"Dad, Mom, there is no food to help us at Ferch Manor!" She lied loudly.It seemed that Scarlett shuddered at the sudden discovery that there were so many Yankees in the house, but when she found that her father was arguing with a Yankee, Scarlett rushed over without hesitation.

"Dad!" Gerald was fighting with a little soldier, his face was red, and he looked like he was about to fight.Scarlett's heart sank, and she rushed to embrace Gerald's hand, then turned and shouted to the leading sergeant, "Oh, Captain! Please, my father has a quick temper..."

"Let me go, Scarlett O'Hara!" Gerald flushed with anger. "I want him to give back your mother's wedding ring!"

Scarlett was taken aback, and then felt a great embarrassment.Almost in an instant she had changed sides, and she was fighting against her old father.Regardless, Ellen is their bottom line.And the sergeant who was promoted to the third rank by her has already looked at her a few times, and praised her with a playful smile:

"Miss, what a good daughter. We dare to rush in because our parents saw us... Hey, Peek, we have to fulfill their filial piety, don't we?"

The little soldier was full of reluctance: "The gemstones on it are very expensive."

"Leave it to others, this is the lady's memory." The sergeant said in a magnanimous tone, not forgetting to look at Ellen and Scarlett, but Mammy's fat black body quickly stood in the way. In front of the two of them.The little soldier threw the ring on the ground with a bang, mumbling and cursing.

Scarlett picked up the ring in humiliation, gave the little soldier a cold look, and said nothing.Only now did she have time to turn around and hold her mother's hand, and she was shocked when she saw that Ellen's hands and ears were empty, and Scarlett felt angry from the heart.

"Calm down, dear." Instead, Ellen pressed her shoulder, and she shook her head at Scarlett.

Although feeling very aggrieved, Scarlett knew that Ellen was right.It would not be worth the loss if the Yankees got angry and burned the house, so she and Ellen stopped Gerald.

After a while, the Yankees who went upstairs to search came down one by one, most of them were cursing, but obviously they didn't find many good things.

The sergeant and the other soldiers whispered for a while, then turned to Ellen, and said in a very regretful tone: "You don't have much here, ma'am."

"Didn't your people come here in September?" Unexpectedly, Ellen's voice was very cold.

The sergeant licked his lips.At this time, Scarlett noticed that the little soldier who had disappeared before had returned, looking at them with a treacherous smile on his lips.Suddenly, Scarlett's hair stood on end.She couldn't wait for all the Yankees to evacuate, and she ran to the kitchen almost immediately!

The most feared thing finally happened!

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Because I was mentally prepared and arrived at the first time, the fire in the kitchen was far less severe than in my previous life, but it was still terrifying!Scarlett didn't dare to take it lightly, she picked up a blanket and pressed it into the water, then raised the blanket in the choking smoke of the kitchen to fight the flames on the ground, and pushed away the surrounding firewood with the soles of her feet.Tongues of flame rushed to the skirting one after another, and Scarlett's skirt caught fire twice.A whirlpool of smoke and darkness surrounded her tightly, and Scarlett coughed loudly, calling, "Dad, Mom!"

The door flung open and shut quickly, and Gerald's stocky figure squeezed in, then Ellen's tall, slender figure.The three of them held soaked blankets in their hands, back to back, and tried their best to slap the fire on the ground...

After an unknown amount of time, the last trace of flame was completely wiped out, leaving only a faint blue smoke.Scarlett collapsed on the ground, just leaning on her father's back, and she felt a kind of joy relieved——Scarlett turned her head and saw Ellen, her face was covered in black and gray, and her distressed appearance was completely different from usual.But just now, she didn't seem to be her mother, but her comrade-in-arms!

"What's the matter?" Ellen smiled wearily, reaching out to help Scarlett wipe off a little black dust on the tip of her nose.

This gesture brought the Madonna to life—no, no longer the Madonna.Scarlett looked at her mother who was smiling at her, and suddenly had the urge to burst into tears in this damn kitchen where the smoke was still lingering.The image of the Madonna that was too vivid instantly collapsed the statue of the Virgin in his mind—in fact, it has collapsed since Ellen accepted her like this, representing the statue of the Virgin that cannot be violated in the southern dogma—

"Mom." She covered her mouth and finally laughed.Laughing and laughing, a drop of tear fell.