| She could follow him out there"I don't want to know
which one of us is the April Fool you're talking about, Rhett Butler,
but if you swear you'll be nice for the whole time before I leave,
you've got a bargainIf you turn mean, then it's you that broke it,
not me, and I won't leaveButler, your husband's devotion will make you the envy of every
woman in Charleston He was mocking, but Scarlett didn't careRhett opened the hatch, admitting sharp salt air and sunlight
and
a surprisingly strong breeze"Do you get seasick, Scarlett?"
"I don't knowI've never been in a boat till yesterday
"You'll find out soon enough
The harbor's just ahead, and there's a sizable chopGet a bucket out
of the locker behind you just in case He hurried onto the deck
"Let's get the jib up now and put her on a tackWe're losing way," he
shouted into the windA minute later the bench had tilted at an
alarming angle, and Scarlett discovered that she was sliding helplessly
from itThe slow upriver trip in the wide flat barge the day before
hadn't prepared her for the action of a sailing vesselComing
downriver in the current with a gentle wind half louis vuitton graffiti bag filling the mainsail
had been faster, but just as placid as the bargeShe scrambled to the
short ladder and pulled herself up so that her head was above deck
levelThe wind took her breath away and lifted the feathered hat from
her headShe looked up and saw it fluttering in the air while a sea
gull squawked frantically and flapped its wings to soar away from the
bird-like objectScarlett laughed with delightThe boat heeled
higher, and water washed over its low side, foamingIt was
thrilling!
Through the wind Scarlett heard Pansy scream in terrorWhat a
goose
that girl Scarlett steadied herself and started up the ladderThe
roar of Rhett's voice stopped herHe spun the wheel, and the sloop's
deck returned to a bobbing level, its sails flappingAt hisgesture,
one of the crew took the wheelThe other one was holding Pansy
steady
while she vomited over the sternIn two steps, Rhett was at the top
of
the ladder, scowling at Scarlett"You little idiot, you could have
gotten your head knocked off by the boomGet down below where
you
belong Oh, Rhett, no! Let me come up where I can see what's
happeningI want to feel the ladies gucci bangle watch wind and taste the
spray
"You don't feel sick? Or frightened?" The scornful look she gave him
was her answer"Oh, Miss Eleanor, it was the most wonderful time
I've
ever had in my life! I don't know why every man in the world doesn't
become a sailor
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself dear, but it was very wicked of Rhett to
expose you to all that sun and windYou're red as an Indian
Butler ordered Scarlett to her room with glycerine and rosewater
compresses on her faceThen she scolded her tall, laughing son until
he hung his head in pretended shame"If I put up the Christmas
greens
I brought you, will you let me have dessert after dinner, or do I have
to stand in the corner?" he asked in mock humilityEleanor Butler
spread her hands in surrender"I don't know what I'm going to do
with
you, Rhett," she said, but her effort not to smile was a total
failure
She loved her son beyond all reasonThat afternoon, while Scarlett
was submitting to a treatment of lotions for her sunburn, Rhett carried
one of the holly wreaths he had brought from the plantation to Alicia
Savage, as a gift from his mother"How kind of Eleanor, montre cartier extra plate and of you,
RhettWould you like to have a pre-seasonal toddy
Rhett
accepted the drink with pleasure, and they talked idly about the
unusual weather, the winter thirty years earlier when it had actually
snowed, the year it rained for thirty-eight days in a rowThey had
known each other as children
Their families had houses that shared a garden wall and a mulberry
tree
with sweet, fingerstaining purple fruit on branches that reached low on
both sides of the wall"Scarlett's scared half out of her wits about
the Yankee bedroom prowler," said Rhett after he and Alicia finished
reminiscing"I hope you don't mind talking about it with an old
friend who saw up your skirts when you were fiveSavage
laughed heartily"I'll talk freely if you'll manage to forget my
youthful antipathy to undergarmentsI was the despair of the whole
family for at least a year
but this business with the Yankee isn't funny at allSomebody's going
to get trigger-happy and shoot a soldier, and then there'll be the
devil to pay
"Tell me what he looked like, AliciaI have a theory about him
"I only saw him for an instant, Rhett
"That should be fake prada enoughTall or short?"
"Tall, yes really very tallHis head was only a foot or so below the
top of the curtains, and those windows are seven feet four inches"I knew I could count on youYou're the only person
I've ever known who could identify the biggest scoop of ice cream at a
birthday party from the other side of the room'Eagle eye' we called
you behind your back
"And to my face, I seem to remember, along with other unpleasant
personal remarksYou were a horrid little boy
"You were a loathsome little girlI would have loved you even if you
had worn underclothes
"I would have loved you if you hadn'tI looked up your skirts plenty
of times, but I couldn't see a thing
"Be merciful, AliciaAt least call it a kilt They smiled
companionably at one anotherThen Rhett resumed the questioning
Alicia remembered a great many details once she began to thinkThe
soldier was young-very young indeedwith the ungainly movements of
a boy
who had not gotten accustomed to the spurt of growthHe was very
thin, tooThe uniform hung loosely on hisframeHis wrists showed
clearly below the sleeve binding; the uniform might not have been discount louis vuitton bags his
at
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