Epilogue

Suellen saw them coming long before they reached the door. She stood at the drawing room window, watching the halting gait of an unmistakably lean figure slowly become larger and larger. When he reached the steps, she drew back behind the curtains. No sooner had Will mounted the porch and crossed to the heavy front door before it flung open.

Mrs. Benteen stood uncertainly before them, her harried eyes brimming with concern for the muddy bundle he held in his arms. Will glanced over her shoulder to see Jane's two older sisters, still clad in their riding habits, flanking their mother and gazing silently at Jane. Robert stood behind them in his nightshirt, skin bright red and hair still damp from his recent bath.

Suellen looked back and forth from Jane to Will, whose face was likewise dirty from all the mud drawn on it. Trembling, she reached out to take the child. "Is she all right?"

Will calmly nodded, aware of Jane's anxious siblings crowding around them as he transferred the dirty girl to her mother's arms. Now was hardly the time to disclose her daring fall. "I found her in the orchard."

Jane stirred, moaning a little as her father reached around to pry her hands loose from behind his neck.

"She doesn't sound all right!" Suellen cried, her voice rising in alarm.

"Don't get your Irish up, Sue," he murmured, folding the little girl's hands neatly on her lap. "Nothin's wrong. She's just tuckered out, is all." He laid a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to step aside before stumping into the hall, shrugging off his patched, gray coat.

Suellen motioned with her head for Susie to close the door, turning to show the sleeping girl to the children. "Your sister's home safe now. She's going to be all right."

Martha, gently tugging off her gloves, gazed down at her dirt-encrusted sister, her gray eyes soft with pity. "Mama, shall I run and tell Prissy to start another bath for her?"

"Yes, darling," Suellen whispered, and watched as the girl hurriedly flew up the stairs, her chestnut hair bouncing behind her.

She straightened as she felt Will standing at her shoulder. She moved a little to find his head bent over Jane, close to hers.

"What...?" She whispered worriedly.

Will eyed Susie and Robert soberly before glancing at her. "We'll talk later."

Biting her lip, Suellen nodded as her husband moved away. He took a candle from the hall and slowly began hauling himself up the stairs, lighting the way for Suellen and her precious cargo. Susie and Robert remained standing uncertainly by the door. Suellen gave them a knowing look as she passed, carefully carrying Jane upstairs. "To bed, children. It's after prayers."

Jane blinked frequently throughout her marathon bath, lost in the stupor that exists somewhere between sleep and consciousness. She was vaguely aware of her mother's gently scolding voice, of rough hands scrubbing the mud from her arms, and of her being lifted and tucked into bed. As soon as her head lay nestled against the pillow, she slipped back under the warm blanket of slumber.

Suellen tugged and straightened the quilts around the sleeping child, sighing heavily. "Oh, Jane, Jane. Whatever am I going to do with you?"

She drew back and gazed down at her daughter. The girl's head rested to one side against the pillow, one hand drawn up beside her face. Her austere gown, neatly pressed and laundered, shone an even brighter white against her peeling red skin. Her mother had managed to tame her wild mane, neatly plaiting it before tucking it all up under her nightcap. Her round face was so rosy, and her features so softened by sleep that she didn't seem half so monkey-like, Suellen mused. With the blankets drawn up about her chin, she seemed small, so very small and fragile.

The thought that the girl had very nearly slipped away from her forever suddenly re-entered Suellen's brain, drawing a long gasp from her immovable chest. Swiftly, she knelt down and kissed Jane's smooth brow.

As she straightened, gazing fondly at the girl, she suddenly remembered herself. Suellen huffed and shook her head, looking cross once more. She darted a furtive glance about the dark room, her hands nervously smoothing the wrinkles in her skirt. No sounds or movements came from the shadowy corners of the other two beds, save for the gentle, steady breathing of their occupants.

Satisfied, she nodded and blew out the single lit candle by Jane's bed. Treading carefully in the dark, she glided out the room and into the hall. She made nary a sound save for the rustle of her skirts. She pulled the door closed behind her and hastened her steps to the room at the far end of the aisle, quick to put physical distance between herself and her youngest daughter.

"Ouch!"

Jane frowned and shied away from Susie, who'd pulled back a little too sharply with one of Jane's unruly brown locks in her hand. The older girl huffed an impatient sigh and carefully began winding the tress around the hot roller she held in her other hand. "If you'd only hold still!"

"I'd be real still if you didn't keep hurting me!" Jane retorted, glowering from her seat at the foot of Susie's bed.

Martha smiled good-naturedly from her crouch on the floor, where she carefully hemmed the younger girl's skirt. Jane wore a lacy, blue taffeta gown that Martha had long outgrown and rediscovered that morning in the back of her closet. Every time Jane moved from Susie's yanking hands, her pain was aggravated by the many pins stuck in her as Martha labored to fit the dress to Jane's figure. "Now, Janey, you've got to be quiet. I thought you told us you wanted to look nice on Decoration Day."

Jane crossed her arms, but her expression softened. Martha's gentle, cheery smile never failed to put a damper on her sullen mood. "Well, I didn't know it was goin' to give you a reason to hurt me."

"Pooh. True beauty hurts," Susie sniffed, inclining her head as she held the curling rod tightly against her sister's skull. Prissy had already turned up her pale-blonde hair, the elegant style drawing attention away from its unbecoming hue. She seemed the embodiment of Spring in her pink checkered gingham, her skirts pillowed about her neatly. Though the dress was simple, it looked splendid on Susie, its neck dipping low to accentuate her buxom breasts. A ripe magnolia bud behind her ear served as her only accessory.

Martha, not yet out, looked far less fetching than her older sister, though no less beautiful. She'd donned her favorite gown, a well-worn violet muslin with a white crocheted collar fastened about her neck. She coveted the dress whenever a proper occasion arose, though was ashamed to feel a bit vain at the thought of it, for she knew violet was most flattering to her complexion. A belt of yellow roses adorned the midsection of her gown, accompanied by a couple of matching buds carefully woven into her hair. The auburn locks fell past her shoulders in neat, perfect coils that shimmered in the light of the early morning sun.

Jane's brow furrowed again, but she remained still. "I'll drop a bullfrog down your drawers!" She retorted crossly. Susie's stuffy airs always seemed to have a way of crawling under her skin and festering there.

Martha lifted a hand to her mouth to hide a giggle at Jane's remark.

"Shut up and stop being disgusting," Susie drawled dispassionately, releasing her quarry and beginning anew with another ratty tress.

"You can't make me!" Jane, still ruffled, could feel heat beginning to flame up into her cheeks. "I'll...I'll throw Brownie's straw on your dress!"

She closed her eyes, emitting a high pitched shriek as Susie roughly took a fistful of her mane and pulled back as hard as she could. "I'll burn your hair off, you little wench!"

"Martha!" Jane entreated, clawing at Susie's vengeful grasp.

Her mediator reached out and laid an anxious hand on Susie's arm. "Quit it, both of you!"

Susie relaxed her grip, temporarily quieting Jane. "That warn't no more than you deserved," she sneered. "Now, for the last time, be still!"

Jane reluctantly did as she was told, grumbling and growling in protest.

Outside their window, the sharp clicking of the sickle could be heard as Big Sam chopped the grass surrounding the family burial plot. Dilcey and their mother's companion, Ludie, washed the markers clean of dirt, grime, and bird dung with rags and soapy water while Pork followed them with a sharpened knife. Despite the misery in his back, he knelt carefully in front of each one and etched deeper through the engraved letters so that the weathered stones remained legible. Dilcey's and Ludie's grown sons, Lucius and Silas, worked to repair the creaky fence line bordering the graves. Will was gone, having left earlier that morning for Jonesboro to meet Aunty Scarlett's train. Suellen, Prissy and Delilah, Big Sam's wife, bustled about in the kitchen downstairs, hurriedly making all the final preparations for the family's supper.

Martha finished sewing up the hem of Jane's dress and bit off the excess thread. Pinching the needle between her lips, she removed the unnecessary tacks and gestured with her hand. "Stand up, please, Jane. I have to take in the waist, yet."

Jane sighed and clambered to her feet, Susie lifting her hands and rising to kneel behind her. Martha likewise stood and knotted her thread. Tugging down the sky blue ribbon encircling the dress low enough to reveal the seam, she bent her head close and began threading her needle through the fabric. "Now raise your arms for me."

Jane stretched them high over her head, groaning softly. "This ain't comfy."

"Oh, hush. We're nearly finished," Susie muttered. She peeped around Jane's raised arm and grinned at Martha. "Won't everyone be surprised when they see what we've done with her?"

"Oh, Susie, you make it sound so scandalous!" Martha cried, not taking her eyes off her diligent work. "I think they'll be pleased." She lifted her head and straightened the dress, smiling up at her little sister. "I should think Jane will be pleased most of all."

Jane glowed with pride, puffing herself up importantly.

"Of course she should! Now cousin Ella shall be the ugliest one of the party today." Susie smirked. "Even old Aunty Scarlett will have to admit that we're better turned out than her girls."

Martha gasped. "Susie, what an awful thing to say!"

"I don't care." The older girl inclined her head. "I don't like Aunty Scarlett. She's so horrid to Mama."

"I know." Martha looked down and continued threading her needle through the seam. "I don't like it, either, but that ain't no reason to think ill of her. Matthew tells us..."

"Hang Matthew! I detest our dear Aunty, and I don't care if she knows it!" Susie released Jane's curl and separated another lock. "I do like cousin Ella, though, even if she is homely."

Jane fidgeted uncomfortably. "Can I put my arms down?"

"No," the sisters replied at the same time.

Susie shrugged. "In any case, this will at least give us all cause to be proud of our Jane, even if she is a barbarian."

Jane colored at the remark and swiftly turned her head. She snapped at the first of her sister's fingers that spun into view.

"Aaarrgh!" Susie screeched, shying away from the girl. She tucked the roller under her arm and cradled her injured hand in the other.

Martha looked up in astonishment. "What on earth...?"

"She bit me!" Susie sobbed, holding her hand out to display the wound as Martha reached up to inspect it. She turned her head away disconsolately. "The little beast bit me!"

"Ha!" Jane cried. She clasped her hands together high over her head and smiled, immensely pleased with herself.

"Why, the skin ain't even broke." Martha scoffed gently, moving back to her position on the floor.

Susie drew her arm back and closely examined the damage. "What does that matter? I have teeth marks on my finger!"

Martha sighed gently. "Oh, Susie. They'll be gone by the time we're finished with Jane. It's better off forgotten."

"Yeah!" Jane sneered, twisting her neck to give her sister a snide look. The older girl frowned sullenly and resumed her rough hair-yanking with visibly more force.

"Humph," Susie sniffed. "You're bein' awfully disagreeable today."

"I feel like bein' disagreeable," Jane huffed. "My arms hurt."

"Just a minute or two longer, I promise!" Martha declared, speeding up her needlework with renewed vigor.

"I was actually paying you a compliment," Susie said haughtily. "If I was any more blunt, I'd tell you that poking your nose where it don't belong, attacking people and throwing them into walls, acting like a boy and spoiling your clothes are the reasons why you're so impossible to like."

"Arrgh!" Jane roared, feeling the dejected pang of her sister's remark hitting that all-too-sore note. How dare Susie insinuate that nobody liked her? She bridled fiercely at the defamatory remarks. "Yeah?" She spat, enraged. "Well, at least I don't bang goats!"

Susie opened her mouth, a hot reply ready on her tongue, when Martha surprisingly jumped to her aid. "Come now, Jane. Mind your temper. She didn't really mean nothing by what she said."

Jane turned to Martha with a wounded look, feeling as though her best ally had betrayed her for the enemy. "You hush up!" She snapped. "Or I'll tell Mama that you wrote 'Mrs. Joseph Fontaine' all over the back of your primer!"

"Oh!" Martha covered her mouth, the color draining from her face. Her gray eyes grew large and round in horror.

Susie purposely singed Jane's ear with the roller, causing her to yelp shrilly. She frowned down at the girl. "Jane, you're terrible! You know better than to tease Sissy about Little Joe! What were you doing with her primer, anyhow?"

"I picked it up by mistake!" Jane sobbed, cupping her blazing ear with both hands.

"You did not! You were bein' a sneak!" Susie declared. "I'd tell Mama on you, if it wouldn't give Sissy away! How would you like it if we decided to make fun of your beau someday?"

"He ain't my beau," Martha whispered softly.

"I won't have one!" Jane retorted, standing up straighter. "I don't like boys, and I don't want them to like me. Ever!"

Susie rolled her eyes. "Stop actin' so silly. You'll like boys someday, and you'll marry one of them. With a miracle, you'll marry well. Don't you ever listen to Mama? Why, every girl has to be married someday. It's her only way to secure her future happiness."

"I don't want to be married. I don't want a man huggin' me, and tellin' me pretty things, and kissin' me. Yuck!" Jane wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out.

"Poor Jane," Martha murmured, gently pulling the remaining tacks out of the dress and returning them to her pincushion. Her eyes held a dreamy, faraway look. "No romance in her at all."

Susie sneered down at her sister's brown head. "You like boys enough to play with them. Climbing trees, running footraces, swearing, and making a public disgrace of yourself!"

"Boys are my friends. They ain't so silly the way girls are. I'm better at their games, anyway. Boys' games are much more fun. I wisht I was a boy," Jane muttered wistfully.

"But you're a girl. A girl that's almost a young lady," Susie replied sharply. "And as such, you ought to start conducting yourself so. Actin' like a boy ain't no way to catch a husband."

"Good!" Jane jutted her chin out, smiling defiantly.

Susie shook her head in frustration. "You're a strange one, Jane."

"That's Miss Jane to you!" She retorted in a perfect imitation of Susie's pretentious drawl, balling her fists and placing them on her hips.

"Hmm." Susie released Jane's last curl and sat back to survey her work. A dissatisfied frown puckered her face. "It don't look like it should."

Martha looked up from her sewing kit at her sister's work. Concern clouded her expression as her mouth formed a round O. "Susie, what did you do? We can't take her downstairs like that!"

"Well, it's not my fault! It's her ugly hair," Susie murmured disparagingly. "It deflects all attempts to be beautiful."

"What? What she do?" Jane cried in concern, reaching up to run her hands through her hair. All she felt was a thick mass of springy curls. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Janey." Martha absently patted the girl's arm before flying over to her bureau drawer. "I think I know how to fix it."

"You meanie!" Jane shot her oldest sister a dirty look. "I bet you did this on purpose!"

Susie stuck her tongue out in reply.

"Jane, watch what you say!" Martha hurried back to kneel at the foot of the bed, carrying a light blue ribbon in her fingers. "It's vulgar to reference somethin' so sinful as gambling." She reached under Jane's hair and tugged the ribbon up around the back of her head. She pushed the unruly curls away from Jane's face and tied the ribbon into a neat bow on top of her crown, smiling warmly. "There. That's much better."

Jane beamed at Martha sweetly.

"Hand me her necklace, Sissy, and I'll fasten it," Susie murmured, reaching around Jane curtly.

Martha carefully handed up the collar fashioned from a chain of bright, fresh daisies that had been sitting on the girls' dressing table. She held the delicate ends in her fingers, slowly passing them over to her sister's hands.

Susie flipped up Jane's curls and pulled the flowers snugly against the girl's throat. She sniffed loudly as she knotted the fibrous stems together at the base of her neck. "I don't see why we even bother with these when Ella and Cat will just waltz in here wearin' the finest gold and silver bangles you've ever seen. They make us look so poor and shabby."

Martha boldly lifted her head, her soft gray eyes oddly bright. "I think Mama's flowers are far lovelier than any metal trinket."

"So do I," Jane added snidely. In truth, she didn't care much at all for flowers, or for jewelry. But Martha did, and as she'd been so nice as to fix Jane's hair with the ribbon, Jane sought to repay her kindness by taking her side.

"Humph," Susie muttered piously. "You both may remain content with being destitute all your lives, while I shall become a lady of great wealth and reputation. Mama never did, but I shall." She finished fastening the necklace and got up from the bed. She padded around to stand next to Martha, inspecting their final product. "Well, Sissy, what do you think?"

Martha smiled and clasped her hands together serenely. "She's just darlin'!"

"Yes," Susie gazed at Jane thoughtfully. "Who would have ever supposed there actually was a comely girl under all that grime?"

"Our wild, wonderful Calamity Jane is now respectable."

Susie laughed. "I don't think we could sell her to that rough-and-ready western show now. We ought to call this one our little Lady Jane."

"I want to see! I want to see!" Jane hopped up and down impatiently on the bed.

The sisters met eyes and exchanged a smile. "Of course." Susie arched a brow and lifted her arm expansively. "Little sister, meet Lady Jane."

The girls stepped away, leaving Jane to face her reflection in the bureau dresser mirror. Instantly, the girl drew in a loud gasp of awe and delight. She broke into a wide smile, her face alight with amazement as she gaped at the sight before her. "I'm pretty!"

The old indigo dress, accented with pale blue trim and puffed up with fragile-looking lace, had been a perfect match for Jane's mischievous blue eyes. Martha had fitted it well, the skirt's hem falling just above Jane's starched crinoline. The ribbon tied around her waist and gathered in the back matched the smaller bow on top of Jane's head. Her riotous mane had been transformed into a bunch of thick, unmanageable brown curls. Some were short, nearly sticking out straight from her head; some were long, hanging down at her shoulders; still others were every length in between. The bow kept them pulled back away from her face, framing her head and shoulders with a silky, luxurious brown cloud. The daisies at her neck were, indeed, a lovely touch. She delightedly curtsied to the girl in the mirror, feeling very delicate and ladylike.

Those emotions evaporated, however, when she whirled around to see Martha's pleased face. Her heart suddenly swelled, fit to burst, as she threw her arms around her older sister. "Oh, thank you!"

Martha hardly had a chance to return the embrace before Susie reached out and tore her away. "Don't crumple your dress before anyone's even seen you!" She frowned and tugged the folds of Jane's gown in an attempt to smooth it, clearly irritated.

"I'll do what I want, Miss Big Pig!" Jane retorted snottily.

Susie rolled her eyes. "I guess it don't matter how she looks on the outside. She's still our same nasty little Jane."

Below, the distant sound of voices in the receiving hall alerted the girls' attention.

Martha sighed. "Come on, you two." She took Jane's hand as the girl slid to the floor. "Let's greet our visitors."

"You'd hardly believe the crowds there in New York," Scarlett O'Hara said to Will, her face flushed, as they ascended the steps onto Tara's front porch. "It's such a lively place. I rather like it, for all that it is a Yankee city." She was nattily dressed in a trim emerald gown accented with gold brocade and fawn-colored gloves. Her dark brown hair had been separated into becoming ringlets elegantly stacked on top of her head. Three dark plumes curved out from the back of her charming scrap of a hat. Still clinging to Will's arm, she lifted the hem of her skirts as she climbed, displaying flashy cream-colored gaiters buttoned up over her well-oiled leather boots. Though nearing forty, Scarlett appeared just as sensuous and beguiling as ever. Her two daughters followed them silently.

"Graduation exercises went well?" Will murmured, awkwardly swinging up the stairs beside her.

"Yes." Scarlett beamed, fluttering her bright green eyes delightedly. "Oh, Will, you've never seen anything so grand. All the speeches, parades, and gun salutes. Wade looked so handsome in his dress uniform. Fifteenth in his class, proud boy."

"Proud mama, I reckon."

She looked at him sharply, her gaze hardened. "I know what you're thinking. And I'm perfectly pleased with the way he turned out, in spite of the sort of mother I've been. Have you heard me claim any of his credit?"

Will stared at the porch and shook his head. "No'm." He certainly didn't need nor want Scarlett riled right before meeting her sister. The intensity of Scarlett's Irish wrath, when sufficiently stoked, made Suellen's tantrums look like the yowls of an angry kitten.

Appeased, Scarlett tossed her head, a scowl still written plainly across her rosy lips. "Fiddle-dee-dee. I should think not."

Will sighed noiselessly. "Anyhow, I'm glad for him." He mostly remembered Scarlett's son, Wade Hampton Hamilton, as being a scared little boy with large, doe-like eyes and a high, whining voice. He didn't resemble his mother in the least, and Will had gathered from the boy's curly brown hair and soft, effeminate features an image of how his father must have looked. He recalled Scarlett having remarked disparagingly on occasion that her first husband, Charles, had been something of a sissy. Young Wade had reinforced that impression, whimpering at loud noises and bursting into tears at the mere mention of Yankees. Yet, despite the neglect and terror his young mother had inflicted upon him, Wade had grown up into a strong, quiet, capable and mannered young gentleman. He had dreamed nearly all his life of becoming a brave soldier like his father, his mother never having the heart to tell him Charles had died of illness before ever seeing action. And so, he had worked earnestly the past four years through West Point Military Academy, becoming the great soldier his father never was.

"I'll send the cadet my congratulations," Will murmured presently, pausing to open Tara's great front door.

"It's Second Lieutenant Hamilton now, of the United States Army." Scarlett smiled. "He left for Washington to receive his commission right before I met my train. I'm happy he's earned such a fitting career for himself, though I never will get used to the sight of him in a Federal uniform." She shuddered involuntarily and paused, standing composed in the doorway, as she came face-to-face with her younger sister. "Suellen."

"Scarlett," she replied, her tone equally cold. She wore an austere, matronly red frock, augmented by yellow jessamine buds over her shoulder and at her waist. Her golden curls were pulled up in a clean bun and their mother's earbobs dangled at her cheeks. Her bright blue eyes smoldered, her mouth set in a prim frown as she glowered at her sister.

Scarlett crossed the threshold and stepped into the hall, never taking her eyes off Suellen. Her voice, like her movements, was carefully restrained. "You look well."

"Likewise." Suellen lifted her chin, rising to meet her sister's silent challenge. "I see mossy old Ireland agrees with you."

"Naturally." Scarlett's green eyes flashed. "Just as Tara's made you agreeably old and fat."

Suellen sucked in a sharp breath, bristling at the remark. It was true, she'd grown a little plump over the course of her married life, and though only thirty-eight, possessed more wrinkles and lines than the year-older Scarlett. Yet, despite their honesty, she fully felt the sting of her sister's words.

Suellen stood very still and stared at her. There were a few things she could say about Scarlett, too. She opened her mouth, a sharp retort ready at the back of her tongue, when she heard a noisy cough.

She looked up to see Will in the doorway, dressed in his old brown tweed suit and carrying Scarlett's reticule. She met his pale gaze and quivered as the lecture he'd administered to her last night suddenly sprang to her mind:

"You ain't goin' to light into Scarlett the minute she steps into this house. You ain't goin' to ruin the holiday, them children's stay, or her stay by squabblin' together like a couple of peahens."

"But Will," she'd sobbed, "you don't understand. She..."

"I know what she does, and I ain't sayin' you don't got the right to hold that against her." He'd stared at her long and hard until she began squirming like a scolded child. "But I know you're just as guilty. And I ain't goin' to have you take out your childish feelin's on this entire farm. I've put up with it in the past. No more."

She'd crossed her arms and sat back against the pillows, pouting forlornly. "Scarlett doesn't care. As soon as she walks in here, she'll start it all over again. And..."

"Then just let her. This has got to stop somewhere. I don't have no say nor care for what Scarlett does. But I do have a say for you. And I'm tellin' you this. Let her try to get a rise out of you all she wants. You ain't goin' to fight her."

Suellen had sniffed and moved away from him to the opposite end of the bed. "Humph. And what if I do, Will Benteen?"

The look he'd given her suggested that she didn't want to know his answer.

She blinked a couple of times and frowned, trying hard to swallow her inflammatory reply. "Thank you," she finally managed to mutter hoarsely. Will turned his head and stepped aside so Lucius could get by with Scarlett's trunk.

Scarlett cocked her head, her brow furrowed in bemusement, when a small movement at Suellen's side arrested her attention. She looked down and smiled to see the Benteens' little son dart behind the protection of his mother's skirts. She gracefully stooped to gaze at the boy. "Well, if it isn't Master Robert. Come say hello to your Aunty Scarlett."

The child, dressed in his pressed dark broadcloth, whimpered and pulled one of Suellen's red ruffles against his face. He was terribly shy in the presence of strangers, and Robert considered every person he didn't see daily around the farm a stranger. Suellen's earnest attempts to groom him into a proper country gentleman had so far been in vain; the boy had even less social aptitude than his father had. Of Scarlett he was especially afraid. The lavish attentions she seemed to fixate upon him intimidated and frightened him beyond words. He viewed her as a sort of witch, who wanted only to draw him in with sweet words so she could devour him for her next meal. Little did he know the true reason for his aunt's affection; she had consigned her part ownership of Tara to her lawyer uncle Henry Hamilton's care with the instruction that it be turned over to the boy when he became of proper age. Having given him the most precious legacy she'd ever known, Scarlett desperately wished to place herself in the little heir's esteem. So far, however, all her efforts toward friendship had been repulsed.

Suellen, her face flushed, murmured an apology before turning to glare down at her son. "Robert, dear, remember your manners!" She reached out and snatched her skirts from the little boy's grasp. Emitting an exasperated sigh, she smoothed his wavy golden locks with one hand. "There you go again. Don't muss up your hair after Prissy just combed it. Now, be a polite little gentleman and kiss your Aunty Scarlett."

He pleadingly met her gaze, his large blue eyes filling with tears. His lip quivered fearfully, causing his angular chin to tremble. Ignoring him, Suellen took his hand and yanked him in the direction of his aunt.

"Come here, precious." Scarlett reached out her gloved hands and drew the boy into a tight embrace. He wriggled uncomfortably against it, his arms pinned down firmly at his sides, but managed to turn his head and give her a lightning-quick peck on the cheek. After what seemed to be the longest moment in his life, she finally relaxed her grip, holding up his chin with one hand. "My, how he's grown! He looks so much like Will, only prettier." She casually flicked her gaze up at Suellen. "I don't know who's responsible for that. His looks certainly didn't come from his mother."

Suellen clenched her fists at her sides and seemed to be sputtering hotly under her breath.

Scarlett released her hold and smiled winningly at the child. "And what, may I ask, has my favorite nephew been getting up to?"

He regarded her blankly, his tongue frozen in fear. His gaze bore into her laughing green eyes, which seemed to contain far more than simple kindness. They were piercing him, analyzing him, judging his every move. It was all he could do to dumbly open his mouth.

"Robert E. Lee!" His mother shrieked, swatting his shoulder. "Answer Aunty when she speaks to you!"

He emitted a low, tremulous cry, a single tear escaping down his cheek.

Suellen frowned crossly, ready to scream again when another voice cut her off.

"Robert's a little man now, Scarlett," Will intervened, awkwardly hunkering down beside the pair. He gave his son a long look. "And little men don't cry when company's come, do they, Robert?"

The boy furtively shook his head and wiped his nose, blinking his eyes rapidly. "No, sir," he mumbled.

"You'd be surprised how much he can do around the farm now," Will continued. "Robert knows all there is to keepin' the barn in order. Ain't that right, son?"

He nodded, staring down at his shoes. "Yeah," he uttered so quietly no one hardly heard it.

"And just the other day, I took him out to the pastures and worked him with his knots. He can hogtie real well now, Scarlett. Reckon he's goin' to be a mighty help with the branding next spring. And when harvesting time come last December, Robert was out there pickin' faster than Big Sam, even."

Scarlett raised her dark brows at the child, her face alight with rapture. "Great balls of fire! Our little boy can do all that?"

Will nodded sagely. "And he just keeps gettin' abler with each passin' day." He turned back to his son. "Boy, run and get that piece of baling twine so's you can show Aunty Scarlett your knots."

"Yessir," Robert muttered gratefully and dashed up the stairs.

Scarlett stood and watched him go, shaking her head. "Such a scared little mouse. And to think, this will all be his someday."

"He's only eight years old!" Suellen snapped.

Will calmly held up his hand. "Simmer down, now, Sue. Scarlett makes a good point. He's still got a lot of growin' left to do."

Scarlett gave her sister a triumphant look. Suellen sneered back nastily. "Humph. Well, I do know one thing; if that boy's manners don't improve, I'm going to put him in a dress and ship him off to charm school."

Robert was stopped near the top of the stairs, his path blocked by his descending sisters. They stood three abreast, with Jane in the middle holding one hand from each. They paused as Robert drew back, hurtling to a halt to barely avoid a collision.

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be downstairs?" Susie drawled disdainfully.

But Robert didn't answer her. He silently regarded Jane, eyes wide. When she smiled at him, he squeaked and drew back against Martha's skirts.

"Who is she?" He whispered fearfully when she bent her head close.

Martha grinned and gently patted his head. "Oh, silly boy. It's only your sister Jane."

Robert tentatively stepped out and took a long look at the dark-haired girl. "No, she ain't."

Jane huffed angrily and frowned. She drew her hands out of her sisters' grasp and balled them firmly at her hips. "Yes, I am!"

He slowly shook his head, still gawking at her. "Uh-uh. No way."

"What do you mean? I am, too!" She snarled, grabbing hold of his collar. "I can be a pretty lady, too, Robert E. Lee! And I am, I am, I am!"

"Jane! Put him down!" Martha cried, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Susie rolled her eyes and drew back against the stairwell.

The boy gaped up at her, opening and closing his mouth. His clear blue eyes were wide with fear and astonishment. "It...it is you," he murmured breathlessly.

Jane yanked his face up to hers so their noses touched. "Say I'm Miss Jane and I'm a nice lady," she growled. The boy's lower lip quivered tremulously.

Martha grimaced and shook her sister's arm. "Please, Jane! This is very unbecoming!"

Susie smoothed the folds of her skirt and sighed. "She certainly can't act like a nice lady, can she?"

"Say it!" Jane cried, shaking the boy. "Or I'll shove your head right through the banister!"

"Y-you're Miss Jane, an'...and you're a nice lady," he squeaked softly.

Jane suddenly beamed at him and gently set him down. "You're wrong, Susie," she murmured, straightening her brother's clothes. "I'm a very nice lady. Robert thinks so. Don't you, Robert?"

He nodded, his eyes darting nervously from one sister to another. "Umm-hmm."

"Pah!" Susie scowled at the girl, but refrained from speaking when she caught Martha's warning look. With an annoyed little huff, she pinned on a prim smile. "Of course, he does."

Jane curtsied to her brother and motioned for Martha to step aside with her, smiling at him sweetly. "Thank you, Master Robert. You may go by now."

Seeing his chance, he scurried past his sisters and paused at the top of the stair. Safe on his perch, he looked back down at the girls and shook his head. "She sure looks funny, though."

"Ignore him." Martha took up her sister's hand once more and composed herself gracefully. "Now, let's go."

As they descended, they came upon their parents and Aunty Scarlett in the receiving hall, Will and Suellen each fawning over the girls' cousins. Their mother crouched next to the younger, Katie Colum "Kitty Cat" O'Hara, smiling and nodding solicitously to what the girl said.

"...Cat thought that wasn't very nice. And the train went on forever and ever. Cat didn't think it was ever going to stop. But Mommy bought Cat this bracelet in that busy York place, so Cat played with that when Cat got bored," the girl, who was a mere six months younger than Jane, said demurely as she held out her wrist for Aunty Suellen to admire. Black hair neatly curled about her shoulders and olive skin shimmering exotically against her periwinkle gown, the bastard child of Rhett Butler was as comely and graceful as a girl her age could be. Her dark complexion, paired with the most becoming dresses her mother could find, made her a lovely sight to behold. People old and young felt drawn to her by her whimsical charm, and she in turn dealt with them fairly, by nature ever honest and observant. She herself favored the company of animals and curious places. Yet, despite her adventurous spirit, she tried her best to heed her mother and return before falling into too much trouble. In fact, her only fault lie in her reverting to speak in third person whenever she was nervous, bashful, or agitated.

"And then Mommy reminded Cat that you have animals here, and that made Cat very glad. Where is Boo? Cat likes Boo," she presently lifted her head, looking around for the dog.

Suellen rolled her eyes at the mention of their accursed hound. "I'm sure he's around here someplace."

Across the space of the hall, Will likewise conversed with the oldest of Scarlett's girls, Ella Lorena Kennedy. The eighteen-year-old daughter of Scarlett's second husband and Suellen's former lover, Frank, was as plain as her sister was beautiful. Her stringy ginger hair, tucked up into her hairnet and hidden beneath her bonnet, did little to flatter her rabbity face. She had discerning eyes and a sharp, hawkish nose. Much like her father, she was timid by nature and said very little. But when she did muster up enough courage to say a few words, they were usually worth listening to. For all that she was ugly, she possessed incredible good sense and sound judgment. Like Scarlett, she felt the only person she could be perfectly honest and frank with was Will, who'd always been kind and understanding to her, even when her mother and aunty had not. She'd been Susie's bosom playmate when the girls were younger, being similar in age, and their unlikely friendship had continued into adulthood. Susie loved nothing more than to promenade about the county with her dear cousin at her side, for the sake of appearances as much as companionship; when paired together, Susie appeared ever more so the attractive maiden, while Ella simply looked an old maid.

"...Yes," Will murmured, shifting his weight to his wooden leg, "I'd heard tell of them darkies settin' up a doctorin' practice in Atlanta. Now, Sue and the children were nursed by darkies all their lives, which is much the same as doctorin', I reckon. Guess it's only fair they set up paid business, since we pay our nurses. But this Lynch feller gettin' elected a chair for that damned Republican party?" He shook his head. "That darkie ain't no more than the carpetbaggers' stooge."

Ella arched a brow. "At the rate they're going, it won't be long before one of their kind is president."

"Ain't that the truth," Will grumbled. "Well, it won't be me that votes 'em. I could if I wanted to, but the way them Yanks acted after the War just burns me up. They can have their damned oath. I don't want no part of their laws. And I don't care if I don't never vote again."

"Apparently, the darkies have more sense for politics than women," Ella replied. "I cannot vote, either."

"That's hogwash." Will smiled and touched her shoulder. "You alone's got more sense than fifty men put together."

Ella looked down and fiddled with her handbag. "Thank you kindly, Uncle Will."

"Ella!"

Will turned his head to see his three resplendent daughters reach the bottom of the stairs and descend upon the company.

"Susie!" Ella cried as her cousin darted over and drew her into a warm hug. For all of Susie's pettiness and Ella's practicality, the girls did share a genuine affection for one another.

They drew back and held each other at arm's length, hands clasped firmly in each other's. "Oh, dear, you continue to grow more beautiful," Ella gushed.

Susie beamed and took in her cousin's brown silky gown with creamy accents and silver jewels. "Darling, that dress wouldn't become anyone but you." Bending her head close, she drew her arm across Ella's shoulders and led her out into the drawing room. "How I've missed you! It's been so long. There's so much I have to tell you! Say, how long were you in Atlanta?"

Ella smiled and lowered her voice accordingly. "Only for an hour or two while we waited to change trains."

"Did you happen to see the offices of a Dr. Johnston when you were there? I heard tell he's set up practice on Peachtree Street, right close to the depot."

"Really? I don't believe I saw it. Do tell!"

Susie grinned conspiratorially. "Well, he's rich, under thirty, and, best of all, a bachelor..."

Martha gracefully tread up to the adults, beaming cheerfully. "Hello, Aunty Scarlett. It's wonderful to see you again," she said, bobbing a curtsy to her aunt before standing on tiptoe to kiss her father's cheek in greeting. "Daddy."

"Now I remember," Scarlett murmured lowly, nodding in turn to the girl. "Martha always was your only child to have any propriety at all."

But Suellen hardly heard her. She stood stock still with her mouth slightly agape, her gaze incredulous and her face ashen. She stared at something behind Martha that her sister and husband could not yet see.

"Mama, what's wrong?" Martha looked at her worriedly before gesturing to the object of her mother's shock. "Come, Jane. Say hello to Aunty Scarlett and Cousin Cat."

The figure took a few wobbly, uncertain steps around her sister before lifting the ends of her skirts and dipping a shaky curtsy before her relative. "Hello, Aunty Scarlett."

Scarlett breathed in a sharp gasp, her green eyes alight with amazement, as if seeing her youngest niece for the first time. This was not the dirty, annoying little monkey she'd been accustomed to on previous visits. With her hair curled and her dress dainty, the girl resembled a faint image of her aunt in days gone by.

"God's nightgown!" She exclaimed, once again lowering herself to gaze into the girl's bright blue eyes. She opened and closed her mouth several times, for once at a loss for words. "It's incredible," she finally breathed.

Jane, overcoming her bashfulness, tucked her hands together behind her back and swayed in place. She smiled delightedly at the reactions she'd managed to solicit. "I'm Miss Jane!" She cried proudly.

"Y-yes, I know," Scarlett stammered haltingly. "I just - I never realized that - what a beautiful girl you are."

"Any girl can be beautiful, Aunty," Jane replied, sidling closer. "But I'm beautiful and tough. That's why I'm Miss Jane."

Martha gazed down at her affectionately. "I think 'forceful' would be the better word for you, Janey."

The girl placed her fists on her hips and frowned up at her sister. "I am too tough! Why else is Pork helpin' me put up the new fence in the swamp? That's little man's work, you know," she added as an aside to Scarlett.

"You know why, Janey. Because you broke..."

" 'Dear diary,'" Jane interrupted, giving her sister a hard stare, " 'I only dream of being Mrs. Little J-"

Martha hastily clapped a hand over the girl's mouth, biting her lip in alarm. "All right, Jane. You're plenty tough."

The girl threw off her sister's hand and smoothed her dress. "That's what I thought," she sniffed, tossing her curls so they bounced boisterously about her shoulders. "A little lady can build a fence just as good as a little man can."

"Oh, Suellen, she's marvelous," Scarlett breathed to her sister. She straightened, her green eyes glimmering with approbation.

The girl's mother could still do nothing but stare in horror at the child, feeling as though she were about to faint.

"What's a swamp?" Cat piped up curiously, sidling over to her cousin.

"It's where we keep the pigs," Jane replied matter-of-factly.

"Pigs!" Cat's face lit up at the mention of critters. "What sort of pigs?"

"A big mama sow and her litter. They're just little babies." Jane smiled. "I saw them borned, you know. I watched from the barn rafters."

Will coughed and the girl glanced at her father. She reddened slightly. "Only I ain't supposed to go up in the rafters no more, cause that's a right dangerous thing to do."

He gave her a nod, and the girl turned back to her cousin.

"Piggies!" Cat clapped her hands together, her excitement finally overcoming her timidity. "May I go see them?"

"Of course." Jane took Cat's arm and led her away into the drawing room. "We're keepin' them in the barn until the fence is all built..."

At that moment, Robert darted back down the stairs, swinging his piece of twine. "Look," he said simply, holding it up in front of his aunt.

"Well, Master Robert, are you going to show me your knots?" Scarlett asked, clutching the boy by the shoulders and leading him after the girls.

He silently nodded, eyes cast toward the ground.

"Tell me, how many do you know?"

"Well," he mumbled softly, "there's the slipknot, and the bowline, and the carrick bend, and the clove hitch..."

Left alone in the hall, Suellen finally lifted her shocked gaze to meet her husband's eyes.

He stared at her emotionlessly. "You know who she takes after, don't you?"

"Don't say it!" She cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

He shifted his weight back to his foot. "Takin' after her Grandpa Gerald ain't nothin' to be ashamed of."

Suellen blew out her held breath and crossly took Will's arm. "Come on." She glared at him warningly before looking straight ahead. "Let's see they're settled so we can get on with this."

Boo barked and bounded awkwardly around the perimeter of the cemetery, still wound up from his recent romp with the girls. Suellen turned her head and shot the hound a nasty look before returning to the task of placing flowers along her mother's grave. "Pork, take that stupid dog away from here."

"Yas'm," the old Negro replied. He shuffled toward the dog, shoulders rolled forward and back stooped. Boo whined and darted off toward the old cabins when Pork raised his arms, waving them over his head. "Go'wan! Git! Git!"

Suellen felt the heat of someone's stare boring into her and looked up to see Will blankly shaking his head in her direction. She swiftly turned away and lifted her nose in the air, choosing to ignore him. She plucked a few large marigolds from the large collection of flowers grouped at the base of the stone and began binding them together for a crown along the marker's top. "Mother always loved marigolds," she murmured softly.

Scarlett paused and sat up from where she'd been arranging red roses along the base of Mammy's grave. The family's faithful, beloved domestic reposed in death beside Miss Ellen, her ward from infancy. Scarlett turned toward her sister, her face stormy.

Suellen flinched, grimacing. She knew she shouldn't have said anything. Scarlett always got so cross every time Mother's name was mentioned. In the years immediately following Ellen's death, Suellen had been slapped by her sister whenever she'd tried to invoke their mother's memory. Presently, she braced herself for another blow.

To her surprise, however, Scarlett's features softened as she reached over to brush the flowers' golden petals. "She did, didn't she? Mammy used to tell us that she wore them in her hair on the day she married Pa."

Suellen relaxed and smiled fondly. "Oh, I can picture Mother now with marigolds in her hair, wearing her beautiful satin gown. The same gown I wore when I married Will..."

"And I wore when I married Charlie," Scarlett finished. "Weren't those giant hoops a fright?"

"They were massive! I don't know how Mother ever did it. I kept bumping into things and tripping over floorboards. I had trouble even fitting through doorways!" Suellen cried. "I could hardly move around in that dress!"

"Neither could I!" Scarlett laughed, sitting back and gazing at Ellen's stone while Suellen crowned the marker with marigolds. "She used to have a tea set with those flowers on it, do you remember? It was one of the few things she brought with her from Savannah. She always laid it out when company called. We learned our table etiquette with that set."

"Oh, yes!" Suellen clasped her hands together and laughed. "Do you remember the time Carreen upset her saucer and broke one of the cups?"

"Do I! I can't remember a time when Mother was more upset with us. Carreen had been reading one of her silly romance novels again. Horse-Shoe Robinson, I think it was."

Suellen nodded. "Once she stuck her nose in a book, it was impossible to pull her back out."

"Right. She hurried straight through tea because she couldn't wait to get back to her reading. And when she leaped up from her chair, she knocked over her cup and it broke into five or six pieces on the floor. Mother turned absolutely red..."

"And she made Carreen walk around the house for the rest of the day with Horse-Shoe Robinson balanced on her head!" Suellen cried, bending her head close as the sisters burst into laughter.

Will, who'd watched them from under hooded lids, smiled evenly. He was kneeling awkwardly on the ground, decorating the grave that had cast a long shadow over the occasion of his marriage. He wiped his hands on his brown tweed jacket and lowered his head to straighten a row of zinnias along Gerald O'Hara's stone. "Look at your girls, Pa," he mumbled softly. "I reckon they's goin' to be just fine."

Along the row behind the adults, the girls worked diligently in pairs. Martha and Ludie's daughter, Bess, carefully patted and packed the dirt around the brightly colored posies they'd planted in front of Martha's uncles, all of them named Gerald. Martha found herself drawn to the sad little infants' graves every Decoration Day, and worked hard to create beautiful flower tributes for the lives barely lived. Robert decorated on the other side of her, doing everything his older sisters directed him to do. Martha reached over and patted his shoulder from time to time.

Susie and Ella sat atop the stone wall surrounding the cemetery, talking and twirling pansies in their hands. Susie, far more comfortable with bossing others around than with risking beads of sweat dampening her pretty porcelain skin, made her contribution by occasionally turning her head and barking an order at Robert. The rest of the time, she idly traded gossip with Cousin Ella in low, hushed tones.

Jane and Cat, working together, had haphazardly created a bright, garish display for the grave of the unknown Confederate soldier buried in the cemetery. The boy, no older than fifteen, had been brought to Tara in the months following the surrender unconscious and terribly ill. He had died without ever regaining consciousness. The girls had furnished the site with flowers of red, white and blue, draping a Confederate flag over the mound before his blank marker. Their task finished, the girls chased each other in a game of tag outside the cemetery. After all, they had nothing more to do until the family held prayers around the graves and their mothers readied the picnic luncheon.

Cat suddenly halted and gazed up in wonder as a bright blue jaybird flew over the girls. "Wow. What a pretty bird!"

Jane watched the jay disappear into the top of a pomegranate tree in the orchard. "Oh, him? That's just an ol' jaybird," she scoffed. "If you want to watch a real neat bird, you ought to see our owl."

Cat's eyes widened in rapture. "A owl? You really have a owl?"

Jane nodded. "I know right where he lives, too."

"I love owls!" Cat squealed, her smile bright and eager. Having been born on a particularly dark and stormy All Hallow's Eve, she possessed an affinity for all creatures and effects tied to the holiday. Her interest, however, was not viewed as normal by all. For a long time, Scarlett had had difficulty persuading the folks of Cat's home country that her child was neither changeling nor devil. "Can we please go visit him?"

Jane nodded. "Uh-huh. He sleeps during the day, but if we're real quiet, we can climb close enough to get a good look."

"Climb?" Cat asked, falling into step behind Jane as they started off toward the south side of the property.

"Of course! He lives way up in a cedar tree over the creek."

"Faith and Begorrah!" Cat exclaimed, mimicking her nanny, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. "I love to climb. This will be fun!"

Jane turned to her cousin, eyes shining mischievously. In Cat, she'd found a kindred adventurous spirit who truly understood the meaning of the word 'fun.' "Come on, I'll race you there!"

With that, the two girls sped off in the direction of the creek.

Will sighed and straightened his back, holding the family's worn Book of Devotions in front of him. He silently watched the family gather around the perimeter of the cemetery. The tiny row of graves had been made bright and beautiful by the work everyone had put into them.

He saw Scarlett place herself to his immediate left, while Suellen took her place to his right. He coughed and looked down at the prayer book, flipping through its yellowed pages. As head of the house, it was his responsibility to lead the family in their Decoration Day prayers, even though he struggled to know them well. He shifted his weight onto his foot nervously. The prospect made him uneasy every year. He always dreaded it. Glancing at Suellen, he relaxed a fraction. He was glad she'd be standing by to help him along.

Ludie and her children took their place on the other side of Suellen, while Big Sam and his family lined up beside Scarlett. Pork, Prissy, and Dilcey rounded out the circle's far end, with the children ringed opposite of Will.

Martha, her head already bowed, had placed a hand on Robert's shoulder to keep him from fidgeting. The boy looked around at the congregation, running his shoe over the tops of the grass as he waited for prayers to begin. Susie and Ella stood beside him, for once quiet and solemn. The girls had finally finished talking long enough to participate in the family activities, for now at least. Susie met her father's gaze and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

Taking her cue, he noisily cleared his throat. "All right," he croaked. "As you all know, we've gathered together on this day to remem..." He frowned in bemusement. "Where's Jane?"

Everyone looked up and began scanning the circle, murmuring to their neighbors. The servants shrugged and scratched their heads. The children shifted about, darting quick glances with a sense of unease. Scarlett huffed impatiently. Suellen rolled her eyes and looked cross.

Suddenly, a shrill, high-pitched scream echoed distantly over the clearing.

"Kitty Cat!" Scarlett cried, her face ashen with terror.

"Oh, Lord, not again," Will murmured as he lurched into a stilting, fast walk behind the rest of the party. Everyone else loomed ahead, dashing as quickly as they could toward the creek.

Jane hugged the large cedar's trunk and gazed down at the sapling branch as it plummeted into the creek. She grimaced, not daring to move for fear the branches underneath her feet might follow suit. "Cat! Where are you?"

Cautiously, she turned her head up in the direction of her cousin's screams and sobs. To her horror, she found Cat dangling precariously in the air over the water, her fall broken only by a sharp branch that had snagged her dress. Caught on the edge of the limb, she flailed her arms and legs helplessly. "Help! Help! Help!" She shrieked, her high-pitched call as loud and shrill as a banshee's.

"Don't move! I'm coming!" Jane cried, swiftly pulling herself up the branches she'd just descended from. The girls were about midway up the tree, their location a good two dozen feet in the air. The screech owl's nest perched higher still. After climbing close enough to take a good look at him, the pair had just begun making their way back down when one of the smaller branches had given out under Cat's weight. In one heart-stopping moment, their playful outing had taken a sudden dark turn.

As Jane approached, she saw her cousin cease struggling and quiet a little, though her terrified sobs were enough to shake the branch. Jane seated herself on the sturdier branch underneath Cat and contemplated the problem. "Okay. Stay calm. You ain't gonna go nowhere. Don't worry, I'll figure out how to get you down."

The cedar's arm groaned and sagged downward, sending Cat into a new fit of hysterics. "Hurry! Hurry! Cat's going to fall!"

"Naw, it's big enough. It'll hold..." Jane's voice trailed off as her gaze fell on the creaking limb. Three-quarters from its end, the wood snapped and cracked as it slowly splintered in two under Cat's weight. "Oh, no."

At that moment, Scarlett appeared at the base of the tree. She gazed up at the girls and screamed, her hands at her mouth.

"Mommy!" Cat sobbed, reaching down in Scarlett's direction. "Mommy, help!"

Scarlett turned and nearly collided into Big Sam. She grabbed one strap of his suspenders and pointed back in the direction from which he came. "Run and grab the ladder!"

"But...Miss Scarlett, ma'am..." Big Sam wheezed, panting heavily. "De ladder done all de way up at de house."

"I don't care! Go get it and get it quick!" She shrieked, shoving him back through the trees. She watched his large, burly form retreat before turning her head back toward her daughter. "Darling, Mommy's sent for help! Don't be scared!"

The branch jerked downward another fraction. "Mommy, it's breaking!" Cat wailed, unable to even see through her tears.

"Good Lord!" Suellen cried, coming to a halt beside Scarlett. "Jane? Jane!" Her voice escalated frantically as she scanned the area for her daughter. "Jane!"

"I'm here, Mama!" Jane tentatively inched out onto the branch beneath Cat. She paused and waved down to the women below.

"Jane, get down from there right now!" Suellen screamed, stomping her foot.

"I can't! Cat's in trouble!" Jane called in reply.

"Stop this! Get down! Ohhh..." She turned toward her sister, fraught with tears. "Why did your stupid brat have to get stuck in the tree?"

Scarlett drew herself up indignantly. "You're one to talk! She wouldn't even be up there if she hadn't run off with that wild beast of yours!"

Suellen crossed her arms and planted herself firmly in front of Scarlett. "She wouldn't be half so wild if she didn't take after her terrible aunty!"

"Don't try to blame this on me! You're the one who didn't raise her right!"

"At least I didn't raise my daughter to hang off of branches!"

"Ha! And you think I did?"

"You admit it!"

"I do not!"

"You did, too!"

Will, the last to approach the gathering, silently took stock of the situation and shook his head. Here were Cat and Jane, perched on the precipice of disaster while the rest of the family stood in a ring around their furiously bickering mothers. He sighed reluctantly as he moved to separate the sisters. And they'd been getting along so well, too!

Scarlett and Suellen seethed and screeched at each other as Will tried to push them apart. Suellen turned to her husband and pointed at Scarlett accusingly. "Will! She called Jane a mangy ape and me a cow!"

"That's no more than what you are for calling my daughter a sewer rat!" Scarlett cried, lunging against Will's grasp.

"Girls," he murmured firmly, holding them both at bay.

"I'd rather be a cow than a dirty whore!" Suellen shrieked.

"You ill-breeding harpy!"

"Girls! Calm down!"

The entire family fell still in shock. Even Cat went silent. All eyes turned incredulously toward Will. For the first time since anyone could remember, he had raised his voice. The tremendous, booming tenor of his clarion call had filled the entire clearing. The children and staff trembled with fright and slowly backed away from Will. Scarlett and Suellen stood frozen in his grip, their faces ghastly pale.

"You two are no better'n babies," Will growled flatly, gently releasing his hold. His pale blue eyes, stormy and bright with fury, glowered at them both disapprovingly.

Scarlett, recovering first, smoothed her skirts and tossed her head. "Humph. I wasn't the one who started it."

Suellen drew in a sharp gasp. "You-"

"Susan Elinor Benteen..." Will shot her a dark, threatening look.

She snapped her mouth shut and timidly slunk away.

"Has no one done anything to help the girls?" Will pointed up at Jane and Cat.

"I sent Big Sam after the ladder as soon as I got here," Scarlett murmured, looking down at her hands abashedly.

Will gazed up at his niece and grimly shook his head. "That branch won't hold." He turned to Ella and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Run and get the picnic tablecloth. Take Susie with you. Hurry."

Ella silently nodded. She turned and prodded Susie into a run back through the trees.

The branch groaned and gave another lurch, waving Cat precariously over the creek bed. The girl screamed and covered her eyes.

Jane had no time to think. She quickly straddled the branch she sat on, hooking her legs together beneath it. "Cat, look at me!" She cried. Her cousin tentatively opened her eyes. "I'm gonna reach out for you. Grab my hands!"

Cat nodded and stretched her arms down. Jane cautiously crept forward, seeking the girl's palms. Not far enough. Slowly, she shifted a little more. Her fingers desperately grasped the air. Jane closed her eyes and extended her arms over her head as far as she could, finally brushing Cat's fingertips. Her body now leaned very far to the right of her branch. Jane opened her eyes, making the mistake of looking down. There was nothing between her and the creek bed. Her eyes widened in horror as she felt her bottom slide forward off of the branch.

Screaming, she grasped Cat's hands and tugged. The breaking branch emitted a final snap before falling down past the girls. Jane's legs tightened their locked hold on her limb. Cat shrieked and held onto Jane for dear life.

The party below cried in horror and stood back as the weak branch crashed into the creek. Its impact sent up a small spray onto the bank. The clearing fell eerily silent as the splintered branch floated away.

Everyone averted their eyes from the tree. Scarlett and Suellen loudly began sobbing. Will stood with his shoulders stooped forward, staring at the ground. Robert quietly slipped his hand out of Dilcey's and crept toward the cedar trunk.

Martha glimpsed him out of the corner of her eye and gasped. "Robert, no!" She reached toward him just as he slipped around to the side facing the creek. Emitting a small cry, she buried her face in her hands. "I can't look!"

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to see Robert solemnly pointing up the tree. Scarlett moved closer, following his gaze. "Great balls of fire!"

Jane hung upside down from the branch, stoically grasping Cat's hands with all of her might. Her indigo skirts had fallen up, exposing her undergarments to the world. Her inverted curls, all standing on end, merely added to her comical appearance. Cat dangled underneath Jane, her feet treading air. Her eyes remained locked on her cousin's, refusing to look down. The twig that had snatched at her dress still stuck out from the folds of her skirts.

Suellen cautiously gazed up at the pair, breaking into a relieved smile. "Oh, Jane! Jane...Keep hanging on!"

"Don't worry, Mama. I can do this all day." She smiled proudly down at Cat, tightening her hold on the girl's hands.

"Kitty Cat, are you all right?" Scarlett called anxiously.

"Yes, Mommy. I'm not scared anymore. I can't see the ground," Cat replied without turning her head.

Scarlett finally relaxed somewhat, breathing a long sigh. "You'll be down soon, darling!" She felt Will standing beside her and turned to him worriedly. "You think Jane can hold onto her long enough?"

"I know she can. She's a tough little girl," Will murmured softly.

Scarlett broke into a delighted smile. "Oh, Will, she's just wonderful. She broke my Kitty Cat's fall!"

Will coughed and stepped back so that Suellen stood nearest her sister. She lifted her head high, shooting Scarlett a snide look. "And your Kitty Cat would be gone forever now if it hadn't been for my mangy little ape!" She fairly glowed at the deflated look on her sister's face, for once intensely proud of her daughter's monkey-like qualities.

At that moment, Ella and Susie returned with the tablecloth, unfolding it as they ran. Will picked up one of the corners and enlisted Pork to take the fourth, wading out into the creek so they were standing directly underneath Cat's dangling feet.

"Raise your end higher, girls. Don't pull it so tight. Let out some slack so it's got room to give." Will nodded when everything looked to be in place, then craned his neck up at the acrobatic duo. "Okay, Jane. We've got a net set up here to catch Cousin Cat. On the count of three, I want you to release her hands and let her drop. One..."

"You ready?" Jane murmured, squeezing the girl's palms.

Cat silently nodded her head.

"Two...three."

With a small squeak, Cat dropped down into the center of the blanket's folds, tugging the corners toward the ground with the force of her fall.

"Kitty Cat!" Scarlett cried, splashing through the creek toward her daughter. With incredible brevity, she swooped down upon Cat and snatched her up, hugging her close.

"Mommy!" Cat sobbed, throwing her arms around her mother.

Will craned his head up toward his own daughter. "All right, Jane. It's your turn now."

"No thanks, Daddy." Jane stretched her arms down and swayed back and forth a couple of times before swinging up with enough force to grab the limb she hung from. In a lightning-quick display of nimbleness and dexterity, she hauled herself back upright and shimmied toward the trunk. "I'll climb down instead."

"If you say so, darlin'." Will folded his corner of the tablecloth, a proud grin on his face. When Jane met his gaze, he shot her a wink.

Jane laughed and returned it, folding her arms as she surveyed her surroundings. Will, Ella, Susie and Pork were slowly trudging out of the water, Scarlett and Cat in tow. Big Sam had staggered back into the clearing with the ladder on his arm, only to discover that it was no longer needed. Martha and Bess stood together at the clearing's edge, excitedly discussing what they had just witnessed. Robert still stood at the base of the tree, staring incredulously up at his sister. Suellen stood behind him, the same look of wonder on her face. "I don't believe it," she mouthed silently.

Jane sat up proudly and tossed her head. She could believe it. After all, she was Miss Jane.

END