Gone with the Wind / Унесённые ветром. Уровень 3

As she screamed, Melanie’s voice, weak and trembling, called:

В«Scarlett? Is it you? Please come! Please!В»

Scarlett tried to think of all the things Mammy and Ellen had done for her when Wade was born. She spoke to Prissy rapidly,

В«Build a fire in the stove and keep hot water boiling in the kettle. And bring up all the towels you can find. And get me the scissors. Get them and get them quick. Now hurryВ».

Chapter XVII

It was all over. Melanie was not dead and the small baby boy who made noises like a young kitten was receiving his first bath at Prissy’s hands.

Melanie was asleep. How could she sleep after that nightmare? Why wasn’t she dead? When it was over, Melanie whispered weakly: «Thank you». And then she went to sleep. How could she go to sleep?

Scarlett forgot everything. Her mind was a vacuum; the world was a vacuum. She heard her own breath. She heard sounds of feet upstairs and thought В«May the Lord damn PrissyВ», before her eyes closed and something like sleep descended upon her.

«We did it, Miss Scarlett. Ma couldn’t do better».

From the shadows, Scarlett glared at her. And the Yankees wanted to free the negroes! Well, the Yankees were welcome to them.

She lay back against the pillar in silence. Scarlett heard the sound of faint voices from up the road. Soldiers! She sat up slowly and called to them.

В«Oh, please!В»

A shadow came to the gate.

В«Are you going? Are you leaving us?В»

«Yes, Ma’am.

That’s what we’re doing».

«Are you… is the army really retreating?»

«Yes, Ma’am. You see, the Yankees are coming».

The Yankees are coming! She had forgotten that. Her throat suddenly contracted and she could say nothing more. The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!

«The Yankees are coming!» bawled Prissy. «Oh, Miss Scarlett, they’ll kill us all! They’ll…»

В«Oh, hush!В»

What to do? How to escape? Suddenly she thought of Rhett Butler. She hated him, but he was strong and smart and he wasn’t afraid of the Yankees.

And he was still in town. Of course, she was mad at him. But he had a horse and carriage, too. He can take them all away from this doomed place, away from the Yankees, somewhere, anywhere.

She turned to Prissy.

«You know where Captain Butler lives… at the Atlanta Hotel?»

«Yes ma’am, but…»

В«Well, go there, now, as quick as you can run and tell him I want him.