O'Hara Twins

Home

The bright sun of morning woke up Tara and Scarlett. The sisters slept inside the cramped wagon. Tara's dog was behind her like a pillow, Wade slept like a little angel with his head atop Scarlett's legs. Prissy slept besides Melanie and the newborn baby slept between them.

" No one found us." Tara whispered to Scarlett as they recalled the past night in which they had to hide their decaying wagon from the Yankees and sleep in a hiding spot, Tara had a small happy smile on her face. The conditions were far from ideal, but they survived. They heard the sound of shots and soldiers passing by, but no one found them.

" I'm hungry." Scarlett whispered and Tara couldn't help but agree, she wouldn't voice her own hunger to avoid worrying her group.

" We are in front of the Mallory place, we will soon reach home and everything will be fine." Tara comforted her sister, " Do be quiet so that no one else wakes up, they will be hungry and thirsty and no good to anyone. Come, we will fetch us some water from the well."

Tara and Scarlett untangled themselves from the group and entered what once had been the Mallory place and now was just greying debris. They both composed themselves to avoid letting the destruction emotionally affect them, who didn't know what to expect at home, as they made their way to the well. They found the well and wound up the rope to drink from its bucket.

They drank until there was almost no water left inside the bucket, picking up more to bring to Melanie, Prissy, Wade, and the animals.

" Don't you think Miss Melanie ought to nurse the baby? He'll starve." Scarlett commented.

" I've read in the book that she needs to have plenty of water and food to be able to nurse. Her health is already frail to begin with." Tara wondered, " But we have to try everything we can. Let's look for something to eat, we need food."

They found a few apples in the orchard, most of the apples were rotten but they managed to get the better-looking ones to eat. They brought the scarce food back inside the wagon and let the people drink water and eat before allowing Butler and the horse to drink. The horse looked worse than last night as if the water wasn't enough for his already frail health. Tara's dog, Butler, did enjoy the taste of apples and looked content with the small amount of food. Tara guided the horse back to the road and he walked slowly, slower than a human being could, but he was the only means she had to transport Melanie, Wade, Scarlett, and Prissy.

" We are about 15 miles from home." Scarlett wondered.

" Short distance but this horse won't help us, we will have to stop often to let him rest." Tara stated as she fixed her sunhat to avoid having the sun burning her more than it was.

Tara noticed that Melanie's eyes were closed against the sun and that she was feeling the effect of it's heat on her already frail health. Tara tossed the hat for Scarlett and Prissy so that they'd use it to shield her from the sun.

The journey was slow and took an entire day. It was almost normal when they turned to the main road.

" Tara is only one mile away!" Tara said to her sister, who smiled back at her tiredly.

A sudden noise came from an underbrush under them and Prissy screamed loudly as she threw herself on the floor of the wagon,  mashing the baby. Scarlett also screamed with Wade, hugging her son to protect him. Melanie was so weak that she just stirred, cowering away and seeking her baby. Tara unlocked the gun and got up to look at the noise source.

" It's a cow." Tara stated as she took off her petticoat, tearing it into strips to tie the cow.

Tara knew that Scarlett was afraid of cows and that Prissy never worked with them either, she liked animals and the cow looked gentle enough. So she mustered all of her courage to walk up to the animal and tie it onto the wagon. Butler, being a dog from a breed used to take care of cattle, descended the wagon and began to bark to the cow, as if guiding it. Tara petted the dog and went back to the wagon, starting to drive again.