@@@@@She didn't want the evening to end,
@@@@@She didn't want the evening to end, she
wanted
the warm comfort and happiness of it to last foreverHow strong Tony
looked! And so full of life, so pleased with his funny boots, with
himself, with everythingThe Tarleton girls acted like a bunch of
red-haired tabby kittens looking at a bowl of creamI wonder which
one will catch himBeatrice Tarleton's sure going to see to it that
one of them does! An owl in the woods beside the road said "whoo,
whoo?" and Scarlett giggled to herselfThey were more than halfway
to Tara before she realized that she hadn't thought about Rhett for
hoursThen melancholy and worry clamped down on her like lead
weights, and she noticed for the first time that the night air was cold
and her body was chilledShe pulled her shawl close around her and
silently urged Will to hurryI don't want to think about anything,
not tonight
I don't want to spoil the good time I hadHurry, Will, it's cold and
it's darkThe next morning Scarlett and Suellen drove the children
over in the wagon to MimosaWade was shiny-eyed with hero worship
when Tony showed off his six-gunsEven Scarlett's jaw dropped in
astounded delight when Tony twirled them around his fingers in
unison,
sent them circling in the air, then caught them and dropped them in
the
holsters that hung low on his hips from a fancy silvertrimmed leather
belt"Do they shoor, too?" Wade askedAnd when you get a little older I'll teach you
how to use them"Spin them like you do?"
"Well, sureNo sense having a six-shooter if you're not going to put
it through all its tricks Tony ruffled Wade's hair with a manto-man
rough hand
"I'll let you learn to ride Western, too, Wade HamptonI reckon
you'll be the only boy in these parts that'll know what a real saddle
ought to beBut we can't start todayMy brother's going to be
giving me lessons in farmingSee how it Is-everybody's got to learn
new things all the time Tony planted quick kisses on Suellen's and
Scarlett's cheeks- the little girls got theirs on the top of their
head-and then he said goo