@@@@@ "So I got off the hook," she told Mrs"But 785
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"So I got off the hook," she told Mrs"But only by
the skin of my teeth
I'm not so sure being The O'Hara is exactly what I thought it would
be
"And what was that, exactly, Mrs In August the potatoes were
harvestedIt was the best crop they'd ever had, the farmers said
Then they began to reap the wheatScarlett loved to watch them
The
shiny sickles flashed in the sun and the golden stalks fell like
rippling silkSometimes she took the place of the man who followed
the reaperShe'd borrow the staff with a curved end that the farmers
called the loghter-hook and draw up the fallen wheat into small
sheavesShe couldn't master the quick twisting movement the man
made
to tie each sheaf with a stalk of wheat, but she became very handy
with
the loghter-hookIt sure beats picking cotton, she told ColumYet
there were still moments when sharp pangs of homesickness caught
her
off guardHe understood her feelings, he said, and Scarlett was sure
he didHe truly was the brother she'd always wanted
Colum seemed preoccupied, but he said it was nothing more than his
impatience that the wheat took precedence over finishing the work on
the inn that Brendon Kennedy was making in the building next to his
barScarlett remembered the desperate man in the church, the man
Colum had said was "on the run She wondered if there were more of
them, what Colum did for themBut she'd really rather not know, and
she didn't askShe preferred to think about happy things, like
Kathleen's weddingKevin O'Connor wasn't the man Scarlett would
have
picked for her, but he was clearly head over heels in love, and he had
a good farm with twenty cows at grass, so he was considered a very
good
catchKathleen had a substantial dowry, in cash saved up from selling
butter and eggs, and in her owning all the kitchen implements of
Daniel's houseShe sensibly accepted a gift of a hundred pounds from
ScarlettIt wasn't necessary to add it to her dowry, she said with a
conspiratorial win
