A day later, Scarlett manages to get herself and her passengers safely to Tara. On the way, she sees the frightening sight of other plantations in the county burned to the ground. The horse can barely walk as they reach the avenue of trees leading home at nightfall. Scarlett is amazed to see the house still standing. Inside, she finds Mammy; Tara’s butler, Pork; and Prissy’s mother, Dilcey. The rest of the enslaved ran off with the Union soldiers, who promised them freedom. Nearly all the food has been stolen, but Scarlett orders Pork to find whatever is left in the fields. Dilcey must nurse Melanie’s baby because Melanie can’t produce milk of her own.

While Scarlett is overjoyed when she sees her father, she soon realizes that he is a broken man. Mammy tells her that Suellen and Carreen survived typhoid, but Ellen died the day before. Scarlett realizes that she must take charge of the situation since everyone is depending on her. She thinks:

This was the end of the road, quivering old age, sickness, hungry mouths, helpless hands plucking at her skirts. And at the end of this road, there was nothing—nothing but

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