by Carl Hamlin
As they finally exited the car with obvious reluctance, Billy strolled up to Jim and put out his hand to shake. The trio finally met up with him.
Billy simply pointed over his shoulder with an extended thumb. “Fake I.D.’s. When I asked them what they were up to, they told me they were staying out here. I decided to send them home instead of calling the authorities”. He again shook hands with Jim, then leisurely strolled back to his Suburban and drove away.
As the four others watched him leave, Jim placed his hands on his hips and sighed. “Billy always was sparing with his conversation.”
Jim turned to look at the embarrassed group next to him. “If I recall correctly, the three of you made a trip into town last evening, too. Now I can go looking, in the fridge…in the trash…or you can own up to what I think I’ll find and save us all some effort.”
Nervous glances were darting back and forth until finally, Debbie nodded her head. Soon, the others joined in on the silent admission.
Jim heaved a deep breath. “You all remember the rules you signed on to. No alcohol here, and that means you’ll have to leave tomorrow.”
Cindy reached for his elbow. “Please, Jim, three days early? How will we explain this?”
Jim shook his head. “We’ll go over this at breakfast, but those are the ranch rules, and you all knew it. I hate to make you leave, because Sammi and I really like you young ladies.”
Jim took a couple of steps toward the house, and then turned. “Sammi will be shutting down breakfast by nine. After that, you’ll have to go. Sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.” He walked into the house in silence, leaving the girls to walk slowly back to their bunkhouse.
Jim knew that Sammi would be shocked about what had taken place. She had already spent many hours with them while riding, and had gotten to know them quite well. When she arrived the next morning, she shook her head in surprise as Jim told her about the events from the prior evening, and she tried to decide what she would do for the day. It was planned for her to take the young ladies out on a long ride and a campfire style lunch along the way.
They quietly sipped coffee after finishing the bacon and eggs he had prepared before she arrived at the ranch. He could not stop yawning; as he had slept fitfully after being disappointed by the spirited young guests he and Sammi had both come to very much enjoy having around. He had not expected that he would require guests to leave so soon after taking over the resort. He had imagined that some men may someday commit such a breach of the ranch rules, but his heart sank at making these delightful college women leave.
They decided that it would be best for Sammi to go to the bunkhouse after a while and see if they needed any help in getting ready to leave. She was visibly upset that they had so flaunted the resort rules.
Chapter 4
In the bunkhouse, the red-haired Cindy stood in front of her friends with her hands on her hips. Tanya and Debbie sat on the couch, their expressions incredulous. Debbie began to laugh: “You can’t be serious.”
Cindy began to pace the floor. “I am too, serious. I don’t want to leave. I love it here. I want to do some more riding…some more hiking. I’ll have a good time with Jim and Sammi. I’m not asking either of you to do the same, but I can at least ask the question for myself.”
Tanya shook her head. “But we only have one car…your car. We’d have to go stay in that awful little mom and pop motel we saw coming in.”
Debbie got up and also began pacing. “I’m okay with that. It beats going home early and explaining. Anyway, we did something wrong, so I can put up with three days of boredom.” She turned toward Cindy. “But, I just can’t imagine Jim buying your idea, and you’re all alone on this one.”
Cindy looked at Tanya. She simply shook her head and laughed. “Not me, not in a million years.”
Cindy took a deep breath. “I need to hear what he says. Let’s go get breakfast, at least.” Without another word, the three sleepy women began a slow and silent march to the house, Cindy and Tanya clad in jeans and tee shirts, while Debbie, was decked out in a short red pleated and flowered skirt. Upon reaching the door, Cindy hesitated, and then pulled it open. Upon seeing Jim and Sammi, they mumbled variations of “…morning”, and then sat down at the table. Once seated, they shared an almost simultaneous yawn, all looking down at the table in silence.
Sammi produced the plates of breakfast seemingly out of nowhere, and sat down with them. “Jim told me about last night. Sorry you have to leave. I hate to see you kids go. I was beginning to feel almost maternal having you around.”
Jim sat down next to Sammi, but said nothing while he sipped more coffee. That was when Sammi noticed that, while eating slowly, Tanya and Debbie were glancing at Cindy. She knew that something was up, and she nearly began to smile in spite of the seriousness of the situation, although she sensed tension building.
Just as Jim was beginning to also feel that something was being left unsaid, Cindy spoke up. “I…. uh…I wondered if we could make…some kind of deal.”
Jim shook his head. “I hope you understand, but we promise prospective guests an alcohol free resort. There is also a safety issue. So, if you’re trying to get a second chance, you’ve already had it. The first was when you signed the registry and read the rules.”
Cindy shook her head rapidly, her red hair whipping her shoulders. “No, no. I’m not asking you to forget the beer we snuck in.”
Cindy leaned back and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to leave yet. But Jim, how about…instead of me leaving…how about…we go into that old school, and you…give me…a paddling?”
Jim nearly dropped his coffee cup, and Sammi began to choke on a drink of orange juice. For a moment, they both sat and stared at the young woman across the table with the beet-red face and tears forming in her eyes. They did not even look at the others who were sitting in stone-faced silence.
Sammi had never before seen Jim speechless. She also noticed that his face was as red as Cindy’s was.
Sammi had to subtly elbow Jim before he could respond. “Uh, Cindy, that would be…”
Cindy interjected in a shaky voice. “What I deserve?”
Jim allowed himself to laugh. “I think that goes without saying.” He then noticed Cindy’s companions blushing.
Jim cleared his throat. “I don’t think that you understand how that would…uh…”
She interrupted again. “Hurt? Didn’t you say it happened to you? So there was a first time in your life that you got paddled, right?”
Jim strained to speak. “I remember how much it stung…. all five times when that paddle landed.” He sighed loudly. “I don’t know about this, Cindy. I respect you for being willing to do that to stay, but…”
Cindy sat straight as a rod and placed her hands on the table. “I remember those things you said about taking responsibility. You emphasized that when someone did not act responsibly, those items hanging on the wall were used to… correct the…problem.”
Sammi reached across the table and took Cindy’s hand. “Give us a few minutes.” She finally looked at the others. “Best be packing up. We’re so sorry, girls, but those are the rules.” All three young women stood and began to leave. Cindy was wiping her eyes as she left.
As the door closed, Jim and Sammi turned slowly toward each other and gave out a low whistle. Sammi patted Jim on the back. “So, boss, what are you going to do?”
Jim shook his head. “I can’t spank her. She’s twenty years old.”
Sammi sighed. “She’s not asking you to spank her. She’s asking you to paddle her. Your hand wouldn’t be touching her butt. This is a tough one, huh? But the first matter to be resolved is whether you’re willing to paddle her or not. Because, if you’re not. then by all means, the matter is closed. If you are, then this will be a day you - or Cindy - will never forget.”
Jim shook his head. “Good grief. When the day began, I never…”
Sami began to laugh. “You never imagined that a cute r
ed-headed woman would ask you to paddle her? Gee, really?”
Jim gave her a mild elbow. “You are a big help. But, you’re obviously a female. What do you think I should do?”
Sammi set her coffee cup down and looked at him. “Paddle her. Paddle her good and hard.”
“Seriously? For real? You actually think I should go ahead and spank her and let her stay?”
“No, Jim, paddle her. I think you should paddle her and let her stay.”
Sammi leaned forward. “She’s over there in that bunkhouse going through a crisis of conscience. Come on…she even quoted what you said about taking responsibility for one’s actions. Jim, she simply feels badly. Guilty. About what they did. It’s her way of taking full responsibility for her behavior. Plus, she seems to have hit it off with us. I think it would be good for her to stay. And…unless you want to back down from your own rules…this is the option to making her pack up and go home.”
Jim leaned back in the chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “So we actually should do this? Do we really spank her?”
Sammi laughed. “We? I believe she referred to you paddling her, not me.”
Jim peered at her with a somber expression. “Look. You are endorsing this little adventure. But I need you to be there with me in that room. Your presence would make it seem more…proper, I guess.”
Sammi’s face drained of all color. “Uh, uh, no.”
Jim turned to look at her. “There is no way that I’m going to do this without you there with me. This is a twenty-year-old woman who is going to be bending over in front of me while I whack that rather generous erogenous zone she carries around back there with a paddle. I can’t do that in an isolated room, and I can’t bring myself to do that with the others standing there watching. So I need you there. And I still don’t know for the life of me why you don’t seem to want to go near that part of the building.”
Sammi’s expression turned dark. “Some other time maybe.”
Jim looked her directly in the eyes. “Well?”
Sammi nodded. “Oh, okay. I’ll be in that room with you to watch. I’ll do it for Cindy.” They began to rise and Sammi tugged at Jim’s sleeve. “I think that a minute ago, you just confessed to noticing the characteristics of her butt.”
Jim cleared his throat. “Well, two times she’s teased me about having a bony butt, and bragged that she can ride a horse so well because of all the padding she brings to the saddle.”
Sammi crossed her arms and smiled. “I doubt that she’ll be doing any riding this afternoon. She may be too saddle sore.”
Jim reached for the walkie-talkie unit clipped to his belt, and pressed a button. A few seconds later, a nervous, high-pitched voice responded. “Yes?”
Jim hesitated. “Cindy, do you still really want to do this?”
“Uh, yeah. Yes, I do. Please, Jim. I don’t want to leave. I’m ready to take this instead. And no matter how much it hurts, I won’t complain.”
He looked at Sammi and shook his head as he turned pale. “Okay. We’ll meet you at the front door of the school building in five minutes.” He pointed toward the second bunkhouse. “Our family left for another outing a half-hour ago. That’s good. We could hardly do this if they were still here.”
He placed the radio unit on the table, and began to run his fingers through his hair. “Wow. Let’s go on over there and be waiting for her.” Sammi walked out for a moment, and returned with a handful of tissues.
Seeing that made Jim’s blood turn cold. “Oh…she’s going to cry, isn’t she?”
Sammi crossed her arms and nodded. “Probably. Unless you wimp out and just give her love taps. But I don’t think that would make her feel that she’s paid the price.”
Jim placed his hand to the side of his head and groaned. “Time to go, I guess.”
They walked to the school and went in, then headed for the office. Although she hesitated, Sammi forced herself to follow Jim into the room.
Still stunned at the surreal quality of the situation, Jim went to the back wall and retrieved the large paddle from the wall. He placed the board on the small desk, then scooted it and the solitary chair to the side of the room to insure that there would be sufficient open space for the drama that was about to take place.
Satisfied that everything was ready, they walked to the front door of the school to see Cindy leaving the bunkhouse. Sammi nudged Jim. “Notice? She changed clothes.”
Cindy was no longer wearing jeans, but was now wearing a pair of brief, nylon running shorts. Jim shrugged. “Why?”
Sammi sighed. “She wants this to really sting. She feels badly about her role in what happened.”
Jim gave out a quiet moan. “What should I do?”
Sammi squeezed his arm as Cindy arrived. “Give her what she obviously feels she needs.”
As Cindy stepped to the small porch, Jim and Sammi could see that she was about to burst into tears. “Can Tanya and Debbie stand outside the room? They said they want to do it for moral support.”
Jim looked at Sammi, and then nodded. “Sure.”
A look of relief swept over Cindy’s face as she turned toward the bunkhouse and waved. Seconds later, the others came outside, began walking to the school building, and met up with them. Both Tanya and Debbie arrived with ashen faces.
Without saying a word, Jim turned and led the group to the doorway at the far corner of the first classroom, through the hallway and to the door of the office. Tanya and Debbie leaned against the wall as if they needed it for support. Jim turned to Cindy and nodded. “Ready?”
Cindy gave a meek smile and a whispered “Yes”. Jim opened the door, and placed his hand on Cindy’s shoulder to guide her inside. Sammi closed the door behind them.
Cindy saw the paddle on the desk and began to visibly tremble. Jim picked it up and Cindy spoke quietly. “I…. I uh…don’t know how this works, exactly. I mean…what am I supposed to do?”
Jim nodded, and guided her to the center of the open part of the office. “Well…. I’m doing this from memory. Of course, I was on the receiving end myself.”
Cindy looked at him through squinted eyes. “You still remember it that well huh?”
Jim nodded. “And I’m sure you will never forget this, either.”
Sammi took several steps back so that she would witness the paddle making contact. Nervously, she placed her hands in the pockets of her jeans and rocked back and forth on her boot heels.
Sammi could see that Jim was trembling as much as Cindy was. He began to speak but no sounds emerged. He took a deep breath: “Okay, you need to bend over and touch your toes.”
Cindy looked at him and gulped. “Touch my toes? Ohhhkaaayy.” Cindy took a deep breath and began bending. Sammi and Jim both heard the sound of a stifled whimper.
Jim touched the paddle against the seat of the shiny green shorts, and just that contact startled Cindy so that she audibly sucked in her breath. Next, Cindy felt the hard wood being tapped against her backside.
Jim raised the ancient paddle, drew it backward and brought it back with a slightly upward swing. The sharp crack made Sammi jump, and Cindy gasped and cried out at the resulting sting that covered most of her bottom.
Immediately, Jim glanced back to Sammi, who was giving him a silently mouthed “Okay” and a thumb’s up, but that gesture was followed by a silent “Ow” and a reach back to cover her own bottom.
Jim and Sammi could not see the two young women in the hallway jump at the sound of the first WHACK, or see two sets of hands reach instinctively to cover their bottoms. Two sets of eyes in the hallway were now as big as saucers.
Suddenly, Cindy felt the paddle being pressed up against the hot spot. In a moment, it left and returned with a force and wave of fiery sting equal to the first. Cindy rocked up onto the balls of her feet, and they could hear her struggling to maintain her composure.
Sammi walked up, leaned down and placed her hand on Cindy’s shoulder. She handed her a tissue and whispered, �
�Go ahead and cry.” Cindy nodded her head and began dabbing at her face. There was little time for Cindy to recover her composure. As Sammi walked away, Jim was again taking aim. He delivered the third loud swat, generating a quiet “Oooohhh”, and Cindy followed Sammi’s advice and allowed herself to cry freely.
After a single light tap, Jim landed the paddle on her bottom for the fourth time, and rapidly followed it with the last. Cindy stood and mouthed a hushed “Yooooww”.
Relieved that the ordeal was over, Cindy stood and began to gently rub the soft and fleshy surface of her sizzling bottom. She took another tissue from Sammi, blew her nose and laughed softly as she turned to look at Jim.
“Well…. that was…yeeooww!”
Jim cleared his throat. “And that was…. a different…experience for me, too. This paddle hasn’t been used in a lot of years.”
Cindy tried to stifle a sob. “Well, take my word for it. It still works. I mean, it works really, really good.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself some more. “I’m glad you let me do this. I really didn’t want to have to leave yet. I want to do some more riding.” She reached back and rubbed her bottom with a dramatic flourish. “Tomorrow!”
Jim set the paddle on the desk. “I meant it when I said I respected you for this. I know that was tough.”
Cindy nodded and laughed again. “Yeah, and rather embarrassing. But, I had it coming.”
Cindy straightened up and stood on her tiptoes. “I think that was fair trade for not having to leave.” She turned toward Jim. “I’m sorry about the beer.”
Jim placed his hand on her back. “I just want you to enjoy the rest of your time here. I guess you have to hang out with us older folks.”
Cindy laughed. “That’s fine with me. And my partners in crime out there will manage to have fun in whatever they decide to do until we head back.”
Sammi hugged the younger woman. “Ready to go out and see them?”
Cindy hesitated. “I think so.” She walked to the door and opened it, but only Debbie was there.
