by Carl Hamlin
He saw that the door to Watson’s room was propped open, and as he approached, the older man looked out into the hallway and invited him to come in. As they finished eating, they made small talk about how well the planting had gone, widespread cooperation and the fortuitous arrival of the rain.
However, when they were both finished with their meal, Watson’s expression grew grim. “I lived here long enough to know the weather. It’s going to rain fairly steady for a couple of days. It will be perfect for getting our gardens off to a good start.”
Mike looked at him with a perplexed expression. “Then why do you look like you’re so worried?”
Watson rose from his chair and began to pace the floor. “I’m scared for tomorrow… and the day after. You see, Mike, tomorrow is going to be the first day of leisure since the epidemic. Nearly everybody is going to stay inside tomorrow. That means they are going to have time to think… to remember. There’s going to be idle time to realize our lives will never go back to the way they were. And I don’t know how these people are going to handle that.”
Mike stared at the floor for a moment. “There are several hundred people here. So there going to be hundreds of different ways people are going to cope. I keep telling myself that my family is safe somewhere. I suppose I tell myself that because I can’t bear to entertain all the possible alternatives.
“In those rare moments when I’m honest with myself, I realize that at least some of my family must be gone. Logic tells me that many of the people I worked with are gone as well. What I can’t bear is wondering about all the kids at my school.”
Watson sat down again and looked at the ceiling. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen with the ones who aren’t made from such sturdy stock. I fear for them.
“The funny thing is… that little redhead asleep in the next room… she’s not the kind I worry about. A lot of people may complain about her…”
Mike interjected: “Because she’s a thief and she has a brash mouth?”
Watson laughed. “But you see… I think she’s what you call a survivor. She’s only been with us two weeks. But she doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks about her. I think she gets under everyone’s skin because she’s much more accepting of our reality. And that scares the ones who think there may be hope for a return to normal.”
Mike allowed himself to smile at the mention of her. “I don’t think she’s a bad person…”
Watson shook his head. “I don’t think so either. I don’t think she’s had a very easy life, and now she seems to be this woman – child, kind of unpredictable… always kind of dangerous, but always dependable in her own odd way.”
Mike stood up and stretched. “I can’t help but worry about her. And, I feel like I need to protect her from herself. I’m just not certain as to how to go about that.”
Watson knelt down and began to arrange his pillows on his mats. He looked up at Mike with a grin. “Yes, you do. You did it the first time you met her.” He stood and placed his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “And my guess is you’ll have to do it again.”
Mike responded with a silent nod, and then left the room. He walked down the hallway to the restroom, grateful that the school had its own naturally pressured system that worked without needing electricity.
He made his way back to the former nurse’s station that had become his home. It was fifty feet from any of the other occupied rooms so he had an adequate sense of privacy.
Furnishings were sparse, but acceptable. The vinyl sofa upon which he was sleeping would be more comfortable when he could remove the arms on each end. He decided that perhaps he would spend a rainy day making his sleeping quarters more livable.
He undressed and covered himself with the single blanket he had claimed from a storeroom. He was without any kind of pillow, but was grateful for being able to sleep in the same place every night.
As he lay down on the sofa, he could not help but to find some humor in the muscle pain he was experiencing after two long days of gardening. Though he was not yet forty, he was beginning to regret his years sitting behind a desk.
It was just after sunrise, and Mike had no more than finished getting dressed when he heard some loud voices in the hallway. He stuck his pistol in his jeans pocket and hurried out to see what was going on.
Four men were standing with Watson. One of the men was their impromptu constable Jim Hastings, who was holding a rifle, and another had his hands tied behind him.
Mike stood twenty feet away to listen, but kept his hand on the gun in his pocket. Watson listened patiently as an unarmed man told of catching the restrained one in his home just before sunrise. While attempting to subdue the burglar, he had yelled for help, and the man holding the rifle had run over from the neighboring house to assist him.
Satisfied that he was hearing the truth, Watson asked the accused man if he was aware of the penalty he would be facing, and then asked if he would rather leave the village to live elsewhere.
The man simply glared at Watson and the others for a moment: “I’ll take it… I’ll stay here.”
Watson pulled a knife from his pocket and gestured toward the man’s tied wrists. “I trust there will be no retribution against these men who brought you to me?”
The man looked down and shook his head. Watson walked behind him and cut the rope. “I expect you back here at noon. We’ll do this in the gymnasium. If you don’t show, you are banished from the village.”
Relieved of the ropes, the man shook his hands, looked to the floor and walked out of the building. The others said nothing, but simply slowly filed out of the school.
Watson closed his eyes and sighed as Mike approached him. Mike gestured toward the door, as Marlene and Aubrey walked cautiously out into the hallway in tee shirts.
“Who was that guy?”
Watson shook his head. “Henry Lawson. He lived nearby me back in Iowa. He was a rowdy kid, and now he’s around forty and still causing trouble.”
Aubrey spoke up nervously. “What did he do?”
Watson placed his hands on his hips and stared at the young woman with a stern look. “He was trying to steal.”
Aubrey’s face turned red and she stepped back a little. “Oh.” She spoke again. “What’s going to happen to him?”
Watson looked at the young woman again and sighed. “He’s going to get flogged with a whip.”
Aubrey’s hands immediately reached back to cover her bottom, and even in the midst of such a serious situation, the other three present broke into laughter at her reaction.
With eyes as large as saucers, the young redheaded woman shook her head. “Mr. Watson… do you really have a whip?”
“No… I guess I’m going to make one out of leather strips. And you, Miss Carson, are going to help me.” Aubrey’s expression was one of apprehension before Watson continued. “I think it’s only fitting for you to help me with this little chore. After all, you were the first resident of Dragos Falls to face punishment. But don’t worry, young lady. It will only get used on men.” Hearing those words, Aubrey exhaled and relaxed her shoulders.
Watson walked over and put his arm around the petite redhead. “Have some breakfast and get dressed. We’ll work in the cafeteria. I’m going to find some cutting tools, but I want you to wander around the building and look for some leather.”
Aubrey didn’t respond except to visibly gulp at hearing those words. She disappeared into the sleeping room to get ready for her unusual chores.
After breakfast, Aubrey made her way to the cafeteria, where Watson was setting out several knives and a pair of scissors. He glanced toward the young woman in the cutoff jeans. “I’m going to walk through the village with Mike and make sure everything is settled down after this morning. Just go ahead and find what you can.”
Aubrey flashed him an “okay” sign as he walked by on his way out of the cafeteria. She picked up a couple of the knives and began to stroll toward the back of the school building.
Along the way she summoned her imagination. She began to envision the type of implement Watson may find useful.
She came upon the janitor’s room. There was virtually no light in the room, but as her eyes adjusted she was able to see a handsaw on a hook on the wall, and next to the door was a well –worn broom. She took both items out in the hallway, and proceeded to cut a foot long section from the broom handle. Looking at the section she had cut, she picked up the saw once again, and this time cut a section half as long and put it in her pocket.
She decided to seek another section of the building where more light was able to come in the windows. She found her way to the gymnasium, and felt a chill as she realized she was in the large room where a man would be flogged later in the day, flogged with a device she was helping to make.
She began to look around, and in the corner of the gymnasium were some tumbling mats covered in stiff denim. She passed on that, deciding that the mats would be of value for sleeping upon, and for a moment she envisioned herself and Mike someday making good use of them.
She walked through the door leading from the gym and entered a narrow hallway that was also lined with opaque glass. That was when she was able to find the boys locker room.
She opened the door and pulled a bucket over to prevent it from closing and allow in some sunlight. Amused at her surroundings, she explored and looked for anything useful.
She came to a rack of wide leather belts, the type used by athletes to support their backs when lifting weights. She grabbed several of the heavy belts and laid them out in the hall with the section of broomstick. Next she began to simply look around to see if she had missed anything else that could be of use. She found a desk, so she began to go through the drawers. She found several rolls of white tape, a ball of string and a first aid kit.
She looked around some more, then took a laundry bag from a peg on the wall and filled it with all of her plunder. As she began to drag the heavy sack to the cafeteria, she wondered what it would have been like to have observed the unknown woodworker who had prepared the paddle she had experienced. When she returned to the cafeteria, there was a note from Marlene telling her that Watson would be delayed, but would return in time to assemble the whip for the noon flogging.
It was nearly eleven o’clock when Watson rushed through the door of the cafeteria. That was where he found Aubrey waiting for him, holding up an instrument that closely resembled a cat o’nine tails.
His eyes wide in surprise, he walked up and picked up the whip. Aubrey had cut leather strips from the belts, and secured them tightly around the section of broomstick with string and several layers of the white tape. The leather strips had been sharply tapered near the ends, and tied into little knots.
Aubrey shrugged. “Just like the one I saw in a pirate movie one time.”
Watson looked at Aubrey with an expression that was a mixture of appreciation and sadness. “Thank you. I had some upset people to talk to. But this should do fine.”
Aubrey stood, and then began tossing the leftover materials into the laundry bag. “I’ll just keep this stuff around. You never know when something may come in handy. Bye for now, Mr. Watson. I think I’ll just stay scarce during the flogging.”
Aubrey went out the door of the cafeteria, and then ducked her head back inside a few seconds later. “I don’t think I’d even want to hear the sounds of a person being struck on the bare flesh with some device made to inflict pain.” She flashed her pixie grin at Watson, and once again disappeared.
It was just before noon that Aubrey heard voices and many footsteps passing through the hallway outside the door of the room she shared with Marlene. When she heard Mike’s voice among them, she wanted to open the door and call for him.
She tried to occupy her mind by sitting on the floor and sewing patches on a pair of her jeans, and a tear in a pair of pants Watson would use while gardening. She knew that Mrs. Watson would likely do a better job, but she wanted to stay busy.
As she worked, she found herself slightly trembling and several times she poked her finger with the needle. She worked steadily, even tapping her foot as she worked to drown out any other sounds.
Finally, she heard the voices and the footsteps return. This time, however, the voices were much more subdued, and she held her breath to listen.
She nearly jumped when there was a tap on the door, and when she called out a welcome; Mike walked in and sat down on the floor next to her. As soon as their eyes met, Aubrey began crying hard.
Mike drew her face to his chest, and the sobbing intensified. He held her that way until she quieted and looked up.
Aubrey wiped the tears from her face. “Did you watch?”
Mike nodded. “Watson asked me to be there. “
Aubrey closed her eyes and shook her head as the tears began to flow once more. “Why was I so nonchalant today… making that whip for Mr. Watson?”
Mike took a deep breath. “I think it was just a little addendum to your paddling. Maybe he just wanted to reinforce to you the importance of good behavior in a community like this.”
Aubrey pressed her face against his chest again. “There are hundreds of people here. I doubt that he has picked me out for any special treatment.”
“But he cares about you. And he worries about you. Of course, he’s starting to depend on me for a lot of things, and he knows how special you are to me.” Aubrey did not speak at first. She simply looked up at Mike with her tearful green eyes, and then moved her lips up to meet his.
She placed her head against his chest. “I want you to tell me about it. I don’t know how I feel now about making that whip. I want you to tell me what happened.”
Mike leaned back against the wall, and pulled Aubrey onto his lap. “Okay… there were about eight of us present, all men except for Marlene. Watson told Lawson he was going to get fifteen lashes. He told him to take off his shirt.
“He told Lawson he had a choice of standing against the wall with his arms outstretched, or he could have his hands tied overhead and stand under the basketball hoop. Lawson said he didn’t have to be tied up, that he could take it like a man.
“So, Lawson just walked over to the wall, put his arms straight out and put his hands against the wall and waited. Then Watson walked up and gave him the first lash.”
Aubrey spoke almost in a whimper. “What did it sound like?”
Mike looked down and tapped her on the nose. “It sounded exactly like every smack of the paddle I gave you.”
“Really?”
“Really. Exactly the same.”
“Go on.”
“Well… every few seconds Watson gave him another one, until he had given him fifteen.”
“Did… did he… did he scream? Did he yell?”
“Of course he did. Several times.”
“And his back…?”
“Aubrey… I don’t…”.
“I need to know. And be honest with me.”
“Okay… his back is covered with long welts. There are cuts, and he was bleeding quite a bit.”
Chapter 4
Aubrey remained silent for a minute after hearing Mike’s description of the flogging of the burglar. She continued to rest her head against Mike’s chest as he held her closely and protectively.
“Mike, I don’t feel right about everything. Making that whip… I mean, I know that Mr. Watson didn’t really give me much choice about helping him. But still…”
“Aubrey, these are confusing times for us all. I felt very conflicted about being drafted to discipline women.”
“But I was the first person in the village to be punished. Who am I to take part in someone else’s punishment? I stole something; that Lawson was trying to steal something. But it sounds like he was punished much more severely, and with a whip that I made. Things just seem out of balance to me.”
“Aubrey, only so much is in your control.”
“But I can control what I can.” She stretched upward and kissed hi
m again. “With some help from my friends, of course.”
“And just how do you want me to help you?”
“You know exactly what you can do to help me feel okay with everything. So tonight I’m going to come to your room so you can provide it to me. I’m just going to tell Marlene that I’m going to spend the night with you. That will be no surprise to her.”
“Aubrey… this is… just…”.
“This is just what I need to happen. Sometimes it’s nothing but punishment; sometimes it’s just a big turn on for me. It’s what’s always made me feel that I was under control, even safe and protected.
“When I was caught taking money out of that purse, I had no idea that some good looking man was going to be giving me a paddling. But I was already feeling badly about what I had done. So I got mouthy with you and Marlene. Well, I guess you understand why now.
“So tonight, I’m going to go down to the falls and let that the refreshing water pour over me as long as I want. Then I expect to spend some considerable time across your knees, and when you’re done with me, I won’t be able to sit down for a few hours. And that’s all right, because I’m going to spend the night laying next to you, on my stomach of course.”
Mike leaned his head down and kissed her. “You are a complex little lady. One minute I’m convinced that you are all mixed up inside. Then a minute later, you have me convinced that you really have it all together. So, whatever works for you.”
Aubrey snuggled against his chest. “I’m sure you won’t mind having my backside on display.”
“It’s quite adorable actually.”
“Oh, it is?”
“I loved it from the moment I first saw it.”
“Well, you left no doubt that you found it to be an inviting target for the paddle. All five times. That was pretty intense.”
“But if I take you across my knees and give you a spanking… you would find that to be quite different?”
