Rick was rummaging inside the valise and pulled out a packet of papers, which he quickly flicked through muttering under his breath as he did so. He paused while reading one paper carefully before gazing into the distance thoughtfully. He then looked around at all of them and said, “I’m taking these things into evidential custody as of this moment. You are all my witnesses. Do you have any paper that I can make a list of items with, Mrs. Carter?”
Carmella nodded and hurried off to fetch what the Ranger wanted. While everyone’s attention was elsewhere, Amy quickly picked up the locket and hid it in her skirt pocket. When Rick had his paper, he sent Ethan and Amy away while he and Elmer inventoried the loot.
Ethan watched Amy, who didn’t realize that he’d seen her take the locket, and he decided he needed to talk to her about why she’d done such an underhanded thing. “Come on darlin’, we need some air.”
Amy followed Ethan round behind the barn away from the house. Hastily she took the locket from her skirt pocket and placed it inside her bodice.
“Empty your pockets, Amy,” Ethan said grimly as he spun her around to face him. Amy did as he asked and looked at him innocently. “What have you done with the locket?” he asked her, his face stern. Amy blinked. How did he know?
“Amy, I promised you a lickin,’ for the Henderson shooting, an’ darlin’, believe me, this ain’t helping your case none right now!” Amy stood silent. What could she say?
“Okay, this is how it’s going to go: I’m going to count to ten and at any point you chip in an’ explain to me why you took that locket, I promise you I’ll hear you out to the end but after ten, believe me, I’m gonna light up your backside.....and Amelia, you will be begging to tell me everything by the end of your whipping. So now then, what do you say?”
Amy knew Ethan would make her give the locket back, but she needed to examine it first to ascertain that it really belonged to her mother. What could she say to Ethan? So she said nothing, and in so doing, sealed her fate.
Ethan counted and waited between counts for Amy to say something, but she kept silent, her head hung low, her hair covering her face. By the time he reached nine, Amy realized it was time to flee. She took off like a streak of lightning only to be caught about the waist and swung upwards through the air and down hard over her husband’s knee. Ethan planted his foot firmly on the bottom rail of the corral fence. Amy gasped as her skirt was flung up over her waist and her pantalets were pulled down, leaving her bottom bare and defenseless.
“This is not for shooting Henderson. This is for defying me and not telling why you stole that locket.” Ethan raised his hand and began spanking his newly wedded wife, peppering her bottom with hard smacks and slapping her hard until she was squealing and kicking. Ethan had no intention of stopping, even if Amy did suddenly decide to tell him where the damned locket was. Ethan was so livid with Amy for not trusting him with her secret, he intended to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
Amy was startled to find this spanking hurt more than the one she remembered receiving on the train, which she had thought was bad enough. She thought she could bear it but as her bottom heated up the scalding slaps seemed to hurt more and more. The burning was intolerable and Amy was furious with herself when she began to bawl.
Ethan was intent on turning Amy’s behind a very deep red. She would soon learn he wasn’t the push over her brother Ed was; he was her husband and she would do as he told her or suffer the consequences!
Amy hated the consequences and right now she hated Ethan! So she told him so, very, very vocally, so vocally in fact, that they ended up with a brief audience that had come out of the staging post to watch. Before long, though, the onlookers retreated back inside, shaking their heads in amusement and leaving Ethan in private to continue disciplining his wife.
Luckily for Amy she had no idea her humiliation was witnessed, and as she balanced precariously over Ethan’s hard thigh, she began to see the funny side of her situation. She started to chuckle, much to Ethan’s annoyance. He escalated his spanks and Amy was forced to grasp his trouser-covered calf just to stay in place. Her chuckles grew until she was half crying and half howling with merriment and pain; this was not going according to Ethan’s plan at all. He finished with a volley of smacks placed on the tops of Amy’s thighs, which proved useful in so much as she did yell and cry out. Satisfied, Ethan lowered his leg and caught his wife in his arms, turning Amy to face him.
As he looked down at her, he noticed something gleaming in the dirt between them and he bent to retrieve it. Quick as a lightning flash, Amy beat him to it and grabbed the object, concealing it in her hand. Ethan caught her wrist and pulled her hand to him, prising open her fingers. There lay a small gold locket. Ethan waited but when Amy said nothing he took the locket and turned it back and forth looking it over. It was unremarkable, just a plain locket case like so many that women wore. His eyes met Amy’s and she sighed. “Open it,” she said quietly. Ethan opened the little heart-shaped case and inside there were two likenesses; a man on one half and a woman on the other. Amy stared at the tiny pictures, unaware of the tears that fell down her cheeks. Ethan took a deep breath and clasped Amy to his breast, the locket closed tight inside his hand. He wrapped his arms around his wife and buried his head in her hair.
After a while they pulled apart and Amy looked up into Ethan’s solemn face. “Exactly,” she said softly.
“Aw honey, I’m sorry. You’re sure they’re your parents? Stupid question, I recognize them, too. Amy, this is evidence; you have to give it to Rick to inventory so it can be used in court.”
Amy nodded. Ethan turned to walk away, but Amy pulled on his arm so that he turned back to her questioningly.
“You know what this means, Ethan?” she asked softly.
“No-o?” Ethan frowned.
Tears began to fall from Amy’s eyes in earnest now as she said, “It wasn’t Henderson. Ethan....I....I...shot a...an...innocent man!” Her head fell onto her chest and she shuddered.
“Yes Amy, that possibility is what I’ve been trying to get through to you all this time!”
“Oh God, oh God, Ethan, what have I done!”
“Listen to me, Amy. First of all, we are going to take this locket back to the Ranger and we are going to tell him absolutely everything, and then we will talk, really talk.....alright?”
Amy nodded. Ethan gave her a quick hug and then headed back inside.
But Amy hung back. She took a deep breath and was about to follow behind dejectedly when one of the horses in the corral whickered softly. Before Amy had even thought her actions through, she was over the fence and up on that horse, riding bare back. She jumped the fence and rode away, barely aware of Ethan’s desperate yell as he ran fruitlessly after her, cursing as he ran.
* * * * *
“So let me get this straight, Walker: your wife shot this man Henderson in cold blood for the murder of her parents eight years ago, even though she has no proof, other than her so-called woman’s intuition. She then stole a locket from government property and now she’s ridden off on a stage-owned horse, adding horse theft to her long list of offenses. Am I gettin’ this right?” Rick Cook couldn’t quite believe his own ears.
“That’s about right.....ahem.....sounds real bad when you put it like that, sir,” Ethan said, feeling like an idiot.
“It is real bad, son. You should have taken your belt to her arse today and she might have thought twice about jumping on that horse!” Rick ran his hand through his hair; this case just kept getting even more confusing.
“I’m going after my wife....she’s no criminal, just a frightened girl who needs her husband right now!” Ethan ground his teeth.
“How d’you plan to do that then, steal another horse?”
“Hell man, cut me some slack! Lend me the damn horse and I’ll bring her back here right now!”
Ethan wanted to go after Amy before it was dark in case something bad befell her. She had eaten with the children ear
ly but Ethan was starving. Still, food had to wait until Amy was safe. Relatively safe, because when he found his dear little wife, she was going to get a taste of his belt across her backside and it would be a number of days, if not weeks, before she would be able to even think of sitting on anything, let alone a horse!
CHAPTER 10
Amy simply rode. She didn’t look where she was going, and when the horse was worn out and slowed to a walk, Amy had no idea in which direction they had travelled or where they were. She slid off the horse and flung herself down on the grass to sob. The animal cropped the tough dry grass and watched Amy warily. He’d had a tough day and he wanted to rest and feed calmly, with no unsettling humans anywhere near him. Consequently, when Amy finally sat up and palmed off her wet cheeks, the horse was too far away for her to catch. She tried fruitlessly to entice him to her and she stalked him, all to no avail. In the end she gave up and simply sat down where she was, making sure the area around her was snake- and spider-free.
Ethan was going to be wild with fury at her, she knew that, but right now she’d take whatever he threw at her just to be with him. She trusted Ethan, she now realized, and she loved him, so why had she run away? She always ran; that’s why. Everyone thought she was so wild and free, but she was never free from her demons! They always followed her and so she ran and she ran, from one thing to another, anything to block out that terrible day. A fresh stream of tears cascaded down Amy’s cheeks. She was a very bad person, she was! She deserved to be beaten! Oh God, she’d shot an innocent man! She might hang! No, no, he still lived. They wouldn’t hang her. She would beg Ethan to beat her when he found her, she would, and wouldn’t he be surprised!
After an hour or so of similar self pity and bitter remorse, Amy lay down exhausted and slept.
* * * * *
Ethan was tired, extremely hungry and getting desperate to relieve himself. He stopped the horse and kept hold of the reins as he passed water. It was getting too dark to see, so he unsaddled the horse, and, tying the reins to the saddle that he placed on the ground, he wrapped himself in a blanket and rested against the saddle. He chewed some beef jerky that Carmella had handed to him just as he was about to leave. Ethan was frantic with worry about Amy and hoped she was safe, not lying snake-bit somewhere.
All through the chilly night, Amy cursed her stupid decision to ride off the way she had. Ethan dozed and awoke, dozed and awoke all through the night. At dawn he drank some water, saddled up and continued his search, once again calling and intently looking around him all the while.
Amy was rather pleased with her powers of deduction. She knew the sun rose in the east, and so she worked out which way was south and headed in that direction. By mid-morning she was tired of walking. She noticed the horse trailing behind her at some distance and stopped to coax it to her. She was so intent on this that she failed to notice a horse and rider approach from behind until he was almost upon her. Ethan’s heart was in his mouth when he spotted her. She had her back to him and didn’t turn until he was dismounting and then she took off toward him, flinging herself into his open arms. Ethan lifted Amy off her feet and swung her around in a circle before lowering her to the ground and kissing her fiercely and brutally, parting her lips with his tongue. Amy met his kiss just as hungrily and they clung together for a few moments before Ethan broke away to shake her until Amy’s teeth rattled. “Don’t you ever, ever do that again! D’you hear me? Never again. You scared me half to death, Amy!”
“I won’t, I won’t, Ethan. I promise! Oh, I am so sorry.....truly I am!” Amy was laughing and crying all at once.
Ethan calmed and looked her over before asking quietly, “Are you harmed in any way?”
Amy hung her head and looked at him through her lashes, saying, “No...I don’t think so.”
Ethan nodded, and then for a few moments he just stood there and drunk her in. His Amy was safe, she was unharmed, and...she was a...a...stupid, stupid little fool! Ethan let the anger wash over him and he glowered at her.
Amy saw the change come over his face as it darkened, but she didn’t back away from her husband. He was right to be mad with her and Amy, taking a deep breath, decided that she was ready and willing to be punished by him. “Why?” Ethan asked her suddenly.
Why.....she thought, frowning with concentration. “I don’t know...fear, I suppose, and stupidity, I guess,” she answered.
“Stupidity, huh?” Ethan pointed his finger at Amy, “Well now you’re gonna pay for this piece of stupidity little girl!” Ethan turned to his horse and began removing his saddle for only the second time in twelve hours.
“Whatever are you doing, Ethan?” Amy asked, genuinely bemused. He ignored her and continued unbuckling the girth until he had it loose and flung the saddle down on the dusty ground. Then he walked over to Amy and firmly grasped her by the arm, leading her over to the saddle. “Drop your drawers and lift your skirts, then bend over the saddle, Amelia Jane.”
Amy bit her lip and flushed at the tone of his voice. She knew he would punish her and part of her wanted him to. He was so angry with her but very controlled and she trusted him. Obediently, she dropped her undergarments and knelt. She leaned over the top of the saddle and began to pull her skirt up. Ethan pushed her hands away and lifted them over her waist himself. Amy waited quietly and expectantly, trembling slightly at the ordeal to come, while behind her, Ethan slowly removed his belt. Although he was as mad as a bee-stung coyote, he still took a moment to admire his wife’s shapely rounded behind and smooth slender legs. She bent passively over the saddle, awaiting her punishment so docilely that it began to slightly unnerve Ethan. He pulled himself together and wound the buckle end safely into his palm and fist.
Stepping back he tested the feel of the belt, slapping it against his boot. Amy twitched at the sound but remained in place. Finally, Ethan pulled back his arm and the belt sailed through the air with a swish, striking Amy across her lower bottom. She visibly jumped and hissed but stayed where she was, her hands gripping the edge of the saddle’s side until her knuckles were white. Ethan pulled back his arm again and the belt landed slightly higher up Amy’s buttocks, and this time she squealed and dipped her bottom up and down with the discomfort. Ethan speeded up his swing, and soon Amy’s rear end was striped from top to thigh. She was wailing and crying out, but still not begging him to stop, Ethan noted.
He paused, looking at his wife’s red-welted behind. Perhaps it was enough. After a minute, Amy peeked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his. “Don’t stop yet, Ethan. I...I...deserve this. I need you to punish me...go on... please,” she told him in a soft, unsteady voice.
Ethan looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before he nodded curtly and continued to lash her with half a dozen more strokes. Then he threw the belt roughly aside and dropped to his knees beside her. Ethan hauled her off his saddle and into his arms. Amy slumped with her head on her husband’s lap and sobbed out her remorse, her rump a scalding, throbbing reminder of her sins.
He stroked her hair and whispered his love and praise for her, rambling sweet nothings to soothe and to calm her. Gradually, Amy’s breathing slowed, as did her tears, and she lifted her face to Ethan but before she could speak, he had kissed her hungrily, his hands pushing into her tangled hair, cupping either side of her face. He put all that he felt into the kiss, his love for her, his admiration and his desire to protect her, even from herself.
Amy was transcended, totally lost in his kiss. For the first time since the terrible day that her parents were murdered, Amy felt utterly safe, really, truly and deeply safe, wholly loved and cherished. Why? She did not analyze, she was simply embroiled in emotion, at home and safe in her husband’s arms. Amy knew then that she could trust Ethan to take care of her and all of her needs. He would protect her, nourish her, correct her when it was needed and then punish her fairly. She knew absolutely that she loved this man with all of her being.
Ethan felt overwhelmed by Amy’s reaction, especially since he’d
just punished her and so painfully. Instead of the rage he had expected from her, she had acquiesced in such a docile way that Ethan was amazed and touched. The look on her face now was euphoric, as if he had just made love to her instead of taking his belt to her backside. He got up went to the horse and fetched the blanket, spreading it out on the ground. He had not made love to his wife other than on their wedding night. Ethan needed to hold her and to love her now, to show her how much he loved and esteemed her, would always love her no matter what she did.
Amy watched quietly as Ethan spread his blanket and when he beckoned her to him, she locked onto his hazel gaze, her own sherry eyes wide and trusting. Walking straight into his waiting arms, he cradled her against his chest, one hand cupping her scorching buttocks in a gentle caress, her naked skin hot to the touch. Amy mewled softly at the aching tenderness of her bottom but clung to him, his arms wrapped around her as he drew her down with him onto the rug.
Ethan made slow passionate love to his wife, conveying to her with his body what he lacked in words. He could show her his overwhelming love and admiration by using his fervent ardour. Giving her pleasure, he honored his wife until she shuddered beneath his thrusting body. Tears rolled down her face with the intensity of the ecstasy he released within her, sobbing out his name as wave after wave of sensation rocked her world.
They lay without speaking for a half hour or so, until they were just too hot lying baking in the burning sun. The horses were stamping impatiently; they were overheating and wanting to move on.
It took them an hour to get back, and Millie was standing on the corral fence watching and waiting for them, waving once as she realized it was her sister returning. Amy found that being a bare-back rider was extremely uncomfortable after her ordeal. Apart from shifting around on her horse and gasping quietly to herself as her sore bottom was jostled upon the horse, she didn’t complain to Ethan once. She knew she deserved every lick of Ethan’s belt and Amy had welcomed the release from the guilt, even if it was only temporary. The punishment had left her feeling cleansed and calm but not completely exonerated.
Cowboy Caveat Page 9
