by Susan Thomas
He muttered something and crossed one leg over both of mine and then began spanking me again. He spanked, as he had with his hand, methodically: left cheek followed by right cheek although the brush didn't always land in the same place. I cannot begin to describe how much that hairbrush made my bottom smart. The sting of it was intense and after the first few it became impossible to bear my punishment bravely. I yelped, cried, screeched and jerked constantly as my bottom burnt ferociously from the smacks of the brush. I pleaded with him to be lenient but I knew it was hopeless. Women really do have to be respectful of their husbands and I had despised the rudeness and disrespect I had seen in some wives back at home.
I tried counting, but lost count at around eight smacks, because it is hard to concentrate when being spanked. Afterwards, I calculated that Amos must have spanked my bottom about thirty times. By the time my punishment ended I was blubbering helplessly.
When it was over I knelt on the floor holding my bottom, rocking and trying hard to ease the fierce heat of my spanking. I saw Amos remove his boots, and thought he must want me as a husband wants a wife, but when they were off he surprised me. He picked me up and lay me down on the bed but then he lay beside me and took me in arms and held me. He soothed and comforted me so gently I began crying just because of that; any resentment I might have felt disappeared. I doubt any of the men who wanted me back in Lancashire would have spanked me but none of them could hold a candle to Amos Masters.
After a while Amos spoke gently to me, "Feeling better now Ruth?"
This was the moment I should have explained I was a trained gunsmith but my mind was on something else. I desperately needed to know Amos still wanted me as a proper wife.
"Yes Amos; thank you for being so kind to me and I'm sorry I was argumentative. I'll try never to be like that again. Amos... do you still want me? You know... as a wife?"
He laughed. "Ruth, just because I disciplined you doesn't mean I feel any different." He stroked my face gently. "Would you like me to prove that to you?" His voice sound richer and deeper than it had.
I was suddenly stupidly shy. I suppose I was still rather the virgin bride but I managed to stammer out, "Yes Amos, I would like that very much."
"I wouldn't, as a rule, finish discipline by seeking my conjugal rights. I would hate you to think of our intimate time as a part of punishment..."
"I won't think that, Amos. I promise I want you..." I believed I loved him although I wasn't sure how to tell him. I had married because I needed to; I had married Amos because he was a real man; now though, my feelings for him had grown stronger and stronger.
Amos began to remove my last remaining clothes and then he began to stroke, nuzzle and kiss me all over; even in places I regarded as very private. He soothed his hands over my smarting bottom and kissed it gently; it was like having sweet with savoury... and oddly delightful. I found myself wanting him more and more but didn't like the idea of my bottom being ground down on the sheets as he had me. Without words he seemed to understand that: he made me get off the bed, bend over the side, with my head down on the mattress, and my forearms resting alongside. I had been in this position before and enjoyed it.
Amos came around behind me and I heard him unbuckling the belt on his trousers. It was only a moment later I felt his stiffness push gently against my entrance. I pushed myself out to him and I heard him give a little laugh.
"I am so lucky with you, my Ruth. You have taken to the marriage bed with enthusiasm."
His stiffness began to tease... entering just a little and moving around before withdrawing. That constant movement inflamed my desire for him and I kept pushing myself out to him but he smacked my thigh and took charge again. The teasing continued and stoked up the fire of my desires terribly. I still wonder if it is right for a wife to feel such desire but Amos assures me it is.
Abruptly he seized my hips in his large hands and thrust hard and deeply into me. I gasped with the shock and pleasure of it. He began to thrust into me with methodical power which inflamed my feelings and made me pant and gasp. His flat stomach smacked up against my punished bottom which, for a moment or two, was unpleasant and then changed. The soreness of my bottom began to enjoy my husband's rhythmic thrusts and to respond by arousing me even more. I thought I was going to scream with the intensity of the feelings scalding through me; and then I was completely overwhelmed with a flood of fiery feeling that began where his member was and cascaded down right to my very toes. I felt myself thrust back hard against Amos while I gripped the bedclothes and screamed down into the bedding. Amos battled to keep thrusting for a moment but then he lost control and, with a great shout, began pouring his seed into me.
Chapter 6
I had always known that a good wife was a very busy person: there was always much to be done anyway, but with the vegetable garden to develop, and preparing for Elizabeth's wedding, I had a lot to occupy me. I was not dismayed... my father may have been a poor businessman but he was a hard worker just like Amos. My mother too made full use of her days and I relished the challenges facing me. However, at night, when Amos and I retired to our room, he showed me what a vigorous man he was and our bed rattled and squeaked with it. I could rarely restrain my cries of pleasure but thought the sounds were confined to our bedroom. I was shocked when Elizabeth, her face like a beetroot, asked me about her wedding night.
"Ruth, I do not know who else to ask, for my mama is gone. Perhaps I should ask Martha but she has never been married and I have no wish to embarrass her."
"Ask what Elizabeth? We are sisters now and you may ask me anything."
"Oh, this is so hard. I know you enjoy the marriage bed for I hear you and Amos..." Now it was my turn to go red. I felt the heat rise up right to the top of my hair. "But I don't know what to do or what happens. Does it hurt the first time? It can't hurt afterwards or you would not have such great pleasure. Is it hard to do? I mean, it all sounds very noisy. I am frightened, Ruth, that I may not please him."
My own ignorance about my wifely duty was so very recent. Elizabeth's mother was dead and so I knew it fell to me to me, whatever my embarrassment, to educate her into what she must do. I took her into my sewing room and shut the door. There I explained everything I could think of and answered all her questions. Really, a girl should not reach her age and be so ignorant. I vowed that if I had daughters I would make sure to educate them slowly, and over time, so that it wasn't all such a shock.
Martha missed nothing in our house. She may not say much but she knew. Now I think she was worried about Elizabeth for she asked me outright, "Is Miss Elizabeth unwell?" Martha suddenly looked very worried. "She hasn't done something foolish has she?"
I knew she was asking if Elizabeth was with child, so I explained, and she instantly relaxed and then began chiding herself for not having talked to her before.
"Elizabeth was worried that you had never been married and her questions would embarrass you."
Martha laughed. "No, I have not married, but I'm not without experience either. I have been teaching Annie what to expect, for the girl should be married one day, and I should have done that for Elizabeth. Annie too must have a husband. She is attractive and capable, but it must be a good man, a kind one, for she has been cruelly treated."
On impulse I said, "Well, I will make her dress and give her a dowry, unless Amos does so of course."
That put me in mind that I had not yet done anything with the money I had left over from the sales back home. I had spent only my travel money to New York and my time at the boarding house. Amos had paid for my travel to Denver and everything else. I still had a useful sum and now it dawned on me that maybe it belonged to Amos. I knew that at one time a wife's money became her husband's. My mother had money when she married but it all became my father's on their marriage. However, in England, that law changed around the time I was born, but was it the same here? I asked Amos.
"You know Ruth, I don't rightly know. I know women can't vote though it has bee
n close a few times, and I don't reckon its far off... but your own money? Good question. Look, I don't rightly care to have your money. Let's sort out a proper investment for you, and your money is yours to do with as you wish. As for a dowry for Annie, that is not something I'd thought about but I shall be happy to do that. Martha is right; she must have a chance for a family of her own."
---oOo---
Not soon after, and late into the day, a man appeared at our farm. He was young, well dressed and clearly from a city somewhere. In addition to his horse he was leading a mule laden up with equipment of some sort. Amos greeted him and asked me to prepare our guest a room. Martha and I rushed around and soon all was ready. He joined us for our meal and evening prayers. His name was Mr Habicht and he was a surveyor whose speciality was seeking out mineral bearing soils. Amos had persuaded his neighbours to contribute to the fees and had organised it all. Mr Habicht was aware that he had to work somewhat secretly. McBride had been commissioned to get the land so it wasn't important to him whether there was coal here or not; if he discovered that Mr Habicht was surveying it might occur to him to stop that activity.
Amos was closeted with Mr Habicht all evening and in the morning the man was gone. Amos told me he was going to survey the whole valley, compare the geology with other areas, and give his opinion as to how likely coal bearing seams would be. He wasn't optimistic that there would be none, for Colorado is rich in minerals. I was excited and rather proud that my simple question had led to this result. I hoped that Mr Habicht would say there was precious little chance of coal. That would cool the coal company's ardour and send McBride off to be evil elsewhere.
I had many tasks to get done that day but was finding it hard to concentrate because of our visitor. I had my fingers crossed Mr Habicht would find no sign of coal or any other mineral, which would mean the valley could be left in peace. Had I known just what would happen as a result of the survey I would have been less excited.
No sooner was Mr Habicht gone than I had two visitors appear in a buggy. They were none other than Mrs Thornton, a prim, thin, tall woman who appeared to have a permanently bad smell under her nose; and Mrs Kelly, rather sour faced but short and plump. They were the women who really ran the Ladies' Guild. I know they did good works but I have to confess I didn't like them. They were patronising about my age, my nationality and what they referred to as my inexperience. I comforted myself with imagining them both stark naked on their beds with their husbands on top thrusting away into them. It made them seem more human. However, in spite of my inexperience they needed me. They had a list of the respectable poor and needy and wanted me to supply these people with bread, pies and stews. Not excessively of course, but enough to keep the wolf from the door.
I told them that, provided Amos agreed, I would be happy to do so. In some ways it would be good for me because I would have to go out in the buggy and visit people when taking the food around; it would help me to get to know others and become familiar with the area. Amos generously agreed. He believed it was right to help the poor and especially widows and orphans. Many of the households on my list had no man. The West could be cruel: there were many dangers, work was hard and often dangerous, and getting a doctor in the event of illness or injury was not easy. Life for a widow with children was very hard. I made space for a regular weekly spell in the kitchen to bake bread, pies, and even cakes as a treat, and prepare nourishing stews with plenty of meat. Elizabeth, Annie and Martha would often help me and those sessions were happy ones in which we sang while we worked.
Reactions when I first took supplies were mixed: some were obsequious, some stiff and unhappy at taking 'charity', some were warmly welcoming and loved to chat about lives other than their own. However, by my third weekly trip I found that those I visited had relaxed and I was welcomed, not as some sort of Lady Bountiful, but as a friend. I was coming back on that third trip out when I saw Amos. I was on a fairly lonely stretch of road when I saw him riding up a track to the left. He did not see me. I thought to surprise him so pulled the buggy up and hitched Angel to a tree branch. I then walked up the track in childish mood hoping to jump out at Amos and even shout, "Boo," like children do.
Amos arrived at a small farm just as I rounded a corner to see it. He got down off his horse, pulling a smallish sack from his saddle; and as he walked to the farm door it was opened and a woman greeted him. She was older than me, I would say maybe late thirties or maybe forty. She had been very attractive but was past her prime and looked rather careworn although she was well groomed with clean, if worn, clothes. I had no idea who she was, and was shocked beyond belief, when Amos put his arm around her shoulders and guided her into the farm.
Amos had another woman! I couldn't believe it. I knew he was a lusty and vigorous man but I thought I was meeting his needs, but now... I didn't even know who this woman was. I had never visited her so she couldn't be in need, for she was in my area. I felt sick inside and staggered back down the track to the buggy. I said nothing to anyone back at home but tried to act as if all was normal although it was very hard. That Sunday I made sure to catch Mrs Thornton. I acted as if merely curious and described the woman and where she lived before asking who she was.
Mrs Thornton drew herself up to be even taller and sucked her breath in. "I do hope, my dear Mrs Masters, that you have not spoken to her."
"No, I only saw her. Who is she?"
"Well," she said, looking around as if reluctant to be overheard, "that woman is little better than a whore. I am sorry to use such a word in the presence of someone as young and inexperienced as you but there is no choice. She has had five children, my dear, and never married."
"Never married!" I was stunned.
"No, and worse still, she is shameless about it. Can you imagine?! Well, I'm sure you can't and no more should you. Terrible and disgusting. In the Ladies' Guild we shun her and really you should too."
"Oh, indeed I will." I was sincere. For a woman to have a child out of wedlock was bad enough... but five! That was disgraceful. "So, what is her name?"
"Miss Larsen," she said, the 'Miss' being uttered with great emphasis.
On the way home after church I was very quiet. Why was Amos seeing her? She was an immoral woman at best and most likely a whore. It was hard to think badly of my husband who wasn't just a real man but a good one. He treated all his workers well and, although stern and strict, was a very good husband and brother. After much thought I decided I was leaping to conclusions and really should have more trust in my husband. He must have a good reason for seeing her and putting his arm around her. Perhaps she was a cousin or other kinfolk. Maybe he hadn't mentioned her because of her behaviour and reputation. I decided that must be the reason and decided to forget the whole thing. Of course that turned out to be very optimistic.
It is hard to worry about one issue, such as Miss Larsen, when one is very busy and I was always busy. The material for Elizabeth's dress arrived, and rather than making it for her I had her doing so under my close instruction. She was delighted both with the gradually developing dress and all that she was learning.
Amos had laid down strict rules for her regarding her fiancé, Timothy Fallon. Timothy was the eldest son of the town's banker, Mr Jeremiah Fallon. One day, Timothy would inherit his father's wealth, so it was an excellent match, but better still, Elizabeth actually loved him and clearly he was besotted with her. Not that it mattered for Amos would have been strict whatever their relationship. Elizabeth was never to be alone with Timothy: she could go to his house and eat on Sunday with his family; she could walk out with him but only in public places and with the full knowledge of either Mr Fallon or Amos himself; Timothy could eat at our house. That was pretty well the extent of their allowance and Elizabeth chafed under these rules. She wanted some private time with Timothy and he with her. Foolishly, Elizabeth plotted to do just that.
I'm not sure quite how she managed to get free of Mr and Mrs Fallon but somehow she did and led Timothy off to the sta
bles behind their house. I honestly don't think they were doing anything dreadfully wrong, other than maybe a bit of kissing and cuddling, but Amos came to pick her up. Mr Fallon thought they were walking the garden but it swiftly turned out that they weren't and a hurried hunt took place. They were discovered in the barn. They must have heard the hunt so they were actually hurrying to leave the barn when they were caught. Mr Fallon was furious with his son and sent him to his office while Amos was coldly angry with Elizabeth and told her to get in the buggy quickly.
Amos actually made her stand with her nose in the corner of the kitchen when he got her back. Then he took me to one side and whispered what had happened.
"I want you to take her up to her room. She is to get into her nightdress, for she will be in bed early tonight, but I want you to find out what exactly they did. If she is..." He paused.
"No longer a virgin," I whispered back.
"Yes exactly. If she is no longer in that condition, we need to hurry the marriage forward."
I had to ask, "Are you going to... well, are you going to spank her?"
"Yes I am, and she can thank her lucky stars I am not taking a bundle of switches and wearing them all out on her. Foolish girl."
I took Elizabeth up to her room. I had really come to love my sister-in-law but she had behaved badly. Her reputation is a girl's most precious possession and she should do everything possible to protect it.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth, but Amos is going to spank you. In the meanwhile, you must get in your nightdress for after your spanking he is sending you to bed.
"I'm not a child!"
"No, you're not, and that is the problem. Don't you see how foolish you were? I have to ask you this: have you anticipated your wedding night?"
Elizabeth went bright scarlet with a mixture of embarrassment and outrage. "No, how dare you think such a thing? Timothy is a gentleman and would never ask me to do that before our wedding night, and I would never agree."
