A Real Man for Ruth: a mail order bride romance

by Susan Thomas

  "I don't think such a thing but Mr Fallon and Amos are frightened you may have done. You see, if you were now with child, the wedding would have to be brought forward to avoid a scandal."

  Elizabeth burst into tears and I had to comfort her. "I never thought of all that," she sobbed. I suddenly felt much older than my years. What a silly girl she had been. Then she remembered that I had said Amos would spank her. "Is he really going to spank me?"

  "Oh yes, and you can expect it to be long and very hard. He is worried and angry."

  Well, of course we had fresh tears then but all too soon there was a knock at the door. It was Amos. I stepped out onto the landing.

  "Well?" he asked.

  "She says she hasn't anticipated her wedding night and that Timothy wouldn't do that. I believe her. It would be hard to feign that much indignation."

  "That is to the good, indeed that is a relief. This is what she used to be like only worse then. Such a foolish, headstrong girl. Now she must be punished."

  Amos marched in and without thinking I went in with him. Elizabeth was standing by the bed, her hands by her side clutching her long nightdress, looking very worried. Amos went and sat down on the bed.

  "Well Elizabeth, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

  "I'm sorry brother, I meant no harm. Timothy and I just wanted to be together without being watched the whole time. We did nothing wrong."

  "So Ruth tells me. That is all very well, but you were disobedient and it is not whether you did wrong but the perception. If someone saw you go into the stable, alone with your fiancé, it would be all around town in five minutes. Besides, it is asking a great deal of a young man to be alone with a pretty girl like you, and maintain control of himself."

  By the time Amos finished his little speech Elizabeth was so red I doubt she could have been more so.

  "Now, get me your hairbrush."

  "Oh, please..." she began, but Amos gave her such a look she hurried to obey.

  Elizabeth's hairbrush was not like mine which was quite fancy with a metal handle. It was a wooden one with an oddly wide handle. I shuddered at the thought of its very solid back hitting her bare bottom and suddenly realised I was still in the room. Neither Amos nor Elizabeth had queried my presence and I wondered if I should withdraw. Suddenly I had a fierce desire to see my sister in law spanked close up. I had caught a glimpse of Annie being spanked by Martha and had, myself, been spanked by Amos but I had never seen a full spanking. Perhaps if I had brothers and sisters, and my parents been disciplinarians, I might have done so. I wasn't at all sure I should stay, but I moved quietly back against the wall and just stood there to watch what happened.

  Chapter 7

  Elizabeth was wearing a long linen nightdress which could not be said to be white but more of a creamy colour. It had a neck line in a V-shape with an opening, buttoned, and bodice. There was a delicate collar around the neck and the bodice was embroidered with different coloured threads. The long sleeves were lightly gathered. It was nothing like the nightdresses sold in the dress shop in town. Those were very plain indeed and I was quite sure the Ladies' Guild would not approve of this one.

  When Amos spoke he sounded very weary. I think that was a reaction to what had happened. He does take all responsibility so very seriously and he had been fearful about what the two of them had been up to. "Come Elizabeth," he said with a sigh, "you know the position you must take."

  Elizabeth whimpered, and having been spanked with a hairbrush I knew why. Those who have never been spanked with that useful item cannot know its fierceness when used to chastise. She placed herself over Amos' lap and he moved her, so that her head and shoulders rested on the bed, and her legs dangled down with her feet just touching the floor. Amos then began pulling her nightdress up; really it was quite awkward to do and I thought that if it had been me I would have had to pull it up before going over his knees. However, she was his sister and for him to catch glimpse of her private place would be wrong. Tugging and pulling her long nightdress up over her legs seemed to take an age and Elizabeth whimpered more as he did so. Finally, her bottom was exposed and I gasped softly. She had such beautiful soft skin and the shape was perfection: her hips were wide, her bottom most beautifully shaped but her waist so trim and pretty. I had seen what the hairbrush had done to my own bottom and knew that the lovely creaminess of her skin would not last much longer. Finally, he crossed one of his legs over both of hers, took a firm grip of her free arm and was ready to begin chastising her.

  Amos is methodical and is no different when spanking. He brought the back of the brush down very hard on Elizabeth's right cheek and the result was volcanic. Elizabeth's whole body bucked visibly in spite of Amos' firm grip. The flesh on her bottom rippled away from the brush, much like throwing a pebble in a pond, and my poor sister-in-law cried out in the high-pitched shriek of a young girl. A nasty red mark appeared on that creamy skin but already the hairbrush was descending on the other cheek. The smack of the brush on her bottom reverberated around the room and I knew that this spanking must be heard by both Martha and Annie. It had taken a long time for me to realise that neither marital intimacy nor spanking were really very private in this house.

  Poor Elizabeth... that second smack of the brush produced much the same result as the first and now both cheeks had a nasty red mark. Amos didn't spank at a fast speed but he spanked hard. He brought the brush down with a good hard smack each time causing the lovely bottom to ripple and move as if it were alive. Throughout her spanking I don't think Elizabeth's bottom was still for a single moment. I kept count at first and by the twelfth smack her whole bottom was red while Elizabeth was gasping, screeching and beginning to plead.

  "Oh, Amos. Brother. Please, not so hard. Amos, I beg you, not so hard. I'm sorry Amos."

  I was sympathetic; I knew just how painful it was to be spanked with a hairbrush but really she had behaved badly. There were not many fathers, mothers or brothers that would not have punished her for this escapade. Amos was unmoved by her pleas, and kept that brush smacking down, while her screeches grew ever louder and her struggles (it was really quite useless for her to struggle, for his grip was strong) grew ever more frantic. I lost count at around thirty smacks. It was hard to keep track because of all the noise: the brush smacking down and Elizabeth's frantic screams and pleas filled the room and dazed my senses. In truth my heart was pounding; this spanking was having a most odd effect on me. It was almost as if I was being spanked by Amos, and I felt near to tears, but I had to be strong for Elizabeth deserved this.

  Elizabeth screeched and wailed for what seemed an eternity but then she appeared to collapse and give in to her spanking. She lay over her brother's lap and although her body jerked each time the brush smacked down, she didn't struggle; instead of screeching and wailing she just gasped softly and sobbed continuously. It was at that point I noticed the change in her bottom. Both cheeks, in their entirety, were a fiercely angry red; the centres were an alarming mottled mixture of purples and deep red; and I could see that my poor sister-in-law would have bruising, as I had after my spanking, that would make sitting an uncomfortable business for several days. In spite of this Amos showed no sign of stopping.

  I hoped it wasn't disrespectful enough to earn me a spanking but I waved my hand and caught my husband's eye. He paused the spanking and looked at me.

  "Husband, do you think that Elizabeth might have been punished enough for her folly?"

  He looked down at her bottom, looked back up at me and nodded. "Elizabeth," he spoke sternly, "you may never do anything like that again until after you are safely married. If you do I promise you six switches will be worn out on you and no plea from Ruth will save you."

  It was hard to make out exactly what Elizabeth said in reply but it was something about how sorry she was and how she would never do anything so foolish again. Amos gave her a brotherly kiss and left. I gave her a sympathetic hug, poured some water from her ewer into her wash basin, and used he
r flannel to wash her face for her. She stood, much like a child, wriggling while I did so. I then dried her face and had an idea.

  "Lie face down on the bed," I commanded.

  She obeyed unquestioningly. I lifted her night dress up, so that it was around her waist, gasping again at the marks of her spanking. Then I made a towel wet, wrung it out and applied that as a sort of cold compress to her punished bottom. There was a little gasp of relief from Elizabeth and she looked up and mouthed her thanks at me. I stroked her hair for a while before refreshing the towel on her bottom. I couldn't really stay any longer so I gave her a kiss and left her to rest.

  Amos was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me. "Is she alright?" he asked.

  I reassured him that she was just sore and now rather exhausted from her struggles. I told him what I had done and asked if I had been wrong in interfering.

  Amos laughed. "Do you fear I might spank you for doing so?"

  I must have gone very red, for, of course, that was exactly what I had feared.

  "Am I that much of a tyrant?"

  I threw myself into him and let him hold me tight. "No, but I felt guilty for staying in the first place and I did interfere."

  "I am glad you stayed. I realised, only recently, that Elizabeth was now too old for me to be spanking her like that without a chaperone. As for stopping me, you were right to do so. She had indeed been punished enough. You do agree that she deserved a punishment?"

  "Oh yes! What folly! I have made it clear to her how I disapprove of what she did but she was just thoughtless is all, not wicked. That spanking will stop any more of that behaviour, but what about her fiancé? Will his father beat him?"

  Amos snorted. "I doubt it. He may only be a few months older than her but his father regards him as a man! If he had been mine, I'd have taken a strap to him. He should have taken the lead there but we both know what was leading him. The sooner we get them married the better."

  I was not pleased, "It doesn't seem right he should get nothing and Elizabeth gets a severe spanking."

  Amos shrugged, "That's the way of the world. He will get a stern lecture and maybe some lesser punishment. Anyway, thank you, my good wife, for all you've done."

  As it turned out, Amos was wrong. Timothy Fallon did get a stern lecture from his father but was then taken back to the stables where his father gave him a sound whipping with a quirt. I approved, for why should a girl take all the blame for inappropriate behaviour? Anyway, one result of that episode was that Mr Fallon and Amos agreed the marriage should be brought forward. Tongues might wag, but they would anyway one way or another; it was quite clear that the two of them needed to consummate their love and that was best done after the ceremony. That gave me even more to do, but it was all worth it.

  ---oOo---

  It was in that same week that I first noticed that some of the loaves I had made for the poor and needy (the respectable poor and needy) were missing. I was also missing two large meat pies. I was totally bewildered. Who on earth would take such things? Certainly no one in the house for we had plenty of food for our needs. It didn't actually matter for I always made too much, but it was a mystery and very irritating. However, I had so much going on with the garden and Elizabeth's wedding that I didn't dwell too much on it although it niggled away at the back of my mind.

  I got busy trying to get Elizabeth to finish her wedding dress. The problem was she was a beginner and therefore slow. Amos was impatient with me about that: "Oh really Ruth. The girl is not up to making her own dress, not yet anyway. For goodness sake, you finish it and after she is wed you can carry on teaching her."

  Amos was right of course, and I think Elizabeth was relieved. She was also happy that we would have a good excuse for meeting after she was married. She was to live in town in a house that Mr Fallon had built for them. Well, no point in being rich if you can't give your children a good start in life is there? Our farm was rather out on its own so Elizabeth had no female friends of her own age who might serve as bridesmaids. Timothy had no sisters, so in the end I was to be her 'matron of honour' and I had to set to and make a dress for me to wear.

  Amos refused to allow me or Martha to arrange the food for the reception. He said we had too much else to do. He hired two women in town to do that and a very good job they made of it. We had a band to play for dancing, and Martha, Annie and I decorated the large hall that we hired. I have to say Amos spared absolutely no expense at all. Naturally Elizabeth got very jittery as we neared her wedding day; I did wonder if her increasingly irritable behaviour would earn her a spanking but Martha and I managed to keep her just about safe. To be fair, Amos was tolerant with her. It was all so very different from my own wedding but frankly I wouldn't have traded it for all the tea in China.

  On the eve of her wedding, Elizabeth and I had another very frank talk about her wedding night. It was hard for me to say the things I did, they were so personal and involved Amos, but they had to be said.

  "Now Elizabeth, you mustn't expect too much from your wedding night. Timothy is not Amos. He is younger and I doubt he is very experienced, unlike Amos. He will be just as unsure as you, I expect, so be very patient with him."

  She nodded and asked, "Then was Amos experienced in the ways of the marriage bed?"

  "Well yes he was. He is older than me and men have their needs you know. My Irish friend, Sinead, in New York explained it all to me. We women must not get experience before our marriage or else we are sluts or loose women. A man now, is expected to get his experiences and bring them to his marriage. It's the way of the world and may seem unfair but that's the way it is. Timothy on the other hand has always lived here and with his family. He probably will not have had much opportunity for any experiences."

  Elizabeth looked very serious and thought for a while before saying, "What if he turns out to be experienced? Should I be angry?"

  "Certainly not! Be pleased he knows what he is doing, and never, ever, ask where he learned it all."

  As she absorbed all this, I wondered if my mother would have had this kind of talk with me had she and my father lived. If she had lived I would probably have ended up marrying Josiah Browning. The thought of that made me shudder. Amos might spank me, something Josiah would never have done, but he was not a real man like Amos, and I could never have been happy with him. That thought made me say what I did next.

  "You know, Elizabeth, your husband may be young and inexperienced but he will still except you to be sensible in your behaviour. If you are silly, I am quite sure Amos and his father will have advised him to give you a good spanking. Amos has spanked me; it is true not very much but when he does it is most unpleasant. It may be that back at home some husbands do chastise their wives, but out here in the west it is a certainty."

  Elizabeth blushed. "Yes I know, Timothy has already told me that his family are strong on discipline and he will discipline me should I need it."

  The wedding was a huge success and enjoyed by all. The dress I had made for Elizabeth was much admired and immediately several brides-to-be wanted to make the same style. In truth, I based my dress on what was in fashion in London, and Elizabeth's was pretty well the same as mine. Just about everyone had been invited and afterwards, when the dancing took place, I noticed one of the hands, a young man named Caleb, shyly ask Annie to dance. After that they were together constantly and I could see that it would not be long before there would be another wedding. Everything was going so well I did not see the storm clouds that were gathering in our lives.

  Chapter 8

  Before Elizabeth's wedding I had begun to worry about the garden. Winter was fast approaching, so, in spite of the wedding preparations, I must get on with my gardening. One day, Amos, having a lot of work, got up extra early, so I joined him, and when he'd left I went out in my garden. Of course Martha had begun it, but I had taken over what she had done and developed it a great deal more. She referred to it as 'Ruth's garden' but really it was for the family. It was intended, in
the long run, to provide us with preserved vegetables and fruits, jams and pickles.

  I was right near the edge, by an area I intended for fruit trees, when suddenly I had the strangest feeling in my stomach. I stopped and stood still. It was as if something inside was moving around, and I began to perspire. I felt sick and horribly clammy. I knew if I moved I would be sick, so I stood there for a moment hoping the feeling would pass. It didn't. I took one step forward to the untamed part and vomited violently.

  When the spasm passed I felt much better but was bewildered. I am never sick. I am one of those lucky people in life who simply don't get ill with colds, coughs, headaches and so forth. I expect I got the usual childhood ailments although I have only the vaguest memory of them. I decided I must have eaten something bad and suffered the consequence.

  When I went back inside, rather later, I felt very hungry but must have still looked white-faced for Martha asked, "Are you alright Ruth?"

  "Oh, yes, fine. I was just unexpectedly sick that's all. Must have eaten something bad. I'm alright now."

  Martha nodded her head as if I'd said something significant and went, "Ah Huh!" giving me a hard look. I had no idea what that meant at all and she said nothing more.

  All through the preparations for the wedding I found I was increasingly queasy first thing in the morning. I was at a loss to understand what was the matter with me. I am not a delicate woman. My father had brought me up to be robust and healthy... he even let me climb trees. I think not having the constriction of corsets helped me. I was rather worried about this sickness each morning and concealed my ailment from everyone. I didn't want Amos thinking I was in any way a delicate wife.

  With Elizabeth's wedding over, and she no doubt enjoying the marriage bed, (I had a feeling that Elizabeth, like me, had a strong desire for its pleasures) I concentrated on preparing the garden for winter. All the while I worked I was bothered by the fact that loaves and pies in particular kept going missing from my charitable cooking. I was at a total loss as to who would take them. We had a larder full of food and anyone who might be hungry could easily raid that. I wondered if someone else might be sneaking in to steal, but who could that be? I even asked Annie if she had taken any for her young man, Caleb; but she just laughed and told me that the cook at the men's bunkhouse served huge portions and Caleb did not go short.