by Susan Thomas
He removed the coat and I didn't argue because the cold was really getting to me. I was wearing only a pair of designer leggings which were comfortable for driving but no protection. I did have a light long-sleeved sweater which was fine for my normal use but out here, in this cold, offered little protection. He had on a really thick woollen crew neck jumper and the thickest pair of corduroy trousers I have ever seen. Big chunky boots, a woollen hat and thick gloves completed his outfit which made him look incredibly old fashioned. His dog came along the road struggling through the snow and I wondered how it got back up. There must be another doggie-way back to the road from down below.
He had fixed the rope to a tractor. It wasn't a make I had ever seen before and had an odd design. The logo on the engine was unfamiliar as was the name: Lancastrian. Well I am no expert on farming so I shrugged that off but it did seem odd all the same. There was a perch for a passenger though it wasn't comfortable. My rescuer drove through the thick snow for a while before turning up a track which finished in an open area in front of a stone farm house. It was a beautiful building. The ancient stone seemed so solid and it rose up out of the ground blending harmoniously with its environment.
We walked around the back of the farmhouse and into a large kitchen with a good sized wooden table. There was a range cooker which was throwing out a lot of heat and I was relieved to be in the warm again.
"Where's your dog?"
"Jason will go shake himself off in the barn and nestle down in the straw until he is more or less dry before coming in. Now you'd best have my sister's room. She lives away from here but comes to visit from time to time. My name is William Cole but most call me Bill."
"Thank you for what you've done. My name is Sarah Watson, but if you have a phone I'll just call for help. I don't know what happened to my car but my rescue service can help look for it."
He gave me a very odd look before replying, "This freak weather is bogging everything down. You'll be stuck here for a few days I'm afraid."
I knew there was something he wasn't saying but the weather problem sounded genuine. I thanked him and he took me to a pretty room where the bed was already made up. It wasn't cold as the chimney breast was warm from the range below, but it wasn't as warm as downstairs.
"I'll light the fire in here later as you'll not be used to the cold. Now," he said opening a wardrobe door, "you'll find all the clothes you need in here including underwear. My sister is pretty well your size so they should fit."
I laughed. "I don't need to change. My clothes aren't wet, although how that can be I don't know."
"You do need to change. I have a Bible study group meeting here in an hour."
"What has that to do with my clothes?"
"They are illegal and will be regarded as immoral... that is those things you have on your legs will be. You'll find dresses in the wardrobe. I'll leave you to change."
At that point I should have been angry, but he was a pleasant man. He had rescued me and had been gentle and friendly in his manner so I kept calm. I watched the door shut and thought he must belong to some weird cult that regarded modern clothes as immoral. Well I wasn't changing but I did have a look in the wardrobe. The clothes were beautifully made and really quite pretty, but all were long and very modest looking. Definitely a cult I thought. The underwear wasn't quite so odd: the knickers were just fuller in cut and certainly not like the string I was wearing; the bras were fuller and covered much more; three rather pretty petticoats were carefully folded on a shelf, and there were two beautiful nightgowns. In a chest of drawers, I found stockings with a mixture of garters and garter belts.
I went back down again in my own clothes. I saw immediately that Bill was displeased.
"Miss Watson, I told you that you had to change but you've not done so. It is for your own sake I told you to do that. Now please go and do as I say."
"No, I really don't think so. If it really isn't possible to get my rescue service at present I'll just stay in my own clothes. I cannot think what is offensive about my leggings."
To my astonishment he moved with surprising speed, grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder and marched back upstairs again. He didn't seem to feel my weight at all and totally ignored my struggles. There was a chair in the corner of his sister's bedroom, and with me still over his shoulder he pulled it out. With dizzying speed, he sat on it and had me over his lap with my head only centimetres from the floor.
"Miss Watson, you'd best get used to doing as you're told. Failure to do so could result in a public punishment, and trust me you do not want that. Now I am going to punish you for disobedience with a good spanking. When that is over you will change into some of my sister's clothes."
Please don't imagine I was quiet while all this happened for I was not, but my protests were a waste of time. A second after he had completed his little punishment speech his hand smacked down hard on my bottom. I was wearing leggings but it didn't feel like I had anything on. His hand really stung and I screeched my protest and tried to get off his lap. He calmly repositioned me, crossed one leg over mine and just simply smacked his hand down hard again. I felt powerless and humiliated and then the spanking began in earnest.
Every smack of his hand was very hard and really stung. Soon the heat and sting grew until I was writhing as much as I could in his firm grip and shouting at him to stop. He did not stop. His hand continued to spank my bottom until it was so hot and sore I panicked. I struggled harder but he was just so strong I felt weak and helpless. Each smack hurt and I just had to beg and plead.
"Oh please, please stop. I'll change if you want. Please stop."
He stopped.
To my shame when the spanking was over I just slipped onto the floor and knelt there clutching my bottom with both hands while tears ran down my cheeks. Bill stood up.
"Now Miss Watson, I expect you to come down properly dressed. Oh, and do not forget underwear. If by any chance you do something serious and end with a public punishment it would be best to be wearing proper underwear."
Chapter 2
I found a bathroom further along the corridor and washed my face before getting changed. Oh yes, I got changed right enough! I decided I was in the hands of a deranged man however pleasant his earlier manner. If he had visitors coming then they would probably be as mad as hatters too. I stripped right off down to nothing and examined my bottom in a long mirror. It was scarlet all over. Well that was no surprise as he had spanked me hard and his hand was made for doing it. My grandfather had similar hands, 'work-spread' he had called them, large hands with short nails and hard skin everywhere on the palms. I was now extremely pleased my parents had never spanked me; it had been an unpleasant experience. Well, I'd have him charged with assault later.
I wasn't too keen on wearing someone else's underwear, but it was all fairly new, and very clean and fresh smelling, so I overcame my scruples. A pair of white cotton knickers and what turned out to be an extremely comfortable bra were the first on. I found a pair of stockings and swiftly realised they were not of man-made material but silk. After some thought I put on a garter belt and attached the stockings to it. I wasn't sure whether he expected me to put on a petticoat but I really couldn't see the need so I found a dress I liked and put that on. It had a Peter Pan collar, buttons right down the front and a belt around the middle. The dress fell well below the knees and hung nicely on me. I couldn't help giving a twirl, and really it was very attractive and incredibly comfortable to wear. His sister had good taste.
I went downstairs and saw his approval. "That suits you very well."
I kept my reply calm and my tone even. I wasn't going to upset a madman but had to make a stand.
"Yes, your sister has good taste in clothing. I do hope you know you have broken the law in assaulting me. I am quite likely to bring charges."
He just smiled slightly; a small smile that spoke of knowledge I didn't have. "Miss Watson, please sit down. I know you're sore now but you can sit. I have somethi
ng rather important you need to hear."
I sat carefully on a chair at the large kitchen table. It was a little uncomfortable sitting but not that awful.
"Miss Watson, Sarah..." He hesitated before continuing. "The fact of the matter is you are a transferee. The car crash you mentioned hasn't happened here but...." Again he hesitated. "The truth is, Sarah...you are dead."
I laughed. Really, I laughed for a good long time. Clearly he was very mad indeed.
"Well now Bill, if I was dead I would hardly have felt your spanking, now would I? I am breathing and feel it when it is hot or cold. I don't really think a ghost would have those abilities."
He smiled another of his little smiles. "No I don't mean you're dead here, but in your world where you drove a car you are. The car crash killed you. Do you remember any pain?"
I went very still. "Yes in my knees and head."
"When you opened your eyes did you felt better than you ever had done in your life before? Was your eyesight and hearing sharper?"
"Yes." My voice was very quiet.
"Was there any sign of your car?"
"No."
"Any sign of an accident?"
"No."
"Were there any differences between where you crashed and where you opened your eyes?"
"It had stopped snowing and was morning not evening."
"But you were not wet with snow or frostbitten?"
My reply was very weak, "No."
"Anything else?"
"The barrier was different I think and it wasn't broken."
---oOo---
After that I listened attentively and when he handed me an encyclopaedia I read the articles he pointed out very carefully indeed.
"Imagine," he began, "that you are walking along a lane and then the lane forks and you could go left or right. You choose right and along that fork you are killed by a falling tree. You can no longer contribute to your world ... never marry and have children, never influence anyone ... you have ceased to exist. However, you might have chosen the left fork and along that fork you would not be killed by the falling tree so could continue to influence the world.
"We now know that certain events literally create two alternative worlds; one where you take the right fork and are killed and another where you take the left fork and are not. The two worlds are almost identical to begin with but over time the differences begin to grow. We don't know why certain events do create two alternative worlds but it happens and we have now identified twenty-one alternative worlds. For classification we call this version of our world Earth Zero. All others have numbers such as Earth One. The higher the number the further back in time the divergence occurred."
"So you're claiming I'm from another version of Earth where I am now dead, having been killed in a car crash?"
"Yes."
"So how do you know all this?"
"Well, apart from common knowledge, my sister is married to the head of the Alternate Worlds Unit which studies the phenomenon. So far we seem to be the only version of the earth that has this knowledge."
Curiously, I believed him. The encyclopaedia, which told much the same story, was one I had never heard of; the tractor was strange, and the clothing was very different. Besides all that he just sounded truthful.
"So what is a transferee?"
"That is a separate phenomenon to the divergence issue. Two versions of earth may be created by an event but it would appear that no one is aware of it. The inhabitants of the two versions just carry on unaware that the other exists. However, transference seems to occur for some individuals which precipitates them into another version of earth. You have been shot into Earth Zero; presumably your car crash was the catalyst. We believe it is common throughout the history of all versions of the earth. People disappear but in reality they may have transferred. Stories of aliens, angels and demons may be due to such events."
"So which version do I come from?"
"I've no idea. My brother in law may be able to work it out if your version of Earth is known. I presume from your clothing and disobedient behaviour that The Great Riving never occurred?"
I disliked his crack about disobedient behaviour but asked instead about The Great Riving.
"Did your world have a problem in 1962?"
I thought hard for a moment. "Yes, the Cuban Missile Crisis when the Russians put nuclear missiles on Cuba and President Kennedy demanded they be removed. It lasted a couple of weeks and then the Russians backed down and removed them."
He smiled slightly. "Well here they didn't. Conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological warfare followed, which we term The Great Riving, when the world was torn apart. The population of the world was reduced to less than a tenth of its former size. Some parts of the world have never recovered and any inhabitants live a very primitive barbaric life. In those parts that have recovered to a degree the pattern has been much the same. The people saw it as being God's judgement on them for their behaviour. Depending on what the majority religion was, the new governments were all theocratic. That is what we have: church and state are one and we even have a religious police. Our theocratic government has its capital in Lancaster."
"Lancaster!"
"Most big cities were too damaged. Now my Bible study group will be coming soon. I will make it clear that you are a transferee, but you say little or nothing. If you are considered dangerous you will be sent to Lancaster and if they don't like your attitudes you will be exiled. We are all afraid of conflict; stability and peace are our constant aims."
I'm not stupid, I could see immediately how paranoid they would be about any opposition to the norm. They had struggled to hold everything together after a terrible war and the last thing they wanted was a troublemaker. I promised to be very discreet.
---oOo---
When his group arrived they were not as I had feared. They just looked quite normal and not overly pious or anything. I helped serve tea and cake to them all and the women were especially welcoming. I was hugged, kissed and generally made to feel welcome. I realised this was a small community and fresh faces were of great interest. I did notice how the women deferred to the men. Clearly, women were expected to be submissive to the men, hence his crack to me about disobedience and assuming he had the right to spank me.
The men were like Bill and clearly hard working farmers and craftsmen. Then Master Cartwright arrived. He had politician written all over him. He was in charge of the district and everyone accorded him extra respect. He was tall and rather stern looking. I was introduced.
"Well Miss Watson, am I going to have trouble from you?"
Talk about direct with an implication of threat! "No, Master Cartwright, I understand the situation."
He nodded, satisfied with my answer and we began the Bible study meeting. I am very good at reading meetings and this group mostly didn't have any real belief. They were going along with it all because it was too frightening to shake the peace. I managed to keep up a pretence and for a long while attracted no attention. The women did speak but only when given permission by the men. Their contributions were listened to most carefully and clearly valued but I noted they had to be invited first; it was a shame that I didn't apply that to myself.
After a while they began looking at a passage in Ephesians about husbands being in charge in a marriage. They called it headship. Even the women were agreeing with this. They were all banging on about how wonderful it was, and how rewarding that the men were in charge. It was making me edgy I can tell you and I saw Bill looking at me and clearly giving me warning glances. Then Master Cartwright started on with some guff about how pleasing it was to the Lord when a woman was submissive to her husband.
I went and opened my big mouth before I could stop myself. "Really? Are you really saying that God is happy when a woman lets her husband be in charge merely because he is a man?" I knew I had made a mistake the second I finished. The entire table went silent and Master Cartwright looked as if someone had let off a bad smell.
"Yes Miss Watson, but these are issues you do not, as yet, fully understand."
I was about to argue when I felt a hand squeeze my leg hard under the table. I looked sideways but the woman next to me was looking straight ahead. Then she squeezed again. I got the message, 'Shut up if you know what's good for you'. I shut up.
Master Cartwright turned to Bill. "William, you have charge of this woman. Will you deal with this?"
"Yes of course Master Cartwright, I shall punish her appropriately and report to you at church on Sunday."
I managed to keep quiet for the rest of the meeting and then everyone began to take their leave. The woman that had squeezed my leg in warning embraced me and said very seriously, "This is a good world for women. We are protected, valued and have an honoured place, but it is in submission to the men. Just accept it and you'll begin to like it here."
When they'd all gone Bill looked at me reproachfully. "Your outburst was unfortunate. I know Master Cartwright is a pompous ass but he is actually good at his job. This is a well-run district. Now I have to give him a report about you on Sunday."
A nasty thought crossed my mind. "You're not really going to punish me in some way are you?"
He looked surprised. "Of course. I have to give a satisfactory report and I won't lie. I'll not be overly severe but I shall spank your bottom hard."
I was bewildered as to what to do. I'd been brought up in the belief that girls were at least equal to boys if not better. I'd also been brought up to be assertive, serious and career minded and suddenly I was in this world where women had their place but the men were in charge. Furthermore, it seemed that the women could be punished by the men.
"And what if I refuse and fight you?" His gentle smile told me that he regarded my question as silly.
"Quite apart from the fact that I am considerably stronger than you we have the issue of my report to Master Cartwright. If I cannot report that I gave you a good spanking he has two options. One is a public punishment. To be fair to him he is no fan of public spankings and rarely uses them. Besides the offence was a very minor one... more tone than anything. However, he cannot allow dissension, it's his prime directive, so he will send you to Lancaster."
