by Susan Thomas
Beth said nothing, just waited for the next smack of his hand. Her right cheek had only one smack so far but already it was stinging furiously. Smack! Henry's hard hand smacked down on her left cheek and Beth again squealed and both legs jerked upwards of their own accord. Henry didn't pause this time, as even as Beth was registering the sting of her second smack, his hand was landing hard on the softness of her right cheek again. Henry quickly got into a rhythm, his hand smacking down on her left cheek and then quickly over to smack down on her right. Beth squealed and yelped at each one as her bottom quickly turned red under the punishment. Her legs kicked and jerked this way and that as Henry's powerful smacks turned her bottom to fire.
Beth felt she couldn't take this stoically as a good wife should. Her hands scrabbled around desperate to protect her bottom, knowing that was wrong. Finally, she gripped onto Henry's leg and held on tightly as his remorseless hand smacked repeatedly down left, right, left right. Then Henry paused for a moment.
"I hope you're learning the lesson here, Beth. I do expect you to be obedient to me."
Before Beth had a chance to reply, his punishing hand was off again, this time smacking down everywhere on her bottom and her thighs. Beth squealed and squeaked, her bottom bouncing and rippling constantly under the punishment, while her whole body jerked and wriggled. It was only his hand, but her bottom was on fire and the tears streamed from her eyes and dripped down onto the floor. Henry looked down as his hand once again bounced on Beth's firm bottom. Yes, the skin was red and hot. That would surely do? He stopped spanking and began to help the sobbing Beth up again.
Her drawers still clinging to her ankles, Beth allowed Henry to pull her smarting bottom onto his lap. He hugged and cuddled her which was very nice, but inside her was a worm of resentment. In a way she had been disobedient but only in the course of doing her duty, and wasn't the restriction rather silly? But Henry's arms were lovely and comforting and her bottom did burn and sting so much, so she repressed the worm and enjoyed the cuddle.
Her doubts about the spanking persisted until Monday but then were forgotten, firstly because Jacob and Ruth did turn up and both seemed eager to learn. Secondly, because a promising application arrived for the teaching post. Mrs. McWilliams was widow with a seven-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. She was looking for a new start. Before her marriage she had training as a teacher and four years teaching in a small school not dissimilar to the Kirkham School. The application was well written and she sounded a competent lady. Beth sat down with John Spencer and composed a long list of very specific questions about Mrs. McWilliams attitudes and teaching methods including her opinion about corporal punishment. The townsfolk had expected their teacher to use corporal punishment, as every teacher they had ever encountered did so, but Beth had just ignored that expectation...her classroom functioned perfectly well without hitting any child. John Spencer was happy to keep that tradition going.
Towards the end of the week Henry and Charles had picked up talk about one of the outlying farms. John McGovern was the farmer, a married man with eight children; he was not well liked anywhere. Quick tempered and rough, he was the sort of man others avoided when he came into town. The talk was not new but was growing and consistently said that McGovern was knocking his wife and children around, with fists and boots used not only on his wife but on many of his children too. Men he employed didn't last long, but they did talk, and all of it was critical of the man. Henry liked to check on the outlying farms just to show they hadn't been forgotten, so he asked Charles to come with him and they would include a long visit to McGovern's farm, promising Beth and Emily that they would be back Saturday morning. The two men left on horseback.
Emily had a suggestion for Beth. "On Friday, after you close the school, why don't we go out to my old friend Louise's house. She lives with her parents on a farm just outside town but she rarely gets to come in. She's engaged to be married to a neighboring man and it would be good to catch up with her before she does. Plus, other than seeing you at the wedding, she's never actually met you yet and I can't wait to show you off."
"But Em, that's outside the area that Henry and Charles have made for us."
"Fiddlesticks and fish fur. Charles simply forgot about Louise. Papa used to let me visit Louise on my own before I was married. It's not far and is a perfectly safe road. We can borrow Papa's buggy and spend the night. Louise will love seeing us. Her parents are very hospitable and they won't mind. We'll be back for the men on Saturday."
Beth wasn't sure about this. The thought of another spanking from Henry was not appealing, but at the same time the restriction did seem rather silly if Papa Spencer had let Emily go out to the farm on her own. Then there were her doubts about her spanking for going into the Hovels. Suddenly Beth felt rebellious. "Yes let's go."
Beth took a bag of overnight things with her to school on Friday and after the children had left on Friday afternoon Emily turned up with the buggy. She locked up the school and, chattering excitedly, the two girls set off for the farm where Louise lived with her parents. Indeed it was a lovely visit. They were welcomed warmly and the whole family exclaimed constantly over the fact that Emily had an identical twin. They chattered, giggled and talked a great deal about Louise's forthcoming marriage and generally had a very good time. The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, the two girls waved goodbye and set off back to town. They decided they would spend the time working together until Henry and Charles returned. Emily would help Beth with her preparation in school and then they would cook together for their husbands.
They had perhaps dallied too long on their visit for as they came back into town Henry and Charles had already returned and they were not pleased. Henry took the lead.
"Where have you been?"
Emily was bright and breezy. "Oh, we spent the night at Louise's. She's getting married soon and hadn't actually met Beth-"
"Emily, that's outside the area I told you was safe."
"And that's true for you too Beth and we've already had this discussion. I want you in the house. Quickly now - we have a little matter of discipline to attend to."
"Same for you Emily. I want you in the corner when I get in."
Beth was not happy. The doubts she had about the justice of her spanking for going into the Hovels resurfaced. She must, of course, obey Henry for he was her husband, but Henry also had a duty to be fair and just and this wasn't. How could it be dangerous to go and see Louise when Emily had been allowed to go by her papa before she was even married? She assumed she must also stand in the corner although Henry had not said, so she went straight to it and stood, her thoughts in a whirl about this discipline.
Henry marched in. "Beth, go and get your hairbrush."
Beth nearly argued. She wanted to but her good sense told her that it would only make her punishment worse, but it stoked up the fuel of her resentment and she was in no ashamed mood when she returned and handed him the brush without a word.
"It's my job as your husband to keep you safe. The boundary was set to do just that and you both disobeyed. I am going to spank you. I want you to get that dress off."
Soon she was standing, once again clad only in her drawers, shift and stockings. Beth was scared. She knew how sore the hairbrush could make her but she was determined in her resentment to give no sign of how scared she was to Henry. She would obey, as was her duty, but not with a contrite heart. Henry reached up and undid the ties on her drawers, and loosened they slid slowly down her legs. Beth still found this embarrassing and sensed that Emily would too. Henry guided her down across his lap and her heart began to beat very fast indeed. Her bottom felt very chilly, exposed as it was, but she knew that it would soon be burning furiously.
Henry brought the stout hairbrush down hard on her right cheek. Beth shut her eyes tight but made no sound at the intense sting of the brush. Perhaps she could take her spanking in silence; that would show him how cross she was. The brush smacked down hard on her left cheek and
it stung so much that she gasped slightly. Already her resolve to take it silently was weakening. Again the brush punished the right cheek and this time Beth cried out...not loudly for sure but an audible 'Oow!'
Crack! The brush landed hard on her left cheek and now Beth cried out more loudly, but as it returned to the delicate curve of her right cheek, her voice rose shrilly. Henry spanked on methodically, alternating the smacks of the brush from one cheek to another, turning her bottom redder and redder while Beth's shrill cries grew louder and louder. Silence was not an option for her as the brush punished her bottom leaving behind its intense burning sting. Her voice had risen to a really high shrill shriek when Henry stopped for a moment.
"I do hope Beth that you are learning that you must obey me when I make rules for your safety. You knew that I would spank you right from the start of our marriage. The boundary was set but you still disobeyed. I'm afraid you deserve this spanking."
Beth was given no chance to reply even had she wanted to, for the brush smacked down again making her cry out. Her cries again grew louder with a note of desperation as her smarting bottom began to feel as if it really was on fire. Beth tried panting her way through the spanking but constantly lost the rhythm and shrieked out as the brush smacked down on her soft well spanked cheeks. Then Henry switched to smacking the brush down several times all in the same place. That sent her shrieks higher and higher. Anyone overhearing those high pitched shrieks would know exactly what was happening but Beth no longer cared. The brush hurt. This spanking hurt, and shriek she would. Finally, Henry told her she might stand.
Tears were streaming silently down her face when Henry finished spanking her. He had stopped because her whole bottom right down to the top of her thighs was one fiery red. He went to take her in his arms as he had on the previous occasions when he had disciplined her but Beth pulled away. She turned her back on him and began to dress again. Her bottom burnt and throbbed from her spanking but she too burnt inside... with anger. She understood that she had to be obedient to Henry; he was her husband, so it was right and proper that she do so. Her wedding vows had included the word 'obey'. Obedience was Godly for a woman but Henry was not being Godly. He had been unfair and unreasonable. How on earth could the brief trip to Louise's be unsafe? Henry was making unreasonable rules and then punishing her for failing to obey them. Well she had taken her spanking as a good wife should, but she wasn't going to justify his spanking by cuddling him and sobbing all over him. She washed her face and made to go out of the door.
Henry was bewildered by her cold and frosty attitude. "Where are you going Beth?"
"School. I have a school to run. I'll be back later to make your meal but I always go to school on Saturday to get prepared for the week ahead."
It couldn't be said that the door slammed as Beth left, but the bang as it closed behind her was definitely not normal. Henry was puzzled. He thought about the discipline he had just imposed. No, it was quite right. He had set a boundary beyond which Beth should not go and she had. That was disobedience and warranted a spanking. So what was with this attitude she was giving him? How dare she treat him like this when he was trying to keep her safe? At that point Charles came in. It took very few words to tell his elder brother that Emily had been very cold and frosty with him after her spanking and that she had gone to the school to help Beth. The brothers began telling each other how right and proper the restrictions were that they had placed on the girls and how they deserved the spankings they had been given. The girls were being disrespectful and unreasonable. That attitude could not be tolerated in a wife now could it? This must be dealt with immediately and the two brothers, united in indignation at their wives, marched purposefully to the schoolhouse.
Chapter 10
A maid helped Ada Franklin Jones remove her outer clothes and then was peremptorily dismissed. Ada marched straight into her husband Isaac's study.
"My dear, I am writing letters. I don't wish to be-"
"I've found her." Ada was triumphant.
Isaac's hand jerked and he made a blot on his letter. He turned the letter over quickly and blotted it on his pad. He looked up. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am, Isaac. Do you take me for a fool? I knew the little madam would be unable to resist writing to that Martha creature. Sure enough, the mailman showed me a letter today and I recognized her hand immediately. No return address, and of course he wouldn't let me open it, but there was a postmark, Isaac. I have the post town, some place called Kirkham. Of course, she might not be there. She might be living somewhere else or on a farm, but it gives us a place to start and she must be near there somewhere. Do you have a man who can be sent to track her down?"
---oOo---
Henry and Charles marched to the school and entered with the expectation that their wives would immediately show them some respect or greet them fondly. Beth and Emily did neither; they simply ignored the two men and carried on with the tasks that Beth had set so that school would be ready on Monday. The brothers were more than a little nonplussed.
Finally, Henry pulled himself together. "Well Beth, what's going on?"
Beth appeared surprised to see him. "Going on? Why, Henry, nothing is going on other than Emily is helping me to get my preparation done. I have to be well prepared you know because the children are all different ages and abilities. We are going to cook your meals when we have finished. Don't you have some sheriff type things you must do?"
Henry couldn't believe the cool way Beth was speaking. This wasn't how they were with each other, but before he could say a word Charles burst in.
"Emily, you are being disrespectful. Is this because you've been disciplined? Well, it was deserved. You were disobedient and Beth too."
Emily suddenly lost her temper. "Deserved! Disobedient! You make silly rules that are more restrictive than even Papa imposed. Why, I've been going to see Louise on my own for years. It isn't far and that road is very safe with enough houses and farms on the way for anyone to be safe, and yet suddenly I am being given a hard spanking for going. You are my husband but you are turning into a tyrant, Charles Flight. A tyrant, that's what you are."
Beth saw the two brothers look at each other and it dawned on her there was something they were not saying. "Now then Henry, what is it that is really going on here? There is something you are not saying."
There was a pause as Charles looked for leadership to his elder brother and Henry looked at the ceiling for inspiration. Finally, he just gave in and sat on a desk with a groan. "We had some more information about your father, Beth. There is definitely a mystery about how he has become wealthy. He is from a poor background, so how did he get rich so quickly? Clearly he has something to hide; we know because of the attempt on Charles' life. Now that you're married he can't give you to Blake so we think he may attempt to murder you and possibly Emily too."
Beth and Emily looked at each other. They seemed to have developed a way of communicating that did not involve any actual words. A nod maybe, a slight shake of the head or a blink of an eye. Emily spoke first.
"We don't think I am in any danger. They don't know I'm here with Beth. It is a staggering coincidence that, of all the towns and settlements in the West, she should end up here. Perhaps Mama is right and Arthur's mother is at work. Anyway, the only way they'd find us is if someone actually came to town and enquired, and we'd all know when that happened."
"My parents won't murder me, Henry." Beth was calm and thoughtful. "They may be cold and critical, but that would be a step too far for them. They don't even know I am married. And Emily is right - they can only find that out by coming here or sending someone. If that happens we'll know. Strangers in town stick out immediately. You two have allowed your fears to take hold and it has made you unreasonable. We've both been given a hard spanking because you've let your imaginations run riot. That isn't right or reasonable."
Beth crossed her arms over her chest and looked very stern and Emily copied her. Henry suddenly felt like a nau
ghty boy standing in front of a very displeased teacher. Beth was quite right. He could only demand obedience and respect if he earned it, and he hadn't. He had been foolish and yes... tyrannical.
"You're right, Beth. I apologize. I was frightened of losing you, as was Charles of losing Emily, but we should have discussed it with you."
"Yes, you should have done." Emily was stern. "We're wives, not tiny children."
"But they meant well Emily. You have to admit that. They just did it all wrong. I think we should forgive them, don't you?"
Emily, of course, did agree and the twins allowed themselves to be hugged and kissed, enjoying the exchange of authority while it lasted. Later Beth and Emily cooked a meal together and the four sat down to eat with Henry and Charles explaining how they were attempting to delve into Beth's father's wealth without revealing their interest. Both girls were very sore from their hard spankings and squirmed constantly on their chairs, which had the delightful effect of making their husbands extremely attentive and apologetic.
When Charles and Emily had gone Henry took Beth upstairs to bed. Beth now knew when her husband was eager to make love to her and for the first time she was reluctant.
"Henry, my bottom is so sore from the spanking. That hairbrush really hurts you know. I don't think...well, you know, and I think I might sleep on my tummy tonight."
Henry gently took Beth in his arms. "Do you trust me, Beth?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then let me show you a new way we can make love as man and wife without upsetting your poor sore bottom."
Beth felt a tingling; it began down in between her legs and flowed upwards into her tummy, and then on up to her breasts until her whole body felt as if it was tingling with desire. She still wasn't sure that it was right to desire Henry and what he did with her. Her mother had always suggested that a woman had a duty to her husband that wasn't really palatable for her, but that she must carry out. However, she, like Emily, had come to enjoy it. Did that mean she was somehow a wanton? A woman without moral restraint. Then it dawned on her that her mother had organized the attempted murder of Charles. In an instant she rejected her mother's strictures and locked her mouth with Henry's, allowing her desire free rein in the quite shameless way she kissed him.
