Unwilling Bride

by Joannie Kay

  front of the house. They hadn’t been expecting anyone that he

  knew of. It wasn’t until he was dismounting that he recognized

  the rig and horse as belonging to Harvey Spencer! "Oh great!"

  he muttered under his breath, hurrying into the house, fearful

  that he would find his feisty redhead pulling out the other

  woman’s hair by the handful! To his never-ending surprise, his

  bride was politely serving coffee to the couple when he entered

  the parlor.

  "Will!" Bridget was relieved to see her tall, handsome husband.

  She trusted him to deal with the situation, whatever it was. His

  blue eyes crinkled at her in obvious approval, and she felt her

  heart fill with pride. She did so love to make this man happy.

  "I’m in time for coffee?" he said in a teasing voice, and gave Bridget an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Harvey," he crossed the room and offered the other man his hand.

  Harvey got to his feet, and shook hands, then said, "Maude

  asked me to drive her out here so that she could speak to your

  and your wife, Will. I hope we haven’t come at a bad time?"

  "No, not at al ," Will said amicably, accepting a cup of coffee from Bridget. "Thanks, honey," he smiled warmly. "Mrs. Spencer," he nodded in greeting.

  Maude said a quiet hello, and then sipped on her coffee, clearly

  not in a hurry to speak what was on her mind.

  Bridget picked up the plate of cookies, and offered them to

  Maude, who took one with a polite "thank you". Harvey took two cookies, and Will just took the plate and sat it on the small table beside the chair he was sitting in. Bridget couldn’t help giggling at him. The man loved his cookies.

  "What is so funny?" he quirked an eyebrow at her in mock outrage. "I happen to love your cookies, young lady!" he declared.

  "I’ve noticed," she agreed. "I bake a batch for you every day!"

  "Keeps you out of trouble," he made it sound like benevolence on his part.

  Harvey chuckled when Bridget wrinkled her nose at Will, but

  Maude burst into tears, and Bridget and Will looked at each other

  in consternation. "Maude, this won’t help," Harvey said gently, and awkwardly patted his wife’s arm. "Just tell them what you came to say and get it over with, please. You’ll feel much better

  then."

  Maude sat her cup and saucer on the table in front of her, then

  dabbed at her eyes with her lace-trimmed handkerchief. "I am so ashamed of myself," she finally whispered, looking at Bridget. "I didn’t know the truth of what happened to you, Bridget; I made

  assumptions that weren’t true! And to make it even worse, I

  spread these false assumptions al over town. I am so very sorry.

  I know I don’t have any right to ask for your forgiveness, but I

  want you both to know that I have learned my lesson. I’ll never

  do something like this again. Never."

  She started crying again, and Harvey wrapped his arm around

  her shoulders and hugged her to him. "What Maude hasn’t told

  you is that she was severely punished for gossiping; it was time

  for her to learn that her words have consequences. Mrs. Bishop,

  Maude will attempt to correct the damage she has done with the

  ladies in our community. We are both sorry for the

  embarrassment you’ve suffered."

  Bridget glanced at Will to see how he was reacting to this, and

  he was giving her the same type of look! She took a deep breath,

  and then let it out slowly. "Maude, I can’t pretend to be happy with the things you said about my family, but I can understand

  how it appeared to be. The Dude fooled all of us. You obviously

  know the truth now, and you came all the way out here to

  apologize. That took a lot of courage." She got to her feet and went over and gave the crying woman a brief hug, then abruptly

  changed the subject. "You’ve a long, long ride back to your

  place. Will you eat with us before you leave?" She looked at

  Harvey questioningly.

  Harvey gave her a warm smile, and then said, "We would like

  that, Bridget. Thank you."

  "Good. Want to give me a hand, Maude?" she asked, and turned to leave the parlor, grinning to herself when Will looked at her

  suspiciously. Men!!!

  "What can I do to help?" Maude asked once they were in the kitchen.

  "Just take a deep breath and relax," Bridget said with a smile. "I figured you would like to get up off that sofa for a while."

  Maude’s face turned a bright pink as she nodded, the events of

  the previous day fresh in her mind:

  "How dare you treat me like that in front of those people, Harvey Spencer?" Maude asked as Harvey lifted her and plopped her on the seat of their buggy. "I have never been so humiliated in my entire life!"

  "Be silent, woman!" Harvey glared at her as he took his seat and picked up the reins. "You have much to answer for, and believe me, you are going to answer for it when I get you home." He

  talked and scolded non-stop the whole of the distance to their

  home, and by the time they’d arrived, Maude knew the truth

  about the Dude, and what really happened to Bridget O’Riley

  Bishop. She was crying freely, and feeling so guilty that she

  simply didn’t know what she was going to do.

  But Harvey knew. He sent her directly to their bedroom with

  orders to undress completely and then come to him in the

  kitchen. He refused to give her modesty a thought as he said

  "no" to her request to be al owed to put on a nightdress at least.

  He wanted her to feel embarrassment and shame.

  When she finally came into the kitchen, he steeled himself to be

  firm with her. He loved her; she was the mother of his boys; she

  needed a sharp lesson. He pushed his glasses up on his nose,

  and motioned for her to come and stand in front of him. "This is going to be a very long and painful punishment, Maude. You are

  going to learn there are consequences for vicious gossip. And,

  by the time I am finished with this lesson, you will promise me

  sincerely that you will never gossip again."

  She hung her head, unable to look into his gray eyes. She

  couldn’t bear to have her normally gentle husband so angry with

  her. And standing in the kitchen, in broad daylight, without a

  stitch of clothing over her body was shaming her beyond belief.

  She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Why couldn’t

  he simply have punished her in the relative privacy of their

  bedroom? What if someone stopped by? Or if the teacher

  dismissed school early?

  "The lies came from your mouth, Maude, so the first thing we are going to do is scrub your mouth clean of all the filth you’ve been spouting."

  "Oh, no…. Harvey, not that! Please…!" Maude couldn’t believe he was going to soap her mouth, but he didn’t hesitate as he

  poured water from the kettle on the stove into the dishpan. He

  picked up a bar of soap and worked up a lather on his fingers.

  "Open your mouth, Maude," Harvey used his left hand to pull her closer. She shook her head no, pleading with her eyes for him to

  relent. He didn’t. His left hand landed a sharp swat on her right

  bottom cheek, and when she gasped with the pain, he put his

  fingers between her lips. "Open. Now!"

  Maude knew she had no choice. She opened her mouth, and

  when he told her to open wider, she did. His fingers coated her

  teeth and her tongue, and everywhere he could reac
h. The soap

  burned, and tasted awful, and she feared she was going to gag.

  The tears running down her cheeks were real, and she couldn’t

  help stomping her foot as he continued.

  "Hold still, and keep your mouth open," Harvey ordered, soaping his fingers again, and repeating the entire process. When he was

  satisfied her entire mouth was feeling the effects of the soap, he removed his long fingers, then told her to spit. When she

  reached for the dipper to get water to rinse her mouth, he put his hand on hers and stopped her. To her horror, he soaped his

  fingers a third time and thoroughly cleansed her again, scolding

  constantly. He ordered her to spit again, then he filled the dipper and let her rinse. The water only intensified the effect in her

  mouth, and it was all she could do to keep from retching.

  Harvey stood with his hands folded across his chest, watching

  her the entire time. "If I ever hear of you gossiping again, Maude, I promise you will find yourself standing right here and soaping

  your own mouth for no less than an hour. Do you understand

  me?"

  "Yes, Sir," she whispered. "I promise I won’t."

  "I hope you don’t, but you know what to expect if you do. Now we’ll deal with the fact you started that scene with Bridget Bishop today. You slapped her… and I will not tolerate that behavior.

  Get the wooden spoon and bring it to me, Maude."

  She didn’t argue. How could she? She’d slapped the younger

  woman, just as Harvey said. She took the spoon from the drawer

  and brought it to him.

  "Bend over the table, and stay in place. When I’m finished with this spanking, you will know better than to start another brawl."

  Maude cried out as the spoon continued to fall on her bottom

  and on her thighs. Harvey didn’t stop until she was crying, and

  her butt was on fire. She was positive he hadn’t missed a spot,

  and her pleas for mercy seemed to make no difference

  whatsoever. When he finally stopped, it was to take her into their bedroom, and take her over his knee on the bed, and continue to

  spank her with her wooden backed hairbrush. That was for

  defying him in the store when he told her to pick up the apples.

  "Your lies have caused Will and Bridget Bishop a lot of pain, Maude, and you even accused Flynn O’Riley of crimes. This is

  serious. No matter how many times they tell the truth of it, there is going to be speculation… speculation that you alone are

  responsible for, woman. I know you are already sore, and in

  pain, and I wish with all my heart I could stop… but you are still in for the worst part of your licking." He placed two pillows at the edge of their bed, and then looked at her regretfully. "Turn your backside up over these pillows, Maude, while I fetch my strop."

  "Oh, Harvey! No!! I am so sorry! I’ll never do this again! Please…

  You don’t need to whip me. Please, Harvey! No!" she pleaded as he approached her, carrying the strop.

  "Did you tell those lies, Maude?" he asked quietly.

  "Yes," she admitted miserably.

  "People believed them, Maude, didn’t they?"

  "Yes… But, I am already so sorry!"

  "I know you are," he agreed, pulling her to her feet. "And you will be much sorrier by the time this day is over. I’m not playing a

  game with you, wife. I hate this more than you’ll ever know, but

  you’ve earned a licking and you’re going to get a licking. Bend

  over now, and lets get this part of it over with."

  Sobbing, Maude put herself in the position he wanted, feeling

  totally vulnerable and exposed. Harvey didn’t keep her waiting.

  He used the strop, putting effort into each stroke. Her bottom

  was soon blazing, and she was having trouble staying in place

  for the punishment.

  Harvey laid the leather on her thighs, reddening them to the

  same color as her bottom, and then he aimed for the creased

  area between her legs and bottom. Maude was not going to sit

  for a week without remembering this lesson.

  When he finally stopped, he sat on the bed and held her close. It

  was a few minutes before she quieted enough to realize he had

  tears on his cheeks too. "I’m truly sorry, Harvey. I’m sorry I shamed you with my behavior. Will you take me to the Bishop

  place tomorrow so I can apologize? I have to do this in order to

  be able to forgive myself."

  "Here’s the cups and everything, Bridget," Will said as he entered the kitchen, carrying the tray with the empty cookie

  plate, the pitcher, and the other items, and interrupting Maude’s

  reverie. "I can wash these up for you…?" he offered, looking from one woman to the other and trying to gauge his wife’s

  unpredictable mood.

  "I’m behaving myself, Mr. Bishop," Bridget smiled knowingly at her husband, "You don’t need to be checking up on me!" she added with an impish grin, then squealed when his hand landed

  a familiar smack to the back of her skirts.

  "And see that you continue to behave, little girl," Will chuckled, and then kissed the top of her head. He was amazed, and

  impressed, with Bridget’s behavior, and was more than satisfied

  when she didn’t disappoint him throughout the rest of the

  unexpected visit from the Spencers. She was the model of

  hospitality during the meal, and seemed determined to keep the

  conversation light.

  As they got ready to leave, Maude turned to Bridget and said

  candidly, "Thank you for making this so easy for me, Bridget, and for not slamming the door in our faces this morning. If the

  situation were reversed, I’m not sure I would have been so

  gracious." She hugged Bridget, and then tried not to wince when her sore backside made contact with the buggy seat. A final

  wave, and the Spencers were gone, and Will and Bridget were

  alone.

  Will turned Bridget to face him. "I am as proud of you as I can be, Mrs. Bishop."

  "Thought I’d clean up on her, did you?" she grinned impudently.

  "Knowing my feisty little redhead, yes," he agreed. "It took a lot of courage for Maude to come here and face you."

  "It did. And Harvey didn’t make her do it, either. She asked him to bring her. I put myself in her place, and treated her the way I would hope to be treated." She put her arms around Will’s neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him quite thoroughly.

  "I may have a temper and be headstrong and willful at times, Mr.

  Bishop, but I don’t kick someone when they’re down."

  Will returned her kisses, and decided that work could wait for a

  while. His bride deserved a special reward for being so good! He

  swept her off her feet and headed for the bedroom. Telling her

  about the surprise could wait until later.

  "What are you doing this afternoon, Will?" Bridget asked as he pulled on his boots.

  "Not as much as I needed to get done," he grinned at her unrepentantly. "You do know how to tempt a man, honey." He pulled on his socks, and then started to put his boots on.

  "I’m not in the mood to stay indoors; what can I do to help you?"

  she asked seriously. "I know how to do most ranch stuff."

  Will looked at her consideringly. "Honey, there isn’t all that much.

  I have to start breaking that new stal ion… but before I do that, I have to take the speckled mare over to Ed Matthew’s place. You

  know darn well and good you can’t go over there, so don’t even

  suggest it."

  "I wasn’t going to suggest it," she shuddered. "The man giv
es me the creeps," she admitted with a giggle.

  "He’s harmless enough, but I don’t like the idea of having him telling his dirty stories to my wife. You just bake me some more

  cookies…" he winked, then leaned over to give her a kiss, not realizing that relegating her to baking cookies was a big mistake.

  He was out the door with a promise to be back by dark.

  Bridget fumed, and then put on her discarded clothing. She didn’t

  feel like staying coped up inside the house all afternoon. She

  wanted to do some real work for a change. She watched and

  waved as Will rode out, leading the mare. It would be at least

  four hours before she could expect him to return, and she was

  not going to bake cookies.

  She walked out to the corral, and the stal ion immediately came

  over to the fence. "Hi there, beauty!" she spoke softly. She took a sugar cube from her pocket, and placed it on the palm of her

  hand… keeping her fingers out of the way. After a few minutes,

  the proud stallion ate the cube, and Bridget spoke soothingly to

  him the entire time. She’d always wanted to try her hand at

  breaking horses, but that was one area Flynn O’Riley put his foot

  down. He said "no" to her and meant it. He’d backed it up by threatening to fire any man who helped her on the back of a wild

  horse, and threatened to horsewhip her brothers if they were

  crazy enough to listen to her arguments. "Well, my friend… What do you think??? Would you let me ride you?" she asked in

  consideration.

  Bridget argued with herself. Told herself that she was asking for

  trouble. But, she wanted to do something worthwhile… not just

  bake cookies. She ran back to the house, delved into the bottom

  drawer of her dresser, and found a well-worn pair of pants. She’d

  only have them on long enough to try and ride the stallion, and

  once she was done, she’d pack them away, and Will would

  never know. He’d never even realize that she’d been the one to

  ride the proud animal first. She giggled, imagining the look on

  Will’s face when the stallion was gentled.

  She grabbed some more sugar cubes and an apple from the

  kitchen on her way to the corral, and talked quietly to the stal ion as she fed him the apple. To her surprise, he stood stil when

  she saddled him, and Bridget surmised that Will must have had a