A Man of Dreams, a Woman of Passion

by Rebecca Jacobs

  "You senseless jackass!" she cursed the man who threw the water at her. "How dare you get me all wet!" She tried to get up, but the man who was kneeling beside her pushed her back down and started to paw her. She slapped at his hands and kicked for all she was worth. There was no way she would let this man take what she wanted to give to her husband, and there was no doubt in her mind that that was exactly what he intended to do to her! "Let me go, you bastard!" she cursed him.

  "Hold her hands, Gus! She's a feisty one!" the man grumbled. "Don't be so uppity, lady. We don't want to have to hurt you none!" He started to push up her skirts.

  "Then let me go!" Caroline did not stop fighting for even one second. She screamed again, and was surprised when the first man was jerked away from her. She saw Jacob, and she also saw the trapper pull a knife. Jacob had one in his hand, too, but Caroline was afraid for him. After all, he farmed the land!

  Apparently, the second trapper had his doubts about his partner being able to hold his own. He released Caroline's hands so that he could go and help the other man. Caroline jumped to her feet and looked around for something she could use to help Jacob, and found a whip lying beside one of their packs. She picked it up, and in the next instant, snapped it against the second man. She had helped her father move livestock, and learned to use a whip as a young girl. She let fly again and the man screamed in pain as the long tail wrapped around his back.

  Jacob dispatched of the first man and turned just in time to see the second man roar and run toward Caroline, his knife raised high. Without taking time to think, Jacob did what he had to do and threw his knife. It hit the second man, and he fell to the ground dead, just a few feet from the frightened redhead. Jacob hurried to her and she fell against him sobbing. "Are you all right, Caro? Did they harm you?"

  "No, you got here before they had time to do what they intended."

  "I am sorry this happened, wife." He held her tightly, smiling to himself as he recalled her wielding the whip. "I will need to have a care around you, it would seem," he said lightly, hoping to make her smile. "You handle that whip as well as anyone I have seen!"

  Caroline whispered, "I was afraid they would kill you. It was the only thing I could think of to help you."

  "You did just fine, little one. Now, sit down and I will bury these two. I cannot leave them for the animals," he added.

  He saw her pale even more, but she nodded and said, "I will help you, Jacob. I am used to using a shovel in Mother's garden."

  He was amazed when she grabbed a shovel and helped him dig two graves. They piled stones on top, and then Caroline grabbed his hand and offered a prayer, asking God to have mercy on their souls. Then she asked, "Do you think these are the men who robbed Pierre?"

  "They could be, Caroline, but we have no way of knowing for certain. We are going to go through their packs and see if there is any identification." They went through everything, and Jacob said, "These have to belong to Pierre," he stated, holding a Bible printed in French and containing some letters addressed to him.

  "Let's take them with us, and maybe we will see him again...?" Caroline suggested.

  Jacob agreed, and between the two of them, they left nothing behind that could be used. As Jacob said, "We may be thankful of an extra coffee pot or furs when winter hits."

  After they stored everything in the wagon, Jacob pulled her into his arms and simply held her. "I am so sorry those two men grabbed you, Caroline, and even sorrier I did not know you needed me. At first I thought you were just testing me and going too far from camp just because I told you not to."

  Caroline's face turned a tell-tale red and he was quick to see her expression in the moonlight.

  "What haven't you told me?" he demanded, holding her at arm's length to question her.

  Caroline's green eyes filled with guilt. "I got lost, Jacob. They did not kidnap me; I walked into their camp, thinking their fire was ours."

  Jacob was instantly furious. "You went so far from this camp you could no longer spot the fire?" he asked, giving her a single, hard shake.

  Caroline nodded miserably. "I was not testing you, however!"

  "Then what were you doing?" he demanded, furious with her.

  "I was embarrassed, Jacob," she whispered. "I needed to be sure you couldn't hear me."

  "Hear you?" he roared. "Hear you?" He looked at her in mingled disbelief and anger. "Young lady, I told you this morning that I would take a switch to you if you went so far away from camp again, and I guarantee I am going to hear you hollering your head off in a few minutes." He released one of her arms and took out his knife. "You are going to cut and peel two switches. By the time I am done striping you, I guarantee you will do no more than walk a few feet from camp and hide behind some bushes to take care of your business."

  "I did not think I went too far, Jacob!" Caroline tried to explain, but he said nothing as he took her to a nearby tree.

  He grabbed a branch and discarded it in favor of another. He handed her his knife. "Cut this switch," he ordered harshly.

  "Jacob, please! I am still sore from before! I am sorry for what happened, truly I am!"

  "Cut this switch now, or we will cut three and I shall use them all." She needed a severe lesson.

  Caroline's eyes filled with tears, but she did as she was told. She also cut the next one he chose, and all too soon he marched her back to their camp. He showed her how to cut off the little branches and leaves, and how to peel the bark to make the switch green and limber. Then he handed her the knife and told her to prepare the rest of that switch and the second one as well. She did not want to obey him, and she worked slowly, hoping he would lose some of his anger and understand that she did not mean to get lost, that his idea of too far and her idea of too far were obviously not the same. Finally, she finished and he came toward her, his intention to punish her still evident. "Jacob, can you not see that this is just a misunderstanding? Your idea of close to camp is much different than my interpretation. I did not mean to disobey you. I regret my actions, and I am so sorry that I got lost and went to the wrong camp. I will be more careful in the future."

  "I guarantee you will recall this switching the next time you leave camp for the purpose of relieving yourself," he said, nodding in agreement. "Come now, wife. I have prepared the tailgate of the wagon for you." He led her to the back of the wagon, and Caroline saw that he had placed blankets there for her to lie over while he thrashed her.

  "Please, Jacob... Must you ruin our wedding night in this manner?" she begged of him.

  "When you earn punishment, you shall receive it, Caroline. You would have been raped if I had not been close enough to the trapper's camp to hear you scream. They would have used you and perhaps killed you to keep you from telling me what they did. You disobeyed me by going too far from camp, and now you will accept the consequences of your actions. Pull up your skirts and lie over the tail gate."

  "No! I will do no such thing! You are being too harsh with me!"

  "I am the husband you chose and promised to obey. I promised you that you would be switched if you disobeyed me, and the very first chance you got, you disobeyed me! Now, you will either obey me and prepare yourself for a punishment or I will wear out both switches. That is an absolute promise, Caroline!" She stood there, glaring at him, her arms crossed, and a mulish expression on her pretty face. Jacob realized that she was not going to make it easier on either of them, so he stepped forward and within seconds, he had her lying face down over the end of the wagon tailgate.

  Caroline struggled to free herself, but Jacob was just too strong. He tossed up her skirts, leaving her bare from her waist down to her stockings, and then he pushed those down to her ankles! The night air chilled her since it was still early in the spring and she shivered.

  "Do not fear, wife. I shall warm you."

  The first burning line of white hot fire laced across her buttocks, followed by a second. Caroline felt like hundreds of bees were stinging her at once, and she renewed he
r struggles to get free. "No more, Jacob! It hurts too much!" she screamed at him even as a third stripe burned across her fair skin. "No!" she yelled, but he ignored her protests and continued to switch her, covering her bottom with welts, and then moving down to her thighs. It hurt even worse there, and she kicked her legs, trying to avoid the switch, but Jacob seemed to know exactly where and when to strike, and he laid line after line on her backside. He also caught the calves of her legs, and then moved upwards slowly, laying on another layer of burning stripes. When he reached the tender area where her thighs met her bottom, he seemed to swing the switch even harder! "No, no, no!" she burst into sobs. "Please, not there! Not there! I am so sorry!" she insisted.

  Jacob tossed the first switch away and then picked up the second. He swished it through the air and then concentrated on making her sit spots so sore she wouldn't wish to sit down to travel the next day, but she would! She would sit on this switching and it would remind her that she was to stay closer to camp. When she finally stopped fighting the spanking, and collapsed across the tailgate of the wagon, he gave her ten more stripes across her bottom cheeks and then said, "Will you be obedient now, wife?"

  She was crying too hard to answer, but she raised her head and nodded vigorously.

  "Very well. Five more then, for refusing to accept your punishment without a fuss. If you lie still and accept these, Caroline, this will be all over. If you rail at me or put up a fuss, I will keep right on going until this switch breaks." It was a sturdy switch and had a lot of life left to it. Caroline would truly regret sassing him if she did.

  Caroline wanted to beg him not to give her another five, but it was best to be silent and get the horrible punishment over and not make it any worse. She silently counted as the switch left even more welts on her inflamed backside, and once it was done, Jacob released her.

  Jacob fully intended to hold her and comfort her and assure her that she was forgiven, but Caroline hauled herself up and into the wagon. She closed the flaps on the back, and let it be known she wanted nothing at all to do with him. He was tempted to follow her, but when he pulled aside the flap to enter, she yelled at him.

  "You have already ruined our wedding night, Jacob Willis. Stay away from me! You are a cruel man!"

  "Caroline, I warned you what to expect if you walked too far from camp; I kept my promise. You have no one but yourself to blame for your sore backside. Obedience out here could mean the difference between life and death for you."

  "I found that out the hard way, Jacob. I needed comforting, not a switching. I am not a mindless child. Go away and leave me alone. I am seriously considering heading back to the settlement in the morning! A man who would treat his wife so cruelly on their wedding night does not deserve to have a wife. I will hate you forever for ruining tonight!"

  Chapter Five

  Jacob hated the sound of Caroline's weeping. He was also a bit shocked to realize that she had actually meant to have a true wedding night. He spent some time lying on his blankets, looking up at the bottom of the wagon, and asking himself if he would have switched her if he had known that Caroline meant to give herself to him. The honest answer was 'yes'. Caroline disobeyed him. It was that simple. She got herself lost because she disobeyed him and went too far from camp. It was sheer luck that he found her in time to prevent those two trappers from raping her! Caroline earned a switching, and he would have been remiss not to give her one. It was her own fault that she was pouting and sulking... His own father would have ordered her to stop immediately, or face another spanking with her hairbrush, and that thought prompted Jacob to crawl out from beneath the wagon. He was going to give her another chance to stop with the crying, or face another spanking. He was not going to be made to feel guilty for giving her the punishment she earned.

  Caroline was miserable and she honestly could not stop crying. Not only was her body sore and miserable, her heart was hurting, too. She never once dreamed that a married woman could be treated like an errant child, and she was truly sorry for being so foolish before Jacob switched her! Why could he not just accept her at her word? She thought he loved her, and she had looked forward to their wedding night all day. Instead of treating her like a wife, he had whipped her like a naughty little girl! How awful was that! What would she say when someday her own daughter asked her of her wedding night? What could she tell her? That thought brought on another bout of weeping and she did not hear Jacob climb into the wagon.

  "You have pouted long enough, Caroline. Now settle down before I am forced to turn you over my knee for another spanking with your hairbrush."

  "Are you trying to make me hate you?" she asked bitterly.

  "No. I am trying to teach you to obey me before you do something that has consequences neither of us want. Do you have any idea what those two men intended to do to you?" he asked.

  "I am not stupid, Jacob. I figured it out pretty quickly," she said, her voice telling him she was still pouting.

  "You earned a good switching, Caroline. I shall not apologize for treating you like the errant wife you are."

  "What kind of husband treats his wife so despicably on her wedding night?" Caroline pouted for all she was worth.

  "One who wants his wife to learn a good lesson so she will obey without question when her life depends upon it. Now, stop crying and go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

  "I cannot sleep and I cannot stop crying! You hurt me and I am in horrible pain."

  "You are going to hurt even more if you do not stop sassing me, young lady," Jacob threatened. If anything, she started crying even harder, although she turned her back to him and did her best to hide the fact she was crying. It was obvious to him that his wife had a lot to learn about discipline and consequences. She was so busy being upset with him that she was feeling no remorse at all for her actions. Had he truly wounded her so deeply? Insulted her so badly that she was unable to stem her tears, even when faced with another spanking? He reached out and put a comforting hand on her back and she was trembling. "Caroline, you shall make yourself ill carrying on like this."

  "I have never hurt so much in all my life, Jacob! I am burning and itching, and every time I move, it hurts so much! I feel like I have thousands of bee stings and the stingers are making my skin swell to twice the normal size! How could you be so cruel?" she asked, sobbing again.

  Jacob thought she sounded like a petulant child, and reminded himself that it was probably her first experience with a switch. Perhaps he went too far for the first time? Jacob asked himself. He gathered Caroline in his arms and carefully sat her on his lap. She did not struggle, but rested her head on his shoulder. He rocked her back and forth as he would a small child, and after a while she relaxed and went to sleep. He was careful to place her on her side, but she still moaned in her sleep, and Jacob lie down beside her and fell asleep holding her and comforting her. It occurred to him at some point just before he drifted off that she told him she had needed comforting more than a switching. With several sisters he should have realized that to be the case, but Caroline was not his sister and he was never quite sure what to do with her.

  Morning came, and if Caroline was embarrassed to wake up beside Jacob, she did not say so. She merely stepped over him, climbed down from the wagon, and went just a few steps from camp to relieve her bladder. Her backside was impossibly sore, even if most of the heat was gone from the stripes that covered her bottom cheeks all the way down to her ankles. She had not bothered with stockings this morning, and the prospect of riding inside a hot, stuffy wagon all day held no appeal. It was either that or walk since there was absolutely no way she could possibly sit on the seat of the wagon with Jacob.

  Caroline set about building a fire and starting water for tea. She sliced off bacon to put in a skillet to fry, and mixed some corn cakes to fry in the bacon drippings. Even though she was busy, her mind could not stop thinking about what happened the night before. She was going to have to keep her wits about her or she was going to
end up dead before they traveled a hundred miles from home! She placed not only herself in danger, but Jacob, too. He had fought for her, with no regard for his own safety, and she repaid him by threatening to leave for home today. She behaved badly, and she felt ashamed of her words. Caroline had to admit that she probably deserved punishment, but not such a severe one! She was not used to suffering physically when she did wrong and she wondered if she would ever take it in stride.

  The smell of bacon frying woke Jacob and he shook his head to clear it before he left the wagon. Caroline had her back to him as he stalked off to tend to his business, and when he returned to camp she already had a plate of food and a cup of tea ready for his breakfast. "Thanks," he said politely. She nodded, and then knelt beside a tree stump to eat her food. He imagined she did not wish to sit down, but when they pulled out she would be sitting.

  Once they were ready to pull out, Caroline started to climb into the back of the wagon. "What do you think you are doing, wife? We are ready to pull out now."

  "I know."

  "Then take your place on the seat."

  Her green eyes flew open in shock. "Surely you realize I cannot sit, Jacob!"

  "You might not feel much like sitting, but you can and will sit, Caroline. You are not riding in back all day."

  "Jacob, you have no idea how much pain I am in! I am raw, and I cannot possibly ride on the wagon seat. Please do not ask that of me!" There was desperation in her voice, which he ignored.

  "Part of the consequences of earning a switching is sitting on it afterwards. I was lenient this morning and permitted you to kneel to eat your breakfast, but you will sit now, Caroline, and no more fussing, unless you want a spanking to start the day...?"