The Schoolmarm and the Preacher

by Susan Thomas

  "Yes Sir, I accept your authority," she said. It sounded stiffly formal but inside she was churning with conflicting emotions.

  Rev. Daffern turned to Mayor Spencer. "I think that settles the matter don't you? I shall use the woodshed at Mrs. McWilliams' house; the house, and especially the woodshed, is well screened from prying eyes. I think this is a matter we would all prefer was kept confidential."

  Annie found herself nodding her agreement along with the three men. She took the Rev. Duffer's arm, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and they walked as if doing no more than taking a pleasant stroll together. However, Annie was very nervous indeed and as they neared the house she grew even more so. Getting a whipping was horribly embarrassing, not to mention painful. She knew there was no choice, and she'd do her best to take it bravely, but it didn't change how she felt. Rounding the corner of the house she saw the woodshed and suddenly stopped.

  "Now Mrs. McWilliams..." He sounded kind. "I understand you're nervous, but best to be brave and just take it. Delay will only make it worse."

  "It's not that. It's the woodshed. It's horribly dusty, dirty and cobwebby. The children are with Mrs. O'Connor so couldn't we use the house?"

  She saw him consider the request and then he nodded. He'd been inside when he brought the children back from the river. There was no hall or anything like that. One walked straight into the large kitchen which served for pretty well everything during the day. It would do well for this purpose. They turned back to the house. She was now so jittery she could hardly stand it. She was about to be spanked by a man she barely knew: no matter she deserved it; no matter he was a good and kind man, the truth was she barely knew him. Even before she fled that life, it had been a long time since he had beaten her, and she had fled him over a year ago. They entered and she stood ready to obey but not knowing how he intended to punish her.

  She was shocked when he asked, "Are you wearing drawers?"

  "Reverend Daffern!"

  He smiled. "Clumsily put. I am not your father or husband so I think it best if you have one layer on when I punish you."

  "Oh. Yes, I'm wearing drawers." Her voice was very quiet but her face was scarlet.

  "Right, bend over that table and I'll help you lift your dress and petticoats. I expect it would be hard to do on your own."

  She bent over the table feeling acutely embarrassed. She knew many wives had to expect the occasional spanking from their husbands, but he wasn't her husband. As he helped her lift her skirts and petticoats she was so thankful she was not wearing those horrible split drawers but the sort that covered her nether end fully. Finally, her skirts were lifted and her drawers exposed to his view. She turned her head and saw he was now removing the belt from his pants; she guessed he must be wearing suspenders as well as a belt. It was not as robust a belt as her blacksmith father had worn but nor was it that of a rich man. Brown leather...not over thick, maybe an eighth of inch, and only an inch and a half wide. She saw him double it, not as bad as her father's strap but bad enough. This was going to hurt.

  "You know why you're getting this spanking? It's for disobeying Sheriff Flight, putting yourself in danger and trying to tell a lie about it."

  "Yes." Her voice was about as small as it could get and her stomach was churning at the thought of the belt hitting her bottom. "But I'm sorry. I'll never do it again."

  The belt came down hard across her bottom with a tremendous cracking sound which filled the room. A chastening burn appeared and grew even as she whimpered at it. Another blow hit her rear end... right across the centre and exploded into an even more ferocious burn. She cried out at it and guessed he was getting into his swing.

  "I don't mind if you cry out or wail but do not try to get up, Mrs. McWilliams. This is meant to hurt and that is needful if you are to learn from it."

  "Yes sir." She had always had to call her father 'sir' when he whipped her and now it seemed right to do the same.

  Another loud crack filled the room and she yelped out loud. He said, "I can hear that I am making an impression. You behaved foolishly, put yourself in danger and almost compromised your reputation. You cannot do that. I hope you understand."

  "Yes sir, I do. I was willful and foolhardy. My father whipped me for it when I was young."

  "Not often enough evidently. Well I shall put that right."

  With that remark he unleashed a succession of five blistering licks with his belt that had her screech grow with each one and made her wriggle and writhe across the table. She began to cry, trying hard to do so softly, for she was ashamed... ashamed that she had been so badly behaved; ashamed that she, the schoolteacher, had been caught and diminished their opinion of her; ashamed she had tried to lie; ashamed that this good man was now having to punish her; and ashamed of the weakness that stopped her being as brave during her spanking as she would have wished.

  "Now then Mrs. McWilliams, I am going to give you five licks for your disobedience."

  The five he gave her landed with power and each one burned a line of fire into her bottom. Her screeches grew and her tears flowed. She hoped no one was nearby to hear her getting her punishment. She managed to stay bent over the table for all five but then she pleaded with him.

  "Please sir, if you plan to give me more, may I have a break? Just time to let me absorb it all. It's been quite a while since I've been spanked like this."

  "I will allow that. I'm not a brutal man. Understand though that your behavior worries me. I can see you're a strong-willed woman but you must understand that men here expect their womenfolk to be well behaved and obedient. If you do get caught in the wrong do not attempt to lie. Confess and take your spanking."

  "Yes sir. I am sorry."

  He watched her carefully and when her wriggling and writhing lessened and her sobs quieted he began again. "I am going to give you five for your lie."

  Annie was unsure how she stayed still enough to take the five. The preacher brought the belt down with great force and accuracy. Her arms shot out to each side of her and gripped the edges of the rather small table while her cries grew ever louder in scale and merged with all the other cries to fill the room. When the last of the five had landed and burnt itself into her bottom, she stamped a foot repeatedly on the floor to try and deal with the pain.

  When she was quiet once again, apart from a low whimper as her bottom burned, he spoke again. "Disobedience, lies and foolhardy behavior. I am surprised at you Mrs. McWilliams. Now five for willfully putting yourself in danger."

  Annie gripped the table tightly. She vowed she'd never ever be so foolish again. Not in this town anyway. The men here were lovely but they were uncompromising about discipline. Later she was never sure how she stayed in position for those five blows. Each one cracked down hard across her bottom and each one burned like all the fires of Hell when it landed. Her father's whippings had not been so hard to bear. As for him, the father of her children... well she had been terrified of him, and for all that that the Rev. Daffern's belt burned her bottom terribly, she was not frightened of him.

  James Daffern looked down at the drawers of the women he was chastising. They were loose but did nothing to hide how shapely she was. He felt such tenderness for her. She had taken her spanking well. It could not be easy for her being a widow, mother and the schoolteacher to bend over like this to take a spanking, but she had been obedient and contrite. He calculated he had given her twenty-three. A tough punishment he knew, but better she learned her lesson now. Perhaps two more.

  "I am going to give you two more for your foolishness in looking through the window of that saloon. You were fortunate not to attract the attention of some of the men in there."

  "Yes sir. I'll never do that again. I promise."

  Annie wondered why she kept responding to his lectures as if he were her husband or father. The last two cracked down rather low across her bottom just where the thighs gentled up to the swell of her cheeks. She screeched loudly, ashamed of her cowardice.
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  Then it was over. She stood when he gave her permission but did so gingerly. She found he was holding out to her a beautifully clean and ironed handkerchief. She took it gratefully and began wiping the tears from her face. Suddenly he reached out a gentle hand and, with one sensitive finger, wiped a stray tear she had missed.

  "I'm sorry I had to do that but it was necessary."

  "I know," she whispered.

  "You have to think about your children you know. Anything can happen down in the Hovels, but if you need to go any time I can escort you. I'm accepted down there and I can handle myself."

  "Thank you," she whispered looking into the brown warmth of his eyes and marveling at the compassion and understanding she saw. Suddenly he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She didn't resist, but buried her head into his chest while he just held her.

  "I care about you Mrs. McWilliams. I don't mean just as the pastor of the church, I mean in a more personal way."

  She didn't answer, just wriggled into his chest and enjoyed the warmth of his arms around her. She could only respect this man. He had saved her children, given her a spanking to remember and all while remaining calm and respectful. Now he was being gentle and loving.

  After a while Annie remembered her manners and pulled apart. "Oh, what am I thinking of. Would you care for some coffee and maybe a piece of fruit cake?"

  The Rev. Daffern did indeed want that although, in truth, what he wanted more was to spend time in her company. He sat outside on the porch and she brought out the coffee and cake.

  "This is delicious cake Mrs. McWilliams, but you're not sitting."

  "I'd rather not. You have a strong arm and that was a good hard spanking you gave me."

  "I would like you to sit down. Discomfort after being chastised is part of the punishment." He said it mildly, and almost with a touch of humor, but there was no mistaking that it was a command and not a request.

  Obediently, she eased herself down onto a chair. She was finding being obedient to the Rev. Daffern was something she wanted to do. She had been a headstrong girl and resisted her father's authority. When he had sucked her away into his life she had, at first, obeyed him out of love but that soon turned to obedience out of fear. The Rev. Daffern though... obedience to him seemed as natural as breathing.

  "Mrs. McWilliams, would you do me the honor of using my first name, which is James?"

  She smiled. "Why yes... James, thank you for that. Will you use my name, which is Annie?"

  "Annie, I would like to court you."

  "Court me?! You don't know me!"

  "I do. You are an intelligent, capable woman. You're well organized and a good teacher... no, don't argue. I hear what the parents are saying. They were worried when Beth Flight was to leave but they are content now. You're compassionate and caring, which is what drove you down to The Hovels, misguided though that was. You're a good mother, and your cakes are fine indeed for I've never tasted better, and trust me as preacher to this town I get given a lot. You're very attractive. Again, don't argue, for I have good eyesight. I also see more: you're a woman that needs a husband; I see that need in you for I have a similar need. I need a wife. You have two fine children but children need a father and especially boys.

  "Now as to me, I'm not a wealthy man nor ever will be, but I have enough to support a family. I would be a good husband to you and a good father to Harold and Amelia. I'll not hide from you that I share the attitude, held in this town, that a man is head of his family. The Good Book tells us a wife must be in submission to her husband and I believe that wholeheartedly. Being the family head will mean that sometimes I must discipline you and you now know that my discipline is felt. However, I am also loving, and the Good Book tells husbands to love their wives as they love themselves. There now. Perhaps not the honeyed words a suitor should use but I've a feeling honeyed words do not impress you."

  Annie sat, the welts on her bottom making her fidget more than any lady should, gaping at him. What he said was true. She did want a husband whose bed she could share. A woman has needs as well as a man though it was not respectable to say so. She needed a man and one she could turn to and rely on. Boys, she knew, needed a good man to guide them and daughters too need to know how a good man behaves in the home. But marriage, how could she contemplate marriage, especially to a preacher, a man of God, after all she had done?

  Chapter 3

  Whatever her doubts about her own worthiness Annie found herself agreeing that James Daffern might court her. After all she was a woman and a mother: as a woman she had her needs regardless of whether respectable women liked to acknowledge it or not; as a mother she needed a good man to be father to her children, and who better than the town preacher that had saved them from drowning? Perhaps his rescue of her children, and then later, the spanking he gave her, were a sign. She had been drawn strongly to Kirkham in a way she failed to understand, so perhaps all this was meant to be.

  In the way of small towns, the news seemed to spread as if carried on the wind. The town, it seemed, approved most strongly. James Daffern was highly respected and indeed loved. That he had finally found himself a good woman to court met with approval. Only Mayor Spencer had reservations.

  "Oh Lord, we've only just got you to teach the school. Beth only lasted a while before Henry Flight took her, and now you. I want a teacher who will stay."

  Annie said nothing but wondered just why a married woman couldn't teach. If she was a rich woman all the household chores would be done by servants and she would struggle to fill her hours. Well, between her and James, surely they could afford the woman who washed James' clothes; and he didn't clean his own house but had a cleaning woman, it must be possible to afford those chores to be done. Some of the poorer women had to do those things to make ends meet. Why was it alright for a rich woman to have her household chores done but not a schoolteacher? Why was it acceptable for a poor woman to work and be married but not a schoolteacher? Of course, it never would be acceptable with a town council composed of older men.

  Annie said nothing about her thoughts, but one day after she had dismissed the children, she had a visitor. Mrs. Emmeline Philips was the wife of Josiah Philips who owned the bank. She was tall with white hair pulled up high on her head. She had a strange way of smiling, putting her head on one side and whispering when talking to another woman.

  "Mrs. McWilliams," she said after introducing herself, "you won't know me as my children are all grown up. I think I may now call myself a friend of Mrs. Beth Flight."

  "What may I do for you, Mrs. Philips?"

  "You are being courted by our dear pastor, James Daffern. I am so delighted, but now the question will arise as to what happens when you marry. I will tell you frankly, I used to think it wrong that a woman should carry on teaching once she married. Her duty, I believed, was to her husband, but I have changed my view. I now think that the decision is that of the husband and wife together. The rest of us must accept their decision. However, with only men on the town council... my husband is one of them... there is little chance of a change, I think. We need women on the town council. Some of us are going to form a league of women to campaign for changes such as that. Nothing too controversial but really the voice of women must be heard in this town. May we count on your participation?"

  Annie was horrified. She agreed with the woman, but the last thing she wanted was to draw too much attention to herself. Even agreeing that James could court her had made her nervous. Somewhere out there he would still be looking for her. She had covered her tracks well and coming to Kirkham under another name altogether would muddy the waters still more. Nevertheless, he would not give up. She and the children were his possessions. If she were found, he would want his property back again.

  "I sympathize but I am an employee of the town. I'm not sure of my position in joining such a campaign. Let me discuss the matter with James and then we will speak again."

  It gave Annie a thrill to think she could talk about it wit
h James. He was a good man who wouldn't just lay down the law to her without thought and discussion. However, his reaction surprised her.

  "Oh dear! Mrs. Emmeline Philips. I tell you that woman has caused more trouble in this town than I care to think about."

  "What on earth did she do?"

  "You're not going to believe this Annie, but because of what she did we ended with two women's leagues in this town. They were bitter rivals and one day it ended with a huge cat fight in the middle of the main street. We had all the saloon men and small boys cheering them on."

  Annie hadn't realized James was a good raconteur and he was now making her giggle.

  "Henry Flight came wading in, and then all the husbands with him, and made all the women go back to their homes. Henry then effectively ordered all the husbands to give their wives a good spanking."

  "You're joking... surely?"

  "Not a bit of it, and they all did. I tell you Annie, church the next day was comic; I swear every woman in the place was wriggling and squirming on their pew. I'll never in my life see so many sore bottoms in one place again. I'll tell you something else... if you'd been in that fight I'd have spanked you too. Talk about unseemly behavior."

  In spite of her giggles at his story Annie felt a little thrill go through her. James was a good and kind man but here he was making it clear that he would be holding her to account for bad behavior. She knew in her heart she needed a good strong man as a husband. She'd made such a foolish mess of her life so far and broken her parents' hearts in doing so.

  "But what am I going to say to Emmeline Philips?"

  "Another league, except to do good works or for companionship, is not the way. The men are in charge and the men must make the change. Leave it with me. I will preach three sermons: one about the unique value of women; one about the unique value of men; and the third how our town is unbalanced because our council does not hear the voice of women. Tell Emmeline to quietly get all the women primed to start talking to their husbands about the need for women on the council. However, they must not do that until after the second sermon. Before that will ruin it all."