Revenge Isn't Always Sweet
Summary: Casey attempts to get even with Vin for getting her in trouble. The results aren't exactly what she'd expected. WARNING: Contains the spanking of a teenager.
Author's note: I've been playing around with the idea for this ever since the mention of Vin having spanked Casey in my other Magnificent Seven fic, When It Rains. This story will be marked as complete. But, if other ideas come to mind, I may do other stories about the big brother/little sister relationship between Vin and Casey.
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"What the hell's goin' on here?" Vin shouted to be heard over the ruckus being caused by the group of teenagers gathered around McCarthy's pond. He, Josiah, and Nathan were returning from a trip to one of the outlying farms, where they'd mediated a dispute between neighbors over some unbranded cattle. They'd been passing by the pond when the noise drew their attention.
The three peacekeepers dismounted and approached the group. Vin was surprised to see that the group consisted of Casey Wells and four or five of her friends from town and nearby farms. In the many months since he and the other peacekeepers had saved her aunt Nettie's farm from Guy Royal, Vin had become close to the two women. Nettie had become like a second mother to him, and he thought of Casey as the little sister he'd never had. That was why his curiosity quickly turned to anger when he spotted the whiskey bottle in Casey's hand. He pulled the bottle out of her hand and flung it into the woods. "Jest whatta ya think yer doin'?" He gave her a hard shake, but Casey only laughed.
"We're just havin' us a little party. Wanna join us?"
"Woo, it smells like a brewery. You kids're too young ta' be drinkin'." Nathan approached the group and took a liquor bottle from the boy standing next to him.
Josiah followed closely behind. He shook his head and caught the girl who tripped over her own feet and fell into his arm. He gently lowered her to sit on the ground, where she leaned against his legs. "Demon rum, surely the temptation of the devil was too great for these young souls."
"Well, we need to see about getting' these young souls home to their parents," Nathan stated as he, emptied the contents of the bottle in his hand onto the ground.
Vin offered to take Casey and the boy, Jacob Brock, home. Jacob's parents had a small farm between Nettie's and town. The two other men agreed to deliver the remaining teenagers to their respective parents. Vin didn't know about the other parents, but he knew for a fact that Nettie would be none to happy to have a drunk Casey delivered to her.
ONE WEEK LATER
Vin poured a bucket of warm water over his head to rinse the soap out of his hair. He dashed the water out of his face and opened his eyes just in time to see Casey slipping out of the curtained off room with his boots in her hand.
"Casey, you get back here with those right now."
Her only answer was a giggle.
"I mean it now. You get back here."
There was no response. At least she only got my boots, he thought. His change of clothes was still in the saddle bag tucked up against the wall behind the tub. He quickly rinsed off and climbed out of the tub, intending to go find Casey and retrieve his boots. Although he wasn't completely without footwear – he kept a pair of moccasins in his saddle bags -- he preferred his boots.
A few minutes later, Vin stepped out onto the front porch of the bathhouse. He was mildly surprised to spot his boots sitting a few feet away. As he went to pick them up, he discovered the nasty surprise Casey had left for him. The boots were filled with horse manure. When I get my hands on her, she ain't gonna sit for a week, he though. The curses he uttered shocked the two women who were walking by the street below. Vin quickly apologized, and, grabbing the boots, went to clean them.
It took more than an hour for the tracker to remove all traces of horse manure from the supple leather. The longer he worked, the angrier he became. She's damn lucky she didn't ruin 'em. He took the now clean boots back to his room and went in search of Casey.
He found her talking to J.D. outside of the jail. Vin walked up to the young couple and took Casey by the elbow, intending to haul her into the jail. "Would you excuse us, J.D.? Casey and I need to have us a little talk about a pair of boots."
Casey tried to pull her arm out of Vin's grasp, but his grip was too strong. He wasn't hurting her, but he wasn't letting go of her either. She hadn't thought about the possible consequences when she'd stolen Vin's boots and filled them at the livery stable before leaving them on the porch for him to find. She just wanted to pay him back for the whipping she'd gotten from Nettie after he'd brought her home from the pond. "I don't know what yer talkin' about Vin. You gone loco or somethin'?"
J.D. looked first at the angry, determined look on Vin's face and then at the nervous expression on Casey's. "What's this about, Vin?"
"Why don't you tell 'im, Case."
"I don't know anything about that horse shit in your boots." Casey groaned as she realized she'd just confessed to the whole thing.
"Whatta you talkin' about, Casey?" J.D. was starting to get the picture of why his friend was so angry.
"Go on, tell J.D. what you did." Vin gave her a quick shake.
Casey looked down at her feet, suddenly too ashamed to look J.D. in the face. "I stole Vin's boots while he was takin' a bath and filled 'em with horse manure from the livery stable."
"You did what?!?" J.D. exclaimed. "Why'd you do somethin' like that?"
"Good question." Vin pulled Case around so that she faced him. "I'd like ta' hear the answer ta' that myself."
"I wanted to get back at ya' fer getting' me in trouble last week." Casey spoke to Vin's chest.
Vin knew exactly what Casey was referring to. "I didn't get you into trouble. You got inta' trouble on yer own by goin' out and gettin' drunk. All's I did was take ya' home. You and yer friends were damned lucky it were me an' the boys who found ya' and not someone else who'd 'a takin' advantage of the situation."
Casey looked up into Vin's eyes. "I'm sorry, Vin. I shouldn't a done it, but I was just so mad at ya'."
"Yeah, well, yer gonna be a heap sorrier by the time I'm through with ya." He turned to J.D. "Anybody in the jail?"
"Nope," J.D. answered. "I was the only in there and came outside to talk to Casey." He turned to look at Casey. "I'm surprised at you, Case. You oughtta know better than that. You don't mess with a man's boots, and you especially don't put horse manure in 'em. I think you deserve whatever Vin gives ya." He turned and walked away, leaving Vin and Casey standing on the porch in front of the jail.
Vin nearly pulled Casey off her feet as he yanked her inside the jail. He sat down in a chair and pulled Casey to stand in front of him.
"Ya understand why I'm gonna blister yer little butt?" He asked.
Casey nodded.
"Tell me so's I know ya really do understand."
"I stole yer boots and filled 'em with manure."
Vin nodded. "And ya' tried ta' lie about, and don't think I didn't miss the language ya' just used." Now that he'd calmed down some, he was heartbroken over what he was about to do, but knew he had to do it. Casey couldn't be allowed to get away with what she had done. "Let's get it over with."
He pulled Casey over his lap, trapping her left arm between their bodies and securing her right one at the small of her back. Casey's one thought was it wouldn't be too bad, as she figured her union suit and thick denim pants would offer plenty of protection from Vin's hand. She was quickly proven wrong. As Vin's hand descended, delivering one hard swat after another, her backside soon began burning. It wasn't long before her backside felt like it was on fire and she was openly sobbing.
Vin delivered a final volley of hard swats to Casey's sit spot and lifted her off his lap. He pulled her back down to sit on his lap and rubbed her back until she got herself back under control.
Casey stood up and, rubbing at the fire still burning in the seat of her pants, turned to look at Vin. "I'm sorry, Vin."
Vin smiled at her. "I know ya are, darlin'. I don't ever want to have ta' do that again, but I will if'n I gotta. An' next time it'll be my belt on your bare hide. Do we have an understandin'?
Casey nodded. "Yes, sir." A very unwelcome thought suddenly occurred to her. "Ya ain't gonna tell Nettie about this, are ya, Vin?"
"Nope." Vin answered. "I think you've learnt yer lesson, so we'll just keep this between us."
Casey sighed with relief. She certainly didn't want to feel Nettie's leather strap on her backside again any time soon, and that was just what would happen if her aunt found out about what she'd done.
Vin stood and put his arm around Casey's shoulder. "You know, Casey, sometimes revenge ain't always sweet. Usually there's a price to be paid fer it. Now, let's go find J.D. and let 'em know I ain't killed ya."
Casey smiled, "Yes, sir."