Please see Chapter 1 for warnings and disclaimers
To be honest, Rhianna couldn't even say that she 'snapped.' She was perfectly aware of what she was doing but quite simply she was past caring. After the strain of the past weeks she had had enough. As her fist slammed into True's face she felt nothing but a deep satisfaction.
Chapter 2
True stumbled back her blue eyes darkening a shade in anger as her hand reached up to her bloodied lip. "Coo-bwoirryn!" (Bitch!)
Looking at her younger cousin, Rhianna felt no remorse; in fact a good fight might be just what she needed. Giving no thought to their surroundings and caring little for consequences at this point in time, she motioned teasingly at True with a smirk, "Gubbahey!" (Come on!)
True needed no other invitation and flew at her cousin with a ferocity that would have frightened even a Comanche. Rhianna was ready though and landed another good hit on True's face. Even still, True doubled the older girl over with a solid strike to her middle and followed with a powerful swing to her head that the blond couldn't quite avoid. The girls were only able to exchange a few more blows before they were pulled forcibly apart.
"Hena'háanehe! (That's enough!)" Vin commanded to get True's attention as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the ground. "Calm down. Hetsetseha! (Now!)" He'd seen Rhianna attack the younger girl from down the street, and he knew this wasn't her fault but he also knew that True could be hard to stop once she was in fighting mode.
"Alright, alright!" True wiggled to get free shooting an angry glare over to her cousin who was similarly restrained by Josiah. "I'm done if she is!"
For her part, Rhianna gave a nod and relaxed in Josiah's arms to let him know she did not intend to take up the fight once again.
"Land sakes!" Nathan exclaimed when he got a good look at True's bloodied face. He cast a disgusted look at Rhianna and moved to see to the younger girl.
"The show is over, ladies and gentlemen," Ezra said, waving to disperse the small crowd that had formed. "Time to move along and continue on with your daily affairs."
Leaving True in Nathan's hands, Vin stalked towards Rhianna. "What in the hell has gotten inta you?"
Josiah loosened his grip and Rhianna swallowed hard as she stood to face the irate sharpshooter. She had seen him this angry before, but never at her. The girl took an unwitting step backward, bumping into Josiah whose unyielding presence blocked any chance of retreat.
"I suppose I lost my temper," she stated quietly, frightened by the glint in Vin's blue eyes.
"Lost yer – look at True's face! Not only thet, ya do realize ya coulda set her inta a frenzie an' got yer damn self kilt!" he growled.
"Got myself killed?" Rhianna looked confused, but a quick read of Vin filled in the blanks. She laughed which in retrospect was a very bad move because the dark look on Vin's face intensified by about ten fold.
"Vin, I'm older and bigger," Rhianna scoffed. With a quick look around she added in a whisper, her eyes dancing with humor, "Not to mention I had the same training she had and can anticipate her every move."
Though he had known True was taught to fight, even kill, Vin had not really considered that Rhianna could do the same. Somehow with Rhianna's different talents, and quite frankly disposition, he just hadn't expected it of her. Besides they'd never witnessed any sign of it, well outside of that time with Jonathon and no one had actually seen that. Of course, come to think of it, there had been three boys pitted against one little girl and she'd come out without a scratch.
Training his attention back on Rhianna, Vin's eyes narrowed to slits, as he noted her less than repentant attitude. There was an air of self-satisfaction that didn't set well at all with the tracker. Reaching for the girl he pulled her roughly over his hip and landed a series of mighty swats to her skirt covered backside. Rhianna was certain Vin had never used that kind of force before, at least not with her, and was in tears when he stood her up. She noted Josiah's calming hand on Vin's shoulder and silently thanked the preacher for his timely intervention.
"Yer gonna git on up to yer room and hope thet I've calmed down a mite 'fore I come up ta find out why ya decided ta go attackin' yer cousin," Vin threatened menacingly.
Face flaming in humiliation, Rhianna cast a glance at True who was trying to bat away Nathan's hands. A stern word from the dark-skinned healer stilled the girl's movements as he brushed her brown tangles from her face to get a better look at her injuries. There were still too many people about for Rhianna to help and she wasn't even sure she wanted to. It wasn't as if the brat hadn't deserved it.
"Yes, sir," she replied meekly, one hand trying to rub the sting from her bottom while the other scrubbed across her face to dry her tears. With this movement she realized that her own cheek was plenty sore where True's fist had landed a glancing blow. That was nothing compared to the ache in her side, however, and she wondered absently if True had broken her rib.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling forcibly, Vin turned to Josiah. "I wouldn'ta harmed her."
"I know, brother, but you'll feel better about it if you calm down some first."
Vin nodded at the truth in that before heading back over to True, who looked guiltily up at him, wondering if she was in trouble. He gently tipped her head first one way and then another. "Ya okay?" he asked, pulling her in for a hug.
"Yeah," she sighed.
"Wanna tell me what thet was all about?"
"Not really," she mumbled.
"Too bad." He pushed her back, his hands on her shoulders and his eyes fixing on hers, demanding answers.
"I was teasin' her. Guess she got fed up," True shrugged. "It ain't the first time we've had at one another."
"What was ya teasin' her about?"
True shrugged.
"True –" Vin's tone carried a warning.
"I think I might know," Buck broke in. "This have to do with that McGowen boy?"
True studied her boots. It was one thing to tease her cousin in front of the other kids, but talking about such things with the adults just seemed…well…wrong! There was a certain unwritten code to being a kid and there were just some lines that shouldn't be crossed.
"True," Vin growled, growing impatient.
"Maybe."
The assembled men shared knowing looks and almost as one seemed to heave a labored sigh. As if their two charges weren't difficult enough to handle. Just then Chris rode up, reigning in his horse as he eyed the group. Catching sight of True's damaged face he quickly dismounted.
"What happened?" he demanded, his voice cold.
"It weren't my fault," True was quick to voice seeing the angry glint in Chris's eye. She took a step toward Vin.
"Apparently Rhianna's temper flared after a bit of verbal provocation, from young True," Ezra explained.
"Rhianna did this?"
"Yes, sir," True whispered suddenly feeling very sorry for her cousin. Damn! Chris was downright terrifying when he got that look in his eyes. Any anger she might have harbored towards Rhianna dissolved as she watched Chris head up the steps to the boardinghouse. She hoped he didn't kill the other girl, despite their differences she really did love her cousin.
"Let's get you inside where I can fix you up a little better," Nathan suggested.
"Ah, Nathan –"
"Don't even try arguin'," Vin warned. "Now git on an' do as the man says." The tracker offered a swat to her seat to get the girl moving.
XXX000XXX000XXX000XXX
Rhianna lay on her uninjured side playing with the edge of the quilt as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. When she had hit True, she had done so knowingly having decided it would be worth the consequences. After seeing the look on Vin's face, she was thinking that had been a very bad choice.
Though Rhianna no longer questioned that she belonged here or that she was loved, she was well aware that this was rather a unique family. One interesting dynamic was that True was both the first child and the baby of the family. Each position tended to engender a certain inimitable affection in a parent/guardian. Nothing drove home that point better than the look she had seen in Vin's eyes. She was dead. Rather she was going to wish she was dead shortly.
As if her worrying wasn't enough, a wave of cold fury hit Rhianna like an arctic breeze as she heard boots on the wooden stairs. Chris was back and she was in more trouble that she even cared to consider. There was no knock, but Rhianna was already on her feet when Chris entered, closing the door forcibly behind him. For countless moments he just glared at the blond girl in front of him.
"Why?" he finally asked, his voice deathly quiet.
"She wouldn't shut her mouth. So I shut it for her." Rhianna's tone was not exactly defiant but neither was it repentant.
"Kids sometimes tease Rhianna you can't go losing your temper over a few words. I wouldn't have expected this from you."
The disappointment in his voice cut deep into Rhianna's heart and she reinforced her shields not able to stomach Chris's disapproval. At the same time her temper flared in defense. "So True's the only one allowed to resort to a physical means of expression? I didn't lose my temper. I knew exactly what I was doing. Besides, I'll heal her when she comes inside away from the onlookers."
"So that makes it okay in your mind?" Chris demanded furiously. "You think it's okay to beat on your younger cousin, just because she's made you mad and you can heal her when all's said and done?"
"As you have pointed out before, she is hardly helpless and I guarantee you she has had worse."
The blond man's jaw tightened and his green eyes flashed dangerously as his hands went to unbuckle his belt. "Well, let's see if you have. Drop your skirt and bend over the bed."
Rhianna's face lost all color. She'd known it was coming, but Chris was currently so livid that she was convinced he would strip the hide right off her. Inwardly she cursed her show of insolence. "But…" her voice faltered, her mind searching for something to forestall the inevitable. "Vin already spanked me," she finally finished in a pitiful voice.
"Well, then you'd best drop your drawers too so I can make sure I don't overdo this," Chris answered in a grim tone as he pulled his belt from his pants. "And you'd best do it quick before I decide to go cut a switch."
Trying to swallow the lump in her throat, Rhianna turned to face the bed and unfastened her skirt slipping it slowly past her hips before untying the ribbon on her drawers and doing the same with them. She winced at the pain in her side as she lowered herself to the bed. Then she braced herself for the first smack of the belt but it didn't come.
"Get up and pull up clothes," Chris ordered curtly.
Grateful for the reprieve, Rhianna did what she was told without question, though she couldn't imagine what had brought about the sudden change in directions. Her hands were slapped away when she went to fasten her skirt however and Chris gently unbuttoned her blouse. She blushed as he carefully pulled back the fabric to reveal the purpling skin, but knew better than to make a fuss.
"Is it broken?" Chris demanded gruffly.
"No, just bruised."
"Better have Nathan take a look at it," he suggested tipping her head to get a better look at the bruise on her cheek before striding toward the door. "Don't move," he admonished with a look over his shoulder before exiting.
With a sigh Rhianna gingerly seated herself on the bed and waited. About ten minutes later Nathan entered, with Chris on his heals.
Upon seeing Rhianna's bruise Nathan shook his head. "Don't know what's gotten into the two of you. Beatin' on one another like that. Should be ashamed of yourselves," he lectured as he tenderly felt to make certain her rib wasn't broken and then applied a dose of witch hazel. "I'll make a compress for it. Might help some."
"I need to go heal True first," she replied quietly.
Nathan's face softened. "Well, she's havin' a talk with Vin right now."
"Talk?" Rhianna queried in surprise looking to Chris. "I threw the first punch. True was just defending herself."
"She's been warned about fighting," Chris said matter-of-factly.
"But –"
"After pummeling her face, you're worried about what Vin does to her hind end?" Nathan asked, shaking his head.
"Well I have every intention of healing her face," Rhianna replied her brow furrowing.
At the bewildered look on the black man's face, Chris held up his hand. "Don't even bother, Nate. I guarantee it won't make any sense. Why don't you go on ahead and get that compress ready. Rhianna and I have something we need to finish."
XXX000XXX000XXX000XXX
"Am I in trouble?" True asked once she and Vin were alone, as she looked up at him with one big blue eye. She held a compress over the other and tried her best to look pitiful so as to glean as much sympathy as possible. One had to pull out all the stops when trying to get out of a spanking.
Vin looked seriously at the little girl that had come to mean so much to him. Her lip was split and swollen but the bleeding had stopped. Her right eye was swollen nearly shut with a dark bruise. She'd argued against the compress, insisting that Rhianna would be in to heal her before too long. Nathan and Vin overruled her protestations, not confidant in the other girl's benevolence concerning the injuries she'd caused. The tracker sighed, heavily and came to a decision he hoped was the right one. He knew that True often felt Rhianna got off easy. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let her feel that for once she had gotten the cream off the top of the pudding.
"I don't like ya fightin' fer eny reason. Thet said, I saw Rhianna throw the first punch an' I can see where thet'd been pretty hard ta walk away from. Yer off the hook this time, but there better not be another or ya won't wanna sit fer a week. We clear?"
"Yes, sir. Ah, does that mean even if I don't start it?"
They both heard leather hit bare skin and the accompanying yelp of pain.
"I don't think Rhianna's gonna be throwin' the first punch agin eny time soon," Vin observed. "No more fightin', Sunshine, and you might do well not ta tease quite so much. Rhianna's startin' inta a difficult time an' I don't want ya goin' an' makin' it harder on her. Okay?"
True rolled her eyes. Difficult time her ass! She wasn't about to say that out loud, though, so she just nodded. Feeling she'd been rather fortunate thus far she wasn't going to press her luck or Vin's patience.
XXX000XXX000XXX000XXX
Once the healer had left, Chris turned his attention to the Rhianna. "I'm pretty sure Vin's actually just talking to True right now. You aren't gonna be that lucky." He picked up the belt that he'd set down earlier and very carefully positioned her over the end of the bed with a pillow supporting her injured side. Rhianna groaned as her skirt and drawers were pulled down to her knees.
She had little time to lament the loss, however as the belt came crashing down on her bare backside. Chris was intent on getting this message through and the leather fell again and again to good affect until Rhianna was sobbing with her entire bottom throbbing. He stopped and threaded the leather back through his pants before moving to offer some comfort to his young charge. Helping her stand and fix her clothes, he wrapped his arms very gently around her and let her cry herself out.
"No more brawling with your cousin, or anyone else for that matter."
"I cannot honestly promise you that," the girl sniffed. "But I do not think I will be throwing the first punch again."
"That's a start," Chris said with a smile dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Any fighting at all is likely to end you up right back here, though."
"I'll keep that in mind. Can I go see True now?"
"Yeah. I think you owe her an apology. Just keep in mind there were witnesses. It'll look suspicious if there's no sign of the fight," Chris warned as he put his arm around the girl's shoulder and walked her to True and Vin's room, giving a brisk knock before entering.
Rhianna approached her cousin without a word reaching out to cup the younger girl's face in her hand. "Lught-thie rieau, Ennoilid," she stated softly as the swelling lessoned and the purple bruise lightened to a faint bluish tinge. It would still sting, but the pain would be far less.
True smiled and moved to give her cousin a hug, whispering something in her ear as she did so. Rhianna returned the hug but grimaced in pain despite herself.
"Why is it you always have to go for my ribs?" she demanded wryly.
"Cause yer always leavin' 'em open, tryin' ta protect thet purdy face of yours," True teased.
"I protect my face in an effort to see that our quarrels go unnoticed, you dimwit. I can heal yours but not my own."
"Well, I wouldn't go startin' a fight in the middle of the street next time, ifn' yer wantin' it ta go unnoticed, genius," True laughed.
Rhianna rubbed the seat of her skirt meaningfully and grinned, "Point well taken."
"No more fighting, period," Chris admonished sternly. "Now Rhianna you go on back to your room until supper and you can plan on staying there for the next two days outside of meals."
"Yes, sir," she answered with a sigh.
Vin turned to True, "You gonna be able to let this go now thet yer cousin's apologized or do I need ta rethink punishin' ya?"
"Apologized?"
"Ain't thet what she said ta ya?" Vin wanted to know.
True chuckled. "No. She ain't sorry for hittin' me," Anymore than I am for hitting her, True thought to herself. "Maybe for doin' it in the middle of the street, but not for hittin' me. What she said was better than an apology, though," she added quickly as she watched the two men's faces cloud with anger. "It's an oath where we're from. Kinda translates as Family Forever, but means more'n that." True's face screwed up in a thoughtful manner. "Ya see, no matter what happens, how mad we get, or how much we fight we're family. Rhianna would die for me and I'd do the same for her. We'd never really hurt each other. And that last bit she said, 'ennoilid,' that's somethin' that means dear one or precious. She's only ever called one person that," True blushed. "It was kinda Rhianna's way of tellin' me she loves me."
Both of the men's faces softened and they shared a knowing look. "So the two o' ya good? Ya ain't gonna go lookin' ta git even?" Vin pushed, just to be certain.
"He-ah heck no!" True scoffed, self-correcting before her mouth earned her backside any unwanted attention. "It was just a scuffle. If ya hadn't a pulled us apart I'd a won enyways. Rhianna's good but she ain't that good."
True felt it wise not to add the she felt she'd more than come out on top this time. Not only had she been able to get under her cousin's skin, which was no easy task, but she'd goaded Rhianna into breaking one of her own hard and fast rules about not getting caught. This had resulted in the older girl being on the receiving end of the punishment for once. Not to mention she'd gotten in a few good hits.
Chris's lips quirked and he took a step forward, planting a kiss on True's brow before turning her and landing a powerful swat to the seat of her pants. "You've gotten a bit of leeway here, you might want to watch the attitude."
TBC…
