Chapter 4

"What do you mean, you're not going to punish Benjamin?" Hollis looked at his mother and uncle with disbelief.

"Benjamin is sorry for what he did, aren't you dear?" Minerva Ames asked her youngest.

"Yes, mother," replied Benjamin sincerely as he looked over her head to his older brother with a smug look on his face.

"So you will cane an innocent boy but not a guilty one?"

"I'm not going to cane my flesh and blood!" Robert said with a sneer.

"Then I suggest we let Colonel Smith do the honors, after all, it was his son that you caned?" Hollis suggested.

"Are you crazy? He will be extra harsh on Benjamin since it was his son who was punished!"

"Face was about beaten for something he was not guilty of. How can any of you sleep at night knowing that an innocent child was terrorized and beaten for something he didn't do and then knowing that the guilty one goes unpunished? Colonel Smith doesn't strike me as the type of man that would do as you did Uncle Robert. You were using this incident as a reason for punishing him for running away two years ago and breaking your perfect record of no runaways! But if you rather not have Colonel Smith be Benjamin's chastiser then I'm sure that Mr. Hale could do it?"

"NO! No one is laying a hand on my youngest and that is the end of the story!" Minerva Ames cried out. "We after all are in the upper crust of society, it would look bad if it was known that our children were physically punished for every small misdeed."

"But it is okay for another, an innocent child be punished, is that what you are saying, Mother?"

"It's like Frank said. That kid probably did something under my nose that I never learned about or punished at the time. So he gets a caning for something he didn't do…it is payback for the times he was guilty and not punished!" Robert replied before Lucretia could.

"Lynch was just sprouting nonsense and it cost him an aching jaw by Colonel Smith's fist. Nothing excuses what you did physically and mentally to that boy yesterday or that Benjamin was the reason that he was caned in the first place. If you think it does then I'm ashamed to be a part of this family and as soon as we reach our destination I'll be leaving you!". And with that Hollis walked away.

It took the rest of the week before Face would leave the safety of his family. Barney couldn't even convince him to come along with him without Murdock or BA following. He had nightmares each night for a week before they too began to ease.

"I'm going for water," Face said as he picked up the bucket and went to fill it up at the pond near where the wagon train had stopped for the night. It was three weeks to the day when he was caned and his first attempt to go anywhere by himself. Hannibal looked up and so the determination on his youngest face and just nodded. He watched as the boy moved off.

Murdock started to follow. "Captain, let him try it by himself this time. He's got to get his confidence back."

Murdock looked uneasy but did as he was asked and returned to helping Mrs. B with supper. It turned out that Murdock had a real talent when it came to cooking and often would be seen helping in the preparation of their evening meal alongside Mrs. B.

Face was the first one at the watering hole and quickly filled his bucket. As he turned to go back Benjamin and Thomas Ames arrived with buckets of their own and seeing Face alone decided to taunt him.

"Look who we have here….our whipping boy!" Benjamin said with a sneer.

Face didn't know what they were talking about and didn't care to. He wanted nothing to do with either one and trying to prevent a confrontation decided to say nothing and walk away. Only they wouldn't let him and blocked his way and continue to taunt him.

"Why are you in such a big hurry, whipping boy?"

Face looked puzzled at the term which caused both Benjamin and Thomas to laugh out loud. "He doesn't know what you are talking about Cousin. Should we tell him?"

Benjamin was about to reply when they heard footsteps coming their way and they moved aside so Face could pass. Benjamin whispered as he went by. "Just remember one thing…you were caned for my crime!"

Face was still puzzled about both the term and comment as he set the bucket of water down by the fire. "Thank you, son," replied Mrs. B as she reached in to add some water to the soup cooking over the flames. When Face didn't reply she looked down to see the puzzled expression on his face.

"Is anything bothering you Face?"

Face looked up into the caring face of his grandmother and shook his head. "No ma'am, I just heard a term that I don't understand the meaning of."

"Why don't you ask one of us, maybe we can help you understand better?"

Face just shook his head. He knew that if Robert's son and nephew were behind it, then it wasn't good, at least not for him.

"What smells so good?". Hannibal walked up before Face could ask and then sensing something was wrong added, "did I interrupt something?"

Mrs. B nodded at Face. "Something is bothering him but he won't say what."

Hannibal looked at Murdock who had been listening as well and nodded to Face.

"Come on little brother, I got an apple that you might like to feed Dandy." Murdock and Face were very close and if he would tell anyone it would be Murdock.

Face brightened up and reaching for the apple walked with Murdock to where their horses were picketed. Kindhearted Murdock had brought enough apples for all of their horses to have one. It was while they were feeding the horses that Face spoke up. " Harry…what does the term 'Whipping Boy' mean?"

Murdock stopped what he was doing and turned to face the boy. "Where did you hear that?" and when Face didn't answer Murdock answered his question. "Someone called you that. Who?"

"It doesn't matter…but what does it mean, Harry?"

"Back in the olden times in England, they had a silly custom where one boy would be punished for the misdeeds of another. In this case, it was the king's son. His teachers couldn't beat a future king so they would beat his substitute instead. The idea was that the prince seeing that another was being beaten for his misdeeds would cause him not to do it again. It only worked if the prince had a kind heart, but if he didn't then his whipping boy would suffer."

Face understood at once what the comment Benjamin had said as he was leaving earlier meant. "Then when I was whipped I became Benjamin's whipping boy."

"NO! You were framed for that theft and the one before!" Murdock tried to explain.

"It's okay, Harry. Just because they think of me as a whipping boy for Benjamin doesn't mean that I am one. Thanks for explaining it to me." Face then headed back to their wagons and supper. That soup smelled delicious. He left Murdock trying to figure the conversation out. By the time Murdock returned he found everyone sitting around the campfire eating.

"I see the conversation went well…he doesn't look confused any longer," remarked Hannibal before taking a closer look at his Captain's face, "but you do. What's up?"

"Hannibal someone called him a whipping boy, and he wanted to know what it meant?"

"Did he say who called him that?"

"No, but I have my suspicions. My answer seemed to satisfy him, but he sees himself as Benjamin's whipping boy when he was caned earlier for the theft that Benjamin performed. I tried to tell him it wasn't the same thing, I mean, Benjamin got caught and confessed and was punished for it…didn't he?"

"Unfortunately Face was right about that part…he was whipped and terrorized for Benjamin's crime while Benjamin got away scot-free. Hollis told me that his uncle and mother refused to physically punish him for the thefts…that they felt that Face deserved it from some mischief he did while at the orphanage but was never caught or punished for."

"Colonel, you don't think they are bullying him now?"

"It would seem so, Harry. We will have to be on our guard to watch out for him."

Face slept surprisingly well after his run-in with the Ames cousins. He refused to be made into a victim again. He avoided Benjamin and Thomas whenever he could and when he couldn't avoid them he made sure that he wasn't by himself, knowing instinctually that they wouldn't cause him any trouble if he was with someone.

Eventually, Thomas backed Face into a situation that Face couldn't avoid. "You can't avoid me forever whipping boy." He said as he approached Face as the boy was returning from checking on his horse and Thomas wasn't alone. He had several kids from the wagon train with him as well as his cousin Benjamin and their friend, Willie.

Face knew that he had no choice any longer and facing his tormentors said

defiantly, "I am nobody's whipping boy and I'll fight anyone who calls me that!"

Benjamin glanced at Thomas and Willie and nodded. Then the three surrounded Face. "After we beat you down you will be ours!"

"NEVER!"

"Thomas!" Benjamin signaled his cousin to rush the young boy while he did the same assured that between the two of them the boy would have no chance to escape. As they rushed forward Face leaped towards Benjamin's feet first and connected with the older boy's groin causing him to drop with a scream of pain! Face then turned just as quickly to bring his knee up between Thomas' legs and he dropped just as quickly to join his cousin on the ground sobbing with pain. With two of his tormentors down Face turned to face Willie who looked nervously at the young boy before taking to his heels and running away.

"I AM NO ONE'S WHIPPING BOY!" He shouted before walking away.

The children who had accompanied the older boys began to cheer for Face. They had been bullied by the three older boys for some time and then seeing them defeated filled them with pride for Face.

It was during supper when Robert Stevenson and his sister arrived to complain about Face. "He attacked our sons!" They complained.

"Face, is it true that you attacked their sons?"

"No Hannibal. They started it…they have been taunting me about being their whipping boy. I tried avoiding them but late this afternoon they cornered me when I was returning from checking on Dandy. I told them that I would fight anyone who tried to make me their whipping boy. They said that once they beat me down I would be their whipping boy, then the three of them circle me and Thomas and Benjamin rushed me. I took them both down with a blow to their groin. Willie ran away!"

Hannibal winced in sympathy at the boys' pain but did not scold his son for causing it. If the boys had carried through with their plan it would have been Face who would be suffering now.

Stevenson snarled at the statement. "That's not what they said. You attacked them with a cane!"

"They lie! They have been lying all their lives! Do you think they are going to tell you the truth now? After all, it was Benjamin's lie that got me caned! Face was blunt with his remarks but he was so tired of it all.

"But he used an underhanded method to defeat our sons, but I guess that it is asking too much for him to follow the normal rules for fighting," snarled Stevenson.

"If he had fought conventionally then it would have been my son who would have been severely injured. He was taught to use any means possible to survive if he was attacked by someone older or heavier than him, or have you overlooked the fact that your sons are four years older and at least fifty pounds each heavier or that the method they used to attack this boy wouldn't be considered conventional…the two of them rushed him at once!" Hannibal matched their anger with ease.

"That's a lie. They wouldn't do that!" Minerva Ames was quick to defend her son and nephew.

"I have witnesses that will tell you what I have said was the truth!". Face suddenly said. "When your boys and Willie cornered me they brought several kids from the wagon train to view their defeat of me, only it didn't turn out that way. They saw their tormentors defeated. Your boys and Willie have been bullying them since they arrived on this train…pushing them down, hurting them in any manner they like, and then calling them names when they cried out. Their victims saw them beaten by me, a kid just like themselves, and they won't let themselves be bullied again!"

"MY SON IS NOT A BULLY!" screeched Lucretia.

"I hate to tell you this Mrs. Ames but you have raised not only a thief and a liar but also a bully….just like you have Mr. Stevenson with Thomas, and if you two won't recognize it then you both are not only blind but stupid as well!"

"Face! That's enough, son. You do not talk to your elders in that method, even though they richly deserve it!" Scolded Mrs. B.

Lucretia turned red with anger and realized that she wasn't going to get the justice she thought her son and nephew deserved. "Come on Robert, we aren't going to get any justice here…we will go to Mr. Hale to get justice for our boys."

As soon as the pair left Face turned to his grandmother. "I'm sorry Mama B, I couldn't help myself even though my words aren't going to make any difference. They are so pigheaded."