Please see CHAPTER 1 for warnings and disclaimers.
A/U (Sorry I've been largely absent for the past months! Real life has just been overwhelmingly busy and I can't say that it's going to be getting much better. I'll update when I can, but please don't expect too much. A huge thanks to Harliquinn for helping me out with this chapter and thanks to Gaben for input as well. Also, I forgot to give Wolfpyre a great big shout out for all of her help in the last chapter and throughout this whole story. Many thanks to all of you!)
CHAPTER 9
Rhianna awoke with a start only moments before True let out a blood-curdling scream. Vin was still at True's side and was quick to pull the girl into his lap encircling her within his strong arms and soothing her tears with quiet murmurs. Rattled from the nightmare and still not fully awake, True clung to Vin, soaking in the comfort that he offered, momentarily forgetting her anger with him.
The blond girl curbed a smile and stretched, trying to work out the kinks left from sleeping on the floor. She felt bad about the nightmare, though True was bound to be haunted by a few considering the news Naomi had brought. However, the young healer was pleased that True had turned to Vin, if unwittingly. Her green gaze turned to the one bed in the room and she saw Naomi's dark eyes taking in the scene.
Buck had accompanied a bleary-eyed JD back to town earlier and Josiah had gone as well. Nathan, who had stayed so that he might check on the girls when they awoke, had been dozing in a chair by the fire. Vin of course had not left True's side. Ezra sat at the table playing solitaire, while Chris sat whittling on a piece of wood.
Nathan stretched and moved the kettle closer to the fire before getting up and making his way towards Naomi, who quickly backed away to the furthest corner of the bed.
"Hey, now, missy, I ain't gonna harm ya. I just wanna check and make sure you're okay," Nathan explained softly. "If you don't remember, I'm Nathan and I try to do myself to help folks that be ailin'."
"Well, I'm not ailin'," Naomi, stated resolutely.
"Alright then," the dark-skinned healer acquiesced, not wanting to scare the newcomer. "How about you Rhianna?"
"I'm fine. Just tired and a bit stiff," the blond replied smiling up at Nathan as she came to her feet. The healer looked toward True, but decided to let her be for the moment.
"Bet y'all 're plenty hungry. I've got some biscuits out in my saddlebag. Chris, don't suppose ya got much in the way of food stocked out here?"
Chris shook his head. "I usually bring out supplies when I come. Plannin' on stocking for the winter but I haven't got around to it yet."
"Biscuits it is." Nathan left to retrieve the food.
True gave a sniff and sat up her blue eyes looking into Vin's. "I ain't forgiven ya yet," she informed him, though she didn't move from his lap.
"I understand, Sunshine," the tracker replied quietly.
With a nod, True put her head back on her brother's shoulder. She might not have forgiven him, but she wouldn't deny how good it felt to be in his arms and not in that horrible nightmare watching her friends and family die. Passionate and stubborn she might be, but she was also a ten-year-old little girl who needed this comfort right now more than she needed to demonstrate her lingering resentment.
Very little was said until after Nathan had passed out the biscuits and the adults had had some coffee. Naomi ventured to ask for a cup unable to ignore the alluring smell of the beverage but was soundly denied which cause no small about of frustration on her part, although she wisely held her peace on the matter. Once the makeshift breakfast was finished, Chris asked Rhianna to accompany him out to the barn. The girl was relieved when she realized that at least for now her guardian just wanted to talk.
"So this girl, this Naomi," he started leaning against the barn door, "You said she lost her parents when she was around six or seven?"
"Yes, and then was taken in by her cousin Blaed."
Chris nodded. "And did he watch over her or let her run wild?"
"Both I'd say, but overall Blaed kept her in line. Not that she didn't find plenty of trouble, but he provided consistent consequences."
"Consequences?"
"You want to know if she's been spanked before. The answer is yes, many, many times."
The black clad man nodded. "You said last night you think she's in her right mind."
"Yes, she is. She is hurt and angry but not crazy. She is well aware of what she has done." Rhianna looked at her guardian and could tell he was trying to decide how to deal with the wayward girl in the cabin. "She just does not believe that she is accountable to anyone in this world. With the demise of the clan, all structure that Naomi has known is gone. Blaed sent her here for safety but in doing so he left her adrift and quite unsure of her place in the world."
Chris nodded again, seeming to make up his mind. "You and me still have a talk of our own to have."
"I know," Rhianna replied with a dejected sigh.
"I think it'll wait until tonight," he added putting an arm around the girl and giving her a gentle squeeze.
Uncharacteristically she wrapped her arms around him, breathing deeply and seeking solace in his embrace.
"You okay?" he queried softly.
"Yes. I am sad of course, knowing that they are gone, but I had long since been disillusioned in regards to the Clan. I knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time."
"Still must be hard," he replied wrapping the girl more tightly in his arms.
"Yes," Rhianna answered simply, blinking tears.
M7***M7***M7***M7***M7***M7***M7
"Be afraid," True said softly with a gleeful glint in her eye. "Be very afraid." With that True headed out of the cabin chuckling evilly, ignoring Ezra's stern glare.
"I will be there in a moment, Ezra," Rhianna told the well-dressed man who gave her an intense look before offering a nod of agreement and closing the door. After his walk with Rhianna, Chris had returned to the cabin and informed them that everyone would be returning to town. Everyone except for himself and Naomi. They would be coming just a bit later.
Rhianna turned to face her younger clan member. "There are many varieties of fear," she stated calmly. "True is correct in that Chris is a man to fear, but to you he should not elicit the feeling you might hold for an agent or affiliate of the Division so much as the unease were you to have to face Blaed, after having behaved similarly." The green-eyed girl paused. She was not one to verbalize her innermost feelings, but she knew all too well that Naomi would need reassurance.
"You had the opportunity to know your parents, and when they were killed, Blaed took responsibility for you. I never had that. Chris is the first," Rhianna paused uncertain how to express her relationship with the sometimes austere gunman. "He is my gedjey (guardian, godfather, or foster father)," her voice caught but the girl swallowed hard, ignoring the tears pooling in her eyes and continued with her voice not more than a whisper, "My gedjid (daddy)."
Naomi looked wide-eyed at her blond clan-member. Rhianna had always been so closed and aloof. She didn't know what to make of the other girl's rather emotional declaration. With a shake Rhianna blinked and then the moment was over and she smirked, a twinkle in her green eyes, "However, True is at least partially accurate, you should definitely fear for your posterior." With that the older girl left Naomi to her own ruminations.
She sat on the bed and twisted a lock of her dark mahogany hair around her finger, her brow creased in thought. The child had very little time to contemplate her impending fate, however, because the door opened and there stood Chris Larabee arms crossed an ominous glower upon his face. He stood regarding the girl for a few moments before shutting the door behind him and grabbing a straight-backed wooden chair, which he placed directly in front of Naomi. The gunman took a seat and faced the girl, noting the look of wild panic that she was trying to hide. She reminded him of a skittish colt and he knew that he needed to be cautious. Firm but cautious.
"You and me have a few things to talk about," his voice was quiet and calm.
"I don't have a thing to say to you," the girl stated resolutely, crossing her arms to keep from showing her shaky hands.
"Good. Then listen up. I know about where you come from. I know about your life. I know about your loss. That's all in the past, though. You're here now and things are different here. You are a child and won't be allowed to run wild on your own. You got up to a lot of mischief and caused a fair amount of heartache and I believe you know that it was wrong."
Naomi snorted a derisive look on her face and rebellion in her dark eyes.
"Why'd you come here?" Chris demanded, changing tactics.
The question took the girl off guard. "I thought you said ya knew."
"But why here? Ya could've gone anywhere."
"Blaed told me to find True and besides, I owed her. She abandoned the Clan."
"I think you're smart enough to know it wasn't really her fault. I also think you wanted to find what was left of your people." Chris paused watching the girl's brow furrow as she considered his words. Noting the stubborn set of her jaw he continued. "So what would this Blaed fella have done if he'd seen all the trouble you caused for us in town?"
Naomi looked down, not meeting Chris's intense gaze, nor answering the question. He reached out and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"I think we both know the answer to that question. You could have hurt someone. Some of what you done was just plain mean and you managed to cause a lot of heartache. I think you've more than earned what you've got comin' and I think you know that."
"You, you don't have the right to punish me!" Naomi insisted vehemently.
"Now that's where you're wrong, little miss. Just so happens I am one of the people you pulled a prank on, and I'll tell you right now I didn't find it the least bit funny," his voice was low and stern, holding a definite edge. "You also took a shot at me. That in and of itself is enough to earn you a trip over my knee. Not to mention I'm someone who loves those two girls who you were hell bent on bringing misery to. Vin is like a brother to me. The grief you caused has affected my family."
His eyes glinted dangerously making the girl in front of him swallow convulsively. There was fear in her eyes but it was the anxiousness of a child who had been caught misbehaving, not the panic he'd seen earlier. She shook her head and scooted back on the bed.
"I'm also what serves as the law in this town. Now what you really deserve is a taste of my belt on your bare backside, but given what you've been through, I'm just going to put you over my knee for a spanking. I'm telling you right now, though this isn't going to be the only one. You did a lot of damage, and owe a lot of apologies once we get back to town. How well you do with that'll decide just how much more you get."
Naomi had scooted back as far as she could, but Chris just reached across and easily pulled the protesting child over his lap. She kicked wildly, insisting that he couldn't do this. The gunman's answer was to bring his palm down in a flurry of painful swats, which brought yelps of pain from Naomi. Ignoring her protests, he continued to smack the wiggling bottom over his lap, determined that the girl would remember this lesson for at least the next couple of days. He understood that she had been through hell, but dealing with True and even Rhianna had taught him that to let her get away with her indiscretions would only lead to future trouble. The world that the girls came from was just too harsh a place. Gentle persuasion didn't work.
Raising his leg, he repositioned the girl so that he could pepper her sit spot with several firm swats, even allowing his hand to fall on the tops of her thighs. Then he spanked up one side of her bottom and back down the other. He had allowed her to keep her trousers on more for the sake of her modesty, since she barely knew him, but the gunman was determined that she would feel every smack despite the clothing.
For her part Naomi had given up on her protestations and attempts to escape the wicked assault on her backside. It had been some time since she had found herself in this position and she'd forgotten how much it hurt. She had thought herself too old for this but the growing burn in her hind quarters contradicted that belief. The man wasn't even using a belt and it still felt as if he'd lit a fire inside her pants. Now she had some idea of what her clan members had meant. Chris Larabee was definitely not someone you wanted to piss off. Finally, when she lay bawling limply over his lap the spanking stopped. All she could do was lay there and cry.
She felt the comforting hand on her back, gently rubbing, but could not halt her sobs. Naomi cried not only for the physical pain in her posterior but for the emotional turmoil and grief she had been trying to keep under control for months and months. She cried until she had no more tears and was rather surprised to find herself seated upright and settled into the gunman's lap, her head resting on a soaked black shoulder.
Without thought she jumped up and away from him, gasping at the discomfort the quick movement had caused. She brought her hands back instinctively to rub the burn in her backside but then hissed as the contact didn't seem to help one bit.
"I hope you understand now that you will be expected to behave here," Chris said softly. "If you give it half a chance, you'll fit in just fine here though."
"I'm not stayin' here," the girl insisted with a tell tale hitch in her voice, frustrated at how weak she sounded.
"Yeah, ya'are," Chris replied calmly as he headed for the door. "We should be getting back to town."
"But, but, but I can't possibly sit a horseback."
"Guess it'll just serve as a reminder for you won't it?"
As it was, Naomi rode in front of Chris and he folded a blanket so that she rested partly on the folded cloth and partly on his thighs. The girl had plenty of time to think on the ride to town. Though she didn't think she'd ever been spanked so hard with just someone's hand, she'd had worse with a belt and a switch. In retrospect she supposed she should be grateful he hadn't opted to use one of those implements. Still, she wasn't looking forward to the fact that he'd promised another spanking in the future. Surely, he couldn't have meant that.
That brought another thought to mind. What was to become of her now? She had planned to move on after enacting her revenge and having a bit of fun. Find the ocean. It seemed this man had other plans, however, and deep within herself Naomi knew that she would not be able to get away even if she wanted to. He had accused her of seeking True and Rhianna out of a need to find what was left of her clan and the truth of the statement danced around at the edges of her mind. She was a child, though, as the peacekeeper had pointed out in more ways that one and he had made it clear that she would not be left alone to her own devices.
Naomi supposed Chris Larabee would take responsibility for her as he had for Rhianna. She bit her lip and adjusted uncomfortably. Though she was impressed that the man had been able to earn the respect and love of her rather detached and impassive clan member, Naomi did not look forward to falling under his custody. One spanking was all it took for her to know that she would get away with very little if the man seated behind her was her guardian.
She knew it was futile, she really did, but somehow Naomi just couldn't help herself. When Chris dismounted and reached up to help her down off his horse, she saw the opportunity and took it. She kicked with all her might and then leapt from the animal, hitting the ground running. Of course Larabee took very little time to recover and with a few curse words was in hot pursuit.
The girl ran like she had never run before, crossing the street in front of a moving wagon and just narrowly missing getting trampled. Her chest burned as she continued on at a break neck speed until she ran smack into a rather large body and landed with a yelp on her throbbing rear end.
"Whoa there now," came the affable voice as large hands reached to help her up.
Naomi looked up, way up, to see a shocked Buck Willmington.
"Naomi? What're ya doin' here?"
Her first instinct was to kick him and run but she could see Chris quickly making his way towards them and was struck with another idea. She threw her arms around the stunned lady's man.
"Daddy! Oh, Daddy, I've missed you so much."
"Buck? You have a daughter?" The pretty blond to the man's right asked incredulously, just as Chris stepped onto the boardwalk.
"He does," Naomi replied almost petulantly, "What's it to you?" The girl feigned an angry look for the young woman and cast a sly triumphant look at Chris. If she had to stay, at least it would be on her terms. She wouldn't fall under the taciturn blond peacekeeper's authority. The friendly, easygoing mustached man would be a much better choice as guardian, and with any luck she could avoid that second spanking.
"Naomi," Buck managed to choke out, not quite sure how to extricate himself from this situation.
"I just rode in with her, Buck," Chris supplied noting the curious looks of the quickly growing crowd. "Seems she's been getting into some mischief. Her aunt just couldn't handle her anymore. The letter tellin' us of her coming musta got lost in the post, but me being her godfather, they brought her out to my place," Chris explained for the benefit of the assembled citizens. His steady gaze met Naomi's alarmed one at the "godfather" comment and he was hard pressed not to grin. "Why don't we go on to the boardinghouse and get her settled in."
TBC…