Chapter 17
Please See Chapter 1 for warnings and disclaimers.
Big Thanks to Wolfpyre for help and input on this chapter!
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Facing the corner, a heavy sigh escaped True's lips. There was absolutely nothing as boring as standing in the fucking corner! And if that wasn't bad enough, waiting in the corner for punishment sucked even worse! She started to kick the wall in frustration but was brought up short by Josiah clearing his throat. He'd already delivered a flurry of heavy handed swats for that offense and she knew he'd be only too willing to give her some more. Her mind wandered back to earlier today when everything had fallen apart.
Flashback
After seeing the terrifying, if not heart-stopping, bit of horsemanship just outside of town, Buck had ridden over to check and make sure everything was okay. Casey was fine, though JD was fit to be tied after finding that the cinch had been cut partially through and then broken clean away. Once he'd calmed his young friend down, Buck had suggested that JD head to the livery with the horses and leave Casey with him to catch her breath. He assured JD that they would make their way back to town once Casey was good and ready.
As they watched JD disappear, Buck's visage changed considerably. With a high-pitched whistle, the lady's man looked expectantly into the trees and brush surrounding the road. "Come on out, Trouble, I know yer there," he called out. Once True had made her way over to where the normally affable mustached man stood with his arms crossed, he looked at Casey and demanded. "What exactly was that?"
"What do you mean, Buck?" Casey asked her voice riddled with confusion.
"Don't give me that, darlin'," he said sternly. "You might be good, but I've seen bronc busters and showmen that can't ride like that and don't think I missed that little acrobatic flare at the end." His glare turned to True briefly prior to returning to the now fidgety teen. "You knew what was comin' and I'd like to know how?"
"I don't know what you mean," Casey insisted.
"You knew that cinch was cut, Casey. Now if you wanna be contrary we can have this conversation with Nettie but one way or another I will have the truth."
With a heavy sigh, Casey capitulated and explained the plan to frame Naomi. "I just thought she deserved a taste of her own medicine, that's all," she stated defiantly. "And True had nuthin' to do with it, it was all me."
True's eyes widened at the older girl's attempt to take all the blame.
"Uh-huh. I find that very hard to believe. Trouble, you didn't just happen to be out there in the trees for no reason?"
"Mighta been," she answered belligerently looking directly into Buck's eyes for all of five seconds before looking down and kicking the dirt. She couldn't let Casey take all the blame. "It's like Casey said, just wanted to see the guppy get what she damn well deserved."
"She already did, True. Not only did Chris spank her but I switched her, remember? And Rhianna didn't go healing her afterwards like she did you. After all the trouble caused by pinning something on someone else, I'm plumb amazed that you would pull somethin' like this. I'm ashamed of both of you. Naomi's havin' a rough enough time of it settlin' in here as it is." Buck shook his head, looking at both girls with disappointment.
"Casey, you best head on home and see what Nettie thinks of all this."
All color drained from Casey's face at this pronouncement. Nettie would be livid and an irate Nettie was a force to be reckoned with.
"I suggest you tell her the whole tale start to finish because I'll be coming out to check that she knows the entire truth of the matter."
As Casey forlornly headed off, Buck turned to True.
"That was just fuckin' mean, Buck," True said with a shake of her head, thinking that having to face Nettie all alone with this kinda news fell under cruel and unusual punishment.
"You'd do well to watch your mouth right about now, little girl," he warned. "Chris told you in no uncertain terms what would happen if you tried gettin' revenge. With all that you and Vin went through 'cause of what Naomi did, I just can't believe you'd pull this. I need to catch up with JD. You go to the boarding house and find yourself a corner to stand in until Vin and Chris get there for lunch." With that the tall peacekeeper had turned on his heal and headed towards the livery without a backward glance.
True had taken her own sweet time making her way to the boarding house. In fact, she had decided not to go there at all but a chance run in with Josiah had changed that idea. He had escorted her to the boarding house and placed her in the corner with a few well-aimed swats for her dawdling and defiance and then taken up a newspaper and sat on the sofa to make sure she stayed there.
End Flashback
True didn't like thinking about the earnest, almost hurt look in Buck's eyes. Neither did she want to remember a few days back when she caught Naomi sitting up in a tree all alone after school crying. Though she'd opened her mouth to tease the other girl, one glimpse of the tortured face and she'd walked away without saying anything. Rhianna had mentioned that Naomi had nightmares about what had happened back home. True could relate all too well to nightmares.
Pushing all of these troubled thoughts aside, True turned her attention to what was going to come next. Of course it wasn't as if there was some great mystery. Chris had made it plainly clear that his belt would swiftly deal with any attempts at retribution. Yet another sigh escaped her lips. Boy she really didn't want whippin'.
"What's going on here?" Chris's grim voice demanded as if her thoughts had summoned him. She spun around in time to see Vin entering behind Chris.
Josiah folded his newspaper and looked expectantly at True. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"
"There ain't nuthin' to tell. Not really. I mean, Casey went off to go ridin' with JD and nearly fell off her horse when the cinch failed but she's a damn good rider and didn't. Well, she kind of started to but then flipped right over and landed on her feet. She weren't hurt none and that's really all that matters."
"Why'd the cinch fail?" Vin asked suspiciously.
"JD said it looked as if someone had cut it," True hedged.
"Someone?" the sharpshooter demanded.
"I didn't do it," True insisted.
"Actually, I think Casey might have done the damage to the cinch herself. Buck managed to find out that the plan was to frame Naomi for the crime," Josiah further explained holding up a pocketknife. "Buck found this in Naomi's pocket. He thinks someone might have put it there. Actually, Naomi did have it in mind to play some pranks but I stopped her before she had a chance to put a burr under Casey's saddle. JD paddled her for what he thought she'd done, but Buck thought that was fair enough because she actually had started some mischief and was planning more."
True's eyes widened. So Naomi had gotten spanked? And by JD no less? Oh, the guppy must have been mortified. True couldn't keep the grin from her face.
"You find something funny?" Chris asked darkly.
"No sir," True answered briskly, straightening her face.
"You remember what I said I'd do if you didn't leave things alone?"
"But I didn't actually DO anything. I mean I kept Casey from fallin' and I mighta needled the guppy some this week but I didn't really DO anything."
"How'd that knife get in Naomi's pocket?" Vin demanded knowingly.
"Oh, ah that," her eyes met Vin's and his eyebrow went up.
"Can you really look me in the eye and tell me you weren't plotting revenge?" Chris demanded in a dangerously quiet voice.
Her blue eyes met his green ones for only a matter of seconds before looking back down at her boots. "No."
"Okay, then you best head up to your room because I have a promise to keep."
Vin caught Chris's eye, "Actually, Cowboy, I think thet's a promise I oughta be carryin' out."
Chris's nod was imperceptible but the pride in his eyes was unmistakable.
With a quick look at Vin, True tore up the stairs, the sharpshooter following at a more sedate pace behind her. When he got to their room, True eyed him nervously "This ain't fuckin' fair, besides you kinda owe me one remember?"
"Thet kinda language jest adds more licks. Ya done had yer chance ta take it outta my hide if ya wanted. Thet's in the past now. I already done tol' ya thet there weren't gonna be no more nonsense. Now ya knew ya was disobeyin' Chris when ya went ahead and tried gettin' Naomi in trouble. An' ya knew it was wrong, didn' ya?"
"She did it ta me," True replied with a pout.
"And she was punished. Not yer place to go addin' on to what she already got. 'Sides, been watchin' thet little gal an' she seems plenty miserable as it is. No more stallin', True, bend over the bed and let's get this over with so we kin go on down ta lunch."
True looked at him defiantly. Like she really wanted to go down and sit in those hard wooden chairs after taking a licking! Was he loco?
"I had it in mind ta cut ya some slack and let ya keep yer britches up, but ya kin take this bare if'n ya like."
"No, sir," True mumbled, moving quickly to the bed before Vin changed his mind. She might be stubborn, but that wasn't reason enough to take Vin's belt bare - not when there was a way to avoid it. The first smack of the belt took her breath away. Vin might have let her keep her pants up but he wasn't messing around. "DA-"remembering her language just in time True changed her exclamation, "-AD gum! Vin, it weren't all that bad, what I done."
"Well, now I'm fulfillin' Chris's promise to ya an' I don't want him to think I did it by halves." He brought the belt down several more times. "Ya don't go disobeyin' one of us when ya been tol' point blank NOT to do sumthin'."
"OW! OW! OKAY! Won't disobey no more," True promised through her tears.
Vin paused and took a deep steadying breath, then slapped the belt against her denim-covered backside another twice at the top, twice in the middle, and twice at the under curve. "Ya don't go tryin' ta get someone else in trouble no matter what they've done ta you!"
"I'm sorry," True sobbed.
Delivering three more licks right in the middle of her backside, Vin set the belt aside and moved to lift the girl from the bed. To his relief she threw her arms around him and he gladly pulled her into a hug as he took a seat on the bed and settled her gently in his lap.
"I don't like doin' thet none, Sunshine, but ya gotta do what's right. Not what ya know to be wrong."
True just nodded against his chest. Vin gently ran his fingers through her hair until her crying ceased. "I wanna talk ta ya 'bout Naomi."
"What about her?" True asked defensively.
"What's it gonna take ta see the two o' you bury the hatchet? 'Cause the fact is she's stayin'. Won't do ta have the two o' you under the same roof constantly goin' at each other. Now I know she done some wrong, but she's jest a kid, too. Ain't like you've not made plenty a mistakes yerself. She's been through a rough time an' I think she's hurtin' inside. What happen'd ta yer people weren't her fault."
"Never said it was," True answered back with a pout.
"But yer takin' out yer anger on her an' thet ain't right. Yer a better person than that, Sunshine. I know ya are."
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Rhianna heard the heavy sigh and looked up from the book she was reading. Naomi sat limply holding her hairbrush in her hand with a far-away look in her dark eyes, which were shining with unshed tears. With a quick read of the other girl, Rhianna decided enough was enough. Although she'd eased up on the cold shoulder, she had still held off on extending any real kindness towards Naomi for fear of how True would react but the other girl's grief was weighing on Rhianna. Her cousin would just have to cope.
Setting her book aside she came to her feet and cleared the distance between the two beds, taking the hairbrush from the other girl's hand. Ever so gently she started to brush the tangled mass of the other girl's dark hair.
"Rough day, huh?"
"You know it was."
"Naomi, I told you before that nothing is going to change how JD and Casey feel about each other. You need to let it go, but I know that JD does really care about you. Just differently."
"Like a niece," Naomi confirmed gloomily. "It was soooo embarrassing, though." She didn't feel the need to mention painful, and in all honesty the sting from the paddling had subsided. As far as paddlings, she'd had far worse.
"I know, but JD is not the only guy in town and in fact there is one a bit closer to your age that is most definitely interested."
"What are you talking about?"
"Morgan Lewis. He cannot keep his eyes off you in class."
"The tall skinny boy with dirty-blond hair?"
"That would be the one."
Though Naomi didn't say anything directly about the boy in question, a girl her age always liked to hear that she was being admired. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the brush pulling through her thick hair.
"And Buck lifted your restriction today, so you'll have a bit more freedom."
"Yeah, so I can go and do what exactly?"
"It is a different life to be sure, but it is not half bad if you give it a chance, Jouylleen beg (little imp)."
Hearing Blaed's pet name for her from childhood, a tear trickled unbidden down Naomi's cheek.
"Nyn shenn bea ersooyl ta shin bio roin. (Our old life is gone but we still live.)
A small sob escaped Naomi and Rhianna put down the brush so that she could hold her younger clan-member. "Wheesht. Let it go, myn meen (little darling)."
Naomi cried until she had no more tears while Rhianna held her and murmured endearments in their native tongue. When she was cried out Naomi took a steadying breath and pulled away.
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"Ta'in clein. Lught thie rieau.." (We are clan. Family forever.)
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Sunday brought a clear and sunny if frigid winter day. Nettie and a very contrite Casey arrived before church so that the teenager could offer a proper apology to Naomi, who was in turn prompted to offer her own apology for her attempted pranks. The two shook hands and agreed to make their peace. Casey sighed heavily watching Buck and the younger girl leave the sitting room, wondering what in tarnation had prompted her to pursue the idiotic and childish attempt at revenge. Nettie had made it ever-so-clear yesterday that her actions were not only foolish but completely unacceptable. In fact, Casey was loath to head over to the church and face the very hard wooden pews.
"I'd like a word with Casey, Nettie," Chris's quiet request was spoken with undeniable stern authority, which caused Casey to blanch. She'd never been crosswise of the infamous gunslinger and True's words from earlier in the week danced into her consciousness, making her swallow hard.
"Thought ya might," Nettie stated with a knowing nod of her head. "I'll be over at the church."
Casey's gaze remained glued to the polished hardwood floor of the parlor until a finger softly lifted her chin. The frightened brown eyes met stern green ones, the gentle pressure on her chin ensuring that she didn't look away.
"After Naomi arrived, I made it very clear that the girls were to let bygones be bygones and that any retaliation would result in an unpleasant conversation with my belt. I know you heard about that. Now, I didn't speak with you specifically because I honestly didn't think I had to. I was thinking of you more as a young lady and not so much as one of the kids."
Casey's face flushed crimson at his words and she was shamed right down to her core.
"Guess that's not a mistake I'll be making again," he continued noticing her reddened cheeks and understanding that his message was being taken to heart. "I can tell by the way your movin' that Nettie did a fine job explaining how fool hardy your actions were yesterday so I'm willing to leave it at that this time. But there will be no more shenanigans between you and Naomi or the other girls for that matter, because if there are, even if Nettie does tan your hide, I'll put you over my knee and take my belt to your hind end. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Casey whispered in mortification, certain she had completely lost the respect of all the town's peacekeepers. What was Vin going to say? Or JD? How could she have been so incredibly foolish? Tears brimmed her brown eyes as she considered how her actions might have changed people's perception of her.
"Yer a good girl Casey, and Nettie has cause to be proud," Chris said as if reading her thoughts. "Just remember that if you want to be treated like a young lady, you need to act the part. If you act the part of a child, then that's how you'll be treated."
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, then. I think JD's waitin' to walk you over to the church."
"I-I-I don't think I wanna face him," she said spinning away to try to keep the tears at bay. "Can ya tell him to head on over without me?"
"Casey, you've stood with JD through some hard times. Now, he might not be pleased with what you've done, but JD has to be one of the most forgiving souls I've ever met. Besides, runnin' away is a kid's response," he challenged.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Casey took herself in hand. Chris was right. She couldn't take the coward's way out now. Slowly she turned and met Chris's green eyes, standing up straight and offering a nod. "He out front then?"
"Yeah he is," Chris answered, his eyes showing approval.
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"So are you ready to leave it be?" Rhianna asked True later that afternoon. "With Naomi I mean."
True growled in frustration. "Wish folks would stop fuckin' askin' me that!"
"She was wrong in what she did. You beat the tar out of her. Chris spanked her. Buck switched her." Rhianna actually knew the truth behind that tale but had no intention of ever sharing it with her cousin. "She was grounded for two weeks. Then you gave her a taste of her own medicine and JD actually paddled her."
"And I got whipped."
"You can't actually blame that on Naomi."
"So you on her side now?"
"No, I just think that enough is enough. She is clan and it is time to move past this. Naomi is having a rough time, with the memories and the nightmares. She needs life to move on. I could make it a direct order if that would help."
"Fuck you! Didn't ya hear? Clan's gone. You can't pull that rank shit no more."
"I am still your cousin and for all intents and purposes in this convoluted family, your older sister," Rhianna replied calmly. She could tell that True was just being contrary and had actually lost interest in making Naomi's life miserable. The younger girl just needed a bit of a boost in the right direction.
"Ya think thet's somehow gonna make me do as ya say?" True asked incredulously.
"Not in and of itself, no, but if you want to continue with your little pest control business you might want to reconsider. It would be a shame if Vin were to find out how you have been duping some of the good citizens of Four Corners in order to line your pockets."
"You wouldn't dare!" True stated in a huff surprised that her cousin even knew of her little scheme. Being adversely opposed to manual labor of any kind, True did not like doing odd jobs to earn extra spending money. Her rapport with animals, however, allowed for an easy alternative. Some locals had paid good money for her to get rid of pests. Of course, they had no idea that she wasn't using conventional methods or that, often as not, True was the reason they had a pest problem in the first place.
"Normally, I would do nothing but applaud your ingenuity, however, if you wish to be unreasonable then you are not really leaving me a choice."
"Coo-bwoirryn!"
"Flattery will get you no where, True. Just back off Naomi for a while. I know back home the two of you actually had quite a bit of fun with your rivalry and I am sure that both of you will reestablish that balance in no time. Just let her settle in, okay?"
"Whatever! I got better ways to spend my time."