WARNING: This chapter contains the disciplinary spanking of a teenage girl. If you don't like it, don't read it.

CHAPTER 11

Sammy stood in front of the window in her room. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. She heard the sound of a nearby door opening and closing, and the sound of footsteps soon approached her room. Sammy stiffened in anticipation of the coming confrontation.

Chris entered Sammy's room without knocking. He had stopped by his room to remove his hat, jacket, and gun belt. As he closed the door, Chris nodded to the bed. "Take a seat." He waited for Sammy to obey him, then pulled the straight-back chair away from the desk and, turning it so that it faced the door, placed it in front of the bed. He sat, straddling the chair, and contemplated the girl sitting before him for several long seconds before speaking.

"You wanna tell me what this mornin' was all about?" He leaned forward so that his arms rested on the back of the chair. He had decided it would be best to allow Sammy to bring up the subject of her being a burden. Otherwise, if he approached it outright, he would betray the trust Sammy had placed in Casey as well as the trust Casey had placed in him. But, that didn't mean he wasn't going to discuss Sammy's behavior that morning. After all, that was the mean reason he was there.

"Not particularly," Sammy responded. She defiantly returned the glare that Chris shot her at her insolent answer.

"Not particularly?" Chris repeated her words. "Well, how 'bout you do it anyway."

Sammy didn't miss the hint of sarcasm in his voice. If she had known the gunman better, she would have known that she was treading on dangerous ground. Instead, she continued pushing forward. "You don't have to do this, you know."

That didn't take long, he thought. He mentally sighed and reminded himself to keep a reign on his temper. He needed to approach this carefully. He was fully aware that he if handled this the wrong way, any trust he might have earned from Sammy would be completely destroyed, and he might not be able to repair the damage. "I don't have to do what?" he questioned, already anticipating what her answer would be.

"Pretend that you actually care 'bout anything more than the fact that I made you look bad this morning," Sammy replied. She ignored the incredulous look that passed over Chris' face. "Or that I'm anything more than a burden that Judge Travis pushed off onto you."

Even after his earlier conversation with Casey, Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing. He hadn't expected outright defiance, and he had to struggle to keep his temper under control. Chris leaned forward so that his weight rested against the back of the chair and pointed his finger so that it aimed directly at Sammy's chest. "Let's get one thing straight right here and now, little girl. You ain't now nor will you ever be a burden or an obligation to me." This wasn't exactly how he'd planned to discuss this, but Sammy's defiant attitude had left him hanging onto his temper by a thread. In an effort to work off some of his anger, he stood and began pacing the room.

Sammy cringed back away from Chris. She was afraid that she had finally pushed him too far and wasn't sure what the intimidating man might do.

Having regained his hold on his temper, Chris sat on the bed beside Sammy. "I didn't take you on because Judge Travis made me do it, Sammy. I'd already decided to do it long before he and I ever talked about it. Fact of the matter is, the moment I walked into the clinic and saw you sleepin' in that bed, something about you touched my heart. I decided right then that if you didn't have anybody else, I'd take you in." Chris shook his head and gave a short laugh. "After Sarah and Adam were killed, I didn't plan on becomin' a father again, but that changed yesterday." He reached for Sammy's hand and held it in his own. He waited until she turned to look at him before continuing. "I know I can't replace your father, and I don't want to try. But, I do intend to treat you just like you were my own child. All Judge Travis did was make the arrangement legal." Chris' eyes met Sammy's and their gazes held for several seconds. Unspoken words of trust and caring passed between them. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Sammy nodded. She rose and walked over to the window. It seemed that she had spent quite a bit of time during the last two days simply standing in front of that very same window, contemplating the activity on the street below. "Before we left Iowa, I had a friend, Amanda. She'd come to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents were killed in an accident. Her uncle was the town's preacher, and you would have thought that they would be happy to take her in and help her out." She gave a short laugh of derision. "Especially since his favorite topic for his sermons was about lending a helping hand to your fellow man." Sammy paused to gather her thoughts. "Amanda and I rarely got to see each other outside of church. Finally I asked her about it, and she told me that her aunt and uncle were making her earn her keep. Those were the exact words she used – earn her keep. They never stopped reminding her what a burden she'd placed on them by being another mouth to feed and body to house and clothe. They made her work as their maid, babysitter, and whatever else they could think of. Right before we left to come here, they made Amanda marry a man old enough to be her father, just to clear up a debt her uncle owed to him."

She flinched when she heard Chris curse violently behind her. "I'm sorry about your friend." He moved to stand behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Turning her so that he could look her in the eye he said, "I promise you that is something you are never going to have to worry about." Chris pulled her against his chest and enveloped her in a hug. He spoke softly into her hair. "I meant what I said about intending to treat you like my own child. That means I'm gonna help you get through the loss of your parents. I'm also gonna do my best to help you grow into a strong, confident and happy young woman." He released her from the hug and pushed her back so that he could, once again, look into her eyes. He still saw wariness there, but he also saw the beginning of acceptance and understanding. "That also means punishing you when necessary. It's not something I want to have to do. If it were up to me, our relationship wouldn't start off like this. But because of your actions this morning, you've left me no choice."

Chris led Sammy back to sit on the bed and resumed his seat on the chair. "Now, you ready to tell me about it?"

Sammy's defiance hadn't completely evaporated and quickly reared its ugly head. "You never told me I couldn't try and go after Bart Slater."

Chris sighed. "No, you're right, I didn't. But, if you didn't think I'd disapprove why'd you sneak off this morning? And before you answer my question, you'd best consider that I won't tolerate bein' lied to."

Several seconds passed before Sammy shrugged her shoulders in response. "I don't know."

"You don't know," Chris repeated, somewhat incredulous. "Don't seem like much of a reason to me. You got a better reason for why you broke the law?"

Sammy's head shot up. "I didn't break the law."

"What do you call stealin' from J.D.? Or are you gonna try and tell me that you never intended to leave town during all the chaos this morning?"

Sammy looked down at the floor and mumbled something in response.

"I didn't quite catch that," Chris responded. "You need to look at me when you answer my question."

Sammy's now contrite gaze met his angry one. "I'm sorry."

Chris nodded. "I know you are, but you're gonna be a whole lot sorrier when I'm through with you." He shook his head at Sammy's sudden weariness. "Like I said before, Sammy, I didn't want to start out this way. But, I can't let you get away with what you did today. If you were anybody else, you'd be spendin' some time over in one of my jail cells. Even if I wasn't the law in this town, I'd still be blistering your butt. What you did this morning was not only dangerous, it was just plain stupid. You could have gotten yourself killed. Plus the fact that by stealin' J.D.'s clothes and gun, you've made it difficult for anyone to completely trust you right now." He watched as emotions played over Sammy's face. He could tell she was fighting a battle between acceptance of what was to come and defiance.

Chris moved to sit beside her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him, offering what comfort he could. "Sweetheart, I understand that you did what you thought you had to do. You've lived the last couple of years so swallowed up by your anger and guilt that you don't know any other way. I've been there, and I did a lot of things because of that anger and guilt that I wish I had never done – things that I can't go back and fix. I know spanking you isn't the best way to earn your trust, but you have to start thinking before you act. If you don't, one of these days you might just get yourself hurt or killed." What Chris left unsaid was that the spanking would help relief herself of some of the guilt she felt over what she had done. It was the same kind of guilt that would have burned a hole in his belly if he let it loose. He didn't want this young woman to have to go through life dealing with those kinds of feelings.

Sammy nodded and gave Chris a sad smile. "I can't say I wasn't expecting it."

Chris shook his head and returned Sammy's smile with a reassuring smile of his own. He then gave her a stern look. "Well, I suppose we'd best get this over and done with." He stood and pulled Sammy to her feet and took her place on the bed. With one swift movement he had her face down across his lap. Sammy immediately began squirming and fighting to escape, but Chris' hold on her was too tight. With his free hand, he raised her skirt, revealing her simple cotton drawers. He decided to leave those in place, and brought his hand down hard on her backside.

Although Sammy had been expecting the spanking, she hadn't been prepared for how hard Chris' hand was. After only a few swats her backside felt like it was on fire. She began struggling even harder to escape from the punishing swats to her backside.

"Calm down or I'll take your drawers down, too." Sammy couldn't completely stop her kicking and squirming, but tried to keep them under control. After several minutes, Chris paused. "Tell me why you're gettin' this spanking," he demanded.

Sammy swallowed hard. She didn't know if she could trust her voice. Barely above a whisper, in a voice that was so filled with tears that Chris could barely understand her, she said, "I snuck out to go after Bart Slater."

Chris landed three hard swats to the middle of her backside. "What else."

"I stole from J.D." Half a dozen hard swats landed on her already burning area where her thighs and backside met. "Please stop. I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again."

Chris landed another half dozen swats to Sammy's behind and pulled her skirt down. He rubbed the small her back, telling her "it's over now, everything's forgiven." When she calmed down, Chris pulled her up to sit on his lap and pulled her against his chest to hold her in a hug.

"I didn't like having to do that, Sammy." Chris said, his chin resting against the top of her head. "But, I'll do it again if I have to."

Because Sammy's face was turned into his chest, Chris barely heard her soft, "I don't like it either." He smiled. If she was being sarcastic, she was going to be okay.

They sat that way for several minutes, before Sammy moved to sit beside him on the bed. Chris didn't miss her wince as her sore backside made contact with the feather mattress.

"Sammy, it's gonna take a while for us to get used to each other. No doubt, there'll be some bumps in the road. But, you'll see, everything will be okay. I know from experience that you'll never forget what happened to your parents, but you'll learn to live with it and with the guilt."

Sammy was somewhat skeptical at that. She didn't know how she would ever learn to live with what had happened, and what she saw as her role in it. The anger and thirst for revenge she'd carried around during the last couple of years had masked it and made it somewhat easier to bear. Now that the anger was starting to dissipate, the guilt and sadness were taking its place.

Chris pulled her close again. He held her while sobs racked her small body. Tears filled his eyes at the pain this child was experiencing and because of his own pain. They sat that way for several minutes before Sammy drew back. Chris cupped her face in his large hands and wiped at the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. "Feel better now?"

Sammy nodded and reached up to wipe at the remaining tears on her face. "I got your shirt all wet."

Chris laughed. "That's okay, it needed to be washed anyway." He let go of her face and crossed his arms over his chest, his expression now serious. "If we're going to live together and get along, there's some rules you're gonna have to follow."

Sammy frowned at that. She had gotten used to doing pretty much whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She certainly didn't like the idea of having to live by a set of rules.

Chris chuckled. He knew exactly what Sammy was thinking. "They ain't that bad. You don't do anything that will put you in danger or that's illegal, and you be honest with me at all times. You're also to let me or one of the boys know when you're going somewhere, who you're going with, and when you expect to be back. Think you can live with those?"

Sammy nodded.

"Good, because if you break any of those rules, you'll find yourself right back over my knee." Chris picked up Sammy's hand and held it in his own. "There's one more rule." He chuckled when he saw the look on her face. "You can come to me and talk anytime you need to."

Sammy nodded again. She surprised Chris when she threw her arms around him in a hug. He returned her embrace and smiled when he heard her barely audible "thanks."

Chris stood and returned the desk chair to its proper place. Before leaving the room he turned to her. "I think its best if you stay up here until someone comes to fetch you." If Casey came by to talk, Chris intended to let Sammy out of her room then. Otherwise, he'd come fetch her for lunch, which Mrs. Patterson should have ready in an hour or so. "You're also going to apologize to J.D. for takin' his things. It might not be a bad idea if you ask him if there's anything you can do to make amends."

Sammy frowned and replied, "yes, sir."

Chris nodded and pointed toward the pants and shirt lying on top of her dresser. "You're also going to wash those before you return them to J.D. You can get the stuff from Mrs. Patterson, but you are to do the washing yourself, understood?"

Sammy groaned. She hated doing laundry. Chris cleared his throat and looked at her expectantly. "Yes, sir, I understand."

"Good girl. Now, get some rest." Chris left the room and closed the door softly behind him. He sighed heavily as he walked down the hallway toward the stairs. He was going to sit out on the porch for a while and gather his thoughts.

When he stepped out onto the porch he was surprised to see Vin sitting there. In the short time they'd known each other he and the tracker had become good friends. Chris supposed that Vin was the only person since Sarah who could read his thoughts and understand what was going on without him having to say a word.

Vin looked up at the sound of the opening door. He reached for the whisky bottle and held it up. "Thought you might want this." At Chris' nod, Vin poured them both a shot. The two men sat in silence, enjoying their drinks and watching the hustle and bustle in town. Finally, Vin broke the silence. "She gonna be alright?"

Chris sat his shot glass back on the table. "Yeah, I think so. It's going to be rough going for a while yet, but I think she'll get through it."

Vin nodded. "How 'bout you?"

Chris turned to look at his friend. Their eyes met and their gazes held for several seconds, unspoken thoughts passing through them. "Yeah, I'll make it." That was all that had to be said. Vin poured them both another shot and the two men resumed their observation of the busy town. It had been a long two days, and they were both glad for the few minutes of companionable silence. Hopefully, things would get back to normal quickly, or at least as normal as life ever got in Four Corners.

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Author's note: I am going to be marking this story as complete with this chapter. However, I have been contemplating a epilogue -- sort of a glimpse of Chris, Sammy, and company 15 years later. But I haven't yet decided whether or not to add it. Any feedback as to whether or not I should include it would be greatly appreciated.