NB: There is spanking in this chapter. If you don't like, please don't read. I don't wish to offend. Now we start with the answers, sort of.

Chapter 12

Adam came from behind the pillar and stood in front of Erica, his face stern. Erica could not look at him. Adam took hold of her wrist and pulled her up and walked her forcibly down the aisle and out through the main door. She had to run to keep up with him. He pulled her into the hotel lobby where the clerk gave him the key and winked at Adam. He then climbed the stairs to his room. Adam unlocked and opened the door, forced Erica through it letting go of her wrist, closing and locking the door behind him.

"You shouldn't have brought me up here, my reputation! What will that clerk think?"

"Nothing. I told him when I booked in that I was looking for my errant wife and that when I found her not to be surprised at any noises coming from my room." He turned around, hands on hips and with anger in his voice he glared at Erica and sternly said, "The time has come for me to carry out the consequences for your actions".

"No" she replied.

"Lying and bad behaviour have consequences. I made a promise, and I always keep my promises, that whenever I found you I would take you over my knee and give you the tanning you deserve. The time has come to face up to your actions with those consequences you're not going to like".

Slowly he threw his hat onto a nearby chair and began unbuttoning his jacket, and it was during the silence that Erica dared look up at Adam to see him throw his jacket onto the chair and start rolling up his shirt sleeves. He stepped towards her with a determined look in his eye.

"No, no you can't do this… please, don't … oh please don't do this… you can't …" Erica said, all the while backing up.

"Oh yes I can and will"

"Adam please don't do this, please." Erica pleadingly said, taking a further backward step away from Adam's advance, but to no avail. She had now backed right the door and there was nowhere else she could go. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her towards the bed, Erica struggled against him. Adam sat down and immediately brought her down over his left knee and held her firmly whilst pulling up her skirt and petticoats.

"What are you doing, that's not decent." Erica cried.

"Perfectly decent. You are going to feel the full extent of this punishment, which is long overdue."

And with that he started spanking Erica with hard heavy swats. She began to shout, begging him to stop.

"Oh please stop, you're hurting me. Ow….."

"It's supposed to hurt. That's the whole point." Adam continued on with the spanking.

"You have no right to do this."

"Your behaviour towards me and my family, and the many lies you have told, not to mention stealing, gives me every right to punish you as I see fit." Adam never stopped spanking her while he was speaking. "Never mind the merry dance you have given me, trying to find you. You know you deserve this."

"I… never stole… anything." She managed to say through her struggles to breath. Her bottom was hurting much more than she expected. "Ow…ow…ow."

Adam continued on with the spanking until he felt Erica give up her fight.

By the time it was over, Erica had managed to hold off her tears. She didn't think he was ever going to stop. Adam pulled her to her feet and held her arms firmly. Erica was trying very hard to control her tears in front of him and also from putting her hands back to rub her very sore backside.

"What, no tears, perhaps it wasn't hard enough." Adam said, feeling very sorry for her and for having had to punish her.

"Just because there are no tears, doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It did, and you meant it to hurt. I'm so sorry for what I did. I know I deserved the spanking and probably much more. You'll never know how sorry I am." She said in all honesty.

"All is forgiven. Come here." Adam said, taking her in his arms, waiting until she calmed down. Then when he felt the moment was right, he said sternly, "I want you to sit down here beside me and tell me all about yourself. And this time, the truth is what I expect to hear and only the truth. Any more lies and you find yourself back over my knee. Clear?"

"Yes, but I can't tell you what you'll want to know."

"We'll see. Now sit."

"I'd rather stand if you don't mind."

"No you will sit, that is part of the punishment. To feel the sting and soreness until it fades naturally. If you fail to do what I ask, the road will lead to the same place. Understand."

"Yes. I didn't realise you were a bully. But then I suppose you've had a lot of practise being the eldest."

Adam began to stand up.

"Alright, alright," Erica said, taking a step backwards. "I'll sit." She did so with a grimace as she managed to place herself on the bed. Adam sat back down facing her, holding off a smile.

"Now I want you to look at me and tell me the truth. I want to know all about you, where you came from and why the display of bad behaviour and how you became a concert pianist and singer. Now we'll start with Mary Kelly. Where is she now?"

"Sh… sh… she went home."

"And will she be coming back?"

"I don't know. Maybe if I need her. She helps me when I can't perform as she does."

"You mean outrageously?"

"Yes."

"Well from now on I want only you, yourself. We'll leave Mary Kelly back home. Let us start with your name and what colour your hair really is." Adam began.

"Just call me Mary."

"Is that your name?"

"No, but I would like you to call me Mary, please."

"No, I want to know your real name and don't make up another one. I'll know if you lie."

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you," she said hastily, adding "please don't get mad, I really have no wish to make you any more angry than you already are. I'm so sorry for what I did to you and your family. There is nothing I can tell you. It's not you, it's me. I don't believe I can tell anyone about me. So you'll just have to take me as I am. Or leave me as I am. You have found me and punished me for my actions. I think it best you return home to the Ponderosa and allow me to travel on to…..."

"No"

"No?"

"No. We came here to find you. Gave yourself away 'Erica Adams'," he mocked.

"We?"

"Oh yeah, me and Pa."

"Oh …. oh! Is he lurking in another room waiting his turn?" Mary said with dread.

"No, he has left everything in my 'hands'." Adam said with a slight smirk. "Now, lets return to you and the true colour of your hair."

Mary hesitated, but pulled off the wig and then displayed her very short hair of a dark brown colour. "I cut it short as it helped with my disguise as a boy sometimes, when looking for work, and I purchased wigs and used them for the same reason." Mary then tried to put her wig back on her head when Adam stopped her.

"No, leave it off, you'll feel more comfortable without it, I'm sure. I'm not adverse to short hair. And anyway it will grow again. You should wear the wig around Winslow while we're here though, but then you'll change to the brown one once we leave. At least then when your own hair grows, it will be the same colour and no one will ever know the difference."

"Very well. I'll do what you say." For now, she thought. "How is it that you managed to find me here, in this small town for heaven's sake?" Mary said, trying to change the subject.

"I first of all went searching for you just after you left us, but was unsuccessful. I was searching for a long time. Then it was the day the bank draft arrived, my visiting the bank and telegraph office in Virginia City, then seeing a poster of this concert and the name Erica Adams, which seemed suspicious, then Woodville and Wolf Creek. I just couldn't leave it there could I. I needed to find you and solve the mystery of you. Because there is one, isn't there?" Adam said, and then, tapping his index finger on her forehead. "I think there is someone in there afraid to come out."

Tears started welling up in her eyes, and she looked down. Adam lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"But its not worth you finding out. The whole trail will lead to a dead end." Mary then had a thought. "Father Phillip sent the posters didn't he? I think he suspected me of running away from something. Well I suppose he was right. In a way, I am. He must have sent them far and wide hoping that someone would recognise the name. And of course someone did. You."

"Yes. It certainly set me on a path to finding you."

Adam paused. Looking into Mary's eyes and taking her hand in his, he said in a very soft voice, "Alright now, I need you to trust me. Let me start the ball rolling by telling you what I know of you already. You are not Irish. You are a talented young lady and well educated. Your background story was straight out of Dickens, 'The Old Curiosity Shop' and therefore tells me of your love of reading. Oh, by the way it's Mrs Jarley not Harley."

"I knew that, just thought I'd make up another name for her."

"Maybe you like Shakespeare, poetry and art too. I hope so. Has the manners of a lady, but chose not to show them to me or my family. You quickly recovered from some small mistakes you made which I noticed. Knife and fork together, for instance," he said raising his left eyebrow and smiling. "Now, I want you to know you can trust me with anything you want to tell me and my promise still stands if you lie to me."

"That's quite a speech Adam, but it still won't work."

"So you do want another trip over my knee?" he said seriously.

"No of course not. What I'm trying to say is that whatever you do to me will change nothing. Please try to understand, my life's tale must remain with me. No one but me must know about my life now."

"Mary..." he paused, "...alright, if that's what you want me to call you. Listen to me now. I know of all the things you did at the Ponderosa at night. The first night you slipped downstairs and took food and milk up to your room, you were starving weren't you?"

"Yes I was" she said with a slight smile. Then her smile dropped. "How did you know?" She asked, frowning.

"I heard you come out of your room and waited until you returned.

"You thought I was going to steal something, no doubt." A statement rather than a question.

"It crossed my mind. But I heard you return upstairs and watched through the crack in my door and saw what was in your hands."

"Then the second night I was waiting for you downstairs." Adam said.

"No, that's not so. There was no one there."

"I was there and I'll tell you what I saw." His eyes were looking at her softly, trying to tell her that he saw what she was feeling. "You did the same thing as the night before, only this time you decided to indulge your love of reading. You walked over to the bookcase and took out a book. I recognised it as 'A Tale of Two Cities', the book I had read to you earlier. You went to the low table by the fire for light and held the book lovingly before opening it to somewhere near the end, I could tell you were weeping, almost sobbing at that point. And then you read aloud, well, whispering of course. You were eventually startled by a noise upstairs and raced to put the book back in the bookcase, picked up the pilfered food and milk, returned it to the kitchen and then made your way back upstairs. I waited some thirty minutes before I went on up to my room. How accurate is that?"

Mary had been crying quietly all the while Adam spoke. "Oh Adam, I'm so sorry." I must tell you that what I said to you about your reading was not what was in my heart. Your reading was wonderful and I loved it so much." Through tears she continued. "You have a voice I could listen to for ever, and the words at the end were so beautiful, I shall never forget them. 'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go than I have ever known'." She quoted. "How could anyone write such wonderful words; they pull at the heartstrings so. It has been a very long time since I have read anything. And please don't ask me why."

"Why?" he asked with a smile.

"I won't tell you."

"You're definitely asking for that second spanking." he teased.

"I didn't lie. You said if I lied. I'm not lying to you, just not telling you, that's all."

"Well, you are talking and I guess that's a good sign. Now I will tell you something else. When we first met we saw something in each others eyes did we not? I know you intrigued me and I wanted to know more about you, and when Mary Kelly came into being I felt something was not right, and now of course I know you were not Mary Kelly, but a sophisticated young lady, whom I am falling in love with."

"No-no-no-no-no. Don't say that, I don't want you to fall in love with me. You must stop right now. For I don't have feeling for you."

"Now I know that is a lie. I did not mistake the look in your eyes when first we met."

Mary made a backward move on the bed, thinking Adam would carry out his threat this time and winced.

"You must go back home now and find yourself a worthy lady who will love you and look after you, work beside you and give you a fine family. It's what you deserve. I cannot give you these things."

Adam just looked at her and said nothing which induced a very long silence. Adam waited and waited.

"Alright, alright. I may have feelings for you, but they will come to naught. But I will remember you always with deep affection. I cannot get involved with you or anyone.

"All this because of your background isn't it? Don't you know when someone is in love, really in love, one's background is not of importance." Adam was trying to do his utmost to get Mary to believe him.

"Oh but it is, especially mine. Please, no more questions. I can't bear to hurt you further. I would rather you think of me as a liar and cheat than anything else. For that is exactly what I am." Mary said.

"Well I don't give up that easily. I feel you have had a hard life, but that is going to change. But you need to tell someone, me, what your life has been all about, you've held things in too long and it will relieve you of some of your sadness and perhaps God will stop punishing you."

"Oh, He'll never do that."

"Alright, but whether God is punishing you, or not, you will feel a whole lot better by telling me

about your problems. Don't hold them in any more. That's what I'm here for." He took hold of both her upper arms and gently pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly on her mouth.

Adam's action brought her tears back to life. As they came apart, Mary looked into his eyes and saw the look she recognised. There again, that moment passed between them, just as from the first. Maybe he is right. But to tell of my past, Mary thought. Mary was beginning to think that if she were to tell him of her life, he would understand her feelings and actions. But she didn't know if she could do it.

"I need a lttle time before I can decide on what to do. So I'll go back to my room now and think about .…"

"No" Adam stated. We're staying here in this room. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"I can't stay in here all night." Mary said, blushing.

"Don't you remember what I said to you about being my errant wife. Well that's what you are tonight, so you will remain here with me in this room."

"But Father Phillip knows I am not and will be expecting me back"

"No he's not. He and I had a long chat about you earlier, this morning, before the concert. We agreed on certain things, one of them being you will remain with me. You need not be concerned for your honour as I promise nothing will happen here except sleep. You inside the sheetsand me on top of them. You're not going anywhere my girl. I'm not going to lose you again. Clear."

"But…but…"

"No buts. The day has passed quickly and time has caught up with us, so we will sleep now. I'm sure you've had an exhausting day. I know I have. I will see Pa in the morning and suggest he return home and we will follow in a few days time, giving us time together to resolve your problems," Adam said, as he got up from the bed and bent down and took Mary's shoes off. "There, no more talk tonight. Sleep now. We'll take this nice and slow. I don't want you to feel afraid of me. I believe I love you and want to help you back into a normal life, with me. What say you?"

Mary could say nothing as Adam gently raised Mary off the bed and pulled down the covers and sat her back down. Mary grimaced again from the pain in her bottom and Adam smiled knowlingly.

"That might wear off in a day or two. Now lie down." She did so as Adam pulled up her feet and placed them in the bed, pulling the covers back down over Mary. He then walked around the bed, sat on the edge and took off his boots, then laid himself down on the top of the bed.

"There now, get some rest. We'll resume our conversation after breakfast," Adam said gently. He felt another kiss at this stage might frighten her into thinking he wanted more. So he just said, "Goodnight Mary, sleep well."

"Goodnight" Mary replied, turning on her side with her back facing Adam, holding in the tears she felt were threatening to come.