A/N: Hi All! I'm sorry it has take me a little while to post again. I had my wifi take away for 2 weeks and finally got it back. Thank you for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me.

WARNING: This chapter contains a spanking of a child. If you don't like, don't read.

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Claire and Jamie headed back into the house and departed ways once inside. Jamie went to find Ellie and Claire headed into her clinic. She trusted Jamie completely when it came to disciplining Ellie and decided to leave those decisions to him since they tended to have differing opinions on the matter. Once inside her clinic, Claire immediately noticed that her broom closet was slightly open and found it strange since she usually kept it latched shut. As she approached the closet, she heard a sniffle come from inside. She peeked inside to find Ellie scrunched inside with her knees pulled tightly into her chest.

"Claire," Jamie interrupted. She turned to face him. "Ellie is missing," he said worriedly. Claire smiled and motioned quietly toward her broom closet. Jamie nodded and sighed with frustration. He approached the closet abruptly and flung it open to find the lass held up inside. Startled, Ellie's eyes darted to meet his. "Ah told ye to go to yere room," he stated sternly. "Another order ye managed to disobey."

"Uhhhh! Go away!" she shot back at him defiantly. Jamie glanced toward Claire with frustration and kept reminding himself to have patience.

"Ellie, why are in the closet?" Claire asked gently as she placed herself beside Jamie.

"Um….duh," she huffed, "Why do you think?" Her response put Jamie over the edge of his patience. He had enough of her disrespect and reached into the closet and lifted Ellie out abruptly. "Let me go!" she demanded as she fought to be released. Without missing a beat, Jamie carried the protesting child into his office and closed the door behind him.

"Ah was contemplating ma decision to punish you, but now ah ken a good skelpin is what ye need," he said firmly as he pulled out a chair with his free hand. He swung Ellie over his lap as he sat down. "Ah willna allow ye to disrespect us anymore," he stated firmly. "Ah have been vera patient with ye, but ye have been asking for this since ye got here."

"No, no, no!" Ellie cried out as she kicked and screamed frantically. "You're a big meanie! I hate you!" Jamie ignored her protests and tucked her legs between his in order to stop her from kicking. He pulled her dress over her back and left her shift down since it didn't over much protection anyway. "Ye willna disobey ma orders," his voice boomed as his hand connected with Ellie's bottom.

"Ow!" Ellie cried as tears immediately sprang to her eyes. She grabbed onto his leg and held on tightly.

"Ye willna disrespect yere elders," he ordered as his hand came down again. Ellie cried again. Jamie repeated ten more times until he felt Ellie sobbing against him. He pulled her dress back down and helped her to her feet, so she was standing in front of him.

"That hurt," she pouted, feeling embarrassed as she rubbed her sore bottom.

"Aye, good, it was supposed to," Jamie replied with a slight smile. She was relieved to see he wasn't angry with her, but she was slightly annoyed that he seemed amused.

"I'm sorry I said that I hate you Mr. Jamie," she said as she wiped a few tears from her face. "I like you and Ms. Claire a lot and I want to stay here with you and…and….I really am sorry."

"Ah ken," Jamie replied with a gentle smile. "Ah expect there to be bumps along the way." He reached out and pulled her into a hug and Ellie cried into his shoulder for a few minutes.

"That was my first spanking and hopefully my last," she sighed as she released the grip she had on him. "I definitely don't want another one. Did you ever get a spanking?"

"Ah doubt it will be yere last," Jamie replied with a chuckle, "Ye're a feisty lass. And aye, ah received many as a young lad." Ellie knew he was probably right. There were a lot of rules in Fraser's Ridge, and she had a lot to learn about life there and she was not particularly good at keeping her mouth shut. She wasn't used to having consequences for anything. Jamie's office door opened, and Claire appeared. Ellie immediately went to her, and Claire embraced her in a hug.

"I'm sorry Ms. Claire," Ellie said as she broke down into tears again.

"It's ok Ellie," Claire said reassuringly as she held her tightly. "All is forgiven." Claire released Ellie and looked down at her with a smile. "I left a book on the kitchen table for you. I would like you to bring it up to your room and read until dinner is ready." Ellie was about to protest but stopped herself. Claire thought it would be a good distraction for her, and it would give her some alone time to reflect on her day.

"Ok," she replied as she trudged from the room. She found the book that Claire left for her and picked it up and flipped through. It was all words with no pictures. She knew she couldn't read and was worried to tell Claire. She didn't want them to think she was stupid. She brought the book up to her room and collapsed into her bed with the book beside her. She laid there for a while and thought about everything that had happened in the last few days. She wondered how long it would take for Jamie and Claire to realize she was not worth the trouble. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She looked to see Claire coming through the door and panicked.

"How'd you do?" Claire asked.

"Ok," Ellie lied.

"Good, I thought we could go over what you read," Claire replied as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. Ellie felt a meltdown coming on and tried hard to restrain herself. "Who are the characters?" Claire asked as she flipped through the first few pages.

"I don't know," Ellie sighed.

"Did you read it?" Claire asked. Ellie tightened her little fists in frustration. "Ellie?" Claire questioned.

"No! I didn't!" she cried. Claire touched her hands gently and tried to settle her. "I hate reading!"

"Ellie, I want you to take a deep breath," Claire urged. Ellie tried to comply but found herself becoming overwhelmed with emotion. Claire noticed that the child was trying hard to get herself under control. "Deep breaths," Claire said gently. Ellie took a few deep breaths and finally settled while Claire rubbed her back.

"Ms. Claire," Ellie said quietly. "I….I….don't know how to read. My grandmother hardly ever sent me to school and when I get older, I always skipped."

"I had a feeling there was something you didn't want to tell me," Claire responded gently. "Ellie, you can tell me and Jamie anything, and we will always listen and try to help you. Doesn't that sound better than keeping everything bottled up inside?" Tears came to Ellie's eyes.

"Yeah," she replied.

"And I will teach you to read," Claire commented.

"Yay," Ellie responded sarcastically. Claire smiled in response.

"Why don't you go down and help Lizzie get the table ready for dinner?" Claire said.

"Ok," Ellie responded.

At dinner that evening, Jamie announced that he would be leaving for Wilmington first thing in the morning, and he'd be gone for a few days. He let Ellie know that Roger and Ian would be taking her to help the settlers and that he expected her to work hard and to be respectful. Ellie felt scared to go back there, especially without Jamie. After dinner, she headed out to the porch to find Jamie and Claire having their tea. They both greeted her with a smile.

"I'm really tired. I'm going to bed," she announced. "Roger said I should be ready to leave early in the morning."

"That's very responsible of you Ellie," Claire commented. "We'll be up to tuck you in." Ellie looked from Claire to Jamie nervously. "Is something wrong?" Claire asked her.

"Mr. Jamie, do you have to leave?" she asked worriedly. "I'm scared of the settlers. What if they come back? Or what if they are mean to me tomorrow?"

"Ye're in good hands and the settlers agreed to let ye work off yere debt," Jamie replied, "Roger and Ian will make sure ye're safe. They willna allow anyone to harm ye. Ah dae want ye to hold yere tongue when he comes to Mr. Christie. Dae ye understand?"

"Yes," Ellie sighed, still not satisfied with his response. She headed off to bed and barely remembered Jamie and Claire coming to tuck her in. The morning arrived quickly, Ellie got dressed and headed downstairs. She heard voices outside and peeked out the window to find Roger and Ian headed up from the barn with their horses and her horse, Gretta. She was all tacked up and ready to go.

"Good morning, Ellie," Claire greeted from behind her. Ellie jumped and turned to face her.

"Hi," Ellie responded.

"There are muffins in the kitchen, and Lizzie packed you a lunch for later," Claire said.

"Ok," Ellie replied. "Where's Mr. Jamie? I would like to say goodbye."

"He left a couple of hours ago," Claire replied. She could see the disappointment in Ellie's face. "He didn't want to wake you."

"Ok, I should be going," the child replied with a sigh. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a muffin and her lunch and headed outside to find Ian and Roger.

"Hi Ellie," they greeted. Ellie responded and then took a bite from her muffin. "Do ye need help getting up?" Ian asked.

"Yeah," Ellie replied. Ian smiled and put himself in the position to give her a leg up. Ellie placed her lower leg in his hands, and he launched her to the top of the saddle. Ellie grimaced as she sat down, almost forgetting about her sore bottom until then. "Can we ride slow?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"Of course," Roger replied as he and Ian mounted their horses. Ian and Roger talked the entire time while Ellie lagged behind. She didn't know either of them very well and she didn't feel much like talking. They arrived at the meeting house where some of the men were working on the roof. Mr. Christie immediately came to greet them. Ellie felt sick to her stomach as she hopped down from Gretta. She walked over to Ian and tugged on his arm.

"What's wrong Ellie?" Ian asked as he turned to face her. Meanwhile, Roger hopped down and approached Mr. Christie.

"I can't do this," she whined to Ian. "I'm scared."

"Don't worry Ellie, ah'll be with ye the entire time," Ian replied as he pat her head. Roger finished his conversation with Tom and walked over to Ellie and Ian.

"Ellie, Mr. Christie said that Malva could use some help in the garden," Roger stated.

"Ok," Ellie replied as she looked toward Ian. "Are you coming with me?"

"We'll be over shortly," Roger replied. "We need to help with a few things here first." Ellie felt her fists clench tightly and remembered how Claire had her take deep breaths when she became frustrated. However, the more she tried to relax, the angrier she became.

"Jamie said you would stay with me," she snapped.

"We'll be right here, and we'll check on you in just a little bit," Roger replied. "Malva is a nice girl."

"No," Ellie huffed as tears filled her eyes. Roger and Ian were both at a loss, neither of them having any experience dealing with a child like Ellie.

"Is there a problem here?" Mr. Christie interrupted as he looked at Ellie.

"You're the p….," Ellie began when Roger cut her off abruptly.

"No," Roger replied. "Ellie's going to help Malva."

"Ah'm happy to hear that," Mr. Christie replied as he glared at Ellie for a brief moment, and then turned and walked away.

"Uh, I hate him," Ellie growled.

"Listen Ellie, this is the agreement we made, and you need to see it through," Roger stated firmly. "I don't think Jamie would like to hear that you're disobeying us and mouthing off to Mr. Christie, would he?"

"No, I suppose he wouldn't," Ellie pouted as she thought back to Jamie's words last night.

"I'm glad we agree," Roger replied. "Now get to work and maybe we can forget about this little outburst."

"Fine," Ellie sighed as she reluctantly headed toward the garden mumbling under her breath about child labor.