His Defiant Wife, the Adventures of Linnett Wainwright, Book 2 (7 page)

Linnett stroked
his forehead and wondered where on earth he had come from. Hans had
told them that there were no native settlements close by. John had
told her not to fear the tribes since they were only interested in
trade. It was impossible for a child this age to crawl and toddle
any distance. He must have been brought here by someone, but who?
They could be outside now, Linnett realised. Hastily she went over
and barred the door. She closed the shutters and barred those as
well. “Oh how I wish John was here!” she whispered aloud.

Linnett set
about making preparations for the morning. She made some more dough
and set it to rise overnight, then, exhausted by the day’s events,
she fell into bed next to the child, promptly falling asleep.

Linnett woke at
dawn with a small fist lying across her face, she still felt
absolutely exhausted. The child was sleeping like a small crucified
being, spread out so that Linnett was forced to cling to the edge
of the large bed. Sleeping with a small child was worse, she
decided, than sleeping with a man. They both broke wind as
frequently and, true, a man snored but a child seemed to take up
the entire bed, moving about continuously all night long.

Linnett spent
the entire day clearing up after the child. As she struggled back
up to the stream with the washing, the little child toddled at her
side slowing up the process considerably. She pegged up the clothes
on the washing line that John had rigged up for her use earlier
that week. The child hung onto her skirts as she moved about the
business of her daily chores. By the end of the day Linnett was
physically exhausted but surprisingly happy. She found to her
amazement that she enjoyed the household tasks. Looking after a
small demanding tyrant was a joy in itself. Linnett found herself
hoping the parents of the child would not come looking for their
child just yet.

For the first
time since her marriage, she seriously considered what the arrival
of children might mean to her marriage- all the hard work and the
lack of privacy, the constant demand of her time and attention. She
wondered if John liked children, she assumed that he must want a
son. Linnett knew that however demanding looking after a child
might be, she wanted a baby of her own.

Linnett had
given the baby the small wooden horse that Han’s had carved for
her. He was delighted with it and crooned lovingly at it. The boy
seemed to have a name for it too, for he always made the same sound
to the toy. “Ko si. Ko si.”

Linnett taught
him the word “horse,” and he dutifully repeated it and then
promptly returned to “Ko si.” The little boy was now garbed in his
original clothes, which Linnett had carefully washed and dried. She
marvelled at the intricate bead work and meticulously sewn quills
and little feathers that decorated his tunic. Whoever this child
belonged to must love him very much to have spent so much time
decorating his clothes in this way, she mused.

John was having
a very successful hunting trip; he had stalked and shot a young
male deer on which there was plenty of meat to last them at least
for a while. He was completely unaware that his movements were
being tracked. Breaking his camp in a clearing of the forest, John
packed up and prepared to leave. He tightened the girth on the
horse and turned to collect his bedroll, but when he straightened
up he sucked in his breath sharply, realizing he was surrounded by
three Indian braves.

They were each
similarly dressed in deerskin leggings, all of them bare-chested
except one, who had a breast plate made of some sort of thin bone
or quills. The middle Indian was an exceptionally tall and
well-built man. He sported a necklace of what John guessed were
bear claws. All had shaved heads with a line of hair running from
the front to the back of their heads, the hair standing upright
like the feathers of crested birds.

John held out
both hands at waist height, palms upright to show he held no
weapon. He nodded to them once and then stood quite still and
waited. The large Indian raised his hand first in greeting and
nodded at John. He touched his eye and pointed to John, then held
his hand out at about knee high. John followed this pantomime and
realised straight away these men were looking for something of that
height, probably a child, and they were asking him if he had seen
one. John shook his head. The Indian, still using sign language,
mimed hunger, rubbing his belly in circles, and he gestured to the
deer carcass. John nodded and drew a line across the haunch of the
animal with his finger, gesturing the Indian forward to cut the leg
for their use.

It would have
done him no good to have refused their request, John realised. He
was outnumbered three to one.

Linnett had
spent a better night with her young charge. She had made a bed in
the tin tub for the babe, and he had snuggled down comfortably. She
had slept all through the night, waking at dawn feeling much
refreshed, thanks to her undisturbed slumber. She had only just
finished feeding the child his breakfast when she heard the blowing
and stamping of a horse. Opening the door a crack and peeking out
she saw John dismounting and Linnett was about to run and meet him,
when the child gave an excited cry and called out. He toddled over
to Linnett at the door and grabbed onto her skirts; Linnett swept
him up and into her arms.

Then Linnett
saw them, the three native males. They sat silently mounted on
their horses, staring at her with an unblinking gaze.
Instinctively, she clutched the child, clasping him to her in a
protective gesture that was not lost on one of the natives watching
her.

Linnett stood
still frozen to the spot but the child called to the natives in an
excited babble, his small hand reached up and wound itself in
Linnett’s loose hair and he bounced excitedly on her hip. John
watched from the fence where his horse was tied, he was startled to
see his wife emerge from their home carrying a small native child.
John was now terrified for Linnett’s safety but he could only stand
and observe, fearful that any sudden move on his part might trigger
an attack. One of the men rode forward a few paces while the other
two hung back. He stopped and waited. Linnett looked down at the
child’s glowing face he was still bouncing up and down in her arms
oblivious to the tension surrounding him.

Linnett took a
deep breath and walked up to the native man, who was large and
muscular, golden skinned with black eyes that betrayed nothing of
his inner thoughts, let alone his intentions. His nose was slightly
bent as if it had been broken at some point. Bizarrely, his head
was shaved, save for a middle strip of hair that ran from his
forehead to his neck this was coloured with ochre paste and stood
up stiffly. He wore a necklace of what looked like animal claws
strung around his neck. One ear sported an earring of silver from
which hung three small white feathers.

He stretched
out his arms to take the child, Linnett searched his face to assess
his intentions but she could read nothing, his face was totally
blank. Linnett realised there was nothing else to do but hand the
child over; she held the child up to the terrifying man before her
but the babe suddenly grabbed her around the neck and snuggled his
face into her, holding on tightly.

Gently, Linnett
withdrew his arms and kissed his cheeks before she swiftly handed
him up to the native, who smoothed the child’s hair back and spoke
gently to him in a soft deep tone. The child twisted in his arms
and called to Linnett. “Ko si, Ko si, Mi he wi!”

Linnett held up
her hand to the Indian. “Wait please, wait!” She ran inside quickly
and came out again clutching the carved wooden horse.

The natives
were in the process of turning their horses to leave and Linnett
had to run alongside them and put a restraining hand on the large
Indian’s leg as she held the carved horse up to him. The child
reached out for it and also grabbed a fist full of Linnett’s hair.
The native Indian spoke sharply to the child but he hung on tightly
and began to wail. With a swift movement, the Indian withdrew a
large dagger from his hip, and before Linnett even had time to
register any fear, he cut off the length of hair the child was
holding. Man and horse moved off swiftly, the child waving the toy
horse and a long gleaming rope of Linnett’s hair in the air as they
rode away. A thin wail carried back to her as the child suddenly
realised that Linnett was not attached to the hair he clutched so
hard in his tiny hand.

Linnett stood
still staring long after the Indians had disappeared. Silent tears
slipped unnoticed down her cheeks. She was startled out of her
reverie by John, who slipped his arms around her from behind,
holding her close, his chin resting on top of her head. After a
while he turned her around and held her close before gently guiding
her indoors. John led Linnett to a chair and bid her sit. He
hunkered down at her side, taking one of her hands in his. “How did
you find the child?” he asked her gently.

Linnett told
him her tale, and John nodded thoughtfully. He told her of his
meeting in the forest with the three native Indians and of the sign
language conversation that they had. “Hans told us there were no
natives living nearby; I wonder where these came from?” Linnett
pondered.

John shook his
head. “I have no idea where they came from, but I think they were
Abenaki. We were lucky; they are the most warrior-like tribe in
these parts. I had the shock of my life when I turned around and
there they were. They made no sound at all.”

Linnett nodded.
“I know, the baby was so quiet at first and not at all like any
other children I have seen,” she sighed. “Oh John, he was so sweet!
I am going to miss him so!”

John pulled her
to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. He looked down into
her miserable face. He hated what he had to do next, but Linnett
had disobeyed him once again and the consequences of her actions
had put them both in grave peril. John went to the bed and sat
down, then he patted his knee. Linnett stared at John, astonished,
for there was no doubting his meaning and he was going to spank
her!

“John, I do not
deserve this.”

John quirked
his brow and said, “Really? I told you not to leave the cabin
and...”

“If I had
stayed inside that poor baby might have died out there, John!”

“Linnett do not
interrupt me again! As I said you should have stayed inside; you
have put us both in peril and all because you did not listen to me
yet again
! Now show me that you have changed by doing what
any other biddable wife would do and place yourself over my knee
for your punishment. It is either that or your hairbrush, the
choice is yours darlin’.”

Linnett
struggled internally with the need to flee and the desire to please
her husband. She secretly loved the power that he held over her and
found John an exciting and sensuous mate but she didn’t want to be
spanked! She had saved that child
! She did not
deserve
this
! Linnett stamped her foot and glared at John, but he
simply crooked his finger at her, his mouth tight and unsmiling,
his eyebrow quirked and questioning. Linnett took a shuddering
breath and a faltering step. She sidled towards him her hands
clasped behind her, already protecting her threatened derriere.

John patted his
knee again and Linnett took a deep, shaky breath before bravely
placing herself across her husband’s lap. John flipped up her skirt
and petticoat loosening her drawers and parting them, baring
Linnett’s curvaceous bottom. He rubbed her soft peachy flesh and
began peppering her with small spanks, landing the swats ever
faster and harder over the whole area of Linnett’s bottom, turning
her from blushing pink to hot red.

Linnett had
been determined to stay proudly silent throughout her ordeal but as
the spanking progressed and John landed more and more spanks on the
tender spot at the top of her legs, Linnett gave into her grief.
She wept at having to say farewell to the lovely little child and
cried because of the stinging spanks landing on her bare bottom.
Very soon she felt sorry for herself and began to wail.

John grinned.
He knew that his wife had planned to be noble and silent during her
spanking but he also knew she was too damned wilful. Linnett needed
to learn that there would be consequences every time she disobeyed
him. John had to admit that he enjoyed spanking his wife. John
loved the way the flesh of her pretty bottom shivered as he spanked
the bouncy cheeks of her delectable derriere.

John also
thought that perhaps Linnett needed the release of a spanking to
cry about the child she had given up. It was not a long spanking
however because John was so delighted that his wife had come so
obediently across his knee. Perhaps this might be a turning point
for them both and his wife would be more obedient from here on
in.

Soon Linnett’s
wails turned into earnest sobs and John tipped her upright, into
his loving arms. He smoothed her hair away from her hot, wet
tearstained face. He kissed away her tears and held her safe in the
circle of his arms.

Finally, John
wiped Linnett’s wet cheeks with his thumbs. “It looks as though I
shall just have to give you a baby of your own to play with. Would
you like a baby, my dearest girl?”

Linnett’s mouth
curved into a sweet smile, “Ohh...I should adore a baby John! I
expect you would want a son?”

John’s eyes
twinkled, “I would love a son....or a daughter, but what I shall
really enjoy is conceiving one with its very beautiful mother!”

John lowered
his head and kissed her with all the passion of a man who has
abstained for a number of days. Linnett clung to John, amazed by
the desire she felt for this man who had just spanked her. They
tipped sideways onto the bed entwined together, and Linnett prayed
that their lovemaking would bear fruit.