Tabitha's Guardian (5 page)

Owen felt no sympathy for Glory. She
screamed for him to save her, but he turned his back on her and
went downstairs, hoping that Jenson closed the door to his bedroom
so that Tabitha could not hear the strapping. As angry as Jenson
was, it was sure to be a severe punishment. He waited long enough
for Jenson to drag Glory into the privacy of his room, and then he
bolted upstairs and opened the door to Tabitha’s bedroom.

Tabitha gasped when she saw him. “No, Owen!
You must not; especially now that Daddy is so angry! I would not
see you punished.”

“Thank you, Tabitha, but right now I am more
interested in making sure you do not go to prison for slapping
Glory. Help me hunt for the poison she was giving your father. If
we can find it, we can prove the woman is evil and you were
protecting yourself. I would not see you go to prison when you were
innocent in the first place.”

“You have changed your mind?”

“I am man enough to admit when I was wrong.
I am thankful your father knows the truth. Please, let us hurry
before Jenson finishes with Glory.”

They went straight to Glory’s room, and
Tabitha gasped at the mess! “Does that woman not know about hangers
for clothing?” she asked in an angry tone. “This is what I would
expect from a young teenager, not from a grown woman in her
thirties!”

“Think, Tabby. Where would she hide
poison?”

“She would lock it up. I believe it is
Transgestional. That woman can claim she had it to clear her skin,
but if ingested, it is poisonous. In small quantities, it cannot be
traced in the blood.”

“You have been researching this?” he asked,
smiling.

“Yes. I love my father,” she stated
simply.

It did not take long for them to find a
locked box underneath the bath towels in Glory’s bathroom. Owen
took out a set of keys, and opened it within seconds, to Tabitha’s
amazement.

“It is part of my job to open locked boxes
to discover what my wards do not wish me to know about,” he
admitted.

“Did you go through my things?” she asked,
horrified.

“No, I did not, Tabby. You are too open and
honest to hide anything. The only issue I ever had with you was
your quick temper, and I still think you earned a bare-bottom
spanking for striking Glory.”

“Please, Owen, do not. I would be forever
shamed,” she begged him. “You told Daddy that she provoked me, and
she truly did. I fell into her ploy, and I am surprised she did not
put in a call to the Magistrate after it happened.”

“She did try, but this particular Magistrate
is not at her desk today. She refuses to work on Fridays. I know
how to reach her, however, and I will do so now that we have
evidence to support our claim. All I ask of you, Tabby, is that you
remain calm and keep your temper in check. Please?”

“I believe you actually care, Owen,” she
shyly flirted.

“I care, Tabby. I care very much. Now go on
to your room and be the obedient daughter. I will go downstairs and
do my best to get the Magistrate here to deal with this matter yet
tonight.”

To Tabitha’s surprise, he leaned down and
kissed her on the cheek. “Remember, no temper.”

* * * * *

“I want to know why you would do something so
outlandish, woman?”

“Have you truly not seen the way that child
looks at me, Jenson? She hates me!”

“I have seen my wife insult my child, and I
have seen my child walk away rather than argue with you. I have
seen how you mistreated Tabby and had her arrested for things you
fabricated. I have seen how my daughter kept the truth from me
because she was so worried about my health. Again, Glory, why would
you treat my child like a wicked stepmother?”

“That is a cruel thing to say to me, Jenson!
I only wanted to protect you from the truth. The gang she spends
time with is nothing but a group of troublemakers. I found sexually
suggestive materials in her bedroom when I was cleaning the house.
I forbade her to go out and she pushed me aside and left anyway.
That is why she was arrested. She was at a rally you would not have
permitted her to attend.”

“You are lying, and lying, and lying some
more. My daughter has never been a problem, but you are nothing
like the woman I thought I was marrying. So, Glory, tell me why?
Why have you been mistreating my daughter? Why have you been
poisoning my food? Oh, do not insult my intelligence by denying it.
You were a very good actress, but my little girl saw you for the
wicked woman you are, and once she took over the food preparation
and started serving my meals, I recovered, did I not? You were
slowly poisoning me, and all I want to know is why? You can tell me
now and spare yourself a thrashing, Glory. I will not give you
another chance to escape the strapping you have earned. Why?” he
repeated, his voice thundering in the bedroom.

Glory burst into tears, and he knew she was
acting. He waited to see what she would say.

“This man came to me and said you owed him
money. He said he would rape and torture Tabitha if I did not come
up with a million dollars in cash, and he gave me very little time
to raise the money. You were so ill, and the only way I could be
sure that dear Tabitha was safe was by having her thrown into jail.
I am so sorry! If there had been another way…”

Jenson clapped. “That was a movie
performance if ever I saw one.” He reached for the buckle on his
belt and slowly slid the leather through the loops of his
pants.

“No, Jenson! I will not allow you to subject
me to punishment! No!” she cried out, but he merely grabbed her arm
and turned her around and bent her over the back of the chair where
he sat to put on his shoes in the morning. The strap landed on her
buttocks and she screamed a plea for mercy.

“I have no mercy, wife. You will tell the
truth before this chastisement stops.” He doubled the strap again,
and reached for the hem of her dress. He pulled it up to her waist
and then started laying stripes all over her backside. The belt
left welts on her bare skin, and it did not take long to administer
a strapping that he was sure Glory would never forget. Just because
he did not believe in punishing women in this manner, did not mean
he did not know how to give a belting that would prevent her from
sitting for days. He targeted her thighs next, and Glory tried to
get away, but his left arm around her waist held her down and the
back of the chair presented her posterior in the best way possible
for punishment. Once her thighs were striped to a fiery red, Jenson
concentrated on Glory’s sit spots. She finally stopped fighting and
bucking and he gave her another dozen spanks before he asked, “Are
you ready to tell the truth, Glory?”

“Yes!” she sobbed the word. “I am guilty. I
tried to kill you and put that brat in prison so that I could enjoy
your money. I wish to marry my lover!”

“You have a lover?”

“Yes! Why do you think I insisted on
separate bedrooms? Your touch sickens me!” Glory sobbed and then
admitted, “I hate you, Jenson Burnside!”

“I hate you, too,” he told her, and then let
her drop to the floor. “Be out of this room within five seconds or
I will beat you as you deserve.”

Glory got up and moved slowly toward the
door.

“You will be served with papers tomorrow, and
I will leave it up to the Magistrate to decide where you spend the
next twenty or so years of your life.”

“No, Jenson! If you ever felt anything at
all for me ”

He slammed the door in her face as he went
to seek out his child. He was sure she needed comforting. He rapped
once on her door and then entered.

“Daddy, I am so sorry!”

“What are you sorry for?” he asked,
surprised that she would feel a need to apologize. “I am the one
who let you down, but I swear before Mother and Father God that I
will make it up to you, baby.”

“Daddy, I knew she hated me, but I did not
know how much until I was arrested and put in a holding room. I am
so sorry; I know you loved her, but she was not the person she
claimed to be.” Tabitha hugged him. “Daddy, please listen to me. Do
not blame Owen for any of this; he was trying to protect me.”

“By spanking you?” he demanded, clearly
agitated.

“Yes, Daddy. He knew the Magistrate would be
inclined to rule on his side if he had already punished me for
slapping that woman. He helped me find the poison she was using to
make you so ill.”

“She confessed to that.”

“Owen is a good man, Daddy, and I like him a
lot; even when he punishes me it is only because he cares. He did
not fall for that woman’s lies.”

“Sir?” There was a knock on the door of
Tabitha’s bedroom.

“Yes?”

“The Magistrate has arrived, and she is very
unhappy at being summoned. She brought two officers with her.”

“She will have need of them if she wishes to
keep her position,” Jenson stated. “You come with me now, Tabby,
and keep a tight rein on your temper.”

“I already promised Owen that I would do so,
Daddy.”

“You may sit down, Magistrate,” Jenson said
in the manner of one who is used to being in charge. “I will tell
you up front that I am considering filing charges against you for
failure to protect my daughter from falsified charges. Glory
Burnside made up the charges and told you she was acting on my
behalf. Not once did you attempt to contact me to see if this was
true. My child was arrested, put in a holding room, and then found
guilty, all without my knowledge.”

“I was told your health was declining and you
were unable to fulfill your duties as a parent.”

“Did you try to verify this before assuming
my daughter was guilty of wrongdoing?”

The Magistrate’s face turned red. “I did
not,” she admitted with some dignity.

“I know this to be true. My daughter was
accused of immodesty by her stepmother, but it was Glory who hemmed
the dresses in question, not my daughter. My daughter was arrested
at a rally?”

“She was, and I was advised that she was
forbidden to go.”

“This is also false. You assigned my
daughter to a male Guardian, and he was given instructions to be
very firm with her; is this true?”

“Yes. I will not permit young girls to run
wild in this city.”

“I understand your concerns, but my daughter
is not like that.”

“I saw her temper and her lack of obedience
with my own eyes.”

“And how would you react if you were
unfairly accused? Would you meekly say, ‘Okay, put me in prison’…
or would you fight tooth and nail to defend yourself?” He could see
he scored a valid point.

“Guardian Owen, what have you to say about
all of this?”

Owen got to his feet, as if he was in court,
and he stated everything he knew, including the fact he and Tabitha
found the poison used on Jenson in Glory’s bedroom.

“That is a serious charge,” the Magistrate
said.

“Yes, it is serious. I intend to file papers
to end our marriage tomorrow morning. Glory has been ordered out of
my home. I am disgusted with her.”

“I can only imagine what you are going
through, Mr. Burnside. Officers, you will go to Glory Burnside’s
room and place her under arrest for filing a false complaint, for
lying to the Court, and for attempted murder.” Once the officers
left the room, she looked at Tabitha and said, “There was a message
on my service from Glory Burnside stating that you slapped her and
she feared for her life. Did you strike her?”

“I did,” Tabitha said truthfully.

“And she was taken over my knee for doing
so,” Owen said.

“I see. I do understand that you were
provoked, but you simply cannot go about slapping people across the
face, no matter how richly they deserve it. Have you learned this
lesson?” the woman asked kindly.

“I have, and I am most sorry for losing my
temper to that extent.”

“Very well. As of this moment you are
released from custody to your father’s care. Guardian Owen, you
will be assigned elsewhere.”

Suddenly the air around them was filled with
obscenities as Glory was dragged down the staircase by the
Officers. “This is not fair! I was already punished by my husband,
and I have learned my lesson! Release me at once!”

“You will be tried for attempted murder in my
court, Glory Burnside. You made a mockery of my office and I will
not show you any compassion or mercy.”

“Thank you for releasing my daughter,
Magistrate.” Jenson said politely.

“It was the right thing to do. I am most
sorry, Tabitha. Every so often I get a reminder that I am as human
as the people who come through my Court. I made a grievous mistake
and I hope you will forgive me.”

“That woman is convincing. It is over now,
and Daddy is feeling better. That is what truly matters.”

“Amen. Owen, will you be coming with me, or
do you need to pack your belongings?”

“I have my car, Magistrate, but thank
you.”

“I apologize for the pain I have caused you,
Mr. Burnside.”

Jenson nodded, walked them outside, and then
returned to the study to ask, “Daughter, just how many times did
this man step all over your modesty?”

“Daughter, I want an answer to my question
this minute!” Jenson Burnside demanded of his daughter. “How many
times did this man offend your modesty?”

“He did not, Daddy!” she answered, her
cheeks a flaming red. “It was not like that. Owen spanked me a
couple of times, but always over my clothing. This last time he
thought I should be bared, but you came and stopped him from doing
that! I would have been forever shamed,” she whispered.

“I was trying to protect you, Tabby. I am
sorry that I caused you such distress.” Owen’s remorse was
genuine.

“I understand, Owen, and I also know that
you were very decent to me, unlike some Guardians out there. You
did show me respect, and when I begged you to stop calling me
Tatiana, you listened and called me Tabitha Rose. I am so grateful
for the respect you gave me.”