UP A CREEK
An episode from 1889
Kim felt the dampness of sweat on her forehead. The hot July sun began to take its toll has she labored to step from rock to slippery rock in the middle of Hoptown Creek. How it got the name Hop- town Creek she couldn't figure. There was no place in Johnson County or anywhere else that she knew named Hoptown; except the creek. What she did know about Hoptown Creek was that she was absolutely, positively forbidden to be near it. On its winding course it crossed the Kelly property, where it formed the rear boundary of their large yard. Though the Kelly's portion was shallow and slow there were deeper pools and swifter currents both upstream and downstream. Mama Kelly, fearing for her children's well-being, made playing in or near it a major offense.
Kim was usually an obedient child, but at thirteen she had begun to feel the restraint of some of her parent's rules. When her best friend, Ruthie Anne Ferguson, had suggested playing Indians in the creek Kim had protested, reminding Ruthie that she wasn't allowed. Ruthie told Kim that she wasn't either, but said she didn't plan to be caught by her mother. 'Oh, posh!' Kim thought to herself, 'I'm sure Mama means that rule to be for younger kids, and I'm 13 now.' After a moment's hesitation, she quickly agreed.
Ruthie and Kim slipped their shoes and stockings under a bush where they would be out of sight, and ran a few hundred yards up the side of the creek. It was just after two in the afternoon and Kim had almost three hours before it would be time to start evening chores. The girls began pretending to be cowboys and indians in the meadow beside the creek, hooping, shooting pretend guns, and letting fly pretend arrows. Then, to avoid a band of cowboys, they gathered their long skirts up in their hands and waded into the creek. The water was icy cold on their bare feet and legs, but then was forgotten in the excitement of the game. Down the creek the two girls went, stepping into shallow pools, or precariously balancing as they stepped from one rock to another.
"Kim!" a voice shouted from a clump of trees to their left. "Oh!" Ruthie exclaimed, while Kim almost slipped and fell as she jumped in startlement. Her toes clinched the edge of the rock and her right arm waved in the air as she struggled to keep her balance. Standing at the edge of the bank was her sister, Kathleen, with her friend, Betsy. Kathleen and Betsy, also best friend, were twelve years old.
"Kathy!" Kim exhaled. "You scared me to death! What are you doing?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? What are YOU doing? You know Mama says we can't play in the creek. You're going to catch it good if she finds out!"
"Well, I'm thirteen and I guess I can do some things if I want to," Kim shot back. "Besided, I don't plan on letting her catch me."
"What are you doing there, anyway?" Kathleen persisted.
"We're playing that we're Indians sneaking away from some cowboys. We walking in the creek so they can't trace us."
"That sounds fun! Want to play, Betsy?" Kathleen asked, turning to her cohort.
"Who said you could play?" Ruthie said, "This is me and Kim's game."
"Who said I wouldn't tell," Kathleen quickly shot back, resting her hands on her hips and turning her chin up just enough to be seen.
"Yeah," Betsy added, "we'll tell if you don't let us play."
"O.k, o.k.," Ruthie replied. She quickly realized there was only one winning proposition, and jumped to its conclusion. "You'll have to come back and get your shoes, though. Get behind us." Kim and Ruthie waited a few moments while Kathleen and Betsy shed their shoes, and in another minute the four girls were once again in flight from chasing cowboys.
The girls worked their way down the creek, climbing to the bank when they came to parts too deep for wading. Soon, they were approaching the Kelly's yard.
"This is where we have to stop," Kim said, "Mama might see us if we go past those bushes there." She began to lead the way to the left bank. She came to a rock that was just beyond the reach of her toe. Judging the distance, she made a small leap. Just before her foot landed, a loud, "Arrrowffff!!" shattered the hot July air.
"Oooops" Kim shrieked. The dog's bark had startled her again, and her left hand lost its grip on her dress. As she grabbed for it she lost her balance, her foot missed the rock and she fell into the creek. On the way down she instinctively flung her right arm out to grab hold of something, and clutched Ruthie's wrist. In a loud splash both Kim and Ruthie fell into the creek. Kim's head momentarily went underwater, but in the slow current she realized she was in no danger. She could hear the muffled, "Rowf!, rowf!, rowf!, rowf!" of the Kelly's excited cocker spaniel through the water, however. Kim's hands found a grip and she lifted herself from the water. Ruthie was already getting up. Both girls clothes were completely drenched, though Ruthie's hair was only dampened. Kim's long, black hair was plastered against her head and dress with streams of water running from it, joining the rest of the waterfall spilling into the creek from her clothes.
"Oh, great!", she moaned. "This couldn't be worse!"
"Lady, whatever are you bark.... Girls!!" Mrs. Kelly exclaimed. There, standing on the creek bank, was Kim and Kathleen's mother.
Kim slowly put on her clothes. Her wet garments had been given to Mama, who took them outside to hang on the clothesline. Mrs. Kelly had sent Ruthie and Betsy home with orders to explain to their mothers everything that had happened. Mrs. Kelly would check with them at Mass on Sunday to ensure that all had been confessed, she warned. When Kim was finished drying and dressing she had orders to meet Mama in Papa's library, where Kathleen was already waiting. Going to the library meant one thing: Kim and Kathleen were going to be spanked for their disobedience. When a Kelly child was to receive the ultimate punishment, the library was the room designated to carry out the deed.
Kim blinked to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. She did not want a spanking, but she knew that she had fully earned the one she was about to get. On the walk back Mama had interrogated the girls about their adventure. They told her all the events and admitted to their transgressions, from the first decision to disobey by Kim and Ruthie to Kathleen and Betsy's threat if they were not allowed to join the illegal game. It was a shut and closed case with no defense or mitigating circumstances.
When the last button was fastened, Kim began the journey to the library. With the consequences of her actions now imminent, the first pangs of anxious dread began to form in her chest. She slowly descended the stairway, turned down the hall, and finally came to the library door. It was standing open, and when she entered she saw that Mama and Kathleen were already there. Mama was sitting in Papa's wingback chair beside the fireplace and Kathleen stood glumly by the his desk.
"Shut the door, please," Mama said. Kim closed the big door, noting the distinct 'click' when the latch snapped home. "Now come here," Mama said, and Kathleen and Kim went and stood in front of her as she sat back in the expanses of the big chair.
"We know why we're here, don't we?" she asked, looking at Kim directly in the eyes, and then shifting to Kathleen.
"Yes, ma'am," the girls replied in unison.
"You were both clearly disobedient. I have never allowed any of my children to play in that creek under any circumstances without adult supervision. I have never changed that rule. And spankings have been given before to those that have broken it. Now you girls have broken it, and it is my intent to give you both a spanking. Do you believe that you deserve it?"
Mama continued to look at the girls directly into their eyes. After a moment, Kathleen looked down, and shuffled her feet. "Well?" Mama persisted, after several more moments passed.
"Ye....yes, ma'am," Kathleen said, in a voice barely above a whisper. Mama shifted her gaze to Kim.
"Yes, ma'am," Kim replied.
"I think it would be best for all of us if we got this over with as quickly as possible," Mama said. She arose from the chair. The library was a corner room, and just to the right of the side window was kept the instrument used to apply physical correction to the Kelly offspring. It was a short leather strap, made of laminated cowhide, 14 inches long. One end had a small, metal ring which was used to hang it on a nail. Papa had purchased the strap for its suitability for administering chastisement (his real razor strap, for razors, was much longer and kept in his bedroom). He periodically rubbed it with oil to keep it supple and from drying out. The childrenwere allowed to touch the strap under no circumstances. As a result, it hung in the library as an untouchable icon of authority. Even when Kim was in the library just to see Papa or to browse for a book when the strap was sighted it caused her heart to jump in a little trill of momentary fear. But when she was in the library for more serious reasons, the removal of the strap from the wall was the starting signal for her emotional train. Mama reached up and plucked the strap from its nail, and Kim's heart began to race. She could feel the prickly fingers of fear trace up her spine as Mama made preparations to spank.
Mama began to clear the items from one side of Papa's desk. While she waited, Kim's mind drifted to Ruthie Ann. She wondered if Ruthie had yet told Mrs. Coughlin about the escapade. Kim knew that Ruthie would be punished, too; Mrs. Coughlin was as big a believer in correcting children 'with the rod' as Mama was. Mrs. Coughlin's rod, though, was a hickory switch, which she used on her children's legs. Kim had seen the long, thin marks that the switch left on Ruthie's legs. Mama tched in disapproval when Kim told her about the switch being used on Ruthie's legs. That would not be where Kim would receive her correction.
"There," Mama said. The desk was ready. Kim knew that Kathleen would be the first to receive her punishment. When more than one child was to be disciplined, Mama always proceeded from youngest to eldest. She directed Kathleen, who already had tears streaming down her face, to come to Papa's desk. Kathleen knew the expected routine. She stepped up to the side of the desk at the front corner. Mama believed that God had provided a certain well-designed part of the anatomy for the application of corporal punishment, and she required her children to properly present that spot for the strap when it was time for correction. Lifting the long skirt of her dress, Kathleen reached underneath and loosened her bloomers, pulling them down and dropping them at her ankles. Next she leaned over and laid down with her body on the desk. Before Mama had to tell her to do so, Kathleen clasped her hands together where they lay just in front of her face. Mama laid the strap down and picked up the back of Kathleen's dress and in her usually neat way laid it carefully over Kathleen's back so that it would not be wrinkled. Then Mama picked up Kathleen's white slip and laid it in place on top of the dress. Kathleen was ready to receive her spanking. Her bottom, the place where Mama said spankings accomplished the most good, was bare of the protective padding of three layers of clothes and turned over the edge of the desk. Kathleens bare legs, as white as her bottom, trailed down the side of the desk.
Mama reached over Kathleen and picked up the strap. When she did Kathleen, who was peering back to monitor the pre- parations, let out a slightly audible, "ooohhhh," in anticipation of the beginning of her punishment. Mama positioned herself on Kathleen's left side, and gripped the end of the strap.
"Now, Kathleen Kelly, you know the rules?"
"Ye ... ye .... yes, ma'am," Kathleen said in a strained voice.
"Very good," Mama said, and proceeded with supplying Kathleen with the consequences for her misbehavior. Mama drew her right arm back, paused, and with a vigorous stroke brought her arm around and smacked the strap across the bare skin of Kathleen's exposed bottom.
"Owwwww!!!" Kathleen bawled in response. As Mama drew her arm back for another stroke, Kim saw the appearance of a rectangular red 'burn' across Kathleen's bottom. With a loud POP! the strap again landed on the soft flesh. Mama continued the punishment with steady strokes of the strap, and the library was filled with the alternating sounds of striking leather and Kathleen's vocal replies.
POP! "Owww!"
POP! "Owwww!"
POP!
POP! "Mama!"
POP! "Stop!"
POP! "Pleeese, stop!"
POP! "Owwwch!"
The intensity of the action filled the air like electricity, and Kim felt her whole body tingling with the tenseness. Kathleen protests were to no avail. Mama's rules on licks was that the offender received her age. Kathleen would have to accept twelve swats on her bottom before the spanking would be finished. As the strap continued to flash through the air Kathleen quit yelping and began to cry. Finally, Mama's arm fell to her side.
Kathleen did not immediately get up, but lay in place on the desk quietly crying. The lower part of her buttocks were a bright crimson red, indicating where the strap had done its work. It was in sharp contrast with the surrounding white skin. Mama let Kathleen lay a few moments, then said, "Kathleen, you need to get up. We have another daughter who needs her turn." Mama reached down and turned Kathleen's slip and dress down her legs, and Kathleen slowly pushed herself up from the desk. She stepped backward to stand beside Kim, shuffling her feet because her bloomers were still around her ankles.
"Kim, I believe you need to come forward, now," Mama firmly said. Kim's heart began to pound in her chest, and she felt her face flush. A whirl of fear began to swell in her brest. She knew that she must obey her mother, however, and began to walk toward the desk. In a moment her waist was against the edge of the desk. Oh, how she desperately wanted to escape this moment! Remembering what she needed to do, she picked her dress up in her hands, took the strings of her bloomers and untied them, and then pushed them down till they fell to the floor. Why wouldn't Mama at least let them keep their bloomers on? Even a little bit of cushion from that awful strap would be better than nothing! "Bend over," she heard her mother order. Kim put her palms flat on the desk, and then leaned over and let herself down on the desk. She scooted forward so the the edge of the desk snugged into her waist and then laid herself all the way down. "Put your hands together," she heard her mother say from behind her. Extending her elbows out to the side, she clasped her fingers together just in front of her chin. "Very good," Mama said.
Kim waited while Mama completed the preparations. She felt her dress being lifted and laid on her back. Now there was only one protecting garment left, and Kim felt it rising out of the way. Mama laid Kim's slip on top of her dress. Kim turned her head to peer back over her left shoulder. She saw Mama lean over to reach across and retrieve the strap from the desk. She desperately wished that there was some last moment way to avoid the ordeal, but knew that begging and pleading would be useless. With the spanking now being very imminent, Kim's awareness focused on her bare and upturned bottom. She wanted to defensively tighten it against the touch of the strap, but the bending position prevented her from doing so; it was just why Mama made them bend over, she vexedly thought.
"Kim, do you remember the rules?" Mama asked. This was usually her last question before beginning her punishments. Mama had a set of rules that children being spanked had to observe. They had to keep their hands clasped, keep their chests flat on the desk, and keep the front of their thighs against the side of the desk. These requirements ensured that the disciplined child would hold still and obediently accept her spanking, of course, and even though they were very difficult to observe Kim knew that an infraction would bring on even worse punishment. The only good choice was to observe the rules and hold still till the alloted spanking was over.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied in a quiet voice.
"Very good," Mama said, and Kim knew that it was time. She turned her head forward, squeezed her hands together, and shut her eyes tightly. Kim felt an electric charge of anxious dread, her heart began to pound in her chest, and she could almost feel the skin on her bottom prickle in anticipation. Moments passed.
Kim heard a whiz, and then felt a thump on the soft flesh of her bottom, immediately accompanied by a scorching burn. She flinched in response, and emitted a gasped, "Ohhhhh." There was a pause while Kim held her tensed position, and then another penetrating burn pulsed on her bottom with the next arrival of the strap. Kim knew that the spanking had just begun and at least eleven more strokes would be coming. She tried to mentally steel herself to receive them, knowing that if she did not obediently accept the spanking that there would be another one following.
Mama carried on with the punishment. This was an especially overt act of disobedience and Mama was determined that Kim would get a very sound spanking as a result. She delivered the third swat of the strap, snapping it smartly across Kim's now reddened bottom. "Owwoh!," Kim exlaimed, jerking her body forward on the desk. Mama continued, aiming carefully to ensure that the strap touched only the soft flesh of Kim's buttocks, turned up on the edge of the desk. But Mama also made sure each touch of the strap landed with a vigorous smack.
Kim didn't know if she could hold still for the whole spanking. The strap continued its work with steady strokes. Kim felt the pulsing sting of each smack, and the intensity of the burn on her bottom grew with each stroke. Like Kathleen, Kim was involuntarily rocking forward and yelping with each pop of the leather.
"SMACK" Seven!
"SMACK" Eight!
"SMACK" Nine!
"SMACK" Ten!
Only three more! Kim resolved that she would hold still.
"SMACK"
"SMACK"
"SMACK"
There was a pause. No scorching swat arrived.
Mercifully, the spanking was over! Kim pushed herself up from the desk. Mama had stepped back, the leather strap now hanging by her side in her hand.
"You girls can straighten yourselves up now," she said. "We'll talk about this little episode more later." Mama didn't try to lecture her children immediately after being punished. She preferred to wait till things had settled down and a more attentive atmosphere for discussion prevailed.
Kim, her bloomers still around her ankles, picked her dress back up so that she could slip her hands under to massage her bottom. The skin of her bottom was hot to the touch, evidence of the soundness of Mama's spanking. Kim rubbed her hands up and down, and gently squeezed her bottom. The intensity of the stinging began to ease. Kim pulled her bloomers back up, and adjusted her dress back into it's place. Mama placed the strap back on its nail and left the library.
"Do you want to go look?" Kathleen asked. Kathleen's tears had stopped, though her face was still flushed. There were mirrors in the bathroom which the girls could use to examine the results of the spanking on their bottoms.
"Yes," Kim replied. The two girls, still barefoot, proceeded to the bathroom. Kim reflected that her escapade on the creek had been a poor idea, and resolved to not be as eager for such an adventure in the future.
=END=