Read The Farmer's Reluctant Bride Online
Authors: Dina Chapel
The Farmer's Reluctant Bride
The Farmer’s Reluctant Bride
By
Dina Chapel
Copyright © 2015 by
Dina Chapel
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the author.
Chapel, Dina
The Farmer’s Reluctant
Bride
Cover Design by THE
KILLION GROUP, INC.
This book is intended
for
adults only
. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in
this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.
“Glad you made it, son.”
The pastor’s welcome didn’t make
Hank feel any better about being so late. Were there any left for the choosing?
He’d find out soon enough, he supposed.
Pastor Karlson waited patiently
while Hank hitched his team to the nearest post and walked over, taking the
Pastor’s hand in his own for a firm shake.
“How have things gone so far?” Hank
needed to ask, but wasn’t so sure that he wanted to hear the answer. “Good
turnout?” If he had come all this way just to have to turn around and leave
without...well, he would be sorely disappointed, to say the least. Plus, with
winter coming on, it would be some time before he’d get another chance for
something like this.
When Hank had first heard about
this “bride train,” during the church announcements a few months ago, he
thought it might be too good to be true. A wagon train with at least seven
single women in tow, traveling from the east coast, would arrive toward the end
of summer. All marriageable men from the area were welcome to meet the train.
If any one of the women appealed to any one of the men and vice versa, the pastor
would wed them on the spot.
Hank had been widowed right before
winter set in last fall, when his childhood sweetheart, Susannah, had taken
with the fever and passed within days. He had spent a long, lonely winter
grieving his wife. He had no desire to spend another winter alone.
“As it happens, we’ve had an
excellent turnout today.” Hank felt his stomach drop at the pastor’s words.
“And we have one young lady left. Since I’m guessing you’re probably our last
arrival for the day, that works out quite well.”
Hank looked around. A few of the
newly-hitched couples were still milling about, preparing to depart. Some of the
young women had formed friendships during the long trip out west and were
saying their tearful farewells to each other. They likely wouldn’t see each
other again, but the goal of marriage and a home and family of their own had
been realized today. Hank hoped it would be for him also. He wanted a wife and
children with whom he could share his life and farm.
“Could you point her out to me,
Pastor?” Hank was growing anxious. He felt the need to lay eyes on her. The
pastor placed a fatherly hand on Hank’s back and led him toward the makeshift
tent set up for this day. The pastor had performed more than few marriages
under this tent today.
“She’s just inside the tent here,
with Mrs. Karlson.” The pastor stopped walking and paused. “There is a small
problem though.” Hank stepped through the flap of the tent from the bright
sunlight, into the cool shade inside. On the far side of the tent, he could
make out the pastor’s wife sitting with a young woman, speaking to her in a low
voice.
Hank blinked a few times, willing
his eyes to adjust more quickly to the darkness of the tent so he could make
out the woman sitting with Mrs. Karlson. He started toward the pair when the
pastor put a hand on his arm to stop him.
“A word first, young man.”
Hank looked to the pastor to
explain why he needed to speak to him, just when he was about to introduce
himself to the woman he’d be taking as his bride.
Pastor Karlson moved so that he
stood between Hank and his view of the women. “Like I said, there is a small
problem. Amanda Rose Danielson, the young lady sitting with Mrs. Karlson, did
not come here willingly, it seems. She was forced on this trip by her
guardians, who no longer wished to care for her. They were anxious to have her
married off, and marriageable men are scarce back east these days, as you well
know. Before that, she resided in the homes of various relatives and friends of
the family, shuttled from one to the other apparently, and never staying at any
one home for very long. She won’t give me any other information. Nothing other
than the fact that she does not want to marry and wishes to be left alone.”
“What does she plan on doing, out
here on her own in the middle of nowhere?”
“Well, the reality of her situation
is what Mrs. Karlson and I have been trying to impress upon her since her
arrival. No other men were interested in her, mainly due to the fact that she
has made no effort to make herself pleasing to any of the gentlemen here today.
In fact, she has barely spoken. Most of the information I have on her came from
one of the other girls who knew her from back home.”
The pastor paused as he and Hank
both looked over to where the two women sat. Hank’s eyes had finally adjusted
and he could make her out, somewhat. She looked a might thin, but otherwise
healthy. He needed someone who could bear him children. Hank had to be
practical. The pastor turned back to him.
“It’s really no wonder she’s
withdrawn and disagreeable, given her history, but if you aren’t interested, I
understand of course. The missus and I will take her home with us and perhaps
we can arrange for her to travel back east with a family that’s heading that
way. Not really sure what we’ll be able to manage for her, but with God’s help
we’ll figure something out.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t interested,
Pastor. I didn’t come all this way just to turn around and go home empty
handed, so to speak. I’d like to talk to her for a minute if I may. Get a
closer look. If she’s pleasing to me, I can handle any amount of obstinance she
is willing to dish up.”
That made the older man smile. “That’s
the spirit, young man. I will say that she is in dire need of a bath. I think
her lack of bathing is on purpose to keep people at arm’s length.”
* *
*
Hank just couldn’t figure what to
make of her. They rode side by side on the buckboard; she was silent and kept
her head down. Any attempts at conversation had been met with stony silence.
The only words he had heard her speak so far were her vows when the pastor had
married them, something she had reluctantly agreed to only after Mrs. Karlson
had convinced her it was her only option. Hank supposed he could make her
answer him, but he didn’t want to start off like that. He’d reserve punishment
for those things that he felt she had no choice about—like bathing, for
instance. It was going to be an awful long ride with that smell.
Hank supposed he could just talk,
without asking her anything, and that way if she felt like saying something she
could, but she didn’t have to. It was just nice to have another body alongside
him. He didn’t regret her at all.
“It’ll take us most of the day to
get home, should be arriving just about suppertime.” Silence.
“I don’t like to make stops, but I
will stop about halfway through the trip so we can stretch our legs and see to
our business.” Silence.
“I have a little food with me that
we can eat when we do stop for a break.” Silence. “And some cold tea. Hope
that’ll be to your liking, Amanda.”
“It’s Mandy.”
Hank nearly stopped the wagon. He
tried to act casual though. She had spoken so softly he had almost missed it.
Looking straight ahead, Hank continued talking.
“You prefer Mandy?” He looked
sideways at her when she didn’t respond and saw her nodding her head.
“Mandy it is then.”
*
* *
Mandy couldn’t help stealing shy
glances at her new husband when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Husband
.
Mandy herself didn’t really believe it yet. The last thing she thought she
would do was agree to be married.
She had decided even before the
long trip out here that she wasn’t going to marry anyone. The very idea
terrified her. She had been trying to figure ways to get away from the group
and set off on her own the entire trip, but nothing that was very feasible had
presented itself. Mandy didn’t want to be on that trip and she didn’t want to
marry, but she wasn’t stupid either. She didn’t want to end up in a whorehouse
or a jail cell. She did realize that marriage to a stranger might actually turn
out better than either of those two options.
And she was pretty tough. She
hadn’t survived this long growing up pretty much on her own, in assorted homes,
without some survival skills and smarts. She was shy and quiet, but she knew
how to protect herself. The question on her mind now, of course, was exactly
how was she to protect herself from a man who was legally allowed to do
anything he wanted to her?
Mandy recalled a time when she was
15 years old and the man of the house where she was living had tried to take
advantage of her when his wife was out one day. Mandy had given him a very hard
kick in a very sensitive place and then had run and run until she was back at her
cousin’s house—clear across town. They had taken her right back in and didn’t
make her return. Mandy was always checking over her shoulder after that day,
thinking the man would be angry and come looking for her.
But Mandy was fairly certain that
if her legally wedded husband wanted to do that same thing to her, she would
have to let him. She decided then and there that she would need to run again.
If she could get away from him, then he wouldn’t be able to take her to his
bed. She knew that, once he did that, she would have a hard time getting away
and staying away. But if the marriage wasn’t consummated, then she had a better
chance at getting her freedom back.
* *
*
She was going to fight him every
step of the way, of that he was certain.
Even thrown over his shoulder like
she was, the little hellcat was kicking and pounding on his back and thrashing
herself about like a wild thing. And, boy oh boy, did she stink! Hank figured
it must’ve been quite a spell since her body had seen any soap and water. She
needed a bath first thing.
Mandy had been so quiet and
agreeable on the first half of the trip back to his farm that she actually had
Hank believing that she had accepted her situation and the marriage. He even
thought that maybe she was thinking she liked him. He was sure starting to like
her, even though he barely knew her yet.
But that had been too good to be
true and he should have known so. The minute that they had pulled over to rest,
Mandy asked Hank for some privacy to do her business. He walked the horses down
to the small creek that ran alongside the road they were traveling on, just so
she wouldn’t feel embarrassed. He thought she might appreciate the thoughtful
gesture.
She appreciated it all right. So
much so that she wasn’t anywhere to be found when he came back to the wagon
with the horses. Hank had quickly mounted one of the horses bareback and headed
for the small stand of trees opposite the creek. And it didn’t take him long to
find that city girl. She was making more noise that a wild boar, working her
way through the brush, headed who knew where.
When Hank had caught up alongside
her, all he had to do was reach down and grab her and throw her over the horse,
face down. Mandy had screamed then, which frightened the horse.
“Hush, now!” Hank silenced her with
a firm slap of his hand to her backside, which was conveniently right in front
of him. It worked, and she was silent and still, but only for a moment. Back at
the wagon, Mandy had tried to wriggle from his grasp when he pulled her off the
horse’s back.
Hank had just put one foot up onto
a spoke on the wagon wheel and pulled Mandy right over his raised leg. She
screamed again.
“Settle down, Amanda Rose!” Hank
planted a few fast hard wallops on her backside. Then he made short work of
lifting her skirt and petticoats and separating her drawers so that nothing
would come between her bare behind and his firm hand. Hank set right in to
spanking her, anxious to get his message across.
“I’ve had just about enough of this
nonsense, young lady.” Hank lectured as he spanked. “Like it or not, I’m your
husband now. You will do as I tell you.” Hank heard Mandy crying from the
walloping he was giving her. He really didn’t believe in doing anything
halfway, and this spanking was no exception to that rule.
Hank had Mandy balanced over his
leg and she was dangling in the air on both ends. Even though she was kicking
her legs and holding onto Hank’s leg for support, he had made sure that she
couldn’t fight him in this position. Hank held her firmly at her waist to be
sure she wouldn’t fall.
“We are going home, both of us,
together, to your new home. “ Hank could have sworn she cried harder at his
words, which pained him. He wished she could be even a little bit happy about
their union. Maybe she just needed some time.
“I want you to stop trying to run
from me. There’s nowhere for you to go out here, and you’ll only come to harm
on your own. Especially at night.” Hank stopped spanking for a moment to let
his words sink in. “I can’t protect you if I can’t find you, Mandy.” His voice
had softened a little at these last words. He already felt completely
protective of her. She was his now, his wife.
Hank looked down to where his hand
rested possessively on her bare behind. Her skin was bright red and hot to the
touch. He supposed that should do the trick for now. Mandy hung limp and
sniffling over his leg.
But when Hank lifted her off his
leg and lowered her carefully until her feet touched the ground, she
immediately pulled back and looked up at him with a scowl on her face. Hank
still held her upper arms and Mandy tried to pull herself from his grasp. Hank
sighed.
“Seems you haven’t learned your
lesson yet,” he said, shaking his head at her. “I’d put you back over my knee
right now, but we’ve wasted enough time already. I have animals at home to tend
to.”
Hank wound up having to bind her
hands with his kerchief and then tie them to a slat in the wagon with some rope
that he always kept handy. The remainder of the trip consisted of him checking
over his shoulder on her as she desperately tried to untie her binds. When he
had finally untied her when they got home, she nearly got away from him again
when she had kicked him hard in the shin of his leg. That’s when he had picked
her up and thrown her right over his shoulder. Hank had imagined carrying her
over the threshold, but not quite like this.