| Chapter Eighteen A Gift From Heaven |
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�Ewwww,� Alex laughed as she leaned over Wendy�s should and read the passage from a book Wendy had. �She kissed him? That�s disgusting. Why would anyone wanna kiss anyone anyway? Boys are gross.� �All boys aren�t gross,� Wendy replied. �and kissing a boy isn�t gross. Alex starred at Wendy. �Ohh yeah? And who have you ever kissed?� �Well no one exactly. I�m just saying someday we will kiss a boy and it won�t be so bad.� �Well maybe someday, but not right now. Besides, there aren�t any cute boys around worth kissing. Wendy looked at Alex, then left the bed and crawled into the window seat. �Ohhh my gosh!. There is someone here you want to kiss. Who is it. I want to know.� Just as Wendy was about to reply, there came a knock to the bedroom door. �Come in,� Wendy called. As Mark walked in, the two girls looked at each other and wondered if he had heard their conversation. �Wendy honey. I need to talk to Alex for a few minutes. Do you mind?� �No sir.� Wendy stood up and as she walked through the doorway, she wondered what her father wanted to talk to Alex about that she couldn�t be there for. �Did I do something wrong?� Alex asked. �No honey. You didn�t do anything wrong.� Mark took a seat beside Alex. �You know since Mr. Callahan left, we have been trying to find a replacement for him.� �You found someone didn�t you?� Alex asked as she turned and looked out the window. �Yes sweetie, we did.� �I don�t want a new father. I want you for a father!� �Well actually we didn�t find you a father. We found a lady to take his place.� �A lady? You mean as in a mother maybe?� �Yes Alex. Her name is Patricia. She is a very nice lady and I think you will get along with her just fine.� Alex looked at Mark with tear stained eyes. �Can you still be my father?� Mark leaned down and hugged Alex. �Honey I�m never very far away if you need me, but Patricia will be in charge of you now and I think it would be nice of you to go down and welcome her to Barrington Hall. After all, it is her first day and I�m sure she is feeling very nervous.� Alex tossed Marks words around in her head before turning again to Marks. �Where is she right now?� �Well I�m not sure. Should we go and find her?� Alex smiled and shook her head. On their way to find Patricia, Alex and Mark ran into Missy. Together the three of them went to find Patricia. Mark discovered her to be in her quarters, and though children weren�t allowed in this area, Mark took them to meet their new mother. �Come in!� Patricia said as she heard a knock. �Getting settled?� Mark asked as he peeked his head through the door. �Ohh hello Mark. Please come in.� Mark opened the door and motioned Alex and Missy to enter. Patricia sat her clothes down on the bed and turned toward mark and the girls. �Well who do we have here?� �Patricia. This is Alexandra and Melissa.� �I�m Alex.� �And I�m Missy� �It�s nice to meet you girls. I�m Patricia and I guess I�m to care and watch out for you.� Alex looked at Missy and they both smiled at each other. Mark smiled too. �Well I guess I have things to do so I�ll leave you ladies to get acquainted.� After Mark left, Patricia handed the girls some of her clothing and told them where she wanted them to be put away. The girls spent the better part of the afternoon with Patricia. By the time they went down to dinner, both girls felt pretty happy to have Patricia as their new parent. At dinner that night, Alex told Wendy all about her new mother. Patricia spent the evening with the girls in their room. She had been told all about the situation and understood all the girls needed would be some love and attention. Patricia took the girls on walks with her and sat with them at breakfast and lunch. She told the girls it was very important to learn to be a young lady and she spent several days working with the girls on their manners. Alex loved the attention and wanted to learn all Patricia had to offer. Both girls liked her and to this point and was very patient. They had no reason what so ever to disobey her. The following morning Wendy hurried with her chores, then set out to find her best friend. As she entered the downstairs hall, she saw Alex scrubbing part of the hard wood floor. �What are you doing?� she asked Alex. Alex dropped the scrub brush into the tiny bucket, then looked up at Wendy. �I�m being punished,� she replied with a frown. Wendy shook her head in amazement. �what did you do?� �I sassed my mother and now I have to scrub the floor from here to over there.� Alex reached into the bucket and picked up the scrub brush. �I haven�t seen you in over a week except for dinner. Aren�t you ever going to play with me again?� Wendy asked. �I do want us to hang out together, but I don�t think I can today cause I�m in trouble. Maybe tomorrow.� Alex went back to scrubbing the floor. When she looked up again, Wendy had gone. A couple minutes later Wendy dropped some towels onto the wet spot on the hard wood floor. �Watch this.� Wendy tipped the bucket over and the water ran onto the hard wood floor. She then took the towels and started mopping up the water. �If she comes back, she will see a wet floor and think you scrubbed it. The girls mopped up the water with the towels, then hid everything in a nearby closet and ran out the front doors of the school. The girls spent the entire afternoon out of earshot of the school. When they returned it was dinner time. Alex and Wendy washed their hands in the pantry just off the kitchen, then got into line for food. After they took their trays, they found an empty table in the far corner by the door that led into the hall. Just as Alex started to take a bite, she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder. Alex looked up. Patricia�s stern face greeted her. �Finish your supper, then go straight to your room.� Patricia turned and left the girls to eat. Alex played with her food, but could hardly eat. So far Patricia had been very nice and the only punishment Alex had ever received was mopping the floor. She wondered if Patricia knew he hadn�t done as she had been told. Alex felt really bad for sneaking out. She didn�t say much the rest of dinner time. Alex didn�t feel so hungry anymore so she took her try and dumped it. She looked around for Patricia. She noticed her sitting and smiling with the other adults. Alex decided she would try and talk to her mother before she went to her room. Alex walked to the adult table and stood just with in view of Patricia. Patricia saw Alex standing a few feet away. She excused herself from the table and approached Alex. �Are you finished with your supper Alexandra? �Yes Ma�am.� Alex replied. �Then I expect you to obey me and go to your room. I will be up in just a few minutes. I expect to see you in your pajamas. We will be having a talk soon, then you will be going to bed quite early tonight.� Patricia turned and walked away. Alex stood and watched, but Patricia never turned around. Finally Alex scooted up the stairs. She brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas and returned to her room. Alex sat on her bed and wondered how Patricia would punish her this time. She hoped the scolding wouldn�t be to bad, for she felt she would die from the quilt of her naughtiness if Patricia scolded to badly. Alex heard the voices of others in the hall. She opened her eyes and looked around her room. The sun had gone down almost completely and the darkness that filled her room made it almost impossible to see the clock on the wall. Alex crawled from her bed and walked to the door. The clock said it was after nine in the evening. She wondered if she had dreamed the entire thing and if Patricia had never been there. Alex opened the door and peeked into the hall. Wendy�s bedroom door stood open and Alex could hear them laughing. She peeked down the hall and when she didn�t see anyone that looked like Patricia, she scurried across the hall. �Alex!� Wendy yelled as she jumped up from her bed and hugged her. �You look like you just woke up?� �I did just wake,� she rubbed her eyes. �Wendy. Is there a real Patricia?� �What? Of course there is silly. She�s been your mother for close to two weeks now.� Happy but half disappointed, she replied. �Ohhh.� �I�m sorry I got you to run off with me today. I think that�s why she sent you to your room, but she can�t know how we mopped the floor. Still you should get back to your room before she catches you out.� Alex shook her head and headed out the door. As she headed down the hall toward her room, she stopped. Her mother had just come out of her room. Alex looked around but she knew it was too late. She knew Patricia had seen her. Alex figured this was going to be the worst scolding she had ever gotten. Alex started walking toward her mother. Patricia started walking toward Alex. When Alex passed her, Patricia turned around and swatted Alex on the seat of her pajamas. Alex jumped and threw her hands back. As she walked faster, her hands would fall away. Patricia would swat her again. By the time she reached her room, Patricia had managed to swat Alex five times. Alex ran through the doorway holding her bottom. As Patricia entered the room, she turned and looked down the hall. Several children including Wendy, were standing in the hall or peeking around the door to watch. Patricia entered the room and closed the door behind her. All the children stood waiting to see what would happen next. Suddenly Alex�s voice echoed down the hall begging her mother not to spank. Wendy ran halfway down the hall, but she knew it was to late. Wendy stood and listened as Alex�s, screeching, yelping and crying mixed in with slapping sounds, filled the hall. Finally the terrible sounds of a bare bottom spanking stopped. All they could hear now were Alex�s cries as they softened and turned into light sobs. Wendy knew it was her fault Alex had gotten a spanking. She wiped away her tears and returned to her own room. After the lights in the hall dimmed and the floor quieted down, Wendy crawled from her bed and peeked out her door. As she approached Alex�s door, she could still make out quiet sobs and sniffles. Wendy slowly turned the knob and opened the door. She slid in and sat down on Alex�s bed. Alex turned and looked at Wendy. �Everyone heard didn�t they?� Alex whispered. Wendy shook her head. �I�m sorry Alex. It�s all my fault you got a spanking.� �I know it is, but I still like you,� she replied. �What did Patricia say to you before she spanked you?� �Before, she didn�t say anything, but she said lots of things to me after she spanked me. Made me feel worse than the spanking did. I feel awful for disobeying her.� I�m really sorry Alex. I didn�t mean for you to get into trouble. I guess maybe I should go to bed before we get caught. Will you eat breakfast with me in the morning?� Alex shook her head. Wendy slipped through the doorway and back to her own room. As she lay in bed, she knew she had to make it up to Alex. Wendy decided she would tell Patricia tomorrow that Alex had disobeyed because of her. The next morning as Alex dressed, Patricia entered the room. Missy excused herself and scurried from the room. Alex pulled her dress down over her head, then turned around. Patricia zipped up the back, then turned Alex toward her. Alex slowly looked up. �I�m sorry Mommy,� �I�m sorry you disobeyed me too Alexandra. I love you dearly and I�m happy to be your mother, but it�s very important that you mind what I say. When you disobey me like you did yesterday, I have no choice but to punish you. As disappointed as I was in your behavior when you failed to clean the floor for your sassy mouth, I felt you surely deserved the spanking I gave you when I came upstairs for our talk, and you weren�t in your room.� Alex looked down at the floor. She wondered how Patricia could make her feel so guilty without even lifting a hand to her. Patricia reached out and lifted her chin. �Yesterday you sassed me and I punished you by having you scrub a section of the main hall. Did you do it?� Alex closed her eyes in shame.� �Alexandra. I�m waiting for an answer.� Alex opened her eyes and looked up at Patricia. Her face looked kind and her words weren�t harsh. Alex felt terrible for disobeying her. �I dumped the bucket on the floor and mopped it up with towels.� Alex sobbed. Patricia pulled her hand away and took a step away from Alex. Alex took a step toward Patricia, then stopped herself. Alex dropped her hands to her side, then let her head hang in shame. �Alexandra. Was that the right thing to do?� �No Ma�am.� �Then why did you do it if you knew it was wrong?� Alex looked up at Patricia. �I wanted to play with Wendy.� Patricia stepped toward Alex, then reached for her chin. �If you had done as you were told and scrubbed the floor, the rest of the day would have been yours to do with what you pleased. You chose do be deceptive and disobedient instead. That isn�t the way to be Alexandra, and you must learn that.� �I�m sorry Mother.� �The bucket and scrub brush are waiting. You may eat your breakfast first, then you will scrub the spot I assigned you yesterday. When you are finished, you will not have today to do as you please.� Alex watched as Patricia took a chair from their work table and placed it into the corner behind the door. �When you are finished, you will return to your room. You will take a seat in this chair and you will remain seated until I give you permission to leave it.� �Yes Ma�am.� Patricia walked to Alex and wrapped her arms around her. Alex let her head fall into the folds of Patricia�s dress. �I don�t like punishing you, but sometimes it is the way a child learns what is expected of them. I trust you will obey me?� �Yes Ma�am.� �Good. Then I won�t find it necessary to put you across my knee before bedtime again tonight.� Alex gasp at the possibility of another bed time spanking. Though they didn�t compare to the whippings Mr. Callahan gave her, Patricia�s spanking seemed to sting at her heart more than at her bottom. and Alex didn�t know why. Alex walked with her mother to breakfast. Though Wendy sat just a few feet away, Alex tried not to wish to hard for Wendy�s company again for fear of disobeying. After breakfast, Alex scrubbed the entire spot of the floor on her hands and knees. When she finished, she returned to her room. She stood on the small oval rug that lie between her and Missy�s bed and starred at the chair in the corner. Alex thought about Patricia and her kind words as well as her stern hand. She tossed the consequences of another disobedient act around in her mind and decided she loved Patricia. Alex placed her bottom in the chair. She crossed her feet at her ankles and folded her hands in her lap. She looked up into the corner and she waited. |