Chapter 89: Honour and Punishment

by John Dent

The evening sun's rays were still warm against Uri's skin as she stood in the dusty yard along with most of the gang's other girlies. Looking round, Uri still had to admit to herself that it seemed strange to be surrounded by women, all of whom were fully dressed. Even in her short time with the Widows, it had not been like this for her before as, previously, there was always a naked slave hovering round in the background somewhere... but not now. Birds fluttered about in the branches of some nearby trees as the gentle breeze fanned the area. A few full gang members, resplendent in their trousers, lolled about waiting for the punishment to begin. A sudden mention of the word 'dogs' in there conversation caught Uri's attention and she strained her ears to hear more.

"... dogs. Yeah, about three or four of 'em, I swear it. Ten... fifteen miles out, I reckon."

"And what were they doing?"

"Seemed to be heading in this direction. Never seen anything like it. Thin, scrawny mongrels... town dogs, I'd have said. Not like the wild mutts you get out here."

"So what did you do?"

"Took a pot shot at one. That got 'em scurrying for cover."

"So now there's one less, right?"

"Erm..."

"Oh, cut the shit, Hoover. You couldn't hit a barn door with a shotgun!"

"Could so!"

"Couldn't!"

"Could!"

The half joking argument was suddenly cut off by the arrival on the scene of Shiv, her arm draped over the pale shoulders of Comfort while behind the pair hovered Ginger, a scowl upon her face. Comfort throw a smirk over towards Uri who responded by sticking her tongue out at the other girlie... an appendage that was quickly retracted when the area suddenly fell into an expectant hush as Auntie Sophie emerged from a nearby hut closely followed by a sheepish looking Jane who was dressed in a short pleated cotton skirt, tank top and sandals and was carrying a normal dining room chair. Auntie had a large handbag clasped to her bosom. The pair moved into a clearing in the middle of the throng of womankind who had now fallen into a respectful silence. Without a word being spoken, Jane put the chair down, carefully positioning it so that it faced Shiv. Auntie sat on the chair and, after receiving a signal to proceed from the gang's leader, she looked up at Jane before telling her to pass the hairbrush from the handbag.

'Hairbrush?' thought a mystified Uri to herself as the girlie did as she'd been told.

"Pull down your skirt and assume the position!" commanded Auntie.

Jane simply looked at the ground and shuffled her feet. An intake of breath ran around the small crowd. "That's not good," whispered Sharon who had, unnoticed by Uri, slipped into a space next to her. "It's not good form not to obey instantly. That'll have been noted by many... including Shiv. Watch for the signal..."

"Signal? What signal?" whispered Uri frantically back, not sure what she was looking for or what she was supposed to do should the signal be shown.

Shiv glared at Jane who still didn't move, despite a repetition of the command from Auntie. Then the gang leader's gaze swept over the gathered girlies before finally alighting on Sharon and Uri. There followed a small, almost imperceptible, raising of the eyebrows. "That's it. Let's go!" urged Sharon, already stepping forward.

Uri hastily followed. "But what are we doing?" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Getting Jane to obey. Since we're all part of the same team, it's our responsibility. If we don't, then her disgrace will count against the whole of the team... and I don't want that - and neither do you! Come on!"

Needing no further urging, Uri hurried towards the still unmoving Jane where she took up position on one side of the girl while Sharon stood opposite Uri. Sharon grabbed hold of the waistband of Jane's skirt with one hand and the hem with the other; Uri repeated the manoeuvre and then, when Sharon nodded, they both yanked downwards and, sending buttons popping away into the audience, hauled the unfortunate Jane's skirt down to her knees. Underneath, the 'prisoner' was wearing the skimpiest of thongs, the thin elasticated rib having already vanished into the cleft between the girl's pale cheeks. Almost automatically, Jane pressed her hands over her groin in a feeble attempt to protect her modesty... something else that, judging by the second intake of breath by most of the crowd and a scattering of booing from some of the full members, was not considered proper behaviour. Sharon moved quickly and grabbed hold of Jane's wrists, pulling her hands away firmly.

"Assume the position," Auntie repeated... and this time the message seemed to get through to Jane for she obediently bent herself over the older woman's knee.

Sharon took hold of Uri's elbow and discreetly pulled her back into the crowd and away from the central stage. "Now let's see what happens," the more experienced Sharon whispered. "She's suppose to simply accept her punishment stony faced and stoically. Something tells me it's not going to work out like that." In her own mind, Uri could only agree...

Auntie, holding Jane down with her left arm, pulled her right back before powerfully sweeping it down so that the hairbrush struck Jane's exposed right buttock with an audible 'thwack!'. As the flesh recoiled and quivered, Jane bit her lip, closed her eyes and flinched while her skin started to glow pink where the wooden implant had landed. Once again Auntie's arm was pulled back and again the smack was delivered, this time striking the left cheek. A small 'eek!' escaped from the trapped girl's lips and her feet drummed against the ground briefly while a small tear began to trickle from the corners of her eyes. The third blow landed and this time Jane gave a much louder yelp and starting crying in earnest. By the time the fourth smack had been administered, Jane's legs were lashing about as much they were able, one of the sandals flying off and shooting into the air.

"Shit!" muttered Sharon as some members of the crowd started to jeer and whistle, "We're all going to cop some of the flack over this!"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" whispered back Uri.

"Not really. But if she keeps this up, the crowd'll soon start demanding that she be made a slave!"

"What?" gasped an astounded Uri. "That can't be legal - or right. I mean, we're all free women, right?"

"Wrong - we're all outlaws and we live by our own set of rules. Girlies can become full members and full members can lose their pants. By the same token, we can be enslaved or the slaves can win a skirt. It depends on just how well the person behaves and how much they've got in the way of guts."

The fifth blow landed and Jane started to shout abuse and redoubled her efforts to stand.

"How many does she have to take?" questioned Uri of her new companion.

"Twelve. She's not going to make it." And, true enough, some of the women in trousers were now starting to mutter to each other while Ginger was shaking her head. "If she fully cracks, we'll be ostracised and put on latrine duty until another team screws up! It's not fair - looking after that Gill bimbo has got to be one of the easiest duties around. Damn Jane! Damn her to hell!"

Auntie pulled back her hand in preparation for the sixth blow... and, suddenly and instinctively, Uri knew what to do. Taking a deep breath and setting her shoulders, she strode back into the centre of the square where she turned to face Shiv and, in a firm and purposeful voice announced, "Auntie - I volunteer to take the rest of the punishment in the place of my team-mate!"