The Humiliation of Hannah

Chapter One-3

“Now tell the man what he wants to know,” Daniel ordered. “Why such a hard punishment? And look at him when you speak.”

Oh! What a greater horror could there be than this? Hannah’s lids fluttered open, while a pair of errant tears dislodged from her eyes and made tiny rivers along her dirty cheeks. “I, sir … I, um… I repeatedly defied Daniel’s orders not to seek out my brother.”

“That ruffian, Beau?”

“Yes, sir.”

The judge inspected her face with a haughty air then finally said: “Your husband is a wise man. Your brother is not. The boy consorts with thieves and gamblers and no counts who would prey as easily on you as they prey on him. I’d think an intelligent woman like you would see that and keep her distance.”

“Yes, sir. I should have done so, sir.”

The judge took a deep breath, then looked back at Daniel. “So, what does it take to get your wife back in the kitchen and brewing me that cup of coffee I was looking forward to?”

“Oh, she’s due another twenty minutes of penance, but I suppose a quick caning would do as well.”

“I’m sure,” the man smiled. “You mind if I do the honors?”

“Not at all.” Daniel moved off and grabbed the switch he planned for Hannah’s final punishment. “I was aiming for her thighs,” he added as he handed the man the long, slender branch.

Seeing the exchange, Hannah shuddered deeply. She was about to turn around and offer the man her bottom—which would have been a far more appealing way to take the blows—but the judge stopped her.

“You can take them face forward, Hannah. It looks to me as if your arse end has already had enough beating for one day. Besides, afterwards, when you look down at your nakedness, the remaining evidence might appeal to your better self and stop such foolishness from happening again. You suppose?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now brace yourself.”

The judge moved in quickly to her side, and while Hannah closed her eyes—no way would she look now—the man rifled off six vicious thwacks of the stinging switch, landing the cuts evenly down her thighs, from the crook of her groin where the cut was most viscous to a few inches above her knees. Her plaintive moans were more internal than her earlier response to the pain Daniel levied against her body. The sound barely vented from her lips, and yet, the heavy load of anguish behind it was clearly evident to both men.

For a few moments after the switching ended, no one said a word. The air was teaming with the sounds of birds, the whinny of a horse and the buzz of bees. In that time, the immediate pain receded on Hannah’s thighs, although a throbbing more internal heat remained. While she suffered in that immovable silence, the two men felt the experience through every roused nerve.

“How about my coffee?” the judge finally broke the mood, as he tossed the switch into a nearby bush and turned toward the porch.

“I’ll join you there in a moment,” Daniel said.

“Good, good. I’m afraid we have another wayward woman to talk about.”

In the midst of her misery, the judge’s words brought Hannah around, although she didn’t dare question him about what he meant. But of course, he meant Jolie. Why else would he be here?

Oh! Dear God, what had she done now? She stared at him in wonder watching the aging jurist take the porch steps in a couple of long strides. He was in the house with the screen door banging behind him before even Daniel could offer a comment.

Hannah scurried to dress, taking time to briskly wash her hands and face and comb her hair. She still felt like hell. Her stomach ached from lack of food, her head from lack of sleep, and her bottom and thighs throbbed hotly with every move she made. The feel of her clothes against her flesh was another uncomfortable torment. But for the moment, she put all these personal concerns aside, as she swept into the kitchen and turned on the stove. The Judge wanted coffee, he’d get his coffee.

The two men sat in the parlor talking, well within her hearing distance.

“The deputy picked her up in bar fight. She’s one heck of a sassy woman,” Judge Boone said.

“And where is she now?” Daniel asked.

“In jail.”

“I see. And you’re the one to bear the news to me?”

“We’ve been friends a long time, Daniel. I was friends with her family. Shame about Albert dying so young, and now his children running around the county like scallywags. A far cry from what one would expect of Albert Noble’s offspring… except Hannah, of course,” he smiled. “You got the plum there, even if she requires some looking after.” He cast Daniel a wry look.

“She is indeed a plum. Although, it would seem the other two are taking great pains to tear her down.”

“She’ll do all right. She has spirit and will and she loves you. She’s just a bit impetuous.”

“Too impetuous,” Daniel said grimly.

“My question for you—we have the matter of Jolie to decide on. Do you want me to handle this myself, or turn her over to you?”

Hannah paused to hear her husband’s answer. She had a tray of coffee, sugar and milk in her hands and stood poised at the kitchen doorway waiting.

Daniel didn’t make a noise for several seconds and when he spoke he might as well have grabbed her wrist and jerked hard. The tray nearly fell from her hands.

“Why don’t you come in here, Hannah. You might as well know what’s happening.”

Hannah rushed in and set the tray on the table.

“I am curious,” she looked at the two men, “I think I have a right to be.”

“Your sister is in a heap of trouble, Hannah,” Judge Boone said as he accepted his mug of coffee.

“And what this time?” she asked.

“A bar brawl.”

“Jolie?” She looked at him disbelieving.

“Your sister is not as naïve as you think. She has men swarming about her, now that she’s of eligible age. She draws them in with her pretty looks, making them dance to her suggestive come-hither ways. Frankly, she might be better off moving back with your mother.” He looked up at her and added with a warm grin, “A fine cup of coffee.”

“Thank you, sir. But really, Jolie can’t go live with mother. The woman wants to no part of the girl, nor does Jolie want any part of her. It simply won’t work. I wouldn’t suggest it to either one.”

“There is your aunt in Pennsylvania,” Daniel reminded her.

“Yes, dear, there is,” she considered the idea a moment then continued, “but couldn’t we try something else first? Warn her and see if she has it in her to change? She loves it here. Maybe if she knew that she’d be shipped off to Aunt Grace, she’d start behaving better. I would happily see her gone as disrupt things here anymore than she already has, but I can’t see doing that without giving her one more chance. Please, Daniel?”

“That matter is up to you and Daniel,” the judge said. “What’s of more concern to me is handling the matter at hand. What do I do with her now? I can’t let her go unpunished. Either I take her in hand using my own methods, or you do.”

“She’s yours to take care of with this business,” Daniel said directly. “Better you than me.”

“So, what does that mean?” Hannah asked.

“It means she’ll get the same sort of treatment you got today,” the judge paused, giving her a meaningful stare, “from me.”

Hannah shuddered. She’d heard about the man’s rough justice; he was no one to be trifled with. Although she imagined that her husband could be as exacting and as hard. Under the circumstances, the very idea of an official court ordered punishment was a thought so chilling that she had to put it out of her mind lest she fall to her knees and beg the judge to offer her sister mercy. However, after hearing the man speak about his brand of corporal justice while she was herself strung up in the yard, Hannah was sure that pleading with the judge would get her nowhere.

While Hannah cleaned up the kitchen, the judge finished his coffee and his conference with Daniel. He then left the husband and wife to themselves and returned to town.

After dinner that evening, Hannah finally had to ask the questions that had been burning in her mind all day. “I wonder why, sir, you elect to have the judge punish Jolie, when you’ve done so a number of times yourself?”

Daniel eyed her thoughtfully, “That is the point, isn’t it? It would seem that Jolie doesn’t respect my authority. Perhaps a bit of official justice would bring her around when other means don’t work.”

Hannah pondered that idea for a moment. “Would you ever consider the same for me?”

He stared at her wonderingly. “Are you suggesting that you’d do anything so extreme to warrant that?”

“No, sir. I’m just positing the question. Out of curiosity.”

He thought a moment, then said: “No one will punish my wife but me, Hannah. You and Jolie and different. I don’t have the same responsibility to her that I have to you. If she’s going to live in this community, she’ll have to grow up and start acting like a responsible woman not a child. If not, she’ll live with the consequences.”

Hannah sighed. “You must think my family is worthless.”

Daniel shook his head. “Your family lost its anchor when your father died. You have me, but your brother and sister have no one to rely on but you, and that’s a bigger burden at this point than you need to bear. Jolie will be going to your aunt’s. The woman made the offer and I see no reason why we shouldn’t take advantage of her generosity. I’ll take her as soon as I can make time.”

“But you will wait to see if the judge can manage what we have not?”

He considered the idea and finally nodded. “I suppose it won’t take much time to tell if she’s reformed.”

Hannah smiled. This was a small reprieve. She held no hope that Jolie’s behavior would reform enough to satisfy her husband. But at least she might have a few more weeks to enjoy her spirited sister. She’d always been a handful, and up to this point the eighteen-year-old had been fairly easy to corral. Now there were different factors involved, a young woman’s virtue to protect. Even Hannah had to admit that sending Jolie to her Aunt might be the best thing for the vulnerable sometimes reckless young woman. Aunt Grace was kind but firm. Perhaps a chance to live in the city would have more appeal once she was there and could see the advantages compared to their rough and backwards surroundings in this rural place.

Beau, on the other hand, was something else. He couldn’t be sent back anywhere; no one would have him. He was hurt the most by their father’s death, which was why Hannah found it so easy to defy one man while she attempted to rescue another. Regardless of all her vows, she knew her weakness lay in him, and that scared her. What if she was confronted again with another opportunity to reach her brother? What would she do?