Disclaimers in part one, under 18 shame shame, go tell your parents. 

Thanks to Don Landhill for all his help and editing. :) Feed back is always welcome. 
 
 

The next morning, Jenny woke up stiff and still very sore, she remembered the blistering she got last night, pa's hand raining down, the stinging swats, making her sobs and do a dance on his lap. Begging for mercy that was not forth coming, kicking and screaming. She always marveled that her father could reduce her to tears, to a sobbing repentant child in moments when for so long she never cried. 

Jenny's mother, Whispering Wind, was an Apache/Cherokee Indian who met Ben Cartwright when he was on a trip across the land. They fell in love and went to her father, Lone Eagle the chief, for his blessing. Lone Eagle could deny his youngest child nothing, so he blessed their union, and they were married the next day. 

But her brother, Lame Wolf, didn't like her marrying a white man, and stole her away in the night a week later. Telling Ben she had been killed and showing him the body of a woman he had killed and dressed in his sisters clothing, Lame Wolf was able to remove this white man from his sisters life. He then told Whispering Wind that Ben had died, again showing a dead body dressed in the clothing of her beloved. In two moves , Lame Wolf had separated the lovers. What he didn't know was that his sister was with child. 

Whispering Wind gave birth to her tiny daughter the next spring; she named the babe White Dove to her people, and whispered the name Jennifer to her father, the chief. Whispering Wind died a week later from complications of the birth. Young White Dove helped fill a void in her grandfathers life, taking her mother's place as his favorite, but in her uncle she had a bitter enemy. 

Lame Wolf tried to kill Jenny several times, but was unsuccessful. Lone Eagle, having gotten wind of this, called his son to him. While none know what was said in the teepee that night, whispers say that Lone Eagle told his son that if White Dove died, he would follow soon after. White Dove was safe, or was she? While Lame Wolf no longer tried to kill her, he treated her badly, beating her for no reason at all with a willow switch. 

White Dove stood her uncles abuses silently till she was eight, then on the heels of the latest and worst beating yet, she ran away. Living as best she could, she avoided orphanages until one night she was hit by a wagon. 

The men in the wagon took her home, and nursed her. Stripping the 12-year-old child, they were surprised to find a girl. Even more surprising was the birthmark Ben discovered on her bottom, the same one her mother had had. Ben sent for Lone Eagle, and there on the Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada, grandfather and granddaughter, father and daughter were reunited. 

Jenny shook herself out of the memories. She placed her hand on her head, wiping the thoughts away for a moment, then turned over on her side to stand up. Wincing she rose quickly, a soft yelp coming from her lips at the pain still in her bottom. 

Her bedroom door opened quickly. 

"Short shanks? You okay? I heard a yelp." 

Hoss' huge form filled the door as he enters. Jenny blushes to think that her yelp was heard. 

" I am okay Hoss, it was just my, I mean I was just." she trails off, and looks down at her feet. 

Hoss almost chuckles as he realizes what she was yelping about. He pats her shoulder gently, "you best get ready for school now." he says gently, before leaving the room. 

Jenny groaned, "school .. ohh no .." she thinks. She almost forgot about school, and the thrashing she has waiting for her there for playing hooky. 

Stepping up on the bed, she tuned her back to the dresser with its large mirror, one of the few vanity items in her Spartan room. Slowly she raised the back of her nightgown, checking the damage to her poor bottom. She is almost sorry when she sees it. She has obviously been well spanked, and there are even a few bruises, and some welt lines from the strap; but nothing too serious, nothing that will keep her home from school and the thrashing waiting for her there. 

Jenny steps down off the bed and washes up, then dresses quickly. Almost wishing she wore dresses like the other girls as her pants hug her tender bottom. She brushes and braids her hair, tying the ends of the braids with strips of rawhide. With one last look in the mirror, Jenny leaves the room, just as the call of "BREAKFAST" comes from Jamey downstairs. 

Jenny almost giggles as she hears Pa scolding Jamey, "*I* could have yelled for her!" 

Jenny speeds down the stairs, taking the last few in one jump. 

"Jenny" Ben scolds, but smiles as well. "Sorry pa, I over slept, I will go do my chores right away" she says as he heads to the door. " That wont be necessary" Ben's words stop her, "Your brothers already did your chores, to let you sleep a bit longer. " 

Jenny smiles at her brothers' kindness and blushes at the reason for it. "Thank you, boys" she says. 

"Now come and eat your breakfast " Ben motions to her. Jenny moves to her chair, pulling it out, a small cushion rests on the hard surface. Jenny hesitates looking at the cushion. 

"Sit down and eat, Jenny" Ben says. 

Gratefully, Jenny slips into her chair, gingerly resting her tanned tail on the softness, and digs into the meal. Fried potatoes with country gravy, crisp slices of ham, tender biscuits, mush with thick cream, and scrambled eggs. This is a working ranch, and hardy appetites need to be fed. 

Talk around the table is light, mostly reminders of who is doing what job that day. "Joe, the north fence needs mending", "Hoss, the back door that is still squeaking", "Adam isn't there a load of grain that needs to be brought in and stacked in the barn today?" and of course "Jenny, Jamey you both need to come straight home from school; the chicken coop needs to be cleaned out before supper". Jenny and Jamey both groan at this revelation, but a chorus of "Yes Sir" rings out. 

Finally breakfast is over and the two youngest head out the door. "I saddled Soquili [pronounced so qui li this is the actual Cherokee word for horse] for you sis. " Jamey says as they close the door to the kitchen, lunch pails and books in hand. 

"Thanks Jamey" Jenny smiles again, thinking how lucky she is to have brothers who care so much about her. They mount up and turn their horses toward the school. 

Once at the school, Jenny tries to stay out of Mr. Thompson's sight before the bell rings, no sense in getting her thrashing early. Jenny joins in a game of ball for a while, then the bell rings, calling the students to their desks. 

"You're in for it now Jenny." A tall blond boy called Abel Mueller teases. "Shut up" Jenny hisses at him and gives him a slight shove. Jamey sees the movement and steps in-between "You want another whipping from Pa?" he admonishes his little sister. Jenny pales and shakes her head. 

They step into the cloakroom. There are several pegs on the walls for coats and hats, a line of shelves for lunch pails and a bench to sit on when students remove or don their boots. There is a small window to light the room. The boys hang their coats to the left and the girls to the right. Jenny moves to the girls side of the cloak room and places her pail on the bench, her hat is hung up on the peg. Then taking a deep breath, she walks into the classroom, taking her seat next to Semore Runyon. 

"Jennifer Cartwright!" the call comes, "Come here NOW!" 

Jenny swallows and winces, but rises, stepping up to the front of the room, Its a simple one room school house. Five rows of desks, 6 desks in a row, face the teacher's desk and the main black board. The room is done in rough wood and has an earthy quality about it. Large windows, two to a side, allow light and air into the room as well as a view of the country, but woe to the student who gets caught looking out the window! The room is heated with a potbelly stove near the back. In the front right hand corner sits a stool and a 'dunce cap' (a cone of paper with the word dunce on it in large letters). Near the teacher's desk is a container of water and several birch switches soaking in it. A large paddle hangs on the wall with the words 'board of education' inscribed on it. Above the paddle is a sampler stitched by a loving hand, that reads "Spare The Rod And Spoil The Child". Misbehavior is dealt with severely and immediately in this school. 

The teacher's desk contains a large dictionary, a clock, the roll book, a large ruler, the school bell, and an apple. On the wall is the alphabet in both printing and cursive, there is a globe, and a picture of George Washington. A flag hangs from the left hand corner of the blackboard and a door leading to the play yard is below it. 

Mr. Zackeriah Z. Thompson is standing beside his desk on the right, a thin smallish man, graying hair parted in the middle, clean shaven, his black coat and pants immaculate, the high stiff collar of his white shirt a sharp contrast to the black string tying it closed. He taps a long switch on the palm of his left hand. Jenny stands before him, her hands clasp behind her back. 

"Jennifer Cartwright, Why were you not in school yesterday?" Jenny knows that Mr. Thompson knows the answer, but replies "I was playing hooky Sir." 

"I see, and why were you playing hooky Jennifer? " Thompson asks in his regal, no nonsense way. 

"I went hunting, Sir" Jenny admits. 

"And is it permissible to go hunting during school hours Miss?" 

"No Sir, it's not" 

"Very well, come up here and bend over my desk!" 

Thompson was never one to berate a student for long times, he has a class to run. Jenny bends over, holding onto the desk, her eyes squeezed shut. Thompson didn't waste time asking a student to count the blows, he didn't assign a set number, he mearly punished until he thought the miscreant was truly sorry. He places one hand on Jenny's back, and raises the switch. 

Whoosh!, the switch whistles though the air, and with a crack lands fully across Jenny's poor bottom. Normally, Jenny stayed still though a thrashing, but after the punishments she had already gone though, she just couldn't stay totally still. She jumps a bit, but Thompson's strong hand holds her down. "Don't make it worse" he admonishes, and again the switch whistles though the air and cracks on her bottom, just below the last mark. Again and again the switch meets its target. Thompson thrashes Jenny quickly and thoroughly, covering her bottom with stripes from the center of her bottom down to the tops of her thighs; then back up again. He whips the entire area that she would sit on the rest of the day, twice over. Jenny jumps and dances, but doesn't rise. Crying freely, her knuckles white where she is holding onto the desk, she does all she can to evade the switch. Thompson launches a last volley across her `sit spot', then lowers the switch. 

"Let that be a lesson to all of you,' Thompson lectures, " anyone else playing hooky can expect the same punishment." Jenny sobs. Her bottom is on fire, the thrashing almost too much for her to handle after everything else. The short lecture gives her a moment to cry before the command "Go stand in the corner Jennifer." Jenny stands stiffly and moves to the corner, red-faced with shame at being sent to the corner like a child, yet also grateful that she doesn't have to sit down right now. 

Jamey watches the thrashing with clenched fists, finally looking away, wanting so much to stop his sisters pain. Jamey was a lot like Jenny in a way, he came into the family later, neither had grown up being a Cartwright, but while Jenny was a blood Cartwright, Jamey was adopted. There is a special bond between the pair, one of loneliness in a way, yet it is a strong bond. The pair were often in trouble together. 

After an hour, Thompson sent Jenny to her seat. Jenny could barely manage to sit on the hard bench, balancing her self slightly up off her bottom for most of the morning. Finally, at lunchtime, she got some relief, standing off to the side while she ate her lunch. The afternoon, while still painful, was better than the morning. The ride home, however, was sheer torture. 
 
 

to be continued in part 6