Christmas Across the County line - slightly long

[goodgulf]

Christmas Across the County line

'Coming home feels weird.' Clare Marsh thought as she passed the gravy. 'Not as weird as going to college did, but weird.'

As she thought that, Clare mentally scolded herself for being ungrateful. Not every freshman college student could afford to come home for Thanksgiving, so she had no right to feel weird in her childhood home. That said, she did feel a bit weird.

"So, what do you think the King will say in his speech today?" Jessica Marsh, Clare's mother, asked to start a new round of conversations.

Clare didn't join in that conversation, but it gave her a new thing to be thankful for - the fact that she lived today and not 60 years ago before they had a King. But then everyone who wasn't around then was thankful that they hadn't had to live through the collapse.

Since history wasn't her forté, Clare didn't know all the factors that led to the collapse. It was something about energy and pollution or something along those lines. All she really knew (since it had been on almost every history test she'd ever taken) was that 52 years ago there had been a Constitutional Congress that rewritten the constitution from the ground up. Clare had heard about the 'checks and balances' system, but only as one of the causes of the collapse. History (as written by the new government) had judged that without those checks and balances the old government would have been more effective, more efficient, and able to prevent the collapse. Some said that this judgement was suspect since it had been a worldwide collapse, but those debates had never made it into any history class that Clare had taken. She had heard a few people (mostly seniors) debating the pros and cons of a republic verse the current monarchy, but as far as Clare was concerned having the executive "powers" (such as they were) in the hands of a figurehead monarch clearly worked best.

"Do you think he'll try to reach out to some of the more, um, 'different' areas?" Aunt Mona Kasey, Clare's mother's sister, asked.

Clare tried not to think about the 'different' areas. The years of the collapse had taken their toll, as had the rebuilding, and not everywhere had rebuilt along the same lines. Her professor for Economics 101 had said that the country was now more a commonwealth of locales than a true nation, and Clare believed that. In some areas you could walk into any drugstore and (if you could pay for it) leave with the drug of your choice, from old-fashioned heroin to the latest blend of S, while in others possession of alcohol was a capital offence. Most areas were somewhere in between those extremes, but mind-altering substances weren't the only issue that split the nation. Name the issue and most of the country was somewhere in the middle of it, with extreme positions taken in various jurisdictions. Clare knew that it paid to research before travelling across state lines.

'Or even county ones.' Clare thought, glancing at her cousin Jane.

It was nice that the family got together for the holidays, but Clare had never been close to the Kaseys, not even her Cousin Jane Kasey who basically the same age. Try as she might Clare just couldn't picture growing up like Jane had. The county line might only be 20 miles away but as far as Clare was concerned it was a whole 'nother world there.

At least it was on one issue. Wellington County, where Clare's family lived, was around the national average on the topic, but Hazard County, where the Kaseys lived, was as extreme on that issue as you could get. And it wasn't even a profitable issue, like one of the countless weed/tobacco borders where smokes of one sort were smuggled across the line in exchange for the other sort of smokes with both sets of smugglers supplying the black market in their home jurisdictions. No, the issue between Hazard County and most of the world was an embarrassing one. The folks in Wellington County were moderate when it came to corporal punishment while the people in Hazard County were spank happy.

Growing up, most of Clare's friends had spent hours talking about the difference, and hours more gossiping over whose parents might have taken them across that county line. 'Crossing the line' had special meaning in this part of Wellington County, at least to kids. Countless parents had thundered "if you cross that line then we're crossing the line" and not all of them did so in jest.

But that phrase, like so many other things, belonged to old part of Clare's life. To her childhood, and living in a campus dorm made that all seem so distant. Which made being in her childhood home seem so weird.

Lost in her thoughts, Clare missed the end of the meal, only clueing in as people rose from their seats. As the women cleared dishes most of the men headed to the video display where the King would soon be giving his Thanksgiving speech. Most of the kids trailed after them, but Clare thought that the King should stick to opening shopping malls, executing executive power (whatever that meant), and leave the speeches to the politicians. She knew she was in the minority there, that most people saw the King as a unifying force (perhaps the only true point of unity in the country), but she didn't feel like fighting for space in front of the video display just to hear the King speak.


Looking for somewhere else to be, Clare almost stumbled into her youngest brother, Roy. She didn't think that he was avoiding the King's speech as he looked deep in thought. Their nine year age difference meant that Clare had sacrificed countless nights acting as an unpaid babysitter, but she had rarely seen Roy this deep in thought.

"So, what's bugging you?" Clare asked. She didn't really care about the answer, but asking gave her something to do, at least something that didn't involve clearing dishes or getting ready for the King's speech.

"Um, well, um, can you keep a secret?" Roy asked.

"Of course I can." Clare replied, mentally adding 'Not that I'm promising to keep yours'. Clare told herself that she never lied, she just didn't make her meanings clear enough. If someone assumed she meant something different, well, that was their assumption.

"Um, well, um, well I was over a friend's house, and, um, well, Anna's mom took her across the line and she brought back one of those foldout things. You know what I mean?"

Clare nodded. Those 'foldout things' were souvenirs that were sold in Hazard County. The front had the subject's photo, usually looking mad or upset, and the back had a later photo, one that normally included tear-stained eyes and a red face. Sometimes, depending on factors that Clare didn't know and couldn't guess at, the back photo would show more than just the upper body. The subject's T-shirt would be there, going mid thigh or lower (at least that's what all the ones that Clare had seen had shown), with jeans and underwear gathered at the subject's feet.

Of course the interesting photos were the ones inside, which were impossible to snoop on. The two sides were maglocked together and you had to have the right DNA to open the lock. If you were the right person then you put your thumb just there and it opened, but if you weren't then you couldn't open it.

Clare (and everyone else in Wellington County) had heard horror stories about the places where they sold those things. Unholy places called punishment centres where any parent could take a kid and order a spanking for it.

"Um, well, I was trying to open it, and Anna was trying to stop me, when her mother came in." Roy continued.

Clare nodded again, trying to picture Mrs. Galloway. She had met the woman countless times, but Clare's mental image wasn't of a woman who would cross the line.

"Um, and well, if Mrs. Galloway said that if I was so curious that she'd take me to where she got Anna's so I could see it first hand." Roy blurted out.

"So what did you say?" Clare asked.

"Nothing! I just came home. But, um, you don't think she would, do you?"

"Do what?"

"Take me across the line." Roy blurted out, then slammed his mouth shut as if those words had terrified him.

"Nah, she wouldn't." Clare assured him, then decided to tease. "At least not without permission."

"Okay then so OH." Roy exclaimed as his train of thought came to a crashing stop. "You don't think she'd tell mom, do you?"

"Tell her what?"

"Um..." Roy searched his mind for the worst case, but couldn't decide so began to list things. "That I was wrestling with Anna, or that I wanted to see that foldout, or that she might want to take me across the line, or..."

"Who knows what Mrs. Galloway will do?" Clare said, cutting off his list of worries. "Adults do what they want to do. They're strange like that."

"Oh." Roy muttered, walking away as confused as he had been before their talk.

Clare bit back a giggle and headed to the backyard. The trees were there, bare of leaves, which struck Clare as odd: this was the first year that the leaves had changed colours and fallen without her seeing them do it. When she left at the beginning of September the backyard had been green and full of life, and now it looked almost ready for Winter.

"Penny for your thoughts." Jane Kasey said as she came out to the back porch.

Clare was happy to see her cousin, especially since Jane was carrying a box of wine coolers. Technically the drinking age might be 21 but Clare had never heard of anyone over the age of 16 being busted for drinking - at least not in Wellington County.

"Just thinking about changes." Clare responded, accepting a wine cooler. "How different everything is, yet, well..."

"But nothing's different, it's all the same, so the difference has to be you?" Jane suggested, then took a pull off her wine cooler. "Yeah, I'm getting the same vibes. It seems like one minute I was an adult hanging out with friends at the dorm and the next I'm back being a kid in my parents' house. And thinking that it's their house, not mine."

"Yeah, that's it." Clare agreed. "So the world's the same and it's us that's different?"

"I guess so."

The two sat and drank, letting the silence fill the space between them. Sitting there, Clare felt she had never been closer to Jane. Not that they were close now, but they were both going through the same thing and that counted for something, didn't it?

They were on their second coolers before Jane broke the silence.

"And Christmas is going to be weird this year. Dad won a trip, but the prize came with only so many tickets, so he's taking the rest of the family to a ski lodge while mom and I stay home." Jane confided.

"What? You're missing out?"

"No choice." Jane said sadly, then took another gulp from her bottle. "The trip is tied to a fixed departure date and I've got two exams scheduled for after they leave. If there was one more ticket I'd spend Christmas at school, but since there isn't I can't stay because that would leave mom at home alone and I kind of want to be there for her."

"That's good." Clare nodded. "Family is important."

"Speaking about family, what's up with Roy?" Jane asked. "It's like he's walking around in a trance or something."

"Oh that." Clare said dismissively. "Call it the difference between Wellington and Hazard."

"Uh?"

"One of his little friends got herself taken across the line and came back with one of those foldout things." Clare revealed, blithely passing on her brother's biggest secret. "So he tried to open it, but of course he couldn't, so they were wrestling around a bit, so he got caught. Anyway, when the friend's mom came in and saw what they were wrestling over she basically offered to take him to where she bought it."

"And what did he say?" Jane said, opening a third wine cooler.

"Nothing. He just ran home." Clare laughed. "Now he's worrying himself silly."

"Over that?" Jane asked in disbelief.

"Over that."

"Wow." Jane took another pull and said: "Listen, I've got to tell you something. I've never seen what the big deal was with your family. I mean, spankings happen, then they're over, but every time I come here someone acts like a sore bum was the end of the world."

"Well..." Clare began.

But Jane wasn't finished.

"And another thing." Jane continued. "It's not like spankings can't happen here. It's just they happen behind closed doors and no one talks about them, but they happen."

"Well, that's part of it. No one talking I mean. Since it's not in your face you can ignore it." Clare commented.

"But that's just it, you guys from Wellington keep talking about it, but only about it happening in Hazard. 'Crossing the line', 'there's a line you better not cross', 'if we were in Hazard, well, you figure it out'." Jane countered, imitating different adults as she used those catch phrases.

Clare thought she could almost place which people Jane was imitating.

"But, I mean, spankings happen. No one likes them, but when they're over they're over." Jane concluded. "Just deal, you know?"

Clare went to answer, then something dawned on her. Maybe it was the wine coolers talking, but she had to share this revelation.

"Oh shit, I could take him there!" Clare sniggered. "I could take him to get one of those things. One of those foldouts."

"Um, well..."

"I could do it!" Clare declared. "I could take Roy across the line and when I was there... Hell, I could even spank him myself!"

"Wouldn't your parents freak?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, no, um, maybe." Clare admitted. "Shit, I'm all confused. But I could do it, take him across the line, and as long as it wasn't me doing the spanking than they couldn't blame me."

Jane went to speak up, to say how her mother had thought of the same thing years and years ago, and how Clare's mother had shot down that idea. Jane knew that her parents weren't fools and didn't think that Clare's parents were fools either. If Clare took any of her siblings across the line and someone got spanked then at the very least Clare would be blamed for not watching them better.

"Yeah, but how?" Clare asked rhetorically, half-lost in thought. "I mean I could borrow a car and drive him there, but then everyone would know that I did only for one reason. That would be true, but I don't want everyone to know. I mean, that would just look mean."

"It would be mean." Jane agreed.

"Um, so... No, that doesn't work... no, then maybe, um... No! Damn it, why is it so hard to think?" Clare demanded as she dismissed idea after idea.

Jane looked at the dead soldiers surrounding them and wondered if Clare would be thinking better if she was sober.

'Then again, if she was sober she might not be thinking about this so wouldn't need to plan anything out.' Jane thought.

"No..." Clare muttered. "Wait! YES! This is perfect! I can spend Christmas with you and your mom, then I can invite Roy to spend a day with me, and everything will be perfect."

Jane frowned.

"You're not serious, are you?" Jane asked.

"Of course I am." Clare declared. "I've never been more serious. I mean, I used to get roped into bathing the kid. I practically had to change his diapers. If I think his butt needs spanking then it's going to get spanked."

"So spank him." Jane told her cousin. "Don't scheme, don't plan, don't hide behind county lines, just spank the brat."

"Yeah, but if I did that my folks would freak. It has to look like an accident." Clare declared. "Hell, you could get away with doing it, if it happened at your place. Or maybe your mom would it."

"Clare, you can't just..."

"Bullshit! I'm sure your mom would love to spank that brat." Clare declared loudly. "She's had to said that sometime. I know, I've heard her make comments like that."

Jane stayed silent on which Marsh brats her mother might have mentioned wanting to spank, but her mental list included the entire Marsh brood.

"Anyway, he practically asked Anna Galloway's mother to do it, and better me than her." Clare concluded. "She'd probably just take him to one of those punishment centres and ... hey! I could take him there and have an accident that gets him spanked. Then he'd have his own foldout."

"Accidents don't happen there." Jane informed her, wincing at the memory. "There's a form you need to fill out."

"What, there's never been an accident at one of those places? Not even once?" Clare challenged.

"Well, not one that included a foldout." Jane replied. "They have to take the front picture before, remember? So of one them is kind of hard to put together by accident."

"Shit, you're right. Well, once I'm at your place I'm sure I can think of better plans." Clare said with a dreamy expression on her face.

"You're twisted." Jane muttered, getting slowly to her feet.

"Maybe, but this plan is going to work." Clare called after her.

Jane walked slowly away from her cousin. She wasn't staggering, but she was walking carefully.


Once inside she ran into her mother.

"You missed a good speech." Mona told her daughter. "The King was on form. He touched on everyone without offending anyone. Well, no one in the room anyway."

"Yeah, I was outside talking with Clare." Jane answered. "Comparing notes about college life, that sort of thing."

"That's nice, you connecting with your cousin." Mona noted.

"Yeah, um, well..."

Mona fixed her daughter with a look, and Jane sighed.

"Okay, maybe it was the wine cooler, but she's thinking of maybe joining us for Christmas." Jane admitted.

"That would be nice - having another person around the house." Mona noted in a neutral tone.

"And then inviting her brother Roy over while she's there." Jane continued.

"It's good to have family around during the holidays." Mona replied dryly.

Jane wilted a little more under that dry tone.

"And when he's there she plans to spank him, or get him spanked." Jane squeaked.

"What?" Mona asked sharply, raising an eyebrow.

It was the dreaded eyebrow that did it - Jane poured out Clare's plan.

"That sounds a bit cruel for Clare to think of." Mona responded.

"She doesn't see it being cruel." Jane countered. "She just sees as getting back at him for being a brat."

"If she wants to spank him, then why doesn't she just ..." Mona bit her tongue. "Right. My sister. The woman would freak if Clare even patted his bum too hard."

"Exactly." Jane nodded.

"Of course if Clare lures him to my house to toast his backside then Jessica would never forgive me." Mona said bitterly. "It would be Clare's plan but my sister would blame me. She'd never forgive me. She might never talk to me again."

"Maybe it was just the wine coolers talking." Jane suggested. "Maybe she doesn't plan to go through with it."

"Maybe." Mona said darkly. "But if does, if she plans to use my relationship with my sister as a pawn in her plan, well, then she's got another think coming."

Jane wisely held her tongue.

Her festive mood gone, Mona sought out her sister. Jessica didn't really believe the story, not even with Jane chiming in details, but she listened to them and agreed that Clare wasn't going to do it. Everyone hoped that when Clare sobered up she would forget the whole thing.


But Clare didn't forget.

She returned to college with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. She didn't talk about it with any of her friends, but that was only because she couldn't trust them to keep a secret. Nor could she do any real research, not if she wanted to claim 'ignorance' when the time came. The only thing she could do was keep her ears open, listening for every rumour about Hazard County she could hear. The more she heard, the more it looked like her plan would work. If half, no, if a quarter of the stories she had heard were true then all she would have to do is get her youngest brother over the line and once there all he would have to do was act like his normally bratty self and that would be that.

But nothing happens overnight. The first stage of the plan was a call home to set the scene. Of course her mom was happy to hear from her, and after they had been talking for a while Clare got around to the real reason she was calling.

"Oh, and when we were talking at Thanksgiving, Jane mentioned something about being alone with her mom over the Christmas break."

"I know." Jessica replied. "Mona's calling it her Christmas off. With just the two of them there's practically nothing for her to do."

"Anyway, I was thinking of maybe stopping by. Say maybe spending Christmas with them?" Clare said, almost asking. Then she hurriedly said: "Just so Aunt Mona won't be so lonely."

Jessica was silent for a moment, and Clare was turning cartwheels inside waiting for her mother to say something. Finally, Jessica filled the silence.

"Have you spoken to Aunt Mona about this yet?"

"Of course not! I wanted to make sure you wouldn't mind before I said anything." Clare replied.

"I see." Jessica answered, and after a bit more silence continued with: "So have you said anything to your Cousin Jane about this?"

"I just said I hadn't. That I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first. Because if it isn't, well, then maybe I could drive over to see them a couple of times, just visit for a day at a time." Clare said, offering a compromise.

"I see."

"But with the price of fuel, it might make more sense more sense for me to get the bus there and stay for all of Christmas break." Clare continued, intentionally shooting holes in her offered compromise.

"Maybe." Jessica said in as neutral a tone as she could manage. "But wouldn't you be lonely? Miss your family?"

Clare saw an opening and went with it.

"Maybe... Hmmm." Clare pretended to think, then she said in a bright tone: "Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe I could invite a couple of the younger kids to visit with me at Aunt Mona's. Maybe Roy could spend the day with us, or something."

"Really?"

From her mother's tone, Clare wondered if she had overplayed her hand. The original plan had been to call home from Aunt Mona's and tell Roy that he had some presents waiting for him under Aunt Mona's tree. Once Roy was on side, getting permission to take him across the line would have been child's play. Then she remembered her earlier comment about the high cost of fuel and mentally cursed.

"Or maybe I could pick him up right before the break ends, and he could spend the night at Aunt Mona's, and after I drive him home I could take the bus back from our place."

Clare thought that sounded good; it was only one and half round trips to Hazard County, and that was less than the two or three round trips that she had just criticised as being too expensive. Clare wished she had thought this new plan out more, but now that she had gone with it all she could do was wait for her mother to say something.

"Well, maybe something could be worked out." Jessica finally said. "Of course we'd have to talk to Mona about it, and Roy might not want to go. You know how Christmas is at his age - he'll want to spend it showing off his new things and seeing what his friends got."

"Oh, I understand." Clare said, nodding even though her mother couldn't see her.

"Well, this is what you really want, then, well... Did you want me to call your aunt about this, or did you want to talk it over with her?" Jessica asked.

"Um, maybe it would be best if you called." Clare suggested. "Less long distance charges and all. So you don't mind?"

"Well, part of me wants you here, but another part thinks it's nice that you're reaching out to your family." Jessica replied, ignoring what another part of her was saying. "You didn't see much of the Kaseys growing up, and that's partly my fault, partly your father's fault, and partly your aunt's and uncle's fault."

"What? Really? Is there some big family secret here?" Clare asked.

"There's no secret." Jessica laughed. "It's just that the folks in Hazard County have some odd views about child raising. When it comes to corporal punishment they're in the top 2 percent in the nation and the Kaseys are no different. Then there's us, and you know your father is dead set against corporal punishment."

"Uh huh." Clare said, wondering why her mother phrased it like that. As far as Clare knew both of her parents were dead set against corporal punishment.

"So you aunt and uncle always said we were welcome to visit, but if we did then they'd treat you kids like family, which offended your dad, so that's why we never visited them in Hazard County." Jessica explained. "And with the cost of fuel being what it is there's a limit on how many times they'll visit us without a return visit."

"I see." Clare said, borrowing one her mother's phrases while she wondered. The cost of fuel wasn't that high, plenty of people made day trips like the one between the Kaseys and the Marshes, so what was the real reason?

"That, and your father wasn't always diplomatic about how he felt about their child raising methods." Jessica added, revealing the real reason. "And I didn't always make the effort to soothe bruised feelings."

"Ah, got it." Clare said, then decided to probe. "So when they visited, did they ever get into trouble?"

"Trouble? Over what?"

"Um, well, they, um, use corporal punishment and all." Clare couldn't force herself to say the word 'spank', so went with the more neutral term. "Did they ever..."

"What, start spanking the neighbours' kids?" Jessica suggested with a laugh. "No, but they did drop comments about who deserved a hot backside."

"Um, well, I meant with their own kids." Clare said, coming as close as she ever had to ask about how her cousins were treated when they visited Wellington County.

"Oh, that." Jessica said. After a moment's thought she decided that her daughter was old enough to hear the truth, especially if Clare was planning a nasty trick on her brother. "Well, you know there's no law against spanking in Wellington County, right?"

"Of course I do. It's just that no one does it."

"That's not quite right. I won't name names, but four people you know, well, when they were growing up, they knew first hand that spanking is legal here."

"What? Who? Dish!" Clare demanded.

"I said I wouldn't name names, and the reason I said 'people' was so you couldn't guess who they were based on if they were male or female." Jessica responded.

"So it happens. But I know dozens, maybe hundreds of people." Clare pointed out. "I mean, if we count all the people I met at school, so four out of hundreds isn't much."

"That's four that I know about." Jessica corrected. "And two of them, well, their mothers suggested that while you were at their house they might, well, handle things with you if you acted up."

"WHAT?" Clare shrieked.

"Of course I said no." Jessica continued quickly. "I mean, if I wouldn't let my own sister do that then why would I let a stranger? I'm just telling you this to give you the idea that spanking happens in Wellington County even if you never heard of it going on."

"Okay, that makes sense." Clare answered, her mind racing to guess whose mothers had asked. She thought that it would have to be a close friend, someone whose house she had spent a lot of time at, but that didn't narrow things down much. People she was close to in grade school weren't always the same people she was closer to later, which left her dozens of names to guess at.

"Which means that when the Kaseys children acted up, well, things were handled without your aunt and uncle getting into any trouble." Jessica revealed.

"They were? You mean... NO WAY! Nah huh! That couldn't have happened without me knowing about it." Clare asserted.

"You kids not knowing was one of the conditions of them visiting. Normally, when they're in Hazard County they would spank whenever and wherever they thought they should, but when they visiting they had to take care to make sure you kids didn't see or hear anything."

"But... No, I would have noticed." Clare insisted.

"Remember all those times the video display was blaring away while practically everyone was in the backyard? That was to cover the sounds." Jessica confided. "And sometimes one of them would take you all out for ice cream while the other stayed behind with a little miscreant."

Clare opened her mouth once more to deny that it was possible, but she stopped. She could vaguely remember trips for ice cream when one of the Kasey brood was excluded, but she had thought that not coming for ice cream was the extent of the punishment. The idea that while the rest of the family was off getting ice cream, that one of her cousins was at her place getting ... No, that didn't make any sense.

"But that didn't happen that often!" Clare insisted. "I mean we didn't go for ice cream every time they were there."

"You might not have noticed, but your cousins are usually well behaved. Most visits no one acted up, but when they did, well either everyone went for ice cream or you were all having fun in the backyard while there was music blaring in the house." Jessica asserted. "Or they stopped somewhere, either when they were coming or going home."

"But they couldn't have stopped anywhere in Wellington County." Clare insisted. "Not for that."

"You'd be surprised, but that sort of thing can happen even in Wellington County." Jessica corrected. "It can't happen as openly, but at the edge of a rest stop, or in a car stopped at the side of the road, things can happen."

"But I'd have heard about it!" Clare insisted. "I know I would have."

"Not if it didn't happen to someone you knew, or it did and that person didn't talk about it. And maybe, sometimes just maybe, it was a special allowance being made."

"Huh?"

"You know all license plates come with a county tag, don't you? Well let's just say that the authorities are more forgiving of that sort of thing if the car involved is sporting a Hazard County tag and it's one of their kids getting a sore bum." Jessica replied. "But the important thing is for you to know that people in Hazard County spank, and those people include the Kaseys. And when I say they spank, you have to know that that includes visiting relatives. Knowing that, do you really think it's a good idea that Roy visits you while you're there?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him, I promise." Clare answered, and she told herself that she wasn't lying. Just like the time she had told Roy that she could keep a secret without promising to keep his, Clare had only promised to watch her youngest brother - not safeguard him against any spankings that might be coming his way.

And after hearing how spankings had happened in her own house, Clare was positive that if Roy came to Aunt Mona's that he would have trouble sitting on the ride home.

But those were internal thoughts. Outwardly she changed the subject and talked for another twenty minutes, just to make sure that her mother didn't catch on to her plan.

When she hung up the phone, Jessica could only shake her head. She knew her daughter well enough to hear the gaps in the conversation, the bits that Clare carefully didn't say. After talking for hours with her husband, Jessica picked up the phone and called her sister. With her husband joining in on the extension the three of them had a long talk, and when it was over the Marshes reluctantly agreed that if Clare wanted to then she could spend her Christmas break in Hazard County.

"I hate to say it, but she's practically an adult, and if she wants to go to Hazard County then we can't stop her." Jessica said at the end of the conversation. "And it's better this way. At least we'll know who's she with, and that there's someone looking out for her."

"If you're both sure." Mona asked for the twentieth time, fearing a split with her sister over Clare's crazy idea.

"We are." Jessica told her sister for the final time.


Clare waited on eggshells until she received a message from her Aunt Mona, letting her know that if Clare really wanted to spend Christmas at their place then it was okay with her. As they exchanged notes, Clare dropped hints that she might invite a few other members of her family to join her, but her Aunt Mona seemed to miss every hint.

Finally the plans were in place. Clare would arrive in Hazard County at 9 PM December 19th, and leave on January 3rd so she could get back to classes.


"Just a quick note." The driver's announcement rang through the bus. "We will be arriving at the bus terminal in fifteen minutes. I want to take this opportunity to once more to thank you for riding on Dachshund Bus Line Inc and to apologise again for the delay."

'Why don't plans ever work out?' Clare wondered as the bus made its way down the street.

Clare had worked out a plan that covered almost every minute of her time at her Aunt's house, but she wasn't there yet and her timetable was already in ruins. There had been a six-hour delay while they crossed one of the countless jurisdictional lines. The bus was searched and searched for tobacco products, and Clare thought the whole process would have been over in twenty minutes if the people searching the bus weren't stoned. But they were, and smoking so much that when the passengers were finally allowed back on the bus Clare got a contact high from the fumes they had left behind.

But they were the law so they had to be respected. Technically almost anyone with a badge was a King's man and showing disrespect to them was like showing disrespect to the King himself, so everyone had put up with the delay with a smile. A forced smile, but still a smile.

So the bus was arriving at 3:00 AM, not 9 PM. Her plans for her first night in Hazard County were shot to hell and Clare could barely keep her eyes open. She would have to sleep in tomorrow, which meant that more of her plan was out the window.

Clare had expected to see a bus station buzzing with life, for it to be her first exposure to Hazard County, but at this time of the morning the place was almost deserted. After she got her luggage Clare found her Aunt Mona was waiting for her. Their greeting was monosyllabic, then Mona was driving her niece home.


"You'll be staying in Ellen's room." Mona told her niece. "Now normally you'd have to make due with the couch, but since everyone else is away there's no reason you can't have a bed, is there?"

"Yawn. I guess not." Clare said groggily. "Thanks for letting me stay here Aunt Mona. Where did I put my suitcase?"

"Oh, don't worry about that." Mona assured her. "You can sleep in what you're wearing. You're half asleep as it is. Just lay down and head off to dreamland."

"Thanks again." Clare muttered as she stumbled into her cousin's bed.


"So, awake yet?" Jane asked.

Clare's eyes fluttered open.

"So, how's Hazard County working out for you?" Jane asked.

"Hey Jane." Clare yawned. "So what's the plan for the day?"

"First, I was thinking you might want a shower." Jane suggested. "Six extra hours on a bus? You must be feeling grimy."

"Yeah, I could do with a changed of clothes." Clare said, getting out of bed. "Where did your mom put my luggage?"

"I don't know." Jane shrugged. "But I can lend you a robe and a shower cap. What more do you need for a shower?"

"I guess." Clare agreed. "So where's the bathroom?"

"I'll get the robe and then play tour guide." Jane offered.

Minutes later Clare was out of yesterday's clothes and in a robe. Jane was her cousin so Clare didn't think twice about changing in front of her, and Jane didn't seem to mind Clare's nonchalantness over body issues.

"And that's my room, and that's my parents' room, and here's the bathroom." Jane pointed out, giving a partial tour of the second floor. "There's body wash on the shower rack, and clean towels on the door."

"Thanks." Clare said. "But after this we have to make plans. I've already wasted my first night in Hazard County and I don't want to miss anything."

As her cousin disappeared into the bathroom, Jane just shook her head.


Clare left the bathroom relaxed from her shower, but tense in anticipation. Bubbling with excitement she could hardly wait to explore Hazard County.

"Ah, there you." Mona said as she walked up the stairs. "So, did you have a nice shower?"

"I guess. So, about my luggage..."

"Actually there was something I needed to talk to you about." Mona told her niece.

"Um, what is it?" Clare asked, feeling a bit vulnerable standing there in only a robe and shower cap.

"I was talking to your mother, and she said you were talking about inviting your little brother Roy here sometime over the holidays."

"Well, maybe, if it's all right with you." Clare answered.

"But you do know what's likely to happen to him when he's here, don't you?" Mona asked. "He'll make some smart comment or do something like that, and before you know it he'll be over someone's knee getting his bum spanked."

"Well, that probably won't happen."

"But you do know that it can happen, don't you?" Mona pressed. "That spankings are common in Hazard County. That when a youngster acts up he or she gets a sore bum."

"Well, of course I know that."

"And you know your brother Roy is no angel, and he'll probably be on a sugar high and excited to be here and bouncing off the walls. With him like that there's practically no way he won't earn at least one spanking while he's here."

"Well, um, when you put it that way, I guess I kind of knew that." Clare conceded. "But Roy getting a sore bum won't be the end of the world. It will probably do him a world of good."

"Don't you mean 'could'?" Mona challenged.

"Huh?"

"You said that it 'will' do him a world of good, as if it was definitely going happen, not 'could' as if it might happen." Mona pointed out. "As if you had it all planned out in your mind."

"Um, well, not actually planned, but well, maybe anticipated." Clare admitted. "Um, maybe counted on, but just a little bit."

"Clare Kathleen Marsh, was this whole 'spend Christmas with Aunt Mona' plan just an excuse to get your little brother spanked?" Mona demanded angrily.

"Um, well, um..."

"Clare Kathleen Marsh I am surprised at you." Mona thundered. "I cannot, just cannot believe you came up with something this mean! Did Jane put you up to this? Was my daughter involved in this crazy plan?"

"No! It was all my idea. I didn't think you would mind." Clare squeaked, fumbling for words. "I mean, you must have noticed that he's a brat, right?"

"He's a child. All children have their bratty moments." Mona corrected. "But this plan of yours, it's unspeakable!"

"But I thought..."

"You." Mona barked, pointing to the room that Clare was using. "In. There. Now."

"But Aunt Mona..."

"You. There. Now!"

"But Aunt Mona..."

Then Clare found herself being marched into the room she was using. Her little Cousin Ellen's room. Like she was a child or something. Like she was Roy.

A scary thought hit her.

"But Aunt Mona, you can't mean..."

"Oh I do young lady! March!"

"But..."

Then they were in Ellen's room and her aunt was pushing her towards the bed.

"No! Fucking no way!" Clare declared.

Then it hit her - the biggest difference between her and Roy was one of size. Clare could practically scoop Roy up in one arm, but there was no way that Aunt Mona could manhandle Clare that way.

"I said no fucking way!" Clare repeated, breaking away from her aunt.

"Jane? A little help." Mona called.

"I said no and I meant no." Clare insisted.

Then her cousin was in the room and grabbing her arms as her aunt grabbed the rest of her.

"Calm down." Jane instructed. "You don't want her to call for real help. You really don't."

"Jane! Let me go right now! You fucking shit! You should be on my side!" Clare protested.

Clare fought back, but between the two of them they got her on Ellen's bed over her aunt's lap. Jane had her arms while her Aunt Mona had Clare's robe up.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Clare insisted. "You can't do this! You can't! Let me go!"

"Clare Kathleen Marsh, this is something that should have happened a long time ago." Mona said as she lifted her right palm and brought it down hard on Clare's still damp left bottom cheek.

"But you can't!" Clare squealed. "I'm not Roy!"

"And you should be ashamed of yourself." Mona said, bring her palm down again. "Plotting like that against your own brother!"

Then Mona was spanking away. If she was lecturing then Clare didn't hear her, being too busy kicking, squealing, and cursing at both her aunt and her cousin. Then her curses became mere squeals and howls as Mona spanked and the heat built.

'This should be happening to Roy.' Clare thought.

The unfairness of the situation hit her and suddenly her eyes were full of tears as she bawled away.

Mona kept spanking her niece until she was sure that she had made an impression on the girl, then she and Jane were helping Clare up and steering her to a corner.

"Now missy, you just stay there facing the corner until I say otherwise." Mona commanded.

Clare just sobbed in reply.


'Why is this happening?' Clare wondered as the tears flowed down her face. 'How could this have happened? I'm not Roy! This shouldn't have happened to me.'

Questions like those ran through her mind as her tears flowed. Finally Clare sobbed herself out, but she was still stuck there, alone, watching the corner. She thought briefly about leaving, but her childhood was full of whispered horror stories about kids who left their corners in Hazard County. Clare knew she wasn't a kid, but after what had happened she wasn't tempting fate. And what had Jane meant about not calling for real help. So she stood there, looking at the corner, rubbing her backside under her borrowed robe, and wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Good, you're still in the corner. No, don't turn around." Jane cautioned her cousin as she entered the room. "But it's good that you're still there."

"What the fuck just happened?" Clare demanded angrily. "And why did you help her?"

Then came a voice from downstairs, calling up.

"Jane, tell your cousin she can leave the corner. And have a good talk with her."

Jane shrugged and closed the bedroom door.

"You heard her. You can leave the corner and we can talk."

Clare bolted out of the corner, hissing at her cousin.

"What the fuck just happened? How did it happen? What's going on?" Clare demanded.

"Welcome to Hazard County." Jane said with a smirk. "Christ, didn't you do any research?"

"Research on what?" Clare asked. "And why did Aunt Mona think she could spank me?"

"Any research! Basic research." Jane said in an exasperated voice. "You crossed a jurisdictional line and you didn't do any research? Shit, are you sure we're related, because I don't want to be related to anyone that dumb."

"I did research!" Clare protested. "Well, some, but the difference is just the spanking, isn't it?"

"Yes, we spank here." Jane said, talking down to her cousin. "So, how old do you need to be to get drunk here?"

"Um, 21?" Clare guessed, a hand sneaking back to rub at her backside.

"Yeah, but no one pays attentions, as long as you're old enough." Jane informed her cousin. "Speaking of that, this talk might go better with something to drink. You like wine cooler, right? I'll be right back."

Left alone in Ellen's room, Clare openly rubbed at her stinging backside. With nothing better to do she glanced around, hoping to find her clothes. Instead of her luggage, all she could find was Ellen's clothing which were far too small to fit her.

"I'm back." Jane said, closing the door behind her and the wine coolers. "So you know that the drinking age is 21 here, right?"

"Of course." Clare said, snagging a drink. It felt weird to be drinking so early in the day, but then everything seemed weird today.

"But why is it 21?" Jane quizzed.

"Because that's the age of majority." Clare snapped. "Everyone knows that."

"Majority, or as the King calls it, 'the time you enter adulthood and can take your role helping to chart the county's future by voting'." Jane said with a smile. "And what to call someone who isn't an adult?"

"Um, a kid?" Clare guessed, speaking between gulps of wine cooler. Wine cooler that she hoped would take the edge off of the pain in her butt and the screams of outrage in her mind.

"And what's the difference between Hazard County and Wellington County?" Jane prompted.

"Everyone knows that." Clare snapped. "They spank kids here."

"So since you're not 21 yet that makes you..."

"That makes me... Shit! You mean I count as a kid until I hit 21?" Clare sputtered, the light dawning. "Shit! How come you didn't warn me?"

"You didn't ask." Jane replied.

"But how couldn't you tell me? You knew I was coming! You should have said something!"

"I was sure you would do your research." Jane responded. "I couldn't imagine anyone who's related to me wouldn't be smart enough to do her basic research."

"But... Shit! This is too much!" Clare said, flopping face down on the bed and rubbing at her backside. "Hey, that means that you..."

"Guilty as charged." Jane nodded. "It could happen, but I keep my attitude right and it doesn't happen to me. At least not much"

"So you still get spanked too?" Clare sputtered, laughing as the absurdity kicked in.

"There's a huge difference between spanking a teen and a kid." Jane pointed out. "A huge difference. Oh, legally there's no difference, but practically there's a difference."

"What difference?"

"Well, for example, anyone who's a teen can baby-sit, and if you want to do it that then you have to take a babysitting course or two." Jane explained. "And once you pass that course you get some special treatment."

"What kind of special treatment?"

"Well, you get to spank kids, and that means you don't get spanked as much." Jane confided. "It takes a real reason, a really good reason, to spank someone who's taken the course."

"Great! So how do I take that course?" Clare asked.

"Sorry, but it's a six to eight week course." Jane laughed. "And it's not comfortable to take."

"Why not?"

"Look, you have to practice how to give a spanking to be a babysitter, right?" Jane told her. "So who do you think we practice on? Do you think we round up kids at random?"

"Well ..." Clare said, pondering the answer.

"Of course not!" Jane snapped. "We break up into pairs and practice on each other. And by practice, I mean we practice everything. And it hurts. And it was no fun getting spanked by someone my own age. So trust me, even if you had time you wouldn't want to take the course."

"Shit. So what do I do?" Clare asked.

"You behave yourself and don't piss off anyone." Jane advised. "And by anyone, I mean anyone."

"Hey, that's right." Clare exclaimed, the relation sinking in. "I could be walking down the street and someone could decide to spank me."

"That doesn't happen, at least not to people our ages, at least not often." Jane explained. "I know what the rumours are - I heard them every time I visited Wellington County - but ninety percent, maybe more, of the spankings that happen here happen behind closed doors."

"That can't be true!" Clare protested. "All my life I've heard..."

"Oh, there are still public spankings, but they're the minority. Except in the tourist areas. The tourists who come here, they act weirder than anyone who lives here."

"So what do I do?" Clare said, staring down at the floor. She didn't notice that her rubbing had raised her borrowed robe well above her hips.

"Well, the first thing you do is pull yourself together." Jane advised. "A warm bath can be good for that."

"But I just had a shower so..."

"Nice, wet heat can be very, very soothing after a spanking." Jane informed her cousin while giving her own backside a fake rub. "Trust me, I've got years of experience with them."


It felt weird to be taking a bath soon after a shower, but Clare discovered that Jane's advice was sound. Soaking in the tub, laying on her side in a bubble bath, Clare had to acknowledge that the wet heat did feel good.

Thinking of the term 'wet heat' (as oppose to the dry heat of a heating pad) sent Clare's mind wandering down other paths. Her mind focusing on what her aunt had done to her, how Mona had spanked and spanked, and how Clare had no choice but to lie there and kick her legs in a vain attempt to ease the building heat. How her aunt had showed her no mercy. How, for the first time in her life, Clare had been 'taken across the county line'.


When Clare finally left the bathroom she hoped that no one would ask why she had taken so long. Answering that question, even with her ability to leave entire phrases out of her sentences, would be embarrassing. Even if it was just to her aunt or cousin.

Returning to Ellen's room in her borrowed robe, Clare saw clothes laid out on the bed. She would have smiled, but there weren't enough clothes there for her to wear.

Clare was staring at the bed when her cousin knocked on the door and let herself in.

"So, you're finally out of the bathroom." Jane observed.

"What the fuck" Clare asked. "Where are my clothes! I want to get dressed."

"It looks like mom's picked out your outfit." Jane noted. "And if I was you I'd be dressed before she decides to check on you."

Clare bit back another curse and picked up the clothes. Both items. A T-shirt, one that ended just below her bellybutton and a pair of little girl panties - they even had little teddy bears on them!

"So what's up with this shit?" Clare whined, looking at herself in Ellen's bedroom mirror. Hints of red were peeking out from the edges panties, telling the world what had just happened to her.

"Well, you know how Hazard County has spankings out in public?"

"You said most of them were private." Clare pointed out.

"Yeah, but some are public." Jane countered. "Anyway, because they can happen in public we've got, well, different laws about what can and can't be shown."

"So kids can be made to walk around in their fucking underwear?" Clare asked. Part of her was appalled, but another part of her was still thinking about bringing Roy here. She pictured sending him outside in just his jockeys, then frowned at the image. It was too cold for that.

"They can walk around wearing even less, but it's not that common." Jane replied. "I mean walking around without all your clothes on isn't that common, but I guess walking around with nothing is even less common, so..."

"Just how rare are we talking about?" Clare demanded. "Am I going to be sticking out?"

"You?" Jane laughed. "Of course you are! Any girl your age would. If I were you I wouldn't leave the house today, not dressed like that! I mean, okay, this is what those clothes mean: They mean that you've been a naughty girl and people shouldn't think twice about smacking your bum."

"What? But..."

"Yeah, in theory any adult can smack any kid's bum, but wearing something like that makes it more likely." Jane elaborated. "And since there's some red peeking out it shows that you've already needed at least one spanking today whoever gave it to thinks you didn't learn so you're going to get more. Practically any reason, and pow!"

"But..." Clare said weakly.

"The only thing that's more likely to get a kid spanked is to walk around bare bum, and even then it matters if the kid's bum's been spanked or not." Jane continued. "Think of being sent out that way as the ultimate final warning and every adult who sees you knows that. And if your butt is red, while, clearly you haven't learned your lesson yet and probably need another one."

"But..." Clare paused, but this time Jane didn't interrupt her. "But what if I don't want to go along with that? What if I said 'fuck this shit it is so not happening'?"

"Do you remember what I said when she started spanking you?" Jane quizzed. "The bit about you not wanting my mom to get official help? Well, that help is there to deal with kids who don't want to go along with things. If it's just some little kid acting out that's one thing, but the older you get... Shit. They're official peace officers and can charge you and you don't want to face the juvenile justice system here."

"It's bad?"

"Bad?" Jane laughed. "The worse sentence you can get is a day at juvvie. If you're there for a week or more, well, they think they have time to get through to you, but if you're just there for the day then the staff thinks that you need a full day's worth of spankings."

"Ouch." Clare said, giving her bum a bit of a rub.

"They call it a short, sharp attention getting life changer, and no one wants one." Jane informed her.

"So if your mom wants to send me out with..." Clare paused as she pictured the horrible, yet intriguing, imagine. "With nothing at all, then..."

"Oh, she won't do that." Jane assured her cousin. "You're way too old."

"Oh." Clare said, then thought of something. "But you said the age was 21!"

"It is." Jane nodded. "Just because legally something can happen doesn't mean it should, you know?"

"Um, I guess."

"Look, why don't I bring up some food and a couple more wine coolers and we can talk." Jane suggested. "Call it an early brunch. Don't worry, mom's not expecting to see you downstairs; at least not for a while yet."

"Um, okay." Clare answered.

Left alone in her cousin's room, Clare's eyes were drawn to the mirror. She closely inspected where the panties ended, wincing at what was showing. Maybe she wouldn't be leaving house like this today, but she knew, just knew, that if she had visited in the summers when she was younger that she might have left the house like this. Just as she knew that had there had been days when her cousin Jane had left the house like this when Jane was younger. Thinking about her younger self walking outside on a bright sunny day, dressed in only what Clare was wearing... Suddenly Clare was glad that she had spent that extra time in the tub.

Clare pulled her panties down so they only covered the lower part of her bum and looked at her reflection again. Then she pulled them down a bit further, to just below her bum, and bent over the bed. Looking at her reflect she could see how she looked that way, and shuddered.

Then the door was flying open and Clare was grabbing blindly for her panties.

"It's only me." Jane chuckled, manoeuvring the tray she was carrying. "Sorry for not knocking, but I had my hands full."

"Um, well..." Clare stammered as she finally got her panties up.

"Don't worry, you're not the first girl I've seen like that." Jane said as she set the tray down on Ellen's bedside table. "Practically every visitor wants to know what they look like when they're that way, at least when they haven't seen someone else get it."

"You mean it's expected?" Clare asked in disbelief. "It's fucking accepted?"

"I wouldn't go that far." Jane chuckled. "It depends on who sees you like that. A friend of mine, Rose, her cousin was visiting and Rose's mom walked in on the cousin like that. The cousin stammered out something about wanting to know what she'd look like when she was getting a spanking, which was a stupid thing to say. Especially at her age. It was years ago, so she would have been something like Roy's age back then."

"You mean Rose's mother showed her what she'd look like?" Clare asked as she stretched over the bed (she still didn't feel much like sitting) and attacking one of the plates.

"Worse!" Jane chuckled. "She took her to a punishment centre and got her a foldout of her very own. That way she, the cousin, could always see how she looked like when she was getting a spanking. Not that it would have been much better if Rose's mother had spanked her; that woman sure knows how to smack a bum."

Watching Jane rubbing at her backside at the memory, Clare decided that she wasn't going to Rose's house. Not with Jane saying "knows how to smack" instead of "knew how to smack"; sometimes the presence tense could be scary! Being spanked by her own aunt was one thing, but getting it from the mother of her cousin's friend? No, that wasn't going to happen.

"So," Jane said, sitting on the bed and reaching for the other plate. "You need to know the difference between the laws and what happens. It's like the drinking bit. Technically we can't drink until we're 21, but everyone ignores that. So technically mom could send you out the house wearing only that, but she won't. Not unless you insist on going out, and if you do that then you deserve what you get. I guess she plans on you using this day to learn all the stuff you should have researched but didn't."

"Okay, that makes sense." Clare nodded.

Information was power. The more that Clare knew the more she could do when she got Roy here. Sure, Aunt Mona was against it, but if Roy begged and pleaded and begged (which he would do if he thought there an extra present here with his name on it) then Clare was sure that she could get him here.

"So, just because technically, by law, some could send you out with no pants on, it practically never happens after a certain age." Jane told her cousin.

"When's that?"

Jane looked at her as if she was a moron.

"When you start noticing the difference between girls and boys." Jane said slowly. "Before that, well, you see the difference but who cares? After that, shit, it's something people care about, you know?"

"I guess." Clare nodded.

"That's not to say no one gets it bare in public after that." Jane continued. "It's just that it's rare. Specially in high school."

"Wow." Clare said. "I can't imagine something like that happening in high school."

"It's weird." Jane nodded. "Especially when people are dating. Sometimes someone will get his date home late, just on the chance he'll get to see her bare bum if she gets spanked."

"That's... That's..." Clare couldn't find the words to say what it was. She couldn't help picturing her first boyfriend, and wondering if he (the loser who told everyone he hit a home run when he barely made first base) would have tried something like that. She thought he might, and tried to picture it happening.

"Of course it doesn't always work." Jane explained. "Most times, if it happens, the parents will do it after he leaves or behind closed doors, and sometimes they decided that person who got their daughter home late is the one who needs spanking. Sometimes they decide that both latecomers need spankings and dish them out."

Clare tried to picture that loser bring her home late and both of them getting it, but she couldn't. The picture wouldn't form; she couldn't guess at which of them would have gotten it first which meant she couldn't picture it happening.

"But before then?" Clare asked. "How many kids go out dressed this way?"

"Not many." Jane revealed. Seeing the look on her cousin's face, she continued. "No, it's true! It's uncommon enough to get lots of attention. It makes a kid stand out in a crowd. Except at the beach, where you see lots of little kids going around with no swimsuits."

"I don't believe you! Every story I've ever heard..."

"Most of them are blown out of proportion." Jane told her. "Or they happen in the tourist areas."

"Tourist areas?" Clare asked.

"Ah huh. We get lots of tourists who say things like 'when in Rome'." Jane explained. "As if they couldn't spank their brats at home. Well, maybe some of them can't, depending on their local laws, but most can. And some of them just want to soak up the local colour without being part of it. Some even make a game of it."

"Like how?"

"Like sometimes they'll sends their kids out without jeans or shorts on and the kids will see if they can last 15 minutes, or an hour, or something, without them getting their tails smacked. No, it's true, I've seen it! And some of those very same parents are outraged if someone spanks their kid, like it's a total surprise when it happens. They practically send their out with a sign that says 'spank me' and don't expect it to happen."

"What tourist places are those?" Clare asked, still making plans for Roy.

"Oh, around the hotels or motels, and there's a couple of rest areas just this side of the county line, and places like that." Jane said, not bothering to give a detailed list. "Just avoid them and you won't have any problems."

"Wait, you mean that someone might decide... Someone who's not Aunt Mona..." Clare said, stumbling over her words.

"It happens, at least until you're 21. Even to girls who's gone through the babysitting course." Jane said ruefully.

"But... No, wait!" Clare protested. "I know girls our age who are married. Who have kids and everything!"

"So do I." Jane nodded. "And girls like that in Hazard County can still get spanked. Even at their jobs, and I'm not just talking about after school jobs. There are some bosses who hire girls right out of high school and spank them whenever they screw up. Even some women do that."

"But..." Clare just couldn't wrapped her head around that, then something clicked. "Wait, you said girls? What about boys?"

"When they're young? They get it the same as us. But when they get older, well, a 200 pound high school quarterback doesn't look like some who can go over someone's lap. Sure, if it's a big thing then you can call for assistance, but after a certain age girls get it maybe three or five times as much as boys."

"That's not fair." Clare responded, but she didn't pout. Roy wasn't in that age range, so her plans for him were more or less intact. "So, what, is there some big 21st birthday celebrations at people's jobs?"

"Well, technically, um, well, look, if someone who's over 21 decides she wants to be spanked rather than fired, who's going to say anything against it? Especially if she's been getting spanked at work for years."

"But that's not fair!" Clare protested.

"No, but that's life, and when it comes to butts turning red life in Hazard County isn't always fair."


Clare and Jane spent the next several hours talking, then Clare finally went downstairs. There she found her Aunt Mona putting the finishing touches on the Christmas tree.

"You're not going to send me out dressed like this, are you?" Clare asked, fearful that her cousin might be wrong.

"You can go out if you want, but I wouldn't advise it." Mona said as she hung another bulb. "I thought you could do with a nice, quiet day in. That, and you needed to be taught not to make cruel plans for your baby brother."

Clare nodded, still working on those plans. She figured that as long as she was careful then everything would still work out.

"No, I wouldn't send you out like that, but I'd still dress you that way if your uncle and cousins were here." Mona continued. "So why don't you relax and get used to Hazard County. Maybe watch the video? We have the same networks you're used to do, but different feeds and our local stuff is our local stuff."

Clare nodded, and went to the video display.


She was still there when it was time for dinner. She ended up sitting (although a bit gingerly) across from Jane with Mona at the head of the table.

"So I watched those shows." Clare said between bites. "But, well, I thought, well..."

"You thought you'd see more spankings?" Mona suggested.

"Basically."

"They don't happen on every episode of every show." Jane pointed out.

"But it didn't happen on any of them." Clare pointed out. "I scanned through lots of them, and they didn't show a single one. One had a kid being called home for a spanking, and couple had kids who mentioned they had been spanked, and one had a boy who wasn't wearing jeans over his boxers, but there was no spanking. Not even on the local soap."

"Really? It's probably scheduled for tomorrow then." Jane said before reaching for her water glass.

"Or maybe New Year's." Mona suggested. "They like to keep people guessing."

"What's scheduled when?" Clare asked.

"It's kind of a Christmas tradition." Mona explained. "That soap gets some young actor or actress from outside the county to play a cousin visiting for Christmas. Sometimes they get two or three. Anyway, the kid arrives on the show nears the first of December and acts like a brat. Smug, rubbing in the fact that he or she doesn't get spanked at home, and basically making a nuisance of him or herself. Then in one episode, and you never know which one, the kid gets a well deserved spanking."

"And if there's more than one then maybe only one gets it or maybe they all do." Jane added between mouthfuls. "That's how they add in suspense."

"They do that for the ratings?" Clare asked.

"Of course." Jane answered. "Everyone knows it's coming, but not when, and they sell the shows in blocks so you have to get the entire run to see it happen."

"And those shows are funny as hell." Mona added with a chuckle. "A lot of the times the guest stars don't seem to know what's going on, or they think that will be special effects, or something. After the first couple smacks, or even when they're being put in position, they break character and start calling 'Hey, where are the F/Xs? My agent didn't say anything about this! Cut!' and cursing the person doing the spanking. Oh course that only gets them more smacks for swearing."

"I think they even house them outside the county." Jane said, speaking around a mouthful of food. "Just so the big day is a surprise for them."

"So who's getting it this year?" Clare asked, still looking for inspiration for how to deal with Roy.

"Oh, they've got two of them." Mona informed her. "A boy and a girl, and it's even money which will get it. Well, not quite even. There's that third option, that they both get it. That's how they keep the viewers watching after the first spanking - everyone's watching to see if the second happens."

Clare nodded, and vowed that she would scan through that soap.

"But I thought I would see spankings everywhere." Clare told them. "You know, to keep kids in line."

"What?" Mona laughed. "Where did you get that idea? If every kid needed a spanking everyday then we'd stop using spankings because obviously they don't work. But they do work, which means that kids aren't spanked all the time, and the shows on the video reflect that. No, sometimes spankings work best when the kids know they can happen and unless they mind their manners they will happen, but good behaviour generally means going through the day spank free."

"Except in tourist areas." Jane said. "Then it's anyone's guess what happens."

Clare nodded, and went back to working out how she could get Roy into a tourist area.


Later, after the dishes were cleared, Clare broached a more delicate topic with her aunt. Of course Clare waited until she was alone with her; Jane didn't need to hear this exchange.

"Um, so, Aunt Mona, um, well, when am I going to get my clothes back?" Clare asked. "I can't go around wearing only this, not for the whole Christmas break."

"Oh, those will do you for now." Mona answered. "As for later, I don't really approve of the clothes you brought with you."

"What?" Clare asked, not sure if she was hearing things right. There wasn't anything shocking or all that daring in her suitcase. Nothing that she wouldn't have wore in front of her own family.

"Don't worry, I've borrowed some clothes that will fit you and make you fit in." Mona said. "That way your suitcase can stay where it is."

"But... Well, okay I guess." Clare replied, still unsure what her aunt meant.

Mona could see that her niece was confused, but didn't bother to spell things out. Clare would have clothes, but all the pants would come with elastic waistbands for tugging down and the skirts would flare so they could be easily lifted. Those clothes that Clare had brought with her, well, they would make baring her bottom more difficult than it should be. Not that she was planning to bare Clare's bottom on a daily basis or even spank it daily; Mona would leave that decision up to Clare but she wanted to be prepared in case the girl's behaviour called for a sore bum.


That evening, as they settled around the video display to watch the evening news, Clare brought up the topic of tourists areas.

"So does Hazard County really get a lot of tourists?" Clare asked.

"Do we ever." Mona chuckled. "It's like some people think they need to be somewhere that explicitly approves of spanking before they'll smack their own children. They come here and say 'oops, sorry, it's the law' or just let their brats run wild until someone else does it. Or they actually make arrangements for it to happen; I've heard countless stories of parents meeting at breakfast at a hotel dinning room and working how they'll spank each other's kids. That way they can be sure that their children get the full Hazard County experience without them having to spank them themselves and they get to learn how it feels to dish out a spanking."

"We get something like ten times as many tourists as Wellington County." Jane added. "That's why we have an airport and dirigible dock."

Clare hadn't thought of that. Dirigibles, faster than buses, slower than trains or planes, were for those who could afford both the airfare and the transport time. She'd never ridden one, and she never expected to, but thought it might be nice to see the dock.

"Now with dirigibles, there are some surprises there." Mona chuckled. "They obey the laws of the place they're docked at, and some of them obey the an area's law if they're below so many feet, so sometimes they'll make a general announcement about Hazard County's laws. Then there's be a bunch of rich brats getting their tails slapped, sometimes by the crew or servants who they're normally rude to."

Clare nodded, and didn't say something. She had noticed that both Jane and Mona (and probably many others) referred to any kid from outside Hazard County as brats. The tourists, they spanked (or didn't spank) their brats. The outside child actors brought in to play a role on the local soap? Brats. The young passengers on the dirigibles? Rich brats. Her aunt might say that the youth of Hazard County didn't need many spanking, but it was clear that she viewed anyone who wasn't regularly spanked as a brat and felt that brats needed spankings.

Which meant that all Clare needed to do was get Roy here and Roy's buns would be toasted. Even if Aunt Mona wouldn't do then someone else would. Even if (by some miracle of chance) he didn't do anything to warrant a spanking he'd get one just because he was a brat from outside the county.

On one hand, Clare thought that they had an elitist attitude, but on the other she didn't really care as long it made it easier to get Roy's bum spanked.


At around ten that night, Clare received another unpleasant surprise.

"Bed time?" Clare sputtered. "But Aunt Mona, I haven't had a bed time since I was 10!"

"Well young lady, just think of bed times as an old Hazard County tradition, and you if don't go now, well, there's another old Hazard County tradition you could try out." Mona told her niece.

"What's that?" Clare asked in an irritable tone.

"It's called 'crying yourself to sleep with a freshly spanked bum', and you're this close to trying that one out." Mona answered.

Clare opened her mouth to answer, then thought better and closed it.

"Smart girl." Mona chuckled. "Now off to bed."

Going to bed because she had been ordered to felt humiliating to Clare. It helped a bit that Jane was going to bed at the same time. As for what Clare found waiting for her on her bed, she wasn't sure if that was good thing or not.

Last night (or this morning) Clare had basically collapsed fully clothed. She hadn't minded the thought of wearing her current outfit to bed. She usually just wore a T-shirt (sometimes an oversized one) and underwear to bed, and that was when she wore anything at all. Sure, if she was at home Clare probably would have worn something to bed (just in case someone barged in on her), but she wouldn't have worn anything like the outfit waiting for her.

Laying on her bed were old fashion pyjamas. PJs like she had worn when she was just a kid. Oh, they were larger, large enough to fit her, but they weren't anything that she would normally wear. Looking at them, Clare saw that they weren't new. They weren't falling apart but there were signs of wear. Clare wasn't sure if they were an old pair of Jane's or if Aunt Mona had borrowed them from someone else, or even if Mona gone to a second hand store, but she wasn't going to be the first one to wear them.

Clare picked them up and looked at them.

'Someone else in Hazard County fucking wore these.' Clare thought to herself. 'Maybe someone who cried herself to sleep with a freshly spanked bum.'

Clare rushed out of her clothes. She tossed the pyjama top on, buttoning it quickly, then slide on the bottoms, rubbing her bum against the seat.

"So someone wore you with a hot bum." Clare muttered to herself. "Maybe someone else will too?"

Not that she wanted one, but the idea that she might...

Clare turned off the light and crawled under the covers. Once safely there she wiggled the bottoms to below her hips and curled up on her stomach. Last night she wouldn't have know how someone would lay on a bed with a sore bottom, but thanks to her Aunt Mona's actions Clare thought she knew all about being on a bed with a sore bottom.

As she positioned herself, Clare's hands stayed below the blankets.


Clare intended to only lie that way for a short time, but while 10 PM was an early night for her, Clare's plans didn't quite work out. She had only slept for a handful of hours that morning, followed by some unexpected exertion over her aunt's lap and all that talking with Jane, so Clare discovered that she was more tired than she thought. As she lay there, newly contented, Clare made a slight mistake.

'Just a few more minutes of being a naughty girl.' Clare thought, her pyjama bottom now closer to her knees than her waist.


The next thing Clare knew was there was a knocking at her door.

"Clare honey? It's time to get up." Mona called. "Don't make me call you twice."

Clare shook the sleep from her eyes and rolled out bed, almost tripping as she did. Looking down she saw that her pyjama bottoms were still down and tangled around her legs.

'Good thing she didn't come in.' Clare thought to herself, yawning.

Checking the clock that Ellen kept on her bedside table, Clare saw it was too early for her to be up. At least it was way too early to be up on a holiday morning, and the bed looked so inviting.

Too inviting. Clare crawled back into it.

Five minutes later there was another knock at the door, but Clare ignored it.

"It's time to get up." Jane hissed through the door.

Clare ignored that too.

Roughly five minutes after that, the bedroom door opened and Mona stormed through it. When she reached the bed Mona dragged her niece from beneath the sheets and, yanking down Clare's PJs, dragged the college girl over her knee.

"You will..."

Spank

"Wake up..."

Smack

"When I call you."

SPANK.

Mona lectured, giving her niece's upturned bottom a trio of spanks.

"Oh! Hey! Stop I was getting up!" Clare protested.

"See that you do." Mona said, rolling Clare off her lap. "Now come down for breakfast. If I don't see you in the next five minutes you'll get a lot more than three smacks."

"Ow." Clare complained, rubbing her butt with one hand and pulling up her PJs with the other. "Okay, I'll be down. Just give me time to fix my hair."

"You'll have all the time you need." Mona assured her as she left the room. "As long as all you need is five minutes."

Clare had to rush a bit, but she made it downstairs in under five minutes. Rushing down the stairs, Clare couldn't help wondering what would have happened if her pyjama bottoms had still been down when her Aunt Mona pulled her from the bed and vowed never to risk that happening.

"Good morning sleepy head." June said as Clare made into the dining room. "I tried to warn you. So did you get the attention getter or the seeing too?"

"She got the attention getter." Mona called from the kitchen. "So, bacon and eggs all right with you?"

"Oh, that's fine with me." Clare called back, taking a seat. "So did you have to ask? I'm more than a bit embarrassed about it."

"No, I could have just waited until you sat down and watched for a wince." Jane told her. "But I thought it would be nicer to ask."

"So what's the plan for today?" Mona asked as she brought breakfast in.

"Um, that depends." Clare admitted. "Do I get to wear real clothes or what?"

"Oh, you get to leave the house today." Mona said with a laugh. "I'm not keeping you prisoner here. I just didn't want you wandering around without knowing the rules. I had to make sure that you didn't do anything stupid before you had a long talk with Jane. Of course I never thought that you would do something stupid inside the house. Plotting to get your little brother Roy spanked! How could you?"

"What?" Jane said with faux surprise. "You were trying to set up your brother? How could you?"

"Well it wasn't so much a plan as ... Hey, are you saying you didn't know? But how could you not know?" Clare asked.

"Well I knew mom had spanked you, but I didn't know why." Jane replied.

"How could you not know why?" Clare demanded.

"I didn't bother to ask." Jane admitted. "And I was too busy holding you while you were screaming to listen to her lecture. I just knew that she spanked you. For all I knew she gave you a welcome to the neighbourhood spanking."

"A what?" Clare asked.

"They aren't that common, at least not any more." Mona said as she brought the juice in. "But at one time it was kind of a tradition to hand out a 'get to know you' spanking to first time visitors to Hazard County."

"That's cruel." Clare commented.

"What, and plotting to tan your baby brother's backside wasn't?" Mona countered. "Besides, most times they weren't as bad as normal spankings. Just think of them as free samples so getting the real thing later wouldn't freak someone out."

Clare briefly wondered if what her aunt had done to her was considered a 'sample', but only briefly. Clare knew that she had given her aunt a real reason to spank her (not that Clare agreed that it was a reason, but knew her aunt thought it was) and what she had been given couldn't have been a sample. It had to be the real thing.

"So, now that you know you have clothes, what are your plans for the day?" Mona asked, bringing in her own breakfast.

"Um, I thought we'd hit a mall." Clare said, mentally bringing up part of her tattered plan.

Clare had grown up hearing horror stories about the malls in Hazard County. Visiting kids from Wellington County always returned with stories about seeing this kid or that kid or a whole bunch of kids upended right there in the mall. Sometimes right out in the open and sometimes in the bathrooms. There were even whispered tales of special rooms where kids could be taken to be spanked, places where as many as a dozen kids got it at the same time. Of course no one ever admitted to seeing, much less entering, such a room, but one story stood out in Clare's mind.

The first person she heard telling it said it happened the half-sister of the step-brother of a cousin of friend of her older sister and swore it was true, but sometimes the chain wasn't as tight as that. It was a simple story with a few variations. The half-sister had been told that if she wanted to see inside that room she could go exploring while they shopped for something for her half-brother, and when the family finally went looking for her they discovered (to their horror and the horror of all the kids listening) that she was stuck in a corning with her bare red bum facing the room. That someone had assumed that if she was there then she must have been there to be spanked, and spanked her. Clare had heard that story several times, and in some versions there an attendant, a teenage girl whose job it was to hand out spankings to any unaccompanied kid who entered, that sending your kid for a spanking was just another service that the mall provided. Another version had the step-brother of the cousin racing ahead and the family finding him over a knee as well when they got there, and still another version had entering with his family and being snatched up and spanked and all his family could do was watch. His family couldn't do anything (the taleteller would say in an ominous voice) because it was The Law.

Clare wasn't sure if she believed that story about the 'spanking room' or if it was just another urban legend about Hazard County, but if it existed it would make phase two of her plan easier. All she had to do was get Roy to the mall and send him to that room and then she could (to her amazed horror) discover that he'd been spanked. She felt that a story like that would be totally believable to everyone involved, but needed to see the mall to know for sure that a room like that existed.

"Well, I suppose, if that's what you really want, I could take you." Jane said with pouched lips.

"If you want you can take my car." Mona offered. "As long as Jane is the only driver. Sorry Clare, but you aren't on the insurance."

"That sounds good." Clare nodded.

"I was thinking the bus, but the car? Sure, why not?" Jane agreed.

Clare wondered why her cousin sounded downbeat about driving. A car was always better than public transport, wasn't it?

"Why don't you leave around 10ish?" Mona suggested. "That why you miss the opening rush."

"That sounds like a plan." Clare nodded. "Mind if I watch the video display until then? I'd like to see what is happening with some of those shows."


Alone at the video display, Clare quickly scanned through all the locally produced shows, but to her disappointment the closest thing to a spanking any of them showed was one kid rubbing at her backside. Slowing the display so she could view it in context, Clare couldn't tell if the girl was rubbing because her backside was sore or it was because she was warning the other characters away from a piece of mischief.

For all the rumours and stories she had heard, Clare almost disappointed. She had been in Hazard County for three days now (Clare was mentally counting the 19th as one) and she hadn't even seen a spanking on the video display. If hadn't been for her Aunt Mona being mean to her Clare might not believe that spanking really happened in Hazard County.

Then Jane called her upstairs, so Clare left the world of the video display to see what her aunt considered "decent" clothing.

Clare found Jane in Ellen's room and a new outfit was on the bed. To her relief it wasn't something that a little girl would wear. Slacks, a blouse, a bra, socks - all looked normal. Okay, the panties weren't something that she would ever wear; her tastes went to bikini briefs or (if pantylines would be an issue) thongs, and these were full bottomed ones. But they didn't have teddy bears or anything else on them, so Clare thought they were okay.

Jane didn't seem to mind, and Clare wasn't modest, so she changed into the clothes with Jane in the room.

"I don't understand." Clare said as she pulled the slacks up. "My clothes weren't all that daring or anything. I had slacks a lot like these ones in my suitcase. Why did your mom..."

"Let me put on my psychic hat." Jane intoned. "I see the future, I see the past, I see that your slacks had a belt and a zipper."

"Um, yeah, they did, so?" Clare said as she fixed her bra.

"So they didn't have an elastic waistband, so she couldn't do this." Jane said, reaching out and snagging the back of Clare's slacks and yanking them down.

"Jane!" Clare shrieked, her hands shooting back for her slacks.

"See?" Jane said, laughing and releasing the slacks. "Those slacks have an elastic waistband to make them easy to yank down. I bet all your other pants had belts or buttons to undo, and undoing them would take too long if she wanted to bare your butt."

"But... But I had some fucking dresses and skirts!" Clare protested.

"Sure, but they were snug, right? Not given to ridding up or flaring up." Jane said with confidence. "Well if a skirt is too tight it's almost impossible to get up in a hurry. Some of them even need to be taken off and that takes too long when someone wants to spank you."

Clare could barely understand what Jane was saying.

"You mean that Aunt Mona plans to bare my bum all the time?" Clare gasped.

"No, just when you need it, and not all spankings are given on the bare bum." Jane answered. "Some of them are given over panties and lots are given over clothes, but dressed like this you know that your bum can be bared. And if she can't get your slacks down then she can't even spank your panties, and mom like having her options open."

"How long has she planned this?" Clare demanded to know. "Did she have this all arranged from the moment my mom called her?"

Unspoken were the words "Because if she did then she'll have a lot explaining to do when my parents hear about this!", but while they were unspoken Clare meant them.

"Planned?" Jane asked. "No, that's not the right word. Prepared is a better one. Ah huh, prepared, that's it. She prepared in case she had to spank you. I don't think any of these clothes would have come out if she hadn't have had to spank you the first day you were here."

Jane's words dashed any hopes Clare had that complaining to her parents would solve anything. If Aunt Mona had planned this all out, well, that would be one thing, but the woman could say that Clare's actions were the reason she spanked her niece, and that would mean Clare's parents would hear about her plan for Roy and that wouldn't be good. Switching tactics, Clare decided to see if these slacks had ever been tugged down for real.

"So these are your old clothes?" Clare asked, setting up her next question.

"Some of the stuff you'll be wearing is mine." Jane admitted. "But we don't share all the same sizes."

Left unspoken was which girl had the larger cup size. While consciously not thinking about that, Clare conceded to herself that Jane wasn't her body double. An inch here, an inch there, it all added up when you were trying to get clothes to fit.

"So mom called around and borrowed most of your clothes from neighbours." Jane continued. "Some of it was outgrown, some is from girls who aren't coming home for Christmas, and some of it, well, one the first things most girl do when they turn 21 is buy slacks with belts, skirts that don't flare, and, well, just plan stop dressing like they're spankable. That means they have a closet full of clothes they want to get rid of, but who can afford to replace their wardrobe in one go? So some of these were cycled out of wardrobes that are slowly being updated to more adult fashions."

Clare couldn't think of a way of asked who these particular slacks came from, not without seeming ghoulish , so finished changing. To Clare's relief she found that her jacket, shoes, and purse were waiting for her downstairs; Clare assumed that her Aunt had no problems with those garments since they had nothing to do with baring her bum.


The mall wasn't that far away, but the packing lot was packed. As the minutes rolled by Clare was conscious of the dipping fuel gage.

"I didn't think that hitting the mall would be so much trouble." Clare told her cousin. "Maybe we should have taken the bus?"

"No," Jane answered, her eyes pealed for the slightest hint that a parking spot would open up. "This time of year the busses are packed with people trying to bring presents home. It's standing room if you can find a place to stand."

"At least let me help pay for the fuel." Clare offered.

"No, mom covered that. She knows how hard it is to find a parking spot this time of year."

It took more than 30, closer to 40, minutes before they found a place to park.


Once inside the mall, Clare could see why there were no parking places: it was practically wall to wall people.

"I thought we missed the rush." Clare commented.

"That's the opening door rush." Jane told her. "Sometimes people are injured in the rush to be the first to get to a store. First in means first choice of the selection, first to the cash registers, and first out. Speaking of first, let's try that store first."

"Okay." Clare said, following her cousin into the mass of shoppers.

As they were jostled this way and that, Jane turned to her cousin and said: "There's a food court and information booth on the second floor. If we get separated we can meet up there. Try for once an hour on the hour."

"Um, okay." Clare answered from within the crush of Christmas shoppers.

Clare had hoped to see naughty kids with parents taking corrective action, but nothing like that was happening in this press of people. Clare knew that it might be happening just out of sight, but between the noise of the crowd and the holiday music being pumped from every angle Clare knew that she would never hear it happen. The closest thing to corporal punishment that she could see were tired kids being dragged from store to store, but that wasn't anything she hadn't seen countless times in Wellington County.

True to Jane's prediction, as they entered the first store they were torn apart by the rush of the crowd.

Clare took it as a sign. Moving on her own her she glanced around at the merchandise but didn't see anything that she couldn't get at home. As she passed through junior fashions Clare didn't see anything weird, but she did notice that elastic waistbands seemed more common here that at home. There were still jeans (lots of jeans) with buttons and flies, but if an elastic waistband would fit with a style then were elastic waistbands for that style.

Alone, and not seeing anything remotely like spanking, Clare stopped an exhausted looking store employee and asked if the store carried certain items and if so where they could be found. They did, and soon Clare was wandering a less crowded area of the store.

'Now this is more like it.' Clare thought, looking at the shelves full of straps, paddles, and other spanking instruments.

There was even a shelf labelled imports, which had canes and other instruments that Americans didn't normally associate with corporal punishment. That shelf had a mother / daughter duet standing in front of it. Hoping that she might finally see a spanking, Clare pretended to examine various belts (none of them with even a single hole punched, which meant that they couldn't be buckled) as she spied on them.

Clare quickly learnt that they were a pair of tourists, and that they were taking a trip here because the girl (whose name was Stacy; Clare never heard the woman being called anything except mom) had been left out of a senior year skiing trip. When she heard Stacy mention where she would rather be, Clare started to wonder if there hadn't been room on that trip or if Stacy's parents had subtly blocked it. If it was the same Clarence County that Clare had heard so many stories about (and Clare knew that there was skiing in that Clarence County) then Clare wasn't sure if her parents would have let her go when she was a high school senior. That jurisdiction was infamous as a clothing optional one, which wouldn't have made any difference on the slopes but could have turned a ski lodge full of high school seniors into a fun place to be. Maybe too fun for Stacy's parents to handle.

Finished (for the moment) with complaining about how this replacement trip wasn't as good as going skiing with her friends, Stacy returned her attention to the import shelf.

"But that's a whip!" Stacy pointed out. "Surely they don't use that on kids."

"Hmm." Her mother said, reading an informational card attached to the shelf. "It says here that it is a martinet and is something they use in France. If this is true then it's designed to be effective over clothes and not that much worse than a Scottish tawse, whatever that is."

"Whatever." Stacy said dismissively. "I just want a paddle or something to prove that I was here. Like Chrissy brought back when she missed that junior high trip and came here instead."

"Do you want to christen it like Chrissy did?" Her mother asked in a mischievous tone.

"MOM! Be real! Chrissy was in junior high and I'm only months away from graduating high school." Stacy replied, scolding her mother. "Besides, she always said that her mom was pressured into it. That she and some other kids were caught drinking beer and since her mom had that paddle and all the other kids were getting spanked her mom thought she had to too. That it was the law or something."

"Well you had some beer last night." Her mother teased.

"Yeah, but like I'm way older than she was!" Stacy answered in an exasperated tone. "Who cares if I drink?"

Clare braced herself for Stacy's spanking, but when the mother laughed and said "Not me" it seemed that the woman had no intention of spanking of her daughter. That they were just here to pick up a souvenir so that Stacy could prove that she had dared Hazard County. An idea that Clare thought might be worthwhile doing, or would have been if her aunt hadn't gone nuts and spanked her. Now, unless she could get her brother Roy over the county line, Clare couldn't tell anyone that she was ever here.

Clare waited in the background, ignoring other customers (since none of them had kids with them) while she watched Stacy and her mom shopping. From how they talked it was clear that neither one of them knew that a girl Stacy's age could be spanked. While looking for a paddle Stacy seemed more concerned with was painted or burned on the wood than how the paddle was shaped.

Finally she settled on one with 'Hazard County Attitude Adjuster' on it.

"If you're sure, then let's go." Her mother told her. "It's going to take forever to get out of here and so if we want to meet your dad for lunch we better get going."

"Don't rush me." Stacy snapped. "Maybe the 'Bum Basher' one would be better? It's got a picture of girl bending over with stars coming off of her red bum."

"But it doesn't say 'Hazard County' on it." Her mother pointed out soothingly. "And do you really want everyone who looks at it to think of a bare bum? Maybe your bare bum?"

"Probably not." Stacy agreed with a martyr's sigh. "Okay, we'll take the attitude adjuster one."

As the two of them walked away, Clare heard a store employee (who was restocking a shelf) muttering: "Someone really needs an attitude adjustment, and if we weren't so busy..."

The woman's voice trailed off, then she turned and fixed Clare with a stare.

"And is there anything I can help you with Missy?" The woman asked.

If it wasn't for the sentence ending with 'missy' then Clare would have treated the woman like any other store employee she had ever met, but that word, combined with Aunt Mona's insistence that Clare wear easily pulled down slacks, changed Clare's attitude.

"I was just waiting for more of these to come out." Clare said with a smile, grabbing one of the straps that the woman was putting on the shelf. "My baby brother's out growing my hand so this is a Christmas present for him and me, but mainly for me."

Turning, Clare congratulated herself on her handling of that. Going down one aisle then turning a corner Clare dropped the strap on a random shelf and went towards lady's fashion section.

'If I can't wear any of my old clothes then maybe I'll buy some new ones.' Clare thought to herself.

Left unspoken (even to herself) was if the new clothes would be designed to protect or bare her backside.

"There you are! I thought I'd find you here!" Jane said as a Clare turned into lady's Fashions. "So, do you see anything you like?"

Clare looked at a manikin, one with a woman's shape and its pants around its knees, and decided that if she was going wear something like that then she wouldn't be buying it. Aunt Mona might insist on outfits like that, but there was no way that Clare was going to spend her own money on them.

"Not really." Clare answered. "Okay, there are a few more elastic waistlines, but other than that, well, it's nothing special."

"Clothes are clothes." Jane agreed. "Unless you can afford to shop at a boutique then the selection doesn't really change, no matter where you live."

Clare nodded. She had heard tales (but only half believed them) of the time before the Crash, when new fashions were a yearly event and different designs were shipped all over the world. Of course now, with the price of shipping being so high, most clothes were produced in state.

It hit her that somewhere, maybe in Hazard County, maybe in Wellington County, maybe elsewhere, there was a factory turning out clothes designed to bare the wearer's backside. She tried to picture working in a place like that, but couldn't.

'It must be in Hazard County.' Clare decided. 'Otherwise there would be higher shipping costs.'

"Well if you're done looking here, we should be going." Jane told her cousin. "There are plenty of other stores to hit."

Clare nodded, then the two of them started to fight their way to the exit.

It wasn't easy, not with the stream of customers coming in. Clare was going to suggest they go to one of the registers and leave from there when she saw the line (well, call it a chaotic mingling of several lines) in front of the checkouts. Then she noticed that Stacy (looking completely bored) was near the outside of that line, and angled their path towards her.

As they fought their way out they passed near enough to hear the women standing near Stacy's mother talking to her, and could see that Stacy was consciously ignoring the buzz of conversation around her. In the minutes that it took Clare and Jane to worked their way passed the pair, Clare heard enough to know that Stacy had been complaining over her lack of a Clarence Count ski trip, mainly because the other shoppers were talking about it. Talking about it and offering Stacy's mother unasked advice about how to best use that new paddle. At one point Stacy's mother must have said something about Stacy being too old, because all the shoppers around her reacted as one, assuring the woman that her daughter was in no way too old for a good attitude adjustment to be applied; to the seat of her dress or to her bare seat, either way it would work marvels.

Listening to the snatches of conversation, Clare was almost disappointed. From what Clare was hearing she was sure that Stacy's mother wasn't going to use that paddle. Not in Hazard County, not when they got home, never.

Leaving the store, Jane said something that jarred Clare's thoughts.

"It's a good thing for that girl that this place is so busy." Jane noted dryly.

"Which girl?" Clare asked automatically.

"That one back there, standing in line with her mom." Jane answered, nodding her head in the direction they had just come. "The tourist one with a new paddle that everyone around her was talking about."

Clare knew that there was no way she claim not have heard something, so nodded and said: "Oh, her."

"Yeah, if this place wasn't wall to wall people then that brat would be over someone's lap." Jane asserted. "Guaranteed."

"Really? What for?" Clare asked.

"Didn't you hear? Her attitude." Jane replied. "She needs to be taken down a peg or two."

"Ah huh." Clare agreed, fighting off a smile.

If someone looked at Stacy and thought she needed her attitude adjusted, then Clare knew that Roy wouldn't last two minutes at this mall. Oh, they would have to have fewer people around so there would be room to spank him, but Clare knew that if she got him here then Roy's buns were doomed.


They window shopped in a few more stores, not finding anything that tempted them enough to stand in line at the checkout, then headed to the second floor for lunch.

Looking around, Clare could see countless benches scattered around the mall that would be perfect to sit on while you spanked someone, but they were all full of weary shoppers taking a break from walking the mall. Even the food court was packed - Jane didn't even try for a table, she simply led her cousin to a long counter where they could place their trays while they ate.

"Is it always so crowded?" Clare asked, chowing down her food at the crowded counter.

"No, but around Christmas, well, there's today, tomorrow, and the next day, then all the stores close for Christmas Eve, so this is almost the last chance to get something."

"Are you sure?" Clare pressed.

"Of course I am. There's only three malls in town and I know them all."

"So why do they have this overflow counter here?"

"Oh, that." Jane answered, fighting off a giggle. "Well, let's just say that a lot of the time there are people, well, kids, who don't feel like sitting to eat. That's why the counter's here."

Clare could only ponder how many kids with sore bums usually stood at the counter, and how many (if any) of the other kids eating at the counter had sore bums right now.

Then something hit her.

'Other kids?' Clare thought to herself. 'Why would I think that? I'm not a kid any more. I'm a college girl, with a dorm room and everything.'

But the word 'other' did feel right. There was something about being in Hazard County, about knowing that her own buns were on the line for her behaviour, that made Clare feel a bit like a kid again. Like she was at one of those juvenile sleepovers where the girls all shared horror stories about Hazard County and shivered in fake horror about the place that was only 20 miles away. Maybe it was the wardrobe that had been forced on her, as she had worn PJs like that when she was those early sleepovers, but whatever it was had Clare feeling less like a mature young adult and more like a kid.

Thinking about it, Clare realised she was even self censoring her words, cutting the swearing to almost nothing. She wasn't sure if it would matter, but she noticed that Jane watched her tongue around Aunt Mona, and if Jane wasn't swearing then maybe it made good sense for Clare to follow her lead.


After lunch they hit more stores, but while leaving one shop the crowd swept them apart again. Rather than trying to guess where her cousin would head, Clare took the opportunity to pick up a few things. Nothing special, just some last minute Christmas things for her aunt and cousin.

That, and some toys for Roy. Phase one of the plan was luring him here, and if she promised that there were toys waiting for him under the tree then there had better be some toys there. Clare forced herself not to grumble at the expense, because without the toys then there would be no reason for Roy to come to Hazard County, but every dollar she spent on them was one less dollar she could use for the rest of her plan.

With forcing her way through the crowds and waiting in lines (especially in the toy store), it took Clare hours to pick up a few things.


Finally she was back at the food court, near the information centre, near the hour and waiting for Jane. Glancing around, trying to kill time, Clare spotted a map of the mall. It wasn't the first one she had seen, but this was the first one she had seen while she wasn't rushing. All of the other times she had just glanced at it, looking for the nearest store that might have something she was looking for. Now, since she had time, Clare went looking for something different.

Nothing in the map's legend jumped out at her. There wasn't a "this symbol means spanking room" anywhere there. There was a notice that said that map wasn't always to scale, and looking at the map's large 'Information booth' (which was depicted as larger than many of the shops) and the real thing (which was a small kiosk) Clare could believe it.

She was about to give up her search, when she saw, on the third floor, near a set of washrooms, a room labelled 'Family'. At first glance Clare thought it could be a family bathroom, where parents of either gender could bring toddlers and there would be a changing table, but the room was well past the other bathrooms and in Clare's experience a family bathroom was always near the others. Making someone with a tiny bladder walk all that extra distance didn't seem right. It also looked two, maybe three times the size of the other bathrooms, but since the map wasn't to scale it was hard to tell if that meant anything.

Clare was working on a way that she could ask the harried woman working the information booth (and cursing her aunt for making her wear something that marked her as under 21) when she heard her name being called.

"There you." Jane said, carrying some parcels of her own. "So did you find everything you were looking for or do you need more time?"

Clare mentally cringed at the thought of facing another checkout line. She hadn't found everything she was looking for (at least she didn't know if 'Family' marked the forbidden room she sought) but wasn't going to mention that to Jane.

"I'm got everything I came for." Clare said, thinking about the toys for Roy. "Let's go."

It was a battle to leave the mall, but the two of them pressed on. Clare was happy that her bum wasn't sore, because if it had been all the casual contact as people brushed against her would have driven her mad.

When they finally got back to the car, Clare was shocked to see that more than six hours had passed since they entered the mall.

"And that's why I do my Christmas shopping in November." Jane stated as she nosed the car out the parking spot.

Instantly there were two cars fighting for the spot that Jane was trying to leave.

"Or early December at the latest." Jane continued.

With the stop and wait traffic as drivers fought for the chance to get a parking spot, it took them another ten minutes to get back on the road.

Heading back to her aunt's place, Clare was certain that no one would ever believe her. No, she couldn't tell people that she had been at a mall in Hazard County and hadn't seen a single spanking - no one back home would ever believe her.


When they returned, Clare received some good news.

"I moved some things around in Ellen's room, shifted some of her things together, and freed up the top too drawers in her red chest and some room in the closet. Now you can pick out your own clothes rather than me picking them out for you."

"Um, thanks, but I prefer to have my own clothes back." Clare answered. "Even if I have to live out my suitcase."

"Well that's not an option." Mona declared.

Clare thought of a dozen smart things to say but wisely held her tongue.

"Now put those things away and wash up." Mona instructed. "Dinner is almost ready."

When she made it to Ellen's room the first thing that Clare checked was the closet. Most of Ellen's things had been forced to one side (although Clare thought that a big chunk of Ellen's wardrobe had to have gone with her on her trip) and a couple of blouses now hung in the empty space. Clare put her jacket on an empty hanger, stored her purchases in the back of the closet, and then checked out the drawers.

She looked in all of them, but most of them held a jumble of Ellen's clothes. The top two drawers of the red chest held clothes that would fit her, but none of them were what Clare would buy for herself. Well, maybe the socks and bras were okay, but everything with a waistband had an elastic one, there was only one skirt (which was pleated with wide pleats, and looked depressingly easy to raise), and all the panties were full bottom ones. Mixed in with the rest of the clothes was the midriff length T-shirt and teddy bear covered panties, which was depressing. Since they had been washed (and still smelled of fabric softener) it meant that her Aunt Mona thought Clare might need to wear that punishment outfit again.

But the biggest problem with the selection was there was so little of it. Other than underwear, Clare would either have to wear dirty clothes several times during her stay or do laundry. Clare knew that her luggage held far more clothing and wondered if she could at least get blouses or other tops from it.


Dinner was subdued affair. Both Jane and Clare were exhausted after fighting the crowds, so neither talked much as they ate.

After dinner Clare tried to catch up the local shows, but with her Aunt Mona and Cousin Jane joining her at the video display she couldn't scan through them looking for spankings. Watching them real time wasn't much different from watching other shows; again there was a singularly lack of spankings being dished on the local shows in Hazard County.

They stayed there, watching the video display and making small talking, until the evening news came on. After half an hour of national news (all carefully screened to avoid offending any viewers from alternative jurisdictions) they switched to local news. Which was less filtered, but no less boring in Clare's eyes. She was about to say she was making an early night of it when something caught her attention.

"In other news, Natashia Walkerman, former star of the show Sopranos Song Circle, changed planes at the airport today. While in the passenger lounge she was denied a refill of her rum and coke and became offensive. A quick thinking flight attendant searched on her name and discovered that Natashia was still two months shy of the legal drinking age. Airport cameras recording the following."

Clare stared as a pair of flight attendants closed in on a woman who was objecting loudly to lack of service. The Sopranos Song Circle had been off the air for years, but Clare vaguely recognised the woman who had once played Adrienne, an adventurous teen, who led her choir buddies in investigations of various international criminals. She watched in amazement as the flight attendants frog-marched the woman to another room. The door was left open, and from the camera Clare could see Natashia trying fight back, but since it was two against one (and a drunk one at that) the outcome was a forgone conclusion. Natashia disappeared for a moment from the screen as Natashia screamed something about her agent, then Clare was staring at the lower parts of Natashia's legs came into view. From their angle (and the fact that Clare could see underwear bunched in the jeans at Natashia's ankles) it was clear that Natashia was being spanked.

Then it clicked. The drinking age was 21, the age they could spank you to was 21, so if Natashia was under the drinking age then she was someone who could get spanked.

Natashia's protests (and the sounds of smacks being landed) ended as the video display switched back to the news desk, where someone assured the watchers that Natashia made her connecting flight but had requested a pillow before she took her seat.

"Wow." Clare muttered. "It's too bad there wasn't a camera in that other room."

Mona and Jane both broke into laughter and then Mona reached for the video display's control.

"What?" Clare asked, wondering if she had done something wrong.

"There was a camera there." Mona said as she worked the control.

The news desk disappeared and Mona was entering some sort of code.

"Hazard County has two big sources of income." Jane explained. "Well, three if you count exporting spank friendly clothes. One is tourism, and the other..."

"The others is an IP export." Mona said. "One that you need an adult code to access."

"But..."

Then Clare was watching as Mona shot through a series of menus. Then a new video filled the screen.

It was basically the same as the news report, but the title called it "Natashia Walkerman (Adrienne from Sopranos Song Circle) changes planes in Hazard County". Clare watched as the flight attendants forced Natashia from the room, then the camera angle changed. Clare stared as the flight attendants forced Natashia's jeans and panties down. One of them was holding Natashia's arms while the other forced Natashia over her lap.

Then the spanking started. Natashia was cursing a blue streak, then the video display split into two pictures. One showed Natashia from the waist down while the other focused on Natashia's face. As the colour in Natashia's lower cheeks slowly shifted there was a similar shift on Natashia's face. The outrage and offence slowly faded, pushed out by shock, then pain.

This video was much longer than the one the news aired. By the time it ended the flight attendant had shifted to using a hairbrush, Natashia's bum was an interesting colour of red, and tears were streaming down Natashia's face.

Then Natashia was being helped to her feet and the two flight attendants steered her to face a corner. Clare watched the former teen star sob and rub at her bum, then Mona used the control again.

"That bit goes on for a while." Mona explained.

Then they were watching another part of the video, one where Natashia was apologising and saying things like "I guess I deserved that" and "I really should have research Hazard County before I changed planes here" and other meaningless platitudes.

Then the video was over.

"And they sell those videos?" Clare asked in disbelief.

"Like how." Mona said with a laugh. "They're practically the only adult videos that sell without having explicit sex. Selling them brings a huge cash flow into the county."

"But what if she sues?" Clare pressed. "They're selling her image without her consent. What if her agent makes a stink?"

"He probably arranged it." Jane smirked.

"What?"

"It's true." Jane insisted. "'Changing planes' in Hazard is gimmick. It's a way of relaunching a career. It's almost as standard as appearing in Boy Toy, but this way you can pretend you didn't intend it to happen."

"And some of them don't." Mona added. "I'm betting that 90% of them are set up by their agents trying to get one last gasp out of their career."

"Anyway, all the boys who grew up dreaming of being with Adrienne as she led the Sopranos Song Circle can order up that video and watch her get her bare bum spanked." Jane told her cousin.

Clare was stunned. She just couldn't believe it. Boy Toy, that she could see. Boy Toy had simple nudity, nothing dirty, and sweet young (but old enough to be legal) things posing as if they wanted to be the joy toy of any boy out there. Clare had seen a few of them (but she was more interested in its companion, Girl Toy) while she was growing up, but this, this stuff from Hazard County...

"So do they show all of the airport spankings?" Clare asked.

"No, just the ones over the age to show and under the age to spank." Mona answered. "And I think some of the money goes to the airport improvement fund and some goes to the person spanked, and the rest goes to the county fund."

"Wow." Clare whispered. "So who's all done it?"

"Here." Mona said. "Go through the menus. Just don't open any of them without my permission."

Clare took the remote and started surfing. She was amazed at the names that showed up. Flashing from menu to menu it looked as if every former teen or child star in the last 20 years had "changed planes" in Hazard County. Flipping through menus, Clare stopped at one at random, then blinked.

"Hey, she wasn't... I mean... Wait, wasn't she teacher on that show? I'm sure she played the uptight vice principal that the kids were always trying to get on over on. How could she been a video?" Clare asked.

"Because you went too far." Mona answered. "You're in another menu system."

"What?" Jane asked.

"Oh, give it here." Mona said. "You might need to see it to believe it."

Mona quickly worked the controls, and a new show filled the video display. Mona zapped passed the start and then Clare was watching the actress who played the strict (but clueless) vice principal escorting the class clown (Danny something - it had been too long for Clare to remember the name of a secondary character and he looked far older now) by arm, talking about how his behaviour on the plane was an embarrassment to the show they had once worked on together.

Then Mona zapped the show off.

"You can guess how things go from there." Mona told her niece. "Only if the text summary is right this one was more contrived than most since it involved a 'Board of Education' paddling."

"Wow. So..."

"So they both get a cut of the income from the show, and countless teachers get to watch someone who played a mouthy kid get what he had coming to him." Mona confirmed. "Of course some are more adult than others; not all of them are bare bum ones."

"Yeah, I've seen some on clothes or underwear." Jane chimed in. "You don't always need an adult pass to watch those."

"You've seen them?" Clare asked, her head spinning.

"Sure have." Jane grinned. "Most of them happen after the show's off the air, but a few times it happens when they're still big names. Those are the ones you know aren't set-ups."

"I'd say that a few of those were set-ups." Mona contradicted. "You know, exploring more adult options or testing the waters for a different kind of career."

"But how can they record those kinds of shows?" Clare asked.

"Well it's a public place, one that they know is under official surveillance, so if the airport can cover its bills with selling them then why not?" Mona explained. "Since it's official it's not like it's an invasion of privacy."

"Wow." Clare repeated.

"Anyway, it's past your bedtime." Mona observed. "Time for you to be in bed."

"Um, okay." Clare said, agreeing more from confusion than from wanting to agree with her aunt.


Once in Ellen's bedroom, Clare quickly changed in her PJs, turned off the lights, and ducked under the cover. Once there Clare once more lowered her pyjama bottoms to her thighs and positioned herself as if she had a hot bottom.

'Natashia Walkerman.' Clare thought to herself as she slid her hands below the sheets. 'Wow. Fucking Adrienne from that show. And Danny what's his name - paddled bare bum by the actress who used to play the villainess on his show. And all those others! I wonder... Someone on campus must have an adult pass that I can use. I could watch them all! Even Danny what's his name's one."

As she imagined seeing those shows, Clare's mind went back to Natashia Walkerman's spanking. Finally she had seen a spanking being given, and the girl getting was older than she was! It wouldn't help much with Roy of the soon to be red bottom, but now Clare could picture how she had looked when she was over her Aunt Mona's lap. She had kicked the way Natashia had spanked, looked the way that Natashia had looked, showed off as much as Natashia had showed off.

Clare shuddered at that thought. Shuddered picturing her getting a spanking that might be shown on the video display. Shuddered thinking about how Danny must have looked.

Later, sighing contentedly, Clare remembered to wiggle up her pyjama bottoms.


The next morning, Clare was out of bed the moment that her aunt knocked on her door. Bedtime musings were one thing but risking a smacking in the early morning wasn't in the cards.

Over breakfast, Clare hinted at various activities, most having to do with looking at tourist places. Not that she knew about many of Hazard County's tourist attractions, but she wanted to be near those spank happy tourists that Jane had warned her about. Seeing them with their kids would give Clare ideas of how to handle things with Roy. Only thing was, she was alone in wanting to go there and other people had other plans. They talked things back and forth and settled on a girl's day in (which didn't sound as fun as a girl's night out) with some of Jane's friends coming over.

Clare had time to scan through the local shows before the 'girls' arrived. To her disappointment she didn't see a single whack. Then around 9:30, the girls arrived.

The 'girls' turned Hope, Joy, Mary, Faith, Charity, Harmony, Grace, and Rose. All of them around Jane's age, and clearly all were girls that Jane had grown up with. See them hugging Jane hello, Clare felt a stab of loneliness. She had accepted not seeing her family this Christmas, but missing them meant missing all her friends as well. Basking in the second hand friendship of Jane's circle seemed to be a very poor substitute for those missing friends.

Aunt Mona retreated into the background as the girls came together and included Clare in their group. Finger food flowed from the kitchen and wine coolers came from the fridge as nine friends caught up on what they've been doing while a stranger listened in.

Before they knew it Aunt Mona was calling them for lunch, and after a buffet of cold cuts and cheeses they retreated upstairs to Jane's room, bringing more wine coolers with them. It was then, during the move, that one of the names clicked in Clare's head.

'Rose.' Clare thought. 'I know that name. Is that the same friend who had a visiting cousin who ended up getting spanked?'

Clare's steps on the stairs only slowed for a moment. There was no way she was going to let Aunt Mona think she was sulking or pouting or otherwise avoiding the other girls. It was only after she was in Jane's room, with the door closed behind them, that Clare thought she might have made a mistake.

"So, you're Jane's visiting cousin, from Wellington County, right?" Rose asked. "Weird, I don't remember you visiting Jane before."

"Um, well, this is kind of my first trip here." Clare admitted. "With Aunt Mona almost alone for Christmas I thought she could do with some company."

"That's nice." Hope said with a smile.

"So you were never here when you were growing up?" Rose pressed.

"Um, no."

"Don't be too hard on her." Jane said, putting down her wine cooler. "The first day she was here she ended up over mom's lap."

"Really?" Harmony asked. "A real spanking or just a couple of whacks?"

"A real, stand red bum in the corner afterwards, spanking." Jane answered. "Mom even dressed her in teddy bear panties and a short, short T-shirt, and that was all she wore all day."

Clare braced for more questions, but she was met with a chorus of condolences. It struck her that everyone in that room must have been over her Aunt Mona's lap at one point or another, and that all of them had gotten that 'just wear panties' bit to reinforce the punishment at one time or another.

"I always hate that outfit." Hope commented, confirming Clare's suspicions. "It was practically worse than going bare bum."

"Don't I know it." Mary chimed in as the other girls (including Jane) agreed.

Clare relaxed and snagged another wine cooler.

It was over an hour later before Clare's status was raised again.

"So, being from Wellington County, you never had a Hazard County babysitting course, did you?" Joy asked.

"She's not a sitter?" Grace asked, opening yet another wine cooler.

"Then she needs an initiation." Mary declared.

"Well..."Jane said, speaking in defence of her cousin.

"Come on! It's tradition!" Rose pointed out.

"Well, just the basics." Jane said.

"Um, what initiation?" Clare asked.

Then Mary was sitting on Jane's bed (well, she had been there for a while, but everyone else cleared off to give her more room) and Clare was being bullied over her lap.

To her relief (at least Clare told herself that she was feeling relief) Mary only delivered three heavy pats.

"Well that wasn't that bad." Clare muttered as she rose from Mary's lap.

"Me next!" Harmony called.

Clare realised that her initiation wasn't over yet. Each girl (including the traitorous Jane) took turns putting Clare over their laps. Most just gave heavy pats, but a few put some sting in it. When it was over (after what Clare knew was the 27th smack) Clare rose for the last time and gulped down a fresh wine cooler.

"Wow, that was some initiation." Clare said, rubbing at her backside.

"Who says it's over?" Rose smirked.

"What?" Clare asked.

They didn't use words to answer her. With one of them holding her arms while another yanked down her slacks, Clare couldn't help but think she must look a bit like Natashia Walkerman having her jeans forced down. Only there were more of them on Clare and they didn't stop until her slacks were completely off. Then it was another round of three spanks each, this time on the seat of Clare's panties.

After the second set, Clare wasn't totally faking when she rubbed at her butt. Someone handed her a wine cooler and she chugged it, half know what would come next.

"Now let's see how much colour's in her seat." Joy declared.

Clare had barely finished her wine cooler before someone was taking it out of her hand and two other girls were tugging on her panties. Clare considered resisting, but only briefly. So far they were all treating this as one big game but Clare was certain that any resistance would be met with a bum burning spanking.

"Oh, there's hardly any there." Charity said as Clare stepped out of her panties. "We've been going too soft."

"Hey, not too much." Jane warned. "We don't want my mom to think we're tormenting the girl or anything."

"We should have done this at my house." Rose giggled. "My mom wouldn't care. Fuck, she'd offer to help."

The other girls almost seemed to wince at the F word, and then Clare's initiation was delayed as Rose took three whacks of the hairbrush from the other giggling (and half drunk) girls. Most of the whacks were more pat like, but some of the girls put their wrists into it.

Just at the point that Clare thought she would get to deliver three with a hairbrush she discovered that her initiation was restarting. Again more girls gave pats than gave smacks, but even those pats were adding up.

After her last round of spankings the other girls gave Clare a round of applause and another wine cooler, but that was it.

"Um, were are my clothes?" Clare asked, holding her wine cooler with one hand and rubbing with the other.

"Naughty little girls like you don't get them back." Harmony giggled.

"That's right." Rose agreed between gulps of her wine cooler. "Ask again and you'll get a real spanking."

"You're already ready for one." Faith laughed.

Clare glanced to her cousin, but Jane just shrugged and shook her head.


Clare wasn't overly modest, but it felt different, being the only bare bottomed girl in the room. If she had been with her own friends that would have been one thing, but Clare was barely connecting names and faces. Then Rose swore again and suddenly there were two of them with bare bums, and Rose's bum had as much (if not more) colour in it as Clare's did.

As the afternoon (and the drinking) went on a few of the others collected spanks, but none joined Rose and Clare in their pantless states. Then suddenly Aunt Mona was in the room, telling them that dinner was ready, and off course she couldn't help notice the two odd girls out.

"Well Rose, is this your way of telling me that you need a spanking?" Mona asked mockingly.

"No Mrs. Kasey." Rose answered meekly. "This is me after acting up in front of my old babysitter's club."

"And Clare insisted on an initiation." Jane added quickly.

"Then I guess the two of you can stand for dinner while the rest of us find whatever seats we can." Mona commented.

Clare didn't exhale until her aunt left the room, and it was only then that she realised she had been holding her breath. Or forgotten to breath, one of the two.

Dinner was another buffet, but no wine coolers. As the girls ate they sobered up a bit and started making plans for leaving. Clare didn't notice Rose leaving the group until the girl returned fully dressed. Seeing that, Clare went towards the stairs.

"And where do you think you're going?" Grace demanded.

"Um, to get dressed?" Clare offered.

The idea was quickly shouted down as half a dozen girls tried to explain that the only reason Rose had dressed was she had to leave.

"But since you don't have to walk anywhere you can stay bare." Mary declared.

Clare's heart sank.

Then Mona spoke up.

"Oh, I think she can change into her teddy bear panties and T-shirt, can't she?" Mona said, only half asking the question.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Hope exclaimed.

Clare couldn't help but remember how Hope had said that she would rather go bare than dress that way, but she scampered up to Ellen's room and changed into the suggested outfit. It meant losing her top, and as she changed Clare decided that a bra didn't go with her little girl panties so it joined her blouse on the bed.

To Clare's relief she stayed unspanked as the last of Jane's friends straggled off. To her dismay Clare discovered that her Aunt Mona had decided that Clare could stay dressed as she was until bedtime.

That evening, looking for a way to make the time pass quicker, Clare decided on a bath. A nice, scented bubble bath with supplies borrowed from Jane's personal stash.

Once in the tub, Clare couldn't help thinking about what had happened that afternoon, and how she come so close to getting real spankings from all of Jane's friends. Part of her wondered why she hadn't, but the rest of her was focused on how Rose had looked while she was getting spanked and picturing Roy in that same position.

With a bit of sting left in her bum, and the image of Rose in her mind, Clare's hands drifted once more below the water line. This time she had bubbles to cover her actions, but no one even knocked on the door.

Freshly washed, Clare returned to Ellen's room, dropped her robe in a corner and once more donned PJs. This time she didn't bother tugging them down again; instead Clare drifted off to a very content sleep.


Again Clare awoke to a knocking on her bedroom door. At breakfast the issue of plans was once more raised, and this time Clare was ready for it. Since it was December 23 and everything was starting to shut down for the Christmas break, Clare's choices were limited, but then again so was her knowledge of local tourist spots. One thing came to mind, and Clare was certain that it would work out.

"Actually, if it's all right with you two, I think I'd like to see the dirigible dock." Clare said. "I'm never seen one, not in real life, so it would be something different."

"That's right." Mona noted. "There's no dock in Wellington County, is there? Well, that should be okay, as long as Jane doesn't mind driving you over."

"Oh, that's fine with me." Jane added. "It's been a while. I think they've redone some of it since I was there last."

The plans settled, Clare spent some time scanning through the local shows (and coming up dry yet again) then around mid morning they left to go to the air docks.


The drive was mildly long, which Jane explained.

"You see they don't want the dirigibles over business buildings." Jane informed her cousin. "That's why it's out here. Not that there's ever been a problem, at least not here, but there might be and better safe than a flaming bag of gas crashing into the downtown, right?"

"I thought they used a non-flammable gas." Clare replied.

"Um, well, maybe they do, but the thing itself might catch fire." Jane responded. "Remember that famous one that went down on the Barbary Coast?"

Clare nodded. It had been more than 20 years, but the image of the burning dirigible crashing into that city was a powerful one, and something that was replayed on the news every time there was a threat to the military budget. That part of North Africa might never have really recovered from the Crash and the dirigible might have been crashed by one of dozens of antigovernment factions, but no one wanted to picture death raining down from the sky.

When they reached the docks, Clare couldn't help but be impressed. The dirigibles soared majestically overhead and the terminal was a gleaming mixture of metal and glass. Jane easily found a parking spot and before they left the car she turned to her cousin and said:

"You're going to be on your best behaviour, right? I know it goes without saying, but I have to say it."

"Best behaviour, got it." Clare nodded. "No problem. Heck, I won't even fucking swear."

Jane grinned at her cousin's joke.

Approaching the terminal doors, Clare almost jumped out of her skin when a man was suddenly in their way. It wasn't magic, Clare new that he had to have come from some alcove near the entrance, but she hadn't seen him move and it was clear that he wasn't there to help them with their non-existence bags. Clare didn't recognise his uniform, but it screamed 'security'.

"Good day Miss." He said with a smile, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Since neither one of you appear to be passengers, may I ask the purpose of your visit?"

"My cousin is visiting us from the holidays, and she's never seen a dirigible dock before, so I thought I'd show her around." Jane answered truthfully.

"I see. Well, it is a public space, but I would urge you in the most emphatic tones to stay in the public areas and not to approach the secured passenger area." The man said, his tone never wavering from the polite, official one he had used to greet them.

"Oh, of course. We just want to see the public areas." Jane assured him.

Clare nodded, and the man stepped aside.

Going through one set of doors, Clare glance to her right and saw several security types standing around in an alcove built into the entrance way. She was sure if she turned her head to the left that she would see another alcove on the other side, but didn't. Security sometimes got nervous if they thought you were checking out their set up and Clare didn't want to make the security nervous.

"So who was that?" Clare asked once they were safely inside.

"Him? Oh, that's right, you wouldn't recognise the uniform. That was just one of the Air Ship Guard." Jane answered. "They protect the dirigibles and the docks. Don't worry, they're just the visible security. The real stuff is what you don't see."

"It is?" Clare asked, fighting off the urge to search for unseen security.

"Remember that report about Natashia Walkerman?" Jane prompted. "Think about all the camera angles it had. Every inch of this place is watched by dozens of cameras, and that's just the start of it. This place is even safer than the average airport."

"Wow." Clare muttered.

Once, about three years ago, someone committed a crime in Wellington County's airport. Nothing major, someone just grabbed a purse and ran, but the response that had thundered down on the idiot's head was still talked about in hushed whispers.

"That's because so many rich, and I mean richy rich, people take dirigibles." Jane explained. "They're the only people who can afford them. That's how the security knew we weren't passengers, we don't give off that rich vibe."

Clare nodded, and turned her attention to the terminal.

It was a thing of beauty - literally. Murals covered the walls, artwork lined the corridors. There was even a fountain with what looked like a solid gold statuette of a winged boy with the water coming out of his...

'It looks like he's peeing out the water.' Clare thought to herself. 'That's so weird looking it's got to be art.'

The public area included some stores, a restaurant, and a separate bar. Wandering into one of the stores, Clare took one look at the prices and knew that she wouldn't be buying anything here. That time her class had toured the Wellington County airport had given Clare an idea of how high a mark up could be charged in a captive space, but the prices here made the Wellington County airport look like a discount store in the cheapest part of town.

When they left the store, Jane confirmed that they weren't spending money here.

"Now if you really, really want to you could order something small at the restaurant." Jane told her cousin. "That way you could get a souvenir napkin, but only if you're sure, and I mean really sure, that you can afford something from the menu."

"That's okay, I can eat later." Clare replied. "But just look at this place! I mean, wow!"

"I know." Jane nodded. "Every time I come here there's some new artwork. It's amazing."

Clare had known that it was mainly the rich who rode dirigibles (or flew in airplanes), but until now she hadn't thought about how rich those people were. Unlike airplanes, which still had their share of commercial travellers, the only people who used dirigibles were those who had the money to travel and didn't have to worry about how long it took to get there. Some people called dirigibles trips cruises, because if you didn't have time to cruise around aimless you didn't take one. Slower than the train, and some routes might even be slower than the bus, dirigibles had nothing going for them but class and style.

"Of course there's one big advantage to taking a dirigible." Jane said, echoing her cousin's thoughts. "On some routes as long as you stay above the cloud line you don't have to worry about local jurisdictions. You can drink while flying over dry counties, and, well, depending on where you're taking off from you could probably do S the entire trip."

"I never thought of that." Clare noted, wondering what it would be like to be rich enough to avoid the custom stops between jurisdictions.

"Planes are the same, but on some routes it's cheaper to take a dirigible than a plane if you can spare the time." Jane continued. Clare just looked at her cousin, so Jane blushed a bit and went on. "Ah huh, that's right. I've looked into how much it would cost to fly on one. I had to, I mean, just look at this place! But unless I suddenly become rich rich there's no way I'll ever do it."

Clare nodded.

At various points they could see into the passenger area (Clare was certain that the clear walls weren't made of glass but something much stronger), and Clare marvelled at what she saw. She had hoped to see someone (a passenger, a flight attendant, just someone) taking advantage of Hazard County's weird laws, but instead she just saw the rich. Clare knew they were rich - they were wearing fantastic jewellery and styles of clothing that she had never seen before, but even if each outfit didn't cost more than her family saw in a year there was their expressions. The faces, each proclaiming "I'm better than you" with naked arrogance.

They weren't the only ones that Clare could see in the passenger area, but the others were all in uniforms that proclaimed that they were mere employees, not the dirigible riding elite. Even those uniforms were special - Clare could tell just by looking at them that they were made of top quality material and each looked costumed tailored. And the girls carrying the drink trays - they were wearing what looked like bustier style top that were practically painted on and flared skirts that were raised by ruffles. Raised very high; Clare didn't think any of those women could bend forward more than an inch without flashing the room. Below the skirts, fine black mess stocking went from their mile high shoes to their sometimes visible garter belts.

Not that any of the passengers seemed to notice the woman's attire. They just accepted it as a matter of course, no different than the artwork or other beautiful objects around them.

Clare didn't see any kids in the lounge areas, and didn't wonder about that. Any kid walking around with the arrogant expression that seemed the birthright of those people wouldn't last long in Hazard County. Either they stayed aboard the dirigible or they were somewhere discreetly out of sight and getting their tails tanned. Clare assumed the last option was the right one - because if rich people didn't want to see Hazard County's laws in action then there wouldn't be a dirigible dock here.

As they were leaving, Jane and Clare noticed that one of the passengers had left the passenger area. They veered off her path - not wanting security to think for even one moment that they were going to distress her in anyway, but since she was making for the exit they had no choice but to go in the same direction.

An attendant appeared as if by magic to open a door for the passenger, and when she turned to thank (or at least acknowledge) the attendant, Clare could see that the woman was close to her own age. Maybe a year or two either way; Clare couldn't really guess at how effective the cosmetics of the rich were. But they couldn't stop to watch so left through a door at the far end of the entrance (with no attendant opening it for them).

Returning to the car, both girls kept the passenger in sight.

"What's that she wearing?" Clare asked dreamily, asking about the ankle length white fur coat that the passenger wore. "Polar bear fur?"

"No, I saw something like that on a show once." Jane answered wishfully. "It's special kind of seal skin. There was some controversy over it, something about the animal needing the fur more than people do, but I'm sure it looks better on her than on any seal."

"And how." Clare agreed. "I wonder where she's going?"

"Anywhere she wants to." Jane replied. "Anywhere in the world."

As they reached the car, they saw the passenger walking up the steps of an elegant building that was just across the street from the terminal. Seeing that, Jane broke into giggles.

"What?" Clare demanded.

"I'll tell you in the car." Jane chortled.

Clare didn't see the need for privacy, but quickly joined her cousin the car. It wasn't until they were back on the road that Jane would explain what was so funny.

"That building." Jane laughed. "She was going into that building!"

"So? What's so special about that building?" Clare demanded.

"Nothing. I mean it's nice to look at, but the building? Nothing special about it."

"Give!" Clare demanded.

"But what's inside that building..." Jane paused to draw out the surprise. "It's a punishment centre."

"What?"

"A punishment centre." Jane explained. "It's where you can be taken and..."

"I know about those!" Clare protested. "I'm not totally ignorant, but are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Jane answered, still laughing. "It looks nice because it was designed to compliment the terminal building, but once inside it's the same as any of them. Only more expensive. Much more expensive since if you can afford to ride in a dirigible you can afford to pay more for everything."

"Wow!" Clare said, repeating what was becoming her new favourite word. "So that girl..."

"Maybe she was checking on someone." Jane responded. "Maybe she was older than she looks. Or maybe someone sent her over there. Or maybe she was just there for a tour."

"A tour?" Clare asked, eyeing a new world of possibilities. If those places had tours then she could take Roy on one and if something happened...

"When you've got enough money you can get a tour of that place." Jane answered, ending Clare's line of thought. "But she better be careful how she asks for the tour."

"Why?" Clare asked, wishing that she had the cash to arrange a tour.

"Because if she asks the wrong way she'll do more than see what the place has to offer." Jane said, laughing again.

"You mean..."

"It happens all the time, or so I hear."

Both girls broke into giggles at the thought that sleek beauty getting more than her requested tour of the punishment centre.

"Are you sure about that?" Clare asked, not sure if accidents like could happen to the rich.

"Okay, now this is just a rumour, but it's based on a news report and I'm pretty sure it's true." Jane began. "A few years ago one of the Royal Princesses was coming through here on a trip, and she wanted to stretch her legs a bit, so she went there, to that very punishment centre, only when she asked for a tour she asked the wrong way."

"A Royal Princess?" Clare gasped, searching her mind for which one it could be.

"So the staff there spoke to her security people, and the security people connected them to a direct line with the King, and the King gave one his 'when in Rome' bits. You know, how everyone has to respect the jurisdiction they are in?"

"So you mean..."

"I mean that there's a Royal Princess with a foldout that records her trip to a punishment centre." Jane confirmed. "Of course there's no, well, I mean, well they obviously didn't make into a show."

"What? Of course not." Clare replied, not sure what kind of idiot her cousin thought she was.

Officials recording something in a public place (like what the airport did) was one thing, but privacy laws existed, especially for the Royals.

Last summer there had been a shocking case that made all the newscasts. One of the Royal Princesses was at a beach, and the reports weren't clear if it had been a topless beach or if the Royal Princess had an accident with her bikini top (something that had happened to Clare more than one) and some guy had taken a picture of her that way. Now if he had been satisfied with just having the picture and looking at it then no one would have heard about it (private property being legal), but the idiot tried to sell it to scandal shows. All the shows had given him the same response - politely declining and then reporting his offer to the authorities - so by the time he was getting his seventh refusal the police were breaking down his door.

The idiot had gotten 16 years for trying to exploit the Royal Princess' privacy, and Clare didn't think he'd live long enough to finish the sentence. Someone might be a convicted killer but even most criminals supported the King to the point where Clare was sure the idiot would get knifed in the shower.

That was one of the reasons the broadcast of the airport spankings had shocked Clare so much, at least until it was explained that it was officials making the recording and that most of the income from it went to the government.

Even then, if a Royal Princess had gotten her Royal little behind so much as slapped at the airport or the dirigible docks, Clare was certain that no pictures or recordings would get out. There were some things that you just didn't do, and bothering the Royal family was one of them.


The pair was still chuckling when they got to Jane's house, and when Mona asked what was so funny the girls blurted out how they had seen the well dressed, coifed, perfect looking dirigible passenger heading into a punishment centre.

"That was a sight." Mona said, joining in the chuckling. "So, do you two have any plans for this afternoon?"

"Not really." Jane answered.

"I thought I'd get caught up on my shows." Clare offered.

"In that case then Jane won't be the only one playing tour guide. We'll have a late lunch, and then hit the road."

After lunch, Mona reclaimed her car keys from Jane and said: "Come on Clare, let's go."

"Okay." Clare replied. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll know when we get there." Mona told her. "We can make it a surprise."

"Okay." Clare agreed.

The two drove to a non-descript building near a strip mall. As she got out of the car, Clare asked: "So where are we?"

"Where we are supposed to be." Mona said smugly.

"But where's that?" Clare probed.

"That's somewhere that you've been thinking about since you got here." Mona told her niece. "And probably for a lot longer than that."

"That's not much of a clue." Clare pointed on.

"Just come in with me and you'll find out." Mona said.

Clare shrugged and followed her aunt in.

Through the normal looking doors was a waiting area. It looked like it could be a doctor's office or dentist's, or just a regular office anywhere. Some people were waiting, but Mona walked by them to go to the receptionist's desk.

"Hello, I'd like to book a session for my niece." Mona said.

"Of course." The receptionist said with a smile. "We have some openings at the moment. Is there any particular reason?"

"Oh, not really. She's just here visiting." Mona replied.

"Then if you'll just fill this out we can get started."

Mona took the clipboard and led Clare to a seat.

Taking her seat, Clare tried to guess who the other four were that were waiting. One pair was clearly a young couple, with the male filling out a form on a clipboard. Then there was a teenage girl wearing the uniform of a fast food place, along with a woman in her thirties in a much better uniform from the same restaurant.

As Clare sat there, a middle aged woman entered leading a girl who might have been twenty.

"But Mother Clarton, you promised." The woman was saying. "At our wedding day! You promised."

"I said I wouldn't spank you, but I never promised not to bring you here." The woman said sharply. "Especially after you left my grandson in a soggy diaper for hours while you spent time with your friends."

"But Mother Clarton." The girl pleaded.

But the pleas seemed to be following on death ears.

Slightly alarmed now, Clare leaned closer to the pair from the fast food chain, listening as they muttered.

"But my cash was only off by three cents."

"Off is off."

"But it was over." The girl hissed.

"That's even worse." The woman told her. "That means that you were stealing from our customers."

"But I think it was from the take a penny, leave a penny tray." The girl pleaded. "When they say that they don't want it I don't always remember to put the penny in the tray."

"Well you'll remember after this."

"But please, I've got a date tonight..."

"When you took the job we warned you what would, not what could but what would, happen if your cash didn't balance."

Shaken, Clare leaned back, then leaned the other way to listen to the other couple.

"But Clark, I don't think this is a good idea." The woman whispered.

"Not now honey, I'm filling out the form." Clark replied, not looking up from the form.

"But I really don't think this is good thing." The woman urged.

"We talked about this when we were planning our honeymoon."

"But Clark, that was when we planned to honeymoon this summer, before your birthday." The woman hissed. "When we were both under 21."

"Well now I'm 21 and that means I make the decisions for this." Clark said with a smile. "And this is the decision that I'm making."

"But please, I really don't want this."

Clare leaned back from the couple, shaking in her seat. She knew where she was. This was punishment centre. This is where bad boys and girls in Hazard County were taken. This where she had planned to take Roy. This isn't what where she wanted her aunt to take her.

"Um, Aunt Mona? Why are we here?" Clare asked.

"You aren't a total idiot. You know why we're here." Mona said, working on the form.

"What?" Clare asked, pleading to be told that she was an idiot and this wasn't a punishment centre and she didn't know why they were there.

"Just think of this as an early Christmas present." Mona said.

"But..."

"Just sit back and try to relax." Mona told her.

Clare couldn't even think of relaxing. It was all she could do not to scream. Then Mona was handing the receptionist the clipboard and the couple from the fast food place were being directed somewhere - well, the girl was, the woman was leaving by the main door.


Then Mona was returning to her seat beside Clare.

"But Aunt Mona, I'm not, I mean I don't think, I mean, it's not, I mean..." Clare babbled.

"Try to relax." Mona urged her. "I've already signed and turned in the form. It's done, all except for the doing."

"But... But..." Clare stammered.

"It's nothing that you wouldn't have had happen years ago, if you lived here. Of course not here." Mona told her. "Various punishment centres deal with different sorts of clients. This one deals exclusively with older clients, other ones deal with young clients, and then there are the ones in between. Now you should be glad that we aren't at one of the other ones. Those are full of snivelling kids, promising to be good, begging not get what they have coming. You were planning to take Roy to one of those, but instead I'm taking you to this one."

"But... But..."

"I checked things out when I heard about your plans for Roy." Mona told her. "I signed you up for something that's basically a tourist special."

"Um..."

Then the receptionist was calling her name. Clare tried to be emotionless, but she knew she looked nervous. Almost ashen. As she was being led away, she saw a young woman go to the desk and say: "Hi. I'm spending the holidays here, and I've always wondered about these places, so can I check myself in or do I need to bring someone else to do that?"


That was the most normal thing that Clare heard, at least for the next two hours. First it was over her clothing, then on her panties, then with them pulled down to her knees. At some point she kicked them off, but that was when they were using the instruments on her.

Then she was sobbing in a corner. Clare didn't know how long she sobbed, but her eyes were still full of tears when she was led from the corner. Someone helped her back in to her panties, but left them at her knees, which stuck terror into her heart. With them there, it might mean that they were going to spank her again.

But no, Clare was dressed and returned to her aunt. Mona greeted her niece with a single question:

"So, now do you know everything you need to know about spanking?" Mona asked.

Clare was too busy crying to answer.


The ride home was torture. Clare couldn't even begin to find a way to sit that didn't hurt. When she limped into her aunt's house, Clare could see from Jane's expression that her cousin had had no idea of what Aunt Mona had planned. Recovering from her surprise, Jane gave her mother a questioning look.

"It wouldn't really be a visit to Hazard County if she didn't stop by a punishment centre, would it?" Mona asked rhetorically. "And before you ask, no, you mentioning that girl visiting the one by the dirigible dock wasn't behind this. It's been in my mind since she revealed her plan for Roy, and today was the first day I could fit it in."

"Um, okay." Jane said nervously. "Should I ..."

"Should you help your cousin to clean up? Of course. And use that cream; I'm sure she needs it."

Jane nodded, and led her cousin away.


There were creams, and a lukewarm bath, and every trick that Jane had learned from a lifetime of living in Hazard County, but they could only do so much. For once Clare had no problems keeping her hands about the water level. After all, a girl had limits and Clare had been taken far beyond what she found acceptable.

At least what she found acceptable in reality. Even as Jane tried to help soothe her pain, Clare knew that months from now (or perhaps mere weeks) she would look back on this experience and see it in a new light. It would take a long while, but she knew that it would happen, and when it was only a memory it would be more than bearable. That she would even think back to the young cashier, the newlyweds, the young mother whose mother-in-law had taken her in, even that tourist who had tried to book her own appointment, and Clare knew that she would want privacy when she was thinking about that. Even now, even with a throbbing backside, Clare was wondering if that tourist had been able to book her own appointment, and whether if her aunt hadn't have taken her if it would have occurred to her to take herself to a punishment centre. Clare had planned to take Roy there, but would it have occurred to her to see what happened in a punishment first hand?

That night Clare had supper standing. For the first time in her life she couldn't sit for supper, which was something that Jane mentioned that she had done countless times and Mona just chuckled about, as if it was funny. Then Clare made an early night of it, not even staying up to watch any of shows, not even after June mentioned that this was the day that one of the actors playing a visiting cousin had gotten smacked on the local soap. Whereas before Clare had been dying to see the climax of that show, now the plot line hit a little too close to home for her to enjoy seeing it.


Clare spent that night sleeping on her stomach, and the next morning she had breakfast standing up.

"I don't have any real plans for today, so if you want to stay home and relax, that's fine with me." Jane offered.

Clare was torn. On one hand she had planned every detail to the minute, but on the other her bum was still sore and she didn't want to go out like that. She was sure that the Hazard County natives could tell that she had a sore bum; she had no idea how they could, but she was sure they would pick up the clues from her body language.

"A quiet day in does sound nice." Clare nodded.

She told herself that she was going to be here for days and days, and that she would have plenty of time to check out the tourist areas later. Besides things would shutting down for Christmas Eve so there really wouldn't be much that she could do, even on a Friday night in Hazard County.

At least not in public. Clare found herself wandering into the bathroom every hour or two to watch the marks fading from her bottom.


After lunch, Mona disappeared into the kitchen. Good smells began to drift in from there.

"Mmmm that smells good." Jane commented. "I hope she cuts back on the baking. Make half batches or something. Otherwise it will all go straight to our hips."

After supper Jane's hopes were dashed as sugar cookies and cherry balls began emerging from the kitchen. Clare had to smile when she saw that, mixed in with Christmas tree and angel cookies, there were some cookies with child outlines with red food colouring their bottoms. Hazard County's odd way of doing things had even made its way into the Christmas cookies.

Rum balls soon followed, then came a large punchbowl full of eggnog.

"Dig in girls."

"Um, which bowl is this?" Jane asked. "Is it the one for the adults or the one for the..."

"I only made on batch of eggnog this year." Mona informed her daughter. "And I decided to make the one that I'd normally have to chase the kids away from. Yes, there's been a bit of drinking going on, but it's Christmas so we might as well relax a bit. And Clare might need a little something to pick her up after yesterday."

"I still think it was cruel." Clare said with a pout. "You could have at least warned me where we were going."

"Do you really think that anything I could have said would have really warned you?" Mona asked her niece. "Even if I had told you would you have really known what to expect?"

"Um, well, maybe not." Clare admitted. "I don't think that anyone could have warned me about that. Not in a way that I would have believed."

"Well then we'll consider the issue closed." Mona said. "Now have some eggnog and relax a bit."

The eggnog had a layer of spice floating on top of it; hidden in its depths Clare thought she detected the taste of brandy and rum. After a few glasses she was feeling more relaxed, as were Jane and Mona. Lounging in front of the tree the three women talked and reminisced past Christmases. They laughed and once more Mona chided Clare over the plan to get Roy spanked.

"It was a mean trick to even think of. How could you?" Mona chided.

"I didn't really mean anything by it." Clare commented, while thinking 'nothing but seeing him getting his seat paddled'. "But if he did want to visit and if I didn't have that plan then what?"

"That's a lot of ifs and I've had too many eggnogs to work it out so you'll have to ask that question tomorrow if you want an answer." Mona responded.

"It's a lovely tree again this year."

"Thanks." Clare said.

"You remember that time we had the royal standard over there, near the top row of lights?"

As the lazy evening slowly passed, Clare held on to the non-answer. Her Aunt Mona didn't say that she couldn't invite Roy over. After that question and non-answer she could always claim to be confused about things. Based on how Mona had treated Clare she was sure that if and when Roy turned up that her brother would go over Mona's lap. For a 'welcome to the county' style fake spanking if nothing else. And now that Clare knew how the punishment centres worked she might take Roy to one so he could get his own foldout. That would cost, but so would the fuel to get Roy here and home again.

Later that night, when she was alone, Clare checked the directories, looking for punishment centres that were aimed at children in Roy's age range. She wasn't surprised when she saw that some of them had 'festive specials' for visiting relatives. Checking the prices she saw that she could easily afford to take Roy to one where an older 'minor' could take a younger one for the 'cousin's red rump special'; something that would leave Roy very sore but would be nothing as bad as what Aunt Mona had done to her. What Mona had done was mean but Clare knew that what she was planning just a fun trick.

At around one am Clare crept downstairs, her arms full of presents. The mall had gift wrapped the presents she had bought for Mona and Clare and they needed to go under the tree. The ones for Roy, they were wrapped and hidden in her room where they would serve as the perfect bait for her brother.


Christmas morning arrived and with it a knock Clare's door. Jane gathered her cousin up and they went downstairs in their PJs.

"It's a family tradition." Jane explained. "No one gets dressed before the presents are opened."

"We've got the same one." Clare acknowledged.

"Well our mothers are sisters." Jane pointed out. "So what are the odds that we'd have the same family traditions?"

"Pretty good it looks like."

Mona was waiting for them by the tree.

"And there the sleepy heads are. This has got to the latest we've ever started opening presents."

"I wonder what's under the tree." Clare said, setting up the situation.

"You'd be surprised." Mona said with a smile.

Clare was about to say how Mona was going to the surprised one when she saw what was under the tree. Last night the presents were sparse but this morning the gifts were piled high.

"Where did all those presents come from?" Clare asked.

"Why Father Christmas was here last night." Mona replied. "Didn't anyone tell you last night was Christmas Eve? That's when Father Christmas flies around the world delivering presents."

"But, no, really, where..."

"You mean you don't believe?" Mona asked, gasping in false surprise.

"Are you saying that Father Christmas isn't real?" Jane asked in horror.

"Um, well..." Clare began, lost for words.

That was when Jane lost it. She doubled over in laughter.

"I can't believe..." Jane gasped. "Your face... We had you... You actually..."

"Your face!" Mona said, joining in the laughter. "We really had you going."

"You had me! You really had me." Clare said, joining in with the laughter.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Mona stopped laughing long enough to answer the question.

"I got up at four, the way I always do, stacked up the presents, then I went back to bed." Mona revealed. "Just like I always do. Most of the family might be away but that's no reason to break with tradition. At least not yet. And yes, you will be surprised when you look under the tree, just like I was surprised when I came down at four. You really didn't have to get us anything."

"Those presents were for us?" Jane asked. "But you said..."

"It was a white lie so you'd be surprised." Clare said, slightly embarrassed.

"Well let's open presents." Mona said.

Reaching under the tree Mona pulled out a present for Jane, then (surprisingly) one for Clare.

"You didn't have to get me anything." Clare said.

"Of course I did. You're a child under my roof at Christmas and that means that you get presents." Mona insisted.

Clare opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. The way that Mona had referred to her, as a child, made her think that this wasn't a good time to get into a fight with her aunt. Instead of protesting she accepted the present and opened it to find a blouse and skirt set.

"Wow! Thanks Aunt Clare."

"I thought you should have some clothes of your own." Mona said. "So you don't have to wear borrowed clothes anymore."

"I did bring my own clothes." Clare noted.

"But these are more suitable." Mona pointed out.

Clare took a second look. The skirt was like those she had seen at the mall. It flared and looked easy to lift. In other words, it was practically designed to wear when you were expecting a spanking.

"Um, thanks." Clare muttered, slightly less impressed by the gift now that she knew what it could be used for.

Her other gifts were along the same lines. Clothes designed around making it easy to bare her bottom. They were new, which meant that unlike the borrowed clothes no one had been spanked in them. Yet.

Clare didn't think that a single word could be so important, but that word was now filling her mind. Yet. No one had been spanked in these clothes - yet.

Then Mona handed the two girls identical packages. As they open them they discovered matching one-piece sleep sets.

"Go on, try them on." Mona urged. "See how they look on you."

"But the presents aren't all opened yet." Clare pointed out.

"So what?" Jane countered. "We'll still be night-clothes, just not the stuff we were wearing last night. Come on, let's change."

The two girls went up to change, both heading to Jane's room. When she got the sleep set out of box, Clare almost changed her mind about changing into it.

"What are you waiting for?" Jane said as she changed out of her clothes.

"They're..."

"They're cute." Jane said as she put on her gift. "Come on, put them on."

Clare nodded and changed.


Mona was waiting for them and smiled as they came down the stairs. They were visions of loveliness, both in one-piece sleepers with the trapdoors fastened in place.

"Don't you both look cute." Mona said with a smile. "I'll have to get a picture of you two so I can send one to your mother."

"This might be the only time I wear it." Clare pointed out.

"So? Once is enough for a picture." Mona said.

"Um, and I feel kind of bad. You're almost giving me a new wardrobe and..."

"It just means that we don't have to borrow more clothes for you."

"But..."

"But it's Christmas and they're gifts and you're accepting them. All of them. Besides, not everything under that tree is from me."

"It isn't?"

"No, some of them are from some of Jane's friends. Or their mothers. Mostly their mothers." Mona revealed.

"Really? That's ..."

"That's probably kind of them." Jane corrected.

"Probably?" Clare asked, confused.

"Let's open one of them now." Mona suggested, passing over another gift. "It's from Faith's mom."

Clare opened it and discovers slippers.

"They're nice but... Hey, they're both for the left foot." Clare said. "What gives?"

"Oh, one of those gifts." Jane chuckled.

"One of what gifts?"

"One that's meant to be used. Come here." Mona said with a smile as she moved to the couch.

"Huh?"

"It's a sample." Jane said. "Nothing more. Go on, it's a Christmas tradition."

Clare was confused but went to her aunt.

Her aunt who unbuttoned the dropseat of Clare's sleeper and helped Clare over her lap.

"But I didn't do anything." Clare moaned.

"I know. It's just a sample." Mona said.

She gave her niece three swats then let her up.

"But why?" Clare said as she rubbed at her backside.

"It's a tradition." Mona explained. "Whenever someone sends over something like that it gets used."

"Ah huh." Jane agreed. "Normally it's just a sample, but if someone's been misbehaving then it's a full spanking."

"White and red are Christmas colours." Mona pointed out. "So what's more Christmasy than the white becoming red?"

"Um, not getting a spanked at all? Isn't Christmas all about forgiveness?" Clare asked, reaching for her dropseat.

"No, leave that down." Mona ordered. "It's part of the tradition."

"It is." Jane confirmed.

"And forgiveness is Easter." Mona said as she returned to the tree. "The whole dying for us thing. That's the time for forgiveness. Not Christmas."

"Um, if the rest of the family was here then would I have to show off my bum?" Clare asked.

"Well they aren't here so we don't have to worry about that." Mona said. "Now stop fussing or I'll put some real colour in your cheeks."

"That's another Christmas tradition." Jane said laughingly, rubbing at her seat. "No fussing or you'll get a reason to fuss."

"Oh." Clare said, leaving her dropseat down.

Faith's mom wasn't the only one who sent a gift. Harmony's mom sent a wooden spoon, one that had nothing to do with cooking. Three raps later Clare was rubbing at her seat, convinced that she never wanted to get a read spanking from one. Then came a hairbrush; Clare tried to insist that it was for her hair but neither Jane or Mona would believe that.

After that, Clare stayed over her aunt's lap while Jane fetched the presents and Mona used each one to give Clare three pops. It seemed that every one of Jane's friends' had a mother that thought that Clare could use a little something for her backside. In a way it made sense to Clare. It fit with the whole 'kids from out of the county are brats' mindset that ran through Hazard County. Everyone of those moms saw Clare as the brat here, as someone who needed a good sore bum. Her only saving grace was that they all knew that she had gotten at least one from her Aunt Mona. If they hadn't known about that then they might have been lining up to smack her backside.

Which meant they were all good candidates to be the one who spanked Roy. They knew she had gotten hers so she would be okay but Roy would still need his. If Mona wouldn't do it and Clare couldn't find an excuse to do it then she knew that any one of those women would be glad to get a crack at Roy's backside.

Rose's gift stood out from the crowd. The card didn't say it from Rose's mom but from Rose herself. The piece of leather didn't make the slightest attempt to disguise itself as a belt. It was a piece of leather designed for spanking and nothing else, and well designed for that one purpose. It stung worse than any of the other gifts had.

"That's the last of them." Mona said, releasing her niece.

Clare rose, rubbing at her backside as she did. Unlike the first few times she had done that today Clare now had some real soreness to rub away. It felt, well, weird to be stinging only a bit instead of throbbing. Weird or nice; Clare couldn't decide which.

Mona returned to the tree and, reaching around behind, drew forth a thin package.

"And here's a special present that Father Christmas left for you." Mona said, giving it to Clare.

Looking at it, Clare wasn't sure what it was.

'It's too thin to be something to really smack my bum.' Clare thought. 'And all of those were all from Jane's friends, not Aunt Mona. And if she planned really spank me then she wouldn't have let me off her lap, would she?'

Putting her trepidations aside, Clare opened the package and was shocked by what she found.

"It's a foldout." Mona explained needlessly. "You were talking about them so it seemed that you wanted one of your own."

"So that's why you took her to the punishment centre!" Jane exclaimed with a grin.

"What can I say? When Father Christmas asks you to take someone to a punishment centre you don't ask why. You just take them."

Clare ignored this banter and stared at the foldout. The front picture must have been taken when she first entered the centre; she knew that because it showed her looking confused, not worried or pensive the way she would have when she was being led away from the waiting area. Turning it over she saw a picture of herself with tears and snot running down her face. Her T-shirt was mostly covering her to her mid thighs but you could tell that she had her hands below it, rubbing at her backside. That, and her panties could be seen bunched at her knees.

Clare could only stare. She had seen the backs of these foldouts before, but the most they had showed were pants and underwear gathered at the feet, not panties bunched at the knees. Her hands moved to open it, but she stopped.

"You can open it if you want." Mona told her niece. "You're one of the people who can."

"One of them?" Clare asked. She had hoped that she was the only one who could open it. "Who else can open it?"

"Well I can, and of course your parents can, and I thought you might have questions that you didn't want to ask me so I added Jane to the list." Mona told her niece.

Clare was nodding along until her aunt added a final name.

"And since you were hinting that you wanted Roy to see one of those I added him as well." Mona concluded.

"Roy?" Clare gasped while Jane giggled.

"Roy." Mona confirmed. "Consider it payback for your little scheme. Now if Roy wants to see the inside of one of those things he can and he doesn't need to get spanked first."

"Um, but..."

"And here's a present for you Jane." Mona said, ignoring Clare's half-hearted protests. "Oh-oh, it looks like something from Rose's mom."

"That woman." Jane sighed, standing and unbuttoning her dropseat. "Every year she sends over at least one to someone in the house and since I'm the only one home this year..."

"Or maybe she thinks you've felt neglected." Mona said, returning to the couch. "Not getting a present from her for the past four or five years.

Jane giggled as her mother gave her three pops with a small wooden paddle. Rising, Jane said:

"I might as well leave mine down too so Clare doesn't feel alone."

"Well I don't think there are any more presents like that under the tree, but if you want to leave it down then I'm sure Clare will appreciate it."

"Um, you don't have to." Clare said, tearing her eyes from her foldout. Her very own Hazard County foldout.

"I don't mind." Jane said. "We're family and family counts."

Mona soon discovered that she had been wrong. Mona had thought that there was only that one gift there like that for Jane but she hadn't been the only one placing gifts below it.

"A belt?" Jane asked, opening a gift from Clare. "Have I really been acting like a brat towards you?"

"No!" Clare exclaimed, ripping her eyes away from her foldout. "I bought it because it would go with your red outfit. I didn't know about... Aunt Mona, do we have to?"

"Tradition is tradition." Mona said as she guided her daughter to the couch. "Besides, you'll not the first one to say that you didn't mean something that way. That usually means someone gets a real spanking for lying but in your case I'm sure you didn't know."

"Speaking of real spankings..." Jane started to say as she went over her mother's lap. "Well, Clare got so many gifts and I only got the two so maybe..."

"Maybe you should play catch up?" Mona finished. Looking at Clare's horrified face Mona exclaimed: "Don't look so worried! It's just another Christmas tradition. It's so that no one feels picked on when the presents are being opened."

"But you don't have to... It was just a mistake... Not on my account..." Clare blathered.

Mona ignored her niece. Doubling up the belt she brought it down hard on her daughter's bum. Clare winced as Jane cried out. Twice more the belt rose and fell, and when Jane rose from her mother's lap her bum showed clear signs of what had happened.

"That was a bit more than I asked for." Jane joked, rubbing at her backside.

"And you still aren't caught up yet to your cousin." Mona commented. "Did you want to..."

"No, this is enough." Jane laughed, rubbing at her seat. "I'm fair minded, not crazy. Besides, Clare might have gotten me a few more presents."

"I didn't! I mean I didn't like that one. I mean I didn't plan that one so um..."

"So you aren't sure if you got me another one like that." Jane noted with a laugh. "Well you got eight of them and I only got two so if you 'accidentally' got me any more they can play catch up too."

"It was an accident!" Clare protested, reacting to how Jane had said that word. "I really didn't mean to..."

"I know. I'm only teasing."

To Clare's relief none of the other gifts that she had gotten her cousin resulted in Jane going over her mother's lap again.

After the last present had been opened, and oohed and aahed over, Mona pointed to the tree.

"Now why don't you two get the presents back under the tree?" Mona asked. "Try to arrange them in piles so everyone can see who got what. Then I can get a matching photo; I've got one of the tree with all the wrapped presents and it's a family tradition to get one with the opened gifts. You do that and I'll get us some eggnog."

It took a while to move all the presents back under the tree, and of course the girls had to go down on their knees to arrange the gifts, often bending forward as they did. When she returned with the eggnog Mona saw the two bums sticking out the dropseats, both with some colour in them, and decided that the sight of the bare bottomed cousins was too cute to ignore. A bit of discreet work with her camera later and that sight had been preserved for all time. Then she handed out the eggnog to the girls.

Once all the presents were back under the tree (with some of them being displayed a bit too prominently for Jane's tastes) Clare asked about changing.

"Normally you would, now that the presents are taken care off, but you both look so cute in those things, and I still don't have a picture yet, so..."

"But you can fasten up your dropseat if you want." Jane said, adjusting her own dropseat.

"Thanks." Clare said, doing hers up.

"And you might as well put those clothes in your room." Mona said. "I've got the picture of them under the tree and they were bought for you to wear while you'll here. Just leave the boxes and the cards so people can see that Father Christmas didn't neglect you."

"Um, should I pick out something to change into?" Clare asked as she gathered up her new clothes.

"It's a nice, lazy day and it's only us." Mona said. "Why not make it a PJ day? One long pyjama party? With wine."

Clare was planning to say demure until that last bit. Between the wine and the left over eggnog Clare thought that this was going to be a nice, fuzzy day.


They had skipped breakfast, but there was no way they could make a dent in the food that Mona had prepared. Turkey, dressing, potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, cauliflower, cranberry sauce, rolls, and more crowded the table.

After lunch they curled up in front of the video display to watch Christmas classics and sip eggnog, or wine, depending on what felt right at the time. Clare felt a bit weird to be wearing something with a dropseat, but it felt right to turn the day into one long sleepover.


At around five they put another dent in the feast that Mona had thrown together. Later Mona got some pictures of two of them in front of the tree (she thought they would look good next to the earlier ones). Then they curled up in front of the display again. Not that Clare wanted to watch the King's Christmas Speech. It was live, as usual, and full of platitudes and generalities that left you with a happy feeling inside. It was almost like he was talking directly to her, and Clare could tell that Mona and Jane felt the same way.

Just how good the King was at speaking came clear with the follow up speeches. Everyone wanted to tagalong on the King's coattails and hope that some of his goodwill rubbed over on them.

The first on after the King was the Fed Rep. His speech was pre-recorded and near the end he smiled and said: "Now for a message for the local viewers."

The scene shifted slightly, and he said: "And you, my loyal voters in Hazard County, I wish share my warmest wishes of season with you. While I agree with how you deal with things in Hazard County. While you have my wholehearted support I fear that as my children are grown and have yet to present me with grandchildren so I lack the means to prove that I support them, but rest assured that I stand behind you and your chosen way of living your lives. The nation's soul is one and it matters not that we choose different ways of living our lives. Merry Christmas, and may God speed you along the way."

A nice speech, but it lacked the wit of the King's. More than that it had to be custom targeted to the local market. The King could address an entire nation at once but that Rep couldn't address his entire district at once.

Then the governor had his say. Again it was prepared rather than live statement. Again it had a special 'local' message, but one that Clare wasn't prepared for.

"And for you, my loyal supporters in Hazard County, I want you to know that you have more than mere lip service from me. The beauty of pre-taping these things is that is allows us to schedule things better. Some of you may know that my granddaughter Monica is a freshman at college this year." The Governor said, rising and walking to the front of his desk where an armless chair waited. "Well, it seems that she was caught at a party and cited for underaged drinking. I'm sure that everyone can see how that reflects on me and my family's name. Thanks to her unthinking actions I have the perfect way to demonstrate my support for your way of life. Monica, if you'll come this way."

It wasn't a question. Monica looked shy as she entered the camera's frame, and more than a bit embarrassed. Someone handed the Governor a belt and Monica went over his knee. From the sound of the impact and Monica's reaction the smack was real. The Governor was still using the belt as his broadcast ended.

"I never knew... I mean when the Governor does his broadcast to Wellington County he never... I mean he never..." Clare sputtered.

"That's why the Governor does selected broadcasts." Mona informed her niece.

"And if the Fed had a kid the right age then that would be the second spanking you saw." Jane told Clare.

"All the politicians do it." Mona said. "Including the opposition ones."

"Does the King ever..." Clare began to ask.

"I said politicians." Mona interrupted, a trace of disdain in her voice. "The King's the King. He reigns over the entire nation."

"I didn't mean that the King might..."

This time it was Jane interrupting her.

"This isn't a topic that you want to pursue." Jane said.

"Um, well..."

"Shush!" Mona cautioned. "The next speech is about to start."

The state Rep was next. Since the State Rep was only representing people of Hazard County she did a live broadcast. Clare could only stare when, at the end of the broadcast, the State Rep brought her son out to deal with "that mess" from this morning. She used a hairbrush to deal with it and Clare took mental notes for how to deal with Roy. The son was much older than Roy was (he was almost Clare's age) but this was the first boy that Clare had seen spanked in Hazard County. Or anywhere for that matter.

The County Commissioner was next, and his live speech ended with his daughter in the room. His daughter who had burnt the stuffing. The woman had a chagrined look and (to Clare's eyes) seemed too old to spank. Far older than 21. For the first time on a broadcast clothing was moved; the daughter lifted her dress, exposing her pantyhose and girdle, then she went over his lap.

"Is she 21?" Clare ask in confusion.

"She's been 21 for five or six years." Mona said with a laugh.

"I told you that sometimes spankings go on longer." Jane said. "Well she's someone who is okay with it."

"She doesn't look okay with it." Clare pointed out.

"She's done interviews." Mona answered. "She says that needs the guidance from her father, even though she's married with kids of her own. I know, it sounds weird, but if it works for her."

After the County Commissioner the mayor did his broadcast. To Clare's surprise he talked longer than she expected and ended with "And this year I have some good news. In my entire hold house there is no one who needed correction today. Perhaps I should tape these things like the big boys do, but that's an idea for next year. For this year, well, all I have to say is Merry Christmas and may your house be as calm and as well behaved as mine was."

"So no spanking?" Clare asked, looking away from the video display.

"No spanking." Jane confirmed.

"It happens, sometimes, on the live broadcasts." Mona said. "Now for the opposition politicians."

Clare nodded. That was one of the standard things. Whichever party came second in the vote got to do a broadcast, working up from mayor to the federal level. These holiday broadcasts were supposed to be completely non-political, and the government ones usually were, but when other side had their turn they were depressingly gauche. It usually wasn't even the defeated candidate; the party got to pick someone to give the address. When an election was coming up they picked people they thought could win and when there wasn't an election in the offing they picked anyone who would volunteer to serve as a punching bag.

The party that lost the mayor's office had a man who didn't quite cross the line into politics, but he kept talking about what his party believed in. He talked quickly and was still talking when his time ran out - the broadcast caught him off in mid word.

Then came the loser for County Commissioner office. The middle-aged woman was dressed in a stern business suit and began with: "As a newcomer to Hazard County, I've adapted to all your customs and procedures. To help me explain the situation, I've recruited the daughter of one of my campaign workers. Lucy, if you'll come here for a moment. Lucy is a sophomore at the university, visiting with her parents for the first time since they've moved to Hazard County. Lucy, I said now."

Lucy entered the frame, frowning. Clare could tell that the girl was clearly not happy.

"But I didn't do anything." Lucy pouted. "Nothing."

"I said now Lucy."

Clare stared as Lucy was moved into position. The woman was wearing a sundress, and in moments it became obvious that a sundress was all she was wearing. Clare gawked as Lucy's bottom was bared the proposed candidate started to pound the woman's backside with a wooden paddle.

"Switch the signal." Mona said.

Jane was already reaching for the remote.

"That's just crass." Jane complained.

"But I thought you approved of that sort of thing." Clare said, confused. "She's under 21 and..."

"She didn't do anything." Mona pointed out. "She was just picked at random for a brutal spanking."

"And baring her bottom like that where everyone could see!" Jane complained. "It's not like she's ten years old."

"But, um, that foldout..."

"You were asking about foldouts and it was a Christmas present." Mona pointed out.

"It's totally different." Jane agreed. "That woman wasn't even a relative."

"Out of all the supporters of that party they could have found someone, anyone, who needed a spanking AND a parent could have delivered the spanking." Mona commented.

"That woman just doesn't understand things work here." Jane added.

Clare looked around, trying to make sense of what the women were talking about. Lucy was from out of county, Lucy had gotten spanked, so why weren't Jane and Aunt Mona applauding? Clare couldn't guess at what she was missing but it had to be something that she couldn't put her finger on.

After timing things to miss that woman's display they switched back to the political broadcasts. The scene was repeated as they worked their way back up the political chain. Everyone (except for that first speaker) spanked, but some of them did it for no reason. Each time that happened it drew complaints from Clare's relatives. They just didn't like it when a spanking was handed out for no reason, which was putting a damper on Clare's big plan. If they didn't like spanking for no reason then would they spank Roy?

Then Clare cheered up. Between presents and a sugar high Roy was sure to get into some trouble. If not that then the long drive would leave him cranky. Cranky followed by a sugar high was sure to leave Roy with a sore bum.

An evening snack put another dent in the feast, and the eggnog had to be finished off before it went bad. That left Clare more than a little giddy when she headed up to bed.


A few minutes after she was in the room, Clare heard a knock on her door.

"Let me in." Jane whispered.

Jane slid through the door.

"I've got another Christmas present for you." Jane giggled. "I've been thinking about it since we changed. I wasn't sure if I wanted to give it to you, and it might be the eggnog talking, but I've decided to give it to you anyway."

"Um, sure. Okay. So what is it?"

Jane giggled and undid her dropseat.

"You've never given a spanking, have you?"

"Nuh huh."

"Well we're going to fix that." Jane giggled.

Clare found herself pushed towards the bed. Jane guided Clare into position, sitting on the bed, then draped herself across her cousin's lap. Clare looked down in disbelief. There was her cousin's bare bum looking up at her. The colour from the belt had long since faded away so Clare was looking down on Jane's snowy white backside. Twin orbs that Clare knew had to look a lot like her own when she was in this position.

"So now you spank." Jane giggled.

"Um, how?"

"No instruments." Jane answered. "Oh, you mean 'how' how. Um, you just lift your hand and bring your palm down on my bum."

Clare raised her hand and brought it down hesitantly.

"Is that the best you can do?" Jane asked. "Even when mom was showing you what those instruments were for she was smacking your bum harder than that."

"Um, well, how about this." Clare said, bringing her hand down harder.

"I barely felt that." Jane sniggered.

Clare took a deep breath and then brought her hand down with a loud smack.

"Oh! That was a real smack." Jane responded.

"Was it too hard?" Clare asked, concerned.

"Duh! Smacks are supposed to be hard. Try it again." Jane told her. "Ah! That was a good one, but try to spread them around. You don't want to OHHH hit the same place all the time and OH you might want to try one where the bum meets the thigh AHHH! Right there. That's what I was saying. And the sit spot."

"Sit spot?"

Jane sighed and explained the anatomy of the bottom to her cousin. Clare thought she knew what was where but Jane was pointing out where the best places to spank were. It was an eye opener to Clare, and with Jane directing her Clare the spanking went much faster. And smoother. Jane was oohing and aahing as the spanking went on.


Mona passed the door and smiled. While the girls weren't making much noise Mona suspected what was happening, but as long it was Jane's idea she was fine with it. She knew that it wouldn't be anything more than had happened at countless sleepovers.


Clare looked down at a backside that was pink with red splotches.

"Um, is that enough?" Clare asked.

"More than enough." Jane said, reaching back to rub at her backside.

"But, um, if this was a real spanking then, um, well..."

"Then you'd spank me harder and faster." Jane said. "And you'd probably need to hold my arm."

Jane moved, showing Clare how to hold her in place.

"Hold me. Go ahead." Jane urged. "That's it, hold me and try landing a few more smacks."

Clare landed a few more spanks, getting reactions from Jane every time. Clare could feel Jane resisting her and that she was holding in place, forcing her to take what Clare was dishing out. It was only four smacks, but they were the most satisfying smacks of the spanking.

Clare could easily picture Roy in Jane's position.

"Now you've given your first spanking." Jane said as she rose from Clare's lap. "Merry Christmas."

"Um, thanks. This might have been the best Christmas present that I ever got."

In the back of Clare's mind she was thinking about a better Christmas present. Having Roy over her lap that way. Now she knew how to do it she could spank Roy herself... but her mom would still probably kill her so the 'Roy gets spanked by accident' was the plan she should go with. At least the first time. Roy might be gracing his sister's lap for his second spanking, if she could arrange it. Maybe a roadside one on the way home.

Later, after Jane was back in her own room, Clare discovered a problem with her dropseat. It restricted her hand movement.


The next morning Clare awoke to Mona's knocking. She wasn't actually hungover but a little worse for wear. Glancing down, seeing how some stains had set in on her sleeper, Clare hurried and changed for breakfast. Making sure that her sleeper was crammed down at the bottom of her laundry basket, Clare planned to blame any marks on spilled food during a late night snack.

Once downstairs the three of them made another dent in the Christmas feast. After breakfast Clare helped her aunt box up most of the leftovers.

"They say that before the collapse that everyone went shopping on Boxing Day." Mona noted.

"Really? Are you sure?" Clare asked in disbelief.

"I'm pretty sure, but history wasn't my strong suit." Mona admitted.

"Shopping on Boxing Day? I can't see it." Clare replied.

The trio drove the leftovers to the nearest food drop off point, joining the others who were dropping off boxes for those less fortunate. Those who used the food banks and soup kitchens would have their Christmas dinner today.

Once home they had a lazy day at home, calling friends and relatives. Late in the day (after the rates went down) they placed a call to Marsh house. Talking to family gave Clare pangs of guilt. She really missed spending Christmas with most of her family.

Most of them.

Then there was Roy.

She left Roy to last. He ran off at the mouth, going on and on about what he got for Christmas. When Clare finally got a word in she hinted that maybe someone missed her littlest brother and that maybe there were some presents for him here. Of course he would have to get himself to Hazard County to get them. Roy tore off to ask and that was where the plan fell apart.

When he picked up the phone again Jessica Marsh got back on the extension to talk with her daughter.

"It's a nice thought, you buying your brother some gifts, but the logistics won't work." Jessica said.

"Logistics?" Clare asked, wondering how they would affect her plans.

"You're all the way over in Hazard County and my car is here." Jessica pointed out. "That's the car that you're insured on. You can't get here without a car and no one here can take the time to drive him over."

"Ah mom, can't I get the presents today?" Roy groused. "Or tomorrow?"

"Sorry Roy, but if anyone takes you across the line it won't be your sister." Jessica answered.

Clare's heart almost stopped.

"Take me across the line?" Roy asked in disbelief.

"Well Clare's at Aunt Mona's and that's in Hazard County so if she takes you there then she'd be taking you across the line." Jessica said in a neutral tone.

"That's not what I meant." Clare assured him, leaving out the fact that she wanted to get Roy's backside tanned.

"Clare wouldn't never take me across the line." Roy assured their mother.

"Of course she won't - she doesn't have a car to get you there." Jessica told her son. "I suppose if we had to we could get you to your aunt's house. Anna Galloway's mother said something about wanting to take you to Hazard County."

"What?" Roy asked. "Are you ... Mrs. Galloway said..."

Clare heard the phone hit the floor as Roy ran. Clare thought that he had probably run to the relative safety of his room.

"I better go talk to him." Jessica said with a sigh. "I'll hand you off to your father."

The phone was passed around on Clare's side and soon Jane was talking with her uncle. Then the phone was passed around again and again. Clare was on the phone with her mom when Jane handed the extension to her mother.

"Hey Jessica. How's my favourite sister doing?" Mona asked.

"Just fine, and Santa Claus came to everyone." Jessica answered. "It's just too bad that he missed our house for that drop off."

"What drop off?" Mona asked.

Clare winced inside.

"Clare mentioned that some of Roy's presents might have landed at your place." Jessica said, using a neutral tone.

"Really? I'll have to talk to Clare about that." Mona said neutrally.

Clare winced; this time she didn't hold it in.

"I told Clare that the logistics wouldn't work." Jessica said, neutrally. "My car is here and I know she's not insured on your car so..."

"Of course she isn't." Mona said. "Anyway, I'm sure that Jane wants to talk to her favourite aunt."

"Then I should transfer the call." Jessica joked. "Okay, put her on."

Clare hung up the phone. Her borrowed room was no safer for her than Roy's was for him but it felt safer being there than out here with her Aunt Mona.


Once in her Cousin Ellen's room, Clare could only pace. After pacing she started cleaning her borrowed room. Most of the clothes in the dresser were now from Christmas. She thought about them, and how they were all designed to bare her bum. Then she remembered what Jane had said about not all spankings being given on the bare and began to hope against hope.

Then realism set in.

'She spanked me bare when I hinted I planned to lure Roy here.' Clare thought glumly. 'That was just for planning. Now that she knows that I actually tried to do it... I am so busted. Maybe I should bare my butt now and save sometime.'

Then it dawned on Clare that this was the first time she had ever waited for a spanking. Her other spankings had come as a surprise (especially the first one). She had never felt these butterflies in her stomach before. Her buns were tightening up, practically wincing at the impact before the first smack fell.

'If I'd grown up here this wouldn't be a problem.' Clare told herself. 'I'd be used to wait, just like Jane is.'

And wait she did. Minute after minute dragged past.

Clare couldn't take it anymore, but she didn't want leave Ellen's room. If she left then she might run into Aunt Mona and Clare didn't want to bring things to head. Not yet.

In desperation for something to do Clare resorted to pre-emptively baring her bum. She started with lifting the skirt of her dress, then leaving her dress down while having her panties at half-mast, then with them down and her dress up as she bent over the bed.

That was when there was a quick knock on her door, and it opened without a pause.

"Oops." Jane said as she slid into the room. "You're a bit early with that."

Clare quickly covered herself.

"I'm kind of freaking." Clare admitted. "Your mom is about to hit the roof."

"I know." Jane said. "But you don't want to be waiting with your bum bared."

"Are you sure? Um, I've never waited for a spanking before." Clare admitted. "I'm not used to it like you are."

"Used to it?" Jane laughed. "You never to used to waiting. Waiting is always the hardest part; or at least it seems that way until you're getting spanked. Then the spanking is as bad or worse."

"Only as bad?" Clare asked in disbelief. "You mean this is as bad as it seems?"

"It is, and it never gets better." Jane assured her.

"So you came in just to tell me that?" Clare asked.

"No, mom sent me up to tell you to change for bed." Jane revealed. "She said to wear that red nightgown you got for Christmas."

"Um, the one designed to be pulled up?" Clare asked.

"Girl, they are all designed to bare your bum." Jane said with a chuckle. "But yeah, that's the one."

"So it doesn't make a difference if I'm waiting here with a bare bum or not?" Clare asked.

"It might. She might not want to bare your bum. She might just want you ready for bed when she's done."

"Maybe. Hopefully." Clare said wishfully.

"What did you do anyway?" Jane asked. "I didn't notice anything. Well, nothing that would call for a spanking over Christmas. You were just on the phone with your family and then you weren't. What happened? I mean, your mom didn't ask my mom to spank you, did she? Aunt Jessica wouldn't do that, would she?"

"No, nothing like that. It's, well, I kind of invited Roy to come here and pick up some presents that were waiting for him and..." Clare admitted.

"You didn't!" Jane gasped. "Not after my mom already spanked you over it! How could you? That was the dumbest move ever. Even worse than not researching Hazard County. You can stop hoping that she won't bare your bum because she's going to bust it bare."

"Are you sure?" Clare whined.

"She spanked you bare for planning it." Jane pointed out. "Then you actually went and did it! I can't believe you did that. You really screwed up. I can't believe it!"

"But that was the plan." Clare protested. "You remember - we talked about it at Thanksgiving."

"But I never thought you really meant it." Jane said, being completely honest with her cousin. "Never in a million years. I mean, if you think he's a brat that needs a spanking then just give him one. Haul him over your lap and spank some sense into him."

"It's not so simple." Clare pointed out.

"Maybe not, but it's you that's getting the spanking, not Roy. Now mom is going spank you silly and no one is going to spank Roy. So how's that plan of yours working out?" Jane taunted.

"Okay, so I didn't get all the details right." Clare admitted.

"And I shouldn't be teasing you." Jane conceded. "Not with what you're facing. I'm sorry about what's going to happen, but you brought this one on yourself."

"Maybe." Clare said with a pout. "But it was a good plan."

"I should get going." Jane said. "I don't want be here when mom comes in. She might forget that I had nothing to do with this and smack two bums. Good luck."

"Thanks." Clare said. "I'll need it."

After Jane left, Clare slowly changed into her nightgown. She didn't want to rush it. When she finally finished she had nothing left to do. Nothing but wait.

And wait.



Finally, hours after Clare had fled to her room, there was a knock on the door. The knock came as the door opened and Mona entered the room.

Clare swallowed hard. Her aunt didn't look happy.

"So missy, after I told you how nasty your plan was. After I spanked you. After I put you in that corner. After we had such a pleasant day yesterday. This. You do this. How could you?" Mona asked.

Her aunt's word hit Clare harder than her hand ever could. Even that extreme spanking she had been given at the punishment centre - that had been a different kind of hurt. The words coming out of Aunt Mona's mouth brought back memories of hundreds of 'talking to's that her mom had given her.

"Um, I'm sorry?" Clare squeaked.

"Oh you will be." Mona promised.

Clare winced.

"Was it a total scheme or did you actually get your bother some presents?" Mona asked.

"I bought him some stuff." Clare declared. "I got them the same day I got Jane and you presents."

"And were they appropriate?" Mona probed.

"I'm sure that Roy would have liked them." Clare said defensively.

"Would any of them kick started the tradition?"

"Kick started what?" Clare asked.

"The tradition. Like the way the belt did for Jane." Mona clarified.

"Um, well, one of them is a cute little paddle." Clare admitted. "It's a joke. It says 'I went to Hazard County and All I got was this paddle'."

Mona wasn't her sister. She wasn't listening for the missing words. She didn't head Clare not saying anything, so Clare got away with not saying "but the other side says 'And I got this paddle FIFTY TIMES over!'". She thought it might embarrass him a bit, but on the other hand she thought that Roy would think that it was really cool to actually have a real Hazard County paddle of his very home.

"Just a joke paddle? That's all? In that case I'll be right back."

Left alone Clare wondered why Mona had left. She didn't think that her aunt was letting her off, so why had she left?

When Mona returned Clare's eyes went to the object in Mona's hand. A hairbrush. A heavy wooden hairbrush. It was one of the presents she had received. Three taps from it had been nothing, but it looked like it could dish out a wicked spanking. Clare flashed back to the punishment centre and winced at the memory.

"Now lift your nightgown so I give you the spanking you've so richly earned. Now missy." Mona commanded.

Clare leapt to obey. Soon Mona was sitting on the bed with Clare over her knees. She started off with a few hand smacks then paused to yank Clare's panties down. Clare yelped as another half dozen hand smacks rained down.

Then Mona switched to the brush. Jane started to kick her legs the first time it landed and didn't stop. Mona wasn't being mean about it; she wasn't putting her weight into but she was doing a professional job. She kept a nice rhythm going, spreading the smacks around, targeting a few on Clare's thighs, landing them everywhere from top of Clare's thighs to just below the small of Clare's back.

The heat kept building and the kicking wasn't helping and finally Clare couldn't take it more.

"Stop!" Clare pleaded. "Pleas OHHH stop! I'm sorry!"

"No you're not!" Mona declared, not pausing for a moment. "You wanted to see your little brother, your youngest brother, spanked. You wouldn't have been satisfied see him getting three taps with his PJs down, would you?"

"Yes!" Clare cried. "No! I don't AHHH know!"

"Would you?" Mona pressed.

"Yes! That would have OHHH!"

"Would you?" Mona pressed.

"Of course!"

"Would you?" Mona pressed.

"No!" Clare cried. "No it wouldn't. I wanted to AHHH see him spanked! OHHH! Spanked for real and AHHHH!"

"You even wanted to get him a foldout." Mona asked.

Clare only sobbed.

"Didn't you? Didn't you?" Mona asked, reinforcing her words with the hairbrush.

"Yes!" Clare sobbed. "Yes I was planning to AHH take him OOH to a AHHH punish OHH punishment AHHH pun OOOH stop! I sorry! I so sorry!"

"Not yet you aren't." Mona told her.

"I sorry!" Clare sobbed.

"Not sorry enough." Mona declared.

Mona changed her mind about that.

Eventually.

Not that Clare noticed. She was too busy laying there sobbing to notice that Mona wasn't still spanking. At some point Clare had kicked off her panties and Mona didn't bother retrieving them. She just gathered up her crying niece and slid her under the covered. Clare tried squirm away but Mona merely tucked her in firmly.

Clare was face down but the sheets were pressed firmly against her backside.

Mona turned off the lights as she left the room, leaving her niece still sobbing.


Left alone, Clare slowly recovered a bit. As she drifted off to sleep it dawned on her that she was crying herself to sleep with a freshly spanked bum, something that her Aunt Mona had called a Hazard County tradition.

"I'm just experiencing another part of Hazard County's mindset." Clare muttered to herself.

As she muttered she began to rub her legs together. She was tucked in too tightly to move her arms much, but between the heat in her bottom, the spreading heat, and the way she was rubbing her legs so closely together, Clare had the slightest hint of a smile as she cried herself to sleep.


There was a knock on the door. Clare awoke in confusion, still more or less trapped in her tightly tucked bed. Her bum was still sore and her legs were still tangled, pressed together. It took her several long moments to realise where she was.

Then it dawned on her. She was in her Cousin Ellen's bedroom and she had to get out of bed before Aunt Mona returned and spanked some more heat into her aching backside. It was a struggle but she was able to twist enough to move the sheets. Then she threw on some clothes, wincing slightly as the panties hugged her hips, and headed downstairs. For the second time during her stay here Clare had to eat breakfast standing.

"I had a plan for today." Jane said as they ate breakfast. "But I made it before I knew about Clare's sore bum."

"That shouldn't slow you." Mona said. "You shouldn't be punished for what your cousin did.

"Maybe we can still do it." Clare said, blushing slightly. She knew that if they didn't do what Jane had planned but if they didn't do it then Clare didn't think she would hear the end of it. That Mona or Jane would be mentioning it Clare's sore bottom for the rest of her trip. Maybe when there were witnesses around. Witnesses who might ask for details. "I mean, as long it isn't horseback riding or something like that."

"Something almost as bad." Jane replied. "Shopping. The stores are open but the crowds will be murder. It's the first day for Christmas exchanges, there are tons of sales, and it's the last Monday of the month."

"That doesn't sound bad." Clare said.

"Wall to wall people is bad enough, but wall to wall people when you have a sore bum is another thing." Jane told her. "Everyone pressing against you and you not being about to sit? It's not comfortable."

"Well I guess I'll find that out for myself because I'm going shopping." Clare declared. "It's just going to be another Hazard County tradition that I'll get to experience."

"You're getting to experience a lot of those." Mona noted. "A trip to a punishment centre, getting spanked your first day here, getting a foldout, doing corner time, crying yourself to sleep, and now going out with a sore bottom."

"I wish I had experienced a few less traditions." Clare said, rubbing her backside.

Mona and Jane shared a laugh over Clare's discomfort.


Clare grinned and bore it during the long ride out, but not happily.

"But you've already seen the other mall so I thought we'd go to this one." Jane explained. "We might even hit the third mall while you're here."

"But I didn't know you meant driving all this way." Clare whined.

"Poor baby." Jane said with a smile. "If you think this is bad just wait until you get in the mall. At least you have control here. You can adjust how you're sitting but at the mall you'll be at the mercy at every passing person. The constantly moving crush of bodies; random strangers pressed hard against your bum. It's murder."

"So why did you talk me into it?" Clare asked.

"I didn't. You insisted." Jane pointed out.

"You let me insist." Clare whined.

Jane just laughed and kept driving.

Clare inwardly seethed. She had planned on exploring that family room on the off chance that she could lure Roy to Hazard County. Just in case the semi-mythical mall spanking room actually did exist.


Getting a parking spot was murder, and when they finally got one Jane told Clare about a place in the food court where they could meet if (or rather when) they got separated. Looking at the crowds Clare agreed that it was a case of when, not if.

The other mall had been crowded before Christmas, but those had just been shoppers looking for a last minute present. Now there were the people looking for the post Christmas sale combined with the people trying to exchange things and the normal Monday shoppers. In a word, it was hell.

At least for Clare, who winced as she pushed through the crowd. Personal space was a foreign concept at the mall and people were brushing against her sore backside. Glancing around Clare couldn't help noticing that she wasn't the only girl wincing, or even the oldest one.

The selection at this mall wasn't all that different from the first one but some of the stores were a bit different. Of course once they were through the door the cousins were quickly separated, so Clare went to Plan B; if she couldn't find the family spanking room then she was going to check out the returns counter. She wanted to see if another urban legend was true.

Picking a store at random, Clare elbowed her way to the returns counter. Not up to the counter itself, but within earshot. To her disappointment no one was being paddled for trying to return a paddle, strapped for trying to return a strap, belted for trying to return, well, being punished with the instrument they were trying to return.

The Clare heard something that made her day. A customer was trying to return something and the frazzled woman behind the counter bellowed "Of course you can't return that! You're too young! If we weren't swamped with customers I'd pull you over my lap and test to see if it's defective."

Clare couldn't see the customer. She couldn't see if was some kid or a woman around her own age, but the clerk's outcry confirmed that at least one urban legend was true. With that confirmed Clare forced her way away from the returns desk.

After that Clare window shopped. Clothes were clothes and Clare couldn't see her buying anything more in Hazard County, not after all gifts that she had gotten for Christmas. As for the other things Clare had to snake through the aisle leading to instruments and when she got there she discovered that there wasn't enough room to swing a strap, literally. Someone was trying and couldn't get enough movement to see if the strap worked well. Paddles, hairbrushes, and the like were a slightly different story; if it could be used with wrist action they could try to test it but even then there wasn't really enough room to test something without making contact with bystanders. Clare's vague plan of getting Roy a collection of paddles with cute sayings turned into a single purchase: a paddle with "Seasons BEATINGS" painted on it that was marked down by 75%. It was out of date, what with the wreaths and ivy on it, but the paint on the paddle wouldn't change its feel and 75% off was 75%.

After that was bagged she visited a more adventurous store. The lingerie was daring, darling, and maybe a bit dangerous. The tops were common ones, ones that Clare had seen in Wellington County, but the bottoms all seemed designed to bare as much cheek as possible or be quickly removed. Things held on by snaps or ties or otherwise easy to remove quickly. A few even had targets painting on the, or bits cut out of the cheeks where redness could show through.

They all seemed to share a common design. They were clearly designed to encase a bottom that was being spanked. Clare couldn't help wondering about the other types of garments, and found herself checking out the men's wear section. To her relief she discovered that the fashion trends were unisexual, that there was underwear for males that was designed around handing out spankings.

Once she discovered that Clare was off to another store, to see if they had anything like that in the junior section. Once she found them Clare had to pick up a pack of three for Roy. More than the paddles, having a set of 'Hazard County spanking briefs' would give him bragging rights among his friends. Not as much as having a foldout of his own but it would be up there. She just wished that she could christen them for him but she knew that if she tried then her mother would kill her.

But if she could lure him to the county and if someone pulled his jeans down and saw those briefs then they would think that his parents were okay with Roy's tail being tanned. Not that she had a way of getting Roy here but Clare knew that had to keep working on the plan or it would never come true. Not that there was much chance of it coming true but any chance was better than none.

As she searched for an information booth where she could confirm the myth of the mall spanking room Clare heard a teen arguing with someone.

"I said I was tourist and I called you a bitch." The girl pouted. "Where's that Hazard County justice I've heard so much about?"

"I told you that I'd do something about it, if I had a place to sit and room to swing my hand. But I don't. I couldn't even find a vacent changing room to do it in."

Clare's heart picked up at that comment; it practically confirmed the urban legend about spankings happening in Hazard County changing room. It wasn't true confirmation but it was the closest thing that Clare was likely to get with the stores this crowded.

Forcing her way through the crowd Clare wasn't able meet up with the woman but she was able to connect with the tourist.

"Hey, did I hear you say you were an out-of-towner too?" Clare said, practically speaking into the other girl's ear.

"Ah huh. I'm here for the Christmas break. I need to do a term paper on alternative jurisdictions and I'll be over 21 soon so this my last chance to do hands on research." The girl complained.

"Have you though about going to a punishment centre?" Clare asked.

"That wouldn't be as valid as actual encounter." The girl complained. "If I can't offend someone here I might head to one of the tourist areas but that wouldn't as valid either because then I'd be meeting up with some other out-of-towners. I never thought that it would be so hard to get my tail whacked in the infamous Hazard County."

Clare wished that she had any of the other woman's difficulties.

"Um, I could introduced you to my aunt and ..."

The other woman just smirked smugly and Clare suddenly wanted to spank the bitch herself. Maybe she could introduce the woman to Jane, Jane who was a certified babysitter and could dish out spankings. Or maybe one of Jane's friends, one of the girls that were in Jane's babysitter club.

"It must be hard, staying here with a relative." The woman said. "I'm staying at a motel and I've heard countless spankings but I wouldn't come here with a relative. The experience wouldn't be as valid as if I met a random native. Actually it wouldn't happen at all; none of my relatives are barbarians."

Without a second's hesitation Clare decided to help the other woman with her project. Not that she had too think much; Clare hadn't thought of ways of to help a fellow college girl get spanked but she had put a lot of thought into what she would do with Roy.

"Have you given any thought to parking lot or standing by the entrance?" Clare asked. "The main thing holding them back seems to be lack of room but there's plenty of room outside."

"Thanks." The woman said with a smile. "I'll try that."

Clare nodded and allowed the crowd to sweep them away.


Hours later Clare was in a drugstore. There were certain creams and ointments that you could get over the counter here that you might need a prescription for elsewhere. Most of them had been designed with sports injuries in mind. Road rash, scraps and bruises from sliding into a base or diving for an errant soccer ball. They were the creams that Jane had given Clare after that trip to the punishment centre. Not that Clare thought she might need them again, but they might come in useful someday.

As she stocking up Clare saw a familiar figure. That college student was standing there with tears in her eyes, looking for a soothing cream. Clare couldn't help but smirk. She only hoped that it wasn't the same superior smug smirk that the girl had given her, but even it was Clare didn't really care. It wasn't like someone could spank her in this crowded mall and that superior bitch had just got what she had coming to her.

Clare reached an epiphany. This was what the natives of Hazard County felt about outsiders. They didn't know what spankings were. They came here and looked down on the natives for no real reasons. Clare didn't think she had ever really had that attitude and she had then it had been spanked out of her that first day here. Any remnants of it were later charmed out of her by Jane's friends. She knew what she felt was nothing more than an echo of the joy that most of the natives would have felt at seeing the college student spanked.

Soon after that Clare finally met up with Jane.

"This is ridiculous." Jane called to Clare. "There are just too many people."

"I know! I spent hours going through checkout." Clare said. "Maybe it's time to head home?"

"Ah huh. Come on."

They were separated briefly as they made their way to the door, but eventually they were able to leave the mall. As they made their way to the car they passed a parked car with an open door. Clare saw legs sticking out of the door; a woman's slacks were gathered at her knees, with a thong tangled in them. She couldn't see who it was but Clare could recognise the voice. The woman was crying: "No! I only needed one for my project. Stop! Please stop!"

Clare smiled again, but she didn't slow as she walked. Neither did Jane. Clare wasn't sure if Jane even noticed; the sight of a spanking was just too common in Hazard County for Jane to pay attention to this one.

"So is there any place else you want see while you're here? Besides the third mall?" Jane asked.

"Um, I wouldn't mind seeing one of those tourist areas you've been talking about." Clare admitted. "I mean I've seen the air docks and the inside of a punishment centre and what else is there?"

"There's the zoo and a couple of other places, but you're right." Jane agreed. "We can visit with some of my friends but there's not that many places that wouldn't qualify as a tourist spot. Just you don't try and go handing out spankings or anything like that and if someone feels like trying to spank you then you either have to convince them not to or take it. That's the same choice that I'll have there."

"You?" Clare asked in disbelief.

"Well I wouldn't let you go alone. What sort of cousin would I be if I let you wander a dangerous place like that alone." Jane told her.

"Really? Um, thanks." Clare said, shifting packages so she could hug her cousin. "If there was any doubt it's gone now. You're definitely my favourite cousin."

"It's taken you this long to decide?" Jane asked in mock horror.


Once home Clare stowed her purchases and had supper with Jane and Mona. They talked about the coming days and Mona had only one thing comment.

"Well you can play tourist and visit Jane's friends, but not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a day when we stay home and act as a family."

"It is?" Clare asked.

"It sure is." Jane agreed. "It's another lazy stay at home day. It always is."

"Family tradition." Mona agreed.

"But some of my friends might drop by." Jane added.

"Speaking of friends, how about..."

"It's over." Jane said firmly.

Clare bit back a gasp. This was the first time that she had heard Jane interrupt her mother.

"Are you sure? Because..."

"Look, he spent Labour Day with that skank." Jane said in a decisive voice. "I wouldn't take him back if he crawled through broken glass to kiss my feet."

"But you made such a nice couple and..."

"Mom, I called her a skank because she is one. She gave him VD." Jane revealed. "He's probably cured by now, but any boy who would crawl into bed with a diseased skank like her isn't one that I want to see again. Besides, he hasn't called. He knows that I'm home and hasn't called. He didn't call on Thanksgiving or writte to me once and I'm not taking him back even if he begs."

"He sounds terrible." Clare agreed.

Jane burst into tears and spent the rest of the night telling her cousin what an SOB he really was and how he hadn't really broken her heart, even after they had spent prom night together.


The next morning, when Mona knocked on Clare's door, she gave Clare a suggestion on what to wear that day.

"Of course you don't have to, but you might want to." Mona finished.

Clare knew how to take a hint. When she came down for breakfast she was wearing a dress, panties, socks, and a bra. She had thought that stockings would work well with the dress but if Mona wanted her dressed that way then Clare was going to dress that way. Seeing that Jane was wearing the same basic outfit Clare knew that she had made the right decision.

"So what's planned for the day?" Clare inquired.

"A nice relaxing day at home." Mona told her. "It wasn't easy to get time off during the holidays, but even with the rest of the family gone it's worth it."

"Um, just a relaxing day?" Clare asked.

"More or less." Jane agreed.

They relaxed in front of the video display. Mid morning Mary, Harmony, and Rose dropped over and Mona left the girls to their own devices. The three oohed and aahed over the presents under the tree, giving knowing looks and chuckles over the 'special gifts' that Clare had received.

"Were they tested on Christmas day?" Rose asked with a knowing wink.

"Ah huh." Jane said with a smile. "Three smacks each. And my darling cousin even got me a belt for Christmas."

"Really?" Mary asked with a smile.

"I didn't know." Clare protested. "I thought I was just buying her a belt."

"Did you enjoy my gift?" Rose asked. "Some people might think it's cruel but it's something that every girl should have. For babysitting if nothing else."

"She enjoyed the brush that Grace's mom bought less." Jane revealed with a grin.

"Jane!" Clare cried, blushing deeply.

"Give!" Rose demanded.

"You have to." Mary said.

"You can't leave us hanging." Harmony stated.

"Clare, what do you think?" Jane asked.

"Well you've already told them that much." Clare grumbled. "You might as well tell the rest."

"What did she do?" Rose demanded.

"She invited her little brother to come here over the Christmas holidays." Jane told them.

"And that's it?" Harmony asked.

"Why would your mom get mad about that?" Mary asked.

"What, is her brother a super brat or something?" Rose queried.

"No, but my Aunt Jessica doesn't believe in spanking and Clare was luring him here just so someone would spank him." Jane revealed.

"And?" Rose asked.

"And she didn't tell my mom or her mom about her plan but when my mom found out about it she spanked Clare over it." Jane told them. "Imagine, trying to spank someone against his mother's will."

"I suppose." Rose said. "By why didn't you just spank the brat?"

"Because her mom would freak and she doesn't want to deal with that." Jane explained. "So she was planning on tricking everyone then getting someone else to spank him."

"But what's the big deal?" Rose asked.

"Well if his mom doesn't want it to happen..." Harmony began.

"Tricking people is wrong." Mary agreed.

"And my mom had already told her not to even think about doing it." Jane reminded her.

"Well, I suppose... Maybe I could drive to your place and have a talk with your little brother." Rose suggested.

Clare's heart skipped a beat. A crazy person coming from Hazard County would be the next best thing to bringing Roy here.

"Wellington County isn't Hazard County." Jane pointed out. "You could get in real trouble doing something like that."

"You get arrested in Wellington County and they'll send you right back here to do your time." Harmony commented. "For something minor like that you'd get juvvie, and you don't want to be in juvvie, not at your age."

"I guess not." Rose nodded.

Clare relaxed again.

The conversation had turned to other things when Mona walked in on them.

"Well it's time. I think we'll use Jane's bedroom for it." Mona announced.

"You mean you haven't..." Harmony asked.

"I was planning... I mean at home." Mary said.

"Well we're here now so I guess we better." Rose said, standing. "Let's get to Jane's room."

"If anyone wants to leave I suppose they could." Mona offered.

"No, Rose is right. We're here now." Harmony agreed, standing. "It's all right."

Clare joined the others, wondering what was happening. As they filed up to Jane's room Clare couldn't help noticing that they were all more or less wearing the same outfit. Dresses or skirts with nothing but socks on their legs.

"I'll be up in a minute." Mona called after them.

Once in Jane's room, Clare couldn't help noticing that Jane closed the door. She hoped it didn't mean anything.

"So what's going on?" Clare asked, allowing her confusion to show.

"It's the 28th." Rose pointed out.

"The feast of innocents." Harmony elaborated. "When a bunch of kids got killed because someone thought they might be Jesus."

"And?" Jane asked, who had never heard of the holiday before and assumed it was something that the folks in Hazard County had invented. A day celebrating some kids getting killed? That didn't sound christmasy at all.

"And once a year, on the anniversary of that day, every kid in Hazard County gets a symbolic spanking." Jane explained. "It's to remind us how lucky we are that we weren't one of the ones killed."

"Symbolic? Just how symbolic can a spanking be?" Clare asked nervously.

"It's usually just ten smacks." Jane told her. "At least that's what my mom dishes out. And since it's symbolic we all get it all at once."

"Like how?" Clare asked.

"Like this." Harmony said, raising her hem above her waist, lowering her panties, and bending over Jane's bed.

Clare just looked at Harmony's bare bum staring up at her.

"Well better all be ready when she gets here." Jane said, lowering her panties and raising her skirt before joining Harmony on the bed.

When Rose bared her bum Clare had to bite back a gasp. Rose's bum was pink with a red spot or two.

"This isn't your first house?" Mary asked. "Mrs. Kasey would let you leave if you told her that."

"Shut your mouth." Rose muttered. "I'm here now and that's what matters. It's tradition."

Clare stared at the line of bums forming on the bed, and at the empty spot between Rose and Jane. With shrug she bared her bottom and joined them. Mary joined them and the resulting line was Mary, Harmony, Rose, Clare, and Jane in that order.

"Now we wait?" Clare asked.

"We wait." Jane agreed. "At least this year it's only us. Last year the house was full and we were the third room that mom got to."

Clare pictured it in her mind. Lying there with her bum bared and listening to the others getting it in the other bedrooms. Her mind was wandering down those paths when, without warning, the door opened and Mona came in. At least Clare hoped it was Mona.

"Rose, why didn't you mention you've already done this?" Mona asked.

"Because I'm here now and it's tradition." Rose answered.

Clare wanted to turn around, but everyone else was facing the same way and she didn't know if she was allowed.

"Are you going to use the same paddle?" Jane asked.

"As Rose said, tradition is tradition." Mona answered.

Clare shivered.

Mona walked behind Mary and Clare heard the paddle coming down. It didn't sound to be landing that hard, but Clare knew she didn't have much experience with what a paddling should sound like. To her surprise the paddling stopped at eighth smacks. Then came a bigger surprise; the next girl to go "Oh!" as the paddle landed was Rose. For some reason Aunt Mona had skipped Harmony. And for some reason Aunt Mona stopped after only five smacks.

Then it hit her. Aunt Mona was purposely mixing things up. Every girl knew that she was going to get ten smacks from the paddle but none of them knew when it would be her turn or how many she would get at once. There would be ten, eventually, but none of them knew what was going to happen next.

Clare found herself tensing her bum in time with the fall of the paddle. She could make out the others talking, joking a bit between the other girls and Aunt Mona. Someone was saying "That was a good one" and Aunt Mona was joking about the tradition.

Then, as Clare clenched her bum, the paddle unexpectedly exploded on her backside. Clare gasped out a wordless exclamation.

"You weren't expecting that one." Mona joked.

"Don't be a wimp." Jane scolded.

"It's barely anything." Rose added.

Knowing that Rose had colour in her cheeks before Aunt Mona started Clare found herself blushing and wishing that she had been braced for it. It hadn't been that hard when it landed; her yelp had been more from surprise than pain.

"I just wasn't ready for it." Clare said. "If I had been then OH!"

"Then you would have done that." Mary joked.

Clare took the next three smacks without reacting much, then she was bracing for the next one Jane yelped. Clare was confused. How could not being whacked when you were bracing for it feel worse that getting the firm pats that Aunt Mona was handing out?

Clare could believe how weird it felt, lying next to a girl being spanked. She could feel Jane's body shift each time the paddle connected. Clare had felt Rose's body shifting, but that was before she knew what the paddle felt like. Then it was Harmony's turn, then Mona shifted back to Jane. Clare was still clenching her bum in time with the paddle's fall when Mona shifted from Jane to land the paddle on Clare's bum. It jolted Clare, then a second one landed, then Mary yelped as the paddle came down on her. Clare relaxed at that, then was surprised when Mona landed another pair of smacks on her niece's bottom.

As her aunt moved on to the next girl, Clare wondered what would happen after the spanking ended. She had her ten, but Aunt Mona seemed to have finished with her first. Even knowing that her part of the spanking was over, Clare couldn't help herself from clenching in time with the paddle's fall. Clare tried to keep count of who was getting what as the others joked, and finally each girl had her ten.

Then the paddle crashed down on Clare.

"Oh! That was eleven!" Clare protested, caught by surprise.

"It's only usually ten, but only usually. Sometimes ten means eleven." Jane explained.

"And sometimes I lose count, dealing with five girls at once." Mona explained. "Did you want me to start again so I the count right?"

"No, that's fine." Clare said frantically.

The other girls giggled at Clare's response.

"All right girls, that's it." Mona declared. "You can get up now."

Clare was the first up and couldn't help looking at the other girls' bums. Rose's looked the worse but none of them looked that bad. Some of the girls adjusted their panties before rising, some after they stood, and Clare belatedly raised hers.

"I'll let you girls pull yourself together." Mona said. "I need to put this back into the Christmas box."

"Thanks for going easy Mrs. Kasey." Harmony said, rubbing at her backside.

"It's just a Christmas tradition, not a punishment." Mona said as she left.

"Wow, that brought back memories." Harmony said. "Remember that sleepover when someone smuggled in wine?"

"No one went easy that night." Rose said with a laugh.

Talk turned to past times when two or more of them had been spanked together. From what Clare could tell most of the times it had been one girl after the other or two of them riding different laps, but occasionally there had been two or more them bending side by side and getting their tails smacked. Not just for this Christmas tradition (but half the stories touched on other Christmas) but in real bum blistering punishment situations.

Then talk turned to other things. Maybe half an hour later Rose said that she was going to leave.

"I'm heading over to Charity's place." Rose announced.

"Did you want to call her first to see if her folks have, you know?" Mary asked, miming a swat.

"No, just like I didn't call ahead here." Rose laughed.

"Are you crazy or just mental?" Harmony asked, sounding quite serious.

"Neither." Rose said with a grin. "I came across a pre-collapse quote from some politician that's just wonderful. He said 'There's nothing quite as exhilarating as being shot at and missed.' and he was right."

"So you want someone to shoot you?" Jane asked.

"No, but I'm playing spanking roulette." Rose explained. "I'm visiting friends when I don't know whether the spanking has been handed out yet. You know what's it like. You know that a spanking might be coming and you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach? Just imagine that and someone saying that tradition has already happened and suddenly you're not going to get a spanking and you feel so good? That feeling is what I'm going for."

"I noticed you didn't get it here." Mary said, faking a rub at her backside.

"No, but this is the fourth house I've visited today and I've won the game twice." Rose said with a smile. "That means I'm batting fifty / fifty."

"It only twice and your bum looks that bad?" Mary asked.

"Well my mom insisted that we handle things before I left the house." Rose admitted. "But if Charity's mom already done it then I'll get to feel the 'I didn't get spanked' feeling again."

"And if she's about to do it when walk in the door?" Jane asked.

"Then I get another few love taps." Rose conceded. "It's not like it's a real spanking. It might sting a bit but that's all."

"That's crazy." Mary declared.

"That's awesome!" Harmony declared.

"Are you both crazy?" Clare asked.

"It's great idea." Harmony insisted. "I wish I'd thought of it. Come on, you know how bad it can feel, waiting for a spanking and how great it feels when you duck one. And it's not like it's a real spanking."

Mary stayed while Harmony and Rose left. Both Mary and Jane thought that the pair of them were crazy, but Clare was almost wishing that she could go with them. She know knew all too well that 'waiting for a spanking' feeling and wanted to know the joy of not being spanked. Even if she didn't get to know that feeling, having to lie there beside the other girls as they all got a purely symbolic spanking... That was almost as good a thought as learning what avoiding a spanking felt like.

Later, after Mary left, Clare found some time to be alone in her room and think about how it felt to be lying getting spanked with the others. Knowing that if she lived in Hazard County that she might be traipsing from house to house right now like Rose was, playing spanking roulette. Only unlike Rose, Clare wasn't sure what she would call a win. Would it be to avoid a spanking or get a play spanking with the other girls?

Afterwards she put on some perfume and headed back downstairs.


The next day Jane drove Clare to one of the more touristy areas. They ended up in a park near one of the motels, where Clare was disappointed. It wasn't wall to wall spanking. It wasn't any type of spanking at all happening.

"There's more in the summer." Jane explained. "The cold keeps people indoors."

"Mind if I wander?" Clare asked.

"You aren't ten years old." Jane said with a shrug. "If you want to wander you can wander. Hell, if you were ten I'd still let you wander, but if you wanted to wander at ten then you'd get what you deserved. We can meet up near the car."

Wander Clare did. She went here and there. Eventually she wandered into a nearby store that sold Hazard County's version of tourist crap. Novelty paddles mixed in with effective looking instruments. T-shirts that read "spankable kid", "deliver smacks to the rear", "I heart Hazard County, but not the spanking", "I got spanked in Hazard County", "I didn't get spanked in Hazard County (not yet)", "spanks for the memory", "seasons beatings", and countless 'witty' sayings. Underwear designed to spanked on, skirts designed to be raised, and pants designed to be pulled down - even more than normal for Hazard County. The only real surprise were the 'his and her' thongs that were labelled 'modesty shields'. There was even an illustration of some kids wearing them while getting spanked. If Clare hadn't already picked up those briefs for Roy then she might have picked up a set for him but there was no way she could pick up two things like that. One would be cute gift and her mom would understand it but two would be pushing the issue.

But Clare wasn't looking for anything like that, not now.

Wandering around the area Clare caught sight of someone she thought she knew. Moving closer Clare saw that it was Stacy, the tourist girl that she had run into at the store before Christmas. The teen was walking with an older woman, talking with her.

"... so I talked with my mom and she said I should ask around if I wanted to see a spanking." Stacy was saying. "I can't believe I've been in Hazard County this long and I haven't seen a single spanking. I've heard them, I've heard dozens of them, but I haven't seen any."

"You mean your mom sent you out looking for a spanking?" The woman asked.

"Ah huh. My friend Chrissy was here in the spring and she said she saw spankings everywhere. Everywhere. But I haven't seen a single one." Stacy complained.

"And you really want to be involved with a spanking before you leave? And your mother sent out looking for one." The woman confirmed.

Clare had a bad feeling about this and started to walk a little slower.

The couple in front of her came to a bench and Clare decided to stop walking in that direction. The woman was saying something to Stacy and Stacy looked like she was agreeing with the woman, then Stacy's face went shocked and the woman took her by the arm. Stacy was moving slowly, very slowly, but she was moving as the woman sat and guided Stacy over her lap. Stacy seemed to demure a bit when the woman started to raise her skirt, but the woman was able to hold her in position. Clare waited for the other shoe to drop, but all through the spanking Stacy's underwear stayed up. Stacy wasn't really crying, just misting a bit, when the spanking ended and the woman helped her. Walking slowly towards the pair Clare heard Stacy saying something about "That's not I what I meant" before she took off running.

Clare wasn't smiling, but it was hard not to. It became easy not to smile when she drew nearer the woman.

"Now did your mother send you looking for a spanking too?"

"No, I'm staying with my aunt while I'm here." Clare answered quickly. "And she made sure that I don't have a single unanswered question about spanking."

"Really?" The woman asked.

"Really. Several times." Clare said empathetically. "She even explained the feast of innocents to me, my cousin, and some of my cousin's friends. All at the same time."

"I see." The woman said with a chuckle. "Then you should get going before someone else explains things to you. You're a bit old to wandering around here and not prepared to hand out a spanking."

"Well I haven't take the babysitting course and my cousin says it would take too long for me to take." Clare blathered.

"Then get a move on." The woman said, giving Clare a swat on the backside.

"Yes ma'am." Clare said, putting some pepper in her step.


When Clare returned to the car she found Jane standing around it.

"You done here?" Jane asked.

"I'm done." Clare confirmed. "It's these clothes. They mark me as someone young enough to be spanked."

"Did someone?" Jane asked with a chuckle as she opened the car door.

"Someone almost did." Clare confirmed. "I saw her dish out a spanking and she gave me a swat."

"Let me guess, she hurried you along with swat?" Jane chuckled, starting the car.

"Something like that." Clare agreed.

Glancing over, Clare noticed something different about Jane. Jane's hand was red. Red and sore looking. Clare wanted to ask how Jane's hand had gotten that way, but part of her didn't want to know. There was only way that Jane's hand could have gotten that way and Clare didn't want to know whose backside Jane had bounced her hand off of.

They hit a few other places and Clare did see a couple of tails getting dusted, but nothing as dramatic what happened with Stacy. No skirts were raised, pants lowered, or anything like that. The longest spanking she saw being given was a mere ten whacks. There were more tacky stores and she even saw some kid being changed into pro-spanking clothes right in a store, but nothing like the non-stop spankings she expected to see in Hazard County. Jane kept saying things about the time of year and the spirit of the season, but Clare wasn't convinced. She ended the day convinced that half of the things she had heard about Hazard County were urban legends.

Then they hit the city's third mall. It was packed with shoppers and Clare decided to breakdown and ask about the legendary spanking room.

"Oh that." Jane said with a chuckle. "You wouldn't know it but most spankings happen where they need to. That's why those benches are everywhere."

"There isn't a room?" Clare asked. "That's another Hazard County fact reduced to urban legend status?"

"I didn't say that." Jane chuckled. "I could take you there but you'd have to pay the price."

"Pay?" Clare asked.

"Pay." Jane answered.

The room, or one like a bit like it, actually existed. It wasn't anything like the urban legend said, but it was close enough, providing privacy for those too old to get their tails tanned publicly. As for a price, Clare ended up getting her seat warmed over her clothes then facing a wall for twenty minutes of boredom with her pants at half-mast as a warning of what would come if she was brought back here. The spanking wasn't that hard and Clare thought it was a small price to pay for seeing the inside of the room.

But afterwards Jane wouldn't let Clare fix her face and insisted they continue shopping.

"Just this one last store." Jane said, leading Clare on.

"But I'm not in the mood to shop." Clare told her.

"But they have something you'll want to buy. It's the reason we came out here." Jane explained. "I was saving it for the last and we might not have a chance to get back here."

"So what's so important?" Clare asked.

"These!" Jane said triumphantly.

"Slippers?" Clare asked in confusion. "But I already have slippers."

"Ah huh, but this pair is both right feet." Jane pointed out. "And they match the ones you got for Christmas. If you buy these..."

"Then no one will ever know that I got a set of left foot slippers." Clare exclaimed, smiling as it sank it. "They'll just think that I got two pairs of the same slippers."

"Ah huh." Jane said with a smile.

Clare's smile dimmed slightly as she paid for the slippers and the salesclerk told her that she would need a 'real adult' to return them for her and hoped that she got lots of wear from the slippers, but Clare's grin only dimmed slightly. The other gifts she could have explained as gag gifts or normal items, but explaining a pair left footed slippers would have been hard to do. Clare didn't think that she could do it, not without mentioning the Hazard County tradition of sending over spanking implements and if she did that then people might ask if they had been used and that was something that Clare didn't want to think about explaining. Not at her age.


That night Clare had strange dreams of walking in the tourist areas and then being hauled into that room at the mall. The next morning she helped her aunt out by helping with the laundry and made sure her sheets were included in the wash. That and most of her sleepwear.


While Jane's friends had visited her over the holidays, Jane owned them visits and took Clare along with her. The other families greeted Clare like a lost relative. Looking under trees Clare saw most of them had the kinds of instruments that Clare had gotten for Christmas. She couldn't help picturing them all being used on Christmas day but she didn't dare ask if every family in Hazard County followed the Kasey family tradition of handing out a token spanking with each instrument.

They were at Mary Anderson's house when Clare realised just how much like one of the family they were treating her. Mary's mother was busy in the kitchen when Mrs. Anderson decided to ask Clare some questions. Clare's first hint of this was when she walked past Mrs. Anderson and felt a hard whack on her backside. Clare gasped, her hands shooting back as she turned to find Mrs. Anderson holding a wooden spoon. A wooden spoon that look just like the one that Harmony's mom had given her as a Christmas gift.

"Now that I have your attention I just wanted to ask you a question or two. You don't mind answering them, do you?"

"Um, no." Clare answered, eyeing the wooden spoon. Until now it had just seemed another cooking utensil but now it looked like an evil spanking device. Clare wondered how close she was to finding out how it would feel.

"I didn't think you would. So how has your aunt been treating you while you're here?" Mrs. Anderson asked.

"Um, well..." Clare stammered, her mind focused how different that spoon would feel if it was being used for real and not just delivering three symbolic raps. And if what was coming would be on her bare bum or over her clothes.

"Like another daughter." Jane said, chiming in for her cousin.

"And that present I bought her?"

"Um..."

"Mom gave her a sample on Christmas day." Jane said, continuing her rescue of her cousin.

"And the 28th?"

"Um..."

"Mom, I told you about that." Mary said, giving Jane a break. "She was over Jane's bed with the rest of us."

"That's right, you did." Mrs. Anderson nodded.

"Um." Clare said.

"And my mom got her a foldout for Christmas." Jane added. "Just so she'd have something to take home with her."

"A foldout of her own?" Mrs. Anderson said with a smile. "I should have known that Mona wouldn't let any niece of hers leave Hazard County without experiencing the ambience."

"Um." Clare said.

"Well Clare, I'm glad you able to answer my question." Mrs. Anderson with a smile. "Now are you any good at chopping carrots? Then take these over there and chop them."

"Um." Clare said, still unable to find her voice.

But she took the carrots and chopped them.


Two houses later they were at Rose's house where Clare was treated more like family; especially after she said a 'naughty' word.

"Shit, that is a good looking dress." Clare said as Rose held a gift up so they could admire it.

That was when a hand closed hard on Clare's arm and a firm voice said: "We don't use language like that in this house."

Clare stammered out an apology, but it came too late. She was marched unresistingly to a kitchen chair.

'This is different.' Clare thought to herself.

She had been over Aunt Mona's lap on a bed, on a couch, and laid over a bed, but now she was over a lap while the spanker sat in a chair. Her legs were hanging down and there was little to support her upper body.

Then a palm came crashing down on her right cheek and Clare discovered an advantage to this position - she could kick her legs more. Not that really helped much with the pain but was better than nothing.

Not that there was much pain. There were only ten smacks, all on her bottom, none on her thighs.

"There. And if I hear any more language like that I'll wash your mouth out with soap and strap your bottom raw."

Clare thought briefly about saying "I sure as fuck won't say anything like that again" but the thought of a soapy mouth made her nauseous. That, and Rose was already looking like a martyr because of the way her mother was acting and Clare didn't want to embarrass the girl any further.

"I sure won't say anything like that again." Clare told the woman, rubbing her bum slightly.

It didn't really hurt, not that much, but something had finally sunk in. The idea that practically any woman she met could spank her was now a reality. This wasn't a spanking from her aunt or at a punishment centre but the mother of one of Jane's friends. It was almost as if that woman in the park had spanked her, but Clare hadn't come here looking for a spanking. She was just in a normal, every day situation and some strange woman had spanked her for practically no reason. Spanked her and threatened to do it again. No, not threatened; promised. Promised with dead certainty.

When she back among the other girls they were sympathetic.

"Sorry about that." Jane muttered. "I should have warned you. She's a real stickler about swearing."

"Cursing." Ruth corrected. "It's not swearing if religion isn't involved."

"Potty mouth." Joy suggested. "It covers both and your mom would freak out over either cursing or swearing."

When they were leaving, Ruth took Clare aside. Clare assumed it was for an apology. It wasn't.

"That was just so embarrassing to watch." Ruth said.

"It's okay. You're mom is just..."

"No, I wasn't embarrassed about her." Ruth corrected. "I was embarrassed over you. You acted like a naughty child and had to be treated like one. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners? My mom might be quick to spank but I can't remember the last time she had to spank one of my friends for something like that."

"Um, well..." Clare floundered, looking for something to say.

"It had to be before we all started babysitting and we've been doing that forever." Ruth continued. "Maybe someone needs to hire a babysitter to watch you? Or are you going to try to start acting like an adult?"

Clare blushed deeply. She wanted to bring up Ruth's spanking roulette or how Ruth had behaved on that day when Jane was hazed by the others, but she didn't. Clare knew that those things were under Ruth's control and if a girl wanted to flirt with danger than that was different than being treated like a naughty child.

Suddenly the shame and embarrassment was back. Clare hadn't really felt that since that first spanking; those feelings had faded when Jane was so matter-of-fact about what happened, but now it dawned on her that Jane hadn't been spanked once since Clare arrived. Clare had been punished twice for her plan to lure Roy here and just now been spanked for swearing while all that had happened to Jane was just some symbolic bum pats because of Christmas traditions.

"I'll do better." Clare promised.

"You better." Ruth warned her. "Or I'll be the one strapping your bum raw. Now get going so Jane won't wonder what we're talking about."

With that Ruth hurried Clare along with a whack on the backside. Not a pat or a mild slap, a hard whack that Clare felt.

After that visit they returned to Jane's home. Jane had said something about Ruth's being their last stop, but Clare couldn't help wondering if Jane was embarrassed over Clare needing to be spanked and decided to call it day because of that.

Once home Clare checked herself in the mirror; she thought she could make out the handprint from that whack Ruth had given her. Most of the other smacks had landed in a clump but the one Ruth gave her was off side, mostly on her left side with part of it more on the side of her hip than her bottom.

Looking at that handprint, knowing that Ruth could have legally upended her and actually strapped her bottom raw, Clare wondered if she had been a bit too quick to wash her sheets. She settled on a nice, long, relaxing bath with a loofah borrowed from Jane.


December 31st felt odd to Clare. Normally she would be spending this time with friends but her friends were all in Wellington County. Along with her family, including Roy of the still unspanked bum. Missing her friends and regretting the failure of her plan left Clare in a melancholy mood. Jane wasn't doing much better; her boyfriend had been a rat but he had been part of her life for a while and now that part of her life was missing.

The two of them were moping in front of the video displays when Mona stuck her head in the room.

"Are you two going out tonight, or staying in?"

"Um, well, I suppose..." Jane said, looking towards Clare.

"I'm fine with staying in." Clare answered. "If we went out then I'd only be surrounded by strangers. Odds are I'd just end with a sore bum anyway."

"Then I guess we're staying in." Jane told her mother.

"Okay, later then." Mona said, leaving then alone.

"He was a pig." Jane said solemnly.

"Totally." Clare agreed. She had never met the boy but she was there to support her cousin.

"Do you think it's too early to start celebrating?" Jane asked. "Or maybe we could open a few wine coolers."

"Wine coolers sound good." Clare agreed.

Mona gave them a bit of look when they raided the fridge for wine coolers but she didn't say anything.


After supper, when she was cleaning the table, Mona looked at them and said: "Nine sounds about right."

Jane nodded glumly as she said: "Sure. That sounds fine."

Clare nodded too, wondering what they were talking about.

Eight thirty hit and Jane got up from the couch and stretched.

"Well we might as well start getting ready." Jane said.

"Getting ready for what?" Clare asked.

"You mean... Mom, we forgot to tell Clare about tonight." Jane called.

"You forgot to tell me what?" Clare asked.

"What do you mean we ..." Mona said as she entered the room. Then she stopped. "Right. About tonight."

"What about tonight?" Clare asked.

"It's another tradition." Mona explained. "Every New Year's Eve every kid here gets a 'in case we missed something this year' spanking."

"Um, I don't want one of those so could I get out of it?" Clare asked. "I mean, Christmas day was one thing but..."

"Everyone under 21 gets a year ender." Mona said firmly. "No exceptions."

"Yeah." Jane said gloomily. "None."

"You mean that..."

"Yes, I'm getting one too." Jane confirmed. "That's why I said it was probably time to head up to our rooms. To get ready for our spankings."

"Oh. Right. Um, does this happen every year?" Clare asked.

"Every year." Jane moaned. "That's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to my 21st birthday."

"You've got be joking." Clare said.

"Every year." Jane repeated. "Even if I haven't done anything."

"But that's the point." Mona said with a laugh. "Sometime this year you've probably, no, you've certainly done something and got away with it. So we have this day set aside to handle those things you got away with."

"And if I didn't do anything that would earn me a spanking?" Jane asked.

"What, nothing? Nothing for the entire year? Not even at college?" Mona probed. "You mean that I asked everyone you were at college with they wouldn't tell me about one thing you did that would earn you a spanking? Nothing you've done wrong since your last spanking?"

"Um, well..." Jane's tone said it all.

"What about me?" Clare asked.

That cracked them up. Jane lot her dark mood as she broke into laughter and Mona practically doubled over.

"You?" Mona laughed. "You never had a real spanking. How can I ask you if you've screw up since your last, non-existent, spanking?"

"Well I haven't done anything since the punishment centre." Clare said defensively.

"Really?" Mona said, raising her eyebrow. "You drink like this at home?"

"Um, but I wasn't drinking alone or even sneaking it." Clare answered.

"Are you sure that if I press you, I mean really press you, that you couldn't think of anything you've done since you've been here?" Mona asked. "Well I know the answer to that question so I won't press."

Clare opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn't want to debate things with her aunt, not now. Not with her now thinking about why she needed to wash her sheets.

"I'll head upstairs." Clare said, conceding defeat.

On her way up something dawned on her. This would be the first time that she heard Jane get a real spanking. There had been those taps on Christmas day and the symbolic, almost play, spanking, but this would Jane getting a real, hard, spanking.

"When you get to your room you'll want to be waiting with your pants off." Jane advised her.

"But you said I shouldn't wait with my pants off." Clare reminded her.

"Not for a normal one, but this is different." Jane told her. "This one is for all those things that you did that earned you a bare bum spanking and no one noticed."

"Just since the centre I haven't really..."

"Mom just said that." Jane chuckled. "It's really for everything all year. Like if you get away with something on January first then you know that next December 31st you'll pay for it."

"Doesn't that mean that you never really get away anything?" Clare moaned.

Jane shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's only one spanking. Don't get me wrong it's a hard one, but it's just one no matter how many you've earned." Jane told her.

"Oh, right." Clare said, then something occurred to her. "You mean you get a spanking before you go out on New Year's Eve?"

"No, we normally get in the morning and by now it's a distant memory." Jane informed her. "Or at least a mild sting. That's what mom asked about earlier today, if we were going out and want things handled early."

"Oh. Um, so you're going to your room and..."

"And you're going to Ellen's room." Jane confirmed. "Good luck and remember, if you'd been born here then this would be old hat for you."

"Um, I don't think that helps much." Clare replied.

"It never does, it never does." Jane chuckled.


Clare went to her room and waited. And waited.

"This is silly." Clare said, getting off the bed and looking at the clock. To her surprise only four minutes had passed.

"I'll never last half an hour." Clare moaned.

To pass the time she followed Jane's advice and stripped below the waist. She was planning just to remove her slacks (folding them up and putting them on the bed), but after more time past her underwear follow them. Then her socks, mostly because she couldn't think of anything else to do but to take off her socks. She even rolled up her blouse, making sure that it was well out of the way. She fussed a bit, and in the end she had her blouse practically up to her bellybutton.

Then there was nothing left but the butterflies in her stomach. Butterflies the size of turkeys.

Finally she heard the sound she had been anticipating and dreading. Aunt Mona was walking the stairs. Clare was trembling, listening as those footsteps came closer and closer.

Then they went into Jane's room.

"That sucks." Clare muttered.

She couldn't believe that she was feeling this way about not getting spanked, but she was. The spanking was still coming but now she would have listen to Jane getting it before Clare got her spanking. Not that it wasn't interesting thinking about listening to Jane's spanking, but Clare wouldn't be able to appreciate it knowing that she would be next.

"Why do I have to wait?" Clare muttered.

Then Jane's door was opening and closing and footsteps were coming towards Clare's. Clare was paralysed. She had wondered if she should wait sitting or standing and standing facing the door or away or facing the corner or...

Then the door was open and Clare was sitting on the bed looking at her Aunt Mona. Aunt Mona holding a hairbrush.

"I talked things over with Jane." Mona said, leaving the door open as she entered the room. "And we decided that it wouldn't be fair to make you wait. So scoot over and I'll take care of things."

"Um, sure." Clare said, co-operating as her Aunt Mona sat on the bed and positioned her niece face down over her lap.

"Normally there's a little talk when this happens." Mona said as she positioned Clare. "Nothing specific, but things that should get you thinking about past misdeeds. With Jane I'll talk about missed classes and blowing off assignments. Not that I know she's done that but I'm pretty sure she's feeling guilty about doing that. But with you, where to start?"

"Um, maybe I missed a few classes?" Clare suggested.

"I'm sure you have." Mona laughed. "But seriously, if I start trying to list everything that you weren't spanked for we'd be here forever. Practically every time I visited there was one or two things you did that I would have spanked you for."

"Really?" Clare asked in surprise.

"Well it was you or one of your siblings." Mona told her. "Think back to when I was visiting. Are you sure that can't think of anytime you were a brat back then?"

"Um, well. Um, what do you consider a brat?" Clare asked weakly.

"Exactly." Mona said, bringing her hand down. "I'm going to warm up with my hand then drive the message home with the hairbrush."

"Um do have to? Because just your hand should be en-OOH."

"Sorry, but this will a real punishment." Mona said, still spanking. "Just like when you invited Roy here."

"OW! I still don't know why you AHHH minded that." Clare complained.

"Because that's not your decision to make." Mona explained. "Roy's too young to make decisions and his parents are clear on that so it's not your decision to make."

"But oOOW I'm his sister and AHHH if we lived here than Oochie!" Clare protested.

"But you don't live here." Mona said in a reasonable tone. "Your parents have chosen to live in Wellington County, not Hazard County, and that's their decision, not yours. At least not your decision for Roy."

"OH! Ah, what do you mean?" Clare demanded.

"Enough talk." Mona said. "It's time for the brush to get down to business."

"Not the brush. Please not the AAHH!" Clare begged, to no avail.

Mona had said that it would be as bad as when Clare invited Roy there, but Clare wasn't sure. It might have been as bad, it might have been worse, or Mona might have gone a bit easier - Clare didn't know. What she did know was that when Mona was finished Clare was leaning against the corner crying her eyes out.

"Now you stay there and I'll tell you when you can leave." Mona said firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me Jane has been waiting long enough for what she has coming."

Clare kept crying. A sound slowly entered her consciousness. Jane was getting her bum tanned. She was pleading with her mother to stop, but of course Aunt Mona didn't.

"That's how I sounded." Clare muttered.

Clare's hands were on her bottom, rubbing it. Listening to Jane, Clare rubbed her thighs together as her fingers stroked her bum and the back of her thighs.

Clare stopped when she heard Jane's spanking end. Her ears pealed, Clare cried as quietly as possible as she tried to listen to what was going on in the other room. She could hear Jane sobbing as she was led to the corner, then Aunt Mona's footsteps as she came back towards Clare's room.

A feeling of panic shot through her.

'What if she isn't done?' Clare wondered. 'What if she's going to spank me again?'

Then the door to her room was opening and Clare's heartbeat was going a mile a minute.

"I think you've been that corner long enough." Mona told her niece. "You can get out now."

"Um, thanks." Clare said through her tears as she thought about turning around. "Um, do you think it would be okay if I took a bath? It just that Jane said it helps."

"It does." Mona chuckled. "But make it a quick one. Jane might want one after her corner time is over."

"Thanks." Clare said.

It felt weird, taking off her blouse and putting on a robe. Mostly the robe bit. Mona had just seen her basically naked and she had changed in front of Jane, but somehow Clare didn't feel right about strolling around the house naked.

Once in the tub it didn't take Clare long to relax herself. Then she returned to her room and used some of the creams she had bought. They were as soothing as the labels promised. Applying them she heard Jane taking a quick bath.

"When you're done, change back into your clothes and come down here." Mona called up the stairs.

"We will mom." Jane called from the bathroom."

Twenty minutes later, Clare's face was scrubbed clean of tears and she was wincing as her dress made contact with her backside. Technically she knew that the dress was designed to lift but since it was just Jane and Aunt Mona she wasn't worried about her dress lifting. Both of them had seen her bum before and this felt better than wearing snug panties.

Jane was still dealing with her tears, sniffling a bit, but Mona had made a punch which took the edge of things. Clare thought the punch was a bit much, what with Aunt Mona's comment about the drinking, but that didn't stop Clare from helping herself.

They were counting down the midnight hour as Clare felt the surrealness of the moment. It was a new year and Clare couldn't sit down to enjoy it. Worse, she didn't even have a boy to kiss. Not that she really wanted to kiss a random boy, not now that she had a red bottom. Or maybe she did. Thinking about kissing a boy when her bum was red made Clare feel a bit weak in the knees. To counteract that feeling she had another glass of punch. Then another.


The next morning Clare woke with a swollen head and stinging tail. She had woken feeling weird before but never like this, never sore at both ends. Jane wasn't in much better shape and even Mona had a sore head. With voices kept low and Clare not wanting to sit for breakfast the three did very little that day.

Goodgulf

[goodgulf]

Christmas Across the County Line - Part 2

On the second day of the new year Mona asked Clare a question. From the way she asked it and the tone of her voice, Clare was worried that Mona might be looking for a fresh excuse to spank her. For a moment Clare considered lying, but she decided to go with the truth.

"Of course I really bought some gifts for Roy." Clare answered. "That was the plan. My mom would have never believed the invite if Roy didn't come home carrying presents. Why did you want to know?"

"Since he didn't come here for his presents they have to go to him." Mona explained. "We should have them shipped to him. That way you mother won't have to be told about your plan."

"That's a great idea." Clare agreed. "Um, you didn't tell her about it, did you?"

"Since you arrived I haven't said one word about any plan of yours to your mom." Mona answered, technically saying nothing except the exact truth. If Clare assumed that Mona hadn't known about the plan until Clare arrived then that was Clare making an ass of U and Me. "I'll get a shipping box and you can bring them down here."

"Thanks." Clare said. "I hadn't really thought of what I'd do with them. I mean I thought I'd be able to give them to him myself so I didn't even think about how to get them to him."

"Well bring them down and I'll ship then to him." Mona assured her.

As Clare gathered up the presents Jane stuck her head in.

"More presents?" Jane asked. "Did Father Christmas miss the tree?"

"No, these the ones for Roy." Clare explained. "Your mom is going to ship them to him."

"Wait, I've got something to add to the package." Jane told her.

"What?"

"Hey, he might your little brother but he's my cousin too." Jane pointed out. "That means I can buy him stuff too."

"Um, well thanks." Clare said.

"It's nothing big." Jane assured her. "It wouldn't outshine anything you got him."


Clare brought the gifts downstairs, Jane catching up wit her as she was at the foot of the stairway.

"Um, two of them aren't wrapped." Clare said apologetically. "I got him a 'season's beatings' paddle on sale and then there's these. I picked it both up after Christmas, during the sale. They were 75% off and I thought Roy would want them for the bragging rights."

"What are they?" Jane asked, looking past the paddle.

"Oh, those." Mona said. "I never saw the use in them but some parents swear by them."

"What are they?" Jane repeated.

"Velcro briefs." Mona explained. "They are kind of like dropseats but there's two flaps, one for each cheek. A quick pull and you tear the velcro open, baring the buns and only the buns."

"He won't get a lot of use from them." Jane mentioned. "Aunt Jessica would never use them."

"No, she won't." Mona agreed. "My sister will never put them to good use, but maybe Mrs. Galloway would."

"What?" Clare asked.

"Who's Mrs. Galloway?" Jane asked.

"She's the mother of one of his friends. I had a long talk with my sister during the Christmas phone call and she mentioned it. She said that this Hannah Galloway had asked about taking him across the line."

"She didn't, did she?" Clare demanded, thinking back to what Roy had said about that day with his friend Anna.

"Of course she didn't." Mona answered. "Your mother would never give her permission and the woman wouldn't take him without permission. There's always the chance she might give it but I doubt it, not knowing my sister."

"Wow. But Roy will be showing these off." Clare predicted. "Genuine Hazard County spanking briefs would given him serious bragging rights. Even more than Hazard County paddle I got him before Christmas."

"Well I got him something too." Jane said, producing a pad of sticky notes.

"A note pad?" Clare asked. "What is he going to do with a pad of notes?"

"It's a joke pad." Jane explained, showing it off.

Clare giggled when she saw it. The pad said: "Good for ten smacks of the paddle for _____".

"I picked it up after Christmas, when I heard about the paddle you bought." Jane explained.

"Do people really use those things?" Clare asked.

"Of course not." Mona told them. "Well, maybe as gifts."

"Now to prime the pump." Jane said with a giggle.

Clare watched her cousin fill Roy's name in on the top sheet. Clare checked for Mona's reaction and was relieved to see that her aunt was smiling.

"Of course he'll see that one, so how about another that he won't see." Jane said, opening the pad to somewhere near the halfway point and filling in Roy's name again. "There."

Then Jane smiled: "I just hope this won't cause him any trouble with that Mrs. Galloway."

"Oh, they probably won't." Mona said with a laugh. "Almost certainly not. If she was the type to spank just because a note said she should then Roy would have already crossed the county line. No, if she was the type to go looking for an excuse then one morning when he was at her house she would have said something about driving somewhere fun and asked Roy if he wanted to tag along. Then once on the road she would reveal that they would they were only going to the fun place after a quick stop across the county line. Then they would stop at a tourist place and let Roy roam around while she spent some time with her own child. Then Roy goes running around, being Roy, and someone would spank him. Then later she tells Aunt Jessica that Roy insisted on coming along and once they were there Roy wandered off alone. That it wasn't anything planned but it just kind of happened."

"What? Does that sort of thing really happen?" Clare asked.

"All the time." Mona told her.

"Even I've heard about it." Jane chimed in. "Every summer there are dozens of complaints every day. Not every week, every day. Sometimes I think half the kids in Wellington County have been tricked across the line that."

"Well I wasn't." Clare said.

"No, you weren't." Mona agreed. "No one tried to trick you to get you over the line. No one had to."

"Well no, I was the one who tried to trick Roy. That means that I had to come here to do that."

"No you didn't." Mona pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you could have just hauled Roy over you lap and spanked him." Jane pointed out. "Or you could have been the one to take him on a trip somewhere and then tricked him to get him into Hazard County. Or you could have asked a friend to do it and then told your mom that you didn't know that it was going to happen."

"Exactly." Mona agreed. "There were all sorts of things you could have done that wouldn't have put your buns at risk."

"Um, well, I guess there were." Clare admitted.

"I had a long talk with your mother." Mona said. "Back when you told her that you wanted to come here. Your father even got on the extension and joined the conversation."

"Um, what did you talk about?" Clare asked, giving Jane a weird look.

"There are some people, mostly girls but a few boys, who come to Hazard County when they're old enough." Mona said neutrally. "Some 19 and 20 year olds even decide to move to Hazard County. Just so they can experience things here."

"What? And you thought... My mom thought... Fuck, you mean my DAD THOUGHT that?" Clare exclaimed, panicking a bit.

"Shush! It's all right." Mona soothed. "They didn't think that but they didn't want to take the chance. They thought that it might be one in a million that you wanted that but they assumed when you decided to come here that you knew that you were still young enough to be spanked."

"So they don't think that?" Clare asked, calming slightly.

"No, but just on the off chance that you wanted to be here they wanted you staying with someone they trusted." Mona told her.

"Um, did you...?" Clare asked, turning to her cousin.

"This is the first I've heard about it." Jane promised.

"But um..."

"If you want to, and you had the money, you could have come here for Christmas break and stayed in a motel." Mona pointed out. "And they wouldn't have been able to stop you. At least this way they knew I was keeping an eye on you."

Clare thought about that. About that girl at the punishment centre who had asked if she could sign herself in.

"You watching things didn't really workout..." Clare mumbled. "Um, did they know that..."

"They knew that if I had to that I would spank you." Mona revealed. "Only I think they thought that the only way you would earn a spanking was if you wanted one. I just didn't tell them about the traditions or that I might take you to a punishment centre for a foldout."

"But you did." Clare accused.

"Only because you got yourself spanked before Christmas." Mona countered. "I'd decided that before you came. That if you needed a spanking before Christmas then I'd get you a foldout for Christmas."

"That's common for visiting relatives." Jane put in. "It's practically a tradition. I just forgot about it."

Clare wasn't sure if she believed Jane but there was something more that she wanted, no, needed to know.

"So if I had gotten Roy here..." Clare started.

"First, the only way I'd have any of her kids in my house is with your mother's full knowledge and permission." Mona began. "I'd probably want to make sure your father was okay with it too, but Jessica's been my sister longer than she's been your mother and there's no way I would try to trick her. None."

"Okay, but if you had that then what?" Clare asked.

"I would have treated him like one of the family." Mona answered. "The same as I treated you."

"But would he have gotten spanked for sure?" Clare pressed.

"Well, if anyone had sent him those kinds of gifts then his PJs would have come down for three taps." Mona answered. "And on the feast of the innocents he would have been treated like family."

"But a real spanking?" Clare asked.

"He would have gotten a year ender, just like you got." Mona told her.

"Ah huh. That's a given." Jane agreed. "If he was in Hazard County on New Year's Eve he would have gotten a 'just in case we missed something' spanking. Everyone gets them."

"Other than that he would only have gotten spanked if he deserved it." Mona continued. "And I mean really deserved it. I didn't spank you for little things like cursing or leaving clothes laying around and I wouldn't have spank him unless he really deserved it. And if he did then he probably would have left here with a foldout of his own."

Clare was somewhat mollified by that answer, but she was still horrified that her parents had been brought into the loop. She could only hope that they would never ask her about it. That...

Then a thought hit her.

"Hey, did you tell my folks that you spanked me?" Clare blurted out.

"No I didn't." Mona said truthfully. "I don't think they want to know that. They knew it was possible but I think they prefer not knowing to really knowing."

Again Mona was only being technically truthful. When she talked with Clare's parents Mona had made sure that Jessica knew what was going to happen if Clare tried to lure Roy there, then on Boxing Day Jessica had made a point of mentioning that invitation. Mona was sure that Clare's mother knew that Clare had been spanked but didn't know if Clare's father had been let in on the secret.


After Roy's presents were boxed up, Mona left to have them shipped and Clare retreated to the sanctuary of her room. Countless things were running through her mind and she didn't know what to focus on. Part of her wanted to focus on how Anna's mom had asked, actually asked, to take Roy across the line. To wonder if Mrs. Galloway would have really bought Roy a foldout of his own.

But what had once dominated her mind was now practically insignificant. Her parents knew that she might be spanked. When she came here they knew that she might get spanked and they were okay with it. They accepted the fact that Aunt Mona might spank her and they had signed off on it. They might even be able to guess that Aunt Mona had really spanked her. How could she ever face them again?

Seeing her mom would be bad enough, but her dad? How could she look him in the eye again knowing that he knew that Aunt Mona had spanked her bare bum?

Clare went down to the Christmas tree and returned to her room with her foldout. It sprang open at her touch. Flipping through the foldout all she could think was what would happen if her father saw it. And he might; it would open at his touch. All that he would have to was pick it up and it open for him. Even if he didn't open it he would take one look at either of the covers and he'd know what was inside. He didn't even have to open it to know that it would show Clare getting her bare bum spanked. And spanked hard.

Worse, even Roy could open it! Roy could open it and see his big sister being spanked like a naughty little girl. Even if he didn't he could see the outside of the foldout and he would know that she had been spanked.

Looking at the pictures of her being spanked, Clare couldn't think of a single soul that she wanted to be able to see them. In one her legs were scissoring and she could see...

Clare blushed in shame. She wanted to die from embarrassment.

Yet there a part of her, a very small part, that wanted to leave the foldout open in her dorm's common room. Leave it out there for anyone to see. Not her parents or Roy but her friends at university. Her friends and perfect strangers that she would never see again.

Clare spent most of the rest of the day locked her room, looking at her foldout and thinking about what had happened to her in Hazard County.


The next morning, Clare put a bright face on the day. This was her last day (rather part day) here and she was just that close to turning her back on Hazard County. Mona produced a new travel case for Clare and Jane helped Clare separate the Christmas presents from the loaned clothes.

"But if you want then I'm sure that you could take most of these clothes home with you." Jane pointed out. "No one would have lent it out if they needed it back."

"Maybe not." Clare answered. "But I wouldn't feel right taking them. I don't even feel right taking the case."

"Mona planned on this." Jane pointed out. "She got the case a week before Christmas."

"But she couldn't have planned all of it." Clare responded. "She didn't know that she would be spanking me. She didn't, did she?"

Jane turned away to get some socks from the dresser. With her back to Clare she answered: "How could she? She didn't do it until she learnt about your plan. If you had just kept your mouth shut then she wouldn't have spanked you."

"Except on Christmas morning and..."

"Except for that." Jane agreed, turning back to Clare. "But anyone would get that."

"Well you could have warned me about that." Clare complained.

"I didn't think that I would have to." Jane countered. "I thought that you do the smart thing and do your own research. You were staying in another county and you didn't bother to learn about the laws here? I didn't think that I could possibly be related with anyone that stupid."

"Well I thought that maybe my cousin would warn me." Clare replied.

"No, you didn't think. Not at all. You were just focusing on Roy getting his bum smacked and you didn't think about anything else. You could have broken a dozen laws and never know it. All because you were focusing on getting Roy spanked without your mom blaming you for it."

Clare opened her mouth to rebut that accusation, then stopped. It wasn't the knowledge that Aunt Mona might spank her for arguing but the fact remained that Jane was basically right. Clare had taken some stupid chances and in a way she was lucky that only her bottom had paid the price.

"Maybe you're right." Clare conceded. "I screwed up. But my bum shouldn't have had to pay the price."

"Better that than a jail cell." Jane countered.

"Well, maybe just a bit better." Clare admitted. "But let's not fight."

"No, we shouldn't." Jane said. "Not on your last day here."

The two girls hugged and made up.

Later, Clare gathered up the last items from under the tree and wondered what to do with them. She didn't want anyone knowing she had spent her Christmas break in Hazard County so those gifts might have to be explained. The foldout was already packed, carefully wrapped in a blouse, and Clare vowed that no one else would ever see it. Faith's mother had given her the slippers, but thanks to Jane that gift had been taken care of. Clare knew she wasn't the first girl to get duplicate gifts for Christmas; the fact that she had spent Christmas with relatives would excuse the fact that she hadn't had time to return one set of slippers.

But that was just the most explainable of the explainable gift. Harmony's mom had given her wooden spoon, something that didn't really imply spanking. Joy's mother had given Clare the wicked heavy wooden hairbrush that Mona had used on her, but a hairbrush was just a hairbrush, wasn't it? There was nothing sinister about that. Grace's mom had got Clare a thin white leather belt, but a belt was just a belt. No, Clare hadn't been given any clothes that needed a belt, but she had outfits that it would go with. And the thick black leather belt Mary's mom had given her was just another belt.

After that came other, less explainable, gifts. Charity's mother had bought Clare a 'Board of Education' paddle. A huge one, complete with air holes. Mona hadn't really laid it on but Clare could remember how those air holes had pinched her bum. Mona thought that she might be able to explain it as a gag gift. The other paddle, the little red one that Hope's mom had given her, that one Clare could hide or explain as a gag from an old friend.

Then there was what Rose had given her. That piece of leather that didn't make the slightest attempt to disguise itself as a belt. It was clearly designed to strap a bottom and Clare didn't think that she could explain it as a gag. A paddle could be hung on the wall but the piece of leather was too wicked looking to be a souvenir. After careful consideration Clare rolled it up and stuck in it in the pocket of a pair of slacks. She wasn't sure if she was going to throw it out once she got back to her dorm but she knew that no one was ever going to see it.

'Of course I could just leave it out and let my roommate find it.' Clare mused. 'But that would be just too embarrassing to think about.'


After lunch Mona produced Clare's missing luggage.

"So where was it?" Clare asked. "I looked everywhere. It was almost as bad looking for hidden presents."

"They were in the garage in the trunk of your uncle's car." Mona revealed. "Locked in. Safe but cold."

"Maybe I should change now?" Clare suggested.

"No, the clothes must be frozen solid." Mona said. "Now come on; we better get going if we want to make your bus."

"Um, I guess." Clare said, looking longingly at her bags. "But do we have to leave now?"

"I'll need to get back in time to get something to eat before driving Jane to the station." Mona pointed out.

"Okay, I'll get my things together." Clare replied.


Once at the bus stop, Clare checked her luggage in and then turned to her aunt.

"Well, I guess this is it." Clare said to her aunt. "Things didn't go as planned, but I guess I can't say it was all bad and..."

The sound of flesh meeting denim interrupted Clare's carefully rehearsed speech. Glancing over, Clare saw a girl that looked like another returning college student, a girl who was now over an older man's lap, getting the seat of her jeans dusted.

"That's another old Hazard County tradition." Mona said, nodding towards the girl. "A reminder to be good. Most girls get them when they head back to classes."

"Um, but here?" Clare said, glancing around.

The bus station was crowded. It being the first Sunday after New Year's Day the place was full of people heading out so that they could be at work for Monday. There were some people who looked like Hazard County locals sending kids back to university but the bulk of the people looked to be tourists. They were looking and pointing at the girl getting her tail dusted. Some were even snapping pictures of it.

"Here." Mona said firmly.

"But, um, but..."

"I'll be seeing Jane off the same way." Mona told her.

That put things in a different light. Clare knew that Jane would be leaving that evening when the bus station would really be packed. Knowing that Jane would be getting her spanking then made it easier when Mona took her arm and led her to a seat at the end of a row of benches.

As they walked Clare couldn't help thinking about the skirt she was wearing. A dress designed to be lifted. And her panties, which were designed to be lowered. They were surrounded by people, and in this case 'people' included strange men!

It was a tight fit and it wouldn't have worked if the guy in the next seat hadn't been kind enough to move so Clare would have a place to put her head. Her legs were partly blocking the aisle but Mona had enough room to swing her hand at the target that Clare offered. All Clare could think of was how she would look when Mona bared her bottom.

"This time I think we'll do it over your skirt." Mona said softly.

Clare couldn't believe that she was feeling relief right before her spanking was about to start.

As Mona's hand came down Clare realised that she was now the centre of attention. Clare knew that virtually everyone in the bus station must be looking at her. As Mona's hand came down again Clare could hear a kid laughing at her. Then Mona's hand came down again and Clare stopped worrying about laughing children and focused more on the on heat rising from her backside.

"And if you" smack "even think about" smack "acting out" SMACK "at school then" SLAP "you think back" smack "to this." Mona lectured.

Mona only used her hand, and it wasn't as bad as those other times, but between the pain and everyone looking at her Clare couldn't help herself. The tears welled up inside her and burst out of her eyes. Mona hadn't expected Clare to cry so soon but that didn't slow the spanking down any. She had started with a set amount of smacks in mind and she was going to deliver them.

When it finally ended Clare rose from her aunt's lap with tears in her eyes. Glancing around through blurred vision Clare was shocked to see that she wasn't the centre of attention. Two other girls were getting their goodbye spankings - and one of them was showing a thong!

As Mona helped her niece to her feet a small boy pointed at Clare and laughed.

"Ha ha ha you got spanked! You got spanked. You got spanked."

Mona fixed the boy with a look and said: "And she won't be the only one spanked unless you behave yourself. Now am I going to have to take down your pants and make your bum red?"

The boy turned white and took off running, calling for his mommy. Clare managed a little laugh, picturing Roy in that boy's position.

Then came the boarding call for her bus and Clare gave Mona a tearful hug goodbye.


As she boarded the bus, Clare could hear some of the other passengers making side comments about her. The nicest ones were:

"Yes, she was the girl who was spanked"

And

"You see how lucky you were? You got out of Hazard County without being spanked. That girl got spanked in the bus station leaving - and that could have happened to you."

After hearing that last comment Clare was tempted to say something to kid, to point out that they hadn't left Hazard County yet and it wasn't too late to pull a brat's pants down and spank away, but she didn't. She just found a seat near the back and tried to find a comfortable sitting position while ignoring cruel whispers liked "I wonder if she liked it" and "was that her mother or her friend".

Crouching in her seat, listening to cruel whispers, Clare lost control of her tears again. She knew that she wasn't the first girl to leave Hazard County with a tear-streaked face. She probably wasn't even the first one today and it was a bit surprising that she was the only girl like that on the bus. But it wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

Clare's tears finally stopped during the long journey. Drifting off to sleep Clare wondered what the future held. Would she ever return to Hazard County? Would any of her friends find out about what happened? Would anyone see the foldout? Could she convince her roommate that those gifts were just gag ones? Did her dad know that she had been spanked? How could she face her mom? Did she want to return to Hazard County? What would have happened if Aunt Mona had decided to bare her bum at the bus station? Clare knew that the woman could have. That Aunt Mona wouldn't be breaking any laws if she had decided to bare Clare's bum. That if a cop had come along then all he would have done was helped Mona to hold Clare down. That it didn't have to be Aunt Mona, that practically anyone in Hazard County could have decided to spank Clare and that there was nothing she could have done about it. That she couldn't die of embarrassment so she would have to endure anything they did to her. How coming to Hazard County made her feel more like a kid then returning to her home in Wellington County did. Then her mind shifted again, wondering if she could explain things to her friends at college. That thought was dominating her mind as sleep claimed her.

Then she woke with a start, a sudden realisation piercing her to the core. With all thinking she was doing Clare hadn't once considered Roy. Roy, whose fate had dominated her thinking since thanksgiving, now seemed like a minor footnote.

"Fuck Roy." Clare muttered. "I've still got the money I planned to use for the fuel to drive home, then to Hazard County, home, and back to Hazard County. And the money I was planning to use for his trip to the punishment centre. Spring Break is coming. If I still want to see Roy spanked then I'll just give the cash to someone and have them take him across the county line. It's not like that's really important anymore."

With the fate of Roy's bum dismissed as insignificant, Clare's mind returned to what was really important: her own bottom's fate.

Goodgulf

[william7]

Wow! That was an epic story, maybe the longest one I have read in one sitting. It was wonderful, and worth every minute of the time it took. Thank you.

[goodgulf]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Yes, it is a bit long. This was supposed to last year's Christmas story but it took longer to write than anticipated. Oddly enough it didn't take all that long to outline in my head, or to rough outline on paper to make sure I didn't forget any of the high points I wanted to touch on.

And I hope people enjoyed the "what do you mean I'M A KID?" twist, because her actually just doing something to Roy would have been a much shorter story.

Goodgulf

[fatherjim_99]

My gawd, Goodgulf, what a tale! Wonderfully written, took full advantage of every set up you provided! Just wonderfully done, a real work of art in words! Thanks for sharing for the holidays! It really fits!

Jim

[goodgulf]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Actually, I had to work hard not to milk every possible situation. It was hard, turning my back on so many opportunities to keep the action focused on Clare.

And thanks for taking the time to let know you enjoyed it.