An Old-Fashioned Education (12 page)
Read An Old-Fashioned Education Online
Authors: Fiona Wilde
The women exited the cabins as the men approached. Walt was talking to a group of men and was smiling. Paul hung back, sullen and quiet.
“What happened?” Willow asked, leading Peter by the hand towards her husband.
“Walt got him,” Benjamin Criner said. “Paul there, drew a bead and missed. The bear came charging towards us and Walt dropped him with the second shot.
The women began to laugh. “It looks like he has something in common with Polly.”
Walt looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Noni smiled and nudged Polly. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”
“Let me!” Peter cried, and launched into the story of how a bear was going to get him but his teacher shot it.
“I know you told me not to leave the house,” Polly said. “But I thought given the situation...”
“Yeah,” Aidan said proudly. “She said she didn’t care what you said.”
“Oh she did, did she?” Walt asked, mock stern. But it was apparent that he was not angry with her, but very proud.
The men were clapping him on the back, and then were clapping Polly on hers. She smiled at Walt. She’d not felt this good since coming to Pepper’s Hollow.
“Wait, Wait!” Paul pushed through the crowd, coming to stand between the community and the couple. “So they killed a couple of bears. So what? Have you forgotten that Walt here, all but abandoned us for this...this...” He turned to glare at Polly, his face furious. “whore?”
Polly heard a crack and then saw Paul fall at her feet. The snow under him was covered in blood from his broken nose. He looked up at Walt, stunned. Walt was backing up, taking off his jacket.
“You want to apologize?” He asked quietly. “Or do you want to settle this here?”
Paul stumbled to his feet, but Noni rushed forward. “No.”
He, almost violently, threw her off; but his wife yelled. “Paul!”
Paul turned, staring at his wife as she pulled out a handkerchief and helped him press it to his nose. “Stop it,” she said. “Just stop it. You had no right to say that to Polly. And you have no right to hate Walt. None of us are perfect. We all need to learn. Isn’t that what you’ve told me after I’ve been punished? That we make mistakes and need to forgive others and ourselves?”
Paul was breathing heavily. His face was a mask of anger and hurt. “I’m sorry,” he said through the handkerchief. His gaze fell on Polly. “I’m sorry.”
Polly nodded. Everyone was silent. It was apparent that Paul’s capitulation meant that Walt Springer’s authority had been restored.
Three Months Later …
“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” Polly wrapped the last piece of pottery and laid it in the box before standing up with a sigh. The cabin looked so empty. In spite of everything, it made her feel sad to leave. Pepper’s Hollow, she believed, would be beautiful in the full flush of spring.
“I’m sure,” Walt said, walking over to her and taking her in his arms. He arched an eyebrow. “And I should spank you for questioning me. The kids are over at Greta’s; it’s not like they’re going to hear us.”
“A good girl spanking, right?”
He laughed. “That’s all you seem to be getting these days.” He sat down in the nearby chair and pulled her across his lap, raising her skirt and rubbing her bottom with his broad hand.
“You know, once we establish the new community, the rules are going to be the same. Husbands in charge, and I expect you to continue to be the model of obedience, young lady.”
“And if I’m not?” She asked teasingly. He brought his hand down hard on her bottom and rubbed. She yelped and then moaned. Walt smacked her again and again, building the fire slowly in her plump bottom cheeks, until she was issuing steady little cries of pleasure-pain.
It felt good to give into him, to trust him this much. And she knew she could, indeed, give him her obedience, because he’d earned it. After the incident with the bears, the community had voted Walt back in charge. But it was clear that the tension, between his second-in-command and himself, would always hang over the community, like a cloud. When Walt announced that he was leaving to start another community, there was debate and tears and then ultimately, acceptance. The community was large and it was time for new leadership. Paul expected it would go to him, but instead, Benjamin Criner was voted the new head of Pepper’s Hollow. At first thaw, Paul and Noni had packed up and left. It was hard for Walt, losing the friendship of the man who’d co-founded Pepper’s Hollow. But that was life.
Benjamin had his own ideas, and Walt realized his departure would clear the slate for new policies. The group was still old-fashioned and eschewed technology despite Walt’s urging them to reconsider. Walt decided that the new community he started, would be a mixture of the old, patriarchal ways, and new, technology that would prepare any children in the group for life outside the community, once they grew up and moved away.
As Walt lifted Polly to her feet, she rubbed her throbbing bottom and smiled.
“The Canadian border,” she said. “Fifteen acres of land, wildflowers, moose, and lots of fresh air.”
“And, God willing, people like us,” he added.
“Did you place the ad?”
“Yep. This morning from your laptop. Already have two dozen applicants.”
“I’m so proud of you!” She said, smiling. The week before, they had found several online publications and forums for intentional communities.
Polly was glad she’d gotten off his lap moments later, when the kids burst through the door.
“I hear the airplane!” Aidan said, excited.
“Me too!” said Kerry. She jumped around, the old stuffed dog Polly had given her, flopping at her side.
“Let’s go then,” Walt said, picking up the remaining boxes.
Polly was the last to leave the cabin. Taking one final look at the room where her life had changed, she smiled, cut the light and turned her face towards the warm spring sun and her future with Walt and the children.
THE END
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