Sentence of Marriage by Shayne Parkinson Page B

get that upset, especially in her condition.’
    Amy looked up at him in bewilderment for a moment, then in wide-eyed surprise. ‘Condition?’ she repeated stupidly. ‘You mean she’s going to—’
    ‘Yes, she is, and there’s no need for you to look so shocked over it, either. I’m not as old as all that, you know. Anyway, I don’t want to discuss that with you,’ he said, clearly embarrassed. ‘Don’t tell her I said anything about it.
    ‘You’ve never given me trouble before,’ he went on, ‘but you’ve gone too far over this. Your ma says you need correcting. I’d rather she did it herself—’
    ‘She’s not my mother!’ Amy interrupted, furious at the thought that Susannah might dare to touch her.
    ‘Amy!’ Jack shouted, sounding more angry than she had ever heard him. ‘She stands in the place of a mother to you, and she has the right to expect obedience, and to correct you if she doesn’t get it. But she doesn’t want to punish you herself, and I’m not going to make her. She’s upset enough without that.
    ‘So I have to do it,’ he finished sombrely. ‘I’ve never laid a hand on you—I don’t hold with men hitting women as a rule. But I have to,’ he repeated, pulling his right hand from behind his back. With a sinking feeling, Amy recognised the heavy leather strap. Her grandmother had not used it on her since she was ten.
    She stood up from the bed and stretched her right arm out straight in front of her with the hand palm upwards, looking her father straight in the eye as she did so. Remembering punishments from school, she made sure her palm was quite flat, so that the blow would have the maximum effect.
    Jack looked from her hand to her face, then looked at the wall.
    ‘I don’t think it was your hand she had in mind, girl.’
    Amy looked at him in alarm, and sat down again on the bed very quickly. ‘No, Pa.’ She shook her head to emphasise her words. Being punished by her grandmother had been completely different; the idea of exposing her buttocks to a man , even her father, was too horrible to contemplate.
    Her father regarded her in silence, then his shoulders slumped a little.
    ‘No, you’re right. I can’t do it. All right, let’s have your hand then.’
    She stood up and offered her hand as before. To her surprise, Jack took her hand and pressed the palm so that it made a hollow. Didn’t he know that meant the strap would make a lot of noise but wouldn’t hurt quite as much? All the children she had gone to school with seemed aware of that; unfortunately so was Miss Evans, so Amy had given up trying that trick early on. But if her father wanted to do it that way she would not argue.
    Whack! There was a loud noise, but it only hurt a little. Yes, she could bear that in silence. Amy gritted her teeth and fought down the urge to cry out.
    ‘Make a noise, for God’s sake!’ Jack said in a hoarse whisper. ‘She’ll be listening!’
    After that Amy yelled obligingly at each stroke, wondering if she was overdoing it. Her father did not seem to think so.
    After a dozen strokes Jack lowered his arm to his side, and Amy dropped her own arm, rubbing the tender palm. Her father said nothing, but watched her steadily for several moments until she dropped her gaze, unable to endure what she saw in his face.
    ‘Don’t ever make me do that again, Amy.’ He turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door after him.
    Amy collapsed onto the bed and wept bitterly. Not from the pain in her hand, which was nothing; but from the look she had seen in her father’s eyes: a look compounded of hurt and disappointment and bewilderment. The knowledge that she was the cause of that look was almost too much to bear.
    When she had cried herself out she rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling, wondering what to do. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to leave her room, and she was in enough trouble without making it worse. She could hear Jack’s and Susannah’s voices