This short story is an entry in the 2002 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking Summer Short Story Contest and is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal/private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice. The author would appreciate your comments
Category: Period
The Lamb Of God & The Butcher's Boy, Sonny
By
Mara Maharakshasa <MaraMahaRakshasa@aol.com>
The Black & Tan's lorry rumbles into the farmyard, headlamps blazing. Agnes knows that she'll have to delay them, somehow. Devlin's men will need thirty minutes to reach the river and the boat that's waiting to rescue them.
She straightens her clothes, and steps outside.
"And what brings you here this evening?" she challenges the leader, a ruddy-faced officer who's already directing his men to search the barn. "Major Butcher, ma'm. We're pursuing Sinn Feiners, seen heading this way." "Agnes Doyle, that's me. I've not seen a soul all day."
"You won't mind if we look around?"
"Not at all. Can I be offering you a cup of tea?"
Butcher is called 'Sonny' by his hardened troops. A public schoolboy, summoned from the Indian Army to this insurrection. He's faintly suspicious of the farm, and this pretty young Irishwoman. The scruffy soldiers search the barn, prod haystacks with bayonets, peer in the pigsty. He orders: "Back in the lorry. We'll go down to the river." "Oh, please don't be doing that, Major," Agnes says, alarmed. "My ewes are lambing, and it'll scare the bejasus out of them, all that noise!" Butcher shrugs, ordering a loitering pair: "Callaghan, Regan. Follow the lane, and see if there's anyone that way."
Agnes gives an inward sigh of relief. Two soldiers they can handle, easily.
Butcher sips his tea. "Well, I propose we stay the night here, if you don't mind the fellas in the barn?"
"Not at all. But won't you be sleeping in the house, an officer like yourself?"
"Where are your menfolk?"
"Me brother Liam is off to the Cork market, and my own fella, he's in Dublin, with your general. He's a cook."
"I see."
"It'll be nice to have some company, besides," she smiles. Callaghan and Regan have not returned. "Unload the lorry, and stand down," Butcher orders. "But keep your ears open."
"And would you be liking something stronger than tea, now?" Agnes asks.
"If you have something, that'd be most kind, Mrs. Doyle."
She produces a half-empty bottle of whisky, and pours a large glass for each of them. They begin to chatter.
"Now, I'm not putting you out of your own bed, am I?" he asks. "It's no trouble to sleep in the barn, you know."
"Heavens! I wouldn't hear of it," she says, putting her hand on his.
Butcher is nearly asleep when he hears the bedroom door creak. He sees Agnes's shadow, and gasps in surprise as she slips between the sheets, naked.
Around midnight, the soldiers hear the grunting stop. And soon, the sound of hearty slapping. "There he goes again, the wanker, getting his arse spanked," one complains.
"Public schoolboys," another snorts.
Sonny is none the wiser when Liam, Devlin and the boys quietly slit the throats of the soldiers in the barn. But when he awakes at dawn, bladder bursting, backside smarting, still firmly tied to the bed, with Agnes long gone, he realizes he'll soon have some explaining to do.
The End
© This story is copyrighted (c) by Mara Maharakshasa, 2002. All rights are reserved by the author. Do not retransmit, store (except for personal use) or publish without permission.
Reviews
Margaret <wessyLA(at)aol(dot)com>
This was excellent. It's not easy to develop characters and a plot in 500 words, but this succeeds at the task admirably. Thank you for submitting this.
Tami <tamishy(at)webtv(dot)net>
I almost get the impression that Sonny just doesn't feel guilty about what happened. It makes me kind of mad. I don't know if the was the author's intention but that's how it came across to me. Thanks for posting this story.
Needy Wench <needywench(at)hotmail(dot)com>
Just damn fine writing. The historic setting, the characters...all dead-on perfect. Superb!
Kate <ecattiva(at)aol(dot)com>
Terrific story line and well executed. A lot of drama packed in for so few words. Very satisfying.