From: riharpist@aol.com (RIharpist)
Subject: Story from Gigi:  Clara 1813
Date: 2 Apr 1997 00:21:00 GMT

        This fictional account, involves another ancestor of mine who was
thirteen at the time of this story. She lived in Western Kansas.  If you
are upset about the spanking of children, please do not read this story,
and please do not use it in any way without my permission.

                               Clara  1813
                                 by Gigi

        Clara had fallen in love.  It was her "first love" and the young
John Andrews was fourteen.  He was quite taken with her as well, and they
were constantly seen together, hand in hand, walking home from church
functions and school events.  Everyone thought it was "charming", and they
all wondered whether Clara and John would marry some day.

        One late afternoon, the two sweethearts, hand in hand, ended up
stopping to take a rest and talk in a wooded area near the road to Clara's
house.  They sat down, giggling and pushing at each other playfully, and
then her young love pulled Clara to him and gave her the very first kiss
she had ever had.  It was gentle and beautiful, and Clara was filled with
love for John.  In her responsiveness, before they knew it, things  were
going too far for a young lady.  Their urgency had led them to become
partially disrobed, as John was gently kissing Clara's throat and the area
above her breasts.

        Dorothy Everett and her sister Emaline were on their way home in
their carriage and saw the two young lovers in the distance.  Their
suspicions were confirmed as they drew nearer, and Clara and John
scrambled to get themselves put back together.

        They stood up to face the distressed Everett sisters.  Emaline was
a close friend of Clara's mother, so she made it clear that parental
guidance was definitely needed here!  Within a short period of time, both
families knew all about the event, and Clara was confronted by her father:

        "Are you ruined, girl?!!!!"
        "No! Father, never!"
        "You will be whipped for this.  Only trash does what you did!"

        (John was thrashed by his father for what had happened, for the
fathers knew each other and this was the agreement, in order to keep
Clara's father from doing it.)

        Clara's father took down the strap and placed Clara over the arm
of the sofa.  He raised her skirt and petticoats and began to strap the
seat of her bloomers.  Clara screamed in pain.  Her mother began to weep,
both for the incident taking place at the moment and for the fact that her
daughter was now not so innocent.

        The whipping continued as did the lecture, and Clara realized that
she was caught between two worlds -- obedience to her parents and a
reponsiveness to new sensations in her body when she was with John.  The
strap continued, and soon Clara was nothing but tears and exhaustion.  Her
father pulled her up to her feet and turned her to him.

        "That was the worst whipping of your life!  You are being raised
to be a lady, and you will never be unchaperoned again!  Do you
understand?!"

        "Yes, father "(sobbing)

        Her father hung up the strap and held his weeping daughter.

        "Your feelings are not bad.  What you did was!  Your mother and I
love you very much.  You are growing up, and we will help you sort this
all out."

        Clara and John kept a distance from each other for a while, but
the church social found them dancing together with the look of love in
their eyes...........