Frontier Doctor
© Guyspencer 2015
Frontier
Doctor
In
1861, Samuel Stephens was a lonely young man. A city boy and a
recent orphan, he was alone in the world. However his response to
his loneliness was at least helpful, he buried himself in his studies
at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The
medical schools of the day stressed Latin, which left their graduates
able to fluently describe their patient's symptoms in a dead
language, but little able to cure them. Of more practical use was
Sam's hands-on experience in Philadelphia's hospitals, where he did
everything from setting broken bones to delivering babies.
Only
five years earlier, Sam's parents had died of a fever, leaving the
teenager alone in the world and too young to run his father's
business. Sam's family doctor convinced the boy to sell his family
home and business to pay for his education. To the doctor's
surprise, Sam chose medical school.
Sam did
well in medical school, but his savings barely saw him through
school. So the handsome man in his early twenties did what many
medical school graduates do, he perused the advertisements in the
medical journals of the day looking for a job.
-------------------------
Shortly
before Sam's graduation, a doctor in a small town in Texas became
ill. Perhaps because he was the only doctor in the county and there
was nobody qualified to care for him, he died.
In a
popular medical journal, an advertisement appeared in the name of the
Mayor of the town of Trailhead Texas seeking a doctor for an
established medical practice. The ad offered an “office with
living quarters” free to a qualified physician.
To be
fair, the townsfolk of Trailhead were looking for an experienced
physician, not a wet-behind-the-ears recent graduate. Their last
physician had been an older man who semi-retired to Trailhead from a
big city practice.
To be
equally fair, Sam had hoped for a better offer than that little
office on the edge of nowhere. But Sam was nearly broke and in no
position to choose. So he made the arduous journey to Trailhead.
For a
city boy like Sam, Trailhead came as a cultural shock. The entire
town had an unfinished look, buildings were mostly rough looking and
unpainted. The town consisted of only two “streets”, a main
street for business and a narrower street for homes. Both streets
had random gaps, as if buildings were missing. The streets were
paved with Texas dust and were liberally strewn with animal dung
which was never cleaned up. It hadn't rained yet, but Sam had been
told that the streets melted into a disgusting mixture of shit-laced
slime when it did.
On
windless nights the smell of the place could be downright oppressive,
a pungent mixture of dust, smoke, animal dung, and outhouse.
Sam's
new “office and residence” proved to be a two-room building. In
front was the medical office, while the back room held a cot, a
table, and a stove that served both for cooking and heat. Behind was
a nasty outhouse and a rickety little one-stall barn. There was no
horse, but that was OK because Sam could barely ride!
Fortunately,
the office retained everything that his predecessor had left behind,
so he was immediately equipped to see patients. The trouble was,
they were few!
For the
first few days, Sam had little to do except to acquaint himself with
the town and it's occupants. Since Trailhead was so tiny, that
didn't take him long.
-------------------------
Trailhead
got its name from its location at the end of a cattle drive trail
that lead to the famous Chisholm trail, a conduit to Kansas cattle
markets and railroads. Every spring, ranches would round up their
cattle and then combine them into giant herds for the long walk down
the trail to market. So each spring the population of Trailhead
would briefly expand until the tiny town seemingly burst at the
seams.
Between
cattle drives, Trailhead was a sleepy place.
-------------------------
Fortunately,
Sam arrived at a “sleepy” time for the town, giving him time to
meet the town's few permanent citizens, and to learn how the place
worked.
Among
the first things he discovered was that the town didn't work the way
he had first assumed. He had received a letter from the town's Mayor
accepting his application and offering him the use of the town's
medical office. But he soon discovered that the “Mayor” was the
town drunk and didn't actually run the place. (Although he could
deliver a rousing holiday speech if properly sobered up.) The town
was actually owned and operated by a diminutive but strong-willed and
red-headed lady named Mildred Ross. Woman's suffrage was still a
half-century away. So even in Texas it was unthinkable for a woman,
even a rich woman, to call herself Mayor of a town. So the town
drunk served as a convenient and complaint figurehead for the
practical-minded woman.
So now
Sam realized that Mildred was actually his landlord and “sort of”
his boss, although she never once mentioned it.
A
chronic asthmatic, Mildred was as weak in her body as she was strong
willed. The town of Trailhead actually occupied a corner of
Mildred's huge ranch, which is how she owned the town. Mildred had
inherited the ranch from her husband, who had died in an unfortunate
accident. However, “inherited” implies that Mildred had done
nothing to earn her ownership, and that simply wasn't so. It was
largely through Mildred's brainpower that her husband had managed to
find markets for his beef and ways to get the cattle there. While
her husband had been driving cattle to market over the new cattle
trails, Mildred ran the ranch with an iron fist and made land deals
that grew it. Now the Ross ranch (its brand a stylized “R”) was
known throughout Texas.
Since
her husband's untimely death, Mildred, with help from a trustworthy
Superintendent, ran the Ross ranch. Running the town was merely a
sideline for Mildred. Trailhead was important because its businesses
were vital to the Ross ranch and other local ranches, and because it
hosted the annual cattle drives.
Fortunately,
Sam managed to quickly get into Mildred's good graces. No medical
genius, Sam at least had the benefit of the very latest in medical
knowledge. So where the last doctor couldn't help Mildred's asthma,
Sam introduced her to a treatment, an herb called atropa belladonna,
that actually relieved her coughing fits.
Trailhead
was a tiny place, and the population was mostly young, male and
healthy. Also, excepting Mildred, the few women of the town avoided
Sam entirely except when desperately ill. It wasn't personal, just
an understandable reluctance to show their bodies to a young man. So
poor Sam had lots of spare time, and was barely making a living.
Fortunately,
Trailhead lacked a veterinarian. The previous doctor had also served
as the area's animal doctor and his reference books were still in the
office. Sam studied those books and worked often at the town's
livery stable to gain experience and confidence with animals. A
city boy, Sam had much to learn before he could call himself a
veterinarian!
-------------------------
Like
most places in the American west, the few women in Trailhead were
mostly either taken or not worth taking. Attracted by adventure and
opportunity, couples and single men migrated west, but rarely single
women. Thus, their scarcity. So single men, obviously including
Sam, had a big problem finding mates.
Sam had
only briefly been in Trailhead before spotting the town's one
eligible and desirable female. She was quite unmistakable, a shapely
but compact lady about his own age mounted on a huge spirited
stallion galloping through town with her golden red hair streaming
behind her. Shockingly, she wore man's pants. Equally shocking to
this city man, she was riding astride her horse rather than
sidesaddle or in a carriage as respectable ladies do.
As she
passed by his office, she locked eyes with him just long enough to
acknowledge his existence, and then she was gone. After that, he
spotted her often, but she never again seemed to notice him.
Although her bright red hair provided a clue, he easily learned her
identity. She was Ethel Ross, Mildred Ross's daughter.
One day
when Mildred came by for another batch of asthma medicine, Sam
obliquely mentioned Ethyl. Mildred grimaced at the mention of her
daughter's name, “That Ethyl will be the death of me yet! If only
you had a medicine that would turn her in to a responsible adult.
She runs around on that horse instead of tending to ranch business.
I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself. That girl is as wild as a
Texas thunderstorm.”
Her
voice lowered, she added, “She doesn't think I know, but she likes
cowboys a bit too much. I hope she doesn't end up in the family
way.”
Sam had
no reason to be jealous of a woman he hadn't even met, and he assumed
that a poor city boy like him didn't have a chance with her. Still,
his stomach twisted at the thought of her with another man.
-------------------------
Sam
would never forget the first time he saw Ethyl close-up. Intent on
buying beans, he had walked into the general store. He must have
seen Ethyl's white stallion at the hitching post, but his thoughts
were elsewhere. So he walked into the store and almost collided with
Ethyl. The sight of her took his breath away! To a man used to
seeing ladies only in figure-hiding outfits with multiple layers of
petticoats underneath, the sight of this shapely pants-clad woman was
a shock. Ethyl was a short woman, a younger and curvaceous version
of her mother. Her face had delicate features and lightly freckled
skin, framed by her mother's bright red hair.
Ethyl
looked Sam up and down and said, “You must be the new doctor.”
This wasn't Sam's best moment! He could only nod mutely. Not having
received a response, Ethyl simply turned to finish her business with
the clerk. Sam found himself staring at the delightful, but naughty,
outline of Ethyl's buttocks, which were straining the seat of her
pants. When he realized where he was staring, Sam blushed and
quickly turned his head.
Embarrassed
and aroused in equal parts, Sam fled the store, his need for beans
forgotten.
Sam
would never forget the sight of those buttocks. Thoughts of Ethyl
filled the young man's nights. But still, tiny as Trailhead was, he
seemed unable to meet her.
-------------------------
That
all changed one day when a cowboy galloped up to Sam's office. “Come
quick,” he yelled through Sam's open window, “Misses Mildred says
that Ethyl is in a bad way.”
The
cowboy's horse was too winded to immediately return to the Ross
ranch, so Sam ran to the livery stable to hire a horse. (By now, he
could at least remain in a saddle.) It was five miles to the Ross
ranch house, and Sam rode as fast as he dared.
Mildred
led Sam to Ethyl's bedroom, where he found her suffering cramps.
Here again, Sam's medical training was easily equal to the task. In
his hospital experience, Sam had seen this condition in women often.
Ethyl was having a miscarriage.
There
was no keeping the truth from Mildred because the evidence would soon
be clear enough, so he was forced to tell her. The lady was
instantly furious, but her Irish temper quickly passed. And then
they got to work.
-------------------------
It was
midnight before Sam returned home. In the process of caring for
Ethyl, he had seen her most intimate parts, but it had been no thrill
at the time. His mind had been totally on business.
Later
however, was different. Now his nightly visions of Ethyl were
anatomically accurate, and all the more tantalizing for it. Still,
Sam glumly assumed that Ethyl's embarrassment would erase what little
chance he had ever had with her.
To deal
with typical small town rumor-mongering, Sam, Mildred and Ethyl had
agreed that Ethyl's short-term malady had been “a severe digestive
upset”. Sam had pledged complete confidentiality, and would keep
that promise. However, one young cowboy had guessed Ethyl's
diagnosis correctly. But there was little chance of him telling! A
drifter, he lived in the Ross Ranch bunkhouse. The night of Ethyl's
“sickness”, he disappeared without collecting his pay. He
assumed that Mildred would discover who had gotten her daughter
pregnant, and wished to be elsewhere when it happened!
So life
quickly returned to normal for Sam. Or so he thought!
-------------------------
Besides
being the town's doctor and veterinarian, Sam's predecessor had
served another vital function; as a stand-in disciplinarian. The
cattle business, especially long cattle drives, took Trailhead men
away from their families for weeks at a time. Occasionally an older
child would need punishing while his father was away, and the mother
didn't feel capable. In that case, the old doctor would take the
errant child to a convenient woodshed for punishment. The child was
usually referred to him by the mother, but sometimes by the Sheriff.
The
doctor usually punished boys, but didn't shrink from doing the same
to girls. The only significant difference with girls was the
mother's presence for propriety's sake.
Sam had
only been in town a few weeks when he was asked to punish a boy, but
he adamantly refused. Sam lacked the experience and the confidence
for that job. Except for his own childhood punishments, he had zero
experience with corporal punishment.
-------------------------
That
changed two weeks later when Mildred appeared at his office to ask
him to punish Ethyl!
“Sam
I need your help,” she had said, “Ethyl is recovered now. I must
deal with what she did, but I'm no longer physically able.”
Sam's
eyes widened, “You can't possibly mean...”
Mildred's
eyes hardened, “Yes, that's exactly what I mean. You've already
seen the part of her that needs punishing, and you're the only person
who knows why. So clearly you're the man for the job.”
Sam
started to refuse, but one doesn't tell Mildred Ross “no” when
she wants something. Mildred's forceful personality soon wore down
Sam's objections.
Mildred's
final argument almost closed the deal, “Don't worry about Ethyl.
She's sorry for what she did and has agreed to accept punishment.
But for reasons that I've explained to you, you're the only punisher
she will agree to.”
Sam
had one more objection, “Mrs, Ross, the problem is that my feelings
for Ethyl aren't totally...”
“Professional?”
Mildred asked with a raised eyebrow.
Miserably,
Sam nodded.
“I
saw your face while you were caring for Ethyl, and you only saw a
patient in need of your help. As for your 'unprofessional' thoughts
regarding Ethyl, I'd be concerned if it were otherwise! You are
young, male and human. Ethyl is both single and a fine specimen of
young womanhood. Still, you're the man for the job. I promise,
Ethyl won't hold it against you. She knows that the punishment comes
from me.”
Sam was
helpless against Mildred's personality. He reluctantly agreed to
appear at the Ross ranch house the following morning to punish Ethyl.
-------------------------
Then
next morning Sam rented a horse to ride to the Ross ranch. To his
surprise, Ethyl met him at the door. Her freckled face blushed
sweetly at the sight of him. This was the first time that Sam had
ever seen her in a dress. It was a thin and plain affair. In the
fashion of the times, it was nearly ankle length. From the way the
dress conformed to her hips, Sam guessed that she wore no petticoats
under it. When he realized that their absence was likely purposeful
to facilitate her imminent punishment, Sam's heart galloped.
“Welcome,”
Ethyl said as she stood aside to allow him to enter, “I appreciate
you coming, and I'm sorry for my part in dragging you into this
business. Mother is in the parlor. We've sent the help off for the
morning, so this will hopefully be private.”
Before
she could turn, Sam took her arm, “Are you sure that you want this
Miss Ross? If not, I'll leave.”
Her
eyes misted, “Please Doctor Stephens, my name is Ethyl. And yes, I
consent. I fully deserve to be punished. It's the only thing that
will repair matters between me and mother.”
“In
that case Ethyl, lead on. And after your punishment, please call me
Sam.”
She
smiled sadly, nodded, and then gracefully turned. Sam followed her
into the sitting room.
-------------------------
He
found Mildred in the parlor, a grim look on her face. He gulped at
the sight of a sturdy wooden armless chair that obviously didn't
belong in the room. A large ivory hairbrush rested on the chair.
Mildred
pointed him to a comfortable chair, Ethyl sat on the couch next to
her mother. Mildred got right to the point, “Thank you for coming
here Doctor Stephens. I know that you wanted no part of this, so I
appreciate you accommodating us. Naturally Ethyl and I have already
had a long and difficult talk about her behavior. So now she will
explain to you why she must be punished.”
This
came as a surprise to Ethyl! Hesitantly, she started, “Well,
naturally it's about my silly and selfish behavior that got me
pregnant, but it's more than just that.”
The
normally self assured young lady choked back tears before continuing.
She explained that her literal “roll in the hay” with that young
cowboy, a ranch hand, had been about curiosity and thrills, not love.
“So I childishly and selfishly risked everything, plus I messed up
that man's life on a silly whim. I'm supposed to help mother run
this ranch. As she ages, I'll need to take her place. I'm afraid I
haven't done my part, but I'll do better after today. I'm truly
sorry mother!”
Mildred
nodded her acceptance of her daughter's confession and oath, “I
love you Ethyl. But yes, we both have huge responsibilities to face
up to. So I hope this is the turning point you need.”
Spontaneously,
mother and daughter hugged. Sam felt embarrassed to see this private
moment, but being here hadn't been his idea.
Mildred
wiped a tear from her eye, “Shall we get on with it Ethyl?”
“Yes
mom.”
Not
mincing words, Mildred proceeded to explain to Sam exactly how to
punish Ethyl. Ethyl would bare her bottom and lay across Sam's lap.
Sam would give her a hard spanking, first by hand and then with the
hairbrush. Both Sam and Ethyl blushed at her frank language and
detailed description of the punishment she demanded Ethyl receive.
“Is
that clear to both of you?” she finally asked.
Sam
gulped, but agreed. Ethyl promised, “I'll see that it happens
mother.”
“In
that case,” the lady said, “I will depart.”
To
Sam's astonishment, the lady stood, briefly squeezed Ethyl's hand,
and then exited.
-------------------------
Through
this entire family drama, Sam had seen no hint of the bratiness he
had expected from Ethyl, but her former spirit still glowed in her
eyes.
Sam
spoke first, “I can't believe she left us alone!”
“As
you can imagine Doctor Stephens, my mother and I have had some rather
extensive 'discussions' about my behavior. She insists on this
punishment, which I agree I deserve. The only concessions I asked
for was that you be the punisher, and that it happen privately.
Don't feel sorry for me! I've earned this. Also, neither I nor my
mother will thank you if you go easy on me.”
Sam
gulped, nodded, and then moved to the armless chair. He hefted the
hairbrush curiously, and then placed it in a handy spot.
He
watched Ethyl approach his right thigh. She blinked tears away, and
then with almost a superhuman effort, she pulled herself together.
She stood straight up and then looked him in the eye. “Assuming
you do this correctly, I'll be shrieking and begging you to stop long
before you finish the first part of my spanking. Ignore me and just
do it!”
Her
voice cracked, but then she continued, “As my mother instructed, be
sure to bruise my bottom with that hairbrush. She must see results!
Nothing can be settled between me and mother unless I'm properly
punished. OK?”
Mutely,
Sam nodded.
“Well,”
she said as she gathered her dress behind her and then raised the
rear hem high, “at least you won't see anything that you haven't
seen before.”
Holding
her dress above her waist at the rear, Ethyl awkwardly placed herself
across Sam's lap.
It was
clear to Sam that Ethyl had thought of everything in advance. As he
had suspected, she was bare under her dress.
-------------------------
Ethyl's
pregnancy, which she didn't even suspect until her miscarriage, had
been a huge wake-up call to Ethyl. It had forced her to take stock
of herself, and she wasn't happy at what she found. So this spanking
wasn't only to make amends to her mother, it was also a way for Ethyl
to make amends to herself. She had decided that after her punishment
the childish “playgirl” Ethyl would be history.
As
Ethyl bared her bottom and laid herself across Sam's lap, her head
bubbled with a potent stew of emotions; self-reproach, contrition,
fear, determination, embarrassment, and even strange feelings for
Sam, an educated man whom she feared would never look twice at a
country bumpkin like her!
-------------------------
The
buttocks looking up expectantly at Sam were compact, pure white, and
separated by a tight cleft. He knew that her horse riding had
probably toughened them, but what did that mean? Did it mean that
she wouldn't feel pain? As a doctor, he doubted if that could be
true. He did know that this young lady was no fragile rose. She was
obviously robust enough to safely take plenty of punishment. The
thought gave him confidence.
“Here
goes,” he warned as he raised his hand high.
Spanked
often in his formative years, spanking certainly held no mysteries
for Sam. However, this was the first spanking he had ever given. In
fact, those clear instructions from Mildred had increased his meager
spanking knowledge more that he had let on. So it was no surprise
that his first efforts were quite artless. At first he used the heal
of his hand more than the palm. He figured out the difference when
his spanks didn't sound right. Also those first few spanks were to
the same spot, igniting her right buttock into unimaginable pain.
Ethyl
had planned to “tough it out” as long as possible before reacting
to her punishment, but the unintended severity of those first spanks,
all targeting the same spot, quickly changed that plan. She
screeched and bucked, imparting a motion to her bottom that Sam found
fascinating. Finally Ethyl found her voice and loudly begged Sam to
spank her other side, a request that he quickly honored.
By the
time that Sam had spanked her left buttock so that it matched her
right, Ethyl was clearly in tears and wriggling her bottom with each
spank. Ethyl's increasingly loud response to her punishment gave Sam
confidence. He couldn't believe how bright red her bottom had become
on the twin patches where he had concentrated his spanking. But that
reminded him of Mildred's advice to spank the whole surface of
Ethyl's bottom, not just certain spots. He noticed that the color
served as a handy guide. Therefore he simply had to spank her bottom
to an even red hue. So with rapidly increasing confidence and skill,
that's exactly what he did.
By now
Ethyl was shrieking and loudly begging for respite. As he had been
instructed to, he closed his ears to those entreaties and simply
continued to do his duty.
Remembering
Mildred's instructions, Sam landed some experimental spanks on the
backs of Ethyl's thighs. She shrieked even louder and kicked
dramatically, in the process favoring young Sam with a peek at her
most intimate anatomy. As a doctor, Sam was well acquainted with
that body part, but had never before viewed it from that particular
angle. The unexpected view stirred Sam in a very base way. In a
single heartbeat, Sam's penis stiffened, causing him pain as Ethyl
bounced and thrashed atop his rigid member. He wanted to adjust
himself, but couldn't do so surreptitiously. Guilty at his
inappropriate arousal, Sam accepted the pain as a penance and
stolidly soldiered on with his task.
-------------------------
With a
forgotten cup of coffee, Mildred sat in her kitchen and listened to
her daughter's punishment. The young physician's efforts had sounded
predictably uneven at first, but he soon found his stride. The first
sounds of Ethyl's distress came sooner than she had expected. Now
she heard the sharp clapping sounds of a spanking that was nearing
its climax, along with Ethyl's shrill shrieks.
Finally
came a relative silence. The spanks stopped, Ethyl's shrieks became
sobs. Mildred assumed that the first part of Ethyl's punishment was
over. She had wondered if the mild-mannered Sam was up to the job,
but it sounded like he was acquitting himself quite well!
Mildred's
motives for prevailing on Sam to punish her mostly-grown daughter
included the ones that she had explained to him. Namely, Mildred
really wasn't physically up to doing the job herself, plus Sam
already knew the real reason for Ethyl's “illness”. Further, he
had already seen her body. Finally, he was the only male whom Ethyl
was likely to allow to “do the job”. But Mildred also had
another motive behind selecting Sam, and this one overrode all of the
others: By her reckoning, Sam was the best man for Ethyl. At least,
he was the best man who was available in the small world of Trailhead
Texas! Sam was both civilized and educated, simple facts that stood
him head and shoulders above any other unmarried man in town. Also
he happened to be good-looking, reliable, smart and personable.
She
knew that pushing them together in this manner was dangerous. Ethyl
might be angry after her spanking and push him away. Or they might
retreat from each other out of mutual embarrassment. But the
practical Mildred had decided that these were worthwhile risks. It
seemed more likely that this shared intimate experience would draw
them together.
Mildred
put her hand to her mouth as the first impacts of the hairbrush rang
through the house and Ethyl screamed out in pain. She peeked out the
front window to ensure that nobody was around to hear the ruckus.
But if they were, it was too damn late!
-------------------------
In his
hospital experience, Sam had seen enough injured flesh to know when
to stop spanking Ethyl with the hairbrush. It had taken him only
minutes to spank her buttocks just beyond the bruising threshold. He
expected that her bottom would carry painful marks for a few days.
Young and healthy as Ethyl was, she would heal fast, and be back on
her horse quickly.
His job
done, he allowed the bawling lady back to her feet. When she
stumbled, he quickly rose from his chair to support her. Ethyl
misinterpreted his helpful gesture, turning it into a hug. Swaying
together like a tree in a breeze, they embraced while Ethyl sobbed
into Sam's chest. Finally Ethyl released him to rub her tortured
bottom through her dress, which had fallen back into place.
“I
suppose that you're mad at me Miss Ross. Should I leave now?”
“No!”
she answered, “Please stay. I'm not angry, and please call me
Ethyl. Now that I've been punished, may I call you Sam?”
“Yes
Ethyl, I'd like that.”
-------------------------
It
would make a dramatic ending if I could describe how the two fell
onto the couch to make passionate love, but the truth was much more
mundane. Once Ethyl regained control of her emotions and rubbed some
of the sting from her posterior, they sat side-by-side on the couch.
There, Ethyl actually thanked him for her correction.
And
then they finally had their first conversation.
To
Mildred's joy, Ethyl invited Sam for supper the next day. Horse
riding was out of the question for Ethyl, so the two enjoyed a walk
after supper.
-------------------------
Their
unhurried and decorous courtship somehow restored Ethyl's somewhat
tarnished reputation. The wedding was the biggest happening in
Trailhead in decades.
Naturally
Sam moved into the Ross ranch house after the marriage. He quickly
became involved in the running of the ranch, so a new young doctor
took over the doctor's office. Sam and Ethyl gradually took over
management of the ranch from Mildred. Taking exactly the opposite
roles that Mildred and her late husband had occupied earlier, Ethyl
managed the outdoor part of ranching whilst Sam handled the business
aspects.
The
Ross ranch and the town of Trailhead prospered as never before.
The
town drunk remained the Mayor, but Sam actually ran the town.
The
“old” Ethyl never totally went away, but her brief illicit
pregnancy and her subsequent punishment at the hands of her future
husband had helped her shed her childish ways. Like her mother,
Ethyl never lost her spirit, plus she retained a wild and impulsive
streak. Therefore, she never lost the need for an occasional trip
across her husband's lap.
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