Lost and Found (11 page)

“That was for breaking your promise, sweetheart. We aren’t finished yet,” he announced firmly, producing a wooden spoon that he had acquired from the kitchen. “When Kathy was little, Alan decided that she needed a little more reminder than just his hand when he punished her. He used a nice, wide wooden spoon for years until he finally got a real paddle. I will do the same for you, Noelle. Kathy did not deserve anything you gave her today and this will serve to remind you that you are to show respect in this home to everyone.”

“No, please, Lance. I’ll be good. I swear. Please, no more.” Lance? So there was an adult in there somewhere. “Right now, I’m Daddy and you are being spanked like an ornery, stubborn child. When I’m Lance, your spanking will be much, much worse.”

Another shriek echoed from her lips as Lance applied the back of the spoon to the underside of her bottom. A white blotch appeared and then turned a deep, angry red. He knew her delicate skin couldn’t take much more punishment, but he needed to drive this lesson home.

The spoon fell again, on the opposite side and Noelle wailed, lifting her head high. Downstairs, Kathy cringed. She was very familiar with that yell. It had come from her own lips for years when she displeased her brothers.

The spoon crashed against the lower part of Noelle’s bottom four more times, promising some slight bruising and no sitting for a while. He did not stop the spanking until her kicking ceased and she was left bawling pathetically into his pants leg. Sighing, Lance rubbed his hand over the tortured flesh, saddened by the condition he had been forced to put it in. Her little bottom shimmered a deep crimson with some purpling blotches. He prayed that this punishment would help her choose to avoid any future incidents.

With another deep, regretful sigh, he gently reached down and pulled her clothing back up and over her flaming hot bottom. Lance smoothed the material carefully while rubbing her back. “It’s over, Baby Doll. I hope you’ve learned something from this,” he whispered, pulling her into his arms and sitting her carefully on his lap. Still crying, Noelle was unable to speak and just curled up in his embrace. “I promise you, I won’t ever send you away. And never make you leave me if you don’t want to go. But this is how I will take care of disobedience for now on.

Try not to make me do this too often, ok? I don’t like to make you cry.” He thought of how the spanking had taken her to being an adult for a short time. His mind also drifted to the image of her soft, pink bare pussy as she laid across his lap, begging to be touched and tasted, and how her lovely pink bud cried out to be nibbled.
No, stop it!
he reprimanded himself.

“Lance?” her little voice whispered into his neck.

“Yes, Noelle?”

“I’m truly sorry for my behavior. Please forgive me.”

“You’re forgiven. I…” she interrupted him by pressing her lips hard against his, forcing her tongue between his teeth and boldly tasting him. Lance, surprised, slowly returned the embrace, his own tongue probing and seeking her sweetness. He pushed aside his confusion and, like the hawk soaring on the thermals, relaxed and enjoyed the moment. She kissed him hungrily, shamelessly and without reservation. She started to pull off his shirt, but he stopped her.

“What are you doing? No, Noelle. Not now. And never after punishment. I’m kind of old-fashioned and will not have sex without a commitment. No,” he forced out, fighting back the throbbing erection that longed to sink inside of her softness.
Damn
, he thought,
I should
apply for sainthood!

“Don’t you want me?” she asked sexily, her violet eyes still wet from tears, but filled with longing.

“You have no idea how much. Dear Lord, you have no idea. But, now is not the right time. This little girl thing… why?”

“Until this moment, I didn’t know what it felt like to be a big girl. I’m not lying to you, Lance. I’ve always been a child until you… you woke up this other thing. It scares me. It’s too hard. I’m so confused,” she began to cry again, hiding under his chin.

He gently kissed her forehead. “Then stay a child. It becomes you.”

“Will I be allowed to grow up and be with you?”

“One day. But now, there are things that need to be taken care of. I need to know where you are from and what happened to you. I’m seeing you grow mentally day by day and it’s confusing me. I’m not the type of man who does well with unanswered questions.”

“I don’t remember having a life until you found me,” she paused, her face leaning against his shoulder as she shifted gingerly on her aching behind. “Everything seems so new and different, like I’ve never seen it before.”

“Let’s not dwell on that right now. Bottom sting?”

“Yes, Lance,” she said shamefully.

“I really liked you calling me Daddy.” Lance said quietly, holding her closely.

“I like it too. I’ll try to be good. Sometimes, I just do things that I can’t stop right away.”

“Were you able to control your actions this morning?”

“Yes, Sir, I think so. I don’t know. I really hate doctors.”

“You paid the price for your naughty behavior, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Sir,” Noelle rubbed her bottom with a sniffle, reaching for Bunny and holding it tightly against her.

“Was it worth it?”

“No, Daddy.”

“Maybe next time you’ll make a better choice. I still need to check you out and get that blood sample… Noelle?”

She suddenly jumped from him. “No! No needles. They hurt!” her little girl voice squealed.

“Ok, this back and forth thing is going to drive me insane. Where did my big girl go? I need you to help me and cooperate. It will help us find out where you’ve been or where you might have been going. I’ll be gentle, I promise. You need to trust me.”

“But they hurt!”

“Let Daddy take care of you. Please. Then we need to apologize to Kathy.”

“But…”

“Isn’t yours sore enough right now? Or do I need to reinforce myself?’ Lance asked sternly. “Come sit down. Carefully. There’s my girl. Look away… I’m pretty good at this.” Noelle squeezed her eyes shut as he drew her blood. He popped off the tourniquet and then removed the needle before kissing her temple. “That’s a good girl. I didn’t hurt you now, did I?”

“Not as bad as the spanking,” she admitted, watching him put a band-aid on her arm, followed by the wrap and a kiss on the spot. “I’m sorry I’m such a bad girl, Daddy.” There it was. With Bunny in her arms and a little pout to her lower lip, she had slipped back into the role of child so naturally he didn’t know it was coming. He wondered if she had a touch of schizophrenia, yet she was unlike any of such cases he had ever dealt with.

“Noelle? Do you know that you go back and forth between being a big girl and a little one? Is it something you can control?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. If I try real hard, I think I can be a big girl, but it makes me too tired.”

“Ok, right now, don’t think about it. We’ll let things happen and see where they go. I’m just afraid that you may have had some damage that I didn’t detect after you were hit on the head.”

“I didn’t get hit on the head. I fell down.”

“Fell down? You told me you fell after the men yelled at you and you were shot.”

“Yes, Daddy. But I fell down before and hit my head on something hard ‘cuz I didn’t know how to walk. I woke up and saw the yellow sign.”

She didn’t know how to eat either.
Curiouser and curiouser
, Todd’s words echoed in his head. Further, most of her motor skills and communication she seemed to learn by watching and listening. It was as though she arrived at the hospital a blank slate, with the ability to acquire and integrate information at an inconceivable rate. Maybe Todd was right.
Maybe she was an alien
.

Oh God, what was he thinking? Way too many movies. This was too much to take in right now.

“Ok, I need to get this to the lab. You are to stay in your room until I get home and then you’ll go down to say you’re sorry to Kathy. I want you to think about why you were punished while I’m gone.”

“Yes, Sir,” Noelle said sadly, looking down and fidgeting uncomfortably in her place on the bed.

“I’ll be back soon. Behave yourself,” he said with a kiss on the head.

Noelle watched the door close behind him. How could she make him believe that, until she saw him, her life did not exist? She turned on the bed to her tummy, holding Bunny close.

She wanted to try to make the pain go away but knew, instinctively, that Daddy would not be happy with her. She cried quietly, wishing she had the words to tell him what her mind showed her, but they were not there.

Lance met his sister in the foyer as he slipped on his jacket.

“Going somewhere?” she asked with concern.

“To the lab to drop this off. I’ll be right back. Are you ok? You’ve been crying.”

“I just felt bad for her. I know how that hand feels when you’re upset. Is she ok?”

“We had a little breakthrough. I’ll tell you about it when I get back. Need anything?” Lance asked, kissing her cheek.

“No. Be careful. I love you, big brother,” Kathy said, watching him leave. She sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know why she felt so miserable, but she couldn’t stop. Her heart hurt for the woman-child, for her brother, for Todd, and for herself. She felt like she had failed all of them.

“Aunt Kathy? Why are you crying?”

“Noelle, honey, Daddy told you to stay in your room until he gets home,” Kathy said quickly, wiping her face.

“I know, but I wanted to tell you I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“I forgive you, baby. Come hug me, I need one right now,” Kathy requested, wrapping her long arms around the girls shoulders.

“You really want a baby, don’t you?” Noelle asked quietly, putting Bunny down on the coffee table, freeing both her arms to embrace the sad woman.

“More than anything. Todd did too, and I can’t give him one. It’s all because I was stupid and didn’t listen to Alan about staying off that damn motorcycle.”

“What happened?”

“It was a week after I got married. Uncle Alan and I were arguing about something stupid, probably my overspending, and I got mad at him and took off for a ride. I wasn't paying attention when a car ran a red light. By the time I saw it, it was too late. Alan has never forgiven himself for it. He blames himself for making me mad. That’s why he spoils me so badly.”

“But, it wasn't his fault. You got mad and ran away.”

“Yes, I did. And now look at what happened.”

“But the car hit you. If you were watching, could you have stopped it?”

“No… probably not. But it’s still my fault. Sometimes we make stupid choices that end up hurting us and others. Todd wanted children as badly as I did. He would have been a wonderful father.”

“Aunt Kathy? If you could be fixed to have a baby, would you?”

“Sweetheart, I’d give anything to have that, but it won’t even happen. My uterus is too scarred up. What are you doing?” Kathy asked as the girl placed her hand on the woman’s stomach. Very old, very violet eyes looked into hers.

“I’m fixing you.”

Kathy stared back at the girl, and then slowly lifted her little hand to kiss it gently.

“Thank you. I know you want to and I appreciate it. There’s no such thing as magic, honey, and I need to learn to get on with my life. Now come help me with dinner. I’m making beef stroganoff.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Noelle smiled her secret smile, picking up Bunny once again and following Kathy into the kitchen.

*

*

*

Dr. William Hoffner sat patiently in the coffee shop. He lifted his head as he was approached. “Do you have the information?” he asked as the other man sat across from him.

“Everything you need. You’ll be able to bust this jerk for kidnapping, right?”

“I need to approach this situation delicately, Dr. Hart. This is a matter of national security.”

“Whatever you need to do, do it. I just want to see Sir Lancelot of Callahan lose his license and go straight to jail,” Stuart Hart announced, his eyes filled with hatred.

Dr. Hoffner frowned. He needed to be careful and knew that this man was not one to be trusted. Noelle needed to be found and returned unharmed. He just hoped it wasn't too late and that she hadn’t started to evolve without proper direction. If she did, the results could be disastrous. There were already too many bodies left in her wake.

*

*

*

Todd arrived home to find both women in the kitchen, happily making dinner. He leaned against the wall, unnoticed, seeing his wife show Noelle how to whisk meringue for her key lime pie. They also had Bunny sitting on a bar stool to watch. Kathy looked up and broke into a wide smile.

“Look what I found on the driveway,” Todd said, handing her a bouquet of roses before kissing her deeply.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you. What’s the occasion?” she inhaled the fragrance of the flowers.

“You had a tough day, so I wanted to show you I appreciate you. Noelle? No hugs for Uncle Todd?”

Noelle grabbed her bunny and raced to hug him tightly. “I’m sorry I was so bad for Aunt Kathy.”

“I’m sure Daddy will take care of that, honey. I just don’t like seeing my wife get hurt.”

“I already got a really hard spanking,” she said ruefully, looking at the floor. “I’ll be nicer. I promise.”

“Todd, honey, it’s all over and done with. We don’t need to talk about it anymore.

Noelle, would you put these in a vase for me, please?”