Win sat behind his desk and stared at the papers in front of him. Ben stood behind him, looking over his shoulder.

“Okay,” Ben said, crossing to the other side and sitting down. “Let’s run it through one more time. Vanessa took four hundred dollars from her savings account yesterday. Sarah, who gets paid for her store work and puts it in a savings account, took out four hundred dollars two days ago. Ruby, who has money from when her father passed away, did the same, but it was last week. Dawn, who has money from when she sold her land, did the same thing. And Harmony, who doesn’t have money from anyone, has obviously been taking the money I give her to shop with and keeping it in a savings account, which she closed out yesterday. The amount, a little more than four hundred dollars.”

“Put it all together and you’ve got two grand,” Win said. “What are they doing with that much money?”

“Buying out every clothing store in Denver,” Ben said.

“Opening their own clothing store, here?” Win sat forward. “Do you think?”

“No, they wouldn’t do that. Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, maybe they’re bored with being housewives.”

“Two of them have jobs outside the house anyway,” Ben replied. “You remember, Sarah works for the store, and Ruby works for the newspaper. Then, Dawn has all those kids to take care of, as does your wife. Plus, being wife to the town banker keeps her busy going to parties and such. And Harmony is happy taking care of our son. At least I hope she is.”

“I’m sure she is. Don’t get paranoid. I just thought it might be a down payment on something like that, and they went to someone in Denver to get the rest of the money. Although, if they did I would be angry. I would hope my own wife would come to me with an idea about opening a new business.”

“Something’s up. Something big.”

“Yeah, I agree. I have to admit that when you came in here today I thought you were just being paranoid. I guess I should learn to trust your instincts, little brother.”

“Yes, you should. It’s why I’m the sheriff, and have been for quite some time now.”

“Do you think they’ll lie?”

“Absolutely.” Ben put his feet on the desk. “The question is, do we push it, or do we let it slide and see what unfolds?”

Win stared at the paperwork on his desk. “We’re going to have to spank them today. No doubt about it. But I say we don’t mention the money. We’ll let them stew for a while, trying to figure out what we know, and don’t know. Then, later this week, we have a dinner at my house, and confront them with it.”

“I agree. You can’t keep things like this from one partner. Harmony knows everything about our finances, and about our marriage. For her to leave me out of whatever’s going on really bothers me.”

“You know what bothers me,” Win said, looking out the window. “I have to wonder how many times Vanessa has gone off without telling me. I’m here at the bank, thinking she’s at home, or at a tea party or some such thing. What if she’s been in Denver?”

“I don’t think so,” Ben replied. “I think this is a one shot thing that deals with the money, and we’re just lucky we found out. We weren’t meant to know.”

“You’re right about that. Look at the way the other ladies have been scrambling around, wondering how to cover for them and still keep secret whatever it is they’re keeping secret.

“You mean doing a damn good job of keeping secret,” Ben said with a laugh.

A tap at the door drew both their attentions. “Your nephew is here with your carriage.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Hughes. I won’t be back the rest of the day.”

“Yes, sir.” The older woman left and Win cleared his desk, then locked his office after they’d walked out.

Once in the carriage they set off down the road to Denver. After ten miles outside of town the found a nice shady spot near a large copse of trees and pulled up under it. Ben unhitched the horses and let them graze nearby. The two of them went into the trees to make preparations for their wives’ arrival, and then sat back in the carriage and waited.

“Picking them up out here will catch them off guard,” Ben said. “Maybe they’ll spill the beans.

“Let’s hope so. But, I kinda doubt it.”

“We should have bought something,” Harmony said with a laugh. “That way we could at least come back with packages.”

“Nonsense,” Vanessa replied. “They don’t even know we’re going. Everything’s going according to plan. By this time Friday the big surprise will arrive, and the men will be ecstatic.”

“We’ll probably get spanked for doing it, though.” Harmony whispered in her ear.

“It will be the good kind,” Vanessa replied. “They’re going to be thrilled, trust me.”

“I know they will be. I’m just worried about keeping the secret. I’m so excited.”

“Me too,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “It’s almost like Christmas in April.”

She sat back and looked out the window, a huge smile on her face. “When we go back on Friday, we’ll buy all those wonderful accessories I saw in the shop. I didn’t want to write a bank draft for them and have the chance of Win seeing it. I want this to be a total surprise.”

Their laughter filled the stage, and when the vehicle started to slow down, both of them grew tense.

“Bandits?” Harmony clutched her sister-in-law’s hand.

“I don’t think so,” Vanessa said, looking out. “Has Ben said anything to you about bandits in the area?”

“No, nothing.”

The stage came to a complete stop and they grasped each other’s hands. The couple sitting across from them seemed nervous, although the man not as much. He had his hand on the butt of his gun.

“Don’t worry ladies, I’ll protect you.”

When the driver yelled out a happy greeting, everyone relaxed. “You having problems today, sheriff?”

Harmony’s shoulders stiffened, then she turned a horrified glance on Vanessa, who returned it.

“Ben.”

“Who?” The man looked at her in confusion.

“It’s my husband, the sheriff.”

“Well, then everything’s all right,” the woman said happily. “Nothing could be wrong if the sheriff’s here.”

The door to the stage open and Ben stuck his head inside. “How y’all doing today? Don’t mean to startle you. My brother and I are just here to collect our wives, take them on a little late afternoon picnic.”

He stuck out his hand. “Hello, darling. I hope you had a nice trip.”

“Hello, Ben. Yes, we did.” Harmony took his hand and he helped her down. Seconds later Win replaced him in the doorway, holding his hand out for Vanessa. He winked at her and she laughed, and then took his hand without saying anything.

They stood outside the stage, the ladies straightening out their skirts, the men talking with the driver. Vanessa and Harmony exchanged glances, but before they could say anything, Ben turned to them.

“No packages? You went to Denver and didn’t buy anything?”

“No,” Vanessa said, stepping forward. “We just window shopped.”

“Since when have you ever just window shopped?” Win laughed as he handed the driver some bills. The man pocketed the money and climbed back up on his perch. Seconds later the stage started to roll again and Win turned to his wife. “You’ve never in all our married life turned down an opportunity to buy something new. Never.”

“How did you know we were gone?” Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well, it wasn’t your cohorts in crime who told us,” Ben said, stepping in front of Harmony and kissing her forehead. “Your sisters-in-law have been very quiet. And I’m sure they’ve all been punished for it, just like you’ll be in about ten minutes.”

“You’re going to punish us for going shopping?” Vanessa put on an innocent look and Win’s laughter increased.

“Darling, your days on the stage are over, although that’s pretty good. You know as well as we do that you weren’t shopping. Now, give us the truth, and we’ll go easier on your behinds. Keep lying to us and you’ll get the switch, Vanessa. I don’t take kindly to my wife sneaking around behind my back.”

“Neither do I, Harmony. Tell us now, and don’t leave any detail out.”

“We really have been shopping,” Harmony said. “We just wanted a day out of town.”

“And when did you decide to have an afternoon out of town?” Ben asked, giving her his best angry husband look.

“Yesterday,” Vanessa said. “Very spur of the moment.”

“That’s why you bought the tickets last week, huh?” Win looked into his wife’s eyes. “Very spur of the moment.”

“Yeah, we did manage to get that much out of Sarah,” Ben said. “Now, answer the question, or we go to the tree and cut a switch.”

Harmony inhaled sharply, but Vanessa just stood there, her hands on her hips. “Go ahead. You won’t switch us in public, not in such an open area.”

“Yes, we will,” Ben said. “We already scoped out a nice little copse of trees over there. It’s hidden from the road, and the thickness of the foliage will capture the sound. Answer the question, Harmony. Why were you in Denver?”

Harmony swallowed hard. She knew Vanessa would hold her ground and not tell them anything. She also knew her other sisters-in-law hadn’t told them anything, except about the tickets. She wouldn’t be the one to cave in and ruin things.

“No.” The proud look Vanessa gave her strengthened Harmony’s courage. “It was a woman’s thing, and you’re just going to have to accept that, Ben.”

“No, I’m not. I don’t take kindly to the woman I love lying to me and telling me she’s going one place, and then going to another, totally different place that’s more than a few hours away. What if something had happened to Caleb?”

“Did it?” Fear spread through her.

“No, but what if it had, and I didn’t know where you were? What would have happened then? Did you think about that?”

“I’m sorry.”

“So am I.” Ben turned to Win, who turned to his wife.

“I know it won’t do me any good, but are you going to tell me?”

“No.”

“Let’s go to the trees then,” Ben said. Harmony fell into place in front of him, with Vanessa next to her. The older woman clasped her hand and squeezed, and Harmony knew it was an effort to pass strength from Vanessa, who backed down from nothing, to Harmony, who was eager to please, and hated not answering her husband’s questions.

When they entered the trees, the men stopped. “You each pick one out,” Ben said, handing his wife a knife to cut the branch with.

“Then clean it,” Win continued. He also gave Vanessa a knife. She calmly walked to the tree, but Harmony stood and watched her.

“Ben, please.”

“Go now, Harm. Don’t make it any worse than it already is.”

She walked toward Vanessa, who was already cutting a branch from a tree. “Take the middle sized one,” Vanessa said. “The smaller one hurts too badly, and if you take the larger one, he’ll reject it.”

Harmony nodded. “They’re going to spank us out here. Together.”

“Yes, they are. I think they want to scare you into telling them. Be strong. Win’s switched me a few times during our marriage. It hurts, but it’s not unbearable.”

“I’ve been switched, too. I hate it.” Harmony cut her branch, and then turned to her husband who held out his hands and mimicked her cleaning it with the knife. She looked to where Vanessa was doing the same thing. Once both the branches were stripped of bark, they took them to their husbands.

“Step out of your skirt,” Ben said to Harmony.

“You too,” Win said to his wife.

The two obliged without argument, stepping out of their dresses and petticoats, leaving them in only their drawers and upper chemise. They helped each other with buttons and stays, and Harmony didn’t feel the shake in Vanessa’s fingers that she knew was in her own. When they were done, both men nodded in agreement.

Then they walked to a small tree that sat near the edge of the copse. As they neared it, Harmony realized the trunk had been wrapped in a blanket.

“It’s to keep your skin from being damaged,” Ben said, stepping up next to her. “Now, you stand here, and Vanessa will stand over there. You’ll hold hands to keep each other in place. If either of you moves, then the switching gets harder.”

Harmony’s heart rate increased. She’d never been spanked in front of someone, much less at the same time as someone else. She stepped up to the place Ben indicated.

“Put your arms around the tree.” She did as he asked, and when Vanessa grabbed her arms, she felt a little bit of comfort. She couldn’t see the other woman’s face around the trunk, but knowing she was there, and in the same boat as Harmony, made her feel a little bit better about things.

Ben pulled her bloomers down to her knees, and then leaned in. “Last chance for leniency. Tell me now and I’ll only give you a few switches for lying to me about today. Keep silent, and you’ll get a full blown switching, for keeping secrets from your husband.”

She wanted to tell him, she wanted to blurt out the whole thing. But she knew if she did she would be letting herself down, and letting down her sisters-in-law, too. This whole thing had been planned for more than a year now, deposits made and things ordered. She wouldn’t be the one to ruin the surprise.

“I’m sorry Ben, but I can’t.” He put his hands on her hips and pulled her back just a little, and then she felt the coolness of the stripped tree branch against her bare bottom.

“I’m sorry too, Harmony.” And then he laid in the first cut.

Vanessa grasped Harmony’s hands tighter as the younger woman cried out at the first strike. Win was pulling Vanessa’s bloomers down to her knees and rubbing the switch against her backside. She hated being switched, and hearing Harmony being punished was no fun, either.

The sound of the branch sailing through the air made her gasp, but she tried to hold it in. She didn’t want to alarm Harmony anymore than was necessary. She was surprised that Win hadn’t started spanking her. He just rubbed the branch over her bottom. He stayed silent, and Vanessa had to wonder why.

She counted the strikes on Harmony’s backside. Five, six, seven. The young woman cried out softly, but didn’t yell or make too much noise. Eight, nine, ten, eleven.

Harmony’s soft, “Ben, please stop,” almost broke Vanessa’s heart. Ben ignored the pleas, though, and delivered five more swats before stopping for just a few minutes, and delivering five more hard ones. This time Harmony did cry out, and Vanessa clasped her tighter to try and ease her fears.

When silence filled the copse, Vanessa knew what would happen next, and it did. The switch came down on her bottom, the pain sharp. Win delivered five hard cuts, rubbed his hands over her bare bottom, then delivered five more.

Each strike was harder than the last, and Vanessa knew her husband was very angry. He never switched her, unless she’d disobeyed him in some way that was ‘over the top’, to him. She supposed today was that day.

At the twelfth strike she gasped and stomped her foot, grateful for Harmony’s hands, which held her tight. The next three were hard and landed in the same place, increasing the intensity of the strikes. Before she could protest he delivered five more, each one harder than the last.

“Win.” The word was soft, and she wanted to bite it back. She never protested a spanking anymore. She just took them and knew it was part of her life with the man she loved. Still, this one hurt worse than any she’d had in a long time. She wasn’t sure if it was the switch, or the fact that she and Harmony were being spanked together. “Please, stop. Please, can’t we go home and talk about this?”

“What is there to talk about, Vanessa, when you won’t tell us what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.”

“So are we.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod at Ben, and then the spanking started again, for both women.

Harmony tried to relax, but her bottom was on fire, the switch landing again and again. She’d lost count of the number, and couldn’t tell if the strikes she heard were hers, or Vanessa’s. They kept their hands clasped together, their palms sweating as their husbands spanked them, neither of them letting up.

After what seemed like forever she stomped her foot, and was rewarded with a particularly hard cut. “Ben, please.”

“Tell me the truth about why you went behind my back, and I’ll stop. If not, you’ll get the full force of what I planned.”

Harmony didn’t answer, but she could hear Vanessa and Win having much the same conversation. Behind her, Ben redoubled his efforts, the strikes hitting a little lower on her buttocks, and harder. She knew from Vanessa’s soft sobs that Win had done the same thing.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, both men stopped.

“Stay in position,” Ben said. “I may not be done yet.”

“You too,” Win said to Vanessa. “Are you ladies ready to given an explanation for why you did what you did today?”

“You can spank us as much as you want,” Vanessa said. “It was just a shopping trip, nothing more.”

Harmony marveled at her resolve. She was ready to cave in, ready to tell them everything, anything to stop the switch from coming down on her bottom again. She could only imagine the ache this switching would produce tomorrow, when it had time to set in.

“A shopping trip that produces no purchases,” Win said, shaking his head. “Twenty more. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll stop for today and see what we can come up with tomorrow as punishment. Do you agree, Ben?”

“Yes. I’ll go first, if that’s all right with you.”

“Be my guest.”

Harmony tried not to tense as the first strike landed. She bit her lip as he spanked her, never letting up, the strikes landing one right after the other in almost the same spot. When he got to ten he increased the intensity, the strikes falling harder. At twenty he rubbed the switch against her fiery backside, then stepped away.

On the other side of the tree, she heard the switch strike Vanessa’s bottom. The other woman remained silent, but held Harmony’s hands tighter, her grip increasing with each strike just as Harmony’s had done when it had been her turn. She decided that hearing a spanking was almost as hard as receiving one.

When it was over, Ben rubbed her back. “Stand up and pull up your bloomers.”

When she’d done as he asked, he kissed her softly. “Tell me the truth, please Harmony. I was worried sick all day, thinking something was wrong, that you’d had to go to the doctor or something. Tell me.”

“We already told you.” When he stepped back from her she felt a wave of loneliness. She loved him so much, and she knew he was terribly disappointed in her. She had to remember what Vanessa said, what all the sisters had said. They’d made a pact to keep their secret until the very end. And it would be worth it. She just knew it would.

That evening, Vanessa lay down in bed, and quickly turned onto her side as her aching bottom came into contact with the mattress. The switching had been painful, and Win was still very upset with her for not telling him anything. He sat at his desk now, writing out something. He’d been doing it for a while now, and he wouldn’t tell her what he was doing.

She wondered about Harmony, about how the younger woman was faring with her stern husband. Ben was much sterner than Win, much sterner than all the brothers. She’d thought Harmony would break during the switching but she’d been wrong. The younger woman had stood her ground, taking the spanking and not saying a word about the real purpose of their trip to Denver.

Across the room, Win sat down his pen and capped the ink. She wanted to ask him what he was doing, but part of her didn’t want to know. He was more than a little put out with her right now, and he’d been strangely silent most of the night, talking with the children at dinner, and then going upstairs almost as soon as it was over to sit at his desk.

He’d come down once to talk to the cook. Vanessa had been sitting on the couch, reading a book to the children. When he was done talking, seven-year-old Jessica had put her arms up and asked her father to sit with them.

He’d done so, cradling his daughter on his lap as Vanessa continued to read. When she’d pronounced it time for bed, he’d helped her tuck in the younger children, Jessica and Jeremiah, then say goodnight to their oldest two boys, Jacob and Justin.

After that, he’d gone to his desk and worked, and she’d not interrupted him. He’d not spoken to her as she’d readied herself for bed. Now, as she lay there and listened to him take off his day clothes and put on his nightclothes, she wondered if he would stay with her. Twice in their almost sixteen-year-old marriage they’d been angry enough at each other for him to go to another bedroom and sleep.

Would he do that tonight? Was he that mad at her? She prayed that he wasn’t, that he would crawl into bed and pull her close to him as was his custom, kissing her gently, sometimes making love to her and sometimes just holding her close to him.

When he turned off the lamp, and she felt the shift in the bed as he lay down she sighed softly, happy that he wasn’t leaving her. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if he’d left her, perhaps gone after him and spilled everything, told him the entire truth, begged him not to leave her.

He scooted behind her, spooning his body against hers. Her sore backside protested at the contact, but when he stroked her hip and kissed her shoulder she knew he still loved her.

She turned her head and accepted his kiss as his hand found her breast. “Undress,” he whispered in her ear.

Vanessa stood and took off her gown, listening to the rustling noise as Win shed his own clothing. Then she lay down on her side. They always made love this way after a spanking, so her bare bottom wouldn’t be rubbed against the sheet. He pulled her close again and caressed her body, his hands molding her breasts before sliding lower and dipping into the wetness between her thighs. She could feel his hard length pressed against her bottom, and when he lifted one of her legs over his hip and slid inside her wet center she sighed with pleasure.

“I love you,” she whispered. “So much. You trust me, don’t you Win?”

He thrust gently, his hands pulling her closer to him so he could thrust harder. Her backside complained about the contact but she ignored it. It felt too wonderful to have her husband inside her.

“Yes, I trust you, and I love you.” He kissed her shoulder as his thrusts increased. His fingers found her hard nub and he rubbed, bringing her to climax as he filled her with his seed.

When his breathing was back to normal, he turned her toward him and kissed her. “I may not be happy about today, but I do love you. I hope in the long run I’ll find out the truth.”

“You will, I promise.” Seconds later she could hear his even breathing. It wasn’t often they slept naked together, since there was too much chance of the children finding them. But Vanessa relished this feeling, a harkening back to the days when they were first married.

Her last thought as she fell asleep was that she hoped Harmony was as happy as she was at this very moment.