The Vicar of St. Dunstan's Ep. 22

"Just trying to help the lad."

My visit home was all too brief; they were overjoyed to see me. Dad was feeling well and his usual effervescent self. Sunday morning had a cold pre-dawn, but I saddled up my old horse Sophie and rode to a hilltop to watch the dawning. I thought about the baby being christened in my church that moment, and blessed her from afar. She would need it. Later that day, my whole family gathered: we shared the Eucharist and then a Candlemas feast.

Derrick Sterns picked me up at Heathrow when I returned, and warned me that a situation was awaiting me back at the parish. "I know you're tired, Vicar, but it won't wait. Grandmum and Mrs. Hazelton have their dander up, and I'd hate to be the object of their scorn right now."

"Shit, what did I do?"

"No, Vicar, you're in the clear this once. It's Agnes who's in the dock. Don't know what she did, but it must have been a doozy."

The connection clicked: I was an idiot not to see it. Sitting dumbfounded, I didn't say anything else all the way home, listening to Derrick's hip-hop music as we traveled the roads. Mary was sitting at my kitchen table fuming as I came in the door.

"Sorry to greet you like this, Father Alfred, but something's come up." When Mary called me Father Alfred, I knew the shit was about to hit the fan.

"Agnes was having an affair with Rachel Staton," I blurted out.

She gave me a double take. "Lots of time for thought on the trip home, wasn't there? Yes, Agnes seduced Rachel Staton last summer and carried on like a house afire for months. I'll let you hear the story from her own lips; Mavis is downstairs with her right now. She isn't as grown up as much as I thought she was, and I think we need to reconsider the arrangement here. A promise has been broken, and that's serious."

"Did you call Barbara?"

Another double take. "No, I haven't. Should I?"

"I think she's part of the circle, so she should be in on this. I'll call her."

Whipping out my cell, I got her on the first ring. "Mother Mary Rufus, may I help you?"

"This is Alfred. We have trouble here, Mother Mary Rufus. Are you free?"

"No, but I'm reasonable." I paused; she was in a carefree mood at the moment, and I wasn't there. "What's wrong, Alfred?" she asked in a more sedate tone.

"Agnes has betrayed a trust, and the other Quilting Ladies are here to confront her. Can you come over? I can pick you up if need be."

"No, I can sign out a car. Betrayed a trust?"

"We'll fill you in."

"Be right there. Bye." She rang off, and I told Mary that she would be there shortly. We sat and sipped tea in silence as we waited for the Mother Superior.

Barbara hustled through the kitchen door in full habit, and sat down with us at the table, accepting a cup of tea. "All right, what's going on with Agnes? How did she betray a trust?"

"Agnes seduced the wife of a nearby Vicar, and carried on with her for several months behind our backs," Mary began. "She led this woman on; when the woman asked her to run away together, our Agnes dropped her like a stone."

"How is this betraying a trust?" Barbara asked.

"When she moved in here," I continued, "I told her that if she wanted to take up with someone else, if she met a boy she liked, she should tell me and we'd break off the romantic part of the relationship, continuing the working part. No questions, no judgement. I didn't want her dating around behind my back, and I thought I'd gotten that through to her. Lack of honesty there, by omission. The other part is she used someone who wasn't on the same page she was. Agnes just wanted to play, evidently, and the other woman was in a bad place and looking for something more. The husband suspected something eventually, but didn't quite have it right: he never suspected a lesbian affair."

"Which isn't our arrangement," Mary cut in. "We all know this is just for fun, and if one of us has another commitment, the other party clearly doesn't object. Bert Button and Harry Hazelton were lazy bastards and happy that their wives were getting laid without their having to lift a finger. My Tommy is dead these many years, and as far as you two go, well, the Lord is kind and merciful. This Vicar and his wife still loved each other and wanted to get back together even though they couldn't face it; Agnes cut into that, either knowingly or unknowingly."

The nun sat back and digested this, sipping her tea. " Does she regret what she's done?"

"She says she does," Mary said, "else we wouldn't be here. I would have had Derrick and his mates pack her up and haul her home otherwise. We probably ought to do that anyway, as far as I'm concerned, but Mavis and I wanted to get the Vicar's opinion whether he wants to live with her any longer."

"And I wanted yours, Barbara," I continued. "You're part of the group, and you have wisdom to offer us. I don't know what to do."

"We should hear her out," Barbara said, "And decide then. If she is truly repentant, then you have the choice whether to give her another chance."

"All right. Let's go and see what Agnes has to say for herself."

I followed the others down the stairs and to the Rec Room. Stopping suddenly at the base of the stairs, I put my hand on Mary's shoulder. "Where's Kieran tonight?"

"He's with his Mum. She needed him to escort her through some rough territory this afternoon, and he's at Kent House for his Sign class tonight for three hours. I gave him a pony and told him to have some fun at the Pub between times."

"He'll be there. All right, let's see her."

We opened the door to find Agnes with her head and hands in the stocks, her legs cuffed to a spreader. She was fully clothed, wearing a scarlet blouse and black skirt. There were trails of mascara running down her face and her hands were opening and closing in fear and frustration. Mavis sat in front of her Buddha like on a stool, in an ordinary blue dress, glaring at her relentlessly. "Oh my God," Agnes shrieked, "what kind of Inquisition is this? Alfred, Barbara, tell them to let me go, please!" Her grandmother took another stool and sat beside Mavis like a bookend, her blue business suit almost an exact match for Mavis' dress, and joined her friend's glare at the young woman. Barbara stayed at the doorway.

It seemed they were waiting for me to do something. I pulled a chair up close to Agnes' face and sat on it, the back inverted so I could rest my arms on it. The journey was a lead weight on my eyes. She looked at me pleading, her eyes puffy and her lips quivering. I searched her eyes and found fear. "Do you know why you're here?" I asked.

"Because I fucked Rachel Staton," she said in a whining tone.

"Is that all?"

"Yes," she barked defiantly. Too tired to contradict her, I looked at her with my tired face; the others did not move. After a huge interval, she blink and shed a couple of tears, her voice sounded a soft and timid: "No."

I sighed. "Tell me about it."

She sniffled and composed herself as best she could in her confinement. "In the middle of the summer, I had some time on my hands and I wanted to start playing tennis again. All my friends were busy in the middle of the day, and we had that party for your Mum and Dad, so I got to talking with Rachel and found out she wanted to start playing, too. We had the same times free, so we starting meeting.

"She was a joy to be around, smart, funny, and after she started sweating a bit, her face would have like this--glow. It was so lovely, and it took my breath away, I wanted to know this amazing woman better. Well, one day after the match we were showering in stalls next to each other and I sneaked a peek over the partition and noticed her body. I don't know what happened, but I was suddenly draw to touch it and caress it. Rachel looked over at me and a gleam devoured my body, I felt like a piece of meat and I felt this urge to give myself to her so powerfully. Our eyes met, and I said: 'You want me to wash your back?' She said yes, and it was all over: I soaped her back and her arse and ran my hands up and down her thighs in the empty shower room. She leaned back into my body and started quivering; I kept rubbing her thighs and probed her cunt, her legs parting and I had two fingers in her frigging away. It was glorious, it was the strongest she ever came, she said.

"From then on, we'd play a little tennis, then play in the shower. Then the rains came, and I'd go over to her house, or she'd come over here, or we'd go to this little pub in Dover Street that has some rooms. It was the best of both worlds: I had you and I had her. She seemed so confident. I asked her about her husband, but she said he wasn't interested in her anymore and he was sleeping around, so it would be no problem. It was pure fun, pure pleasure, pure joy, nobody got hurt."

"Then the fun stopped, and somebody got hurt," I said softly.

A sniff. I went to the bar and brought a glass of water, giving her a drink. She gulped it greedily, and a second glass I brought. The older women were still impassive when I glanced at them; Barbara was looking thoughtful. "Then the fun stopped," Agnes whimpered.

"I don't know were she got that idea," she continued in a loud voice. "We were spending a lot of time together, I was worried whether you were still buying my excuses that I had to be at the Uni, she wanted every moment I could give her, and I didn't know how to push her back. I didn't want to push her back, she was so exciting, but then one day, she asked me to run away with her." She hung her head. "I was scared, I didn't know what to say. Don't want to spend the rest of my life with another woman, I just wanted some fun.

"She went to pieces on me, told me she loved me and her life was coming apart. Couldn't get away fast enough, barely got my clothes on. I figured, wait a few days, she'll calm down and it'll be just like before, but no, every time I asked her to play tennis or something, she begged me to be with her."

"This wasn't long after Twelfth Night, wasn't it?"

"Yes, just a few days after. Then when I called, she'd ring off after I told her who I was or she recognized my voice. I'd try to make things right, but she'd run away, avoid me, act like I was stalking her. I didn't mean to hurt her." Her eyes were earnest, her face composed.

"Do you understand how you betrayed a trust?" Barbara asked from the dark corner of the room.

"No."

"What did the Vicar tell you about relationships when you moved in here?"

"That if I found a boy I wanted to date I should let him know and he's let me go."

"Wouldn't that apply to a girl you wanted to date?"

A long, thoughtful pause. "I guess so. We were just playing around, and it was another woman. I thought it didn't count."

"Do you think it counts now?"

"Dunno. I guess it does."

Mary piped up. "Did you make that agreement just with him?"

A blank look. "No, Gran."

"Who else is part of that?"

She thought for a minute. "You, Mrs. Button, Mrs. Hazelton. Barb."

"Yes," Mary snapped. "You let us all down didn't you?" Her granddaughter's head hung down.

"Why didn't you call me if you were feeling horny?" Barbara said. "We had a good time during Lent last year."

"Yes, we did, and I'd love to do it again. You're so busy. I got lost in the moment, lost in my feelings. Lost."

I got up and paced back and forth a little bit. Turning to Agnes, I said: "Rachel Staton is a beautiful woman, intelligent, vulnerable. I've known her and George for years, seen her in the summertime and needed to hide my boner. I know George and Rachel have had trouble for years, they're always bickering, but they've always stayed together. They still love each other no matter what they've said, and getting in the middle something like that is asking for trouble. There's many times I'm sure Rachel would have loved me to take her like a wild animal while George wasn't looking and I'm sure at times he wouldn't have minded, but it wouldn't have been the same kind of innocent fun I have with you, your Grandmother, Mavis, Sheila or Barbara. We're all pretty secure in who we are; they aren't by a long shot. It's dangerous to fool around with someone who's not secure in themselves. Instead of making her feel better, you destabilized her, and when she turned to you for an anchor, you pushed her away. That's why you can't let yourself lose control. For the sake of the other." Agnes started to cry again. We waited as the tears flowed and the sobs racked her. When she calmed down again, she asked: "Is Rachel going to be all right?"

"I hope so," I answered. "She and George are going to try to put their relationship back together again. It's going to be work, but my heart tells me they'll succeed. I know them both well, and if they seek each other, they'll find each other."

Another pause. "Am I going to be all right?"

"That's up to you," Barbara said.

"I don't think she should stay here," Mary murmured.

"Amen," contributed Mavis.

"What do you want, Agnes?" I asked after another long pause.

"I want to stay here. I want things to be like they were. I want to clean the house and cook the meals and play the organ and be your Perky tits again." "No," Mary murmured.

"Amen," contributed Mavis.

Barbara's face was glum. "I think she should have another chance."

Turning to face her, I said: "As far as I'm concerned, you can stay. Things can't be the same again, we have to start over again building trust. That's reality. How can I be sure you won't do this again? The next time you could catch a disease like Herpes, HIV, Syphilis, even with someone as innocent looking as Rachel Staton. Then all of us would have it, including your grandmother. Someone could misunderstand your intentions, like Rachel did, or project their hopes on you, like Rachel did, and that's tough for anyone to deal with, no matter how old they are. That person might react violently. We have to be aware that what we do affects others, and take care of them as best we can."

"I promise," she said solemnly, "I won't cheat again. I'll be a good girl, I'll control myself."

"Not good enough," her grandmother said.

"Amen."

"I'll do anything," Agnes screamed.

There was a long pregnant pause. "Penance," Mavis said quietly.

"Penance," Mary echoed just as softly.

"Only if she really wants to," Barbara said. "Kings and Emperors did penance to prove they regretted their actions and could be trusted again. It doesn't have to be corporal penance; she could give something up for a while. She could be celibate for a while."

"If she were a child, I'd give her a good spanking, and I think she's a child," Mary pronounced.

"All right, spank me, Gran. Anything to prove I'm serious."

Everyone looked at me. I was hurt: Agnes disappointed me greatly, and I wasn't sure I could trust her again. My heart told me she was sincere, but I needed something to prove it to me, and that's what made up my mind. "All right. Penance. But one condition."

They nodded their heads. "I will spank her," I said flatly.

"How do we know you'll hit her hard enough?" Mavis asked.

"I'm the one who lives with her," I answered, "I saw some things I didn't understand, and I should have asked her about them. Part of this is my fault."

"No, Vicar, it isn't. You can't be everywhere, she's an adult." Mavis entreated. "Don't blame yourself."

"Oh, I'm not blaming myself a lot, Mavis, just trying to acknowledge what I could have done and didn't."

A glance at Barbara. She shrugged. Mary said, "All right, Vicar, you do the honors. You're choosing to live with her; you should be the one."

"Let's get her ready, Mary," Mavis said and the two women approached Agnes. They released her from the stocks and stood her up straight, letting her stretch. From her stiffness, she must have been there for a while. After they gave her a chance to work the kinks out, they undressed her roughly, pulling her clothes off until she was completely naked. Agnes' tan was a memory of her bronzed tone from summertime, but there were no lines on her body. Mavis went to unlock a cabinet and returned with a large, two piece wooden clamp. "This has to be part of it," she said, "You said anything."

Agnes nodded hesitantly, and the two older women applied it tightly to her breasts, making them stand straight out. "If it was me," Mavis said, "We'd be spanking these babies," giving one an extra squeeze. Then, they positioned her down on the chair and locked her in the stocks again.

Mary gave me a four inch wide rubber strap, supple and springy. "Do what you want with this," she said, and they stepped aside. Barbara stayed in the background; I guess she wanted to make sure we didn't go too far. I stood next her for several moments working up my nerve. Agnes was psyching herself with a stoic set to her face and hands.

The sound of the first blow rang off the concrete walls sharply. Agnes flinched but did not cry out, nor did she for the first ten blows. Her backside was round as an apple, golden with red wide stripes, and soft as silk. I rubbed her with my palm. The older women's faces told me there should be more, so I laid a few more stripes on the lovely globes. Agnes did betray me, and a part of her knew what she was doing. My surge of anger played out as I turned that wonderful ass a consistent beet red, howls of pain accompanying my last few strokes.

Nodding from Mary and Mavis told me enough was enough, and I undid my fly. It took a couple moments digital manipulation before I had Agnes' sweet channel dewy and dripping, then I plunged a rock hard erection deep inside her. Pumping slowly at first, I accelerated my pace gradually until reaching a frantic pace. She bucked back against me as best she could, and for the first time in our relationship, we had simultaneous orgasms. I could hardly keep my feet when I was done; if Barbara hadn't fetched a glass of water, I probably would have collapsed on the spot from the physical and emotional exhaustion.

We released her. She sagged on being released, and I gathered her into my arms, carrying her up the stairs. The others followed, and we re-entered the sunlight as we reached the kitchen. I laid her on her bed and covered her. We reconvened in the kitchen, and I beckoned the women to follow me to my study. A quick browse through Agnes' video files showed a couple that I hadn't seen before. I opened them and we watched as Agnes and Rachel made love in our basement.

When we had seen it all, I asked if any of them wanted a copy of the files. Barbara said she did, so I made a copy for her, then deleted them from my hard drive. "Why did ye fook her?" Mavis asked.

"To show her I still loved her. Ladies, I need to be alone. I have a letter for you, Mary, from Niall. It's what we expected." Mary took it gravely and the women filed out.

I sat in my chair for quite a while, reeling from my exhaustion and confusion, fighting to stay awake. After a while, I was able to gather myself to return to her flat. I knocked on Agnes' door and heard her sobbing into her pillow. "May I come in?"

"Yes, Al, you don't have to ask," was the reply. She was curled up with a pillow in her arms, the blinds pulled against the glare outside. The day was bright and clear, yet cold. "You look awful," she snickered.

I sighed heavily. "I'm sure I do. I'll be living on coffee the rest of the day, then I'll need a stiff drink to put me out. How are you?"

"It hurts. My butt, my tits, but my heart worst of all."

"Let's leave that for now. We'll talk about it more tomorrow, and after that. I have some news you need to know." "Is it about Niall?"

"Yes. I just gave your grandmother his resignation letter." Agnes nodded. "He'll be back soon for Lent, but he's leaving Easter Sunday. Are you interested in taking his place?"

Her eyes lit up. I nodded. "As far as I'm concerned you can have the job, but convincing your Gran just got more difficult. If you can show you're a mature, responsible young woman for the next eight weeks, we may be able to get you accepted on probation, and you can prove yourself then. You and Niall can work with Freddy in the meantime so he can take your place, and make the transition. I hope you have a better idea of what mature means."