Tyler's Wildcat
 Chapter 1
By Rose Edwards
Copyright © 2005

Note: This is not a complete story. For the entire story, please join our website here.

Jimmy Conner Tanner Hope stood behind her husband posing for their wedding picture. Tyler teased her that she had married him only so that she could finally have a feminine name. Her parents expected a boy after four girls and when Jimmy came along, her father refused to give her a girl’s name. Her younger brother, Clyde Tanner, came along two years later, but Jimmy was already the tomboy of the family and remained that way.

It wasn’t until she had met Tyler at her first “grown up” dance at sixteen that her thoughts went to more feminine things. What a person will do for love! She found herself forcing herself into one of her older sister’s corsets to have a smaller waist and nearly fainted in the process.

Applying just a touch of powder, but never, never looking “painted”. Jimmy acquired the gentle art of flirting with a fan (ridiculous!) by blowing kisses with the tip of the fan at Tyler across a crowded dance floor (Tyler seemed to like it). Tyler fell hard for the petite, green-eyed, blond beauty. For, with all of her masculine name and tomboy ways, Jimmy was the picture of the perfect Gibson girl. 

After two years of a very chaperoned courtship, Jimmy and Tyler married. Tyler was convinced that Jimmy’s tomboy days were behind her and that she was ready to settle down to being an upstanding matron of the community. One could hardly blame him for this, as Jimmy had worked very hard to give that impression, but old habits died hard. 

Tyler should have been warned when he saw the wedding picture, there he was, hat in hand, his well-groomed moustache (his pride and joy) slightly waxed, sitting upright in a stiff chair. There stood Jimmy, standing slightly behind him, with her hand resting on his shoulder. The perfect wedding picture; Tyler looking ready to face the world at twenty-four, sober and serious. Jimmy though, had a sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her lips that told the world that she found things a bit humorous. 

They settled into married life with ease. Tyler Hope ran the Hope and Son General Merchandise Store that he had inherited from his father, Thaddeus Hope. Every morning he donned a clean white shirt with a high collar and immaculate cuffs and headed to the store. Jimmy took care of their house in town. Any other young wife may have found it daunting, but Jimmy came from farming stock and in comparison to working on a farm, housework was easier. The only job that she hated was the wash on Monday. It took all day to boil the clothes, wring them out and hang them on the line to dry. The wash on Monday was followed by ironing on Tuesday, which was followed by baking on Wednesday, to beating rugs on Thursday, blackening the stove on Friday, and on and on.


Jimmy and Tyler married in early June, but it wasn’t until August that her best friend Martha Polk told her that the gang was planning a swimming and picnic party on Saturday to celebrate Jimmy and Tyler’s new marriage. Many of their old friends had been out of town and now it was a perfect excuse to have some fun. To Jimmy, it was like a gift from heaven, any reason to leave the house and wade on a hot summer’s day sounded lovely.. “Swimming” was a stretch as it was really just wading in Red Stone Creek, but it was a way to cool off in the hot humid summer, and it gave the girls a chance to wear bathing suits. Jimmy loved the chance to wear her bathing suit. No corsets, corset covers, waists or petticoats, no high heels or gloves. Just a wool suit with a hat, bloomers, stockings and slippers. It was down right decadent!

On a bright warm Saturday, the whole gang stopped by in a wagon. Martha and her bow, Joe Korody, was there, with Sid and Elly Jackson. Nell and Floyd Green came along on horse back along with Tom Glover and Nell’s sister Violet McLellan. They took off loaded down with food and full of high spirits. Technically, the married couples were to act as chaperons for their single friends, but many looked away when a young couple wanted to do a little spooning.

They finally arrived at Red Stone Creek, pulling up the wagon in the shade. Jimmy was out of the wagon before it came to a full stop and was the first one to enter the creek, enjoying the cool rush of water. Tyler and the others joined her quickly, and a spirited water fight soon began. Jimmy bent down to scoop some water up and with the accuracy that only a former Tomboy had, threw it directly into Tyler’s face, dousing his perfectly waxed moustache. Dripping water and drooping moustache, Tyler gave out a false growl and headed towards Jimmy. Jimmy laughed in delight and tried to invade him, only to be grabbed and dunked into the water. 

Martha came in to rescue her, and it soon became a battle of the guys against the girls. What the girls lacked in aim, they may up for in enthusiasm. The battle ended up with as a draw, and it was unanimously decided to break out the food. Great attention was placed on the food that the single girls brought. Nell and Jimmy raved about the culinary skills of Martha and Violet. They needn’t have bothered, the men were so besotted with their ladyloves that they would have eaten dust and praised it. Lucky for them, all of the ladies were good cooks. 

The afternoon passed pleasantly enough and after the food was eaten, people dozed in the shade, lying down on quilts and blankets, lulled by the sound of buzzing bees and the splash of the creek. Tyler was stretched out on a blanket napping, gently snoring. Jimmy teased him a bit with a blade of grass, but he only swatted it away and continued to sleep. Bored, Jimmy got up to stretch, she wasn’t tired but restless and decided to go for a walk while the others rested.

Walking along the creek, Jimmy reveled in the sunshine and the feeling of freedom. She loved exploring and every bend had something new to enjoy. What a shame she couldn’t wear a bathing suit all the time. What freedom! This must be how men feel everyday. No long skirts to impede her, no corset cutting off her breath (although Jimmy wisely never laced too tight, she naturally had a small waist). Jimmy walked on further, not really paying attention to where she was going, just following the path of the creek. Just as she thought she had better turn back to join the others, Jimmy caught a glimpse of a rustic old cabin. Forgotten and tucked away in the woods, it looked ancient and abandoned, forgotten in time. 

Jimmy couldn’t resist going to it. Tyler and her father before him had warned her about going into old buildings; the floors might give way or the roof could suddenly collapse, but a mystery always intrigued Jimmy, and there was no way she was going to past this up!

She wondered about who had built it so long ago and where the descendants of that pioneer family were now. Whoever built it had enough sense to raise it off the ground on a rock foundation to keep termites away. The cabin had held up pretty well, with just a few small saplings growing inside. Jimmy entered the small cabin and noticed that it had a loft, possibly for the children. Any ladder up there had crumbled to dust or fallen in a broken heap long ago. All that was left was dirt and fallen leaves that had blown into the cabin over time, but Jimmy could imagine a family starting life out in the wilderness. 

A fireplace dominated the cabin, large and ample, it must have made the room cozy and warm. Just as Jimmy turned to go, her slippered foot brushed against some metal, looking down, she bent to pick up a silver spoon, blackened with age. The letters M.J.R. were intricately carved into the spoon with delicate swirls. Jimmy slipped the spoon into her pocket as a souvenir for the day just as she heard Tyler calling her name.

“Coming Tyler-I’ll be right-OH!” Jimmy yelled out; in her haste to leave, she didn’t watch her step, and one of the planks of the floor suddenly gave way. Jimmy’s foot crashed through the rotten wood, and she felt her ankle give a twist. Pain laced up her leg, and Tyler rushed in, out of breath.

“Jimmy, are you okay? What do you think you’re doing?!” 

Jimmy suppressed the urge to come back and ask Tyler what he thought she was doing, stuck in the cabin floor up to her knee. 

“I think I’ve twisted my ankle, Tyler!” Jimmy pulled her leg out of the hole as Tyler reached her. Jimmy tried to put weight on her leg, but the grimace of pain that crossed her face, convinced Tyler to pick her up in his arms. Tyler was relieved to find her but masked his concerns by scolding her softly about going into abandoned old buildings. 

“What have I told you about your risk taking, see what happens? Haven’t you any sense? You’re one lucky young lady that you only twisted your ankle! What if you had broken your leg? What if I hadn’t heard you?” Tyler scolded. 

Tyler didn’t seem to want any answers from Jimmy, so she simply muttered her apologies at the right moments. She decided that being given a dressing down by your husband as he carried you in his arms was not the best thing in the world. For one thing, she was a captive audience and could feel Tyler’s anger coursing through his body by the stiff way he carried her. 

Jimmy hated being the center of attention when they got back to join the others. Martha and the other girls fussed over her, and it was decided to call it a day. Jimmy hated the fact that the party broke up on her account, and this added to the guilt she felt for making Tyler so worried. The ride back home in the wagon jostled Jimmy’s ankle, and she suppressed a groan or two as her ankle throbbed. Once Tyler and Jimmy were back in their home, Tyler became more solicitous, and after depositing Jimmy gently on the sofa and putting a pillow under her ankle, he announced that he was going to fetch Dr. Wallace. 

“Tyler, it’s just a sprain! I’ll be okay. There is no need to get Dr. Wallace!” 

“Now, Jimmy,” Tyler said in his most concerned and stern manner. “I think it’s best that Dr. Wallace sees to your ankle, just to make sure; it’s a pretty bad sprain.”

“It’s a waste of time and money! Just let me keep my foot up, and I’ll be okay.” Jimmy had been through worse scraps than this, Tyler was just being stubborn and pig headed! 

Tyler was having the same thoughts about Jimmy and decided that this would be a good time to stress his position to his young wife.

“Now, Jimmy,” Tyler said in his most soothing tone, as though he were talking to a small child.

“I’m the head of this house, and it’s my job to take care of you. I know what’s best. Just be a good girl and get some rest. I’ll be back with Dr. Wallace.”

If Tyler thought that this would calm Jimmy, the exact opposite happened. Jimmy’s eyes flashed green fire, and as Tyler turned to go, the sofa pillow went flying hitting Tyler squarely in the back of the head. 

“Jimmy Hope! You are behaving like a spoiled brat!”

“Better a brat than an old stuffed shirt!” Jimmy glared. “Who do you think you are, talking to me that way? I’m your wife, not a child!”

“It’s hard to tell, with you throwing a tantrum! I have half a mind to take you over my knee, my girl!” Tyler glowered at her, thinking that the threat of a spanking alone would be enough to put some sense into Jimmy’s head. Tyler underestimated his wife; Jimmy was not intimidated by threats.

“A half a mind is all you’ve got if you think you can spank me! Even with a sprained ankle, I would not go down easy, Tyler Hope!” Jimmy crossed her arms across her chest, ready to do battle.

Tyler, though a brand new husband, knew a challenge when he saw it. Jimmy had thrown down a gauntlet, and if Tyler refused to pick it up, he would never be master in his own home. Tyler squared his shoulders. 

“Then get ready, little girl, because you are going to get a darn good spanking!” Tyler approached Jimmy as she lay on the sofa. He reached out to her, only to have Jimmy grab his arm and bite him.

“Ouch! You little wildcat! You just earned yourself two spankings!” Tyler struggled to pull his feisty young wife over his knees. Even with a sprained ankle, Jimmy put up a good fight. Finally getting Jimmy over his knees, Tyler held her close to his chest with a strong grip. Jimmy struggled against him, but Tyler was strong from working in the store all day and lifting boxes and barrels. Slapping his hand down hard on her wiggling behind, he started smacking her wool-covered seat. Tyler soon realized that the wool bathing suit was acting like a suit of armor. Jimmy was yelling more about the indignity of being over his knee than about any pain that she was feeling. Since the wool suit was providing too much protection from his corrective ministrations, he pushed her skirt up and unbuttoned and removed her bloomers, pushing them down her stockinged legs to bunch up against her slippered feet. 

Jimmy’s bottom was now bare before his eyes and his hand. Wiggling in front of him as Jimmy tried vainly to find a way off of his lap. 

“Tyler, don’t!” Jimmy screamed, horrified more by having her bottom exposed to her new husband in broad daylight than by anything else. 

“Young lady, you’ve earned this!” Tyler started spanking with renewed vigor. Slapping his hand down on her bare flesh produced a loud sounding smack and left a very pink mark on Jimmy’s creamy white bottom. Slapping first her right cheek and then her left, Tyler spanked both cheeks before going to the tender flesh where bottom meets thigh.

“Tyler, stop! Stop!” Jimmy wailed, never believing that her Tyler would actually spank her like this, kicking and trying to put her hand behind her to stop his punishing hand. Tyler grabbed her hand to keep from hitting it and pinned it to her back, continuing to spank her, not missing a beat. Her throbbing ankle was nothing to her throbbing bottom. Jimmy felt like Tyler was setting it on fire. 

“I’ll decide when to finish, young lady!” His hand was a blur, striking randomly across each cheek, down to her upper thighs and then back to her sit spot.

“Now, are you going to obey me and never go into an abandoned building again?!” Tyler continued striking her bottom with a flurry of spanks.

“I won’t! I’m sorry! Please! I’m sorry!” Jimmy cried, the tears starting to fall. 

“Are you sorry for throwing a tantrum as well? “ Tyler continued the spanking.

“I’m sorry, Tyler!” shouted Jimmy, not caring if every neighbor in town heard her. 

Tyler stopped but held Jimmy down just the same. “That spanking was for being defiant, and throwing a tantrum. I will NOT put up with that kind of behavior from my wife. You hear me young lady?!”

“Yes-“

Tyler landed more spanks. “Yes what?”

“Yes S-Sir.” The “Sir” slipping out naturally.

“Good girl” Tyler praised, his hand throbbing almost as much as Jimmy’s bottom and ankle. “Now twenty more for biting me and we will be finished. I want you to count them for me.” 

Jimmy groaned realizing that the spanking was far from over. She surely couldn’t take any more! However she had little choice as Tyler held her down firmly. 

Smack, “One!” Smack “Two!” Smack “Three!” Smack ”F-four!” Smack “OUCH! Five! “ Smack “Six!” Smack “Seven!” Smack “OUCH eight!” And on and on until twenty were counted out. Jimmy missed two so two more were added on. By the time Tyler was done, Jimmy was limp, crying over his knees, wetting them with her tears.

Tyler rubbed her back, his hand hurting almost as much as her bottom. Tyler sympathized with Jimmy. He remembered spankings he had received from his father with his father’s razor strap. As much as he sympathized, he would do it again, and felt that this would not be the last time he had his wildcat over his knee. Tyler would do anything, including wearing out Jimmy’s bottom, if it meant keeping her safe and their marriage whole. 

Pulling her into his arms, Tyler kissed her and told her it was all over now and that she was forgiven. Jimmy cried into his chest, until her crying settled down to gulping and hiccupping. 

“There, there now, sweetheart. It’s all over now. It’s okay.” Tyler muttered, kissing her face.

“I’m s-sorry Tyler. I’m sorry I worried you and spoiled the p-party. I’m sorry that I acted like s-such a b-brat!” Jimmy muttered into his chest, not quite believing that she was forgiven. 

Tyler cupped her face in his hands to make sure that she looked into his eyes. 

“It’s all forgiven, Jimmy. Once the spanking’s over, we can start fresh.” 

Jimmy nodded, seeing that Tyler was no longer angry with her and that all was right in her world again. 

“Now what say we get some ice for that ankle of yours, hum?” Tyler laid Jimmy back on the sofa, and she let out a hiss of pain as her bare bottom made contact with the cushions. 

Tyler needed the ice almost as much as Jimmy did and went to the icebox to get some chips. Jimmy wished she could put some ice on her burning fanny but knew better than to ask. The funny thing was, she should be furious with Tyler, and she had been right before the spanking, but now she just felt drained and cared for. Maybe it was because this hadn’t been easy on Tyler either; she saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes as well. Maybe he cared enough to spank her when she needed it. 

Jimmy shifted her position on the sofa again, hoping that she would not need another spanking like this for a long time. Would she ever be able to sit down again? Lord, just the idea of putting her petticoats and skirt back on against her throbbing bottom made her cringe. As if Tyler suspected that this was on her mind, he suggested she go to bed and get some rest, he could apply the ice to her ankle there. 

Jimmy had no fight left in her, and when Tyler reached out to lift her up into his arms, she impulsively kissed him, earning herself a brilliant smile from her young weary husband. Tyler’s little wildcat was tame, at least for the moment. Once Tyler carried Jimmy into their bedroom, he set her down carefully and put the cloth holding the ice to her ankle. Jimmy could barely keep her eyes open, and Tyler saw that the stress of the day was taking its toll on her. 

Tyler helped Jimmy into her nightgown and tucked her into bed on her stomach, kissing her on her forehead. Jimmy fell asleep almost immediately. Later that evening when Tyler got into bed beside her, he reached out to hold her. Jimmy snuggled close to him, glad for his warmth and love. Cuddling soon turned more heated, and the young lovers turned to passion very quickly, having to physically connect after the tension of before. Tyler’s lovemaking was tender and gentle considering the fact the Jimmy was still very sore. Soft words and kisses, mutters and whispers echoed through the night. 

Jimmy slept late that morning, remembering Tyler saying that they would skip church and sleep in. Tyler was still asleep beside her, and Jimmy smiled as she looked at him while he slept. He always looked so very young asleep. She tenderly brushed a curl away from his head and quietly swung her legs over to get out of bed. She would have breakfast ready for him when he woke up. Jimmy was trying to put weight on her injured ankle when she felt Tyler’s hand grasp her arm.

“Just where do you think you’re going, little miss?” Tyler’s eyes danced with mischief. 

“Tyler, I thought that you were asleep! I’m going to fix us some breakfast.” 

“No, you’re not.” Tyler smiled stroking his moustache in a theatrical way. “You’re staying in bed all day, my girl. So I can have my wicked way with you.” 

Jimmy blushed with pleasure and then leaned over, “But, Sir, you had your wicked way with me last night.” She smiled.

“Ah, but we have all day to ourselves, wench.” Tyler pulled Jimmy closer and covered her lips with his own. 

Much later, Tyler got up to fix them both something to eat. He was serious about Jimmy staying in bed, her ankle was still very swollen and Tyler insisted that she rest it. Although Jimmy wasn’t used to inactivity, she liked the idea of being fussed over by Tyler. It seemed strange that Tyler would be spanking her so hard last night, and yet tenderly taking care of her today. Surely, not all marriages were like this. Her parents were partners, not given to affection. Fighting to keep the farm going, hard work was the rule of the day. While the children knew that they were loved, it was more expressed by the food on the table and the clothes on their backs. 

Perhaps yesterday was just a fluke. After all, she did enter that old cabin without thinking, hurting herself in the process, and she did hit Tyler square in the back of the head with that pillow (Jimmy smiled to herself, even though she had earned a spanking, the look on Tyler’s face was a priceless memory). Surely Tyler wouldn’t spank her again? Sure, she had acted like a spoiled child yesterday, but that was an exception. Jimmy stopped her musing when Tyler walked in with bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. 


The coffee smelled heavenly, and the aroma of the cooked food made her stomach growl in a very un-lady like way. Tyler put the tray down on the bed, and after saying a quick grace they both turned to the food with a hearty appetite. Tyler waited until Jimmy was finished eating before taking her hand in his and looking straight into her eyes. 

“Jimmy, we need to talk,” Tyler said in a very serious tone of voice.

Jimmy felt the food in her stomach suddenly turn to lead. All the gaiety of the morning seemed to vanish, and her mouth suddenly went dry. She answered him in a rush, “If it’s about yesterday, Tyler, I am so sorry. I truly am.” 

Tyler shook his head and raised his hand to stem the words of apology that was tumbling out of Jimmy’s mouth. “No, honey, like I said, that was all forgiven. We are starting fresh, and that is why we need to talk. We need to set up some rules around here, that’s all.”

“Rules?” Jimmy asked hesitantly. This wasn’t sounding good to her at all; her bottom still smarted from Saturday night, and as if in premonition, she shifted, and the soreness came back to her. 

“Love,” Tyler began, kissing her hand, “You are so very young; you’re going to be just nineteen next week. I want to make sure that I take good care of you: I don’t want to see you getting hurt by some foolhardy action that you take.” 

Jimmy secretly seethed. Foolhardy?! Maybe she was a little impetuous now and then, but she at least had grit! She wasn’t like some of those ninny woman who couldn’t do a day’s work or fainted at the sign of a rodent. Jimmy took a breath to steady herself. She was NOT going to lose her temper today: she was going to remain calm. 

“What rules, may I ask?” There, she sounded calm to her own ears at least.

“Rules about your proper behavior and the consequences of you disobeying me,” Tyler replied.

To Be Continued...