by Susan Thomas
The row Fleur had with her father was monumental. All teenagers row with parents, it has always been that way and always will, but it was the worst ever in the Eastham household. Ted Eastham came closer to hitting his daughter than ever in his life before. He was enraged by her stubborn attitude. The youngest of four children, she had always been different. Her siblings had always been highly competitive and captained sports' teams. Fleur was good at sport but not competitive and wasn't even selected for teams. The older three had taken their competitive attitude to schoolwork and won every award going. Fleur was smart right enough, worked conscientiously, but simply didn't care about any awards.
Instead, Fleur was deeply interested in sewing and needlework. At thirteen she joined a sewing circle whose other members were all middle aged or older. They loved her and taught her a great deal. Her parents despised this feminine activity - 'feminine' was a disparaging word in the Eastham house. Fleur also loved cooking, and even when her siblings were still at home she began cooking their meals. They all enjoyed her food but thought anyone who wanted to cook was a little weird... what were restaurants and takeout for? The one thing that her parents did approve of was her babysitting or childminding. She earned money, and earning money was a life skill. But they didn't understand Fleur; she wasn't babysitting for money as such but simply because she liked looking after the children.
The row occurred as she neared the end of high school. Fleur was good at Maths, and at anything with computers, so her father wanted her to become an accountant. She'd have a great career and there was room at the top for her. He'd selected a number of good schools to go to and wanted her to choose a few so they could check them out.
Fleur said, "No. I don't want to be an accountant. Truth is, I don't want to go to college."
That is how the row started. Fleur had always been pleasant natured, but suddenly demonstrated a will of steel that they'd never encountered before.
Her mother managed to stop her husband striking the stubborn Fleur by saying, "You know Ted, maybe Fleur should have a gap year to sort out her thinking."
He grasped the life raft and enthused about where Fleur could travel. but Fleur said, "No I don't want to travel abroad alone."
"You don't have to, Fleur. I know Louise Crenshaw is going traveling and she is looking for a companion."
Fleur's look of contempt angered her father. "What?" he snapped.
"Louise Crenshaw is a Class a bitch who could easily double as a scorpion. Anyway a gap year is a good idea but I want to do it my way. If you're going to fund foreign travel you can fund me to do my own thing. I want a car and I have a long list of museums and historical sites I'd like to go and see."
The row that followed wasn't quite as long, or quite so temper inducing as the first, but it was fair on its way. In the end, such was Fleur's inner steel that her father gave up and her mother sighed with relief. A car was purchased for Fleur, although it wasn't the one her father wanted, but one her Uncle James was selling. He sold only classic American cars and he had a beauty that Fleur loved. It was a 1956 Oldsmobile 98 holiday sedan. It was a glorious creation in white and red with lots of chrome trim and in perfect condition. Some old feller had kept it in a garage and his relatives simply left it there for umpteen years. It only had 30,000 on the clock and was in mint condition. Uncle James had it worked on, tested a hundred ways to Sunday and pronounced it sound.
Ted Eastham gave up at that point. When the summer ended Fleur was given a credit card, a new phone, a checking account with a wodge of money, and a debit card and told to be careful. She set off feeling a good deal happier as the prospect of accountancy faded into the background. Fleur enjoyed several weeks of travel immensely.
The car attracted attention and led to fascinating conversations. Older people with time to spare chatted pleasantly to her and she did indeed begin ticking off the list of places she wanted to visit. She spent two days at a costume museum and had a long talk with the curator who suggested that perhaps she might like to choose a career in conservation? It was the very first suggestion that actually appealed to Fleur. She drove on but promised to keep in touch. Out of mischief she posted her interest on her Facebook page and just knew her father would be exploding when he read it!
Then she got lost. She took a wrong turn somewhere and found herself driving through very lonely back roads with a mixture of fields and forest on either side. As the evening drew in the weather turned bad. Strong winds and driving rain made it hard to see where she was going, so the sign reading, 'Prudence, 2 miles' was a relief. Worse was to come. As she drove into the town the engine began to sputter and finally died. As Fleur stared through the rain she found herself right by a church with the manse next door. Surely the minister would help her? She ran through the rain to the front door and pushed the doorbell.
The man who opened the door was tall, stern looking and wearing a clerical collar. He blinked in surprise at seeing Fleur then glanced down at her soaking wet shorts and wet T shirt. "You'd best come in young lady," he said.
He led her into a family room where several teenagers and a woman were sitting. To Fleur's considerable shock another teenage girl was stood in the corner. Her hands were on her head, her skirt was tucked into her waistband and her panties were down around her ankles. Her exposed bottom was very red.
The tall man followed Fleur's shocked gaze and said, "Unfortunately Lavender was rude and disrespectful to a teacher at school, for which she was duly chastised. I have now added to that and she is serving her time in the corner before writing a letter of apology."
Fleur nodded, unable to comment as it was so outside of her experience, but a frisson of strange excitement ran through her. At was a feeling she had just discovered, something of real importance.
"Are you ever disrespectful to your elders, young lady?" the tall man asked Fleur.
"My name, sir, is Fleur Eastham, and I guess the truthful answer is yes, but I think only to my father. He wants me to be an accountant and have a great career but I don't want that. This road trip I'm on is my rebellion."
The minister smiled at her. "A truthful and thoughtful answer. Well done Miss Fleur. I am the Reverend Daniel Waterman and this good lady is my wife, Elaine. Now what is the purpose of your call?"
Fleur explained in a few short sentences and he frowned. "Mmm, tricky. A car of that age needs Bill, our town mechanic, but although I will call him he won't come out tonight. You need a place to stay, but we don't have any room at present. I'll find you somewhere. Do you have more suitable clothing in your luggage?"
Fleur glanced around and deduced he meant a skirt or dress. "Oh yes I do. This is just what I was wearing to drive."
Elaine Waterman, the minister's wife, found her a towel while her husband made some phone calls. He came back and told her, "Bill will pick your car up tomorrow first thing, but he says unless it is minor, it will take time sourcing parts but he'll do his best. Now, the Pendle family will take you in but you'll have to share with Claire. It's the best I can do at short notice. If you have to stay longer we can hunt around."
"Thank you sir, that's really kind of you. I am most grateful."
"Jack will come and pick you up and your luggage. When you've loaded his car give me your keys for Bill."
Jack Pendle was a stern and powerfully built looking man with a taller son named Callum. Callum looked as if he might be a few years older than her and refused to let her carry her own bags to his father's car. He was pleasant enough but firm, saying, "That's my job."
Soon she was in the warmth of the Pendle home and being introduced to the other members of the family. There was Mary, Jack's wife and mother to Callum and three more; Claire, who was seventeen and with whom she would share a room; Louise who was fifteen, and Liam, twelve.
Claire whisked her to the bedroom they'd have to share and apologized. "You'll have to share a bed with me. Will you mind?"
"No, I've never shared a bed but I don't mind... but do you?"
"No, I used to share with Rebecca but she's off at college. I miss her, to be honest."
Fleur was told very firmly she could only wear a skirt, and then she got her second insight into how Prudence differed from her former life. At the minister's home she'd seen a girl who'd been spanked and was in the corner and now Claire said, "Oh dear, that skirt is a bit short and rather tight."
"It's just a skirt, won't it do?" said Fleur.
"I guess so," responded Claire, "but I wouldn't be allowed to wear it."
Downstairs it was mealtime and, unlike the mealtimes in her own home, a wonderful home-cooked meal was eaten. Unless Fleur cooked, it there was always takeout at home. The tired silence of her own home meals, where no one really said much, was replaced with animated conversation. Fleur loved it, and when asked what she had been doing she told them all about the clothing museum and her long talks with the curator. The Pendle family found that extremely interesting, but she didn't have to be at home to know how contemptuous her family would have been. She could practically hear her father say "There's no money in old clothes, child."
After clearing up the meal the younger ones had homework and study so Claire found herself in Callum's company. She found her heart racing fast in his presence. He was tall, strongly built, good looking and exuded warmth.
She became strangely nervous when Callum said, "Tell me about this road trip of yours. Doesn't sound like a good idea for a girl of your age. And, were you very disrespectful to your father?"
As she explained she saw Callum's frown grow deeper. "I see," he said sounding very wise. "Your father has set ideas about you having a career, but you were also very disrespectful to him."
"I didn't think I was disrespectful, just very firm about not studying accountancy."
"I can see that, but you've not been brought up here. Disrespect to elders is always punished here. Rebecca was not disrespectful. She simply sat down with Father and explained how strongly she felt drawn to a career in medicine, and after some thought he agreed to fund her. There was no disrespect on either side."
Fleur's mind immediately leapt to the girl she had seen with the very red bare bottom. That was what Callum meant by punishment. "Are you saying Dad should have punished me for being disrespectful to him?"
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