Cliff entertained thoughts of letting Patty sleep, but only briefly.

"Time to get to work. Let’s go." He bent down and shook the mattress under her.

Patty woke up foggy. Sleep had come quickly, it was deep and without dreams. It felt inadequate, and put her in no mood to deal with Cliff. Patty rolled over so she faced the wall, and shook her head no.

"Come on. Up! Now. Let’s go." Cliff moved over and shook her shoulder.

"Leave me alone." Patty stretched trying to get her mind to push through the fog. The skin of her bottom and legs tingled as the fabric of her shorts rubbed against it. Full memory of the events of the morning and noon hour came back to her. It didn’t help her mood.

"Let’s go. No argument. This is your assignment not mine." Cliff walked away toward the table.

Patty rolled onto her back and sat up. She grimaced as her weight pushed her bottom onto the mattress. The deeper bruised areas were no longer numb. She watched Cliff move around the open space of the cabin and felt it sway in cadence to the movement. ‘God he is aggravating’ she thought. She watched him until he turned to look at her. Her face was set in a glare, her lips tight and her eyes narrow with contempt.

When he did look back at her it was just a passing glance. He took in the look on her face. He recognized the blend of aggravation, and defiance. "I’m not going to say it again." Was all he said.

Paddy sighed and swung her legs off of the edge of her bed. She got up and went to the sink to splash water on her face. She closed the door to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet to relieve her bladder. An involuntary groan came as her bruised thighs took her weight on the rim of the seat. Lifting one leg and pulling her skin taught, she saw the stripes where Cliff applied the ruler. They were red and the edges of the stripes were bluish. ‘Man he sure didn’t hold back.’ She thought. She would have to change into her jeans so he wouldn’t be able to see his handy work.

The fog from her short sleep was just starting to lift as she rinsed her face again after changing into her jeans. She gathered the topographic map, compass and containers they would need for the job. She laid out her plan for Cliff and went over the pattern of sample collection that she and Paul had developed. Cliff had no argument with it, and they set out down the ladder to get started on the work.

There was no discussion between them for the first 30 minutes of the hike out to the planned work area. Patty led the way with the compass and map. Cliff stayed back, following her lead. The terrain was rocky, and there was no real trail to follow. Attention had to be paid to foot placement and occasionally hands were needed to help climb and scrabble over larger rocks and fallen trees.

The exertion was helpful in clearing Patty’s mind of the fog from sleep and distracting her from the aggravation and anger she felt for the man following her. Cliff found the exertion helpful also. He loved the field work and that quickly took over his mood. When he did speak to her, he was long past what had happened between them earlier.

At first Patty resisted his small talk, but before too long she let herself be drawn into easy talk about the outdoors, the job with the forestry service, and the differences in the different Fire watch posts that Cliff supervised.

This one was in one of the more remote areas and the terrain was among the more challenging. There was a lot more climbing to do here than there was on some of the others. By the time the soil samples were collected and some of the old growth catalogued and checked for parasites and evidence of environmental stress, Cliff and Patty were talking with each other as though there had never been any animosity between them. Patty was beginning to relax, and even let her self wonder if maybe the next two weeks wouldn’t be better than she thought they would be after all.

It didn’t last. The round trip and work time took about three hours. It was close to 5 PM when they got back to the tower. Patty was tired and hungry, and was anxious to put the samples aside and get up into the tower to relax a little and get something to eat. Cliff was not one to leave a job unfinished.

"OK let me see how you are going to process these, and then I’ll help you get the log book done." Cliff said as they placed the containers on the work bench in the shed at the base of the tower.

"No I’ll get back to them in a bit. I’m going to take a break for a little." Patty’s answer was matter of fact. There was no inflection or challenge. She simply expressed her thought.

Cliff also spoke from his point of view without anticipation of a problem. "Well I think we should get it done now so it’s not there later to worry about." He knew there was only about thirty minutes of work to do to finish up, if they did it together. It made no sense to him to put it off. He had forgotten that Patty had missed lunch, and was thinking from a purely practical perspective.

Patty reacted to it though. Her fatigue and physical discomfort, made her react to his statement, as if he had given her a rigid, arbitrary directive. In a split second the ease that had developed was replaced by the familiar tension.

"I don’t really care what you think! I’m tired and hungry. I’m going to rest and I will get back to this later." She said, with an edge of fury. Then she turned to go toward the ladder.

Cliff was taken by surprise. Where had that come from? The unexpected strength of her reaction, brought back the familiar wave of exasperation he felt with her so often from the beginning. "Climb that ladder and you will be sorry." He snapped out. His arms crossed over his chest and his jaw set.

Patty stopped and turned back to look at him. Her skin came alive with a surge of electric awareness of what he meant. She wanted to lash out verbally, and she almost did, until she saw his face. Danger and intent flashed from his eyes. She stood where she was and glared back at him.

Cliff waited for her to move or speak. The silence between them was tense. Finally after about forty five seconds, Cliff broke in. "Let’s go. We’ve got work to finish." He waved her back to the work bench.

Patty’s expression flashed through several expressions. Anger and defiance dominated. She was struggling with her will and the memory of earlier in the day. When she didn’t move after another minute, Cliff stepped toward her. She backed away.

"I meant what I said." Cliff spoke, his voice icy and calm.

"You going to test me?" He added, after another thirty seconds passed.

"You’re just doing this to piss me off!" Patty retorted. She shifted onto one leg and crossed her arms on her chest.

"Might be I am, now." Cliff grinned and nodded his head. "Thanks to you and your mouth. I’m making it an order."

The fire that flashed across Patty’s face and through her eyes was intense. If she had had an ax handy she would have split him down the middle. As it was, if her glare was a laser he would be cut down clean from head to toe.

Cliff saw how close she was to acting on her thoughts. "I would seriously consider my options now if I were you. Your butt’s gotta still be pretty damn sore."

Patty spun around toward the ladder, and then back to face him. She was so angry she could hardly keep from screaming. Several options for action crossed her mind, all but one would yield the same outcome. An evil knowing grin crossed Cliff’s face as he watched her struggle with her temper, her pride and HIS will. He was now very interested in which would win.

"You are a bastard!" Patty decided on finishing the job, and stomped back to the work bench. She pushed by him, her shoulder clipping his arm hard enough as she went by him for Cliff to have to move over out of her way.

"Your language? You better watch it!" Cliff chuckled a warning and followed her to the bench.

The next forty minutes were tense for Patty and amusing for Cliff. He made a point of making her explain each step she took in preparing the samples. He commented on some of her technique, and questioned her rationale for steps even though she did everything perfectly. The muscles in her jaw were aching and her lips were pressed together in white lines by the time they finished.

Cliff was taken by how pretty she was, and how the red anger in her cheeks only enhanced the appeal of her face. He half expected her to haul off and slug him. And if she had he might have doubled over laughing. He had to admire her spirit.

"There the processing and testing is finished." Patty announced as she capped the last sample. She picked up her rough notes and the log book. "I’m going up to eat. These can wait until I’ve had a rest." She waved the papers and binder in Cliff’s face. For a split second he considered challenging her, but he thought better of it. Instead he reached for the books and took them from her.

"I said I would help you with the log." He waved her toward the ladder.

When they got to it, Patty stopped and looked back at Cliff. She backed away and indicated that he should go first.

"After you." Cliff declined.

"You first! I don’t want you behind me." Patty said. Her tone was flippant.

Cliff laughed. "What’s the matter? Afraid I’ll whack you if you’re not fast enough." Patty glared back at him, saying nothing. "You go on up, I’ll give you a good head start." He smiled and backed away from the ladder.

Patty sighed and let out a sound half way between a growl and a moan. Angry, she pulled herself up the ladder, making the tower shudder with her steps. ‘That man is so damned aggravating.’ She thought. Her temper was ready to explode.

Cliff gave her a good twenty foot gap before starting his climb up. Patty could feet the ladder shudder with his steps behind her, and knew he was moving slowly enough that the gap would hold, if not lengthen. At the top, Patty slammed down the trap door as she stepped through and onto the cabin floor. She missed hitting him with it by only a foot or so.

Cliff was so startled by the sound and sight of the door swinging toward his face that he nearly jumped out of his skin. The foot he was just about to plant on the next rung slipped, and he had to grab fast to the sides of the ladder to keep from falling. White hot fury boiled up into his shoulders so that he literally exploded through the door and into the cabin.

"You rotten little shit! You could have killed me!" He fumed as he took two strides to cross the floor to the kitchen area where Patty had just turned on the tap to wash her hands. When he got to her, he spun her to face him. His dark eyes pinned hers.

"The door slipped out of my hands! It was an accident." Patty lied. She returned his stare with a defiant one of her own. Cliff knew she was lying, but he backed off and let her go with a hard shake. If he held firm and let her have it now, he might lose control. The adrenalin from his near fall still pulsed through him.

He stood a foot from her so she was trapped between him and the sink. The proximity forced her to tip her head up sharply to maintain eye contact with him. Patty was immediately struck by how much bigger he was than she. Arousal surged through her as she considered what he might do next and felt the raw energy of his anger. Her throat went dry and at the same time her pelvis came alive.

"You try anything even close to that again and I promise you your backside will be so blistered you will forget how to sit down by the time you are able again." Anger seethed from him with his words.

Patty cringed as a wave of energy surged through her skin. It was a blend of anticipation and fear. In the back of her mind the two sensations registered. The only answer she could come up with, was to shrug her shoulders, and lower her eyes, as a blush washed over her face.

Cliff stood over her for a few more seconds and then backed away. He felt something pass between them in the exchange. His instinct told him it was positive. He stepped away and took the log book and rough notes over to the work area.

Patty watched him for a few minutes. She was both relieved that Cliff had backed off, and confused by her feelings. His looming and threatening presence in front of her had aroused her sexually. In spite of the fact that he angered her so easily, she knew she was starting to like him. He had been very easy to talk with for most of the afternoon.

Cliff had a hard time concentrating on the log book. His attention was split between the sounds of her cluttering and puttering around in the galley kitchen, and his cooling anger.

In fifteen minutes, Patty announced that supper was ready. Cliff stood and moved toward the table. Patty had laid out plates, two glasses of milk and a tray with several quarter cut peanut butter sandwiches. She stood at the sink and watched Cliff survey the table. He grinned and looked over at her. She kept a straight face for a few seconds, and then smiled and laughed softly. She turned and lifted a bowl of salad and placed it in the center of the table.

They both sat down and served themselves. Cliff asked her about her daily routine, and Patty described the pattern she and Paul had developed. They rarely ate a formal meal except for breakfast. Lunch and supper were catch what you can throw together. Their day started before dawn, and ended a few hours after sunset.

Initially they had done the field and tower jobs together. After they became familiar with the trails and terrain around their station, Paul and Patty had begun to split the field and tower work. By doing that they found they could each reduce the number of times they had to make the climb up and down the ladder.

Cliff listened quietly to what Patty described. He was interested in how well the two had set things up. He was concerned though that they dared take on the more remote field work alone. When she finished he complimented her on their organization, and then pointed out his concern about safety doing some of the field wok solo.

"Don’t think I like the idea that you do some of the climbing and remote work alone. But otherwise your plan is sound." He said.

Patty felt a wave of aggravation pass through her when he said it. Why did he always have to insert a criticism into every compliment he gave her. She missed the legitimate point about safety. Resisting the urge to flip a retort at him, Patty satisfied herself with an exasperated sigh, an exasperated glare at him, followed by a heavy footed, chair scrapping, dish slamming production of clearing the table.

Cliff watched her. Confused, amused and irritated. What in the hell got into her now. They were having a perfectly civil and very pleasant conversation. He found he enjoyed her company in those rare moments when she would let him. But damn her moods were volatile. His palm itched as he thought of how he could end this latest tantrum. The trouble is he would have to get her to tell him what the hell set her off. Doing that was likely to send things spiraling into absolute confusion. He figured she probably read some imagined slight into whatever it was he said. After a minute of pondering, he couldn’t even recall the last thing he’d said.

The evening settled into a series of civil and pleasant, and then tense and terse exchanges between them. They shared the sunset on the catwalk in silence.

***********

The next morning started well. Cliff was up first and he started breakfast, oatmeal with raisins, coffee and toast. Patty got up and spent the time he prepared their meal, washing and dressing. The marks from the ruler no longer hurt, but the bruised edges were a darker red-blue color. She hissed thinking about having to wear long pants. The warmth of the day and humidity were already palpable. The perpetual breeze that buffeted the tower and made it rock wasn’t even blowing to cool the air.

Cliff recognized the signs of a shift in the weather. The stillness and humidity build up was typical of the prelude to a storm front. Some time within the next 36 hours a cold front would come barreling over the mountains drawing the hot humid air from the valleys up into it. This was the recipe for thunderstorms and one of the primary adversaries of the Firewatch teams, lightning.

The morning chores took them in separate directions. The imminent threat of lightning meant that the four zones of the station that had not been assesses for fuel potential needed to get done PDQ. Before setting out Patty put trail mix and raisins in her fanny pack. She intended them to be her lunch, rather than come directly back from her assignment, she was planning to stop at the lake to take a swim. She kept this plan to herself.

As they assembled the equipment and tools to collect the specimens and complete the assessments that could be done on site, Cliff issued a directive that they would come back to the tower for lunch. Patty was in the shed where he could not see her. A wave of fury flew up through her and back down into her feet and hands. She barely contained the scream of anger she felt, but she threw the container she was packing against the wall.

Cliff heard the clatter and called in to the shed, "You ok in there?"

Patty gritted her teeth and held back the urge to curse and tell him about the plans he was spoiling. She answered him with a quick short, "I’m fine. I dropped something."

When she had everything she need in her back pack, she came out and started toward the trail. As she passed Cliff she said, "If I don’t make it back when you’re ready to eat, don’t wait for me."

"I’ll wait for you, and you will be back here by twelve-thirty." Cliff sensed defiance in her tone.

"If I’m done, I’ll be here, if not I won’t." Patty called back without looking back.

"I’m telling you not asking you! You better be listening!" Cliff fumed as he yelled the warning to her back.

The morning passed quickly. The humidity rose palpably. Patty was dripping with sweat before nine AM. It seemed the gnats and mosquitoes were energized by the thick dampness in the air. As she hiked out to the first collection point, she let her mind ponder the threat Cliff issued as she left.

"Yes and I know what you’ll do if I’m not." She spoke out loud. In no time she was having a full blown argument with Cliff over whether she would come back to the tower for lunch, or go swimming and munch on trail mix. The man could make her angry even when he was over two miles away on the other side of the station.

By eleven thirty Patty was feeling filthy, itchy and really cranky. Any doubts she had about defying Cliff and not going to the tower for lunch were gone. She was not going back. She was going swimming. She wondered what he would do. The possibility of another spanking snuck into her mind and with it came that same electric surge of fear, arousal and anticipation. She dismissed it and willed herself to think about the story she would give him to explain being late. It crept into her mind many more times as the morning progressed toward afternoon. The arousal she felt caused her groin to tingle and become wet.

Of course the truth might be more fun. The sexual awareness caused a wicked smile to cross her face. She thought about how he would react to the truth, told boldly and with just the right edge of daring. The imagined look on his face was both funny and sobering. No a story would be smarter. But what would work? She could encounter wildlife or get momentarily lost, or her watch could stop.

The swim was refreshing. Patty reveled in the lingering tingle of the cold spring fed lake water in her skin as the air dried it. She’d stripped down to her underwear before going in the water, and now lay on the dock where the supply plane tied up. She felt the peace and solitude of the place like it was company. The quiet was alive. Birds didn’t just chirp, their wings fluttered. Bees and insects clicked and buzzed. It was both deafening and profoundly silent.

There was only one other human being within one hundred and fifty miles of her. Patty felt this as a privilege. She was hypnotized by the sounds and sensations of her solitude. Before long she was asleep.

At about two PM she woke to the sounds of rumbling thunder.

"Shit!" She sat up with a start and looked at her watch. A wave of anxiety pulsed through her pelvis. She was going to have to come up with a pretty damned good story now. There was no time now to finish the fuel tests on her samples. God help her if lightning struck in the region she had just sampled. Fuel potential was one of the indicators the fire and jump teams used to plan their response.

Patty cursed herself and set about jogging the mile long tail to the tower. The sound of the thunder followed her. The clouds were not visible. The storm that produced the sound could be over a hundred miles away yet, or it could be nearly on top of her. The mountains, rocks and valley played tricks with sound.

Cliff was up in the tower. He had a satellite link established and was watching the radar images of the developing wall cloud and front line. It was sixty miles west of them. They had about three quarters of an hour before it would be on top of them. So far there was very little rain falling, but the lightning was intense. A dry mountain storm was one of the Firewatch crew’s biggest nightmares. The turbulence of the rapidly raising hot air into the forward moving cold air created the electrical charge needed for lightning. Cliff was hoping that the near one hundred percent humidity at ground level in the valley around them would provide enough moisture for a good heavy rain event, as well as a lively lightning event.

Cliff felt the tower shudder as Patty climbed it. She spent fifteen minutes in the shed below after arriving from the lake, starting the tests on her specimens. The cloud front was still not visible as she reached the trap door. The blue sky was pocked with cumulous clouds, and streaked with thin wisps of cirrus clouds. There was still no breeze, and the air had taken on the silent heavy stillness that signaled approaching bad weather. Patty could feel a dull ache at the base of her skull. It was a palpable effect of approaching low pressure produced by air rising out of the valley.

Patty climbed through the doorway to find Cliff standing behind her. His arms were folded and his glare issued an immediate challenge. Patty rose to it. All thoughts of a story left her and she settled on the truth if asked. She turned away from him and started toward the computer array.

"So what’s your story?" Cliff spoke, his voice had an edge that made the hairs on Patty’s neck raise. She could feel his anger.

"Took a swim at the lake, the work was filthy." Patty answered without turning to look at him.

"I thought my instructions were pretty clear." Cliff spoke, the edge in his voice intensified as his jaw clenched. She wasn’t even going to try to make excuses, it was just pure defiance. He wanted to shake her. But he was going to spank her. "Did you run your samples?" He asked her, putting first things first.

"They’re running now. Twenty more minutes." She answered, as she moved over to wash her hands at the sink in the galley kitchen.

"Not enough time to get the data transmitted before the cloud bank blocks the link." Cliff clipped the fact out into the room. Patty turned to look at him. The danger evident in the tone of his voice was now vividly reinforced by the dark looming presence of him behind her. The reality of it came alive in her. Fear and arousal were like sparks in her skin.

Cliff didn’t move. He just looked at her. Patty waited for him to speak, not sure what to say. She wondered how he would get down to it. There was no question about what he meant to do, but there was the uncomfortable dance to get to it between them. His threat, "If I have to do this again, your pants come down…" echoed in Patty’s mind. It renewed the electric anticipation pulsing through her.

Finally Cliff spoke. "What did I tell you would happen if you challenged an order."


Patty, recalled the exchange about ground rules from the day before. She was not going to repeat it for him. She just shrugged.

"It wasn’t clear?" He asked her, his tone was thick with condescension.

The implied insult caused anger to seethe up in Patty’s throat, with a bitter taste. She felt her self give in to it. Before she could think, words came out of her mouth. "Refresh my memory!" She was amazed when she heard them. The surprise registered on her face. It was replaced by fear and regret when she saw Cliff reach over onto the work desk and pick up the ruler.

"I’ll be happy to!" He hissed. In two steps he was where she had been. Patty was out of reach and on the other side of the table. There was no place to go, but damned if she was going to give in with out a fight.

Cliff moved around the table, but again Patty evaded his grasp. Patty watched his agile movements. She felt as if she were outside the scene watching it as though it were a chess game. She saw the moves each made before they made them. As a result she knew when he had her at check mate. She cringed as he caught her arm and pulled her over to the chair that he turned out and away from the table.

"Here we go again." Cliff said as he pulled her over his knee. He pinned her with his left arm, put the ruler between his teeth and reached under her to undo her jeans.

"No!" Patty cried out as she started to fight him furiously. He had no trouble controlling her, and had her button and zipper undone in only seconds. He tucked his fingers under the waist of her pants and pulled. Her jeans and underwear came down together.

The ruler impacted her bottom in a white hot line of fire.

"Oh SHIT! Don’t!" She screamed. Even the licks he gave her legs the day before had not stung like this. Patty felt terror built up in her and her struggle to twist off of his lap gained strength. Cliff was able to apply three more full armed licks, before he had to stop and use both arms to hold her in place.

"You settle down and take this do you hear me! You asked for it, now it’s yours!" He spoke, the effort to control her was evident in his voice. Patty did not stop her struggling, but Cliff was able to secure his hold with his left arm by grabbing and twisting her right arm up behind her back. As soon as he had her under control, he resumed spanking.

Patty cried out with every smack. She could not believe how much more this hurt than the last one. The fact that she was bare assed over a mans lap barely registered. She was completely occupied by the burning pain in her bottom and the sense of panic she was feeling that it would never stop.

Cliff spanked her hard. The ruler marked her skin with vivid three inch welts, that quickly merged into a continuous ridged pink area that covered her bottom and upper thighs. He focused on making the surface visible above her jeans a solid vivid red.

In only a few minutes Patty could not keep herself from crying. She tried to keep it in, but the pain was too intense, and something was changing inside her. She felt as if something in Cliff’s determination was entering her. He would stop this time only when he knew she was really sorry and willing to submit to him. She found herself wanting to submit to him. She began to feel disappointed in herself for making him angry and acting so arrogantly toward him. Something in her suddenly wanted to please him.

"Please stop!" She cried out. All of her resistance pulled together to hold firm for one last moment.

"When -I’m –good- and -ready. And this -time -when -I -know -for -sure -you’ve -got -the -point." Cliff answered. The cadence of his rhythm slowed as he brought the ruler down harder punctuating each word.

Patty’s cries became whimpers and sobs. Her muscles let go of her struggling, and only tightened briefly with each swat. Cliff felt her give in. He heard the change in her cries. And he knew it was nearly done.

He increased to force of each blow and brought the ruler down ten more times before he stopped. He held her in position and listened to her sob. When he thought she could speak, he did.

"You going to do what I tell you from now on?" He asked.

Patty nodded her head.

"Tell me." He said.

"I’ll do what you say." Patty sobbed.

"No more arguing?" Cliff asked, skepticism evident in his voice.

"No, no more!" Patty sobbed. She was agreeing and pleading for this to be over in the same response.

Cliff nodded, "Good, let’s seal the bargain." He lifted the ruler and applied twenty rapid fire licks. The renewed fire brought Patty’s strength back, and the spanking ended with her temper again as inflamed as her bottom.

Cliff released the squalling hellcat on his lap and grinned as she fell onto the floor on her bottom. Patty yelped and rolled onto her stomach. Her hands reached back to cover her bottom.

A loud boom of thunder caused Cliff to look up and out through the windows to the west. The gust front and the wall cloud were less than thirty miles away. He got up and went to the computer array. The radar images showed a much enhanced line of deep red indicating there was much more rain in the system. All he could hope for was that there was enough to saturate the brush and extinguish any lightning triggered fires.

"Get the glasses and start checking the perimeter." Cliff spoke to Patty.

She got up, wincing as she pulled her jeans over her bottom. Tears still streaming from her eyes and her breath convulsing over sobs, she retrieved the binoculars and the log book and did the work she was there to do.

Cliff got on the radio and contacted the central station. He advised them of the moderate fuel potential for this station and the fact that two zones were still not assessed. Patty felt a wave of disappointment in herself, as she realized her willfulness caused her to leave incomplete a job that would have otherwise been finished.

The gust front shook the tower only a minute before they were engulfed in blinding rain. The lightning flashed and flickered almost continuously, but the light only made the rain outside the windows darker. The thunder was deafening.

In a few minutes the worst was over. But they still could not see the tree tops beyond the windows. Patty sat down, and immediately stood up. The sensation in her bottom renewed the emotions she felt before being occupied by the storm. She started to cry. Sobs took hold of her chest.

Cliff looked over at her. He moved to her on instinct, and wrapped his arms around her. Patty let herself lean into him. This is how it was going to be for them. She knew inside herself that this is how it should be. It was alright to surrender her will. He expected it, and was making it known now that he would protect it.

The storm rumbled and kept them blind for an hour. And when it was passed, the air was clear.

Cliff and Patty set about surveying for telltale smoke trails.