CHAPTER 5
Heaven Leigh didn’t waste any time heading for Master Derek’s office. She was speed-walking so fast that she almost got herself in trouble when Chef Conner rounded the corner, and she had to skid to a stop to avoid crashing into him.
One eyebrow went up as he looked at her. “Were you running, young lady?” he asked.
She quickly shook her head. “No, sir.” And then added, “Just walking really fast,” when he didn’t look convinced.
“Hmm, where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“There was um, an accident…”
Chef Connor’s second eyebrow joined the first. “What kind of accident?”
“Well, it… it looks like someone… uh, ate some of the chocolate castle for the event tonight.”
Chef drew in a sharp breath. “Angel’s chocolate castle? The one he’s been working on for the past couple of days?” She nodded, and his expression turned stormy, eyes darkening. “Who?”
Heaven Leigh had a pretty good idea of at least one of the culprits, but she really didn’t want to say. She already struggled to fit in with the other Littles and being a tattletale certainly wasn’t going to help. “Um, we didn’t see it happen, but Daddy wanted me to get Master Derek to come and help figure it out.”
“Well, get going then.” He waved her off, but added, “But no running.”
Heaven Leigh slowed her walk to one that could best be described as “brisk” at least until Chef was gone, and then she sped up again, arriving at the office slightly out of breath. Erika wasn’t at her desk, and Heaven certainly wasn’t going to sit and wait for someone to notice her.
This was an emergency, so she took a deep breath and knocked on Master Derek’s door. And then knocked again. And then a third time just to be sure, before she finally admitted to herself that he wasn’t in there.
Apparently, he was having a busy morning because everywhere she looked, he had just been there and gone. And, caught up in the moment, it didn’t occur to her to stop chasing around the resort and just have someone call him.
She finally ran into him on his way back to the office and spilled out the whole story. The way his face tightened, and his brows furrowed made it clear that there was big trouble on the horizon, and Heaven was glad that she wasn’t going to be on the receiving end this time. Master Derek turned on his heel and started toward the Littles’ Wing at a quick walk. With his long strides, she had to trot along behind him to keep up, but she figured she was safe enough from getting in trouble as she trailed along in his wake.
By the time they got back to the scene of the crime, Angel had apparently come up with some suspects. A trio of Littles stood in the hall, shuffling their feet and looking at the floor, as he stood in front of them with his arms folded across his chest.
“I want to know what happened,” he was saying as they hurried up.
“So do I,” Master Derek added.
Heaven Leigh was relieved to see Piper in the lineup because that was the one Little she’d been sure was involved. The super-bright colored clothing and red hair were kind of hard to miss as she’d scooted away. Heaven Leigh liked Piper, or Pippi as she preferred to be called, a lot and really hadn’t wanted to rat her out to Angel, but she would have had to if he hadn’t discovered her on his own.
And the smear of chocolate on Pippi’s cheek, that almost, but not quite, blended with her freckles, was a giveaway that she’d been there. In fact, all three of the Littles had evidence of chocolate on their clothes or faces. Becky had an obvious stain on her uniform, and Mindy had managed to get a streak across her forehead, so there was really no doubt.
As Master Derek took over, Heaven Leigh moved to stand behind her Daddy. Her hand slipped into his and she squeezed. He let out a slow breath and after a second squeezed back. It was obvious he was upset, and she couldn’t blame him one bit.
“Well? What happened here. Someone better start talking, ladies.” There was ice in Master Derek’s tone. None of the three spoke up, and after he gave them a minute longer to do so, he spoke again. “This is serious, and I’m very disappointed.”
Aside from a sniffle, there was only silence, so he shook his head and looked back to Angel. “Is this everyone who was involved?”
Angel shrugged. “I’m not sure. They were the only ones wearing the evidence, but they aren’t talking as you can see.”
Derek nodded and then motioned toward the door. “Let’s take a look at the damage,” he said, shooing the Littles in ahead of him. Heaven and Angel followed.
She winced as she saw the broken castle again. So many hours of work. The castle, at least, was mostly salvageable. It could be repaired, but the little pieces that had been flattened, all those special touches that made it magic… there just wouldn’t be time.
Master Derek took a few moments to examine the wreckage in silence before he turned to Angel. “I’m sorry this happened. Is there any way to fix it?”
Angel rubbed his temple with two fingers. “Yes. Some of it. The castle should be fine, and once we fill the moat, I’m sure it will be eye-catching enough for the event. Functional anyway. Just… not what I’d hoped it would be.”
The Ranch owner shook his head and turned back to the three culprits. None of them would look up from the floor and there was a general shuffling of feet as they felt the weight of his gaze on them. “There is a long tradition of pranks at Rawhide. I don’t like it… but I recognize that mischief will occur wherever Littles get together. And I understand the reasons for the pranks—but I cannot consider such blatant destruction a simple prank.”
He sounded… not angry exactly, but disappointed and coldly stern. It had an immediate reaction on all three Littles, and even Heaven, who had done absolutely nothing wrong, felt a wash of secondhand guilt about it. Pippi started to crack first. Her bottom lip quivered, and her hands clenched at her sides.
She probably would have spoken up, but Master Derek continued before she could. “What Angel does for us is art. And destroying art is nothing short of vandalism. It doesn’t matter if his work is edible or not, it’s still an expression of his creativity.”
He paused just long enough to let his words sink in. Mindy sniffled and a tear rolled down Becky’s cheek.
“Now, I’m going to ask you some questions and there will be no ‘pleading the fifth’ here. I want honest answers, and I want them now, or there will be severe consequences. Am I understood?”
Heaven Leigh had been in trouble with Master Derek many times, but she’d never heard that exact tone from him. A shiver rolled down her back.
“Was anyone else involved in this aside from you three?”
They exchanged looks and then shook their heads in tandem. “It was just us, Sir,” Pippi admitted, eyes fixed firmly on the floor. “I… saw Angel roll the cart out and the door didn’t close all the way behind him so…”
“You got curious and went in.” He looked at the other two. “I assume you both followed her?” Mindy and Becky nodded.
“Now, who wants to tell me what happened? Why would you destroy something that Angel worked so hard on?”
Pippi looked up, nervously biting her lip. “It-it was an accident.”
Derek’s eyebrow rose almost to his hairline. “An accident? You snuck into a room you’re not allowed to be in, and ‘accidently’ ate a chocolate centerpiece for tonight’s event?”
“N-no. I mean, yes. I…”
When she trailed off, starting to shut down, Mindy cleared her throat and took over. “We didn’t mean to break anything.”
Angel frowned. “You didn’t think eating my display was going to break it?”
“No-no, we only ate some after it broke!” Becky blurted. “It seemed like we might as well, since it was broken anyway.”
It took a little back and forth to get the story out, but finally it came back to Pippi and with halting words she explained. “We were just looking. We-we weren’t even touching—I swear!” She fixed a pleading look on Angel, and then shifted it to Master Derek. “It was so beautiful... with all of the little people.”
Her voice trailed off and she looked down. Master Derek gave her a second and then cleared his throat. “Continue, Piper.”
“It was mostly my fault,” she admitted in a low voice, barely above a whisper. “I was leaning on the table, to get a closer look at the little animals. They were so precious and small and I…” She started to cry, fat tears rolling down her face.
Pippi struggled to get her breath, swallowing back the sniffles. “I sort of, um, someone bumped me, and I fell forward. Before I knew what happened one of the walls tipped over and…” She shook her head. “I tried to lift it back into place, but it broke in half and then Mindy went to help and... well it started melting and there was a mess.”
Angel’s expression lightened. “Ah… I see. So it really was an accident?” He looked at the others, as if searching for confirmation.
Pippi nodded. “And I didn’t even eat any, because I felt so bad about it.” She snuck a look at the others but didn’t throw them under the bus. Judging by the guilt on their faces, it was obvious that she’d been the only one to refrain.
Mindy, in a defensive tone, said, “There was no sense in it going to waste. We only ate the broken pieces.”
“It was so good,” Becky added. And then swallowed hard as Master Derek shot them a look.
“So, what I’m understanding is that this was not deliberate?” Everyone nodded. “It was more of a tragic accident?” More nods and a few hopeful expressions as the Littles started to realize they might just get out of this without too much trouble.
Master Derek had other plans. “Which… would not have happened if you hadn’t been where you weren’t supposed to be.”
“But…” Mindy said
“No butts, except yours. All three of you know this room is off limits, which is why the door is usually kept locked. And you certainly all know better than to get in the middle of Angel’s work. If you hadn’t been at the table, it wouldn’t have been bumped, and all of this would have been avoided.”
“I’m not the one who broke anything. All I did was eat some chocolate,” Becky muttered in a low tone.
A sharp look from Master Derek silenced the protest, as he pulled out his phone and made a quick call. “Catherine, are you busy? We have a bit of a situation with Pippi, and your help would be useful. Yes… yes, she’s fine, but there’s been some trouble with her and some other Littles.”
As he talked, Pippi wilted, looking more and more nervous. Heaven felt bad for her. Being in trouble with Master Derek was never easy, but there was something especially hard about being in trouble with your own Mommy or Daddy.
“I think you’ll want to see it for yourself. We’re in the multi-purpose room, across from the classrooms… thank you.” He hung up and turned to Angel. “That should give us the right ratio, so each of these girls can get some one-on-one attention. What do you think?”
Angel nodded. He didn’t look as upset as he had before. Knowing it hadn’t been deliberate seemed to have lightened his mood, but that didn’t mean he thought they should get away with what they’d done. “Sounds like a plan... and I have just the thing.”
He strode over to a smaller table, currently piled with his tools and supplies. He pulled the lid off a plastic bin and there was a clatter as he sorted through it.
Heaven realized what he was looking for. Her backside tightened reflexively, and she had to remind herself that she wasn’t the one in trouble this time. The bin held, among other things, an assortment of rubber scraping spatulas. They came in all sizes, color coded so he could grab the right one easily, and now he pulled out several red ones.
The spatulas were useful for scraping batter from bowls, but also for spreading chocolate, so it was one tool that they both used frequently. The red ones had the widest tips, and unfortunately, that made them great for spanking. Heaven had firsthand experience with how much the rubber stung when it landed on bare skin.
“I think these will do nicely,” he said, as he handed one to Master Derek. “Heaven seems to find them effective, don’t you, chiquita ?”
She gulped and nodded with a quick head bob. “Yes, Daddy. Uh… very effective.” She shifted from one foot to the other, only settling when his attention moved away. In trouble or not, she’d prefer they forgot her presence entirely.
Being around punishment made her stomach squirmy, and she wanted to watch. There was a naughty little thrill in seeing other people get spanked, but there was always a fear that somehow she’d end up joining them. Maybe that was part of what made it exciting.
Master Derek and her Daddy had moved a few steps away and were discussing the situation in low whispers. As curious as she was, she wasn’t going to risk moving closer to listen.
“Sorry, I had to wrap something up and it took longer than I expected,” Doctor Denten said, as she swept through the door, looking calm and collected as always. Her short brown hair was perfectly tidy, and she wore an elegant charcoal pantsuit that showed off her long legs to perfection.
She moved toward the men but stopped short as she saw the castle. “Oh dear.” Her eyes flicked to the guilty three, and then settled on the Little who belonged to her. “Oh, Pippi… you didn’t?” A sigh trailed the question, as if she didn’t even need the answer.
“It was an accident, Mommy. I swear,” Pippi explained. Her voice was so woeful that it was obvious how much she regretted everything.
Doctor Denten shook her head, but she touched Pippy lightly on the shoulder in a small gesture of reassurance. She turned to Angel and Master Derek. “I think I understand the problem, but maybe you could fill me in on the details?”
There was no whispering for this part. Everyone in the room could hear the clear, concise version of events that Master Derek had gathered from the trio. And with every word the three looked more miserable. Shoulders slumping, heads bowing, small sniffles and the occasional tear made it clear that they all felt bad—or at least felt bad about being caught.
Doctor Denten just sighed and accepted one of the spatulas, turning it over in her hand and even giving it a practice swing to test it. “I think this will do.
“Well, ladies, are you ready for your punishment?” Master Derek asked.
“No, Sir,” Becky said, sounding quite sincere.
His mouth twitched, almost as though he were amused, but he just shook his head. “I’m afraid that was a rhetorical question, since punishment is ready for you.” Master Derek looked over at Angel. “Would you mind handling Mindy, while I take care of this one?” he asked, gesturing toward Becky.
Heaven’s Daddy rarely punished anyone, aside from her, of course. He was generally fairly easygoing and his work simply didn’t put him in the position of needing to discipline the Littles of the Ranch often. However, under the circumstances he was more than willing.
“Absolutely.” Angel grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to the chocolate disaster. Then, after a second’s pause, he turned it to the side and took a seat before crooking a finger at Mindy. “Come here, young lady.”
With the slowest steps possible, Mindy moved over to stand in front of him. He patted his lap, and she let out a long sigh as she started to go over his knee. He stopped her. “Other way. I want you to keep your eyes on the castle while I paddle your backside. It will be a good reminder of why you’re being punished.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Doctor Denten said. “Pippi, fetch me a chair, sweetheart.”
“The punishment definitely fits the crime. You three wanted to see Angel’s work so badly, now you’ll get a nice long look,” Master Derek pointed out, sounding pleased as he dragged a third chair over.
It wasn’t the first time Heaven Leigh had seen a group spanking. With so many Littles all in one place, it was natural for them to get in trouble together. And Littles who got in trouble together, were often spanked together.
But it was the first time she’d ever seen such an odd positioning, with one just behind the other. Each Dominant could only see a little bit of the spanking that was happening directly in front of them, and none of the one behind them. Heaven Leigh, on the other hand, found that if she moved back far enough, she could see all three bottoms being turned bright red with the nasty rubber spatulas.
It was a fascinating show, especially since she wasn’t waiting for her turn and could just enjoy it. She hadn’t been on the Ranch long before she realized that there was something compelling about watching other people being punished. She couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty, but it was exciting, sometimes, even arousing to be a voyeur.
This time there was an extra bit of “something” to the show since her Daddy was involved. She’d never seen him spank someone else before, and she was curious about how she’d feel watching him. She wondered if she’d be jealous. He was her Daddy after all, not Mindy’s.
When you were a Little who lived on the Ranch, and you had a Caregiver who worked there, you got used to the idea that they would dole out discipline to others as needed. She’d known that going in, of course. She’d also been the recipient of spankings from other Caregivers, like Sadie’s Daddy, Master Derek. So it was fair.
But this was her first chance to see Angel put another Little over his lap, and there were definitely some feelings swirling around in her head. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe envy, maybe… it was too many different feelings to sort out in the moment. She’d have to deconstruct it all later.
By the time he’d landed the kitchen implement a dozen or so times though, she had decided she was perfectly happy to let Mindy have this one. The bright red splotches looked painful and having felt the hard rubber on her own bottom before, she knew they probably felt even worse.
“Do you have any idea how many hours of work you ruined?” he asked, as the spatula flew through the air.
“I didn’t break it! It wasn’t me!” It seemed important that she clarify her part in this, but Heaven didn’t think it was going to do any good—and she was right.
Angel snorted. “That didn’t stop you from eating it though, did it? And fixing chocolate is a lot easier when all the pieces are still there and not melted by naughty Little hands.”
He peppered Mindy’s bare wiggling cheeks, even landing a few on her thighs, when she kicked too much. It was hard for Heaven to drag her gaze away from them, but there were two more spankings happening and she didn’t want to miss them.
Each spanking was different, but all of them were thorough, and it wasn’t long before the gasps and whimpers had turned into yelps and cries. Heaven tried not to make it too obvious that she was fascinated with the scene unfolding in front of her.
Doctor Denten had a crisp, efficient way of spanking. She scolded Pippi in a low voice, as her arm swept up and down with exquisite aim and a quick tempo. Poor Pippi seemed to be getting the worst of it—which was probably fair. She’d been the one to bump the table and cause the damage.
Becky, of the three, was the loudest and most expressive. She kicked and flailed her arms as Master Derek brought the spatula down with firm strokes. Every time it landed it left a crimson swatch on her skin, and he was working hard to make sure that the color spread evenly.
He had to keep pausing to direct Becky’s attention back to the chocolate display, since the pain was distracting her from where she was supposed to be looking. “I’m sorry, Sir! I’m sorry!”
“What are you sorry for, young lady?” He didn’t pause to allow her to answer the question, and the red spatula kept swooping up and down.
“F-for eating the c-chocolate!”
“Is that all?”
There was a moment of silence. It had to be hard for her to come up with an answer while the rubber kept burning her bottom. “For coming in the room when I knew we weren’t allowed,” she finally added.
“Correct. It was an accident, but it wouldn’t have happened if you all weren’t somewhere you shouldn’t have been, right, girls?” he said, pitching his voice loud enough to be heard by all three.
There was a chorus of “Yes, Sirs!” from all the naughty girls.
Heaven wondered if that was a signal for the spankings to come to an end, but it wasn’t over, not quite yet. In fact, the worst part was coming. Each spanking had begun with its own rhythm and tempo, but now, as if working to a beat that only Dominants could hear, all three spankers suddenly synched up for the grand finale.
The identical spatulas flew faster and harder as they rounded third base and headed for home. The slapping sound as rubber met sore, red flesh seemed to fill the room. The cries of three well-spanked Littles almost, but not quite, drowned it out.
Heaven couldn’t have looked away even if she’d been ordered to. She didn’t need to see their faces to know that all three were crying. The sniffles and wails were obvious, and as things wrapped up with the traditional last few extra-hard spanks, there was a wave of loud sobbing.
Even though she’d been upset that they’d ruined Angel’s work, and her own, Heaven now felt bad for them. She knew how much those rubber spatulas hurt. Now that it was over, she realized she’d been holding her breath through the ending and let it out in a whoosh. It was loud enough that it caught her Daddy’s attention, and he looked over at her, one eyebrow shooting up.
“You okay there, Heaven Leigh?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she assured him. And, with attention being brought to her, she suddenly felt awkward about being a spectator. Besides, aftercare was a lot less interesting to watch. “I’m going to go and start melting chocolate so we can replace the wall, okay?”
Angel hesitated. “That’s fine, chiquita . Just keep an eye on—” He cut himself off and shook his head. “Never mind, you can handle it. I’ll be there shortly.” Obviously he knew by now that Heaven could manage simple chocolate tasks without his supervision, but sometimes it did take a second for that knowledge to catch up.
“Thank you, Daddy.” She flashed him a grin, saying without words that she appreciated the way he’d corrected himself, and off to the kitchen she went.