Despite the fact I had needed to punish Francesca for having the packet of cigarettes in the house, I was actually feeling very confident she was over the worse of her addictive tendencies, particularly the alcoholism which was by far the greater worry. It had been several weeks without any major issues and I was actually feeling pretty damn smug that my highly unorthodox approach was actually going to be successful. It helped me feel better about the obvious sexual gratification I was getting from the whole situation.
However I should have realised it was never going to be that easy. In my younger years I use to love to listen to the "Sunscreen Song" sung by Baz Luhrman. One of its numerous prophetic lines speaks of trouble blindsiding you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday when you least expect it. Never a truer word said. I arrived home from town at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon and immediately became concerned as Abigail had arrived home from school but Francesca had not been at the gate to collect her off the school bus. A quick search of the house and surrounding orchard revealed nothing, so I bundled Abigail into the car and drove the short distance to Paula and Dave's neighbouring property where they ran their boutique winery.
On arriving I found Paula in her house. She immediately began looking sheepish when I asked her if she had seen Francesca. Eventually she confessed she had picked up Francesca from our house earlier in the afternoon and brought her around for a cup of coffee
"A cup of coffee?" I scowled.
"To be honest there was a bottle of our latest wine on the table and I did allow her to sample it."
"You did what!" I bellowed. "How could you be so dumb? Just tell me how much the two of you ended up drinking."
Paula looked close to tears. She realised she had screwed up. "We did have a second glass."
"And the rest," I accused.
"No honestly," Paula defended herself. "As Francesca was finishing her second glass she suddenly began crying and then ran out of the house. She ran across the yard in the direction of your house so I assumed she was going home. Oh, Jane, I am so sorry."
"Where is Grand-mere Fran?" my 7 year old daughter, Abigail fretted.
Grand-mere Fran is what my daughter affectionately calls Francesca. Grand-mere being French for Grandmother.
"I am not sure, honey. You stay here with Paula while Mummy has a look." With that I began retracing the track Francesca would have taken if walking the couple of miles back to our house.
On the boundary of our property there is an old disused packing shed and I noticed the door was slightly ajar. I pocked my head in and after my eyes adjusted to the darkness I made out the huddled shape of Francesca curled up in one corner. As she looked up and saw me she immediately burst into tears and began apologizing profusely for what she had done. She admitted she could not believe she had acted so dumbly. She was so ashamed of herself she could not bare going home, knowing she had let everybody down, including herself.
I genuinely felt sorry for her and decided nothing would be served by berating her at that point, so I held her tight and let her cry before walking her the rest of the way to our house. I rang up a very relieved Paula to tell her Francesca was okay, and a short time later she dropped off Abigail, who was much relieved to see Grand-mere Fran. Paula did not wait around as she could tell I was angry.
Francesca was covered with grime from being in the old packing shed so I ran a bath for her and Abigail to share. When Francesca re-emerged she was wearing her bath robe and looking a lot more composed. She joined me in the kitchen for a coffee.
"Can you ever forgive me?" Francesca gazed at me with sad puppy dog eyes, but I knew her regret was genuine.
"Yes I can," I answered honestly. "You at least had the sense to stop drinking before you fell off the rails. And for that you can be applauded. But you know you will be punished, and punished severely?"
"I know. I deserve to be punished and I want to be punished as a reminder to never, ever, act so dumb again in my life."
I had not given thought as to how Francesca might be punished, but I knew a simple one-night hand spank would not suffice.
"You will be punished every night this week until Sunday," I decided.
"Every night!" Francesca complained. "But today is only Tuesday."
"Correct. Do you have a problem with that? If you think I am being too harsh then give me you reasons?"
She hung her head. "No, you are right. It is what I deserve."