Reforming Little Anya by Rose St. Andrews Read Free Book Online Page B

goooodd, not fall asleeeppp,” she wailed.
    He was unmoved, and she got the full two dozen. Never had she felt something so painful. That little ruler was like a blowtorch of pain almost literally cooking her poor behind.
    “All right, little girl, back to your seat,” he ordered.
    “Yes, sir,” she said, straightening up and flipping her skirt down.
    She slowly plodded back to her chair, which suddenly seemed harder than she remembered, and had no trouble staying awake for the rest of the lessons. As it turned out, some of the subjects were actually interesting. She also wrote the letter of apology, which he reviewed to insure she’d used proper English and that the grammar and format were correct. Any mistakes would earn her more of the ruler, but she was supremely confident. She almost laughed out loud when he got all flustered at not finding a punishable error, and up on the wall the letter went.
    Lunchtime finally arrived. Jessica was able to stand up, and the girls went outside to eat their sandwiches. Again, they were huge stacked collections of meat, cheese, and other fresh food items. Their drink was more of that thick milk. If Jessica stayed here for any length of time, she’d double her weight! The girls gathered around to congratulate her on avoiding severe punishments from Mr. Craznik. It seemed she was the first to do so; he was a real hard-ass when it came to discipline. Jessica realized that she could help the girls with their homework and thus win them over.
    “Wow, you’re smart, Anya,” Iva said.
    “Well, I have a gift for learning. Tell you what, I’ll help you girls, I’ll do your homework for you.”
    They all gasped and recoiled, as if in horror. They refused, all of them. It seemed they were too honest to cheat!
    “Okay, so you don’t like that idea,” she said. “How about I just tutor all of you?”
    That they agreed to. She even worked a special deal with Iva: she’d tutor her in all her subjects in exchange for lessons in Czech. Iva loved that idea. Jessica didn’t think she’d actually need to know their language, but she’d learned from the past: hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Worst-case scenario, she could be trapped here for a while. In that event, she’d need to be able to communicate with the local yokels.
    After lunch, it was time to work in the garden. Iva led Jessica toward the house.
    “Come on, we need to go inside and change into our work clothes,” she explained.
    Jessica was not looking forward to this. God, working outdoors, doing… natural stuff? Yuck, it’s going to be horrid. Oh, well, at least it won’t be a pain in the ass, in the literal sense.
    “Just a minute, girls,” Misha called out. “I need to see Iva and Anya.”
    Jessica swallowed hard. What have I done now? Oh, it was Mr. Craznik; he must have told Miss Monster-Ma’am about me falling asleep, and another spanking is coming.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Iva happily trotted over to Misha, coming out the back door.
    Yeah, sure, she was forever chipper, Jessica thought, even as she dragged her feet, dreading the possibilities. But then, something occurred to her: Why has she also sent for Iva? She hasn’t done anything. Jessica smiled; something else had to be up.
    The two stood before Misha, and she smiled down at them. “Girls, I want you to go to the farmers’ market to shop,” she said, handing them baskets. She gave Iva a list and some money. “Here’s what we need, and money to pay for it. If you can’t find everything on the list, just get some other things. Iva, I trust your judgment.”
    Iva took the list and money, and beamed with joy. “Yes, ma’am. Don’t you worry, we’ll do a good job. Come on, Anya, this’ll be fun.”
    “Ahhh, yeah, right, I’m sure it will,” she replied without emotion.
    “Now, don’t take too long, girls,” Misha said, her tone just a touch menacing.
    Jessica chewed her lip. Ah, there it was, the very thinly veiled threat: come