Tales of the Tournaments

July 27, 2023

Australia vs. Nigeria, Brisbane, halftime, 1-1

Steph Catley herded the team into the dressing room, making sure to give Emily van Egmond a pleased smile. "Well done, Em, you've done a good job," she told their goalscorer quietly.

"I've just done what was expected of me, Steph - I mean, Cap," Emily replied, and Steph nodded.

"Exactly. You did what was expected of you." She turned, letting her gaze sweep the rest of the assembled Matildas. Her eyes found Alanna Kennedy and Ellie Carpenter, perched on the bench on either side of the still-injured Sam Kerr, but she flicked past them to look directly at Caitlin Foord.

Her Arsenal teammate looked back with a stare that bordered on insolent.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, Caitlin?" Steph demanded, and Caitlin blinked, taken slightly aback.

"Dunno what you mean, Steph," she said slowly.

"Uh, hello. Yellow card? Does that mean anything to you, Caitlin? You let them get a goal in because you fouled up!" Steph folded her arms and glared, and Caitlin grinned insouciantly. 

"Oh, that. Wasn't it funny when she went flying though? It was a real laugh, come on Steph, you would've done it too you know. Looked bloody hilarious, all flattened like that." Caitlin smirked.

Steph closed her eyes briefly and drew in a breath. I have to do this, she thought, gritting her teeth. Still keeping her eyes on Caitlin, she braced one leg on the bench. "Come here, Caitlin," she said, hoping her voice wouldn't waver. "Right now. Let's have this over with before we have to go back out there."

The room seemed to be holding its breath, but Caitlin just sputtered, laughing in disbelief. "Okay Steph, come on, you've had your little joke," she protested. "You're not really. You can't smack me, fuck's sake, we've been smacked together before."

"Do you see this armband, Caitlin?" Steph asked through gritted teeth.

Caitlin didn't bother to look, just nodded carelessly. "Yeah."

"I'm Captain today, not Sam," Steph said. "That means when I tell you to do something, you do it."

"But you can't smack me, Steph!" Caitlin repeated, shaking her head. "Come on, please, you've never smacked me before..."

"There's a first time for everything," Sam spoke up, getting the Matildas' collective attention. "She's going to have to learn sometime."

"She wouldn't if it was Lia," Ellie spoke up. "She'd have obeyed Lia like that." The younger Matilda snapped her fingers, and Caitlin whipped around to stare at her.

"Don't you say her name to me!"

"Lia," Ellie retorted, arms folded. She stuck her tongue out for good measure.

"Ellie Madison Carpenter, that is enough." 

The ring of authority in Steph's voice stopped the little blonde cold, and she winced.

"Sorry, Steph," she said quickly.

"Not sorry as you're going to be. Come here right now. And you." Steph glared at Caitlin. "I will deal with you later. You better pray you keep a clean game the rest of this match, little girl."

Caitlin sputtered indignantly, but finally had the sense to stay quiet.

Ellie darted a quick look at Sam, who shook her head. Sam nudged Ellie to her feet, giving her a gentle pat on the bottom to get her moving in the right direction. "Do as Steph says, Ellie."

"But Mummy..." Ellie sniffed, and Sam shook her head. 

"She's Captain right now, little Joey. And you know the rule about being Captain."

"You gotta do what they say." Ellie sighed. "But I'm sorry Mummy. I want to be good."

"Then you'll be a good girl and go to Steph before her leg cramps up and she really gets mad."

Ellie's shoulders slumped. "Don't wanna be good about that," she said reluctantly, and Sam laughed, shaking her head.

"But you will, angel. Can you be a good girl for Mummy and take your smacks for Auntie Steph, so Cait can see how to be a good girl?"

Ellie sniffled and nodded. "No slipper?"

Sam shared a look with Steph, who nodded.

"No slipper, kiddo. Come on." 

"Can I have my Roo?"

"You're stalling, sweetheart," Steph said, even as Alanna fished Ellie's stuffed Roo out of her sports bag and handed the plush over. Her last excuse gone, Ellie shuffled to Steph's side and let Steph tug her into position, hugging the plush toy tightly.

"Auntie Steph?" 

"Yeah, little?"

"I am really sorry, promise."

"Then you shouldn't have done it, El. Hold still for me now." 

Ellie squeaked as Steph tugged her shorts down, blushing as her orange panties were exposed to the room. Steph had been half expecting it, and merely shook her head, before swatting down with her hand.

"Ow!" Ellie yelped, squirming through the nine swats that followed, and sniffling into Roo's back as she buried her face in the soft cloth.

Then Ellie was on her feet again, shorts pulled back up, and Steph tugged the younger girl into her arms, offering her a water bottle. 

Ellie accepted sips, and even 'gave' a sip to Roo once the bottle was closed, getting a fond grin from Steph.

"Roo's thirsty too, huh?"

"Uh huh. Mummy says looking after me is hard work."

"She's not wrong, but we do it because we love you. All of you," Steph promised.

Ellie nodded and accepted Steph’s hug of forgiveness, and a light kiss on her blonde hair. She went back to Sam for another hug, and then it was time to head back out for the second half.

“We’ll turn this around,” Steph told the team. “We can win this together. It’s just tied, we can pull it back.”

“Together,” the other Matildas agreed as they headed back out onto the field.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. 

Nigeria made a number of substitutions around the hour mark, and they made a mark for Nigeria almost right away. In the sixty-fifth minute, Osinache Ohale scored, and a few minutes later, the Super Falcons star Asisat Oshoala pounded one home.

Nigeria were up 3-1 over the wearying Matildas, and anger pounded in Steph’s chest. If Cait hadn’t let them equalise, if they hadn’t got the confidence to pull ahead….

She knew it wasn’t quite fair to blame everything on her best friend, her pranking twin at Arsenal. But Cait’s refusal to take any responsibility whatsoever had annoyed Steph thoroughly.

If the soccer gods had any mercy on the Matildas at all, it was that Asisat almost immediately got yellow carded, too, meaning Steph wasn't the only Captain who had to deal with a superstar turned brat. However, Steph thought Asisat might be more compliant with her Captain than Caitlin had been at least - not that she'd ever find out. It wasn't as though Asisat would be in real trouble, she'd just pulled off her jersey in goal celebration, exposing her black sports bra to the stadium. It was a common enough move nowadays, albeit always yellow carded since Brandi Chastain had been the first woman to do it in 1999. So the Nigerian Captain wasn't likely to censure Asisat too harshly.

As the match wound to a close with no further goals or cards to either side, ten minutes of extra time were called. The Matildas tried their best to pull back in that time, but it was Alanna Kennedy who, at the very end of extra time, finally managed to get one past the Nigerian keeper.

3-2.

The whistle rang out on a loss for the home team, the co-hosts. The shattered Matildas made their way into the locker room, some even unable to look at each other. They scattered through the room singly, in pairs, or in one case, threes, since Alanna and Ellie were clinging so determinedly to Sam.

“Mummy, are you better yet?” Alanna asked softly, and Sam sighed, shaking her head. 

“Almost, Joey. Not quite.”

“But you got to,” Ellie begged. 

“Please, Mummy, you have to, we can’t--” Alanna added

“Alanna Stephanie, you scored today,” Sam cut in sharply. “It might have been last minute, it might not have been enough, but you scored. Don’t let anyone say that you didn’t. You can do this without me if you have to. Get it together, both of you.”

The two younger girls sighed and stared at the floor, nodding.

“Sorry,” they chorused, leaning into Sam. When it was time to head out on the bus, they stuck close to Sam, keeping wary eyes on Steph and Caitlin.

“Is Caitlin in the biggest trouble ever, Mummy?”

“Pretty big, I’d say, little Roo,” Sam said, petting Ellie’s hair and giving Caitlin a sideways look. “We’re not going to bother Caitlin or Auntie Steph about it, are we?”

“No Mummy,” her girls responded obediently.

Blushing, Caitlin slouched in her seat next to Steph.

“You’re not really,” she tried again, pleading.

“I am really, Caitlin Jade Foord, so you better get used to the idea.”

Caitlin winced. “Fucking hell, you sound like Kim. Or Leah. Don’t do that.”

“It’s my job to do that. You better be glad I don’t have Kim’s tawse.”

Caitlin blanched. “You wouldn’t. For a yellow card?”

“For a yellow card and then constantly sassing and disrespecting me afterward,” Steph corrected quietly. “You think Kim or Leah would take that? Have they ever?”

“...no,” Caitlin said. “I’m sorry, Steph, it’s not that you can’t, not really, it’s just that I really don’t want you to. It’s you, what if it changes us?”

Steph rested her palm on the back of Caitlin’s neck, rubbing gently. “It won’t, Cait,” she promised, softening just a little. “You’re still my best friend. But I have to be Captain for now. Please, make this easier for both of us?”

Slowly, reluctantly, Caitlin nodded.

When they got to their room, Steph shut and locked the door. “Go get changed for bed, but don’t put your pajama bottoms on,” she instructed. “Just get them out and sit on the bed. Oh, and get your hairbrush.”

Caitlin’s eyes went wide as the instructions clicked into place, but she didn’t fight it. At least it wasn’t Kim and her fucking tawse, she thought, going over to her bed and quickly changing into her thigh-length, long-sleeved pajama top, and fuzzy socks. The long pj bottoms that went with the top were pulled out, but Cait laid them out on the bed as she carried out Steph’s orders, 

Then, she waited.

Steph crossed the room to Caitlin’s bed when her roommate was (half) dressed. “You know what’s about to happen, Caitlin Jade. We’ve taken it from Kim together before,” she said, and reluctantly, Caitlin nodded.

“Uh huh. I mean, yes ma’am.”

“You can leave that bit off, I’m not Kim,” Steph reassured Caitlin, who fell back on the bed with a sigh.

“Thank everloving fuck for that.”

“I really should add extra swats for that, but again, I’m not Kim, and you really weren’t swearing at me, so I’ll forget about it. Legs up, and grab hold,” Steph ordered, and Caitlin blushed brick red as she obeyed, lifting up her vulnerable bottom, clad only in thin boxer briefs.

It wasn’t often that Caitlin had been spanked like this - lying on her back, legs clutched to her chest - though Kim had done it a couple times and Leah once, in tandem with Kim. 

“Figured this was fitting, since this was pretty much how you looked when you kicked down that Nigerian girl.”

Oh. Right. 

Caitlin squirmed. “Yes, Steph, I understand.” She took a shuddering breath.

“Keep a tight hold, now.” Steph swatted down firmly, beginning with her hand, and Caitlin held tightly to her legs, trying not to squirm out of position as Steph continued to smack her. The position was so vulnerable, she hated it more than any other, and the fact it was Steph - Caitlin found tears blurring her vision as she counted up silently to sixteen swats.

“Fucking ow….”

“I know,” Steph sighed. “Not done yet though, Cait.”

“I know,” Caitlin sniffled miserably as the hairbrush began its descent.

If Steph’s hand had been bad, the brush was infinitely worse. Caitlin sobbed her way through the dozen punishing swats, gasping by the time Steph was finished with her.

“You can let go now, Cait,” Steph allowed, putting the brush aside, and Caitlin did, curling up on her side and sobbing.

“Ow…fuck, sorry, Steph, sorry I fucked up, I really am…”

Steph nodded, running a hand over the back of Caitlin’s neck. “There now, there, cry it out, it’s alright, just you and me, I’ll get you some water in a minute, Cait. But it’s all finished and forgiven, you did so good for me, Cait, sweetheart, I promise nothing’s changed, it’s still you and me when we go back home, okay?”

Sniffling, Caitlin nodded, accepting the water bottle Steph brought her and drinking slowly. She allowed Steph to help her into her pj bottoms, and tuck her into bed. “I…you won’t do it like that again, will you? If you have to smack me I mean?”

“Listen to me the first time, if there’s a next time, and I promise we’ll have it over and done with right away, and not like this,” Steph said consolingly. “But let’s try for there not to be a next time, okay?” 

Caitlin managed a glimmer of a smile. “Until we’re back home and can do it together, you mean. I’d much rather be in trouble with you than with you.”

“Of course,” Steph agreed. “Me, too. But for now, I’m in charge until Sam comes back, so it’s easier if you cooperate. Right?”

“Right,” Caitlin yawned, and Steph smiled, smoothing the covers over Caitlin.

“Sleep, Cait. You’ll feel loads better tomorrow.”

“Night, Steph,” Caitlin whispered, and in moments, she was asleep despite her soundly smacked bottom.

Steph wasn’t long in following Caitlin to bed. It had been a long day.