549 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
549 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
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The old Victorian building looked gray and forbidding in the late
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evening twilight. The lawn in front of the conservatory had taken a
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deep dark green hue and the trees and shrubs surrounding it seemed
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almost black.
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Although it was barely nine-thirty, no light shone from any of the
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windows. Curfew was at nine at Clareview Boarding school, and the
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house had settled into the peace of a typical mid-term night.
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From the edge of the lawn, there was a slow and careful movement. A
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girl, half crouching in the undergrowth, was carefully inspecting the
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building in front of her.
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She wore white running shoes, white ankle socks, thin navy-blue silk
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shorts, a white running vest. It had been a hot sunny day, but now the
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cool of the late evening brought a shiver to her arms. Her skin was
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the golden brown of a fit athlete, and her young body was lithe, firm
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and fully developed. Her natural blonde hair was tied in a pony tail.
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That afternoon, nearly all the girls at the school had set off on a
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weekly cross-country run. Down by the river she had paused and let the
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other girls disappear into the distance - and then spent a wonderful,
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wonderous afternoon with Martin.
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They had eaten a picnic tea on the river bank: afterwards an
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unbelievable five times had he brought her to mind-numbing,
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body-shaking, climaxes. Now her body was spent, yet fulfilled and
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totally satiated.
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But now she needed to get to her dormitory bed, hopefully without
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discovery, and tomorrow she could, perhaps, make everyone think she had
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got back much earlier. In the distance an owl hooted softly, and
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overhead a pair of pipistrelle bats fluttered back and forth hunting for
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flying insects.
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She moved slowly round to her right, to make her way to the side door -
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on numerous occasions, for many reasons, that door had remained unlocked
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all night. And then she saw her chance - the door from the main hall
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to the patio had been left ajar. She could hardly believe her luck.
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Even if she was spotted immediately she passed through the hall, she
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would be so close to one of the downstairs bathrooms, she would have all
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sorts of chances to bluff her way through.
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She braced herself, took a deep breath and then ran quietly across the
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lawn and over the patio. She paused at the door and listened. There
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was total silence. So far, so good.
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Carefully, without disturning the door, she silently crept into the main
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hall. Again she paused.
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Before her eyes could become fully adjusted to the gloom there was a
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sudden click. The small prefect's desk near to the patio door was
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bathed in the golden yellow light of a lamp.
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Sitting behind the desk was Miss Pettigrew, an elderly frail woman,
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headmistress of Claireview School.
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She pursed her wrinkled lips into a look of intense disapproval. "And
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where, pray, have you been until this time of night?"
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Jennifer nearly fell against the door in her startled shock. "I'm
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sorry, Miss," she blurted out. Her mind raced for some plausible
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excuse, but almost as a looker-on, she heard herself say that she had
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sat down to rest for a minute and fallen asleep.
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She almost bit her lip at the lameness of her story.
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"This is not the first time, Jones. It had better be the last."
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She hung her head. "Yes miss"
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"Let me make it quite clear, Jones. If you ever play truant again, and
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miss bedtime curfew, you will be birched in front of the whole school
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and then you will be expelled. I simply will not tolerate your total
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disregard and selfish behaviour. Is that quite clear".
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"Yes miss" .
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"You may feel grateful that you are not going to be birched on this
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occasion. However, you are gated for the next month and you will help
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Cook in the kitchen by doing kitchen chores for the next four
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week-ends."
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"Yes miss"
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"And you will now receive nine strokes of the cane!" she snapped with
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firm satisfaction.
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Nine? Jennifer was incredulous with disbelief. Four was all anyone
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ever got for cutting curfew - out all night was only six. "But that
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isn't ...", she started
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"Miss Grimshaw!" called Miss Pettigrew, cutting Jennifer short.
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Jennifer hadn't seen Grimshaw standing in the shadows, and her heart
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sank as she realized that Grimshaw was going to the beating. Grimshaw
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was tall and heavy, but as the physical education mistress, she had
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developed a strong right arm that kept the girls in respectful and
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distant awe of her.
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It slowly dawned on Jennifer that they had set a trap for her by
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leaving the door open, and she like some dumb fourth former had walked
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right into it. She felf anger at herself for getting into this mess,
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and dismay at the prospect of her immediate future. She had been caned
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before and had no desire to repeat the experience.
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Grimshaw stepped forward and stood in front of Jennifer. Her black
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hair was set in a severe bud, and she was wearing a heavy tweed skirt
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and light white blouse. She was carrying a wooden cane, perhaps three
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feet long or slightly less. The tip just touched the floor by
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Grimshaw's side. The cane was made of ashwood, hard, smooth and very
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whippy - tapering from a half inch diameter in her hand, down to a
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quarter of an inch at its tip.
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Grimshaw lay the cane down across the desk, and started to roll up her
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right sleeve. "You know the rules, Jones?" she asked.
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"Yes Miss"
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"If you talk, argue, attempt to get up or try to block any stroke, you
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will get extra strokes added. Quite clear?"
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"Yes Miss"
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She picked up the cane, and pointed at the desk with her left hand.
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"Bend over, please"
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Jennifer stepped over to the desk. She put her hands on the far side,
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and lowered herself down across it. She moved her elbows outwards, and
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used the backs of her hands to cushion her face from the wooden surface
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of the desk
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Miss Pettigrew had taken up station by her right, and Grimshaw was
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behind to her left. Jennifer felt the tip of the cold and hard cane
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lying lightly across her buttocks, and she braced herself for the first
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stroke.
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There was an unexpected long pause.
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Grimshaw looked down at Jennifer's bottom. Her shorts had ridden up to
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reveal half of each cheek, and the cane's position meant that the
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strokes would cut across the hems of the shorts. That didn't seem quite
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right, so after considering the alternatives, she finally stepped
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forward and pulled the material of leg up over each buttock. Yes,
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that was much better she thought - and, to all intents and purposes, the
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girl would now get a bare bottom beating. Yes, much better.
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She stood back and took up position again, laying the cane across the
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center of Jennifer's bare backside.
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Jennifer knew precisely what had happened, and could feel the wedge of
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material tight between the cheeks of her bottom, and the cold stick
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lying across it. Again she took a deep breath and braced herself.
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The room was now totally silent, and in darkness save for the desk and
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its victim bathed in yellow light.
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Grimshaw swung the cane straight backwards then lifted it up over her
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shoulder, rasing her arm and twisting her wrist so that the cane pointed
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down her back. In a smooth and fluid arch she lifted her heels and
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started the downstroke.
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The cane made a noise that sounded rather like "Whick" - a sharp "whi"
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as the cane swished through the air, and a loud "Crack" as contact was
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made.
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Jennifer gasped, and her large blue eyes swam with tears from the
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searing burning sensation. A ride stripe, quarter of an inch wide,
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slightly longer on the right cheek than the left, marked clearly the
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site of her pain.
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"One!" called Miss Pettigrew.
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Jennifer now knew this was going to be bad. She clenched her fists and
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her teeth as she heard the sound of the second stroke - whhhhh- ick!
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Despite herself she cried out and a second red stripe appeared parallel
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and just below the first.
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"Two!"
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Whhh - ick! "Three!" Whhhhh -ick! "Four!"
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Jennifer was crying freely, and each stroke brought forth a cry of pain.
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There was a thin patina of persperation on Grimshaw's forehead, which
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gleamed in the reflected light. She paused for a moment to regain her
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breath, and push her right sleeve back over her upper arm.
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The four long lines on Jennifer's bottom lay in a band less than two
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inches wide. They were an agry red color, and the first and highest
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mark was beginning to rise into a welt.
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Jennifer's universe had shrunk into enduring the remainder of her
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punishment - it was only the threat of extra pain that gave her the
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resolve to remain motionless across the desk. Four strokes was surely
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enough, she thought. The sting was already quite dreadful - and there
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was still five more cuts to come.
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Grimshaw placed the next five strokes over the top of the previous ones,
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and, each time, increased the force of the downstroke. Jennifer's
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cries raised in pitch and volume, and the ninth stroke produced a scream
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of anquish that echoed around the room.
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And then it was over.
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Grimshaw stood back again and started to unroll her sleeve down her arm.
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Pettigrew waited for Jennifer to regain some of her composure. They
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looked with dispassionate interest at the state of her bottom, several
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of the welts on her right cheek showing signs of laceration.
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Jennifer's sobs began to slacken, and slowly and painfully she pushed
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herself upright. The pain was almost intolerable. She turned to face
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her tormentors, and winced as she pulled the hem of her shorts back down
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into place over her bottom.
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Her face was pale and drawn, her eyes seem to have shrunk into their
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sockets.
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"Right, off to bed with you girl. And remember, if you ever do this
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again, you will really suffer."
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Jennifer nodded silently, and limped to the door. She left without
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looking back.
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Jennifer pushed the door behind her and stepped into the darkened hall.
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She limped down to the bathroom, flushed her face with cold water.
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Painfully she pulled her running shorts down over her bottom, and using
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paper towels soaked in water, bathed the welts and bruises the best she
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good. She looked over her shoulder into a mirror to look at the marks
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Grimshaw had made.
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She felt a mixture of rage and dispair - nine strokes for missing curfew
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was so unfair, and her gating meant she wouldn't see Martin for four
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weeks or more.
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Slowly the fire subsided and her tears stopped flowing. She pulled
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her shorts up, and again the pressure of the fabric touching the bruised
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and striped flesh momentarily rekindled the sting.
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She left the bathroom, walked along the hall and started up the stairs
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to her dormitory, several times gently massaging her seat. She noticed
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the door to Perkin's study was open and the light was on. Jennifer
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started to edge past, but Perkins came to the door.
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"Ah, there you are. Step in for a minute."
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Perkins was in the upper sixth, medium height, medium looks and medium
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talent. But she was dorm prefect for Jennifer's dormitory and as such,
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she had considerable power over her charges.
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"Please, Perkins," said Jennifer, "can this wait til tomorrow ... I've
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just had nine off Grimshaw, and I really ..."
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"Yes, I could hear you getting them."she interrupted. "Really hurt,
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did it?"'
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"Dreadfully. I'm awfully sore."
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"Yes, I heard you yelling. That's good. Because of your caper,
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Jones, I have been sacked as dorm prerfect. Tonight is my last night
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in here." She waved her arm around the room - the bed neatly made up,
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the fire place screened until October, the desk by the window, the
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leather settee. "Tomorrow I'm back in the dorm. And I'm not one
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little bit pleased about that!"
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"I'm awfully sorry, Perkins, I didn't think..."
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"You never think, you little ass. And you are going to be very sorry.
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Normally, I would wait a couple of days or so to let someone get over a
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caning. But tonight is my very last opportunity to beat you. And I
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am not going to miss it."'
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Jennifer was aghast. "Surely not, you can't... " she protested
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"You'd better believe it. Now, take those shorts off."
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The idea of defiance flashed through Jennifer's mind, but the
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realisation that she would then answer to a dozen dorm prefects, in
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turn. She dismissed all thoughts of resistence.
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"I said take your shorts off. Do it. Now."
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Her thumbs went to the waist band, and she tugged downwards. Once more
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Jennifer winced as fabric rubbed against welted flesh. And then she
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held the shorts in a ball of silk in front of her as a mask of modesty
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for her little blonde bush of pubic hair.
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"No knickers? Don't bother telling me the sordid details. Just get
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yourself ready."
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A footstool had been placed square against the edge of the bed. It was
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cube shaped, eighteen inches wide, about the same height, and two feet
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long, covered in a red felt fabric.
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Jennifer sat astride it, facing the bed, rather like riding a horse or
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motorbike. Her feet were behind her, on the floor, with soles
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uppermost. She then lay flat across the stool and the bed, putting her
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arms and hands flat on the blue counterpane.
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The pressure of the footstool between her legs to keep them wide apart,
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and the subsequent bending motion, had lifted and separated her
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buttocks. The inner flesh had been turned outwards and flattened, so
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that her stripes now were bisected by a wide channel of pale, pink,
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flesh.
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There was no modesty whatsoever in her position.
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Perkins walked across, the paddle in her hand hanging down by her side.
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The paddle was rather like an English cricket bat - a round short handle
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attached to a two and half foot blade. But this blade was made of
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half-inch thick boot sole leather, and many a victim could testify to
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its efficiency as a tool of discipline.
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"Jones, you are an insufferable idiot." Perkins addressed the bare
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rump before her. "I have to spend my last six weeks in this bloody
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school in a bloody dormitory and its all your bloody fault!"
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Jennifer knew better than to make any comment.
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"Just be thankful you did get nine of Grimshaw, otherwise I would have
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organised a dorm birching for you. As it is, I will now take great
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satisfaction in leathering the living daylights out of you."
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There was no set count for a prefect's beating. The prefect would
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simply keep swinging the paddle until she was satisfied, exhausted or
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both.
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For the second time that evening, Jennifer braced herself for the first
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blow - but already her tears had started.
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Perkins laid the paddle across Jennifer's bottom, moved her position
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until she found one that meant each blow would land squarely on both
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cheeks. She took a deep breath and started the beating.
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From no particular plan, design or practice, she breathed in on the
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upstrokes and out on the downstrokes, with a snort, both of anger and as
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a means to release the energy in her body.
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Each paddle stroke landed approximately on top of all the previous ones,
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building a patch three inches wide and eight long of increasing redness
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across Jennifer's backside. The outer edges landed on skin already
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marked from the previous beating.
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The early strokes weren't too bad, not much worse than a mild slippering
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from mum. But the relentless repition over and over on the same spot
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built the pain up without remit.
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Although Jennifer was crying from the very start, she took the first
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three in virtual silence, the only sounds being the almighty whack of
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the paddle and Perkin's grunts.
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By the end of the second three, she was yelling in pain. And by the
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end of the beating, she had screamed herself back into silence, and was
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reduced to shaking her head and kicking her toes against the floor.
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Perkins, panting hard from her exertion, stood back in angry triumph.
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That had hurt her, and how.
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She went across and sat down in her armchair, and waited patiently for
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Jennifer to get control of herself.
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It took about five minutes before Jennifer's heaving sobs subsided, and
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she was able to get slowly to her feet. She picked up her shorts but
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didn't even try to put them back on. Her head remained bowed, and her
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knuckles were white.
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It took every ounce of effort to force the words through her lips:
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"Thank you, Perkins." The words were necessary - a breach of ritual at
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this moment could have resulted in her return to the stool for a short
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sharp reminder that she should never forget her manners.
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"Thank you, Jones. You may go now."
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Jennifer closed the door behind and stood on the landing for a moment.
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Two beatings in one night simply was just not fair. The pain throbbed
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through her bottom, deep inside the cheeks from the paddle, and a
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piercing bite from the cane over the rest of both cheeks..
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And everyone in the school must have heard her making a fool of herself,
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crying like a baby, unable to take a beating without letting the whole
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world know she couldn't cope with it.
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The one consolation was that by the time she saw Martin again the marks
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would have long faded. But not the memory.
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She climbed the stairs to the second storey to her dormitory. Slowly
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and painfully - every step sent echoes of pain through her posterior.
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Her long blonde hair hung loose and uncombed around her kneck, her
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running vest was wrinkled and forlorn. She was carrying her silk
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shorts in her hand and the only other items of clothing she wore were
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her white ankle socks and white running shoes.
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She stood on the top landing for a few moments, gripping the hand rail
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and looked out over the dark woodland seen dimly through the tall
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windows. After a period of silent reflection, she turned and entered
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the dormitory.
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She crept quietly between the two rows of beds until she reached her own
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footlocker.
|
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|
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|
She knelt quietly on her counterpane, keeping her backside off the bed
|
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|
and started tugging at her shoelaces.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then the light was switched on.
|
||
|
|
||
|
All the girls in the room jumped out of their beds wearing robes and
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|
gowns and they all gathered in a circle around her bed. Instinctively,
|
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|
she pulled her shorts into her lap to give herself some modesty - not
|
||
|
that she needed to do so, for all the girls were used to taking communal
|
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|
showers every morning.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There was a tense feeling of expectation in the air. Jennifer looked
|
||
|
around the circle of faces.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Bates, a girl from the lower sixth who considered herself the most
|
||
|
senior member of the dorm, stood forward. "We have all been gated for
|
||
|
one week because we didn't see you slope off." she said in an
|
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|
accusatory tone.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Or at least because we didn't rat on you, " added McBeth.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Even though I know what you did," claimed Burton.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"What do you mean, Burton?" Jennifer asked her coldly.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"I saw you with that boy. I know what you did."
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Then you must have been late back, too. Did you get a beating as
|
||
|
well?"
|
||
|
|
||
|
Burton turned her face away.
|
||
|
|
||
|
""You little beast, you told on me! I got five extra from Grimshaw,
|
||
|
you little ..."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Jennifer started to jump from the bed to get at the third former, but
|
||
|
suddenly she was surrounded by the others.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Don't try to pass the blame, you little squirt!" said Bates. "John
|
||
|
was coming down special this week end to see me and now I wont get to
|
||
|
see him until end of term. And that's your fault."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Jennifer was being held by several people, and then those immediately in
|
||
|
front of her moved aside. McBeth stood in the middle of the room.
|
||
|
She was holding a birch rod.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Oh no, for god's sake no ..." whispered Jennifer.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Serves you right." said Burton with a self-satisfied smirk.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Please Bates," she begged. "I got nine off Grimshaw and heaven knows
|
||
|
how many off Perkins. Please, no more, at least not tonight."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Bates appeared to consider the request, cocking her head to one side and
|
||
|
as if she was giving the matter some deep thought. "Naw." she
|
||
|
announced. "We reckon that by now the beatings you have had amounts to
|
||
|
the same getting six of the birch. We reckon you deserve getting at
|
||
|
least two dozen, for what you did. So the eighteen you are now going
|
||
|
to get is absolutely right." She addressed the others. "Fix her up."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Many willing hands pushed and pulled her to the end of the room. A
|
||
|
simple four legged table was to be used as the birching horse, and
|
||
|
Jennifer quickly found herself face down over its top.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Two pieces of thin rope tied her wrists high on the front legs, and two
|
||
|
more secured her ankles to the rear legs. Once again she found
|
||
|
herself spreadeagled to await her punishment.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A small handkerchief was loosely stuffed in her mouth - this beating
|
||
|
would not be heard by anyone outside the room, and a scarf was wrapped
|
||
|
around her head to blindfold her. She was not to see who wielded the
|
||
|
birch at any one time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
More than one of the girls looked in awe at the marks already on her
|
||
|
bottom, and perhaps thought that she had already had more than enough.
|
||
|
But such thoughts had to remain unspoken.
|
||
|
|
||
|
She heard Bates' voice: "Right, our six volunteers forward and make a
|
||
|
straight line please."
|
||
|
|
||
|
The birch rod, wasn't really a rod at all. It consisted of a dozen or
|
||
|
so thin saplings, chosen for their straightness as well as for being the
|
||
|
right weight and thickness. They had been bound together at one end to
|
||
|
make a handle, and taped at one quarter and one half of their length.
|
||
|
The tips could whip back and forth freely, yet the binding made them
|
||
|
swish together in unison.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"First one forward, " called Bates. "Three strokes in your own time.
|
||
|
Commence."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Jennifer felt the tips of the birch twigs touch her left buttock - some
|
||
|
one who was left handed would open the account. For the first time
|
||
|
that night she felt really frightened - she had never been birched
|
||
|
before, and all the accounts she had heard suggested that the pain was
|
||
|
the worst you could possibly imagine.
|
||
|
|
||
|
She felt hands on her shoulders. Two of the younger girls would make
|
||
|
sure she did not struggle too freely but, more important, that she would
|
||
|
not choke on the handkerchief.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The birch was raised high. It swished loudly on the downstroke. All
|
||
|
the occupants in the room seemed to start at the viciousness of the loud
|
||
|
crack.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Jennifer kicked and jerked against all four cords that tied her - the
|
||
|
action was completely involuntary. If it was not for the gag, she
|
||
|
would have screamed harder than at any time that night. The pain
|
||
|
really was incredible.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The next two arrived in short succession, and already the first trickle
|
||
|
of blood could be seen on her left cheek.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then the pause while the birch was handed over to the next in line -
|
||
|
time for Jennifer to start to recover, and time for her stomach to knot
|
||
|
in fearful anticipation of the next set of three.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The next three were delivered with a right hand, but Jennifer was past
|
||
|
caring. The only thing that mattered was that another twelve were
|
||
|
still to come, and the agony was unbearable.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The room watched in silence as the girls in turn took the birch, walked
|
||
|
forward and hit Jennifer's bare bottom three times. Every stroke
|
||
|
produced a frantic reaction, and Jennifer's buttocks become
|
||
|
criss-crossed in welts, scratches and cuts from the birch saplings.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Finally it was Bates turn to deliver the final three.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Jennifer's backside was one mass of tortured flesh and broken skin.
|
||
|
Bates laid very careful aim - this was her moment.
|
||
|
|
||
|
She unleashed a stroke as hard as she possibly could. A couple of tips
|
||
|
broke off the rod and flew up in the air. Jennifer's grunt could be
|
||
|
heard despite the gag.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The scene repeated itself twice more. And then Jennifer sagged at the
|
||
|
knees, knowing her ordeal was over.
|
||
|
|
||
|
She was unfastened, and half carried by several of the girls to the
|
||
|
bathroom. Discipline had been served, and the process of
|
||
|
reconciliation began by them bathing her wounds, applying a soothing
|
||
|
lotion, and whispering quiet words of comfort and condolence.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But it was a good week before Jennifer could sit on a hard chair without
|
||
|
feeling some discomfort.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And when she did meet Martin again, he found that the marks had not
|
||
|
completely vanished.
|