grasping the padded seats. The girl on the left was obviously the one Miss Holloway had heard receiving twelve strokes: her bare bottom was a grid of purple stripes from the join with her thigh to the top of both cheeks. Her shoulders shook with gentle sobs. The girl on the right looked r ound as the secretary came in. Miss Holloway recognised her immediately as Mrs. Winchester’s daughter, Margaret. She was bending down, clinging on to the chair seat, but her behind was still white and unmarked. The girl who was, presumably, meant to be positioned over the middle chair was standing up, hopping from foot to foot, wailing and massaging three red lines that were etched across her backside.
“Ah, Miss Holloway. Sorry to bother you. These wretched girls have been caught smoking. As I expect you know, the penalty is a dozen strokes. Jane took her punishment well, but Alice here keeps jumping up and won’t stay still. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to restrain her.”
Miss Holloway could hardly believe her ears. She was about wit ness first hand everything she had fantasised about for so long. She didn’t trust her voice, so she just nodded to the headmaster.
“Now, I think if you go round in front of that chair and we try to get Alice to bend over again, perhaps you could hold her down by putting your hands on her shoulders.”
Miss Holloway moved into place, but Alice was still showing no signs of cooperating. She was jumping from one leg to the other, rubbing her bottom, and blubbering pathetically.
“Alice, get back into position at once . You’re only making things worse for yourself.”
Slowly and reluctantly, Alice bent over the chair, her tears wetting the seat cushion. Miss Holloway placed her hands on the white Aertex sports shirt, just below the girl’s shoulders. She wasn’t wearing a bra; she could feel her body shaking with each sob. ‘Three Taps’ walked over to his desk, dropped the cane on to it with a clatter and opened one of the drawers. He drew out Stinger, feeling its weight. He smacked the back of the brush against his left hand.
“Right, Alice, the penalty f or all this fuss is extra strokes, two for each time you interrupted. I strongly advise you not to move again until I tell you to get up.”
He patted her right cheek the regulation three times and then lifted the heavy brush and brought it down hard. It landed with a sibilant smack, Alice’s bottom bounced. She squealed but managed to stay in place. He repeated the stroke on her left cheek, with much the same result. Four more times, Stinger smacked against Alice’s rapidly reddening backside, producing yells of anguish but only minimal movement which Miss Holloway managed to constrain.
‘Three Taps’ walked back to his desk, put Stinger down and took up the cane. As he returned towards the three upthrust bottoms, he swished it twice, menacingly, registering its balance.
“All right, Alice. You took that spanking quite well. Now, we’ll start again with the cane. Twelve strokes and I want you stay in place this time. Miss Holloway, have you got a good grip on her?”
Miss Holloway managed a rasping “Yes, sir.” She was feeling almost dizzy with exhilaration.
For a few seconds, the headmaster held the long, thick cane against Alice’s burning bottom. Then he raised it high above his shoulder, paused for a moment, and brought it arcing down. Alice’s cheeks quivered, she bounced up and down, and howled “Ooooww!” at the top of her lungs. Miss Holloway held on tight and stopped the girl from getting up. From where she stood, in front of Alice, she couldn’t actually see the effect of the stroke on the girl’s derrière , but it required little imagination to guess at the vivid tramlines it had produced, to add to the three already there and the red glow produced by Stinger.
‘Three Taps’ was in no hurry. He timed each stroke to arrive as the effect of its predecessor rose to a crescendo. Alice wriggled and