Years later it would be the smell of wood polish and pine that she would remember most. The corridor where they waited was absolutely lousy with panelling. But at that moment, it was the clock that held her attention. They had been sitting there since quarter to as instructed. It was now four minutes past. The wait was intolerable.

Julie had never noticed that the clock was so loud. It sounded like a Tolkienesque dwarf was working away inside with a hammer. She would have made joke of it with Claire, but the thought of speaking made her nauseous.

She looked at her friend who looked as sick as Julie felt. This was worse than the dentist, she thought.

“I need the loo again,” Claire whispered.

“Quick then,” Julie urged.

“But what if they call us?”

“Like I said be quick. Oh now I want to go.”

The nearest students’ cloakroom was one floor down. If they were called while they were in the there, it would not sit well with Dr Bright or their mothers. The girls were double quick; although once they had been, Julie wanted to go again.

As they once more took up their places outside the Dr Bright’s door, there was no sign that anyone had come for them, but that just meant they still had to wait.

“Is it too late to ask to be expelled?” Claire spoke again.

“I already did, Mum said no,” Julie sighed.

“But isn’t it up to you? I mean we are 18.”

Julie shrugged. It was nice in theory, but for once her Mum had not given in to her. That had surprised her actually. Never before and her mother shown the slightest sense of responsibility, she hadn’t even been that keen on her coming to the college in the first place.

“I don’t know why your father is so insistent, you have had enough school I would think? He was never this keen on education when I was married to him,” he mother had said when she had enrolled.

“Was it worth it?”

“What?” Julie chewed her lip.

“The Bentley. What did you think I meant?”

“Oh that. Not really. Funny no one mentioned the car. It was the guy who owned the pool who seemed the most upset.”

“I don’t know, my dad was quite upset,” Claire’s hand went to her bottom as she remembered a very long session over her father’s knee. God help her if anyone ever found out about that. She would never live it down. She hadn’t even told Julie.

Somewhere a door closed. It was enough to make both of them jump.

“I hate this waiting,” Julie spat.

Then the door opened and Mrs Lamb appeared.

“They will see you now,” she said.

Suddenly Julie wished she could go back to waiting.

“I’ll leave you to it then shall I Dr Bright?” Mrs Lamb asked nodding hopefully at the door.

“Yes thank you Mrs Lamb, I’ll see you on Monday.”

Julie saw that her mother was standing at the fireplace holding a teacup while Claire’s mother had opted to sitting in an easy chair in the corner. They both had grim expressions on their faces, but where her mother looked exasperated, Claire’s mum was clearly embarrassed.

“Hello Mum,” Claire said.

“Hello.” There was no warmth in the reply.

Julie looked at her mother, who just pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows in an expression that said, ‘well don’t look at me, it’s your own fault.’

“Well let’s settle this matter as quickly as we can, shall we,” Dr Bright said sternly.

“Suits me,” Claire’s mother growled.

“As you know St Matthew’s prides itself on taking an old fashioned approach when it comes to application and discipline. You both came here having failed at school in the hopes of a second chance. Now, quite what you were thinking when you borrowed Mr Brimley’s Bentley, I do not know…”

Claire stifled a nervous laugh at Dr Bright’s alliteration.

“Something funny Miss Harrington?”

“No sir,” Claire swallowed.

“As I was saying, I certainly don’t know how it came to be at the bottom of the village community pool. By rights you should both be on criminal charges, but the chairman of the parish council saw the funny side of you doing a ‘Keith Moon,’ whoever he may be. And Mr Brimley has been more than reasonable… something to say Miss Kent?”

“No sir.” Julie was on the verge of a fit of giggles, the comedy of their prank choosing the worst time to assert itself. “The gear kind of slipped.”

“I see. I think we will have to de-humourise the situation for you both,” Dr Bright snapped and turned to his desk. When he turned back, he was holding a school cane.

Claire’s mother sat up and took a deep breath as she slid her hands nervously down her thighs. Julie’s mother seemed moved in a quite different way.

“I was going to give you both the traditional six, but I think you have earned eight today.”

Julie looked at her mother hoping she would object. Claire knew better.

“After some discussion your mothers urged me to give the maximum of 12. I was inclined to be more lenient. Further more it had been decided that you will both be caned on your bare bottoms.”

Julie’s mouth gaped and she looked again at her mother. Claire just looked at her shoes and blushed. She had been expecting this.

“Well? Come along, get on with it.” Dr Bright urged.

Both girls hesitated as if waiting for some divine rescue. Then Dr Bright turned, absolutely confident that he would be obeyed and their fate was sealed.

Claire tugged at the waist of her skirt and after a moment pulled it free and off. Julie made one last optical appeal to her mother and then, albeit more slowly, followed suite. By the time she had folded her skirt and put it on a chair, Claire had already stepped out of her knickers and was standing with her hands cupped to her sex.

The unreality of the scene sent a surge of blood through Julie. She looked shocked at her friend’s bare bottom and noticed for the first time that it carried some faint bruises of some recent chastisement. No wonder she was so cooperative, Julie thought.

“I want you both bending side-by-side across the desk,” Dr Bright said without turning around.

Julie, who had still not removed her knickers, froze and looked shyly at Mrs Harrington. Then she hooked her thumbs in the elastic and slipped down off her legs.

Claire was already bending across the desk with her thighs together and her legs straight. This served to lift her hips and place her very bare bottom in an elevated position.

Julie nervously brushed her high-set and deep-cleft bottom with both hands. If Dr Bright had turned round, he would have seen that it was also very prominent in profile.

Julie didn’t wait. Feeling exposed as she did she took refuge bending across the desk next to her friend. It was strange to feel the nakedness of another girl’s bare thighs touching her own. She did her best to emulate Claire’s posture, hating the idea that she might be given orders about how to position her now bare bottom. She needn’t have worried, when Dr Bright turned, he saw that both girls were perfectly arranged.

“I don’t often have to cane young women at this college, but when I do it is seldom for such a creative and spectacular bit of mischief as yours. By rights you have committed two offences and if you ever pull a stunt like that again I will give you a straight 12 each for each of your transgressions.”

Claire had heard such speeches before; she wondered if disciplinarians swallowed dictionaries in their spare time. She pumped her legs a little as if limbering up for a sports event. The effect was to make her cute bottom rock from side-to-side for a moment.

Julie wanted say it wasn’t her fault, but she knew that it was. It had been her idea to take the car and she had been the one driving. Now that she thought of it, it was a miracle that they weren’t both killed. She deserved this more than Claire did, she suddenly realised. Why didn’t she say so? Why didn’t she say sorry? Why had she done it in the first place?

She heard the sound and felt the line of fire across her bottom in the same moment.

“God,” Julie shouted with a squeal in her tone.

Her mother’s mouth was dry and she hugged herself. There was a thin white line across her daughter’s already bottom, which was strange, as she would have expected red. Nor did it change as Dr Bright laid another just below it.

“Oh god,” Julie gasped again and started in with heavy breathing.

The third stroke took Julie further south and she yelled incoherently for it.

Then Dr Bright switched to Claire’s bottom. Hers was rounder than Julie’s and already it carried the spore of some recent correction. She took her first three strokes more stoically and all too soon, it was Julie’s turn again.

By now the three white lines on Julie’s bottom had become bright red. Ronni Kent marvelled at the regularity of them. She could take a ruler to her daughter’s bottom and bet they would prove to be parallel. The man was a master.

Julie did not take the next three strokes well at all. Dr Bright placed them slowly taking each one ever lower so that they bit in on the underside of her bottom where she sat.

Although Ronni admired her daughter’s fortitude, she was also a little disappointed that she wasn’t crying yet, she certainly deserved to be.

Claire continued to be even more stoical for her strokes and there was something about the set of Mrs Harrington’s back, which made Ronni guess that she was not enjoying the scene at all. Ronni herself was having a blast.

Dr Bright placed the last two for each of them as two sets of quick flicks. Cutting them both low. Julie burst into tears at once and even Claire who just grunted at this last hurrah was very moist-eyed.

“Alright stand up.” Dr Bright put the cane down.

Claire jumped up at once and clamped her hands to her seared rear and began a little dance, completely oblivious that she was showing of her dark triangle in front.

Julie continued to cling to the desk sobbing and finally had to be helped up by Mrs Harrington.

*

A short while after the four of them had gone Dr Bright put on his coat ready to leave when there was a knock at the door.

He was surprised to see Ronni Kent standing there.

“Mrs Kent? Is there something wrong?”

“Ronni please Dr Bright.”

“Ronni. Call me Graem.”

“Oh I couldn’t do that, it wouldn’t be right Dr Bright, sir.”

“What can I do for you eh… Ronni?”

“Well it’s about this trouble with the Bentley, you see I blame myself for everything that has happened. I spoil Julie far too much you see…”

“I see. But everything has been dealt with now… hasn’t it?”

“No. You see I think if Julie has to be punished for what she did then I should be as well.”

“Uh… Mrs Kent, Ronni… you are a grown woman and not even a student at St Matthew’s…”

“Julie is a grown woman, but I am sure you did her the world of good. I saw how you handled her and I need the same.”

“But…”

“Please be firm Dr Bright, assert yourself. Cane my bare bottom as I deserve. Caned me as you should have caned Julie.”

Dr Bright glanced down at the cane. Ronni Kent was a very beautiful woman. She was not yet 40 and most women would have killed for her cheekbones. Although it was her trim and well-shaped bottom that held his attention. He made one last attempt to dissuade her.

“Deal with you as I should have dealt with Julie you say?”

“Yes sir.”

“A good sound spanking over my knee and then 12 for the car and 12 for the pool and then we will see how sorry you really are.” He expected her to back away. “I am not playing Ronni.”

“Oh my god, I won’t sit down for a month. I suppose I deserve it. And then another 12 for letting Julie down as a mother.” Ronni unzipped her dress and began to remove it.

Ends