worry, Cath. You’ll be fine, and if you do decide to get yourself thrashed, make sure it’s by Mrs. Winchester – she whacks less hard than ‘Three Taps’”.
Chapter 3
The Dinner Party
The two girls bending over the back of the sofa, their jeans and panties around their ankles, might not have altogether agreed with Jane’s assessment of Mrs. Evelyn Winchester’s vigour. They had already received six blistering strokes of the strap, leaving their bottoms red and burning. Now, the Deputy Head Mistress paced up and down behind her daughter, Margaret, and her friend Paula.
“How dare you help yoursel ves to our drinks’ cabinet? You’re both far too young to be drinking spirits.”
“Mum, we’ve left school. We’re not children any more. We just had a couple of drinks – like you and Dad have.”
“’ A couple of drinks’ ? That gin bottle is half empty and there are four tonic bottles in the bin.”
“Well, we ’re not drunk.”
Paula rather gave the lie to that statement by hiccupping loudly.
“You’re both plastered and I won’t tolerate it. You’re lucky I didn’t go to the school and fetch a cane. Now stay still.”
Margaret was on the left. She winced slightly as she sensed her mother raise the strop again. Mrs. Winchester whipped the leather thong down hard across her daughter’s glowing cheeks. They bounced under the impact.
“Ooowww! Please Mum, that’s enough.”
“I’ll tell you when it’s enough and it’s not yet.”
She raised the strap again and thrashed it across Margaret’s bottom. Margaret let out a howl and squirmed against the soft material of the sofa’s back.
“Please, Mum. Please let Paula off. It’s not her fault and she’s a guest in our house.”
“Of course I’ll let Paula off, if she doesn’t mind me calling her parents and telling them what she’s been up to. Would you prefer that, Paula?” Mrs. Winchester laid the tawny tongue across Paula’s bottom and drew it slowly across the girl’s cheeks, the cool of the leather contrasting with the burning skin beneath.
“Oh, no, please Mrs. Winchester, don’t tell my parents: they’d be furious. My Dad would probably horse-whip me.”
“So I think you’re better off getting another six from me, aren’t you? Bottom right up, please.”
Mrs. Winchester swung the heavy leather down again. Paula howled at the impact.
Henry, Evelyn’s accountant husband, who had been told to stay in the kitchen while the punishment took place, poured himself another whisky and tried to ignore the commotion going on down the corridor.
When all twelve strokes had been administered to each unwilling derrière , Mrs. Winchester told the girls to get up and go to their room. They levered themselves upright, dragged their knickers and jeans painfully over their bottoms and slunk out of the sitting room.
“Sober up and don’t be late for supper,” Mrs. Winchester called after them, “Remember that your old headmaster and his wife are coming.” The Winchesters had invited Mr. Masterson and his wife to dinner. Both girls had been at Bexhill and quite liked ‘Three Taps’, so they were looking forward to seeing what he would be like out of the context of the school.
Margaret and Paula climbed the stairs, somewhat unsteadily, sniffing back tears and clutching at the close-fitting denim that aggravated the blaze in their backsides. They closed the door to Margaret’s bedroom and threw themselves, sobbing, into each other’s arms.
“I’m so sorry,” said Margaret, “it was my fault. I should never have suggested that we had a drink.”
“Of course it isn’t your fault: I went along with the whole idea. My God, your mother spanks hard. Dad would have been worse though – he’d have used a riding crop, so I guess I got off lightly. Let’s look at the damage, shall we?”
The girls peeled down their jeans and knickers and both gasped as they glimpsed their bottoms in the