BEXHILL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, Assembly Read Online Free PDF

awful, waiting for
that first swipe. Tap. Yak, yak, yak! Tap. Yak, yak, yak! Sometimes
it’s two taps, and then more yak-yak.”
    Everyone was
laughing.
    “But why
‘ Three Taps ’ ?” exclaimed the Headmaster.
    “Because that’s
when you know the first stroke is about to arrive. When you feel
three taps, you can be certain it’s the end of the lecture and the
thrashing is going to begin. It’s always the same. Tap, tap, tap.
Whack! Ask any of the girls!”
    “Paula, is this
nonsense true?” Marge could hardly get the words out for
laughing.
    “Absolutely!
I’ve experienced it myself. He’ll always be ‘Three Taps’ to me and
all the girls he’s ever thrashed!”
    “Well I’ll be
damned,” said Edward, “I never realised, but now I think about it,
I believe you’re right. Three taps and off we go. It’s a bit like
bouncing a tennis ball before you serve. These wretched girls are
quite observant, aren’t they?”
    “We’ve haven’t
got much else to do when we’re bending over and waiting for that
first stroke. Counting the swirls on the carpet has its
limitations,” Margaret giggled, glad that her risky remarks had
gone down well.
    “So,” Henry
looked around the table, “everyone agrees with me then - corporal
punishment is a good thing and is here to stay?”
    “Well, at least
in schools,” said Marge, “I suppose when they leave, they’re
getting a bit old to be put over someone’s knee.”
    Margaret saw
her mother glance at her. She blushed.
     

Chapter 4
Miss Holloway
    Hardly anyone
knew the school secretary’s first name: it was Marlene. Her parents
had been fans of Miss Dietrich, and the little baby, adorned with
the fairest of locks, appeared to be from the same mould. Everyone
at Bexhill knew her simply as Miss Holloway. She had joined the
school straight from secretarial college and had proved an adept
and conscientious employee, discrete to the roots of her
naturally-blonde hair. She was also very pretty and being
apparently unattached, she attracted the close attention of the
male staff, young and old, bachelors and also (sadly) the
spoken-for.
    She lived in a
small flat a few minutes’ drive from the school. The deposit on it
had been a 21 st birthday present from her parents, and
now she just about managed to cover the instalments from her
salary. She was gregarious by nature and found it easy to make
friends, with whom she would spend the weekends. She was not
attracted to nightclubs - she found the noise and cigarette smoke
annoying, but she enjoyed visiting the charming rural pubs which
abounded in the local area. Her car was a much-cherished,
second-hand Morris Minor and when, one day, it flatly refused to
start, Dick came into her life.
    Dick was not a
mechanic as such, but he had been in the REME during his National
Service and so had a passing acquaintance with engines. He also had
a passing acquaintance with Annie, one of Miss Holloway’s best
friends, and so when Marlene telephoned her to say she couldn’t
make it to a pre-arranged date in the Miller’s Arms, Annie had
volunteered Dick’s services.
    He was quite
good-looking in a slightly overweight way, with an easy charm and a
box of tools. He spent an hour under the bonnet of the Morris, went
off and fetched some obscure spare part with several wires dangling
from it, and within another twenty minutes there was a reassuring
burble from the car’s exhaust. Dick refused all payment, except for
the cost of the new distributor, so Marlene insisted on taking him
to lunch.
    She sent him to
her bathroom to clean up, expecting to find her towels covered in
grease and the hand-basin awash with grime when she next looked in,
but to her surprise, everything was neat and spotless, including
Dick. They drove off in the Morris to a pub overlooking the sea,
ate fish and chips and drank cider, and afterwards walked along the
cliff path in the bright, blustery April sunshine. When they turned
to walk back, Dick took her