Below the Belt

by Sarah Veitch

  The cane-wielder laid on stroke three then glanced at his watch. 'I've got a lot to do today. Time to go for blitzkrieg.' He raised the rod and lashed it into Celia's cheeks a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth time.

  As the ninth lash striped Celia's helpless globes, she jerked especially hard at her bonds and succeeded in pulling her arms away from the tall vine. Then she scrabbled with her teeth at her bound wrists, separated them and used her newly-freed hands to cup her scalding backside.

  'Celia, you know that miscreants don't get to hold their punished bums.' So saying, the overseer peeled one of Celia's protective hands away from her scarlet left buttock. Jeff pulled away the other. The two men rebound the woman's hands so that this time they were tied in front of her. 'Can we bring out an extra wide punishment bench?' the overseer enquired.

  Three young men hurried away and returned with a thick rectangular bench. Together they cajoled the reluctant Celia over it then fastened her down with reinforced leather straps.

  'Shall I start all over again?' the overseer said hopefully, staring at Celia's quivering contours.

  'No, give her the final six - then make her give piggy backs for cupping her arse without permission,' Jeff said.

  The man nodded and picked up the cane. This time he applied it to one of the still-white areas on the woman's extremities. Celia howled and her cheeks reverberated for many seconds but she couldn't escape.

  'Now where shall I put stroke eleven?' the overseer asked. For a man who had claimed to be in a hurry, he now seemed hell-bent on taking his time.

  'Please cane me on my hands,' Celia whispered.

  'It's not safe to do that,' the overseer said. 'It can cause permanent damage. Whereas a big bare bum like yours was made for punishment.'

  He applied the rod to the area above the woman's thighs and she groaned and pushed her body forward the little she could. Then he credited the area halfway up her backside with another striping. For variety he laid the final ones on top of each other, the severity of his methods increasing the woman's cries.

  After the fifteenth stroke, he invited the other vineyard watchers to inspect the cruelly-striped orbs. Some of the younger people stared at Celia's prodigious charms and grinned but a few of the more mature ones knelt by Celia's face and comforted her. Not knowing how to act for the best, Kerri backed away.

  'Can I go back to my grape picking now?' she asked Jeff, who was still staring at the vanquished woman.

  'No, her indignity isn't complete yet,' Jeff said.

  As Kerri watched, the overseer undid the leather restraints and helped the jumbo-sized woman from the punishment bench. Her face was hectic.

  'You know what to do, Celia, as penance for freeing your hands earlier,' Jeff explained. Then he looked at Kerri. 'Would you like to take on this part of her punishment given that you're to blame?'

  Mutely Kerri shook her head then looked away from Celia's pleading gaze. Resigned to her fate, the large woman got awkwardly onto her hands and knees.

  'Who'd like the first ride on the baby elephant?' the overseer asked.

  Kerri glared at the man. There was no need for him to be so insulting. She was surprised that Jeff hadn't intervened.

  'Bags me first,' said a familiar voice and Kerri looked up to see Billy the gardener who'd so enjoyed demeaning her in the public square.

  'Strip,' Billy said.

  Celia shivered but obediently unpinned her dress then pulled it over her head. Now she was completely naked and looked even larger than her clothes had implied.

  Billy took off his shoes then sat on Celia's back, his feet resting on the sides of her breasts. He held on to her large shoulders. 'Come on piggy, take your Master for a trot,' he said. Whimpering with mortification, Celia began to crawl along the path, Billy clipping his knees into her sides to increase her pace.

  After five minutes some of the other young men pushed their friend forward. 'He wants a turn.'

  Billy obligingly dismounted and the newcomer sat astride Celia's bare back. One of the other youths picked up the cane and started to flick it against her tormented rear causing her to quicken her crawl the little she could. These men were bastards, Kerri thought, watching their collective cruelty. She hoped she'd never be in Celia's place. Only when Celia was sobbing with humiliation and promising to pick grapes all night, was she allowed to dress and go home to rest for an hour.

  That night when she'd finished work Kerri crept back to the red house to see Jade. The younger girl was wearing a green bathrobe and showed no outward signs of her earlier ordeal.

  'Got any cookies left?' Kerri asked hopefully.

  Jade shook her head. 'I threw them out - the cookies and the plants. Hell, you saw what Jeff did to me. No way am I going through that again.'

  'We could go to the Dancing Bar for a drink.'

  Jade shook her head. 'Roberta's often there and I hate her.'

  'Is there an off licence then?'

  'No, only a wine shop where they sell wine made with the local grapes.'

  Kerri grimaced. 'I've had more than enough of the local grapes. I've been picking the bloody things all day.'

  'So I see.' Jade looked more closely at Kerri's juice-stained white shirt and jeans. 'D'you want to go shower whilst I make us a salad? You'll find clean clothes in the wardrobe. We're probably about the same size.'

  Gratefully, Kerri showered then walked naked into Jade's green-painted bedroom. She was surprised to find Jade sitting on the bed and smiling at her.

  'Everything's green here,' Kerri said awkwardly.

  'Yes, even my name - Jade.'

  'You must have had exotic parents for them to christen you that,' Kerri added, looking around for the wardrobe. Because everything was painted the same colour, individual items didn't stand out.

  'Oh, I was christened Alison. I changed it to Jade when I left home at sixteen. I started work for the bank that same year. I changed everything about myself,' Jade said easily.

  Kerri looked at her closely. 'I'll bet that when you reinvented yourself you didn't expect to end up like this!'

  'Christ, no.' Jade looked around the room. 'Oh, it's a bloody nice house and the work is varied enough - but they're so fucking precious. All this homespun philosophy about the good of the community drives me round the twist.'

  'Same here,' Kerri admitted. 'I mean, I grew up in corporate land where you have to fight dirty. It's real life - not Walton Mountain like this place.'

  'Well, we'll just have to buck the system,' said Jade. She patted the bed. 'Want to sit down?'

  'No, I want to get dressed,' Kerri said awkwardly. 'Where the hell have you hidden your wardrobe?'

  'It's built into that far wall,' Jade said, pointing. She stared at Kerri more obviously. 'But you've such a nice body that it seems a shame to cover it up.'

  She'd have to stop this seduction in its tracks. Kerri smiled to soften the blow. 'Jade, you're a beautiful woman but I'm not gay, never have been.'

  Jade's gaze never left her face. 'Nor am I. But aren't you just a little bi-curious?'

  'Not in the slightest.' She fought back the memory of the lust she'd reluctantly felt at Roberta's hands.

  'You could just lie down now and close your eyes. Let me please you with my tongue,' the green-eyed girl offered.

  Kerri took a step backwards. 'No.' She walked towards the built in wardrobe. Seconds later she located a green safari dress and slipped it gratefully over her head. 'Just think what they'd do to us if we were found breaking our celibacy code,' she added nervously.

  Jade shrugged. 'Well, at least the punishments are limited because we're in Zone One.'

  This was the first that she'd heard of any zones. Kerri took a seat in the bedroom's only armchair and faced Jade again.

  'What do you mean?'

  Jade looked surprised. 'There are two zones. Didn't you know? Zone One is Alpineglow. It's for new miscreants - though obviously lots of ordinary people live here. It's considered to be an easy regi
me.'

  'But the things they've done to you and me - and to Celia and Diana and Dale - they weren't easy,' Kerri said, her heart sinking.

  'Agreed, but it's all relative,' Jade said. She pulled her light robe more closely around her curves. 'Zone Two's in the neighbouring valley.'

  'Hell, I'd have ended up there if my escape attempt had been successful,' Kerri said.

  Jade smiled thinly. 'Trust me, we've had a couple of dissidents who spent time in Zone Two and you never want to go there of your own accord.'

  'That bad?' Kerri asked.

  'Worse. Jeff's officially still in charge but he doesn't always have time to go there. When he's not around, the more sadistic overseers tend to get carried away.'

  'But you can earn points and get transferred back to Zone One if you're good?' Kerri queried, determined to understand the system.

  'In theory - but the system there's so strict that people buck against it and receive even harsher discipline.' She leaned closer. 'It's rumoured that dissidents are kept almost permanently naked there - and that on a still night you can hear girls wailing as they're whipped.'

  The whippings must be severe if the miscreant's cries could be heard across such a distance. Sitting more firmly on her haunches, Kerri promised herself that she'd never be transferred from Alpineglow.

  Chapter Nine

  Just before midnight, Kerri left Jade's redbrick house and wandered back to her cell, enjoying the cool evening air and the scents from the moonlit gardens. Everyone in Alpineglow seemed to have retired for the night. She reached her building and found a note pinned to her door. 'Please make your way to the woodshed tomorrow at 8am.' There was a map printed on the note that showed where the woodshed was.

  Setting her alarm for seven, Kerri fell into bed still wearing Jade's green safari dress. The day of grape picking and the evening spent chatting had quite tired her out and the talk of a harsher zone had been disconcerting. Watching Jade being anally tormented and Celia being ridden hadn't helped...

  She must have swatted her alarm clock quiet because when she awoke it was ten to eight. Cursing, Kerri drank some coffee and gobbled down a pastry from the hostess trolley then ran all the way to the shed.

  Five men in their late twenties were already there looking very Stepford Husbandish. Kerri belatedly finger-combed her hair and smoothed down her dress.

  'Ah, Kerri, you only just made it,' said the overseer. 'We've so many implements in this workshop that it isn't a good idea to be late.'

  'Sorry, sir,' Kerri muttered and managed a half curtsey. The watching youths grinned.

  'We're making birches today,' the man explained. 'Just watch the others until you get the hang of it. You'll find the stiffened twigs and leather straps for binding them together on the table in the corner. You can create a proper handle for the longer-lasting birches, those that are to be used in the market square.'

  Blushing at the memory of her own public punishments, Kerri sat at the huge work station and watched the youths silently binding the slender rods together. After ten minutes she crossed the room and selected everything she needed to make a long whippy birch.

  The overseer walked back into the room and smiled at her approvingly.

  'Are we allowed to talk?' Kerri asked.

  'Of course.' The man looked surprised.

  Kerri grinned at the assembled youths. 'Only this lot seem to have taken a vow of silence.'

  'Oh, they were all at the Dancing Bar till the early hours so they're hungover and tired,' the man explained.

  She felt equally tired. Kerri forced back a yawn.

  'It's really warm now. Would you all like to make your implements outside?' the overseer asked.

  Everyone said yes and headed for the door. Kerri followed them out to an area with picnic tables and benches. Soon she was seated at one with a youth sitting opposite her. He was around five foot three but so muscular that he seemed almost square-shaped. His face was slightly simian so she privately named him Ape Man.

  'Want to share the joke?' the youth asked looking at her suspiciously.

  Kerri realised that she'd been smiling to herself. 'It's nothing,' she said quickly. He presumably knew that his monkey-like features made women grin. 'Have you been making these for a while?' she continued, indicating his birch.

  The youth nodded. 'For three days. My efforts on days one and two apparently weren't good enough so I'm back here again.'

  'Yeah? I've been allowed to try something different every day since I came here,' Kerri said, cheering up.

  'So you're in teacher's good books?' A note of sarcasm entered his voice.

  Kerri shrugged. 'I haven't met any teachers yet but Jeff invited me to lunch yesterday.'

  'So? He invites everyone who acts reasonably,' the boy said, looking like he really resented her.

  'But he really likes me,' Kerri added, determined to make this unimpressed youth realise that she was special and different to the rest.

  'Not in the way you mean, he doesn't. After all, he's...' the boy bit back his words.

  'He's what?' Kerri asked, wildly curious.

  'Forget it. I've already said more than enough,' the boy replied.

  Kerri tried to draw him out on other subjects but he remained non-committal. 'Look, if we talk we'll make mistakes with these.' He indicated the birch before him. 'And have to put in extra hours.'

  'And you've better things to do?' Kerri asked, determined to have the last word.

  'Well, I'd rather have a good night at the Dancing Bar than spend it here making implements.'

  'Where else have you worked? Oh, and do you know Roberta?' Kerri asked. 'Or Jade?'

  The youth glared at her. 'I told you before that if I chatter to you I'll make mistakes. Will you please shut up?'

  Kerri sang a song for the next five minutes just to irritate him then turned her attention to the other youths, watching their body language and trying to guess what they'd originally done to anger Jeff.

  An hour later the overseer appeared. 'I've an appointment off-site but hand your latest implement to the Squire for inspection. If he okays it, have a break. If he's unhappy with your workmanship then I've given him permission to chasten you.'

  Surely she'd be approved? Kerri glanced at her birch and was horrified to see that she'd wound the leather squint, making for a very bumpy handle. She tried to unpick the leather but it was stuck fast to the twigs. A combination of the sun in her eyes, her tiredness and lack of interest in her work had led to this. She trembled, remembering how hard she'd watched the Squire horsewhip Diana at the beach.

  'Good time to have a drink,' ape boy murmured, bending down under the table to reach for his hip flask. Quickly Kerri swapped her birch with his.

  The Squire appeared at the gate and clapped his hands. 'Inspection time!' Everyone queued before him in a throat-clearing, shuffling line. 'Beauty before youth so it's the girl first,' he quipped.

  Resenting the suggestion that she was older, Kerri stepped to the front of the line. She held out her birch - well, Ape Man's birch - and the Squire inspected it for long, nerve-wracking seconds then declared it fine.

  Kerri sat down at the nearest picnic table and watched the second youth hold out his birch. It, too, was deemed to be acceptable. Only when Ape Man held out his offering did the Square shake his head.

  'Alan, isn't this your third day here?'

  'Yes, sir. And I'm learning fast now, sir.'

  The equestrian centre owner held out the birch. 'You call this learning, boy?'

  For the first time since bringing over the birch, Alan fully inspected it. 'But sir, I don't understand.'

  'Don't understand how to fashion a willow birch for a disobedient backside?'

  'No, sir. I mean, I fashioned it well. I chose the strongest twigs and trimmed them all so that they were the exact same length. Then I lined them up and bound the leather carefully in place.'

  The Squire shook his head. 'This implement won't last five minutes.' He looked at
the assembled watchers. 'Kerri, come and try this out.'

  Unsure of exactly what he meant, Kerri approached with caution then adopted her most guileless expression. 'How can I help you, sir?' she enquired.

  'By birching Alan's bum till the implement breaks,' the Squire said.

  Alan took a step back. 'Sir, I swear someone must have sabotaged my implement.'

  The Squire ignored him and handed the punisher to Kerri then he turned to the youth. 'Boy, take down your trousers and your underpants.' Hanging his head low, Alan did so. 'And grasp your ankles,' the man said.

  Swallowing hard, the boy obeyed. Kerri stared down at his head and felt a momentary pity.

  'Don't spare him. He's been slacking at work for three days now,' the equestrian centre owner said.

  Slowly Kerri walked around till she was facing Alan's small white arse. She laid the twigs experimentally across his divide and he flinched and quivered. Wondering how he'd react when the twigs hit home, Kerri pulled back the birch and brought it down.

  Immediately the birch made contact, Alan squealed and shook his haunches from side to side but kept hold of his ankles.

  'And again,' the Squire instructed. Kerri obediently pulled back the punisher, looking at the numerous tiny red marks on the youth's cheeks and wondering how many the second application would add. Seconds later she knew the answer - lots. Part of her psyche felt incredibly guilty that he was enduring this birching. The other more primitive part of her wanted to see his backside being soundly marked. After all, he'd virtually ignored her all morning. Back in London she was never ignored...

  'If you could use the birch higher up,' Alan whispered plaintively, 'keep it away from my balls.'

  'But not too far up,' the Squire interjected. 'After all, you mustn't hit his spine.'

  Trying to absorb all of this new information, Kerri livened Alan with the birch a third time, then a fourth. The fifth stroke must have hit some particularly sensitive area, as he let go of his ankles and jumped up with a loud cry, rubbing at his nates.

  'Shall I bind his wrists to his legs?' the Squire asked.