by Susan Thomas
My sailing lessons were going well too and Dad bought me a small dinghy with a single sail which I was beginning to handle quite well. Yes, I know, spoilt little rich girl. Actually I think it was his guilty conscience for dragging me around in order to further his career but I was grateful and pleased anyhow.
It was just after my party with university not too far away that I got depressed. The thought of moving again and leaving the island, plus I don't like London anyway, together with the prospect of yet more study when I had only just finished school. Well it all got me down.
"I don't want to go," I told Claire.
"Well, why don't you take a gap year?" I looked at her stunned because believe it or not I hadn't thought of that. "You could go travelling."
"Not likely. I've done enough of that. Do you know we have lived in twelve different houses since I was born? Forget how many schools and all in three different countries. I like Chapel Island and honestly I'd like to stay here for a while."
"Well just take a year out, your dad is well off enough. You could just enjoy your sailing, and there is David..."
David was my instructor and I have to tell you he is very fit. He makes me go quite hot sometimes. He'd invited me for a drink on the mainland and to spend the day with him. I was going too.
"Well that's tempting but I already feel enough of a spoilt little rich girl, to sponge off Dad totally. University is different of course but I could get a job. Hey, I could be a waitress here on the island." I wasn't being really honest at that point. I wanted Claire's reaction after what I had read about the corporal correction part. She went very red and looked uncomfortable.
"Oh I don't think that is a good idea Kate. I don't think you'd like it much."
My answer was designed to provoke. "Why is that Claire? Is it because I could get caned by Frau Weber like you do?"
Her reaction startled me. She seemed so frightened, asking me how I knew and pleading with me because she could get into trouble if they thought it was her. But all the time I felt she was acting. It was very strange. I told her I had worked out my dad's password and got into the intranet and she quizzed me on what I knew so I told her. To be honest I'd not done much on the intranet as I'd been researching what I discovered to be domestic discipline and wives in submission and all that stuff, all of which had the strangest effect on me and often left me trembling. So she revealed she had watched my mum's caning and I got a detailed account.
We didn't think they'd let me be a waitress because that way I'd see not only my mum's punishments if she got them but other members, and as I was a daughter that might not be liked.
Claire told me being a waitress was OK but her caning was unpleasant. "I forgot about not bending over while serving. I bent over when serving Mr Riley. He didn't even notice but Mr Whaley noticed - he's one of the Senior Men - and he reported me. Frau Weber took my arm as I came back in at one point and took me to her office. I had to take off my skirt, pull down my tights and knickers and bend over. It hurt and I was so embarrassed. She made me go back to waiting and told me if I showed any signs of distress I'd get another six. She's really strict. Some of the girls get punished a lot but we stay because we really have nowhere else to go and the money is good."
I wondered about what a Senior Man was. Mr Whaley was one but what did that mean? At the very first opportunity I went back into the intranet and it was fascinating. There were two Senior Men, Mr Whaley and Sir Charnock Forbes (imagine naming your son Charnock for pity's sake). They had to organise the public punishments at the quarterly dinner-dance and took it in turns to host them. They also organised duels. My mind boggled at the duels and I realised I had a lot to find out, but then I discovered the other duty. That duty was to single women who could also be members.
I had so much going through my head I felt in a whirl with it all and simply logged out. The next day I went out with David. I've never really had a boyfriend before and wasn't sure if I could call David that exactly but he was good to be with. He was kind, funny and very gentlemanly (I remembered the stuff about waiters harassing girls and guessed it applied to other male staff too). He was also good at listening to my problems and he too suggested a gap year but didn't understand why I couldn't be a waitress. I didn't tell him about the intranet or Claire but then he said I could get a job with the leisure department. Both pools required an on-duty life saver at all times they were open and it was always hard to get suitable people. I guessed suitable meant those who would keep their mouths shut about anything they learnt. As I had done life-saving at school and as part of my Community Contributions had taken the NPLQ (National Pool Lifeguard Qualification) I wondered if that involved any corporal correction for me and made a mental note to check it out on the intranet. It was David made my mind up for me.
"Look Kate, if you don't want to chase off to university just yet, don't. They'll hold a place for you. Get a job and in your spare time I'll keep teaching you."
That kind of did it for me and when I got home and my parents were both in I told them I wanted to take a gap year and get a job on the island. They were uncomfortable and I knew it wasn't the idea of me taking the year off, it was that they didn't want me to find out what they were up to.
"Look I am not going to sponge of you or anything. I'll get a job. I could be a waitress like Claire, and David says they desperately need lifeguards at the pool. With those jobs I can even get accommodation so you don't have to be..."
That seemed to upset them both and they launched into a long set of reasons why I shouldn't do either and that they had no problem with me living at home. Then my dad offered me a job.
"You see Kate we do have a part time vacancy for someone to do background research on people and organisations. You know the sort of thing - social networking, newspaper references and so on. The pay is not bad and it would leave you free time for your sailing."
It wasn't independence but it was for me a better deal than the other two and I didn't have to decide about the corporal correction, though I wasn't sure whether I was pleased or not about that. If that sounds weird remember it was all having the strangest effect on me.
---oOo---
The Chief of Security had his orders. He entered the plain room and sat in one of the large chairs by himself. The glass wall in front of him was still dark and he sat nervously wondering what kind of reaction he was going to get to his report. He had never reported to The Five on his own before and wondered what it meant. Was it that the chief was somehow in with them or was he being left out of the loop? His orders had been clear that he was to tell no one about what he had found out so far. The lights dimmed without warning and now he could see behind the glass the silhouettes of The Five. The voice told him to report.
"The Freckleton girl..."
"Use her first name."
He was thrown. This was not normal. "Er... yes, very well. Katherine Frecklet..."
"Is she not known as Kate?"
"Er... yes."
"Then name her so."
The Chief of Security was now dithering and had to pull himself together. What the hell were they up to?
"Kate gained access to the intranet at the first attempt on the second occasion she had access to her father's laptop. Clearly she discovered his aide-memoire. I immediately ordered the full surveillance you required to be activated. We have a remote access tool on her laptop, and a similar device on her mobile. We have three cameras in her bedroom with sound but only sound in her bathroom and also sound in the public parts of the house such as kitchen and living room. We have not intruded on Sir Graham and Lady Freckleton's suite.
"We have also monitored all the parts of the intranet she has accessed so far but that is surprisingly few. She seems to have been very selective and spends relatively short periods on the intranet before logging off. I have detailed exactly what she has viewed and sent it to you. It is what else she has been doing that is especially interesting. Following her first search of the intranet she began to sea
rch for wives that are caned, but quickly found domestic discipline sites. She has researched those thoroughly and has bookmarked many of them. Again I have sent you a list of sites accessed and all you need do is click on the links to see exactly what she viewed.
"Interesting were her facial expressions while viewing them and I have sent you an edited video of some of those with an ordered list of what produced the expression. Following that she began to explore what I have termed spanking sites. She began with viewing clips of women being caned but has also included other forms of punishment. She has saved some of those clips to her hard drive. As you will see from the second video of facial expressions (together with links to what scenes produced them) these have had a strong effect on her. Frequently she has left watching and gone to her bed where she has masturbated for some time. That has been picked up by both the room cameras and the laptop. On occasion she has masturbated while viewing a clip and the laptop has given us explicit viewing of her doing so.
"I have put those on a third unedited video. She is clearly strongly affected by everything she has found so far. Now she is discussing with her parents the possibility of a gap year perhaps being a waitress or a lifeguard here on the island. That is my report so far."
"Very good, you have done well. Continue monitoring but be sure to destroy all trace of your monitoring to date. Ensure that your men are made aware of the consequences of any of this coming to light. You may go."
The lights came on abruptly and the Chief of Security was left with many questions but no answers.
When he had departed, Number One asked Number Five to report.
"My agent has got in close with her and popped in the idea of a gap year. She seemed very keen and discussed with my agent options for that. I think we should encourage the gap year but not get her embroiled in with the support staff. I intend to start making a relationship with her myself. I think her potential for us is very exciting."
The Five concurred and it was agreed Kate should be encouraged strongly to take the gap year and any obstacles in her path smoothed away. Number Five was to develop a relationship as well as the agent.
Chapter 6
I made my decision about a gap year without asking either David or Claire anything more. Dad agreed to give me the part-time job at fifteen hours a week. As I had an unconditional place I was able to write to the university before my results and was given the all clear to take a gap year. It was a huge relief. I hadn't realised how much I wanted to stay on Chapel Island for a bit and how little I fancied going straight on with my studies.
It turned out the job varied around fifteen hours. Some weeks it was almost full-time and other weeks very little, but it was fascinating doing background checks. It really came home to me just how much stuff you can find out about people without doing anything illegal at all. Anyway it gave me a certain amount of money, though not really enough for a plan that was brewing in my head and scared the life out of me. I was thinking about becoming a single member of the Chapel Island Community.
Yes of course I knew that could well mean I would end up getting what the manual laughingly calls 'corporal correction'. I now knew that just one penalty for some fault like riding my bike in the middle of the road would earn me a total of eight strokes with something or other. There would be three from the Guardians (mainly the cane it seemed), three from either my dad or a 'senior man' (well I wasn't letting my dad wallop me I can tell you... yuck, so it would have to be a senior man). Then of course there was that accountability session at the quarterly dinner-dances.
I expect you are thinking I am one very weird girl. Yes well, I know I am at that. I have never been much bothered about what the other kids at school thought of me. All this wanting to be one of the crowd seems to have passed me by somewhere along the line. I think in most places they decided that I was weird but they still kind of liked me so I have never been isolated exactly. Perhaps moving so much has had its effect. You have to be self-contained when you move as much as we did.
Anyway I was really attracted to the whole ritual and possibility of 'corporal correction'. Of course for a single girl like me there was no husband who might do it for domestic reasons. The thought of baring my bum and getting caned by a strong man in a black uniform had a really strong effect on me. It made me go weak and trembling but with a sort of powerful yearning I can't describe. I wondered if it was because I was so sexually inexperienced or if I had the same sort of kink Mum clearly had. Anyway I figured if I became a member I could have a year and if I didn't like it well I'd be off to university next year and that would be that, experiment over. See, not really so weird is it? For a single woman (who had either to be a close relative of an existing member or have an accepted reason) membership is much cheaper. I didn't have to buy a house and with my job and my allowance I had just enough money to pay the fees and have a bit left over at least for now. If I asked Dad I knew he'd pay up for me (he feels guilty at the way he has messed me around all my life) but I was beginning to feel I didn't want that, I wanted to be more independent, and anyway I don't like being a spoilt little rich girl.
I said nothing to my parents or to Claire and David I just got on my bike one bright sunny morning and rode off to the Island Hall which was the HQ of the Island Council where all the administration was carried out. I parked my bike in one of the many bike stands (no need for padlocks) and was just about to go on in when a young woman spotted me.
"You're Kate Freckleton aren't you?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"I'm Michelle Riley, I'm a friend of your mum. I think you and I are the youngest members on the island you know. I think you're nineteen after the summer aren't you? I'm just twenty-three... we could be sisters."
We talked pleasantries at each other for a while but then I told her I wasn't actually a member but that was why I was here at the Island Hall, I'd decided to apply to be one. She gave me a most curious look.
"Do you know what is involved, Kate?"
"You mean the corporal correction? Oh yes I do, and yes I still want to be a member."
She suddenly didn't seem so young any more. She became very decisive and efficient. "Well you're an adult and a close relative of members so... well, the person you want to see to avoid time wasting is Sir Charnock Forbes. He is at the hall most mornings so let me take you straight to him."
Five minutes later I was sitting with Michelle in a rather grand but modern office. Coffee and biscuits were brought in by a secretary of some sort and Sir Charnock was beaming at me in a most avuncular way.
"My dear, becoming a member is a very big step indeed for someone your age. Are you aware of what is involved?"
Now I have a mischievous side to me and I quite like shocking people, not with my bad behaviour or anything, but just with things they simply don't expect.
"Oh yes, fully aware. I cracked my dad's password and had a good look at the members' manual. So yes, I know what is involved."
Well I thought it was just an expression about jaws dropping and eyes popping out of their sockets but that is what he did. His eyes grew so big it looked like they were about to pop out and his jaw just hung open. Michelle started giggling like a teenager but I managed to keep a straight face and sit solemnly waiting to see what he would say. He fluffed around with words but couldn't find a single reason not to proceed, so eventually took me off to a small private room equipped only with a table and chair and gave me a long form to fill in. It was a psychological profile devised by a university and full of those questions which are posed in different ways to see if you really are consistent. I took my time and thought about each question, many of which appeared to have nothing whatsoever to do with the subject. When I finished I handed it back to Sir Charnock who told me it would take about twenty four hours for the evaluation to be complete.
Michelle was going to take me to lunch but when we came out of the Island Hall a woman stopped us. She seemed to me to be a bit older than my mum but very attractive in a stro
ng way. She was quite buxom having large but well-shaped boobs, and a full but shapely figure. I liked her from the start. She had a sort of loud, cheeky way with her that sort of said, 'Yes I know I'm naughty but you like me don't you.' Her name was Aileen Dunbar. I'd heard of Aileen, my mum mentioned her several times and I said so.
"Did she tell you I am always in trouble?"
I laughed. "No, my mum would never say things like that about a member, at least not to me."
"So what are you two young things up to?"
Michelle explained that I wanted to be a member and that she had taken me to see Sir Charnock. Aileen suddenly looked very serious and began to ask the inevitable but I butted in this time and told her I did know exactly what was involved but I still wanted to do it. On hearing that Aileen decided that she had to take us both to lunch and find out all about me. By the end of the afternoon I had two new friends, both of them apparently very keen to see more of me and the calendar on my phone began to fill up with engagements.
When I got home my parents were both in. Clearly someone had informed them of my application to be a member and they were terribly anxious. I had the great pleasure of telling my dad I had worked out his password and knew exactly what was going on. Well you can imagine the conversation which was long and difficult. I suppose all parents would be worried but as I pointed out, they had made that decision to join themselves so they could hardly criticise me.
"Well what happens if you get a penalty point? Am I supposed to...?"
"No Dad, it will be one of the senior men"
I couldn't tell Dad that the whole idea was some sort of turn on for me and that getting it from him would seem close to incest. I was at work most of the next day but when I got home I had a formal letter informing me the evaluation had shown I could be suitable for membership. I read that as, 'Yup you're kinky enough, girl'. It also invited me to an interview the next day at the Island Hall.
