by Susan Thomas
Remember not having it had it led to a penalty point resulting in three strokes of the cane and three swats with the paddle and there was still more to go.
I also thought a lot about Claire. She claimed to be not bright enough for university but in the time I had known her she had read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Tempest, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy and The Grapes of Wrath. Now other than A-Level I am not into literature that much but I know those are not the sort of books that the average reader gets into. Then she claimed to be from a poor background and needed somewhere to live, but her clothing was all very nice stuff and not exactly budget, plus her manners and the whole way she spoke suggested another sort of background altogether. I was sure she was telling lies, but why?
I told David all this and he just laughed and said I was paranoid. He said Claire's parents might have divorced so there was no longer the money there had been and surely a girl can try and broaden her mind by reading some harder stuff. As for the ID thing well perhaps the Guardian knowing I was a new member just thought he'd check if I was obeying the rules, it was no big deal.
I also told Claire about the ID thing and she looked thoughtful but came out with a similar explanation as did Michelle and even Aileen so I sort of tried to forget it but there was a niggling doubt in the back of my mind. However, I had the V Auction to think about. My guide showed me that they had five checked-out bidders who were ready to go and three more still being checked. The ones already checked included two oil billionaires, a Russian and an Arab; a Chinese industrial magnet; a British man who was some sort of big noise in the City of London; and an American who owned a chain of hotels around the world. What they all had in common was they were very rich and had a fetish for deflowering virgins. My parents weren't happy at all but they helped me look over everything and to be honest it felt very peculiar doing this but it would give me my first taste of independence and as I said, I had to lose it sometime.
In the meanwhile September was creeping up fast and of course in September not only was I nineteen but also would be making an appearance at the quarterly dinner-dance. They were held in March, June, September and December but the actual date varied. I will be honest with you, the thought of being stark naked and 'corrected' on a stage in front of so many people was freaking me. What seemed so fantastic in my imagination was looking less so as the reality approached. Then suddenly Mum was asked to show her ID card. She was in the centre and just on her way to meet a friend. She didn't have it and was awarded one penalty. She rang me straight away to tell me. I was at work but we agreed a time when I could come with her to the House of Guardians.
---oOo---
The Chief of Security was once again on his own in the room with the large mirrored wall. He was distinctly nervous about the way he was being summoned on his own always to discuss Kate Freckleton. The lights dimmed and now he could see the silhouetted shapes of The Five behind the glass. The unnerving child's voice of the voice changer carried the voice of Number 1.
"Report."
"Not much to report really. You know about her penalty which was very odd. The men don't normally check ID cards. She has had two of the stages with the September accountability session to go. She has been admitted to the V Auction programme and that is proceeding smoothly. Her parents aren't happy but accepting. I assume the V auction will help her pay the fees once she is a student."
"Nothing else?"
"May I raise the issue about Mr Canterbury?"
"Very well."
"His businesses are heading into administration. Not immediately but six months down the line. I was right about his finances he cannot sustain membership and could present an embarrassing situation"
"You've done a good job. We commend you. Leave Mr Canterbury to us."
When he had gone The Five continued with their meeting. Number 1 sounded displeased. "Number 5, I understand Kate has become suspicious?"
"Yes she told our agent that she is deeply suspicious about the ID card ruse. Unfortunate. I think I made a mistake in doing that. I have tried to deflect that as has our agent but I strongly suspect she is not satisfied. I have made sure her mother is now checked and will arrange a crackdown so that others get it but am bypassing the Head of Security. I think it may be time to remove the cameras from her room. I wouldn't put it past her to start looking."
Chapter 10
I got off the ferry and Mum was there with her golf cart looking nervous. It is one of the odd things about corporal correction, you may desire it but the thought of the pain and embarrassment makes you very nervous indeed. I had worked out that for me what really attracts isn't the actual punishment but the possibility of punishment and the effects afterwards.
Sensibly mum was wearing a skirt and no tights, and flat slip-on shoes. We drove to the House of Guardians which is the most sombre looking building on the island. Mum was shaking as we walked from the parked cart to the building so I linked my arm in hers and chatted soothingly. The Guardian at reception (it always seemed the same man with the broad beaming smile) was terribly polite but I was not allowed into the Accountability Suite with mum.
"However Miss Freckleton, I can admit you to the viewing gallery if Lady Freckleton is happy with that."
Mum was, and I kissed and hugged her (being in the same boat together seemed to have drawn us very close after a long period of coolness) and waited while she was shown into the Accountability Suite. When he came back he chatted amiably while taking me what seemed quite a long route to the viewing place.
"You created quite a stir here Miss Freckleton. You are the youngest member redeeming a penalty that we have ever had. There was a lot of interest if I may say so and the Guardian who carried it out regards it as quite a feather in his cap that he is the first to cane you."
You think that bizarre? Well I suppose it is but it doesn't feel that way when you are on Chapel Island, it feels perfectly normal.
"Well you can tell him from me if you like, that he made a jolly good job of it but can he please not lay one cane stroke straight on top of another again. That mark took ages to go away and caused me a lot of grief."
I said it in such a way he had to laugh and he promised to pass that message on to Guardian Davis. There was another key pad entrance into the door marked Viewing Gallery. It was similarly decorated to the Accountability Suite, long and narrow with the same light wood panelling, and the short end wall had that same gentle lilac but with no watercolours. The floor was the same but the left hand wall was one huge glass with a clear view into the Accountability Suite or at least the part where the corrections took place. I knew that the other side of the wall appeared to be a mirror. Two rows of comfortable cinema-type seats were set out like a cinema so that the second row looked through the gaps in the front. There were two couples I had never seen before (and have never seen since) sitting in the front row who looked at me in a most peculiar way but said nothing. I smiled and sat down next to them.
There were three Guardians on the other side of the glass talking and checking a list. We could hear them quite clearly through the sound system as one said, "Right I'll bring the first lady in. Two penalties for this one."
One of the others took off his jacket and went to a rack which had about half a dozen canes all much the same but he selected one. He swished it through the air a few times and the woman sitting next to me shuddered.
A woman came in that I vaguely recognised but her name escaped me. She was I would say about forty to forty-five and looking very nervous. She had a good face and a pixie cut which suited her face perfectly. She was wearing a long skirt with a blouse and a rather nice silk scarf loosely knotted around her neck. Since she had come in and not mum I guessed there must be a queue. She clearly knew the drill and without any prompting began to get ready. She removed her scarf and shoes first, then took off her skirt which revealed she was wearing hold-up stockings with her knickers. She didn't hesitate as I had but simply took her knickers off which made the w
oman next to me gasp. What did she expect for heaven's sake?
She bent over the 'horse' and I felt for her having not too long before been in that position. The Guardian took up position and now I saw just what a peculiar stance he took. It wasn't what I expected at all but looked like some sort of dance position. He tapped her bottom a couple of times to make sure he had it right and then there was a flurry of movement, a sort of pivot that enabled him to move and bring his arm down with frightening force. We could hear the horrid crack of the cane as it landed on her bare bottom and then just for a second it seemed to bury itself into her bottom before it sprang away for the next stroke. As the shock wave rippled across her bottom her head shot up and she shrieked loudly.
The woman next to me cried out and her hands went up to her mouth in horror. I guess she was imagining herself in that position. Even as the shriek reverberated around the room a nasty looking welt was springing up across the bottom but the cane was already powering down for the second stroke.
The second landed just below the first and again her head shot up and she shrieked loudly, her hands coming off the legs of the 'horse' before scrabbling back into place. The woman next to me jumped to her feet, squeezed past me and left the gallery tears in her eyes. I turned back to the caning to see the third stroke hit that bottom with a ferocity that was scary. That must have been how my bottom looked for I was sure he wasn't doing it any differently to that which I had received. Now he stopped and walked away for a while, I guessed to give us all time to admire the welts that had risen up across her bottom, all far worse on one side than the other just as I had found.
I could see her bottom was quivering like a sort of nervous tick. Clearly she was finding this very hard and since she had two penalties she had three more strokes to go. Each of the next three strokes made her shriek. I didn't feel so bad about the noise I had made now; clearly it wasn't me being a wimp it really did hurt getting caned. He laid the six strokes neatly one below the other, six perfectly parallel welts.
When she was told she could stand up she looked very shaky and a Guardian came round to her and gave her some tissues to mop her face. I hadn't cried but this lady did, but then she had six. She dressed again slowly and carefully with the three next to me watching intently. Finally the Guardian gave her his arm and helped walk her out.
When he came back in he typed up some stuff on a laptop and then one of them went to the door of the lobby and brought in my mother. I know she is my mum but she is extremely attractive and not just for her age. Mum wasted no time, she looked scared but clearly just wanted to get this over with. She kicked off her shoes by the clothes stand, took off her skirt and pulling her knickers down, whipped them off quickly before walking straight to the horse and bending over it. One of the men next to me whispered, "God she is keen isn't she."
I said coldly, "I think my mother is not so much keen as anxious to get it over with." There was no reply.
The Guardian took up his peculiar stance once more, tested the range and then let fly with another of those ferocious cane strokes. My mother's bottom looked for a second as if the cane was going to cut it in half and she, like the first lady, threw her head up and shrieked loudly. He didn't hit her again right away but walked away giving us time to watch the welt rise up and turn a nasty red. Then he returned to his position and ran the cane gently down her bottom before withdrawing it and letting fly with the second stroke. Poor Mum screamed this time for it did what had happened with me and partly landed along the first welt. She half stood, clearly wanting to bring her hands back to hold her bum but remembered in time to return to the submissive bent over position. The resulting welt was awful and I knew just how that felt. It wasn't done deliberately I am sure, it just happens sometimes.
He gave Mum a moment or two to absorb the pain and for us to admire his handiwork and then he let fly with the third. The horrid crack as it hit her bottom made me flinch but at least it landed clear of the other two. Again Mum screeched loudly and we watched the third welt make its appearance across her bottom. Mum was allowed to stand and gingerly began to put her things on again.
At that point I slipped out of the door which had an ordinary handle on the inside and started to go round to reception to meet Mum. The woman that had left was leaning against a wall looking quite pale.
"How do they do it? How do they take those canings?"
"How do we take those canings?" I said firmly. "Well that is the wrong question. It is more why do we take them? Now that is a different answer for everyone but it is our free choice. No one makes us."
I giggled when I saw Mum walking with those stiff little steps to avoid pulling the welts on her bottom. She sat stiffly on the cushion and I drove the cart back home (a child could drive those things but you have to be eighteen or over to do it on Chapel Island). Dad came home about an hour later and in front of me gave Mum a lecture, in very stern tones, about following island rules. Mum stood meekly her head down not answering back once. If I hadn't known how happy she was with her new life I might have been worried.
"Well you know what I must do now don't you?"
"Yes Graham."
"Well since Kate is now aware of what we do you might just as well go to my study and not upstairs. You Kate, are not watching this. Your mother is entitled to some privacy."
I caught the mood and said, "Yes Dad," in a very meek way.
Mum and Dad left the kitchen and went off to Dad's study and shut the door, but I didn't stay where I was but crept down to the door and listened in. Dad certainly didn't go easy on Mum. I heard every one of them and he caned her hard though his cane is not as nasty as the Guardian one. I made sure I was in the kitchen when they came out and appeared to be busy making dinner.
At dinner Mum sat on a cushion but was otherwise fine. She was deliberately avoiding the subject of her 'correction' I expect because they were going to have a grand old time in bed later. Instead she raised the question of my birthday which was coming up fast. I didn't like to think about it because soon after was the quarterly dinner-dance, but Mum insisted. Having not long had a leaving-school bash with all my own age group I wasn't keen on another so soon. I suggested we have something a bit more sedate so I could invite all the new people I had met. I was going to spend the next year with them at the very least so it was best to get to know them better.
Dad agreed to invite David and Claire plus Michelle and Dave Riley, Mr and Mrs Whaley, Sir Charnock and Lady Forbes. Aileen and Duncan Dunbar and various others including the doctor and my guide for the V Auction, altogether about thirty people. Mum was to arrange a buffet, Dad would get a small group in plus the wine and other drinks. I felt very grown up which is silly I know, but I did. Then mum dropped in her little bombshell.
"What about the birthday spanking?"
Dad looked uncomfortable, so he clearly knew, but I didn't so Mum explained about Michelle's birthday spanking and how it had become a custom for the female members of Chapel Island.
"But Mum, that is not in the manual anywhere."
"No Kate, but it is expected."
"I'm not keen, I can tell you that for nothing."
Well Mum went on about how it seemed to be expected, no less by the women members than the men and if we were having a Chapel Island party rather than a teenagers' party then it would be expected. "It's not very hard Kate, quite light in fact."
Dad suddenly intervened. "Look Kate, you don't have to do it. I'll say I banned it if you like. It isn't in the manual so no one can legitimately complain. I can't be taken to the Court of Gentlemen over it."
Well I've never cared much what others thought of me and I have always been quite happy to be different, odd even, but this was different. Mum's reputation as a mother and member of standing might take a nose dive. I know it's my own sex but women can be a funny lot, besides David would be there. The thought of getting a birthday spanking in front of David was very appealing. I fancied the life out of him.
"That's lovely
of you Dad but it's ok. I'll do it."
Then Mum asked a difficult question. "Well who is to do it? You're not married so not your husband. It can be Sir Charnock as he is your senior man or it can be your Dad as it is not about island rules or anything."
Well that was a big question no mistake. I looked at Dad and although I could see he would take Sir Charnock in good part he would feel rather hurt. He had been trying so hard to build a better relationship with me after all the years of work taking first place and he had supported me several times even though he wasn't happy. I just couldn't name Sir Charnock over him, just couldn't.
"Are you OK to do it, Dad?"
He smiled and nodded, almost happily - right decision on my part.
So I would have my birthday party (and birthday spanking) on 2nd September. Less than two weeks later on the Saturday it was the quarterly dinner-dance when I would get my bottom walloped while stark naked in front of most of the island, and then sometime in September the V Auction would end and I would have to be deflowered. Quite a month.
Chapter 11
A few days before my birthday party the stunning news went around that Mr and Mrs Canterbury were leaving the island. They were selling the house to someone on the approved waiting list and moving across to the mainland. Rumours flew around like flies trying to find somewhere to land but no one seemed to know why or what had brought on this sudden decision. The couple that would replace them were already being shown around by the island secretary. They were about thirty and she was very nice but I didn't like him. He was one of those smooth public school men from wealthy families who will end in politics putting on whatever beliefs he thinks will get him elected. He was terribly charming when introduced to me, but I still didn't like him.
