"Come in, please ladies. Mrs Walker, Mrs Curtis, do take a seat."

"Thank you, headmaster."

"Thank you, Mr Noakes."

Rosemary Walker sat down on the thickly padded armchair in front of Arthur Noakes' large desk, and looked around, admiring the large, oak-panelled study. Elaine Curtis sat next to her in a matching armchair. The headmaster came straight to the point.

“I don't know how much Lisa has told you, Mrs Walker, or Zoe you, Mrs Curtis, but presumably you are aware that your two girls have been caught shoplifting again, and during the time they should have been here in school too."

"Lisa told me she'd been caught playing truant, Mr Noakes, but no, she hasn't mentioned anything about shoplifting. Are you really sure?"

"Oh yes, I’m very sure, and let's be honest, Mrs Walker, it's not for the first time, is it?"

"No, Mr Noakes, I'm afraid it isn't." The chubby-faced, dark-haired woman in her mid-forties looked unhappily down at her feet.

"And I'm afraid we must say the same for Zoe too, Mrs Curtis. Not a new experience for her either, is it?" The headmaster looked over the top of his spectacles towards the attractive blonde-haired woman of similar age to Rosemary Walker.

"No, Mr Noakes." Elaine Curtis kept her eyes on the headmaster.

"In fact, ladies, it's the third time they've been caught shoplifting and the fifth time for truancy. Remember, these are just the times they've been caught. That's not to say they haven't absented themselves from school on other occasions, or indeed been stealing on other occasions too."

"Oh, surely not, headmaster." Mrs Curtis wanted to limit the allegations against her daughter, Zoe.

“We won't know for sure unless either girl chooses to tell us,” Mr Noakes responded. “More to the point is, what are we going to do about the offences we do know they've committed?"

"Oh dear! Another month's suspension? My husband will be most upset about the cost of the school fees we pay to keep Zoe here, when as often as not, it seems, she's on suspension." Mrs Curtis dreaded the thought of breaking the news to Colin, her husband, yet again.

"I have to be frank, ladies. I have had just about enough of your two girls damaging this school's good reputation with the local shopkeepers. It's now got to the point that some shops are restricting the number of our girls they allow in at any one time, and mainly because of your two."

"Oh, Mr Noakes! It's a bit unfair to say that our girls are the only two who ever steal from shops. I'm sure there must be others." Elaine Curtis could name one or two others, from what Zoe had told her.

"Yes indeed, I am aware that a few other girls have also been tempted into stealing, but Lisa and Zoe remain the leading culprits. Were I to decide to make examples of a couple of girls to deter the others, I'm afraid there could be little doubt whom I would have to choose."

"Make examples? What exactly do you mean by that, headmaster?" Elaine Curtis wasn't liking where this conversation was going.

“I am seriously considering expelling Lisa and Zoe, Mrs Curtis."

"Expelling them! Oh, good grief!" Already, Elaine Curtis was picturing herself breaking the news to her husband. "Surely, it won't come to that, will it?"

"I think it has come to that, Mrs Curtis."

"You mean, you've made your mind up already?"

"I'm afraid so, Mrs Curtis."

"And there's nothing that could persuade you to change your mind?"

"I can't think of anything, Mrs Curtis."

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Elaine Curtis sat back in her chair and cupped her hands behind her head in despair at daughter Zoe's behaviour.

"I can think of something, Mr Noakes," Rosemary Walker broke her silence.

"Yes, Mrs Walker? I'm open to any suggestion." Arthur Noakes hoped this was not going to be yet another plea for a suspension. He'd tried that three times already with these two girls.

"You could cane the pair of them."

"Cane them!" The headmaster and Elaine Curtis exclaimed together.

"That's right, cane them." Rosemary Walker took a turn at looking Arthur Noakes straight in the eye.

"We haven't caned a girl at this school for years, Mrs Walker."

"Maybe not, Mr Noakes, but as this is a private school, there's no reason why you shouldn't, is there?"

"No, Mrs Walker, no there isn't." Arthur Noakes played for time while he thought of a way round this suggestion. "Mrs Curtis, what do you think of this idea?"

"I'm horrified, to be honest, Mr Noakes. We've never believed in smacking Zoe."

"Hold on," Rosemary Walker broke in. "I'm just speaking for myself and Lisa. Let's face it, we all know my Lisa is mainly to blame. She's the ring-leader. Without her, Zoe would never have got involved. What she needs, Mr Noakes, is a damn good hiding, and I'd like you to give it to her."

"But Mrs Walker, have you thought what this would mean to Lisa?"

"Yes, Mr Noakes, it would mean a sore bottom, something she richly deserves. If my husband were more of a man, he'd have done it himself, years ago!"

"A sore bot…? Mrs Walker! You can't be serious."

"Oh yes I am, Mr Noakes. Believe me, I'm serious! We pay you a lot of money to educate our daughter, Mr Noakes. Now I want to see something for our money. Less talk of suspensions and expulsions, and more about Lisa getting her bottom smacked!"

"Alright, Mrs Walker, you've made your point. As you correctly say, corporal punishment is permissible in private schools." The headmaster paused for thought. "I can't deny, there are some teachers here who I'm sure would agree with you that Lisa does deserve a good hiding, as you put it. What exactly are you thinking of?"

"The cane, Mr Noakes. Six strokes is traditional, isn't it? I'm not sure Lisa doesn't deserve more than that, mind. Perhaps eight strokes? Yes, I think that sounds about right."

"Eight strokes, Mrs Walker? That is quite severe, you know. Would you perhaps think four on each hand might do the trick?"

"No, Mr Noakes, I wouldn't. I don't want Lisa showing off the marks on her hands to her friends and boasting about how she got the cane on them. I can just imagine her doing that. Cane her across her backside. I doubt she'll be quite so keen to drop her knickers and show her bottom off to the others."

Arthur Noakes coughed, not entirely comfortable at the mother’s bluntness. "Yes, I see your point, Mrs Walker. I do think, though, that perhaps a female member of staff ought to administer the punishment."

"What difference does it make? I'd say it might have more significance if you, as her headmaster, did it, but I'd be happy to leave that decision to you."

"Right. Now, I'm wondering where that leaves Zoe. Do we carry on and expel her? What do we do?" The headmaster glanced from one mother to the other.

"I'm not sure about all this, Mr Noakes," Elaine Curtis replied. "On the one hand, I certainly don't want to see Zoe expelled. But I'm not sure about letting you cane her. I think she'd be absolutely terrified."

"I don't see why Zoe has to have the same punishment as my Lisa, Elaine. I'm convinced my dear daughter is the cause of much of Zoe's troubles." Rosemary Walker looked towards Arthur Noakes. "Perhaps Zoe could be excused punishment on this occasion?"

"Oh, that doesn't seem fair!" Elaine Curtis retorted. "Whatever the reasons, she has absented herself from school and she has been stealing. She ought to have some sort of punishment."

"Let her have four strokes, then," Rosemary Walker suggested.

"I don't know," Elaine Curtis said doubtfully.

"Four strokes won't do her much harm, will they?" Mrs Walker encouraged her friend. "Anyway, I certainly don't think your Zoe should be expelled."

"I do recall," Arthur Noakes looked up at the ceiling, thoughtfully, "That when the cane was in use here, we did have some girls for whom the thought of being struck by a large stick was considered to be a bit too much. In such cases, we allowed them the option of a spanking, and, to make it a trifle more palatable, we allowed them to choose the teacher they wanted to carry out the punishment. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like a good idea, doesn't it, Elaine?" Rosemary Walker looked at her friend.

"I don't know." Elaine Curtis still seemed doubtful. "I suppose it would be better than the cane, but I just don't know."

"If you have any other ideas, Mrs Curtis," Arthur Noakes encouraged. "I'd certainly consider them."

"No, I'm afraid I can't think of anything, Mr Noakes." Elaine Curtis didn't speak for some moments, and the other two allowed her the time to consider. Finally, she came to a decision. "Yes, okay, I'll allow Zoe to be spanked, provided she can choose the teacher that does it."

"Yes, of course, Mrs Curtis. So how shall we arrange this, then? Shall I have the girls brought here now, and we'll explain what is going to happen? I could deal with Lisa straight away, of course, but it may take a little time to arrange things for Zoe."

"I think I'd like to talk to Zoe first, Mr Noakes, sort of break it to her gently. Could it be done tomorrow, perhaps?"

"Yes, I don't see why not. Mrs Walker?"

"I think I'd prefer Lisa didn't know until just before the time. But tomorrow would be fine by me."

"Right. I suggest then, Mrs Walker, that we simply tell Lisa that she is to come to my study tomorrow at four o'clock, with you, so that we can discuss her behaviour. That would be no more than she is already expecting. Then we can proceed from there."

"Yes, Mr Noakes, four o'clock will be fine."

"Mrs Curtis, that means you will need to talk to Zoe this evening and, if you can let me know which teacher she wishes to punish her, I'll make the necessary arrangements so that it can be done at four o'clock too. How does that sound?"

"Yes, Mr Noakes, I'll do that."

****

At nine o'clock that evening, Elaine Curtis softly climbed the stairs and tapped on Zoe's bedroom door.

"Can we have a chat?" Zoe's mother peered round the door.

"Yes mum, of course."

Little Zoe Curtis, just five feet two inches in height, chubby build, short blonde hair, was laying face down on her bed, reading a book. As her mother came into the room, the sixteen-year-old swivelled herself round so that she was sitting on the edge of her bed. Her mother sat down beside her.

"I need to talk to you about the trouble you've had at school, darling."

"Oh." Zoe looked down at the carpet.

"You really have been a naughty girl, haven't you?" Mrs Curtis stroked her daughter's hair.

"I am sorry, mum."

"I know you are, darling. Anyway, I had to go and see your headmaster today, along with Mrs Walker."

"Really?"

"Yes, and we had a long chat about what we were going to do with the pair of you."

"They're not going to expel us, are they?" Zoe looked up into her mother's eyes. A tear rolled down the girl's cheek. "I really like it there, you know. That’s what Lisa is expecting."

"It's alright, darling." Mrs Walker continued stroking her daughter's hair. "No, they're not going to expel you."

"Thank goodness for that. I was really worried! Lisa reckoned they'd have to expel us. I suppose that means we get another suspension, does it? Daddy will be furious, won't he?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. No, darling, you won't be getting another suspension. Tell me, do you have a favourite teacher at school?"

Zoe pondered the question for some moments. She was delighted that she wasn't going to be suspended yet again, but obviously something was afoot, otherwise why the question about her favourite teacher? Clearly, they weren't going to get away without some penalty, not for the things they'd been up to.

"Why do you ask, mum?" Zoe asked suspiciously.

"Before I tell you, darling, you do realise that for the things you've been doing lately, being absent from school and stealing from shops and so on, you can't expect to get off without some penalty, don't you? You do realise that, don't you?" Mrs Curtis looked her daughter straight in the eye.

"I suppose, mum." Zoe sighed deeply. "Yes, I do realise that."

Zoe had visions of being given lots of extra work, but at least it sounded like it would be set in one of her favourite subjects. Why else would her mother be asking about her favourite teacher?

"So, who would you say was your favourite teacher?" Mrs Curtis asked again.

"Well, art is my best subject, so obviously I get on well with Mr Reynolds, but I like Geography, that's Miss Peters. She's young. And French too, that's Mrs Hodges. She's old, but she's a good teacher."

"Yes, but who would be your favourite? Say you had a problem, who would you prefer to talk to about it?"

"What sort of a problem?"

"Um. A personal problem, say."

"What sort of a personal problem? Mum, what is this all about?"

"Suppose you had to choose a teacher to punish you, which would you pick?"

"I don't know. What sort of punishment? Mum, what's going on?"

"Look darling, what Lisa told you wasn't far from the truth. Mr Noakes was on the point of expelling you both. However, after a lot of discussion, we've come up with another idea." Mrs Curtis looked down at the carpet now, finding it hard to look into her daughter's eyes.

"What is it, mum? What's wrong? Tell me!"

"The thing is, darling," Mrs Curtis took a deep breath. "You're going to be spanked."

"Spanked?” Zoe laughed, until she saw the solemn look on her mother’s face. “What do you mean, spanked?" Zoe couldn't believe her ears.

"What I say, darling. You're going to be spanked." Mrs Curtis was glad she'd got it out into the open, but she still felt nervous about Zoe's reaction. "You can choose any teacher you like to do it, though," she added, hoping that would help.

"Spanked? I can't be spanked, mum!"

"Why not?"

"I just can't, that's all. I don't know. I'm too old to be spanked!"

"No, you're not."

"Is Lisa going to be spanked too?"

"It doesn't matter what's going to happen to Lisa, darling. It's you we're thinking about now."

"So, she's not! Why can't I have the same as she's getting?" After a pause for breath, Zoe asked in a panic, “They’re not expelling her, are they? Oh no! That’s not fair.”

"No darling, she's not going to be expelled. She’ll be getting something sort of similar to you, just a bit more severe. Mr Noakes knows she's been leading you astray."

"Okay,” Zoe replied thoughtfully, “So, what exactly is going to happen to her? Tell me the truth, mum.”

“I, er, I’m not sure it’s been finally decided, Zoe,” Mrs Curtis lied. “It will be something similar though, just a bit more severe.”

“Okay,” Zoe answered, still suspicious. “So, what happens now?”

“Lisa and Mrs Walker, and you and me, are going to see Mr Noakes tomorrow after school, and it will all get sorted out then."

"By ‘sorted out’ you mean I’m getting spanked? Correct? And Lisa will get some kind of spanking that’s a bit more severe than I’m getting? Is that correct?”

"That’s exactly correct, darling.”

“And neither of us will be expelled? Correct?” Zoe stared into her mother's eyes, still finding it hard to believe this wasn't all some kind of dream.

“Correct.”

The two sat looking at each other, as Zoe took time to mull things over.

"So, what exactly is going to happen to me?" Zoe asked, not sure she really wanted to hear the answer.

"You choose the teacher you want to punish you. I'll tell Mr Noakes in the morning so he can arrange things, then presumably your chosen teacher will join us in the headmaster’s study, or we’ll go off into a separate room with the teacher."

"Don't I have any say in any of this?" Zoe asked.

"Only in the choice of teacher, I'm afraid, darling."

"I'm going to be spanked, whatever I say?"

"Yes, it’s the best deal I could get for you. You don’t want to be expelled, do you? That was the only other option."

“I suppose not.”

****

The following day, during the mid-morning break, Natalie Peters downed her cup of coffee with unusual haste, a point commented upon by several of her colleagues in the staff-room.

"I've been summoned," she explained. "I'm to report to the headmaster's study in, er, exactly three minutes." The attractive, tall, blonde-haired young woman looked up at the clock.

"I wondered why I saw you stuffing a book down the seat of your skirt!" Mr Reynolds, the forty-year-old art teacher joked. "What have you been up to, Natalie?"

"Nothing! Unfortunately." The twenty-eight-year-old Geography teacher laughed. "I guess he's going to tell me whether I'm to be offered a permanent position here. Remember, I'm only on a one-year contract at the moment, and that ends this term."

"And that's your story and you're sticking to it, eh? Well, good luck, anyway."

"Thanks."

Soon, Natalie Peters was sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs in front of Arthur Noakes' desk.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Natalie. I have something of a delicate matter I need to discuss with you." Natalie Peters' heart sank. Arthur Noakes was being unusually obtuse, and it sounded like she wasn't going to be offered the permanent job.

"Yes, headmaster?"

"Where do you stand on the issue of corporal punishment?"

"I beg your pardon?" Natalie's mind was still on her future employment.

"Corporal punishment, Natalie. What are your feelings on the subject?"

Natalie coughed. "I don't really know, headmaster." The young teacher wondered if this was some sort of trap, some test she had to get right in order to be offered the permanent position. "I'm not sure I have strong feelings either way."

"So, you wouldn't be totally averse to the idea, then?"

"Um. Possibly not. No, headmaster." Natalie was very concerned that she could be talking herself out of her job.

"You know Zoe Curtis, of course?"

"Er, yes. She's in my fifth year Geography class. She's doing very well, too. I like her." Natalie was thinking hard. Had she said something to upset little Zoe? What had Zoe been saying about her?

"That's as maybe. Unfortunately, she's also a thief and a truant. Did you know that?"

"You mean the shoplifting? Yes, I spoke to her about it. Lisa Walker is the real culprit, though. She leads Zoe into these things. Unfortunately, Lisa is Zoe's best friend, so Zoe feels she has to tag along. I wish there was something I could do."

"Like what, for example?"

"I don't know, I'd do anything to stop her stealing."

"How about spanking her?"

"Pardon?" Was this another trap, Natalie wondered.

"Would you be prepared to spank Zoe Curtis as a punishment for her stealing, Natalie?"

"Can I do that?"

"Yes, this is a private school, so state school regulations don't apply. You would have my full permission, and anyway her mother has agreed."

"Her mother has agreed?" That surprised the young teacher. "What about Zoe? What are her feelings about it?"

"Zoe has agreed to accept a spanking, provided that you are the one that does it. It was part of the arrangement that she could choose any teacher she liked to carry out the punishment. The only other option was for the school to expel her, which I certainly did not want to do."

"Me neither,” Natalie responded. “And she chose me? I wonder why."

"Presumably because she gets on well with you?" The headmaster suggested.

"Yes, I suppose that must be why."

"So, are you prepared to help us out?"

"Of course I want to be helpful, to you and to Zoe too, of course. But, Zoe is sixteen. What would I do? Put her over my knee? Bend her over a desk? Perhaps you'd better tell me exactly what you want me to do, just so there's no misunderstanding."

"I think we’re not too worried about what you do with Zoe, Natalie. Lisa is the main culprit and she will be getting the more severe punishment. I think what you do with Zoe is down to your own ideas, perhaps with the consent of both Zoe and her mother. I suggest you meet us here at four o’clock today and take Zoe and her mother off to your classroom and deal with the girl. Meanwhile, Lisa will be caned here in this office."

****

At six minutes past four o'clock that day, Mrs Rosemary Walker and Lisa were shown into Arthur Noakes' study, and invited to sit in the two comfortable armchairs in front of his desk. Lisa, five feet five inches tall, average build, long wavy dark hair, wore what was considered acceptable school dress of tight black leggings and a white blouse.

"Thank you for coming, Mrs Walker," Arthur Noakes began. "Now Lisa, you know what this is about. You've been caught stealing from shops yet again, and while you have been absent from school without good excuse or authority. Do you have anything to say?"

Lisa Walker, a slight grin on her face, twiddled her fingers and shrugged her shoulders, but said nothing.

"Nothing to say, eh?" Arthur Noakes fiddled idly with a pencil. "Well Lisa, it may interest you to know that I was seriously considering expelling you. How do you feel about that?"

The grin became a little broader, as Lisa heard her expectation announced. She continued playing with her fingers and shrugged her shoulders again, but still didn't reply.

"Not impressed, eh? Anyway Lisa, your mother came to see me yesterday and persuaded me not to expel you."

Lisa did show some small sign of surprise at that news, but was still not moved to speak.

"No doubt, Lisa, you're anxious to know just what penalty you will have to pay for your stealing and truanting?"

Even sarcasm had no effect on the girl, except for the grin broadening still further.

"And no, it won't be yet another period of suspension. I'm sure you'd be the first to agree, Lisa, that hasn't been at all effective in the past, has it?"

Lisa now positively smiled back at her headmaster.

"You're going to be caned, Lisa." Arthur Noakes finally delivered Lisa's sentence quite simply, and enjoyed carefully studying the sixteen-year-old's reaction.

The smile faded steadily, until it was replaced with a look of horror. That expression waned too, and Lisa watched her headmaster, waiting for him to tell her just what her punishment really was. Corporal punishment hadn't been used in this school for some years, so she reckoned she had as much chance of being caned as he had of becoming prime minister.

"Ah, I see, Lisa," the headmaster could read her thoughts, so obvious was the look on her face. "You think I'm kidding you. Well, I'm not, Lisa. I mean it. You're to receive eight strokes of the cane. That is your punishment."

It slowly sank in that her headmaster was not in any way deceiving her. Lisa looked doubtful, and worried. She turned her head to look at her mother, expecting her mother to protest on her behalf. Mrs Walker stared blankly back at her daughter.

"Do you have anything to say before I carry out your punishment, Lisa?"

Lisa was stunned. Her heart started beating rapidly. Just moments ago, she was feeling confident and in control. Now, events had moved so quickly that here she was, on the point of actually having to face being caned. She desperately wanted time, time to think, time to come up with some way out of this. She looked again at her mother.

“Mum? You’re not going to allow this, are you?” Lisa’s voice faltered, her nervousness fully exposed to her headmaster and her mother.

“It’s for the best, Lisa,” Mrs Walker replied. “You’ve been extremely naughty bunking off school and, not only that, shoplifting too. You’re lucky you’re not in even more serious trouble with the law and all that. A few whacks on your bum won’t do you any harm at all.”

“Mum!”

Arthur Noakes stood up, which caused Lisa's heart to pound even faster. The girl cupped her face in her hands as the headmaster went over to a corner cupboard and opened it. He returned carrying a three foot long cane complete with crook handle, and a new exercise book.

Lisa watched carefully as her headmaster laid the cane on his desk. It looked thin and very flexible, and she stared at it intently. Meanwhile, Arthur Noakes was scribbling away in the exercise book.

****

At eight minutes past four o'clock, Zoe Curtis met her mother in the school's front reception area. The girl appeared glum, and the exchanged greeting was a rather tense affair. Moments later, Zoe was escorting her mother slowly along one long corridor, up some stairs, and along another corridor towards room 5B, where the school secretary had told Zoe to report after school.

Finally, they arrived at the door of room 5B. Mother and daughter both stood looking through the glass panes of the door. Inside, sitting at the teacher's desk, was the young Miss Peters, looking smart in a tight grey skirt and red cardigan.

It was Zoe's mother who took the plunge and tapped on the door. Immediately, the young teacher looked up. She beckoned for them to come in, and Zoe's mother opened the door and pushed her daughter in ahead of her. Natalie Peters stood up to greet them.

"Hello, Mrs Curtis. Hello Zoe." Natalie Peters smiled warmly as she held out her hand, ready to shake hands with Mrs Curtis. "Oh dear, I'm afraid we don't have any comfortable chairs for you to sit on, Mrs Curtis."

"That's alright, I'm okay here." Elaine Curtis shook the teacher's hand, and sat behind one of the front desks near to the teacher's desk. Zoe stood next to her mother, who kept an arm around her daughter's shoulders.

Natalie Peters retained the warm smile, until she realised Mrs Curtis, and Zoe, were looking and waiting for her to take the lead.

"You'll have to forgive me," the young teacher started. "This is a new experience for me." She attempted to regain the warm smile.

"I think it's a new experience for all of us," Mrs Curtis tried to reassure the likeable young woman. "Especially Zoe." The arm around Zoe's shoulder tightened and squeezed the girl closer to her mother.

"Yes, of course." Natalie Peters looked at the sixteen-year-old, who was wearing tight-fitting black cotton trousers and a white blouse. "Well, shall we get this over with? Zoe?"

Zoe felt her nervousness increase as she realised her punishment was now imminent. At least she still felt she'd made the right choice when she'd selected Miss Peters, not that it made her apprehension any easier.

"Zoe? Are you ready?" The sixteen-year-old flinched when her name was called a second time. Now, she couldn’t ignore her chosen teacher.

"Oh! Sorry." Zoe took a moment or two to collect herself together. She shrugged her shoulders. "Er, yes, I'm ready, I suppose."

During the day, and the previous evening, Zoe had many thoughts about this moment. She'd hoped she would be able to deal with the situation with at least some dignity, that she'd be able to take her punishment without making a fuss and showing herself up. In fact, she'd spent more time worrying about that than how much it might hurt. She'd also wondered exactly how it would be done, and several times pictured herself bent over one of the desks or simply bending over and touching her toes. Any moment now, she would know.

Zoe watched, her anxiety mounting even further, as Miss Peters came in front of her, and faced her. The teacher elevated herself up on to the front edge of the teacher's desk and wriggled herself back and forth until she was comfortably and securely seated. She smoothed her tight grey skirt across the tops of her thighs.

With a gentle and even sad smile on her face, Natalie Peters held out her right arm, beckoning Zoe forward. Mrs Curtis moved her hand down from Zoe's shoulder to the small of her back, and Zoe felt herself being pushed forward. The three or four steps needed to reach Miss Peters seemed to take an age, and Zoe was directed by the teacher's arm to stand by her right side.

Zoe stood facing the front of the classroom, her hands clasped behind her back. She glanced at the writing on the long built-in blackboard that formed most of that wall, but none of it registered in her mind. She felt her mother's eyes on her back, and turned her head to the right, seeking her teacher's next instructions.

Natalie Peters placed her hands on the girl's shoulders and Zoe felt herself being turned so that she was now facing towards the teacher.

"I'm sorry, Zoe, but I have to do this." The young teacher looked sympathetically into the girl's eyes.

In return, Zoe nodded an acceptance of the situation, that she knew her teacher had to spank her. Indeed, hadn't Zoe herself selected Miss Peters for the task?

Zoe was awaiting some sort of verbal command to come next, maybe to bend over the teacher’s desk, or perhaps bend over one of the front row of desks next to where her mother was sitting. She was therefore amazed to find Miss Peters unclipping the top fastening of her black trousers. When the waistband went comfortably slack, Zoe then felt the teacher's fingers seeking the tag of her zip, and finding it. As Zoe glared in horror into her teacher's eyes, she felt the zip being pulled down, and her trousers went very loose around her hips.

Natalie Peters avoided the hard stare burning into her, and busied herself with pushing the material of the trousers down until the garment hung around the girl's knees. Then the young teacher carefully folded Zoe’s white blouse up, tucking it in all around and at the same time revealing the girl's slightly stocky thighs and her brief pale blue panties.

Zoe felt tears forming in her eyes, and she desperately wanted her teacher to say something, anything. Natalie Peters, though, wanted to get the girl into position before there could be any protest or attempt to hinder the proceedings and ignored the girl’s reaction as best she could. Thus, Zoe felt herself being taken by the left arm and pulled forward. As her feet shuffled towards the teacher, Zoe's legs collided with the side of Miss Peters' right thigh and were stopped. Her arm was still being pulled forward, though, and Zoe was forced to bend at the waist. Soon, she was bent over the teacher's lap.

Feeling the material of her brief pale blue panties stretched tightly across her chubby bottom, Zoe expected to feel the first smack of the spanking at any moment, and she gritted her teeth in readiness. Instead, though, Natalie Peters pushed her right hand under Zoe's tummy, and lifted the girl higher up onto her lap so that the girl's feet were dangling in mid-air, and her head was closer to the floor on the other side.

Zoe at first felt a little insecure in this position, but Miss Peters wrapped her left arm around the girl’s waist. Now Zoe felt safe from falling, and indeed felt as comfortable as could be expected in the circumstances. Once more, Zoe froze, waiting for the first smack.

Yet again, though, the girl was made to endure another delay as Natalie Peters took hold of the elasticated top of the little pale blue panties and firmly pulled them down off Zoe's plump bottom. Although the girl's head shot back as she realised what was happening, Zoe felt totally unable to resist, or even make any protest. She felt entirely in the teacher's control.

For a moment, it crossed Zoe’s mind that her mother might object to her daughter being spanked on her bare bottom, but Mrs Curtis was keeping very quiet. Out of the corner of her eye, Zoe saw her mother had carefully watched her daughter's panties being taken down and could only assume she was fully in agreement. Maybe, her mother had even discussed it with Miss Peters.

Zoe felt Miss Peters' right leg push up slightly into her tummy, then with a sharp slapping sound that reverberated around the room, she felt the stinging sensation as the first smack landed across her bare bottom. Just a second later, a second smack came, then a third. The spanking had truly started.

Each smack clapped across Zoe's bare bottom, stinging and hurting the soft flesh of her round plump buttocks. She soon became sore and uncomfortable as the rhythm continued. There was barely a second between each smack, and in no time at all, Zoe reckoned she had taken ten or twelve smacks.

Whereas the first part of the spanking was directed at the centre of her broad bottom, Zoe now found that the punishment was being aimed across more of the surface, so that one smack struck her right buttock, the second the left buttock, and the third hit her across the centre of her bottom. This pattern was then repeated again, and again.

Natalie Peters held Zoe tightly with her left hand, while her right hand pounded down as she steadily delivered the spanking. By the time she reckoned the girl had taken about twenty or more spanks, her hand was beginning to hurt. She could see the whole of the girl's bottom turning a vivid shade of red, and wondered for how much longer she should continue.

After about thirty-five smacks, Natalie Peters' hand was really beginning to hurt and she began to doubt how much longer she could keep this up. In her own mind, she did not feel that Zoe had taken sufficient punishment for her misdeeds. She even questioned herself as to whether was really hurting the girl.

When perhaps another ten smacks had been delivered, Zoe began to ouch as she felt each blow. Soon, the ouches became little cries out, which then became louder as the spanking progressed. After about forty-five smacks had been landed on the girl's soft bare bottom, Zoe was beginning to beg for an end to her punishment, and Natalie Peters could see Mrs Curtis was becoming restive.

The young teacher resolved to give Zoe just another five smacks, all delivered across the centre of the girl's bottom, and then she would bring the punishment to a close. Slowing her pace, Natalie Peters gave the girl one, two, three, four and five short sharp stinging slaps, and Zoe cried out after each one.

With her left hand still firmly holding the girl securely, Natalie Peters placed her right hand around Zoe's right thigh and surveyed the sixteen year old's bare backside. The harsh red soreness extended all over the plump round bottom, and not one square inch appeared to have escaped the teacher's hand.

"Shall we call it a day there, Zoe? Do you feel that has punished you sufficiently?" The young teacher spoke quietly. “Mrs Curtis, what do you think?”

"My bottom really hurts, miss," Zoe replied with a croaky voice that confirmed her suffering.

“Yes, I think that’s enough, Miss Peters,” Mrs Curtis added. “You’ve given Zoe something to remember, which is what she deserved.”

"Okay then." Natalie Peters gently eased the girl up and tilted her own legs so that Zoe found herself deposited back onto her feet.

The girl couldn't help steadying herself with a hand placed on her teacher's thigh, and that felt awkward, although the young teacher offered no objections. As she stood upright, so Zoe felt her trousers fall down to around her ankles, though her brief pale blue panties remained around her knees.

Despite her near nakedness, Zoe gently eased her discomfort by rubbing her bottom carefully with both hands. Natalie Peters got off the desk, leaving the girl to sort herself out, and went over to Mrs Curtis.

"It's the first time I've ever had to do that." Natalie Peters felt she had to offer some explanation to the observing mother, fearful that the spanking she had carried out might be viewed as excessive in Mrs Curtis's eyes.

"I think Zoe might feel you did a very good job.” Mrs Curtis smiled amiably.

"Can I get dressed now?" Zoe asked, her face blushing as she became aware her mother and her teacher were now both looking at her semi-nakedness.

"Yes, of course," Natalie Peters hastened to answer.

Zoe quickly reached down and pulled her brief panties up, flinching as they came into contact with her sore bottom. Moments later, she was fastening her black trousers around her waist and tucking her blouse in.

"You okay, Zoe?" The teacher asked, still a little concerned.

"I’m fine, miss." Several tears trickling down Zoe’s face suggested otherwise.

“Are you sure, Zoe?” Natalie Peters queried, handing the girl a small handful of tissues. “Maybe you could pop into the girls’ toilets and get some cold water on your bottom?”

“Don’t worry, Miss Peters,” Mrs Curtis said. “I’ll get her home and she can have a nice cold shower."

"Good. Well, let's hope you learn something from this nasty experience, Zoe."

"I will. Don't worry, miss."

"Okay. Goodnight Zoe."

"Goodnight miss, and thank you." Zoe started walking towards the door, ahead of her mother.

"Goodnight Miss Peters. Thank you for doing that." Mrs Curtis appeared genuine.

"Goodnight Mrs Curtis.

Natalie Peters looked at her watch. It was twenty to five.

****

At fourteen minutes past four, Arthur Noakes stopped writing in his new exercise book and placed it to one side. He got up from his desk, picked up the cane, and walked round to stand by the right hand side.

"Stand up, please, Lisa."

Lisa took her hands away from her face and looked at her mother. Mrs Walker merely beckoned her daughter to get to her feet. Looking nervously and apprehensively at the headmaster, Lisa slowly stood up. She put her hands in front of her, the palm of her right hand embraced by the palm of the left.

"Mrs Walker?" Arthur Noakes saw Lisa gently massaging her hand, and knew what she was thinking. He sought the assistance of the girl's mother.

Rosemary Walker, still seated behind and to the left of her daughter, leaned forward and gave Lisa a gentle pat on the seat of her tight black leggings. Lisa looked round, her face a mixture of annoyance and doubt.

"Take your leggings down, Lisa." Mrs Walker's voice was dry but clear.

"What?" Her daughter looked at her mother in a kind of disbelief that suggested insanity.

"You heard!" The reply was terse.

"Why?" Lisa sounded as though she genuinely had no idea why she should be asked to perform such a task.

"Don't be stupid!" Her mother, on the other hand, spoke as though her daughter must know the answer.

"I'm not! Why should I take my leggings down? What are you going to do?" Now the girl sounded extremely anxious.

"For goodness sakes, Lisa! We don't want to be here all night! Just take your leggings down, you'll soon find out."

Looking very doubtfully, first at her mother, then her headmaster, Lisa slowly peeled down her tight black leggings, and pushed them down to her ankles. She pulled the hem of her white blouse down as low as she could in an attempt to avoid revealing her underwear.

"Mr Noakes?" Lisa's mother raised her eyebrows in the direction of the waiting headmaster.

"Oh! Yes. Thank you, Mrs Walker. Right, Lisa. Come forward and bend over my desk, please."

"What?" Lisa gave her headmaster the same look of disbelief that she had given her mother when she was told to remove her leggings.

"Bend over the desk, please Lisa," Arthur Noakes repeated his request.

"Why?" Lisa answered automatically, then she suddenly realised what was going on. "Hold on, you're not caning me on my bum! Oh no! No way!"

"Just do it, please Lisa," her mother urged.

"No, I'm not having it! I'm sorry, he's not caning me across my bum!"

Arthur Noakes looked towards Rosemary Walker for further assistance.

"Lisa," Mrs Walker spoke quietly and firmly. "Mr Noakes has my full permission to cane you across your bottom, and that is what he is going to do. Now, you can either own up to your mistakes and take your punishment with good grace, or I'll come over and bend you over that desk myself. It's your choice."

Lisa was quite amazed at her mother's attitude, and looked at her in disbelief.

"I'll let him cane me on my hands, mum," Lisa whined, feeling she could not avoid being caned, but might escape with more dignity.

"No, Lisa, I want you caned on your bottom."

"Mum! You can't mean it." Lisa was becoming a little tearful, and still could not quite accept her mother's words.

"Oh yes I do, Lisa! You've been extremely naughty for some time now, and it's not just this business. You've been rude and disobedient to me on any number of occasions. Now I want to see you get what you deserve."

"I'm sorry, mum, but please let me take it on my hands," Lisa continued to argue in a moaning voice, and looked pleadingly at her mother.

"No, Lisa, you're getting the cane on your bottom, so you might just as well accept it and get it over with."

“If I might add, Lisa,” Mr Noakes interjected. “It would be extremely painful indeed if I were to cane you across the palms of your hands, even four on each hand. Being caned on your bottom will be far from comfortable, but infinitely preferable.”

Lisa looked directly at her headmaster, and studied the kindly expression on his face for some moments. Even she could see he had her best interests at heart. And all the arguing in the world was not going to change her mother's mind. Lisa realised she had little choice but to surrender.

“Okay, have it your own way.”

Slowly, doubtfully, she leaned over the headmaster's desk, her face remaining about two feet above the level of the red leather surface. So that the back of her blouse didn't ride up, Lisa held on to it, making as certain as she could that no-one could see her underwear.

Arthur Noakes came round to the front of the desk, and was about to lay the cane gently across the area of white blouse that he supposed concealed the centre of Lisa's backside, when Mrs Walker interrupted him.

"One moment please, Mr Noakes. Lisa, bend over the desk properly! Come on, get right down onto it! And pull your blouse up out of the way!"

"No mum, please! Don't make me show my panties. I beg you! please!" The girl turned her head round to look at her mother.

"Lisa, if you don't do it, I will!" Mrs Walker leaned forward in her chair and gave the girl a sharp smack across the bottom, over the long white blouse. “Come on, Mr Noakes needs it tucked up out of the way.”

By now, Lisa knew there was no point in arguing. With a large sigh, and a brief glance round at her mother to show her annoyance at being smacked, she pulled her long white blouse up at the back, and bent down onto the desk. Rosamary Walker and Arthur Noakes both stared in amazement at Lisa's firm round, almost completely naked, bottom. Lisa had chosen to wear just a black thong underneath the leggings.

"Oh good grief!" Mrs Walker muttered to herself. "Lisa! I hardly think that's suitable underwear for school!"

"I did ask you not to make me lift up my blouse, mum,” Lisa whined as she began to fold her blouse back down again.

"Oh no you don't!" Mrs Walker leapt to her feet and grabbed the hem of the blouse out of Lisa's hands. "As it happens, your choice of underwear will suit the occasion remarkably well." Lisa's mother pulled the blouse right up Lisa's back and folded it securely, so that even the girl's black bra strap was exposed.

“Mum! It means I’m going to be effectively caned on my bare bottom!”

“Precisely! And nothing more than you deserve, young lady!”

Lisa decided not to answer. She realised that whatever she said was going to be ignored. Her best option now was to abandon her protestations and let her headmaster cane her so they could bring this awful punishment to a close. She remained completely still, apart from folding her arms so that she could rest her face on them. The girl now lay across the desk, practically naked from her neck down to her ankles. Mrs Walker walked back to her chair.

"Tuck your knees in!" Her mother continued as she sat down.

Lisa was tempted to query the reason, but kept silent and obeyed. She soon realised this made her bottom stick out. Her headmaster would have a good target for his cane, and she could only allow it all to happen.

This time, Arthur Noakes was successful when he attempted to lay the cane gently across Lisa's backside to size up the first stroke. Lisa flinched as the thin rattan touched the soft white flesh of her buttocks. Slowly, the cane was drawn back until it was perhaps five feet away from the waiting target. Suddenly, the headmaster brought the cane down, swishing through the air until it snapped across Lisa's almost bare bottom.

"Oooouuch!" The girl cried, and her back arched as the stinging cane cut into her backside.

Moments later, when the cane was drawn slowly back for the next stroke, a thin red line was already forming, showing clearly where the rattan had met with Lisa's bottom. Another swishing sound heralded the second stroke, and Lisa jumped and cried out as she felt the tingling pain.

Arthur Noakes took his time. Resting the tip of the cane on the carpet, he surveyed the twin red lines across Lisa's naked white bottom. A quick glance at Mrs Walker saw her nod encouragingly for the punishment to continue.

For a third time, the headmaster placed the cane carefully across the girl's bottom. He slowly drew it back, paused, then sent it whistling down to snap across Lisa's waiting bottom. She jumped and cried out in pain.

Soon, Arthur Noakes drew the cane back, and another stroke whistled through the air until it snapped loudly across the round naked bottom.

"Oooouuch!!" Lisa cried. She lifted her head slightly, and tried to look round at her mother, though she was careful not to disturb her position across the desk. Mrs Walker was simply studying her daughter's bottom, and the effects of the cane.

"Would you like a break for a few moments there, Lisa, or shall I carry on?" The headmaster asked.

"Carry on, please, sir." Lisa replied meekly, her voice strained.

Immediately, Arthur Noakes gently laid the cane across Lisa's smarting bottom, causing her to flinch sharply. He drew the cane slowly back, then rattled the fifth stroke down harshly across the girl's waiting bottom. She cried out and arched her back.

Just moments later, the cane was swung back again, and another punishing stroke swished through the air and cracked across the girl's virtually naked backside. She gave a huge grunt and arched her back again.

Pausing to consider the six red stripes across Lisa's bottom, Arthur Noakes sought further reassurance with a look towards Mrs Walker.

"Yes, carry on, headmaster. Just two to go, Lisa, and then you’re done."

Lisa snorted, but obediently Arthur Noakes took aim and brought the cane back once again, before sending it hurtling down across Lisa's bare buttocks. Lisa's bottom was now a mass of red sore blotches with seven angry weals crossing the surface. She couldn't prevent the tears flowing down her face.

Finally, the headmaster drew the cane back, paused, and whipped the length of thin rattan down across Lisa's sore bottom. She screamed out and her head shot up as she arched her back with the stinging pain.

"Thank you, Lisa, that completes your punishment." Arthur Noakes turned away from the girl and went to return the cane to its corner cupboard.

Lisa immediately pushed herself up off the desk and clutched her hands to her bottom.

"Ooooohh!" she exclaimed, as she gently massaged her naked buttocks. "That really smarts!"

"Good!" Her mother responded. "Remember how it feels the next time you're thinking of misbehaving. Come on, pull your leggings up. I'm sure Mr Noakes has seen enough of your bottom for one day."

At eight-thirty that evening, Zoe Curtis rang the doorbell at her friend's house. She was let in by Mrs Walker and given permission to go up to Lisa's bedroom.

"Hi' Lisa," Zoe sounded glum. She found Lisa lying face down on her bed, still wearing her black leggings.

"Hi' Zoe." Lisa also sounded rather miserable as she half-turned to look at her visitor. "Take a seat."

Seeing an old armchair next to the bed that was clear of clothes and other jumble, Zoe carefully sat down.

"You okay, Zoe?" Lisa sensed something was not quite right with her friend.

"Not exactly. How about you?" Zoe, too, felt the other girl's voice sounded odd.

"Funny you should ask. No, I must say I'm feeling a little, er, sore."

"Sore?"

"Yes, Zoe. Sore!"

"So am I. Are we talking about the same thing, Lisa?"

Lisa thought for a moment. "I’m not sure. What happened to you?”

“Miss Peters punished me.”

“What did she do?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

Lisa could see her friend’s face going very red.

“Come on, you can tell me.”

“She put me across her lap and spanked me,” Zoe confessed. “Why? Did Mr Noakes do that to you?”

“Not exactly. I had to bend over his desk while he caned me. Eight strokes!”

“Wow!”

“Not only that, my dear mother made me take my leggings down. I was only wearing a thong underneath, wasn’t I? I more or less got caned on my bare bum!”

“Wow! That must have been so embarrassing!”

“Yes, and did I feel it each time the cane whacked me!”

“I’m sure.”

“How was your spanking? I guess you were only spanked because they considered me the ringleader, which I was really, I suppose. I probably deserved the cane. I just wish Mr Noakes didn’t get to see virtually my whole bare bum!”

“Yes. Mind you, my spanking was pretty painful too,” Zoe responded, deliberately mentioning the manner of her own spanking.

“Yes? I like Miss Peters,” Lisa said thoughtfully. “I can’t imagine her spanking anyone though. What was it like?”

“It was just a spanking.”

“Like, how did she do it? Come on, I want all the details!”

Zoe coughed nervously. "Um, she sat on the front edge of her desk and made me stand next to her. Then I had to stand there while she undid my trousers and pulled them down.”

“Really? She pulled your trousers down! What happened then?” Lisa’s face had lit up, and she made no secret of her wish to learn everything there was to know about her friend’s spanking.

“She pulled me over her lap and fiddled about getting me into the right position. I couldn’t quite touch my toes on the floor, nor reach the floor on the other side with the tips of her fingers. It felt very warm under my tummy.”

“And then she spanked you? With her hand?”

Zoe coughed again. “Um, no. She pulled my knickers down.”

“What? Really? So, you got spanked on your bare bum too?”

“Yes, really. I’m not sure you didn’t get the better deal. Miss Peters spanked me for ages, and I just had to lie there with my mum and Miss Peters looking at my bare bum. It was so humiliating. How many whacks did you get?”

“Eight, but they really, really, stung! No, I’d have gone for Miss Peters’ spanking any time, not that I was given any choice.”

“I think I might have preferred the cane,” Zoe said thoughtfully. “I mean, getting eight whacks wouldn’t have taken long, and you did get to keep your knickers on.”

“I just wonder what would have happened if I’d worn panties like you. Would they have taken them down too?”

“No, not in front of the headmaster.”

“I guess not,” Lisa mused. “Anyway, I think we should give our little shoplifting expeditions a miss for a while, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” Zoe responded, giving her bottom a rub. “No, we need to keep out of trouble for a while.”

Suddenly, the door burst open and Lisa's mother stood in the opening, an angry look on her face.

"Mr Smith from the newsagents has just telephoned. He says he caught you two stealing some cigarettes yesterday. You’ll need to strip down to your knickers, Lisa. Zoe, you do the same. I’ve just had a word with your mother on the phone. She's on her way!"

The End

© Kenny Walters 2003