When we left the last chapter of Weekend School, Bob had just finished his first weekend and had quite enjoyed it. We take up the story on his fourth weekend. It was Friday, late afternoon and the boys had just turned their weekly assignments in.
"Bob, you are so lucky. This is your fourth weekend and still you have not been caned or belted. I'm starting to think that you are too good to be true," said Bill with a smile. By now they were firm friends, and Robert thought even better friends than Roger and him.
"Bill, my mother made it plain to me that I have got to get over my 'stupid phase' as she calls it, if I want to succeed in life. She said that 'I'm getting a second chance and that not too many are given that chance, so I don't want to blow it." However, that being said Robert wondered if he was about to fall. Durring the last week he had not done his assignments tohis own satisfaction. He had felt a bit off. Hell it had been enough to stay out of trouble at school. Most of the teachers seemed to be watching him like hawks, just waiting for him to place a little toe over the line. He had asked his mother about it.
"Robert, you have brought the attention on yourself. Mr Williams does not cane many boys, so when he does, it is usually real trouble makers. If you continue the way you have over the past month, you will find that you soon will be left alone as long as you continue to behave."
So now he sort of had a tingling in his backside, glad that he had brought the Solarcaine with him. It might be needed.
Bill had been caned the previous weekend for fooling about during lunch. "Say Bob, I hope I don't get it this weekend. I was whacked yesterday at school and those on top of the four I got here last weekend just about made me yelp."
"How many?"
"Six. The Number two man told me next time it would be doubled because I'm now sixteen."
"You'll just have to keep out of trouble then wont you."
"Thanks for nothing."
The gong sounded for dinner and after that they went to the lounge to watch the news. There was only five boys there that weekend and soon they were going along the passage to Mr Northrops office to talk about their assignments. All of them had gone and come back except for Robert. Mr Northrop was standing at the door.
"Robert Williams." Robert got up and followed him along the passage to his office. When they got there he was motioned to stand in front of the desk. "Your assignments this week are pure drivel. What have you got to say for yourself.?"
"Nothing Sir. I put in the time to research the two assignments, but it would not come together some how."
"You could have asked for assistance at school. Your teachers are told every Monday what your assignments are and how you are progressing here. To date you have had good reports."
"Sir."
"Wait I have not finished. As I was going to say, You were told at your first weekend that you could ask for help, had you forgotten?"
"No Sir, its just that so far I have managed by myself ......"
"So you thought that you could do it all alone?"
"I tried Sir."
"Robert, you have it all. A wonderful brain, an enquiring mind, a fit body. You can think things through. If you had given the amount of time to your assignments that you say you did, and I will add, with your usual concentration, you would have turned in your assignments up to your usual standard. Now you have wasted your time and mine. Prepare yourself for punishment. I will see you in the common room in five minutes."
Robert left the office and went to his room and changed into his sports gear. Blast he had forgotten to iron his shorts and while they were clean they were rumpled. He wondered if Mr Northrop would notice. He was waiting outside the common room door at the prescribed time. There was a real tingle in his buttocks now and the butterflies in his stomach were causing him to feel a bit sick as well. At least there was only him to be punished tonight.
Mr Northrop came along the passage. He had a cane and the tawse in his hand. He motioned Robert into the room. "Go to the chair." Robert went to the chair and turned it around so the seat was away from him and then bent over the back, reaching for the front legs.
"You are going to get four strokes of the tawse, and two of the cane, just to remind you that I don't like shoddy work from some one I expect to turn in better." He placed the cane on the lecturn and standing behind Robert looked down at the bending youth in front of him. For half a minute there was silence as he admired the bending boy's tight shorts amply filled with muscular buttocks. "Are you ready to receive punishment?"
"Yes Sir." Robert thought this was something new. He had never been asked before if he was ready to receive punishment. He sensed the movement behind him, then heard the slight whistle of the strap as it sped towards the waiting target. Robert felt what seemed to be a thud against his buttocks and heard the crack as the leather met the seat of his shorts. A broad band of fire errupted across both cheeks of his buttocks. He sucked in his breath. The second stroke fell and then the third, all landing just above his thighs. The fourth landed in the same place. Robert had never felt such a hot burning stinging sensation before, not even when he had got six from Mr Williams, the deputy head at Bexley College. Those had been spread all over his buttocks from the top to the bottom, not all in one place as Mr Northrop was doing.
Again he sensed a movement from Mr Northrop as he moved away. Robert longed to rub his burning bum, but he knew there was two more strokes to come. By turning his head slightly he was able to see from the corner of his eyes as Mr Northrop picked up the cane and flexed it before walking back to disappear from his line of sight. There was a sudden louder swish followed by a sharp crack as the first stroke landed. The stroke landed in the same area already set on fire by the tawse. After a pause of fifteen seconds the last stroke landed. It was just above the crease and Robert knew it was going be sore there for a while.
"You may stand Williams. I hope I do not have to repeat that performance. You may go and doyour homework."
Robert slowly stood and looked at Mr Northrop. "Thank you Sir." He waited until Mr Northrop had left the room before he started to gently rub his burning rear. He followed the man from the room and went upstairs to his room where he got out the Solarcaine before pealing down his shorts. He looked over his shoulder and could see nothing so he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror that was above the wash basin. The lower half of his buttocks were a fiery red with two deep purple lines from the cane. He gently rubbed in the Solarcaine and started to feel better as it cooled the burning sting.
Back in his room he sat carefully on the hard chair and started on his homework. He had been working for about fifteen minutes when there was a gentle knock at the bathroom door and Bill came into his room.
"Well, you've got it at last. We were all starting to think that you were too good to be true. How many?"
"Four with the tawse and two of the cane."
"And that'll be enough to be going on with," said Bill with a smile.
"Yeah, it will. I don't want that again in a hurry." They chattered for a few minutes before Bill went back to his room to do his homework.
Next morning nothing seemed to go right for Robert. All morning he was criticised for his work and out on the field Mr Heslip told him he wasn't even trying. Robert totally brassed off with the way the morning was going and feeling he was being picked on for no reason, tripped up Bill just as he was running to catch a ball. When Mr Heslip had made sure that Bill was not hurt he looked long and hard at Robert before he finally said,
"Williams, you are on report. I saw you deliberately trip Gooder."
"Thank you Sir." Again Mr Heslip looked at Robert before turning away and telling them to get on with the game. After the game and they had showered before going into lunch Bill and Robert were talking again as though nothing had happened. After lunch it was the second period of the afternoon when Robert was sitting thinking about what was going to happen later after dinner. He didn't hear Mr Greenslade asking him a question.
"Williams, for the second time when was the Battle of Hastings?"
There was no reply
"WILLIAMS, ARE YOU ASLEEP?"
"Me Sir, no Sir."
"What did I just ask you?"
"Nothing Sir, you asked if I was asleep, to which I replied 'no Sir."
"You, Williams, are on report for gross impertinence."
"Thank you Sir." That got an other hard look from Mr Greenslade, but he let it go.
"Now Williams, when was the Battle of Hastings?"
"1066 Sir."
"Thank you Williams for finally answering the question." Just then the bell in the hall sounded signaling the end of the period. Robert gathered his books up before going outside the room to put them ontothe table outside the room in the corridor. Once they were out of the class Bill came over.
"Bob, in all the time I've been here no one has got two 'on reports' in one day, and considering you got whacked last night, you are going to have one very sore bum tonight."
"Yeah, I guess even the good fall sometime. Say Bill, I'm sorry about this morning."
"That's ok buddy, all is forgiven. Come on lets get outside before we're both in trouble." Robert followed his friend outside into the fresh air. By now the news was all around that Robert had got a second on report and the other boys made swishing noises and whacking movements with their arms until Mr Heslip came onto the field.
As long as Robert did what was required he was left alone and that was the way it stayed until the end of the day when the boys went into dinner. Before dinner Robert had changed into his sports gear.
The dinner seemed to fly by and by the time desert had been served Robert really didn't feel like eating so he basically pushed the food around his plate. He was so intent on his thoughts that he didn't notice Mr Northrop looking at him with a frown during the meal, but Bill did.
"Carefull buddy, number one is looking at you," he whispered.
"Proberly sizing me up against his biggest cane," Robert muttered back feeling sorry for himself. At last the meal was over and the boys were told to go to their rooms and do their assignments. This was a total departure from the usual procedure.
Mr Northrop spoke again. "I know that this is different from what usually happens, but there is only one boy on report today, that is Williams. Williams I will see you in my study now. The rest of you carry on." Robert followed Mr Northrop along the corridor to his office wondering what was going to happen. When they got there he found both Mr Heslip and Mr Greenslade there waiting.
Mr Northrop spoke first. "Robert, you have done so well since you came here. Your work has gone from being just average to excellent, your attitude has improved out of sight, yet today both Mr Heslip and Mr Greenslade have put you on report for fairly serious reasons. Each of the reasons is enough to earn you six of the best. What have you got to say for yourself?"
"Nothing Sir."
"Perhapes I may say something," Mr Heslip said. At Mr Northrop's nod he continued. "Williams, when I first met you I thought that you were a spoilt young man that thought that the world owed you everything. Yet over these past weeks you have shown me that you are kind, thoughtful of others, helping where you can. It was totally out of character for you to have done what you did to Gooder today on the field. Why did you you do it?"
"I don't know Sir. It just happened on the spur of the moment. I have since apologised to Bill, I mean Gooder Sir."
"Thay may well be Robert," it was Mr Northrop, "but we can not have people like you deliberately tripping other people specially when they are running. It is not the behaviour of a sportsman, that I know you usually are. What about the incident with Mr Greenslade?"
"I'm sorry about that Sir," he said looking at Mr Greenslade, "I was thinking about the incident on the field earlier and realized what a stupid thing I had done. I was worried that I was going to loose Bill's friendship and trust Sir. After the lesson I apologised to him. He said that it was ok."
"Your apology is accepted Williams," said Mr Greenslade.
"Right gentlemen, you are no longer needed. Robert and I are going to talk." The two staff members left the room. For a minute Robert looked at Mr Northrop until he gestured for Robert to sit in the visitors chair, "Have a seat."
Robert wondering what was going to happen sat. Mr Northrop explained that he thought that Robert was possibly suffering from over study, what some people call burn out. He asked about Robert's hobbies and his friends and was surprised when Robert explained that his father had died earlier in the year and since living with his mother life had seemed a lot grimmer.
Robert went on, "However Sir, I realize that I was wrong to trip Gooder and I expect to be punished for it."
"I am very happy to hear that Robert, as it shows that you are ready to take responsibility for your own actions. I will ask you to move the chair that you are sitting on closer to the front of the desk and then bend over it in the same way that you did last night. As I said earlier the things that you did today are normally punished by six of the best, however I believe that we have reached an understanding, so you will receive four strokes of the tawse, then we will wait ten minutes and you will receive four strokes of the cane."
Robert bent over the chair as instructed. He sensed Mr Northrop moving behind him and then came the first splat as the tawse reached its target on the tightened seat of his sports shorts. Even this first stroke hurt. His backside errupted in flames and he gripped the chair legs tighter, willing himself not to let go. Three more strokes landed all in the same area, low down where it would hurt to sit down.
"You may stand and we will take a break. You can move around or even rub some of the sting out of your backside." Robert looked at Mr Northrop in surprise. "Oh I know you guys rub your bums like crazy as soon as I disappear. I know I used to do so after getting the cane when I was your age." So Robert put his hands on his bum. He could feel the heat even through the thin cloth of his shorts.
All to soon Mr Northrop said, "Shall we continue."
Robert moved back to the chair and bent over it again as he had a few minutes before. It seemed as though he had only just got into position when the cane swished throughthe air and whacked into his bum. The stroke just about took his breath away. 'Christ that hurt,' he thought. The next two were just as hard. There was a pause. Robert wondered if he was going to be let off the last stroke. Then he heard the swish and felt the impact as the cane landed for the last time. Again his bum errupted. It felt as though it was burning up and he half expected to see smoke pouring from the legs of his shorts. He stood when he was told to.
"You took that well Robert. I want to talk to you again tomorrow morning. No not to be further punished," seeing the look of horror in Robert's eyes, "just to talk again. You may go," and with a smile, "Don't forget to rub it well."
Robert smiled back, "Thank you Sir." He left the office and went up to his own room. He got the Solarcaine and went into the bathroom and lowered his shorts. Tuning his back to the mirror he looked over his shoulder. He could see the darker bruises left from the tawse from yesterday, overlayed bright red from the belting he had just received. There were also six perfect weals across his bottom. The lower two dark purple from yesterday, the top four crimson in colour. All were about a half inch apart. Mr Northrop has a very good eye, he thought. There was a light knock at the door and Bill came in.
"Lets see the damage." He inspected Robert's behind and then said, You've been well done I'd say. Do you want me to rub on Solarcaine?" Robert handed him the bottle and lent over the hand basin. Bill very gently rubbed the soothing liquid onto his burning backside. Handing back the bottle he said, "Get your assignment done and then come down and watch the movie on TV. Its 'The Great Race' with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon. Robert went back to his room and managed to get his assignment finished and was back downstairs in time to see the start of the movie.
Next morning after breakfast he went along to see Mr Northrop. After talking some more Mr Northrop told him that he felt that Robert had achieved what had been asked of him and he had no need to come back the following weekend.
He went on, "Robert it is very rare indeed that someone who comes here for a prescribed period gets out early so to speak. Sometimes the period is extended. However as Mr Heslip said last evening, over these past few weekends we have seen you turn into an excellent young man. I wish you well in the future. I telephoned your mother this morning and told her that you had finished here and that you had done very well. She will be here just after lunch to collect you. Also I will be writing to your school, specially Mr Williams the deputy Headmaster to tell him what an excellent person you have become. Robert I don't want you to go away from here thinking that the world will fall at your feet. You have learnt by hard work that all your goals can be achieved and that you are capable of achieving them. So go to it."
Robert stood, "Thank you very much Sir." He held out his hand and Mr Northrop shook it firmly..................