The last day of the Autumn term in the Odminster Grammar School arrived. It was almost a tradition for some members of the sixth form to smuggle a little alcohol into school for a discreet lunch time party. Mr Booth, although this was his first Christmas at the school and it was the first school he had taught in where the majority of pupils were day boys, nevertheless was aware that such n event might occur. He was also aware that prefects and most masters would try to avoid discovering that it was happening providing nothing excessive happened.
Mr Booth felt differently. It was against school rules for any boy to have alcohol on the premises. It was against the law for many in the upper sixth and all in the lower sixth to buy alcohol. It was his function to enforce the law and school rules and he intended to do so.
He knew the sixth form well enough to know that Gregory Pratt was likely to be involved. He seemed a useful person to keep in sight and, as luck would have it, he happened to see Gregory and Roy Norris talking quietly in a corridor at the beginning of break, half way through the morning school. Mr Booth hung back and both boys went into the cloakrooms carrying their brief cases. Soon, they re-emerged. This seemed to be the time to strike.
"Open you cases, please, gentlemen."
Gregory opened his, revealing a bottle of red wine. Roy's was holding two bottles of beer.
"Come to my study, please."
He followed them and relieved them of their prizes.
"Have you any private study this morning?"
Gregory replied, "Yes, sir. Next lesson."
"Very well. Report to me for a beating at the beginning of that lesson."
"Yes, sir."
"And you, Norris?"
"I've got one last period this morning, sir."
"You come then, please."
"Yes, sir."
"Now get out of my sight."
Both sixth formers walked out of their headmaster's study and both knew that they would be soon back. In the meantime, they parted, Gregory to find other members of his form and warn them that trouble might be on the way and to keep their guards up.
Soon after the bell he was back in the study.
Standing in front of the headmaster's desk, and wishing that the caning was over, he could only wait while the old man had his say.
"Consider yourself lucky, Pratt, that I caught you then. If you had actually been drinking, that would have been two offences and you would have returned for a second beating before you went home. Even you should be able to work out that a beating on top of a previous one can be uncomfortable."
Gregory could accept that and, as the headmaster seemed to have paused and was waiting for some response, he said, "Yes, sir."
"Very well. Let's get this over."
Mr Booth spoke as though he was facing a disagreeable chore rather than what was a considerable pleasure.
He rose. Gregory selected the chair he would need, moved it into the centre of the room and placed himself ready. What was to come was inevitable. It had been worth trying but they had been caught and now it was his turn to pay the price.
He waited while the headmaster took his place alongside him and ran his hand over his trousers. Gregory resented this, not because he knew that the headmaster enjoyed feeling boys' bottoms, but because he disliked the implication that he would ever pad himself. He knew he had stuck his neck out. Now it was time for his to pay the price. The headmaster was satisfied and he aimed.
CRACKK!
The first stroke landed and was driven in with such force that even an experienced recipient of the cane, as Gregory was, found himself taken by surprise. In spite of his efforts, a gasp was driven from him.
He forced himself to remain in position and held tight.
CRACKK!
The second was as bad. The headmaster was certainly going to town and Gregory knew that it was bound to be six. It couldn't be less for this and he knew it was not allowed to be more.
CRACKK!
Three parallel lines.
CRACKK!
The fourth was also parallel to the others but cut into the sensitive area where bottom becomes thigh.
The headmaster adjusted his position to aim differently.
CRACKK!
Now he was cutting diagonally across the previous lines. Gregory knew there was only one to go.
CRACKK!
That was it. There would be no more but he waited.
"Get up and put the chair away."
Gregory obeyed and went to the desk. The headmaster completed the record and passed it to Gregory. He looked at it and said, "With respect, sir, that's not right. I had a bottle of wine in school and I shouldn't have done. I accept that, but I wasn't drinking."
The entry was amended and the book turned round and pushed back to him.
"Are you satisfied now?"
For answer, Gregory took out his pen and signed what was effectively his receipt for his caning.
He was dismissed and went out. Both were relieved to be parted. As the door closed, the headmaster gently massaged his excited crutch. Gregory rubbed his seat, took out an handkerchief, blew his nose and wiped away the few tears he had been unable to repress.
Later that morning, Roy Norris stood in the same place that Gregory had occupied. After the same opening gambit, he was also bent over and waiting. This time, the headmaster ran his hand over his seat and said, "Stand up, boy! Do you think I was born yesterday?"
Roy stood and said, "What do you mean, sir?"
"You know quite well that when you report for a beating, you report in your normal dress, unless you are given different instructions. Normal dress does not include additional layers and you are wearing some."
"I wouldn't do that, sir."
"Don't lie. I'm prepared to offer to reduce your punishment if I'm wrong, to cover your embarrassment. Do you want a witness or will you remove your trousers in private?"
Roy knew that he was trapped. He sat down and took his shoes off. Looking up to his headmaster, he said, "I can't get my trousers off over my shoes, sir."
"Get on with it, Norris. Take your shoes off if that's necessary but stop prevaricating."
He took his trousers off and began to remove other garments. One pair of football shorts and a pair of gym shorts before he was in his underpants. Roy Norris had unwittingly presented the headmaster with the opportunity which he had imagined but never thought he could achieve.
"They can come off as well. You've lost all right to personal privacy or to any protection from the cane."
Reluctantly, Norris accepted the inevitable.
"Now get yourself into position."
Roy bent forward over the chair. The headmaster took his shirt tail and pulled it into the middle of his back, revealing his naked buttocks. For a few moments, the headmaster stood, absorbing the sight, one of which he had so far been deprived. Then he took careful aim. It was even more important not to allow the end of the cane to reach far round the curve of Norris's seat. If it reached his flank with the added power that was possible, without the protection of his trousers, it might cut very badly. He was going to be careful but he was also going to ensure that he enjoyed it a great deal more than Norris did.
The aim established, the cane was taken back. Again, his body twisted away, providing more muscle power when the stroke was delivered. He allowed himself to unwind like a clockwork spring. The cane crashed into Norris's rump.
CRACKK!
It was almost the familiar sound as the cane cut into the naked flesh. It was followed by a completely different sound.
Norris almost screamed, "Please, no!" as he shot up and grasped his rump. His hands went round, covering the site of the cane's arrival.
The headmaster simply said, "Get back, boy and don't interrupt proceedings again or you will get extra."
Norris forced himself down and held the chair legs. He knew the technique which was required. He was simply not too good at applying it.
The headmaster looked at his work. An angry, red weal betrayed his efforts. The cane went back and was driven forward again.
CRACKK!
Again, the almost overwhelming anguish filled Norris's mind. Every instinct combined to force him to escape but he knew that any further disturbance of the headmaster's task could be catastrophic.
CRACKK!
That was three. He had not seen his partner in crime but he guessed that it would be six. He was half way through. The pain was so intense that, in spite of his seventeen years, he could hardly see for the tears which were flooding his eyes. At the other end of the cane, the headmaster was admiring the three parallel lines he had cut. The fourth could be below them, he decided. He aimed again.
Now there was the point of decision. The boy was suffering enough. He decided not to place one in that sensitive area at the junction of buttock and thigh. Instead, the next cut went diagonally across the previous ones. It was more successful than he had imagined as small beads of blood appeared at some of the intersections. There was now only one stroke left. Mr Booth was going to enjoy it. He paused, leaving his victim trembling as he waited. Then he aimed carefully.
CRACKK!
He struck, parallel with the fifth.
It was over.
"Get up and dress yourself."
Relieved, Norris got to his feet. He put exploring hands over the ridges and the headmaster snapped, "That can wait. Get yourself decent, boy and don't put the surplus clothing on. You can carry that."
Afraid that it could start again, Roy Norris hastily climbed into his underpants and then his trousers. He fastened them and put his shoes on. He tried to tidy up and then went to sign for his caning. He looked carefully and said, "Shouldn't it say that I had it bare, sir?"
"If you want it, I can add it. I thought you may prefer not to go down in history as a boy who suffered that fate. Shall I amend it?"
The headmaster's bluff had worked.
"No, thank you, sir."
He signed and the headmaster said, "Very well. You've been punished for having alcohol in school. That you were in the state of undress that you were is something you brought on yourself. We now have to face the fact that you have to be punished for gross dishonesty and stupidity in coming for a beating, having padded yourself. You will report at the end of afternoon school today and, to make certain that there is no repetition of your stupid behaviour, you will report in PE kit."
"You aren't going to cane me again, with my bottom in the state it is, are you, sir?"
"You are the cause of your posterior being in that condition and it is your foolish behaviour which has given me the unfortunate duty of having to beat you again. Just one word of warning. You've tried one foolish trick today. Don't try another and fail to appear. You're getting dangerously close to being expelled and that could ruin your entire future. You may go."
Roy Norris picked up his spare clothing and went out. He had been hoping that at least some of this story could be kept quiet. It was not to be. Two other sixth formers were waiting outside. His additional offence was obvious for they spotted the extra clothing.
Now, his colleagues knew what he had done and he had to admit that he had a further appointment. Meanwhile, inside the study, the headmaster was gently massaging his crutch again and looking forward to the later appointment.