Richard Tyler and Jason Simpkins were now into their third week in Beacon House, the boarding house for eleven and twelve year old boys at Stanton School. Richard, of course, was not a genuine new boy. He was sixteen and had been at the school since the age of eleven. He had spent two years in Beacon House before moving onto his senior house. He had now returned to Beacon as resident prefect. Jason was eleven and in his first term at Stanton and Beacon House.
Things were going well under Richard's new liberal regime. Mr Nicholson, the housemaster, had been sceptical about some of Richard's reforms. He tended to the view that if something wasn't broken there was no need to mend it. As far as he was concerned, he had been running a successful boarding house with very few problems for many years. Discipline had always been good. The boys had worked reasonably hard. Bullying had been kept to a minimum. In so far as he could tell (and it has to be said that he was not closely in touch with the emotions of his charges) the boys had generally been happy and content with their lot. When Richard had first set out his proposals the master had been concerned that the house might descend into anarchy. He accepted that there was nothing wrong in principle with the resident prefect trying to make friends with his charges, but he feared that Richard's proposed regular private counselling sessions with every boy in the house might lead to over familiarity on the part of the boys in their relationships with their seniors. He was certainly very nervous about the boldest of Richard's plans. It was not that he was a naturally severe man. He took no pleasure from the thought of young boys undergoing painful punishment. But he had no doubt that the house's excellent reputation for good discipline was due in large part to the moderate, but relatively frequent, use of the cane. When Richard had explained that he wanted to institute a new punishment regime in which boys in their first two terms in the house would be pretty well exempt from the cane, he had become exceedingly worried.
I hasten to say that Richard was not a deranged idealist. He knew perfectly well that it would be well nigh impossible to run an orderly boarding house if half of its occupants, all eleven year old boys, could never be subject to corporal punishment. He was not so mad as to propose that the new boys should never be beaten at all. Indeed, as he explained to Mr Nicholson, he quite accepted that it might well be necessary for the occasional caning to have to be given for particularly bad behaviour. But he did think, on the whole, that eleven year old boys could be kept under reasonable control if the normal sanction for bad behaviour were to be the slipper (gym shoe in fact), rather than the cane.
Eventually, Mr Nicholson had agreed to allow Richard to bring in his reforms. That is not to say that he was completely persuaded. He still harboured the suspicion that the new resident prefect was a dangerous liberal whose progressive ideas could cause untold damage. But he realised that Richard was greatly admired by the headmaster (as he must have been to be appointed to the only prefect's job open to a Lower Sixth Form boy). And he was also prepared to accept, for the time being, Richard's protestations that he fully intended to be a firm disciplinarian.
If Mr Nicholson had been more in touch with the boys in his house, and perhaps if he had thought things through more carefully, he would have realised that Richard's reforms were highly unlikely to cause any serious problems. The second year boys would continue to be caned for most offences. So they, who would be the ones most likely to take advantage of a freer regime, would not be treated any differently from the way they had been in the past. As for the new boys, they, of course, had no previous experience with which to compare the new system. True, a very few of them had had a taste of the cane in their previous schools, but the vast majority had never suffered more than the occasional paternal spanking. While most had been expecting to be caned at Stanton, and were therefore relieved to learn that there would be a period of grace in which they would generally be exempt from the cane, none had reached the stage of thinking that a large gym shoe wielded by a muscular sixteen year old prefect would be a trifling penalty to face.
Three weeks into the first term there had been no suggestion of any breakdown in order. Richard had so far had to cane five second year boys. Each one had reported to his friends that their new resident prefect was a considerably harder caner than was his predecessor. There was certainly no second year boy who had any reason to think that Richard was not a very firm disciplinarian, and none did think that. No new boy had yet been beaten. But that was not because of any lenience on Richard's part. Indeed, it was the opposite. The new boys, too, had heard about his prowess with the cane. They were not stupid. They were well aware that a boy who could cane as hard as he could would be likely to produce a very painful slippering when called upon to do so. Accordingly, all had done their utmost to keep out of trouble.
So far as discipline and order were concerned, therefore, Richard's reforms had done no harm at all. But in other areas there had certainly been change, and change for the better. He had already carried out the first part of his plan for getting to know his charges. In the first week of term he had spent twenty minutes with all the new boys, in groups of three. In the second week he had done the same for the second year boys. He had given a large amount of his own free time to planning entertainments for all the boys. He had devoted considerable energy to a new house sports programme, happily undertaking extra rugby coaching for any boys who wanted it. But, above all, he had presented a uniformly friendly appearance to everyone. Even those boys who had suffered the painful misfortune of having to bend over in his study were absolutely agreed that he was the kindest and most approachable prefect they had ever come across. The result was that Beacon House was, not only a highly disciplined, but also a very happy community.
Jason had been expecting to suffer badly from homesickness. He had never spent any significant time away from his parents before. He had known that he would be thrown together with hundreds of new people. However much he had been told to the contrary, he had had no doubt that he would be constantly bullied by bigger boys. He had been terrified of having to learn the ways of a completely alien institution, mastering complicated and illogical rules and traditions in far too short a time. But the reality had been quite different.
Of course, Jason had moments, especially alone in bed in his first few days, when he felt desperately sad at the absence of his family. He would have been a very odd boy if he had not. But those moments had been few and, by the third week of term, they had become a thing of the past. He had made many new friends. He had been incredibly busy, not just with work, but with sports and other extra curricular activities. No one had bullied him. Indeed, the second year boys had all been immensely kind and understanding to the "newbugs". The really amazing thing, to his mind, was that he had found himself in a house run by a prefect whose qualities were truly heroic. That is not an overstatement. In only a matter of days Richard had become to Jason, and to all the other new boys, a genuine hero. He had no misconceptions. He was perfectly aware that the time would come, and it was probably not too far off, when he would have to be punished by that hero. He had a healthy dread of that time. But he was absolutely confident that, when it came, he would have no cause to complain of being unfairly treated.
As any school boy of the time would have told you, the ritual of displaying a recently caned bottom to other boys tends to create a bond between those who had suffered the punishment and those who are seeing its results. It will be recalled that, on the second day of term, Jason and his friends Simon Smelter and Luke Trilling had been afforded the great honour of being given the first showing of the stripes acquired on that day by a second year boy called Jenkins. As a result, a bond had indeed grown between the younger boys and their senior. Jenkins had gone out of his way to help the trio of new boys to find their feet in the house and school. He had introduced them to his friends in the second year and encouraged those friends to let them join in their games and adventures.
So it came to pass that, on the Wednesday afternoon of the third week of term a second year boy called James Tomkinson approached Jason with an unusual request. James was a tall, slim, good-looking lad of twelve. He was a particular friend of Jenkins. As such, he had got to know Jason and grown to trust and like him. He decided that the new boy was just the one to help him with an adventure. His opportunity came immediately after a rugger practice. As the boys taking part were heading back to the changing rooms for their shower he beckoned Jason to join him for the walk. Once they were together he began to speak in a whisper.
"Look Simpkins, you can definitely say no, but I wonder whether you might mind helping me and Brandon" (another second year boy) "with an adventure we've got planned for after lights out?"
Jason immediately interrupted to agree that he would be happy to do anything Tomkinson asked.
"Steady on, you don't know what it is yet. Before you agree you ought to understand that it is going to be risky. If you're caught you'll definitely be feeling Tyler's gym shoe on your bum. I'll explain what it is. Brandon and me have got a bet on with Jenkins that we can get out of the house after lights, find a secret note that he has hidden in the pavilion and bring it back to him in the dorm. The only way out of the house after its been locked up for the night is through the bottom bit of the dining room window. It's got a sort of security lock on it that means you can only open it a few inches, but we reckon we're both thin enough to get through. The problem is that you can't shut it from outside. We don't know how long it's going to take to find Jenkins's note and we reckon it would be too dangerous to leave the window open while we're out. If Tyler or Mr Nicholson did one of their midnight tours of the house they would be bound to notice an open window and guess that someone had got out. So what we want is someone on the inside to shut the window after we've gone and open it for us when we get back. If you did it for us, you'd have to hide in the big cupboard while we were out. If you left the door just open a bit, you'd be able to hear us when we knocked on the window. Obviously, we could ask a second year boy to help us, but we both think you're a great guy and we thought you might like to get involved in a real second year adventure."
Jason was enormously flattered by this request. He had not the slightest hesitation in immediately agreeing. They made their detailed plans as they showered together. It was decided that James would come to Jason's dormitory at some time after eleven. If the younger boy was asleep, he would wake him up and then both would join Brandon on the landing. They would then have to tiptoe past Richard's bedroom and head for the stairs. If all went well, they should have a clear run to the dining room at the other end of the house. When the plans had been made, James looked down at Jason's slim, round buttocks.
"All I can say is I hope your bum's still that colour after breakfast tomorrow."
Jason was far too excited to sleep. As the minutes and then hours ticked by, he also became somewhat nervous. He had no illusions that he might escape punishment if caught and, in the dark and silent dormitory, he had to confess to himself that he was becoming more than a little frightened. But he was not put off from the adventure. Even if his name did appear on the morning punishment list, he thought, it would be worth it to have been included in a second year boys' escapade.
Finally, James appeared in the dormitory. Jason saw the door opening and, as soon as he had satisfied himself that the shape outside was that of a twelve year old rather than sixteen year old, he jumped out of bed, slipped on his slippers and dressing gown and joined his friend.
"Are you still on for it Simpkins?" whispered James.
"You bet, let's get going".
They made their way to the landing. Brandon was waiting. He pointed at Tyler's door and whispered to his co-conspirators.
"I just heard a very loud snore. I think we're OK".
They tiptoed past the door, down the stairs and along the corridor. It was pitch dark, but they knew the lay out well and had no trouble getting to the dining room. Once in there, they were able to see better. There was a full moon shining brightly through the window. They closed the door.
Still whispering, James pointed to a large cupboard by the window, "that's your hiding place Simpkins".
The boys headed for the window and gently eased it up. James went first. There was only just enough space for him to get through, but he managed. Brandon was of the same build and he, too managed to squeeze through. The whole process had taken a good five minutes. James watched his friends running towards the pavilion and then began to ease the window down again. He had almost done it when the door opened. He turned to look. His worst fears were realised. Richard, still dressed and therefore highly unlikely to have been snoring in his room, stood looking straight at him.
"Simpkins, what an earth are you doing?"
Jason thought quickly. He was determined not to get anyone else into trouble. He had to come up with a story which could convince the prefect that he was acting entirely on his own. He didn't have time to invent an innocent explanation for what he was doing. So he resorted to a version of the truth.
"Oh, Tyler, I'm afraid I was being a bit stupid. I bet some other boys that I could get in and out of the house after lights out. Of course, they all told me not to be so silly, but I didn't listen to them. I didn't go far, honestly. But I can see I haven't really got an excuse."
"I certainly can't detect one. Are you really telling me that you've done all this entirely on your own?"
"Yes. I mean, look, no one else is here and you caught me shutting the window. I'd hardly be doing that if anyone was outside."
Richard could see the force of that point, though he remained suspicious. Still, it was late and there was nothing much else he could do. If there had been fellow miscreants who had climbed in before Jason they would have got back to their dormitories by now and he knew enough about the one he had caught to realise that he would never sneak on his friends, however tough the cross-examination.
"OK, go straight to bed and remember to look at the notice board in the morning."
Jason was not surprised by that injunction. He had known, the second he had seen Richard in the doorway, that he would be bending over the small hard back chair in the prefect's study in the morning. As he and Richard walked back along the corridor and up the stairs he wondered only how many strokes he would be getting. In most school stories the punishment was always "six of the best". He knew that Richard had given no one six yet, but he guessed that he might be the first. Once on the landing, Richard went straight into his room and closed the door. Jason continued on to his dormitory.
The next problem was, of course, to rescue James and Brandon. He could not possibly leave them outside all night, but it would clearly be far too dangerous to go straight downstairs again. He left the door slightly ajar and climbed into bed. After a few moments he heard what he had expected. Richard's footsteps were audible as he headed to the bathroom. He listened hard. Sure enough, Richard was running a bath. That would give him enough time to get downstairs again without being caught. He dashed for the door, not bothering with dressing gown or slippers, and ran the whole distance on tip toes. As he got into the dining room he was immediately aware of gentle knocking on the window. He crept forward and eased it up. Brandon squeezed through first.
"Where the hell have you been?", he whispered.
"No time to explain. I'll tell you in the morning. But it's all OK".
James followed and found his similar request for information fobbed off in the same way. This was clearly not the time or place for a lengthy interrogation and all three headed for the door.
Jason was determined not to tell his friends what had happened until after he had taken his punishment. He didn't want any feelings of guilt on their part to lead to their telling Richard the truth. But he still had to get them past the bathroom and into their dormitory without being caught. He hurried them along. Once up the stairs they noticed the light coming from under the bathroom door. They realised that only Richard could be in there at that hour. No persuasion was needed to get them quickly into their dormitory.
Despite the fate that he knew awaited him in the morning, Jason got quickly to sleep. The night's exertions had taken their toll and tiredness won over fear.
James and Brandon did not go to sleep so quickly. Both were trying to work out what on earth had been going on in their absence. It was quite clear that Jason had not been in the cupboard. They had seen him come in through the door. Perhaps, they thought, he had heard something in the corridor and gone out to investigate. They whispered their various theories to each other. It was James who suddenly remembered another odd thing.
"Hey, Brandon", he whispered, "Simpkins was wearing his dressing gown and slippers when he came down, wasn't he?"
"Yes, so what?". Brandon paused. "Of course", he exclaimed, "he wasn't wearing them when we came back."
"That means he must have gone back to his dorm, taken his dressing gown and slippers off and then come down again. Why would he do that?"
"There's only two possibilities, I reckon", volunteered Brandon, "either he got cold feet, decided to go back to bed and then thought better of it and came back down to let us in or someone saw him and sent him back to bed."
"He's not the sort to run off leaving his pals in trouble. He must have been caught. And then there's Tyler being in the bathroom. It all adds up, doesn't it?".
"Yeah, but why not tell us?"
"Because he thinks we might own up to try to get his whacking reduced. He's trying to protect us."
"What do you think we should do?"
"Well, first thing in the morning, I'm checking the punishment list. If he's on it, I'm going to get to Tyler before he carried out the whacking. I'll tell him it was all my idea and that I talked Simpkins into it. Don't worry, I won't mention you."
Brandon would hear none of it. "Of course I'll come with you. We're both in it together. I'm not going to let you get the swish on your own. Wow, what an ace Simpkins is. There can't be many newbugs would do all this to protect second yearers."
James and Brandon were up and dressed before anyone else in their dormitory. They had time, just before rushing downstairs to look at the notice board, to give Jenkins the note they had found hidden in the pavilion. But they didn't have to wait for the inevitable questions. They got to the notice board before Jason was out of his dormitory. Sure enough, the dreaded words were there for all to see: "Simpkins, 7.30 a. m., 4". It was now 7.15. They knew that Jason would be bound to appear at any moment. He would check the notice board and, because he was a new boy, would have to go and change into PE kit. The two boys slipped round the corner next to the notice board and hid from view. Seconds later they heard the sound of someone approaching the notice board and then turning and running back towards the changing rooms. They peered round the corner and saw Jason disappearing through the doors at the other end of the corridor.
"Right", said James, "now for Tyler".
Both boys walked steadily towards Richard's study door. They were relieved to see the green light on. Brandon stepped forward and knocked.
"Come in" came the familiar voice from the other side of the door.
They both walked in. Richard was sitting at his desk with the punishment book already open in front of him.
"Brandon, Tomkinson, what can I do for you?"
The boys knew that time was short. There was no point checking that their theory about what had happened the night before was correct. James launched straight into it.
"Well Tyler, we've worked out that you must have caught Simpkins in the dining room last night. He obviously didn't shop us. In fact, he's not even told us that he was caught. But we thought you ought to know that it was all our idea. We made him help us. He was only there to open and shut the window for us. We're the ones who need to be punished, not him".
"Slow down lads and tell me calmly and quietly exactly what happened."
Brandon did so. He told the truth, except that he did his best to give the impression that Jason had only agreed to help after dreadful threats had been made. Richard did not believe that bit at all. He had already worked out that these two were fine boys. What is more, he had noticed how helpful they had been to the new boys. But the rest of the story made sense. He kicked himself for not realising that the obvious reason why Jason had been alone was that his accomplices had been outside, not inside. He was amazed at the boy's fortitude. To return to the dining room, having already been caught, was the act of a true Stantonian. Richard was mightily impressed.
So surprised had Richard been at the arrival of the two second year boys that he had neglected to turn the light outside the door to red. So Richard, when he returned from the changing rooms in his white cotton PE kit saw no reason to hesitate. He knocked on the door. Richard called him in.
Jason was very surprised by what he saw. But he was a bright boy, and he realised instantly what must have happened. Richard spoke.
"Well, Simpkins, these two lads have told me the whole story. It seems, I gather, that they threatened you with all sorts of tortures if you wouldn't help them".
Jason interrupted. "No Tyler, that's not right. They'd never threaten any new boy. Ok, Tomkinson asked me to help, but he said it was entirely up to me and he could get a second year boy to do it instead. I agreed immediately, cos I thought it would be fun".
"Just as I assumed was the case. Right boys, I need to think. Wait outside. As soon as the light turns green come in and I will give you my decision."
Richard had already decided on the punishments he would give. What he wanted to think about was whether it would be appropriate to administer them privately, one by one, or to beat each boy in front of the others. He knew, after all he was only sixteen himself, that all boys were interested in watching others being beaten, even if they were waiting to be punished himself. He particularly liked these boys, all three of them, and he would be happy to let them watch the full show. His only concern was that Jason was something of an unknown quantity. He knew the boy had never had a proper beating before. He thought it highly likely that he would take it well. But there was always a risk, however slight, that nerves might be much for a boy on the first occasion. It would be disastrous for Jason if he was seen to blub during a beating. On the other hand, he thought, it was now going to be possible to reduce Jason's beating to three, to reflect the minor part he had played in the adventure. And he was pretty confident that Jason, of all the new boys, would take a beating well. He came to his decision and turned the switch.
The light turned green. Jason opened the door and all three walked in.
"Very well boys, I have made my decision. Simpkins, you obviously have to be punished. But in the light of what these two have told me, I propose to give you only three. Do you have any objections?"
"No Tyler, thank you".
Tomkinson and Brandon, if I had caught you last night you would now be facing at least four. But I give you full credit for owning up. I am going to be exceptionally lenient and give you only three. Any objections?"
"No, Tyler, than you very much" each said in turn.
"You were all in this together, so you will be beaten in front of each other. Simpkins will be first, then Tomkinson, then Brandon. Right Simpkins, over that chair." He pointed at the smaller of the two hardback chairs in the room. The front of the chair had been placed firmly against the side of the desk, so as to ensure no movement forwards when the blows struck. Jason walked towards it and bent over the back. He knew, from what his friends had told him and from school stories, that boys had to bend over as far as they could. Richard did not have to tell him to bend further. His white shorts were extremely tight across his small, firm and slim bottom. Richard picked up the large gym shoe and walked towards his target.
It was fortunate for Richard, who really did not like hurting others, that the beating of boys' buttocks was something which gave him pleasure of a different sort. As he looked at Jason's bottom he said to himself, once again, that it was absolutely ideal for the slipper. He would have liked to take his time, but he wanted it all to be over, for Jason's sake, as soon as possible. He gently tapped the waiting bottom, to take aim, and then swung the shoe back and forwards again in one devastating movement. The crack as it connected with the firm flesh echoed round the room. Jason had been gritting his teeth and gripping the seat of the chair with fury. It worked. He held firm, despite the agonising pain. Richard swung again. Each stroke, inevitably because the shoe was so large and the bottom so small, landed on top of the ones before. The second created more pain than Jason had ever suffered. But he held firm again. After the third he could not imagine how it might have been possible to take four. But he still managed to stay silent and, with a lot of blinking, was able to clear all water from his eyes. After a pause of about thirty seconds, Richard told him to rise. He jumped straight up, both hands flew to his rear. He could actually feel the glow of heat coming from his bottom. He rubbed furiously.
Richard walked slowly to the umbrella stand to get the cane. He wanted Jason to have time to recover so that he could properly enjoy the spectacle he was about to see.
Tomkinson took off his jacket and placed it over the chair. He then stepped forward, towards the window, and bent over in the traditional manner, clutching his ankles and not bending his knees. His bottom, too, was small, slim and round. The grey trousers were tight. Richard was pleased with what he saw. But, having beaten Jason so quickly, he knew he must do the same with the others. Anyway, he thought, he was getting used to caning boys now. It still gave him an enormous thrill, but the real treat of the day, slippering an eleven year old in PE kit, was now over. He stepped smartly forward, tapped the cane on James's bottom, swung it back, stepped back two paces and then launched himself forward. James had, of course, been caned before, but he instantly realised that this caning was being given by a real master of the art. The searing pain each stroke caused was absolutely dreadful. But he knew he could take it, and take it he did. Like Jason, he clutched his throbbing bottom at the end. He held his hands there while the pain very slowly subsided.
Jason had indeed been interested in watching another boy getting the cane. But he had also winced with each stroke. He was relieved to see his friend wink at him when it was over and watching Brandon's beating was not so worrying.
Brandon, another exceptionally good-looking boy with an eminently caneable bottom, took his beating well. He did the same war dance at the end. But also managed a smile to his friends.
Richard put the cane away, turned to the miscreants and dismissed them. "Well done boys, taken like true Stantonians. Off you go to examine the damage".
All three headed for the changing rooms. Bottoms were instantly bared and marvelled at. Jason's was entirely covered in reddish purple bruising. The others each had three raised stripes, gradually turning blue. Jason changed into school uniform and the others pulled their trousers up. By the time they got to breakfast, all were happy. Jason, in particular, thought he had at last made it in Beacon House. Not only was he the first new boy to be beaten, but he had been beaten in the company of two of the most popular second year boys. The admiration all his friends clearly felt for him was wonderful to behold.
Richard did not go into breakfast. He decided to go back to his bedroom for half an hour. He locked the door. The real pleasure for him was just about to come.