Bluehill College, a boys boarding school, had had a very good year. Exam results had been excellent, several sporting trophies had been won and the finances were in a fine state. The governors had planned a once off very special week as a way of saying "thank you" to the staff and the boys. They had hired a summer camp for a week for the sole use of the school, not, as is usual for such events, during the holidays, but during the last week of the summer term.
It was made clear to the boys that it was still part of the school term and there would be lessons in the mornings, but the boys would be free to enjoy the facilities of the camp from lunch times onwards. It would be a fairly easy going affair - uniforms would be left behind and the boys could wear whatever they wanted to within reason and many other rules would be relaxed, but it was pointed out that a reasonable amount of discipline would have to be maintained for the wellbeing and safety of all concerned. The boys would be housed in dormitories while the teachers all had hotel-type en-suite rooms.
It turned out to be a very hot sunny week. The boys had chosen various forms of casual dress - some were in shorts, some in comfortable slacks, most with their shirts hanging loose outside whatever sort of bottoms they had chosen. Many, however, were in their swimming trunks, for the camp boasted an excellent outdoor heated pool located at the end of a tree-studded lawn which slopped down gradually from the main building.
Rodger Martin, the sports master, was standing in the shade of one of the trees watching the boys enjoying themselves in the pool. Three of the boys, Rowan, Bungay and Goodwin, all fifteen year old forth formers, climbed out of the pool and laid down on the grass on their tummies sunning themselves just a few yards in front of Rodger. He could not help but notice their bottoms! Their wet swimming trunks had molded themselves around their posteriors going deep into the clefts. In fact, the garments looked almost as if they had been painted onto bare bottoms! A thought struck Rodger. These three boys had been at the school for five years and those shapely backsides had never been whacked! What a waste of three lovely bottoms! Not that Rodger would ever have the chance to warm them up; that was the sole prerogative of the headmaster!
It was just a fleeting thought which he soon dismissed from his mind. He wandered up to the main building where there was a cafeteria and soft drinks bar where he bought a lemonade and sat at a table slowly sipping his purchase. He wandered back onto the lawn about ten minutes later and noticed that the boys were no longer laying on the grass. He looked around and then he spotted them beside the deep end of the pool. They had a junior boy suspended between them! It was young Faraday. Rowan and Bungay were holding him by his ankles while Goodwin was gripping the boy`s wrists and they were swinging him to and fro as if to throw him into the pool!
Rodger assumed they were just pretending - for one thing Faraday could not swim and for another he was not in swimming attire, but in jeans, shirt, socks and shoes! But then it happened! They let go and Faraday, screaming loudly, flew through the air and entered the water with a loud splash! Rodger dashed towards the pool but before he got there the three culprits had dived in and were bringing Faraday to the side. Rodger knelt on the edge of the pool and helped the boy out. Faraday was visibly shaken by the affair.
"You alright Faraday?" inquired Rodger.
The boy nodded, too traumatised to speak.
"Go and get changed into something dry, Faraday and then let matron have a look at you just to make sure. She will arrange to get your clothes dried out."
He turned to the three boys who had climbed from the pool.
"You three have got some explaining to do havn`t you?" said Rodger.
"We didn`t know he couldn`t swim sir!" pleaded Goodwin, "We dived straight in to get him out!"
"You know by the rules of our own school swimming pool that it is forbidden to push or throw anybody into the water!" Rodger told them, "secondly, Faraday couldn`t swim and thirdly he had his clothes on! I shall have to report this to the headmaster!"
The three boys remained silent. Rodger pulled his mobile phone from his pocket and rang the headmaster. Briefly he explained to the headmaster what had happened.
"The headmaster wants me to take you to him immediately! Where are your towels?"
"We didn`t bring them out here with us sir." replied Rowan, "It`s so hot that we dry off quickly anyway."
"Oh! Well! You will have to go to the headmaster just as you are, that`s all! Come along!"
The three boys, looking very sorry for themselves, followed their sports master into the accommodation block. The headmaster had a grade A apartment with a bedroom and separate sitting room just inside the entrance to the building. Rodger knocked on the door and on being bid, opened it.
"I have the three boys here, headmaster. They are mostly dry but they have dripping wet swimming trunks on!"
"Oh! Well they can`t come in here dripping water onto my carpet! Wait a moment!" said the headmaster.
The headmaster handed Rodger an empty plastic supermarket bag.
"Tell them to take their trunks off out there and put them in this bag!"
Fearful that somebody, perhaps even some junior boys, might come into the corridor while they were stark naked, they hastily removed their trunks and stuffed them into the bag!
"Right come inside!" ordered Rodger.
The three trembling boys entered the room, each with his hands in front to hide his private parts and stood side by side before the headmaster! They noticed that the headmaster had his right wrist heavily bandaged.
"You threw a defenceless junior boy who couldn`t swim into the swimming pool fully clothed, I understand!"
"Yes sir, but....."
"I don`t want any buts!" snapped the headmaster, "He could have been seriously injured! You know it`s against the rules to throw anybody into the water! What have you got to say for yourselves?"
"Er! There was no danger sir!" Bungay tried to explain, "We are all good swimmers and we jumped in and got him out straight away when we realised that he couldn`t swim!"
"Very courageous of you!" The headmaster was in a mocking mood! "It hasn`t done his clothes a lot of good either, has it?"
"It was all casual stuff he was wearing, sir! It should dry out alright! We wouldn`t have done it if he had been wearing anything expensive!"
"My! My! What considerate boys you are!" exclaimed the headmaster, "Why did you throw Faraday into the pool? Had he done anything to upset you?"
"Er! No sir!" Bungay was doing all the talking. "We just did it for a lark!"
"A lark! I have another word for larks like that! It`s called `bullying!`" said the headmaster, "I take a very serious view of this incident! Unfortunately I have left my cane at the school! I didn`t think anybody would do anything stupid enough to deserve it this week!"
The headmaster turned and went into his bedroom. He re-emerged with a leather belt in his hand!
"This will make a good substitute!" he informed the three quivering boys, "Six of the best each, I think!"
The headmaster pointed to the table in the middle of the room.
"All three of you go and bend over that table!" he ordered, "I want your bodies flat along the table top and your arms straight out in front of you!"
The boys had to bend their knees quite a bit in order to get themselves flat along the table, forcing their rounded bottoms to stick out in a most delectable fashion!
"As you are aware, Mr. Martin, I tripped over and sprained my wrist last night. Perhaps you would be so good as to administer the punishment for me!"
Rodger certainly would be that good! He felt like saying "I would be delighted!" Instead he said "As you please, headmaster!"
The headmaster handed him the belt. It was quite thick and about two inches wide. Rodger doubled it to give it more weight! Rowen was at the right end of the table, Bungay in the middle and Goodwin on the left. Rodger aimed at Rowan`s backside first.
CRACK! - Then Bungay, CRACK! Thirdly Goodwin, CRACK!
Rodger could see that it was hurting! All three boys were gripping the end of the tabletop so hard that their knuckles had turned white! The same could not be said for their bottoms!
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
There were three weals across each bottom. The three boys were all squirming and their faces were screwed up in agony! As Rowen sensed Rodger coming up behind him to deliver the forth blow he flung his hand behind him to try and protect his burning buns!
"Take it away, Rowan!"
Rowan removed his hand.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
There was now a mixture of noises coming from the boy`s lips! There were Oooows! Arrghs! and Hurrrs
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Now all three put their hands behind them!
"You have one more to come! Get your hands away!" snapped Rodger.
WHACK! "Arrgh." WHACK! "Arrgh." WHACK! "Arrgh"
"Get up!" said the headmaster.
The boys shot up! They were no longer worried about hiding what they had got in front! Six hands flew to six scorching buttocks! Their faces were screwed up and their eyes were shut tight! Tears were trickling down Rowan`s face!
"See that they apologise to Faraday some time today, will you Mr. Martin?"
"Certainly, headmaster." replied Rodger.
"And don`t let them go into the pool to cool their bottoms off!" continued the headmaster, "They are banned from the pool for the rest of today! Take them outside to put their trunks on, please Mr. Martin, then you can let them go."
Having replaced their swimming gear the three boys ran off, still clutching their backsides, in the direction of the dormitories. Rodger selected a deck chair in the shade and settled down to muse over the afternoon`s unexpected turn of events. He had no idea what the boys were doing. If he had gone into their ablutions he would have found out. They were sitting in washbasins full of cold water, their feet dangling off the ground!
They could not be worried whether or not anybody came in and saw them in this comical and undignified position! All that mattered was finding some relief from that unbearable sting!