Authors note
This is the second part of the segment called Oppression.
There is an oddity I have noticed in the way my story appears on MMSA Storiess Archive: all apostrophes were stripped out. Is this some subtle politically correct means of reducing all authors to the lowest common denominator of grammatical ineptitude? Let me assure my readers that I know an apostrophe when I see one and usually put them in the correct place.
You may now read on.
Pettigrew
Wilkins and Matron were waiting. "Well done Smith, though I am not sure I intended Hetherington to be herded in such fashion." Then, kindly to Hetherington, he said "Take a moment to catch your breath old chap then we will go in. It will be over soon enough. Dont try to think of anything. Just obey the orders as they are given to you and take it one step at a time." He turned to Smith. "Stay with Matron Smith in case she needs you to run any errands."
Smiths heart plummeted. "Bu.. but" he stammered and then thought it best to remain silent.
Wilkins escorted Hetherington, hands still on his head, through the door and closed it behind him. Immediately, the slight buzz of sound coming from the hall ceased.
Smith heard Dr de Ville speaking sternly but couldnt make out any detail. Then a barked order, still indistinct, and utter silence. Smith went to the door and peered through a crack in the curtaining covering the glass in the door. He had time to see Hetherington take off his shirt and hand it to Wilkins, to hear another barked command and see Hetherington slowly stoop as he pulled down his shorts, step out of them and hand them to Wilkins. Then Wilkins stepped back to what must be his position on the stage during the ensuing drama. Wilkins completely blocked Smiths view. In any case Smith wouldnt have any further opportunity to gaze as Matron was starting to engage him in small talk about how the school rugby team was doing.
The sound effects were dramatic though. After what seemed an age a loud thwack rang out followed by absolute silence that lasted twenty seconds, then another and another until six blows had landed. No sound from Hetherington could be heard though he may have sighed or groaned. There was silence for two minutes then six more slowly paced whacks. A low cry could be heard from Hetherington on the twelfth and then silence for another two minutes. Smith knew there would be six more strokes of the paddle before the birching began.
During the final six strokes of the paddle there were some audible sounds from Hetherington with a very loud yelp after the last. This time the silence lasted about three minutes and there was some sound of shuffling on the stage. Perhaps Hetherington had been allowed to stand for a while before being repositioned. Once again absolute silence followed by a discernible swish, a loud sound of contact and moments later a loud yell from Hetherington.
The interval between strokes was about twenty seconds. At each stroke Hetheringtons yells got louder and the last two were screams. There was total silence for about a minute and then more shuffling was audible, voices and a low background murmur from the audience in the hall.
The door opened and Wilkins emerged. It closed behind him too rapidly for Smith to get a glimpse of what was happening in the hall.
"How went it?" asked Smith. "Not well at the end, Hetheringtons in a bit of a state." replied Wilkins. "Smith, cut along to Hetheringtons dorm and get his pyjamas, flannel and towel and take them to the infirmary. Hetherington is to remain under Matrons care tonight. When you have done that you can return to your study if you wish, everything is finished here. And thanks for your help."
Smith did as he was bid and returned to his study to await the two fourth formers.
Four minutes later there was a knock on his door. He didnt answer, he had decided to let the two boys stew for five minutes; they knew he was inside because his light was showing under the door. Eventually he shouted "Enter!"
Two boys came in; one nigh on fifteen years of age and the other very little less. They looked reddened and apprehensive.
"How was the flogging?", Smith asked amiably, "I had to remain outside looking after Matron."
"Scary", said Thorpe, the younger, but taller, of the two.
"You should have seen his bum afterwards", said the other, "cherry red and nastily cut". The second boy, Melrose, went on "When he stood up it was clear that some of the birch twigs had curled over the front and inside of his thigh and likely touched his genitals too. That must have happened when he reared up and twisted during the third blow with the birch. He was screaming from then on." The boy looked smug and satisfied, as did his companion, their current more personal plight temporarily forgotten.
Smith brought them down to earth.
"You two have been caught fair and square, banged to rights as they say in the Yank films, I know it and you know it. Do you deny it?"
Both boys were briefly tempted to brazen out innocence but they knew it would be a lost cause and the consequences might be worse, so they remained silent and stared down at Smiths unexpectedly lush carpet.
Taking silence as assent Smith went on thus: "For this I must report you both to the Deputy Head. No doubt he will refer you on to Dr de Ville and you know what that means."
Both boys did know what that meant. Each had visited Dr de Ville twice, the second time as accomplices in a joint venture. They knew the dreaded horse and also realised that a third visit would necessarily be even more unpleasant. Whats more each had been whacked twice, the first time with a slipper and the second with a cane, this term by a master and Dr de Ville would know that. To Dr de Villes eyes they would be potential recidivists in need of a very long, very sharp shock.
Indeed, Dr de Ville would view their current offence seriously, even without knowledge of their other ill behaviour. Dr de Ville was a realist, he knew that adolescent boys sometimes had almost uncontrollable urges to masturbate. It would be oppressive in the extreme to punish boys for such strongly biologically driven behaviour knowing that their power to resist was less than that of a drug addict (not that many were known in 1955) trying to resist the habit. Anyway, despite what the Bible said (sin of Onan, etc.) on the subject Dr de Ville felt that tolerance was justified. Tolerance that is if the act is perpetrated in strict privacy with little chance of being stumbled upon by others. However, two boys doing it in company, even though they were not touching each other would be a lewd act and must not be tolerated. All three youths in Smiths room had deduced this for themselves.
"Please Smith", said Melrose, "dont send us to the Deputy Head. Cant you punish us instead. Surely you could devise something suitable?" He was thinking that whatever Smith might dream up couldnt be worse that a visit to Dr de Ville, followed by Dr de Villes likely close scrutiny of future behaviour and the serious possibility of serial visits to Dr de Villes horse.
Smith suppressed a triumphant grin.
Smith said, "Very well, I shall punish you both but the punishment, given the severity of the offence, shall have to be much more severe than a prefect can ordinarily give. You must both accept that."
Both boys nodded, but looked apprehensive.
"Also, any further ill-behaviour by either of you two that comes to my attention will be dealt with as I see fit rather than by the rather restrictive customs of this school."
Further nods, and a feeling that they were getting in too deep with no means of escape.
"Alright, first I shall need for my records a written, undated, confession of this crime and other recent ones that havent been detected. I shall add the date if you renege on our arrangement and I am forced to inform Dr de Ville of your sad state of indiscipline."
The boys nodded, knowing that it was far too late to retract.
Smith steered the boys towards his desk, found pen, ink and paper, and told them he would be back in fifteen minutes at which time he expected to see detailed confessions.
Smith was not disappointed. On the written confession, in addition to three other occasions of communal masturbation, there were listed: four instances of after "lights out" raids on the kitchen pantries, two thefts of liquorice sticks from the tuck shop, one occurrence of riding on the bus into town without a ticket, and two times when they had got revenge on hated fellow fourth formers by placing cigarettes among their possessions before a dorm inspection; both those boys had made visits to Dr de Ville as a consequence: their first in each case.
Smith was impressed by the last two offences and decided that these boys had something in common with himself and might be useful not just as objects to play with but also as minor allies in his greater game.
Aloud he said, "These offences are sufficient to earn you a public birching from Dr de Ville far more severe than that Hetherington received, and dont be fooled into believing that your lesser age would gain you leniency."
The pair nodded glumly.
"Now both of you sign the confession." The boys obeyed.
Smith put the confession in his drawer. Then he bade the boys strip down to their underpants. This they did reluctantly but neither could think of any grounds to complain. They knew they were firmly in Smiths grasp now and much worse would happen to them if they tried to wriggle free.
Melrose was wondering how he had managed to walk into the trap now so firmly shut. Smith was not a youth to be feared in the physical sense. Being a bit older, Smith was a little taller and a bit more muscular. However, though physically he might well come out better with either one in a scrap he couldnt take them both on at once with any hope of winning. No, Smith didnt dominate by his bulk or, otherwise, by being brutishly threatening. There was something strange about Smith. That strangeness also held an odd attraction though Melrose knew he would hate Smith during the next few minutes.
Smith made the punishments deliberately protracted. He made each boy stand before him with hands on head and then slowly he lowered their underpants until they revealed pubic hair and the top half of the penis; at the rear they went halfway down the cleft. He made the boys face the wall, thus attired, for ten minutes whilst he glanced through an old copy of Cheshire Life magazine. Then he made them turn around and he lowered their underpants slowly until they were able to drop to the boys ankles. The boys were ordered to step out of their pants and to bend over, legs apart, and grasping their ankles. Smith them applied the a slipper very hard. However, he didnt punish one boy and then the next, nor did he announce the number of whacks to be administered. He gave Melrose three strokes on one buttock and then Thorpe two whacks, one across each buttock. Thus it continued with neither boy knowing which was to receive the next whack or able to predict where it would land. In all fifty whacks landed, distributed roughly, but not exactly, equally between the two boys. At the end both had tears in their eyes and scarlet behinds which would shortly turn blue black from deep bruising.
After the boys left his study Smith destroyed the confession. It was of no use to him. The only thing of use was the boys believing he had it and that he would use it against them if need be. Yet, Smith knew that possession of the document containing the confessions would show him up as the devious manipulator he was of less mature minds. It must not be found.
Meanwhile Dr de Ville had gone straight from the assembly hall to Matrons small infirmary where Hetherington lay naked and face down on one of the beds in the two bedded room which, otherwise, rarely was occupied. Dr de Ville gazed at Hetheringtons backside while Matron prepared some dressings and instruments on a side trolley. Hetheringtons ample bottom was a mass of purple bruising from near where his cleft began all the way down to the crease where his upper legs emerged. Embedded in the purple were vivid lines where the main sticks of the birch bundle had made contact. Between and around these lines was a tracery of finer lines and cuts where twigs attached to the sticks had lacerated Hetheringtons buttocks. It was obvious that some pieces of twig had broken off and embedded themselves in the cuts. These would have to be removed and this was what Matron was preparing to do.
On Hetheringtons left side the birch stick lines and bloody tracery spread forward toward his front. This had happened when Hetherington, despite restraint by two prefects, reared up and twisted right to left just as a blow was about to fall. Dr Deville was concerned and gently bade Hetherington to shift over onto his right side. This manoeuvre made Hetherington wince. It was clear that the springy thin tips of the rods and accompanying twiglets had indeed made contact with Hetheringtons front. There were some livid marks visible on his abdomen just above the pubic hair, more on the front and inwards on Hetheringtons left thigh, four tiny, but distinct marks, fortunately not bleeding, across Hetheringtons flaccid penis and a small dark bruise on the left side of his scrotum. Dr De Ville mentioned these marks to Matron and Hetherington was permitted to resume his more comfortable prone position.
Matron then started using forceps to extract twigs. Each such extraction made Hetherington wince and on several occasions he groaned loudly. After each extraction Matron applied tincture of iodine using the small brush that was attached to the inside of the cap of the bottle. These applications made Hetherington yell on several occasions. Matron was not being deliberately unkind but in 1955 antiseptic creams were not readily available and iodine was a long tried and trusted remedy. Indeed, Hetherington was fortunate he did not attend one other particular public school, a major one, which still used the birch. At that school it remained the custom to leave the offender bent over the flogging stool for five minutes after punishment and then to vigorously rub salt into the wounds on the bottom. This invariably had the offender screaming as loudly, but for much longer, than from any single stroke of the birch. Salt, of course, is a useful cleansing agent but at that school the cleansing was regarded as an integral part of the punishment and intended to instil further deterrent fear into the youthful onlookers.
While preparing for bed Smith fondly remembered the later howls from Hetherington and then he remembered the milky white unblemished bums, of the two boys recently in his study, revealed as he pealed down their underpants as they bent over before him. He recalled with satisfaction the bright red colour of those bums after he had whacked each twenty four times with a large slipper; as yet he didnt possess a cane but that would be remedied tomorrow.
On the morrow Smith managed to round up four miscreants who were duly obliged to report to him after prep. He knew they would have to sweat it out until he himself returned from his appointment with Dr de Ville.
Smith arrived in the corridor outside Dr de Villes study as quickly as possible after the end-of-prep bell rang. He was surprised to find Atkins, Drummond and Petreson already waiting there. "Odd" he thought, "this isnt Friday". Also, the other boys were not in gym kit as befits punishment. Obviously they were here on other business and he ostentatiously ignored them whilst secretly glancing at their behinds with a view to what he wanted to do to them with a whip.
Dr de Ville opened his door, saw Smith and said, "Good, Smith you are punctual, do come in."
Dr de Ville beckoned Smith to a chair, then he said "Smith I have promoted you to full prefect even though you are in the fifth form because I see potential in you. Also, I have a particular task for you that I hope you will willingly take on. The crux of the matter is that there are boys in the fourth and fifth forms who need particularly close attention if they are to be prevented from straying into serious trouble. They need both mentor and disciplinarian on an almost round the clock basis. You are nearer in age to them than the other prefects and can, perhaps, relate better to them."
Smith looking quizzical said, " Yes sir, may I ask who these boys are?"
"Atkins, Drummond and Petreson", said Dr de Ville.
Smith nearly fainted but composed himself rapidly. He was sure he must look pale to Dr de Ville but the Headmaster didnt seem to notice.
Atkins and Drummond get into all sorts of scrapes, mostly harmless but they could escalate into delinquency. Petresons problem is a liking for smoking which he developed under the lax educational system in Denmark. Now I want you to supervise these boys so they stay out of trouble. You must use you disciplinary powers as necessary and refer anything beyond them directly to me. However, the idea is that you keep these boys so much on the straight and narrow, and with so little time to deviate, that they wont require referral to me. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"To help in this I have arranged for two things." said Dr de Ville. "First, Wilkins has been instructed to relieve you of all routine prefect duties. Second, the three boys will sleep in the refurbished, yet empty, six bed dormitory next to your study. Petreson is a Headmasters House boy but, for his long term good, he will spend the duration of this enterprise in Main School. "
"Also, one thing that might deter Petreson from smoking is the knowledge that he is likely to be found in possession of cigarettes before smoking them. I suggest that you search his person at random; to be fair you should do it equally with the other boys." By "search" Dr de Ville had in mind that the boys be occasionally required to turn out their pockets for inspection. Smith, naturally, interpreted the term differently.
"Yes sir, I shall be honoured to help in this task of keeping these boys out of trouble. All three have struck me as basically decent. I shall do my best."
"Perhaps, we should invite the boys in now, Smith, so that they may be made aware of what is in store for them?"
Smith politely demurred. "With respect sir, dont you think it might be less daunting for them if you were to explain the plan in my absence. Then they can ask questions of you freely without thinking about my feelings."
"Good idea Smith", said Dr de Ville.
"Thank you sir, and if I may suggest further?" Pause and nod from Dr de Ville. "Could you ask them to report to my study straight after end- of-prep bell tomorrow? By then I shall have had a chance to map out a programme for them."
"Excellent Smith, sent the boys in please, and goodnight.", said Dr de Ville.
Smith departed. Though he was not in the least theatrically bent Smith had to actively stop himself from breaking into a song and dance.
The following evening the boys, having installed themselves in the dormitory next door, were waiting apprehensively outside Smiths study. Footsteps on the stair and Smith came into sight at the end of the corridor. A moment later he ushered them into his study, settled into his easy chair and had the three youths standing in a line before him.
"Dr de Ville has told you", Smith said, "now tell me, so there can be no misapprehension later, your understanding of the position."
Silence for a while. Then "Well Atkins?" Smith prompted.
"We are to be supervised in all our free time by you." Atkins said before lapsing into silence.
"And?" Smith said sounding irritated.
"We must obey you at all times or Dr de Ville will punish us severely"
"You know it will be the birch, dont you?" Smith interjected.
Memory of Hetheringtons pain and humiliation still weighed on the school and would for weeks to come. Dr de Ville would find that most Fridays there was nobody required to wait outside his study."
The three boys nodded glumly.
"Come on, Dr de Ville said more, what was it?" Smith demanded.
Drummond spoke up "If we do wrong you are to punish us as you see fit. If we do something too serious for you to punish we are to be sent straight to Dr de Ville rather than to the Deputy Head. Masters and prefects have been instructed not to punish us for wrongdoing but to refer us to you and you can decide whether the matter should go to Dr de Ville."
"Well done, is that the understanding of all of you?" said Smith.
All three mumbled "Yes Smith" and didnt look him in the eye.
"But there is something else isnt there?" said Smith looking particularly at Petreson.
There was silence for a moment while Petreson recollected Dr de Villes words. Then he mumbled: "I am to be randomly checked to make sure I have no cigarettes on my person. Atkins and Drummond are to be checked occasionally for contraband too."
"Quite" said Smith. "When I have finished with you three you, Petreson, shall remain behind for your first check." He paused for a long while during which the three boys looked increasingly glum. Then he said, "Make no mistake about this I shall take my duties seriously. Every time you step out of line you shall be punished severely, Dr de Ville has given me considerable latitude. Go too far and you shall be visiting Dr de Ville for a birching." Smith had got the boys thoroughly agitated. We start in earnest tomorrow. Incidentally, Atkins and Drummond you shall be obeying the same lights out time as Petreson." That for fourth form boys was forty five minutes sooner than that for the fifth form and an hour and a half sooner than for the sixth form. "Now you two shall retire to your dorm immediately and read in bed until lights out."
Atkins and Drummond dejectedly shuffled out of the study.