Stasis.
Dr de Ville was confronted by a tableau from Dante's Inferno.
The first thing the Headmaster's gaze fell upon was of that directly in front of him: the naked rear end of a boy, of about fifteen years of age, out of which stuck a metallic rod with a flex attached to wooden box on a table beside him. The boy was raised up on his hands. Two other boys appeared to be trying to press him back down. A third was holding on to his left ankle. A fourth, whom the Headmaster vaguely recognised as Smith, had his back to the door and seemed engaged on fiddling with something inside the wooden box. In passing, Dr de Ville noticed another flex coming from the naked boy to the box: this one snaked from between his legs and seemed to originate somewhere below his crotch.
On a bed to the right of that of the wired-up boy lay a supine naked youth. His legs were well apart. His crotch was mostly black. A clothed boy was kneeling beside the left side of the bed. The clothed boy's right hand was black.
Further to the right, in a large clear area of floor, were naked boys in various stages of press ups: down, intermediate or up. Standing among them was a clothed boy with a cane. The cane had just made contact with a naked rump.
To the far left, in the corridor between two rows of closely packed beds, was the rear end of another naked boy, a boy bent over and grasping his ankles. The naked boy's face was visible peering from between his well spread legs. The naked boy's dangling testicles and some of his penis were visible. The buttocks were criss-crossed with red welts. A clothed boy was standing, "Ah Dobson" he thought, behind and to the right of the bent over boy. A cane in the right hand of the clothed boy was just about to make contact with the naked buttocks.
Time restarted ....slowly.
A piercing scream that had started just as the Headmaster began to fling open the door came to an end as its perpetrator's lungs deflated. The boy on the bed collapsed down into a prone position.
There was a resounding thwack as the senior cane came into contact with the bent over naked boy.
There was a more muted thwack as the junior cane made contact with the taught raised bottom of the boy on the floor.
There was a sob from the youth with the black crotch.
The bent over boy yelled.
The boy in full "up" press up position grunted.
Time resumed its full pace; everyone in the world continued rattling on toward their salvation or perdition.
Dr de Ville stood stock still. The sound of his dramatic entry had not yet registered in the minds of the assembled torturers and victims.
The first to notice the change of circumstance were those intent on keeping the wired-up boy immobile. They stared blankly at the Headmaster and relaxed their grips on their victim. The youth with his back to the door still seemed intent on doing something within the wooden box. One of the facing youths, yes Petreson thought Dr de Ville, whispered "Dan!". The youth fiddling with the box stopped what he was doing, slowly turned and froze.
The boy to the left wielding the senior cane got in another vicious blow, which elicited another yell, before he realised anything was amiss, turned and froze. The bent over boy remained in his position.
The boy to the right, holding the junior cane, caught on at about the same time and froze too. The press up boys one by one settled into a relaxed prone position and stayed there.
Once again there was a tableau: not of people frozen by time but of people who had chosen to freeze within time. There was absolute silence apart from muffled sobs from the youth with the black crotch and a soft whirring from the wooden box on the table beside the wired-up boy.
Dr de Ville gazed for a few seconds more, he took in the names of the boys present and what they were doing. He said nothing. He swept out of the dormitory.
Outside the door Dr de Ville was about speak to Mr Dawson when he noticed Aubrey and Standish rushing toward him.
"In thirty minutes, or as soon as possible thereafter, I want you Mr Dawson, you Standish and you Aubrey to come together to my study to explain what has being going on, if you please."
Before Dr de Ville could continue Aubrey interjected "May Beamish come too Sir, he can contribute."
"Yes" snapped the Headmaster.
"First Aubrey, I want you to mobilise your prefects and sub- prefects so that all the clothed boys in that dormitory are kept under observation and away from each other. Your prefects must not engage in any conversation with them about what has happened. The clothed boys must not speak to each other or to anyone else. Understand?"
"Yes Sir."
"Further" said the Headmaster "I should much appreciate it Mr Dawson if you would accompany the naked boys to Matron. Let them put on their clothes first of course."
"Yes, Headmaster."
"When you have done that please have a look around this dormitory and Smith's study for anything that may have a bearing on these events. Bring any such articles with you for when we meet in my study."
"Yes, Headmaster."
The Headmaster continued "Aubrey, get one of your prefects to see if he can temporarily relocate senior boys between dormitories such that one dormitory becomes vacant for the use of the now naked boys, there are two beds available in Headmaster's House for relocated boys should they be necessary. I want you to arrange for a senior prefect to sleep in the dormitory with the now naked boys. He must be sympathetic toward them but he must discourage them from discussing what has happened."
"Yes Sir, I understand" said Aubrey "I will take on the responsibility of caring for the victims tonight, if I may, Sir."
"Excellent" said Dr de Ville.
"Also, the clothed boys will sleep in this dormitory tonight. I want two prefects to sleep with them and to make absolutely sure that they don't confer in the dormitory, in the bathroom or elsewhere. You may need to bring in an extra cot bed from Matron's infirmary."
"Yes Sir" said Aubrey.
Finally the Headmaster said "I will see you all in my study later."
Dr de Ville retreated to his study. His mind was in a turmoil. He had to settle his thoughts and think seriously over the implications of what he had just witnessed.
The time stopping incident had differing effects on the youths in the dorm.
Pearson in the middle of his torment was suddenly gazing into the face of Dr de Ville. Somehow he grasped that everything was going to be alright yet at the current instant everything was utterly wrong.
Petreson experienced mixed emotions of relief, guilt and fear; the latter two being the dominant feelings.
Drummond and Atkins both predominantly felt fear though it was tinged with relief and guilt.
Melrose and Thorpe felt nothing but fear, deep fear.
Robinson, his head tucked down between his legs, hadn't been paying much attention to the view behind him as he anticipated and received each cut from Dobson's cane. Suddenly, just as searing agony was engulfing him from the latest cut he became aware of Dr de Ville staring at him. His first feeling was of the ludicrous, almost surreal, circumstance of their meeting. This was soon followed by relief and an immense loathing of Dobson and Smith, loathing shared in equal measure. His delight was truncated by another vicious cut from the cane, Dobson not yet being aware that the bottom had fallen out of his world.
The older youths doing press ups variously experienced relief or puzzlement as their initial feelings. Blenkinsopp, though, felt nothing; his mind still harboured powerful echoes of his experience with the "Torpedo" a short while before; he wasn't even sobbing any more.
Dobson, one of the last to catch on, felt his bowels begin to turn to water (fortunately there was no messy accident).
Smith felt a brief shock which rapidly led to calm resignation. It was as if he had become detached from all around him. As time faltered onwards he watched the ensuing events as if he were a disinterested observer. His mind had not yet started thinking consequences.
When the meeting convened in his study the Headmaster didn't waste time by mouthing pious platitudes about how horrible and shocking the events were. He got straight down to business. He listened silently, as had Mr Dawson earlier in the day, to Aubrey's account. He read Wilkins' letter. He examined the items Mr Dawson had brought with him; these included confessions extracted that day, confessions that Smith had not had time to destroy. Mr Dawson hadn' t brought the "Torpedo" because it was too bulky along with the other items. However he had examined it and understood its working, its true purpose and its perverted use; he had explained these to Dr de Ville.
The Headmaster sat silently for several minutes. Finally he said "I seem to have jumped to a hasty conclusion about poor Wilkins. Nevertheless I shall have to question the victims and perpetrators of this abuse to set at rest any idea that this is merely a continuation of something Wilkins left off." To Aubrey's relief the Headmaster added "But, my gut feeling is that Smith has been behind everything from the beginning and that, for reasons best known to himself, he set about destroying Wilkins."
After a pause the Headmaster continued "Its getting late. I shan't question the victims tonight, they need to rest and recover. I shan' t question Smith or Dobson until I know more. Also, I am not clear about the respective roles and involvement of the other clothed boys we found in the dormitory. Nevertheless I shall question Petreson. I don't know his degree of involvement but I have a deep feeling that he is, at the core, decent. I don't believe he would be involved wholly voluntarily. After all, I placed him, Atkins and Drummond under the supervision of Smith. Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong."
There was another long pause. Mr Dawson, Aubrey, Beamish and Standish did not feel inclined to comment. They knew the Headmaster had more to say.
Finally, Dr de Ville said "I am the one culpable here. It was I who made Smith a monster by giving him power and latitude a youth of his immaturity should never have."
A few moments later he continued "I have changed my mind about Pearson and Blenkinsopp. Please send them to Headmaster's house for the night. Mary will look after them, they were the most vulnerable of the boys in the dormitory. I think that's all for tonight gentlemen. Please don't forget to send Petreson along to me."
The others nodded and rose. None of them could think of words to ease the Headmaster's deep melancholy. They filed out of the study.
Fifteen minutes later there was a timid knock on the door to the Headmaster's study. Dr de Ville did not hear the first attempt at knocking, on the second attempt he called "Enter."
The door opened slowly and Petreson stood still, unsure whether to enter the hallowed room, in truth, not wanting the cross the threshold.
Dr de Ville gestured Petreson in, told him to close the door and asked him to sit on an upright chair facing his own comfy armchair.
Petreson was extremely nervous. He trembled a little. His eyes could not meet those of his Headmaster. He sat on the chair with his chin down and his hands clenched together on his lap.
Dr de Ville, in a soft voice, gently said "Petreson , uh Johann, I need to talk to you. I need you to tell me truth, to help me."
Johann flicked his eyes briefly up to look at Dr de Ville's face. He did not see anger. He saw anguish. He saw pain, the Headmaster's pain. He saw the face of a man for whom all the certainties of life have crumbled. Despite his own deep anxieties Johann felt sorrow for the man who had been kind to him.
In a small hesitant voice Johann asked "I am in trouble, serious trouble Sir?"
Dr de Ville, with an expression now of resignation, nodded.
"I am to be punished Sir? Severely? Very severely?"
The Headmaster nodded.
"I deserve it, I have done bad things."
The Headmaster gently asked "Tell me what it is you are to be punished for Johann?"
Tears were welling in Johann's eyes. Not tears in anticipation of punishment that must surely come. These tears sprung from the well of Johann's essential virtue, a well whose flow had been restricted, but not stoppered, during his association with depravity, sometimes almost willingly, during the past few months. Johann felt deep shame.
Johann resisted the urge to fall into convulsive sobs. With a clear voice he answered, "Sir, I helped Dan, er I mean Smith, with some of the things he did. Things I knew to be wrong. Sometimes I enjoyed it" a sob then "I didn't have the will not to."
After a brief silence Dr de Ville, again gently, asked "Is there more to be ashamed of Johann? Something worse?"
Johann seemed puzzled. Eventually he replied "No Sir."
Johann, head no longer bent, looked into Dr de Ville's face with wonder and trepidation as the visage of the great man, the man who had so much power over him, went through a series of startling transformations.
There were deep emotions running through Dr de Ville: surprise, disappointment, anxiety and anger. These all visibly crossed his face. It was the brief flash of anger that frightened Johann.
Johann stammered "But, but, what else is there Sir?"
The headmaster's face had returned to its usual state of poker neutrality when next he spoke. It was his voice that betrayed his fury when he spat out "Mendacity!"
Johann looked puzzled. In a calmer voice Dr de Ville said "Deceit, lying, seeking to mislead."
"But Sir, I haven't lied" responded Johann with an overtone to his voice that suggested he wasn't really sure; he had latched on to the second of Dr de Ville's nuances of "mendacity" when perhaps the third would have been more helpful; there was something nagging his conscience but he could not pin it down.
Dr de Ville, his voice now icy calm, said "Johann, do you remember when I asked you about Wilkins?"
Johann nodded and muttered "Yes, Sir." He felt uneasy, queasily uneasy.
"Johann, what did you say?"
"Nothing Sir".
"Nothing?"
"Yes Sir."
"What was I meant to conclude?"
Johann now realised he was engaged in a dangerous game with a deadly opponent. He still did not grasp the point of the Headmaster' s questions. He responded "I thought you would draw your own conclusions Sir and if you were not sure Sir you would ask me more."
"Johann, when we had that conversation you knew what I was enquiring about? The possibility that Wilkins had abused his powers, yes?"
"Yes Sir."
"You knew that he had not? You knew that Smith had conspired against Wilkins?"
Johann flushed. The issue was becoming clearer. His inherent honesty forced him to reply "Yes Sir."
"You knew at the time that when our conversation ended I was left with the firm impression that Wilkins had done wrong?"
"Yes Sir." Johann was beginning to tremble slightly again though nothing in the Headmaster's demeanour was currently threatening.
"You left me with that impression whilst knowing that Wilkins was innocent and that Wilkins likely would be severely punished, as he indeed was?"
"Yes Sir", a pause while Johann gazed at his feet and collected his thoughts, then "You did not ask me a direct question Sir, I would have answered truthfully."
Dr de Ville's face again displayed strong emotion. The predominant features were deep disappointment and anger.
"So, you think a monstrous injustice, one you could have prevented, is alright because you did not technically (Dr de Ville spat this word out forcibly) tell a lie?"
Johann was perplexed. Yet he had known all along that he should never have connived in Wilkins undeserved disgrace.
"No, no Sir. What I did was wrong."
"Johann, what you did was a despicable trick, a playing with words beneath the worst of barrack room lawyers."
Johan wasn't familiar with "barrack room lawyer" but he caught the drift. "Yes Sir."
"Johann, from these vile events I am determined that you, a basically good being, shall learn some fundamental lessons in honesty. Lessons that not only will make you a moral person in your dealings in the wider world but will make you a successful person – because honesty literally does pay in the long term."
The headmaster peered at Johann quizzically to make sure he was paying attention and taking in this, possibly, one of the most important lessons of his life. He continued "Honesty rests not just in avoiding what are technically lies, it entails ensuring that those with whom you deal fully understand your meaning and intentions."
After a pause the Headmaster continued "It is for this reason, to aid the comprehension of the meaning of integrity, that I shall be punishing you and some others very severely indeed. You shall have to be made an example to the whole school so that others may learn this lesson without having to endure the pain themselves."
Johann gulped. Yet he understood that everything the Headmaster had said was just.
"Your punishment shall also contain an element to account for your partially willing connivance in Smith's reign of oppression. I know full well that he had you and others under his thumb. Yet we must learn something from this recent terrible war. The war crimes tribunals continue. It is now a principle established in law that being ordered to do an unlawful act is not of itself an excuse though it may provide some mitigation. This principle applies to your situation too."
It took a moment for Johann to absorb this. Then hesitantly he said "Sir, what shall my punishment be?"
Dr de Ville's voice took on a more kindly tone though he had a devastating message to convey "It shall be very severe Johann but you will bear it. Smith and, maybe, some others will have to bear much more. But, Johann it will for you be an end to this horror. I know that you are to a great extent a victim of circumstances of which you were not the architect. Nevertheless, for your long term good and for the good of Thistletop you and others must suffer the consequences of wrongful actions over which you did have control. When your punishment is over we shall put it behind us and you shall begin again with a clean slate."
The forgoing was not exactly a speech by Cassius, or indeed by any other lean and hungry man, but it made its point to Johann. If there was a cosmic justice that transcended Dr de Ville then it would have recognised that Johann had already understood, in a truly deep sense, his wrongdoing and was even now set back on the path of righteousness; thrashing Johann's buttocks to rawness would add or detract nothing to the reform of this essentially good youth who one day would become a thoroughly decent adult and who, in extreme old age, would have little to regret on his death bed other than the injustice to Wilkins which he should have stopped.
"Johann, go to bed now. Please regard this conversation as private."
The next morning, being Sunday, all the Thistletop boys, except Smith's recent victims who were excused, filed towards St John's, the parish church, which was three hundred yards from the school gates. The church had a squat tower marking its Norman origin; subsequently it had been a extended and displayed a variety of later styles which, nevertheless, blended harmoniously. The vicar received a small additional stipend as chaplain to Thistletop School. The church could amply hold the Thistletop contingent but that left little room for the other parishioners. Thus, the vicar held a special school service at 9.30 a. m. followed by the regular one at 11.00 a. m. This had the advantage that he could tailor his service to the needs of the boys. He kept services to no more than three quarters of an hour, eschewed tediously long prayers, omitted Old Testament readings full of meaningless "so and so begat so and so who begat ....", had cheerful rousing hymns, and kept his sermon short, to the point and of relevance to the boys' lives. The boys, including those having doubts in their faith, adored the vicar.
For once, the service failed to engage Johann. He was deeply glum. He knew he could expect a fearsome thrashing but he didn't know when. Also, the Headmaster had said something about setting an example to the rest of the school. Johann feared that the Headmaster meant "in front" of the rest of the school. He dreaded the extra humiliation that would bring. He particularly dreaded the prospect of being displayed undressed before his fellow pupils.
Thorpe, Melrose, Drummond and Atkins were similarly unhappy. They had not yet had to face Dr de Ville but each knew in his heart that he was culpable, not least for the conspiracy against Wilkins. They didn't know exactly what to expect but they were bright enough not to harbour any shallow optimism.
Dobson, though by no means dim, was not the most imaginative of boys. Yet, he was fully aware that he was in deep trouble. He knew that he would not get away with trying to put all the blame on Smith. He had played a central role in the charade to disgrace Wilkins; nobody was holding Dobson's arm up his back as he feigned tears before Dr de Ville. Also, there was his increasingly willing part in Smith's oppression. Some of the many victims were likely to testify to that. Worse still, Dr de Ville himself had witnessed him enthusiastically wielding a senior cane against Robinson's bare backside. Dobson knew he was going to be severely punished, but when? A thought flitted through his mind "Oh God, not the birch" he thought. Well he was in a place of worship and maybe the Almighty was listening, we shall have to see.
The previous evening Smith had been completely numb. His sense of detachment had lasted until he went to bed. His mind was not harried by speculation about his fate so he fell asleep quickly and slept soundly until morning. It was on awakening that reality imploded inside his head. When he first awoke he had that pleasant sense that here was another day pregnant with interesting possibilities, he had not a care in the world. His dire position just hit him suddenly as if a bolt from the blue. He had trembled for a moment. He had forlornly hoped it was the aftermath of a nightmare. Yet, no, here he was in an unfamiliar bed in the dorm next door to his study. Thereafter his mind rapidly worked out the likely consequences: birching, expulsion and disgrace.
Smith was more stoical than his followers. He knew that he would have to face a near unbearable ordeal and dreaded it. It was the inevitability of that which enabled him to place the matter partially to the back of his mind. He knew that just going over and over it would alter nothing. Thus though tinged with apprehension and definitely not happy, he was the least glum of the miscreants.
The vicar's short sermon did nothing to cheer up the sinners. Coincidental to the events that have been related, the vicar had chosen to give a homily on truth, honesty, integrity and decency. Although there was nothing of hell fire and _d_a_m_n_ation about the vicar's sermon it still left no doubt that the Lord does not approve of mendacity. Even the agnostic Smith felt more uneasy.
The service ended with that boisterous hymn "He who would valiant be" which is based on the words of John Bunyan.
He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster, Let him in constancy follow the Master. There's no discouragement shall make him once relent His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.
Who so beset him round with dismal stories Do but themselves confound—his strength the more is. No foes shall stay his might; though he with giants fight, He will make good his right to be a pilgrim.
Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit, We know we at the end, shall life inherit. Then fancies flee away! I'll fear not what men say, I'll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.
The final hymn, as always, ensured that the young gentlemen of Thistletop left the parish church in buoyant mood. There was laughter and polite general merriment as they set off back to the school. They were free of obligations until lunch time, not that anyone regarded lunch a penance.
This atmosphere of happiness was the last thing Smith or his disciples wanted. There is nothing worse when you are about to face a horror that cannot be escaped than to be surrounded by people who don't have a care in the world. Fortunately for them they were soon again sequestered away from the rest of the school and had ample opportunity to dwell, undisturbed, upon their forthcoming punishment.
To be continued. (reminder: the author retains all commercial rights on all sections of this story)