A Fair And Just Response

 

Mrs. Sinclair sat at her desk going over the daily attendance records of the first two classes. Occasionally she would make a mark by an absentees name to remind herself to call the girl's parents to find out if an illness was serious. The intercom buzzed. "Yes, Rachel?" "Mrs. Sarah Winthorp to see you, ma'am" Mrs. Sinclair sighed to herself. "Very well, send her in." Mrs. Sarah Winthorp entered the headmistresses office. She was in rare temper, it seemed. This was precisely why Mrs. Sinclair hated seeing the woman. She was a highly placed member of the board of governors to the school and as such, she used her position to constantly barge in on Mrs. Sinclair with the most trivial of concerns.

"Mrs. Sinclair, I would request that Miss Jennifer Bloom be caned immediately."

This took Mrs. Sinclair quite by surprise. Both because Jennifer Bloom hadn't received the cane in some years, and that Mrs. Winthorp had never before requested such a thing. "Why?" Mrs. Winthorp shook a piece of paper in front of the headmistresses nose. "I have been receiving at my home anonymous calls over the phone for some months. Last month I requested the phone service to do a trace of all of our incoming calls. I judiciously logged each call I received and compared them to the results. As you can plainly see, thirty calls alone came from Jennifer Bloom's residence."

Mrs. Sinclair could see no such thing with the paper being shook like that. Exasperated, she finally snatched the paper and glanced over it. She opened a drawer and pulled out a file containing the home numbers of her students. Yes, Jennifer Bloom's number was featured prominently on the phone service's report.

"What was the nature of these calls?" "Scandalous! The things said by this young woman are best not repeated." Mrs. Sinclair suppressed a chuckle. Scandalous, to Mrs. Winthorp, could be anything from "bugger off" to "how was the movie?" "I'm afraid that I can administer no punishment unless I know the basis for the calls."

Mrs. Winthorp repeated a few phrases that left Mrs. Sinclair's ears burning. Mrs. Winthorp even produced a tape of one recording. When played, Mrs. Sinclair's ears burst into flames. Of course, one couldn't tell who exactly was on the other end of the tape. The person had judiciously used a rag or some such to disguise the voice. When the tape ended, the machine had added a time and date. Mrs. Sinclair glanced over the report and saw Jennifer Bloom's number corresponded to that time and date. Mrs. Sinclair punched the intercom with a devastating force. "Send for Jennifer Bloom!"

Five minutes later, Bloom walked through the door. "Yes, ma'am?" Bloom was properly dressed in her uniform and proudly displaying her prefect's badge. Mrs. Sinclair's face was thunderous. She accused Jennifer Bloom of harassing a school governor and of using 'scandalous' language. "Ma'am, I did no such thing." Mrs. Sinclair's ears began to smoke. She played the tape. Bloom just listened, her face growing hot. "What do you have to say for this?" "Ma'am, I didn't do it. There's been a mistake." Mrs. Sinclair showed Bloom the report from the phone service, but Bloom again protested her innocence. Mrs. Sinclair had had enough of these lies. She started to sentence a caning when Mrs.Winthorp interrupted.

"Such a shameful display should be met with an equally humiliating display. I demand that she be caned on the bare in front of a school assembly!" Mrs. Sinclair didn't feel one bit sorry for Miss Bloom. The girl had embarrassed the school, her headmistress, and certainly herself. She should be made an example. Mrs. Sinclair called her secretary to make the proper arrangements. Bloom was sobbing fiercely and protesting her innocence. Mrs. Sinclair would have none of it. Fifteen minutes later, the secretary called to inform that all was ready. Mrs. Sinclair grabbed the cane and marched Jennifer Bloom to the assembly hall.

Mrs. Sinclair made a twenty minute speech about this shameful act and publicly stripped Bloom of her prefect's status. Then she had Mrs. Winthorp hold down the struggling girl and administered twenty vicious strikes to the girl's bare backside. Mrs. Sinclair hadn't been merciful in her strokes. There were several cuts that were openly bleeding. Mrs. Sinclair made her remain in position for twenty more minutes while she lectured some more about what had just been witnessed. Then all were sent back to classes.

The next day, Mrs. Sinclair received a call from Bloom's parents. They blustered and raved about their daughter's condition for fifteen minutes. "Permanent scarring" was a phrase that came up often. Mrs. Sinclair informed them that she, herself, had seen the proof of Jennifer's misdeeds. That quieted them.

The following day, the parents were again on the phone making threats of legal action. They, too, had investigated and found nothing. Mrs. Sinclair informed them that an investigation by angry parents and one by the phone service were two very different things. Again they were quieted.

Over the next two months, Jennifer Bloom was constantly being reported for misdeeds by other prefects. Mrs. Sinclair had been expecting it. When a prefect fell, others swooped in to gain revenge for past incidents. By and large, Mrs. Sinclair administered punishment for the reportings. Prefects could, at worst, request that a student be paddled. Mrs. Sinclair saw no harm in paddling a student. It stung and brought tears, but no damage had ever been done by the paddle. Rarely a day went by without Bloom's skirt up and panties down receiving a few whacks to her hind end. Mrs. Sinclair knew from experience that the reports of misbehavior would soon draw to a close. Also during that time, Bloom's parents averaged about one call a week with threats of legal action. Each time, Mrs. Sinclair referred to the phone service's report and they were silenced for another week. Finally Mrs. Sinclair had had enough of the irritating calls. Since Mrs. Winthorp had taken the report with her, Mrs. Bloom decided to call her to gain a copy of that report to forward to Bloom's parents. Perhaps that would quiet them once and for all.

"Winthorp's" "Mr. Winthorp. This is Jayne Sinclair, headmistress of Brighton's Academy. Is Mrs. Winthorp available?" "No, I'm afraid she's at a meeting. Can I be of assistance?" "Perhaps so. I am calling to request a copy of the phone service report that Mrs. Winthorp showed me a few months back." "Phone service report?" "Yes, sir. Mrs. Winthorp brought it in as proof in a scandalous affair that led to the severe caning of one of our school's former prefects." "I'm afraid I have no knowledge of any of this." "Mrs. Winthorp complained of several calls made to your residence by the girl. The calls were of a scurrilous nature and, as a result, Mrs. Winthorp commissioned a report done by the phone service." "Mrs. Sinclair, we've received no such calls.""Perhaps they occurred while you were at work." "Mrs. Sinclair, are you familiar with my occupation?" "No, sir, I'm afraid not." "I'm a writer of fiction. A quite successful one, I might add. To gain that success, I work constantly. My office is here at home. I never leave except to do an occasional charity function or a book signing. In those instances, Sarah always accompanies me. There have been no such calls." Mrs. Sinclair stammered. "But your wife played me a tape from your answering machine." "My good woman. We have no such machine. Why should we spend the money when I am always here to take messages." Mrs. Sinclair was in a state. "But..." "Mrs. Sinclair, who was the girl who was punished?" "Jennifer Bloom." Thoughts of lawsuits immediately began circling Mrs. Sinclair's consciousness. "Ah, that explains it, then." "I don't follow, sir." Mr. Winthorp explained. "When Sarah, Mrs. Winthorp, was in grammar school, Patricia Welding, the mother of Jennifer Bloom, caused Sarah and Jessica, my wife's sister, to receive a most pernicious caning on the bare in front the entire school. Sarah has never forgiven Mrs. Bloom for that humiliation. I'm afraid that this punishment was directed more toward her than toward Jennifer." Mrs. Sinclair let out a gasp. She had been used as a tool of Mrs. Winthorp's revenge. She asked if Mr. Winthorp would graciously arrange to meet with her this afternoon. Mr. Winthorp agreed and Mrs. Sinclair immediately called her barrister. Mrs. Sinclair was dismayed to learn that she, however unwittingly, had been an accomplice to this sorry affair and could be subject to lawsuit and possible termination. Mrs. Sinclair immediately phoned the Bloom's and asked that they come in for a meeting.

The next day, a school assembly was called. Mrs. Sinclair didn't relish the thought of the upcoming several hours, but to avoid a lawsuit and possible termination, she had agreed to everything. She faced the entire assembly. "Ladies, you are no doubt curious as to why you've been asked to assemble here. Some time ago you were called in to witness the caning of Miss Jennifer Bloom." There were titters as the object of the speech was seen squirming in an attempt to sit on her still sore behind. "Many humiliating things were said about the former prefect and she received a most severe caning in front of all of you. I have asked you here today to hear me admit that what was done to Miss Bloom was a dreadful error." Gasps and whispers were circulating throughout the hall. A few errors had been made over the years, but Mrs. Sinclair had never publicly apologized for such. "I want you to know that though I was an unwitting dupe in the whole affair, I am guilty of allowing her humiliation to be increased by acting on reports from current prefects as to Miss Bloom's behavior. I know that when a prefect is stripped of her status, others are quick to avenge past incidents. I, myself, when in grammar school, did such things. Therefore, as a result of my experiences, I allowed the practice to continue here. I am now telling you that it will continue no longer. In fact, an example shall be made today of my disfavor of this practice." Mrs. Sinclair read off a list of twelve names, all prefects, and told them to step up to the floor. All twelve girls nervously did so. "All of these prefects have reported Miss Bloom for various misdeeds. All of these reports were falsehoods. They were submitted to cause Miss Bloom to receive unnecessary and humiliating punishment. All twelve of these girls will receive twelve strokes of the cane applied without mercy and to the bare. The sentence will be carried out immediately in front of this entire assembly."

Three of the twelve broke out in sobs immediately. "Since their actions were silently condoned by me, they shall retain their prefect's status. However, any such false reports that are submitted in the future will result in a public caning of twenty- four strokes applied without mercy and to the bare and the loss of such status."

Mrs. Sinclair took a deep breath. "Mrs. Winthorp, the school governess who brought out these false charges, has consented to receive a caning applied without mercy and to the bare. The caning will be an exact match to the one that Miss Bloom received plus a penalty of twenty strokes for causing such an incident as this to come about. You will also witness this shortly."

"In addition to the caning of Mrs. Winthorp, Mrs. Jessica Fielding will also receive a caning applied without mercy and to the bare. Mrs. Fielding was a co-conspirator in this affair and has agreed to pay the penalty. She shall receive twenty strikes plus an added penalty of twenty for her part in this scandal." Now was the moment that Mrs. Sinclair dreaded. "Since I have allowed these prefects to get away with submitting false reports, and since I was an accomplice, however unwitting, to Miss Bloom's public humiliation, I, too, shall receive a caning applied without mercy and to the bare in front of this assembly." Gasps of astonishment followed this pronouncement. "My sentence is twenty strokes of the cane plus an added penalty of ten, to be applied by the assistant headmistress." Mrs. Sinclair gritted her teeth. She hated the thought of being forced to bare her backside to her own students, but in order to avoid a lot of legal unpleasantness, she had agreed to do it. She hoped that the Bloom's received a good show. There was certainly a high enough price being paid. "All sentences, including my own, are to be immediately carried out. Mrs. Wicker, you now have authority over the proceedings."

Mrs. Wicker stepped onto the floor. She wanted to break down in laughter at the thought of what was to come. When Mrs. Sinclair had informed her of this, she had even offered to go lightly upon the headmistress. "You most certainly will not," Mrs. Sinclair had said. "If the Bloom's even suspect that any of this is fakery there will be an immediate filing of suits and I'll shortly find myself looking for another position. No, you will apply thirty of the best and hardest to my bottom. But make sure that you apply even more force to Sarah Winthorp's bum when her's is sticking up in the air."

Mrs. Wicker ordered all others involved in this to be let into the assembly hall. Mr. and Mrs. Bloom were followed in by Mr. and Mrs. Winthorp and Mr. and Mrs. Fielding (Mrs. Winthorp's brother-in-law and sister). Mrs. Sinclair tightened her expression when she saw Sarah Winthorp. The catty bitch had been the cause of all of this. She had conspired with her sister to cause the caning of Miss Bloom. Mrs. Fielding had used her position in the phone service to falsify a report to give added weight to the accusations. Mrs. Sinclair knew that Mrs. Fielding had been forced to resign, but it gave her no comfort. Mrs. Wicker ordered all participants to face away from the assembly. When they had, Mrs. Wicker went along and pinned each woman's and girl's skirt up so that a large row of panties were now on display. Then she went through the line again and pulled each pair of panties down to the ankles. When that was finished, fifteen bare bottoms were displayed to the entire auditorium.

The most amusing sights were the bottoms of Mrs. Sinclair, Mrs. Winthorp, and Mrs. Fielding. None of these women were past forty-two years of age, so their womanly curves were still quite enticing to the three men in the assembly hall. Mrs. Bloom whispered a stern warning into the ear of her husband which caused him to clear his throat and look away for a time. Mrs. Wicker pulled out a list from her pocket. Mrs. Sinclair had typed it up last night. On it were the names of all involved arranged in an alphabetical order. Mrs. Wicker felt a pang of sorrow for poor Mrs. Sinclair. Her name was fifth from the bottom, so that meant that she would have to stand with hands on head through four canings with her blistered bottom on display to the entire assembly. Mrs. Wicker began as Mrs. Sinclair had dictated. She lectured for twenty long minutes on the importance of honesty in both school and out in the "real world." She then read off the entire list of names and announced the sentences for each person. All throughout the speech and the calling out, the twelve prefects and the three older women had to stand still with their hands on their heads and display their naked and unpunished bottoms to the entire assembly.

Mrs. Wicker than began the punishments. Three prefects were called before Mrs. Wicker read off the name, Jessica Fielding. The three previous girls were still hopping from one foot to the next in a vain attempt to cool their chastised bare bottoms. Mrs. Wicker took the phrase, "applied without mercy," to heart. She had delivered vicious strokes to the bared bums of the prefects. Even with only twelve strokes, there were weals that had broken open and were bleeding slightly. Since the girls had to keep their hands on their heads, there was no opportunity to soothe their fiery backsides. That was, of course, the point of remaining in that position. All of them had been sternly warned by Mrs. Wicker that if their hands left the tops of their heads, they would be forced back into position and given their original sentence all over again.

Mrs. Fielding fared much worse than the prefects. The cane was applied with even more force. Mrs. Wicker actually stepped back after every strike so she could step into the next stroke and deliver much more force to the blow. It was obvious by this time to the assembly that classes for the entire day would be canceled because of both the large number being caned and because of the fifteen second wait between each stroke of the cane. It was certainly going to take most of the day to deliver all of the canings.

When Mrs. Wicker applied the fortieth and final stroke to Mrs. Fielding, she had the enormous satisfaction of seeing the bawling woman jump up and down for two minutes before she had calmed sufficiently to take her place in the line of shame. Mrs. Wicker noted with glee that the woman continued to bawl throughout three other canings, but never once did her hands leave the top of her head.

Finally, Mrs. Sinclair heard her name spoken. She took a quick glance at the line of shame. She saw many bruised and bleeding bottoms and felt a lump of fear. She knew that her own bottom would look like that in just a short time. She barely remembered her own canings when she attended grammar school. She was about to receive a sharp refresher in its effects. She walked over to the table with all of the dignity she could muster. It was hard to be dignified when you were showing off your lower anatomy to hundreds of onlookers. She bent over the table and suffered even more humiliation when she felt a cool breeze feather through her legs. She realized that her naked sex was visible to every assembled person. She attempted to squeeze her thighs together as tight as was possible. She suffered another wave of embarrassment as the felt her shoulders being pinned to the table by her very own secretary. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! Mrs. Sinclair let out a yelp at the first blow. She had ordered Mrs. Wicker to do her utmost, but she didn't expect it to be this painful. She felt a surge of agonizing torment during the fifteen second break. She could actually feel the skin puffing up and forming a hideous weal. She hoped she could take thirty strokes without becoming sick. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! Mrs. Wicker, though she would never admit it to another soul, was thoroughly enjoying this. She had often been given a dressing down by her superior, so this was an unexpected opportunity at revenge. Mrs. Sinclair had told her to lay it on, so she had given her exactly the same type of strokes that she had given Jessica Fielding. She doubted that Mrs. Sinclair would be sitting at her desk for a long time to come. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! Sarah Winthorp had flinched at every stroke of the cane thus far. She knew that, alphabetically, her name was last on the list. She hoped and prayed that Mrs. Wicker would be tired by then. This was even more humiliating than her one previous bare caning. At least back then she hadn't been a woman of status in the community. She had been forced to agree to this degradation. If she hadn't, her husband had told her, that he, himself, would cane her bare buttocks every evening for an entire month. Sarah Winthorp knew from experience that her husband wielded a wicked cane, so she chose this embarrassing alternative rather then being subjected to a stiff caning from her husband that would have left her scarred for all eternity. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! Patricia Bloom felt great compassion for Mrs. Sinclair. She hadn't wanted to punish the headmistress, but Mr. Bloom had blustered and insisted that every person involved would be subjected to the same humiliation that their daughter had endured. It was, in her opinion, a silly requirement and she had made the mistake of voicing her opinion. Her husband had shouted and yelled at the top of his lungs and caused a great scene in front of the household staff. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! Mrs. Sinclair bawled like a schoolgirl. The pain was really more than she could possibly bear. What was even worse was the fact that her husband would see the effects of this tonight and he would add no small amount of jokes about her situation. She would never live this down. If the entire school suddenly acquired collective amnesia of the incident, then she would still have to deal with the lifetime of humorous references to this incident by her husband. She realized that she deserved every one of her cane strikes, but that didn't prevent her from feeling hatred toward Sarah Winthorp. She hoped that Winthorp lost her position as a school governess because of this. She also hoped that the woman would carry around permanent scars from her upcoming encounter with the cane. Woosh. CRACK!!!!! The sting of the next strike slammed her painfully back into the reality of the situation. She screamed out and tried to pull away from her secretary. Unfortunately for Mrs. Sinclair, she had trained the woman all too well in the art of securely holding unwilling participants. Mrs. Sinclair wasn't going anywhere.

Woosh. CRACK!!!!!

When Mrs. Wicker had applied all thirty ruinous strikes to the unprotected bottom of the headmistress, Mrs. Sinclair surged upward and danced about for a few minutes, much to the amusement of the entire assembly. Mrs. Wicker finally ordered her to her place in the line of shame and Mrs. Sinclair had to stand there with hands on head throughout the final four punishments. Mrs. Sinclair's bottom smarted fiercely. She wanted so badly to soothe her blistered and bleeding arse, but she knew the penalty if her hands left her head. She was no exception to the rule, so she suffered in agony throughout the entire session. The only bright spot to the entire scene was when Mrs. Winthorp had unleashed a string of shocking curses in the middle of her caning. Mrs. Wicker conferred with Mr. Winthorp and announced in a loud voice, "For using scandalous language in a public forum, you, Sarah Winthorp, shall receive a penalty of twenty strokes to be applied without mercy and to the bare immediately following the completion of your original sentence." When Sarah Fielding was finally through with her punishment, penalties and all, she was allowed to take her place in the line of shame. She had a difficult time trying to remain upright. She most definitely kept her hands on her head throughout the next twenty minutes while Mrs. Wicker lectured about what was just witnessed.

Then Mrs. Wicker called Jennifer Bloom forward and publicly awarded her with reinstatement into the ranks of the prefects. Finally, all of the people were sent out of the hall.

When the last of them left the door, fifteen sets of hand immediately shot to flaming backsides in an attempt to soothe away the pain. Mrs. Wicker firmly told the assembled ladies to stop that nonsense and put on their panties. Agonized wails and screeches followed as panties were pulled over very sore and swollen bottoms. The prefects were dismissed and Mrs. Winthorp and Fielding were escorted out by their respective husbands. Mrs. Fielding gave a sympathetic look towards Mrs. Sinclair and exited herself.

Jayne Sinclair looked around the now silent hall. She was still sobbing a trifle from her experience and from the pain

caused when her panties were forced over her fiery bum. She limped over and saw various bloodstains about the punishment table and along the line where each chastised female had been forced to stand. She would have to inform the custodian about the mess. She didn't relish returning to her office now. She couldn't quite bring herself to walk down the halls of her school knowing that every girl she met would have a clear memory of her headmistresses naked backside being caned. She now fully remembered the humiliation of being caned all those years ago.

Mrs. Sinclair spied the dreaded cane lying across the table. She picked it up and swished it a couple of times. Such an innocuous sounding thing that could do devastating damage to an arse that was devoid of the protection of either skirt or panties. Even protected, the cane delivered a vicious strike. She turned to the sound of the assembly hall door being opened. Mrs. Bloom was walking towards her. Mrs. Sinclair quickly dabbed a handkerchief in an attempt to dry her puffy eyes.

"Mrs. Sinclair. I want to apologize for my husband's requirement that you be punished..." "Think nothing of it." "I wanted to let you know something that I've kept secret all these years. I leave it in your hands as to the consequences of my admission." "What about?" Mrs. Bloom took in a deep breath. "It's about all those years ago back in school when I was the cause of getting Sarah and Jessica caned. They really did have a right to be vengeful of the incident. I was the one that had caused the crime that led to their canings. Since I was a prefect, I didn't want to have my status stripped, so I falsified the evidence and reported them to the headmistress. In a way, I did exactly what they did when they caused poor Jennifer to be caned." Mrs. Sinclair's eyes widened. "What do you want me to do about this?" Mrs. Bloom looked meaningfully at the cane in Mrs. Sinclair's hand. "Oh, right. Well, missy, strip and take the position. Your sentence is twenty strokes to be applied without mercy and to the bare plus an additional twenty for remaining silent for so long."

Woosh. CRACK!!!!!