Military discipline

In an effort to cure me of my rebelliousness and my disregard for authority once and for all my parents have decided that they are going to enrol me in a military academy in the far north of Scotland and they tell me that I will be there until I learn to behave regardless of how long that takes. They take me up to the school themselves and I play along just like I have with every previous attempt they’ve made to reform me but I soon return to normal, mainly because I get bored with the easy life that being obedient brings for me. I am taken to the Commander of the school who is a former high ranking Army officer and I sense from the first few minutes of being in her presence that she has a steel fist and an iron will. I’m sure that both of these will be used to try and bring me onto the straight and narrow.

‘It appears from the record that has been placed in front of me that you have real problems with authority and discipline boy’ the Commander says sharply to me.

‘Yes you could probably say that’ I answer somewhat flippantly and although there is no visible reaction from the Commander I know that my flippancy and disrespectful tone has been noted and there is an even steelier edge to her next comment.

‘You will find that this establishment is run along the lines of the old military academies where cadets were prepared for military service including obedience to authority, self-discipline and imposed discipline. You will quickly learn to obey the rules and the rulers. Do you understand me boy’ the Commander demands.

‘Yes Ma’am’ I answer with more than a hint of impertinence in my voice.

‘I think that you will be impressed by the changes that we can make to the behaviour of even the most recalcitrant individual’ the Commander says to my parents as she is looking directly into my eyes as if telling me that this will be the last time that I answer a question in this fashion. This concludes the interview and my parents leave me in the office.

‘Well boy it is some time since we have had such a disobedient and disrespectful individual join the academy but breaking you down is something that all of my Cadet Sergeants and Officers will enjoy. By the time we have finished with you when you are told to jump your only response will be ‘how high?’ You had better get used to coping with physical pain because I can assure you that it will be a constant companion until you learn to obey the rules and the rulers. Do I make myself clear?’ the Commander barks in my face from a few inches away.

‘Yes Ma’am’ I answer again this time trying to be more respectful but I’m not sure if it works or not and the inscrutable look on the Commander’s face doesn’t help me at all. I am marched from the Commander’s office to a medical office where I am stripped completely and put through a rigorous physical examination that ended with my hair being shaved off completely. The upshot of this examination was that I needed to lose about a stone in weight and to achieve this I was drafted onto the rugby team which at least was a sport that I’d played a lot in my previous schools’.

‘Just as in the old military academies this academy is organised around sections of twenty cadets under the control of a Cadet Sergeant but as you may have noticed this is a mixed academy and all of the sections are mixed but sexual contact is strictly forbidden as is masturbation and either will result in severe penalties for you should you be tempted. You will be put in the unit under the control of Cadet Sergeant Cormack who will soon lick you into shape’ the Commander says before she summons the Cadet Sergeant.  I get a bit of a surprise when Cadet Sergeant Cormack arrives to collect me as it is a young lady and not the lad that I was expecting.

‘Surprised I see cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack says as she is leading me down a corridor to collect my kit.

‘Yes I’m sorry Cadet Sergeant I expected a male’ I answer.

‘You will find that this institution operates on the basis of ability and not gender however I will forgive you this indiscretion this once. I have been informed by the Commander of the Academy that you are a disrespectful, disobedient and rebellious individual. Should you show any of these traits with me rest assured that you will suffer long and hard for it. If necessary I can and will have you doing hours of drill work, hours of PT or indeed I can and will apply harsh corporal punishment if it is necessary to do so. I have a reputation within the Academy for having the best Section and I will not have a new cadet jeopardising this reputation. Do we understand each other cadet?’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack says having stopped and stood directly in front of me looking into my face with her penetrating eyes.

‘Yes Cadet Sergeant I understand’ I answer but still there is an underlying hint of sauce in my voice.

‘Your tone is unfortunate cadet. We will see if it remains the same once you have given me twenty press-ups’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack says, ‘well get on with it cadet, unless that is you want to become acquainted with my cane very soon’ she concludes. I drop to the floor and give her the twenty press-ups without difficulty.

‘Now cadet do you understand my requirements’.

‘Yes Cadet Sergeant I understand your requirements and will try to fulfil them to the best of my abilities at all times’ I answer.

‘That is better cadet. I will be keeping a very close eye and ear on you and do not forget it’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack says as we enter the Quartermaster’s room. I am given all of the kit that I will need for the military and academic side of the academy and am then taken along to my room which is shared with one other person and it is incredibly tidy.

‘You will note the cleanliness and tidiness of this room cadet. It is inspected daily by me and this inspection conforms to the strictest military standards. Your buddy in the room will be grateful now because she has been working twice as hard to keep the room to the required standard. Should the room, or an individual in the room, fail the inspection then you shall both be punished so it is in your best interests to co-operate fully with your buddy. Oh and remember the Commander’s instruction about sexual contact and masturbation’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack says and I realise just how challenging they are making this by mixing the rooms as well as the sections. Cadet Sergeant Cormack gave me a copy of the regulations book which extended to over 100 pages in length.

‘I will personally test you on the contents of these regulations in three days time and any mistakes will result in twenty press-ups or twenty squats so I would advise you to study it thoroughly’ Cadet Sergeant Cormack tells me and my heart sinks down into the boots that I have put on as part of my uniform.

I quickly settled into the routine of the Academy where the mornings are handed over to military and sporting activities and the afternoons to academic activities and then the evenings were completely under the control of your Cadet Sergeant. Whether it was because of the very close supervision that I was under or whether it was because I actually enjoyed the activities I wasn’t sure but I started to make very good progress both academically and behaviourally so much so that when Cadet Sergeant Cormack left to join the regular army after about 9 months of my attendance I was promoted into her position as Cadet Sergeant.

This promotion gave me a room to myself as well as greatly increased responsibility which I enjoyed and I was able to command my Section very effectively. The majority of the cadets in the Academy are people like Cadet Sergeant Cormack who are destined for careers in the armed forces but there are regular intakes of people like myself who are there for behaviour modification. In my case I have to say that it was having more of an effect than I ever thought it would and I’m now even considering a career in the army and have talked to one of the staff about this. After leading my section for a couple of months we get a new girl starting with us, Cadet Rebecca Fuller, and she is definitely destined for a career in the army and straight away I know that she is after my position as Cadet Sergeant and will do anything to get it. Cadet Fuller was extremely obedient and the perfect cadet, which made me very careful around her but unfortunately I wasn’t careful enough.

Although it is a ‘Category A’ offence to have a sexual relationship with a fellow cadet this doesn’t stop people from doing it and there are regular rumours within the Academy of who is sleeping with whom. Cadet Fuller hears rumours that I am sleeping with one of the girls in my section and she knows that if she can catch me in the act then I will be in serious trouble and she is likely to inherit the position of Cadet Sergeant which she covets so dearly. The rumour is true but it does concern the wrong girl as I’m seeing and sleeping with Cadet Victoria Walker and not Cadet Suzanne Jones and I think this throws Cadet Fuller of the scent for a while because she is keeping her eye on Suzanne and ignoring Victoria. Eventually it twigged with Cadet Fuller that she had the wrong girl and one evening she spotted Victoria heading for my room and followed her. She must have listened at the door and heard us kissing because just as we were getting down to some serious screwing the door burst open and standing with the Commander of the Academy was Cadet Fuller.

‘What is going on here Cadet Sergeant?’ the Commander barks at me. I knew that I was in deep trouble and saying anything was only going to make that worse so I remained silent. Without even having the opportunity to get dressed we are marched out of the room and across the parade ground to the Commander’s office where we are hauled in separately with Victoria first as the junior. I later found out that she has simply been charged with having a sexual relationship with a Cadet Sergeant in contravention of the regulations whereas I had large swathes of the regulations thrown at me. I was charged firstly with having a sexual relationship with a cadet in contravention of the regulations and then more seriously with the offence of taking advantage of my senior position with a junior cadet and finally with behaviour likely to bring the Academy into disrepute. All of my charges are ‘Category A’ offences and I will be lucky if I am not thrown out of the Academy for them and it is clear from the disparity in our offences that I am being held fully responsible for the offences which is understandable. We are both scheduled for a disciplinary tribunal at 9am the following morning and then we are marched back to our rooms.

As a pure formality at the tribunal we are given the opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty to the charges and we both plead guilty to all of the charges laid before us and the only thing which saved me from being kicked out was when Victoria indicated that she had instigated the relationship. Even this admission didn’t then drop my charge of having taken advantage of her as it was always going to be the assumption in this situation.

‘Cadet Walker you will receive six strokes of the cane. This shall be administered to your bare bottom in private at the conclusion of this hearing’ the Commander says sharply.

‘Cadet Sergeant Brown you will receive twelve strokes of the cane for each of your offences and these shall be administered to your bare bottom in front of your entire section at the conclusion of this hearing. You shall also be demoted back to the rank of Cadet and if you commit one more ‘Category A’ offence during your time at the Academy you are likely to be dishonourably discharged’ the Commander says even more sharply. Strangely the thought of the caning itself didn’t really worry me that much it was the fact that it was going to be carried out in front of my section and Cadet Fuller in particular which made me nervous as I can just imagine the sneering look which will be on her face.

After my sentence has been read out Victoria is led away into a back room with the Commander and the door is closed leaving me in the court room under the watchful gaze of two Officers. While it was certainly a private caning in terms of watching it, it wasn’t private in terms of sound because the crack of each stroke could be plainly heard in the court room as could Victoria’s shrill cry. Only the Commander comes back out of the room and she is holding an evil looking cane in her hands. The Officers who have been guarding me march me out of the court room a few minutes later and we are followed by the Commander. We make our way across to the drill room and as we enter I see all of my section standing to attention including a very tearful Victoria. I have to walk down the line between my section and instead of the sneering look on Cadet Fuller’s face I see a look of sadistic satisfaction at what she has brought about.

I am brought to a halt in front of a vaulting horse and am instructed to drop my trousers and underpants which I do without any hesitation knowing that if I don’t do it then it will be done for me and the thirty six strokes that I am going to receive would be increased. I am then bent over the horse by one of the Officers who then joined the other one securing my ankles and wrists to the horse rendering me completely helpless. I hear the Commander giving my section the full details of my offences and the punishment that I have been sentenced to.

‘Cadet Walker you will step forward’ I hear the Commander saying and I am wondering what is going to come next.

‘You will administer the first twelve strokes of this caning since you admitted that you were a willing participant in these offences. If you do not deliver each of these strokes with all of your strength then I will give them to Cadet Brown myself and you will also receive them at the conclusion of this punishment’ the Commander says and I feel really sorry for Victoria at what she is going to have to do. I hope that she is able to do it because I wouldn’t want her to be punished so publicly. I thought that I could hear a sob coming from Victoria as she heard what she was going to have to do and then I felt the cane being tapped against my bottom. As it tapped repeatedly it felt thicker than any cane I’d ever felt in my previous schools and I knew that Victoria was steeling herself mentally to deliver the first stroke. I wanted to take it quietly knowing that loud cries would make Victoria feel absolutely terrible.

Just like Victoria I was steeling myself for the start of the caning and when I heard the deep whirr of the cane descending I knew that it was about to begin. It landed across the centre of my bottom with a thwack and sounded more like a tackle on a rugby pitch than the canings I’d received at school. The pain was also much deeper than anything that I’d experienced before and I couldn’t help but let out a yelp despite my desire not to. There was no comment from the Commander to indicate whether the stroke had been hard enough to avoid the follow on punishment so Victoria tried to be even harder with the next one and because of this her aim deserted her. The stroke landed across the back of my thighs and this time it really did sting and my whole body stiffened as I absorbed the sting.

Just as I was relaxing my muscles the third stroke landed and thankfully this was back across my bottom. It was given with the same weight as the first stroke and I gave a grunt when it landed. This became the pattern for the next few minutes as Victoria worked through her strokes until all twelve had been delivered. Even though I knew that I was only a third of the way through my punishment and that the remainder would probably be worse because it would either be the Commander or one of the other officers that was delivering it I was relieved that this part was over. This relief was made even greater when I heard the next words from the Commander.

‘Cadet Walker you will return to your position in the audience to witness the remainder of the punishment and neither you nor Cadet Brown will feel additional punishment. I shall now administer the remainder of the punishment myself and let this be a warning to you all that offences such as these will meet with the harshest of sanctions’.

Although it was the same cane that the Commander used in her much more experienced hands it felt like a completely different implement as she managed to land each of her strokes with a very loud crack and they all had the thud that Victoria had managed but also a ferocious sting even when applied across the bottom. Just as I’d heard Victoria’s cry after each stroke during her caning so the whole audience heard my yell with each of these ones from the Commander and I did not dare think what state my bottom was in by the time she is even halfway through the caning as it felt so hot, hard and swollen. I had quickly lost count of the number of strokes that the Commander had given me so had no idea whether I was near the end of my ordeal or not all I knew was that I hadn’t ever felt pain like it in all my life and I would definitely not be having sex again while I was at the Academy regardless of who it was that was offering it to me.

‘That is the punishment completed Cadet Brown however you will remain tied to the bench while each member of the section steps forward individually to have a close look at the results of your disobedience so that they know what will await them should they be foolish enough to commit the same offences’ the Commander says sharply so at least the caning is over, although the pain is continuing to build in me, but the humiliation is far from over. For the next ten minutes I am subjected to a close viewing from all of the section and some of them even go so far as to touch my bottom with their hands which only enflames it even more. After each person has had a look they are dismissed back to their activities until eventually I was alone with the Commander and the two other officers that were with her. The officers were directed to untie me from the bench and they then helped me onto my feet. Even the act of standing was agony because all of the muscles re-adjusted their position.

‘Cadet Brown your corporal punishment is now complete however I would advise you to think very carefully about today’s events because you are unlikely to receive a further chance in the future. You have been doing so well in your time here that it would be a real shame to throw it all away now. Should you keep yourself out of trouble between now and the time you leave the Academy then there will be no mention of these events in your file’ the Commander says giving me the opportunity to redeem myself in my remaining time at the Academy which I do appreciate.

‘Thank you Ma’am’ I respond before being marched away to the medical office where my bottom is tended to and in the process of getting onto the bed I catch sight of it in a mirror. It is a mixture of long deep red welts and some small cuts where strokes have crossed over each other. There is also a very general swelling across the whole bottom and as soon as the nurse touched it I felt the hardness from the bruising. I was given a couple of hours to recover after my punishment before being sent back to my activities and because it was now the afternoon this meant academic classes and sitting in these was absolute agony for me as all of my section could see. Victoria was also very uncomfortable looking and I wanted to talk to her but knew that it would not be a sensible thing to do just yet. Instead what I did was to write her a note that thanked her for saying she had initiated the relationship and to tell her that I held no hard feelings towards her for the caning she had given me which I was sure she was worried about. I managed to slip this note to Victoria as we were on our way to the mess hall for dinner that evening and the following morning she mouthed ‘thank you’ to me as we were at breakfast.

There was absolutely no surprise for me, or the rest of the section, when Cadet Fuller was promoted to the position of Cadet Sergeant and while she lost little time in making me aware of the new status between us she didn’t focus all of her attention on me which surprised me as I expected that I would have been her toy to manipulate in the section. She didn’t even do this with Victoria either which would have made me even more angry. A good while after my punishment I did manage to fall foul of Cadet Sergeant Fuller however when she decided that my drill work was not up to scratch and instead of having me do extra drill she had me out each evening for a week doing punishment P/T and by the end of the week I was absolutely exhausted and she heard me swearing under my breath at her.

‘You will report to my room at 19:30 tomorrow evening’ was all Cadet Sergeant Fuller said in response to this and I knew that I had no option other than to obey so at exactly 19:30 the following evening I knocked on her door feeling a wave of anger at the fact that just over 8 months ago the roles could so easily have been reversed.

‘Enter’ was the very crisp response from Cadet Sergeant Fuller.

‘Cadet Brown reporting as ordered Cadet Sergeant Fuller’ I said having come to attention in the room. I saw Cadet Sergeant Fuller standing up from her desk and walking over to me purposefully. She walked slowly round me making me very nervous.

‘Should I choose to report your insubordination to the Commander then that will represent another ‘Category A’ offence and I don’t think you need me to explain what the likely consequences of this will be for you’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller said. I knew exactly what the consequences were likely to be but took heart from her use of the phrase ‘should I choose to report you’ as it appeared there might be an alternative and even though I sensed this would be a painful one for me it was one that I would definitely be taking in the circumstances.

‘Yes Cadet Sergeant I am very aware that such a report would be likely to lead to my dishonourable discharge’ I answer in the pause having sensed that Cadet Sergeant Fuller wanted a response from me. A look of surprise crosses her face so she obviously didn’t know about the threat and just expected that a further ‘Category A’ offence would lead to another severe caning.

‘Yes indeed Cadet Brown and I wouldn’t want to see you go through the ignominy of a dishonourable discharge from the Academy so I am prepared to offer you an alternative way of paying for your insubordination. I witnessed you receiving the caning from Victoria and the Commander for your previous offences and I strongly believe that these old fashioned methods are much more effective in cases such as this so the alternative I am offering you is corporal punishment here and now until I am satisfied that you have learnt your lesson and will show me due respect in the future’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says without a hint of surprise in her voice at the fact that it was a dishonourable discharge I am facing and not another caning.

‘Thank you Cadet Sergeant Fuller I will accept your alternative suggestion’ I say quickly just in case she decides to change her mind.

‘Before determining exactly what your punishment is going to be Cadet I am going to carry out a full inspection of your uniform’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller said with glee in her voice. Her glee was matched by my horror as I knew that there are a few breaches of the regulations in my uniform and this one on one inspection would discover them very quickly. Picking up a pad of paper and a pencil Cadet Sergeant Fuller carries out a detailed inspection of my uniform while I remain standing at attention and watching her regularly note items down on the paper.

‘You will now remove your trousers and jacket Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says and I drop both items to the floor making no move to pick them up afterwards.

‘Pick them up and fold them on my bed as per the regulations Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller barks at me and I hasten to obey with a red blush on my cheeks at the tone of command that she has used. One of the major uniform breaches has just become obvious to Cadet Sergeant Fuller with the removal of my trousers as today was a day that I’d chosen to forgo the regulation underwear in favour of a more comfortable pair of boxer shorts. I could hear the tutting coming from Cadet Sergeant Fuller as I was folding my trousers and jacket. She took out her ruler and measured the folds precisely and discovered that the trousers were 5mm out so she picked them up and tossed them across the room. My luck didn’t get any better because as they were flying through the air the cigarettes and lighter than I was holding for Victoria fell out of the pocket and I wasn’t going to drop her in it so would have to take responsibility for them.

‘Are these yours Cadet?’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller demanded.

‘Yes Cadet Sergeant Fuller they are mine’ I answer.

‘Smoking is a disgusting habit and another regulatory breach. You are really wracking them up Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says, ‘you will now remove all of your other clothing with the exception of your non-regulation boxer shorts’ she concludes. As I remove my t-shirt she can clearly see the recently completed tattoo on my right shoulder which is the Lion Rampant and I am well aware that this sort of body adornment is also against the regulations. As I was standing there in my boxer shorts being critically appraised by Cadet Sergeant Fuller a mixture of humiliation and sexual arousal flowed through me because she is a really pretty young lady. I hoped that Cadet Sergeant Fuller hadn’t noticed the growing bulge in my boxer shorts but the look on her face told me that she had although she chose not to comment on it.

‘Cadet Brown in addition to your insubordination we now have a number of other issues to deal with. You have committed ten breaches of the uniform regulations and there is also the smoking issue to be dealt with and not forgetting the tattoo as well. Oh and you are also going to be punished for being so perverted as to get erect at the thought of being punished by me’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says but there isn’t real anger in her last statement which is good. I watched Cadet Sergeant Fuller walking to the locker in the room and from it she pulled out a wooden paddle that looked very thick, a tawse that also looked very thick and finally a cane. She placed each of these implements on the bed where I could see them clearly and moved her chair into the centre of the floor.

‘For the uniform infractions you are going to receive a hand spanking and then for the smoking you are going to receive twenty swats of the paddle since I note that it is a full packet. For the tattoo you are going to receive a round two dozen with the tawse since it is a Scottish flag and therefore the tawse is the most appropriate implement. For the insubordination you are going to receive eighteen strokes of the cane and finally for getting an erection at the thought of being punished by me you are going to receive a further eighteen strokes of the cane. Naturally all of these punishments will be administered to your bare bottom so you will now remove the boxer shorts and place yourself over my knee’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller explains and orders. As I position myself over her knee I feel her moving her legs slightly apart and my cock drops down the gap between her legs as she is dressed in her fatigues not the dress skirt. I get the impression that despite her confident tone this is actually the very first time that she has applied corporal punishment and her first smacks seem to confirm this as they are very soft and make no impression whatsoever.

Cadet Sergeant Fuller realises this herself and she starts to increase the weight of her smacks accordingly and as she sees the pinkness developing on my bottom, and I know it is from the heat that I’m feeling, her confidence grows higher and the punishment becomes even harder. Flurries of smacks are now landing and it appears that my thighs are fair game because there are quite a lot of blows directed to them and seeing that these get a much greater reaction gives Cadet Sergeant Fuller a wicked idea, or at least I thought it was wicked when she put it into practice.

‘Cadet Brown you will stand up and will place a leg on either side of the seat’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller ordered and as I did it I wondered what she was up to although in itself it is an uncomfortable position. Her idea becomes clear when for the next couple of minutes she uses the unimpeded access to my inner thighs that this position gives her to smack them hard. After half a dozen to the same spot my leg flinches and this brings a little chuckle from Cadet Sergeant Fuller as she realises just how much she is hurting me.

‘It is time to move on to the more serious offences Cadet Brown. You will step back from this chair before bending over and placing your elbows and hands on the seat with your legs together and straight. Should you move from this position before I order you to do so I will give you two extra strokes for each occasion, do you understand me Cadet?’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says picking up the paddle.

‘Yes Cadet Sergeant Fuller I understand’ I answer with a respectful tone in my voice. I take up the position and realise just how vulnerable it makes my bottom feel because it is the highest and most prominent part of my body. The first blow lands evenly across both cheeks and perfectly square so that it has an awesome splat. This splat is a perfect aural accompaniment for the pain of the blow and even though I don’t make a sound Cadet Sergeant Fuller can see that it has had an effect on me. She moves down my bottom to the very tops of my thighs and then returns over the already punished areas which is absolute agony and sees her putting in even more effort into the strokes.

‘Well done Cadet you took that far better than I thought you would. I hope that it shows how seriously I view the offence of smoking. I will be making spot checks on you to ensure that you are not carrying any cigarettes and if I find that you are then this paddle is what you will feel’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says as she puts the paddle down on the bed and picks up the tawse. Before using this though she rubs her hands over my bottom and I can feel the bruising but it is a nice feeling but I knew that it couldn’t last forever and sure enough I felt Cadet Sergeant Fuller resting the tawse on my bottom. These aren’t as accurate or as hard as the paddle but they do still make an impression on me and Cadet Sergeant Fuller can see that it is her inexperience that is making them easier.

‘I see that I’m going to have to practice with this tawse if it is to be effective in the future’ she muses during the tawsing and I know that I’m going to have to be very careful otherwise this practice will be on me. At last she finishes with the tawse and again she rubs my bottom with her hands soothing away some of the sting that is there.

‘Just the cane left Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says as she is picking it up and tapping it against my bottom. I hear it being swished through the air behind me and it is a high-pitched swish that makes me very nervous.

‘I suggest that you count these strokes Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says and again this is a clever trick on her part because it means that I have to remain concentrated on them which then means that I can’t drift away and let the pain wash over me instead I have to feel it fully. If she needed practice with the tawse the same certainly couldn’t be said about the cane because the first stroke is like a band of fire landing on my bottom and I give a yelp with it before getting my count out. Each subsequent stroke adds more fire and although I know that I shouldn’t be feeling it I start to admire the skill that Cadet Sergeant Fuller is showing and if it wasn’t for the fact that Victoria and I are secretly seeing each other again although definitely not having sex while we are in the Academy I would quite fancy Rebecca. I get the impression that Cadet Sergeant Fuller is also beginning to admire the fortitude that I am showing under her cane.

‘You will stand to attention Cadet’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller orders at the conclusion of the caning and the movements involved in getting myself into this position are painful as my bottom repositions itself.

‘I hope that you have learnt your lesson Cadet because if you have not then I will have no hesitation in repeating this punishment and a repeat visit will entail an increased punishment’ Cadet Sergeant Fuller says and from the look on her face I just know that before I leave the Academy in six months time I will be back for another punishment.

Foot worship

Catriona has been my flatmate for a couple of months and from the moment she had moved in we have gotten on really well so she has decided to stay on as opposed to looking for somewhere of her own as had been her original intention. Catriona is a year or so younger than me and she works for a bank but she also has a second income from being a part-time fitness instructor. One Friday evening after we’ve shared a couple of bottles of wine with the dinner I’d prepared for us our conversation becomes a bit more intimate than normal and Catriona asks me if there is anything that I’d particularly like to do with her. There are lots of things I would like to do with Catriona but I decide to tell her one of the less obvious things to see what her reaction is.

‘I’d really love to worship and lick your feet clean when you get home from teaching one of your fitness classes’ I say and a flicker of a smile crosses Catriona’s delicate, elfin like features but that is the only reaction before she moves the conversation onto another subject. It was the following Monday when Catriona was next taking a class and as normal I am at home when she gets back but unusually Catriona is still dressed in her workout gear displaying a perfectly toned midriff and legs that are absolute perfection in my eyes.

‘Now is your chance to worship and lick my feet clean Ken and just for you I haven’t bothered to shower or change before driving home so my feet will still be lovely and damp. If you are a good boy this time then there will be plenty more chances for you to show your dedication to me’ Catriona says as she is sitting down regally in the sofa.

I went over and knelt down in front of Catriona looking up the length of her body into her eyes which have an expectant look in them. Picking up her right foot I sit it in my lap and untie the laces of her trainer before loosening them so that I could gently ease the foot from this prison. I could feel the dampness on her ankle sock and I draw my finger along the sole of the sock while breathing in the fresh scent of Catriona’s sweat. My hands work from the toe and heel to slowly remove the sock and as the skin is revealed to me I caress it with the tip of my tongue tasting the delicate and slightly salty sweat. I planted a deeper kiss on the arch of Catriona’s foot and glanced up at her to see what reaction I was getting from her. Catriona has a grin on her face but her eyes are closed so as my tongue meandered around the sole of her foot I gave the top of her foot a massage with my fingers. I move my fingers round onto her sole while my tongue moves up to her toes with their perfectly painted nails.

I kiss each of the toes individually before concentrating on the big toe. I gently separate it from the others with my fingers before sucking it deep into my mouth where I was able to kiss, nibble and lick my way around the gorgeous digit. Catriona’s breathing was becoming shallower and I looked up to find her playing with her nipples which are pressed tightly against the tight fabric of her crop top. Catriona’s eyes have remained tightly closed as she is playing with herself so I kept up my attention to her big toe for another minute or two but my hands have shifted to massaging her calf. I moved down the line of toes finishing off with the tiny little toe and then I gently placed the right foot back on the floor picking up the left foot in its place.

I was concentrating all of my attention on Catriona’s left foot and hadn’t noticed that she had moved one of her hands down from her nipples to play with her pussy under the tight cycling shorts she was wearing. Catriona’s other hand was pulling at her top trying to get it off of her breasts so that she could have free access to them. At the moment when I sucked the big toe of Catriona’s left foot into my mouth her body stiffened up and she cried out in her climax but I didn’t stop working on her foot. I did watch the damp patch spreading across the crotch of her shorts and when I had finished on her little toe I planted a kiss directly on top of this stain in the shorts. Catriona shivered with this contact and she planted her left foot in my chest to push me away which disappointed me a little bit but we’d never talked about this so perhaps I was being a little bold.

Catriona stood up and pulled her shorts and thong off followed very quickly by her top. With her left foot Catriona pushed me onto my back on the floor and I watched with delight as she stood over me before lowering her pussy down towards my face. It was a wonderful feeling being enclosed within this warm wetness and I started to worship this with my tongue. When Catriona felt that I wasn’t being active enough she started to grind her pussy around my face coating me in her sweet juices. A combination of my tongue and Catriona’s grinding produced a string of climaxes for her and I thought that I’d died and gone to heaven such was my delight at serving in this way. We ended up in Catriona’s bed that night and I got to experience many of the other things that I could have mentioned to Catriona when she first asked the question last week.

‘Your worshipping skills will see plenty of use from now on’ Catriona says early the following morning when we are both lying in bed waiting to get up and shower before going to work. These worshipping skills moved on from working on her bare feet to also working on her shoes and boots as she is getting ready to go out for the evening. One Saturday night Catriona is going out clubbing with her best mate, Samantha, while I’m going out to a gig with a group of my mates. As Catriona was doing her make-up for the night I was kneeling at her feet polishing the boots with my tongue and I could see that Catriona was getting very horny but Samantha arrived before we both changed our plans for the night. There was a strange look on Samantha’s face but I dismissed it from my mind when I went out.

I was back from the gig first although it was still well after 1am because we had gone on to one of the late licence pubs afterwards. I’d put the television on when I got home but had promptly fallen asleep on the sofa. I was only brought back to reality when I felt someone sitting down on my chest and placing a pair of boots up beside my head. I look up and see that it is Samantha that has sat on my chest and a minute later Catriona walks into the lounge holding a bottle of wine.

‘So is this the little subbie who enjoys bootlicking?’ Samantha asks.

‘Yes it is’ Catriona answers definitely.

‘Well I would like a demonstration’ Samantha says before climbing off of my chest and pushing me down onto the floor.

‘Ken you will give Samantha a demonstration of your skills before coming over and cleaning my boots’ Catriona says. Samantha allows me to lick all the way up and down her boots before she pushes the soles that are grimy from the club into my face. Something about Samantha’s look makes me take the hint and clean the soles before I go over to Catriona who starts by having me lick the soles of her boots. I work up her boots and with a tap on her inner thigh Catriona indicates to me that she wants me to carry on up her legs which I am more than happy to do.

‘Have you trained your toy to lick arse as well as foot?’ Samantha asks Catriona while I am working on her inner thighs.

‘Yes he has given me wonderful anal worship as well as pussy worship’ Catriona answers and it is true that since that first time I have extended my worship to her anus as well with quite spectacular results in terms of climax for Catriona.

‘Have you introduced him to the whip yet Catriona?’ Samantha then asks.

‘No I haven’t and I’m not sure that I will but thanks for the suggestion Samantha. I am going to mould Ken exactly to my desires because he is all mine and will be for a long time to come if not forever’ Catriona answers filling my heart with delight at the prospect.

Samantha is staying with us that night and she ends up getting my room because Catriona takes me into her bedroom and we are both very aroused. When Samantha has left after a late Sunday lunch Catriona hands me a contract and when I sign it she places a collar around my neck indicating that she is now my Mistress and Owner.

Falling for the compliment

Within the company I am working for the Managing Director is widely feared because of the absolute authority that she has over everything and everyone in the company. Miss Lambert is a total tyrant exerting her very strong will at all times to ensure that she always gets her way and even though she does give staff autonomy they always act in the manner that Miss Lambert would want for fear of receiving one of her absolutely legendary Friday afternoon dressing downs. These dressing downs were regularly discussed in the pubs on a Friday evening and there was always a lot of resentment and comment aimed in Miss Lambert’s direction but no-one was actually brave enough to say anything to her face-to-face.

I have always been quite a forthright character but even I decided that it wasn’t worth taking on Miss Lambert directly but during the course of an investigation into the corporate computer systems as part of my information management brief I became aware of a loophole in the security and I used this one weekend to put up a very rude message about Miss Lambert on our corporate Intranet which sat there until the Monday morning when news of it spread like wildfire throughout the company and seemingly almost everyone had a chance to see it before the IT department removed it. Being close friends with some of the staff in the IT department I knew that they had traced the message back to an anonymous email address but that was as far as they got. This was great because it meant that the security loophole hadn’t been discovered.

Having gotten away with it this once and seeing the buzz that it had created within the company I decided that I would try something again in a couple of weeks time just when things had calmed down and IT would have been less vigilant about things. I went even further the second time and changed Miss Lambert’s personal profile on the Intranet to give it a much greater degree of accuracy according to the many staff that saw it on the Monday morning. It was just about the only topic of conversation that morning and many print copies of the profile were circulating within the company much to my amusement. I could only imagine the grief that the head of the IT department was getting from Miss Lambert because again they couldn’t trace who was behind the message although this time they did discover the route into the system and closed it off.

“As you will all be aware some very uncomplimentary statements have appeared about me on the Intranet in recent weeks. These are directly libellous and I am seeking appropriate legal advice on them. It is clear that the person responsible for these messages works for the company and they can be sure that when they are caught, and they will be caught, they will be dismissed. I will give that person one week to identify themselves to me and if they do this then they may be allowed to keep their job.

For those of you who have printed copies of these statements be advised that this is an inappropriate use of company resources and as per each of your contracts this is a disciplinary offence.”

This was the email that came round from Miss Lambert that afternoon and there were very long queues by all of the shredders after reading it getting rid of any print copies of the statements. Miss Lambert was due to visit our department for one of her regular meet and greet sessions the following morning and as my bad luck had it my boss was away at a conference so it had fallen to me to take Miss Lambert around the department. I tried to act completely normally around her and thought I had been relatively successful in this even though I had found it very difficult. Obviously I hadn’t been as successful as I thought because very shortly after Miss Lambert left the department I received an email from her.

“You will report to my office at 6.30pm this evening.” Was all that it said and instinct told me that the game was up.

As I made my way up to Miss Lambert’s office I was very nervous about what fate awaited me. Miss Lambert’s PA had already left for the evening and the office door was open so I knocked on it and was called straight in.

‘What you did was both very clever and very amusing Kenneth’.

I was taken aback by this and fell for the compliment hook, line and sinker.

‘Thank you’ I responded and as I was half way through saying it I realised that I’d fully admitted my guilt and therefore dropped myself in the mire right up to my neck. Realising that there was no way of backing out of it now I simply asked.

‘How did you know? What are you going to do about it?’

‘Well it was relatively easy because the style of writing in both of the pieces was very distinctive and also had a familiarity to it so I went back through the papers that I have recently received and found a perfect match in the report that you wrote for me on the future of the Information Service. Your patent unease around me this morning simply confirmed that you had been the author of both pieces. As to what I am going to do about it well I could very easily dismiss you for either of the pieces but there would be no fun for me in that option and having reread your report on the Information Service and looking in detail at your personnel file I think that your skills could be very useful to me in a number of different ways. It is particularly interesting that you managed to cover your tracks from the IT department twice. I am therefore prepared to offer you an alternative to dismissal’.

As Miss Lambert was saying this last sentence she was laying a cane and a whip on her desk. I couldn’t help but look at these and then I looked up at Miss Lambert and saw an absolutely wicked smile on her pretty face.

‘Your choice Kenneth is either dismissal or you can accept whatever punishment I decide to give you now for these two offences and then you will be transferred out of your current job to work directly for me on whatever projects I choose to have you working on. The choice is entirely yours’.

‘So if I choose to work for you directly then no doubt you will punish me as and when the mood takes you will you not?’

‘Naturally  but further than that you will be bound to me as a partner both professionally and personally and if you ever displease or disobey me in either side then you will be ruthlessly punished and indeed you may also be punished purely and simply because I feel like doing it. However there will be ample opportunity to submit to me mentally and physically which should suit you from what I’ve heard from the girls that you have gone out with throughout your life. Again the choice is entirely yours to take’.

‘I will take the opportunity to come and work for you directly and to accept whatever punishment you deem necessary’ I say because in reality there was no decision to be taken.

‘There’s a good boy. Strip completely’ Miss Lambert said and I could feel her eyes roving all over my body as I did as I was told. When I was naked I didn’t see any point in trying to hide anything from Miss Lambert so I just stood facing her with my arms by my sides awaiting her next order or action. It was an action as Miss Lambert walked over to me and from very close quarters she looked me up and down before saying.

‘Well that is an acceptable acquisition I have made’ treating me almost like a business purchase which gave me a very strange feeling.

‘Have you been punished in recent times Kenneth?’

‘Not since I left school Miss Lambert’ I answer.

‘Well I would say that it is very overdue in that case. You will turn away from me and put your hands behind your head keeping them in this position until I tell you that you can move them’,

I do as I am told and feel the tails of the whip trailing over my back and shoulders almost tickling me in the process. This tickling sensation does not last long at all because the next thing I know the whip is connecting with my back with a fair bit of force behind it. I shake my back to try and remove the stinging sensation but this doesn’t help one bit’.

‘Keep still Kenneth’ was Miss Lambert’s immediate response.

To give me something to focus on other than the discomfort and eventually pain that I was feeling I started to keep count of the lashes on my back and I kept this up until I reached fifty and then I gave up on this because it was getting even more disconcerting to think whether Miss Lambert was ever going to stop.

‘That Kenneth was for the first of the pieces now I will deal with the second and more serious pieces. You will bend yourself over the conference table for a caning. As with the whipping you will stay still in this position until I instruct you otherwise’.

As soon as I was bent over the table the first stroke of the cane arrived and it imparted a fiery sting that took me by surprise. I dashed a hand back to rub the line and was caught across the knuckles by the second stroke.

‘I warned you to stay still Kenneth. If you don’t do it then I shall be forced to tie you down and carry on the punishment for longer’.

Seemingly with complete abandon Miss Lambert lashed away at my bottom with the cane but in fact she was in total control of herself and I knew then that I would be feeling lots of this and I realised that this thought actually appealed to me.

‘I am really going to enjoy having you as my enforcer within this company Kenneth and I am sure that I will enjoy having your personal betrothal even more’.

Strict moral laws: release from the reformatory

Changing back into my suit came as a real shock and relief to the system and even just this changed my mind set back to one of being in the free world but I wouldn’t forget what I’d gone through very easily. Both Inspector Johnson and Constable McLean were waiting for me in the Headmistress’ office and I was signed back over into their custody. They take me back to the interview room in the police station where this had all began seemingly a life time ago.

‘The reports from the Reformatory seem to indicate that you are a reformed character. Are you therefore prepared to accept your guilt for the offences and apologise for your actions’ Inspector Johnson says.

‘Yes I now fully accept that my behaviour in all of the offences was wrong and not what society would expect. Yes I am sorry for all of the offences and I can promise that they will not happen again’ I answer.

‘In that case Mr Jones you are free to go’ Inspector Johnson concludes the interview but before I was completely released Inspector Johnson takes me to her office while Constable McLean disappears out of the police station.

‘The Department of Correction has accepted my report that there is a significant problem with the security on all of the computer systems throughout the department. I have been authorised to offer you a commission to undertake a full security audit of all systems throughout the Department and to make recommendations for the improvement of security within all of these systems. This project will be fully resourced and will be worth £250,000 for you in the initial year. It will be ready to start in one month but before that I believe that Constable McLean wishes to speak with you personally and privately. You will find Constable McLean waiting by her car at the rear of the police station’ Inspector Johnson says before leading me to the back door where I can see Constable McLean standing by her car looking both nervous and impatient in equal measure. Constable McLean drives me to my house and as soon as we are inside the front door and away from prying eyes she kisses me fully on the lips.

‘I missed you terribly when you were in the Reformatory and I want you to propose to me as soon as you possibly can’ Marie says after breaking off the kiss. I was shocked by the suddenness and directness of the approach but quickly regained my composure.

‘Thank you. I really missed you as well and yes I will propose to you very shortly’ I answer whereupon I am engulfed in Marie’s arms and she gives me another big kiss that overwhelms me with its passion. When she broke off I looked into her eyes and see a look of relief in them but also a look of intensity which finds its way into my soul with an almost frightening passion.

‘Where has this change in personality and urgency come from?’ I ask as I hold her gaze while cuddling her into me.

‘As soon as you went into the Reformatory I realised that I missed being round you for at least an hour a day. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the dinner we had shared that night and just how right it had felt. I talked to colleagues and they all thought it would do me the world of good to have someone waiting for me at the end of every working day so I started to do some digging into your background and even spoke to a lot of your friends. All of your friends were a bit cagey but they did tell me enough to know that you are the sort of person that would make me whole and then all of the other information that I found out confirmed that fact. I almost wished that I could get you out of the Reformatory there and then but it wasn’t possible and actually it is probably best that it didn’t happen’ Marie explained before resting her head on my chest.

‘At one point Inspector Johnson said to me that any woman that had a relationship with me needed to see a psychiatrist’ I said giving her a kiss on the top of her head and running my hand up over her back to the back of her neck. Marie used my hand at her neck as a cushion as she looked up at me because now that she was in flatter shoes there was a few inches difference in our height.

‘I talked to Alexandra about the dinner that we’d shared after I’d done some of my own digging and you were in the Reformatory. I had to do this as she is almost as much a mentor as a superior to me and because the feelings that I had for you were so strong that even if it had been the case that by having a relationship with you, as a convicted offender, that I would have had to leave the police then I was very close to taking that decision. I sensed that you had similar feelings for me which was why I would have been confident taking that step’ Marie said before pausing for breath.

‘My feelings for you are very strong and I thought about you a lot when I was in the Reformatory and it helped me to get through the toughest times’ I said in that pause for breath.

‘Alexandra did think that I was mad to begin with but she did listen to everything that I said and read the other information that I gave her about you. She was already investigating your background anyway because of the possibility of you doing the computer security audit for the Department of Correction and although she didn’t ask I knew that she would broaden out her investigation to make sure that I wasn’t going to be bitten by any information on you. I knew that Alexandra had deep contacts within the police and security services throughout the UK but I didn’t realise quite how far they extended but some of the information that she gave me about you was incredible and it just backed up my own opinions’ Marie said before pausing and giving me a kiss on the lips which I reciprocated.

‘To be fair to Alexandra as she received more of this external information on you she realised that she had misjudged your character and she told me that there would be no problem career wise in having a legal relationship with me. Alexandra had noticed the corrupted file of the investigating officer’s report into the accident involving Sarah during the course of her checks and she sensed that something was wrong with this because this was the only corrupted file in the whole system. At the time of the accident Alexandra had been a colleague of the investigating officer and knew that the original notebooks would be held in deep storage in the Department Archive which is in our station. It took Alexandra a couple of weeks to get hold of the notebooks and when she did she immediately spotted what had happened and was shocked and horrified at the actions of the individuals concerned in corrupting both a police officer and a judge as the original investigating officer has recorded the corruption and extortion in full in her notebook. Alexandra has taken it upon herself to ensure that the injustice is corrected and within the next week charges will be laid against the Head of the Department of Correction and her son and your own record will be annotated to indicate the mitigating factors that this gives to your offences. By the time this happens we will be married and on our honeymoon to keep you out of the immediate spotlight but you will be back in time for the trial because I’m sure that you will be a witness and if not you will certainly be interested in it’ Marie says with a smile on her face before giving me another very passionate kiss that I matched and carried on.

I led Marie through to the safe in the gym when we broke off and took all of the jewellery from the safe and placed it all down on the nearest flat surface which happened to be an exercise bench. I took the necklace that I’d originally shown Marie to make her uncomfortable and this time as opposed to holding it up against her face I clipped it around her neck. The gold stood out beautifully against her light golden skin and the emerald pendant did match her eyes wonderfully but what was really nice was that it hung down at just the perfect height to be both demure and sexy at the same time depending partly on who was looking at it. There was one other piece that I was going to put on Marie immediately and this was the engagement ring that had been meant for Sarah but which had never been worn as the accident had happened before I’d selected this ring and our original engagement ring was much more reasonably priced than this one would have been had I bought it. It was an eighteen carat gold ring topped off with cluster of diamonds in the shape of a heart with an emerald perched in the middle. I had selected it with Sarah in mind and so I wasn’t sure whether it would fit Marie or not. I picked up the ring box but didn’t open it before handing it over to Marie.

‘Will you marry me?’ I ask as I am handing the ring box over because it is still expected that the man will pop the question even though I know what the answer is going to be. As Marie opens the box she sees the ring and a broad grin comes to her face.

‘Yes I will marry you?’ she answers before giving me another kiss. I take the ring from its box and notice the light glistening off all of the stones but the emerald looks particularly vibrant as it is bathed in lots of reflected light from the diamonds. I slipped the ring onto Marie’s finger and was delighted to find that it really suited the shape of her fingers and that it fitted her perfectly. I gave Marie all of the jewellery and she picked up the boxes to look at them but decided not to put any of it on for the moment and I was quite glad of that because I thought she looked perfect as she was. I led Marie up to my bedroom which had a full length mirror in one of the wardrobe doors. Marie stood in front of the mirror admiring the engagement ring and also the necklace. I was standing behind her with my arms around her waist and my head by her right shoulder. Marie was grinning from ear to ear as she saw how good the jewellery looked on her and she couldn’t stop playing with the ring in particular. I turned my head towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek which prompted her to turn to me so that we could kiss properly.

‘I was so hopeful that you would accept my invitation to propose to me that I have gone ahead and booked the North Church for 3pm this Friday afternoon and then our honeymoon will begin with a week in the Savoy in London and then a second week in an equally luxurious hotel on the shores of Windermere in the Lake District because I know you love both the city and countryside as do I. I hope that this is okay with you Kenneth?’ Marie asks.

‘Thank you for doing all that organising for me Marie it is all fine with me. Yes I love the city and the countryside equally and if the weather is nice in the Lake District then I know a few perfect spots for romantic picnics but it does involve walking up hills to get to them’.

‘Walking in the hills is definitely not a problem for me’ Marie says with a smile ‘and I am going to get the passport function added to my identity card very soon so that you can take me on some of your international trips including hopefully over to see your parents so that I can meet them at least once’ Marie adds.

‘It would be lovely to have your company on my international trips when you are available and also to go on holidays abroad. I will email my parents to tell them that I am getting married this Friday and will explain that it has all happened very quickly which is why they are only hearing about it now. I will invite them but know they will not make it so I will tell them that I will come over to Canada sometime this year and introduce them to you. Do you have any preferences of outfits for me for the wedding? I ask Marie as I am opening my wardrobe to show her my full highland dress outfit which brings a broad grin to her face.

‘Would it be okay for me to wear this outfit?’ I ask.

‘Most definitely Ken and in fact I’d love to see you in it now’ Marie answers. I took the outfit from the wardrobe and tried to remember the last time I had actually worn it. I think it was about five years ago when I’d been invited to attend the Christmas party of one of the companies that I’d done a lot of work for in England. The outfit had originally been a present for my 18th birthday from my parents and I know that I look really good in it. As I tried it on I realised just how much good the diet and exercise regime of the Reformatory had done me because the kilt fitted me as well as it had done when I had gotten it. I was impressed and would not try to keep this figure.

‘Wow Ken you look incredible. You’ll make a real impression on my family when they see you dressed this way because I have talked to them about you but haven’t mentioned the fact that we will be getting married so quickly. They think that we’ve known each other for a while and have been dating so when I do tell them about the wedding they will not realise just how quickly it is happening. It will be more difficult telling your closest friends though because they will be deeply suspicious of me because of my job and the role I have played in what has happened to you. They will also be wary of the fact that it is happening so quickly but I do want them to know and to meet them so could you hold a dinner party later in the week when we can announce the wedding and issue invitations to it. It will also give them the opportunity to see that this really is what you want and not something that is being driven by me’ Marie says very honestly.

Most of my closest friends knew that today was my release date from the Reformatory and there were lots of calls to my landline and also to my mobile most of which I answered and explained that I was fine but very glad that it was over. They all asked me if I was going to go out tonight to celebrate my freedom but I told them that I would need a day or two to adjust to the situation so will be in touch when I’m ready to go out. I was going to do the dinner party and it would be most of the people who had phoned that would be the guests but I thought it was easiest to send round an email to everyone with the date and time. I knew that I could invite lots of people because my dining room can hold lots of people and about half of them probably wouldn’t be able to turn up anyway. Actually the attendance was a lot higher at the party than I thought it would be so I hired an outside catering company to do the food. When people arrived for the dinner some of them recognised Marie from her talking to them about me and some recognised her from that night at the club while a few others seemed to recognise her as a police officer. This meant that there was a bit of an edge to the atmosphere as Marie had predicted there would be. As everyone was milling around in the sitting room with an aperitif Marie and I moved to the front of the room.

‘Thank you all for coming to this dinner party at such short notice. Many of you will be familiar with Marie McLean either personally or through her employment as a Police Officer in Perth. Some of you will know the central role that Marie played in the offences that I have recently been found guilty of and received punishment for. You will therefore no doubt be curious as to why Marie is a guest at this dinner party. Well during the course of the past two months Marie and I have been spending a lot of time together and we have become very close to each other. Marie and I would like to take this opportunity to announce our engagement and to invite you all to the wedding which will take place at 3pm this Friday in the North Church’ I said having planned it carefully with Marie this afternoon. Marie was standing beside me with her arm linked through mine by the time I finished the little speech and the way her fingers were sitting the light was glistening of the engagement ring beautifully. There was a stunned silence in the room as everyone came to terms with what they had just heard. It was a couple of minutes before the silence was broken by Julie offering her congratulations to us which drew a few nods from others.

‘A few of your female friends want to talk to you individually’ Marie says although I could see it myself as well, ‘they no doubt want to see that it really is what you want’ she finishes before giving me a peck on the cheek. It was Julie who came over first and Marie melted away into the background as she approached.

‘Is this really what you want Ken? I know that we have just past the anniversary of Sarah’s death and this is always a difficult time for you so are you just doing this as a way of blocking out the bad memories of Sarah and the offences that you’ve been punished for?’ Julie asked and she was probably voicing what many of the others were thinking.

‘Yes Julie this really is what I want. When I saw Marie in the club that night I saw a stunningly attractive and sexy young woman and even after I found out that she was a Police Officer this view didn’t change. Marie supervised my daily hour of freedom when I was under house arrest and during that time we got to know each other and realised that we both made the other person feel complete. I know that it is just past the anniversary of Sarah’s death but this has not clouded my judgement on this because it was after talking to Marie about Sarah that I was ready to move on with the rest of my life. Also when I was in the Reformatory I had a lot of time to think about things and my thoughts were more with Marie and our future than dwelling on the past so I know that I am taking the right decision for the right reasons and I really would like you all to attend the wedding if you can’ I said.

‘Yes just why is the wedding taking place so hastily?’ Julie asked.

‘I am afraid that I cannot say why the wedding is having to take place so soon but it is in the best interests of Marie and myself that it does happen so quickly. The reason for the haste will become obvious in due course’ I answer and Julie seems to be prepared to accept this. Julie talks to quite a few others and I know that she will be passing on this information to them but a few others still come over to me and ask broadly similar questions getting the same sort of answers in return. After speaking to me they were all happy for me and Marie and they all took the opportunity to speak to Marie individually as well to congratulate her. All of those who could possibly make it on Friday were going to do so which really pleased me but given that it was a working day and only two days away it would be very difficult for some of my friends to get the time off and a lot of the girls complained that with only one shopping day they wouldn’t be able to find an appropriate outfit. Having got this announcement out of the way the dinner party itself went very successfully and everyone had remained within the limits of alcohol consumption partly because of Marie’s presence but also because most of them had work to go to tomorrow. I got the chance to speak to Marie once everyone had gone and she had really appreciated the fact that after my friends had convinced themselves that this marriage was really what I wanted they then took the time to speak to her and congratulate her themselves. It was late when Marie left my house to go back to her own flat because we’d ended up chatting away once all of the guests had left. Having been used to getting up even earlier than normal for the past six weeks in the Reformatory it was no surprise when I woke up just after 5am in preparation for the physical education class and to prepare my room for inspection. I definitely didn’t do anything to prepare my room for an inspection although I did wonder whether Marie was a total neat freak or more like me as a messy sort. I did stick with early morning exercise though by going down to my gym and spending an hour doing cardiovascular work which is most unusual for me because normally I hit the power exercises in this gym but since it had mostly been cardiovascular in the Reformatory I decided to stick with this since it had done my figure so much good. I couldn’t help but spend another twenty minutes working on the weights machines after my cardio workout and I was looking forward to Marie joining me in the gym because I knew she loved working out. Marie was working for most of the Thursday but we did see each other in the evening when I asked about tomorrow.

‘You do not need to worry about anything Kenneth. It is planned down to the last detail and all you need to do is be at the North Church from 2.50pm and have your stuff packed for the honeymoon as I have described it’ Marie said and I took her at her word so I spent the Friday morning packing two separate suitcases as each week required completely different types of clothing. I packed a smart casual wardrobe for the days in London and then a smart or fully formal wardrobe for the evening to cover all eventualities. The trip to Windermere was easier to pack for in as much as I went with my walking gear and also some casual and smart casual gear for the evenings guessing also that some of the formal wardrobe from London wouldn’t be worn so could be used if required.

Marie’s planning for the wedding was meticulous even as far as ensuring that my car was filled with fuel and Marie’s suitcases had been delivered to my house ready to be packed into the car early the following morning. Marie had decided that we would be having the car with us as it gave us such flexibility and I was not complaining because I loved driving it anyway. She had also arranged for a catering company to come into my house and set up a buffet for the reception which would be held after the ceremony itself. It was only going to be a small reception as there hadn’t been time to organise the big wedding reception that even now was still a fairly lively night in Scottish weddings but this was probably for the best given the composition of the guest list.It was very interesting walking into the church as there was a clear split in the audience. Marie’s family and colleagues were on one side of the church and many of her colleagues were wearing the dress police uniform that was only generally seen on ceremonial occasions while all of my friends were down the other side of the church looking somewhat cautiously at the people on the other side because many of my friends had come into contact with them in less happy circumstances for one offence or another. I was waiting at the front of the church for Marie to arrive and she was just a few minutes late. As she was led down the aisle I wanted to turn and see what she was wearing but I restrained myself until she was standing next to me. Marie’s wedding gown was stunning. It was brilliant white silk with very ornate lace trim around the bodice, shoulders and hem. I noticed that Marie had kept on the necklace and had also put on the very delicate gold bracelet both of which accentuated her beauty perfectly.

It was a short and simple service that ended with one of the few occasions when it was permitted to carry out the indecent and immoral act of kissing in public. Marie and I did have a kiss but it was suitably demure and then we signed the register and were driven back to my house in the car that had brought Marie to the church. I hadn’t seen the preparations for the reception or even knew that the reception was going to take place in my house so I was amazed to see it all decorated and with staff waiting to hand out a range of food and drink to the guests. Marie and I allowed ourselves a couple of glasses of champagne at the start of the evening before we moved on to soft drinks on account of the early start we were making the following morning. It was a very nice reception considering how quickly it had been put together and as people were leaving at the end of the night they all came across and wished us a long and happy marriage and instinctively I knew that this was exactly what we would have because although we were quite different on the surface deep down we were perfect soul mates.

Strict moral laws: the reformatory

It was a woman probably in her early forties who was waiting to take me to the Reformatory and she immediately led me out to a car and instructing me to sit in the front seat where she put me into a set of handcuffs and told me that the car had central locking so there was no way I could get out of the car from the inside. I certainly hadn’t been thinking of trying to escape.

‘I am one of the senior staff of the Reformatory and you should know that it is run along the lines of a very strict boarding school since all of the inmates are in need of re-education as much as reformation. You had better get used to sitting with a very sore bottom because it is likely to be a constant state of affairs for you within the Reformatory given the nature of your offences and behaviour throughout the case. All of the details of your interview and court appearance have been circulated to all of the Reformatory staff and each and every one of us will be making sure that when you leave the Reformatory you will never break the law again. A standard stay in the Reformatory is 4 weeks and we always reform people in that time so be under no illusion that it will not happen to you. Indeed the process can be as difficult or as easy as you wish it to be’ this woman says as we are driving into the countryside to the north of Perth where the Reformatory is situated in extensive grounds and surrounded by a very high stone wall. There was only one entrance and exit in this wall which are very formidable looking steel gates. Once inside these gates it really did feel as if you were completely isolated from the real world and as you saw the three separate buildings that made up the Reformatory this sense of isolation only grew because even in the strong sunlight that they were currently bathed in the grey granite gave off a very bleak and forbidding appearance. The car was driven into a small car park just by the central building which was the biggest of the three and I was instructed to get out of the car which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world with my hands still in the cuffs and it was also very painful much to the amusement of my escort.

‘I am looking forward to seeing what a pretty picture the Correction Officer has painted on your bottom Kenneth and I am sure that all of the staff will take a keen interest in it because we are all aficionado’s of corporal punishment. The first people to get the opportunity to see it though will be the medical staff because they always carry out a full medical on new arrivals’ my escort announced as she was leading me through the building almost certainly in the direction of this medical room. Sure enough we stopped in front of a door that was marked ‘Infirmary’ and after a knock the door was opened and I was pushed inside by my escort coming face to face with a nurse who could only have been in her early twenties and a Matron who would be in her late thirties both in the proper medical uniforms.

‘You will strip completely naked Kenneth’ the Matron instructed and I did so before the nurse took extensive measurements of every part of my body before weighing me and checking things like my blood pressure, pulse and temperature. Every movement that I made was causing me pain and it wasn’t long before the instruction came to turn away from the staff then bend over and touch my toes, which was really painful.

‘That is an exemplary punishment. I bet it was Correction Officer Clifton who carried it out. Every part of the bottom is bruised and a layer of skin has been removed from the centre of each cheek indicating a very severe punishment but for his offences it is no less than he deserves. It means though that it will be at least one week before we can safely apply the cane or birch to this bottom however any other punishment implement will be possible immediately. I will check his bottom on a daily basis during inspection until such time as it is available for the full punishment spectrum’ the Matron says striking the fear of god into me because I knew that it wouldn’t be long before there was a practical demonstration of the punishment regime within the Reformatory. Once they had all had a sufficient look and feel of my bottom I was instructed to stand up and was given a list from the nurse that contained all of my size and health information that had been collected. I was instructed to pick up all of my clothes and was then led out of the infirmary along a corridor to a large store room where I had to hand over my own clothes and the list of measurements that I’d been given to another member of Reformatory staff and she went to fetch all of the items that I would need. To my dismay the garments that I was handed was a school uniform with shorts instead of trousers and when I was instructed to put them on I hated them because they made me feel incredibly stupid which I had absolutely no doubt was the intention. In addition to the main uniform I was handed a range of other clothing that I would need and it appeared that I had an allocation that would last me a week to judge from the number of sets of pants and socks that were included.

From this store room I was led to what was to become my home for the next six weeks and to all intents and purposes it was a prison cell rather than a room. The window that was in the space was small and high up on the wall and quite clearly it could not be opened from the inside or outside so its sole purpose was to let in a little bit of natural light. There was a single bed with a very thin mattress, 1 pillow a sheet and a blanket on it and apart from this the only other furniture was a small table and chair. The only sanitary facilities in the room were a small wash hand basin and a mirror but I did notice that on the table was a toilet kit so at least that was something. I noticed that the door to the room was a heavy piece of metal and it could only be locked and unlocked from the outside.

‘The number of your room denotes the space you will sit in during the daily assembly and in the dining hall so I would advise you to take a careful note of the number and memorise it’ my escort said sharply before I was led back down to the main entrance area for the building and over to a door which was marked ‘Headmistress’ to retain the school theme in the institution. I was led into this room and found myself facing a very stern looking woman in her late thirties sitting behind a large and very tidy desk. There was a second woman in the room who took a seat beside the Headmistress and then my escort took a seat on the other side of the Headmistress forming what looked like a very formidable interview panel. I was standing in front of them and because of my uniform I felt incredibly small and powerless whereas normally in this sort of situation I would be confident and assertive. It wasn’t an interview that I received more another interrogation starting with my educational career before moving onto my employment record and then finally on to the offences that had caused me to be sent here.

‘The fact that you have never been an employee of any organisation or seemed to have formed a deep relationship suggests to me that you are a deeply selfish and immoral person who has a real problem with authority. How would you respond to this?’ ‘I would disagree with that statement in its entirety. I was engaged to be married when I left university but unfortunately my fiancée was killed in a motorcycle accident and I have a large number of friends who would describe me as anything but selfish and immoral’.

‘Oh yes those would be the friends who you supplied pornographic material to Kenneth. Hardly a good character reference I would say. In your statement to the police and in the court you indicated that you did not feel that you had done any wrong with these offences. Having received the first part of your sentence do you still retain these feelings Kenneth?’

‘I know that I have broken the laws of the country and have been punished accordingly and I will not be repeating any of the offences’ I answer knowing that I’ve avoided the real substance of the question I’d been asked.

‘You will learn Kenneth that attempts to avoid questions or to answer a different question from what was asked or to be in any way economical with the truth will not be tolerated and will get you into a lot of trouble but we will give you the benefit of the doubt this time and ask you the question directly. Are you sorry for your actions?’

‘No. I know that I was wrong but I am not sorry for what I have done in the past’ I answer truthfully.

‘Well in that case Judge Everard has made a very wise decision to send you to us for a period of six weeks. As I am sure you were told in the journey to the Reformatory the standard sentence is a period between two and four weeks and even with that we turn out a re-educated and reformed character. In your case it may take a little longer to cure your ingrained immorality but it will happen and by the time you leave here you will be sorry for what you have done. Now you will go and wait outside this office while we decide on who will act as your Governess during your time in the Reformatory. You will wait in silence until you are called back into this office, any failure to do so will result in punishment for you. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes Ma’am’ I answer hoping that I have chosen a suitable form of address.

After about twenty minutes of sitting silently in the corridor a fourth member of Reformatory staff walks past me and into the Headmistress’ office. From the quick glance that I was able to get of her she appears to be very tall, elegant and probably in her early thirties. Another twenty minutes pass and this fourth woman summons me back into the office.

‘Kenneth this is Miss Thompson who will be your Governess during your six week stay in the Reformatory. Miss Thompson will now take you away and complete your intake into the Reformatory’ the Headmistress explains before Miss Thompson commands me to follow her in a very authoritative voice. I am led out of this building into the second of the major buildings and onto the second floor of the building where it became clear that the Reformatory staff had their private quarters. These private quarters were basically like individual one bedroom flats but the living area doubled as a classroom type environment including a couple of desks and chairs for pupils and more ominously a punishment horse. More ominously still a wide range of disciplinary equipment was on display in Miss Thompson’s room. I was directed to sit at one of the desks while Miss Thompson retrieved a couple of documents from a bookcase and sat down on the corner of the second desk so that she was physically superior to me but in a more informal setting.

‘Kenneth the role of the Governess in the Reformatory is to oversee your progress and to bring about the necessary reformation of your character. This is brought about through a range of group classes on relevant subjects either to ensure that you can fulfil a productive role in society following your release or just to re-educate you about certain aspects of society. It is also brought about by the individual meetings that I will be holding with you each and every day of your time in the Reformatory. I have been chosen to be your Governess because I am one of the younger staff and have a background in psychology so I am in the best position to be able to understand a complex character such as yourself because the Reformatory would not normally see people from your socio-economic background. However the main reason why I have been selected as your Governess is because I am one of the hardest punishers on the Reformatory staff and there is a clear understanding that regular and heavy punishment will be needed to reform you. For instance I will receive details of every punishment that you receive during your time at the Reformatory and in our individual meetings I will repeat the punishments as necessary. Do you have any questions on my role so far Kenneth?’ Miss Thompson asks.

‘No I do not have any questions on your role Miss Thompson’ I answer.

‘Each day in the Reformatory begins at 6.20am with a physical education lesson lasting for eighty minutes as we believe that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Breakfast is taken at 8am and lasts twenty minutes before you return to your room for a daily inspection. Inspection is a key part of the Reformatory experience and everything will be checked for signs of any indecent or immoral behaviour. You should be aware that masturbation is seen as being a particularly serious offence and all of your clothing and bedding is impregnated with a chemical that will stain purple as soon as it comes into contact with any unnatural secretions so you will not get away with this offence which automatically carries a double penalty. Classes for you will begin at 9am and in the morning will last for one hour finishing at 12pm when lunch is taken followed immediately by Assembly. Your afternoon class will begin at 2pm and will continue until 6pm as you will be in the Social Re-Education stream to correct your view of society. Dinner is taken at 6pm and lasts for forty minutes and as with all meals it is to be taken in silence with no visual, verbal or written contact with your fellow pupils. At 6.40pm those pupils who have to attend the Headmistress will line up outside of her office when you will be interviewed and sentenced. If you are not required to attend the Headmistress then from 6.40pm until 7.30pm you have free time however contact is not allowed with other pupils during this period. From 7.30pm you will report to me for a two hour period and then at 9.45pm it is lights out. This routine is the same for each day of the week except Sunday when the Assembly is replaced by a Church Service which is compulsory for all pupils. Do you have any questions?’

‘What classes will I be in?’ I ask.

‘From 9 until 10am you will be in Mathematics with Miss Innes, 10 until 11am you will be in German with Miss Reid, and 11 until 12pm you will be in English with Miss Wilson. Then from 2 until 6pm you will be in Social Studies with me and for the Physical Education class you will be in Miss Carter’s group’ Miss Thompson explains.

‘It may be helpful for you if I outline the punishment system that is used within the Reformatory. Each offence carries a six stroke penalty unless it is a double penalty in which case it is a twelve stroke tariff. If you should be stupid enough to repeat the same offence within a lesson then the penalty is automatically doubled and this will continue until you do not repeat the offence. Additionally each punishment that you receive carries one point, unless it is a repeat offence in which case it carries the number of the repeat for example a second offence is two points and a third repeat is three points. Should you receive more than five points on any day then you are required to attend the Headmistress that evening and then each Friday your points from the week are totalled and should you have twenty or more points then again you will have to visit the Headmistress. Should you hit either of these marks then rest assured that you will also be punished by me that evening. Serious offences are dealt with outside of this system and the punishment is determined on a case by case basis by the Senior Staff of the Reformatory in consultation with me. All of the punishments are carried out with implements of the same specification used in the Correction Centres and will be carried out on the bare bottom with the exception of a flogging, which is the most severe sanction available, which is delivered to the back and shoulders. A tawsing may also be given to the hands should the member of staff feel that this is appropriate. You would do well to take the following thought away with you from what I have just explained. It requires exemplary behaviour to avoid regular and severe punishment which is why this is called a Reformatory and my advice would be to think very carefully about what behaviour will be required to meet this standard because everyone else in the Reformatory will be thinking about it for you’ Miss Thompson says and I know she is trying to help me but I know that the system is designed to catch you repeatedly in its net and no matter what I do I will be no exception.

Handing me one of the documents that she had taken from the bookcase I saw that it was the rule book for the Reformatory and it was clear that almost every possible situation had been covered as it extended to over twenty pages. Miss Thompson runs through the main points of the rules and gets me to sign one of the copies indicating my agreement with all aspects of the rules and my obedience to them which was clever because it removed any option of saying that you didn’t know about a rule if you were caught breaking it so I knew that I was going to have to study this document quickly and thoroughly. Following this brief look at the rule book Miss Thompson tells me that the final part of my intake is a tour of the Reformatory so that I can never use the excuse of getting lost for either being late for a class or more importantly being out of bounds.

‘This building we are currently in is the ‘County’ building and apart from your daily meetings with me if you have the misfortune to be in this building then you are in trouble because it contains the special detention facilities including classrooms, cells and punishment rooms none of which you will want to visit but for your information the punishment rooms are on the top floor and everything else is on the ground floor or in the basement. I will not show you any of these rooms because that will lessen their impact should you need to visit them properly. The main building in the Reformatory is the ‘MacMillan’ building named after the founder of the Reform School that was originally on this site. You will already be familiar with the Infirmary and the Headmistress’ office but other than that this corridor is out of bounds unless accompanied by a member of staff or with written authorisation from a member of staff’. The dining hall is in this building on the ground floor and directly above this was the Assembly hall both of which had numbered seats and fairly impressive stages. What was frightening about the Assembly hall was the punishment horse that dominated the stage and which could be adjusted to suit almost any situation. Each teacher had a room that was specifically allocated to them and all of the classes that I would be in were in this building with the exception of my physical education class which was in the final major building on the site, the ‘City’ building. ‘Apart from normal classroom reasons you needn’t fear being in this building as there are no dedicated punishment facilities in it’ Miss Thompson explained but somehow it didn’t set my mind particularly at rest.

‘As it is now almost 6pm you shall begin your time in Reformatory with dinner and then a short period of free time before you report to me for your first meeting. I trust that you can remember where my room is Kenneth and will not be late?’

‘Yes Miss Thompson I can remember where your room is and I will not be late’ I answer before she leads me in the direction of the dining hall where we wait outside for the other inmates to appear and I take a place at the end of the line so that I could see the procedures first hand. I saw about forty other inmates split fairly evenly between males and females and they had been quite clever with the seating arrangements in the dining hall as there were tables for 8 people and from scanning round the room it was clear that they put males and females next to each other and also directly opposite to each other probably in the hope that some form of communication would take place between them that could then be punished. Sitting opposite me was a very pretty red head and I had a horrible suspicion that sooner or later this would cause me to be punished but thankfully there was no-one currently sitting on either side of me at the moment so that limited this risk. From the size of the dining hall it appeared that the Reformatory was currently operating at about half capacity which surprised me as I’d expected it to be full given the draconian nature of the penal code. In my free time I went back to my cell and lay face down on the bed because it was far too painful to lie on my back contemplating how I was going to get through the next six weeks. I knew that it was going to be very difficult because I have always had a very low boredom threshold and when I was at school and bored I was fractious so I expected going back to school in this fashion was going to be a nightmare leading almost certainly to lots more punishments.

‘If you can show the same behaviour throughout your time in the Reformatory as you demonstrated during dinner then you will fit in very well’ Miss Thompson said almost as soon as I’d entered her room and sat down at the desk in front of her. Miss Thompson took a much more informal approach with me in this meeting than she had during the induction but it was still very clear that he was in control and expected me to be open and honest with her. She was clearly trying to get inside my head to get at my motivations but was finding it very difficult because although I was not directly disobeying her I certainly was not opening myself up to her either and she knew it.

‘You are sailing very close to the wind Kenneth. Your answers to my questions are obstructive and very close to non-cooperation and I would be well within my rights to give you a double penalty for this but I will not do so tonight but should you repeat the behaviour tomorrow then I will have absolutely no hesitation in applying the double penalty’ Miss Thompson said calmly as I was being dismissed from her room. I slept on my side that night because I couldn’t get comfortable on my back because of the pain in my bottom and sleeping face down has never been something I could do. By nature I am an early riser so was up at 5.30am in preparation for my physical education class and had changed into the kit, which was absolutely horrible, well before my cell was opened. I had also had the time to prepare my room for inspection as per the rule book. The class itself comprised of a seven stage circuit training session with ten minutes at each circuit and only one minute of rest between them and Miss Carter was keeping a close eye on everybody’s intensity levels and she gave one warning for lack of effort before delivering a punishment for the next offence and every subsequent one. I was well used to early morning exercises so this didn’t cause me any problems and it was actually quite a nice start to the day particularly as I was in direct competition with the redhead who sat opposite me in the dining hall. I didn’t escape punishment completely though because I was the last one out of the changing rooms and was thus deemed to be too slow and found myself bending over to touch my toes as Miss Carter dropped my shorts and pants before applying a very sharp six strokes with the tawse that she had been carrying throughout the lesson. These hurt but somehow I managed to stay still and silent so no more were added at the end. I was sent to get my breakfast and discovered that even in the height of summer it was porridge for breakfast and I’ve always detested porridge but forced it over my throat because it was an offence to refuse a meal in the Reformatory.

I returned to my cell and laid out my PE kit on the bed and waited for the inspection party to arrive. All of the Reformatory staff carried out the inspection so that every inmate was inspected every day and when the woman who had escorted me to the Reformatory yesterday arrived she was accompanied by the Matron who was to inspect the state of my bottom and determine whether it was fit to be caned or birched yet. As the Matron was inspecting my bottom the other woman was going through my room with a fine toothed comb and eventually got me for not having made the bed with sufficiently good hospital corners so as my bottom was already bare she gave me a very hard six strokes with a big wooden paddle. Each stroke landed with a loud splat and drew a sharp cry from me. I thought that I could already feel the bruises that this implement was leaving and I hated it. I almost wished that it was the much sharper pain of a cane that I was feeling which amazed me because I’d been delighted when the Matron had announced that I was not yet in a fit condition to receive the cane or the birch. Already for the day I was on two points so almost inevitably I knew that I would be on the Headmistress’ list this evening.

Mathematics was my first class of the day and I didn’t expect this to be too bad because I have always been quite good with numbers but as soon as I was in the class my hopes for an easy life were dashed as it was mental arithmetic that we were doing with a sheet of 100 questions each of which had to be answered with your working shown as well. I discovered just how reliant I had become on computers and the calculation function on spreadsheets when I was doing this particularly the long-division questions which utterly defeated me because I just couldn’t remember the technique I’d been taught in school all those years ago. I left these questions until the end hoping that it would come back to me but it didn’t and I was looking out of the window for inspiration.

‘Are you finished your work Kenneth?’ Miss Innes asked when she spotted me looking out of the window.

‘No Miss Innes’ I truthfully answered.

‘In that case why are you looking out of the window and not at your work?’

‘I am looking for inspiration’ I answered somewhat impertinently and forgot to add Miss Innes at the end of my statement to compound my error.

‘Well let me see if a six stroke penalty for idleness and a six stroke penalty for impertinence gives you the inspiration you need. You will come to the front of the class and bare your bottom’ Miss Innes said very sharply. I almost made a protest at this but stopped myself just in time. I watched in horror as Miss Innes selected a wooden paddle and when I was at the front of the class with my bottom bared she ordered me to bend over her desk. I was expecting hell to descend on my bottom and that was certainly what happened as twelve very hard blows landed on my bottom and at the very tops of my thighs.

‘It appears that you have already been a naughty boy today’ she commented just before commencing the punishment and at this rate I was going to break the twenty point weekly limit on my first day never mind over the first week. I was sent back to my seat to complete my work at the end of the punishment and it was very difficult to see the paper through my cloudy eyes and to concentrate because I couldn’t stop fidgeting on the seat. It appeared as if every member of Reformatory staff that I came into contact with that day was intent on making her own mark on my bottom and my mind. Miss Reid got me for idleness in her German class when again I had been looking into space as opposed to working from the textbook that was in front of me. Unfortunately for me she then caught me for a second time in the same lesson so I ended up taking eighteen hard strokes from her tawse on my bottom but then she also took a look at my writing and deemed that it was not neat enough so I also got six strokes of the tawse on my non-writing hand. I almost swore during this but just managed to bite my tongue in time as that would only have given me more punishment. The four points that I’d received in Miss Reid’s class saw me over the five points and then I had Miss Wilson for English and she used my writing to give me one punishment and again she used my non-writing hand. This time I did swear under my breath at the end of the punishment but it obviously wasn’t far enough under my breath because I was heard and awarded a double penalty for using foul and abusive language which was paid off with the tawse on my bare bottom.

I was very glad that it was lunchtime after this class because I was sure that the punishments would continue if it had been another class. Even at lunch though I had to really watch my step because networking and social contact is such a big part of my life at any meal time but in the Reformatory it is expressly forbidden. At least the others who had been here for longer than I had were helping me with this as they kept their heads down so as not to attract the attention of any of the staff who were patrolling around the dining hall like hawks waiting for their prey to appear. At least lunch itself was reasonable and healthy so I could console myself that I would have plenty of exercise and a good diet for the next six weeks which should help me to maintain and even improve on my physique. Assembly passed me by in a complete daze and then it was time for my afternoon of Social Studies with Miss Thompson. This turned out to be a lecture on indecency followed by a more open discussion of the topic for those who were in this class and it was here that she managed to give me my punishments as I found it very difficult to put my hand up and waiting to be instructed to speak before actually saying anything. She got me twice for this offence during the lesson and it probably would have been more but for the fact that the class was stopped for dinner. My name was the last one of half a dozen on the list to see the Headmistress that evening and we were seen in the order on the list giving me even more time to stew on what awaited me.

‘As I thought yesterday you seem to have a real problem with authority. You have amassed a total of thirteen points today which suggests that either you do have a real problem with authority or that you are completely incapable of behaving in a decent and responsible fashion. Which is it Kenneth? In either case we will cure you of these faults’ the Headmistress said very sternly when I was standing in front of her in the office. It was a very clever question as either option would see me admitting to a major fault so I had to think of another option quickly.

‘I am just finding it difficult to adjust my brain to the work patterns of being back in a school setting but I am trying to remain within the rules so I guess that means that I do have a problem with authority’ I answer being unable to come up with a viable alternative option quickly enough.

‘At last some honesty Kenneth. It might be the case that you are trying but you are obviously not trying hard enough. To give you an incentive to try even harder your penalty for exceeding five points today is to receive a birching when the Matron indicates that you are fit to receive this sanction. This birching will be at the rate of one stroke for each point you accumulate between now and that date. Should you breach the twenty point limit this week you will be separately punished for this’ was the sentence that the Headmistress delivered. This put me into a state of deep fear because I knew that I would breach the twenty points and would probably have a very large total by the start of next week which was probably when my bottom was fit to be birched if what the Matron had said yesterday was correct and I had no reason to doubt that it would be. I went straight from the Headmistress to Miss Thompson and it was hard to say which was the most scary because as soon as I stepped into Miss Thompson’s room I saw her holding a tawse in her hands obviously with the intention of using it on me and the stony look on her face gave me no cause for optimism about the next two hours either.

‘Even taking into account that it was your first full day in the Reformatory thirteen points is an appalling tally. In fact I don’t know if anyone has ever been higher. I clearly have my work cut out to reform you Kenneth. You will bare your bottom and bend over the desk. Each point that you amass in your time here will earn you at least one stroke of punishment from me in this evening meeting. Do I make myself clear Kenneth?’ Miss Thompson said very sharply.

‘Yes Miss Thompson’ was all that I could say in response. Although all of the punishments that I’d received during the day had been hard there had been a real extra kick to those given by Miss Thompson in the afternoon and she was about to demonstrate that this was not a one-off occurrence. Her first stroke caught me right on the crease and I gave a loud cry in response before the second stroke landed just above the crease and then the third one just above that stroke each with an overlap that could be clearly felt from the extra heat and pain. It was a truly awesome punishment that Miss Thompson delivered as she overlapped six strokes on the way up my bottom before duplicating the pattern exactly on the way down back to the crease which then received the thirteenth and final stroke for the moment at least. Tears were flowing down my cheeks before Miss Thompson was finished with me and to try and avoid further punishment I was much more co-operative with Miss Thompson when she started to probe me about myself and my feelings towards the offences that I had committed.

From the utter hardness that was evident in Miss Thompson when she was punishing me her personality had softened as she was questioning me making it much easier to open up to her. I was still keeping all of the information about Sarah back though because I could sense that if I started to talk about it then Miss Thompson would be able to get the whole story out of me and I didn’t want that to happen. From the questions that Miss Thompson asked it was obvious that she had been studying what I’d said to the Headmistress when I first arrived and she could sense that I was holding something back and almost certainly knew what it concerned but she didn’t press me on it because I would have refused to answer and taken the ensuing severe penalty. This showed an excellent reading of me on Miss Thompson’s part and a subtlety of approach that would almost certainly get all of the information from me in the end.

The remainder of my first week in the Reformatory passed in much the same vein as the first day although the staff didn’t seem to have quite the same desire to pounce on me but that could have been because there were some other newcomers or that my behaviour was improving already. I guessed that it was the first of these reasons and the Thursday proved this to be the case as I again breached the five points in a day rule which took me over the twenty point limit for the week so I had to visit the Headmistress again that evening.

‘Regrettably Kenneth it is no surprise to me that I am seeing you again this week. For breaking the five points rule they will simply be added to your initial birching whenever that may take place. For breaking the twenty points rule within three days of arriving in the Reformatory you will receive an additional twenty strokes of the birch on top of your points total when it takes place and I am formally putting you on a final warning for a flogging. This means that should you break the twenty point mark again then you shall be flogged and also should you commit any other serious offence this is the likely outcome’ the Headmistress said so again I’d actually avoided punishment having visited her but only because it was delayed which was actually probably even worse because it was always at the back of my mind gnawing away at my resolve. This combined with the threat of a flogging did seem to get through to me though because I was incredibly quiet on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday receiving positive comments from Miss Thompson each evening. It probably also helped that I realised that the concentration that I was having to show to these boring classes would actually help me focus on my consultancy work better so I could probably take on a wider range of projects and work more efficiently through them. It was on the Monday morning that the Matron confirmed that my bottom was now in a fit enough condition to be caned and birched so I received word that my birching would take place at assembly that afternoon and that as opposed to having lunch I should present myself at the infirmary for preparation.

I knocked on the door of the Infirmary just after 12pm and was brought into the room by the nurse who had measured me last Monday and both she and the Matron had smiles on their faces as they knew what was going to happen to me.

‘Strip completely Kenneth’ the nurse commanded and I hastened to obey before she carried out a thorough investigation of my body paying particular attention to my bottom. She poked and prodded at every part of my bottom and although it was still quite hard from all of the punishment I’d received last week it wasn’t too bad and actually felt quite smooth as all of the scabs from my punishment in the Correction Centre had now fallen off but I knew that the marks were still very visible.

‘Bend over the end of the bed Kenneth’ she then commanded and I felt her placing some very cold gel around and inside my anus before pushing a nozzle against it. I struggled against the invasion but to no avail as the nurse quickly had the nozzle inside me and attached to this was a rubber tube so I knew that I was about to experience an enema to thoroughly clean me out. What seemed like pints of liquid were poured inside of me and it felt incredibly uncomfortable being bent over with this swilling about inside me. I kept pleading to be allowed to go to the bathroom but permission was not granted for at least five minutes. I was cramping up quite badly by this time so it was a real relief to be able to expel the liquid into the toilet but just to deepen the humiliation the nurse was watching me throughout grinning at the grimace that was on my face. I was then brought out of the toilet and was dressed in a gown that tied up at the back so that my modesty could be preserved but my bottom would be very easy to reveal to the audience that would witness the punishment. It was the nurse that led me to the outside of the Assembly Hall waiting for the signal to bring me in which came when the Matron opened the door at the back of the hall. I was paraded past all of the other inmates and up onto the stage at the front of the hall where the punishment horse was beckoning maliciously.

‘In a disgraceful show of disrespect for the rules of the Reformatory Kenneth amassed thirteen points on his very first day which is a new record for this establishment and certainly not one that he should be proud to hold. And then within three days he had broken the twenty point rule which again is a new low in the history of the establishment. For both of these offences he was sentenced to a birching but this was deferred due to the highly effective job that the Correction Officer did on his bottom for the original offences. This period of deferment ended this morning and as such the birching will now take place. Kenneth has received a total of thirty five points equating to thirty five strokes of the birch to which will be added a further twenty strokes for his breach of the twenty point rule. Therefore a total of fifty five strokes of the birch will now be delivered and I will deliver them myself to highlight just how seriously I view his offences. Nurse will you attach Kenneth to the horse and bare his bottom for the audience to see because the humiliation will do him good and all members of the audience should reflect closely on this punishment as I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting the rules of the Reformatory in this manner’ was the lecture that chilled me to the core and brought a murmur from the audience.

Very efficiently the nurse put me over the horse and worked her way round the straps buckling them tightly so that I couldn’t move much at all. Finally after buckling the waist strap she undid the ties of the gown that were covering my bottom and moved the flaps down to my sides and tied them around the waist belt on either side so that they couldn’t get in the way. I couldn’t describe the fear that was within me at that time because it was even worse than what I’d felt before my punishment at the Correction Centre. I didn’t see the birch but felt the Headmistress tapping it against my bottom and it felt very thick and almost rough. It was pulled away from my bottom and I sucked in a large lungful of air as it was forcing its way down to my bottom with a whirring sound. It landed with a loud crack as the separate withes collided with my bottom and each other. For some reason it didn’t seem to be that painful but this view soon changed as stroke after stroke crashed into my bottom enveloping me within an envelope of hurt that just seemed to tighten around me until it overwhelmed me completely and I gave a shout of pain. Needless to say this reaction didn’t lessen the intensity of the punishment in the slightest. I tried to just let the sensations wash over me but the Headmistress was far too clever for this and kept varying the timing of the strokes and the placement of them so that I never knew when or where the next bite would be felt. By the end of it my bottom felt like it had been torn to ribbons and the strokes were landing in a pool of blood but when I did get the chance to see the damage later in the night it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. It certainly wasn’t a pretty sight though and I hoped that I would never have to go through it again but I was fairly certain that it would happen again as part of my reformation.

After the birching I kept my head down to try and keep my nose clean with some success although generally speaking I received at least one punishment a day often from Miss Thompson in her Social Studies class that she then repeated in the evening. I discovered that Miss Thompson’s skills extended to every possible implement and that her favourite was probably the cane followed by the tawse. This attempt to blend in brought my previous sexual submission to the surface and broadened it out into a broader submission to authority but more worryingly I started to derive considerable enjoyment from witnessing the many punishments that took place during classes and particularly the more formal punishments during assembly. It was this latter characteristic that was to contribute to my next birching. On the Thursday of my third week in the Reformatory the very pretty redhead, Melissa, who sat opposite me in the dining hall was not present at lunch so I knew that she was down to be punished in the assembly. We had managed to make eye contact a few times during breakfast in particular and had even risked some conversations when we had the little bit of free time after dinner. During one of these conversations she had admitted that she’d really loved seeing my birching the other week and it appeared that I was now going to have the opportunity to see her bare bottom dance under its own punishment. It turned out that she had slapped another inmate during a class and as such was going to receive twenty four strokes of the cane. It was Miss Thompson who delivered what was a very severe caning to what was an absolutely perfect bottom in my eyes. Each stroke left a deep purple imprint on the skin and by the time Miss Thompson was halfway through the caning she was drawing screams from her victim and these really stuck in my mind.

I couldn’t get the images of the caning out of my mind and Miss Thompson gave me my own caning during our meeting for the distracted state that my mind was in but it didn’t take the images away. Although I was aware of the risk that I was taking I masturbated and unloaded my cream into the sink before washing it down but I didn’t take enough care as some dripped down onto my pants and as I’d been warned a purple stain immediately spread over the offending area. Seeing this I knew that I was in trouble the following day anyway so when my mind wandered back over the events that led to me being in the Reformatory they got back to what Marie and I had done and the wonderful prospect of dating such a sexy woman. I played with myself again at the thought of what Marie and I could get up to if we were out of Scotland as what had happened in the club did suggest that she would be willing to enjoy herself in the right situation. I just climaxed into my pants this time and watched the stain spread over the full area but it didn’t get any more vivid in colour. In my physical education class Miss Carter seemed to be targeting me and she decided at one point that I was not putting enough effort in but before she could deliver her six strokes she heard me muttering a protest about it being unfair so I also got a double penalty for insubordination making eighteen strokes in total which were given with a cane. She placed these strokes across the full expanse of my bottom meaning that anyone punishing me later in the day would have plenty of fresh weals to target as they would often double up if using a cane or deliberately choose the tawse or wooden paddle to get at every welt more effectively.

I knew that I was in trouble before the inspection and was just waiting resignedly for the teacher to arrive and her eyes visibly light up when she walks into the room and sees the purple stain.

‘That looks like more than one ejaculation to me boy’ Miss Carter says as she is inspecting my room that day much to my dismay given the caning she had just given me.

‘It is only one ejaculation Miss Carter’ I respond confidently.

‘It can be checked whether it is one or two ejaculations boy. If you are lying to me then you can rest assured that you will be found out and at the minimum it will be another birching for you. Do you wish to change your story?’

‘No Miss Carter it is only one ejaculation’ I answer.

‘You will bare your bottom and bend over the end of the bed for your double penalty caning and then I will report my suspicions to the Headmistress and you will be on the list for this evening Kenneth’ Miss Carter says before doubling up on twelve of her previous strokes with this caning deepening the welts into heavy purple bruising. I somehow managed to get through the morning without any punishment in my classes although quite how I don’t know as my mind was in absolute pieces and this came back to haunt me in my Social Studies class with Miss Thompson. She had us looking at Scottish political history and particularly the lead up to independence and the first few years of independence. She started with general politics before moving onto the changes in judicial procedures that independence had heralded.

‘Class, how would you describe the current legal system in Scotland’ Miss Thompson asked almost as if she was setting a trap for someone. Inevitably I walked right into her trap.

‘The current legal system is completely corrupt and valueless’ I answer with real vehemence and anger in my voice having opened my mouth before even putting my brain into gear never mind engaging it. I see a visible look of shock on Miss Thompson’s face at my answer.

‘Did I hear you correctly Kenneth?’ Miss Thompson asks.

‘Yes Miss Thompson you did hear me correctly’ I replied knowing that to lie and deny what I’d said would only cause me a lot more trouble as the other inmates would understandably have reported the truth to protect themselves.

‘In that case Kenneth you will come to the front of the room and explain to us all why you say the system is corrupt and valueless’ Miss Thompson instructed putting me in a catch-22 situation because if I do explain what I have said I will dig myself into a very deep hole that will bring in lots of innocent people but if I do not explain then I will be punished for refusing to obey a direct instruction.

‘I am afraid that I am unable to provide an explanation for my comments’ I say having walked to the front of the class.

‘That is a real shame Kenneth because I’m sure the class would have been interested to hear your reasons and I know I certainly would. At least however it does demonstrate that you have not taken leave of your senses completely. You will take a double penalty for refusal to obey an instruction and we will be discussing this matter more fully this evening’ Miss Thompson informed me and the class. Seeing the state of my bottom Miss Thompson decided that she would use her tawse for the punishment and she placed each of the twelve strokes directly over one of the doubled up cane strokes that Miss Carter had inflicted making the bruising even deeper and more widespread. I was absolutely dreading the discussion this evening because it would be impossible to hide anything from Miss Thompson now that I had given her a very strong clue to my motivations for the offences. But before that meeting starts I have to visit the Headmistress for my masturbation offence this morning and this I am definitely going to try and maintain my story of it only being one ejaculation. Miss Carter was with the Headmistress when I entered the office as was the nurse.

‘How many times did you masturbate last night Kenneth’ the Headmistress asked me directly.

‘Once’ I answered immediately and confidently.

‘The evidence suggests that it was more than once and if you are lying to us then you shall be flogged’ the Headmistress said as all three of them watched me intently to see if there was any reaction or sign of weakness that would give me away. I held the steely gaze of the Headmistress without blinking as if challenging her to categorically prove that I had masturbated more than once last night.

‘The evidence is not conclusive that you masturbated more than once last night Kenneth but it strongly suggests that is the case. We will give you the benefit of the doubt on this occasion however our suspicions will remain on record and should you masturbate again during your time in the Reformatory the punishment will be even more severe and you will have to sleep in a harness that will prevent any repeat. You will no doubt also be aware that you have broken the five point rule today so you will now receive twenty four strokes of the birch tomorrow during assembly and Miss Carter will administer them. You are now free to go to your appointment with your Governess’ the Headmistress said dismissing me from her presence.

I expect Miss Thompson to be in a very angry mood when I visited her for my meeting but she was surprisingly calm as I entered the room although she was holding the tawse again.

‘You have had a real lapse in your behaviour today and I will not allow this to continue. You masturbated at least once last night and then received a further six points during the day and that is even before we consider your outburst during Social Studies this afternoon. We shall discuss this shortly but for now you will bare your bottom and receive eighteen strokes with this tawse to show you that I will not tolerate this slipping of your behaviour’ Miss Thompson says with calmness in her voice and I suppose I should have been nervous remembering my Mother who was always calm and quiet when she was livid. This calmness carried through to her application of the tawse which was absolutely devastating.

‘Although you said that you were unable to explain your comments in the Social Studies class this afternoon I do not believe that this is actually the case. I believe that you genuinely meant what you said and that being the case it will explain a lot about your offences and your unwillingness to accept your guilt for them. Is that the case Kenneth?’ Miss Thompson asks.

‘Yes you are correct Miss Thompson. I did mean everything that I said and yes it is the main reason why I cannot accept any guilt for my offences as they did not affect any innocent 3rd party. However I am unable to talk to you or anyone about the reasons for the outburst’ I answer with a tear welling up in my eye. This was a genuine tear and not a ploy for sympathy on my part. I give in and let the tears flow and put my head in my hands.

‘If you will not talk about the problem then there is nothing that I can do to help you’ Miss Thompson says obviously taken aback by this show of emotion from me because it is the first time that she would have seen it.

‘There is nothing that you can do to help the situation regardless of whether I talk to you or not’ I answer.

‘Does this relate to the death of your fiancée that you mentioned in your initial interview in the Reformatory?’

‘Yes it does relate to this fact. Next week it would have been our seventh wedding anniversary and it is just over a month since the seventh anniversary of Sarah’s death so this is always a very emotional time of the year for me’ I answer still with tears rolling down my cheeks now and then.

‘You called the system valueless and corrupt this afternoon? Is this a direct reflection of your fiancée’s death?’ Miss Thompson asks.

‘I am afraid that I cannot comment on that matter’ I answer which is almost as good as a confirmation in Miss Thompson’s eyes.

‘I will find out what has happened but understand that you cannot comment on the situation. I will not be punishing you for your refusal to answer my questions in this area. This was another example of Miss Thompson’s skill in reading people because more punishment would not have made me open up to her and indeed it may even have made me more intransigent towards her in the remainder of my time in the Reformatory whereas by not punishing me she was giving me the feeling that I could trust her.

At breakfast the following morning I was very subdued both because of the punishment that was waiting for me but also because I was still upset having let strong thoughts of Sarah back into my head last night in what was a horrible environment for them to be in. I completely ignored Melissa after having mouthed ‘trouble’ to her as we were sitting down. She gave me a gentle smile of support and then showing great dexterity she used her feet to drop a very short note into my lap which as we were standing up at the end of the meal I managed to get into my pocket without it being seen. I was able to read this note before the teacher arrived to carry out the inspection.

“I am being released from the Reformatory tomorrow. It has been a pleasure seeing you punished and I know that you enjoyed seeing me thrashed the other day. Take care of yourself for the next few weeks. Love Melissa x” was the very kind note which I swallowed as it was the only safe method of disposal given the inspection which seemed to be even more thorough than normal and again it was Miss Carter who was doing my room.

‘You are going to pay for humiliating me Kenneth. The birching you will receive at Assembly will make you wish you have never been born’ Miss Carter says malevolently as she is leaving the room having been unable to find anything to punish me for. The preparations for the birching were exactly the same but at least this time I knew what was going to happen so was able to cope with the enema more easily. Miss Carter’s anger was clear to see as she stepped forward to me when I was finally over the horse but with this anger was a clear headed calmness and this did frighten me particularly when I saw the birch she had in her hands as it was made of four limbs each of which was about the thickness of my little finger and it was also still pretty green. There was no tap on my bottom before the first stroke smashed into it. This time I was determined that Miss Carter was not going to get a scream from me although she did get plenty of gasps and moans as she worked almost exclusively around the crease and the tops of my thighs. I could definitely feel the blood by the middle of this punishment and knew that because of where it had been delivered sitting was going to be incredibly painful for the next few days while the cuts covered themselves up.

This birching and the lecture from Miss Thompson about getting back to my previous standards of behaviour worked and for the next ten days I was very well behaved and didn’t come near to the five point limit on any day. Miss Thompson had also moved away from the subject of Sarah for the moment and I was definitely opening up to her about everything else now and there was definitely some evidence of reform in my behaviour. On the Sunday of my penultimate week in the Reformatory I wanted to test my fitness out and prove to Miss Carter who still seemed to have it in for me that I was on the path to reform. I had started the circuit training at 110% intensity and I was intending to work myself to the point of being physically sick but for the first time I misread my own body signals because I was feeling brilliant when I stopped completely during my seventh stage which was shuttle runs. I was vaguely aware of Miss Carter making a move towards me but then everything went blank, My next memory was waking up in the Infirmary lying on my side on one of the beds. The nurse was sponging my face down and I rolled away from her and was violently sick in a bowl before having some water which came right back up as well.

‘What happened?’ I asked the nurse.

‘You fainted during the physical education lesson and fell to the floor landing on your right hand side. You were unconscious for a couple of minutes so will be spending the rest of the day in the Infirmary under observation’ the nurse explained. This was quite possibly the most boring day of my life and I vowed that I would make the most of my remaining classes to brush up on my skills in the areas and this convinced everyone that I was a reformed character but there was still one major punishment awaiting me. On the Monday of my final week Melissa’s seat in the dining hall was filled by another woman and as she sat down at breakfast I recognised her and she recognised me even though we hadn’t seen each other for seven years. Alison had been one of Sarah’s closest friends at university and was going to have been her only bridesmaid at the wedding. I’d last seen Alison at Sarah’s funeral and although we’d written a few times afterwards we’d gradually lost touch as Alison was living and working in London. I had no idea that she had come back to Scotland so was surprised to see her. Alison made the fatal mistake of looking at me during the meal.

‘Ignore me’ I hissed at her under my breath but she didn’t do it quickly enough and was caught by one of the patrolling staff. Thankfully for me I wasn’t caught but I would definitely be taking the opportunity to speak to her at one time to warn her of the regime and the need to ignore me while we are here. Alison was not at lunch so I knew that her punishment was going to take place at Assembly as it had obviously been deemed a serious offence. It was absolutely no surprise to me when Alison put up a real struggle as she was brought forward by the nurse and attached to the block because she had always been a feisty girl at university.

‘This girl is a new arrival in the Reformatory and has arrived here with a reputation for violence against people in authority a trend which is continuing. We will nip it in the bud from the start. In direct contravention of the rules she made contact with a fellow inmate for the second time at breakfast. Her initial punishment was to be twenty strokes with the wooden paddle but in view of the continuing violence displayed by the offender this has been changed to thirty strokes with the wooden paddle’ the Headmistress announces.

I can hardly bare to watch Alison’s punishment but knew that not to do so would have gotten me into trouble myself as it was an essential part of the process that other inmates watched to humiliate the offender but also to remind the watchers of what would happen to them in the same circumstances. Alison struggled throughout her punishment and by the end of it her whole bottom was purple with bruising. I truly feared for Alison if she had come to the Reformatory with a reputation for violence against authority as her continuing struggles seemed to show as all of the staff would be targeting her for special attention until they had broken her will. A very sore looking Alison took her place at dinner and ignored me which was good. I was able to use the same dexterity that Melissa had shown with me to drop a note in Alison’s lap.

“I will see you in your cell after dinner” is all that the note says. I know that if I am caught then I will be flogged because it will be one serious offence too far for the Headmistress but it is a chance that I will have to take because I feel that I must warn Alison about what to expect and how to behave. I get into Alison’s cell without any difficulty and push the door closed which was an offence in itself according to the rules.

‘If we are caught in contact you should let me take all of the blame’ was the first thing I said to Alison and she made no response but knowing her like I did this would not happen. ‘I would advise you not to do anything to rock the boat Alison. You will really suffer if you do and this advice comes from someone who has been here for five weeks and has unsuccessfully tried to fight the system. Eventually they will break you down so you can save yourself a lot of pain particularly if you do have a reputation for violence and struggling’ I say and Alison is nodding with this and I get the sense that she means it, ‘what are you doing here anyway?’ I finally ask.

‘I came back to Scotland to live and work a few months ago following the break-up of my marriage in London. I wanted a fresh start in an environment I knew even if it was completely different. I have been trying to find you for a while because I needed to talk to you about what happened to Sarah. When I couldn’t find you I went out one night and got very drunk. I was stopped by a policeman as I was walking home and he breathalysed me but then for some reason I took offence at something he said or did and I decked him. His colleague cuffed me before she breathalysed me. I was charged with being drunk in public and assaulting a police officer receiving thirty strokes of the cane for each offence along with six weeks here to curb my temper. What are you in here for and how much longer are you in for?’ Alison asked.

‘I am in here for being drunk in public, having used cannabis, carrying out a range of indecent and immoral offences and finally for supplying pornography to people. I received a total of one hundred and ninety strokes with the tawse and cane as well as six weeks here. This is my last week and I will get out next Monday’ I answer.

‘None of that surprises me Ken’ Alison says with a smile before turning serious again ‘what actually happened to Sarah? I’ve been doing some digging and something just doesn’t add up’.

‘I can’t tell you what happened just at the moment but you are right something doesn’t add up. Once you are out of here I will tell you what happened and we can plan what we are going to do about it but whatever you do don’t do anything on your own until you have spoken to me because it will be dangerous’ I say and unfortunately at that point a member of staff passes along the corridor and spots the closed door. She pushes it open and finds Alison and me talking which brings a wicked smile to her face.

‘This is my fault’ I say but am cut off.

‘I would save your breath Kenneth because I’m sure the Headmistress will be very interested in what you have to say about this serious breach of the rules’ the staff member says as she is leading us both to the Headmistress’ office. We are left standing outside the Headmistress’ office as the staff member goes inside to explain what she found and then we are taken in together and have to wait under the steely gaze of the Headmistress as both of our Governess’ are called to the room. Miss Thompson and Miss Carter both look furious as they enter the room and very sensibly Alison and I remain silent until we are spoken to.

‘I know that you both know that communication between inmates is expressly forbidden and I would have thought that having been punished already today for the offence you would have had more sense Alison than to allow this communication to take place. Would either of you care to explain yourself?’ the Headmistress asks.

‘We are old friends and having seen Alison punished I simply wanted to warn her not to rock the boat. I was responsible for initiating the contact and know that such communication is forbidden’ I say.

‘Yes we are old friends but Ken is not wholly responsible for the contact’ Alison adds at the end.

‘I consider you both to be equally culpable of this offence. However your punishment will be much more severe Kenneth as you have been repeatedly warned about your conduct during your time in the Reformatory. Alison you will be birched for this offence and Kenneth you will be flogged. You will wait outside my office while we decide on the exact sentences that you will receive’ the Headmistress says and we leave the room. I know that I am scared by what awaits me and Alison appears to be feeling the same fear. The fact that it is over fifteen minutes before we are called back into the room does nothing to lessen the fear.

‘Alison you will receive thirty six strokes of the birch delivered in private, with the exception of the people in this room, to be delivered immediately and if any further offences of a serious nature occur then you will be flogged. For that reason you shall watch Ken receiving his flogging. A flogging is reserved for the most serious of offences and the maximum number that can be imposed is twenty five lashes. I had a good mind to award you the full twenty five lashes but Miss Thompson has informed me that this week is the anniversary of the wedding that had to be cancelled following the death of your fiancée and as such you’re not capable of fully rational thought. For that reason you will receive fifteen lashes to be delivered immediately in private with the exception of the people in this room. These punishments will take place in one of the special punishment rooms and your respective Governess’ will take you to the room now and prepare you for the punishment’ the Headmistress says clearly and calmly.

‘Thank you’ I say softly to Miss Thompson as she is leading me to the punishment room and she just looks at me as if saying you will have some explaining to do to me once this punishment is completed. As soon as we are in the punishment room I realise just how bleak the rooms are because there is no source of natural light only the harshness of artificial light reflecting off of bare whitewashed walls. It was a very high ceilinged room and the air within it was cold and harsh reflecting perfectly the fact that the sole purpose of the room was the infliction of punishment and pain. There is a whipping post on one side of the room and close to another wall is a matching punishment bench to that found in the Assembly hall. Just to emphasise this even further the implements of correction are displayed in a glass fronted cabinet in a corner of the room.

‘You will both strip completely naked and await the Headmistress who will witness these punishments. We, as your Governess’ will be carrying out your respective punishments’ Miss Thompson commands before watching as we both strip quickly. Whether the thought was that our friendship had been sexual and they would get some signs of arousal from either of us that could be punished further I don’t know but it certainly wasn’t the case. When the Headmistress arrived she had the Matron with her and they closed the heavy wooden door behind them which seemed to seal our fate.

‘Kenneth, you will be punished first. Miss Thompson if you would kindly administer the punishment’.

I am led over to the whipping post and my wrists are fitted into leather restraints that are hanging from a hook high up on the back of the post. I felt stretched by the height of these hooks and then my ankles were fitted into cuffs at the bottom of the post and a broad belt was placed around my lower back to protect the kidney area. I felt more and more vulnerable as each action took place and was terrified at what was going to happen. I closed my eyes but sensed Miss Thompson moving around behind me and then taking up her position on my left hand side. I heard the fairly dull swish as the whip moved through the air and then the crack as it impacted across my upper back and right shoulder blade. Each of the tails seemed to find an individual spot to land and they all seemed to bite deeply into the skin. I tossed my head back in shock at the pain and a strangled cry left my throat. Miss Thompson paused to allow me to compose myself before delivering the second stroke and this was even worse because it seemed that her arm had been loosened by the first stroke meaning that it flowed through the target area even more deeply.

Even with just two strokes I knew why this was the ultimate sanction because it was completely unlike any other punishment that I had received either in the Correction Centre or the Reformatory. Miss Thompson was impeccable in her aim and timing of the strokes so that each of them was felt to the maximum. After only a quarter of the punishment my cries were piercing the air in the room and I could feel liquid running down my back but I wasn’t sure whether it was little trickles of blood or just trickles of the sweat that was breaking out on my body. All I was aware of was raw pain as the flogging continued but if I had been capable of hearing anything I would have heard Alison sobbing heavily behind me. I had no idea where we were in the punishment as I hadn’t been able to keep count beyond eight strokes as the pain had just become so overwhelming that it took over every fibre in my body. I didn’t hear any announcement that the punishment was over but after a few minutes I became aware that there were no more explosions of pain landing on my back but I was still in position which was quite good as it allowed me time to recover my breathing and my heart rate. It was also probably just as well because I’m sure that I would have collapsed had I been released.

As my body recovered slowly I became aware of Alison’s screams as she was receiving her punishment and it appeared that it was every bit as severe as the one that I had received. As Alison was being punished the Matron started to tend to the wounds on my back dabbing these with an antiseptic solution which really stung indicating the rawness of the skin and then she placed a large pad on my back and secured it with tape. Only once this had taken place was I released from the whipping post by Miss Thompson and I immediately turned to witness the end of Alison’s birching, or at least I hoped it was the end because of the state of her bottom already. Many trickles of blood were running down the backs and inside of her thighs and her bottom looked a real mess with the mix of bruising and bloody welts. Again the Matron tended to Alison’s bottom as she was recovering some composure over the bench prior to being released.

‘I trust that what you have both received will be sufficient to teach you the error of your ways. Alison should it fail to do so you will be flogged and as you have seen that is definitely not something to be trifled with. Ken you would simply receive the full twenty five strokes should you offend again’ the Headmistress said.

‘I have learnt my lesson and will not be back for another flogging’ I say very definitely even though my voice was quiet. Alison didn’t say anything but the look on her face told everyone that she didn’t want to go through a flogging.

‘Very well you will now get dressed before accompanying your Governess’ for the standard two hour meeting’ the Headmistress says and Miss Thompson leads me down the flight of stairs and along the corridor to her room.

‘Just what were you thinking of entering another inmates cell and talking to her in direct contravention of the rules?’ Miss Thompson asks with a bemused tone in her voice. Bemused by the sheer stupidity of my actions I had no doubt.

‘Alison was going to be Sarah’s bridesmaid and having seen her punished for trying to communicate with me at breakfast I wanted to warn her not to rock the boat but then we got talking about Sarah as we hadn’t seen each other since Sarah’s funeral. Don’t worry though I never want to go through anything like that again and as you will be aware my behaviour has been much better so that will continue for the rest of my time in the Reformatory’ I say truthfully.

‘I am very glad to hear that Kenneth’ Miss Thompson said before she probed me a little more about my feelings for Sarah and whether they were acting as a block on me moving forward with the rest of my life. I explained that I was beginning to feel that it was time to move on and intended to do so when I am freed from the Reformatory without mentioning how this was going to happen or who I hoped that it was going to happen with. I certainly was very quiet on the Tuesday and Wednesday as my back was still absolute agony with every movement that I made and again we were back to the Matron accompanying whoever was inspecting my room to change the dressing on my back. This dressing was removed on the Wednesday morning as the cuts had all scabbed over. When I had my meeting with Miss Thompson on the Wednesday evening there was a completely different tone to it from the start.

‘Inspector Johnson and Constable McLean visited me this morning to review your progress in the Reformatory and they are very happy with the changes that they see in your record. They have also told me that some very interesting information has come to light with regard to Sarah’s accident and I can now see what was behind your outburst in the Social Studies class three weeks ago. This time it is me who is not at liberty to share this information but you will find out on your release. I can also see why you find it difficult to accept your guilt for the offences but if you are prepared to say sorry for your offences when they re-interview you on Monday of next week then you will be freed and your record will be annotated accordingly. Saying sorry will in no way diminish the feelings you have for Sarah so I would advise you strongly to take this course of action’ Miss Thompson says and I respect her statement that she can’t share the information even though it has piqued my curiosity. By the time the Monday comes round I have decided that I will say sorry and put this whole sorry episode behind me once and for all.

I have to do the physical education class on Monday morning and then have breakfast before going through one final inspection. I am then taken back to the storeroom when I return all of the school property and am given all of my own property back.