At the weekend Julie and I received permission to go into the local town and to stay there for the evening performance of Macbeth at the local theatre group, as this was part of our A-level English Lit exams.
The rest of the girls had been able to go to the matinee performance on a Wednesday but we had been busy at a Hockey Competition.
It was arranged that we could go in on the bus to collect our tickets and then have a meal at the local restaurant.
As we were going to be out in the evening we had been allowed not to wear uniforms and we would be collected outside the theatre by a member of staff at the conclusion of the play.
We had a lovely meal and a glass of wine as we were both eighteen now and really enjoyed the play.
As we came out of the theatre Miss Maloney was waiting outside and drove us back to school, asking if we had enjoyed the play and whether it had helped our studies.
We explained that it was an excellent production and that it would help us with our upcoming exams next term.
On Monday morning we got up, had breakfast and went to Assembly.
We were still talking about the play.
As I expected, there was a school inspection that morning and as soon as the headmistress had finished there were nine girls awaiting a spanking.
She went back on the stage and said she would like to see the following prefects in her room immediately after Assembly.
They were Miranda, Julie and Susan, and could they please wait in her office while she dealt with these girls?
We were all dismissed and as I made my way from my position at the front of the hall to the back to catch up with Miranda and me.
I was wondering what duties she wanted us to carry out.
As we entered her office there was only one chair in front of her desk, so we all sat on the other chairs against the wall talking to each other.
After about ten minutes we heard her steps outside and we all stood up and smiled as she came in and asked us all to stand in front of her desk.
She appeared to have a frown on her face but was not shouting or raising her voice when she asked Julie and myself if we had enjoyed our evening away from school on Saturday.
We both replied how fantastic we thought it had been.
Then she suddenly told us we may change our opinion shortly.
She the turned to Miranda and said she had been checking her school record.
She found that although she had been punished on several occasions including canings she was generally a credit to the school.
She then turned to Julie and said that she had always been a credit to the school and apart from a couple of slipperings as yet she had never been caned.
She then turned to me and told me I had an exemplary record until the last month or two when I had been slippered three times and caned.
She then asked us if we knew why we were here and we said that we didn’t.
She came up to me, unclipped my Head girl badge, and pinned it onto Miranda.
She took Julie’s deputy head girl badge off and put it onto her desk.
She said that for the following week Miranda was to be Head Girl as girls wearing yellow sashes could not be.
Miranda was dismissed and she left the room with a grin from ear to ear.
Julie and I both went to speak but were told to be quiet and to put our hands on our heads.
She then asked us if we enjoyed our meal in the restaurant on Saturday, and we said we did.
She asked if we enjoyed our glass of wine.
The penny began to drop but we said we did and, as we were both eighteen and not in uniform, we thought we would be okay to have one small drink.
“Maybe,” she said.
“But when you are a little boisterous afterward and asked to be quiet by a couple sitting nearby, then it is not okay.
“That couple was the deputy head governor of the school who recognized you from photographs he had been shown the previous day recommending you both for awards.
“He phoned this morning to complain and wants you both punished.”
She said she had no option other than to agree and therefore we would both receive six strokes of the cane now if we wanted to keep our positions and also receive our awards.
She would give us five minutes alone to discuss it.
As she left the room I said to Julie that I would be accepting the punishment because if we spoiled somebody’s evening then we deserved it.
Julie said she would also, as she had expected it, as she knew the deputy head governor and thought this would be her last chance to be caned but not in front of all the prefects.
As it was her who had been noisy, she did not think that I would also be caned.
At first I was annoyed but then understood after listening to her for the previous two weeks about wanting to experience the cane.
Julie said she would explain to the head that it was all her fault and that she would accept the caning, but that I should be let off.
I said: “No, we both made a noise so we will both be punished.”
The Headmistress entered the room and we told her we would both take the canings.
She took out a large leather bound book from her desk and placed it on the top surface.
She got up and walked over to a cupboard by the window and selected a long and thick cane which was very flexible as she bent it in her hands.
She then ordered me to bend over the back of the chair in front of her desk and told Julie to stand against the wall.
I bent over the chair and grabbed hold of the legs
. She told me to bend over as much as I could.
I heard her put the cane on the desk behind us.
I heard her pick up the cane again and heard four or five practice swings before I felt the cane across the top part of my bottom.
I felt a few taps before it was withdrawn before slashing down across by bottom.
The thud when it landed was so loud I shouted out, but the pain did not seem to be there at first.
Then my bottom exploded and I thought I had sat on a fire.
Another three strokes followed, each one intensifying the pain and getting a little lower each time.
After the fifth, I don’t know how I remained bent over as I stamped my feet and screamed in pain.
Suddenly the was no more and I thought I must have miscounted and was just about to get up when i heard the hiss as the cane came down again.
The pain was unbearable. I heard the order to stand up and just managed to do so and hobble over to Julie who was shaking at what she had witnessed. And then it was her turn.
I was told to stand with my hands on my head and watch Julie’s punishment.
She had tears in her eyes and when her knickers were pulled up I could see that this would be a virtual bare bottom caning.
Julie had to be helped to her feet and the tears were running down her face.
We were told to sign the punishment book.
The Headmistress then told us the episode was over and gave us both a handful of tissues
She also told us we were excused lessons for the rest of the morning but would be expected in lessons that afternoon.
As we were about to leave her office she gave us both yellow sashes to wear for the next week.
We staggered back to our dorm, took of our skirts and lay face down on the beds.
As we were about to lie down I noticed somebody had put a jar of cold cream on the bedside table.
We just lay there sobbing for over an hour until we heard the bell for morning break.
I tried to sit down on the chair in front of the dressing table but found it very hard.
There was a tap on the door and Miranda walked in.
She said she was glad we found the cold cream and we had certainly been caned very hard and she was genuinely sorry for us and offered to make us a drink.
By the time we heard the bell for lunch, the pain was just subsiding.
As we got up, the door opened again and Miranda walked in with sandwiches and cold drinks on a tray.
She told us that the headmistress had sent them for us.
We managed to attend lessons in the afternoon but it was two days before we could sit down without flinching.
Julie told me that although the caning had really hurt her she felt excited by the whole idea.
I told her not to be so daft as I did not want to experience anything like that ever again.
When we returned our sashes the following Monday I swore then never to wear one again no matter what colour and I am pleased to report that I never have.
Julie on the other hand wore a red sash on three more occasions and a yellow sash twice more.