Twelve year old Stephen Turner woke up, dismally wishing that he did not have to go to school . He usually enjoyed school, but he was really not looking forward to it that day.

For some time he and his best friend David Allardyce, together with two boys from the 'A' stream, Iain Hunt and Laurence Townsend, had started to go around together and visit local shops and shoplift from them. It had started as a dare and was more of a lark then anything else - at least until yesterday when they'd been caught by the manager of the local W H Smiths.

Iain and Stephen were wearing school uniform so he knew they were from the Essex County High School, and they could not give false names because he made them open their bags to check that they hadn't taken anything else, and their names were on their books.

He had told the boys that he would report them to their school and Stephen had little doubt that if he did so it would mean a summons to the office of Mr Winterton, the headmaster, for the cane. Mr Winterton did not use the cane very often, but only a fortnight before he had caned two boys in the fourth year for shoplifting and had issued a stern warning to the school. Stephen was frightened of getting the cane. He knew that it would hurt a lot more than the slipper.

He dressed carefully, making sure that he was wearing full school uniform. He didn't want to give "Jack" any excuse to give him extra strokes. As he pulled on his underpants his hands felt the soft skin of his bottom. What would the cane do to the tender pink flesh? He briefly considered wearing another pair of underpants, but discarded the idea immediately. He had heard a rumour that a boy had tried this on with Jack, who had made him take down his trousers and both pairs of underpants and had caned him on the bare. Stephen did not know if it was true - no one ever knew who the boy concerned had been - but if the story was told then it was clear that boys who knew thought that there was nothing unbelievable in supposing that Jack could notice an extra pair of underpants worn for protection. If that was so he wasn't going to take the risk.

Stephen drew on his grey school shorts wishing that his parents had let him wear long trousers. They had insisted on his wearing the shorts until his thirteenth birthday, which was still two months off. He winced at the sudden thought that some of the strokes might be aimed low and land below his shorts onto his bare flesh. Desperately he grabbed at a more comforting thought - Jack might go easier on him, thinking he was younger than the other three miscreants.

At breakfast Stephen did his best to act as if nothing was wrong. If possible he didn't want his parents to find out about this little episode.

At school Stephen was not surprised when in the second lesson a prefect looked in and said that he and David Allardyce should report to the headmaster's office after school. Stephen found it very difficult to concentrate after that for the rest of the day. David was worried too but found it easier to mask his concern than did Stephen. Unlike Stephen he had been caned before, although not by the headmaster. He knew that he was likely to get a lot worse than the two strokes he had got from Mr Martin for mucking about in class.

At four Stephen and David made their way down the corridor to the headmaster's office. They knocked at the door and went in. Iain and Laurence were already standing there with downcast heads. But what was most surprising - and terribly embarrassing - was that a young sales girl from W H Smiths was also standing there! Mr Winterton explained that she had been sent by the manager to witness their punishments and that he wanted them to apologise to her afterwards.

The headmaster was really very angry. He did not want Essex County to get the reputation of a school whose pupils shoplifted. He knew that these silly little second years were not real criminals, but he was determined to make examples of them that would deter both them and any other boys from being tempted to shoplift. He was especially angry at Karen's presence. It was as though the manager of the Smith's branch didn't trust him to punish the boys adequately. Still, it would embarrass the naughty boys hideously and that was all to the good.

Karen was really enjoying herself and was looking forward to later events with a great deal of expectation. She was only sixteen years old and had left school less than a year before. Hers had been a mixed school, but only the boys were caned. Karen had taken full advantage of this and had often been involved in escapades where her male colleagues had been caned while she had escaped scot-free. She'd always wondered what it was like to be caned, while being grateful for her own exemption. Now she was finally going to see four naughty boys get the cane. And she was missing work!

Mr Winterton launched into a long lecture about the awful thing the boys had done by stealing and how they had damaged the school's reputation. He ended by saying that he thought he knew who the ringleaders were here and would punish them accordingly. Unfortunately for Stephen and David this was sheer prejudice on Mr Winterton's part. He just couldn't believe that the "A" stream pupils could have been as much to blame as those from the lower stream.

He turned to a cupboard behind him and selected the senior schoolboy cane. He did not usually use this on second year pupils, but these were special circumstances and he intended this to be a severe punishment. Stephen, watching apprehensively, did not know this but could see that it was longer and thicker than the one Mr Martin had used on David the term before. He felt sick. Karen smiled to herself.

The headmaster bent the cane almost into a semi-circle to demonstrate just how flexible it was. Then he told Laurence Townsend to move a chair into the middle of the room, and to bend over it. Laurence was the smallest of the four boys and the only one who had never been caned or slippered before. He looked almost as though he was going to be sick when he was selected to be first. As he bent Karen was presented with a perfect view of his bottom, clad in its long light-grey trousers.

Mr Winterton warned Laurence not to get up until told to, but didn't tell him how many strokes he would be getting. Stephen was shocked at how hard he lashed the cane down. It was much harder than a caning in class. Laurence screamed loudly at each stroke but just managed to retain his grip on the chair. After the fourth stroke there was a pause and finally Mr Winterton told him he could get up. He was sobbing loudly and cradled his bottom tenderly in his hands as if it was too painful to touch. He was made to stand against the wall, facing it, with his hands behind his neck.

Then it was Iain's turn. He, too, got four strokes. He took them much better than Laurence, not yelling at all - although he gasped as the last stroke landed. But when he stood up afterwards Stephen could see he was trying hard not to cry. Stephen stole a glance at Karen and was shocked to see that the teenager was grinning delightedly at his friends' pain.

Now Mr Winterton turned to Stephen. 'Get a move on, Turner!' he said angrily as the boy hesitated. Drawing a deep breath he slowly bent over the chair. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth and gripped the bar. His grey short clad bottom felt horribly exposed. He sensed the headmaster raise the cane and then heard the SWISSHH as he whipped it down.

WHACKK!

He felt the impact but there was a time-lag before the real pain hit him. When it did come it was much worse than he'd expected. His bottom was filled by a frightful burning, searing pain. None of his slipperings had ever hurt half as much as that one stroke. Just as the stinging was reaching its most excruciating point the cane lashed in again.

WHACKK!

It took all his willpower to stop himself yelling. He could feel tears beginning to trickle involuntarily out of his closed eyes. But Stephen didn't want his friends to think that he was a coward. He felt the headmaster rest the cane across the middle of his shorts and gripped the bar of the chair even tighter, his knuckles turning white.

WHACKK!

The third cut seemed to hurt even more than the first two, and he gasped audibly as the new level of pain blazed across his bottom. Desperately he tried to think of something pleasant, the holidays coming up, anything to take him mind off the agonising reality of the caning, but his mind refused to budge from the intense pain. He prayed that the next stroke would be the last.

WHACKK!

Stephen's hands left the bar, to go to his anguished buttocks. Somehow he forced them back. He felt his legs kick wildly; he seemed to have lost control over his body. He was breathing in deep quavering gasps and he realised that he had started to cry audibly. Surely Mr Winterton would now tell him to get up.

WHACKK!

No. Instead he felt another stroke land over the existing weals. This time he couldn't help himself and he yelled out loud. He wanted to beg Mr Winterton not to give him another stroke, but before he could do so the cane had landed.

WHACKKK!!

It was the hardest stroke yet and sounded like a pistol shot. But Stephen hardly felt it! The nerves in his bottom were already registering maximum pain and couldn't cope with any more!

At last he heard Mr Winterton's voice telling him that he could get up. His hands went straight to his bottom. He could feel how wealed and swollen it was through the material of his shorts and underpants. He tried to bring himself under control. Mr Winterton made him stand next to Laurence and Iain and put his hands behind his neck like them. He couldn't stop crying. Laurence was still crying as well although Iain still stared sullenly at the wall trying stoically to ignore the blazing pain in his nether regions.

It was David's turn now. Like Stephen he got six strokes. He took them bravely, in silence, but he too was crying by the end of the infliction. Stephen hardly realised that his friend was getting the cane at all, let alone his reactions. He was in a world of his own where all he could think of was the pain in his own posterior.

Laurence Townsend at least was glad of David's humiliation. He felt that he owed his own sore bottom to his friend's influence. Eventually David, too, was standing next to the other boys, hands behind neck and trying to hold back his tears.

Mr Winterton made the boys turn round to face Karen, the sales girl. He then asked her if she was satisfied that the boys had been suitably punished. Through a veil of tears Stephen saw her head nod emphatically, her eyes shining brightly as she smiled her agreement. He noticed that she was squirming on her chair as if she was uncomfortable. Stephen guessed that she was mocking the fact that the boys would not be able to sit comfortably for some time. Then Mr Winterton made each boy apologise to her in turn and then they were told that they could go. Before they went he gave each of them a note to be taken home and signed by their parents. So that was the end of Stephen's hope that they wouldn't find out.

As he'd expected his parents were very angry when they read the note and they forbade him to have anything more to do with David Allardyce in future. He was sent to bed early that night and his father paid him a painful visit with a slipper on the grounds that Mr Winterton had punished him for shoplifting, but HE was punishing him for disgracing the family. Stephen got less sleep that night than he had the night before. Next day the marks of his caning were hidden by his grey shorts, but some of his father's slipper marks were visible. It was over a week before he could sit down properly and he was too embarrassed to go back to that branch of W H Smiths for years afterwards.

Keywords: