'Volume 16 – The People's Choice' - The Woody Back to School Unit

Volume 16The People’s ChoiceR HumphriesWoodettes Publications

Published 2010byWoodettes PublicationsHouston, Texas, USA© Woodettes Publications 2010R Humphries has asserted his right to be identified asthe author of this work with all rights reservedincluding the right of reproduction in whole or in partin any form.The Library of Congress has catalogued this edition asfollows Humphries, R [date]The People’s Choice : a novel by R Humphries[Application Pending]1st Ed.ISBN – [Application Pending]www.woodettes.wordpress.com

Author’s NoteThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters,places and incidents are either the product of theauthor's imagination or are used fictitiously. Anyresemblance to actual events or locales or persons,living or dead, is entirely coincidental.The stories based at the Woody Back to SchoolUnit are works of adult fiction based upon the real-lifefantasy games played by the author, R. Humphriesand his wife, the inimitable Jojo.It is the author’s intent to create the WoodyBack to School Unit as an imaginative world peopledwith a believable cast and set in familiar surroundingswithin which the readers will become comfortable.The vernacular used in the stories is acombination of the phraseology derived from writingsuch as the British penny comics from the nineteenthirties, current language, slang and idioms, and theinvented parlance known as Woody Jargon.As such references to ‘beating’, ‘thrashing’, and‘flogging’ have no context to the use or avocation ofphysical violence, with the exception of controlledcorporal punishment, against the characters of thestories.

ContentsPatsy ................................................................ 1A Full Collar Walkthrough .......................... 5Perfectly Presented ..................................... 9Operation Cane Morton............................. 13Debs under Observation ........................... 17A Little Turn ................................................ 21Sally Stood-down ....................................... 25Plod Goes To Woodys ................................ 29Lottery Spankings ...................................... 33Cool Cat ........................................................ 37A Total Muff ................................................. 41The Main Event ........................................... 45Sergeant Ellen Millar ................................. 49PC Minx ......................................................... 53Spanking Plod ............................................. 57The Morning After ...................................... 61A Dodgy Short Cut ...................................... 65The Music Room .......................................... 69A Sizzling Super-weal ............................... 73Warmers ....................................................... 77Jojo Sets Another Record ......................... 81In Search of the New Red-shirt.............. 87Nixdown Thinks it Over ............................ 91The People Have Spoken .......................... 95To the Manor Born ..................................... 99Focus Benders ........................................... 103The People’s Choice ................................. 107

1PatsyMr Humphries sat back in his chair lookingthoughtful. Bernadette Summers was standing toattention in front of his desk, her arms pressed tightlyto her sides and her eyes facing front. The surlyglower she wore on her face disguised her naturallypretty features. On either side of her Ms Wharton andSally Cobb were grinning like Cheshire cats.Lying on the desk in front of the Grand Masterwas an application for Bernadette to receive a FormalHouse Beating on the grounds of Bringing the RedHouse into Disrepute.“It’s an open and closed case,” the Wartinsisted. “Summers failed to turn up for her tennismatch and the Red House was fined fifty merit marks.The House Charter dictates she is subjected to a fullcollar walkthrough and a twelve stroke runningbender. It is a mandatory punishment and doesn’trequire a full council endorsement. As Mistress of theHouse I have full authority to approve the beating.”

The People’s Choice“I’ll give this some thought,” the Grand Mastersaid finally.“Then I’ll need to take Summers into HouseCustody,” said Ms Wharton. “Sally will take her to theback room of the library and supervise her.”Mr Humphries nodded. “I understand theprotocol; however, I am going to send Penelope AnnEvans to act as an independent observer, just in caseMiss Cobb should get any ideas.”The Wart was clearly displeased but sensiblyshe elected to remain silent.The Grand Master invited Lady VictoriaBrompton to his study for a beverage. Over the pastyear he had gained immense respect for thearistocratic Red-shirt and treated her as his aide decampe.“All of this over a missed tennis match?” heasked. “I don’t suggest that she shouldn’t bepunished but this whole ritual seems rather arcane.After all we’ve abolished collaring, sweating andsporting spanking? Isn’t this just another hangoverfrom the old days?”“I know it sounds rather servere,” said LadyVix, “but the gals are quite competitive over theAnnual House Trophy and losing fifty points this latein the year puts the Red House in a tough spot.Believe you me I wouldn’t wish a Formal HouseBeating on anyone and I can speak from painfulexperience but the Bounder let the side down badlyand she knew the consequences.”The Grand Master drummed his fingers on thedesk. Sometimes the strange code of honor amongst

3the inmates bewildered him. Victoria Brompton was alegendary champion of the underdog but sheappeared adamant that the ritualistic beating shouldproceed as planned.“There is one problem, Sir,” Victoria continued.“The only members of the Elite certified to deliverrunning benders are Rachel, Claire and I and we’re allmembers of the Blue House. The only person in theRed House certified is Deborah Morton and she’s nota prefect.”“Any suggestions?” asked the Grand Master.Lady Vix nodded. “We could bring back PatsyButcher,” she told Mr Humphries. “She’s still onprobation so she’s theoretically still a Woody Gal. Shewas the Captain of the Red House last year and shegot quite a bit of experience. The one thing we needto be sure of is that Bernadette gets a good, cleanbeating. Patsy will take care of that.”Patsy Butcher gaped at Cathryn Cassidy.The two old chums were enjoying a few scoopsin a Woody friendly bar in the local town.“It’s all about safety,” insisted Cat. “TheBounder’s scheduled for a sore arse and there’snothing going to change that. The Red House don’thave anybody qualified to dish out running benders.You have all the experience and she knows she cantrust you.”“Oh good grief,” was all Patsy could think of tosay.“Members of the Blue House repair to thelandings,” Katie Beck’s voice crackled over the

The People’s Choiceintercom. “Members of the Red House cut alongsharpish and congregate in the gymnasium. The unitis under immediate button-down, mandatory six ofthe best for anyone caught gabbing, goofing, larkingor pranking.”“Bernadette Summers of Phase 5 has beenfound guilty of Bringing the Red House into Disreputeand has been sentenced to receive a Formal HouseBeating. Full Collar Walkthrough followed by a twelvestroke running bender,” the inmates could almosthear Katie cackling as she made the announcement.

2A Full Collar WalkthroughCathryn Cassidy hugged Bernadette. TheBounder’s coal-black eyes burned with defiance.“I’ll make it as easy as possible,” Cat assuredher.Bernadette gave her a half-smile. “I’m glad it’syou bringing me down,” she whispered.The Wart was iridescent with anger. AsMistress of the House she considered it herirrevocable right to select Bernadette’s escort.However, the Grand Master had been quite insistent.He hadn’t failed to notice Sally Cobb’s obvious relishat the prospect of the Formal House Beating and hehad no intention of fuelling the House Captain’senthusiasm any more than necessary.“Cathryn and Penny Ann will act as escorts,”he informed the Mistress of the House firmly. “Thatway there will be no monkey business.”The Wart pouted but remained silent.

The People’s ChoiceBernadette was well-known as a plucky soulbut even the nerveless Bounder found the prospect ofbeing paraded through the landings a little daunting.Bernadette felt Cathryn gently take her left wrist andbend it up behind her back before Cat reached outand took hold of the collar of her white blouse.The landings were eerily quiet. The membersof the Blue House lined the corridors positionedoutside the doors of their dormitories or studies. FullCollar Walkthroughs were somber affairs, except, ofcourse, for the time when the tyrannical Wart hadbeen subjected to one, which had been a cause forjubilant celebration.Cathryn gently propelled the Bounder forwardand they set off through the first of the landings.Although the Bounder could be a surly coveshe was widely loved by her fellow inmates. Theyknew that beneath her gruff veneer she was agenerous soul. They bowed their heads and avertedtheir eyes in sympathy and respect as she wasparaded passed them.Bernadette did her best to maintain a look ofstony indifference as she was taken from landing tolanding. She appreciated that Cat was doing her bestnot to make the dreadful ordeal any worse thanabsolutely necessary. During the dark days ofOperation Scorched Arse when inmate abuse was rifethe Bounder had been subjected to numerousundignified collarings. She had rarely gone quietly andit frequently took several members of YvonneGodfrey’s heinous SS to restrain her. However, even

7being manhandled and dragged away to the library tobe caned paled into insignificance when compared tothe humiliation of a Full Collar Walkthrough.When they finally reached the doors to thequadrangle Cathryn released her grip on Bernadette.Cat produced a silver hipflask that she had stashed inthe elastic waistband of her bumbags and handed itto the Bounder.“It’s vodka,” she told Bernadette, “Sally won’tsmell anything.”Bernadette smiled thankfully and took twohealthy slugs.The members of the Red House werecongregated in the gymnasium and formed into acircle of bodies surrounding Bernadette and SallyCobb. Bernadette was standing with her hands on herhead glaring at the Captain of the House. Sally Cobbwas reading the public scolding from a sheaf ofpapers.The content of the scolding was anotherdisappointment to the Wart. The draft she hadapproved had been a truly dreadful condemnation ofthe Bounder but the Grand Master had madesweeping changes and edited out the juicy sections.The Wart gnashed her teeth and wrung her hands indismay as she watched her wicked words beingreduced to nothing more than a mild reprimand.Sally was doing her best to make the scoldingsound as scathing as possible but every time shelooked into the Bounders contemptuous eyes her

3Perfectly PresentedAs usual Patsy Butcher looked magnificent. Shewas five feet ten inches of honed and tonedathleticism. Her whiter than white blouse contrastedstarkly against her ebony skin and seemed to cling toher form as if it had been sprayed on to her. Shewore an extremely abbreviated pleated skirt thataccentuated the shape of her sprinters legs. She woreher waist length hair in beaded braids, tied back intoa ponytail. She flexed the long, slender ceremonialhouse cane between her hands.At the far end of the gymnasium Bernadettewas folded in half across a training beam. Her weightwas supported by the balls of her feet, her heelsraised from the floor. On the other side of the beamher arms dangled loosely and her jet black haircascaded down in the direction of the floor. The skirtof her gymslip and the tail of her blouse had beenneatly folded back. The material of her navy bluegossamer bumbags stretched tightly across herupturned arse.

The People’s ChoiceThe members of the Red House were lined upalong the far wall, several feet from their haplesschum. Several of them held hands as they watchedPatsy making her final preparations.Bernadette stared down at the wooden floor ofthe gymnasium and did her best to prepare herself.Up on the balls of her feet she was totally defenselessand at the mercy of Patsy. Nonetheless anexperienced campaigner like the Bounder was fullycognizant that it was imperative that she wasperfectly presented in order that the process wouldgo off smoothly.Patsy neatly rolled back the cuffs of her blouseand loosened her collar and tie. She retrieved thecane and gripped it tightly. The Old Gal took a deepbreath and set off at a run.“One,” the Grand Master announced over theintercom.The crack of the cane rebounding from thetautened gossamer had echoed through the mainbuilding. The door to the Grand Master’s office waspropped open. Mr Humphries stood at his window, hishands in his pockets, gazing out across the sprawlingDowns. His office was located in the diametricallyopposite end of the main building to the location ofthe gymnasium. The explosion of the cane had beenheard throughout the building.It had been Katie Beck’s idea that the effectsof a Formal House Beating should be heardthroughout the building. “It will give a completely

11new meaning to a really sound beating,” she hadcackled to her conspirators on the Radical Right.Patsy strode back down the gymnasium. Shebreathed a sigh of relief. The all-important first strokehad gone off cleanly and had helped calm her nerves.She stopped at her mark and turned around. Shecounted to fifteen and then set off at a trot,increasing her speed at every stride.Bernadette’s head jolted back as the long, thincane lashed across her buttocks. Her chums watchedsympathetically as her face contorted into a silentscream. A handful of the audience, including Jojo andDebs had been the recipients of Formal HouseBeatings during the year of Operation Scorched Arseand empathized deeply with the Bounder’sunfortunate plight.Bernadette Summers was as tough as nails butas the cane systematically sliced and diced herbumbags she couldn’t disguise her anguish as shethrew her head back at every resounding swipe.The Bounder’s chums watched with criticaleyes as Patsy swooped in, slicing the cane perfectlythrough a horizontal plane and landing each strokeaccurately across the crown of Bernadette’s rump.There was no question that Patsy was delivering thegoods. Her timing and accuracy was perfection. Muchas they hated witnessing Bernadette being beatenthey felt comforted that at least she was in the handsof a true artiste.

The People’s ChoicePatsy flexed the cane and caught her breath.She was eleven strokes into the beating andsteadying herself for the final attack. She ran hertongue across her lips and set off one last time.The sound of the cane rebounding off theBounder’s bumbags echoed through the stairwells andlandings.“Twelve”, announced the Grand Master.

4Operation Cane MortonBernadette leaned against the mantelpiece ofthe study that she shared with Lisa Sutton. She wassmoking a cigarette and sipping a healthy shot ofcognac from an exquisitely mouth-blown RiedelNapoleon snifter. All afternoon well-wishers had beenstopping by to offer their condolences and tocongratulate her on the courage she had shown downin the gymnasium.Patsy had dropped in to share a hug.“I’m sorry it had to be so hot,” she saidgenuinely.The Bounder smiled weakly. “Thank you forkeeping me safe,” she told her old chum. “It smartslike a motherfucker but at least there’s no lastingdamage.”Bernadette stubbed out her fag and swalloweddown her drink. Much as she appreciated thedemonstration of sympathy and goodwill it was doingnothing to relieve her acute state of hot-arsesyndrome. She flicked open one of her hookey cellphonesand speed-dialed.

The People’s Choice“Mickey, darling,” she breathed into the phone,“meet me in the stables, I need to get laid.”Patty and the Wart were feeling particularlybuoyed by the success of the Formal House Beatingand were in the mood for making mischief.“You know what would really make my day?”cackled the Wart.Patty listened intently and grinned.“I’ll see what I can arrange,” she said andflipped open her cell phone.Sally Cobb gaped at Katie.“We want you to cane Morton,” Katie told her.“Wadayamean, cane Morton? What for?” theCommandant of the Secret Society of Serial Spankersspluttered.“If you look hard enough I’m sure you’ll find areason,” snapped Katie. “She’s a degenerate. She’scertain to be up to something.”Sally continued to gape at Katie. When theunit’s matron had sent word that she wanted to seeSally, the Captain of the Red House had naturallyassumed she was to be congratulated on her role inarranging for Bernadette to be subjected to herrecent beating. Sally Cobb had been feeling smug.She was caught totally off-guard by Katie’sinstruction.“I’ll do my best,” she said pathetically, “but I’mnot making any promises.”“This is not a request,” snapped Katiehaughtily. “This is a direct instruction sanctioned from

15above. It is to be considered a top priority mission.Morton is to be caned before lockdown tonight.”Sally Cobb reeled out of Katie’s study with herhead spinning and her ears ringing. Over the past fewweeks she had desperately struggled to attain theonerous whopping targets that had been set for herby Katie. It was not easy. Embarking on a whoppingspree directly under the nose of Lady VictoriaBrompton was dangerous duty. The Red-shirt insistedon reviewing her paperwork and often quizzed Sallyvery intently before allowing a thrashing to proceed.It had been a miserable year for Sally Cobb.The pathetic attempt to resurrect the SS with just twomembers had been a complete fiasco. Her lieutenant,Sally Poffers, the official Gruppenführer of the secretsorority, didn’t have the stomach for going toe-to-toewith Lady Vix and was in a permanent blue funk.More and more Sally found herself operating inisolation in increasingly dangerous territory.She had tried to resign her commission butKatie threatened to turn the secret video tapes of thetwo Sally’s swearing allegiance to the SS over to theGrand Master. There was little doubt that once MrHumphries witnessed her swearing to embark upon acrusade of mischief and mayhem on the inmate’sbumbags that she would be Formally Flunked andmost likely transferred to a high-security prison.Sally Cobb did not have much appetite forwearing jimjams bearing an arrow motif.Sally Cobb knew that many of the inmates onthe weekly lists of targets that Katie provided were

The People’s Choicevictims of the Radical Rights malicious obsessions.Nonetheless, Katie’s latest instruction was the mosthare-brained to date.It was the first time the Radical Right hadactually contracted a caning with such a specifictarget and timeline.Sally Cobb did not care for the sound of hercommission one little bit.

5Debs under ObservationOn the face of it manufacturing a reason tocane Debs Morton might not seem such a tall order.She was a notorious mega-minx and if Sally kept herunder close observation for the remainder of the daythere was a high potential that Deborah wouldcontravene one of the many rules, regulations andprotocols that required a mandatory thrashing.Sally’s mission did not start well. She trackedDeborah down in the gymnasium where she wasworking out with weights and performing kick-boxingexercises with Ms Suzy Scott. Prudently Sally decidedit was not an appropriate time to burst in andannounce some bogus whops. Less than prudentlyshe retired to her study and poured herself threefingers of vodka.She was feeling quite bilious. She only had afew hours to find a reason to beat Deborah or shewould be forced to report her failure to Katie. Sallyhad the uncomfortable feeling that such a resultmight be looked upon unfavorably by her handlersand she would end up sprawled across the desk inPatty’s office. Sally Cobb dreaded the prospect of

The People’s Choicebeing reacquainted with Patty’s lethal wye-tippedcane. She poured herself another stiff drink.Sally lurked outside the wellness center. Shewatched Debs and Suzy emerge, still in trainingclobber and swinging their tote bags over theirshoulders. She followed them stealthily, she watchedthem share a friendly hug as Suzy headed for theBrass quarters. Sally continued to follow Debs from asafe distance. To Sally’s disappointment as Deborahcrossed the quadrangle she was joined by LadyVictoria. Sally gnashed her teeth with frustration asthe two chums entered the main building together.Sally lurked in the stairwell that led to thePhase 6 landing doing her best to look inconspicuous.The door to the study Debs shared with RosemaryBooker was firmly closed. Sally drummed her fingerson the banister.Eventually Deborah emerged from her studyand hurried towards the stairwell. Sally stepped infront of her.“Where are you going in such a hurry?” shedemanded.“I have an appointment with the GrandMaster,” replied Debs.Sally narrowed her eyes. “Are you up forwhops?” she asked.Debs shrugged. “That’s for me to know andyou to find out,” she said cheerfully. “Now if you’llstep aside I need to cut along.”Sally looked Debs up and down hoping to findan obvious clobber infraction but she was

19disappointed. Debs looked spick and span. Sallyfinally stepped aside. She watched Deborah’sretreating figure gloomily. If Debs was on her way upto the Grand Master’s study to be whopped it wouldmake her mission even more difficult. She would haveto find a really good reason before she would be ableto persuade Victoria to sanction another whopping.Sally retired to her study and poured herselfanother drink. The specter of Patty Hodge’s wyetippedcane loomed darkly.Deborah accepted the offer of an easy chairand a glass of chilled chardonnay. The Grand Masterwas showing her a letter from the LTA inviting her tocompete in a prestigious charity tournament duringthe summer. Christopher Brooks, the new Minister forExtreme Social Rehabilitation had signed herdispensation to travel and the American authoritieshad granted her an entry visa. The line-up for thetournament included several of the top ten rankedplayers in the world.“I guess this will show me whether I can evermake it back as a pro,” said Debs.“Jane Lummell says she’s never seen you fitterand Rachel says you’re hitting the ball better thanever before,” said Mr Humphries encouragingly.Debs smiled shyly. “They’re very kind,” shesaid, “but there’s nothing like real competition to putme to the test. I’ll try not to let you down. And, Sir, Ireally want to thank you for sponsoring me with theSystem.”The Grand Master smiled and refilled Deborah’sglass. “I’m sure you’ll make us all proud.”

The People’s ChoiceDeborah beamed contentedly.Deborah noticed Sally Cobb lurking in thecorridor as she left the Grand Master’s office. Theyexchanged glances but didn’t communicate. Debsthought nothing of it and strolled back to her study.

6A Little TurnCathryn Cassidy groaned. “I’d forgotten allabout that,” she told the Grand Master.Cat was looking at a flier that Mr Humphrieshad handed her. It was advertising the AnnualPoliceman’s Ball and in the center of the page was acaricature of a clobber clad Cathryn sprawled outacross a Rozzers lap having her bottom smacked.It had been months since Cat had beenarrested in a local dive bar and charged withpossession of small quantities of whizz and a coupleof sticks of grass. Under normal circumstances thiswould have been nothing more than a misdemeanor,however, Cathryn was still officially on probation fromher Extreme Ladetting sentence. Cat was faced withthe prospect of some hard time in chokey.Mr Humphries came to the rescue andbrokered a deal with Plod. Cat would receive a twelvestroke public flogging and then later she would attendthe Annual Policeman’s Ball where she would bespanked as part of the entertainment.

The People’s Choice“Jesus, Sir, we can’t just shoot Cat out of acannon,” said Lady Victoria. “Isn’t there anything wecan do?”The Grand Master looked thoughtful. “Maybethere is an alternative,” he told Victoria and Cat, andflicked open his cell phone.“We should review our options,” the GrandMaster told the Chief Constable. “You and I have anagreement regarding Miss Cassidy and we could ofcourse proceed as planned. However, in light of thehigh level of public interest in the Back to School unitfollowing the Tribunal it is not entirely unlikely thatnosy journalists might get a sniff of good story if youget my drift and I’m not sure that would be good forany of the parties involved.”“And our options would be?” enquired theChief Constable.“It’s not a perfect outcome,” the Grand Mastertold Cathryn, “but at least this way we’re in control ofthe event.”“I can’t thank you enough, Sir,” she smiledgratefully and then threw her head back and laughed.“We’ll make it an event, Sir. Those pimply Plod willhave their eyes sticking out on stalks.”Victoria flipped open her cell phone. Shelistened intently. “Ok,” she said, “I’m on my way.”She got up and stretched. “I’m sorry, Sir, you’ll haveto excuse me, but there’s a disturbance on the Phase6 landing.”

23Debs went back to her study feeling relaxed.Her muscles were tired from working out with weightsbut she felt good and had copped just a hint of a buzzfrom the two glasses of chardonnay. She had a paperdue the following morning that she wanted to makesome final editorial changes to. She would pourherself one more glass of wine and then spend aquiet evening studying she decided and then turn inearly. She wanted to feel fresh for the six mile runshe had scheduled with Jane Lummell at the crack ofdawn the following morning.As she settled into work on her assignmentDebs Morton was sublimely unaware that the RadicalRight had taken out a contract on her bumbags.“You don’t shlike me much do you?” Sallyslurred.Deborah squinted at the House Captain. “Haveyou got marbles in your mouth?” she asked, “or hasyour jaw come unhinged? I’m having difficultyunderstanding you.”Sally glared at Debs. “Yoush fink youshshmart,” she told her. “But yoush not shmart, I’mshmart.”“Very good Sally,” grinned Deborah. “I’m sureyou’re right and I’ve never met anybody shmarter.”Sally pushed her chest out. “I’ve been shent towhop you,” she announced and waved her ashplant.“Go over there and bend over.”Deborah just leaned back in her chair andgrinned. “Yeah rock on Sally,” she drawled. “Now whydon’t you piss off and stop stinking up my study.”“I shtold you to bend over,” snapped Sally.

The People’s Choice“And I declined,” Debs snapped back. “Nowpiss off before I get annoyed.”Rosemary stepped into the study. “What’soccurring?” she asked.“Lame brain here has got herself all cocktailedup and has decided she wants to cane me,” grinnedDebs.Rosemary scowled at Sally. “You lay one fingeron her and I’ll punch your lights out,” she told theHouse Captain. “Now piss off back to whatever stoneyou crawled out from under.”Sally glared at Rosemary and waved herashplant some more. “Yoush can bend over too,” shesnarled.Rosemary grinned. “Yeah rock on Sally,” shesaid and pulled out a cell phone. “I’m sorry to botheryou Your Ladyship,” she said, “but I think you mightlike to cut along to our study. I think Sally is having alittle turn.”

7Sally Stood-downSally Cobb was looking bewildered. “I reallydon’t remember much,” she said pathetically. “I justremember Katie told me to go and cane Morton. Idon’t remember why.”The Grand Master nodded sagely. “So afterKatie set you this mission you went back to yourstudy and got as pissed as a pirate and then went insearch of Deborah?”Sally looked confused. “I really don’tremember, Sir.” She was pale and wan and lookedvery much as if she might chuck up her cookies atany moment.“Give me your tie,” said the Grand Mastercoldly. “Your tie, your blazer and your prefect’sbadges.”Sally continued to look bewildered. Sheremained rooted to the spot without moving.“Miss Cobb, are you listening?” said MrHumphries, “remove your Elite paraphernalia thisinstant or I shall ask Lady Victoria to assist you.”

The People’s ChoiceSally took several seconds to process things.She looked quizzically at the Grand Master. “You’restanding me down?” she asked dimly. “But I was onlyfollowing instructions.”The Grand Master looked over at Vix. “Vicky,would you assist Miss Cobb, please,” he said quietly.Tears were flowing down Sally Cobb’s cheeks.She was standing in her skirt and blouse, her prefectsregalia neatly folded on a side table. Mr Humphrieswas explaining that she was to be placed under housearrest while he conferred with the Minister.“There is every potential that you will bebrought before a tribunal for re-sentencing,” hewarned her.Sally Cobb continued to weep.“Grand Master, might I have a word?” askedVictoria. “I might have an idea.”Mr Humphries nodded. “Take Miss Cobb ontothe landing and let’s give her the opportunity togather herself.”“You cannot be serious?” squealed Sally.Mr Humphries nodded. “I am perfectlyserious,” he said matter-of-factly. “You have one hourto make up your mind. Return to the landing and facethe wall and Miss Cobb I strongly advise you to weighup your options carefully. Chokey can be a mostdisagreeable experience.”“She told you what?” squealed Katie Beck.“The woman is delusional, Sir. She’s telling you a

27pack of porkies. I spoke to her yesterday but it wasabout the Politics of Clobber. Her house has beenperforming badly of late and I wanted her to givethem a pep talk. I certainly did not instruct her tocane Morton. In fact Morton’s name never even cameup in conversation.”The Grand Master suppressed a grin. Afternearly a year as principal of the facility he had grownused to Katie’s displays of righteous indignation. Itwould be difficult to prove conclusively that she haddirected Sally to embark upon her ill-conceivedmission to the Phase 6 landing. Nonetheless, heplanned on making Katie squirm for a while.“This is your fault,” Katie raged at Patty in thesaloon bar of the Bunch of Grapes. “I escaped awhopping by the skin of my bumbags. I’m sick ofyour foolish schemes. Do your own dirty work in thefuture. I’ve had enough.”Patty sneered at Katie. “You’re so lame. Theslightest bit of heat and you act like a wuss. You’lljust have to own up, I need Cobb reinstated pdq.”“Reinstated? Are you fucking barking?”squealed Katie. “Her arse is just one stop away fromthe caboose! What do you mean reinstated?”“I’m sure if you go to the Grand Master andadmit that you sent Cobb up to cane Morton he’llreconsider,” said Patty haughtily.Katie Beck gaped at Patty. “Are you out of yourmind?” she retorted. “You think I’m going to swaninto the Grand Master’s study and tell him ‘oop’sguess what slipped my mind’? Or maybe I should just

The People’s Choicetell him the truth; that you put me up to it and let’ssee what he makes of that?”Patty narrowed her eyes. “If you can’t find away of reinstating Sally Cobb then you’re just going tohave to take on her responsibilities. Ms Wharton and Iare getting just a tad tired of your lack of delivery.”Ms Wharton just cackled and ordered anotherround of drinks on Katie Beck’s tab.

8Plod Goes To WoodysPatsy and Lindsey Butcher listened to CathrynCassidy’s proposal. “This is pretty out there where thebuses don’t run, even by Woody standards,” observedPatsy.Cat grinned. “We’ll turn it in to an event,” shetold the twins. “Are you in?”The Rastafarian twins nodded. “Anything foryou,” they agreed.“By the way,” asked Patsy, “do me and sis’snames go into the lottery?”“Well I hadn’t thought of that,” laughedCathryn. “Are you serious?”Patsy giggled. “Hell, why not? I mean afteryou’ve been publicly flogged by Ms Lawton how badcan a spanking from some pimply Plod be?”The gymnasium had been decked out withcomfortable chairs brought from the common rooms.A wet bar had been set up, stocked with Crystalchampagne and a wide variety of wine and spirits.Nixdown had done her magic with the lighting and

The People’s Choicerigged up a closed circuit TV system. Cassie Cassyhad prepared trays filled with canapés and Rosemaryhad arranged fresh cut flowers in vases placed onside tables. The gym had a warm and sensual air asthe Usual Suspects thronged about waiting for theirguests to arrive.“I’m thinking of advertising for a new MusicDame,” Mr Humphries told Ms Scott.The diminutive Dame looked shocked. “You’refiring me?” she gasped.“No not at all,” laughed the Grand Masterreassuringly. “I am reorganizing the facility next yearand I am going to appoint you as my new Head ofOperations. You will have Victoria, Cathryn, PenelopeAnn, Melanie, Claire, Mandy and Rachel as your team.Oh and I forgot, the Butcher Twins will be availabletoo. I’m also going to put you in charge of overseeingthe performance of the Elite. It’s a big promotion andit comes with an attractive pay rise.”Suzy looked puzzled. “What about Ms Hodge?”she asked. “Won’t she object?”“Don’t you worry about Patty,” he assuredSuzy. “I’ll take care of that end of the business.”The first stretch limousine pulled into thefacility grounds at seven o’clock, carrying Patsy andLindsey Butcher. The limo had dark tinted windows toobscure the passengers from any prying paparazzithat might be lurking outside the gates. The carparked beside the gymnasium and the two galsstepped out, neatly attired in full clobber.

31Ms Scott mingled with the select group ofinmates that had been invited to the event. TheGrand Master had wasted no time in installing her inher new position and had made her responsible forensuring the smooth running of the evening’sentertainment.“You nervous?” she asked Cathryn.“Hell no,” drawled Cat. “This will be good oldfashioned Woody fun and we’ll be in control.”At nine o’clock two more limousines pulled intothe grounds. The front car was occupied by the ChiefConstable and his most senior aides. The second carcarried the six policemen and women who had gotlucky in the lottery that had been drawn at the AnnualPoliceman’s Ball. Mr Humphries and Ms Scott wentoutside to greet their guests.Inside the accommodation areas of the facilitythe remaining Woody gals and the Brass milled aboutin the various common rooms. Nix had hooked upvideo links to wide screen TV’s and Mr Humphries hadorganized appropriate refreshments to allow themesmerized spectators to make a night of it.Inside the gymnasium Heidi Alexander andLinda Ash took orders for drinks and offered out thecanapés. Penelope Ann Evans looked elegant in atuxedo as she stood behind the bar and pouredcocktails.The inner sanctum of mega-minxes introducedthemselves to the members of the constabulary andposed for souvenir pictures. The only person in the

The People’s Choicegymnasium who didn’t seem to be enjoying herselfwas Sally Cobb who stood off to the side lookingsullen and morose.Mr Humphries allowed his guests thirty minutesto acclimatize themselves and to meet the gals. Thenhe stepped into the center of the gymnasium.“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “If youwould be so kind as to find a seat and makeyourselves comfortable we will proceed.”The police took their places in the comfortablechairs, Heidi and Linda making sure their glasseswere full and that they had enough to eat. TheWoody gals took their places, demurely seatingthemselves on rows of chairs set up against the wallof the gymnasium.“As you are aware,” the Grand Master said,“we are here this evening as a result of a minormisdemeanor perpetrated by one of our most seniormembers. In a spirit of co-operation Chief ConstableCollins has agreed that this trivial offence is notworthy of appearing on Miss Cassidy’s record and inreturn Miss Cassidy has agreed to undergo apunishment of a corporal nature as a reprimand forher actions. Miss Cassidy’s formal reprimand willoccur later in the evening, however, as an ice breakershe has agreed to open the proceedings with atraditional spanking from Chief Constable Collins. Sowithout further ado if I may ask both of you to stepup to the chair we will begin.”

9Lottery SpankingsCathryn stood up. As usual she was wearingher version of full clobber, her tie loose and hergymslip so short that the guests from the localconstabulary could almost see her bumbags as shewalked. The Rozzers whooped and wolf-whistled. Catturned around, winked and tossed her boater into thedarkness.The Chief Constable had divested himself of hisjacket and rolled up his sleeves. Cat folded herselfacross his lap and stretched herself out. Thepoliceman rolled down her bumbags and spat on hishands. Cathryn wiggled her bottom cheekily.In the common rooms the gals and the Brasswere circled around TV’s excitedly watching theevents in the gymnasium. Many of them wereaspiring mega-minxes who dreamed of the day whenthey might be included into Mr Humphries reveredinner sanctum. Their eyes boggled as they watchedone of their spiritual leader’s bumbags being lowered.

The People’s ChoiceFor an amateur the Chief Constable didn’t do abad job. He started out tentatively. Cathryn wiggledin his lap to encourage him and he soon warmed tohis work. Soon Cathryn’s cheeks began to ruddy andher wriggles became a little more earnest. As thesenior policeman became more confident he began tobuild up a nice rhythm, spanking Cathryn up one sideof her bottom and back down the other. By the timehe had given Cat the allotted thirty six spanks oneither cheek she was genuinely pleased to get herbum out of the firing line. Nonetheless, when she hadstraightened her clobber she leaned over and gavehim a peck on the cheek, winking at him and tellinghim, “Not bad big boy,” in her husky flirtatious voice.The cops roared with laughter and clapped theirhands. Cathryn curtsied and went back to her seat.The Grand Master stood up again. “Now wehave special treat for you. The gals sitting down herehave voluntarily entered their names into thetombola. The six lucky winners from your earlierlottery are going to dig into the tombola and select aname and as your prize you get to spank the gal youpick. So lets have our first winner Police ConstableDebbie Hartley.”With the exception of the Chief Constable theother guests were dressed in their glad rags for theevening. The woman who stepped forward lookedquite young, as if she may have just graduated fromcadet school. She wore a red cocktail dress, with herhair fussed up on the top of her head and a pair ofhigh heeled sling backs. She approached the GrandMaster with a slightly nervous look on her face.

35The Woody gals exchanged glances, smilingapprehensively as Mr Humphries span the tombola.The policewoman reached in and picked out a foldedpiece of paper. She opened it and read out the name,looking at Mr Humphries for guidance.“Patsy Butcher,” she read.“Oh my gawd,” exclaimed Patsy. “Me and mybig mouth!” Nonetheless she giggled and stood up.The police constable gaped at the sight of thestatuesque Rastafarian. She raised her head slowlyuntil she was looking up at Patsy. Even in her highheels Police Constable Debbie Hartley was a clear fourinches shorter than the Woody Old Gal.“Holy fuck,” she mouthed soundlessly.Patsy smiled at the policewoman. “Shall we?”she asked politely.The lottery spankings were carried out in anatmosphere of fun and good cheer. The spankingswere limited to thirty-six smacks that were nothingmore than amusement to the six Woody gals whosenames were picked from the tombola. BernadetteSummers, Cassie Cassy, Claire Brooks, Rachel Coxand finally the Minxster followed Patsy over the kneesof the excited members of the constabulary.Everybody cheered and laughed as the six gals kickedtheir legs and pretended to squeal at the policeofficers’ efforts. Four policewomen and two maledetectives had been the lucky winners and it wasgenerally agreed that the women did far better thanthe chaps.After the lottery spankings Mr Humphriesannounced an intermission. The Woody gals mingled

The People’s Choicewith their guests, laughing and joking at theperformances during the first act.The Bounder came across to where Jojo, Nix,Rosemary and Debs were entertaining some of thesenior members of the local Plod.“I don’t fucking believe it,” she groaned. “Youdon’t know how much dosh I lost on you. Who wouldhave believed that not one of the Famous Four gotpicked out. And you Debs, you nearly put me infucking bankruptcy. You’re the unluckiest fucker Iever met, I bet large on you getting your bumwhacked!”“Ladies and gentlemen,” Debs giggled to theguests. “Meet the Bounder.”

10Cool CatAfter glasses had been replenished MrHumphries attracted everybody’s attention again.“Ladies and gentlemen, if you would take your places,we are ready for the main event.” He waited politelywhile the crowd hustled back to their places. “As youare aware,” he continued, “we are here to witnessMiss Cassidy make amends for her unfortunateventure into the world of recreational soft drugs.However, tonight we also have a unique opportunityto demonstrate a little about the Woody community.At this facility we consider ourselves a family, and likeall families we experience the occasional familialmisunderstandings, squabbles and disputes. Thisevening you are going to witness one of our ownwillingly making an act of contrition for an action shenow deeply regrets, and you will see how we dealwith our own.” He smiled. “Miss Cassidy, Miss Cobb,take your places.”Cathryn Cassidy stood up, a look of intenseconcentration on her face; she smoothed down herskirt and stepped forward. She strode down the hall

The People’s Choicewith a confident swagger. The inmates in the gymexchanged admiring glances. To her fellow inmatesCat Cassidy would always be the epitome of cool.Sally Cobb was looking anything but theepitome of cool. She sat rigidly in her chair, the lookon her face a mixture of terror and uncertainty. MrHumphries statement regarding her willingness toparticipate in the event was not entirely accurate. Shehadn’t slept for several nights; the prospect of herforthcoming ordeal had left her in a blue funk.Stripped of the protection of her Elite status she hadbecome a figure of ridicule. She slunk about thecampus dressed in full clobber and avoiding contactwith the other inmates.Patty Hodge had summonsed her to her studyand given her a vicious thrashing for failing tocomplete her mission. Katie had dragged her over herknee and slippered her for grassing her up to theGrand Master. It was a miserable time for Sally but atleast she had escaped the terrible prospect of beingsent back before the System and the awfulconsequences that might have faced her.Sally turned and looked forlornly at Lady Vix.The Red-shirt stared at her pointedly. Finally with alook of hopeless resignation on her face the disgracedformer Captain of the Red House stood up.At the end of the row of seats the ButcherTwins also stood up, watching and waiting as Cathrynand Sally approached the beam that had beenlowered at the end of the gymnasium. When the twogals reached the beam they positioned themselvesten feet apart and placed their hands on the bar at

39shoulder width. The Butcher Twins followed themdown the gymnasium.“You ready?” Lindsey whispered in Cathryn’sear.Cat nodded and released her grip from the barand bent forward in one fluid movement. Her skirtwas so short that by the time she was in the fullhangover it had turned itself up her back, exposingher tautened bumbags.“Good luck,” whispered Lindsey.Patsy was having more difficulty with Sally,having to coerce her into assuming the full hangover,but eventually Sally acceded and raised herself uponto the balls of her feet and allowed her head andarms to dangle unsupported towards the floor.With the two gals suitably positioned theButcher Twins turned and walked back to the far endof the gymnasium, where Suzy Scott was waiting witha pair of super canes in her hands.The atmosphere in the gymnasium of jovialbonhomie that had prevailed during the lotteryspankings had changed to more somber feeling oftense excitement. The Woody gals stared at the twogals prostrated across the wooden beam with mixedemotions. Much as they hated to see their belovedCat in this unfortunate predicament they knew shewould do them proud. They sent subliminal messagesof good will and strength to their favorite sister.Woody gals were not by nature malicious soulsbut the onlookers were delighted to witness Sallygetting ready to receive her comeuppance. Although

The People’s Choiceshe was viewed as a pathetic specimen of the humanrace with the protection of her handlers on theRadical Right she had managed to cause a good dealof unnecessary unpleasantness for the inmates.There was very little in the way of goodwill orpositive vibes being directed towards Sally Cobb asshe bent over the beam.

11A Total MuffThe Butcher Twins loosened their ties androlled up their sleeves. They accepted the supercanes from Suzy and tested them by swishing themthrough the air.Ms Scott stepped between them and flipped acoin in the air.“Heads,” called Patsy.Cathryn Cassidy narrowed her eyes andfocused on a small square of floor. She concentratedon keeping her breathing even and her musclesrelaxed. She knew that she had to get into themoment and ignore her surroundings. This was nodifferent to the many public floggings she hadreceived during her illustrious career and besides theaudience had already seen her bare bum. It’s reallyno big deal she told herself.Sally Cobb’s heart was pounding. She hadnever been so terrified in her life. This was a very bigdeal for the former House Captain. Unlike Cathryn she

The People’s Choicedidn’t have the experience of a catalogue of publicfloggings to draw upon. Sally did not appear amongstthe top ten of the All-Time Hall of Shame, quite theopposite.Prior to her incarceration at the Woody facilitySally had been a low ranking foot soldier amongst theConfederacy of Yoofs. Yvonne Godfrey had scoutedher and given her a position on her staff. Sally hadpossessed all the attributes that Yvonne looked for;she was a sniveling sycophant, she reveled in themisfortune of others and she was not much brighterthan three sheep. Just the type of sacrificial pawnYvonne liked to surround herself with.When Yvonne and her cronies at the top of theConfederacy had first been arrested they had beencharged by the Serious Crime Squad. In return for thecharges being reduced to Extreme Ladetting Yvonnehad promised to blow the whistle on the higherechelons of the Yoof movement.However, Yvonne Godfrey was a wily bird andfar brighter than anything Plod had on offer. She hadno intention of damaging the criminal organizationshe had worked tirelessly to create. She effortlesslyconcocted a diversionary tale that implicated thehapless Sally as her heir apparent as the top femaleYoof. Within twelve months Sally Cobb had beenarrested three times and was immediately dispatchedto the Big House for a mandatory seven yearsentence without the possibility of parole.Sally Cobb was not cut out for a regime ofbeing spanked, slippered and caned. She quicklygained a reputation as a total muff, regularly breaking

43the Woody code by howling and blubbing when shewas punished.Whereas Cathryn had consistently remained inthe top ten of the All-Time Hall of Shame throughouther sentence Sally had successfully remained at theopposite end of the scale. She was amongst thehandful of inmates in the facilities history not toaccumulate double figures during the first six years ofher sentence.Yvonne used her as her personal gopher andsnitch. During Godder’s heyday as commandant ofthe SS Sally’s snitching had caused many of theinmates to find themselves upstairs in the libraryhaving their bumbags cut to tatters.The Radical Right had known that she was notcut of the same cloth as Yvonne but they had limitedoptions for creating a new SS amongst Lady Victoria’sElite.It was a miserable year for Sally. Victoriawatched her like a hawk and left Sally in no doubtthat her lethal hairbrush was always just secondsaway from landing on her backside if she evensuspected the Red House Captain of delivering boguswhops.When Sally broached the subject of tenderingher resignation from the SS Patty Hodge brought Sallyto her study and subjected her to a vicious thrashingwith her wye-tipped cane and warned Sally that if shefailed in her duties Patty would personally target her.Once she had finished giving Sally her ominouswarning Patty had bent the prefect over for a secondtime and thrashed her again just for shits and giggles.

The People’s ChoicePatty, Katie and the Wart kept her focused bybeating her regularly. Although her official record didnot reflect these private thrashings, during herprefectorial year Sally Cobb accumulated morecanings than she had in the previous six yearscombined.Bent over the beam in the gymnasium, withthe skirt of her gymslip turned back, Sally Cobb felther eyes welling up with tears of frustration andhumiliation.Cathryn and Sally tensed. They had no ideawhat was happening behind them except for the slapof a single pair of feet approaching at speed. A canewhined through the air, the two gals squeezed theireyes closed. THWHACK!!! The cane lashed downacross Cat’s bumbags making her gasp.Lindsey Butcher strode back up the gymnasiumand stood next to her sister. Ms Scott nodded atPatsy who set off at pace.Sally Cobb’s head jerked up and she screamedas the stripe of heat imploded through her nerveendings. It was a good clean strike, precisely placedacross the crown of her arse. Sally’s body jolted backdown pathetically and she hung upside down panting.

12The Main EventThe two gals heard feet behind them. Catgritted her teeth and braced herself. Sallyconcentrated on trying to deal with the burning stripethe cane had left. The cane swept through the air andSally let out a scream of surprise and anguish. Thestroke caught her totally unprepared and raised herseveral inches further over the beam. Tears flowedfreely down her face.Ms Scott nodded and Patsy Butcher took off forthe third consecutive time. Despite her haplesscircumstances, when she heard the cane swipe downacross Sally’s bumbags Cat grinned to herself.“Clever,” she thought, “very fucking clever!”There was no rhythm to the way that Ms Scottcut the twins loose, so Cat and Sally had to preparethemselves each and every time that they heard theclatter of feet approaching. It was an effectivestrategy and even the experienced Cat was findingthe constant uncertainty disconcerting. At first Sally

The People’s Choicehad been seeing most of the action receiving her firstsix strokes while Cathryn only got two. Then, to eventhings up, Ms Scott released Lindsey to unleash afour-stripe salvo that took Cathryn’s breath away.At the halfway mark neither of the ButcherTwins were showing any sign of slowing up. Theysped down upon their prey, delivered their swipes,and then returned to the end of the gym withoutbreaking a sweat.At the far end of the gym the two victims werea study in contrasts. Predictably Cathryn Cassidy wastaking her beating in stoic silence. Beside her Sallywas shaking and shuddering. She was letting out fullbloodedhowls as each stroke sliced across herbumbags. Between strokes she hung upside downmaking gurgling sounds in a most disagreeablemanner.Ms Scott gave Patsy the nod and she set off ata trot, accelerating slightly then going in low andcutting the cane across the lower flesh of Sally’scheeks. Not quite a low rider but enough to raiseSally’s feet clear off the ground. The disgraced HouseCaptain was in danger of toppling so far forward thatshe would slide clear over the beam. Patsy leapedforward and caught her, helping her back down.Leaning over and checking Sally was okay, Sally justgurgling, unable to make words. Patsy waiting,keeping her hand on Sally’s back, telling her to takeher time and catch her breath. Then when Sally finally

47muttered that she was okay, turning and walkingback.The next few strokes were deliveredalternately. Cat, Sally, Cat, Sally and then Cat again.Next Ms Scott released Patsy to unleash two superswipes across Sally’s defenseless behind. Both swipeswere greeted with raucous howls. Her tally had nowreached eleven.Ms Scott nodded at Lindsey. Cat bracedherself, sensing her turn was coming. She flexed hercalves and got up on the balls of her feet, bracing herhips over the beam and reaching down so her bumwas up high and proud. She heard the feetaccelerating and the whine of the cane cuttingthrough the air before it cracked down across herbumbags. She whistled and clenched her fists,regrouping as she heard Lindsey stepping away, fairlysure the next swipe would be hers too. She wasn’tmistaken and she gasped as another perfectlycontrolled stroke swiped down across herbeleaguered bum. The two gals had now receivedeleven strokes each.Patsy and Lindsey looked down at Ms Scott,waiting for her signal. The new Head of Operationslooked from one to the other and then gave Lindseythe nod.The crowd watched breathlessly as Lindseystarted her final run-up. Under the subdued lightingthat Nix had designed only the white of her crispblouse was visible until she burst into the spotlight

The People’s Choiceoverhanging the beam, like a predatory Amazon withher cane arcing through the air towards itsdefenseless quarry. The crack of the cane echoedaround the gymnasium causing everybody to squirmand not the least Cathryn Cassidy. The super canesliced across the stripes under Cat’s bumbags like aheat seeking missile. Cathryn groaned.Lindsey stood beside Cathryn, waiting to helpher chum up, while her twin sister started herapproach. Looking equally formidable Patsy burst into light and swung her arm fast. She slashed the canedown in a perfectly clean strike, a fitting finale to abeautifully executed dozen. Sally screamed. Shebucked and squirmed, kicked and wriggled. Sheopened up her lungs and continued to howl. Patsyleaned over and told her to take her time and collectherself.Lindsey helped Cathryn to her feet. Cat smiledgamely and hugged her chum. “Good shooting,” shelaughed in a hushed voice.“Well taken, sis,” said Lindsey returning Cat’shug.

13Sergeant Ellen MillarMr Humphries stepped forward and wasbeginning to thank the guests for visiting the facilitywhen the Chief Constable interrupted.“If you don’t mind Grand Master, there is onelast piece of business I’d like to take care of,” he said.Mr Humphries shrugged.The Chief Constable spoke into his cell phone.“Bring her in,” he said.Momentarily the doors of the gymnasiumswung open and two strapping police officers walkedin. Between them was a uniformed policewoman,neatly clad in a tunic and skirt over her white blouseand tie, and a hat with a black and white chequeredband on her head. She had three sergeants’ stripeson the sleeves of her tunic.“Please come in Sergeant Millar,” said the ChiefConstable in an authoritative tone.The police sergeant narrowed her eyes slightly,squinting around the room, before she shrugged her

The People’s Choicearms loose from the two male Plod and steppedforward.The inmates couldn’t help noticing that whenshe stood before the Chief Constable she assumedexactly the same pose they assumed when they werein trouble with the Brass. Shoulders back, eyesstraight-ahead, arms by her sides and her kneestogether.“Ladies and gentlemen,” the Chief Constableaddressed the room, “this is Police Sergeant EllenMillar. For the past several days I have had SergeantMillar’s disciplinary file on my desk and I have beenconsidering what action to take. This is not the firsttime that her file has appeared on my desk. In fact,during the past six months Sergeant Millar hasalready received two informal reprimands. I will notdwell on her specific transgressions except to say thatthey relate to internal Police disciplinary proceduresand that she has done nothing in the least bit illegal.Under the circumstances it would be normal practicefor me to give her an official reprimand and to passher file to internal affairs to discipline her.”The Woody gals watched the policewomanintently. She looked about the same age as them, inher early to mid-twenties, looking neat in her wellpresseduniform. But, it was the look on her face thatthey were watching. It was a look that they saweveryday at the facility. Part defiant, part anxious,part resigned. It was the look of a gal who had beencaught and was waiting to discover her fate.

51“However,” the Chief Constable continued,“consider this. The internal affairs department will nottake into account that Sergeant Millar is anoutstanding officer in the field, nor will they care thatshe is amongst the youngest female sergeants on theforce. What they will care about is that she has madethree unfortunate errors of judgment, trivial errors ofjudgment, and in all likelihood they will demote her.”The Woody gals empathized big time whenthey noticed Sergeant Millar’s mouth involuntarilytwitch into a momentary grimace.“Demotion in the police force is a very seriousmatter and for a young sergeant it may proveirrecoverable.” The Chief Constable sighed. “Untilearlier today I felt I had no choice but to do the usualand throw Sergeant Millar to the piranhas. But then Igot to thinking, perhaps I have options. Perhaps Icould cut her some slack, perhaps I could take alesson out of the Woody handbook and how they lookafter their own.” He looked at the Sergeant sternly.“But of course that will be up to you young lady!”“You’ve got to be kidding,” laughed Lady Vix indisbelief. “You want me to spank Plod?”“Exactly,” said the Grand Master.“And you don’t think she might take umbrageto this particular proposition?”The Grand Master chuckled. “Well she might,”he admitted, “we’ll find out soon enough.”The policewoman bit her lower lip nervously.“I’m not sure I understand,” she muttered, but fromthe look on her face the Woody gals could tell thatshe understood very well.

The People’s ChoiceThe Chief Constable sighed. “Don’t pretend tobe obtuse Sergeant. Obtusity doesn’t become you,”he told her.“No Sir, sorry Sir,” said Sergeant Millarsomewhat numbly. “I think I get the gist, but whatexactly are you proposing?”“What exactly is a double dangling?” the ChiefConstable asked Mr Humphries.Mr Humphries leaned over and whispered inthe policeman’s ear.“Oh!” said the boss Rozzer. “Well that certainlysounds like a plan.”

14PC MinxPolice Sergeant Ellen Millar unbuttoned thesilver buttons of her tunic and let it fall open. Shetook off her hat with the checkerboard band andhanded it to Heidi Alexander. Her eyes flitted from thespanking stool that had been brought from the libraryto Lady Vix who was slapping the hairbrush againstthe palm of her hand.“When you were at school, were you ever sentto the Headmistress’ office Sergeant?” asked theChief Constable.The policewoman flushed. “Yes Sir, once ortwice.”“And what happened to you?”Sergeant Millar’s flush transformed into a fullcherry blush. “I got the cane Sir.”“Whoa,” giggled Nix. “PC Minx!”“Goes to show,” laughed Jojo. “Once a minxalways a minx.”

The People’s ChoiceLady Victoria Brompton climbed up onto thespanking school.“Remove your jacket Sergeant,” she saidfirmly, “and come here and bend over my knee.”Ellen Millar’s mind was racing. It was hard tobelieve that this was happening to her. At twenty-sixyears old she was an admired and commendedpolicewoman. Yet standing in the gymnasium she feltas if she had come full circle from her schooldays.At school Ellen had a reputation as an athletictomboy, happier hanging out with the jocks than herprissy girl classmates. One afternoon, while hangingwith the boys a fight had broken out and although amere onlooker she had been marched back to theschool and brought up before the Headmaster. As aresult of their unseemly behavior they were told theywould be caned, Ellen Millar included. Sheremembered waiting outside the office as the boyswent in one by one, and listening nervously to thesound of the cane bouncing off the lads tautenedtrousers emanating through the heavy door.It was rare for girls to get the cane, she hadonly ever heard of two or perhaps three girls beforeher. She was left until last, to avoid embarrassment.She watched as the boys came out of the study,looking nonchalant, and then it came to her turn. Shewas made to wait some more while the DeputyHeadmistress was brought up to witness thepunishment. Then she was told to raise her skirt andstretch out across the big desk while she got sixswipes that made her eyes water. She remembered

55desperately trying not to let them see that they hadhurt her and sniffing back her tears when she foundone of the boys waiting at the foot of the stairs tomake sure she was okay.To her surprise and delight the fact that shewas the first girl ever to be caned who hadn’t criedelevated her to legendary status amongst herschoolmates.Although she continued to enjoy a reputationas a reckless tomboy she was by far the most populargirl in the school. Unlike the other girls who had beencaned and had never gone back for seconds Ellen wascaned on three more occasions. Each time sheincreased her legend with her fearless performancesand never once howled or blubbed.When it came time for her to become a prefectshe held the majority of the popular vote to beappointed Headgirl. However, on the eve of the finalballot her closest opponent managed to fabricateevidence that Ellen was responsible for vandalizingone of the school cloakrooms.Ellen Millar didn’t much care that she wascaned again but she was horrified when she wasinformed that she would no longer even be eligible toact as a prefect. It was a painful year for Ellen. Shethrew caution to the wind and ran with a fast crowd.She established a school record for being caned buther popularity continued to grow.After leaving school she had gone to secretarialcollege and then into the typing pool at a largedepartment store. She hated every moment andmissed the cut and thrust of being the school’sresident tomboy and chief troublemaker. She craved

The People’s Choicefor danger and excitement and then she saw anadvertisement for the police academy at Hendon andapplied.Her years as a police constable were excitingand successful. She received several citations forbravery in the course of duty, opening the door to herpromotion to Sergeant at the youthful age of twentyfive.At first her laudable career continued without ahitch, and then suddenly over the past six monthsthings had begun to go awry.She began to date a detective, a hard-drinking,independent man, and she began to call in sick a littletoo frequently and was occasionally late for roll call.Twice she was carpeted and given informalreprimands, before this latest incident when she haddrunk a little too much and although she wasn’tsquiffy, she had been put on desk duty for the daywhile the Chief Constable reviewed his options.The policewoman finally shrugged off her tunicand handed it to Linda Ash and then she walkedacross the gymnasium towards the spanking stooland Lady Victoria Brompton. In her white blouse andblack tie, and black skirt and flat shoes she couldhave passed for an inmate of the Woody Back toSchool unit. The Woody gals watched in interest asshe stepped forward.

15Spanking PlodLady Victoria had Ellen Millar over and up, withher skirt turned back. The Red-shirt looked over at MrHumphries who nodded. Vix put her fingers in theelastic of the policewoman’s bumbags and yankedthem down, along with her nylon hose. Ellen tried tolook back over her shoulder but she was in a fulldangle and it was impossible. The gals watched asshe finally hung her head between her dangling armsand lay helplessly waiting for Vix to pop her with thehairbrush.Ellen Millar felt the wooden back of thehairbrush being circled over her naked flesh. She triedto take stock of the situation. She was trained to keepcalm under the most difficult of circumstances andcircumstances did not become more difficult than thisshe decided.The sensation of being dangled was quitedisconcerting. It was quite unlike being bent over adesk like she had been when she was being caned at

The People’s Choiceschool. She felt completely at the mercy of LadyVictoria.It had been seven years since her last caningand she was suffering from a bad case of thebutterflies in the pit of her tummy.All in all, she concluded, the situation did notlook promising.Victoria Brompton was laying it on with familiargusto. She had tucked Ellen Millar in tightly and wasworking her arse from top to bottom, up one side anddown the other. The inmates watched intently as theupturned pink flesh began to transition from a ruddyrouge to resembling an orange sunset.Ellen Millar dangled head down arse upexperiencing the full blazing glory of a doubledangling. Helpless to defend herself she felt smackafter smack rebounding off her bottom. The burningin her behind intensified as each stroke landed on thealready red and swollen flesh. Her legs kicked backfrantically and she waved her fists in the airhopelessly. She had lost count of the slaps and waswilling the spanking to finish.Vix looked down at her handiwork. Thepolicewoman’s beleaguered bum was completelyreddened, not a square centimeter of pink flesh wasvisible. She took a tight grip on the hairbrush andreadied herself to unleash a final six spank blitz.The police sergeant’s buttocks twitchedspastically as the final salvo slapped down on the

59already steaming flesh. She felt her bumbags andhose being rolled back into place and her skirt beingturned down. She hung upside down panting untilVictoria gently helped her back to her feet.Ellen Millar buttoned her tunic and replaced herhat on her head. She smoothed down her uniformand stood to attention. Her face was pale and her lipsset in a tight line but she hadn’t howled and shehadn’t blubbed. Police Sergeant Ellen Millar wasfeeling quite proud of herself.The Chief Constable approached her. “Consideryourself officially reprimanded Sergeant Millar,” hesaid not unpleasantly. “Perhaps we should order oneof these spanking stools for the station house. Itcould save a lot of fuss and bother.”Ellen Millar looked at him suspiciously. TheWoody gals could see that she didn’t think that wouldbe a good idea.The police sergeant took her punishment withconsiderably better grace that Sally Cobb. Thedisgraced House Captain asked to be excused fromthe post spanking socializing, throwing a hateful lookat Lady Vix and stomping out of the gymnasium. LadyVix just chuckled and went back to the party. Thepolice officers were clearly enamored withWoodyworld and mingled with the gals, laughing atanecdotes and having their pictures taken.Ellen Millar quickly overcame her initialembarrassment and bonded with the inmates andlaughing good-naturedly when her colleagues joshedabout her double dangling.

The People’s ChoiceIt was midnight before Mr Humphries finallycalled a halt to the revelries and said goodbye to theguests. Claire and Melons were tasked with doingtheir best to settle the unit down for the night withouthaving to hand out too many lickings.Ellen Millar seemed to be having a good timedespite the steam funneling out from under her skirtand volunteered to stay behind and help the inmatesclean up the gymnasium. Penny Ann kept the baropen long into the night.

16The Morning AfterOn the following morning the Grand Mastergranted the inmates a lie-in so it was midday beforethey slowly began to congregate in the cafeteriawhere a buffet brekker had been laid out.“How’re ya feeling this morning?” drawled LadyVictoria drowsily.“Sore head and sore arse,” groaned CathrynCassidy.“Maybe I should fix you a mimosa,” yawnedVix.“Bottoms up to that sister!” nodded Cat.The two chums were surprised when PoliceSergeant Ellen Millar ambled into the cafeteria. Shewas dressed in a white blouse with red piping aroundthe collar, a red and black striped tie, a dark pleatedskirt and a red and black striped blazer.“The Grand Master didn’t want me to go homealone last night,” she explained. “The Bounder waskind enough to lend me some fresh clobber.”

The People’s ChoiceVictoria offered her a mimosa. “No hardfeelings about last night, I hope,” she said earnestly.“You won’t be arresting me every time I go intotown?”Ellen Millar smiled. “You are quite safe YourLadyship.” She giggled. “I know it sounds weird but Irather enjoyed myself last night.”Cat chuckled. “That’s not so weird. Woodyshas a very strange effect on folks.”“Bottoms up to that,” grinned Lady VictoriaBrompton.After brunch Jojo escorted the Butcher Twinsto the Great Hall to show them the progress that hadbeen achieved on the Westside Story production. Thetwins had stayed over for the night specially to see ifthere was anything they could do to help Jojo withher grand creation. The Amazonian sisters linkedarms with the tiny Jojo, towering over her, as shetook them on a guided tour.Jojo was feeling optimistic. Despite theirhangovers many of the cast and crew were alreadyworking hard in the hall. On the stage the backingdancers, dressed in unitards and leg warmers, werelistening intently while Ginger and Mickey went overtheir routines in minute detail.Lisa Sutton was directing her crew in makingfinal adjustments to the set. Most of her crew worecoveralls to avoid getting paint on their clobber.Elsewhere the gals busied themselves with theirassignments, determined that at the next scheduledrehearsal any glitches would be ironed out. The

63Grand Master had granted full loose tie dispensationso they had unfastened their collars and rolled backtheir sleeves and dived into the numerous jobs athand.Nix was working on her Apple, reprogrammingsome lighting set-ups that she felt had been runningmarginally out of synchronization.“Yo, Jo,” she grinned when her best chumbrought the twins up to check out her high-techconfiguration.Jojo smiled at her chum. “You look like youhad a long night.”Nixdown just winked. She had helped PennyAnn clean up the bar before the two lovers hadretired to the privacy of Pen’s apartment. Nicola Janehad been extremely enamored of her English rose inher stiff white wing-collared dress shirt, bowtie andtuxedo and had demonstrated her enamor until hertongue felt like an ironing board and she felt that herhand would be permanently transformed into a claw.Penny Ann had demonstrated her gratitude by puttingNix over her knee and giving her a damn goodspanking.In the sound booth Debs was toying with thescore. She hugged the twins.“I notice that neither of you seem to have lostyour talents,” she giggled. “God you sent chills downmy spine last night. There are some things a galnever forgets. That whole full hangover gig and thesound of the feet on the gym floor. Man that is someheavy duty shit.”

The People’s ChoiceCathryn and Victoria were giving Ellen a tour ofthe facility. It amused them that she was showing somuch interest.“I was glued to the TV during the tribunal, sheconfessed. “There is something about this place thatexcites me.”Victoria winked at Cat.

17A Dodgy Short CutThe following evening Suzy Scott wascompelled to bend Deborah Morton and RosemaryBooker over the piano stool and beat them with herviolin bow.It was not an experience any of the partiesparticularly relished participating in but unfortunatelyDebs and Rosemary had given the newly appointedHead of Operations no choice.After lectures had finished Debs and Rosemaryhad applied for a town pass. Debs needed to pick upa racquet that was having its grip resized andRosemary needed to pick up some much neededblouses she had ordered from the haberdashers.They took the bus into town and arranged tomeet in a Woody friendly wine bar once their errandswere completed.Debs secured her racquet and ambled throughthe town. Several tourists recognized her and stoppedand asked for autographs. Since her reemergence

The People’s Choiceinto the public eye during the Tribunal Deborah hadbecome resigned to the return to her celebrity status.She politely signed various books, magazines andpapers before sliding into the safety of the wine bar.Rosemary arrived soon after clutching a bagfull of enough new blouses to see her through the lastweeks of term. They ordered an ice cold bottle of2001 Domaine A. Cailbourdin Les Cris, Pouilly-Fumeand kicked back with plenty of time on their hands toenjoy.For months Rosemary had been eyeing up alocal studmuffin with a hard body and smiling eyes.As luck would have it no sooner than the two chumshad slipped into a quiet booth than the studmuffin inquestion moseyed into the bar.The wine bar was still quiet before the afterwork crowd arrived.“You should go and talk to him,” teased Debs.Rosemary blushed. “You know I’m shy,” shegiggled.“He’s alone and you’re beautiful, I’m sure hewon’t bite,” said Debs.Rosemary lit a cigarette and changed thesubject.“My pal has really got the hots for studmuffin,”Deborah whispered to the barman as she made herway to the bathroom. “Perhaps he’d like to buy her adrink,” she said conspiratorially.

67Studmuffin worked fast and by the timeDeborah returned from the loo he was firmlyensconced at the table.Debs grinned to herself. She swallowed downher drink and then suddenly looked down at herwatch.“Hey, Rosemary,” she said cheerfully. “WhileI’m in town I might as well buy some new sportssocks. I’ll just cut along and I’ll meet you at six at thebus stop.”Debs watched the bus approaching. Sheflipped open her cell phone. “Where are you?” shedemanded. “The bus is on its way.”“I’m coming,” Rosemary told her. “Don’t worry,let’s just take a cab. I’ll pay.”“Well hurry up,” snapped Debs. “You know it’llbe whops if we’re late.”“We won’t be late,” Rosemary assured herchum.“Where are you going?” demanded Debs. “Youshould have taken a left at the lights.”The cab driver looked into his rearview mirror.“I am planning to cut through the Close,” he told hertartly.“The Close?” retorted Deborah. “The Close willbe wall to wall with traffic at this time of theevening.”“It’s a short cut,” responded the cabby.Deborah looked at her watch and groaned. Itwas six fifteen and the cab driver was turning onto

The People’s Choicethe Close. As Debs had predicted the road was gridlocked.“This is a fucking short cut?” she wailed. Sheturned and looked at Rosemary. “Our bumbags aretoast,” she groaned.“I’m sorry, Debs,” her chum said in a smallvoice.Debs stared out of the cab window gloomily.The traffic was choc-a. There was no possibility ofreaching the compound before curfew. The dodgyshort cut had undoubtedly cost her six of the best.She tried to look on the bright side. The DutyDame was Stephanie Powell.Stephanie Powell was a card carrying memberof the Liberal Left and considered an all-round goodegg by the inmates. She had a reputation fordelivering good, clean canings that apart from underexceptional circumstances were generally never morethan middling warm. Debs figured that there wereworst things that could happen to a gal activelypursuing whops than a short sharp six fromStephanie.

18The Music RoomDeborah groaned again. As expected the gatesto the compound had been secured. While Rosemarynegotiated the fare with the cab-driver Debs hadpressed the intercom to announce their return.To her surprise it wasn’t Stephanie at the otherend it was Suzy Scott.“I’m going to have to ask you to drop off yourbelongings in your studies and to repair to the musicroom. I’ll be along to beat you shortly,” Suzy informedher.Deborah Morton watched the proceedings withconsiderable trepidation. Rosemary was stretched outover the violin stool with her skirt turned back andher voluptuous buttocks pointed upwards. Suzy Scottsliced the violin bow downwards.The music room and Debs had a chequeredhistory. She was an internationally renownedmusician and when she arrived at the facility she hadbeen warmly welcomed by Ms Whitton, the Dame in

The People’s Choicecharge of music at the time. Ms Whitton arranged forher to rehearse with various local symphonyorchestras and Debs was often given leave to giverecitals. Not that her popularity with the Music Dameoffered her any immunity from being beaten with theviolin bow.Ms Whitton was a hard-core member of theRadical Right and notoriously prolific with her bow.The Woody Wags nicknamed her the WackyWhackster due to the bizarre and dramatic set-upsshe used during her beatings.She would bend a gal over the piano stool andthen crank up gypsy music on her old gramophone.Falling into an apparent religious frenzy she wouldwave her arms around in wild abandon, intermittentlyslashing the bow down with considerable force. Alicking from the Whackster could take as long as tenfull minutes, a long time to be prostrated face downover a piano stool.Although Deborah was her star pupil herbehavior was far too appalling to avoid the occasionalinteraction between the bow and her bumbags.Deborah accepted the beatings as the routine price ofmega-minxdom. However, midway through the fourthyear of Deborah’s sentence the incident known inWoody lore as the Fabulous Fart would provecalamitous for Debs.Ms Whitton’s reaction to Deborah unleashing askirt flapping, bumbag straining, gargantuan guff hadbeen formidable. She had dragged Debs over herknee, yanked down her bumbags and whipped hertirelessly with a swishy conductor’s baton.

71To avoid the unpleasantness of the FabulousFart going public during an appeal Debs had agreednot to file charges in return for her bumbags beinggranted a six month sabbatical from the violin bow.Unfortunately the end of the six month periodcoincided with both the announcement of OperationScorched Arse and the declaration of Deborah as theunits Public Enemy Number One.It was a tough time for Debs. Ms Whitton beather at every opportunity and often added macabretwists to the punishments to further humiliate Debs.Finally, the following year, Jojo, Nix andRosemary staged an intervention and Mr Humphrieslaunched an enquiry. He had the Wacky Whacksterarrested and charged with sixteen incidents ofaggravated assault with a violin bow. She received atwo year custodial sentence and was banned fromacting as an educator in the future.The arrival of Suzy Scott as her replacementhad proven to be a temptation too great for Deborahto resist. On first impression there was nothing muchto Suzy. She stood four feet ten inches tall and lookedlike she might weigh eighty pounds with two rocks inher pockets. However, as Deborah would discoverlooks can be deceiving. During the first tutorial thatSuzy presided over Deborah purposefully provokedthe new dame to beat her. It was a legendaryencounter and instantly secured Suzy Scott areputation as one of the greatest whop artistes inhistory.As usual in the whops and clobber world theyinhabited the mega-minxes felt duty bound to test out

The People’s Choicethe skills of the new legend. Very few went back for asecond dose.Suzy gained a reputation for fair play. Sheallowed reasonable gabbing, goofing, larking andpranking during her tutorials but expected to be takenseriously when she called time-out.Debs and Suzy were tight. Suzy took charge ofoverseeing Debs’ workouts in the wellness center,strengthening Debs’ arms and legs and honing herbody. They became very tight indeed.Unfortunately for Deborah her inexplicablecompulsive impulsive behavior syndrome seemed tokick-in at all the wrong moments. Despite theirtightness Suzy had already been obliged to beatDeborah on three occasions. Debs was also the onlyinmate at the unit that Suzy had been compelled tored-card.Debs watched the violin bow slicingdownwards with considerable consternation.

19A Sizzling Super-wealRosemary Booker was not having a good timeof it. The sound of the violin bow colliding with herdrum-tight bumbags seemed to explode in her earslike cannon-fire. The intense sensation of each strokereverberated around her central nervous systemcreating mischief and mayhem in areas of her bodyshe was not normally aware of.When Rosemary had first experienced the caneshe had stunned her fellow inmates with herpronouncement that it really didn’t hurt and that itwas ‘only whops’. Even amongst the whop-hardenedinmates of the Woody Back to School unit this hadbeen considered a stretch and she had been writtenoff as barking. Nonetheless, Rosemary never seemedto show even the slightest after effects of being lickedso after a while her chums took her at her word andreclassified her as an unnatural phenomenon.All that had changed on the first day of theGreat Spank-off when most unexpectedly she had anextraordinary experience. Midway through a fastcaning she was suddenly overwhelmed with

The People’s Choiceexcruciating pain. It was devastating and sheimmediately retired her bumbags from the contest.Since then Rosemary Booker had become increasinglyreticent when it came to matters of whops.Rosemary pushed herself up from the pianostool. Her face was chalky white and her cheekspuffed out as she let her breath out in longimpassioned pants. With slow, stiff-legged steps shestepped aside to make way for Deborah.Debs licked her dry lips. Her tummy waschurning uncomfortably. She stepped over to thestool and very slowly bent over.Deborah Morton had never questioned thatwhops hurt. She had first been caned when she wastwelve years old; three strokes across the bumbagsdelivered in the Posh HQ at the strict QueensgateAcademy. There was no question it had hurt. Thecaning had made her teeth chatter and her eyeswater but she had refused to howl or blub.During the five years she spent at the academyshe was caned with increasing frequency and ferocity.The strokes increased and the intensity of thepunishments multiplied. She taught herself painmanagement, the ability to continue to functionrelatively normally even though her backside wasfrazzled and throbbing, but she never deluded herselfthat it didn’t hurt.At Woodys she had risen to Number Three onthe All-Time Hall of Shame, an achievement that hadrequired her to be beaten almost two hundred times.The kudos had been worth it but she never denied

75that every stroke of the cane had been exceedinglypainful.Deborah stretched herself into a full drape,arms and legs out straight. She felt Suzy turning backthe skirt of her gymslip and she waited for the pain tocommence.Debs didn’t have long to wait. She heard anominous whistle from above and then the white hotslice of heat and pain as it etched from one side ofher backside to the other. She shook her head andclenched her fists as the searing agony took control ofher senses.Ms Scott focused on her target and raised theviolin bow for a second time. She hated being forcedto beat Deborah again but she was determined toexecute the job efficiently. She swung the bowthrough the air with unerring accuracy.Debs had done her best to prepare herself.She knew exactly what to expect, but when thestroke landed she was still astonished by the pain.The art of fine caning is defined by thetightness of the formation in which the strokes aredelivered. Although Ms Lawton was fond of declaringwomen born broad of beam and perfectly designed toabsorb six of the best, the target area was actuallyquite small; the sweet spot of the rump a mere sixinches across the cusp.

The People’s ChoiceSuzy Scott had redefined the meaning of tightformation. She had perfected the skill of landing sixstrokes one on top of the other, creating the perfectweal.It was excruciatingly effective and designed todeter ne’er do wells from making a return visit to thepiano stool.Deborah’s fourth encounter with Suzy’s potentbow was proving no more agreeable than her first,second or third. Every stroke landed right on targetcausing her to buck and writhe, her feet and fistspummeling the ground. When it was over shetottered to her feet like a squiffy sailor on shoreleave.“That fucking hurt,” was all she could think ofto say.Deborah Morton considered her situation.Although being beaten by Ms Scott had beenconsiderably less preferable than a middling warm sixfrom Stephanie Powell it was not a total unmitigateddisaster.It was her forty-seventh punishment of theyear and kept her on target to achieve her goals.With five weeks still remaining before the unit brokefor summer furlough she had plenty of time to scoreher second consecutive Bull and she only needed sixmore canings to move up the All-Time Hall of Shameinto second place.Despite the sizzling super-weal workingovertime inside her bumbags Debs was feeling smug.

20WarmersJoanna Heyworth did her best to suppress agrin. Madame Diderot was flashing a red card in herdirection. Jojo pushed back her seat and headed forthe lecture room door.In keeping with Woody tradition Jojo’s fiftiethpunishment of the year was not her ceremonial BullFlogging; it was a damn good spanking.The Grand Master had her spread out acrosshis lap, tucked in tight. Jojo’s skirt was neatly foldedback and her bumbags were around her ankles.Joanna settled in to be warmed-up for her flogging.Joanna Heyworth was an ardent advocator ofwarmers. The debate over the pros and cons ofpreliminary hand-spankings dated back to the Lawtonera. Ms Lawton had always preceded public floggingswith an over the knee warm-up session and firmlybelieved she was doing the gals a favor.Ms Lawton had discovered the benefits ofwarmers in most disagreeable circumstances. While

The People’s Choiceattending the original Woody School she had spent anunpleasant and acrimonious year as the personalwhopping-gal of Patricia Hodge. Patty took advantageof Susan Lawton’s reputation as the naughtiest gal inthe school and frequently thrashed Susan on boguscharges. Susan’s relationship with the school’s GrandDame was fragile at the best of times and she ratherfancied that all that complaining about Patty wouldaccomplish was to highlight the unacceptable numberof legitimate thrashings she had received. Susanfigured it was best just to suck it up.However, one afternoon she finally got the pipwith Patty. The Red-shirt had imperiously summonsedSusan to her study so that she could give her a rationof tongue pie apropos of nothing in particular. WhenSusan had answered her back Patty had thought itwould be a wizard wheeze to put Susan over her kneeand give her a damn good spanking.Susan was furious and when she was releasedshe promptly hacked Patty Hodge on both shins.Once Patty had stopped hopping from foot to foot shefound herself with a dilemma on her hands. Red-shirtshin-hacking was a sacking offense and if she tookSusan up before the Beak she would most likely haveher traveling trunks packed by nightfall. However,Patty realized that getting Susan expelled would betantamount to scoring an own goal. Losing her mostregular customer would severely curtail Patty’sopportunities to score a fix of gratuitous whops duringany troughs in misbehavior amongst the generalpopulation of the school.Despite her righteous indignation at thespanking Susan Lawton did not relish the prospect of

79expulsion and unwillingly cut a deal with the Redshirt.She would pay off the shin-hackings with aseries of pre-scheduled thrashings. As a downpaymentshe would submit to receiving six strokeswith one of Patty’s prototype taped together canes onthe seat of her well-spanked bottom.Fearfully Susan had bent across the desk inPatty’s study, suspecting that the cane would slicethrough her swollen buttocks like a knife throughbutter.It had been excruciating of course but Susanhad been astonished to discover that the ignominiousspanking had worked to her advantage.The pre-warming of her buns seemed to takethe edge off the usual nerve-jangling, teethchattering,eye-watering effect of the first stroke ofthe cane. It was almost tolerable. It was a lessonSusan Lawton would never forget.Jojo settled in. During her earlier years at thefacility she had shared a common distaste with mostof the inmates for being put over the knees of theBrass and Elite. However, as her relationship with theGrand Master had developed she found herselfincreasingly comfortable head down, arse up over hislap. She liked the way he carefully turned back herskirt and rolled down her bumbags. She felt quitecomfortable when he gently maneuvered her intoposition and pulled her into the crease of his lap.She did not feel quite so comfortable when hebegan to spank her with hands like house bricks, butJojo figured there was a downside to everything.

The People’s ChoiceJojo sipped a glass of champagne. She smiledat the Grand Master. “I think that has warmed me upquite nicely,” she laughed, “I think I’ll go and getmyself ready.”“Bottom’s up, Jojo,” her lover said with a winkand they chinked glasses.

21Jojo Sets Another RecordWhen Joanna entered the hall the inmates rosefrom their seats clapping their hands and stampingtheir feet.In many walks of society such a rapturouswelcome might have seemed a tad queer. After allJojo’s appearance in the hall was for the sole purposeof having her arse whapped with a thirty-six inch longrod made from the finest rattan. However, for theinmates of the Woody Back to School unit her arrivalwas the cause for celebration.For the third consecutive year Joanna hadaccomplished the mega-minx Holy Grail ofaccumulating fifty or more punishments in a singleyear.Jojo smiled cheerfully as she mounted thestage, waving theatrically to her fans and supporters.She had put on a clean, crisply starched white blouseand her red and black striped tie was knotted in aperfect vee. She was wearing form fitting whitewhopping bags with razor creases and her shoes

The People’s Choicegleamed from fresh polish. She had brushed her redhair back under a contrasting hair band and wore justa touch of mascara and lip gloss.A suede-saddled vaulting horse had beenplaced in the center of the stage; Jojo crossed over astood beside it. She looked remarkably calm.Mr Humphries removed his suit jacket androlled up his sleeves. He loosened his tie andunfastened the collar of his shirt. He picked up one ofhis super-canes and flexed it between his hands. Henodded at Jojo. She turned around and bent over thevaulting horse. Not a word passed between them.Jojo felt quite comfortable. The Grand Masterhad sent Cat Cassidy to supervise Katie setting up thehorse to ensure that she didn’t get up to any of hershenanigans. The height of the horse had been setperfectly to allow Jojo to bend forward without unduestress on her calves or tummy muscles. She felt thecane tapping down on the seat of her whopping bags.Once, twice, thrice and she braced herself.Joanna gritted her teeth. The extremely crisparrival of the first stroke had given a clear indicationthat life was about to get exceptionally hot andsweaty in her nether region. Nonetheless, she wasgrateful for the warm-up spanking and although herbum was still glowing warmly she was sufficiently inthe zone to absorb the sharp shock of the cane slicingacross her buttocks.

83Mr Humphries loved the super canes that hehad been sent by admirers in California. With theminimum of effort the beautifully crafted rattan shaftcut through the air with a pleasing whistle and madea hearty rotund thwack when it collided with upturnedbumbags. He began to cane Joanna with perfectlypaced leisurely strokes.Jojo did her best to keep from wriggling buther bum had taken on a life of its own. The leisurelypace of the caning meant she had plenty of time tofully experience the effects of each stripe. Althoughevery stroke of the cane increased the heat in herbumbags exponentially it also had its own individuallife cycle. Starting with the immediate shock of impactthen spreading its tentacles at electrifying pace,making her shudder, she could almost feel the wealrising on her flesh and then the stroke slowly blendingitself into bubbling, steaming cauldron of heat thatpermeated below her crisp white whopping bags.On the hall floor Jojo’s chums were watchingwith a mixture of sympathy and admiration. Even thegals who had never personally embraced a life ofmega-minxdom were in awe of the groundbreakingflogging that they were witnessing.Cassie Cassy watched enviously; with fourtyfivebeatings inside her bumbags she stood atnumber three on the Annual Hall of Shame. She wasconfident that it was only a matter of weeks beforeshe would become the inmate in the earliest phase of

The People’s Choiceher sentence to score a Bull. It was a dream that shecherished.Debs watched the proceedings with a mixtureof envy and respect. For six years she had gonewhop-for-whop with Jojo in the contest for the title ofAll-Time Big BUTT. It had been a hard-foughtcompetition filled with thrills and spills and constantactivity inside their bumbags. Nonetheless, as shewatched Jojo bent over the vaulting horse she waswilling to concede that the best minx had won.Jojo was not in a position to fully appreciatethe warmth of the support that permeated throughoutthe hall; she was too busy appreciating the warmth inher bumbags. After nine strokes her backside felt as ifit had been lacerated with hot welding rods.Thankfully the Grand Master had informed her thatshe would only be getting twelve swipes, as hewanted her to be able to sit down at dinner later inthe evening.Mr Humphries expertly planted the tenth strokeon the crown of Jojo’s bum, with just enough wrist toreally accelerate the pace at impact. Joanna hissedwith consternation. She stamped her right foot downloudly.“Jeez!” she muttered darkly.“Jeez,” muttered Nicola Jane, at the back ofthe hall. “That has got to have smarted.”“Poor Jojo,” hissed Rosemary.

85The Grand Master sliced the cane through theair with nonchalant ease and consummate accuracy.Jojo bucked involuntarily as the cane co-mingled withthe other stripes setting off a chain reaction ofundesirable sensations to all parts of her body. Shesqueezed her eyes closed as the wave of pain almostoverwhelmed her. She did her best to keep herbreathing easy and regain her composure before theGrand Master delivered the final cut.All around the hall the Woody gals weremuttering anxiously.“Oh shit, here comes the killer,” growledNixdown.The Grand Master took his time, tapping thecane down gently and getting his measure. It hadbeen a perfect caning so far, every stroke had beenclean and he didn’t want any last momentunpleasantness.He raised the cane and brought it down with awhistle.The crack of the cane echoed around the woodpaneled hall. It was an awesome stroke, a perfect acethat resonated in Jojo’s ears like a firecracker. Her leftleg crooked at the knee and she let out a heartfeltgroan.Mr Humphries helped her to her feet andsteadied her as she returned to the upright.“Are you okay?” he whispered.Jojo blew out her cheeks and then let herbreath out slowly. She nodded rather more

The People’s Choiceconfidently than she felt. At that very moment shewas not okay, not in the least bit. Her backside feltlike the inside of a hot frying pan and she felt shakenand dizzy and bilious. Nonetheless she was still Jojoand she had no intention of showing him that herbum was on fire. At least, not in front of the othergals. She smiled sweetly.“Will there be anything else?” she asked.He laughed. “No I think we’re about done?”She curtsied.“Well I think I’ll be cutting along then if youdon’t mind,” and wriggled off the stage.

22In Search of the New Red-shirtJojo lowered herself gingerly into the paddedseat at Monets. Although it had been nearly fourhours since her ceremonial flogging her rear end wasstill giving her considerable gyp.Oliver, the chef and proprietor, had shownthem to his personal table and brought them an icedbottle of Bolly and a dish piled high with oysters onthe half-shell.“You don’t seem the least bit contrite aboutwhopping me so hard,” said Jojo.“Oh come on,” laughed the Grand Master.“That was middling warm at best.”Jojo nearly choked on her champagne.“Middling warm?” she spluttered. “I thought you weregoing to cut me in half. What the fuck do you knowabout middling warm?”The Grand Master smiled serenely. “So howwould you feel about taking over as Red-shirt nextyear?” he asked nonchalantly.Jojo almost choked for a second time.

The People’s Choice“Not funny,” she told him when she hadfinished coughing.“I’m serious,” said Mr Humphries. “I need toappoint Vicky’s successor. She’s done such a bang upjob and I need somebody to fill her shoes.”“Well not me,” said Jojo emphatically. “Besideswe all just assumed it would be Debs.”“Why Debs?” asked the Grand Master.“Well she has always been the golden gal. Iknow she fell into bad times with Ms Lawton but wealways figured that would get straightened out,” saidJojo. “And since you’ve been here you trusted her atthe tribunal and she’s involved in so many things. Hermentoring programs, the production, tennis and theorchestra and choir, and she’s still academic of theyear. Plus we’ve seen her in action with the cane. It’snot a bad resume.”“She’s very high maintenance,” said MrHumphries.Jojo forked down an oyster with horseradishand Tabasco. “Are you calling me low maintenance?”she giggled.“No, of course not,” smiled the Grand Master.“The reason Vix was such a great Red-shirt wasbecause she was respected and she respected herposition. I can’t think of anybody better than you tostep into her shoes.”“That’s kind of you to say, Sir, but really I’mnot your gal,” insisted Jojo. “Debs is much betterqualified and, besides, unless you’ve forgotten I’m theAll-Time Big BUTT. Hardly the best qualification for aRed-shirt.”

89The Grand Master chortled, “That’s whereyou’re wrong. The two most successful Red-shirts inhistory were April Turner and Lady Vix. They wereboth Big BUTT’s in their day.” Mr Humphries smiledquietly. “I’m just telling you that you are the mostadmired gal in the unit and you have all the qualitiesand the sense of responsibility to fill the void thatVicky will leave behind her.”Jojo frowned. She was certain that MrHumphries was serious and his offer was veryflattering. Nonetheless, recently she had been givingsome thought to her impending elevation to the loftyheights of the Elite. She was resigned to the fact thatas a prefect she would inevitably have occasion tothrash gals and even accepted that she would have tobe a responsible Personal Draper to ensure that herpersonal grubby was properly mentored and ready forthe years ahead. Nonetheless the prospect of takingon the awesome responsibility of wearing the redshirtheld no allure. She was determined not to allowherself to be charmed and cajoled into accepting theappointment.“Sir, I’m grateful and flattered to beconsidered,” she said firmly, “but please, please don’tforce me. I’d have a hateful year.”The Grand Master sighed. He took Jojo’s handand kissed it gently. “It’s okay,” he said sincerely, “Iwould never force you to do anything that wouldmake you unhappy.”They sipped champagne. “Well that leavesNicola Jane or Rosemary,” said Mr Humphries. “Weboth know that Rosemary won’t hack it.”

The People’s Choice“Too soft, I suppose,” sighed Jojo, “but she’llbe perfect as the Brat Draper.”Mr Humphries nodded. “Will Nicola Jane be upfor it?”Jojo sipped some more Bolly. “She’s tough andshe’s popular,” she told him, “and she’s a straightshooter.I think she’d be perfect.”The Grand Master nodded. “Well let’s give it ashot.”

23Nixdown Thinks it Over“You have to be kidding me,” laughedNixdown. “What about Debs?”“Too high maintenance,” replied Jojo.“Or you?” asked Nix. “You’d make a great Redshirt.”“I’d be terrible and we both know it,” grinnedJoanna.“Well, Rosemary then?” She shot a glance ather best chum.“Too soft,” they chorused and burst into a fit ofgiggles.“Aw maaaan,” groaned Nix. “This is ridiculous.I’ve spent twenty years carefully nurturing myreputation as a degenerate; this would look terribleon my resume.”“But you’ll think about it?” asked Jojohopefully.Nicola Jane Nixon was in her favorite position,lying face down across Penelope Ann’s lap with herjodhpurs rolled down to the tops of her knee length-

The People’s Choiceriding boots. Penelope Ann was idly tapping an ivoryhandled, braided riding crop against Nix’s nakedbottom. Ms Scott was seated on a nearby bale of haysipping a Cuba Libra.“I hated it,” Penelope Ann Evans was tellingNix. “I only took the job because the other choiceswere Yvonne Godfrey or Mitch the Bitch.”“Hallelujah to that sister” giggled Nix.“It’s a hell of a lot of responsibility and a hell ofa lot of work,” warned Penelope Ann. “Basically you’reon call twenty-four-seven.”Nixdown wiggled her hips enticingly. PennyAnn sliced the crop down with a sharp crack. NicolaJane giggled.Nixdown hadn’t been joking when she told Jojothat she had dedicated herself to a life of degeneracy.She had been five years old when she had firstdiscovered that she could sell kisses to the little boysaround the seaside town she grew up in. When shewas shipped off to boarding school she brokered hertalents establishing a lucrative business teaching theother pupils French kissing and the fine art ofcunnilingus.She had a reputation for being precocious,promiscuous and notoriously belligerent. At severalschools the mistresses tried to curb her waywardtendencies with the cane. Their efforts were generallyrewarded by Nixdown hacking them in the shins. Shewas regularly expelled.Her father was a successful film producer witha reputation for making art house movies and Nix was

93determined to follow in his footsteps. She started offmaking music videos with increasingly risqué content.She dated a cameraman. One day she was latefor a date and when they got home he put her overhis knee and gave her a damn good spanking.Nixdown resorted to her shin hacking tactic so hespanked her again. Nixdown stormed out of theapartment.When she arrived back in her own apartmentand had climbed into her scratch she found herselfmysteriously aroused. Eventually unable to sleep shereturned to the cameraman’s home and demandedthat he Rodger her eyes out.She began to include BDSM subject matter inher videos, often appearing herself as the victim oflengthy spankings.Nicola Jane had known Jojo for years on theequestrian circuit. Jojo had started a multi-mediacompany and had successfully staged severalproductions on the alternative theater circuit. Theycombined forces and were soon the toast of the WestEnd.Their success coincided with a period ofmonumental government buffoonery and the GreatUnwashed was baying for blood. As usual, the Systemcommissioned Melissa Forsham-Smythe and heragents to divert attention with some high-profilearrests. Jojo and Nix were high on her hit-list.Nicola Jane had an unfortunate start to hersentence at the Back to School unit. She wasallocated to act as Katie Beck’s personal grubby. Katiewas acting as Red-shirt and had formed the first

The People’s Choiceofficial Secret Sorority of Serial Spankers. Sportingspanking was rife and Nicola Jane was subjected tohead down, arse up sessions across Katie and hercronies’ knees on a daily basis. Katie would oftenillegally yank down Nicola Jane’s knickers earning herthe nickname of Nixdown Nixon.Nixdown made a discovery. Much as sheenjoyed recreational spanking she had a fierce dislikeof being formally punished.Nix swung both ways and set about boffing herway through the Elite. Beautiful and bountifullycharming she found no shortage of partners to whileaway the boredom of incarceration. She started withlow-level prefects but quickly moved onto HouseCaptains and several Deputy Red-shirt’s beforehooking up with April Turner.After years of despising the corporalpunishment regime at the facility April reignitedNixdown’s love of recreational spanking with the backof her Red-shirt hairbrush. When April completed hersentence Nix went on a rampage of promiscuity, sheseduced the Butcher twins and engaged them in anivory and ebony ménage a trios; she taught MelanieWhite new ways to exploit her magnificentmammarys, and then she fell in love with Penny Ann.Penny Ann cracked the crop down again.“What do you think, Suzy?” asked Nix.“I think you would make a very good Red-shirtNix but if your hearts not in it then it won’t work”advised Suzy, “but you have to make up your ownmind.”

24The People Have SpokenIt was Cathryn Cassidy who came up with asolution. She invited Lady Victoria to lunch at a localWoody friendly wine bar. Cathryn ordered a bottle ofchardonnay and a plate of Norwegian smokedsalmon. The two chums found a quiet corner table.“It’s nice to be out of clobber for a while,”smiled Vix.Cat laughed at her chum. “Just look around,”she said. “Half the clientele are wearing clobber. It’sus that look out of place.”Victoria grinned. “You’re right. So what’s soimportant?”“The Grand Master is looking to announce yourreplacement,” said Cat.Vix shrugged. “I thought that was a given. Inaturally assumed it would be Debs.”“Too high maintenance,” said Cat.“Well that leaves the way clear for Jojo,” saidVictoria.Cathryn shook her head. “She’s turned itdown.”

The People’s Choice“Nix?”Cat shook her head again. “She officiallyturned it down this morning.”“Rosemary?”Both gals laughed. “Too soft,” they chorused.“Hmm,” mused Victoria. “That’s tricky. I meanit needs to be one of the Famous Four. Won’t Jojo orNix reconsider?”“I don’t think so,” said Cathryn. “They havepretty good reasons.”“So why not Debs? I know she’s highmaintenance but maybe she’d change,” said Vix.“She comes with too much baggage,” said Cat,“she’s too mercurial and unpredictable. She makesenemies too easily. We both love Debs like a sisterbut we need a stable hand on the rudder.”Vix sipped her chardonnay. “I take it you havea plan.”Cathryn smiled. She pulled out a folded sheetof paper from her handbag and slid it across thetable.“What’s this,” asked Victoria suspiciously.Cat smiled at her chum. “It’s the results of apoll we ran on the GalGab website this morning.”Lady Vix picked up the paper and unfolded it.“You have to be joking,” she said sharply. “Youhave to be fawkin’ barking.”Cat shrugged. “It’s a pretty strongendorsement,” she told Vix. “We polled everybodyexcept you and Sally Cobb. You have unanimoussupport.” She laughed. “The people have spoken.”

97Victoria buttoned her red shirt and knotted herblack tie. She stared at herself in the mirror. In a fewweeks she would complete the official phase of herseven year sentence and be placed on a year’sprobation.Victoria was impressed with the success of theOld Gal program. Cathryn, Melons and Penny Annwere all taking degrees on-line and had scored ‘A’s’ atthe end of their first year programs.Vix liked Cat’s logic. As long as she spent herprobation year on the Woody campus Mr Humphrieswas approved to act as her Court Appointed Guardianunder the Old Gal Whops and Clobber program.Although the local town was quite small it hadplenty of Woody-friendly bars and restaurants whereshe could party with her chums and keep under theradar of the Dark Agents of the System. Besides,there was no shortage of local lothario’s who wouldn’tcut off their right hands to get themselves a piece ofhot aristocratic arse.She had already signed up to remain at thefacility to take her law degree on-line and signed theOld Gals Whops and Clobber Charter. She was lookingforward to the freedom and lack of responsibility ofbeing an Old Gal.It had been an interesting and exciting year.Her appointment as Red-shirt had come as a shock toeverybody and not least to Victoria. For six years shehad been a thorn in the sides of the Brass and theElite. She was notoriously pugnacious and hadfrequently been publicly flogged for scrapping withprefects she felt were bullying the weaker inmates.

The People’s ChoiceShe came into office determined to stamp outthe heinous practices perpetrated by the SS ofYvonne Godfrey. She had outlawed the brutalcollarings that had become standard operatingprocedure the year before. The prefects were bannedfrom sweating gals. All scoldings were to be directand to the point. Red marks had to be justified andthe pre’s could no longer get away with arbitrarilywriting gals up for rubbishing.To her delight her reforms of the Elite metwith the support and approval of the new GrandMaster. To the dismay of Patty Hodge and her cohortson the Radical Right there was a shift of power in theWoody community and Lady Victoria quickly becamethe de facto aide de campe of the new principal.It was a good time at the facility and Victoriawas rightfully proud of her contribution. Nonetheless,it was tiring and often tiresome work.She slowly brushed her lush, dark hair. It wasgoing to be a tough decision.

25To the Manor BornLady Victoria helped Deborah Morton over andup. She neatly turned back the skirt of her gymslipand slid her navy blue bumbags downwards. Shepulled Debs in tightly into the crease of her lap andslowly circulated the wooden back of her hairbrushacross the naked flesh.“Are you ready?” the Red-shirt asked.“Ready as I’ll ever be,” grunted Debs.Debs was standing in the corridor facing thewall with her hands on her head when Victoriaarrived. She was feeling smug. Debs had gone on acalculated spate of rubbishing the pre’s. She hadfigured out a timetable for scoring enough whops toachieve her goals of scoring a Bull and then finishingthe year by getting herself elevated to the rank ofnumber two on the All-Time Big BUTT.Victoria warmed to her work, spanking Debsup one side of her backside and then back down theother. The explosive sound of wood against bare fleshechoed around the library. Dangled upside down with

The People’s Choiceher arms and legs unable to reach down to the floorDebs was helpless to do anything but put it up andkeep it up.Deborah had folded her blazer neatly andplaced it on a side-table. She turned around andfaced Lady Vix.“You are going to stay on as Red-shirt?” sheasked earnestly.Vix squinted at Debs thoughtfully. “I haven’tdecided,” she said. “I thought perhaps that youexpected the job.”Deborah guffawed. “Me? Come on Vix, I’mpretty sure that Mr Humphries thinks I’m too highmaintenance.”“You could change,” said Vix.“Yeah, rock on Victoria,” laughed Debs.“Besides, aren’t you the one to the manor born? Youaristo’s are used to exerting your authority. Now can’twe get this over with? I’ve got places to be andpeople to see.”Lady Victoria Brompton was an exactingspanker. She understood the precise timing requiredto make every individual spank of the hard woodbrush play its part in the overall medley of a damngood dangling. After the first six strokes Vix took abreather.Debs felt herself being readjusted. With herfingers and toes dangling a good twelve inches fromthe floor Deborah had no choice but to rely upon Vixto support her. Deborah’s initial smugness at the

101prospect of scoring some invaluable whops wasoverwhelmed by her sense of the here and now. Thehere and now was becoming increasingly hot andsweaty.Debs cringed as the sixth spank crashed downacross the crown of her left buttock. The initial impacton her outer flesh was electrifying. She clenched herfists and twitched her ankles; her mouth contortedinto a silent howl as the primary shockwavesmomentarily overwhelmed her. A millisecond later shesplayed her fingers as the deep underburn playedhavoc with her central nervous system. Her headswayed from side to side in deep distress.Victoria looked down at her watch. Sheallocated an intermission between the initial six set ofspanks and the second blitz of exactly sixty seconds.Victoria tucked Deborah in tightly to the creaseof her lap as the second hand of her watchapproached the appointed time. Debs was perfectlydangled now, her head deep down between heroutstretched arms and her legs still. Vix tapped theback of the hairbrush downwards and then raised herwrist in the air.Victoria locked the Red-shirt hairbrush in thedrawer of a side-table. She turned around andreached over and hugged Debs.“Are you okay?” she asked.Debs grimaced and nodded.

The People’s Choice“Let’s straighten you up,” said Vix and fiddledwith Deborah’s collar and tie that had become skewwhiffduring the dangling. She reached over andpicked up Debs’ blazer and held it out for her.Deborah slid her arms into the sleeves and fastenedthe top button. She reached into her breast pocketand pulled out her little personal punishment recordbook and handed it to Victoria for post-processing.Vix fastened her own collar, straightened hertie, rolled down the sleeves of her red shirt and pulledon her own blazer. She pulled out a pen and openedthe book.Forty-eight she wrote in the first column.“You’re right on target, I see,” said the Redshirt.Deborah nodded. “And a good part thanks toyou,” she told Vix. “It’s a very good thing when a galcan set herself up for a dangling and know she’sgonna be safe. We need you to stay on as Red-shirt,”Debs continued earnestly. “You may be a red hotspanker but you’re the best Red-shirt we’ve everhad.”Lady Victoria Brompton blushed bright crimson.“I’ll take that into consideration,” she muttered. “Nowlet’s take you up to see Rosemary and see if we can’tcool things down a little.”

26Focus Benders“So what’s the verdict Your Ladyship?” askedCathryn.Victoria grimaced. “I still haven’t decided,” shesighed. “I’ve still got a couple of hours before I meetwith the Grand Master.”“Down to the wire, huh?” smiled Cat. Cathrynwas mixing gin, vermouth and olive juice in a cocktailshaker. She extracted two iced glasses from therefrigerator and poured the mixture into them andgarnished the drinks with olives. She handed one toVix.The aristocratic Red-shirt took a sip. “Jeez,Cat,” she gasped, “this could put a crook in yourneck.”Cat giggled. “It’ll help you focus,” she told herchum.“Are you fucking barking?” spluttered Debs.“I’m not going to cane you, Victoria!”Victoria giggled. “It’ll help me focus,” she toldDeborah.

The People’s ChoiceDebs squinted at the Red-shirt. “Are yousquiffy?” she demanded.“Never mind that,” Lady Vix grinned at Debs. “Ihave my reasons. I’d consider this a personal favor.Just take a deep breath and get into the role.”“Oh good grief, you’re fucking barking. Youare really fucking nuts.” groaned Debs. “Go and waitoutside the library, I’ll be along to beat you in amoment.”Victoria pressed her nose to the wood-panelingand breathed in. The aroma of wood and varnish wasstrangely intoxicating. It had been a long time sinceshe’d performed nose and toes. When she had takenon the role as Red-shirt she had made a pact withherself to temporarily hang-up her bumbags andwithdraw from the lifestyle of mega-minxdom. It hadbeen a struggle but she had stubbornly resisted hernatural tendency to jape the Brass and had managedto get through the whole year without acquiring asingle red-card. She knew that if she accepted asecond term that she was sentencing herself toanother twelve months where she would feel obligedto continue to refrain from the joys of minxing.Lady Victoria stared at the wall. It occurred toher that the pose of nose and toes was ideallydesigned for helping a gal who needed to focus.Deborah strode through the corridors that ledto the library. The irony of the situation struck her asbizarre. It was less than two hours since she hadbeen head down, arse up over Victoria’s knee gettinga well-deserved spanking with the back of a

105hairbrush. Despite a lengthy session acrossRosemary’s lap having her swollen orbs soothed withmystical balms she was still extremely conscious ofthe intense heat raging inside her bumbags. Now forreasons that she didn’t fully understand VictoriaBrompton had elected for the roles to be reversed.She took a deep breath and entered thecorridor leading to the library door. At the far endVictoria was positioned with her hands on her headand her nose pressed to the wall.Deborah sighed. Perhaps it was best not tooreason why, after all, she told herself this wasWoodyworld.Victoria Brompton was bent forward with thetips of her varnished red fingernails balanced on thetips of her highly polished black high-heeled shoes.The hem of her black pleated skirt was turned backand her navy-blue bumbags rolled down around herankles.Behind her Deborah Morton flexed a seniorcane between her hands. Debs sighed a little andtook a deep breath. She stepped in and tapped thecane down once, twice, thrice. She raised her armexactly eighteen inches in the air and sliced the canedownwards.The thwack of the cane against her naked rearend had an instant sobering effect on Lady VictoriaBrompton. A line of fire etched itself across the crownof her behind and then splayed it tentacles out intothe furthest regions of her central nervous system.

The People’s ChoiceIn a moment of surprising lucidity she thoughtto herself, “this is one helluva a way to get focused.”Deborah ran her tongue over her dry lips. Shestudied the stripe that she had painted acrossVictoria’s rear end. It was perfectly placed.Victoria’s head had jerked back a little at themoment of impact but she had resolutely kept herfingers glued to the tips of her shoes.Debs counted down. They had agreed thatVictoria would get six strokes so she allowed fifteenseconds to elapse before raising the cane again.Aficionados generally subscribe to thesis that athirty second interval is the perfect timing to allow theeffects of each stroke to cycle through a gals system.Deborah, herself, had posted several articulatearticles on her Debs Diary blog, ‘Six of the Best isalways the Best’ and ‘The Queensgate Technique andthe Perfect Five-Minute Caning’ in regard to thissubject. Nonetheless, Deborah fully understood thatthe toe-touching position was the most difficult tomaintain so she felt obliged to reduce the perfectinterval.She raised her arm and sliced the cane throughthe air.

27The People’s Choice“Ms Wharton is not going to like this,” smiledthe Grand Master.Lady Victoria chuckled. “I know, that’s whatmakes it so delightful.”The Wart was weeping into her tequila in thesaloon bar of the Bunch of Grapes. “It’s an outrage,”she wept. “That bitch Brompton put him up to this.”Deborah gaped at the Grand Master. “But Sir, Ithought that I’m too high maintenance.”Mr Humphries laughed. “Well you are, butVicky insists that you’re the gal for the job. We’llmake the announcement in assembly tomorrow andthen you will officially take over as Captain of the RedHouse.”Victoria blushed prettily. The announcementthat Lady Vix had agreed to serve a second term asRed-shirt was made during evening Callover. Therapturous applause was overwhelming as the inmates

The People’s Choiceof the Woody Back to School unit whooped andcheered and stamped their feet on the wooden floorof the assembly hall.“Oh shit, what the hell,” grinned Mr Humphriesindulgently. “Loose tie and minimum whops for therest of the evening,” he announced. “Cassie Cassy,light up the grills and throw on some steaks, letsparty down Woody style.”Victoria Brompton slid into a seat beside CatCassidy.Heidi Alexander hurried over. “Can I fetch youa dirty martini, Your Ladyship?” she asked. “Shaken,not stirred?”Lady Vix winked and nodded.“So how was it?” asked Cat.“Well there’s no doubt she’s hot,” grinnedVictoria, and squirmed in her seat theatrically. “I don’tthink they’ll be too many gals queuing up to bebeaten on House Business.”“You’re a good soul Victoria,” smiled Cat. “Iknow you’ve put your bumbags on the line for her sothat her feelings aren’t hurt.”Victoria shrugged. “I think she’ll surprise usall.”Heidi handed Lady Vix her drink.“I hope you don’t mind me saying so Ma’am,”she burst out, “but we’re all so pleased that you’veagreed to stay on as Red-shirt. I know there are othergood candidates but I don’t know; they’d just be sohigh maintenance if you know what I mean?”Cathryn Cassidy stood up and raised her glassin the air.

109“Here’s to Lady Victoria, Red-shirt unsurpassedand the People’s Choice,” she toasted.Debs Morton raised her glass and winked atthe aristocrat. Lady Victoria blushed prettily andwriggled in her seat.The inmates rose to their feet. “Lady Victoria,”they chorused. “The People’s Choice.”