BEXHILL SCHOOL

It had seemed like a really good idea. Mum and Dad were going away for the weekend, so why not have a bash on Saturday night? There'd be all day to clear up on Sunday before their parents returned on Monday. No need to bother them with trifling details about what was going to happen.

The party was indeed fun: several dozen young people, lots of drink, food, noise and dancing. OK, the place was a bit of a mess by the time they'd all gone home, but Emma and her two sisters had cleared up (they'd even fished a persistently-floating condom out of the downstairs loo) and they were sure that no sign was left of the festivities.

They'd made just one small but fatal oversight: they thought the local rubbish collection took place on Sunday night. It didn't: the dustmen come round late on Monday evening. Thus it was that their parents, when they returned late Monday morning, were rather surprised to find three bins outside their house overflowing with bottles and other detritus. As they examined the find, a neighbour hurried across to complain about the disturbance he and his wife had suffered on Saturday night. The mother and father looked grim as they entered the house and called the three girls down.

It didn't take long for the truth to come sheepishly out. The girls were given a furious telling-off and then Natalie and Abigail were sent up to their rooms. Emma was told to wait in the sitting room. She could hear a low, murmured conversation taking place between her parents in the kitchen. It sounded ominous.

A few minutes later her mother walked in and shut the door. She was carrying the white, fibreglass cane. Emma hated that thing: it stung like a whole nest of hornets.

"How dare you!" her mother said tersely. "At your age you should show some sense of responsibility when we're away. But since you don't, I'll treat you as you deserve. Take your knickers down and bend over. You're getting twelve."

Oh NO! She'd never had more than six before, and they had been unbearable.

She lowered her panties, reached down and put her hands on her legs, just below her knees. She felt her mother lift the hem of her skirt and fold it across her lower back. Then the cane was tapped across her bare bottom.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.