BEXHILL SCHOOL

Mademoiselle Sabine Thierry, the new French teacher at Bexhill, had been very reluctant to give up the use of the martinet - the multi-tailed whip used in schools throughout her country - despite the fact that she'd twice been told by the headmistress to use only the authorised paddle on the girls in her class. Sabine found the paddle coarse, crude, and heavy to use compared to the delicate sophistication of the martinet.

Now, however, following yet another use of the martinet in Sabine's classroom, the headmistress had put her foot down, insisting that Sabine abandon the whip or face dismissal. This, in Sabine's opinion, was too stupid for words, but with a shrug of her elegant shoulders she agreed to give the paddle another try. However, with Gallic logic she pointed out that although she knew exactly how much the martinet hurt, because all French school pupils had been on the receiving end of the leather cords at one time or another, she had no idea how the paddle felt. The headmistress couldn't understand what Sabine was getting at.

Opening her eyes wide and speaking slowly as though to a particularly slow learner, Sabine patiently explained to the incredulous headmistress that the only way she, Sabine, could possibly administer an effective paddling would be if she herself knew what it was like to be thrashed with one.

The headmistress dithered uncertainly, so Sabine strode over to the cupboard where the punishment implements were kept, took down the paddle, and laid it on the head's desk. Then without further ado she stripped off her elegant, close-fitting dress and bent herself over.

"Alors, what are we waiting for?"

The headmistress picked the paddle up as though it was charged with electricity.

"Are you sure about this?" she muttered unhappily.

"Bien sur. Come on, what eez ze problem?"

The headmistress took a deep breath and lightly tapped Sabine's revealing black knickers with the wooden blade.

Sabine slowly stood up and fixed the headmistress with a dismissive stare.

" 'eadmistress, is zis 'ow you sponk ze girls? I sink not, to judge by ze 'owls I 'ear coming from zis room when you are beating zem. Now, please let's do it properly. 'Six of ze best', as you say."

And with that she leaned over the green leather surface of the head's desk, glancing back to see whether the woman had pulled herself together and was going to administer a proper paddling that Sabine could use as a benchmark in her own dealings with the wayward girls in her class.

 

This incident is based on a story appearing in 'Completely Whacked', Bexhill Book 7, currently under preparation