BEXHILL SCHOOL

Nurse O'Malley was furious. Deborah had come to her and spun a tale about a sore throat, a fever, and all the other symptoms of 'flu, and she'd believed the girl. She'd given her medecine and a syrup for the throat and then she'd fallen for it.

"Please, nurse" Deboroah had whined, "I don't think I should go to classes today. I feel awful and I'm sure I'm very infectious. If I have to sit in class I'll give this bug to all the other girls. Could you give me a sick pass for the day and I'll stay in my room."

For heaven's sake, as a nurse she'd seen this sort of malingering dozens of times before: girls trying to worm their way out of a lesson they didn't fancy attending. She'd always sent them on their way with a flea in their ear, but for some reason, this time she'd believed Deborah and had made out the chit which would allow the girl to skip lessons for the day. She should have been alerted by the gleam in Deborah's eyes as she pocketed the piece of paper. If Nurse O'Malley had been bothered to enquire further, she'd have learned that Deborah was due to re-sit a failed maths test, with the threat of the tawse hanging over her if she didn't pass this time.

But it wasn't that which so infuriated Miss O'Malley. It was the fact that only a few hours later she'd passed the tennis courts, and who was out there, in full flow, but the 'sickly' Deborah. For a moment, she couldn't believe her eyes, but then when Deborah had glanced up after a particularly powerful backhand, and seen the nurse glaring at her, the girl had known that this particular game was up.

Nurse O'Malley literally took Deborah by the ear and marched her straight into the changing rooms. There she grabbed a chair and hauled the protesting girl across her knees. She hauled Deborah's knickers down, pulled up her tennis skirt and set about giving her a spanking she would not forget in a hurry. After that, she'd tear up the sick pass.

Deborah's howls were not only due to the relentless smacks stinging across her cheeks; they were also attributable to the awful realisation that this was probably only a warm-up for what the Maths' teacher would do with that horrible, heavy tawse. Deborah began to feel quite ill.