In this second book of The Bleakdale Grange trilogy we are given further glimpses into the world of the Brotherhood, a ruthless dictatorship of men over women. Within the Bleakdale Grange correctional facility, in which female offenders are made to dress in school uniform and treated as schoolgirls, Charlotte Davies, one of the 'pupils' of Form 4B, is convinced she can hear and feel a ghostly presence in their dorm.

Following a séance with a makeshift Ouija board, a number of the girls are convinced they are being haunted by a former Bleakdale inmate, Arabella, who they believe may have been killed by one of the Brotherhood in times gone by, and is now seeking revenge from beyond the grave.

In an attempt to identify who may have been responsible for her death, the women embark on a campaign of writing Arabella's name in places where all the Bleakdale masters can see it, and then observing their reactions to determine whether they exhibit any signs of guilt or fear.

Unfortunately, their plan backfires spectacularly when Dr Grimshaw, the stern Headmaster of Bleakdale Grange, decides he has had enough and decrees that all 607 female inmates are to be given eighteen strokes of the cane in the course of a single day!

The 'girls' continue to be subjected to severe corporal punishment but following an intense 'special measures' spanking in the Bleakdale staff room, one of the girls, Emma McConachie, believes she has inadvertently discovered the source of the ghostly presence...