by Susan Thomas
Karen was in the Mablethorpe's large kitchen with their seventeen-year-old daughter, Amelia. She knew fine well why Amelia was with her, which was to make sure she went nowhere near the study, but stayed not only out of sight but out of ear shot. She was as nervous as if she would be the next to keep an appointment with Mr Mablethorpe. That was ridiculous of course because she was only twelve, but only next March she would be thirteen and could be obliged to keep her own appointments.
"Does your dad spank very hard?" The question popped out all by itself.
Amelia grimaced. "Not harder than the other disciplinarians, but then they're all trained to spank hard. Going over his knees is no joke let me tell you."
Karen's face began to crumple. "Oh, poor Gwenie."
Amelia rushed in to prevent the younger girl dissolving into tears. "Well it is only a spanking. I mean... yeah she'll be sore and want to sit down very slowly, but that's it you know. I mean, she'll walk out of the study all by herself. No injuries... nothing really bad. Her bum will be super hot and super sore but she'll be OK. It's horrible getting it, but the spanking is over quickly."
"Then what's taking so long?"
"Haven't you been to one of these sessions with Gwen?"
"No, her other ones were during the day when I was at school."
"Well it isn't the spankings as such... what's she getting?"
"Three minutes hand and two minutes hairbrush. That's five minutes, but she's been longer."
Amelia smiled patiently. "You're forgetting. First she has to take off whatever she is wearing below the waist. What was she wearing?"
"Skirt and knickers; she also had pull up stockings but I suppose she doesn't take those off." Karen blushed at the very thought of it.
"Well the skirt and knickers have to come off. Then there's five minutes in the corner to help her mentally prepare. Then she has to explain why she's being spanked before she gets the three minutes hand spanking. Back to the corner for five minutes to calm down before getting the hairbrush. After the hairbrush it's another five minutes to calm down and recover before thanking my dad for spanking her..."
"Thanking?!"
"Yeah! It's in the manual but we all have to do it when Dad spanks us. So, finally she has to get dressed again. I expect my mum will have to help her and give her tissues and all that. Most of them bawl their heads off when being spanked. It all takes time and sometimes they take a long time to calm down. Mum says some of them get very emotional."
"It sounds horrible. I'm never ever getting a Community Discipline Order."
"Yeah... know what you mean. I'm the same but look at how calm, peaceful and safe it is here. Look, you and your sister didn't have to come and live here. Why did you?"
Karen sighed. "Like you say. It's safe here and it's really easy to get to my school and my friends. Shorter journey than where we used to live and... like it was left to us in the will and... Yeah it was ours and we didn't know about the discipline part so when we found out... well you know what it's like, we didn't think..."
Amelia disentangled the disjointed explanation and said kindly, "It's just a spanking, she'll be fine. Sore but fine and she'll be more careful about speeding again won't she."
The kitchen door opened and Mrs Mablethorpe stuck her head around the door. "Karen love, Gwen's ready for you. You're walking home aren't you?"
Karen shot to her feet and was careful to be very polite. "Yes Mrs Mablethorpe. It's only a short walk."
When she got into the hall Gwen was just coming out of the study. Her hair was messed up, her face red and blotchy and her eyes red with tear stains still on her face. She had both hands firmly clasped to her bottom and was walking very carefully. Karen helped her on with her coat, took her arm supportively and, politely saying goodbye to Mr and Mrs Mablethorpe and Amelia, she led her compliant sister down the drive and out into the road. There was little street lighting in Rosemary Park so even if there was an evening dog walker, Gwen's tear stained face would probably not be noticed.
Karen knew it was silly to ask if it had hurt because it was plain it had. Instead she said, "I've left some towels soaking in water with ice cubes. I'll wring one out, you lie down and I'll cool your bum off."
When her sister thanked her, Karen could hear her voice was hoarse and guessed she had done a fair bit of wailing and crying. Karen felt guilty. Even when she did something wrong her sister never spanked her. Here in the Rosemary Park community she could, but she didn't. Well, all she could really do now was look after her.
Gwen, short for Gwendoline - which she hated - sat in a daze. The two police officers, one man and one woman, looked at her anxiously. Gwen suddenly thought she should offer them tea and stood up but then everything went black. When she awoke she was on a sort of bed with curtains around and the two police officers were still there.
"Miss Hope, Gwen, you passed out and stayed that way. You're in A&E at St. Mary's but it's nothing more than shock. Quite understandable. Now... who can we contact for you?"
There was the problem in a nutshell. Her parents and her aunt and uncle had been on holiday together when a large truck ploughed through a red light and they were no more. They were her only relatives apart from Karen.
"Oh God! Karen! Karen's on weekend camp with the Guides. How will I tell Karen?"
For twenty-two-year-old Gwen that was just the start of her problems. Young and grief stricken though she was, she managed them all with the help of a motherly solicitor she contacted at random. She arranged the funeral, got custody of her twelve-year-old sister, was released by the school that had appointed her to her first teaching post and begun to sort out what turned out to be a massive inheritance.
Her parents had not been well off. When she was quite young her dad's business went bankrupt. Not his fault he was pulled down by a large company that owed him huge amounts. Her dad worked very hard to pay off all his debts but they lived in a small rented house in a somewhat dubious area. He had almost no savings but what he did have was an old but enormous life insurance policy. Gwen also discovered that her childless aunt and uncle had also left everything to her and Karen. They were wealthy with savings, investments, life insurance and a house in Rosemary Park.
Rosemary Park! Everyone in town said 'Rosemary Park' in a special way. It was right out on the edge of town, a peninsula of one hundred and fifty houses that jutted out into the farmland. It had been walled all the way around and there was one entrance and one entrance only. That entrance was guarded twenty-four hours each and every day by Rosemary Park's own security service. Even getting to that point involved coming off the main road that skirted the town and crossing a bridge over the river. Rosemary Park was effectively isolated from the rest of the town and the residents had their own community.
For Gwen and Karen, their aunt and uncle's house was a better prospect than their parents' rented house. It was alright when their dad was alive because he was large and tough and they came under his protection, but now, on their own, some of the neighbourhood's less respectable residents might well target them. Not only was the house in Rosemary Park larger, much nicer and very secure, it had other advantages. It was actually much nearer to Karen's school and many of her friends. In fact, there was a girl and a boy in Rosemary Park who were in her year.
Armed with the keys they decided to look around the house with a view to moving in. The summer holidays were almost at an end and Karen had to go back to school. Gwen knew her parents wouldn't have wanted Karen's education to be damaged in any way. The security people did demand to see Gwen's identity and accepted her drivers' licence, but strangely they also seemed to know all about them.
It was a very sad moment when they opened the door and went into the house. Their father had been their uncle's younger brother but also their aunt had been their mum's older sister. Brothers had married sisters so the relationship was particularly close. They opened windows to air the place and began to explore as potential residents. It was in the study that they got their first insight into just how different Rosemary Park was. They had never been allowed in the study when their uncle was alive. Gwen had always assumed that it was because he ran his business from the room, but now they made a strange discovery.
On the wall to the left of the door were three hooks. Hanging from one was what looked like a wooden hairbrush except it had no bristles. It was made of a light wood with a rounded shape and exactly the same sort of size as a large hairbrush. A hole at the end of the handle had been threaded with a leather loop and there it hung. Karen was mystified.
"Why would anyone have a hairbrush without bristles?"
Next to it dangled a leather strap. It was clearly well made and was about fifty centimetres long by about six centimetres wide. Karen seemed bewildered by it but Gwen was beginning to have an idea that her aunt and uncle had another side to them. She knew for certain her parents didn't have these things.
The third item hanging on the wall was an old fashioned school cane. Nasty looking yellow with a crook handle, it was about ninety centimetres long and about eight millimetres thick. While Karen was bewildered Gwen's mind worked overtime wondering while trying to look as bewildered as Karen.
"Perhaps they're like museum things, Karen. You know, canes were once used in school. Perhaps that's why they are there."
Karen loved that idea. She took the cane off the wall and pranced around shouting things like, "Bend over, you naughty boy, I'm going to cane you hard."
Gwen laughed but she didn't believe her own story for a moment. Just then the doorbell rang. Gwen answered it and was faced by a lady she had seen before. She had been at the funeral and had hugged them both. Soon Gwen and Karen were sitting with Mrs Mablethorpe in the living room.
"Gwen and Karen, first of all I represent all the trustees of the Rosemary Park Trust. We did send cards and so on but once again I must pass on our condolences. We loved and respected your aunt and uncle. I didn't know your parents except by reputation. A most honourable man your father, and your mother was clearly wonderful judging by you two."
After thanking her Gwen announced, "Karen and I were thinking of moving in here. It's so much nicer and considerably safer than where we live. It's also nearer to K's school."
"Oh!" Mrs Mablethorpe looked dismayed.
"Is that a problem, Mrs Mablethorpe?"
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