by Jacqueline Scott
It was almost certainly the case that nobody in the compartment of the busy train was looking at her, but Lucy Howard felt that everybody knew why she was there and were surreptitiously peeking at her every time she tried to read her newspaper. Eventually she gave up and gazed out the window as the train sped towards London. Her mind inevitably homed in on where she was going and why.
The school reunion a fortnight ago last Saturday had been the catalyst. She almost hadn't gone. Knowing that her best clothes would almost certainly look dowdy beside her fellow graduates of Collingwood's, the small exclusive school she had attended for six years, and knowing even more certainly that she couldn't afford a new outfit, she had almost decided to give the event a miss. It was only a telephone call from her oldest friend, Debbie, that had persuaded her to change her mind. Now she was heading for London to ... well, why was she going?
In truth she had enjoyed the reunion. Most of the old gang were there even although they were all their mid to late thirties now. None of the teachers remained from her time at the school but they were all made very welcome by the current staff led by the Head Mistress, Julia MacLean and her Deputy, Pamela Jameson. She spent most of her time with Debbie, Carol Hutton, Veronica Bailey and Samantha Smithson wandering around the old place and reminiscing on their time there. Occasionally they would stop and chat with some of the current pupils and that was how the subject came up. Inevitably it was Carol that started it off. She was always outspoken, although by now they had all had at least two glasses of wine.
They were chatting with one of the prefects, a lovely girl named Denise according to her badge when Carol asked, "Do you still get your bare bums spanked?"
"Carol!" Lucy squealed, while the others merely rolled their eyes.
"What? It's a valid question. After all, Lucy, I seem to remember that you were for ever being sent to the Head!"
"It's ok."
The girl they were speaking to had blushed very slightly but was smiling broadly as well. "Yes, we do. Quite often, in fact, although some of us more than others of course."
"Do they still use those damned long-handled paddles? They were bloody painful as I recall."
"Mmm yes we do ... and yes they are! Miss Jameson is a demon when she wields one."
"Miss Jameson? That's the dark haired woman we met earlier?"
"Yes, the Deputy Head. She's great really, but if you step out of line she comes down on you hard."
Denise giggled. "Or at least she comes down on your bottom hard!"
Despite efforts by the others, Carol kept going. "Oh we know what you mean, Denise! It was the same in our day. We all felt that paddle hard and often, especially Lucy here! We called her 'leather bum' 'cos she was spanked so often and it never seemed to make any difference to her!"
Lucy went scarlet. "Carol! For goodness sake! Anyway, you were as bad as me!"
The prefect clearly thought the whole thing was amusing and Lucy cringed to think what she would tell her friends after the day was over.
Much later, Lucy had gone for an Italian meal with Debbie and Veronica. She hadn't wanted to go. Quite simply she couldn't afford to but Debbie, who knew the problem she had in that regard, waved away her excuses and said it was her treat. Inevitably the conversation revolved around what each other had been doing with their lives since school days. Debbie was a lawyer and seemed to be doing very well. Still single, she had pots of money and wasn't afraid to spend it on herself. Veronica had graduated with first class honours in Maths and was now employed by the consultancy arms of one of the top accountancy firms. She admitted that she earned a lot of money. She drawled, "For which I get the privilege of working eighteen hour days on a regular basis and being required to fly to the other side of the world at a moment's notice!"
Like Debbie, Veronica was single. Only Lucy hadn't graduated from University. Although at school she had been just as bright as the other two. She had met a guy called Mike, much older then her, and to her parents' dismay and even fury, she had dropped out and married Mike. At first everything had been wonderful. They had two children very quickly, Amy and Tom. Lucy hadn't needed to work. Then five years later everything came crashing down about her. Mike was killed in a car crash and in the aftermath it transpired that he had run up large debts and Lucy was left with very little. Since then it had been a constant struggle to keep herself afloat. Her parents helped a bit, especially making sure that the children were kept in decent clothes and not missing out too much on school outings and the like. Lucy's father, however, was still annoyed that she had thrown herself at an unsuitable man, so funds were very limited.
Emboldened by the wine she had drunk, Lucy poured all this out to her friends over their meal. Debbie already knew the details but it was news to Veronica. She was hugely sympathetic but there was little doubt that Lucy's tale of woe dampened the high spirits of earlier which made her feel even more miserable when she reached home and thought about it. How typical of me to spoil the day for others.
She was surprised, therefore, when the door bell rang just after lunch time the next day, Sunday, and she opened it to find Veronica was standing there.
"I stayed locally overnight and I thought I would pop in to see you before I went back to London, Lucy. Have you time to come out for a walk?"
Lucy looked blank. "I'm not sure, the children ..."
"Surely they can look after themselves for a little while. It won't take long."
Lucy nodded, went back inside to tell Amy and Tom, who were now 16 and 15, what she was doing, then came back to the door with a light jacket over her shoulders.
"Isn't there a park near here?"
"Yes, just down this road on the right."
"Good. We'll go there. You must be wondering what this is all about Luce, but I have been thinking and there is something I want to talk to you about. But on your own, not where the kids might hear or barge in unexpectedly."
Soon they were sitting on a bench in the park, completely on their own. Lucy looked at her friend. "Come on then, Ronnie, this is all so mysterious."
"Yes it sounds like it is doesn't it. Right. I was thinking about you last night and I suddenly thought about something that might help you and the kids. Financially I mean." Veronica paused and looked at Lucy for a few seconds. "Now look, Luce, this is going to sound so way out. But promise me you will hear me out. Don't get up and walk away before I'm finished and we have had a chance to discuss what I am going to say at least a little bit. Promise?"
Her friend giggled. "For goodness sake Ronnie get on with it. Of course I'm not going to get up and run off!"
Veronica laughed, then took a deep breath. "Ok, but just remember you promised! Right. Well you could do with some more cash. Your job in the library sounds great but you don't have to worry about higher rates of tax or any of that stuff. Well, last night something that Carol had said yesterday suddenly made me think. In my line of work you would be amazed at the variety of people and businesses that I find out about. This is where it gets very odd Luce so bear with me. In London there are a huge range of very wealthy people. And I mean seriously rich, Luce. Some of these people, not a huge number I suspect, have desires that they are more than willing to spend a lot of money on. You will know of some of these of course but I'm not talking about drugs or anything like that. Nothing criminal at all in fact."
She paused for a few seconds and seeing Lucy still looking at her expectantly went on. "There are a whole range of ... well ... things that people want to do in private. The particular thing I'm talking about is spanking."
Lucy gasped and started to say something but her friend put out a hand and stopped her.
"Hear me out Luce. You promised, remember. I happen to know somebody who operates a very small and exclusive service for other women. Hold on to that. There are no men involved at all. It is a very small operation because there are far fewer women who are interested in spanking than men. But there are enough and they are wealthy enough and willing to pay for their ... kink, I guess we could call it, to earn my ... contact ... a lot of money. She has a very small number of women who she calls on to provide these services. It is all very safe and very discreet Luce, I can assure you. And the women make a lot of money from it."
She looked at Lucy again who was staring at her open mouthed, but, taking encouragement from the fact that she hadn't stood up and stomped off in disgust, continued. "I know you couldn't be available very often Luce. But it's not the sort of thing you want to do every week anyway. And the demand is relatively low in any case. But even once a month would make a big difference to you financially I'm sure. It was Carol talking about us calling you 'leather bum' that I suddenly thought of last night. Actually I'm sure it was only Carol called you that! But you did seem to be able to take the paddle better than any of the rest of us. And then I wondered. Maybe you could do this sort of thing."
She paused again before saying, "Well, what do you think? Is it out of the question or can we talk about it a bit more?"
There was a long pause before Lucy spoke. "Carol was right I suppose. My parents were very strict and my father in particular always seemed to be spanking me when I was young. I became sort of used to it I suppose and so at school somehow it was never so bad." She paused and sat looking into the distance for so long that Veronica wasn't sure whether or not she should speak again. Then Lucy went on. "But that's not like letting total strangers spank me. I suppose that's what you mean Ronnie. It sounds so scary. I mean what if ..." Her voiced trailed away.
"My understanding is that everything is done to make sure that the women are safe, Luce. And there seems to be great flexibility in what is expected of each person. For example, some of these rich women like to be spanked rather than the other way round. And when I say the money is good darling I really mean it. Why don't you let me speak to my contact and then you could perhaps go and see her. That would cost nothing and would let you ask all the questions you want. She will understand because she will have been through the same sort of questions with every woman on her books."
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