Fitting In, a tale by caitlan, of a city girl moving to the country

Selina Scott leaned forward as the pre war Bentley drove up the long drive to their new home, a 12 bedroom mansion that her father had bought from his profits made from war supplies. Old beyond her 16 years Selina had lost her mother in the blitz, her father had been invalided from the Royal navy after his ship had been hit by a torpedo. As a result of his injuries his life expectancy had been reduced, something neither of them dwelled on, they had gone beyond that and now enjoyed every moment they could share. He was her best friend as well as her father. When her mother had died and Selina was just nine her father had taken leave and come home to bury his wife. He had treated Selina as an adult, had not condescended to her like the other grown ups, and when, a year later his incident (his word) happened he had come home, first to convalesce and then to earn a living for his family, he continued to treat Selina as an equal.

Using the knowledge gained in those terrible two years of war he designed and developed better safety equipment for sailors, he used former comrades to agree they were needed, then he taught himself mass production techniques so he could match and often beat other suppliers’ prices. Selina’s memories of those war years were of her father always tired, sharing breakfast with her then leaving to cross the yard to his factory where he worked straight through till Selina came home from school. Then he would make time to share a meal with her and they would share their days. After tea Selina would accompany her father to the factory where she would do her homework in a desk he had set up in his office. If there was time she would accompany her father on a tour of the factory before her bedtime. Her father would work through, sometimes till after midnight. He thought of his work as essential to his erstwhile comrades, felt a late delivery might cost more lives. By the time the war ended father owned three factories and employed over 400 people. Given the man he was he held himself responsible for making sure they kept their jobs so he kept one factory meeting the reduced demands of the military and converted the other two factories to civilian needs. Selina had not known that because of his tireless work her father had become a seriously wealthy man; she just knew he was her father, her friend, and a decorated war hero.

As the car pulled up at the front door her father opened his door and she opened hers, he had no airs and hated being fussed over.”Thanks Charles”, he said to their chauffeur, “nothing left to do today or tomorrow, enjoy the day with your wife.” Selina added her “Thank you Charles,” as she shut her door, like her father treating the chaufeur as an equal, recognising his worth. Arm in arm they netered the massive hall and saw their new staff coming from the kitchen to meet them, ushered by Tom Barker, whom Selina had already met. He was dressed as a country gentleman, the left sleeve of his twill jacket neatly pinned across his chest. He was another victim of that hated war but seemed to harbour no resentment, was always cheerful and seemed to be an efficient estate manager. Her father reached forward with both hands and shook Tom’s warmly, the men seemed to share a secret joke about life, a joke only veterans could share.

 Tom conducted her father down the line of staff, introducing them one at a time, speaking to them all with respect and affection. “Julie Masters,” he introduced a stout 40 ish woman, “her husband was lost when I misplaced this,” he said, tapping his empty left sleeve.

“I am so sorry, my dear,” her father murmured sincerely, “that damned war!” Without thinking he hugged the woman close to himself, not realising how embarrassed she was, a typical act of her father.

They passed down the line, meeting the staff (her father had expressly refused to allow them to be called servants or maids). The two ladies were both in their fifties, Sally and Joan the house man was introduced as Ben, a tall grave looking individual of indeterminate age. The last to be introduced was a young man, “this is my son, Tom Junior, he has just finished school and is now apprenticed to me. He knows more about animal husbandry than anyone else on the estate, myself included. He has roamed the place all his life.” The senior Barker chuckled indulgently, “I had the devil of a job to get him to go to the grammar school, all he ever wanted to do was work the estate. Now though he needs to learn the business side of the job, I cannot be here forever.”

Introductions over the Barkers, senior and junior, escorted them to the study, already set up as an office for her father. He had obviously beenhere before because he didn’t hesitate when he went to the sideboard and pulled out a kettle and the makings for tea. Instinctively Selina moved forward to take over the duty so her father would not waste time could get straight down to business. She listened carefully as Tom senior described the current state of the estate. He described the rents from each of the three tied farms, explained the extent of the home farm, the house, the wooded spinney, the acres of pasture for horses and the bridleways that could be accessed without going onto a road. Selina silently served tea, smiling affectionately at her father and politely at their guest; she was her father’s daughter, could not think of them as servants.Selina suspected the briefing was for her benefit, her father was too shrewd to have bought a working estate without checking its’ viability. When the briefing was over her father turned to her and said, “did you get all that Selina?” When she nodded he continued, “we are in the hands of experts and as such we must listen to them and learn, there will be dangers here for the unwary and the foolish. I would expect you to listen and heed any advice offered, as indeed I shall.” Selina had worked her school holidays at her father’s factory, his rule was she could work or not work, could not play at working. So she had started with menial jobs, sweeping, cleaning and carrying. She had worked in despatch, manufacture, sales and had learned quickly. She knew the value of listening to the right people, the ones who got the job done, quickly, efficiently, but who were mindful of their responsibilities to others as well. She had been amazed at her father’s ability to pick good managers, men of his own ilk.

And so began Selina’s new life though she still rose early to eat with her father. The first week young Tom was detailed to conduct her on a tour of the estate, introduce the tenants, show her the local towns, point out the do’s and don’ts of country life. She called him Tom, and soon convinced him that she was Selly to her friends. He was unfailingly polite, firm when he needed to be or wanted to emphasise a safety issue, an amusing companion. He showed an encyclopediodic knowledge of the estate and animal welfare, showed her every nook and cranny, told funny stories about the characters they met. Selina was soon very aware that many people were very much horse lovers and she asked her father, in Tom’s presence, if she could learn to ride, subject to Tom’s approval. When Tom had started to address her father about “Miss Selina” she had burst out laughing at his expression, the quick look her father  had given her.

“I know dad,” she laughed, “he calls me Selly in private but insists on Miss Selina in public. I’ve told him I’d rather he didnâ’t.” Without embarrassing Tom, or belittling him her father charmed him into believing that formality was not necessary, indeed could be a hindrance to good communication. He explained the only time formality was called for was for disciplinary offences that merited punishment or sacking. Soon they were all three discussing Selina’s riding lessons and the precautions needed. Being as obstinate and as industrious as her father Selina worked long hours, insisting she learned about horses from the bottom up. She learned to muck out a stable, groom a horse, how to feed and water it, how to look after tack, the hundreds of little jobs so necessary if the horse was to be kept in good condition. She learned to ride, she kept going even when Tom said the horse was tired, begging him for another horse. She ached so much some nights she cried in pain as she eased into a hot bath, but she persevered. At first she was a joke to the locals but they soon learned to respect her work ethic, some even nodding respectfully when she finally called an end to the day, one or two of the stable hands touched her shoulder and whispered “well done miss,” something she appreciated so much.

Early on the second Monday of her lessons Selina went into the stables and walked along the line of horse boxes and stroked each horse, calling it by name, enjoying the communication, the early morning chill, the smell of the wonderful beasts. Feeling a little bloated in her bladder, knowing it would be uncomfortable being bounced in the saddle, Selina for the first time, did what she had seen the staff do. Tom had explained the reality of farm life to her, so now she went to the last empty stall, closed the door and pulled down her jodpurs and pants and squatted over the drain to relieve herself. Breathing a small sigh of relief Selina dried herself on her handkerchief and stood up. As she was pulling up her pants and jodpurs she heard footsteps on the cobbles heard them come into the stables. Her modesty already covered Selina did not rush to finish adjusting her clothing, was confident no one would pass comment about her actions, here they were accepted. She heard a stall open then she heard Tom’s voice, thinking how stern he sounds.

“Samantha,” she heard him say sternly, “you did evening stables on Saturday, how did you miss the blanket sores on Starlight’s back?” Selina became alert, she had been riding Starlight on Saturday. Selina peeped through a gap in the stall wall, saw it was Sammy, a bright, hard working female groom in her mid twenties. She heard Sammy making excuses, then was shocked to hear Sammy say “Little Miss perfect has been looking after her own horse, she was supposed to do it!” Selina was hurt, she was more than willing to admit her error, but she thought that her father’s new employess thought more of her than that.

“Samantha, you know she has been around horses less than two weeks, only one full week, you have been around them all your life. You did evening stables, if you had seen them it’d have been an easy fix. Instead the horse suffered all day Sunday till I did stables last night. You’ve already been taken to task over this sort of thing once before haven’t you.”

Sammy sounded almost angry, certainly defensive as she retorted, “OK I know I should have checked better but I wanted to get down into the village, alright?”

“So the horse suffered because you wanted to meet Jack?” Tom asked. Selina saw Sammy blush with shame and look down and nod and then agree with Tom.

“You know the rules Samantha,” he said “you work here holding down a man’s job, earning a man’s wage. You either accept the consequences, or you leave. You’ve had my father tan your backside with a horse brass leather forthis and you know it’s the cane for you this time. I realise I am  young, but I have been to grammar school, I was slippered, strapped and caned there for hardly any reason. I was a prefect there and had to discipline the younger students. I know I am younger than you, and you might prefer my father to deal with this, or you may want to leave, the choice is yours.”

Selina saw Sammy look down at her feet, take a deep breath, nod as if coming to a decision and look directly at Tom. “No need for your father Sir,” she said, “everyone on the estate respects you, me as well. You’ll have to learn to do this so it might as well be me, and I don’t want to leave.” Sammy stopped talking, they both seemed to enderstand something because Tom nodded and turned and reached up to lift something from one of the heavy supporting timbers. Selina was shocked to see it was a cane. Selina had been strapped across her hands at her first school but her second school rarely punished anyone physically. She knew about corporal punishment, any child in the 40’s did, but this was shocking, she felt frightened but strangely excited too. She knew she should make her presence known but she was frozen in place.

Sammy obviously knew what to expect because when Tom turned to her and pointed at one of the saddle racks she just turned and walked to stand in front of it. Without a word she unbuckled her belt and slipped her work trousers and panties down in one smooth movement. Selina could not believe it ... to have a male cane her bare bottom, what was Sammy thinking of?  Selina marvelled at Sammy’s calm as she reached forward and bending from the waist grasped the rack with her hands, her bare rump pale,  well muscled and pert. Facing Tom, she looked so very very vulnerable. Selina found she was holding her breath as she watched in awe as Tom stepped to Sammy’s left and tapped her bottom with the cane. She saw Sammy flinch and clench and relax her bottom as Tom said, “you have caused a horse to suffer unecessarily, you’ve done it before, but I know, as does everyone, that you are a good worker, usually meticulous. It’s that damned man distracting you that’s the problem, though I must admit Jack is a good man. Anyway, because you are usually such a good worker it’ll just be half the maximum;” he paused and finished, “you ready Samantha?” Selina watched fascinated as Sammy let go of the rack, straightened a little, took a deep breath and nodded as she took hold of the rack again.

“Yes Sir,” she whispered.

Selina could not take her eyes off the cane as it was raised, Tom hesitated then whipped it down smartly to land across the top of Sammy’s backside. So heightened were Selina’s senses she actually saw the cane land even as she registered the whoosh it made as it passed through the air. She heard the flat crack as it landed, saw it bite into Sammy’s flesh, saw it bounce away, saw Sammy’s skin bounce back even as a thin white line appeared. Selina heard Sammy’s hiss of pain, saw her grip the rack tighter, saw the thin line was becoming edged by two red lines, knew it would bruise. She watched with bated breath as the cane was raised agin, heard the ominous whoosh, the crack, saw the cane land an inch lower, heard Sammy hiss again, her bottom wriggling from side to side. As she watched the cane raised again she looked at Tom, his face was calm and impassive, he might have been supervising sheep shearing. Selina’s eyes sprang back to Sammy’s bottom as the cane landed again, this time Sammy made a sound half way between a groan and a yelp, her hands were white she was gripping the rack so tightly.The first two cane lines were now livid and raised, welts rather than bruises, the third was still just white and red. Tom raised the cane for the last time and brought ti down smartly, an inch lower, against the soft lower part of Sammy’s cheeks. This time the sound was a definite yelp of pain.

Selina’s eyes were moving between Sammy and Tom as he put the cane back high on the pillar and Sammy stood up and rubbed furiously at her smarting backside. She was obviously in so much pain modesty did not exist. Tom stood quietly as she slowly recovered then reached down to pull up her panties and trousers. As she buckled her belt she turned her tear stained face to Tom and sniffed and rubbed her nose. Tom smiled kindly at her and said “well done Sammy, now go on about your duties, no more will be said of this.” Selina noted in part of her brain that Tom must have been learning for her father, he had used the formal Samantha while he punished her and was now informally telling her she was equal and valued again.

Sammy smiled ruefully through her tears and said in a small voice “Thanks Tom, you’ll make a real good boss one day, we all knew you would. You are old beyond your years, firm but fair, I already know neither of us will resent this or take advantage. With that she turned and still rubbbing her bottom she went to the door, picked up a pail and went out. Selina took what felt like her first breath for ages and her brain started working again. She knew she was sorry for Sammy, knew she hated the thought of the pain but she was also strangely excited at the thought of Tom dominating her in such a fashion. Selina was also honest enough to feel thoroughly ashamed of herself. That wonderful beast Starlight had trusted her and she had treated him so shabbily, and she felt responsible for Sammy’s pain, and she had spied on them. Without conscious thought she pushed opened the stall door and walked out into the stable. Tom, of course heard and turned to face her.

“Hello Selly,” he said calmly. “I suppose you saw all of that. I’m sorry but that is the way of it around here. My dad had to cane a 55 year old man the other day, he didn’t cane hard but it was expected. It’s always been like that, I work real hard so my dad doesn’t have to cane me, I know he hates it. Tom shrugged and asked if she was ready for her lesson. Throughout the day Selina worked hard, asked questions, learned much. When they went back for lunch and to change horses she drew Tom out about country life and estate discipline. She came to realise that though some might think it brutal it actually worked very well. Everyone knew and accepted the consequences of his or her own actions. Selina worked hard again all afternoon, concentrating hard, soaking up skills and knowledge like a sponge. When they were in the stable that evening she let her mind roam free as she groomed her mount, thought about crime and punishment, thought about what it would feel like to accept such consequences. Selina felt excited but nervous, her innate sense of fair play made her consider much of what she saw. She looked across at Tom who was grooming his own horse

“Tom,” she said nervously, “I know you had to deal with Sammy as you saw fit, she was told to check my work, but in a way she was right too .. I have been shown how to slide my hand under the blanket to smooth out wrinkles , I knew about sores. Don’t you think it should have been my,” Selina hesitated, thinking what word to use, “my bottom that was beaten? After all I was responsible.”

“You are the lady of the house Selly, whether you like it or not,” He smiled at her expression, “you are a novice, Sammy should have checked all the horses even if it was me that had ridden it. She was not punished for the sores, she was punished for not checking as she is paid to. Selina went quiet and thoughtful for a while then responded, “I think it is I that should have been punished, or punished as well, would you do that for me Tom?, Sir,” she smiled as she used the formal address knowing his quick intelligence would pick up on the significance.

“That is out of the question Miss Selina,” he said deliberately emphasising the formal title, “you are the boss’s daughter, he’d be furious and quite rightly sack me. Now finish your horse,” he admonished as he put down his own curry comb. He smiled indulgently when Selina informed him he had misjudged her father and she herself would talk to father. He obviously thought she was grandstanding.

That night over their evening meal she spoke with her father about his day and her day. When it was her turn she held nothing back, explained the disciplinary regime of the estate, how effective it seemed to be and how she respected Tom and the other workers so much for their attitude. being the thinking man he was her father mulled this over for some time before he passed judgement and agreed that he could see many advantages to such a primitive direct system of offence and punishment. His eyebrows lifted so high they disappeared in his hairline wen Selina admitted she had asked Tom if he would use the same methods to teach her what she now considered to be her vocation, to run the estate for her father as assistant to Tom. He chewed through the next course without talking, deep in thought, then he told Selina he had checked all the estate staff’s files and was very impressed with young Tom. He was a working man but so was he, her father said Tom showed all the qualities needed to succeed. he smilingly told Selina that she should set her cap at him. Selina slapped her father’s arm, even as she acknowledged that she had already had similar thoughts. Eventually he returned to the subject in hand and agreed that he could see why Selina thought as she did, indeed the Royal Navy had similar responses to discipline. Finally he said he agreed in principle but Selina would ahve to be sure and he would give permission but not coerce Tom into action. Suddenly faced with the reality of the situation Selina took a deep breath and gulped. With a mixtur of excitement and trepidation she asked her father to intercede.

That evening Tom arrived as arranged to discuss the estate harvest festival celebration. His presentation was concise, to the point and easy to understand. The only thing her father changed was the size of the personal donation from himself. Work finished Selina served coffee and her father turned to Tom. “My daughter has spoken to me about a certain incident and certain methods of discipline Tom,” Selina saw Tom glance at her astonished before her father continued, “My daughter has worked for me before and she has always known that she follows the same rules as theothers or she does not work. She is free to work or not work, and I am rather proud of the fact she has always chosen to work.” Selina looked down but blushed with pride. “Selina has expressed a certain fear of the methods used here but she has also stated her determination to fit in here. So I have agreed that she may be treated the same as the others with certain provisos.” Tom had regained his composure and was now sitting with an attentive civilised look on his visage. “The first condition is that you must also agree to this, without any fear or pressure from me, in the full knowledge you have my support. The second is that it must remain private, I am sure eventually rumours might start but I’d rather they did not. The third is that Selina must always tell you sincerely that she accepts the punishment before you administer it. The last is that I must not ever witness my daughter being beaten. Now young man you must decide, but before you do please let me reassure you my daughter is not a foolish young girl, she genuinely thinks this is her best path to swift learning.”

Tom looked from Selina to her father, back to Selina, back to her father. “Well Sir,” he started hesitantly, “I can tell you from personal experience that the methods used here work,”  his voice grew in confidence. “I am sure they would work for Selly too, the only problem is I think of her as the lady of the house and as such I expect to protect her from her mistakes. If she were formally indentured I am sure it would seem more natural, but she is not, she is in fact the heiress of the estate. It’d be difficult for me to keep the two seperate.”

Her father seemed to be finding something so interesting in his cup his gaze was transfixed. Eventually he looked up. “Selina has expressed a wish to run the estate under your guidance one day, in effect be your assistant to run her own property, she knows you are the better man to run it. As such she may as well apprentice herself to you now, get the best training available. As such she would be subject to whatever training methods are commensurate with her duties. She is still only sixteen so I would expect you to deal fairly at all times. So there you have it Tom,” her father finished, “the ball is in your court, will you accept an apprentice, even one that the other staff will not know is an apprentice?”

Selina looked at her father and at Tom, her heart in her mouth, she wanted so much to learn how to manage this estate she had come to love, she wantet Tom’s knowledge and experience. She was nervous but excited about what he would do to make sure mistakes were not repeated. After what seemed an eternity Tom spoke, “Very well Sir, as you both seem to be of the same mind I shall train Selly, but like you it must be all or nothing. At any time Selina will be free to refuse an order or a chastisement but then she breaks the contract and resumes her previous status of lady of the house, with no ill feelings and no judgement from me.”

 Both men turned to Selina who knew now there could only be one response. “Thanks dad, Tom, I will do everything I can to be a good student, I’ll accept whatever rules are reasonable and even if I hate it I’ll try to fit in with the discipline regime too.” Selina fell silent and as always her father spoke first.

“That’s settled then, as I said I cannot bear to witness any such discipline so I suggest that you Selina make your own study in the east wing, upstairs in that suite of three rooms. There is everything there you need, a private entrance up the stairs, a good size office, a bathroom and a room you could use for any estate papers, mapos and equipment.” He looked at Tom and smiled somewhat sadly, I suppose you had better arrange to move in some furniture for Selina tomorrow and whatever else you need? Then perhaps tomorrow afternoon before she comes to dine with me you might want to deal with her accidental cruelty to a horse, and her sneaking about and peeping?” Tom nodded and agreed he would arrange everything and bade them both goodnight. When he left her father quizzed Seline in depth but she remained adamant she would follow her chosen course.

The next morning she found it hard to concentrate on her lessons and mid-morning Tom told her straight out to stop thinking of the evening, to learn to detach such thoughts and concentrate on the job in hand. Selina immediately apologised and saw the sense of his wisdom, and from that point on became a model pupil. Eventually they groomed the horses and Selina didn’t know whether to dally or rush, she mentally shook herself and again took Tom’s advice and made sure she did a proper job of grooming. Together they left the stable and walked to the house, but this time Seline changed direction and walked round to the east wing. As she mounted the stairs she imagined Tom’s eyes following her bottom as she climbed, felt her cheeks tingling, felt a dampness between her legs. Steeling herself Seline opened the door and walked into her new office, her eyes burned when she saw what had been done, the office looked wondeful, all old oak and a huge desk with a green leather top. There was an expensive pen set and desk tidy, no detail had been overlooked. Selina walked round the desk, sat down and ran her fingers over the smooth leather. She remembered why she was here and looked up at Tom.

“Well Selly,” he said quietly, “you elected to become an apprentice manager and chose me as your mentor. You are starting at a disadvantage that you refuse to accept and say you want to be treated the same as anyone else. So you must start your career in a most unpleasant way, your error was surely ignorance not malice, but it did cause the horse considerable distress. On this estate we administer a maximum of twelve strokes with a leather horse strap or eight strokes with a cane. As this is your first offence the usual punishment would be four strokes of the strap across your bare backside.” Tom stood up and walked across to the built in cupboard and opened the door. Revealed was a broad leather strap, obviously fairly heavy. Selina had seen similar belts adorned with horse brasses decorating some of the walls of the house. Next to the strap were two canes, one similar to the one Tom had used on Sammy yesterday, the other a little longer and heavier. Selina’s heart leaped into her suddenly dry mouth as Tom removed the strap and turned to face her. “Is there any reason you should not receive this punishment Miss Selina? Or do you choose to refuse it?”

Selina registeered the significance of the formal Miss Selina and took a few moments to gather her thoughts. “I am truly sorry Sir,  for the suffering I caused to the horse,” she said, her confidence growing. “I want to become part of this community, indeed a leading figure in it and I really want to learn. I believe my choice is the quickest and best way to achieve my ambitions so there are no reasons for me not to be punished and every reason for me to accept your discipline.” Strangely Selina felt relief now the responsibility had been handed to another, she now had only one thing to do, to obey.

Tom actually smiled encouragingly as though Selina had done something well then spoke slowly and carefully, “You have never been disciplined before but basically from personal knowledge the cane hurts like hell and the strap stings like buggery. As you are new to this I shall be slow and steady, wait for you to decide if you can carry on, wait for you to settle back for the next stroke. All you have to do now is come round this side and offer me your bare bottom and bend over the desk.” Now the moment was here Selina froze, tried to make sense of the words, then understood. Like an automatum she stood and walked round the desk and faced it. Suddenly the reality hit her, she was actually going to offer her naked backside to be beaten, without argument, or she was going to chicken out. As her father’s daughter there was no real choice, she unfastened her jodpurs and in a sudden fit of efficiency brusquely pushed them and her panties down around her ankles and leaned forward with her forearms on the desk. Suddenly all she could think of was how naked her bottom was, what it would look like to Tom, she blushed bright red. With the new sensitivity of her nakedness she became aware her blouse was covering the top half of her bottom and instinctively she reached back to roll her blouse up onto her back, baring all of herself. Taking a deep breath she moved her forearms back onto the desk. Selina heard Tom’s gentle but firm voice, the same voice he had used with Sammy.

“Take a half step back Miss Selina, then stretch out and grasp the far side of the desk.”  Even as she tried to make sense of his words Selina sensed Tom moving to her left. She shuffled back and reached for the far side of the desk, felt her legs tighten, her bottom lift and realised she was now in the same position Sammy had adopted. She knew that in this position hr bottom was the focus of everyone in the room. “Well done, you learn quickly Miss Selina,” Tom said even as she felt the rough leather strap rubbing against her bare buttocks. Instinctively she tensed her cheeks, squeezing them together. “No Miss Selina,” she heard Tom say, relax your bottom and then it’ll sting but it won’t bruise, trust me.” In her position Selina felt her head spinning but she trusted him enough to do as he bid. With an effort she laid quietly across the table and forced her buttocks to relax and seperate. The belt tapped twice against her cheeks, causing her to flinch. She felt the strap lift clear, heard a moment of complete stillness followed by a whoosh and a solid crack as the strap impacted against her loose cheeks. Her first thought was that it was surprisingly solid but where was the sting? Then it hit her! She felt as though a million bees had stung her bottom, with no thought she leaped up with a squeal and clutched her cheeks, not caring what Tom felt. She had been so determined to accept the spanking with dignity but she had no terms of relavance, the shock and pain was so startling. Soon though she realised she was not crying, yes her bottom hurt but it was not unbearable. She turned to Tom, whispered “sorry” and stretched outover the desk again offering her burning bottom once more.

Now Selina steeled herself, felt the strap tap and lift, gripped the desk, remembered at the last moment to relax her cheeks as the belt landed. This time Seline just hissed, clenched her cheeks and her hands and lifted her head as if curious about the pain. She took a deep breath and laid her forehead on the desk, lost now in the pain, wanting only to prove something to Tom and herself. Again the strap tapped her bottom and was lifted to slam down against her defenceless buttocks, Selina yelped softly, stamped her right foot but remained flat across the desk. She felt the strap on her back, felt it slide down onto her bottom, tap twice and again lift to be slammed firmly down again. This time Selina could not help herself, the sting was driven so deep she yelped again and felt tears begin to course down her cheeks. She neither knew nor cared that her bright red bottom was wriggling, displaying all of her to Tom. She remained lying across the desk crying softly as Tom returned the strap to the cupboard. He returned and sat in one of the two guest leather armchairs obviously in a position to study her. When her sobs slowed she stood up and gingerly reached round to stroke her own cheeks. She was surprised to feel that her buttocks were still smooth and merely warm to the touch, She was amazed that her bottom could feel as if it was on fire but still just feel warm. Seline reached slowly down and as gently as she could pulled her panties and jodpurs back up, wincing a little. Shyly she turned to Tom. “Thank you Sir,” she whispered.

Tom nodded an acknowledgement and pointed at the other guest chair. Selina went and sat down timidly, expecting it to hurt but her buttocks just continued to burn. “You took that very well for a first strapping Selly,” Tom said. “The first ever stroke is always a surprise, that’s when we lose staff if we are going to lose them.” Selina felt a rush of gratitude when she heard herself called Selly, realising now that she had a clean slate, that Tom would assume he could trust her to learn and not make mistakes. She knew that with such a complex job she would make mistakes, but knew now she could handle the consequences.

Aware of her burning cheeks but knowing that once again they were equals Selina started to quiz Tom about her duties and her training. She could not resist asking if all first offences resulted in the strap. Her eyes widened when Tom explained that something that risked either the life of a beast or a colleague or her own life would qualify for a caning. Logic made her face the reasoning and she acknowledged that many would prefer that to a possible fatality. When she asked for an example he said that if and when she learned to shoot any offence concerning firearm safety would be subject to an immediate caning. he qualified it in Selina’s case saying if others were present he would ask her to make an excuse and return here to her office for his arrival, but if it was a remote area he would prefer to switch her immediately so she would fully relate the punishment to the danger. When Selina asked about a switch he explained she would cut a branch of her choosing from a tree and trim it down to a switch. She could not resist asking what happened if she cut a real flimsy twig. He quite seriously explained that such a frivolous reaction to real danger would mean he, Tom, would cut a switch and punish for the firearm offence, then punish for a frivolous reaction to danger. Selina sobered when she realised just how seriously Tom took his duty as her trainer and guardian.

Tom looked at the clock and reminded Selina of her appointment with her father, she jumped up, rubbed her hot cheeks and smiled at Tom. “thanks Tom, I know this must be hard for you too, but I really will try harder now because of this. Night night Tom.” They parted company as friends and partners, he by the steps to walk to his dad’s cottage, her to dine with her father. She told him everything that had happened, glossed over the details, just admitted it really hurt and her cheeks were still burning but she was more sure than ever it was the best way for her to learn. As alwasy he asked pertinent questions and supported her. he teased her gently about her and Tom eventually becoming  a lot more than mentor and trainee. Little did he know that when Selinea was alone in her bed that night with one hand between her legs she too let her thoughts wander to a husband who loved his wife so much that he was willing to beat her to keep her safe.

The End © Caitlin