Carolyn Harrington-Brown had just come off the 18th hole and was looking forward to a gin and tonic or two in the clubhouse along with the rest of the ladies day golfers when her phone rang.

“Hello, Mrs Harrington-Brown, this is St Agnes’ School. It’s about Evelyn. The Headmistress has requested you come in. Would you be able to make it this evening? How does 5 PM suit?” 

Reluctantly Carolyn agreed. Fuming about the disruption to her plans, she went home to change before heading to the school to see what her wilful sixteen-year-old daughter had got up to this time.

As Carolyn headed down the motorway, the possible scenarios awaiting her ran through her head. Carolyn had been a boarder at St Agnes' school herself and wondered if things had changed much in the intervening twenty-five years.

Carolyn got out of her car and smoothed down her cream skirt. She pulled her camel coat over her pink blouse and walked towards the doors. She hadn’t met the new Head before but had heard she was a former pupil like herself.

She was led to the Headmistress’ office by a secretary and asked to wait until her daughter Evelyn arrived. The headmistress wanted to see the two of them together.

Evelyn arrived a few minutes later. She reminded Carolyn so much of herself at sixteen. The long, straight blonde hair, the toned figure. She was already almost as tall as her father. Carolyn stood and went to hug her daughter.

“The new Headmistress is a bitch,” Evelyn complained as they hugged. “She has got it in for me.”

“Well, we’ll soon see about that,” Carolyn reassured her. 

Carolyn had always got what she wanted and ever since she had married Sir Percy Brown, she had no qualms in using her power to crush anything that got in the way of her family’s happiness.

“Evelyn, please, come in.” The Headmistress welcomed them as they were shown into her office. “And you must be Lady Brown.” She held her hand out.

“It’s Harrington-Brown. I preferred to keep my maiden name too.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Carolyn Harrington was always a name to strike fear into some poor wretch or other.”

“I beg your pardon,” Carolyn was astonished that this woman could be so presumptuous. 

“I am sorry, Lady Harrington-Brown. Anyway, the purpose of you being here today is your daughter.” 

She indicated for Carolyn and Evelyn to sit down while she sat behind her desk.

Now I’m sure you’ll remember, Carolyn. Can I call you Carolyn? It seems so formal calling you Lady Harrington-Brown.”

Carolyn nodded. “You may.”

“Thank you, Carolyn. As I was saying, I’m sure you will remember the things that went on here when we were pupils.”

Carolyn smiled, but she was still trying to place this woman. She couldn’t remember her from school and her attitude was puzzling.

“Things have changed, as I’m sure you know,” The Head continued. “Corporal punishment was banned by the Conservative Government back in 1986. I’m sure you’d have preferred if it had been banned sooner.”

Evelyn smirked, realising that perhaps her mother hadn’t been quite the goody two shoes she’d always made out she was.

“I’m sorry,” Carolyn interrupted. “But do I know you? We haven’t been properly introduced.”

“I’m so sorry, Carolyn. You mustn’t remember me. I’m Sophie Robinson. Though you might remember me better as Sophie McAllistair.

She turned to Evelyn.

“You might not realise, Evelyn, but your mother was quite the character when she was at school.”

She grinned as she watched Carolyn shift uncomfortably as the name Sophie McAllistair unlocked forgotten rooms in her memory.

“Yes, she was four years older than me. She ruled the dormitory really. Her and her little gang. They used to terrorise the younger years. Do you see that painting on the wall?”

Sophie pointed to a large painting of a goat tied in a field wearing a red cloth wrapped around its horns that hung behind her desk. 

“It’s called ‘The Scapegoat’. It’s a famous painting by William Holman Hunt. Do you know what a scapegoat is, Evelyn?”

“Someone who takes the blame, even if it isn’t their fault?” Evelyn offered.

“Very good. Do you know what the red cloth is for?” She paused, her eyes sparkling. “Or perhaps we should ask your mother. You know what it’s for, don’t you, Carolyn?”

Carolyn raised her eyes and looked at Sophie. A sense of dread had wrapped itself around her stomach as she realised Sophie’s intentions lay beyond punishing Evelyn for some silly schoolgirl prank.

Carolyn thought back to her days here as a boarder. She remembered Sophie. Sophie had been a small, shy girl. She thought back to that night. The younger girls were lined up as Carolyn and her friends decided who was going to be the scapegoat. Tradition demanded that for a term, a younger pupil would be chosen to take the blame for any misdemeanours the sixth form girls got up to. Carolyn had chosen Sophie and tied the red bow in Sophie’s long dark hair.

“You’ll wear this for the term, Sophie McAllister, and you will confess to any wrongdoings when ordered to by me. Understood?”

Carolyn remembered Sophie’s dark eyes staring up at her as she slowly nodded. It was a crazy tradition. All the schools had them. Boarding school boredom and monotony mixed with history and tradition meant the teachers went along with the pretence. Everyone knew the girl with the red bow wasn’t to blame, but she got punished anyway.

Carolyn remembered feeling excited the first time she watched Sophie stand on the stage at School Assembly. She was made to bend over, her hands holding the seat of the chair as the Headmistress brought the cane down on her buttocks four times. One stroke for each piece of fruit Carolyn and her three friends had stolen from the kitchen the night before. Carolyn joked with her friend Heather that at least the Head had caned her with her skirt on. It had been known sometimes for a girl to be made to flip her skirt up and be caned in her underwear in front of the school.

By the end of term, Sophie had become quiet and withdrawn. She seemed to flinch every time Carolyn went near her. On the last day of term, Sophie flung the red bow onto Carolyn’s desk and whispered in a low growl. “If I ever come across you again, I will make you pay for this.”

Carolyn brought her eyes back to bear on Sophie. She saw the Head smile as the recognition dawned on Carolyn’s face.

“As I was saying, corporal punishment has been banned for quite a while now so some of the old traditions have died out. But a pupil still needs to be punished for breaking the School rules.”

Sophie glanced to Evelyn then back to Carolyn.

“We use the phrase ‘In loco pupillum’ which is terrible grammar and not at all proper Latin but basically means the parent takes the role of the pupil in circumstances where the law prevents the child being punished.”

“You’re insane. You can’t do this,” Carolyn stammered.

“I think you will find we can. It is in the code of conduct you signed when Evelyn was admitted to this school. I like to think of it as a modern-day equivalent of the scapegoat.”

Carolyn turned to look at her daughter who was sitting with a startled expression on her face.

“Now, Evelyn was caught with alcohol and cigarettes and from the smell of her breath and general demeanour, had clearly been drinking. Can you recall what the punishment for such an offence was in our day, Carolyn?”

“Six of the best,” Carolyn whispered, blushing at the memory of Sophie taking six strokes of the cane. She remembered Sophie, her skirt flipped up, tears running down her cheeks, her white panties on display to the whole school as she was punished for Carolyn being drunk. The memory made Carolyn squirm.

“Stand up, Carolyn.”

The command was delivered calmly and cooly. Sophie had been looking forward to this for a long time. Sophie gazed into Carolyn’s blue eyes. 

“Sophie, please. Surely we can come to some compromise?” Carolyn pleaded. She looked at her daughter then back at Sophie.

“Does Evelyn need to be here?”

“Oh, yes. She has to watch her mother take the punishment. Wasn’t that part of the thrill for you? Standing there, watching me bent over, getting the cane for your transgressions?”

Carolyn blushed again. 

“Sophie. I am truly sorry for what I put you through. It was this school, its stupid traditions. It wasn’t my fault.”

“No, nothing was ever your fault, Carolyn.” Sophie retorted. “It wasn’t your fault you got drunk, it wasn’t your fault you stole and it certainly wasn’t your fault you fucked your way through Upper Sixth.”

Evelyn’s gasp made both women turn to look at her. Her hand was in front of her mouth but her eyes bulged in shock.

“Yes, sadly, Evelyn, your mother was a bit of a whore. I think it’s time for some payback.”

Sophie slid open a drawer and extracted the cane. She swished it experimentally through the air. 

“You know I’ve been practising. Ever since I got the job. Practising getting my strokes perfect.”

She pointed the cane at Carolyn. 

“You remember old Beaky. She could get six tram lines across your arse.” She paused. “Well, across my arse anyway.”

She looked at Carolyn’s skirt.

“I was going to say bend over and flip your skirt up but it looks a tad tight for that. Probably best you just unzip and let it fall to your ankles.”

“Please,” Carolyn whispered again. “Please, don’t make Evelyn watch.”

Sophie stepped close behind Carolyn and whispered in her ear, “Unzip your skirt, Harrington.”

Carolyn swallowed and with shaking fingers, slowly slid down the zipper of her cream skirt. She stood in her blouse and slip, feeling a fresh blush rise up her chest.

Sophie shook her head from side to side as she tut-tutted.

“No, this won’t do. The slip will have to come off too.”

With a bow of submission, Carolyn tugged the half slip down, the elasticated waistband stretching as it was dragged over her full hips before pooling on the floor with her skirt.

“Oh, my,” Sophie giggled, drawing the tip of the cane over the camel toe in her knickers. The damp patch was obvious to both Sophie and Evelyn. “Is someone a little excited at the thought of a caning?”

Carolyn bit her bottom lip and inhaled deeply. She couldn’t explain it to Sophie, she could hardly explain it to herself but the feeling of being out of control, not knowing what Sophie was going to do, it was all turning her on.

“Hands on the desk, Harrington.”

Carolyn swallowed and turned to face the picture of the scapegoat. She placed her hands palms down on the smooth walnut desk and pressed her hips back, allowing her full ass to press out, giving Sophie a bigger target to aim at.

Sophie dragged the cane across the champagne coloured silk and lace knickers from Marks and Spencers.

“If I’d known my undies were going to be on show, I’d have put on something special,” Carolyn giggled in an attempt to release the tension.

Sophie brought her arm back, held the pose long enough for it to register with Carolyn then brought her arm down fast. The swish of a school cane through the air was an unmistakable sound. It struck cleanly across the middle of both her cheeks and Sophie was satisfied to see the flesh wobble as the crack of rattan on silk echoed around the room.

“Fuckkk!” Carolyn cursed. Her head hung down as she drew oxygen back into her lungs.

“Language, Carolyn,” Sophie reminded her. “There are children present. I’ll let you off with a warning this time but any repeat will result in further strokes. Understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Carolyn managed to utter without the sarcasm being too noticeable.

Sophie was true to her word. She had been practising and the second stroke struck Carolyn’s arse cheeks in almost exactly the same place as the first strike. Sophie smirked with satisfaction as she watched Carolyn’s fingers claw at the desk. The jewelled rings sparkled in the autumn sunlight streaming through the tall windows.

“I think we’ll do one more and then pause to see how the tram lines are coming along.”

Sophie barely gave Carolyn time to nod assent before with a swish, the cane struck her ample behind a third time. This time, Sophie watched as Carolyn lifted herself up onto her toes in an attempt to ease the pain shooting through her. Though, when she settled back onto her heels, both Sophie and Evelyn couldn’t help noticing that the damp patch on Carolyn’s knickers was spreading.

“I think panties off now,” Sophie ordered and watched, biting her bottom lip as Carolyn slowly unpeeled the sodden strip of material.

Carolyn could feel the cool air on her dripping pussy and blazing hot ass cheeks. Her panties lay in a growing pile of her clothes. She felt the cane tap her ass as Sophie ordered her hands back on the desk. 

Sophie glanced at Evelyn. The girl’s eyes were out on stalks and she blushed a little when she realised she was being watched. But then she smiled as if to say, ‘carry on.’ 

"Tell me, Carolyn, do you remember that time you sneaked out to meet that boy and I had to cover for you. I had to confess to being the missing pupil when the headcount showed an empty bed?"

The cane swished through the air. The sound reached Carolyn's ears a millisecond before she felt her ass explode in pain.

"Gnnnrrr!" squealed Carolyn. The pain on her naked ass was so much worse than through her knickers.

Sophie ran her fingers over the four red welts. 

“Do you see, Evelyn?” Sophie beamed proudly at the girl. “See how the four red lines run perfectly parallel. If you get them parallel, they are called tram lines. The teachers here have always prided themselves on a good set of tram lines.”

Carolyn whimpered in pain as she felt Sophie’s fingers brush the angry red lines. Her arse felt like it was on fire but every stroke just made her pussy drip more. Her mind was a confusion of signals. Every glance at Sophie made her more desirable. She carried herself with such poise and was the antithesis of the quiet shy teenager who’d been made the scapegoat. This was a woman of power and authority now and the thought of her made Carolyn’s legs weak.

"Remember the time I took the blame for you when you left your knickers in the storeroom after fucking Hazel Green?” Sophie paused. “You made me tell them I’d stolen them as a prank.” She turned and looked at Evelyn. “I got six strokes of the cane for that.”

She saw the look of confusion on Evelyn’s face.

“Didn’t your mother tell you she likes girls too? She was such a slut at school. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d only got her good exam results because she was fucking most of the teachers.”

Whoosh, the cane swished through the air again and Carolyn’s whimper could be heard above the smack of cane on ass cheek.

Carolyn felt the tears prickle the corners of her eyes. She was being laid bare, exposed. She felt a drip of pussy juice leak out of her and she cringed, knowing it was dangling between her legs. She glanced down and saw it. Saw it hanging as she stood with her legs spread and her arse exposed. Five red tram lines running across her cheeks. 

She looked at Sophie. She could see Sophie’s nipples were hard and prominent, poking through the fabric of her little navy dress. The thought that this might be turning Sophie on even half as much as it turned Carolyn on made her pussy drip even more.

“You know what the worst of it was, Evelyn?” Sophie’s voice broke Carolyn’s reverie. “I don’t even think your mother realised just what a bitch she was. She just didn’t care about anyone else, only herself.”

As the pain of the cane ripped through her for the sixth and final time, Carolyn broke down.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.”

Sophie stepped back, smirking, giving Carolyn time and space to compose herself.

“You can put your clothes back on now, Harrington,” Sophie told her as she grinned at Evelyn.

Carolyn wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand before pulling her panties, slip and skirt back on again.

Sophie walked behind the desk again, carefully placing the cane back in the drawer. She licked her lips before smiling at Carolyn and Evelyn.

“I hope you have learnt your lesson, Evelyn,” she stated as she walked to open the office door for them. Evelyn grinned back, and from the look in her eye, this seemed an unlikely possibility. 

“Goodbye, Carolyn.” 

Sophie took her hand and held it, staring into Carolyn’s shell-shocked face as she mentioned the fact that she hoped they wouldn’t have to meet again under such circumstances.

Sophie stood at the windows, watching Carolyn walk towards the car. She grinned to herself as the woman got gingerly into the driver’s seat. It would be a long uncomfortable drive back home, Sophie thought. It was only after she watched the car disappear from view around the corner of the drive that Sophie turned to the desk and tapped her laptop.

She pressed the ‘Stop recording’ button on the webcam software and opened the most recent recording.

A still image of Carolyn facing the camera filled the screen.

‘The stupid bitch didn’t even notice the webcam right in front of her,’ Sophie giggled as she pulled up her navy dress and ran her fingers up her stockinged thighs and over her soaking wet panties.

She hit ‘Play movie’ and plunged two fingers into her sopping wet pussy as she watched Carolyn’s face contort in pain as she received six of the best.