That night in bed I wondered why she had asked and I thought back to that event.
I did fantasise that they would cane me and when they were out on a couple of occasions I did look for a cane but did not find one despite looking in their wardrobe, under the stairs cupboard and in Mrs B’s underwear drawer.
On the following Saturday I called by with Roger who I knew from a youth club in town. Bringing a boy home was definitely against the rules but we would be there for just a few minutes while I went up to my room but when I came down Roger had lit a cigarette. I ushered him out and used a towel to fan the room to get rid of the smell. We could not hang around as we had cinema tickets.
When I came home that evening Mr and Mrs B were in the kitchen. I stood there while they quizzed me about smoking and I explained what had happened.
Mrs B said: “This cannot pass unpunished. You have had the cane, Jane?”
She knew full well that I had received four strokes and when I said ‘yes’ she acknowledged that she knew. Mr B produced a cane from a hook on the kitchen door. It was a classic school cane and looked well used. “To the front room,” said Mrs B.