“Four strokes, miss.” We called all the women teachers “miss”, whether or not they were married.
“Yes, Marling. Four strokes. You’ve never had the cane before, have you?”
She could probably have guessed this from the expression on my face, but I suppose that it was on the school records. I shook my head.
“Well, Marling, a caning is a serious punishment. You are here because you have persistently misbehaved over the last week. I shall now try to show you just how seriously we take your misbehaviour. The cane is supposed to hurt and I can assure you that it will hurt – a lot.
“I expect you to stay in position throughout your punishment, until I tell you that you can stand up.
“Did you hear how many strokes Lindsey Rushworth got?”