The Other Side Of The Tracks

Story from Janus 40.

The Other Side Of The Tracks
by Andrew Grantham

SALLY looked out of the window of the Assessment Centre. At the bottom of the vegetable garden ran the railway line back to the city she came from. A train, made up of several diesel multiple units, clattered past and temporarily obscured her view of two teams of schoolgirls playing hockey.

'Hockey!' snorted Sally. It's not as much fun as playing hookey!'

'What are you on about?' asked her room-mate dreamily.

Rose lay on her bed smoking a cigarette made up of substances definitely not provided by the Imperial Tobacco Company.

Tall, blonde Sally didn't reply to Rose's question. Instead, she sniggered as a big, busty sixth-former got herself caught up in an opponent's hockey stick and fell headlong into a patch of sticky mud.

The girls playing hockey on the field across the railway lines were not from the council-run Assessment Centre. Far from it, they were all pupils of High View College, a private boarding school for girls. It was ironic that the two establishments were so close and yet worlds apart.

It had been that way for years. The Assessment Centre had formerly been a remand home — a grim reminder to girls at the College of their good fortune in life. Now it was simply a reminder, no longer grim. It was merely a place where naughty girls got sent to. No girl from High View would ever be sent to the Assessment Centre. The discipline imposed by the Headmaster and his staff saw to that!

'I'll bet they're all snooty, stuck-up bitches,' scoffed Sally.

Rose finished what she was smoking and joined her friend at the window. The blonde girl opened it. 'That pot stinks the place out!' she complained.

Sally had many vices, but smoking pot was not one of them.

Bleary-eyed, the red-haired Rose surveyed the couple of dozen girls in white shirts and navy blue pleated skills expending their energies on the playing fields.

'Jolly 'effin hockey sticks,' she snorted. 'I can think of better ball games to play than that, can't you?' she sniggered, digging the other girl in the ribs.

'Hey!' exclaimed the taller girl, suddenly noticing the referee. 'I wouldn't mind playing with him. He's a bit of all right, he is!'

'Yeah,' agreed Rose. 'He's a fit-lookin' feller all right.'

The two teenagers watched the college girls enjoying themselves. A psychologist might have said that Sally and Rose were envious of the other girls' freedom and at the same time jealous of the fact that when God had shuffled the cards, the females on the other side of the railway line had come up with the trumps.

'I've never seen a posh school before,' remarked Rose.

'Nor me,' said her room-mate. 'The one I went to.' Here Sally paused and laughed. 'When I went to it that is, was a council school. It was all horrible glass and concrete. I hated it!'

Rose mumbled her agreement. She seemed to be miles away. She returned to her bed and lay down.

Sally maintained her vigil by the window. There was precious little else to do. Tomorrow, they would be taken to court to learn of their fate. They both expected to miss a custodial sentence, but only just!

Her high, firm breasts pushed against the window panes as her big blue eyes devoured the young man in the track suit on the field. Her lip, however, curled in contempt for the girls who had had a better start in life than herself.

Sally was in fact quite a pretty girl, except when her lip curled; which it did quite often. She was inclined to blame everyone else for the fact that she had a petty crime record. Everyone, except herself of course.

She never questioned the fact that she had been the only one in her class to be in trouble with the law. Her parents were decent, hardworking people who had been too lenient with her and Sally had taken full advantage of their leniency.

'There's no graffiti on the walls!' she suddenly realised and shouted out to Rose.

Indeed, the old walls of the school were covered in ivy and not in painted slogans.

'Why don't we go over and write something, then?' drawled Rose, running a hand through her dark red hair. It was only a half-hearted suggestion, but Sally's eyes positively gleamed at the thought

'Yeah! Let's!' she exclaimed.

If anyone had said to her that she was like a silly schoolgirl, the blonde would have slapped their face, or worse!

'Come on, Rose!' she cried, clapping her hands. 'Let's sneak out!'

Rose, still a little high from her joint, propped herself up on her elbows and nodded. 'Anything you say,' she agreed.

Sally kept her eyes on the establishment that was so near and yet so far away from her whilst she turned things over in her mind.

'It's the start of a new term,' she thought out aloud. 'There'll be lots of new faces around. Nobody will know who we are. Besides, nobody here is going to bother us for the rest of the afternoon. As long as we get back in time for tea, we'll be okay.'

'Count me in,' said the redhead lazily.

'There's just one thing,' frowned Sally, looking down at her baggy sweater and patched jeans. 'We can't walk round that posh school in these clothes, can we?'

'No,' agreed Rose without offering any suggestions herself.

Sally clicked her fingers. 'I've got it!' she shouted. 'We'll make for the changing rooms on the edge of the playing fields. There'll be plenty of smart uniforms hanging up there to choose from.'

Rose suddenly began to take more interest. 'And watches!' she pointed out. 'I'll bet those well-off girls will have left quite a bit of jewellery in their pockets. We can hide it somewhere and come back for it at some time. Even if we are put away tomorrow, it's only going to be for a short time!'

Sally sniggered. 'They'll all blame one another. That'll be a laugh.'

Rose got up. She was dressed almost identically to her friend. The only difference was in the colour of their sweaters. The red-haired girl wore grey and Sally's was dark brown.

The blonde girl opened the window and poked out her head. As she thought, the drainpipe was in easy reach. She was used to climbing up drainpipes in furtherance of theft so it was no hardship for her to go the other way for a change.

Soon, both of the inmates of the Centre had their feet on the ground and, under cover of bushes and trees, they ran to the bottom of the garden. The fence that met them was made of old railway sleepers and it presented no challenge at all.

'Watch out for 'effin trains!' warned Rose. 'I don't want to end up as mincemeat!'

The girls scurried over the metal rails and crawled under one of the wire strands that bordered the High View College playing fields. Now, they were in a completely different environment and somehow they felt the change Even the grass smelted heavenly from the recent rain.

'Nice 'ere, ain't it?' smiled Sally.

They hurred to the changing rooms which were no more than wooden huts on the edge of the field. The blonde looked all round to make sure they hadn't been spotted and that there was no one inside before they went in.

'Take your pick, Rose,' declared Sally, sweeping her arm around to indicate the array of uniforms carefully hung on pegs.

Laughing and giggling like the schoolgirls they were going to pretend to be, they tried on all sorts of blazers, skirts and socks before finding anything that fitted them.

'All this gear is tailor-made!' Sally informed her friend, trying on a brown-and-yellow striped blazer. 'It must cost the earth for their parents to kit them out.'

Rose laughed as she looked at her colleague from the Assessment Centre. 'I'll bet your boyfriend wouldn't mind seeing you right now,' she told her.

Sally laughed as she looked at herself in one of the full-length mirrors. The brown pleated skirt was halfway up her shapely thighs and her bust pushed out the tight cotton blouse. The striped yellow-and-brown tie was askew and the white socks were down around her ankles.

'Actually, my boyfriend gets turned on by girls in school uniforms,' she confided to her friend.

'A good job he's not here then,' smiled Rose. 'He might want to put you over his knee.'

'Huh!' snorted Sally. 'Fat chance! I'm not into that sort of thing, thank you very much!'

Rose had managed to find clothing more her size, but it did not have quite the same effect on her as the attire borrowed by the blonde.

'Let's see what we can nick,' she grinned.

'Wait!' warned Sally. 'Someone's coming!'

Quick as a flash, the two hid behind a door. A member of the staff walked in, a stout woman of the tweeds and brogues brigade. She strode purposefully towards the showers, obviously looking for girls hiding away from the physical activity going on outside.

Sally and Rose took the opportunity to make themselves scarce, although the red-haired delinquent complained about missing out on the loot. Sally assured her they would get it on the way back as the girls would be on the hockey pitch for another hour at least. Also, on their way back they would find some paint and write on the nice clean walls!

They walked into the main building and only just managed to keep their feet on the highly polished parquet flooring. Their first test came when a formidable-looking mistress walked towards them.

She pointed at Sally. 'Fix your tie, girl!' she ordered and strode on her way.

Instinctively, Sally did as she was told and the pair of intruders carried on with their inspection of the old school.

'This place is even older than my gran!' joked Rose as she looked up at the paintings of former heads and benefactors lining the oak-panelled walls.

Suddenly Sally clutched hold of Rose's arm. 'Listen!' she hissed. 'Can you hear what I think I can hear?'

Rose nodded, a smile on her face. 'Someone's getting a walloping!'

The unmistakable sound of wood on flesh came from a nearby room, the door of which was partially open. They peered round and their hearts stilled at what they saw.

In fact the first thing that met their eyes was the sight of a pink bottom already adorned by two red horizontal stripes. Its owner was bent over a large desk, her shoulders heaving with sobs and her panties caught up in her feet.

It was only after the third stroke and resultant screech that the two uninvited observers realised that it was a man who was wielding the cane.

The chastiser was tall, athletic, in his mid-thirties and he was very good-looking.

'Stay still, Miss Jones!' he admonished the stricken girl squirming over the top of the desk. 'You only have one more to take, but if you persist in moving about, you'll get more!'

A chill came over Sally. The sight was absolutely awful yet, at the same time, it was utterly compelling. Something inside her wanted the poor girl to get more as the teacher had threatened.

Miss Jones managed to control herself and her angry, pained bottom shuddered to stillness, although her cheek muscles were obviously tightly clenched.

Whapp!

The cane sank again into the soft cushions of her rump. She yelled out aloud and waggled her rear end from side to side.

'Pull up your knicks and off you go!' ordered the teacher.

'Yes, Mr Bridges,' was the tearful but eager reply.

It was at this moment that the two inmates of the Assessment Centre chose to leave. They chose to, but they didn't actually make it. Roughly, they were pushed into the study by the tweeds and brogues mistress they had seen in the changing room and inside they tripped over each other.

'These two girls were peeping around your door,' explained the matronly woman. 'They must have been watching you cane the Jones girl.'

Miss Jones, her face buried in her hands, quickly left the scene.

'Ere! What's the game, you bitch!' demanded Rose, her natural hostility to any kind of officialdom rapidly rising to the surface.

'How dare you speak to Miss Russell like that!' roared the man who had just laid the cane into the meaty bottom of the recently departed Miss Jones. He yanked the two girls to their feet by the collars of their blouses and shook them like two rag dolls.

'Piss off!' shouted Rose.

'- - - - off!' hissed the blonde, coming out with the full Anglo-Saxon expletive.

'Oh, Mr Bridges!' shrieked a shocked Miss Russell, putting a large hand to her mouth.

'I've a good mind to smack both your faces!' hissed Mr Bridges. He quickly, however, brought himself under control. 'Instead I'll give you six of the best — the very best, I assure you!'

The two girls struggled in his grip and even aimed kicks at his shins. However, he solved that problem by letting go of their blouses and twisting their ears instead.

Sally suddenly stopped struggling as realisation came over her. They were supposed to be pupils of High View College. If it was found out they were from the place across the railway lines, they would be unceremoniously handed over — with a full report of their loutish behaviour and foul language. Their assessments would be rapidly altered and they would be incarcerated at the court hearing for sure. It was better to grin and bear it. Okay, so they would certainly be baring it, but it was hardly likely they would be grinning!

She managed to convey the message to the other girl with a few whispered words and Rose, too, gave up the struggle.

'I'm sorry sir,' whimpered Sally, looking at Mr Bridges with wide, appealing eyes. She could turn on the charm whenever she wanted to.

'No doubt you are!' Mr Bridges was not impressed. 'But your sorrow will not stop you from getting the six of the very best I promised you!'

The girls looked at each other. They hadn't bargained for anything like this. They were out of their depth with this kind of discipline. There was certainly no such thing as corporal punishment at the Assessment Centre!

Which was the lesser of the two evils? A very painful dose of the cane with a sore bum for a while afterwards, or several weeks or even months in some kind of a penal establishment. There really wasn't any choice!

'Perhaps you would be so good as to wait outside with one of these er young ladies, Miss Russell,' smiled Mr Bridges grimly.

'Yes, Headmaster,' said the big lady smugly.

Sally's eyes widened. So the dishy bloke was actually the Headmaster of this posh place. She had never had a Headmaster like that. She had never had the cane either!

A dejected-looking Rose was led out by Miss Russell, leaving Sally alone with the Headmaster. She felt absolutely helpless. She didn't even go to this silly school and yet she had to pretend that she did. It was going to be a painful pretence!

The blonde knew it would be a waste of time flaunting her obviously nubile body. Mr Bridges was going to use the yellow crook-handled cane lying on the desk top, no matter what she did.

He started off by giving her a sharp lecture about all the things a young lady should be and not be. One thing a lady should definitely not be — and that was foul-mouthed!

'You won't forget this in a hurry!' he promised, taking up the cane.

Sally was sure she would never forget it!

Mr Bridges tapped the shiny desk top with the tip of the cane. Eyes downcast, Sally took a few paces forward cursing Rose under her breath. It had been her silly idea in the first place! She was glad she had someone to blame, other than herself.

She lay across the surface, her arms outstretched in front of her, her feet steady on the carpet and her bottom poking up in the air.

Sally was frightened, although she did her best not to show it. There hadn't been many times in her young life that the pretty blonde had been frightened, but this was one of them. Her knuckles showed white under the skin as she clutched the edge of the desk.

Mr Bridges, the cane tucked under his left arm, began to bare her bottom. The so-short skirt had ridden so far up already, he merely had to lift it out of the way. Her briefs were so skimpy, they were little more than a snatch patch.

She jumped at the sensation of his warm hands on her flesh. For any other purpose the sensation of male hands down there would be very pleasant, but not for what she was about to receive!

Very delicately, the Headmaster eased her panties over her rump and he let them flutter down to her ankles. For all that Sally was an experienced young woman of the world, she felt strangely embarrassed.

She tensed and waited.

Mr Bridges took time to get his mark and his stance correct. Sally jumped several times as the cane tap-tapped on her offered globes, seeking the perfect range. She had already witnessed just what he could do with the cane and she knew he was going to lay it on much harder for both herself and Rose than he had done for the errant Miss Jones.

Sally heard the cane whistling down for what seemed like ages before she thought her bottom had been bisected by a red hot wire.

'Oooohhh!' she cried out.

Her plump, ivory cheeks shuddered and she wondered where her breath had gone to. A red stripe instantly lit up her pale bottom.

'I don't have to tell you to keep still, do I?' questioned Mr Bridges.

Sally shook her head and buried her face in the sleeves of the striped blazer.

Crack!

'Yeeeoww!'

Sally's head jerked up as the second stroke of the expertly wielded cane struck home. She started to cry. Her bottom seemed to be making frantic efforts to minimise the pain and discomfort.

'Keep still!' warned the Headmaster.

Sally had a sudden urge to kick off her panties and run away. Then she remembered the menacing figure of Miss Russell who would be lurking outside, no doubt savouring every sickening sound that came from the study. There was just nowhere to go!

Whoosh!

Whapp!

Sally screamed and twisted violently. Her bottom blazed with fire.

Mr Bridges viewed with great satisfaction the contorting arse that still had three more stripes to bear.

The sleeves of Sally's 'borrowed' blazer became sodden as the tears flowed unremittingly. She had never known her body could be in such agony. And the awful torment was still only halfway through.

Still, how much worse was it going to be for Rose. She would be able to hear the explosive cracking impacts of the cane upon her bare buttock flesh and all her screeching and shouting, and still have the awful punishment to bear. At least whilst the redhead was getting it, she herself could rub her hands over the inferno that was her battered bottom.

The fourth slice of cane stopped Sally from thinking about the girl waiting her turn outside. Her piercing shriek echoed around the study and the jellied mounds of her bottom showed up her suffering.

Sally's throat was dry and sore from yelling. Ever-increasing waves of hurt seemed to engulf her all over. Her shoulders shook and so did her bottom.

'Keep this still!' ordered Mr Bridges, prodding her buttocks with the tip of the cane. Even that hurt!

Desperately fearful of getting extra strokes, Sally concentrated hard on keeping her bottom absolutely still. Despite the torrent of fire that seemed to have been poured over her arse, she managed it. But not for long!

Kerack!

'Ay-yee-aagh!' roared Sally.

She began thrashing about with her head back and her eyes clamped shut. Her arms were rigidly extended and her fists tightly clenched.

Her crimson, castigated bottom humped up and down frenziedly. She could hardly believe such an awful thing was happening to her.

'This is the last one coming up,' said Mr Bridges. His voice betrayed the fact that he wanted to carry on and give her much, much more.

Whack!

The cane again found its mark on the bottom that squirmed and floundered over the desk top.

'Yarrooohh!' roared the tortured delinquent. Her feet bicycled in the air.

Mr Bridges had used all his energy in delivering the final stroke to the cheeky blonde. She had most certainly deserved the thorough hiding he had given her and he hoped it would be a salutary lesson to her.

Keeping hold of the cane, he crossed the carpet to the door and beckoned a trembling Rose to enter.

'Oh God!' cried the red-haired girl stopping in her tracks.

Sally, her body shattered with the punishment it had absorbed, still lay sprawled over the desk, sobbing her heart out.

Rose screwed up her eyes as she surveyed her friend's backside, ablaze with fiery red criss-crossed welts.

Mr Bridges stood in the doorway and permitted Miss Russell a quick peek at Sally's bum. Her smile showed her satisfaction.

'I suppose these girls think they are the first ones ever to cross the railway lines to see what they can thieve,' she whispered.

Mr Bridges nodded. 'No doubt they do,' he said quietly. 'They aren't the first and they certainly won't be the last!'