Their Master's Pleasure by B. A. Bradbury Page B

might hold her down.
    â€˜When I said the twins’ punishment should be severe,’ I concluded, ‘I was being careless with our mother tongue, for I should have said hard. I don’t wish to tie them up, but I want to take them very close to that point. And we make it a long session - a hundred hard strokes are just as effective as thirty severe ones.’
    â€˜A hundred?’ he said in surprise.
    â€˜I don’t see why not: a century is no more than they deserve. I intend this to be a punishment they never forget. Fighting in the house, indeed!’
    But it was Mrs Hammond’s injured face I was thinking of as I spoke. Only one person at Bleekston Hall was entitled to put marks on that particular lady; and the cheeks I would rather bruise are in any case lower down and at the rear.
    We agreed to deal with the warring sisters in the library as I felt the study was rather cramped. Freddie and I might well be swinging simultaneously at some point and a clash of canes would make us look like incompetent fools.
    Prior to the start of the session I had the Tavistock girls carry through to the library my entire day collection of spanking implements: three each of canes, tawses, paddles and rulers, plus two lashes and a quirt. As the crime was theirs, it seemed only fair they should do the work; and seeing their anxious faces as they surveyed this fearsome array did add a certain piquancy to the preparations. We also took along a selection of items from my main collection for good measure.
    My godson’s face was a picture as he stepped into the room adjacent to my study. ‘Good God!’ he exclaimed, catching sight of the eight hundred or so items. ‘Sir, what... where... good God!’
    â€˜Don’t stand there goggling and blaspheming,’ I said, ‘just grab anything you think might come in handy.’
    He reached out as though in a trance and I realised my mistake. ‘Not that one!’ I said hastily. ‘It’s over three thousand years old and priceless. You never knew the Pharaohs were spankers, did you, Freddie? Here, let me choose.’
    We thrust the additional items into our victims’ arms and steered them towards the library. I told them to put the implements on the table, after which they were ordered to strip.
    â€˜Please sir...’ one of them mumbled.
    â€˜Yes, Molly?’
    I knew it was she, for Molly was the dominant twin. She was the one who always spoke first, making it possible to tell one from the other whenever they were talking, though I seemed to be the only person in the household to have realised this.
    â€˜Will you be punishing us all by yourself, sir,’ she asked, ‘or will Mr Frederick lend a hand?’
    â€˜Mr Frederick will most certainly be lending a hand,’ I said. ‘Also a cane, a paddle, a tawse and possibly a whip or two I shouldn’t wonder.’
    â€˜Thank you, sir,’ she said, with a shy glance and quick little smile in Freddie’s direction.
    Was that it, then? She was more than happy - they were happy - to submit to a harsh beating just so long as handsome Mr Frederick was the one giving it? I’d thought them strange enough before, God knows, but this was ridiculous.
    â€˜Get undressed, both of you!’ I snapped. ‘When you’re naked bend over and grasp your ankles.’
    As they started to strip I moved close to my godson. ‘I’d like you to lead off, Freddie,’ I murmured quietly. ‘So would they, obviously. I suggest you begin with a paddle to get them good and tender, then switch to something sharper - a cane or crop, say. That should get them squawking nicely. And don’t forget what I said about being even handed!’
    â€˜Understood, sir.’
    The Tavistocks divested themselves of the last of their clothing and took up the prescribed position, so close together their hips were almost touching. I drew a chair up behind them, close enough