AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stand up,” she says when the last stroke has landed.
He does as he is told, standing very gingerly. He does not make eye contact with her. Later on, he will wonder what made him submit to such a painful punishment. For now, he is caught in the mental and physical aftermath of a very well-deserved caning.
“Dress yourself,” Jane orders.
She enjoys the red-faced wincing as he pulls his pants up into position and fastens them. It is possible that he may yet prove to be something other than the worst kind of rich young buck. Time will tell.
“Now. You will go and explain to Kiera that she is going to remain here, and the two of you will no longer be recreationally indulging in prescription or any other kind of drugs. Then you will get in your car, and you will return from wherever it is you came, and you will not come back until such time as I personally give you permission to be on these grounds. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ronald agrees, very much chastened.
“If you so much as think about giving into her desire to be removed from the school, I will find the pair of you and cane you both. I am not to be crossed, Ronald. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He offers his shamefaced, mumbled response once more.
“Good. Now. Go inform Kiera that you are no longer going to be facilitating her misbehavior.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Ronald says, suddenly the very picture of politeness as he takes his leave from Jane’s office, walking with a markedly stilted gait.
Jane lays her cane down and allows herself a deep, calming breath.
It has been a long day.
But it is over.
Probably.
12ANOTHER DAY AT BIRCHBANE
Jane’s work day begins early on Tuesday. She had not intended to see any students until later in the day, but as she enters her office and turns the light on, she finds herself confronted by a specter of feminine displeasure.
Kiera is sitting cross-legged on Jane’s couch in a pair of pink silk pajamas, wrapped up in a pale wool blanket from the sick bay.
Jane is not sure how long she has been there, but it’s possible given the blonde hair on the armrest that the young lady came in the night and slept in the office, lying in wait like a particularly incensed insomniac tigress experiencing a very unpleasant come down.
“Hello, Kiera,” Jane says pleasantly.
“You.”Kiera intones gravely.
Jane continues to go about her business. She pulls the curtains on the floor to ceiling windows to allow natural light to flow into the room, then turns back toward her guest. By this time, Kiera has risen from the couch and is wearing the blanket like a cape.
She looks very much worse for wear. She has dark circles under her eyes and a certain listlessness in her expression, not to mention a grayish pallor to her skin. The vital creature from yesterday is gone. She looks at Jane with flat betrayal and primal vehemence.
“You’ve ruined Ronald. He doesn’t love me anymore.”
“I don’t think that is true.”
Kiera screws her face up in the anguish that can only be experienced by someone facing the potential loss of their first love. “It is true. He said he wouldn’t take me out of here. He’s never refused me anything before. You’ve made him stop loving me. You’ve stolen my Ronald.”
“I have not stolen anything,” Jane says, trying not to appear too amused by what is clearly a serious matter for Kiera.
“He said you caned him.”
“I did.”
“You can’t cane other people’s boyfriends!” Kiera stamps her foot, looking like a much younger girl in that moment of high temper.
“I can when they arrive at this school and attempt to take a student who very much needs guidance back to a life that is destroying her,” Jane says. “I’m sure Ronald’s a very nice young man, but I am not interested in him.”
