Mrs McCready is visiting her old headmaster as secretary of the alumni association. Asked to wait in his study, she cannot resist sitting at his desk where a cane rests menacingly. She starts to fondle the cane and memories flood back. Her mind goes back to the time when, as sixthformer Blenkinsop, the headmaster beat her for cheating in exams. Told to bend over and touch her toes, he gives her ten strokes of the cane. In her mind, she relives each stroke, some several times over, recalling each time the wicked black rod whipped down across her bottom. She remembers the raw, red lines that it... Show more