Sheltered cousins Alana Belle and Vee Price long to break out of the bounds given to them by their strict governess and their ageing, absent aunt. Alana wants to know what it is to have a little freedom: to take in a show on her own, stride through town after dusk without constant scrutiny and judgement. Vee, meanwhile, dreams of being given the opportunity to express their true self, to find out who they might be in a world where they weren’t made to present as a boy.

So when Governess Clara goes out for the evening and the lady of the house takes to her bed, the youths decide to ...

Sheltered cousins Alana Belle and Vee Price long to break out of the bounds given to them by their strict governess and their ageing, absent aunt. Alana wants to know what it is to have a little freedom: to take in a show on her own, stride through town after dusk without constant scrutiny and judgement. Vee, meanwhile, dreams of being given the opportunity to express their true self, to find out who they might be in a world where they weren’t made to present as a boy.

So when Governess Clara goes out for the evening and the lady of the house takes to her bed, the youths decide to seize the opportunity. Alana plots to don Vee’s braces and step out in the guise of a strapping young man, lending Vee the blouse and skirt they’ve longed for. Alas, no sooner have they finished changing than their indomitable governess sweeps in, plans cancelled, catching her charges in the act.

Alana, she decides, must go over her knee: a bare-bottom spanking to punish her as the naughty young lady Miss Hewitt has decided she must be. Vee receives the same treatment, their borrowed bloomers displaying their cheeks prominently – but as the elder cousin and, according to the governess, the boy, they’re to be caned as well while Alana watches.

Sore, striped and with a deep sense of injustice, the cousins comfort each other when the punishment is done – but they remain unrepentant, determined to find another time to explore these brave new worlds.