"Mummy?" said Giles crying already.
"To think of the time and effort we've put into trying to bring you up properly, like a nice boy, and you reward us with this disgusting behaviour" she yelled.
Giles started getting undressed.
"You've been told about abusing yourself - it's a sin, a filthy disgusting sin, and doing it with your sisters night wear, you make me feel sick" she said, slapping him heavily again.
"But, mummy I..." he began.
"Your own sister, you filthy pervert. I'm ashamed. You wait until I tell your father. If there's anything left of you after I've finished he's going to want to deal with it" she screamed.
Giles dropped his pants and stood shaking, his hands crossed in front of his groin. Helen returned from the scullery, the washing machine beginning to sing in the background.
"You stink of it" said Grace "You stink of your shame and sin and disgusting behaviour. I'm going to whip you until you bleed but first I'm going to wash that filth off you" she shouted "Get up to the bathroom and run a bath."
Giles moved quickly, speeding up as he approached the door. He saw Helen smiling at him, and he ran. Grace went to a cupboard and rummaged angrily. She pulled out a bar of old fashioned carbolic soap and a very unfriendly looking scrubbing brush. When she turned back towards the door she saw Helen standing looking sad.
"You come with me girl!" said Grace "It's about time you learned to take care of your brother."
CHAPTER FIFTY
Breakfast at the Davison's was tense. Keith rustled the paper noisily, sipping coffee and taking frequent looks at his watch. Margaret expressed her mood in a symphony of bangings and crashings. Ben and Amy sat silently, eating and drinking as though the slightest sound would trigger the end of the world.
"Gotta go" said Keith getting up suddenly. The paper was folded quickly and he grabbed Margaret, who was by the sink. She wasn't in the mood, but he hugged and kissed her anyway "Don't be too hard on them" he said quietly. She didn't answer him.
"See you later, kids" he said cheerily as he left for work. Neither Ben nor Amy responded.
"When you've finished that you can wash up, wipe up, and put everything away" said Margaret sternly "And make sure the table's clean." She marched out of the kitchen and into the lounge, picking up the phone on the way.
"No, I had no idea" said Diane, pacing up and down in the hall, the phone glued to her ear "Are you sure it was Emily and Alison?"
After a pause "I see. Just a minute, Margaret" Diane paced to the bottom of the stairs and shouted up "Emily, Alison, get down here, now!"
She paced back up the hall again "It might be best if we tackle them all together. Find out what on earth is going on." Diane nodded a couple of times and hung up. When she turned again she saw two very sorry and scared little girls standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Margaret had not been long. Ten minutes after she had hung up she was sat in the lounge with Diane. She had bustled a very reluctant Ben, and only slightly less reluctant Amy along to the Weaver house, and they had been admitted to the lounge immediately and in silence. Alison and Emily were already stood facing the settee, waiting nervously, and Margaret had had Ben and Amy join them.
"Right" said Diane beginning the interrogation "You four had better explain yourselves, and it had better be good"
Emily thought she'd better act as spokesperson for fear that Ben would say something stupid, or Alison would lose her temper.
"We just wanted to go out and play in the forest at night" said Emily.
"Why at night? What were you up to?" asked Diane.
"Nothing" said Emily "It was a stupid idea, we just thought it would be fun in the dark."
"What were you doing?" asked Margaret.
"We were just playing dub dub in" said Emily.
"What's that?" asked Margaret confused.
"It's just a game" said Emily.
"Explain" said Diane.
"Well, you have a base, like a tree or something and someone's it. A bit like hide and seek, so the others go off and hide. The people hiding have to sneak back to the tree and touch it saying 'dub dub in' before the person who's it catches them - only if they see them they have to get back to the tree and touch it or touch the person, to catch them, and say 'dub dub out'" said Emily quickly.
Diane and Margaret sat quietly for a moment watching the four sorry looking children.
"We thought it would be more fun in the dark" said Emily "Because sneaking up would be easier."
"You realise you worried Margaret sick when she found Ben and Amy missing" said Diane.
Emily nodded "We didn't mean to worry anyone."
"Have you any idea how dangerous it is you wandering round at night? You don't know who you might run into" said Margaret.
"We didn't really think about that, Mrs Davison, but it's safe round here anyway" said Emily.
"I don't want you to ever do anything like this again" said Diane "You do not leave this house at night without my permission, and certainly not after you've gone to bed."
"Sorry mum, we won't" said Emily trying to inject just the right amount of regret and conviction into her voice.
"That goes for you two as well" said Margaret. Ben and Amy nodded sorrowfully.
"Alison, go and get my hairbrush" said Diane.
Alison looked up fearfully "Mum, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I promise."
"Good, but you have already done it, and if you think you're getting away with it without being punished you can think again. Emily, you can start getting undressed" said Diane.
"We'd better go then" said Margaret.
"Are you letting your two off then?" asked Diane.
"Absolutely not" said Margaret "They'll get their just deserts when we get home"
"Well it's up to you" said Diane "But I'd deal with the four of them together"
"Together?" said Margaret hesitantly "But... I mean... the girls"
"They've seen their fair share of little boys getting their bare bottoms smacked I wouldn't worry about that" said Diane.
"I was more worried about Ben... I mean... with Alison, and Emily... she's almost a young woman. I'm not sure he's ready... I don't want to give him any ideas" said Margaret.
"It's not going to be long before he sees one of these two getting a spanking in any case" said Diane "Or if not them, some other girl in the neighbourhood."
Margaret looked at Ben as he shuffled nervously from foot to foot. He was listening to the conversation with trepidation, fearful that he might be forced to watch Alison and Emily get a spanking. Being stood in front of his mother and Mrs Weaver was the last place in the world he wanted to start getting excited.
"If we deal with them all at once it'll not only be a lot more embarrassing for them they're also likely to remember it when they get together and have another stupid idea" said Diane.
Margaret nodded slowly "But aren't you worried they might... you know... get ideas about... things" asked Margaret.
"You mean..." said Diane who silently mouthed the word 'sex', "No they're too young for that sort of thing"
Alison returned and held out a hairbrush to her mother at arms length looking afraid.
"Emily? Didn't I tell you to get undressed?" said Diane.
"I thought you wanted me to wait until, Mrs Davison had gone" lied Emily.
"Don't get smart with me, get undressed! You too Alison!" said Diane, her patience wearing thin.
"Mum!" said Emily.
"You've just added an extra spanking - from Mrs Davison" said Diane "Do you want more?"
Margaret looked at Diane in surprise, then at Emily whose mouth opened as if to say something. Emily started getting undressed, Alison followed suit. Ben tried to keep his eyes on the floor, but they kept jumping up of their own volition, snatching glances at Alison and Emily.
"It's always a good tactic" said Diane "Getting a spanking from someone else is always more embarrassing"
"Do you want to stay, or do you want to take your two home. I can send Emily over later if you like" said Diane.
Margaret looked at Emily again as she bent forward in just her underwear, beginning to take off her bra. She already had tears of shame rolling down her cheeks, and Margaret felt sorry for her having to undress in front of strangers like this; in front of Ben.
"No, we'll stay" said Margaret "Ben, Amy, undressed please."
"What!?" said Ben, as Amy began to undress.
"You heard me, Ben, please don't show me up" said Margaret.
"But, mum..." whined Ben, his eyes darted around the room, at his mother, Mrs Weaver, Alison, Emily, Amy, his mother again.
"Well you can have another spanking as well then" she said "If Diane doesn't mind."
Diane looked Ben up and down "It'll be a pleasure" she said.
Ben's lower lip trembled and he stared at the floor, tears coming to his eyes.
"If you don't get on with it I'll undress you myself" said Margaret "You know I will" she added.
Emily was naked now, and trying to cover her body with her hands. Alison was also naked and covering herself. Amy was rolling her knickers down with considerably less concern.
"Alison, fetch my big wooden spoon please" said Diane, and Alison hurried off to the kitchen "Emily, stand up straight and put your hands on your head, you should know that by now."
Still crying in shame Emily straightened up and slowly raised her hands to her head. Margaret couldn't help watching her. She was a beautiful girl with fair sized young breasts, and pubic hair already flourishing, though almost invisibly blondly, around her groin. Margaret's impression that Emily was growing into a young woman was confirmed and she began to worry about how Ben would react to seeing a girl like this naked for the first time. She tried to placate herself with the thought that it was going to happen sooner or later, and it might just be better that she was here when it first happened. Sadness: a fear that he might grow up too quickly overtook her and she looked over at him.
Ben stood procrastinating over his trousers. He was looking very busy while making no progress at all. Amy was now naked, and without having to be asked was stood like Emily with her hands on her head. Margaret dropped her eyes.
Alison returned and offered her mother the wooden spoon.
"Give it to Mrs Davison" said Diane.
Alison offered it to Margaret who took it absent-mindedly "Thanks, Alison" she said without looking up.
Margaret didn't look up again until Alison had taken her place between Emily and Amy, and she was surprised at how developed Alison was. She already had the beginnings of breasts, certainly enough to attract the attention of boys and also had a sprinkling of fine pubic hair. Margaret was struck by how beautiful she was, and wondered how Ben could resist such a gorgeous girl. She remembered how off-handed he had been with her the other morning, and she concluded that he must just not be interested in girls yet. She decided that she'd have to keep an eye on these two if that ever changed.
"Since Emily and Ben are getting two" said Diane "We'll start with them and finish with them"
Margaret nodded, happy to leave the direction to Diane. She realised that Ben was still fiddling with his trousers.
"You better be undressed in ten seconds, Benedict or I'll march you home naked when we're done" said Margaret.
Whatever problem Ben had been struggling with was suddenly solved and his trousers and pants came down almost instantly. He kicked them off, being careful to keep his hands in front of him and he stood next to Amy, looking pale and afraid.
"Hands on your head!" said Diane.
"Mum..." said Ben.
"Do as you're told!" said Margaret.
"But... mum" said Ben, and then in a whisper "Muuum!"
"I'm not going to be shocked by a little boy with an erection" said Diane "Thomas gets them all the time when he gets spanked."
Margaret looked at Diane then back at Ben, realising now what he was whining about. She could understand why he didn't want to be seen naked and erect in front of his sister and two other girls he'd only just met.
"The quicker we get started the quicker we get finished" said Margaret gently "Come on Ben, let's just get it over with"
Ben raised his hands slowly, his face like a sad red rose with petals of shame and fear and humiliation blossoming across it, as his erect penis came into sight. Diane and Margaret both stared straight at it, Margaret guiltily, but Diane with more unashamed interest.
"He's a bigger boy than I thought" said Diane.
Alison, as embarrassed and apprehensive as she was, couldn't help but giggle.
"You think this is funny?" asked Diane.
"No, mum, sorry" said Alison.
"You won't be finding it funny in a minute" said Diane "Emily, come over here!"
"Ben, you too!" said Margaret.
Margaret watched Emily's breasts elongate slightly under gravity as she bent over her mother's lap, and she took Ben's wrist and pulled him over her own lap. She felt his erection lodge uncomfortably on her thigh and without thought or shame she put a hand underneath him to straighten it. Ben flinched from her touch and he tried to pull away slightly. Margaret smacked him and pulled him back down again.
Diane was already bringing the hair brush down punishingly on Emily's bottom and Emily was beginning to squirm, biting her lip and trying not to cry. She knew it was a hopeless cause, she knew that her mother wouldn't stop before she was bawling and begging for mercy, but it was still important to her not to give in too easily.
Margaret raised the wooden spoon, and taking her rhythm from Diane, began her own punitive tattoo on Ben's bottom. Ben remembered his last spanking from his mother and he did not want to end up in the same condition again. He resolved to be brave, very brave, and to take the spanking like a man, especially with Alison watching.
Emily couldn't hold out much longer, tears were already forcing their way out of her eyes, and she was beginning to emit involuntary little grunts and yelps. Sensing she was nearing the turning point Diane picked up the pace a little and smacked harder. Each time Emily's body lurched at the impact and her head came up, mouth open to let out another cry, she caught a glimpse of Ben's bottom squirming under his mother's assault.
Ben had no such view, and his eyes were too full of tears to see anything anyway. His resolve was crumbling. The pain of the spoon was biting fiercely and he began struggling to avoid it.
"Stay still Ben! Or you'll go on your back" said Margaret.
Ben well remembered how vulnerable and exposed he'd been in that position, with his testicles, penis and even anus on display, and he couldn't face suffering that terrible indignity in front of the girls, and especially in front of Mrs Weaver.
"I'm trying mum" he sobbed "But you're hurting me."
"Good, that's the idea" said Margaret.
Emily was beginning to lose it; the pain was building to an unbearable level and she began crying forcefully. Diane, realising she was close to finishing with Emily now, put one last burst on, increasing the speed and force once again. Emily began flailing and howling in response, losing all control and self respect under the agonising barrage.
Ben was nearing the same condition, but Margaret was having more difficulty keeping him in position. She held an arm across his back, trying to use her weight to hold him, but still he struggled with her. Ben was no longer conscious of the other people in the room witnessing his punishment and his undignified behaviour. He cried uncontrollably, and with no clue as to when it was going to end, or whether it was going to go on for ever, he was sent into a panic, and his flailing became more violent. Eventually he fell from his mother's lap onto the floor, and like the terrified animal he was he shuffled away from her quickly.
Diane put the hair brush down and stroked Emily's bottom a couple of times, and gave her a few moments to calm down. The pain was still unbearable and Emily still howled, but the knowledge that it was over, that there was no more pain to rain down and reinforce what she was already suffering, was such a relief that she stropped struggling and went completely limp.
"He's probably had enough for his first spanking" said Diane sympathetically "He won't find it so easy to escape when I take him in hand."
Margaret looked at her cowering bawling son, and then across to Diane, she nodded absent-mindedly.
"He's just not used to it yet" continued Diane "He'll learn not to struggle and try to escape, and he'll toughen up too. You should see Thomas, he's only nine but he'd take a harder spanking than Ben just has and he wouldn't dare struggle like that."
Margaret nodded again, unsure as to whether Diane was suggesting she punish Ben for escaping, or whether she was saying to leave him for now.
"Up you get Emily" said Diane. Emily rose slowly and arched her back. She knew she wouldn't be allowed to rub her bottom, despite the desperate need to do so. She moved slowly over to Alison's side and put her hands on her head.
Margaret looked over at Emily, and she was struck by how much younger she now looked. All the obvious signs seemed the same, her body was as mature and developed as it had been before, but the tears, her expression, something about her attitude and the way she carried her body made her look much younger.
"Ben you'd better get up as well" said Diane.
Ben sobbed and flicked his eyes fearfully between Mrs Weaver and his mother.
"Benedict!" said Margaret loudly and sharply "Do as you're told!"
Ben climbed to his feet still bawling, and forced his pain wracked body next to Amy.
"Hands" shouted Diane, and Ben swiftly brought his hands to his head.
"Not such a big boy now is he?" said Diane.
Margaret looked at Ben; at his features; the tears and the snot; the red eyes. He too looked younger, more vulnerable, more needy. There was something about this that made him more attractive. Something she liked. As her eyes dropped down his handsome chest and well toned tummy she noticed that his penis now hung limply under its sparse little crown of hair. She wondered if this was what Diane had been referring to.
"Alison?" said Diane, and Alison took her place over her mother's lap, her lip curled in a sorry pout.
"Come on then, Amy" said Margaret.
Amy grinned appeasingly at her mother as she approached "I'm sorry, mummy" she said with sincerity. Margaret couldn't help thinking that Amy was beginning to grow up too. Her breasts weren't quite there yet, but they were budding, and hair was beginning to make its first appearance around her labia. As Amy laid herself timidly across her lap, she couldn't help starting to feel old.
Alison knew what to expect. She had felt the hairbrush often enough in the past, and she knew it was not going to be a pleasant experience. She didn't have the same pressure that Emily or Ben had on them. She was a girl not a boy and so not expected to be brave. She was also not the oldest and expected to set a good example. She also knew what her mother expected of her. So long as she didn't struggle too violently; so long as she stayed in place over her mother's lap; so long as she cried honestly and openly - it wouldn't go on too long. She took a deep breath.
Diane walloped her soundly. The hairbrush rose and fell with a predictably speedy rhythm, and Alison was warmed up in no time. Making no attempt to fight them, her tears came easily, and her mother accelerated as she felt her daughter's legs flail and her arms struggle not to fly back into defence.
Amy was not bearing up so well. Her only experience of corporal punishment had been three strokes of the riding crop in the den, and although each of those had been agony she had known how many there were going to be, and she had known it would be over swiftly. The relentless pounding of her bottom by the wooden spoon seemed ceaseless and the pain built rapidly to an intolerable level and she wailed pathetically "Noooo muuummeee, please....stop mummy.... Pleeeease..."
Margaret stopped. She knew Amy hadn't been spanked before, and being only ten years old she realised that she probably couldn't take anywhere near as much of a beating as Ben. She felt guilty; sorry that she had not been more lenient with her little girl. She put an arm around Amy and lifted her into a kneeling position in her lap. She cuddled her and kissed away her tears.
"Hush, darling. It's all over now. Don't go scaring mummy like that again" she said softly. Amy just sobbed and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck; grateful that her punishment was over and it had been lighter than she had begun to fear would be the case.
Alison couldn't help herself. Her hands grabbed her bottom, rubbing and protecting at the same time.
"Get those hands away, Alison!" said Diane, with a threatening edge to her tone.
This was all it took for Alison to regain enough control. She knew that tone, she knew that if she disobeyed, even for a second, she would be sorry for a long time to come. She pulled her hands away.
"Mercy...." she wailed "Please, mummy... enough...."
"I'll decide what's enough" said Diane, who intended to continue a little longer even if just for Alison's daring to try to protect herself.
The door flew open and a boy sauntered in "What's going on?" he asked unnecessarily. He'd known full well what was going long before he'd even come through the kitchen door. He could hear Alison bawling half way down the drive. He stared at Ben, and then at Amy. He recognised them from the party the other day, but he'd been too busy playing with his own friends to pay them any attention. He quickly took in Ben's willy, just out of curiosity, before resting his eyes on Amy's bottom.
"Just sit down, and don't say a word!" said Diane.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the boy's presence, Margaret put a hand across Amy's bottom protectively.
"Did you get the milk?" asked Diane, on her final few strokes at the bawling Alison.
"It's on the kitchen table" said Thomas.
"Why's it on the kitchen table?" asked Diane. Thomas' expression changed as he went into deep thought to contemplate this question. An observer might have thought that his mother had asked him to explain general relativity.
"Put it in the fridge!" his mother said helpfully.
"Oh!" said Thomas, realisation dawning on his face, and in gratitude for his liberation from the harsh sentence of having to think, he bounded out of the room.
Diane stopped, resting the hair brush on the settee next to her. She stroked Alison's back for a little while, wishing that Thomas' denseness could be solved with a hair brush.
"Back in line" she said, and Alison climbed tearfully from her mother's lap to rejoin Emily. Knowing that she was about to get a second helping, and still crying from her first, Emily shook slightly and looked completely desolate.
"Go on, Amy" said Margaret encouraging Amy out of her lap again. Amy moved slowly, but with purpose and stood between Alison and Ben and like the other three she placed her hands on her head.
Thomas came bounding back, and flopped in an armchair. His eyes locked onto Amy's fanny, and they stayed there.
"Emily, go to Mrs Davison" said Diane "Ben you're with me" she waggled a beckoning finger at Ben who simply looked terrified. There was no argument in Emily, as much as she didn't want to obey, and she walked over to Margaret with resignation. Margaret felt quite uncomfortable at the moment. She couldn't fail to notice where Thomas was staring and she had this beautiful naked thirteen year old girl stood beside her waiting to go over her lap. A girl she had only met for the first time two days ago. Emily waited patiently and in silence until Margaret took hold of her wrist very gently and gave it the slightest tug. This was all the signal Emily needed and she lay obediently across Margaret's lap. She gave Margaret a pleading look as she went down, and Margaret knew exactly what she was asking. She needn't have bothered. Margaret wasn't going to hit her very hard in any case.
Ben saw Diane's beckoning finger and knew what it meant, but he didn't respond. He swivelled his eyes aside, pretending he hadn't seen it and they alighted on Emily's bottom. He couldn't help but notice the lovely sight of her pussy lips between her buttocks, and he quickly looked away before his body responded embarrassingly.
"Ben, I'm waiting" said Diane.
"Muuum!" said Ben, his voice cracking in fear.
"Do as you're told or you'll get a third helping from me" said Margaret bringing the spoon down on Emily's bottom for the first time.
Ben felt devastated; betrayed by his own mother, who he thought would have protected him from this scary woman; who should have rescued him from the horror he faced. "You'd better go" said Alison quietly.
"Be quiet!" said Diane "Ben if I have to come and get you, you are going to be sorry."
Ben was already sorry. Ben was already very sorry. And he knew, with a certainty that epistemologists would deny was possible, that he was going to be even sorrier still in just a short period of time. He couldn't conceive how it would be possible to be any sorrier. The faintest possibility of this state of affairs, however, was enough to start him in motion, and his tears began to flow with renewed vigour as he faced the shame of being taken over the lap of his friends' mother, without a stitch of clothing on, and as he faced the awful prospect of the pain he feared she was going to do deliver, by air mail, to his already sore bottom.
"What did they do?" asked Thomas.
"What did I tell you?" asked Diane. Thomas' face creased with concentration again as though trying to figure out the meaning of life.
"I said 'not a word'" said Diane giving Thomas a stern look of warning.
Thomas' face relaxed again "Oh, yeh" he said and settled back in his chair to enjoy the show. His eyes flicked between Ben's impending doom and Amy's fanny.
Diane took hold of Ben's wrist and looked him in the eye "Be a brave boy and don't struggle" she said "Otherwise I'm going to have to restrain you"
Thomas inhaled sharply and loudly, but fell silent when his mother threw him a dark look.
Diane pulled the quaking Ben over her lap and he let out a short series of little "Ooooh"s like a distressed chimpanzee before she had even picked up the hair brush.
Margaret smacked Emily with the spoon rather guiltily, as though she was doing something not quite right. She continued to keep an eye on Thomas and his obvious interest in Amy's private parts. She raised an eyebrow when he shoved his hand down his trousers and rearranged himself. She raised another when he sniffed at his hand afterwards.
Emily was very glad that Mrs Davison didn't wield a wooden spoon like her mother did. It didn't stop it from hurting, and it didn't stop her from crying, but it did significantly moderate both of those things.
Ben was in quite a different state of mind. The hair brush swept back and forth to impact on his bottom like a nuclear weapons test. His already inflamed backside reignited with agony. In his brain the pain arrived in blinding flashes like magnesium flares exploding in a night sky. His mother's wooden spoon had been unbearable after a while, this was more than unbearable, and it arrived at that paradoxical state almost immediately.
Ben struggled, panicked, bawled his eyes out, begged and pleaded for mercy, for release, he fought for his life, and nearly escaped Diane's grasp. Diane stopped smacking him and put the hair brush down.
"What did I tell you!?" she asked him.
Ben had no idea what she'd told him; had no idea what she was telling him now; he had no idea about anything at all at the moment except for the all embracing torture flooding his nervous system.
Margaret looked over. Ben's bawling was beginning to soften her heart and she thought she should bring a halt to his punishment. She was about to say something when Diane saw and guessed at her protest "If you give in now, they'll walk all over you" said Diane "You have to be firm, and then they'll learn."
Margaret nodded, accepting, but saddened by the sense of it. She probably had been too soft; given Ben too much leeway. She wondered if she could train him to be a mere elephant rather an entire herd of them.
Ben let out a long and anguished moan as he realised his spanking was at an end. He felt Mrs Weaver start to lift him as he ceased his struggling, but he let out a shocked "Eeeek!" as she brought her hand under his tummy and took hold of his penis and testicles. He tried to climb off her lap but she held him tight. Looking back, he saw her pick up the hair brush again, and feeling completely trapped he panicked "Nooo! Nooo! Please... no more... please.... Not again...." He screamed as she hit him and he began bawling again "Mummmy... help.... meeeee" he shouted "Aaaarrrhhh! Ooooowwwww!"
Alison and Amy flinched and sucked in their breaths.
"He's a bit of a wimp" said Thomas.
"Do you want to come here and show him how to take it like a big boy?" asked Diane with a dangerous tone that made it clear this wasn't a rhetorical question.
"No" said Thomas in quite a small voice.
"One more word and you can show us, Thomas" said Diane. Thomas didn't want to risk another word, not even in response. Thomas returned his attention to Amy's fanny.
Margaret put the wooden spoon down, and patted Emily on the back "That'll do, I think" she said. Emily sighed gratefully "Thank you" she said, and climbed to her feet. Margaret looked up at Emily and saw the pain and embarrassment written across her face; she saw the control she was having to exert to keep herself from rubbing her bottom. Emily walked painfully back to her place, and put her hands on her head. Margaret continued to watch her, and again marvelled at what a beautiful young woman she was. She saw Emily watching Ben struggle and bawl, and she saw the sympathy, and perhaps even fondness, in her eyes. Dropping her gaze a little she couldn't help thinking again that Emily's breasts and her obvious genitals were probably not best flashed around in front of her twelve year old son. It was something she was having difficulty getting used to herself; she couldn't imagine what effect it was going to have on him. That thought brought her attention back to Thomas, who was licking his lips and had shoved a hand down his trousers again. The focus of his attention was entirely obvious. Margaret coughed, attracting his attention briefly. He withdrew his hand from his trousers, sniffed at it unashamedly, and then went back to staring at Amy.
Diane gave Ben one last almighty whack and then put the hair brush down again. He bobbed up and down in her lap to the fullest extent that her grip on his genitals allowed. She held him a little while longer, waiting for him to settle, and then she released him. Ben continued to bawl, spraying tears all over the settee, and Diane stroked his bottom; taking in the heat of it; measuring her effectiveness. She guessed he'd be fine in a few minutes.
"Back in line, Ben!" she said, but he didn't move. She smacked him with her hand and he leapt up, but instead of returning to his place he ran straight to his mother, arms out for comfort. Margaret looked at him, her heart breaking, but Diane gave her a warning shake of the head. With the will power of a non-smoking smoker she slapped the side of his bottom as he drew near "Back in line, Benedict!" she said. He stared at her in shock, then bawling, ran back to his place.
Thomas opened his mouth about to say something; a quick look from his mother and he closed his mouth again and sank lower in his chair. She considered giving him a spanking anyway, but time was getting on and she had things to do.
"You can rub your bottoms for a little while" said Diane, despite the fact Ben had been rubbing his since he had left her lap. Emily, Amy, and Alison all rubbed their bottoms, dancing up and down as they did so. Margaret was encouraged to see that Ben wasn't ogling Emily's or Alison's charms as they did this.
"All of you up against the wall and stay there until I decide you've had enough!" said Diane; she turned to Margaret "I'll make some tea."
The four well punished miscreants lined themselves up facing the wall, hands back on their heads, and they waited; pained; embarrassed; bored. Thomas watched.
Diane and Margaret retired to the kitchen and Diane put the kettle on.
"I'm sill not sure about this, you know" said Margaret "I mean... Emily's a young woman, and even Alison's on her way to being one... and Ben... well, I'm not sure he should be seeing girls in quite that detail yet. Not to mention the way your Thomas was staring at Amy's... well, at Amy."
"It's only natural" said Diane "The human body's nothing to be ashamed off, you know, and I think it's better for Ben to see Alison and Emily this way than for him to learn his human anatomy from one of those terrible magazines, or for them to be groping around each other under some bush somewhere."
"Well, I'd agree with that, I suppose, but..." began Margaret.
"Why should there be such a terrible mystery. They'll all find out what girls' and boys' bodies look like, it'll be done naturally, and hopefully they'll grow up with a sensible and healthy view of it all. I hate this horrible smirky seedy peeking through keyholes kind of sex education that kids subject themselves to" said Diane.
"No, I think that's right, but what about the sex side of things. I mean you can't surely deny that Ben might take a fancy to Alison, and if he's used to seeing her in the nude he might want to take things a bit further" said Margaret.
"Of course that's possible" said Diane "As I said, I think they're both a bit young for that sort of thing yet, but suppose that's true: Don't you think that their obsession with seeing a girl or boy naked and trying to engineer some way of achieving that doesn't put them in greater risk? Once they've got to that stage, by whatever means, they're going to be quite hot and bothered and who knows what'll follow. More likely, this way, they just won't be interested in looking. Your Ben for instance, he'll be so used to seeing Alison with no clothes on, he's not going to be spending all his time fantasising about it and trying to figure out how to spy on her or how to persuade her to get undressed for him. Once that novelty's worn off he's probably not going to be interested in much else for a few years yet."
"What if he is, though?" asked Margaret, as the kettle clicked off.
"Well, then you've got exactly the same problem either way. He's going to be under the same pressure, have the same temptations, whether he's seen Alison naked or not, only hopefully he'll be less of a pervert about it this way" said Diane pouring boiling water into the teapot.
"I know what you say makes sense, I just..." began Margaret.
"You just can't face up to the idea that your little boy's growing up" said Diane.
"God, is it that obvious?" asked Margaret, feeling embarrassed.
"Is he masturbating yet?" asked Diane.
"Ben? No! I don't think he'd know which end to start" said Margaret.
"Well nothing to worry about yet then, but there's obviously nothing wrong with his erectile function" said Diane with a laugh "So it's only a matter of time before he starts wondering what it's for."
Margaret smiled, shook her head, then laughed too "We bought him a construction kit for his birthday once, he never figured that out. And that came with instructions."
They both laughed.
In the lounge Thomas had grown bored and he wandered over to Amy.
"Hi, I'm Thomas" he said.
"Go away, Thomas" said Emily.
"Just being polite" he said positioning himself so he had a good view of the front of her.
"Well be polite somewhere else" said Alison.
"Can I feel your fanny?" he asked.
"Thomas!" said Emily "When we're dressed we can hurt you, you know"
"You're not supposed to be talking, if mum hears you, you'll get another beating" said Thomas.
"And when I tell her what you just said to Amy, you'll get one too" said Emily.
Thomas mulled that over for a while.
Amy shuffled uncomfortably.
"Don't mind him" said Alison "He's a turd."
"Go on gissa feel?" said Thomas, reaching his hand out.
"Leave her alone or I'll... rip your bollocks off" said Ben trying to sound hard.
"Ooooohh, the baby speaks" said Thomas, he bent down and peered at Ben's genitals making him feel very uncomfortable "Hmmmm, looks like you've had some experience of that yourself" said Thomas.
"Jimmy told me he saw you smoking a cigarette" said Emily.
Thomas looked at Emily in a panic, then returned to his chair and dropped himself into it heavily.
"Yeh, well he's a liar" said Thomas.
Continued in Chapter Fifty One