"And that goes for you too" Jean said to Wendy.
Wendy adopted the most shocked, most innocent expression, and she lifted her arms and shoulders in a classic Gallic shrug "What have I done?"
Alan escaped his mother's lap and grabbed for his pants.
"Don't bother with that" said Betty "You're only going to have to get undressed again to go to bed, just carry your clothes up."
Alan gathered up his clothes, and holding them in a bundle in front of his groin, he hurried out for the safety and privacy of his room.
Wendy followed close behind, watching Alan's very red bottom as she went.
Betty and Jean looked at their rather tired looking fruit salads and decided to give them a miss. They got up to go to the bar, forgetting to take their husbands with them.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Margaret dished up four plates of shepherd's pie, while two hungry boys and a hungry girl sat at the table waiting patiently.
"So you're telling me that Ben and Amy were spanked completely naked in front of Diane and Emily and Alison" said Keith not sure he had really heard his wife properly.
"That's right" said Margaret bringing two plates to the table and putting them in front of Ben and Amy "And Diane's youngest, Thomas, was there as well, at least towards the end."
"Isn't he only eight?" asked Keith.
"Nine" said Margaret picking up two more plates.
"So Amy was... well, undressed in front of him?" asked Keith, still sounding incredulous.
"Completely" said Margaret putting a plate down in front of Keith and sitting with hers still in her hand "And he did a great deal of staring."
"At what?" asked Keith.
"What do you think?" asked Margaret.
Ben and Amy ate in silence, too embarrassed to contribute to the conversation, and too fearful of the consequences if they complained about it. Their only expression of their feelings came in the redness of their faces and their overzealous blowing on the contents of their forks.
"I'm not sure you should be parading Amy round like that in front of boys" said Keith.
"It wasn't a parade" said Margaret "And Thomas wasn't there when we started. Anyway Diane said it's perfectly normal here. Happens all the time, apparently."
Keith's mind drifted back to the forest and to Victoria. He had spent all day thinking about what she had said, and many times he had imagined taking the girl over his lap, bare bottom upturned, his hand ready to...
"Victoria and Paul turned up later" said Margaret, breaking Keith's train of thought. He blushed slightly at the mention of Victoria's name, afraid that Margaret had somehow read his thoughts.
"Did they..." he began.
"No we were finished by then" said Margaret "Although the four of them were still naked and stood against the wall in the lounge, so they certainly saw them."
"Isn't this all a bit risqué?" asked Keith, blowing enthusiastically on his forkful of shepherd's pie.
"Well I think Paul has seen Emily and Alison like that before" said Margaret "Diane certainly didn't seem concerned, and we were only next door in the kitchen."
"They were alone with them?" asked Keith.
"No, Thomas was in there too" said Margaret.
Keith shook his head "I don't know about this" he said "Allowing Diane to spank Ben like that..."
"I spanked Emily too" said Margaret as if that justified everything "And I've given Diane and Gary permission to deal with these two if they cause trouble when they're visiting."
"Mum!" said Ben.
"You be quiet!" said Margaret "Unless you want another dose." Ben fell silent, apart from his blowing.
"Diane said we should do the same" said Margaret.
"The same?" queried Keith.
"Yes, if Emily or Alison are here and misbehave Diane said we should spank them" said Margaret.
"Spank them?" asked Keith.
"Yes! Haven't you been listening to a word I've been saying?" said Margaret , sounding quite exasperated.
"Yes, but... Emily's hardly a little girl, and ..." began Keith.
"And what?" asked Margaret "Are you saying it would be too much for you?"
"No! No, no, no, of course not" said Keith hurriedly "My God! She's still just a girl, I meant... wouldn't that be embarrassing for her?"
"Of course, that's the whole point, Keith. Pain and embarrassment, it's the combination of the two that makes it effective" said Margaret. She chewed some shepherd's pie and swallowed while watching Keith fiddled with his food nervously. "So, will you?" she asked.
"Will I what?" asked Keith.
"Spank Emily and Alison" said Margaret.
"Well, yes, I suppose" he said, then quickly added "If they do something to deserve it."
"Good" said Margaret.
"Good? Why good?" asked Keith looking up at her in surprise.
"Because I don't want to be the bad one all the time while you're Mr Goodness and Light, being nice to them all" said Margaret.
"Oh, of course" said Keith.
"Otherwise I just end up looking like an ogre and you're everyone's best friend. That's not fair" said Margaret.
"No, of course not" agreed Keith, his thoughts turning to Alison's and Emily's bottoms momentarily, before returning to the thought of Victoria's again.
"Oh, and the bathroom people rang. They're coming tomorrow, so we're not going to have a bathroom for a couple of days" said Margaret.
"Bugger" said Keith.
"Well we knew it was coming sometime soon" said Margaret "And it's only a couple of days, we'll manage. So you kids have a shower before bed tonight, then try to keep clean."
"I had a shower this morning" complained Ben.
"Well you'll have another before bed, so stop complaining" said Margaret "Though God only knows how you're going to stay clean for two days."
"He can always go to the vicarage" said Keith.
"The vicarage!" said Ben "What for?"
"The Reverend kindly offered the use of his bathroom while ours was out of action" said Keith.
"Did he?" asked Margaret "I'm not sure about that. I don't like his wife very much"
"It's only for emergencies" said Keith "He said to just give them a ring if we wanted to go over."
"No I'm not going there" said Ben.
"Well you'd better stay clean, then you won't have to" said Margaret.
Ben frowned at his nearly empty plate, absolutely determined to remain spotless for the next few days.
"Can't we use Mrs Weavers?" asked Amy.
"The Reverend has offered" said Keith "It's not going to look very polite if we ignore him and use someone else's is it? Besides, he's on the planning committee and I don't want to offend him."
"Is he going to help with the extension?" asked Margaret.
"He said they'd review the application, seemed to suggest it might go through on a second look" said Keith.
"Well we definitely don't want to offend him then, horrible wife or not" said Margaret.
"Perhaps you two should try to make friends, it might help with this being such a tight knit community" suggested Keith.
"No I don't think so, she's really quite unpleasant, and in any case I don't think she's much liked by anyone around here" said Margaret.
"I've finished" said Ben "Can I go out now?"
"Wait for Amy" said Margaret.
Ben looked at Amy, who still had half a plate left as she took tiny forkfuls of food at a time. It was going to be a long wait.
Paul stepped out of the shower feeling very much refreshed. It had been a long and tiring day as usual and he was looking forward to a relaxing evening in the den with the gang. He had no intention of having sex again today, but he knew that he would be at Victoria's command and if she decided he should then he would. He would like to have spent the evening in Victoria's arms working up to a long and passionate love-making session, but with Victoria on her period he knew that pleasure would have to wait for a day or two. He turned his thoughts to Ben, and wondered if Victoria would allow him some time to play with this boy who had captured all of their hearts. With Dave distracting Emily, he thought he might have a chance this evening; if Victoria allowed him.
He was drying himself in dreamy contemplation, his penis a little erect, when the bathroom door opened.
"Mum! I wish you wouldn't do that!" he said as he covered himself up with his towel "Can't you knock or something?"
"Don't be silly, you haven't got anything to hide from me" said Felicity.
"Why can't we get the lock fixed?" asked Paul.
"Why do you want to lock the door? What are you getting up to in here?" asked Felicity suspiciously.
"Nothing!" he said "I'd just like some privacy that's all."
"I don't like the idea of you locking yourself away in private" said Felicity "It makes me worry about what you might be up to."
"I'm not up to anything!" said Paul exasperated at his mother's attitude "I'm not six anymore you know!"
"I know" said Felicity "And that's what bothers me. I know about boys" she said cryptically.
"Can I finish getting dry?" asked Paul, an edge of sarcasm to his voice "In private please?" he added.
"Yes" said Felicity "When you've finished just go to your room, there's no need to get dressed."
"What for?" asked Paul beginning to grow just a little worried at this strange instruction.
"Grace is here" said Felicity "We want to talk to you about some things."
"What!?" said Paul beginning to feel a great deal more worried.
"You heard me" said Felicity "We'll be up in a few minutes."
"Mum, no! There's no way Mrs St.John -Moncrieff is going to see me like this. I'm going to get dressed" said Paul loudly, but Felicity had already gone. Paul stood frozen for a moment, staring at the still open door. His heart began to beat a little faster and he began to feel a bit nauseous. What the hell did they want to talk about? Why the hell should he be naked? All of a sudden he rubbed the towel all over himself, getting as dry as possible as quickly as possible, and he hurried to his room.
Paul had just put his boxer shorts on and had picked up his t-shirt when the door opened, again with no forewarning.
"For God's sake mum!" he said in annoyance, and quickly dropped his t-shirt in front of his pants as he saw Grace entering his room behind his mother.
"Do you really let him speak to you in that manner?" asked Grace shocked at Paul's rude outburst. Felicity took her embarrassment out on Paul.
"I thought I told you not to get dressed!" she shouted "Get those pants off, now!"
"Mum! I'm not getting undressed in front of her. Please just leave me alone!" said Paul, his nausea growing like a mushroom cloud.
"We need to talk to you!" said Felicity angrily.
"Well talk to me after I've got dressed" said Paul.
"This boy is completely out of control. How dare he speak to you like that and be so disobedient" said Grace "I'd skin him alive!"
"You get undressed right now and lie on that bed or so help me I'll take the stick to you!" shrieked Felicity utterly humiliated by her son's disrespect in front of the Reverend's wife.
The stick!
Paul had only experienced the stick once. It was a year ago now, when his mother had caught him with a can of beer. It had been a living nightmare. He had screamed when she had beaten him with it, and he had kept on screaming for some time afterwards. He did not want to repeat that performance, not for anything.
He softened his tone, became respectful and even ingratiating "Mum, please, I'm happy to talk. If there's something worrying you let's discuss it, but why does she need to be here, and why can't I just get dressed?"
"You should just do as you're told and not question your mother!" said Grace coldly.
"Mum, I'm not a little boy anymore you can't go on ignoring the fact that I need some privacy, that I'm growing up, that I can't just get undressed in front of people..." began Paul his eyes, his face, and his tone full of syrupy pleading.
"And that's exactly what we need to talk about" said Felicity "So please, don't embarrass me in front of Grace. Just do as you're told like a good boy."
Paul knew he was at a loss. He couldn't reason with his mother. When she got an odd idea into her mind it was impossible to dislodge, and he was convinced that it had something to with Grace, something she had planted there. He remembered what Helen and Giles had said when they were in the fake cellar, and he remembered that he and Victoria had forgotten to come up with a plan to prevent it. He mentally kicked himself for his forgetfulness, but still, even now, he could not bring himself to believe that his mother would allow this old crone to talk her into something so vile.
"Mrs St.John-Moncrieff" said Paul, his voice heavy with respect "I'm sorry for my behaviour, but it just isn't decent for you to be seeing me naked. It's... unholy, it's... sinful."
"Nonsense!" said Grace with a loud snort "I grew up with three brothers who were treated exactly the same way, and I deal with Giles daily. How dare you suggest I would do something sinful or unholy! You have nothing to hide that I haven't seen many times before and if you don't obey your mother as the good book demands I'll take my taws to you after your mother has finished with the stick."
Paul looked at his mother and saw no compromise in her. He looked back at Grace and saw no mercy. He did not know what to do.
"Paul, go and fetch the stick for me, please" said Felicity, tired of waiting.
"Fortunately I brought my taws with me, just in case" said Grace and Paul thought he could detect a note of glee in her cold harsh voice.
"No, mum, please... Alright, I'll get undressed" said Paul, feeling utterly defeated. He sat on his bed, tossed the t-shirt aside and pushed his boxers down his legs and off. Keeping his hands in front of him and his legs together he swung himself round on the bed and lay on his back staring at the ceiling in shame.
Felicity, knowing that what they had to do was hard enough, relented and sat beside him.
"Paul, I'm sorry. I know you find this embarrassing, but it's for your own good. I only want what's best for you" said Felicity kindly.
"It's not though, she's just poisoned your mind" said Paul.
"I thought he was supposed to be fetching you the stick" said Grace.
"He's learned his lesson" said Felicity "He's going to do as he's told now. Aren't you Paul?"
Paul nodded silently.
"A threat should always be carried out no matter what" said Grace.
"Shall we just start?" said Felicity.
"Get your hands out of the way and behind your head!" Grace said to Paul, her voice cold and uncompromising. Paul hesitated, and then slowly drew his hands from his groin, putting them behind his head and revealing his genitals to the two women as he did so.
"You see?" said Grace pointing at Paul's pubic hair "This hair means he's reached the age where his soul's in grave danger"
"He's had hair there for quite some time now" said Felicity "Why is his soul in danger?"
"Because he's at that age where boys abuse themselves" said Grace "And that is abhorrent to the Lord. The Devil will tempt him, oh yes, he'll try to persuade him, and if he isn't handled properly he'll be abusing himself morning noon and night. You mark my words."
Felicity felt a chill run down her spine "Well what can we do?"
"We have to extract the evil from him, every day. So the temptation will be weak, and the Devil will be thwarted" said Grace.
"I'm sorry Paul, but we have to" said Felicity.
"Don't apologise to him. It's for his own good, he should be grateful to you." said Grace. She took hold of Paul's penis and rubbed it. "This is the principal organ of offence, and it is through this that we can save him."
"Are you sure?" asked Felicity, growing uncertain at this whole business.
"As sure as day is day and night is night" said Grace emphatically.
Grace worked on Paul's penis, and Paul lay back horrified at the experience. He turned his head to the wall, so that he wouldn't have to look at the two women, and so they would see less of his embarrassed face. He closed his eyes.
"It may take him time to prepare himself" said Grace "But no matter, you must keep going until he is ready."
"How do you know when he is ready?" asked Felicity.
"His disgusting organ will be hard" said Grace.
"What if it isn't, I mean what if it doesn't?" asked Felicity uncomfortably.
"There are other ways to encourage it" said Grace. While her left hand worked on Paul's reluctant penis, her right hand came underneath his scrotum, worked its way down across his perineum, and found his anus. She pushed a bony finger inside him and found his prostate "A finger in the anus and stroked around will usually do the trick. If that fails just stop and give him a beating, and then start again. He must be made to cooperate with you. I think that stick you mentioned might be a very useful instrument in this case."
"His anus? That's not very decent" said Felicity somewhat shocked.
"It is the Lord's work, and the Lord's work can never be indecent. The Lord made this boy and all of his body parts, and when they were made they were all pure and decent. It is the disgusting behaviour of the boy that makes them unclean and impure. It is our unpleasant task to return them to purity and decency as the Lord desires, and remove this evil from him" said Grace, as her ministrations began to achieve their purpose.
Paul lay back trying to block Grace's and his mother's words out of his mind. He couldn't block out Grace's handling of him though, and knowing that this violation was going to continue humiliatingly until Grace had got what she wanted he decided that his only sensible course of action was to cooperate as best he could and get it over with. He turned his mind to Victoria, tried to imagine that it was her touching him, tried to visualise her beautiful naked body in his mind, leaning over him while smiling lustfully.
Grace withdrew her finger from Paul's anus "As you can see, this has achieved the desired state." She withdrew her other hand from Paul's penis so that Felicity could see how it stood up of its own accord.
"He should never be allowed to touch his penis, it is tantamount to inviting the devil to possess him. He should only touch it, and very minimally and very briefly, when he needs to urinate. Ideally he will be watched to ensure he remains pure, but this is not always practical. If you suspect he has touched himself, then you should administer the harshest possible punishment since this is amongst the greatest of sins" said Grace.
"But, what about washing? Surely he has to keep it clean?" asked Grace.
"Yes, of course it must be kept clean, but he should not do that himself. He is at great risk when he is in the bath or the shower. A boy like this, full of evil, naked and stroking himself with soap, you might as well draw a pentagram on the bathroom floor and sacrifice a black cockerel" said Grace full of zeal "No, you must wash him. Every day, you must give him his bath, and you must wash his body, including this source of evil temptation. This is also the best time to extract the evil from him. Both duties may then be performed at once."
"Every day?" asked Felicity.
"Every day" repeated Grace "Or more often if necessary. You may not always have time, I realise that, but no matter what &150; he must not be allowed to do it for himself - that is a certain road to perdition. If you can not spare the time you must delegate the task to someone you trust and they must do it for you. Perhaps a relative, perhaps a baby-sitter or neighbour. If you have difficulty finding someone suitable send him to me at the Vicarage and I will deal with him and Giles together. If I am too busy Helen can take care of them."
"Helen? You mean your daughter? She's far too young surely, I mean..." said Felicity.
"Not at all. Girls are more pure and innocent than boys, more resistant to the devil's temptations, and she deals with Giles for me now. She knows what she's doing, and she won't hesitate to punish him if he misbehaves" said Grace "Of course I will always be on hand if there are any problems."
Felicity shook her head, something didn't seem quite right.
"You should take him in hand now" said Grace "I'll guide you, but you must learn to do this for yourself."
Felicity stared at Paul, at his erection, his long lean body, his red face full of shame and humiliation. Slowly she lowered her hand and took hold of his erection, and experimentally she stroked it up and down. She stopped and turned to Grace.
"I think I understand now" she said "I'm grateful for your help, but I think I'll continue on my own if you don't mind."
"How will you know when he's pure?" asked grace, rather disappointed.
"A mother knows" said Felicity.
"I think I should stay" said Grace "This first time at least."
"You're too kind, but I'm sure you have other things to attend to" said Felicity, releasing Paul's penis and turning towards the door.
"You may make a mistake, do it incorrectly, stop too soon and leave him polluted with some evil" said Grace frowning.
"The Good Lord will guide me" said Felicity, taking Grace's arm and leading her out of the room.
Paul lay on his bed mortified as the two women left, his penis already drooping. He knew he would never be able to forget that evil old hag's bony hand and finger touching him, and he'd never lose the shame of her seeing him naked and erect, but there was some small comfort in her now being gone. But still he had to lie, naked on his bed, his bedroom door wide open, to await his mother's return. He tried to brace himself mentally for what she was about to do to him, to being wanked off by his own mother. He tried not to cry, and retreated within himself to a warm comfortable place where he surrounded by people he loved. He thought of Victoria.
Felicity saw Grace out, thanking her for her help, and closed the front door firmly. As an afterthought she locked it; something she rarely ever did. She took a deep breath to prepare herself, and then headed back up to Paul's bedroom.
Paul heard her climb the stairs and he tried to shut out her footsteps as she entered his room and crossed to the bed. He tried to summon Victoria back to his mind as he felt his mother sit on the bed beside him.
"Paul?" she said, putting an arm across his chest and stroking his arm. Paul didn't want to respond to her, didn't want to discuss it. He wished she would just get it over and done with.
"Look at me, darling" said Felicity, her voice gentle and loving. Paul forced his head round, from staring at the wall to looking up at his mother. His face was full of fear and shame.
"I'm not sure about Grace and her funny ideas" said Felicity "I might be wrong, but it doesn't seem right to me. So I need your help."
Paul stared at her, uncomprehending. What was she saying?
"I need you to pretend. I don't want to offend her or cause trouble, so why don't we just say that I have done as she suggested, and that I do 'that' every day, and then that can be an end to it" she said.
Paul nodded, hoping that she meant she wasn't going to be carrying out any of Grace's instructions.
"But I want you to promise me something" she said.
Paul nodded again a little hesitantly.
"I want you to promise me that you're not going to... give in to the devil and abuse yourself" she said.
"I won't, I promise" said Paul. His promise was sincere, Victoria banned him from masturbating anyway; she needed him fully charged for hers and the gang's use.
Felicity pulled Paul up into a sitting position and wrapped hr arms around him. She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry darling. I just want what's best for you and I don't necessarily..." her voice broke slightly "Always get it right. But I do try."
Paul felt the wetness of her tears on his cheek, and he hugged and kissed her back. "It's alright mum. I love you" said Paul.
"That doesn't mean you're not still going to get your bottom smacked when I think you deserve it" she said.
"Of course not" said Paul.
"And I'm still not going to let you be all silly about being modest just because you've grown a few hairs down there" she said.
Paul didn't respond to this, deciding that this was an issue best be tackled another time, when he was dressed.
"Now, why don't you get dressed and come down for dinner. It'll be ready in fifteen minutes" said Felicity.
"Alright" said Paul.
Felicity gave him one last kiss and got up from the bed. She left his room, closing the door behind her.
Paul heaved a huge sigh of relief and spent a couple of minutes just laying on his bed, regaining his composure "Oh thank God for that!" he said quietly.
He got up, got dressed, and with a final sigh, headed downstairs for dinner.
Continued in Chapter Fifty Nine