CHAPTER 1

The punishment room, as it was called by all the inmates, was a simple room, brick built with the regulation-sized narrow window that was barred to prevent the inmates from escaping. In the centre of the room, mounted on wheels was a straightforward inverted `Y` shaped device, made of thick oak timbers and metal joints.

On top of the inverted `Y` shaped device was positioned Annabel. Annabel was totally naked and an hour earlier had had her pubic, under-arm and leg hairs removed with soap and a razor by the two punishment room orderlies – trusted girls who were fellow inmates. They knew, from the institution governor, that if they did not do their job properly, they would follow Annabel onto the `stretcher`, as it was called. Annabel had one leg lying on each of the bottom parts of the inverted `Y` structure, strapped there with thick ropes. Her legs were, obviously, splayed wide apart so her freshly shaved cunt lips were clearly visible from behind, together with her tight little anus.

Her stomach lay over the start of the single beam that proceeded from the point where the two split branches of the device met. Under her stomach another length of rope had been secured, this rope heading to the ceiling of the room where it passed through various wheels and pulleys until it came back down on the side wall where it was wound round some kind of motor. The rope was taut, preventing Annabel from slumping down onto the oak timber beneath her. Her arms had been pulled slightly ahead of her head and then lashed to the timber with rope. Annabel was essentially in a fixed position and unable to move.

The metal door to the punishment room was opened so that all the inmates of the institution could hear the sounds that would soon come from it. Annabel, her eyes wide with fear, heard the heavy boots behind her, though she could see nothing through the blindfold that had been wrapped tightly around her head once the orderlies had secured her to the device.

The boots grew silent, though Annabel sensed the man wearing them, a guard, was standing to the right of her. His presence was confirmed a moment later when the cold, thin wood of the regulation cane, the standard punishment implement, touched her bare buttock cheeks as the guard took aim. The next moment, Annabel screamed out as the cane cut mercilessly into the bottom cheeks, the first of thirty strokes that had been ordered by the Governor.

“Yaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!” Annabel screeched louder as her buttock cheeks were slashed into for the second time a moment later by the cane.

***

“Ladies,” said the Governor, a tall, wiry man with a thin, evil smile on his face, as he addressed the new group of ten inmates, “welcome to Asherton’s Young Offenders Institute for Ladies. I trust you will quickly settle into life here and that you will each serve out your term without causing any trouble. We have certain rules here which we expect all inmates to obey and any disobedience will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. You will all be issued a rule book when you are escorted to your rooms, together with the standard Institute clothing. I suggest you read that book from cover to cover and learn the rules as a matter of urgency. If you can’t read then you had best get your cell mates to read them out to you. I must stress that this is a low security environment and you are not expected to attempt to leave it. If you do then the consequences of your actions will be severe. We operate on a rewards and punishments system here, all of which are explained in the Institute’s rule book. Now, you have all had a long day in front of the courts, and some of you have had quite a long journey to reach us. The evening meal is served in half an hour and it is lock-up time at 9:00pm, lights out at 9:30pm, so I will hand you over to Dr Calderton for the standard inmate preliminary examinations and then you will be taken to your rooms.”

That had been Annabel’s brief introduction to her new home for six months – her reward for getting caught stealing, or attempting to steal, a laptop computer from her local electrical store. She had been stupid and had a history for bungled attempts at theft. Now, just eighteen, the judge at the local court had had enough of Annabel being before him and had sentenced her to 6 months at Asherton’s. The other girls who stood sheepishly beside her were all much the same age and they had all been sentenced to much the same term as Annabel for a range of petty crimes.

The examination by Dr Calderton was perfunctory. Each girl was stripped naked in a small room, then examined for lice, and other nasty things. She was then given an internal examination to ensure she wasn’t pregnant and then swabbed to check for STDs. Each girl was then obliged to give a blood sample, one that would check for HIV and other diseases that may not have been immediately evident to the good doctor.

Having convinced the doctor that she was a good girl with minimal sexual experience and just one boyfriend who’d vowed to stand by her and wait for her release, Annabel had been given her Institute uniform. This was basically a bright orange jump suit, orange bra and orange panties, and cheap black trainers. Then she was given a copy of the Institute’s rule book and shown her room. It was a twin bed room, small, sparsely furnished and decorated with cream paint on the brick wall.

“Hi, I’m Mandy,” said the girl in the room as soon as the guard who’d escorted Annabel had left them.

“Annabel,” she replied.

“What are you here for?”

“Theft, well, to be precise, attempted theft. I tried to nick a laptop.”

“Bloody hell,” said Mandy.

“What are you here for?”

“Got into a brawl at a pub. It was a friend’s birthday and we got a bit drunk. How long are you here for?”

“Six months,” said Annabel, “and you?”

“Six months. I’ve been here three weeks, so just over five months to go.”

“What’s this place like?” Asked Annabel, nervously fingering the rule book under her arm.

“Strict and, as you already know, if you break the rules the punishments are harsh. I take it that, like us other girls, you signed away your rights to come here as opposed to prison.”

“Yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Well, in that case, don’t go breaking the rules or you will soon end up in the punishment room and that will give you an experience you will not want to repeat. I’ve not been there myself,” said Mandy, “but you know when a girl goes in there for the screams can be heard all over the camp. I’ve heard rumours girls not only get caned in there but they get tortured and sexually abused to. So, I decided from day one to learn the rules and stick with them.”

“Thanks,” said Annabel, her face turning white at the thought of the punishment room, “but surely they’re not allowed to abuse and torture us?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you, but they do it nonetheless and you have no right to appeal, not in here.”

“Maybe not, but once you get out?”

“It’s your signature on the consent form – so you have no rights, period,” said Mandy. “Now, I suggest you learn the rules before you start breaking them.”

Annabel lay back on her bed and opened the rule book.

***

Annabel had been at Asherton’s for just over a month and had a clean record when she broke the rules by being late to turn up for her allotted work program. In fact, she was set up by some of the other inmates, who made it impossible to get to her work room on time, but such things did not concern the governors. Annabel was late and Annabel would be punished. There was one rule for all and excuses were not allowed.

It was a Friday morning when Annabel stood before the Governor on a charge of tardiness.

“Perhaps, young lady, a sting in the tail will speed you up in the future.”

“But, I was stopped from getting out of my cell by a gang of the older girls. How could I get to where I had to be if they were stopping me?”

“I don’t care about that. The rules are the rules. This afternoon after you have been prepared, you will receive thirty strokes of the cane on your backside in the punishment room. Now, go to your room and contemplate on your disgraceful rule-breaking. I will send two orderlies to you at lunchtime and they will take you to the preparation room to get you ready for your punishment, young lady. I trust and hope this will be the last time I see you in this office for breaking the rules.”

“So do I,” said Annabel with tears in her eyes at the prospective punishment. “By preparation, what do you mean?”

“It’s in the rule book. I suggest you read it. Punishment will be carried out by Warder Harden at three o’clock this afternoon. Now, get out of my office.”

“Sir,” said Annabel, turning to leave.

As she walked back to her room, Annabel feared the worst. Warder Harden was a big man, some six feet six tall, built like a tank, a sort of “Mr T” from the A Team. And, yes, he was a black man too, not that the significance of that entered Annabel’s mind at all. She was naïve, sexually, and had no knowledge of the attributes generally levelled at black men in regards to their sexual prowess. Still, the fact Warder Harden was big and powerful, meant Annabel realise that she was in for a severe caning. She also knew Warder Harden had a reputation for showing no mercy to those he punished, a reputation that had Annabel’s face streaked in tears long before she was back in her own room.

“What’s up,” said Mandy, who was sitting on her own room.

“I’ve broken the rules,” said Annabel, “because those older girls made me late for work this morning.”

“Shit, that’s tough,” said Mandy.

“Yeah, and I’m going to be punished this afternoon.”

“Shit, how many?”

“Thirty,” said Annabel with a certain resignation in her voice.