Read Online Ruled by the Rod by Sara Rawlings - Free Book Online Page A

pause. When we were advised that we should report to
papa's study and submit ourselves to the rod, I am ashamed to say
that our feelings were too often not those of repentance and
contrition that were mete for us at that time, but of stark fear,
for that thick yellow cane cut right into one's soft buttock flesh,
and hurt most excruciatingly. The first bite was as of a bolt of
flame searing the flesh. That was usually containable at first, but
then a wave of pure agony would flood in, making one's whole body
cringe, one's lungs burst to form the scream one's mind fought
desperately to suppress.
    And it never
got easier to bear. One might have thought that, with time, one's
sensitivity might be lessened. True, one's skin did seem to acquire
a certain toughening, but this did us little good, since it only
inspired papa to strike the harder or to increase our ration, until
our bottoms showed the ruby, which he took to be the proof of a
whipping well done.
    This
superficial toughening, however, made no difference to our
sensitivity, and we seemed to have just as many nerve ends
screaming their pain after each stroke, as the first time each of
us had bared her buttocks for correction. We came to fear that
aching length, and my belly would contract with terror each time
papa withdrew it from its place of keeping, in his study
cupboard.
    It was not as
if our new regime meant any diminution of the frequency or severity
of our beating. On the contrary, with three males now available to
share the duties, we tended to find ourselves called on to bare our
buttocks, and mount the chair between our regular weekly visits for
ordinary, and extraordinary, discipline. But these interim
whippings were not severe by our regular standards, seldom
exceeding four or six strokes. The main innovation was the
introduction of a monthly 'court' or accounting. Where papa had
formerly merely referred to his book, in which he kept a memorandum
of various faults he had observed, or we, in duty, had confessed
and proceeded to execution without ceremony, Justice Rodsham now
sat at papa's desk, as if on his bench in the High Court, while
papa played the role of prosecuting counsel, and the doctor gave
them the benefit of his medical and scientific expertise.
    Each of us in
turn would step forward, and stand with downcast eyes, though our
high collars kept our chins from drooping, our hands clasped behind
our backs, resting on our cringing buttocks, our stomach churning
with fear at what might be to come. Our judge would make us answer
to our name, then ask if there was any fault, not yet reported,
that we wished to confess, warning us sternly, that pre-confession,
or rather, the lack of it, would be taken into consideration when
passing sentence.
    'Under the
law, any man is presumed to be innocent until found guilty, but it
would be far too dangerous,' he declared, 'to extend the principle
to the genus woman, and one should assume all such are guilty of
something. It only remains to determine precisely what, before I
deliver sentence.'
    He would then
call upon papa to read out the charges and punishments recorded in
his book, since the last sitting of the court. When papa was done
with the sorry litany of our failings, and the measures taken to
improve them, we were again given an opportunity to make good any
omissions in the list, before a general discussion took place among
our guardians, as to our characters, our improvement or otherwise
since it was last assessed, our sins and omissions, our habits and
our deportment.
    In fact, each
of us was dissected, like a beetle under a microscope, no facet of
our lives being neglected, and each learned male contributing from
his knowledge, observation and professional expertise to the
assessment, and what means might be sought to improve us.
    We would each
wait in trepidation while our case was considered, for, though we
knew that anything that was decided would be for our own good, we
were sufficiently weak as to fear