LINDA'S NEW SCHOOL

BY JOREYMAY

[ part 13 ]

Counterattack

Not everyone was thrilled with the announcements at the assembly, or at the faculty meeting before the assembly. Before going to their classrooms, a group of dissident teachers stopped in the meeting room Linda had used to make her phone calls. They believed it was rarely monitored.

"The headmistress has gone soft. Or they got to her, somehow. This is intolerable."

"I agree. We just need to get that little brat under our heel. Then we could put a stop to all this nonsense quickly enough. FitzGibbon was too soft and got careless."

"Then we are agreed? We 'forget' the new rules and show the girl what real discipline is. After we have tamed her, we bring James back to her senses and get back to the way things *should* be done here."

After brief murmurs of agreement, the women left the room and scattered to their classrooms.

On the way to her first class, Linda felt the buzz of the cell. She answered it, and learned of the meeting. She acknowledged the warning, then hurried to class.

Her first two classes went largely without incident. She was quickly assigned a seat and given her books, and then class went on. She noted that neither teacher was among those the girls had rated as the worst or the best. They just seemed like teachers. They did not tolerate any misbehaviour, but they were not abusive.

The third class was another matter. It started before class, when another teacher stopped her in the hall and berated her for trivial and in some cases imaginary improprieties with her clothes and grooming. She recognized the setup, and merely accepted the criticism. As expected, the confrontation made her late for class. When she arrived, the teacher berated her for her tardiness. When she respectfully replied that another teacher had delayed her to discuss wardrobe issues, the teacher replied that it was her own fault for having been so careless and improper in her dress and grooming. She declared that Linda had earned 10 demerits, and would lose one grade for the day for having delayed the class. From her subject and behaviour, Linda recognized her as one of the ones from the "worst" list. She also recognized that the teacher was trying to get her off balance, and to set up a situation in which she would have an excuse to take more severe actions. Linda kept her responses proper, and did her best to show no emotional response.

If the teacher had been able to perceive Linda's emotions, she probably would have misinterpreted it as the cockiness typical of an "unbroken" girl. She did not begin to understand just how much power Linda had in this situation. Before the day was over, that teacher would herself be broken, or dismissed with prejudice and turned over to the police, or both. Linda also knew that, in the long term, threats of demerits and grade reductions were meaningless.

She was pointed wordlessly to a desk, and took her seat. She was not issued a book. The teacher started going over the previous day's homework. On the third question, she told Linda to stand and give the answer. Linda stood, and then politely reminded the teacher that she had not arrived at the school at the time of the previous day's class, and had been given neither the book nor the assignment. The teacher berated her loudly for daring to come to class unprepared, and the class flinched. It was clear from their reaction that they expected this to end badly. She went on to declare that it was Linda's responsibility to obtain and complete assignments for days she had not bothered to show up for class. She then demanded that Linda step to the front of the class.

Linda was a bit worried. While she was quite confident that she could successfully protect herself from the older woman, she was concerned that a video of her competently using her self defence skills in that situation might weaken the case against Miss FitzGibbon. As she moved to the front of the room, the cell buzzed. She pulled it out, and read the text message it displayed. Help would soon be on the way. She saw movement out of the corner of her eyes, and barely dodged the baton aimed at the hand holding the cell. She jumped back a step, and pocketed the cell. She went into a deceptively clumsy looking defensive posture, and waited. The teacher came after her, shouting about how dare she use that cell in her class, especially when the teacher was talking to her. She demanded that Linda turn over the cell immediately. She politely refused. The teacher then instructed her to finish her trip to the front of the class, adding that she would otherwise be dragged to the front and dealt with all the more harshly. Linda quietly reminded her that such attacks had been prohibited, and went on to say that she would defend herself if necessary.

The teacher roared "How *dare* you threaten me?" and swung her baton at Linda's head. She ducked the blow and stepped away, avoiding any special moves. The teacher moved to grab her arm and raised the baton for another attempted strike.

"STOP!" They turned toward the door, where Miss James stood. "I will see you, *both* of you, in the hallway. Now!" She looked at the rest of the class. "You will quietly read the next chapter until we return." Her tone allowed no question.

Once the door was closed, she turned on the teacher. "Just what did you think you were doing?"

"She was tardy, disrespectful, unprepared, and confrontational. She even threatened me. She played with that cell in class, and refused to hand it to me. She needs to learn who is the master here!" She stood tall and straight, her eyes dancing with a zealot's fire.

"Do you, for one minute, think that we were not monitoring her every move this morning? That we didn't see that staged confrontation in the hallway, or your attempts at provocation and humiliation?" The teacher lost a bit of her starch.

The headmistress continued "Do you have any concept of what you may have done?"

"Yes! If you had not interrupted me, I would have been well on the way toward saving the school and restoring the legacy of more than a century!"

"Wrong! You would have destroyed the school, and ended up in disgrace. In all likelihood, you would have found yourself in prison, as well. You still may."

"She is trying to destroy the school and all we stand for!"

"No, she is our only hope for *saving* the school. Did you pay no attention at all this morning? If she does nothing, this school will be closed in the midst of a very public scandal. We will all be disgraced, and you and several of the other teachers will face serious criminal charges. Our backers and friends will do nothing to stop it, or to help you. Most likely, you will spend the rest of your life in prison."

"She was attending classes today in order to ascertain whether there is anything about this school which makes it worth her considerable time and effort to save it. She can walk away at any time and leave us to our fate. And just to make it clear, if she *does* manage to rescue the school, she will effectively own it. She will have the authority to have any of us summarily dismissed for cause, and to change any and all of our policies and procedures."

She turned to Linda. "She is the exception, not the rule here. What can we do to convince you to continue your evaluation?"

"She did not work alone, so an example must be made. I will offer her two choices." She turned to the teacher. "You have only two choices. You can accompany us to Miss James' office, where the police will be summoned. When they arrive, you will be taken away to face serious assault charges. All resources of the school, and all of the influence of its backers, will operate to make sure you receive the most severe penalties possible. In case you are thinking of threatening to reveal secrets of the school or the backers, think of how they would respond to such threats. If you survived at all, you most certainly would be unable to speak or even write those secrets. If they are annoyed enough, you would quietly disappear and spend the rest of your days painfully serving the pleasure of a few of the more vicious among them."

The teacher was visibly shaken. "What is my other choice?"

"You will be subjected to the most severe punishment you have repeatedly given your students. You will be forcefully stripped of your clothes, bent over your desk with your bottom facing the class, and caned. You will start with 20 strokes. If you cry out or move, more strokes will be added. You will then stand and display your markings to the students of this class and the next. You will maintain proper posture and silence at all times. If your posture slips, or you make any noise, or your eyes tear, you will receive additional strokes. Your colleagues will be brought in to witness your punishment, and told the reasons for it. You will remain unclothed for the rest of the day. After that, you will be on probation. If you abuse any student here, or even threaten such abuse, you will be prosecuted as I described. Is that clear?"

"Y...yes." The colour had drained completely from her face. "Headmistress, you would allow this?"

"I think she is being remarkably lenient, by offering you the second choice. What she said about the backers is quite true."

"I will make it easier for you. If you accept the second choice, you will later be offered the choice of resigning. There will be conditions, however. You will understand that you have no chance of recommendations. The school will acknowledge that you once worked here, and that you resigned, but no more than that. And most importantly, that you do not attempt to use any information to which you may be privy to the detriment of the school, its backers, its supporters, or its students, past, present, or future. You would no longer be a teacher, and would not seek any position involving authority over children or young adults. The benefit would be that you would no longer have the threat of imminent prosecution, death, dismemberment, or torture hanging over your head. If you are particularly well behaved, one of our friends might be convinced to offer you a menial position in one of their many business concerns."

"That is remarkably generous of you." Miss James turned to the teacher. "What is your choice?"

"You really leave me no choice. I will take the second."

"Very well." Miss James returned to the classroom. She selected some students to act as runners in order to summon certain teachers. She also sent for some of the other students and Matron.

When they arrived, Linda noticed a particularly large senior student. She was easily the tallest person there and well muscled. Linda noticed that she walked with a slight limp. Introductions were made, and Linda learned that the limp was a after effect of a particularly severe series of canings more than a year before. The faculty were all well aware of that fact. With Linda's consent, that girl was to administer the punishment. When the teacher heard Linda agree, she regarded them with an expression of stark fear. She was all too aware of the fact that she had been the one to give that girl the limp.

They moved to the front of the room. Miss James briefly described the reasons for the punishment, and its nature. The teacher stood facing the audience as the student literally ripped the clothes from her body. The tattered remains were thrown to the side. She knew better than to move or speak during this process, but much of her mind was screaming for her to escape. She was told to assume the position on her desk. As she did so, the large student asked the class which among them had gotten the worst from her. A smallish, black haired girl was the consensus choice. She was then told to move to the other side of the desk. Her job was to observe the teacher, and inform the others if she struggled, moved, cried, or made any noise.

Even now, a part of her believed that they would never go through with it. Yes, they had stripped her and bent her over her own desk, but in the end they *THWAK*! The blow startled a cry from her.

"Five more."

She clamped her teeth against the protest rising in her throat, knowing it would only lead to yet more blows.

The student delivered the blows expertly, varying their timing, placement, and intensity for maximum response and effect. Just as she had seen - and felt - this same teacher do over the years. She had learned the ones that would elicit an involuntary response, and made good use of that knowledge. Until, at last, her arm tired.

After 42 strokes, the teacher was allowed to stand. She could barely do so, and maintaining the required posture was intensely painful. Once she was in place, Linda walked over and stood in front of her. She frankly regarded her nudity, and then looked the teacher in the eye. While her face was flatly emotionless, her eyes filled the teacher with terror. She had never seen such a combination of control, contempt, and cruelty in anyone's eyes before, and she hoped she never would have again. She had been a fool to go up against this demon child.

Without saying a word, Linda turned and walked out of the room. She had been practising that look since the rape in the alley, but this had been her first chance to use it. She liked the results. Miss James followed her to her next class, then left.

Behind her, other students and teachers had silently exited the room. It was time for the next class. The students from the teacher's next class flowed in, many looking curiously at their naked, striped teacher. Once they were in their seats, the large student briefly described what had happened, and set them to reading. She also warned them that other classes would be coming by to witness the results. She appointed the largest girl in the class to monitor the teacher, then stepped in front of her as Linda had. Her face was a mask of contempt. She shook her head, and walked out of the room. She was late to her next class, but the teacher knew why and didn't make an issue of it.