Worthing,West Sussex,The Sweltering Summer Of 1976:No One Who Lived Through That Scorching Summer Could Ever Forget It!Most Of Britain Enjoyed 'Mediterranean' Type Weather,The Beaches Were Packed With Brits Unable To Believe Their Luck!But There Were Several 'Negative' Aspects To The Unending Sunshine-Plagues Of Ladybirds From France-They Would Sting The Bare Arms And Legs Of Many Brits!Drought!It Was A Very Tough Year For Farmers!And The Water Shortage!'Stand-Pipes' Had Been Set Up In Every Street,The Government Even Encouraged The General Public To Save Water By Sharing Baths!(Although They Declined To Say Exactly Who They Should Share Their Baths With!)And The Heat Made People Lose Their Rags Very Easily!It Now Seems Appropriate That 'Punk Rock' Exploded On An Unsuspecting British Public During That Year!Like The Obverse Side Of 1967's 'Summer Of Love',In Maureen Shelley's Street,The Local Kid's Got Drawn Into A 'Scrumping' Racket- Demand For Juicy Apples To Help Quench Thirsts!Some Kids Would Sell The Apples For Lemonade From Other Kids,All Relatively 'Harmless' Fun It Seemed To 19 Year Old Brown-Haired,Blue-Eyed Maureen Shelley,As She Returned To Her Home One Day,After Shopping,Dressed In Cooling Denim Cut-Offs And Tight-Fitting Green Vest,Trainers On Sockless Feet,Showing Off Her Stunning Tanned Young Body,Passing A Large Apple Tree Hanging Over A High Wall,She Spotted A Group Of Boys 'Scrumping'-One Boy Was On The Tree Itself-Picking Off Apples And Putting Them Into A School Bag,That He Carried With Him,But After He Had Finished He Couldn't Get Down Again!Maureen Saw The Potential Danger!He Could Have A Nasty Accident On The Pavement!Maureen Could Not Just Stand By And Let That Happen!So She Asked One Of The Other Boys To Give Her A 'Leg Up'-One Of The Boys Gave Her A Cheeky 'Wolf Whistle' As Her Curvacious Bum Finally Made It Over The Wall,She Reaches Out Her Hand And Gently Lowered The Boy Down-The Boy Had Left The Holdall On Top Of The Wall-When He Was Down,He Told Maureen To Throw It Down-But Before She Could Do So A Man's Voice Cried 'Oi!'-From The Other Side Of The Wall-The Kids Scarpered!Maureen Now Found Herself Stuck Up The Tree!Although It Was Less Dangerous For Her,She Could Still Do Herself A Nasty Injury If She Attempted To Jump!The Tree Was Then Violently Shaken!Someone Was Trying To Make Her Fall!She Gripped On,Then Gradually Turned Around-She Made Herself Go Over To The Other Side Of The Tree-A Very Angry Man In His Early 50's Was Staring Up At Her!'Caught You Redhanded You Little Thief!i'll Tan The Hide Off Yer When I Grab Hold Of Yer!'-'Please Mister!Stop Shaking The Tree!I'm Coming Down I Promise!'-She Let Go Of One Hand-The Man Grabbed It In A Vice-Like Grip-He Roughly Grabbed Maureen And Pulled-She Falls A Small Distance Onto Soft Grass-But The Fall Badly Grazed Her Knees,The Man Then Roughly Grabbed Her Right Arm 'Alright!Where Is The Bag?'He Demands 'W-What Bag?' Maureen Asked Confused 'The Bag You Use For Scrumping!' He Demanded 'The Only Bag I've Got Is My Shopping Bag!Honest!' Maureen Protests 'I Was Just Passing By,When I Saw A Kid About To Fall On The Pavement!What Was I Supposed To Do?'The Man Grunted 'All Right Miss!If I See The Contents Of Your Shopping Bag,You Can Go!'Maureen Smiled Weakly At The Man-Who Had Calmed Down A Little Bit,Once She Had Shown Him Her Bag-Which She Had Left Against The Wall,The Unfortunate Misunderstanding Would Be Cleared Up In No Time!'I Understand Mister!Kids Can Be Right Little Sods!I Suspected They Were Up To No Good!'She Says,Trying To Get On His 'Good Side''If My Dad Ever Caught Me Doing Something Like That When I Was Their Age,He Would Have Taken His Belt Off To Me!'Maureen Exaggerates-Yes,She Had Got The Occasional Spanking When She Was Younger,Hadn't They All?With The Man Still Holding Firmly Onto Her Arm,They Made Their Way To The Other Side Of The Wall,Maureen's Bag Was Nowhere To Be Seen!'Those Little Shits!' Maureen Fumed 'They Must Have Half Inched It!'The Man Was Not Convinced By Maureen's Excuse!Especially After He Spotted The School Bag On Top Of The Wall-He Could See The Bulges Within Made By His Precious Apples!The Man Frogmarched Maureen Back Into His Garden 'I Ought To Ring The Police!'He Raged At Her-His Face Becoming Bright Red Once More 'But They Will Just Let You Off With A Caution!' Maureen Was Starting To Get Frightened Now!'No!I'll Teach You Not To Steal My Bloody Apples!'He Declared To Maureen-And With That,He Pulled Maureen Over A Garden Chair And Gave Her A Long And Hard Spanking Over Her Denim Shorts!The Man Then Let Her Go Afterwards,Warning Her He Will Take Down Her Shorts And Also Her Knickers If He Catches Her Next Time!The Spanking Was Very Painful!But The Humiliation Was Much Worse!She Thought About Complaining To The Police!But She Could Not Bear The Subsequent Publicity!And She May Even Get Arrested For Scrumping!She Was Unable To Hide The Tears From Her Mum And Dad When She Got Home-She Told Them A Thief Had Stolen Her Shopping-She Could Not Tell Them The Real Reason!When Her Dad Asked For A Description Of The Thief-She Just Burst Into Tears Again!She Tells Them She Is Having A Bath!'Two In One Week!'Her Dad Protests 'Remember What The Government Said?''Oh!Sod The Government!' Maureen Says Irritably,Her Parents Look At Each Other In Shock!'It Must Be The Heat!'Her Mother Says To Her Father..Maureen Soaps Her Still Tender Behind With A Flannel In The Bath,Afterwards,Putting Cold Cream On It,She Could Not Sit Comfortably For The Next Three Days!She Explains Away Her Constant Fidgeting At The Breakfast Table By Saying She Has Got A Bad Case Of Diarrhea!But Gets Agitated When Her Mother Suggests A Visit To The Doctor's!Her Bottom Was Now Coming Out In Bruises!What If He Examined Her?How On Earth Could She Explain Those Bruises Away?Then,A Few Days Later,Maureen Was Shopping In Tesco's With Her Mum-And Who Should Be Passing With Another Trolley?The Man Who Spanked Her!Maureen Felt Sick!As The Man Passed Her Mother Heard Him Say 'I Hope You've Learned Your Lesson Young Lady!'Maureen's Mum Turned 'Eh?!What Was That You Said?When She Saw The Man She Smiled 'Mr Granger!'-Maureen's Mum Knew Mr Granger Very Well!-He Worked On The Counter Of The Local Garden Centre-Maureen Was Very Sympathetic About His Recent Problems!'I Heard About Those Kids Scrumping!'She Says Gravelly 'Caught Any Of The Little Blighters Yet?'She Enquired 'As A Matter Of Fact I Did Catch One Of Those Little Tykes Six Days Ago!Little Madam!I Tanned Her Backside Good!Hopefully She Won't Be Sitting Down Comfortably For A Few Days!'Maureen Blushes As Mr Granger's Steely Grey Eyes Fix On Her!'A Girl!How Discraceful!I Blame The Parent's You Know!Six Days Ago You Say?That Was When Poor Maureen Had Her Shopping Stolen!I Say Bring Back The Birch!'She Replied 'I Couldn't Agree More Mr's Shelley!' Mr Granger Said-With Much Relish!Still Looking Intently At Maureen ' I Believe A Sound Thrashing Is What Most Young People Need These Days To Keep Them On The Straight And Narrow!'Maureen's Mum Nodded In Agreement,She And Her Daughter Then Continued With Their Shopping...When Maureen And Her Mum Got Outside,Her Mum Said 'I Hope You've Learned Your Lesson Young Lady?Yes!I'm Pretty Certain That's What He Said!What Does He Mean Maureen?' Maureen Had To Think Very Quickly!'Mr Granger Has Been Teaching Me The History Of The British Apple!It's Fascinating!'Maureen Blurts Out,Her Mum Nodded-Mr Granger Was Well Celebrated For His Juicy And Delicious Local Apples-Thus Their Temptations To The Local 'Scrumpers'-Just Then,Mr Granger Came Out Of Tesco's 'Mr Granger!Maureen Has Been Telling Me All About You!I Fully Approve!'Her Mum Say's Excitedly-She Wan't's Her Daughter To Start Breeding Her Own Apples To Sell-To Give Her A Steady Income In This Uncertain Economic Climate 'You Can Teach My Maureen Every Saturday Afternoon!If That's Alright With You?'-A Broad Smile Then Crept Across Mr Granger's Face!'It Will Be A Pleasure Mr's Granger!'He Replied Silkily-At That,Maureen Collapsed In A Faint On The Floor!'Oh!My Poor,Poor Darling!' She Kneeled Down To Revive Her Daughter,Turning And Looking Up To Mr Granger,She Throws Her Arm's Up Apoligetically,Then Said -'It's This Bloody Heat!'SECRETSPANKER