1976:in the little village of Pluckton,Audrey Mayhew,a 23 year old reporter on the Pluckton echo was fishing around for newsworthy stories-but nothing seemed to be happening!it was absolutely sweltering in the office that day,Audrey,a tall and slim pretty blue eyed blonde was dressed in just a white vest,trainers and blue cotton shorts-with no knickers or even a bra underneath-but her boss made allowances for her during this exceptionally hot period of weather-the like of which Great Britain had never known,finally Audrey could stand it no longer and goes outside for some nice cool air-she puts on her sunglasses,knickers and bra and goes into the local shop to buy a nice cooling ice cream-there were lots of kids in there naturally-Audrey sees one of them trying to pinch some sweets-a girl beside him sees him-'no!you little idiot!do you wan't a visit to the house?do you?do you?'she shakes the little boy quite roughly-then gives him a big hug-she is clearly upset!the girl was about 18,with long dark hair,Audrey dismissed the incident and got her ice cream-the stern faced man at the counter-he had seen everything 'kids today eh?'he tuts 'bring back the birch i say!'Audrey smiled awkwardly and left the shop,she goes to the local park-it was nice and cool here and she licked her ice cream-she saw a young couple walking-the man was fondling her bottom-clad in an long skirt-she was even wearing a jumper!she must have been absolutely roasting!Audrey thought-she was probably from some very religious family-perhaps she had converted to Mormonism?that Donny Osmond influence perhaps?she was more of a David Cassidy girl herself!although she was excited by this new 'Punk' craze-but it didn't seem to have reached Pluckton yet?Audrey often visited her Grand-parents in nearby Bobbington-it was full of Punks!you couldn't move for torn denim jackets and safety pins!then she spotted one single girl-tall with short spiky red hair- wearing some cut-off denims that showed off her long shapely legs and a sex pistol t-shirt-she was swigging from a can of lagar-evidently she had finished it-she chucks it away-although she had just passed a litter bin-an old lady watching shakes her head and goes up to the girl 'please keep Britain tidy!'she says pointing to the bin-the girl just sneers and gives her the 'V' sign and walks off-the woman tuts-she is observed by a bespectacled man with a beard-he takes out a notebook-not unlike those used by Policemen-Audrey's journalistic instincts were drawn to the man.Audrey returns into town-her attention is drawn to a young woman carrying a billboard-she has shoulder length blonde hair and dressed in 'conservative' clothes-the sort of clothes her grandmother wears!on the billboard are the words 'repent or be damned!'on one side and on the other 'your sins will find you out!'the young woman was clearly suffering from heat exhaustion-she trips and falls down on the pavement-Audrey helps her to her feet 'most kind!'she smiles awkwardly at her-and continues to walk up and down the street-but trips again!'love!your killing yourself!have a half hour break at least!'Audrey says concerned-a man comes forward-he is tall and wearing glasses and has thinning blonde hair 'home!'he says sternly to the young woman-the couple move off.back in the office she meets the editor-'anything turned up?'Audrey shook her head 'what are your plans for tonight?'he enquired 'i thought i might try out that new Disco that opened-you know,the one that used to be the old girls boarding school'she replied-St.Augustine's school for girl's used to be a grim place-rumours of sexual abuse by the male staff-Audrey remembered the man in the street-surely he was it's ex-headmaster-Mr George Forbes, who two years ago had resigned to become a missionary in the east end-Audrey goes to the papers picture library-yes!it was him alright!and his deputy-Mr Bracklesham-he was an anti-pornography campaigner-often seen at the festival of light-he had even contributed an article to the paper back in 1971-well before her time,condemning the 'indecent' fashion for 'Hotpants',it was thought he had tried to set up a Christian community on Rockall of all places!a harmless nutter!Audrey thought.Audrey puts on her glad rags-a skin-tight mini-dress-she leaves her legs bare-so much more cooling in this hot weather!she receives appreciative wolf whistles from the young male population as she wiggles along the high street-oddly,there were very few other women of her age on the street-it was only 10:00 !she passes the young woman she saw the other day-still with that blessed billboard!she looked fit to drop!''doesn't your boyfriend mind you doing this?'she enquired-the woman says nothing and continues pacing-Audrey got to the disco-it was closed!'FUCK IT!' she says 'FUCK IT!FUCK IT!'the same man from the park is observing her-with his notebook out again!'hey!you!'she calls to him-but he runs off!Audrey takes off her cumbersome high-heels and gives chase-she finds herself along a dark alley-several local girls have been known to have been raped here-the last incident was only a year ago-she has company-she sees the girl from the park-she is litter collecting!picking up any piece of litter she can find-her hair is no longer 'spiky'and she is dressed in denim dungerees-with a cumbersome woolen jumper-she was sweating profusely-it was creating patch marks on the girls crotch region-Audrey goes over to her 'i saw you in the park the other day!that frosty-faced old bitch gave you some gip!'please!do not speak to me!i must reach my quota by 6:00 a.m!or it's the birch for me!'Audrey was thoroughly bemused!'Quota?Birch?what the Fuck...' she felt a huge whack on the back of her head and everything went black....it must have been around midnight when she finally awoke-she was lying on a single bed-the type you usually see in prisons-there was a bare lightbulb-she was in a cellar of some kind-one of her hands was handcuffed to the headboard 'let me out!'she screamed for all her worth-but no one came-she looked around the rest of the cellar-her eyes were drawn to a shelf-it contained what seemed to be a cat-o-nine tails!the woman with the billboard now came down the stairs-she unlocked Audrey's handcuffs and roughly shoved her up the stairs 'can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?!'Audrey protests 'that's another indictment on you!'the woman whispered harshly-leading her into a living room-seated on the sofa are the man from the park and another man-it is Bracklesham!the woman takes her place on the sofa-Bracklesham gestures to the armchair-Audrey lowers herself into it 'this court is now in session!the accused has been brought to us on a charge of indecently exposing her arms and legs in a public place and of using consistent bad lanquage,how does the defendent plead?guilty or not guilty?''what the fuck is going on around here?'was Audrey's reply 'i shall add a further charge of contempt of court if you don't reply to my answer young lady in the next three seconds!contempt carries the penalty of 50 lashes!one...two...three....an additional 50 lashes!i will add another 50 if you don't reply!one...two..'not guilty!'Audrey spits out-Bracklesham then turned to the man and the woman-'jury-what is your verdict?i have presented all of the facts to you-both of you have born witness to the accused's behaviour-guilty or not guilty?''Guilty!'the man says-the woman hesitates-the older man on her side looks sternly at her 'G-Guilty!'Bracklesham looks coldly at Audrey 'the accused will stand!'Audrey obeyed-i will let them play their little game a bit longer!'Audrey Mayhew!you are found guilty in the court of god's law of foul lanquage and indecent exposure of your limbs in a public place-the sentence is 50 strokes of the cane on your naked buttocks!for the further crime of contempt of court you will receive a further 50 strokes with the cat on your back!now remove every item of clothing you are wearing and prepare to await the first part of your punishment!'Audrey had no choice but to obey-she stripped naked-placing her clothes folded in a neat pile on the two cushions placed in front of her-taken from the sofa-the two men and the woman then sat back on the sofa-Audrey then saw Bracklesham go up to the fireplace-a long crook handed cane rested on it-he goes over to Audrey-who was now covering her breasts and pussy with her hands-it was a sweltering night-but Audrey was now shivering!'and the shoes!'he points the cane at Audrey's high-heels-she bends down to undo them-then chaos!the room was full of Police!Audrey's editor also among them.'a small bunch of religious fanatics who wan't to return Britain to it's original 'Christian' values'Audrey's editor explained the following day over a cool lemonade-it was another scorcher!'what will happen to them?prison i hope!'her editor laughed at her question 'no chance!orders from on high!the establishment are very concerned about the decline in moral values-that little group you encountered was part of a social experiment!i can't tell you who authorised it!otherwise i would have to kill you!'Audrey started to feel very sleepy-she finished her lemonade-'what an odd taste!''i'll drive you home my dear!'her editor replied.Audrey awakened-she found herself naked and tied once more to the bed in the celler-her editor was there-he was holding up to her face the front page of the Pluckton echo 'Young Journalist goes missing'Audrey Mayhew,23,a young reporter on the Pluckton echo,mysteriously went missing last night....''may i introduce you to your new boss Mr Mohammad Coupe'her editor gestured to the large black man holding up a cat-o-nine-tails whip 'he is a businessman from Mauritania-where slavery is still legal!and he needs a new secretary-and Harem girl!so i just sold you to him for 10 grand!why the long face girl!you always said you wanted to have a job for life!and where you are going it is hot all year round!'SECRETSPANKER
