Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.5 Doing Mallory Carmichael a favor

"You know perfectly well that I do not care much for the Galads, Carmichael," I retorted. I sighed. "Nevertheless, I guess I am going to help you."

"That's a girl." Mallory patted me on the back. "I knew I could count on you, Hart."

After casting a quick look around to make sure that nobody was watching us, Mallory and I picked up one of the crates and proceeded to carry it to a back entrance of the dorm.

For the next quarter of an hour, the two of us carried crates and bottles and deposited them in a dorm room which presumably belonged to the second-year students Fletcher and Whittaker. Mind you, it was hard work. Made me wonder how Mallory would have managed it on her own.

Eventually, there were only two bottles of wine left.

"There. We're almost done," Mallory cheerfully observed, as she picked up one of the bottles and handed the other one to me.

It was sheer bad luck that on that final trip to the dorm we ran into our French teacher Ms Mallet.

"My, whom do we have here?" she exclaimed. "Hart and Carmichael, attempting to smuggle in alcoholic beverages!"

She took Mallory by her left ear, and me by my right ear, and marched us along the hall and into an empty classroom, where she finally let go of us and closed the door.

Ms Mallet took the bottles from us and set them down on a desk, then turned to confront us.

"What do you have to say for yourselves, girls?"

"It's not what you think it is, Miss," Mallory earnestly told her. "Really, I can explain everything."

Ms Mallet frowned at her. "Well, I can hardly wait to hear that explanation, Carmichael."

I rubbed my right ear, determined to keep my silence and give Mallory the chance to get us out of this.

"Well, it is like this, Miss," Mallory began. "You know, my friend Hart here, she was raised in the States and her family only recently moved to the UK. What's worse, she was brought up in Nebraska."

"Not to say anything against Nebraska per se, Miss," she continued, with a disparaging little smile. "But people are like, a tiny bit backwards over there, if you catch my meaning, Miss. Which of course is entirely not their fault, nor Hart's fault. Still, it is fair to say that Nebraska is not exactly the most sophisticated place, or a place where you acquire a more refined taste or manners."

What the heck?

I was not at all sure that I liked where this appeared to be going.

"Now, Hart here, she has been invited to attend a formal dinner at Lord Kerrington's estate, a few weeks from now," Mallory continued. "Naturally, she is a bit afraid that her unfortunate deficiency in taste and table manners will be noted there immediately."

My cheeks grew hot. I glared at Mallory, but she ignored me.

"In particular, the poor girl has never had a chance to taste any excellent wine. So when she asked me for my help, I acquired a bottle of decent white wine at Arlesten, to give her a chance to get acquainted with the taste."

"Two bottles," Ms Mallet corrected her. "It appears that you purchased two bottles , Carmichael."

"Um yes, two bottles," Mallory conceded. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Just to be on the safe side," the teacher repeated. She cleared her throat. "Are you trying to get extra points for creativity, Carmichael?"

Mallory actually managed to look confused. "Creativity, Miss?"

Ms Mallet raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't get cute with me, Carmichael. You may be a gifted storyteller, but the only thing your creativity will earn you here is a few extra strokes."

"Strokes, Miss?"

"You heard me, Carmichael. Sit down over there, at the desk."

From an umbrella stand near the door Ms Mallet retrieved a short cane.

"You get over here, Hart. Bend over that desk. Yes, like that."

Mallory glanced at me. She was looking apologetic. As Ms Mallet pushed up the back of my skirt and lowered my knickers, I shot a Mallory a dirty look.

I heard the whistle of the cane as it cut through the air, and yelped as it struck my bare ass. I saw Mallory wince.

I received two more strokes, then it was Mallory's turn. Ms Mallet made sure to administer two additional strokes to the girl's backside. A special reward for Mallory's creativity, as the teacher took pains to explain.

After we both had been properly disciplined, Ms Mallet told us that the two bottles of wine were to be considered as confiscated and that she was going to inform Headmistress Stuart as well as our class teacher about the incident. With that, Mallory and I were dismissed.

"Now, that did not go quite as planned," Mallory Carmichael mused, as we walked side by side through the corridor, each of us nursing her smarting bum. She offered me a sympathetic glance. "Sorry about that, Hart. But you know what they say?"

"Actually, I have no idea what they say, Carmichael."

"You win some and you lose some, Hart."

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A / N : You win some and you lose some. Wise words, that. But hardly any consolation for a smarting backside. At least, not in Cathy's book.

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