Temporal Exploring 101 - First Transit

I.44 Earning my stripes

Allie shook her head. "Well no, I don't believe you," she repeated.

This was the second time I had been summoned to my tutor's office. The first time had been a couple of weeks ago, after my confrontation with Browning and her minions. This time around, I was being interrogated about the incident at the Music Store that had happened two days ago.

"For the record, I do not believe you either, Cathy," her friend Lena helpfully added.

"What do you mean, you do not believe me?" I made an effort to sound indignant about it.

"It's obvious, isn't it?  We both suspect that it actually was your roommate Fogg who attempted to steal that album at the Arlesten Music Store," my tutor elaborated. "And that, for some obscure reason I fail to comprehend, you have decided to take the blame for that."

"Actually, the reason is fairly obvious, too," Lena observed. "Fogg has been caught stealing at the Music Store before, so this would make her a second offender, which could cause her to be expelled from this school."

"It is a good thing, then, that it was me rather than her who forgot to pay for that Dylan album," I pointedly remarked.

"You are going to stick to that version then, aren't you, Cathy?" Allie frowned. "Even though you are going to be punished for something you didn't do."

"It is what actually happened," I maintained.

Allie and Lena exchanged a look.

"A noble gesture, albeit a misguided one," Allie commented.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I cleared my throat. "Anyhow, what kind of punishment are we talking about here?"

Skimming through the St. Albert's Rules and Regulations handbook, I had found out that the obligatory punishment for committing any kind of theft, petty or otherwise were 'six of the best'. It did not know precisely what that meant, but it sure sounded ominous.

Allie frowned. "You are going to get six of the best, Cathy."

"That means, six strokes of the cane," Lena translated for me, thereby confirming my worst suspicions.

I winced. "I ... uh ... didn't know that."

"Have you ever been caned before, Cathy?" Lena asked me.

"No, never."

Allie and Lena exchanged another glance.

"The number of strokes will be reduced to three then, at your tutor's discretion," Allie decreed.

"While you are at it, couldn't  you like, reduce it to zero, perhaps?" I hopefully inquired. "If I like, promised to never again take anything from the Music Store without paying for it, in the future?"

"No, I can't do that," Allie told me. "And even if I could, I would not do that. You see, if you have  actually committed a theft, you more than deserve those three strokes. If, on the other hand,  you didn't do it and are just taking the blame for your roommate Fogg here, to save her from being expelled ... You have to understand that there will a price for you to pay for that."

I made a face. "Meaning, I am getting my ass beaten?"

"Yes, that's what it comes down to," Allie confirmed. "Unless you decide to tell us what actually happened at the Music Store."

"I have told you already what actually happened."

Allie shrugged. "In that case, you leave me no choice but to go through with this."